thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-11--Muslims Shut Down Paul Krugman’s Tweets Erasing Post-9/11 Islamophobia

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman told his 4.6 million Twitter followers Friday that the Sept. 11 , 2001 , attacks didn ’ t spark anti-Muslim sentiment and didn ’ t drastically alter daily life in America ― assertions that were immediately debunked by Muslim Americans and others whose life experiences proved otherwise .
Krugman also contended that Americans ’ daily behaviors weren ’ t drastically affected by the attacks ― noting that he and his wife were able to fly to a vacation destination months later .
“ True , for a while people were afraid to fly : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands a couple of months later , because air fares and hotel rooms were so cheap , ” he wrote .
“ But life returned to normal fairly fast.
” THIS IS FUCKING INSANE !
!
!
!
!
I was spit on -- SPIT ON !
!
-- in BERKELEY FUCKING CALIFORNIA on 9/12 for being brown .
I cried daily , lived in fear for my brothers and uncles ( still do ) , get flagged by TSA every time I come home from abroad , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have it GOOD !
!
!
https : //t.co/B6hZKryvm1 — Samin Nosrat ( @ CiaoSamin ) September 11 , 2020 I know this may sound meek , but whatever .
I actually teared up today over that damn tweet .
It just ... really fucked me up .
We are real .
Our stories are real .
What we experienced was real .
For a person with such a distinguished platform to act as if it did n't happen -- it hurt bad — Joseph Jaafari is in need of tacos ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first week after the attacks , 645 bias incidents aimed at South Asian , Muslim , Sikh , Hindu , Middle Eastern , and Arab Americans reportedly occurred .
Physical assaults against Muslims rose drastically that year and still haven ’ t receded to pre-Sept. 11 levels .
Muslim communities were subjected to illegal and targeted surveillance by law enforcement .
Mosques were and continue to be vandalized , burned , and bombed .
While Krugman appears to have returned to flying easily , Muslim Americans report still being unfairly profiled and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump fanned the flames of anti-Muslim sentiment in 2015 by calling for a “ complete shutdown ” of Muslims entering the U.S. ― a threat he partially followed through on by targeting Muslim immigrants and refugees in an executive order on entry to the country he issued days after he became president .
The Sept. 11 attacks also sparked new forms of activism and advocacy in Muslim and other communities , including the organization of national civil rights groups and increased interfaith outreach .
Krugman ’ s tweets came “ from a place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Scott Simpson , public advocacy director for Muslim Advocates , a civil rights group founded in response to 9/11 .
He told HuffPost that the tweets were also a reminder that “ liberals who ostensibly support the rights of American Muslims can also be disturbingly dismissive of their lives and basic dignity.
” The 9/11 attacks are a “ delicate and traumatic time for Muslims , ” Simpson said .
He recalled how some Muslims “ draped themselves in the flag and even changed their names out of fear.
” “ This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still feel today , ” he said.
“ And with a presidential election looming , we ’ re seeing more bigoted opportunists than usual try and use this day as a way to stir up anti-Muslim hate.
” The Sikh Coalition is another advocacy group founded in the wake of Sept. 11 .
The first American slain in the backlash was a Sikh , Balbir Singh Sodhi , who was murdered outside of his gas station in Arizona four days after the attacks by a man who said he wanted to “ kill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I mean , 15 years later , at a Sikh-related portrait gallery event in ( New York City ) we still had people shouting ‘ Osama !
’ as they went by , ” Kaur said , referring to Osama bin Laden , the mastermind of the attacks in which almost 3,000 people died .
For many Americans , life never returned to “ normal ” after 9/11 , Kaur said ― especially those who lost loved ones in the attacks or were affected by the subsequent wars the U.S. pursued in Afghanistan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ profound moment of national trauma , and it certainly feels like we ’ re still healing from that as we remember those who were lost , ” Kaur said .
“ And then for Sikhs , Muslims and others , there is the added component of remembrance and grieving for all those who faced discrimination , injury , and even death in the days , weeks , months , and years afterward due to the backlash .
”

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New York Times columnist Paul Krugman told his 4.6 million Twitter followers Friday that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks didn’t spark anti-Muslim sentiment and didn’t drastically alter daily life in America ― assertions that were immediately debunked by Muslim Americans and others whose life experiences proved otherwise.
In a Twitter thread reflecting on the attacks, the economist and Nobel laureate claimed that America “took 9/11 pretty calmly.”
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“Notably, there wasn’t a mass outbreak of anti-Muslim sentiment and violence, which could all too easily have happened,” Krugman wrote.
Paul Krugman / Twitter Screenshot
Krugman also contended that Americans’ daily behaviors weren’t drastically affected by the attacks ― noting that he and his wife were able to fly to a vacation destination months later.
“True, for a while people were afraid to fly: my wife and I took a lovely trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands a couple of months later, because air fares and hotel rooms were so cheap,” he wrote. “But life returned to normal fairly fast.”
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Paul Krugman / Twitter Screenshot
Muslim Americans swiftly responded by reminding Krugman about the backlash experienced by their communities in the aftermath of the attacks.
Talk about white privilege and being COMPLETELY detached from the reality so many of us were forced to endure silently https://t.co/mvVIOQ3ysK — AMANI (@AMANI2020) September 11, 2020
THIS IS FUCKING INSANE!!!!! I was spit on--SPIT ON!!-- in BERKELEY FUCKING CALIFORNIA on 9/12 for being brown. I cried daily, lived in fear for my brothers and uncles (still do), get flagged by TSA every time I come home from abroad, and so much more. And I have it GOOD!!! https://t.co/B6hZKryvm1 — Samin Nosrat (@CiaoSamin) September 11, 2020
My mosque burned down https://t.co/uUiWEWta2X — Zara Rahim (@ZaraRahim) September 11, 2020
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Is this a parody account or are you intentionally white washing the hate crimes against Muslims including murders and destruction of our mosques?!! — (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) September 11, 2020
So...according to the FBI, anti Muslim hate crimes rose by 1600% in 2001.
If that isn’t a “mass outbreak,” please tell me what is https://t.co/U6qzOOTVMW — not sarah harvard (@amyharvard_) September 11, 2020
I know this may sound meek, but whatever. I actually teared up today over that damn tweet. It just...really fucked me up. We are real. Our stories are real. What we experienced was real. For a person with such a distinguished platform to act as if it didn't happen -- it hurt bad — Joseph Jaafari is in need of tacos (@JosephJaafari) September 11, 2020
Krugman’s publicity team did not immediately respond to a HuffPost request for comment.
During the first week after the attacks, 645 bias incidents aimed at South Asian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Middle Eastern, and Arab Americans reportedly occurred. Physical assaults against Muslims rose drastically that year and still haven’t receded to pre-Sept. 11 levels.
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Then-presidential candidate Donald Trump fanned the flames of anti-Muslim sentiment in 2015 by calling for a “complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the U.S. ― a threat he partially followed through on by targeting Muslim immigrants and refugees in an executive order on entry to the country he issued days after he became president.
The Sept. 11 attacks also sparked new forms of activism and advocacy in Muslim and other communities, including the organization of national civil rights groups and increased interfaith outreach.
Paul Krugman, winner of a Nobel Prize for his work as an economist, claimed on a Twitter thread Friday that America “took 9/11 pretty calmly.” Photo by Ricardo Rubio/Europa Press via Getty Images
Krugman’s tweets came “from a place of ignorance and privilege,” according to Scott Simpson, public advocacy director for Muslim Advocates, a civil rights group founded in response to 9/11. He told HuffPost that the tweets were also a reminder that “liberals who ostensibly support the rights of American Muslims can also be disturbingly dismissive of their lives and basic dignity.”
The 9/11 attacks are a “delicate and traumatic time for Muslims,” Simpson said. He recalled how some Muslims “draped themselves in the flag and even changed their names out of fear.”
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“This is a very real pain that Muslims still feel today,” he said.“And with a presidential election looming, we’re seeing more bigoted opportunists than usual try and use this day as a way to stir up anti-Muslim hate.”
The Sikh Coalition is another advocacy group founded in the wake of Sept. 11. The first American slain in the backlash was a Sikh, Balbir Singh Sodhi, who was murdered outside of his gas station in Arizona four days after the attacks by a man who said he wanted to “kill a Muslim” in retaliation.
Bullies at schools and assailants in hate crimes still use slurs related to 9/11 in their harassment of Sikh Americans, coalition’s Executive Director Satjeet Kaur told HuffPost.
“I mean, 15 years later, at a Sikh-related portrait gallery event in (New York City) we still had people shouting ‘Osama!’ as they went by,” Kaur said, referring to Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the attacks in which almost 3,000 people died.
“No community deserves this kind of hate, and it’s frankly irresponsible to pretend it didn’t happen or minimize it,” she added.
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For many Americans, life never returned to “normal” after 9/11, Kaur said ― especially those who lost loved ones in the attacks or were affected by the subsequent wars the U.S. pursued in Afghanistan and Iraq.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-11--62-Year-Old Python Laid 7 Eggs Despite Not Being With A Male For 2 Decades

