Monthly Archives: March 2020

COVID-19: Press Freedom and Government Transparency – RCFP – Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

Posted: March 19, 2020 at 11:45 pm

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has published new resources outlining recommendations for journalists, legislators, and courts to ensure the press and publics right of access to government information and proceedings is protected while entities take necessary steps to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Press freedom and government transparency during COVID-19 addresses frequently asked questions that journalists and others may have about court access, public records and open meetings, and the impact of measures implemented under governments emergency powers in response to the coronavirus. Specifically, it provides guidance on:

The Reporters Committee will continue to update these resources and others as the situation around COVID-19 and how federal, state, and local governments respond to it evolves. Anyone who has information about government responses to COVID-19 that impact newsgathering rights or public access should submit them to media@rcfp.org. The Reporters Committee will use this material for addditional updates as conditions warrant.

Journalists who have questions about or need assistance with their legal rights, or who encounter issues while reporting on COVID-19, can contact the Reporters Committees hotline by filling out an online form, emailing hotline@rcfp.org, or calling 1-800-336-4243.

View Press freedom and government transparency during COVID-19.

The Reporters Committee regularly files friend-of-the-court briefs and its attorneys represent journalists and news organizations pro bono in court cases that involve First Amendment freedoms, the newsgathering rights of journalists and access to public information. Stay up-to-date on our work by signing up for our monthly newsletter and following us on Twitter or Instagram.

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PATRIOT Act Morass: Gains and Stalled Reforms – Project On Government Oversight

Posted: at 11:45 pm

An important reform that was removed from the bill would have allowed the amicus to directly petition the Foreign Intelligence Court of Review to examine a FISA Court ruling the amicus disagreed with. This is a commonsense measure. Currently, if the FISA Court sides with the amicus, the Justice Department can appeal to the review court, but the amicus does not have the same option if the FISA Court sides with the Justice Department. But instead, the final bill only permits the amicus to ask the FISA Court to submit a petition to the Foreign Intelligence Court of Review, requesting that it review the case on appeal. The effect is that the amicus essentially must ask FISA Court judges to facilitate an effort to get their own opinions overruled. The bill does require the judges to provide a written explanation (which will then become public) if they refuse the amicuss request, which will hopefully limit bad-faith refusals of petitions for review. But there is no practical reason for the FISA Court to serve as a gatekeeper for petitions to the review court, which already has the authority to choose to accept or refuse cases.

In a positive, but too-limited step, the House bill also expands the amicuss ability to participate in cases involving First Amendment-protected activities. The bill requires the amicus to be brought in for cases that present exceptional concerns to First Amendment-protected activities; in contrast, a previous version of the bill contained a broader provision that would have allowed the amicus to participate in cases involving significant concerns. While the final language is a positive expansion of the amicuss role, it is indefensible to cut the amicus out of situations that present significantbut not necessarily exceptionalconcerns to First Amendment-protected activities.

The bill provides some improved access to information for the amicus. It allows the amicus to request the FISA Court provide access to any particular materials or information (or category of materials or information) that are relevant to the amicuss duties, which will aid the amicus in participating effectively in proceedings. And including category of materials or information is especially important to prevent a situation where the amicus wouldnt know what materials to ask for without seeing what materials exist. Its worth noting, though, that this provision was watered down from a previous version of the bill, which included a requirement for the FISA Court to disclose basic information, such as applications, certifications, petitions, and motions.

Given the recent concerns about the veracity of claims the government makes in FISA Court proceedings, its disappointing to see such limited reforms to the role of the amicusparticularly in the wake of the inspector general report on government misrepresentations of fact related to surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. Experts have highlighted how the amicus should serve as a watchdog against this type of abuse, and a bill introduced by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee included a thoughtful proposal to involve the amicus in surveillance applications targeting U.S. persons. (Several minor provisions of that bill were incorporated into the USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act, but its expansion of the amicus role was not.)

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Trump Isn’t the First President to Attack the Press – The Nation

Posted: at 11:45 pm

Donald Trump at the NBC Universal 2015 Winter TCA Press Tour. (Joe Seer / Shutterstock)

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Every month, it seems, brings a new act in the Trump administrations war on the media. In January, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo exploded at National Public Radio reporter Mary Louise Kelly when he didnt like questions she askedand then banned a colleague of hers from the plane on which he was leaving for a trip to Europe and Asia. In February, the Trump staff booted a Bloomberg News reporter out of an Iowa election campaign event.Ad Policy

The president has repeatedly called the press an enemy of the peoplethe very phrase that, in Russian (vrag naroda),was applied by Joseph Stalins prosecutors to the millions of people they sent to the gulag or to execution chambers. In that context, Trumps term for BuzzFeed, a failing pile of garbage, sounds comparatively benign. Last year, Axios revealed that some of the presidents supporters were trying to raise a fund of more than $2 million to gather damaging information on journalists at The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other media outfits. In 2018, it took a court order to force the White House to restore CNN reporter Jim Acostas press pass. And the list goes on.

