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Follow all AP stories on climate change issues at
Climate and environment
The latest stories from around the world on climate change, environmental degradation and preservation and energy transition.
https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
Protesters in UK decry climate change after record heat wave
By SYLVIA HUI today
1 of 8
Members of environmental groups including Just Stop Oil, the Peace and Justice Project and Insulate Britain take part in a mass protest in Parliament Square, London. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)
Members of environmental groups including Just Stop Oil, the Peace and Justice Project and Insulate Britain take part in a mass protest in Parliament Square, London. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)
LONDON (AP) — Protesters turned out Saturday on the streets of London and in the Scottish city of Glasgow to demand faster action against climate change following the record-smashing temperatures that scorched the U.K. this week.
Activist groups including Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain led protesters in a sit-in on Parliament Square in London to demand that the Conservative government stop giving new licenses for oil and gas production, tax big polluters and help people install more energy efficient heating in their homes.
“Tuesday’s extreme heatwave was a warning about what we will face as the climate collapses –- thousands of deaths, homes lost to wildfires and emergency services stretched to breaking point,” said Indigo Rumbelow from Just Stop Oil. “We are so unprepared for extreme heat and it’s only going to get worse.”
The U.K.’s Met Office weather agency recorded 40.3 degrees Celsius (104.5 degrees Fahrenheit) in England on Tuesday, the highest-ever temperature registered in a country ill-prepared for such extreme heat. British summers are usually quite moderate and few homes, schools or small businesses have air-conditioning.
The heat wave paralyzed major train networks, damaged airport runways and saw 15 fire departments across the country declaring major incidents. The London Fire Brigade said that Tuesday was the busiest day for firefighters since World War II.
In Glasgow, climate activists staged a “die-in” protest to demand urgent action to tackle climate change. Protesters laid on the ground in one of the city’s busiest shopping areas, covered in white sheets with “causes of death” including heat stress, famine and water scarcity.
“We’ve been sounding the alarm about the global climate emergency for years,” said Wolf Saanen, 39. “Now it has arrived on our shores, will those with the power to change things finally listen?”
Some climate groups warned they will stage more disruptive demonstrations in the autumn to bring Westminster — the seat of Parliament — to a standstill.
The groups also want the British government to reduce energy bills amid a soaring cost-of-living crisis that’s expected to squeeze households further in the fall when the weather turns colder.
Follow all AP stories on climate change issues at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
https://apnews.com/article/london-england-glasgow-c17bae08468767664e6d72edf5b8cc43
Right! That's why Trump, the Fake President, admired Hitler.
This country definitely cannot go that route.
10 Ways That Trump Is Like Hitler
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=156420745&txt2find=%3Cspan%20style=
Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot hearings lay blame at Trump's feet
July 22, 2022 5:07 AM CDT Last Updated 34 min ago
By Patricia Zengerle and Sarah N. Lynch
A never before seen video of former U.S. President Donald Trump rehearsing a speech, where he refused to admit a day after the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol that the 2020
WASHINGTON, July 22 (Reuters) - After losing the 2020 election, Donald Trump ignored close allies who told him that his claims of widespread election fraud were untrue, and when the followers who believed his false accusations stormed the U.S. Capitol, he sat back and watched.
That was the narrative the U.S. House of Representatives' select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack laid out in eight hearings over six weeks, which wrapped up with a study of the former president's actions during the 187-minute assault on Congress by thousands of his supporters.
"President Trump sat at his dining table and watched the attack on television while his senior-most staff, closest advisors and family members begged him to do what is expected of any American president," U.S. Representative Elaine Luria said. "President Trump refused to act because of his selfish desire to stay in power."
Some 18 months after the deadly assault, the hearings replayed video of rioters smashing their way into the Capitol, screaming "Hang Mike Pence" as they hunted the vice president who Trump had called on to overturn his election defeat.
They featured hours of testimony, some live and some recorded, from close Trump allies including former Attorney General Bill Barr, who dismissed Trump's fraud claims as "bullshit," and former White House staff including one who recalled an enraged president hurling plates, leaving ketchup running down a wall.
The hearings were intended to lay out a case that the Republican Trump violated the law as he tried, for the first time in U.S. history, to stop the peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next.
It is not yet clear if the Justice Department will bring charges against Trump, but the hearings appear to have somewhat hurt his standing with Republican voters. A Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Thursday found that 32% of Republicans say Trump should not run for president in 2024 -- a possibility he continues to flirt with publicly -- up from 26% who said that at the start of the hearings.
read more .. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ex-trump-aide-bannon-seek-dismissal-criminal-contempt-congress-charges-2022-07-21/
Attorney General Merrick Garland this week declined to say whether the Justice Department would charge Trump. But he did not rule it out.
"No person is above the law in this country. I can't say it any more clearly than that," Garland told reporters on Wednesday.
Trump and his allies -- including some Republicans in Congress -- deny he did anything wrong and dismiss the committee of seven Democrats and two Republicans as politically motivated.
Congressional Republicans last year blocked a proposal by Democrats for a bipartisan commission on Jan. 6, similar to the one convened after the 9/11 attacks, leaving the power to pick members in the hands of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Republican Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger joined the panel, which presented a scripted case without the verbal combat common in congressional hearings.
RIOT TRIALS CONTINUE
More than 850 people have been charged with joining in the riot, on a wide range of charges ranging from illegally entering restricted federal property to seditious conspiracy. More than 325 have pleaded guilty so far and the Justice Department has also scored multiple guilty verdicts in the cases of defendants who chose trial by jury.
In another high-profile case, prosecutors have charged Trump adviser Steve Bannon with contempt of Congress for refusing to answer a subpoena from the committee. Closing arguments in that case are expected on Friday. read more
The leaders and more than a dozen members of the right-wing Proud Boys and Oath Keepers have been charged with seditious conspiracy for their alleged role in organizing the attack, charges that carry sentences of up to 20 years in prison.
Still, critics have accused the Justice Department of not doing enough to investigate Trump or his inner circle for their efforts to overturn his election defeat.
But there are signs that the investigation appears to be broadening beyond the riot itself.
Under the leadership of the Matthew Graves, the U.S. Attorney in D.C. who was sworn in last fall, the department has started issuing grand jury subpoenas to electors in key battleground states, including some electors who signed bogus certificates certifying the election for Trump.
According to one May 5 subpoena seen by Reuters, prosecutors are seeking communications between electors and federal employees, "any member, employee or agent of Donald J. Trump."
Kristy Parker, a former federal prosecutor now with the non-profit group Protect Democracy, said she believes there is enough evidence to warrant a criminal probe into Trump's conduct.
"If DOJ ultimately decides that it isn't going to pursue charges against Trump, someone is going to have to explain to the public," Parker said in an interview. "Too much has come out now."
Kinzinger said the committee would urge changes to laws and policies intended to head off future attempts to overturn election results. A bipartisan Senate group this week introduced new legislation that would make clear that the vice president does not have the authority to throw out election results.
Such reforms were vital to guard against a repeat of the chaos and bloodshed of Jan. 6, Kinzinger said.
"The forces Donald Trump ignited that day have not gone away.
The militant, intolerant ideologies. The militias. The alienation and the disaffection. The weird fantasies and disinformation," Kinzinger added. "They're all still out there, ready to go. That's the elephant in the room."