ST. LOUIS ( AP ) — Experts at the St. Louis Zoo are trying to figure out how a 62-year-old ball python laid seven eggs despite not being near a male python for at least two decades .
Mark Wanner , manager of herpetology at the zoo , said it unusual but not rare for ball pythons to reproduce asexually .
The snakes also sometimes store sperm for delayed fertilization .
The birth also is unusual because ball pythons usually stop laying eggs long before they reach their 60s , Wanner said .
“ She ’ d definitely be the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” to lay eggs , Wanner said , noting the she is the oldest snake ever documented in a zoo .
The python , which has not been given a name , laid the eggs July 23 .
Three of the eggs remain in an incubator , two were used for genetic sampling and snakes in the other two eggs did not survive , the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported .
The eggs that survive should hatch in about a month .
The genetic sampling will show whether the eggs were reproduced sexually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The only other ball python in the zoo ’ s herpetarium is a male that 's about 31 .
The snakes are n't on public view .
The private owner gave the female to the zoo in 1961 .
She laid a clutch of eggs in 2009 that did n't survive .
Another clutch was born in 1990 but those eggs might have been conceived with the male because at the time , the snakes were put in buckets together while keepers cleaned their cages .

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ST. LOUIS (AP) — Experts at the St. Louis Zoo are trying to figure out how a 62-year-old ball python laid seven eggs despite not being near a male python for at least two decades.
Mark Wanner, manager of herpetology at the zoo, said it unusual but not rare for ball pythons to reproduce asexually. The snakes also sometimes store sperm for delayed fertilization.
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The birth also is unusual because ball pythons usually stop laying eggs long before they reach their 60s, Wanner said.
“She’d definitely be the oldest snake we know of in history,” to lay eggs, Wanner said, noting the she is the oldest snake ever documented in a zoo.
The python, which has not been given a name, laid the eggs July 23. Three of the eggs remain in an incubator, two were used for genetic sampling and snakes in the other two eggs did not survive, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The eggs that survive should hatch in about a month.
The genetic sampling will show whether the eggs were reproduced sexually or asexually, called facultative parthenogenesis.
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The only other ball python in the zoo’s herpetarium is a male that's about 31. The snakes aren't on public view.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-11--Naya Rivera Called For Help As She Drowned, According To Autopsy Report

LOS ANGELES ( AP ) — An autopsy report released Friday says “ Glee ” actor Naya Rivera raised her arm and called for help as she accidentally drowned while boating with her 4-year-old son on a California lake .
Once his mother had helped him back on to the boat , the boy “ noticed the decedent put her arm up in the air and yelled ‘ help , ’ ” the report from the Ventura County Medical Examiner says .
“ The decedent then disappeared in to the water.
” Authorities had previously said that Rivera had drowned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hollis Dorsey , back on the boat at Lake Piru northwest of Los Angeles on July 8 , but had not mentioned her shouting for help .
The man who rented her the pontoon boat said she declined a life vest , but he put one aboard anyway .
It revealed that the 33-year-old Rivera had previous problems with vertigo , had a recent sinus infection , and had a small amount of prescribed amphetamines in her system , but did not identify physical conditions or drugs as factors in her death .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , therapeutic amounts of the anti-anxiety drug diazepam and the appetite suppressant phentermine in her system .
Josey , Rivera ’ s son with her former husband , actor Ryan Dorsey , was found sleeping and alone on the drifting boat later that afternoon .
Five days later , her body was found floating in an area of the lake that is about 30 feet deep .
The Ventura County Sheriff ’ s Office said she was most likely trapped in thick vegetation underwater for several days before floating to the top .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ tweeted a photo of the two of them that read , “ just the two of us.
” In her memoir , she called him “ my greatest success , and I will never do any better than him.
” Rivera ’ s death was the third of a major cast member of “ Glee , ” the Fox TV musical comedy that Rivera starred in from 2009 to 2015 , playing a singing and dancing lesbian cheerleader .
Rivera ’ s body was found seven years to the day after co-star Cory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mix of alcohol and heroin .
Another co-star , Mark Salling , who Rivera dated at one point , killed himself in 2018 at age 35 after pleading guilty to child pornography charges .

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — An autopsy report released Friday says “Glee” actor Naya Rivera raised her arm and called for help as she accidentally drowned while boating with her 4-year-old son on a California lake.
Once his mother had helped him back on to the boat, the boy “noticed the decedent put her arm up in the air and yelled ‘help,’” the report from the Ventura County Medical Examiner says. “The decedent then disappeared in to the water.”
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Authorities had previously said that Rivera had drowned accidentally after putting the boy, Josey Hollis Dorsey, back on the boat at Lake Piru northwest of Los Angeles on July 8, but had not mentioned her shouting for help.
Rivera “knew how to swim well,” the report said.
The man who rented her the pontoon boat said she declined a life vest, but he put one aboard anyway.
It revealed that the 33-year-old Rivera had previous problems with vertigo, had a recent sinus infection, and had a small amount of prescribed amphetamines in her system, but did not identify physical conditions or drugs as factors in her death.
Toxicology tests also showed she had small, therapeutic amounts of the anti-anxiety drug diazepam and the appetite suppressant phentermine in her system.
Josey, Rivera’s son with her former husband, actor Ryan Dorsey, was found sleeping and alone on the drifting boat later that afternoon.
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Five days later, her body was found floating in an area of the lake that is about 30 feet deep. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said she was most likely trapped in thick vegetation underwater for several days before floating to the top.
Josey was immediately reunited with his father and other relatives.
The day before her death, Rivera tweeted a photo of the two of them that read, “just the two of us.” In her memoir, she called him “my greatest success, and I will never do any better than him.”
Rivera’s death was the third of a major cast member of “Glee,” the Fox TV musical comedy that Rivera starred in from 2009 to 2015, playing a singing and dancing lesbian cheerleader.
Rivera’s body was found seven years to the day after co-star Cory Monteith died at 31 from a toxic mix of alcohol and heroin.
Another co-star, Mark Salling, who Rivera dated at one point, killed himself in 2018 at age 35 after pleading guilty to child pornography charges.
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-11--19 Of The Funniest Tweets About Cats And Dogs This Week (Sept. 5-11)

i made a list .
of reasons you should hang out with me today 4. i am fun c. i @ @ @ @ @ listen .
to your silly human problems 8. you can pick the snacks a. i @ @

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If you need a laugh after a ruff week, we have something purr-fect for you.
Each week, HuffPost is going to find the very good tweets about dogs and cats that are sure to make you howl.
So, shoo your kitty off your keyboard and scroll down to read our paw-some batch for the week.
i made a list. of reasons you should hang out with me today
4. i am fun
c. i am soft
2. i will listen. to your silly human problems
8. you can pick the snacks
a. i love you — Thoughts of Dog® (@dog_feelings) September 7, 2020
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This is Apollo. He was wondering if this selfie makes his nose look big. 13/10 pic.twitter.com/Ok5T0fqh1W — WeRateDogs® (@dog_rates) September 10, 2020
rudy goes to doggy school every day on a bus and he loves it
(jukin copyright management) pic.twitter.com/SuIO0I6XMT — Humor And Animals (@humorandanimals) September 10, 2020
A gender reveal except you announce that you’re getting a puppy instead of burning down the state of California — ℙ𝕒𝕧𝕝𝕠𝕧 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕄𝕒𝕤𝕝𝕠𝕨 🐶 (@PAVGOD) September 10, 2020
its michael cera pic.twitter.com/LcI4Y86E0D — lil lord fuckpants (@sh_wnee) September 8, 2020
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Just add water. Wait for it. pic.twitter.com/lmJx7qk3C0 — Teddy (@MrTeddyTedster) September 10, 2020
She has her thinking cat on. pic.twitter.com/wHzgFki4kJ — Land of cuteness (@landpsychology) September 11, 2020
My cat doing a hundred annoying things in the background while I'm WFH is still not as bad as the times my coworker clipped his fingernails at his desk — Benjimnn 🥞 (@benjimnn) September 10, 2020
Where will you be when the zoomies kick in (🎥 IG hudson. mini.aussie) pic.twitter.com/7hVUMus2Qt — Aussies Doing Things (@aussiesdointhgs) September 10, 2020
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the perfect tattoo DOES exist pic.twitter.com/jebcCdSL4j — Rob N Roll (@thegallowboob) September 10, 2020
If kitty lays on the window sill, then I lay on the window sill pic.twitter.com/UQg20QNZxN — Napa the Golden (@napathegolden) September 10, 2020
This has been me with my cat in 80% of my meetings. pic.twitter.com/N42kyIKnlj — Mermom 🧜🏼♀ (@KateyAnthony) September 11, 2020
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Deer comes so often he gets his own bed pic.twitter.com/Sptewyi820 — Land of cuteness (@landpsychology) September 11, 2020
This still makes me laugh every time! https://t.co/v4zPPicXO9 — Greg Nibler (@GregNibler) September 11, 2020


