theguardian--2020-09-22--Ginsburg did not give up her religion | Brief letters

Your obituary of Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( 19 September ) said she had abandoned her religion .
On receiving an award from the Genesis Prize Foundation in 2018 , she said : “ I am a judge , raised and proud of being a Jew .
The demand for justice , for peace and for enlightenment runs through the entirety of Jewish history and Jewish tradition.
” Does that sound like a woman who had abandoned her religion ?
Jonathan Hoffman London • I read the feature on menopause ( 22 September ) with some bemusement .
All these points @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 40 years ago .
Wasn ’ t anyone else listening ?
And how sad that so many women feel obliged to cover up their lovely , empowering grey hair .
Dr Brigid Purcell Norwich • When Nicola Sturgeon gives a TV press conference she is accompanied by a sign language interpreter .
Not so for any English minister .
Is this ( a ) contempt for the hard of hearing ; ( b ) a kindly measure to spare them the nonsense ; or ( c ) the inability of signers to convey @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was intrigued to see an ad in the paper ( 19 September ) for apartments in the former BBC Television Centre for sale at between £2.5m and £6m .
It seems that this property developer sees Guardian readers like me to be more wealthy than I ever imagined .
Rev Robin Brooks Heddon-on-the-Wall , Northumberland • I ’ ve seen few £2 coins this year ( Royal Mint to stop production of £2 and 2p coins due to excess stock , 18 September ) .
Are most of them being stockpiled in 35mm @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit theguardian.com/letters

Your obituary of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (19 September) said she had abandoned her religion. On receiving an award from the Genesis Prize Foundation in 2018, she said: “I am a judge, raised and proud of being a Jew. The demand for justice, for peace and for enlightenment runs through the entirety of Jewish history and Jewish tradition.” Does that sound like a woman who had abandoned her religion?
Jonathan Hoffman
London
I read the feature on menopause (22 September) with some bemusement. All these points were made by Germaine Greer 30 or 40 years ago. Wasn’t anyone else listening? And how sad that so many women feel obliged to cover up their lovely, empowering grey hair.
Dr Brigid Purcell
Norwich
When Nicola Sturgeon gives a TV press conference she is accompanied by a sign language interpreter. Not so for any English minister. Is this (a) contempt for the hard of hearing; (b) a kindly measure to spare them the nonsense; or (c) the inability of signers to convey gibberish?
Elisabeth Leedham-Green
Cambridge
I was intrigued to see an ad in the paper (19 September) for apartments in the former BBC Television Centre for sale at between £2.5m and £6m. It seems that this property developer sees Guardian readers like me to be more wealthy than I ever imagined.
Rev Robin Brooks
Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland
I’ve seen few £2 coins this year (Royal Mint to stop production of £2 and 2p coins due to excess stock, 18 September). Are most of them being stockpiled in 35mm film canisters?
Robin Morris
Oxford
Join the conversation – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com


theguardian--2020-09-22--The 200,000 coronavirus deaths are an American tragedy of our own making | Andrew Gawthorpe

Death is not supposed to be part of the American dream .
As the country ’ s founding document says , liberty and the pursuit of happiness presuppose life .
For a culture based on these ideals , death can be hard to confront .
Nevertheless , as the official death toll from Covid-19 in the United States passes 200,000 , it is time to take stock of how long-running pathologies in American culture exact a price measured in human lives .
The United States has now suffered about 22 % of the world ’ s deaths from Covid-19 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the world ’ s population .
At this stage , all statistics have to be taken with a pinch of salt , but this is nevertheless a stunning disparity .
There are unborn historians who will make their careers out of arguing over the precise contribution of factors like climate , geography , genetics and demographics in bringing this situation about .
But it would be absurd to suppose that the factors over which America did have control – especially the response of its government and people – won ’ t form a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In no way should victims of coronavirus be blamed for their own deaths – even those who behaved recklessly on the advice of a president who has betrayed their misplaced trust .
But when a president can act as absurdly and incompetently as Donald Trump has and still have a nearly 40 % approval rating for his handling of the crisis – over 80 % in his own party – something strange is going on .
What is it ?
A big part of the explanation can be found in the ideology of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ collective shrug at the heart of American gun culture .
The fundamental argument behind gun ownership is that society must accept high rates of gun deaths in order that the individual right to self-defense be maintained .
The gun owner asserts that while his own death would be a tragedy , the tens of thousands of other gun deaths every year are just a statistic .
No other country with the capacity to do anything about it accepts such an insane calculus .
The same attitude influences America ’ s response to coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ordinances and lockdowns are treated as tyrannical infringements on personal liberty , while a president who dismisses the danger of the problem to society at large is lauded .
Those who die are viewed as different , inferior – somehow not like us , the strong ones who survived .
Trump ’ s view that American soldiers who died in battle are “ losers ” when compared with their brethren who survived is the epitome of a culture that dismisses the coronavirus dead as “ only the elderly ” or “ just those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lies at the root of the distrust and hatred of government which is so uniquely American .
In most countries , the government ’ s duty to protect the population from a deadly pandemic would not be up for debate .
But the US government still has no real national plan to beat the coronavirus , and its chief executive is a tragi-comic figure who splits his time between promoting quack miracle cures and telling the states to deal with the problem on their own .
Far from being hounded from office , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the population who would rather see hundreds of thousands of their fellow citizens die than admit that perhaps government might be able to make some positive contribution to their lives .
Of course , America is capable of being roused by the dead – if only they are killed by outsiders .
When 2,977 people died on 9/11 , the United States flew into an era-defining rage , killing hundreds of thousands more , toppling governments and spending trillions .
Coronavirus inflicts human losses on America equivalent to a 9/11 every few @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and his allies seem moved to indignation by it is when they are trying to pin the blame on China .
Problems that can be blamed on foreigners are much more psychologically satisfying than those which require self-reflection .
It ’ s easier to blame foreign devils than it is to confront your own demons .
The fetish of individualism and the distrust of government are woven deep into the fabric of American culture , and it will take more than an election to unweave them .
Under an administration which actually tried @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recklessly dismiss it would likely double down on their selfishness .
But we can also hope that an effective effort to save lives would spark a renewed appreciation of the virtues of government , of social solidarity over individual indulgence , and of the bonds of union which tie Americans together .
It has to at least be worth trying .
It would certainly be one way to honor the dead .
• None Andrew Gawthorpe is a historian of the United States at Leiden University

Death is not supposed to be part of the American dream. As the country’s founding document says, liberty and the pursuit of happiness presuppose life. For a culture based on these ideals, death can be hard to confront. Nevertheless, as the official death toll from Covid-19 in the United States passes 200,000, it is time to take stock of how long-running pathologies in American culture exact a price measured in human lives.
The United States has now suffered about 22% of the world’s deaths from Covid-19, despite accounting for only 4% of the world’s population. At this stage, all statistics have to be taken with a pinch of salt, but this is nevertheless a stunning disparity. There are unborn historians who will make their careers out of arguing over the precise contribution of factors like climate, geography, genetics and demographics in bringing this situation about. But it would be absurd to suppose that the factors over which America did have control – especially the response of its government and people – won’t form a large part of our eventual understanding.
In no way should victims of coronavirus be blamed for their own deaths – even those who behaved recklessly on the advice of a president who has betrayed their misplaced trust. But when a president can act as absurdly and incompetently as Donald Trump has and still have a nearly 40% approval rating for his handling of the crisis – over 80% in his own party – something strange is going on. What is it?
A big part of the explanation can be found in the ideology of individualism, which also lies behind the collective shrug at the heart of American gun culture. The fundamental argument behind gun ownership is that society must accept high rates of gun deaths in order that the individual right to self-defense be maintained. The gun owner asserts that while his own death would be a tragedy, the tens of thousands of other gun deaths every year are just a statistic. No other country with the capacity to do anything about it accepts such an insane calculus.
The same attitude influences America’s response to coronavirus, especially on the right. Mask ordinances and lockdowns are treated as tyrannical infringements on personal liberty, while a president who dismisses the danger of the problem to society at large is lauded. Those who die are viewed as different, inferior – somehow not like us, the strong ones who survived. Trump’s view that American soldiers who died in battle are “losers” when compared with their brethren who survived is the epitome of a culture that dismisses the coronavirus dead as “only the elderly” or “just those with pre-existing conditions”.
Of course, America is capable of being roused by the dead – if only they are killed by outsiders
Individualism also lies at the root of the distrust and hatred of government which is so uniquely American. In most countries, the government’s duty to protect the population from a deadly pandemic would not be up for debate. But the US government still has no real national plan to beat the coronavirus, and its chief executive is a tragi-comic figure who splits his time between promoting quack miracle cures and telling the states to deal with the problem on their own. Far from being hounded from office, he wins praise from a substantial portion of the population who would rather see hundreds of thousands of their fellow citizens die than admit that perhaps government might be able to make some positive contribution to their lives.
Of course, America is capable of being roused by the dead – if only they are killed by outsiders. When 2,977 people died on 9/11, the United States flew into an era-defining rage, killing hundreds of thousands more, toppling governments and spending trillions. Coronavirus inflicts human losses on America equivalent to a 9/11 every few days, but the only time Trump and his allies seem moved to indignation by it is when they are trying to pin the blame on China. Problems that can be blamed on foreigners are much more psychologically satisfying than those which require self-reflection. It’s easier to blame foreign devils than it is to confront your own demons.
The fetish of individualism and the distrust of government are woven deep into the fabric of American culture, and it will take more than an election to unweave them. Under an administration which actually tried to fight the virus, those who recklessly dismiss it would likely double down on their selfishness. But we can also hope that an effective effort to save lives would spark a renewed appreciation of the virtues of government, of social solidarity over individual indulgence, and of the bonds of union which tie Americans together. It has to at least be worth trying. It would certainly be one way to honor the dead.