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/jan-6-us-capitol-riot-hearings-lay-blame-trumps-feet-2022-07-22/
Photos: The U.K. Reaches Its Highest Temperature Ever
ALAN TAYLOR JULY 19, 2022, 25 PHOTOS IN FOCUS
Britain’s weather service recently issued its first-ever “red warning,” predicting extreme temperatures for early in the week, and today, measurements at Heathrow Airport climbed above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time ever. Residents were urged to stay indoors and not to travel unnecessarily during the hottest times of day.
Several fires have broken out, and the extreme heat has affected travel—buckling rails, and damaging roads and runways. Gathered below are images of some of the effects of this heat wave, and some of the ways people are coping with it.
HINTS: View this page full screen. Skip to the next and previous photo by typing
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2022/07/photos-uk-heatwave/670566/
A police officer gives water to a British soldier wearing a traditional bearskin hat, on guard duty
outside Buckingham Palace, during hot weather in London, England, on July 18, 2022.
The dried-out bed and reduced water levels in the Thruscross Reservoir
are seen during a heatwave on July 19, 2022, in Harrogate, England.
Photos: The U.K. Reaches Its Highest Temperature Ever
ALAN TAYLOR JULY 19, 2022, 25 PHOTOS IN FOCUS
Britain’s weather service recently issued its first-ever “red warning,” predicting extreme temperatures for early in the week, and today, measurements at Heathrow Airport climbed above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time ever. Residents were urged to stay indoors and not to travel unnecessarily during the hottest times of day.
Several fires have broken out, and the extreme heat has affected travel—buckling rails, and damaging roads and runways. Gathered below are images of some of the effects of this heat wave, and some of the ways people are coping with it.
HINTS: View this page full screen. Skip to the next and previous photo by typing
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2022/07/photos-uk-heatwave/670566/
A police officer gives water to a British soldier wearing a traditional bearskin hat, on guard duty
outside Buckingham Palace, during hot weather in London, England, on July 18, 2022.
The dried-out bed and reduced water levels in the Thruscross Reservoir
are seen during a heatwave on July 19, 2022, in Harrogate, England.
The World Is Burning Once Again
We can only adapt so much to extreme heat.
The Atlantic
By Jacob Stern
JULY 19, 2022, 8:29 PM ET
In September 2020, the United Kingdom’s Meteorological Office published a hypothetical weather forecast ..
The World Is Burning Once Again
We can only adapt so much to extreme heat.
The Atlantic
By Jacob Stern
JULY 19, 2022, 8:29 PM ET
In September 2020, the United Kingdom’s Meteorological Office published a hypothetical weather forecast ..
Trump lives in 'alternative reality' and truly believes his election-fraud claims,
says UK film-maker with him around Jan. 6
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-lives-in-alternative-reality-believes-election-fraud-filmmaker-2022-7
A hypothetical weather forecast for 2050 is coming true next week
Analysis by Angela Fritz, CNN Senior Climate Editor
Updated 4:46 PM ET, Fri July 15, 2022
(CNN)Two years ago, forecasters in the UK conducted an interesting thought experiment: What will our forecasts look like in 2050?
The climate crisis is pushing weather to the extreme all over the world, and temperatures in the northern latitudes have been particularly sensitive to these changes. So meteorologists at the UK Met Office -- the official weather forecast agency for the UK -- dove in to the super long-range climate models in the summer of 2020 to see what kind of temperatures they'd be forecasting in about three decades.
"Not actual weather forecast," the Met Office's graphics said. "Examples of plausible weather based on climate projections."
Well, on Monday and Tuesday, the "plausible" becomes reality -- 28 years early.
[. . . ]
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/15/weather/2050-uk-forecast-comes-true-in-2022/
A hypothetical weather forecast for 2050 is coming true next week
Analysis by Angela Fritz, CNN Senior Climate Editor
Updated 4:46 PM ET, Fri July 15, 2022
(CNN)Two years ago, forecasters in the UK conducted an interesting thought experiment: What will our forecasts look like in 2050?
The climate crisis is pushing weather to the extreme all over the world, and temperatures in the northern latitudes have been particularly sensitive to these changes. So meteorologists at the UK Met Office -- the official weather forecast agency for the UK -- dove in to the super long-range climate models in the summer of 2020 to see what kind of temperatures they'd be forecasting in about three decades.
"Not actual weather forecast," the Met Office's graphics said. "Examples of plausible weather based on climate projections."
Well, on Monday and Tuesday, the "plausible" becomes reality -- 28 years early.
[. . . ]
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/15/weather/2050-uk-forecast-comes-true-in-2022/
Nearly half of Europe is at risk of drought as heat wave scorches continent
Wildfires rage in France and Spain amid heat wave, while the UK faces its hottest day ever
By Joseph Ataman, Jimmy Hutcheon, Xiaofei Xu, Zahid Mahmood and Sana Noor Haq, CNN
Updated 10:17 AM ET, Mon July 18, 2022
Paris (CNN) - Raging wildfires have scorched thousands of hectares of forest in France and Spain, while Britain is set to face its hottest day on record amid a searing heat wave.
The southwestern region of Gironde in France has seen the worst of the blazes so far.
A total 14,300 hectares (35,000 acres) of land have been burned as of Monday, with 24,000 people evacuated from the region, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Gironde prefecture said on Twitter.
The heat wave in Portugal has intensified a pre-existing drought and sparked wildfires in central parts of the country, including in the village of Memoria, in the Leiria municipality.
Authorities have deployed 1,700 firefighters to tackle the fires.
A spokesperson for the Gironde regional fire and rescue service said 12 firefighters have sustained minor injuries since the start of the operation.
In Spain, wildfires engulfed the central region of Castile and Léon and the northern region of Galicia Sunday, Reuters reported. Firefighters steadied the flames in Mijas in the southeastern Málaga province and said evacuated people could return home.
Sweltering temperatures in Portugal have exacerbated a drought that started before the heat wave, according to data from the national meteorological institute. About 96% of the mainland was already suffering severe or extreme drought at the end of June.
'Peak of intensity'
The blistering heat wave in Western Europe is expected to peak early this week.
Monthly minimum temperature records could be broken across France Monday, according to the national weather agency. Météo-France identified nine localities where the monthly minimums look set to be broken, including Rostrenen in Brittany, northwestern France, where the record has stood since 1968.
In addition to Gironde, Météo-France issued a heatwave red alert to a total of 15 departments in western and southwestern regions, as temperatures are expected to reach as high as 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) Monday. A further 51 regions have been placed under orange alert, including Paris, with residents urged to avoid going outside between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time.
"Given the peak of intensity expected for today, the chances are low that the mercury will drop sufficiently before the end of the day" for these records not to be broken, Météo-France added.
Since May, France has seen only eight days when average daily temperatures were below aggregated summer average temperatures. In the remaining 39 days, national daily averages have been above the average temperatures for this time of year observed between 1991 and 2020, according to Météo-France data.
Spain's weather agency also issued extreme heat alerts Sunday, Reuters reported. Temperatures of 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) were forecast for the northern regions of Aragon, Navarra and La Rioja. The agency said the heat wave would end Monday, but it warned that temperatures would remain "abnormally high."