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-11--14 Amazing Photos You Missed This Week

14 Amazing Photos You Missed This Week

We ’ re highlighting exceptional photos from around the world for the week just ended .
Check them out below @ @ @ @ @ Bar Bridge is surrounded by the Bear fire in Oroville , California , on Wednesday @

We’re highlighting exceptional photos from around the world for the week just ended. Check them out below.
Above: The Bidwell Bar Bridge is surrounded by the Bear fire in Oroville, California, on Wednesday.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-11--Runaway Porta-potty Seen Rolling Down Route 66

ALBUQUERQUE , N.M. ( AP ) — A portable toilet in Albuquerque fell victim to another kind of whiff this week after strong winds gave it a trip along Route 66 .
A virtual video showed the porta-potty rolling down a busy intersection of the Mother Road as curious motorists looked on .
Severe gusts appeared to have dislodged the mobile toilet and forced it down a journey through a road that once connected Chicago to Los Angeles .
Several motorists and passengers caught footage of the traveling portable toilet .
Some social media users posted videos of the traveling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Wind ” by Kansas .
No injuries were reported and it was unclear if anyone was inside .
Decommissioned as a U.S. highway in 1985 , Route 66 still holds lore as a road where Americans ventured west .
The 2,500-mile ( 4,023-kilometer ) highway passed through eight states , connecting tourists with friendly diners in welcoming small towns .
Nat King Cole famously sang ” ( Get Your Kicks on ) Route 66″ in a 1946 hit .
Important conversations are happening now .
Add your voice !
Join HuffPost Today @

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A portable toilet in Albuquerque fell victim to another kind of whiff this week after strong winds gave it a trip along Route 66.
A virtual video showed the porta-potty rolling down a busy intersection of the Mother Road as curious motorists looked on.
Advertisement
Severe gusts appeared to have dislodged the mobile toilet and forced it down a journey through a road that once connected Chicago to Los Angeles.
Several motorists and passengers caught footage of the traveling portable toilet. Some social media users posted videos of the traveling porta-potty to the song “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas.
No injuries were reported and it was unclear if anyone was inside.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-11--U.S. Marks 9/11 Anniversary At Tributes Shadowed By Coronavirus

In New York , victims ’ relatives gathered Friday morning for split-screen remembrances , one at the Sept. 11 memorial plaza at the World Trade Center and another on a nearby corner , set up by a separate organization .
The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation objected to the memorial ’ s decision to forgo a longstanding tradition of having relatives read the names of the dead , often adding poignant tributes .
Memorial leaders said they made the change as a coronavirus-safety precaution on the 19th anniversary of the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil .
“ We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Swift , 61 .
“ The whole country ’ s going downhill .
It ’ s one thing after another , and now with the COVID .
I ’ m glad they ’ re still having this , though.
” “ The heroes of Flight 93 are an everlasting reminder that no matter the danger , no matter the threat , no matter the odds , America will always rise up , stand tall , and fight back , ” the Republican president said , recalling how the plane ’ s crew and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the hijackers as headed for Washington .
Biden planned to pay respects at the election battleground state ’ s Flight 93 memorial in the afternoon .
Earlier , he attended the observance at the 9/11 memorial in New York , exchanging an elbow bump with Vice President Mike Pence before the ceremony began with the usual tolling of a bell .
Biden offered condolences to a woman he spotted crying in the crowd of hundreds , Amanda Barreto , who lost her aunt and godmother in the attacks .
Barreto , 27 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know to keep the faith ” and “ wanted me to say strong , ” telling her he understood what it meant to lose a loved one .
His first wife and their daughter died in a 1972 car crash , and his son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015 .
Pence went on to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation ceremony , where he read the Bible ’ s 23rd Psalm , and his wife , Karen , read a passage from the Book of Ecclesiastes .
“ For the families of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I pray these ancient words will comfort your heart and others , ” said the vice president , drawing applause from the crowd of hundreds .
In short , the anniversary of 9/11 is a complicated occasion in a maelstrom of a year , as the U.S. grapples with a health crisis , searches its soul over racial injustice and prepares to choose a leader to chart a path forward .
Still , families say it ’ s important for the nation to pause and remember the hijacked-plane attacks that killed nearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the Pentagon in Washington and near Shanksville on Sept. 11 , 2001 — shaping American policy , perceptions of safety and daily life in places from airports to office buildings .
The Pentagon ’ s observance was so restricted that not even victims ’ families could attend , though small groups can visit the memorial there later in the day .
At the New York memorial , thousands were still invited .
But they heard a recording of the names issued from speakers spread around the vast plaza , a plan that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at a stage but still allow families to remember their loved ones at the place where they died .
But some felt the change robbed the observance of its emotional impact .
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation arranged its own , simultaneous ceremony a few blocks away , saying there was no reason that people couldn ’ t recite names while keeping a safe distance .
Reverence for the dead “ requires that we read these names out loud , in person , every year , ” said foundation chair Frank Siller , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The two organizations also tussled over the Tribute in Light , a pair of powerful beams that shine into the night sky near the trade center , evoking its fallen twin towers .
The 9/11 memorial initially canceled the display , citing virus-safety concerns for the installation crew .
After the Tunnel to Towers Foundation vowed to put up the lights instead , the memorial changed course with help from its chair , former Mayor Mike Bloomberg , and Gov .
Andrew Cuomo .
Over the years , the anniversary also has become @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pandemic , the 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance organization is encouraging people this year to make donations or take other actions from home .

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NEW YORK (AP) — Americans commemorated 9/11 on Friday as a new national crisis — the coronavirus pandemic — reconfigured anniversary ceremonies and a presidential campaign carved a path through the observances.
In New York, victims’ relatives gathered Friday morning for split-screen remembrances, one at the Sept. 11 memorial plaza at the World Trade Center and another on a nearby corner, set up by a separate organization.
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The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation objected to the memorial’s decision to forgo a longstanding tradition of having relatives read the names of the dead, often adding poignant tributes. Memorial leaders said they made the change as a coronavirus-safety precaution on the 19th anniversary of the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil.
Kathy Swift arrived early at the alternative ceremony a few blocks away, wearing a T-shirt honoring her slain brother, Thomas Swift, who worked in finance.
“We still have to remember,” said Swift, 61. “The whole country’s going downhill. It’s one thing after another, and now with the COVID. I’m glad they’re still having this, though.”
President Donald Trump addressed a ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
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“The heroes of Flight 93 are an everlasting reminder that no matter the danger, no matter the threat, no matter the odds, America will always rise up, stand tall, and fight back,” the Republican president said, recalling how the plane’s crew and passengers tried to storm the cockpit as the hijackers as headed for Washington.
Biden planned to pay respects at the election battleground state’s Flight 93 memorial in the afternoon. Earlier, he attended the observance at the 9/11 memorial in New York, exchanging an elbow bump with Vice President Mike Pence before the ceremony began with the usual tolling of a bell.
Biden offered condolences to a woman he spotted crying in the crowd of hundreds, Amanda Barreto, who lost her aunt and godmother in the attacks. Barreto, 27, said Biden “wanted to let me know to keep the faith” and “wanted me to say strong,” telling her he understood what it meant to lose a loved one. His first wife and their daughter died in a 1972 car crash, and his son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015.
Biden didn’t speak at the ceremony, which has a longstanding custom of not allowing politicians to make remarks.
Pence went on to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation ceremony, where he read the Bible’s 23rd Psalm, and his wife, Karen, read a passage from the Book of Ecclesiastes.
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“For the families of the lost and friends they left behind, I pray these ancient words will comfort your heart and others,” said the vice president, drawing applause from the crowd of hundreds.
In short, the anniversary of 9/11 is a complicated occasion in a maelstrom of a year, as the U.S. grapples with a health crisis, searches its soul over racial injustice and prepares to choose a leader to chart a path forward.
Still, families say it’s important for the nation to pause and remember the hijacked-plane attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people at the trade center, at the Pentagon in Washington and near Shanksville on Sept. 11, 2001 — shaping American policy, perceptions of safety and daily life in places from airports to office buildings.
Around the country, some communities canceled 9/11 commemorations because of the pandemic, while others went ahead, sometimes with modifications.
The Pentagon’s observance was so restricted that not even victims’ families could attend, though small groups can visit the memorial there later in the day.
Advertisement
At the New York memorial, thousands were still invited. But they heard a recording of the names issued from speakers spread around the vast plaza, a plan that memorial leaders felt would avoid close contact at a stage but still allow families to remember their loved ones at the place where they died.
But some felt the change robbed the observance of its emotional impact. The Tunnel to Towers Foundation arranged its own, simultaneous ceremony a few blocks away, saying there was no reason that people couldn’t recite names while keeping a safe distance. Reverence for the dead “requires that we read these names out loud, in person, every year,” said foundation chair Frank Siller, whose brother Stephen was a firefighter.
The readers stood at podiums that were wiped down between each person.
The two organizations also tussled over the Tribute in Light, a pair of powerful beams that shine into the night sky near the trade center, evoking its fallen twin towers. The 9/11 memorial initially canceled the display, citing virus-safety concerns for the installation crew. After the Tunnel to Towers Foundation vowed to put up the lights instead, the memorial changed course with help from its chair, former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Tunnel to Towers, meanwhile, arranged to display single beams for the first time at the Shanksville memorial and the Pentagon.
Over the years, the anniversary also has become a day for volunteering. Because of the pandemic, the 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance organization is encouraging people this year to make donations or take other actions from home.
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-11--Thousands Of Oregon Residents Forced To Evacuate (UPDATED)