theguardian--2020-09-23--Cindy McCain, lifelong Republican, endorsing Biden because ‘he’s the better man’

Cindy McCain said on Wednesday morning that she is endorsing the Democratic candidate for president in the 2020 election , despite being a lifelong Republican married to the late Republican senator John McCain , because “ Joe Biden is the better man ” .
McCain made it official on Tuesday evening with a tweet .
“ My husband John lived by a code : country first .
We are Republicans , yes , but Americans foremost .
There ’ s only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation , and that is Joe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a landmark moment for the Biden election campaign .
On Wednesday she appeared live on the TV breakfast news shows to talk about the endorsement that had been expected , especially after she appeared in a video played at the Democratic national convention last month , but not made official until the evening before .
“ I have been watching what is going on and I ’ m deeply concerned , ” McCain told NBC ’ s Today show .
She never mentioned Donald Trump ’ s name , but Trump has had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since he disparaged the Arizona senator during his 2016 campaign .
He has publicly criticized McCain on numerous occasions and was enraged when the senator voted against an effort to overturn the Affordable Care Act , otherwise known as Obamacare .
And Trump infamously said of John McCain , who was held as a prisoner by the north Vietnamese for more than five years and tortured : “ He was a war hero because he was captured .
I like people who weren ’ t captured ...
He lost and let us down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as much after that .
I don ’ t like losers.
” The president was pointedly not invited to McCain ’ s funeral in 2018 .
Cindy McCain on Wednesday said also that the reports of Trump calling fallen American soldiers losers and suckers was “ pretty much ” the last straw .
“ Joe Biden represents the kind of values and integrity and courage we want in a president and I think would have my back as a citizen .
I want to feel like my president ’ s cares about me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ added that Biden has “ great empathy for people in this country who are struggling , not just with the Covid-19 crisis but all along the way.
” McCain said she was hoping she could persuade suburban women who are “ on the fence ” about which way to vote or about voting at all that , if they are Republican , the brave thing to do is “ cross the aisle ” and vote for Biden , not Trump , this November .
“ Joe Biden is the better man , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thinly-veiled racist warnings and appeals to the white suburban vote in recent weeks .
Moments after McCain began her TV interview on Wednesday , Trump tweeted aggressively that “ Cindy can have Sleepy Joe ” as he has nicknamed Biden , and criticized , effectively , the enduring conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and the handling of the Veterans Administration ( VA ) under previous presidents .
Asked on ABC ’ s Good Morning America if she had any comment on Trump ’ s tweet , McCain scoffed and said : “ Huh @ @ @ @ @ @ @ On the Republicans ’ rush to fill the supreme court seat left by the death on Friday of Ruth Bader Ginsburg before the election , when they had previously blocked Barack Obama ’ s nominee much further from the 2016 election , McCain said Republicans “ believe in what they are doing and that ’ s their prerogative ” .
She added that respect for partisan differences of opinion , listening and reaching across the political aisle was a tradition that John McCain and Biden upheld in the Senate that is being lost @ @ @ @ @

Cindy McCain said on Wednesday morning that she is endorsing the Democratic candidate for president in the 2020 election, despite being a lifelong Republican married to the late Republican senator John McCain, because “Joe Biden is the better man”.
McCain made it official on Tuesday evening with a tweet.
“My husband John lived by a code: country first. We are Republicans, yes, but Americans foremost. There’s only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is Joe Biden,” she posted, in a landmark moment for the Biden election campaign.
My husband John lived by a code: country first. We are Republicans, yes, but Americans foremost. There's only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is @JoeBiden. — Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) September 22, 2020
On Wednesday she appeared live on the TV breakfast news shows to talk about the endorsement that had been expected, especially after she appeared in a video played at the Democratic national convention last month, but not made official until the evening before.
“I have been watching what is going on and I’m deeply concerned,” McCain told NBC’s Today show.
She never mentioned Donald Trump’s name, but Trump has had a fraught relationship with the McCain family since he disparaged the Arizona senator during his 2016 campaign.
He has publicly criticized McCain on numerous occasions and was enraged when the senator voted against an effort to overturn the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.
And Trump infamously said of John McCain, who was held as a prisoner by the north Vietnamese for more than five years and tortured: “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured ... He lost and let us down. I’ve never liked him as much after that. I don’t like losers.”
The president was pointedly not invited to McCain’s funeral in 2018.
Cindy McCain on Wednesday said also that the reports of Trump calling fallen American soldiers losers and suckers was “pretty much” the last straw.
“Joe Biden represents the kind of values and integrity and courage we want in a president and I think would have my back as a citizen. I want to feel like my president’s cares about me,” she told NBC.
She added that Biden has “great empathy for people in this country who are struggling, not just with the Covid-19 crisis but all along the way.”
McCain said she was hoping she could persuade suburban women who are “on the fence” about which way to vote or about voting at all that, if they are Republican, the brave thing to do is “cross the aisle” and vote for Biden, not Trump, this November.
“Joe Biden is the better man,” she said.
Trump has been issuing thinly-veiled racist warnings and appeals to the white suburban vote in recent weeks.
Moments after McCain began her TV interview on Wednesday, Trump tweeted aggressively that “Cindy can have Sleepy Joe” as he has nicknamed Biden, and criticized, effectively, the enduring conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and the handling of the Veterans Administration (VA) under previous presidents.
I hardly know Cindy McCain other than having put her on a Committee at her husband’s request. Joe Biden was John McCain’s lapdog. So many BAD decisions on Endless Wars & the V.A., which I brought from a horror show to HIGH APPROVAL. Never a fan of John. Cindy can have Sleepy Joe! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2020
Asked on ABC’s Good Morning America if she had any comment on Trump’s tweet, McCain scoffed and said: “Huh, I do not have any.”
On the Republicans’ rush to fill the supreme court seat left by the death on Friday of Ruth Bader Ginsburg before the election, when they had previously blocked Barack Obama’s nominee much further from the 2016 election, McCain said Republicans “believe in what they are doing and that’s their prerogative”.
She added that respect for partisan differences of opinion, listening and reaching across the political aisle was a tradition that John McCain and Biden upheld in the Senate that is being lost in a divided America.


theguardian--2020-09-23--Biden to campaign in North Carolina as Trump draws more ire over Covid response – live

Nine current and former officials said in interviews that CIA Director Gina Haspel has become extremely cautious about which , if any , Russia-related intelligence products make their way to President Donald Trump ’ s desk .
Haspel also has been keeping a close eye on the agency ’ s fabled “ Russia House , ” whose analysts she often disagrees with and sometimes accuses of purposefully misleading her .
Last year , three of the people said , Haspel tasked the CIA ’ s general counsel , Courtney Elwood , with reviewing virtually every product that comes out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ analysts and targeters who are experts in Russia and the post-Soviet space , before it “ goes downtown ” to the White House .
One former CIA lawyer called it “ unprecedented that a general counsel would be involved to this extent.
” Four of the people said the change has resulted in less intelligence on Russia making its way to the White House , but the exact reason for that — whether Elwood has been blocking it , or whether Russia officers have become disillusioned and are producing less , or even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is less clear .