Yet it remains deceptively easy to watch all the furor over the media with the feeling that its still intact and safely protected. After all, didnt Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan rail against the press in their presidencies? And dont we have the First Amendment? In my copy of Samuel Eliot Morisons 1,150-page Oxford History of the American People, the word censorship doesnt even appear in the index; while, in an article on The History of Publishing, the Encyclopedia Britannica reassures us that in the United States, no formal censorship has ever been established.

So how bad could it get? The answer to that question, given the actual history of this country, is: much worse.

Though few remember it today, exactly 100 years ago, this countrys media was laboring under the kind of official censorship that would undoubtedly thrill both Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo. And yet the name of the man who zestfully banned magazines and newspapers of all sorts doesnt even appear in either Morisons history, that Britannica article, or just about anywhere else either.

The story begins in the spring of 1917, when the United States entered the First World War. Despite his reputation as a liberal internationalist, the president at that moment, Woodrow Wilson, cared little for civil liberties. After calling for war, he quickly pushed Congress to pass what became known as the Espionage Act, which, in amended form, is still in effect. Nearly a century later, National Security Agency whistle-blower Edward Snowden would be charged under it, and in these years he would hardly be alone.

Despite its name, the act was not really motivated by fears of wartime espionage. By 1917, there were few German spies left in the United States. Most of them had been caught two years earlier when their paymaster got off a New York City elevated train leaving behind a briefcase quickly seized by the American agent tailing him.Current Issue

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Rather, the new law allowed the government to define any opposition to the war as criminal. And since many of those who spoke out most strongly against entry into the conflict came from the ranks of the Socialist Party, the Industrial Workers of the World (famously known as the Wobblies), or the followers of the charismatic anarchist Emma Goldman, this in effect allowed the government to criminalize much of the Left. (My new book, Rebel Cinderella, follows the career of Rose Pastor Stokes, a famed radical orator who was prosecuted under the Espionage Act.)

Censorship was central to that repressive era. As the Washington Evening Star reported in May 1917, President Wilson today renewed his efforts to put an enforced newspaper censorship section into the espionage bill. The Act was then being debated in Congress. I have every confidence, he wrote to the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, that the great majority of the newspapers of the country will observe a patriotic reticence about everything whose publication could be of injury, but in every country there are some persons in a position to do mischief in this field.

Subject to punishment under the Espionage Act of 1917, among others, would be anyone who shall willfully utter, print, write or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States, or the Constitution of the United States, or the military or naval forces of the United States.

Who was it who would determine what was disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive? When it came to anything in print, the Act gave that power to the postmaster general, former Texas Congressman Albert Sidney Burleson. He has been called the worst postmaster general in American history, writes the historian G. J. Meyer, but that is unfair; he introduced parcel post and airmail and improved rural service. It is fair to say, however, that he may have been the worst human being ever to serve as postmaster general.

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Burleson was the son and grandson of Confederate veterans. When he was born, his family still owned more than 20 slaves. The first Texan to serve in a cabinet, he remained a staunch segregationist. In the Railway Mail Service (where clerks sorted mail on board trains), for instance, he considered it intolerable that whites and blacks not only had to work together but use the same toilets and towels. He pushed to segregate Post Office lavatories and lunchrooms.

He saw to it that screens were erected so blacks and whites working in the same space would not have to see each other. Nearly all Negro clerks of long-standing service have been dropped, the anguished son of a black postal worker wrote to the New Republic, adding,Every Negro clerk eliminated means a white clerk appointed. Targeted for dismissal from Burlesons Post Office, the writer claimed, was any Negro clerk in the South who fails to say Sir promptly to any white person.

One scholar described Burleson as having a round, almost chubby face, a hook nose, gray and rather cold eyes and short side whiskers. With his conservative black suit and eccentric round-brim hat, he closely resembled an English cleric. From President Wilson and other cabinet members, he quickly acquired the nickname The Cardinal. He typically wore a high wing collar and, rain or shine, carried a black umbrella. Embarrassed that he suffered from gout, he refused to use a cane.

