Monthly Archives: April 2022

A special commission charged with reviewing and possibly revamping Massachusetts official state seal and motto decided Tuesday to request a third extension to finish that job.

The commission is now asking the Legislature for a deadline of March 31, 2023 to complete its work. The legislation that created the commission originally established a deadline of October 1, 2021 for the body to issue its findings.

We dont want to have any more extensions unnecessarily, and I think theres a lot of people out there waiting to give feedback, said Brian Boyles, the commissions co-chair and the executive director of Mass Humanities. Were going to get the ball rolling now, I think, with this revised timeline.

The current iteration of the seal, which dates back to 1898, depicts a Native American holding a bow and arrow and standing beneath a disembodied arm, thought to represent the colonial military leader Myles Standish, which holds a sword as if poised to strike. The accompanying Latin motto, Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem, is often translated as, By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty.

Dissatisfaction with the seal among Native American advocates and others dates back decades. Byron Rushing, a former state Representative from Boston, pushed to change the seal for years, but told the New York Times in 2019 that allies had been tough to find.

Heres a state that had gay rights, gay marriage and kept voting against the death penalty, Rushing said at the time. But when you talked about changing the flag, people went bananas.

Recently, though, the idea has gained ground on Beacon Hill, and the Legislature moved to create the current commission as the 2020-21 legislative session ended.

Some heraldry experts argue that, because the current design synthesizes elements from previous versions of the seal, it should not be interpreted as threatening or celebrating violence against Native Americans. But commission member Michael Comeau, the executive director of the Massachusetts Archives, said Tuesday that the record is ambiguous when it comes to the designs intent.

What was the intent of the original design? The historical record isnt overly detailed in that explanation, he said.

Commissioner Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, the chairwoman of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), said that, in the end, the intent behind the existing imagery doesnt really matter.

What I really dont want to have us do is spend a lot of time in dissecting what [the intent] was, Andrews-Maltais said. I dont believe that anything back then when it was designed was really designed with an intent to cause harm.

Cant change history, she added. It is what it is. All we can do is revisit and illuminate what those impacts and implications have been, and figure out how we can move forward.

While the commission was established over a year ago, there was palpable uncertainty at Tuesdays meeting about whether the end goal is to modify the existing seal or create an entirely new one.

Is this a clean-slate rework, completely, or is it a partial? commissioner Jim Wallace asked. Because thats going to determine, really, how the entire commission moves forward. So I think the sooner we get an answer to that as a whole, the better.

Whats the path moving forward? Comeau asked. Whats the ultimate objective? Ive never really been entirely clear on that myself.

Boyles, the commissions co-chair, urged the bodys three subcommittees to grapple with that question between now and the next full committee meeting in June.

Some commission members worried Tuesday that the slow pace of deliberations could end up imperiling their mission.

I dont want to make this go for so long [that] it loses its momentum, because its been such a long time coming, said commissioner Brittney Walley, who is a member of the Nipmuc Nation.

Comeau echoed that concern.

I think there is an actual risk to extending things too far, he said. I mean, we keep kicking the can down the road, at some point we just appear as sort of meandering and indecisive. You keep pushing it off and pushing it off, and eventually, it just dies under its own weight.

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Commission to review Mass. state seal and motto struggling to get the job done - GBH News

Just before Easter, on Friday 8 April, the Stre government presented Whitepaper #10; Prioritized Changes, Status and Measures in the Defense Sector, which is now to be processed by the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense.

In order to a.o. increase the national defense capacity in the High North, the government upgrades the activities of sea forces, land forces, and intelligence in the North, as well as the Defenses capacity to receive and support allied forces, primarily in the North.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has major consequences for Norwegian security. Russia has significant security interests in the North. That affects Norway and NATO. Maintaining influence in our immediate areas will require more from Norway in the future said then-Defense Minister Odd Roger Enoksen (Centre Party) at the presentation of the whitepaper, according to a MoD press release.

The whitepaper describes overall security policy changes in light of the Russian attack on Ukraine and what consequences these will have for the governments priorities in the shorter as well as longer term.

The whitepaper also reports on the current status of the realization of the long-term plan for the Armed Forces (2021-2024), which states that the situation is now not as it should be due to delays, cost overruns, and competence challenges.