Nearly half of Europe's territory, including the UK, is "at risk" of drought, researchers at the EU Commission said Monday.
The Joint Research Centre highlighted that the drought in much of Europe is "critical" as the "winter-spring precipitation deficit ... was exacerbated by early heatwaves in May and June."
Water supply may be "compromised" in the coming months, according to the report.
Elsewhere in Europe, Britain is bracing itself for the "hottest day in UK history," according to a senior weather official. On Friday, the Met Office issued its first ever red warning for "extreme heat" over the soaring temperatures.
The Met Office's CEO, Penelope Endersby, said Monday may well be the "hottest day in UK history," but Tuesday is "expected to be even hotter."
"So it's tomorrow that we're really seeing the higher chance of 40 degrees and temperatures above that," Endersby told BBC Radio on Monday.
"Even possibly above that, 41 is not off the cards. We've even got some 43s in the model but we're hoping it won't be as high as that."
Endersby said while extreme temperatures are not expected beyond Tuesday, the Met Office will be monitoring the possibility of a drought in the coming months.
"We're expecting a big drop in temperature overnight into Wednesday -- down 10 or 12 degrees on what has been the days before," she said, adding: "Our attention is turning, once we're past these two days, to drought and when we might see any rain, and we're not seeing any significant rain coming up."
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/18/weather/europe-uk-heatwave-wildfires-france-spain-intl/index.html
Nearly half of Europe is at risk of drought as heat wave scorches continent
Wildfires rage in France and Spain amid heat wave, while the UK faces its hottest day ever
By Joseph Ataman, Jimmy Hutcheon, Xiaofei Xu, Zahid Mahmood and Sana Noor Haq, CNN
Updated 10:17 AM ET, Mon July 18, 2022
Paris (CNN) - Raging wildfires have scorched thousands of hectares of forest in France and Spain, while Britain is set to face its hottest day on record amid a searing heat wave.
The southwestern region of Gironde in France has seen the worst of the blazes so far.
A total 14,300 hectares (35,000 acres) of land have been burned as of Monday, with 24,000 people evacuated from the region, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Gironde prefecture said on Twitter.
The heat wave in Portugal has intensified a pre-existing drought and sparked wildfires in central parts of the country, including in the village of Memoria, in the Leiria municipality.
Authorities have deployed 1,700 firefighters to tackle the fires.
A spokesperson for the Gironde regional fire and rescue service said 12 firefighters have sustained minor injuries since the start of the operation.
In Spain, wildfires engulfed the central region of Castile and Léon and the northern region of Galicia Sunday, Reuters reported. Firefighters steadied the flames in Mijas in the southeastern Málaga province and said evacuated people could return home.
Sweltering temperatures in Portugal have exacerbated a drought that started before the heat wave, according to data from the national meteorological institute. About 96% of the mainland was already suffering severe or extreme drought at the end of June.
'Peak of intensity'
The blistering heat wave in Western Europe is expected to peak early this week.
Monthly minimum temperature records could be broken across France Monday, according to the national weather agency. Météo-France identified nine localities where the monthly minimums look set to be broken, including Rostrenen in Brittany, northwestern France, where the record has stood since 1968.
In addition to Gironde, Météo-France issued a heatwave red alert to a total of 15 departments in western and southwestern regions, as temperatures are expected to reach as high as 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) Monday. A further 51 regions have been placed under orange alert, including Paris, with residents urged to avoid going outside between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time.
"Given the peak of intensity expected for today, the chances are low that the mercury will drop sufficiently before the end of the day" for these records not to be broken, Météo-France added.
Since May, France has seen only eight days when average daily temperatures were below aggregated summer average temperatures. In the remaining 39 days, national daily averages have been above the average temperatures for this time of year observed between 1991 and 2020, according to Météo-France data.
Spain's weather agency also issued extreme heat alerts Sunday, Reuters reported. Temperatures of 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) were forecast for the northern regions of Aragon, Navarra and La Rioja. The agency said the heat wave would end Monday, but it warned that temperatures would remain "abnormally high."
Nearly half of Europe's territory, including the UK, is "at risk" of drought, researchers at the EU Commission said Monday.
The Joint Research Centre highlighted that the drought in much of Europe is "critical" as the "winter-spring precipitation deficit ... was exacerbated by early heatwaves in May and June."
Water supply may be "compromised" in the coming months, according to the report.
Elsewhere in Europe, Britain is bracing itself for the "hottest day in UK history," according to a senior weather official. On Friday, the Met Office issued its first ever red warning for "extreme heat" over the soaring temperatures.
The Met Office's CEO, Penelope Endersby, said Monday may well be the "hottest day in UK history," but Tuesday is "expected to be even hotter."
"So it's tomorrow that we're really seeing the higher chance of 40 degrees and temperatures above that," Endersby told BBC Radio on Monday.
"Even possibly above that, 41 is not off the cards. We've even got some 43s in the model but we're hoping it won't be as high as that."
Endersby said while extreme temperatures are not expected beyond Tuesday, the Met Office will be monitoring the possibility of a drought in the coming months.
"We're expecting a big drop in temperature overnight into Wednesday -- down 10 or 12 degrees on what has been the days before," she said, adding: "Our attention is turning, once we're past these two days, to drought and when we might see any rain, and we're not seeing any significant rain coming up."
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/18/weather/europe-uk-heatwave-wildfires-france-spain-intl/index.html
The week in 30 photos
Updated 7:25 PM ET, Thu July 14, 2022
This high-resolution image from the James Webb Space Telescope was among several released on Tuesday, July 12. The landscape-like view is the edge of NGC 3324, a young, star-forming region in the Carina Nebula. The telescope's infrared view reveals previously invisible areas of star birth.NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI
Thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope — the most powerful space telescope ever — we were treated to some spectacular views of the universe this week.
The telescope's first high-resolution images .. https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/12/world/gallery/james-webb-telescope-first-images-space/index.html .. were shared on Monday and Tuesday. They included interactions between galaxies, a stellar nursery where stars are born, and a unique look at an exoplanet.
The telescope, which launched in December, .. https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/12/world/james-webb-space-telescope-new-images-scn/index.html .. has enough fuel to operate for the next 20 years. It is expected to shed light on the life cycles of planets, stars and galaxies and reveal mysteries of the universe.
Here are some of the stories that made headlines over the past week, as well as some photos that caught our eye.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/14/world/gallery/photos-this-week-july-7-july-14/index.html
A history of Trump's alleged witness tampering
The latest accusations are part of a long pattern
Joel Mathis
July 1
" BOLD= embedded links "
https://theweek.com/jan-6-committee/1015142/a-history-of-trumps-witness-tampering
Is Donald Trump trying to undermine the work of the Jan. 6 committee? Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) has certainly been hinting at that possibility. "After our last hearing, President Trump tried to call a witness in our investigation — a witness you have not yet seen in these hearings, " Cheney revealed this week. " That person declined to answer or respond to President Trump's call, and instead alerted their lawyer to the call. Their lawyer alerted us."
That person was a member of the White House support staff during Trump's presidency, CNN later revealed. And that has raised concerns among investigators trying to get to the bottom of the insurrection. "This has been an ongoing pattern and we're trying to send the message that witness tampering is a crime in the United States of America," said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).
