rawstory--2020-01-17--Trump raises tensions in Virginia as local authorities fear Richmond gun rally could be the next Cha

Trump raises tensions in Virginia as local authorities fear Richmond gun rally could be the next Charlottesville

President Donald Trump appeared to pour gasoline on a political fire in Virginia only days before a far-right protest that many are worried could result in violence .
Gun activists have been threatening civil war if the commonwealth ’ s legislature enacts new gun safety legislation .
Right-wing militias sought to organize an armed action at the capitol , but Gov .
Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency to prevent firearms on the grounds .
Many have feared it could be like the fatal “ Unite the Right ” rally in Charlottesville .
Following the murder of Heather Heyer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ referring to them as “ fine people.
” On Saturday , Trump took sides in the latest battle in Virginia .
“ Your 2nd Amendment is under very serious attack in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia , ” Trump tweeted .
“ That ’ s what happens when you vote for Democrats , they will take your guns away .
Republicans will win Virginia in 2020 .
Thank you Dems !
” he added .
The “ Virginia Citizens Defense League ” rally is scheduled for Monday .
The FBI arrested three neo-Nazis @ @ @ @ @ @ @

Trained in political science and the law, he has no formal education in disaster preparedness or response. And prior to his current role, he never held a full-time job dedicated to emergency management.
Instead, his main qualification was being chief of staff to then-mayor Alan Arakawa. But in that role, he told Civil Beat Tuesday, he assisted during emergency operations. And he said he participated in online FEMA trainings and workshops throughout the years.
In 2017, Andaya beat out 40 other applicants for the job, Maui Now reported at the time.
As the mayor’s administration was coming to a close, a panel of government officials – which said it was independent of the mayor – chose Andaya for the civil service role.
Civil Beat reviewed Andaya’s experience after historic Lahaina was swallowed by an inferno last week, killing scores of residents and visitors who never saw it coming.
The Maui Emergency Management Agency had the authority to issue siren warnings that might have alerted people. After Andaya’s agency decided not to sound them, many survivors reported they only became aware of the fire when they saw and smelled smoke.
Andaya said sounding the sirens wasn’t an option officials considered because they’re “mainly used for tsunamis.” That’s why they’re mostly located on the coast, he said.
But the state’s own website says the sirens are useful for many kinds of emergencies.
“The all-hazard siren system can be used for a variety of both natural and human-caused events; including tsunamis, hurricanes, dam breaches, flooding, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, terrorist threats, hazardous material incidents, and more,” the site states.
Andaya wasn’t on the island when the fires started, and he hasn’t made any appearances at press conferences since the disaster occurred.
Asked about Andaya’s resume, David Hafner, a retired telecommunications planner for the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, questioned whether his relative inexperience affected his agency’s performance in a crisis.
“It’s a good ol’ boy network,” Hafner said. “This time it cost lives.”
Hafner said it’s “absolutely essential” for emergency management leaders to have experience in the field so they make the right decisions both before and after disasters strike.
Not having it, he said, “can lead to grave mistakes in judgment.”
Andaya’s hiring came at a time when Hawaii’s counties had just taken on increased responsibility for disaster response, according to Hafner. State emergency management officials used to be the designated authority to respond to emergencies, he said, but an update to the law in 2014 put the counties in the driver’s seat.
Asked about Andaya’s LinkedIn resume, Colin Moore, a political scientist at the University of Hawaii, said he was shocked by the emergency administrator’s lack of relevant experience. He said the public is owed an explanation.
“It’s a legitimate question to ask why the person leading the county emergency services agency has no clear background in fire, police, public health, the usual emergency services backgrounds,” he said.
“Having that on-the-ground experience, you develop the instincts and the connections to be able to perform a job like this. And if you just have general government experience, there is just no opportunity to have that kind of on-the-ground knowledge that often is really useful in a crisis.”
Andaya said as a former member of the mayor’s cabinet, he was qualified for the job.
“Whenever there was an activation in the emergency operations center, we were involved,” he said. “To say that I have no experience or no background in emergency management is not correct.”
‘Political Influence’ A Concern
Andaya, 52, is from Maui and graduated from HP Baldwin High School.
He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from the University of Hawaii Manoa. He also has a law degree from the UH Richardson School of Law, although he never became a licensed attorney, according to the Hawaii State Bar Association’s online database.