Following up on this, the government wants to consolidate and re-prioritize in order for the Armed Forces to subsequently grow and be strengthened.

On 1 April, the government announced that it proposes a NOK 3 billion strengthening of the defense sector in 2022, and pointed to immediate measures to increase the Armed Forces presence in the North.

These measures, now described in the whitepaper, are to be processed in the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs as part of a larger budget proposal about economic measures following from the war in Ukraine. The Committee is to present its position on 28 April.

More extensively, the government presents the following measures for the North in the whitepaper:

A whitepaper is a report from the government to the Parliament (Stortinget) about issues the government wants the MPs to discuss.

The Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defenses work on the new defense whitepaper will end up with a proposal including a.o. the Committees remarks and recommendations. This proposal is then to be processed by the Storting.

Go here to read the rest:

New Norwegian Whitepaper on Defense: The Government Increases Sea, Land, and Intelligence Activity in the North - High North News

Saturday, the Gulf Coast got together to celebrate the real-life superheroes keeping a watchful eye over the lower six counties.

The Superhero 5k in Bay St. Louis honored Lt. Michael Boutte and lineman Cayce Seal and was also a show of support for both professional and nonprofessional heroes and caregivers.

Runners wore their super hero outfits, but that was only the start of the festivities. Visitors got their fill of crawfish, drinks, and live music until the evening. Mississippi Heroes Director Katherine Sutton said, So this was actually our official first year. So, i think people came out to celebrate Michael Boutte and Cayce Seal. And then we had some nurses that came out to celebrate professional caregivers, and we had some family caregivers that came out. Its an event we want to keep growing and just to support and to share some love and appreciation for those in the community that do so much for others.

The Coast still mourns the passing of Lt. Boutte, who was shot last year in the line of duty, and Seal, who died in a work accident last year.

More here:

Heroes celebrated with 5K and Fun Run in Bay St. Louis - WXXV News 25

Children threw stones at a seal and a woman grabbed it by its tail on a beach in the north east of England. The seal had to be moved to allow it to rest, a swimmer who witnessed the incidents said.

Donna had just been for a swim at Hornsea, close to Hull, on Monday and saw the seal in the water. She said it then went on to the shore for a rest but then a group of children began harassing it, reports HullLive.

She said: I was absolutely shocked to see that as it came to shore some children around 12 years old started throwing stones at it. They were told off but then a woman came marching up and grabbed the seal by its tail with the aim of flinging it back in the sea.

The seal went for this lady. All it wanted to do was rest, but everyone wanted a close-up picture and were surrounding it and it wasn't able to rest and it was getting very distressed.

British Divers Marine Life Rescue were called so they could take it away to allow it to rest properly and when it was ready it would re-enter the sea. What is wrong with people?

"If you see a seal leave it alone, don't touch it, don't let your dogs go near and most definitely do not throw stones at it. It should have been able to rest there on its own accord but unfortunately it was at risk of idiots.

There have been concerns raised regularly about the welfare of seals in the area. The Yorkshire Seal Group has raised the issue on its media channels frequently.

Coastguard teams have also urged people not to distress seals resting on the East Yorkshire coastline. Hull Coastguard Team has posted a warning on Facebook.

It says there has been an increase in the number of seals on beaches along the east coast which has led to a huge volume of calls to HM Coastguard. People have been mistakenly thinking the animals might be injured or they've 'stranded' when in fact they are simply resting.

Steve Cox, from HM Coastguard, said: "If someone sees an injured seal they can call us and we will call BDMLR (British Divers Marine Life Rescue), although of course, people can call BDMLR directly if they think an animal is hurt. However, weve been receiving a huge volume of calls over the past few days about seals on beaches which have turned out not to be injured.

"Seals often haul out onto land to rest and recharge and aren't necessarily there because they are hurt and if you approach them they can respond aggressively.

Please think before calling 999 and asking for the Coastguard about a seal that just happens to be on a beach, unless you really think its hurt as it could take up time that we need to deal with real emergencies.

More here:

Anger as children throw stones at seal and woman grabs it by its tail - Wales Online

Published Apr. 20|Updated Apr. 20

The day after Easter, President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, hosted the first Egg Roll at the White House since the pandemic started.