Joan E Greve (now) and Martin Belam (earlier)

24 Sept 2020 12.06 BST Key events so far… I’m going to be closing this blog shortly, but I’ll be bringing you more coverage of the reaction to the Breonna Taylor charging decision over on our US politics live blog for Thursday. In the meantime, here’s a summary of where we are at: The Jefferson county grand jury has indicted one of the officers involved in the shooting of Breonna Taylor. Former Louisville police officer Brett Hankinson faces three felony counts of first-degree wanton endangerment. None of the other officers involved in the fatal shooting were indicted. No homicide charges were issued.
Former Louisville police officer faces three felony counts of first-degree wanton endangerment. None of the other officers involved in the fatal shooting were indicted. No homicide charges were issued. Thousands of people joined protests in many major US city which saw protesters chanting “Say her name! Breonna Taylor” and “No justice, no peace”. Posters and shrines dedicated to Taylor were seen all around as protesters marched.
Posters and shrines dedicated to Taylor were seen all around as protesters marched. Two police officers in Louisville were shot and suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Louisville police have one suspect in custody.
Louisville police have one suspect in custody. A car drove through protests in Denver, there were no injuries. Chemical agents were used on protesters by the authorities in Atlanta and other cities. A riot was declare in Portland, Oregon , where police shared a video which appeared to show them being attacked with a Molotov cocktail.
there were no injuries. and other cities. , where police shared a video which appeared to show them being attacked with a Molotov cocktail. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family of Breonna Taylor, described the grand jury announcement as “outrageous and offensive.” Crump noted that none of the charges announced today appear to relate directly to the fatal shooting of Taylor. “If Brett Hankison ’s behavior was wanton endangerment to people in neighboring apartments, then it should have been wanton endangerment in Breonna Taylor’s apartment too. In fact, it should have been ruled wanton murder,” Crump said in a tweet.
who is representing the family of described the grand jury announcement as “outrageous and offensive.” Crump noted that none of the charges announced today appear to relate directly to the fatal shooting of Taylor. “If ’s behavior was wanton endangerment to people in neighboring apartments, then it should have been wanton endangerment in Breonna Taylor’s apartment too. In fact, it should have been ruled wanton murder,” Crump said in a tweet. Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, learned of the charging decision minutes before attorney general’s announcement. The family’s attorney, Sam Aguiar, told CNN: “She had to drive all the way down there to be told this, despite two advanced requests from me to not force her to drive down only to learn no indictments.” You can continue to follow the latest developments over here… Breonna Taylor decision: riot declared in Portland as protests grip US cities – US politics live Read more
24 Sept 2020 11.49 BST Another New York Times columnist, Charles M. Blow, sums up the feelings of a lot of people this morning… Been up much of the night trying to think through a column to write about #BreonnaTaylor. But, I just can’t. What is there to say that I haven’t already said? Black bodies falling continue with the consistent repetition of a drumbeat. Justice is rarely available. I’m exhausted… — Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) September 24, 2020
Updated at 11.49 BST
24 Sept 2020 11.28 BST Dr Melanye Price has written about Breonna Taylor for the New York Times this morning. In a piece headlined “It hurts to keep hoping for justice”, Price picks up on Kentucky’s attorney general, Daniel Cameron using the phrase “Mob justice is not justice”. She writes: All Ms. Taylor’s family wanted, and all many of the protesters wanted, is for the Constitution and the mechanism of justice to work for them the way it works for others. Mr. Cameron, who is Black, should know that to suggest that protesters are nothing but a mob dehumanizes the people calling for justice and respect. And it reminds African-Americans of the way we’re so often unfairly portrayed as perpetrators of crime, and so rarely seen as victims. Police officers who kill citizens are rarely convicted. But in this tragic situation, in which the woman killed was not only unarmed but asleep in the moments before a police officer took her life, we hoped that for once, justice would be on our side. This is yet another disappointing reminder that it’s not. These efforts take a cumulative toll. Young African-Americans consuming a regular diet of Black death are learning to not trust their government. It’s painful to realize that kneeling for the national anthem can cost a football player like Colin Kaepernick his career, but a police officer firing a deadly shot into an innocent young woman’s home late at night will face no consequences. Black people will try to make sense of this, try to rebuild whatever expectation of safety we can muster, and tap into coping mechanisms that are now so familiar. Preparing for moments like this feels like a futile job that can never really soften the actual experience. Read it here: New York Times – Melanye Price: It hurts to keep hoping for justice
Updated at 11.50 BST
24 Sept 2020 11.21 BST Facebook to launch long-delayed independent oversight board in October Also with the election in mind, here is some social media news. Facebook’s long-delayed independent oversight board plans to launch in mid-to-late October, just before the presidential election, although a board member said he did not know whether it would hear cases related to the contest The board, announced by Facebook in response to criticism of its handling of problematic content, will initially have the power to review decisions to take down posts from Facebook and Instagram, and recommend policy changes. Elizabeth Culliford reports for Reuters that some experts have said it will not be able to help combat misinformation, because it will have no authority at first to evaluate posts that the company decides to leave up. Oversight board member – and former Guardian editor – Alan Rusbridger told Reuters in an interview that the board was now aiming for an October launch. A spokesman confirmed that timetable, saying the launch, originally planned for last year, had also been slowed by the coronavirus pandemic. Rusbridger said he did not know whether the board would hear cases about content connected to the US election.
24 Sept 2020 11.19 BST Biden to be endorsed by 489 national security leaders who say Trump 'not equal to the enormous responsibilities of his office' Away from the Breonna Taylor protests for a moment, a quick snap from Reuters here that one of president Donald Trump’s most senior military advisers, retired General Paul Selva, is joining a large group of former Pentagon leaders to publicly endorse Joe Biden, according to a letter seen by the news agency. Selva, who served as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff until July 2019, appears on a list of 489 national security experts - including former military leaders, ambassadors and White House officials - who signed a letter being released on Thursday that declares Trump “not equal to the enormous responsibilities of his office.”
“Thanks to his disdainful attitude and his failures, our allies no longer trust or respect us, and our enemies no longer fear us,” reads the letter by the group, called “National Security Leaders For Biden.” Other groups of former national security leaders have endorsed Biden and criticized Trump, but, Reuters say, it is remarkable that a recently retired four-star general like Selva - who was the Pentagon’s No. 2 military officer - would publicly endorse any candidate and sign onto a letter condemning a president he served. CNN’s Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr, notes: Most Americans would have no reason to know Gen Selva’s name. But inside the very highest ranks he is very respected. https://t.co/5Hbr5aOtyR — Barbara Starr (@barbarastarrcnn) September 24, 2020
Updated at 11.31 BST