He began his career clerking for Maui Judge Artemio Baxa. He then worked for the law office of Lynn Araki-Regan, an attorney who is the wife of Arakawa’s managing director, Keith Regan.
When Andaya vacated his position as chief of staff, it was filled by Araki-Regan, who was by then the county budget director. Regan said he had no involvement in Andaya’s hiring.
From the early 2000s onward, Andaya has held leadership positions in Maui’s Department of Housing and Human Concerns and worked as the assistant to the chancellor of UH’s Maui College, according to his LinkedIn resume. He is married to Rowena Dagdag-Andaya, a former elementary school teacher who served as Maui’s public works director and now works in Maui’s Office on Aging.
Andaya was Arakawa’s chief of staff from 2011 through 2017. That year, the mayor appointed him acting administrator of MEMA, and he became permanent by the end of that year.
In contrast, Honolulu’s emergency management director, Hiro Toiya, has technical training in emergency response, worked for years as a preparedness planner for the Hawaii health department and rose up the ranks of Honolulu’s Department of Emergency Management. He worked there for more than seven years before becoming the director.
Asked how he stood out among a pool of 40 job candidates, Andaya said Maui doesn’t have a lot of emergency management professionals to begin with. He noted that he had to take an exam and based on his score was determined to be a finalist.
“You would have to question the civil service process if you can believe that politics was involved,” he said. “This is something that my predecessors have to go through as well.”
Before Andaya was hired, there were concerns in Maui’s political scene that the county was considering someone who wasn’t qualified.
“In the past, this position has sometimes been filled by individuals without the proper emergency response background.”
Former Maui County Council Chairman Mike White
In July 2017, the chair of the Maui County Council at the time, Mike White, took the unusual step of writing a Maui News column warning that the job of emergency management was too important to be “subject to political influence.”
“In the past, this position has sometimes been filled by individuals without the proper emergency response background,” White wrote.
“The administration must search for well-qualified candidates who can make a seamless transition in leading our Emergency Management Agency. The stakes are too high and our community has grown to a point where emergency coordination has become quite sophisticated in its implementation.”
In his column, White praised the outgoing emergency management chief, Anna Foust, who had previously worked for years leading the Maui branch of the Red Cross. White emphasized her expertise.
“During her tenure, she used her emergency response experience and training to help guide the county to keep citizens safe during hurricane warnings and watches, flooding events and tsunami warnings,” White wrote.
Civil Beat wasn’t able to reach White for comment.
Panel Of Specialists Chose Andaya
On Tuesday, Arakawa’s former managing director, Keith Regan, said that politics was not a factor in Andaya’s hiring. Asked why Andaya was the best candidate, Regan said he didn’t know because he wasn’t on the hiring committee. But he was adamant there was “zero” political influence in the process.
“This was a straightforward civil service process,” said Regan, who is now the state comptroller.
When Regan ran for Maui County Council in 2015, Andaya was his campaign manager. This year, Andaya wrote a letter of support of Regan’s nomination to state comptroller.
Regan noted that the hiring panel included numerous experts in the field. Maui Now identified them at the time as then-Maui Police Chief Tivoli Faaumu; then-Maui Fire Chief Jeff Murray; Elton Ushio, administrator of the Kauai Emergency Management Agency; and Vern Miyagi, then-administrator of the Hawaii State Emergency Management Agency.
At the time, Ushio was quoted by Maui Now as saying Andaya’s “proven leadership abilities, executive level experience, and impressive knowledge of emergency management” made him a great fit for the job. Murray cited Andaya’s familiarity with government processes, his “institutional knowledge of the various emergency incidents” in recent years, and his then-recent work as acting leader of the department.
“These are not people that, you know, are just political people,” Regan said. “They’re people who understand emergency management and are going to make the right choice for the community.”
In a statement, former HI-EMA director Miyagi said the public’s focus should be on working together on response and recovery.
“Herman Andaya and his staff at MEMA are really good people,” he said. “They carried Maui successfully through numerous hurricanes, floods, and other disasters.”
He said the public should wait for the attorney general’s investigation before drawing conclusions.
Civil Beat left messages with the other hiring committee members on Tuesday, but they were not returned. Former mayor Arakawa also did not respond to a request for comment.
“Herman is a very skilled, experienced, knowledgeable, professional individual,” Regan said. “I trust that is making the right decisions … There is no question in my mind that he cares about that community, and he’s going to do everything he can to keep that community safe.”


rawstory--2020-01-17--Trump tells Iran that political leaders must use precise language: ‘He should be very careful with h