Like most previous occupants of his office, Burleson lent a political hand to the president by artfully dispensing patronage to members of Congress. One Kansas senator, for example, got five postmasterships to distribute in return for voting the way Wilson wanted on a tariff law.

When the striking new powers the Espionage Act gave him went into effect, Burleson quickly refocused his energies on the suppression of dissenting publications of any sort. Within a day of its passage, he instructed postmasters throughout the country to immediately send him newspapers or magazines that looked in any way suspicious.

And what exactly were postmasters to look for? Anything, Burleson told them, calculated tocause insubordination, disloyalty, mutinyor otherwise to embarrass or hamper the Government in conducting the war. What did embarrass mean? In a later statement, he would list a broad array of possibilities, from saying that the government is controlled by Wall Street or munition manufacturers or any other special interests to attacking improperly our allies. Improperly?

He knew that vague threats could inspire the most fear and so, when a delegation of prominent lawyers, including the famous defense attorney Clarence Darrow, came to see him, he refused to spell out his prohibitions in any more detail. When members of Congress asked the same question, he declared that disclosing such information was incompatible with the public interest.

One of Burlesons most prominent targets would be the New York City monthly The Masses. Named after the workers that radicals were then convinced would determine the revolutionary course of history, the magazine was never actually read by them. It did, however, become one of the liveliest publications this country has ever known and something of a precursor to the New Yorker. It published a mix of political commentary, fiction, poetry, and reportage, while pioneering the style of cartoons captioned by a single line of dialogue for which the New Yorker would later become so well known.

From Sherwood Anderson and Carl Sandburg to Edna St. Vincent Millay and the young future columnist Walter Lippmann, its writers were among the best of its day. Its star reporter was John Reed, future author of Ten Days That Shook the World, a classic eyewitness account of the Russian Revolution. His zest for being at the center of the action, whether in jail with striking workers in New Jersey or on the road with revolutionaries in Mexico, made him one of the finest journalists in the English-speaking world.

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A slapdash gathering of energy, youth, hope, the critic Irving Howe later wrote, The Masses was the rallying centerfor almost everything that was then alive and irreverent in American culture. But that was no protection. On July 17, 1917, just a month after the Espionage Act passed, the Post Office notified the magazines editor by letter that the August issue of the Masses is unmailable. The offending items, the editors were told, were four passages of text and four cartoons, one of which showed the Liberty Bell falling apart.

Soon after, Burleson revoked the publications second-class mailing permit. (And not to be delivered by the Post Office in 1917 meant not to be read.) A personal appeal from the editor to President Wilson proved unsuccessful. Half a dozenMassesstaff members including Reed would be put on trialtwicefor violating the Espionage Act. Both trials resulted in hung juries, but whatever the frustration for prosecutors, the countrys best magazine had been closed for good. Many more would soon follow.

When editors tried to figure out the principles that lay behind the new regime of censorship, the results were vague and bizarre. William Lamar, the solicitor of the Post Office (the departments chief legal officer), told the journalist Oswald Garrison Villard, You know I am not working in the dark on this censorship thing. I know exactly what I am after. I am after three things and only three thingspro-Germanism, pacifism, and high-browism.

Within a week of the Espionage Act going into effect, the issues of at least a dozen socialist newspapers and magazines had been barred from the mail. Less than a year later, more than 400 different issues of American periodicals had been deemed unmailable. The Nation was targeted, for instance, for criticizing Wilsons ally, the conservative labor leader Samuel Gompers; the Public, a progressive Chicago magazine, for urging that the government raise money by taxes instead of loans; and the Freemans Journal and Catholic Register for reminding its readers that Thomas Jefferson had backed independence for Ireland. (That land, of course, was then under the rule of wartime ally Great Britain.) Six hundred copies of a pamphlet distributed by the Intercollegiate Socialist Society, Why Freedom Matters, were seized and banned for criticizing censorship itself. After two years under the Espionage Act, the second-class mailing privileges of 75 periodicals had been canceled entirely.

From such a ban, there was no appeal, though a newspaper or magazine could file a lawsuit (none of which succeeded during Burlesons tenure). In Kafkaesque fashion, it often proved impossible even to learn why something had been banned. When the publisher of one forbidden pamphlet asked, the Post Office responded: If the reasons are not obvious to you or anyone else having the welfare of this country at heart, it will be uselessto present them. When he inquired again, regarding some banned books, the reply took 13 months to arrive and merely granted him permission to submit a statement to the postal authorities for future consideration.