24 Sept 2020 11.08 BST The events of yesterday and last night are liable to push police and justice reform back into the public spotlight and make them a focus of the election campaign. Adam Mahoney has been in Chicago for us, looking at why the city is the only one in America’s top 10 not yet to agree to new police reforms, despite civil rights protests and a bloody summer of police shootings. Community leaders are at their wits end in a city where having the largest per-capita police force in the US is not translating into less crime or less violence, especially in neighborhoods long blighted by structural racism and now slammed by the twin coronavirus and economic crises. “This summer and the pandemic have shown us that if we want justice and love in Chicago, what we’re doing isn’t working,” said Moises Moreno, a city native and director of Pilsen Alliance, an organization on the lower west side that develops grassroots leadership in working class, immigrant communities. Three weeks ago in the Pilsen neighborhood, a cluster of candles and flowers couldn’t quite cover the dried blood on the sidewalk where 26-year-old Miguel Vega had been shot dead by Chicago police, one of five police shootings by the department in the last two months. A sixth shooting was carried out by a sheriff’s officer from surrounding Cook county. While county sheriff Tom Dart released bodycam footage less than a day after that wounding, Chicago Police Department failed to release any of the footage from its five shootings, until two days ago it issued bodycam from the Vega incident. Read it here: Why Chicago hasn’t enacted police reforms despite demands for change Why Chicago hasn't enacted police reforms despite demands for change Read more
Updated at 11.09 BST
24 Sept 2020 10.58 BST Here are some more of the pictures that have been coming through of a night of protest and demonstrations in many US cities. Protesters blocked a police car in downtown Los Angeles. Photograph: Jill Connelly/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock A protester carries a sign in honor of Breonna Taylor in Chicago, Illinois. Photograph: Natasha Moustache/Getty Images Protesters march under an overpass downtown in Louisville, Kentucky. Photograph: Jon Cherry/Getty Images Hundreds of people take to the streets of Washington DC, marching from the Department of Justice to Black Lives Matter Plaza and beyond. Photograph: Amy Katz/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock A protester with a loudhailer on a march through the streets of Seattle in remembrance of Breonna Taylor. Photograph: Karen Ducey/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock Police watch as hundreds of people protest in New York. Photograph: Lev Radin/Pacific Press/REX/Shutterstock
24 Sept 2020 10.35 BST Like many cities in the US there was a Black Lives Matter protest in San Jose yesterday over the Breonna Taylor decision. The East Bay Times reports: As of 6:30pm Wednesday, roughly 100 protesters had gathered outside San Jose City Hall. Among them was 25-year-old San Jose resident Daniel Barrena, who said he was disgusted the jury did not do more. “It just shows that they’re not accountable at all to anyone,” said Barrena, who waved a Zapatista flag in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. “There’s just going to be more protests and more riots until we get the justice we deserve.” Paris Browder said the news was “a slap in the face to me, to every Black person and to Breonna’s family specially.” “I feel infuriated, frustrated, outraged and out of my body,” the 28-year-old San Jose resident said. For 29-year-old San Jose resident Srishti Prabha, the indictment of a single police officer was an example “of just how much political power police have in this country.” “It’s unfortunate that Breonna Taylor’s family is not going to get the justice they wanted,” Prabha continued. “This was a heinous crime and justice did not happen.”
Updated at 10.36 BST
24 Sept 2020 10.19 BST Our multimedia team have put together this report, as thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in more than a dozen cities across the US after a grand jury decided not to directly charge police officers for the killing of Breonna Taylor. 00:53 Breonna Taylor protests erupt across US – video
24 Sept 2020 09.35 BST Pulitzer Prize winning Robin Givhan has written powerfully for the Washington Post this morning, in a piece simply titled Miss Breonna Taylor. The Kentucky attorney general kept calling her Miss. Miss Taylor. Miss Breonna Taylor. He gave her that honorific, that scrap of dignity six months after she was killed. Cameron used the genteel title — “Miss” — as a matter of formality but also as a kind of armor. The nicety would serve as evidence of his respectfulness of Taylor and of his regard for the criminal justice system. The title would also give feeble cover to the system’s indifference to the value of this 26-year-old Black woman’s life. The word would teeter atop a mountain of historical disregard that continues to grow. She did not have a weapon. She had done nothing wrong. She was simply at home. And she was killed by police. Cameron called her death a tragedy. That’s the least of it. No one would be held to account for Taylor’s death. Taylor was killed and the system shrugged. But at least Cameron called her Miss. Read it here: Washington Post – Robin Givhan: Miss Breonna Taylor
24 Sept 2020 09.21 BST Back to Portland, where the Oregonian reports on the evening’s protests. Mark Graves writes for the paper that the demonstration started when hundreds of people filled Southwest Third Avenue in front of the downtown Justice Center: Several Black women addressed the crowd from the steps of the Justice Center and encouraged people to vote and continue pressing for change. As the speeches continued past 9pm, a smaller crowd started forming in front of the Second Avenue side of the Justice Center — the Central Precinct of the Portland police. Portland police declared that gathering an “unlawful assembly shortly” before 10pm It was unclear why. Most people remained focused on the speeches on the opposite side of the building. Police warned people to leave Second Avenue, live videos showed. Dozens of officers then advanced on the crowd, using smoke and other devices to force people to move. At least one protester responded by throwing a firework toward police. He goes on to say A handful of protesters targeted a police precinct with fire and rocks. Police quickly extinguished the flames as they burned the edge of an awning. But soon after, someone threw a Molotov cocktail toward officers. Police ordered the hundreds of people gathered in honor of Breonna Taylor to leave, then used force to make people move. Federal officers helped. Federal officers shot impact munitions on downtown streets a half-mile away from the federal courthouse that President Donald Trump pledged to protect. The scene mirrored many July nights, when federal officers regularly and aggressively dispersed crowds outside the courthouse. Read it here: Oregon Live – Portland, federal police break up downtown protest of Breonna Taylor grand jury decision
Updated at 11.29 BST
24 Sept 2020 09.16 BST Away from the protests for a moment, the Associated Press is reporting that the US justice department is investigating a former Republican Florida Congresswoman accused of spending at least $50,000 of campaign money on vacations and restaurant and luxury hotel bills. The federal department’s public integrity section is looking into the expenditures by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, from Miami, including a 2017 trip to Walt Disney World with her children and grandchildren, rooms at a Ritz-Carlton resort and a New Year’s Eve meal at a high-end seafood restaurant.
In this 2015 file photo, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, listens to a question from the media. Photograph: Wilfredo Lee/AP Jeffrey Weiner, an attorney for Ros-Lehtinen, said in a statement to WFOR-TV, which first reported the investigation, that Ros-Lehtinen was aware of the investigation and she and former staff members and volunteers were cooperating with the Federal Election Commission and the Justice Department.
In a statement to the Miami Herald, the attorney added that they are turning over campaign finance and other records subpoenaed by the Justice Department.
“We ... are confident that, if bookkeeping errors were committed, they were due to negligence, and not willful or intentional misconduct by the former congresswoman or anyone on her staff, or her accountants,” the news outlets quoted Weiner as saying.
Ros-Lehtinen declined to seek reelection in 2018 after a 30-year career in Congress. Following her retirement announcement in April 2017, she transferred more than $177,000 from her reelection campaign account to a political action committee she controlled, WFOR-TV reported. Federal law prohibits campaign funds, including those transferred to PACs from being spent on personal use.
Weiner declined to explain the campaign-related purpose of the expenditures but said his team has not “found any evidence whatsoever of intentional wrongdoing” by the former Congresswoman or her staff.
24 Sept 2020 09.10 BST Here’s a reminder of what Kentucky attorney general, Daniel Cameron, said, urging protesters to make their voices heard peacefully after only one police officer involved in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor was indicted by a grand jury. 02:18 Breonna Taylor killing: attorney general calls for calm as no officers directly charged – video