Gov .
Kate Brown said more than 40,000 Oregonians have been evacuated and about 500,000 are in different levels of @ @ @ @ @ been told to leave or to prepare to do so .
She was dialing back @ @ @ @ @ issued by the state Office of Emergency Management that said a half-million people had been @ @ @ @ @

Gov. Kate Brown said more than 40,000 Oregonians have been evacuated and about 500,000 are in different levels of evacuation zones, either having been told to leave or to prepare to do so. She was dialing back on a statement late Thursday issued by the state Office of Emergency Management that said a half-million people had been ordered to evacuate statewide.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-12--Health Official Reportedly Pressured CDC To Alter COVID-19 Info To Back President

A politically appointed Health and Human Services official with no medical background has been orchestrating an operation to pressure scientists and other officials of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to use sunnier language in their COVID-19 reports to reflect well on President Donald Trump , Politico reported Friday .
Some emails from the Health Department ’ s communications team viewed by Politico to CDC Director Robert Redfield and other senior officials flatly complained that the agency ’ s reports would undermine Trump ’ s optimistic messages about COVID-19 .
One email said that the “ CDC ... appears @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administration , ” Politico reported .
The pressure operation is being run by Michael Caputo , a former Trump campaign official with no scientific background .
He was appointed the assistant secretary of HHS for public affairs in April .
He runs a a team of communication aides who have been seeking unprecedented pre-publication access to the CDC reports since then , according to Politico .
The Politico report follows the revelation of Trump ’ s admission to Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward that the president has deliberately lied to the public about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the pandemic .
He told Woodward he knew it was “ deadly stuff , ” while saying publicly that it would disappear — failing to give Americans adequate warning to take precautions to protect their health and lives .
“ I wanted to always play it down , ” he told Woodward in an interview for the journalist ’ s upcoming book , “ Rage.
” CDC officials have battled to protect the integrity of the agency ’ s scientific reports .
But in recent weeks they have “ increasingly agreed ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ review the reports and , in some cases , “ compromised on the wording , ” Politico reported , citing three sources with knowledge of the exchanges .
Caputo and his team have also attempted to delay and even stop the release of other reports , according to Politico , including a negative finding on the drug Trump has falsely touted as a cure for COVID-19 , hydroxychloroquine .
Paul Alexander , the politically appointed author of the “ hit piece ” email , also called on Caputo to change the CDC ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ among children as Trump was calling for all schools to open , Politico reported .
“ CDC tried to report as if once kids get together , there will be spread and this will impact school re-opening ...
Very misleading by CDC and shame on them , ” stated the email , according to Politico .
Alexander also reportedly tried to “ muzzle ” infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci from talking about the COVID-19 threat to children .
The targets of Caputo ’ s efforts are the CDC ’ s Morbidity and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by career scientists with — usually — no political interference .
They ’ re intended to be a fully fact-based weekly assessment of COVID-19 , beyond the reach of politically motivated distortions .
The reports are the primary vehicle to keep physicians , researchers , hospitals and the public informed about how COVID-19 is spreading and who ’ s at risk .
Asked by Politico for a response to its report , Caputo referred to the “ deep state , ” which Trump claims exists , apparently referring to the scientists of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make sure that evidence , science-based data drives policy through this pandemic — not ulterior ‘ deep state ’ motives in the bowels of CDC , ” he said .

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A politically appointed Health and Human Services official with no medical background has been orchestrating an operation to pressure scientists and other officials of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to use sunnier language in their COVID-19 reports to reflect well on President Donald Trump, Politico reported Friday.
Some emails from the Health Department’s communications team viewed by Politico to CDC Director Robert Redfield and other senior officials flatly complained that the agency’s reports would undermine Trump’s optimistic messages about COVID-19. One email said that the “CDC ... appears to be writing hit pieces on the administration,” Politico reported.
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The pressure operation is being run by Michael Caputo, a former Trump campaign official with no scientific background. He was appointed the assistant secretary of HHS for public affairs in April. He runs a a team of communication aides who have been seeking unprecedented pre-publication access to the CDC reports since then, according to Politico.
Caputo cited defense against an imagined “deep state” as motivation when asked about his pressure tactics by Politico.
The Politico report follows the revelation of Trump’s admission to Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward that the president has deliberately lied to the public about the COVID-19 threat by underplaying the severity of the pandemic. He told Woodward he knew it was “deadly stuff,” while saying publicly that it would disappear — failing to give Americans adequate warning to take precautions to protect their health and lives. “I wanted to always play it down,” he told Woodward in an interview for the journalist’s upcoming book, “Rage.”
CDC officials have battled to protect the integrity of the agency’s scientific reports. But in recent weeks they have “increasingly agreed” to allow Caputo and his team to review the reports and, in some cases, “compromised on the wording,” Politico reported, citing three sources with knowledge of the exchanges.
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Caputo and his team have also attempted to delay and even stop the release of other reports, according to Politico, including a negative finding on the drug Trump has falsely touted as a cure for COVID-19, hydroxychloroquine.
Paul Alexander, the politically appointed author of the “hit piece” email, also called on Caputo to change the CDC’s warning of COVID’s spread among children as Trump was calling for all schools to open, Politico reported.
“CDC tried to report as if once kids get together, there will be spread and this will impact school re-opening ... Very misleading by CDC and shame on them,” stated the email, according to Politico. Alexander also reportedly tried to “muzzle” infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci from talking about the COVID-19 threat to children.
The targets of Caputo’s efforts are the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports, which are written by career scientists with — usually — no political interference. They’re intended to be a fully fact-based weekly assessment of COVID-19, beyond the reach of politically motivated distortions.
The reports are the primary vehicle to keep physicians, researchers, hospitals and the public informed about how COVID-19 is spreading and who’s at risk.
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Asked by Politico for a response to its report, Caputo referred to the “deep state,” which Trump claims exists, apparently referring to the scientists of the CDC. “Our intention is to make sure that evidence, science-based data drives policy through this pandemic — not ulterior ‘deep state’ motives in the bowels of CDC,” he said.


Then & Now

The compounded pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic racism are making long-standing class and racial divisions ever more apparent , and @ @ @ @ @ live as we move forward .
In this multimedia project , we explore the visual @ @ @ @ @ on the world .