Trump tells Iran that political leaders must use precise language: ‘He should be very careful with his words’

President Donald Trump went after Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday .
For the first time in eight @ @ @ @ @ prayers in Tehran , when he mocked “ American clowns ” in the Trump administration @ @ @ @ @ Supreme Leader ’ of Iran , who has not been so Supreme lately , had @ @ @ @ @ about the United States and Europe , ” Trump said , using scare quotes around @ @ @ @ @ “ Their economy is crashing , and their people are suffering , ” Trump said @ @ @ @ @ crippling sanctions he imposed .
“ He should be very careful with his words !
@ @ @ @

After announcing the names of those who are being indicted, she also listed off the premise of her indictment of the 19 individuals and 41 counts.
"Specifically, the participants in association took various actions in Georgia and elsewhere to block the counting of the votes of the presidential electors who were certified as the winners of Georgia's 2020 general election. As you examine the indictment, you will see acts that are identified as overacts and those are that are identified as predicate acts, sometimes called acts of racketeering activity," she explained. "Over acts are not necessarily crimes under Georgia law in isolation but are alleged to be acts taken in furtherance of the conspiracy."
She went on to say that many occurred in Georgia, while some happened in other places, but are included because they are part of the effort to overthrow the 2020 election results in Georgia.
"The acts identified as predicate acts or acts of racketeering activity are crimes that are alleged to have been committed in furtherance of the criminal enterprise," Willis explained. "Acts of racketeering activity are also charged as separate counts in the indictment against those who are alleged to have committed them. All elections in our nations are administered by the states which are given the responsibility of ensuring a fair process and an accurate counting of the votes. That includes elections for presidential electors, congress, state officials and local offices. The state's role in this process is essential to the functioning of our democracy. Georgia, like every state, has laws that will allow those who believe the results of an election are wrong, whether because of intentional wrongdoing or unintentional error, to challenge those results in our state courts. The indictment alleges that rather than abide by Georgia's legal process for election challenges, the defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia's presidential election result."
Willis went on to say that she intends to try all 19 defendants together.
See her full statement and answer questions in the video below or at the link here.


rawstory--2020-01-17--Millions expected to join global Women’s March on Jan. 18 to ‘act as a catalyst for political and so

Millions expected to join global Women’s March on Jan. 18 to ‘act as a catalyst for political and social change’