theguardian--2020-09-23--What Miami's vastly unequal zip codes reveal about the election fight in Florida

“ I ’ m a Trumper , ” said 93-year-old doctor Irwin Potash , speaking from quarantine in his $ 1.6m condo on Fisher Island , a private island in Florida with a golf course , two marinas and 17 tennis courts that ’ s just a seven-minute ferry ride from South Beach .
Potash thinks his wealthy neighbors should be Trumpers , too .
If they ’ re voting for Democrats , “ They ’ re kind of stupid , as far as I ’ m concerned .
They ’ ll be poor by the time Biden and Harris @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way to live , I ’ ll tell ya.
” Forty miles south-west of Potash , in the agricultural community of Homestead , groves burst with avocados and mangos in summer ; bell peppers , tomatoes and strawberries planted here this fall will feed the country all winter .
More and more , though , fields are giving way to new homes and apartment developments , as families spread out from Miami proper .
Antonia , a field worker who asked that her last name not be used for fear of repercussions from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which she works , emigrated from Mexico 30 years ago and is now a citizen .
She pools enough to afford a $ 1,500-a-month apartment where she lives with her daughter , her daughter ’ s husband and two granddaughters .
“ I ’ m voting for Biden , ” she said in Spanish , and she thinks her fellow agricultural workers will , too .
“ We feel rejection and discrimination from the current president , ” she said .
Of course , coronavirus has affected the lives of rich and poor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ record highs but workaday wage earners facing historic unemployment .
If Irwin Potash gets sick , the University of Miami has a health center on Fisher Island .
“ You can even get a helicopter , ” he said .
If Antonia does , she can go to a mobile testing clinic set up after farmworker advocates fought for it .
Miami-Dade county has the second-biggest gap between rich and poor of all large metro areas in the US , according to a 2019 report – only the New York metropolitan area is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 33109 zip code – which comprises Fisher Island ’ s 216 acres and its 800 residences – is the richest not just in the county but in the entire US , according to a Bloomberg analysis from last year .
Zip code 33034 , which covers parts of the rural but quickly developing cities of Homestead and Florida City , plus some unincorporated areas , is the county ’ s poorest , according to a Miami Herald analysis .
For the 23,000 people in its 280 sq miles , the per-capita income is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2020 election looms , it ’ d be wrong to say that the poor will vote for Biden and the rich for Trump .
As conversations with residents indicate the political fault lines are not quite so clear-cut .
Potash said the economy is definitely the issue that will drive his vote .
But he also actively dislikes the Democrats ’ ideas .
Medicare for All ?
“ Ridiculous !
You can ’ t do that .
It ’ s too expensive .
Obamacare is terrible , ” he said .
And “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ letting rioters and looters take over ?
I get scared when I see this stuff on TV.
” Matt Barnes , proprietor of DJ and limousine-rental businesses who has lived on Fisher Island for four years , said that the economy is also his top issue .
“ I started my first business in America ’ s poorest zip code when I was 12 years old , ” he said .
That would be 16501 – covering Erie , Pennsylvania – where he started DJing at weddings and events .
In his teens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parties because he was working every weekend .
Miami ’ s electronic music scene eventually drew him south .
Barnes ’ entrepreneurial drive colors his politics .
“ Republicans are very much pro-business and extremely anti-socialism and very much all about the American Dream , ” he said .
“ [ If you ’ re ] working super hard and taking on enormous risk , you should reap extreme rewards in the event you become successful.
” He said he did not want to see people collecting unemployment and having babies .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and produce , not sit at home and feed off the system.
” Barnes is voting for Trump because he thinks he ’ s a good businessman .
He had no vitriol toward Democrats , but felt that Joe Biden has no standout accomplishments despite his many years in office .
Perhaps the most politically influential couple on Fisher Island is Jeff Spragens , an attorney and commercial real estate investor , and his wife Joy Fowler Spragens , a retired financial adviser turned “ full-time constitutional activist.
” As of mid-September , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1m to Republican candidates and Pacs this campaign cycle : Jeff , $ 606,986 and Joy , $ 444,103 .
Joy is a member of the advisory council of the conservative nonprofit group Turning Point USA , and her Instagram shows her hobnobbing with Roger Stone and Marco Rubio , as well as visiting her organic farm in Sonoma and an orphanage in Haiti .
The Spragens did not respond to requests for comment sent through Turning Point and Instagram , but a recent post of Joy ’ s announced : “ God @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the package we expect .
I don ’ t really care about our president ’ s personality .
He ’ s the bodyguard for America .
I trust him to keep us safe.
” FEC data shows that residents of Fisher Island have donated $ 1.86m since January 2019 .
OpenSecrets , looking at the island ’ s $ 1.2m in political contributions in 2020 , noted that was nine times more than the average zip code in the US , which has contributed $ 126,057 .
The FEC database shows that of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 33109 since January 2019 , over 900 were from Jeff Spragens .
Of the zip code ’ s donations made directly to presidential candidates ’ authorized committees ( as opposed to Pacs ) , Biden had six contributions totaling $ 13,477 as of August 28 , while Trump had 88 totaling $ 32,807 .
Fisher Island is not entirely Republican , though .
Doctor , author and biotech entrepreneur Mark C Rogers estimates that about two-thirds of the island ’ s residents are hedge-fund managers and businesspeople leaning Republican , and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leaning Democratic .
On the island , “ Discussions about politics can be tense , similar to elsewhere in the country , and tend to take place more among those who tend to agree , ” Rogers said .
Rogers is supporting Biden because “ Donald Trump is intellectually and emotionally ill-suited to be president of the United States , ” he said .
He worries that Trump is pushing the limits of power of the executive branch – “ a truly worrisome distortion of our constitution and a major step toward a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economic disparity within Miami-Dade , one might expect an equal and opposite reaction in Homestead/Florida City – 33034 .
But there , too , Republicans win the fundraising battle .
There have so far been 774 contributions from the zip code this election cycle , 51 of those to authorized presidential committees .
Of those , three are for Biden , 43 for Trump .
Biden ’ s were for $ 25 each , from the same person ( who did not respond to a call for comment ) , totaling $ 75 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 2 to $ 430 , totaling $ 3,561 .
Even looking at voters instead of dollars , in Homestead/Florida City poverty doesn ’ t necessarily translate to support for Democrats .
The region is diverse : in addition to agriculture – which employs documented and undocumented workers from Mexico and Guatemala , indigenous people from those countries , and Haitians with temporary protected status – the area ’ s other employers include an alligator farm , a boat manufacturer , a Nascar speedway , a prison and a nuclear power plant .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ their own struggles , against heat , hurricanes and market forces .
Tyra Phillips , executive director of the nonprofit , nonpartisan Dade County Farm Bureau , said , “ We work with whoever ’ s in office ” but that a top concern since the 1990s has been the Clinton-brokered North American Free Trade Agreement ( Nafta ) , and its replacement , the Trump-brokered United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement ( USMCA ) , international agreements that resulted in cheap imports that undercut prices for US farmers .
“ No matter what you call @ @ @ @ @ @ @ practices , ” Phillips said .
This year , Phillips said , coronavirus disrupted supply chains .
Steve Kirk is a registered Republican who in 2016 voted for Jeb Bush in the primary and Hillary Clinton in the general election .
“ I am bipartisan to a certain degree , ” he said .
Though he is president of a nonprofit called Rural Neighborhoods that advocates for farmworkers , he often supports Republicans , like Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart , who is progressive on immigration .
Agricultural business owners have strong voting power and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ affect policy in Tallahassee and Washington , Kirk noted .
Nicaraguan-born Lis-Marie Alvarado , who immigrated to the US when she was 12 and is now the Homestead-based program director with the Quaker-influenced nonprofit American Friends Service Committee , likewise noted that the politics of her rural area are complex .
Her job includes protecting residents from racial profiling by police and from immigration raids .
“ ICE has been coming here since Obama time , ” she said .
Because political leaders assume the entire farmworker population is undocumented – “ a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she estimates 75 percent are – they ’ re never really courted by politicians and their needs largely go ignored , she said .
So scrappy organizations like hers fill in gaps where social services fail .
Alvarado worked this spring to convince the local health department to bring the coronavirus testing unit out .
Claudia Navarro , program director with WeCount !
, a nonprofit that ’ s set up like a union , with day laborers and domestic workers paying dues , said , “ We ’ ve seen jobs devastated.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ nurseries have returned to work , restaurant and domestic workers haven ’ t , or they ’ ve had their hours cut .
“ They have compounding issues .
With schools not reopening , they can ’ t leave kids home alone .
They ’ re not getting support from the government .
They haven ’ t qualified for stimulus relief .
They don ’ t have health care and don ’ t have savings , so they ’ re living check to check , desperate to figure out a way to continue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Navarro ’ s group raised $ 150,000 that it passed out in small cash grants .
“ The majority of the community we work with directly is not going to be voting , ” she said , but she intends to be involved in get-out-the-vote initiatives like phone banking and texting , and supporting Amendment 2 , a proposed state constitutional amendment that would set the minimum wage at $ 15 per hour .
“ While I can not speak in terms of who to vote for , I am very clear that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Navarro said .
Homestead Mayor Steven Losner , whose office is nonpartisan , suggested that residents are focused on local issues that affect their everyday lives .
“ The concerns most often expressed to me are traffic and congestion , and jobs.
” With South Florida wedged between the Atlantic Ocean and the Everglades , there ’ s a finite amount of developable land for an ever-growing population , and builders and homebuyers have been creeping west to find affordability , but many residents have long commutes to work .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Losner said .
Steve Shiver , a former mayor of Homestead who was born and raised in Florida City and married an immigrant , likewise seemed to think that the most important issues for voters there are local , like child care at the migrant camps .
Otis Wallace , in office since 1984 and sometimes called the “ mayor for life ” of Florida City , is black , but he suggested racial concerns are not as important as the economy .
“ There are a lot of hotel rooms in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gateway to the Everglades and the Keys.
” Tourist visits are about 20 percent of normal , he said .
“ It ’ s all interconnected .
If the hotels are empty , there ’ s nobody buying food at the restaurant.
” He ’ s a strong supporter of Democrats .
The Republican party of Miami-Dade did not respond to a request for comment about its fundraising and voter outreach at opposite ends of the economic spectrum .
Steve Simeonidis , an attorney and chair of the Miami-Dade Democrats , said that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ helps drive voter turnout , the main goal for Dems this year is to make sure people get to the polls and that their votes are counted .
He suggested that , even for voters most concerned about the economy , Dems are the better bet , as they support the working class .
“ We are the party of the living wage , ” Simeonidis said .
“ Trump may be better for the stock market , but a small minority of Americans own stock , because a small minority of Americans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ afford to have savings … The average American could give a shit.
” Simeonidis doubts his party will do any outreach to Fisher Island as the election ticks closer , “ but we will absolutely be down in Homestead , ” he said .
There ’ s a heated state senate race there , and high hopes among Dems that Miami-Dade will elect its first female mayor in Daniella Levine Cava .
Simeonidis emphasized the hotel , restaurant and transportation workers who power South Florida ’ s tourist economy and said that Democrats @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be a swing state , but Simeonidis doesn ’ t think there are too many undecided voters to convert .
“ The man in the Oval Office is so appalling and his record is so completely horrific and in your face that if you are somehow not convinced by statements he ’ s made , I don ’ t know that us pouring money [ to persuade you ] is going to make a difference.
” Neither the Trump nor the Biden campaign responded to requests for comment for this story .
This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ award-winning not-for-profit publication Capital and Main