The events of 2020 have changed the world as we know it. COVID-19 has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and jobs, upended the education system and gutted industries. The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others have further exposed the devastation of systemic racism and police brutality. With life materially changed, we are forced to rethink how we interact with our communities.
In this photo essay, 13 photographers from The Everyday Projects — a global collective working to dispel misperceptions by documenting their home countries — return to scenes they had previously photographed. By contrasting these images of past and present, of then and now, we are reminded of a way of life that once was, and confronted with the grim unknown before us.
In addition to the 13 sets of before and after photos, you can also launch separate augmented reality experiences for five of the photographers’ locations. Immersive technology like AR has been touted for its ability to bring us virtually to places that we can’t visit physically. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, this notion takes on an additional layer of relevance as travel restrictions and safety measures continue to limit visits with friends and family as well as the exploration of the world at large. Augmented reality provides an additional layer of depth, adding sound and texture to this important work.
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In the five AR experiences below, you can transport yourself to Nairobi, Kenya; Kabul, Afghanistan; Atlanta, U.S.A.; Quito, Ecuador; and Wuhan, China. Recreate the feeling of being physically present at an art exhibition by placing these images in your own space and walking around them.
Click on the “Launch AR” button below the quotes to be taken into a 3D gallery experience, and hit the “Sound On” button to hear the stories of these five pairs of photographs from around the world.
Yoriyas Yassine Alaoui Casablanca, Morocco
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Yoriyas Yassine Alaoui Three men and a bench in Casablanca, but during two very different times. Close physical contact is a large part of Moroccan culture. Above: June 15, 2016 | Below: Aug. 1, 2020
Yoriyas Yassine Alaoui
Danielle Villasana Istanbul, Turkey
Danielle Villasana Vendors switch from selling sunglasses to face masks at a stall in the Fatih Market in Istanbul, where wearing a mask in public is mandatory. Markets are an essential part of life in Istanbul, and every neighborhood has its own. Any given market is usually cramped, but since the pandemic, markets are empty compared to what they once were. Above: July 31, 2019 | Below: July 29, 2020
Danielle Villasana
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Brian Otieno Nairobi, Kenya
Brian Otieno Along the Motione River in Kibera — a neighborhood in Nairobi — the riverbank where children used to play has been heavily polluted. The soil along the riverbank is often dug up by residents and used to build houses in the area. Above: Nov. 9, 2017 | Below: July 29, 2020
One day I met this group of children who were out there playing and having a good time. They didn’t understand about politics or elections; it was a moment that was real and different from what I have been photographing the last days. BRIAN OTIENO
Brian Otieno
Sheila Pree Bright Atlanta, U.S.A.
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Sheila Pree Bright The locally nicknamed “Lost Cause” Confederate monument in Decatur Square in Atlanta was removed in June 2020 following years of protest. A hologram image of George Floyd, who was murdered by police in Minneapolis in May 2020, temporarily took the place of the Confederate monument. Floyd's murder sparked international waves of protests. Above: Sept. 9, 2017 | Below: July 29, 2020
The only thing I can imagine is what liberation looks like from this painful legacy of violence in the United States for Black bodies. SHEILA PREE BRIGHT
Sheila Pree Bright
André Coelho Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
André Coelho Thousands of people flock to Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro. Beach access was banned in March 2020 due to the pandemic and still remains so, with some exceptions. Despite this, thousands of people still visit Rio’s beaches daily. Above: Oct. 26, 2008 | Below: July 23, 2020
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André Coelho
Lavinia Parlamenti Rome, Italy
Lavinia Parlamenti According to the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, in 2019, more than 55 million tourists visited museums and archeological sites in Rome, such as the Roman Forum, pictured here. Access to the site has been restricted to reservation-only. Above: May 29, 2015 | Below: July 31, 2020
Lavinia Parlamenti
Jodi Hilton Sofia, Bulgaria
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Jodi Hilton “Before we die from the coronavirus, we will starve to death,” explained Yulian Metodiev, a Roma community leader. Fakulteta, the largest Roma settlement in Sofia, was quarantined in April 2020 after more than 2 dozen people tested positive for COVID-19. For those whose houses were slated for demolition, quarantine provided a brief respite. By July, however, more homes were bulldozed and families were left searching for shelter. Above: April 20, 2018 | Below: July 29, 2020
Jodi Hilton
Fethi Sahraoui Mascara, Algeria
Fethi Sahraoui Where protesters once chanted slogans in opposition to the government of former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, workers disinfect the Emir Abdelkader Square in Mascara. Above: March 8, 2019 | Below: July 24, 2020
Fethi Sahraoui
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Yolanda Escobar Jiménez Quito, Ecuador
Yolanda Escobar Jiménez “El Tingo” is one of the most popular local swimming pool complexes in Quito. Every weekend, holiday and vacation, hundreds of tourists flock there. The pool complex was closed in mid-March and there is no date set for its reopening. Above: May 2, 2015 | Below: July 31, 2020
If there's no people, there's no life in these spaces. YOLANDA ESCOBAR JIMENEZ
Yolanda Escobar Jiménez
Xiaojie Ouyang Wuhan, China
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Xiaojie Ouyang Meat and produce vendors work at a village market in Wuhan, China. At its peak, more than 100,000 migrant workers lived in the village. About 65% of the migrant workers decided not to come back to the village after the COVID-19 outbreak. Sales in the market have been negatively impacted. Above: March 22, 2019 | Below: July 31, 2020
What I want people to remember about this difficult period of time is people in Wuhan are very courageous. XIAOJIE OUYANG
Xiaojie Ouyang
Nilofar Niekpor Kabul, Afghanistan
Nilofar Niekpor A classroom in the Dasht-e-Barchi settlement in Kabul. Schools in Afghanistan have been closed for nearly five months to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The closure of schools has had a huge economic impact on schoolteachers, and students have lagged behind in their lessons. There is no established online education system to take the place of in-person schooling. Above: June 12, 2016 | Below: July 29, 2020
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The place that once upon a time was full of students’ laughs is in silence now. NILOFAR NIEKPOR
Nilofar Niekpor
Nana Kofi Acquah Accra and Cape Coast, Ghana
Nana Kofi Acquah Tribal chiefs in Ghana traditionally have an entourage that, among other things, uses an umbrella to shield the chief from the sun. Here, a chief of the Ga tribe visits the Chale Wote Street Art Festival in Accra in 2015. Below, Chief Nana Munko Eku VIII of the Fante tribe visits a wedding in Cape Coast in 2020, where he and his entourage wear masks. Above: Aug. 23, 2015 | Below: Aug. 8, 2020
Nana Kofi Acquah
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Ritesh Uttamchandani Mumbai, India
Ritesh Uttamchandani People on the rocks by the Haji Ali Dargah mosque in Mumbai. Built on an islet in 1431 to house the shroud of Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari, the mosque normally hosts more than 100,000 visitors each week. However, with the ongoing coastal road construction around the mosque, a large portion of the rocky bed surrounding the mosque is submerged and likely to sink further. Above: Feb. 9, 2017 | Below: July 29, 2020
Ritesh Uttamchandani
Credits:
HuffPost: Ivylise Simones, Creative Director; Christy Havranek, Photo Director; Damon Scheleur, Photo Editor
WebAR experiences produced by RYOT: Laura Hertzfeld, Director, XR Partner Program; Guenever Goik, Head of CG; Patrick Love, Producer; Erik Lohr, Audio Director; Matt Valerio, Project Manager; Prabuddha Paul, CG Lead; Ricky Baba, Creative Director; SJ Johnson, Creative Dev Lead
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Everyday Projects: Peter DiCampo, Co-founder; Elie Gardner, Community Team, Special Projects; Wacera Njagi, Everyday Africa Coordinator


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-12--Trump Campaign Hails Nobel Peace Prize Nomination With An Awkward Typo

The Trump campaign was quick to praise President Donald Trump ’ s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize this week .
But in its haste , it misspelled the word “ Nobel ” as “ Noble ” in the series of ads that it paid hundreds of dollars for and posted on Facebook and Instagram .
At least six ads containing the typo on a graphic were posted to Trump ’ s official pages on Thursday and Friday , according to Facebook ’ s ad library .
The captions of the ads also falsely proclaimed Trump had “ achieved PEACE @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the ads are now listed as “ inactive.
” Trump himself in April misspelled the word in a Twitter rant about the media .
He deleted the post and later claimed he was being sarcastic .
Far-right Norwegian lawmaker Christian Tybring-Gjedde , known for his Islamophobic and anti-immigration views , nominated Trump for the 2021 prize for his work on diplomatic ties between the United Arab Emirates and Israel .
Tybring-Gjedde also put Trump forward for the 2019 prize for his talks with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un .
Inevitably , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reasons : They 're spelling it the way Donny spelled it in his tweets at least a few times because they 're afraid to correct him .
— Jeff : Trump Knew & 200K died on his watch .
Resign !
( @ NewJeffCT ) September 11 , 2020 No they had it right .
He is going to get the Noble Peace prize just like you can buy a Rolax watch on the corner in New York .
— Jorge Villalobos ( @ PeaceLovinRobot ) September 11 , 2020