In those years, thanks to millions of recent immigrants, the United States had an enormous foreign-language press written in dozens of tongues, from Serbo-Croatian to Greek, frustratingly incomprehensible to Burleson and his minions. In the fall of 1917, however, Congress solved the problem by requiring foreign-language periodicals to submit translations of any articles that had anything whatever to do with the war to the Post Office before publication.

Censorship had supposedly been imposed only because the country was at war. The Armistice of November 11, 1918 ended the fighting and on the 27th of that month, Woodrow Wilson announced that censorship would be halted as well. But with the president distracted by the Paris peace conference and then his campaign to sell his plan for a League of Nations to the American public, Burleson simply ignored his order.

Until he left office in March 1921more than two years after the war endedthe postmaster general continued to refuse second-class mailing privileges to publications he disliked. When a U.S. District Court found in favor of several magazines that had challenged him, Burleson (with Wilsons approval) appealed the verdict and the Supreme Court rendered a timidly mixed decision only after the administration was out of power. Paradoxically, it was conservative Republican President Warren Harding who finally brought political censorship of the American press to a halt.

Could it all happen again?

In some ways, we seem better off today. Despite Donald Trumps ferocity toward the media, we haventyetseen the equivalent of Burleson barring publications from the mail. And partly because he has attacked them directly, the presidents blasts have gotten strong pushback from mainstream pillars like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN, as well as from civil society organizations of all kinds.

A century ago, except for a few brave and lonely voices, there was no equivalent. In 1917, the American Bar Association was typical in issuing a statement saying, We condemn all attemptsto hinder and embarrass the Government of the United States in carrying on the war. We deem them to be pro-German, and in effect giving aid and comfort to the enemy. In the fall of that year, even the Times declared that the country must protect itself against its enemies at home. The Government has made a good beginning.

In other ways, however, things are more dangerous today. Social media is dominated by a few companies wary of offending the administration, and has already been cleverly manipulated by forces ranging from Cambridge Analytica to Russian military intelligence. Outright lies, false rumors, and more can be spread by millions of bots and people cant even tell where theyre coming from.

This torrent of untruth flooding in through the back door may be far more powerful than what comes through the front door of the recognized news media. And even at that front door, in Fox News, Trump has a vast media empire to amplify his attacks on his enemies, a mouthpiece far more powerful than the largest newspaper chain of Woodrow Wilsons day. With such tools, does a demagogue who loves strongmen the world over and who jokes about staying in power indefinitely even need censorship?

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Rat spotted in Vancouver, Washington – Nwlaborpress

Posted: at 11:45 pm

Operating Engineers Local 701 parked its giant inflatable rat in front of the Vancouver, Washington, office of General Labor & Industrial Staffing Services (GLISS) on March 5. Union members were there to inform the public about GLISS paying subpar wages and benefits to workers and doing so without providing any apprenticeship opportunities. Holland Residential recently contracted with GLISS to provide workers on its new construction project at SW 6th and Washington in downtown Vancouver. According to the union, those workers earn less than half the established area standard wage. Temp agencies like GLISS often pocket 30 to 50% of the wages earned by the worker while providing fewer benefits and offering no employment protections, Local 701 said in a press release. GLISS responded to the rats arrival by calling the police and threatening legal action.

Displays and public appeals like this one are protected by both the First Amendment and the National Labor Relations Act, according to several federal court cases and National Labor Relations Board decisions, said Local 701 Business Manager Jimbo Anderson. Were exercising out First Amendment rights to raise awareness about family wage jobs and apprenticeship programs.

Local 701, which represents heavy equipment and stationary operators in Oregon and Southwest Washington, has had an increased presence in the region recently, touring with a new outreach and education trailer and encouraging women and people of color to apply for union apprenticeship programs so that everyone can earn a fair days wage for a fair days work.

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NASA and private sector have big plans for space travel and they’re recruiting – New York Post

Posted: at 11:44 pm

Amid all the coronavirus worries, heres a positive development: NASA this month began taking applications for new astronauts.

You probably wont qualify: Candidates must have STEM backgrounds, and the odds of being accepted in the last round were 50 times worse than those for Harvard applicants.

Plus NASAs at least four years away from getting anyone to the moon though thats far from the only manned mission now on the planning boards.

On the other hand, firms like Axiom Space and Elon Musks SpaceX are starting to offer regular commercial trips that are (literally) out of this world and you dont need to be a real astronaut.