“I’m a Trumper,” said 93-year-old doctor Irwin Potash, speaking from quarantine in his $1.6m condo on Fisher Island, a private island in Florida with a golf course, two marinas and 17 tennis courts that’s just a seven-minute ferry ride from South Beach.
Potash thinks his wealthy neighbors should be Trumpers, too. If they’re voting for Democrats, “They’re kind of stupid, as far as I’m concerned. They’ll be poor by the time Biden and Harris get in. That’s no way to live, I’ll tell ya.”
Forty miles south-west of Potash, in the agricultural community of Homestead, groves burst with avocados and mangos in summer; bell peppers, tomatoes and strawberries planted here this fall will feed the country all winter. More and more, though, fields are giving way to new homes and apartment developments, as families spread out from Miami proper.
Antonia, a field worker who asked that her last name not be used for fear of repercussions from the boss of the small farm on which she works, emigrated from Mexico 30 years ago and is now a citizen. She pools enough to afford a $1,500-a-month apartment where she lives with her daughter, her daughter’s husband and two granddaughters.
“I’m voting for Biden,” she said in Spanish, and she thinks her fellow agricultural workers will, too. “We feel rejection and discrimination from the current president,” she said.
Of course, coronavirus has affected the lives of rich and poor in different ways, with stocks hitting record highs but workaday wage earners facing historic unemployment. If Irwin Potash gets sick, the University of Miami has a health center on Fisher Island. “You can even get a helicopter,” he said. If Antonia does, she can go to a mobile testing clinic set up after farmworker advocates fought for it.
Miami-Dade county has the second-biggest gap between rich and poor of all large metro areas in the US, according to a 2019 report – only the New York metropolitan area is more unequal. The county’s 33109 zip code – which comprises Fisher Island’s 216 acres and its 800 residences – is the richest not just in the county but in the entire US, according to a Bloomberg analysis from last year. Zip code 33034, which covers parts of the rural but quickly developing cities of Homestead and Florida City, plus some unincorporated areas, is the county’s poorest, according to a Miami Herald analysis. For the 23,000 people in its 280 sq miles, the per-capita income is $10,608.
Nevertheless, as the 2020 election looms, it’d be wrong to say that the poor will vote for Biden and the rich for Trump. As conversations with residents indicate the political fault lines are not quite so clear-cut.
Potash said the economy is definitely the issue that will drive his vote. But he also actively dislikes the Democrats’ ideas. Medicare for All? “Ridiculous! You can’t do that. It’s too expensive. Obamacare is terrible,” he said. And “this business of defunding the police, letting rioters and looters take over? I get scared when I see this stuff on TV.”
Matt Barnes, proprietor of DJ and limousine-rental businesses who has lived on Fisher Island for four years, said that the economy is also his top issue. “I started my first business in America’s poorest zip code when I was 12 years old,” he said. That would be 16501 – covering Erie, Pennsylvania – where he started DJing at weddings and events. In his teens and 20s, he missed out on parties because he was working every weekend. Miami’s electronic music scene eventually drew him south.
Barnes’ entrepreneurial drive colors his politics. “Republicans are very much pro-business and extremely anti-socialism and very much all about the American Dream,” he said. “[If you’re] working super hard and taking on enormous risk, you should reap extreme rewards in the event you become successful.” He said he did not want to see people collecting unemployment and having babies. “No – you need to go out and produce, not sit at home and feed off the system.”
Barnes is voting for Trump because he thinks he’s a good businessman. He had no vitriol toward Democrats, but felt that Joe Biden has no standout accomplishments despite his many years in office.
Perhaps the most politically influential couple on Fisher Island is Jeff Spragens, an attorney and commercial real estate investor, and his wife Joy Fowler Spragens, a retired financial adviser turned “full-time constitutional activist.” As of mid-September, the couple had donated more than $1m to Republican candidates and Pacs this campaign cycle: Jeff, $606,986 and Joy, $444,103. Joy is a member of the advisory council of the conservative nonprofit group Turning Point USA, and her Instagram shows her hobnobbing with Roger Stone and Marco Rubio, as well as visiting her organic farm in Sonoma and an orphanage in Haiti.
The Spragens did not respond to requests for comment sent through Turning Point and Instagram, but a recent post of Joy’s announced: “God rarely gives us what we need in the package we expect. I don’t really care about our president’s personality. He’s the bodyguard for America. I trust him to keep us safe.”
FEC data shows that residents of Fisher Island have donated $1.86m since January 2019. OpenSecrets, looking at the island’s $1.2m in political contributions in 2020, noted that was nine times more than the average zip code in the US, which has contributed $126,057. The FEC database shows that of the 1,514 political contributions made by residents in 33109 since January 2019, over 900 were from Jeff Spragens. Of the zip code’s donations made directly to presidential candidates’ authorized committees (as opposed to Pacs), Biden had six contributions totaling $13,477 as of August 28, while Trump had 88 totaling $32,807.
Fisher Island, a private island with a golf course, two marinas and 17 tennis courts. Photograph: Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images
Fisher Island is not entirely Republican, though. Doctor, author and biotech entrepreneur Mark C Rogers estimates that about two-thirds of the island’s residents are hedge-fund managers and businesspeople leaning Republican, and the rest are lawyers, doctors and educators leaning Democratic. On the island, “Discussions about politics can be tense, similar to elsewhere in the country, and tend to take place more among those who tend to agree,” Rogers said.
Rogers is supporting Biden because “Donald Trump is intellectually and emotionally ill-suited to be president of the United States,” he said. He worries that Trump is pushing the limits of power of the executive branch – “a truly worrisome distortion of our constitution and a major step toward a more despotic government.”
Given the stark economic disparity within Miami-Dade, one might expect an equal and opposite reaction in Homestead/Florida City – 33034. But there, too, Republicans win the fundraising battle. There have so far been 774 contributions from the zip code this election cycle, 51 of those to authorized presidential committees. Of those, three are for Biden, 43 for Trump. Biden’s were for $25 each, from the same person (who did not respond to a call for comment), totaling $75, while Trump’s ranged from $2 to $430, totaling $3,561.
Even looking at voters instead of dollars, in Homestead/Florida City poverty doesn’t necessarily translate to support for Democrats.
The region is diverse: in addition to agriculture – which employs documented and undocumented workers from Mexico and Guatemala, indigenous people from those countries, and Haitians with temporary protected status – the area’s other employers include an alligator farm, a boat manufacturer, a Nascar speedway, a prison and a nuclear power plant. And owners of farms and nurseries have their own struggles, against heat, hurricanes and market forces.
Tyra Phillips, executive director of the nonprofit, nonpartisan Dade County Farm Bureau, said, “We work with whoever’s in office” but that a top concern since the 1990s has been the Clinton-brokered North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), and its replacement, the Trump-brokered United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), international agreements that resulted in cheap imports that undercut prices for US farmers. “No matter what you call it, it’s unfair trade practices,” Phillips said. This year, Phillips said, coronavirus disrupted supply chains.
Steve Kirk is a registered Republican who in 2016 voted for Jeb Bush in the primary and Hillary Clinton in the general election. “I am bipartisan to a certain degree,” he said. Though he is president of a nonprofit called Rural Neighborhoods that advocates for farmworkers, he often supports Republicans, like Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, who is progressive on immigration. Agricultural business owners have strong voting power and political sway to bring home dollars or affect policy in Tallahassee and Washington, Kirk noted.
Nicaraguan-born Lis-Marie Alvarado, who immigrated to the US when she was 12 and is now the Homestead-based program director with the Quaker-influenced nonprofit American Friends Service Committee, likewise noted that the politics of her rural area are complex. Her job includes protecting residents from racial profiling by police and from immigration raids.
“ICE has been coming here since Obama time,” she said. Because political leaders assume the entire farmworker population is undocumented – “a misconception,” she says, though she estimates 75 percent are – they’re never really courted by politicians and their needs largely go ignored, she said. So scrappy organizations like hers fill in gaps where social services fail. Alvarado worked this spring to convince the local health department to bring the coronavirus testing unit out.
Claudia Navarro, program director with WeCount!, a nonprofit that’s set up like a union, with day laborers and domestic workers paying dues, said, “We’ve seen jobs devastated.” While agricultural workers in farms and nurseries have returned to work, restaurant and domestic workers haven’t, or they’ve had their hours cut. “They have compounding issues. With schools not reopening, they can’t leave kids home alone. They’re not getting support from the government. They haven’t qualified for stimulus relief. They don’t have health care and don’t have savings, so they’re living check to check, desperate to figure out a way to continue to survive.”
When coronavirus hit, Navarro’s group raised $150,000 that it passed out in small cash grants. “The majority of the community we work with directly is not going to be voting,” she said, but she intends to be involved in get-out-the-vote initiatives like phone banking and texting, and supporting Amendment 2, a proposed state constitutional amendment that would set the minimum wage at $15 per hour. “While I cannot speak in terms of who to vote for, I am very clear that this is the election of our lives,” Navarro said.
Homestead Mayor Steven Losner, whose office is nonpartisan, suggested that residents are focused on local issues that affect their everyday lives. “The concerns most often expressed to me are traffic and congestion, and jobs.” With South Florida wedged between the Atlantic Ocean and the Everglades, there’s a finite amount of developable land for an ever-growing population, and builders and homebuyers have been creeping west to find affordability, but many residents have long commutes to work. “That’s always the battle,” Losner said.
Steve Shiver, a former mayor of Homestead who was born and raised in Florida City and married an immigrant, likewise seemed to think that the most important issues for voters there are local, like child care at the migrant camps.
Otis Wallace, in office since 1984 and sometimes called the “mayor for life” of Florida City, is black, but he suggested racial concerns are not as important as the economy. “There are a lot of hotel rooms in Florida City. It’s the gateway to the Everglades and the Keys.” Tourist visits are about 20 percent of normal, he said. “It’s all interconnected. If the hotels are empty, there’s nobody buying food at the restaurant.” He’s a strong supporter of Democrats.
The Republican party of Miami-Dade did not respond to a request for comment about its fundraising and voter outreach at opposite ends of the economic spectrum.
Steve Simeonidis, an attorney and chair of the Miami-Dade Democrats, said that while fundraising is important insofar as it helps drive voter turnout, the main goal for Dems this year is to make sure people get to the polls and that their votes are counted. He suggested that, even for voters most concerned about the economy, Dems are the better bet, as they support the working class.
“We are the party of the living wage,” Simeonidis said. “Trump may be better for the stock market, but a small minority of Americans own stock, because a small minority of Americans are the only ones that can actually afford to have savings … The average American could give a shit.”
Simeonidis doubts his party will do any outreach to Fisher Island as the election ticks closer, “but we will absolutely be down in Homestead,” he said. There’s a heated state senate race there, and high hopes among Dems that Miami-Dade will elect its first female mayor in Daniella Levine Cava. Simeonidis emphasized the hotel, restaurant and transportation workers who power South Florida’s tourist economy and said that Democrats have strong union support.
Florida might be a swing state, but Simeonidis doesn’t think there are too many undecided voters to convert. “The man in the Oval Office is so appalling and his record is so completely horrific and in your face that if you are somehow not convinced by statements he’s made, I don’t know that us pouring money [to persuade you] is going to make a difference.”
Neither the Trump nor the Biden campaign responded to requests for comment for this story.
This article is published in partnership with the award-winning not-for-profit publication Capital and Main