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The Trump campaign was quick to praise President Donald Trump’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize this week.
But in its haste, it misspelled the word “Nobel” as “Noble” in the series of ads that it paid hundreds of dollars for and posted on Facebook and Instagram.
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At least six ads containing the typo on a graphic were posted to Trump’s official pages on Thursday and Friday, according to Facebook’s ad library.
The captions of the ads also falsely proclaimed Trump had “achieved PEACE in the MIDDLE EAST!”
All of the ads are now listed as “inactive.”
Facebook
Trump himself in April misspelled the word in a Twitter rant about the media. He deleted the post and later claimed he was being sarcastic.
Far-right Norwegian lawmaker Christian Tybring-Gjedde, known for his Islamophobic and anti-immigration views, nominated Trump for the 2021 prize for his work on diplomatic ties between the United Arab Emirates and Israel.
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Tybring-Gjedde also put Trump forward for the 2019 prize for his talks with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Inevitably, the ads went viral for the wrong reasons:
LOL, he is definitely not a candidate for a noble prize. — charlie (@TheOldOlaf) September 11, 2020
Well that’s two things Trump won’t be winning this year: the Nobel Prize and the Scripps National Spelling Bee. — Jay Black (@jayblackisfunny) September 11, 2020
They're spelling it the way Donny spelled it in his tweets at least a few times because they're afraid to correct him. — Jeff: Trump Knew & 200K died on his watch. Resign! (@NewJeffCT) September 11, 2020
Tbh, I'm surprised they didn't call it the Noble Piece Prize. — Bigly Nasty (@GeeJustG) September 11, 2020
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I didn't realize there is a Nobel Prize for Incompetence. — Bill In San Diego (@truthfaux) September 11, 2020
No they had it right. He is going to get the Noble Peace prize just like you can buy a Rolax watch on the corner in New York. — Jorge Villalobos (@PeaceLovinRobot) September 11, 2020


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-12--Mary Trump Delivers A Stark Warning About 4 More Years Of Her 'Weak' Uncle

Mary Trump held little back when predicting what the reelection of her uncle , President Donald Trump , will do to the country .
The president ’ s niece ― who revealed multiple damning details about her uncle in her tell-all book “ Too Much and Never Enough , How My Family Created The World ’ s Most Dangerous Man ” ― told MSNBC ’ s Ari Melber on Friday that the president is “ a very sick man ” and is “ never going to get better.
” “ He ’ s only going to get worse and if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this entire country down with him and he clearly has a lot of people willing to help him do just that , ” Mary Trump warned viewers .
“ So please vote carefully.
” Mary Trump , elsewhere in the interview , slammed her uncle ’ s enablers in the GOP , his lies and administration ’ s catastrophic handling of the coronavirus pandemic and described him as “ fundamentally a racist , ” saying he “ thrives in chaos and division ” because “ he is so weak and incompetent .
”

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Mary Trump held little back when predicting what the reelection of her uncle, President Donald Trump, will do to the country.
The president’s niece ― who revealed multiple damning details about her uncle in her tell-all book “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created The World’s Most Dangerous Man” ― told MSNBC’s Ari Melber on Friday that the president is “a very sick man” and is “never going to get better.”
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“He’s only going to get worse and if it suits his purposes he will take this entire country down with him, and he clearly has a lot of people willing to help him do just that,” Mary Trump said. “So please vote carefully.”
Check out Mary Trump’s comments here:
Mary Trump, elsewhere in the interview, slammed her uncle’s enablers in the GOP, his lies and administration’s catastrophic handling of the coronavirus pandemic and described him as “fundamentally a racist,” saying he “thrives in chaos and division” because “he is so weak and incompetent.”
Check out the full interview here:


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-11--Jimmy Carter 'Fesses Up That His Son Smoked Pot With Willie Nelson On White House Roof

Former President Jimmy Carter has come clean about a delicate situation on the White House roof during his administration : One of his sons smoked pot there one night in 1978 with singer-songwriter Willie Nelson .
“ When Willie Nelson wrote his autobiography , he confessed that he smoked pot in the White House one night when he was spending the night with me , ” Carter noted in the documentary .
“ He said that his companion that shared the pot with him was one of the servants in the White House .
That is not exactly true .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which he didn ’ t want to categorize as a pot smoker like him , ” Carter added .
There were rumors at the time about Nelson and Carter ’ s middle son , James Earl “ Chip ” Carter III , sharing a smoke .
But Chip Carter said in an interview with GQ in 2015 that Nelson “ told me not to ever tell anybody.
” When pressed in the same story if his smoking partner that night was Chip , Nelson responded : ” Looked a lot like .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ added : “ It seemed like the thing to do .
We were there , and there it was , and uh…why not , you know ?
And they have a great view from the roof.
” Asked if he worried it would embarrass the president , Nelson said , “ I think he knew me and he knew Chip , so , you know , there wasn ’ t much we could do to embarrass him.
” The documentary , now out in theaters , explores the former president ’ s close @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with popular musicians , including Nelson , the Allman Brothers and Bob Dylan , whom Carter described in the film as one of his “ best friends.
” Dylan recalled that when he met Carter , the “ first thing he did was quote my songs back to me.
” Carter was drawn to music and the artists because “ one of things that has held America together has been the music that we share and love , ” he explained .
“ There were some people who didn ’ t like my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bob Dylan and disreputable rock ‘ n ’ rollers , ” he admitted .
“ I didn ’ t care about that because I was doing what I really believed , and the response from the followers of those musicians was much more influential than a few people who thought that being associated with rock ‘ n ’ roll and radical people was inappropriate in a president.
” Carter , who has spent much of his time since leaving the White House on various humanitarian and diplomatic efforts , was awarded a Nobel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts , to advance democracy and human rights , and to promote economic and social development .
”

Former President Jimmy Carter has come clean about a delicate situation on the White House roof during his administration: One of his sons smoked pot there one night in 1978 with singer-songwriter Willie Nelson.
Carter, 95, bared the truth in a new documentary: “Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President.” (Check out the trailer above.)
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Nelson, 87, revealed in his autobiography that he smoked a “fat Austin torpedo” that night — but he didn’t mention Carter’s son.
“When Willie Nelson wrote his autobiography, he confessed that he smoked pot in the White House one night when he was spending the night with me,” Carter noted in the documentary.
“He said that his companion that shared the pot with him was one of the servants in the White House. That is not exactly true. It actually was one of my sons, which he didn’t want to categorize as a pot smoker like him,” Carter added.
There were rumors at the time about Nelson and Carter’s middle son, James Earl “Chip” Carter III, sharing a smoke. But Chip Carter said in an interview with GQ in 2015 that Nelson “told me not to ever tell anybody.” When pressed in the same story if his smoking partner that night was Chip, Nelson responded: ”Looked a lot like. Could have been, yeah.”
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Nelson added: “It seemed like the thing to do. We were there, and there it was, and uh…why not, you know? And they have a great view from the roof.”
Asked if he worried it would embarrass the president, Nelson said, “I think he knew me and he knew Chip, so, you know, there wasn’t much we could do to embarrass him.”
The documentary, now out in theaters, explores the former president’s close relationship in the White House and afterward with popular musicians, including Nelson, the Allman Brothers and Bob Dylan, whom Carter described in the film as one of his “best friends.” Dylan recalled that when he met Carter, the “first thing he did was quote my songs back to me.”
“He was cool, he enjoyed our music and he became a friend,” Gregg Allman said in the film (Allman died in 2017).
Carter was drawn to music and the artists because “one of things that has held America together has been the music that we share and love,” he explained.
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Carter took heat for his relationship with the musicians when he was president.
“There were some people who didn’t like my being deeply involved with Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan and disreputable rock ‘n’ rollers,” he admitted. “I didn’t care about that because I was doing what I really believed, and the response from the followers of those musicians was much more influential than a few people who thought that being associated with rock ‘n’ roll and radical people was inappropriate in a president.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-12--Trump Is Covering For Russia. A Homeland Security Whistleblower Adds To The Evidence.