The White House shared footage of the April 18 event. The verified @POTUS Twitter accountshared videosandphotos. News outlets, like theNew York Times, did the same.

And yet, claims that the Bidens didnt actually host an Egg Roll at the White House are spreading on social media.

Lol, one April 18postsaid of a photo showing the Bidens waving from behind a planter full of flowers and a presidential seal. Screenshot of Sleepy and Jill supposedly live at the WH for the Easter Egg Roll. Check it out that presidential seal guys !!!!!! FAKE NEWS! BUSTED!!!!

This post was flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about ourpartnership with Facebook.)

It was echoed on Twitter.

Dont believe the Fake news telling you and showing you the Bidens Easter photo opp, an April 18tweetsaid. Below is the fake news photo on the left and the real Presidential seal from Google on the right. Did the eagle dye his tail feathers white for Easter? Why is eagle smoking a cigarette?

The presidential seal as it exists today dates back to 1945, when Harry S. Truman was president. A website for Trumans Little White House his winter retreat in Florida does show an eagle with brown tail feathers on apageabout the presidential seal and flag.

But we found that brown-tailed eagle on a presidential seal in a few other credible places. Thats because the seal the Bidens stood in front of at the White House on April 18 is authentic.

You can even see the same seal infootageof then-President Donald Trump and his family celebrating Easter at the White House in 2017.

It appears in a 2013 Smithsonian Magazinestoryabout the seal and is described as the modern seal of the President of the United States. Its also in a White House Historical Associationspostabout the history of the presidential seal. And youll even find it on a Britannicapagefor kids about the U.S. presidential seal.

The seal is real, and so was the egg hunt. We rate this ridiculous post Pants on Fire!

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No, this presidential seal doesnt prove the Bidens pretended to celebrate Easter at the White House - Tampa Bay Times

DUBLIN Gov. Phil Murphy launched the first leg of his economic development-focused trip to Ireland today with two cultural visits, one to the library of Trinity College Dublin and another to the Guinness Storehouse.

The governors day will conclude at a private dinner with a delegation from the economic development organization Choose NJ; the main announcements and meetings of Murphys three-day visit will follow in the coming two days.

Upon landing in Dublin after spending three days in France, Murphy met with Trinity College Provost and President Linda Doyle, who last year became the universitys first female leader in its 430-year history. Murphy, Doyle, and an assemblage of Murphy staff members and Choose NJ representatives viewed the colleges library and the Book of Kells, a famed 8th century illuminated manuscript.

From there, the delegation traveled to the Guinness Gravity Bar, where Murphy drank a pint of beer emblazoned with the New Jersey state seal and poured a pint of his own with First Lady Tammy Murphy. (Along with St. Patricks Cathedral, the Guinness Storehouse and Trinity College are considered two of Dublins main visitor attractions.)

Murphy made no announcements or remarks during the brief itinerary. Tomorrow, the governor a former U.S. Ambassador to Germany will meet with a number of diplomatic and business leaders, and on Tuesday he will travel to Cork, where his own Irish ancestry lies.

Murphys visit is the latest in a long line of gubernatorial envoys to countries that have strong economic and ethnic ties to New Jersey. In his first term, Murphy took a trip to India; his predecessor, former Gov. Chris Christie, did the same in Israel in 2012.

Continue reading here:

Murphy kicks off Ireland trip with cultural visits to Trinity College, Guinness Storehouse - New Jersey Globe | New Jersey Politics

On April 4, WBEZ, Chicagos NPR-affiliate, published an in-depth investigation into allegations that a company led by a politically connected lobbyist bilked Illinois taxpayers out of millions of dollars through a controversial state program that allows private companies to buy state debt.

The news outlets story, reported by Dan Mihalopoulos and Dave McKinney, explores accusations against the company, Vendor Assistance Program, in a newly unsealed whistleblower lawsuit that claims the state has been victimized by fraud.

But the investigation also draws heavily from court records Reporters Committee attorneys, along with attorneys at Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP, helped WBEZ unseal two years ago stemming from an earlier lawsuit filed by VAP investors. Those records revealed new information concerning the companys finances and depositions of the CEO about the companys campaign contributions to Chicago politicians.