theguardian--2020-09-23--Guardian/Vice poll finds most US 2020 voters strongly favor climate action

The climate crisis is set to be a significant factor in a US presidential election for the first time , with new polling showing a clear majority of American voters want decisive action to deal with the threats posed by global heating .
Seven in 10 voters support government action to address climate change , with three-quarters wanting the US to generate all of its electricity from renewable sources such as solar and wind within 15 years .
Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they would be more likely to vote for a presidential candidate who supports the complete shift to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 10 voters supporting US involvement in the Paris climate agreement , which commits countries to tackling dangerous heating .
Two-thirds of voters said climate should be a priority for whoever wins the election .
“ There may be a divide on Capitol Hill but the large majority of us are worried about climate change and want to see leaders deal with it , ” said Ed Maibach , director of George Mason University ’ s Center for Climate Change Communication .
“ This is the first election where climate change has featured @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we ’ ve seen in American politics before.
” Over the past decade , the crisis has become a sharply partisan political topic as Republicans embraced denial and obfuscation of the escalating crisis .
Donald Trump called climate science a “ hoax ” and his administration set about dismantling every policy put in place by Barack Obama to reduce planet-heating emissions .
However , the new polling , on behalf of the Guardian , Vice Media Group and Covering Climate Now , by Climate Nexus , the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Climate Change Communication , shows that the political landscape among voters appears to be shifting .
Democrats are becoming increasingly alarmed over the climate crisis , with 90 % describing it as either a “ very serious ” or “ somewhat serious ” problem and more than eight in 10 supporting a Green New Deal , a vast government-led climate program , to combat it .
This concern is filtering through , to a lesser degree , to Republican voters .
More than half say climate change is a very or somewhat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Green New Deal , despite it being widely vilified by Republican party leaders .
A further 51 % of Republican voters support US involvement in the Paris climate accords .
The polling suggests Trump , who has triggered the US withdrawal from the agreement and routinely disparages climate science , will be the first US president to face a voter backlash over the climate crisis .
His Democratic opponent , Joe Biden , meanwhile , has vowed to reduce US energy emissions to net zero by 2050 and promised a $ 2tn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in clean energy industries .
“ Republican officeholders really do have to worry about this , ” said Maibach .
“ Young Republicans are becoming less accepting of the party line that climate change isn ’ t real or isn ’ t a serious problem .
They don ’ t want climate denial any more , moderate Republicans don ’ t want climate denial any more and women voters largely don ’ t want to support climate denialist candidates any more either.
” The surge in voter appetite for climate action follows a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ US recently , including huge wildfires that have scorched the west coast and powerful hurricanes that have pummeled the US south .
Scientists say rising global temperatures , caused by humans burning fossil fuels , are aiding the spread of wildfires and making hurricanes more intense .
Trump ’ s first term in office has also seen a growing youth-led climate protest movement , with the Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg as its figurehead .
Younger US voters see the climate crisis as a top-tier issue , polling has shown , while the latest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ greater focus on the issue in the media .
More than six in 10 respondents said the media should explicitly outline the link between extreme weather events and the climate crisis , while nearly three-quarters want moderators to ask questions about the climate crisis during the three televised presidential debates , which start next week .
In 2016 , no questions were asked about climate during the debates between Trump and Hillary Clinton .
The Guardian is the lead partner in Covering Climate Now , a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of that partnership

The climate crisis is set to be a significant factor in a US presidential election for the first time, with new polling showing a clear majority of American voters want decisive action to deal with the threats posed by global heating.
Seven in 10 voters support government action to address climate change, with three-quarters wanting the US to generate all of its electricity from renewable sources such as solar and wind within 15 years.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they would be more likely to vote for a presidential candidate who supports the complete shift to clean energy, with a further seven in 10 voters supporting US involvement in the Paris climate agreement, which commits countries to tackling dangerous heating. Two-thirds of voters said climate should be a priority for whoever wins the election.
“There may be a divide on Capitol Hill but the large majority of us are worried about climate change and want to see leaders deal with it,” said Ed Maibach, director of George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication. “This is the first election where climate change has featured heavily. It’s unlike anything we’ve seen in American politics before.”
Over the past decade, the crisis has become a sharply partisan political topic as Republicans embraced denial and obfuscation of the escalating crisis. Donald Trump called climate science a “hoax” and his administration set about dismantling every policy put in place by Barack Obama to reduce planet-heating emissions.
However, the new polling, on behalf of the Guardian, Vice Media Group and Covering Climate Now, by Climate Nexus, the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, shows that the political landscape among voters appears to be shifting.
Democrats are becoming increasingly alarmed over the climate crisis, with 90% describing it as either a “very serious” or “somewhat serious” problem and more than eight in 10 supporting a Green New Deal, a vast government-led climate program, to combat it.
This concern is filtering through, to a lesser degree, to Republican voters. More than half say climate change is a very or somewhat serious problem, with 41% backing the Green New Deal, despite it being widely vilified by Republican party leaders. A further 51% of Republican voters support US involvement in the Paris climate accords.
The polling suggests Trump, who has triggered the US withdrawal from the agreement and routinely disparages climate science, will be the first US president to face a voter backlash over the climate crisis. His Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, meanwhile, has vowed to reduce US energy emissions to net zero by 2050 and promised a $2tn investment to create millions of new jobs in clean energy industries.
“Republican officeholders really do have to worry about this,” said Maibach. “Young Republicans are becoming less accepting of the party line that climate change isn’t real or isn’t a serious problem. They don’t want climate denial any more, moderate Republicans don’t want climate denial any more and women voters largely don’t want to support climate denialist candidates any more either.”
The surge in voter appetite for climate action follows a barrage of disasters that have hit the US recently, including huge wildfires that have scorched the west coast and powerful hurricanes that have pummeled the US south. Scientists say rising global temperatures, caused by humans burning fossil fuels, are aiding the spread of wildfires and making hurricanes more intense.
Trump’s first term in office has also seen a growing youth-led climate protest movement, with the Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg as its figurehead. Younger US voters see the climate crisis as a top-tier issue, polling has shown, while the latest opinion research shows broad support for a greater focus on the issue in the media.
More than six in 10 respondents said the media should explicitly outline the link between extreme weather events and the climate crisis, while nearly three-quarters want moderators to ask questions about the climate crisis during the three televised presidential debates, which start next week. In 2016, no questions were asked about climate during the debates between Trump and Hillary Clinton.
The Guardian is the lead partner in Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of that partnership


theguardian--2020-09-23--'This is a transition like no other': Biden team prepared for all possibilities