Its not cheap: You need to fork over $55 million for a seat on the first fully private-sector spaceflight, slated for next year complete with two days of space travel and eight days at the International Space Station. (Better act fast: Only two of the three available seats are left, reports The New York Times.)

But prices will come down, as the long-term prospects for off-planet exploration and residency are improving.

NASA is forging ahead with its Moon to Mars program, with a planned lunar landing date in 2024.

The moon leg, called Artemis (Apollos twin sister), includes an orbiting spacecraft with room for astronauts to live for up to three months, while shuttling back and forth to the lunar surface.

Thatll allow for extended periods of exploration and access to more moon sites, including, notably, the lunar South Pole, which is thought to hold hundreds of millions of tons of ice. (Off-Earth ice is a huge asset for further space exploration.)

NASA hopes to establish a permanent human presence on the moon as it searches for scientific discoveries and lays the foundation for private companies to build a lunar economy.

Artemis will also help NASA prepare for a trip to Mars in the 2030s. And the agencys not alone with its Martian dreams: SpaceX and other private firms are eyeing colonization of the next planet out from the sun.

Its important to get a self-sustaining base on Mars, says Musk, whose company is working on plans to get there. The Red Planet is far enough away that, in the event of a war, its more likely mankind can survive there than on the moon.

Musk hopes to ferry 1 million people to Mars by 2050 via 1,000 Starships a year, each with 100 people and materials to sustain them, for 10 years.

Such visions are ambitious. But space exploration and development come with big payback: They broaden knowledge, create possibilities for new applications and hold out enormous economic potential, with resources to be mined and space jobs to be filled.

And even if Musks worry about a humanity-ending war is excessive, having an off-Earth refuge may be handy for other reasons such as an outbreak of something even worse than COVID-19.

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LGBT+ campaigner and space expert’s solution to coronavirus: Colonize the Moon – Gay Star News

Posted: at 11:44 pm

A Russian lawyer who specializes in LGBT+ advocacy has offered the boldest solution yet to the coronavirus crisis colonize the Moon and Mars.

Maria Bast is the chair of the Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights. And in particular she helps LGBT+ people get asylum abroad. She also fights to legalize same-sex marriage, for better laws for LGBT+ people.

But she also has another job as a manager in the space industry.

And yesterday she issued a message to the inhabitants of the planet Earth about COVID-19.

In it, she argues that coronavirus is a result of overpopulation. And she therefore proposes that we expand our home to fix the problem.

Bast made a video which she particularly addressed to those people who are smart people farmers, workers, businessmen, leaders of countries, politicians, officials, activists etc.

She explained: You have heard now the phrase coronavirus. Coronavirus is a crisis of human civilization. A global crisis. Coronavirus shows there are no borders and no nations [anymore]. Everyone is connected by one world with one problem.

Coronavirus is a result of overpopulation. Every day, every hour, every minute, every second we strain resources of our planet.

In particular, she says people living in megacities concentrates viruses.

What should we do in this situation? It is my suggestion we should leave megacities. We should leave megacities in favor of space exploration. We should expand our home. Because it is overwhelmed.

We have been forced to leave this planet, to [take] the next step into space. To make space bases on other planets, for example the Moon, Mars and other planets.

Indeed, the world population is expected to hit 7.8billion people this year. But as recently as 1960 it was just 3billion. Moreover, by 2030 it is set to exceed 8billion.

However, colonization of other planets may be a way off. Nobody has stepped foot on the Moon since 1972 and no human has yet visited Mars.

And some people think that washing their hands is a big ask.

But while Basts solution to the immediate coronavirus problem may generate some laughter, she is right about one thing:

We are all connected now. If we want to defeat coronavirus we need to join our resources, we need to join our efforts.

Meanwhile, in more practical COVID-19 news:

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Grading Jets GM Joe Douglas’ still-in-progress offensive line rebuild – SNY.tv

Posted: at 6:43 am

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From the first day he arrived at Jets headquarters, Joe Douglas made it clear his priority was fixing the Jets' offensive line. He inherited a mess, he could obviously see it, and he knew cleaning it up it was his most important job.

"You guys know how I feel about the offensive line," the Jets GM said at the scouting combine in February. "It's hard to have a good team without one."

The Jets' line isn't yet good enough to power their team, but as promised, Douglas certainly took steps in that direction during the opening days of free agency. He took a flier on tackle George Fant, re-signed the Jets' best lineman in guard Alex Lewis, and landed the best center on the market in ex-Bronco Connor McGovern.