Murphy ’ s complaint is a shocking document that would upend any other administration in recent memory .
But it ’ s also just another data point in an incendiary emerging story : Russia is clearly trying to influence the presidential election , and the Trump administration has doggedly tried to keep both Congress and the public in the dark about those efforts .
Democratic lawmakers have also tried to sound the alarm but have been handcuffed by what they say is the Trump administration ’ s unnecessary classification of election security intelligence , particularly with regard to the Russian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Murphy stated that he filed two Office of the Inspector General reports that seemingly went nowhere about “ attempted censorship of intelligence analysis.
” He also made numerous other internal complaints .
In March and April , for example , he said he submitted six internal complaints to Kash Patel , the acting deputy director for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence , about the “ improper administration of an intelligence program with respect to Russian disinformation efforts within the United States.
” That incident is almost certainly the one described @ @ @ @ @ @ @ alleges that Gountanis directed him not to disseminate an “ intelligence notification regarding Russian disinformation efforts ” until clearing it with Wolf .
On July 8 , Murphy said , he met with Wolf , who told him that the intelligence notification should be “ held ” because it “ made the President look bad.
” After Murphy protested , according to his complaint , Wolf excluded him from meetings about the notification , a draft of which was ultimately produced that Murphy felt minimized the actions of Russia .
The move was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In a joint statement , House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ( D-Calif ) and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff ( D-Calif ) called it a “ betrayal of the public ’ s right to know how foreign powers are trying to subvert our democracy .
This intelligence belongs to the American people , not the agencies which are its custodian .
And the American people have both the right and the need to know that another nation , Russia , is trying to help decide who their president should be.
” Beyond the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russian efforts to disrupt the election have entered public view on their own .
Facebook recently took down accounts and pages associated with a Russian influence operation posing as an independent news outlet .
The operation published content that investigators at Graphika , a social media analytics firm , described as “ an attempt to build a left-wing audience and steer it away from Biden ’ s campaign , in the same way that the original IRA [ Internet Research Agency ] tried to depress progressive and minority support for Hillary Clinton in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this week that the same Russian operation , patterned after the Russian-based IRA , an organization of professional trolls active in the 2016 election , tried and failed to infiltrate left-wing media outlets such as Jacobin , Truthout and In These Times .
The Trump administration has also consistently whitewashed far-right extremist violence , which federal law enforcement considers the top domestic terrorism threat .
Murphy alleges in his complaint that this dangerous practice was still happening at DHS only a few months before the 2020 election .
From May through July of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Cuccinelli unsuccessfully pressured him and other officials to play down the threat of white supremacy in an important “ homeland threat assessment ” report and instead stoke unfounded fears about “ antifa ” and anarchists , a stance that lined up with Trump ’ s misleading “ political rhetoric ” about left-wing extremism , according to the complaint .
But this also matched Russian disinformation designed to stoke chaos and polarization .
At a press conference in August , for example , Chanel Rion , the chief White House correspondent for One @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a mysterious website whose owner had redirected it to point to Biden ’ s website .
Rion used this as an excuse to ask Trump whether Biden should “ publicly denounce the antifa as a domestic terrorist organization.
” Trump leaped at the opportunity to change the subject from COVID-19 and instead fearmonger about leftist extremism .
Yahoo News later traced the antifa.com site to Russia .
Murphy also alleged that Kirstjen Nielsen , the Homeland Security secretary from December 2017 to April 2019 , lied repeatedly under oath to Congress about the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” ( KSTs ) entering the U.S. from Mexico .
Murphy put the tally at “ no more than three individuals.
” Nielsen told Congress that it was 3,755 KSTs .
In October 2018 , her aides unsuccessfully pressured Murphy ’ s office to have intelligence assessments support a Trump administration “ policy argument ” that KSTs were pouring across the border .
At the time , Nielsen was briefing Trump on the progress of a caravan of migrants headed toward the U.S. from Central America .
While Trump ranted on Twitter about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arriving , pro-Trump propagandists began spreading a conspiracy theory that Soros ― the lead bogeyman in anti-Semitic Russian disinformation schemes ― had financed the caravan .