Joe Biden ’ s transition team is operating under multiple threats , apart from the obvious one that their candidate might be defeated .
In this year ’ s presidential election , there ’ s the looming possibility that an outcome won ’ t be clear for weeks after election day .
There ’ s also the chance that if Biden wins by a close margin Donald Trump will refuse to leave office .
And , of course , there ’ s the coronavirus pandemic .
As a result , the team charged with setting up a beachhead for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administration – should he win the White House – is operating very differently from past transition teams .
“ We are preparing for this transition amid the backdrop of a global health crisis and struggling economy , ” former Delaware senator Ted Kaufman , the co-chair of the Biden transition team , said in a statement to the Guardian .
“ This is a transition like no other , and the team being assembled will help Joe Biden meet the urgent challenges facing our country on day one.
” The transition team has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 7m and $ 10m , according to Politico .
That ’ s a budget eclipsing past transition teams .
The Biden transition organization is also reportedly planning to build a staff of as many as 350 people by the time of any inauguration .
The leadership of the transition team suggests the Biden campaign is eager to include differing viewpoints as it builds the runway for a new government to land in the White House .
At the same time , the inclusion of champions of often opposing wings of the Democratic party @ @ @ @ @ @ @ criticism from various activists and interest groups .
Looming over the whole process is the uncertainty of the outcome of the election and , in the case of Trump losing , if he will bow out immediately or allow for a fraught period where he refuses to hand over power .
There have been past transitions where tensions from the campaign spilled over , including through petty forms of expression like the W missing from the keyboards when George W Bush entered the White House after Bill Clinton .
There are multiple experts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scenarios as a sort of guidepost in case the election result is not clear on election night , or if some other major irregularity happens .
Still , veterans aren ’ t quite sure if Trump , who has said the only way he could lose this election is through cheating , will allow a peaceful transference of power .
“ I think everyone is hopeful that the spirits of the previous transitions will be maintained , ” Leavitt said .
Much of the Biden transition team ’ s work has been behind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump transition operation for moving from a first term to a second term .
Chris Liddell , a White House deputy chief of staff , is taking point for that effort , according to an operative close to that transition team .
For the Biden campaign , though , if all goes well with the campaign their candidate will be inheriting a country undergoing major unrest over race relations , as well as suffering from a virus with no cure and a sputtering economy .
“ If we win the White House in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ considerable work to do to rebuild the federal government , ” a fundraising pitch for the transition team sent out by Swati Mylavarapu , a Democratic fundraiser .
The email was obtained by the Guardian .
Like other workforces across America , the Biden transition team has also had to work remotely .
The General Services Administration office space the team would normally be using as part of routine transition preparations has not been in heavy use .
Beyond all that , the Biden transition team also has to consider intra-party tensions between @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The transition team is prioritizing “ diversity of ideology ” and has stacked its leadership and with progressives and more establishment academics and former bureaucrats .
That includes advisers of progressive lawmakers such as Gautam Raghavan , Washington congresswoman Pramila Jayapal ’ s former chief of staff ; Felicia Wong , the chief executive and president of the liberal Roosevelt Institute ; and Julie Siegel , a former staffer for Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren .
The transition team ’ s advisory board even includes a Republican in former veterans affairs secretary Bob McDonald @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spanning the transition team , such as Jeffrey Zeints , a former Obama administration adviser and economist with longtime ties to the business and finance community .
Avril Haines , a former Obama administration deputy national security adviser who has done work for the data mining company Palantir , is also among the senior staff leadership for the Biden transition team .
Palantir and its founder , Peter Thiel , have been met with criticism by liberals for ties to the Trump administration and work with law enforcement agencies .
Beyond the declared @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and past transitions have been involved .
Eric Holder , the former attorney general who served on Barack Obama ’ s vice-presidential selection committee , has offered advice , according to multiple people with ties to the transition team .
Mike Leavitt , the former governor of Utah , has also relayed some help through an organization that follows presidential transitions .

Joe Biden’s transition team is operating under multiple threats, apart from the obvious one that their candidate might be defeated.
In this year’s presidential election, there’s the looming possibility that an outcome won’t be clear for weeks after election day. There’s also the chance that if Biden wins by a close margin Donald Trump will refuse to leave office. And, of course, there’s the coronavirus pandemic.
As a result, the team charged with setting up a beachhead for the former vice-president, and preparing a Biden administration – should he win the White House – is operating very differently from past transition teams.
“We are preparing for this transition amid the backdrop of a global health crisis and struggling economy,” former Delaware senator Ted Kaufman, the co-chair of the Biden transition team, said in a statement to the Guardian. “This is a transition like no other, and the team being assembled will help Joe Biden meet the urgent challenges facing our country on day one.”
The transition team has set a goal of raising between $7m and $10m, according to Politico. That’s a budget eclipsing past transition teams. The Biden transition organization is also reportedly planning to build a staff of as many as 350 people by the time of any inauguration.
The leadership of the transition team suggests the Biden campaign is eager to include differing viewpoints as it builds the runway for a new government to land in the White House. At the same time, the inclusion of champions of often opposing wings of the Democratic party will open up the transition team to criticism from various activists and interest groups.
Looming over the whole process is the uncertainty of the outcome of the election and, in the case of Trump losing, if he will bow out immediately or allow for a fraught period where he refuses to hand over power. There have been past transitions where tensions from the campaign spilled over, including through petty forms of expression like the W missing from the keyboards when George W Bush entered the White House after Bill Clinton.
There are multiple experts and working groups gaming out various election scenarios as a sort of guidepost in case the election result is not clear on election night, or if some other major irregularity happens. Still, veterans aren’t quite sure if Trump, who has said the only way he could lose this election is through cheating, will allow a peaceful transference of power.
“I think everyone is hopeful that the spirits of the previous transitions will be maintained,” Leavitt said.
Much of the Biden transition team’s work has been behind the scenes, and likewise for the Trump transition operation for moving from a first term to a second term. Chris Liddell, a White House deputy chief of staff, is taking point for that effort, according to an operative close to that transition team.
For the Biden campaign, though, if all goes well with the campaign their candidate will be inheriting a country undergoing major unrest over race relations, as well as suffering from a virus with no cure and a sputtering economy.
“If we win the White House in November, a new administration will have considerable work to do to rebuild the federal government,” a fundraising pitch for the transition team sent out by Swati Mylavarapu, a Democratic fundraiser. The email was obtained by the Guardian.
Like other workforces across America, the Biden transition team has also had to work remotely. The General Services Administration office space the team would normally be using as part of routine transition preparations has not been in heavy use.
Beyond all that, the Biden transition team also has to consider intra-party tensions between various wings of the Democratic party.
The transition team is prioritizing “diversity of ideology” and has stacked its leadership and with progressives and more establishment academics and former bureaucrats. That includes advisers of progressive lawmakers such as Gautam Raghavan, Washington congresswoman Pramila Jayapal’s former chief of staff; Felicia Wong, the chief executive and president of the liberal Roosevelt Institute; and Julie Siegel, a former staffer for Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren.
The transition team’s advisory board even includes a Republican in former veterans affairs secretary Bob McDonald. There are also more centrist figures spanning the transition team, such as Jeffrey Zients, a former Obama administration adviser and economist with longtime ties to the business and finance community. Avril Haines, a former Obama administration deputy national security adviser who has done work for the data mining company Palantir, is also among the senior staff leadership for the Biden transition team.
Palantir and its founder, Peter Thiel, have been met with criticism by liberals for ties to the Trump administration and work with law enforcement agencies.
Beyond the declared staff, other veterans of presidential committees and past transitions have been involved. Eric Holder, the former attorney general who served on Barack Obama’s vice-presidential selection committee, has offered advice, according to multiple people with ties to the transition team. Mike Leavitt, the former governor of Utah, has also relayed some help through an organization that follows presidential transitions.