And more is on the way. The Jets have been talking with free-agent guard Greg Van Roten, who could replace Brian Winters. And their right tackle spot is certainly in flux, especially with multiple NFL sources convinced that Douglas is going to take a tackle with the 11th pick in the NFL draft next month.

Yes, the Jets still need cornerbacks, receivers and help for their pass rush, so there's a lot of work to be done overall. But the Jets are well on their way to having a completely revamped offensive line by the time training camp opens this summer.

And that was always Job 1.

"Obviously we need to have a strong offensive line," he said. "We have to do a good job of taking care of Sam (Darnold) moving forward."

It's clear that the Jets' line did not do a good job of that last season. They gave up a ridiculous 52 sacks, and that doesn't even fully tell the story about how much pressure there was on the Jets' three quarterbacks. Darnold was constantly on the run, making plays outside of the pocket and escaping trouble caused by his crumbling line.

So how much better is the Jets' line now? While the grade is "incomplete" for now, the upgrades do seem significant. The 6-4, 306-pound McGovern is a big improvement over Jonotthan Harrison at center. He's durable, having missed just one game in the last three seasons. And last year, in his first season as a full-time starting center, he committed no penalties and gave up just one sack, according to Pro Football Focus, in 1,013 snaps.

McGovern got a three-year, $27 million deal from the Jets, slightly more than the three years, $18.6 million it cost them to re-sign the 6-6, 305-pound Lewis. Douglas got Lewis from Baltimore in August for a seventh-round draft pick, and he became the Jets' best lineman once he took over for the injured Kelechi Osemele. According to a team source, Douglas felt he was the only one of the Jets' linemen from last season that he absolutely had to re-sign.

Douglas' big gamble is the 6-5, 322-pound Fant, who got an eye-popping three-year, $27.3 million deal after three years as a part-time starter in Seattle. But the contract really is a one-year, $9.25 million bet on a promising, sizeable player. Fant will likely be the left tackle to start this season, but could move to the right side in the future depending on which tackle the Jets draft in the first round.

There are other variables, too. The 6-4, 300-pound Harrison is likely coming back and will provide some much-needed depth. He also could fill in at center or play guard, if necessary. The Jets haven't given up on tackle Chuma Edoga, last year's third-round pick, after an up-and-down rookie season. And there seems to be a chance they'll bring back Winters, whom Douglas praised during his press conference at the combine, but only if Winters agrees to a significant cut of his $7 million salary first.

So the rebuilding isn't over, but Douglas got off to a good start. There's a reason he started addressing this before he began adding at other positions. A good defense and dangerous weapons are minimized if a team can't protect their quarterback. Having a strong offensive line is an absolute necessity.

Or as Douglas said, it's hard to have a good team without it. The Jets may not have one yet, but at least they're finally on their way.

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FDAs Congressional Report Confirms Slow But Steady Progress on CBD Regulation – JD Supra

Posted: at 6:43 am

Updated: May 25, 2018:

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Our Website and Services may contain links to other websites. The operators of such other websites may collect information about you, including through cookies or other technologies. If you are using our Website or Services and click a link to another site, you will leave our Website and this Policy will not apply to your use of and activity on those other sites. We encourage you to read the legal notices posted on those sites, including their privacy policies. We are not responsible for the data collection and use practices of such other sites. This Policy applies solely to the information collected in connection with your use of our Website and Services and does not apply to any practices conducted offline or in connection with any other websites.

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Pursuant to Section 1798.83 of the California Civil Code, our customers who are California residents have the right to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes.

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For non-EU/Swiss residents, if you would like to know what personal information we have about you, you can send an e-mail to privacy@jdsupra.com. We will be in contact with you (by mail or otherwise) to verify your identity and provide you the information you request. We will respond within 30 days to your request for access to your personal information. In some cases, we may not be able to remove your personal information, in which case we will let you know if we are unable to do so and why. If you would like to correct or update your personal information, you can manage your profile and subscriptions through our Privacy Center under the "My Account" dashboard. If you would like to delete your account or remove your information from our Website and Services, send an e-mail to privacy@jdsupra.com.

We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time. Please refer to the date at the top of this page to determine when this Policy was last revised. Any changes to our Privacy Policy will become effective upon posting of the revised policy on the Website. By continuing to use our Website and Services following such changes, you will be deemed to have agreed to such changes.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of this site, your dealings with our Website or Services, or if you would like to change any of the information you have provided to us, please contact us at: privacy@jdsupra.com.