This isn't the first time Trump has faced questions about interfering with the various investigations into his activities. Here's everything you need to know:
Firing James Comey
Early in his presidential term, Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. Why? "Because he wasn't doing a good job, simply," he told reporters. "He was not doing a good job." But in an interview with NBC's Lester Holt, Trump seemed to hint that the firing stemmed from anger over ongoing investigations into his campaign's possible involvement with Russia in the 2016 election. "And in fact when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story, it's an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won," Trump told Holt.
Comey reported that Trump had leaned on him — during a dinner on Valentine's Day in 2017 — to go easy in the bureau's investigation of Mike Flynn, the former national security advisor who eventually pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador. Comey testified that Trump said: "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go." The request made Comey nervous. "I had understood the president to be requesting that we drop any investigation of Flynn in connection with false statements about his conversations with the Russian ambassador in December," he told the Senate Intelligence Committee in June 2017.
Flynn was convicted — but was pardoned by Trump after the 2020 election. He was most recently in the news due to a video appearance before the Jan. 6 committee, taking the Fifth in response to questions about whether he believes in the peaceful transfer of power.
Pressuring Michael Cohen
Cohen was Trump's longtime lawyer and fixer, which put him in a critical position regarding Trump's activities — including payments to Stormy Daniels, the adult film star with whom Trump had had a brief sexual relationship. Cohen's role in those payments came under scrutiny, according to CNN's Marshall Cohen (no relation): "After the FBI raided Cohen's home and office, Trump publicly defended him and said he didn't think Cohen would 'flip.' A lawyer close to Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani emailed Cohen saying that he should 'sleep well' because 'you have friends in high places.' Cohen told investigators that another Trump lawyer had said he'd be fine, and maybe get a pardon, if he stayed on message."
But Cohen did flip, testifying to Congress in 2019 — and making a stark prediction about his former boss: "I fear that if he loses the election in 2020 that there will never be a peaceful transition of power." That testimony happened only after Trump and Rudy Giuliani went public with comments suggesting that Cohen's father-in-law might be targeted for a federal investigation, raising questions about whether their activities constituted obstruction of justice. "We understand that Mr. Cohen's wife and other family members fear for their safety after these attacks," Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said in a joint statement. Cohen later served a prison sentence on convictions for violating campaign finance laws and lying to Congress during an earlier hearing.
The Mueller report
No charges ever came from Robert Mueller's investigation of Trump's Russia contacts. But Mueller, the former FBI director, strongly suggested that Trump might have faced obstruction charges if he had not been president. In fact, Mueller's final report cited 10 instances — including the firing of Comey, and the Michael Cohen incidents — that served as possible moments when Trump had tried to interfere with his inquiry. Other times included his efforts to get Mueller fired from the special counsel investigation.
From a layperson's standpoint, Mueller's conclusions about obstructions probably seemed like a haze of double negativity: The investigators weren't saying Trump had obstructed justice, but they weren't not saying it either. "If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state," Mueller's final report said. "Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment." The legal standard, though, is that the Department of Justice has a policy against prosecuting the sitting president. Mueller, however, didn't want to make it seem like Trump had been found innocent of the accusations. "While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."
.
No major problems with ballot drop boxes in 2020, AP finds
"--Prominent conservatives issue report rebutting Trump election claims--"
By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE and CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY
45 minutes ago
FILE - A voter submits a ballot in an official drop box during early voting in Athens, Ga., on Oct. 19, 2020. The widespread use of absentee ballot drop boxes during the 2020 election was largely trouble-free, contrary to claims made by former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies.
An Associated Press survey of state election officials across the U.S. revealed no problems that could have affected the results, including from fraud, vandalism or theft. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)
'ATLANTA (AP) — The expanded use of drop boxes for mailed ballots during the 2020 election did not lead to any widespread problems, according to an Associated Press survey of state election officials across the U.S. that revealed no cases of fraud, vandalism or theft that could have affected the results.
The findings from both Republican- and Democratic-controlled states run contrary to claims made by former President Donald Trump and his allies who have intensely criticized their use and falsely claimed they were a target for fraud.
Drop boxes are considered by many election officials to be safe and secure, and have been used to varying degrees by states across the political spectrum. Yet conspiracy theories and efforts by Republicans to eliminate or restrict them since the 2020 election persist. This month, the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled that drop boxes are not allowed under state law and can no longer be widely used.
Drop boxes also are a focal point of the film “2,000 Mules,” which used a flawed analysis of cellphone location data and ballot drop box surveillance footage to cast doubt on the results of the 2020 presidential election.
In response to the legislation and conspiracy theories surrounding drop boxes, the AP sent a survey in May to the top elections office in each state seeking information about whether the boxes were tied to fraudulent votes or stolen ballots, or whether the boxes and the ballots they contained were damaged.
All but five states responded to the questions.
None of the election offices in states that allowed the use of drop boxes in 2020 reported any instances in which the boxes were connected to voter fraud or stolen ballots. Likewise, none reported incidents in which the boxes or ballots were damaged to the extent that election results would have been affected.
A previous AP investigation found far too few cases of potential voter fraud in the six battleground states where Trump disputed his loss to President Joe Biden to affect the outcome.
A number of states — including Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas — said they do not allow the use of drop boxes. Some had not allowed them before the 2020 election, when the coronavirus pandemic prompted wider use of mailed ballots. In states where they are used, secretaries of state or election commissioners may not be aware of every incident involving a drop box if it was not reported to their office by a county or other local jurisdiction.
Drop boxes have been a mainstay in states with extensive mail voting for years and had not raised any alarms. They were used widely in 2020 as election officials sought to provide alternative ways to cast ballots with the COVID-19 outbreak creating concerns about in-person voting. The boxes also gave voters a direct method for submitting their ballots, rather than sending them through the U.S. Postal Service and worrying about delivery delays.
Starting months before the 2020 presidential election, Trump and his allies have made a series of unfounded claims suggesting that drop boxes open the door to voter fraud. Republican state lawmakers, as part of their push to add new voting restrictions, have in turn placed rules around when and where the boxes could be accessed.
Arizona Assistant Secretary of State Allie Bones said drop boxes are “safe and secure” and might even be considered more secure than Postal Service mailboxes. She said bipartisan teams in the state collect ballots from the drop boxes and take them directly to secure election facilities, following so-called chain-of-custody protocols.
“Not to say that there’s anything wrong with USPS, and I think they do a great job as well, but the hysteria around ballot drop boxes I think is just a made-up thing to create doubt and fear,” Bones said.
Arizona has had robust mail-in voting for years that includes the use of drop boxes, and in the AP survey, the state reported no damage, stolen ballots or fraud associated with them in 2020. Nevertheless, Trump-aligned lawmakers in the state pushed for legislation that would ban drop boxes, but were stymied by Democrats and several Republicans who disagreed with the strategy.
Utah is a state controlled by Republicans that also has widespread use of mailed ballots and no limits on the number of drop boxes a county can deploy. Jackson Murphy, spokesman for Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, a Republican who is the state’s top election official, said in the AP survey that Henderson encourages counties to make secure drop boxes accessible to voters.
Of the states responding to the survey, 15 indicated that drop boxes were in use before 2020 and 22 have no limits on how many can be used in this fall’s election. At least five states take the extra step of setting a minimum number of drop boxes required.