WBEZ used all of the unsealed court records to shine a spotlight on the Illinois debt program as state officials consider bringing it to a close. To learn more about WBEZs investigation, we recently spoke to Mihalopoulos about the origins of the story, how RCFP attorneys helped and the significance of the records WBEZ ultimately obtained through litigation.

(This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)

Theres been a lot of controversy about this program in Illinois, a state that has a lot of financial problems. [The state] had billions and billions of dollars in unpaid bills to state vendors, and others that were owed money by the state. And so [state officials] came up with a program about 10 years ago where private companies would be approved to pay the bills and then those companies would later collect the late fee.

And this became an issue originally in a significant way during the 2019 race for mayor of Chicago. There was one candidate, who was the city clerk at the time, who had gotten a lot of campaign contributions from the people involved in this program. Also, one of the co-founders of VAP, the biggest player in the in the state program, was very close to a member of the Chicago City Council, who has since become ensnared in a corruption scandal.

So we were looking at this program, both because its part of the states financial problems and also because of the connections between people involved in the company and the mayoral candidate. In the course of doing reporting on this company in this program, we learned about a lawsuit involving investors in the program in Philadelphia.

So I was looking into this lawsuit in Philadelphia, between the investors in this company that has been paid hundreds of millions of dollars by the state for its involvement in the program. In the course of looking at these documents on the federal electronic court record system called PACER, we realized that a number of documents were under seal, and that some of them could be unsealed if we had somebody go into court on our behalf in Philadelphia.

I contacted our Freedom of Information Act lawyer, Matt Topic, and I explained the situation to him, and he referred me to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. [RCFP attorneys] basically asked me to explain this situation and why were interested in this. It was a very happy day when they told me that they would be taking our case, and that they would be entering an appearance on our behalf and filing a motion to intervene.

There was opposition. The parties involved argued that we misrepresented the nature of the program. The parties in the case, who didnt want the records unsealed, said it was confidential, proprietary business information.

Our lawyers at RCFP, and those who worked with them in Philadelphia, argued very effectively about the public interest in the matter. They also emphasized that were a news organization, and were trying to look out for the interests of the public in Illinois, particularly as were public media. It was a really, really good job that was done by the lawyers that represented us in this case. Very quickly, within a matter of a few months, we prevailed in court the judge in the case sided with us and ordered the release of those documents.

Well, we got a lot of things that we detailed in the story that we just published. As you can see from the story, this company, and this program continues to be very controversial in Illinois.

It was very interesting to get basically two different kinds of documents unsealed. One were internal audits of the company thats involved in the state program. Those records showed not only what theyre getting paid by the state, which is a matter of public record, but it showed their expenses, and ultimately what their net income was. In 2017, it was something on the order of $23 million.

The second thing that we got out of this was a number of excerpts from depositions of the CEO of the company and other people who were involved in the company. We learned from these depositions the questioning that they faced about those campaign contributions from 2019 to the mayoral candidate, which she had to return to the donors after our stories in 2019. We also learned about a number of other people, Republicans as well as Democrats, who were working for the company.

Essentially, we would say that we found out a lot more about the financial aspects of this company thats involved in a big state program, and we found out a lot about the political connections of that company. And all of that was thanks to the efforts of RCFP, and their successful intervention on our behalf in that lawsuit to get those federal court documents unsealed.

I really, really appreciate what RCFP did. And I think [Reporters Committee attorneys] Josh [Moore] and Katie [Townsend], and everyone involved, did an excellent job of digesting and simplifying what could be a very complicated matter. It was a lot of work, obviously, by a lot of people. And were deeply, deeply appreciative of what RCFP did here and what they do, in general, on behalf of journalists and the democratic societies that we serve.

The story needed some sort of news peg. That presented itself with a whistleblower lawsuit, which was filed quite a while ago, but was only unsealed itself recently. We always had in the back of our minds that we were looking for the opportunity to do a story with the details that were unearthed by the efforts of RCFP.

But honestly, we were looking for that news peg, which came when this whistleblower lawsuit was unsealed. Then we decided to do that all in one big story, rather than some smaller stories that we might have, you know, published sooner.