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In the complaint, Brian Murphy, the former head of DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis, laid out a damning pattern of behavior by top Trump appointees ― most notably Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and his second-in-command, Ken Cuccinelli ― to distort or block intelligence reports that could undermine Trump’s political objectives or reflect poorly on a president who has openly courted both the Kremlin and far-right extremists in America.
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Murphy’s complaint is a shocking document that would upend any other administration in recent memory. But it’s also just another data point in an incendiary emerging story: Russia is clearly trying to influence the presidential election, and the Trump administration has doggedly tried to keep both Congress and the public in the dark about those efforts. Democratic lawmakers have also tried to sound the alarm but have been handcuffed by what they say is the Trump administration’s unnecessary classification of election security intelligence, particularly with regard to the Russian threat.
Last month, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) issued a dire warning in a Washington Post op-ed after reviewing classified material that he described as “more chilling” than anything special counsel Robert S. Mueller III turned up in his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“The warning lights are flashing red. America’s elections are under attack,” Blumenthal wrote. “[T]the Trump administration is keeping the truth about a grave, looming threat to democracy hidden from the American people.”
Murphy, a Marine veteran and former FBI special agent who said he was responsible for all intelligence activities at the Department of Homeland Security from March 2018 until being reassigned last month, has produced some of the strongest evidence to date that Trump has politicized elements of the intelligence community in ways that security experts and members of Congress say put the country at great risk.
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In his whistleblower complaint, Murphy stated that he filed two Office of the Inspector General reports that seemingly went nowhere about “attempted censorship of intelligence analysis.” He also made numerous other internal complaints. In March and April, for example, he said he submitted six internal complaints to Kash Patel, the acting deputy director for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, about the “improper administration of an intelligence program with respect to Russian disinformation efforts within the United States.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with President Donald Trump during the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, in June 2019. Intelligence officials say Russia is interfering with the 2020 election to try to help Trump get reelected. Susan Walsh/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Patel, a former staffer for Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), played a key role in a Republican effort to discredit Mueller’s Russia probe and the FBI’s and Justice Department’s investigation of the Trump campaign’s Russia ties. It’s unclear if Patel responded to Murphy’s concerns.
In May, however, Wolf told Murphy to “cease providing intelligence assessments on the threat of Russian interference in the United States,” according to the whistleblower complaint. Wolf told Murphy those instructions came directly from White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien, according to Murphy, who said he refused to comply because “doing so would put the country in substantial and specific danger.”
Hiding The Truth
Even before Murphy’s complaint, it was clear that DHS was suppressing intelligence about Russian election interference. In July, the agency withheld publication of a bulletin warning law enforcement agencies about a Russian disinformation plot to “denigrate” the mental health of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, according to a recent ABC News report.
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Trump and his propagandists were already belittling Biden’s health, and an hour after the bulletin was submitted to the agency’s legislative and public affairs office for review, DHS chief of staff John Gountanis intervened to stop publication. The bulletin never circulated.
That incident is almost certainly the one described in Murphy’s complaint where he alleges that Gountanis directed him not to disseminate an “intelligence notification regarding Russian disinformation efforts” until clearing it with Wolf. On July 8, Murphy said, he met with Wolf, who told him that the intelligence notification should be “held” because it “made the President look bad.” After Murphy protested, according to his complaint, Wolf excluded him from meetings about the notification, a draft of which was ultimately produced that Murphy felt minimized the actions of Russia.
In early August, intelligence officials presented classified information to Congress and presidential campaigns ― the material that “shocked” Blumenthal ― about Russia’s efforts to undermine the election and American democracy. Russia, the information indicated, had targeted Biden in a scheme the U.S. government’s chief counterintelligence official, William Evanina, hinted at in an “election threat update” he released Aug. 7.
William Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, has warned of a Russian disinformation campaign to "denigrate" Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden before the 2020 election. Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images
“We assess that Russia is using a range of measures to primarily denigrate former Vice President Biden and what it sees as an anti-Russia ‘establishment,’” Evanina said.
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Three weeks later, however, Trump’s newly appointed director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, announced that the intelligence community would halt in-person election security briefings to Congress and instead provide only written reports. Ratcliffe justified this decision by saying it would be easier to avoid leaks and prevent information from being “politicized.”
The move was met with outrage by congressional Democrats. In a joint statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif) called it a “betrayal of the public’s right to know how foreign powers are trying to subvert our democracy. This intelligence belongs to the American people, not the agencies which are its custodian. And the American people have both the right and the need to know that another nation, Russia, is trying to help decide who their president should be.”
John Cohen, a former undersecretary for intelligence at DHS, told ABC News that “by refusing to brief Congress on a significant threat facing this country, administration officials are placing this country at grave risk.″
Given Murphy’s allegations that Wolf and Cuccinelli ― whom the Government Accountability Office determined were illegally installed in their positions ― told him to manipulate written intelligence reports, the danger is likely worse than imagined. With less than two months to go until the Nov. 3 election, Russia continues to target Biden and undermine U.S. democracy, sometimes with Trump’s assistance.
Evidence In The Open
Beyond the warnings from Murphy and Blumenthal, several Russian efforts to disrupt the election have entered public view on their own. Facebook recently took down accounts and pages associated with a Russian influence operation posing as an independent news outlet. The operation published content that investigators at Graphika, a social media analytics firm, described as “an attempt to build a left-wing audience and steer it away from Biden’s campaign, in the same way that the original IRA [Internet Research Agency] tried to depress progressive and minority support for Hillary Clinton in 2016.” The Daily Beast broke news this week that the same Russian operation, patterned after the Russian-based IRA, an organization of professional trolls active in the 2016 election, tried and failed to infiltrate left-wing media outlets such as Jacobin, Truthout and In These Times.
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CNN reported Wednesday that journalist Bob Woodward revealed in his new book that “the NSA and CIA have classified evidence the Russians had placed malware in the election registration systems of at least two Florida counties, St. Lucie and Washington. While there was no evidence the malware had been activated, Woodward writes, it was sophisticated and could erase voters in specific districts.”
On Thursday, Reuters reported that Microsoft recently alerted SKDKnickerbocker, one of Biden’s main election campaign advisory firms, that suspected Russian state-backed hackers had gone after the company with a failed phishing attack to obtain staff passwords and made other attempts at infiltration. The Washington-based firm has close ties with many prominent Democrats.
Meanwhile, Trump and his associates are knowingly and openly participating in a Kremlin influence campaign to tarnish Biden and his son Hunter as being involved in corrupt dealings in Ukraine. Trump’s attempt last year to strong-arm Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky into announcing an investigation into the unfounded allegations against Biden led to Trump’s impeachment. In his Aug. 7 statement about election threats, Evanina, the intelligence community’s top election security official, issued a clear warning about the ongoing influence campaign against Biden.
“[P]ro-Russia Ukrainian parliamentarian Andriy Derkach is spreading claims about corruption ― including through publicizing leaked phone calls ― to undermine former Vice President Biden’s candidacy and the Democratic Party,” Evanina wrote.
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A week later, Trump retweeted edited audio from one of the leaked tapes that U.S. intelligence officials had flagged as part of Derkach and the Russian government’s disinformation campaign. It was of a purported 2016 call between then-Vice President Biden and then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The tapes contain edited fragments of unauthenticated conversations. Poroshenko has rejected them as a fabrication by pro-Russian forces in Ukraine.
Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump's personal attorney, walks with his aide Christianne Allen (right) and One America News Network's Chanel Rion on July 1 after speaking at the White House. JIM WATSON via Getty Images
Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, who directed efforts to get Zelensky to announce an investigation into Biden, has met at least three times with Derkach, an enigmatic political figure who graduated from a spy academy in Moscow in 1993 and whose father was a longtime KGB officer. On his podcast, Giuliani promoted Derkach’s claims about Biden, which seek to tie the presidential rival to George Soros, the billionaire philanthropist whose support for anti-corruption and pro-democracy initiatives in former Eastern Bloc countries has made him an enemy of the Kremlin.
Republicans also consider Soros, who has spent millions of dollars on liberal causes, a political foe — so much so that in 2017, right-wing congressional Republicans such as Sens. Mike Lee (Utah) and Ted Cruz (Texas) joined forces with Russia-backed politicians in Eastern Europe to oppose Soros.
Giuliani also worked closely with One America News, a pro-Trump propaganda network, to amplify the Derkach disinformation campaign. OAN conducted interviews with Giuliani and Derkach. And OAN propagandists, such as Jack Posobiec, a far-right protégé of Trump aide and convicted felon Roger Stone, generated additional material in an attempt to link Democrats to corruption in Ukraine and to Soros.
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The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday designated Derkach “an active Russian agent for over a decade” who has “close connections with Russian intelligence services” and placed sanctions on him for running an “influence campaign” against Biden.
“Derkach waged a covert influence campaign centered on cultivating false and unsubstantiated narratives concerning U.S. officials in the upcoming 2020 Presidential Election,” according to a Treasury Department statement. “Derkach’s unsubstantiated narratives were pushed in Western media through coverage of press conferences and other news events, including interviews and statements.”
A Confluence Of Bad
It can sometimes be hard to separate a Russian propaganda operation from Trump sowing discord for his own purposes. Often they are inseparable. Consider Trump’s “useful idiot” approach to far-right extremism in America. By appealing to racism, authoritarianism and conspiratorial thinking to rally his base, Trump has deepened divisions in the country and accelerated political radicalization.
The Trump administration has also consistently whitewashed far-right extremist violence, which federal law enforcement considers the top domestic terrorism threat. Murphy alleges in his complaint that this dangerous practice was still happening at DHS only a few months before the 2020 election. From May through July of this year, he said, Wolf and Cuccinelli unsuccessfully pressured him and other officials to play down the threat of white supremacy in an important “homeland threat assessment” report and instead stoke unfounded fears about “antifa” and anarchists, a stance that lined up with Trump’s misleading “political rhetoric” about left-wing extremism, according to the complaint.
But this also matched Russian disinformation designed to stoke chaos and polarization. At a press conference in August, for example, Chanel Rion, the chief White House correspondent for One America News, brought up antifa.com, a mysterious website whose owner had redirected it to point to Biden’s website. Rion used this as an excuse to ask Trump whether Biden should “publicly denounce the antifa as a domestic terrorist organization.” Trump leaped at the opportunity to change the subject from COVID-19 and instead fearmonger about leftist extremism. Yahoo News later traced the antifa.com site to Russia.
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Another OAN reporter, Kristian Brunovich Rouz, was on the Kremlin payroll and has falsely linked Democrats to antifa (a loosely organized movement of anti-fascist and anti-racist activists) and pushed disinformation about Soros, including accusing him of secretly financing migrant caravans. When Trump suggested in June that an elderly peace activist shoved violently to the ground by Buffalo, New York, police was a member of antifa, he was repeating a baseless conspiracy theory that Rouz broadcast on OAN earlier that day.
After Murphy refused to alter his threat assessment to demonize anti-fascists for Trump’s far-right political purposes, Wolf and Cuccinelli tried to block the report, he said. But this was only the latest instance of Trump propaganda running alongside Russian disinformation efforts. Trump’s “white grievance” politics have frequently intersected with Russian disinformation during his presidency.
Murphy also alleged that Kirstjen Nielsen, the Homeland Security secretary from December 2017 to April 2019, lied repeatedly under oath to Congress about the number of “known or suspected terrorists” (KSTs) entering the U.S. from Mexico. Murphy put the tally at “no more than three individuals.” He had said Nielsen testified to Congress in December 2018 that DHS had prevented 3,755 KSTs from entering the U.S. via the southern border. However, Nielsen did not use that figure in her testimony. In a supplemental statement, Murphy alleged that she provided that number to Congress in other ways.
In October 2018, Nielsen’s aides unsuccessfully pressured Murphy’s office to have intelligence assessments support a Trump administration “policy argument” that KSTs were pouring across the border. At the time, Nielsen was briefing Trump on the progress of a caravan of migrants headed toward the U.S. from Central America. While Trump ranted on Twitter about “criminals and unknown Middle Easterners” arriving, pro-Trump propagandists began spreading a conspiracy theory that Soros ― the lead bogeyman in anti-Semitic Russian disinformation schemes ― had financed the caravan.
Far-right pro-Trump propagandist and One America News correspondent Jack Posobiec is escorted out of Lincoln Park by anti-racism protesters in Washington, D.C., on June 26. OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images
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Posobiec, who works openly with neo-Nazis and has routinely downplayed Russian political interference while being heavily promoted by both the Russian government and Trump, implied on Twitter that Soros had rented RVs for migrants, according to a USA Today investigation. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who associates with a Holocaust denier who has participated in Russian election interference efforts, suggested on Twitter that Soros had given cash to caravan members. After Donald Trump Jr. retweeted Gaetz, the disinformation went viral. A few days later, 11 people were killed at a Pittsburgh synagogue. The man charged in the massacre is a neo-Nazi gunman who allegedly believed Soros and other Jews had organized the caravan to bring violent “invaders” across the border to kill white people. Four days after the massacre, Trump again suggested that Soros was financing the caravan.
The caravan disinformation campaign kicked into high gear as the midterm elections approached in 2018. Two years later, as the country hurtles toward a momentous presidential election, antifa and the Black Lives Matter movement have become the designated foils for Trump and the Kremlin’s white fright propaganda.