As with many websites, JD Supra's website (located at http://www.jdsupra.com) (our "Website") and our services (such as our email article digests)(our "Services") use a standard technology called a "cookie" and other similar technologies (such as, pixels and web beacons), which are small data files that are transferred to your computer when you use our Website and Services. These technologies automatically identify your browser whenever you interact with our Website and Services.

We use cookies and other tracking technologies to:

There are different types of cookies and other technologies used our Website, notably:

JD Supra Cookies. We place our own cookies on your computer to track certain information about you while you are using our Website and Services. For example, we place a session cookie on your computer each time you visit our Website. We use these cookies to allow you to log-in to your subscriber account. In addition, through these cookies we are able to collect information about how you use the Website, including what browser you may be using, your IP address, and the URL address you came from upon visiting our Website and the URL you next visit (even if those URLs are not on our Website). We also utilize email web beacons to monitor whether our emails are being delivered and read. We also use these tools to help deliver reader analytics to our authors to give them insight into their readership and help them to improve their content, so that it is most useful for our users.

Analytics/Performance Cookies. JD Supra also uses the following analytic tools to help us analyze the performance of our Website and Services as well as how visitors use our Website and Services:

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If you would like to change how a browser uses cookies, including blocking or deleting cookies from the JD Supra Website and Services you can do so by changing the settings in your web browser. To control cookies, most browsers allow you to either accept or reject all cookies, only accept certain types of cookies, or prompt you every time a site wishes to save a cookie. It's also easy to delete cookies that are already saved on your device by a browser.

The processes for controlling and deleting cookies vary depending on which browser you use. To find out how to do so with a particular browser, you can use your browser's "Help" function or alternatively, you can visit http://www.aboutcookies.org which explains, step-by-step, how to control and delete cookies in most browsers.

We may update this cookie policy and our Privacy Policy from time-to-time, particularly as technology changes. You can always check this page for the latest version. We may also notify you of changes to our privacy policy by email.

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FDAs Congressional Report Confirms Slow But Steady Progress on CBD Regulation - JD Supra

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La Jolla MAD Progress Report: More improvements coming to The Village – La Jolla Light

Posted: at 6:43 am

GUEST COMMENTARY:

La Jollas Maintenance Assessment District (MAD) vendors continue the cycle of regular maintenance. Sidewalk power washing will be performed quarterly in Zone 1 of The Village. Landscape maintenance will cycle through the entire Village every three weeks. And, litter control occurs daily.

During February 2020, MADs sidewalk power washing vendor completed a second power washing of sidewalks on Prospect Street, Girard Avenue and Wall Street in La Jolla.

MADs landscape services vendor provided tree and bush trimming throughout The Village. One specific focus for this vendor is cleanup of leaves, palm fronds and other organics that drop from trees and collect on sidewalks and in gutters. MAD is also working with this vendor to enhance tree wells on Prospect and Girard. That work should start before the end of March.

MADs litter control vendor continued its daily patrol of The Village to locate and remove loose litter and trash to ensure no overflowing trash receptacles. That same vendor provided the repainting of concrete trash receptacles (36 have been repainted and painting the remainder is scheduled soon.)

MAD has made progress on the trash dumpster front. We have communicated with merchants about more frequent trash pickup and better maintenance of the dumpster locations. So far, the improvements are noticeable.

MAD has contacted SDG&E and will coordinate with them to provide paint and direction for a MAD vendor to paint 12 transformer boxes and protective steel bollards. This work will start March 18.

At Enhance La Jollas board meeting, Feb. 13, the board approved MAD to consider plans for refinishing wood benches and increasing the frequency of sidewalk power washing.

MAD has developed a pilot plan for refinishing wood benches. Initially, 25-30 benches will be refinished on Prospect, Girard and Wall. Look for this work to start by April 1.

MAD will implement a plan to increase the frequency of sidewalk power washing by adding one weekly work shift to coincide with the start of the summer tourist season, sometime in May.

Finally, MAD is coordinating with the Streetscape Plan architects to place some sidewalk planters along Girard where damaged planters have been removed. MAD will ensure that these replacement planters will be consistent with existing planters and the ultimate Village Streetscape Plan.

ALERT: We have a graffiti tagger in The Village. Please notify MAD of any graffiti sightings; MAD will try and remove or repaint these locations as quickly as possible.