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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RCFP Q&A highlights findings of WBEZ investigation - Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

Councillor Suzie Morley of the Mid Suffolk District Council breaks ground for the new freeport zone (Mid Suffolk District Council)

PublishedApr 25, 2022 3:02 PM by The Maritime Executive

The port of Felixstowe is set to get a new 150-acre freeport industrial zone, which will provide millions of square feet of floorspace for warehousing, distribution and manufacturing within easy reach of the port. It will be the largest business park in East Anglia, according to its developer, the government-owned corporation Gateway 14.

The groundbreaking for Gateway 14 was held on Monday. Some of the space is reserved for build-to-suit applications, and some will be pre-built by the development partners on a speculative basis. As it is classified as a freeport zone, it comes with a range of tax and customs duty advantages for commerce.

The new site is adjacent to the community of Stowmarket on the A14 highway, just 26 road miles fromt Felixstowe, the largest container port in the UK. The developer plans to construct it with sustainability in mind, and will incorporate EV charging, LED lighting, solar panels, smart energy systems and rainwater harvesting. Its buildings will be certified to high environmental standards, and extra attention will be paid to landscaping in order to support the local ecology and make the site more enjoyable for employees. The initial investment in basic site infrastructure comes to about $8 million.

Gateway 14 is one component of the larger Harwich/Felixstowe Freeport East expansion project. The initiative includes two more designated tax sites at Felixstowe and Harwich, plus another four special customs sites.

Freeport East is a transformational initiative providing a total of 275 hectares of development opportunities in an area around the ports of Felixstowe and Harwich. Freeport status will attract new and additional investment in world-leading infrastructure and innovation, driving the Green Industrial Revolution and providing extensive re-skilling and up-skilling opportunities," said George Kieffer, the acting chairman of the Freeport East project.

Felixstowe is the largest container port in the UK, and it has handled more than 100 million TEU since it transferred its first Sealand container over the quay in 1966. Today, it handles over four million TEU and 2,000 boxships per year.

The rest is here:

Port of Felixstowe Expands its Potential With New Freeport Zone - The Maritime Executive

The planets are set to align with the moon on Sunday morning providing an unusual sight for amateur astronomers. Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus will align with the Moon before sunrise on Sunday morning.

The alignment some at the same time as the peak of the Lyrid this Sunday, April 24. Those hoping to view the phenomenon will have to rise in the early hours, as the window for the alignment starts around 5am.

At this point, the planets will have risen just above the horizon and loom there bright in the predawn sky. While visible to the naked eye, the planets will take on the appearance of stars in a rapidly brightening early morning sky.

Observers must look towards the southeast and use the Moon as a starting point. The Earth's natural satellite should have four bright dots lined up to its left.

The planets won't perfectly line up, as Saturn will loom slightly above the Moon, while Mars, Venus and Jupiter will appear lower.

Stargazers will have roughly an hour to watch before the planets are dimmed by sunrise around 6am. Not everyone will have a chance to watch, as weather forecasts suggest much of the country will see a cloudy Sunday morning.

The last time planets aligned in this fashion was two years ago, in 2020. And before then, astronomers spotted alignments in 2016 and 2005, with the former event seeing a parade of five with Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus and Mercury appearing together.

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Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus to align with Moon on Sunday - Derbyshire Live

The US Army is poised to release the results of a trial into a universal vaccine that could beat all current and future strains of Covid-19. The vaccine has gone through animal testing and is now in human trials, with the results due to be published, according to the Independent.

Luke ONeill, professor of biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin, told Newstalk on Thursday: Theres a massive effort happening in the US at the moment, trying to make whats called a universal vaccine. Its a great goal to have.

He said the vaccine uses fragments of the virus attached to a protein molecule, adding: [It] went into monkeys and amazingly it protects against Sars, the original virus, SARS-CoV-2, Alpha, Beta, Delta, Omicron. It protected against all of those [viruses] in monkeys. Theyre in the middle of a phase one trial in humans any day now actually, were going to get the data from that phase one trial soon.

Thats very, very hopeful that [the] US Army-derived vaccine could be the first universal vaccine against Covid-19.

New variants of Covid have been responsible for recent peaks in infection, hospitalisation and death - with Omicron BA.2 now the dominant strain in the UK. This week the UK Health Security Agency said it had detected 1,300 cases of a new variant combining strains of Omicron - called XE.

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Universal vaccine to beat all Covid variants to be unveiled by US military - Derbyshire Live