Republican-led Florida and North Dakota and Democratic-led New York did not respond. Montana and Virginia did, but did not answer the survey questions related to the 2020 election.
Last year, five states added new restrictions to ballot drop boxes, according to research by the Voting Rights Lab. That included Georgia, where President Joe Biden won a narrow victory and where drop boxes were allowed under an emergency rule prompted by the pandemic.
Georgia Republicans say their changes have resulted in drop boxes being a permanent option for voters, requiring all counties to have at least one. But the legislation, which includes a formula of one box per 100,000 registered voters, means fewer will be available in the state’s most populous communities compared with 2020.
owa lawmakers last year approved legislation to limit drop boxes to one per county. Previously, state law did not say how many drop boxes counties could use. This year, Louisiana, Missouri and South Carolina have passed laws effectively prohibiting drop boxes, according to the Voting Rights Lab, which researches state election law changes.
Along with incidents recorded in news reports, the AP survey found a handful of cases in 2020 in which drop boxes were damaged.
Officials in Washington state said there were instances when drop boxes were hit by vehicles, but that no ballot tampering had been reported. Massachusetts election officials said one box was damaged by arson in October 2020 but that most of the ballots inside were still legible enough for voters to be identified, notified and sent replacements.
A drop box also was set on fire in Los Angeles County in 2020, but a local election official said the vast majority of the ballots that were damaged were able to be recovered and voters provided new ballots. Another drop box in California was temporarily closed because of a wildfire.
“The irony is they were put in place to respond to a problem with the post office and make sure people had a secure way of returning their ballots,” said Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat. “And so there’s no actual legitimate concern except for, again, potential external threats or people who have been radicalized through misinformation to try to tamper with drop boxes to make a point.”
North Carolina provides an example of how deep-seated the misinformation has become. The state does not allow drop boxes and did not use them during the 2020 election.
“And despite that fact, people are still claiming drop box fraud must have occurred in North Carolina,” said Patrick Gannon, public information director for the State Board of Elections. “You can’t make this up. Oh wait. Yes, you can.”
In Wisconsin, Republicans had supported the use of drop boxes before Trump seized on mailed ballots as part of his unsubstantiated claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling that found ballot drop boxes were not allowed under state law also said no one other than the voter can return their ballot in person to a local clerk’s office or alternate site.
Some voters said they were frustrated by the ruling.
Kelly O’Keefe Boettcher of Milwaukee said she cast her ballot in a drop box in 2020 because of safety concerns during the pandemic and is upset that they’ll no longer be an option for her or for voters who are less able to get to the polls.
“Drop boxes are accessible; they are egalitarian,” she said. “To watch them go, I feel, people can say it’s not voter suppression. But it is.”
Wisconsin state Rep. Tim Ramthun, a Republican candidate for governor, reintroduced a resolution this past week for the GOP-controlled Legislature to decertify Biden’s victory there, adding the state Supreme Court ruling on drop boxes as one reason to do so. Trump also renewed his calls for decertification in Wisconsin, citing the ruling.
According to the AP survey, the Wisconsin Elections Commission said it is not aware of any cases in 2020 in which drop boxes were damaged, had submitted ballots stolen or destroyed, or were used for fraudulent ballots.
“Isn’t a mailbox a secure place to put a letter?” asked Dave Wanninger, who with his wife used a ballot drop box in a Milwaukee public library in 2020. “Why would a drop box be any different?”
___
Izaguirre reported from Tallahassee, Florida. Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin; Harm Venhuizen in Milwaukee; and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report.
https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-2022-midterm-elections-covid-health-wisconsin-c61fa93a12a1a51d6d9f4e0a21fa3b75
Schauffele, Fitzpatrick, Zalatoris, C. Smith, Spieth 276
Lyin' Trump remains the biggest liar...
When The Washington Post Fact Checker team first started cataloguing President Donald Trump’s false or misleading claims, we recorded 492 suspect claims in the first 100 days of his presidency.
On Nov. 2 alone, the day before the 2020 vote, Trump made 503 false or misleading claims as he barnstormed across the country in a desperate effort to win reelection.
This astonishing jump in falsehoods is the story of Trump’s tumultuous reign.
By the end of his term, Trump had accumulated 30,573 untruths during his presidency — averaging about 21 erroneous claims a day.
AP PHOTOS: Withering drought shows Lake Mead boat graveyard
By JOHN LOCHER
an hour ago
BOULDER CITY, Nev. (AP) — An abandoned old power boat juts upright from the cracked mud like a giant tombstone. Its epitaph might read: Here lay the waters of Lake Mead.
The largest U.S. reservoir has shrunken to a record low amid a punishing drought and the demands of 40 million people in seven states who are sucking the Colorado River dry. The megadrought in the U.S. West has been worsened by climate change. Wildfire season has become longer and blazes more intense, scorching temperatures have broken records and lakes are shriveling.
Receding waters of Lake Mead National Recreation Area have revealed the skeletal remains of two people along with countless desiccated fish and what has become a graveyard of forgotten and stranded watercraft.
Houseboats, sailboats and motorboats have been beached, creating a surreal scene in an otherwise rugged desert landscape. A buoy that once marked a no-boat-zone sits in the dirt, not a drop of water anywhere in view. Even a sunken World War II-era craft that once surveyed the lake has emerged from the ebbing waters.
A sign marks the water line from 2002 near Lake Mead at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Saturday, July 9, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. The largest U.S. reservoir has shrunken to a record low amid a punishing drought and the demands of 40 million people in seven states who are sucking the Colorado River dry. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Craig Miller hauls a hose while trying to free his stranded houseboat at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Thursday, June 23, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. Miller had been living on the stranded boat for over two weeks after engine trouble and falling lake levels left the boat above the water level. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A formerly sunken boat lies in a field of grass far from the water line at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Wednesday, June 22, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A formerly sunken boat sits upright into the air with its stern stuck in the mud along the shoreline of Lake Mead at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Wednesday, June 22, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. Lake Mead water has dropped to levels it hasn't been since the lake initially filled over 80 years ago. (AP Photo/John Locher)
https://apnews.com/article/lakes-colorado-river-droughts-trending-news-abab298019a44aef0181ad79aad12ab9
AP PHOTOS: Withering drought shows Lake Mead boat graveyard
By JOHN LOCHER
an hour ago
BOULDER CITY, Nev. (AP) — An abandoned old power boat juts upright from the cracked mud like a giant tombstone. Its epitaph might read: Here lay the waters of Lake Mead.
The largest U.S. reservoir has shrunken to a record low amid a punishing drought and the demands of 40 million people in seven states who are sucking the Colorado River dry. The megadrought in the U.S. West has been worsened by climate change. Wildfire season has become longer and blazes more intense, scorching temperatures have broken records and lakes are shriveling.
Receding waters of Lake Mead National Recreation Area have revealed the skeletal remains of two people along with countless desiccated fish and what has become a graveyard of forgotten and stranded watercraft.
Houseboats, sailboats and motorboats have been beached, creating a surreal scene in an otherwise rugged desert landscape. A buoy that once marked a no-boat-zone sits in the dirt, not a drop of water anywhere in view. Even a sunken World War II-era craft that once surveyed the lake has emerged from the ebbing waters.