As always, your input, comments and concerns are welcome. You can contact La Jollas Maintenance Assessment District (MAD) by e-mail: manager@enhancelajolla.org or (858) 444-5892 and visit enhancelajolla.org

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La Jolla MAD Progress Report: More improvements coming to The Village - La Jolla Light

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‘In-progress’ reflections of an aspiring marathon runner – University of Virginia The Cavalier Daily

Posted: at 6:43 am

When an old Hokie friend of mine asked to meet up during the winter break to catch up over dinner, I was overjoyed both to share our first-semester stories and to satisfy my intense Thai cravings. Little did I know that she had an ulterior motive. The moment she asked me to run a half-marathon with her, hesitation and doubt rushed in. In high school, we ran cross country together, but I ran for fun, not for the competition not to mention that my exercise regime had consisted of crawling up the Gooch/Dillard stairs and eating Runk ice cream every day that semester. But for some reason, I instinctively agreed because I knew that I needed a change from my first semester lifestyle. And why not cross it off my bucket list while Im still young and healthy?

After our dinner date, my friend and I scoured the Internet for half-marathon training plans and races. Our promise to keep each other accountable by texting updates and sending daily words of encouragement officially sealed the deal. A lot of changes were made, which involved sleeping way earlier than my usual 2 a.m. bedtime during fall semester and a lot more physical movement, but these small steps became the foundation for the longer strides that will be crucial on race day.

My eight weeks of half-marathon training thus far have taught me a lot about myself the physical struggles my body could endure and the self-discipline I could acquire. Here are some of the reflections I have learned so far.

Learning to start small

Similar to a New Years resolution, the first week was somewhat easy, but as my weekly mileage and AFC visits increased, so did the amount of schoolwork and stress I had. There have been obvious benefits improved time management and feeling more productive throughout the day.

However, it has changed my perspective of work as a whole as well. These running plans required me to start off at a small mileage and gradually add more miles each week to build my stamina, endurance and speed at a steady pace. I was able to apply this same approach to my school work. Rather than choosing to do work all at once, I began to see my schoolwork as a drawn-out process rather than a rapidly put-together product done in one sitting. I saw these final results to be rewarding in terms of both quality and grades.

Motivation

Intentions are important. As a penny-pincher, I struggled to pay the heavy race registration fee. The idea that I had to run to make the money worth it was one of my earlier sources of motivation. As I began to add training into my schedule, rather than thinking of it as a chore to accomplish, I visualized it as a daily challenge to the start of my day. Will I be able to claim victory by pushing through? Will I be able to run my split time faster? Or will I not finish in the end?

Once midterms hit, my inner laziness and sweet-tooth demons were unleashed, and I had to constantly compromise with and rearrange my training I definitely felt its painful repercussions during the long runs, especially when I didnt hydrate or eat enough the night before. Acutely understanding how these mistakes correlated with my performance helped me gain a larger understanding of how and why self-discipline is the overarching idea that factors into good nutrition, hydration and sleep.

Finding peace in a big world

Training has become progressively easier as my body has adjusted to the regular freezing morning runs, bland pre-workout bananas and the creeping fatigue I feel in the late afternoon. My overall mood has improved as the negative energy that comes with morning exhaustion is flushed out. There is also something quite mystical about running on Grounds on early Saturday mornings with so few people in sight. Im so used to being drowned by the flood of students walking about that I regard the empty sidewalks as a sight for sore eyes and something I finally have the chance to fully own.

Living as a student in the University bubble of roughly 24,000 students and as human in a world of 7.7 billion people, the lonely aspect of runs helps remind me of how small of a person I am. But it also reassures me that I am never alone no matter how early I am awake, there will always be someone else in the world who is going through their daily routine trying to make a name for themselves as well. It is easy to think that the world is so full of conflict and anger that we forget that we are just humans trying to live together. Taking 40 minutes to remind myself of this little thought and witnessing natural beauty in morning fog and barren trees have changed my views on the dreary winter months of January and February.

The race is only two weeks away, and Im both anxious and relieved to accomplish this feat. Will I be training for a full marathon race after? The answer is most likely no, but one thing is for sure theres nothing that gets me more pumped up than hitting the pavement while listening to a Bon Appetit podcast episode and dreaming of the Coco Verde acai bowl waiting for me at the Juice Laundry.

Sarah Kim is a Life Columnist at The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at life@cavalierdaily.com.

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'In-progress' reflections of an aspiring marathon runner - University of Virginia The Cavalier Daily

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