A sign marks the water line from 2002 near Lake Mead at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Saturday, July 9, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. The largest U.S. reservoir has shrunken to a record low amid a punishing drought and the demands of 40 million people in seven states who are sucking the Colorado River dry. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Craig Miller hauls a hose while trying to free his stranded houseboat at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Thursday, June 23, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. Miller had been living on the stranded boat for over two weeks after engine trouble and falling lake levels left the boat above the water level. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A formerly sunken boat lies in a field of grass far from the water line at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Wednesday, June 22, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A formerly sunken boat sits upright into the air with its stern stuck in the mud along the shoreline of Lake Mead at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Wednesday, June 22, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. Lake Mead water has dropped to levels it hasn't been since the lake initially filled over 80 years ago. (AP Photo/John Locher)
https://apnews.com/article/lakes-colorado-river-droughts-trending-news-abab298019a44aef0181ad79aad12ab9
Only you Trumpanazees can goose step to Trump's continual lies.
"-- Join a Trump rally and goose step all the way to the election of president Donald J Trump. --"
FACT CHECKER
When The Washington Post Fact Checker team first started cataloguing President Donald Trump’s false or misleading claims, we recorded 492 suspect claims in the first 100 days of his presidency.
On Nov. 2 alone, the day before the 2020 vote, Trump made 503 false or misleading claims as he barnstormed across the country in a desperate effort to win reelection.
This astonishing jump in falsehoods is the story of Trump’s tumultuous reign. By the end of his term, Trump had accumulated 30,573 untruths during his presidency — averaging about 21 erroneous claims a day.
What is especially striking is how the tsunami of untruths kept rising the longer he served as president and became increasingly unmoored from the truth.
Trump averaged about six claims a day in his first year as president, 16 claims day in his second year, 22 claims day in this third year — and 39 claims a day in his final year. Put another way, it took him 27 months to reach 10,000 claims and an additional 14 months to reach 20,000. He then exceeded the 30,000 mark less than five months later.
Read our full report on the database. .. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-fact-checker-tracked-trump-claims/2021/01/23/ad04b69a-5c1d-11eb-a976-bad6431e03e2_story.html
See the pace of Trump’s false claims in this amazing visual graphic .. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/timeline-trump-claims-as-president/?itid=lk_inline_manual_10
Visit the Trump claims database website and explore it. .. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-claims-database/?itid=lk_inline_manual_11
The database has an extremely fast search engine that will quickly locate suspect statements made by Trump. Readers can also isolate claims by time period, subject or venue.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/24/trumps-false-or-misleading-claims-total-30573-over-four-years/
The Worst President in History
Three particular failures secure Trump’s status as the worst chief executive ever to hold the office.
By Tim Naftali
President Donald Trump has long exulted in superlatives.
The first. The best. The most. The greatest. “No president has ever done what I’ve done,” he boasts.
“No president has ever even come close,” he says.
But as his four years in office draw to an end, there’s only one title to which he can lay claim:
Donald Trump is the worst president America has ever had.
. . .
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=167483900
MORE: THE MOST PATHETIC MEN IN AMERICA
Why Lindsey Graham, Kevin McCarthy, and so many other cowards in Congress are still doing Trump’s bidding
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/07/kevin-mccarthy-lindsey-graham-trump-devotion-2024-election/661508/
Wout van Aert wins stage 4 to extend overall lead at Tour de France 2022- Results
https://olympics.com/en/news/tour-de-france-2022-stage-4-report
Dylan Groenewegen wins stage 3 with Wout van Aert extending his overall lead at Tour de France 2022 - Results
https://olympics.com/en/news/dylan-groenewegen-wins-tour-de-france-stage-3
Yves Lampaert stuns Wout van Aert to win stage 1 at Tour de France 2022 - - Results
https://olympics.com/en/news/yves-lampaert-stage-1-tour-de-france-2022-results
Woman who allegedly caused Tour de France crash arrested
By Pierre Bairin and Lorraine Poupon, CNN
Updated 11:59 AM ET, Wed June 30, 2021
OOPS ( ...I just realized this msg. is from last year's Tour de France 2021...)
00:45
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/30/sport/tour-de-france-crash-arrest-spt-intl/index.html
(CNN) - The woman who allegedly held out a banner causing the crash of dozens of cyclists during the first stage of the Tour de France last Saturday has been identified and is undergoing police questioning, the Brest prosecutor's office told CNN.
The accident happened 45 kilometers from the finish of the first stage of the race on Saturday -- from Brest to Landerneau -- when a female spectator on the side of the road held up a big sign which caused the pile up.
It's not evident what she meant to say on the sign which said 'ALLEZ OPI-OMI !' in French and German, which translates to 'Go Grandma and Grandpa.'
According to the race's video coverage of Saturday's incident, the sign hit German rider Tony Martin who was cycling near the head of the pack. Martin fell, which led to the subsequent crash of dozens of riders behind him.
Cyclists fell en masse and the crash left bikes and bodies tangled in the road. The fall held the race up for several minutes.
Italy's Kristian Sbaragli (left) and France's Bryan Coquard (right) lie on the ground after crashing during the first stage of the Tour de France.
Gendarmes from the Finistere region had posted an appeal on Facebook to track down the female spectator who apparently had left the scene before their arrival.
On Sunday, the Finistère gendarmerie announced the opening of a judicial investigation into "involuntary injuries with disability not exceeding three months by a deliberate violation of an obligation of safety or prudence."
The woman could face up to two years in prison and a fine of $35,000 according to the Brest prosecutor's office.
Team UAE Emirates' Marc Hirschi receives medical treatment after crashing during the first stage of the Tour de France.
The opening stages of this year's Tour have been marred by a series of crashes.
On Tuesday, during stage four, the peloton halted the race for about a minute in a silent protest for safer racing conditions.
Riders then cycled the next 10 kilometers very slowly.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/30/sport/tour-de-france-crash-arrest-spt-intl/index.html
President Biden Announces Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
July 01, 2022
• Statements and Releases
WASHINGTON – Today, President Biden named seventeen recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.
President Biden has long said that America can be defined by one word: possibilities. These seventeen Americans demonstrate the power of possibilities and embody the soul of the nation – hard work, perseverance, and faith. They have overcome significant obstacles to achieve impressive accomplishments in the arts and sciences, dedicated their lives to advocating for the most vulnerable among us, and acted with bravery to drive change in their communities – and across the world – while blazing trails for generations to come.
The awards will be presented at the White House on July 7, 2022.
--------
("Biden awards Medal of Freedom to Gabby Giffords, Simone Biles, John McCain
The following individuals will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom:"
https://www.npr.org/2022/07/07/1110258885/biden-awards-medal-of-freedom-to-denzel-washington-simone-biles-john-mccain
--------
Simone Biles
Simone Biles is the most decorated American gymnast in history, with a combined total of 32 Olympic and World Championship medals. Biles is also a prominent advocate for athletes’ mental health and safety, children in the foster care system, and victims of sexual assault.
Sister Simone Campbell
Sister Simone Campbell is a member of the Sisters of Social Service and former Executive Director of NETWORK, a Catholic social justice organization. She is also a prominent advocate for economic justice, immigration reform, and healthcare policy.
Julieta García
Dr. Julieta García is the former president of The University of Texas at Brownsville, where she was named one of Time magazine’s best college presidents. Dr. García was the first Hispanic woman to serve as a college president and dedicated her career to serving students from the Southwest Border region.
Gabrielle Giffords
Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was the youngest woman ever elected to the Arizona State Senate, serving first in the Arizona legislature and later in the U.S. Congress. A survivor of gun violence, she co-founded Giffords, a nonprofit organization dedicated to gun violence prevention.
Fred Gray
Fred Gray was one of the first black members of the Alabama State legislature since Reconstruction. As an attorney, he represented Rosa Parks, the NAACP, and Martin Luther King, who called him “the chief counsel for the protest movement.”
Steve Jobs (posthumous)
Steve Jobs (d. 2011) was the co-founder, chief executive, and chair of Apple, Inc., CEO of Pixar and held a leading role at the Walt Disney Company. His vision, imagination and creativity led to inventions that have, and continue to, change the way the world communicates, as well as transforming the computer, music, film and wireless industries.
Father Alexander Karloutsos
Father Alexander Karloutsos is the former Vicar General of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. After over 50 years as a priest, providing counsel to several U.S. presidents, he was named by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as a Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Khizr Khan
Khizr Khan is a Gold Star father and founder of the Constitution Literacy and National Unity Center. He is a prominent advocate for the rule of law and religious freedom and served on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom under President Biden.
Sandra Lindsay
Sandra Lindsay is a New York critical care nurse who served on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic response. She was the first American to receive a COVID-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials and is a prominent advocate for vaccines and mental health for health care workers.
John McCain (posthumous)
John McCain (d. 2018) was a public servant who was awarded a Purple Heart with one gold star for his service in the U.S. Navy in Vietnam. He also served the people of Arizona for decades in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate and was the Republican nominee for president in 2008.
Diane Nash
Diane Nash is a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee who organized some of the most important civil rights campaigns of the 20th century. Nash worked closely with Martin Luther King, who described her as the “driving spirit in the nonviolent assault on segregation at lunch counters.”
Megan Rapinoe
Megan Rapinoe is an Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women’s World Cup champion. She also captains OL Reign in the National Women’s Soccer League. She is a prominent advocate for gender pay equality, racial justice, and LGBTQI+ rights.
Alan Simpson
Alan Simpson served as a U.S. Senator from Wyoming for 18 years. During his public service, he has been a prominent advocate on issues including campaign finance reform, responsible governance, and marriage equality.
Richard Trumka (posthumous)
Richard Trumka (d. 2021) was president of the 12.5-million-member AFL-CIO for more than a decade, president of the United Mine Workers, and secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO. Throughout his career, he was an outspoken advocate for social and economic justice.
Wilma Vaught
Brigadier General Wilma Vaught is one of the most decorated women in the history of the U.S. military, repeatedly breaking gender barriers as she rose through the ranks. When she retired in 1985, she was one of only seven women generals in the Armed Forces.
Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington is an actor, director, and producer who has won two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globes, and the 2016 Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. He has also served as National Spokesman for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America for over 25 years.
Raúl Yzaguirre
Raúl Yzaguirre is a civil rights advocate who served as CEO and president of National Council of La Raza for thirty years. He also served as U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic under President Barack Obama.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/07/01/president-biden-announces-recipients-of-the-presidential-medal-of-freedom/
President Biden Announces Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
July 01, 2022
• Statements and Releases
WASHINGTON – Today, President Biden named seventeen recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.
President Biden has long said that America can be defined by one word: possibilities. These seventeen Americans demonstrate the power of possibilities and embody the soul of the nation – hard work, perseverance, and faith. They have overcome significant obstacles to achieve impressive accomplishments in the arts and sciences, dedicated their lives to advocating for the most vulnerable among us, and acted with bravery to drive change in their communities – and across the world – while blazing trails for generations to come.
The awards will be presented at the White House on July 7, 2022.
--------
("Biden awards Medal of Freedom to Gabby Giffords, Simone Biles, John McCain
The following individuals will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom:"
https://www.npr.org/2022/07/07/1110258885/biden-awards-medal-of-freedom-to-denzel-washington-simone-biles-john-mccain
--------
Simone Biles
Simone Biles is the most decorated American gymnast in history, with a combined total of 32 Olympic and World Championship medals. Biles is also a prominent advocate for athletes’ mental health and safety, children in the foster care system, and victims of sexual assault.
Sister Simone Campbell
Sister Simone Campbell is a member of the Sisters of Social Service and former Executive Director of NETWORK, a Catholic social justice organization. She is also a prominent advocate for economic justice, immigration reform, and healthcare policy.
Julieta García
Dr. Julieta García is the former president of The University of Texas at Brownsville, where she was named one of Time magazine’s best college presidents. Dr. García was the first Hispanic woman to serve as a college president and dedicated her career to serving students from the Southwest Border region.
Gabrielle Giffords
Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was the youngest woman ever elected to the Arizona State Senate, serving first in the Arizona legislature and later in the U.S. Congress. A survivor of gun violence, she co-founded Giffords, a nonprofit organization dedicated to gun violence prevention.
Fred Gray
Fred Gray was one of the first black members of the Alabama State legislature since Reconstruction. As an attorney, he represented Rosa Parks, the NAACP, and Martin Luther King, who called him “the chief counsel for the protest movement.”
Steve Jobs (posthumous)
Steve Jobs (d. 2011) was the co-founder, chief executive, and chair of Apple, Inc., CEO of Pixar and held a leading role at the Walt Disney Company. His vision, imagination and creativity led to inventions that have, and continue to, change the way the world communicates, as well as transforming the computer, music, film and wireless industries.
Father Alexander Karloutsos
Father Alexander Karloutsos is the former Vicar General of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. After over 50 years as a priest, providing counsel to several U.S. presidents, he was named by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as a Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Khizr Khan
Khizr Khan is a Gold Star father and founder of the Constitution Literacy and National Unity Center. He is a prominent advocate for the rule of law and religious freedom and served on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom under President Biden.
Sandra Lindsay
Sandra Lindsay is a New York critical care nurse who served on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic response. She was the first American to receive a COVID-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials and is a prominent advocate for vaccines and mental health for health care workers.
John McCain (posthumous)
John McCain (d. 2018) was a public servant who was awarded a Purple Heart with one gold star for his service in the U.S. Navy in Vietnam. He also served the people of Arizona for decades in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate and was the Republican nominee for president in 2008.
Diane Nash
Diane Nash is a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee who organized some of the most important civil rights campaigns of the 20th century. Nash worked closely with Martin Luther King, who described her as the “driving spirit in the nonviolent assault on segregation at lunch counters.”
Megan Rapinoe
Megan Rapinoe is an Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women’s World Cup champion. She also captains OL Reign in the National Women’s Soccer League. She is a prominent advocate for gender pay equality, racial justice, and LGBTQI+ rights.
Alan Simpson
Alan Simpson served as a U.S. Senator from Wyoming for 18 years. During his public service, he has been a prominent advocate on issues including campaign finance reform, responsible governance, and marriage equality.
Richard Trumka (posthumous)
Richard Trumka (d. 2021) was president of the 12.5-million-member AFL-CIO for more than a decade, president of the United Mine Workers, and secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO. Throughout his career, he was an outspoken advocate for social and economic justice.
Wilma Vaught
Brigadier General Wilma Vaught is one of the most decorated women in the history of the U.S. military, repeatedly breaking gender barriers as she rose through the ranks. When she retired in 1985, she was one of only seven women generals in the Armed Forces.
Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington is an actor, director, and producer who has won two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globes, and the 2016 Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. He has also served as National Spokesman for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America for over 25 years.
Raúl Yzaguirre
Raúl Yzaguirre is a civil rights advocate who served as CEO and president of National Council of La Raza for thirty years. He also served as U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic under President Barack Obama.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/07/01/president-biden-announces-recipients-of-the-presidential-medal-of-freedom/
Thanks for the great article about the inner workings of the Tour de France riders and the 8 man teams
" Tour de France 2022
Teams are made up of eight riders who do everything together
Race, eat, recover, and repeat, for 21 stages and nearly 2,100 miles over 23 days.
It should be noted that not all riders are the same.
There are 22 teams in the Tour de France, each organized under a sponsor. The sponsors tend to be banks, energy companies, and bicycle companies "
Your link: https://www.sbnation.com/cycling/2018/7/17/17570042/tour-de-france-team-tactics-staff-support
Lance Armstrong bio
-BOREALIS: OK, but where is Lance!!!-
Thanks for the reminder. I had forgotten about his past
Jan 4, 2018
Lance Armstrong is a cancer survivor and former professional cyclist who was stripped of his seven Tour de France wins due to evidence of performance-enhancing drug use.
Who Is Lance Armstrong?
Lance Armstrong became a triathlete before turning to professional cycling. His career was halted by testicular cancer, but Armstrong returned to win a record seven consecutive Tour de France races beginning in 1999. Stripped of those titles in 2012 due to evidence of performance-enhancing drug use, Armstrong in 2013 admitted to doping throughout his cycling career, following years of denials.
Early Career
Born on September 18, 1971, in Plano, Texas, Armstrong was raised by his mother, Linda, in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas. Armstrong was athletic from an early age. He began running and swimming at 10 years old, and took up competitive cycling and triathlons at 13. At 16, Armstrong became a professional triathlete—he was the national sprint-course triathlon champion in 1989 and 1990.
Soon after, Armstrong chose to focus on cycling, his strongest event as well as his favorite. During his senior year of high school, the U.S. Olympic development team invited him to train in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Armstrong left high school temporarily to do so, but later took private classes and received his high school diploma in 1989.
[...]
"There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough.' For me, that time is now," Armstrong said in an online statement around that time. "I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999. The toll this has taken on my family and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today—finished with this nonsense."
Banned From Cycling
The following day, on August 24, 2012, the USADA announced that Armstrong would be stripped of his seven Tour titles—as well as other honors he received from 1999 to 2005—and banned from cycling for life.
The agency concluded in its report that Armstrong had used banned performance-enhancing substances. On October 10, 2012, the USADA released its evidence against Armstrong, which included documents such as laboratory tests, emails and monetary payments. "The evidence shows beyond any doubt that the U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that the sport had ever seen," Travis Tygart, chief executive of the USADA, said in a statement.
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https://www.biography.com/athlete/lance-armstrong
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Rudy Giuliani, Lindsey Graham subpoenaed by grand jury in Trump election probe
The Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury also subpoenaed John Eastman and other members of the legal team the former president used to try to overturn results in the state.
02:33 ... BREAKING NEWS
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/rudy-giuliani-lindsey-graham-subpoenaed-grand-jury-trump-election-prob-rcna36749
July 5, 2022, 2:12 PM CDT / Updated July 5, 2022, 2:53 PM CDT
By Dareh Gregorian, Charlie Gile and Ali Vitali
The Georgia special grand jury hearing evidence in an investigation into possible 2020 election interference by former President Donald Trump and others has issued subpoenas to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and key members of Trump's legal team, including Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, NBC News has confirmed.
Also subpoenaed by the Fulton County special grand jury are lawyers Jenna Ellis, Cleta Mitchelland Kenneth Chesebro, all of whom worked with Trump in the aftermath of the election as he contested the results.
The subpoenas were first reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and were obtained by NBC News.
The special grand jury was empaneled earlier this year to assist Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ investigation into whether there were any “coordinated attempts to unlawfully alter the outcome of the 2020 elections” in Georgia.
Among the incidents Willis has said she's investigating is a November 2020 phone call Graham made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Raffensperger has said Graham pressed him on whether he had the power to reject certain absentee ballots, a question Raffensperger interpreted as a suggestion to toss out legally cast votes.
Graham denied that's what he was trying to do at the time, calling the allegation "ridiculous." He told reporters that he'd reached out to Raffensperger because he was “trying to find out how the signature stuff worked,” and that Raffensperger “did a good job of explaining to me how they verify signatures.”
The subpoena said Graham “made at least two telephone calls" to Raffensperger and his staff. "During the telephone calls, [Graham] questioned Secretary Raffensperger and his staff about reexamining certain absentee ballots cast in Georgia in order to explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome for former President Donald Trump. [Graham] also made reference to allegations of widespread voter fraud in the November 2020 election in Georgia, consistent with public statements made by known affiliates of the Trump Campaign," the subpoena said.
Graham did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
One of the lawyers subpoenaed Tuesday, Mitchell, was on a separate call with Raffensperger — the recorded Jan. 2, 2021, call in which Trump urged Raffensperger to overturn Joe Biden’s win in the state. “All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state,” Trump said on the call.
Trump has denied there was anything improper about the call, describing it as "perfect." The subpoena to Mitchell said she “possesses unique knowledge concerning the coordination and execution” of the phone call.
Raffensperger testified before the grand jury last month.
Giuliani testified before Georgia state legislators three times after the 2020 election, the Journal-Constitution reported, pushing debunked elections fraud claims and urging the legislators to take action.
In emotional testimony last month before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, outlined how they were harassed and targeted with death threats after Giuliani used video footage of the pair working during the election count to push lies about the results.
Giuliani falsely claimed that the two were passing USB drives “like vials of heroin or cocaine” during ballot counting operations in Fulton County. Moss testified at the hearing that what her mother had actually handed her was a “ginger mint.”
The subpoena to Giuliani said that despite a lack of evidence, the former New York City mayor “made additional statements, both to the public and in subsequent legislative hearings, claiming widespread voter fraud in Georgia during the November 2020 election and using the now-debunked State Farm Video in support of those statements. There is evidence that [Giuliani's] appearance and testimony at the hearing was part of a multi-state, coordinated plan by the Trump Campaign to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere."
Ellis testified alongside Giuliani at one Georgia hearing, which her subpoena said was also part of the "coordinated plan."
Eastman, another key figure in the Jan. 6 hearings, also testified before Georgia legislators, the Journal-Constitution reported, arguing lawmakers had “more than enough” evidence of fraud to pick an alternate slate of presidential electors for the state. The subpoena to Eastman noted he "advised lawmakers that they had both the lawful authority and a 'duty' to replace the Democratic Party’s slate of presidential electors, who had been certified as the duly appointed electors for the State of Georgia after the November 2020 election, due to unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud within the state."
Giuliani, Mitchell, Ellis and Eastman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Dareh Gregorian
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/rudy-giuliani-lindsey-graham-subpoenaed-grand-jury-trump-election-prob-rcna36749