“ Together , we will inspire change and launch women and their allies into a new decade of activism.
” Millions of advocates for women ’ s human rights are expected to take to the streets in dozens of cities worldwide on Saturday , Jan. 18 for the fourth annual Global Women ’ s March .
“ The subversion of women ’ s human rights is extremely detrimental to the significant progress women have made over hundreds of years in their quest for social justice and equality.
” —Uma Mishra-Newbery , Women ’ s March Global Women ’ s March @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that “ tomorrow ’ s marches will demonstrate that by harnessing our collective power , women ’ s human rights advocates can act as a catalyst for political and social change.
” The broad aim of this year ’ s global action , officially called the “ March for Our Human Rights , ” is to protest against “ women ’ s struggles in exercising bodily autonomy , the right to self-governance over one ’ s own body without coercion or external pressures , ” according to organizers .
In the last year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rollback in women ’ s reproductive , sexual , and human rights .
At a recent United Nations General Assembly meeting , the United States joined 19 nations including Bahrain , Belarus , Brazil , Democratic Republic of the Congo , Egypt , Guatemala , Haiti , Hungary , Iraq , Libya , Mali , Nigeria , Poland , Russia , Saudi Arabia , Sudan , United Arab Emirates , and Yemen in declaring that women have no international right to abortion .
The member states who denied women access to safe and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This year ’ s March For Our Human Rights will call attention to the dangerous and alarming repeal of women ’ s rights to bodily autonomy , bringing international attention to these pressing issues .
By harnessing the power of the women ’ s human rights movement through action-oriented solutions , the march will be instrumental in inspiring a new decade of progress in the push for civil and social equality .
“ The subversion of women ’ s human rights is extremely detrimental to the significant progress women have made over hundreds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ justice and equality , ” Mishra-Newbery said in an earlier statement .
“ Collective action is needed to overcome this systemic discrimination and advance human rights.
” Dozens of marches are planned in at least 23 countries , including Australia , Belgium , Brazil , Bulgaria , Canada , France , Germany , Greece , Italy , Kenya , the federated states of Micronesia , the Netherlands , New Zealand , Nigeria , Norway , Spain , Switzerland , Thailand , the United Kingdom , and the United States .
Given the ongoing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s March Sydney announced earlier this month that its march has been postponed .
The group added that “ climate justice affects us all , but we also recognize that climate issues disproportionately impact vulnerable communities , including First Nations people and women , ” and urged supporters to consider donating to a GoFundMe fundraiser for providing fire relief to First Nations communities .
Women ’ s March Global partnered with Amnesty International , Equality Now , the International Planned Parenthood Federation , Marie Stopes U.K. , Minority Veterans of America , Planned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ WOW Foundation to organize this year ’ s action .
“ Women ’ s March Global is honored to be working alongside such impact-driven organizations that have been such a force for change for women worldwide , ” said Mishra-Newbery .
“ Together , we will inspire change and launch women and their allies into a new decade of activism.
” National Nurses United ( NNU ) , the largest union of registered nurses in the United States , announced in a statement Friday that its members planned to join marches nationwide—from Chicago @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Washington , D.C. , to multiple cities in California and Florida .
“ As proud union nurses , we are marching because we know unionism and feminism go hand in hand , ” explained NNU executive director Bonnie Castillo , RN .
“ The collective voice and protection of our union is what enables our women-dominated workforce to advocate for our patients , for each other , and for healthier , safer communities.
” NNU vice president Sandy Reding , RN , said that “ we know with a union contract , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violence , and gender discrimination .
But really , we take part in this march to speak up for our communities .
We want to make sure we have clean air and water and that people can get the medical care they need when they need it.
” Union member Terrie Weeks , RN , who will be attending an event in Gulfport , Florida , has been involved in the Women ’ s March since it began .
“ I ’ m marching because I want my country back , ” Weeks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stand up for the rights of myself and my sisters .
Nurses are advocates for our patients ; we are advancing the right for everyone to have high-quality healthcare , a high-quality environment , and a high-quality social safety net.
” The first Women ’ s March was held in the two days that followed U.S. President Donald Trump ’ s inauguration in 2017 .
What started as a series of U.S. actions to protest the new president grew into a global affair that drew millions of people to the streets .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ march organizers in Kenya said that “ the recent elections in the United States have shown how real the threat is to our collective rights and liberties .
We march together for the protection of our rights , our safety , our families , our health , and the health of our planet—recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our society .
”

"Together, we will inspire change and launch women and their allies into a new decade of activism."
Millions of advocates for women's human rights are expected to take to the streets in dozens of cities worldwide on Saturday, Jan. 18 for the fourth annual Global Women's March.
"The subversion of women's human rights is extremely detrimental to the significant progress women have made over hundreds of years in their quest for social justice and equality."
—Uma Mishra-Newbery, Women's March Global
Women's March Global executive director Uma Mishra-Newbery declared Friday that "tomorrow's marches will demonstrate that by harnessing our collective power, women's human rights advocates can act as a catalyst for political and social change."
The broad aim of this year's global action, officially called the "March for Our Human Rights," is to protest against "women's struggles in exercising bodily autonomy, the right to self-governance over one's own body without coercion or external pressures," according to organizers.
As Women's March Global explained last week:
In the last year alone, there has been a significant rollback in women's reproductive, sexual, and human rights. At a recent United Nations General Assembly meeting, the United States joined 19 nations including Bahrain, Belarus, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Guatemala, Haiti, Hungary, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen in declaring that women have no international right to abortion. The member states who denied women access to safe and legal abortion represent 1.3 billion people. This year's March For Our Human Rights will call attention to the dangerous and alarming repeal of women's rights to bodily autonomy, bringing international attention to these pressing issues. By harnessing the power of the women's human rights movement through action-oriented solutions, the march will be instrumental in inspiring a new decade of progress in the push for civil and social equality.
"The subversion of women's human rights is extremely detrimental to the significant progress women have made over hundreds of years in their quest for social justice and equality," Mishra-Newbery said in an earlier statement. "Collective action is needed to overcome this systemic discrimination and advance human rights."
Dozens of marches are planned in at least 23 countries, including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Kenya, the federated states of Micronesia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Given the ongoing bushfire crisis in Australia, Women's March Sydney announced earlier this month that its march has been postponed. The group added that "climate justice affects us all, but we also recognize that climate issues disproportionately impact vulnerable communities, including First Nations people and women," and urged supporters to consider donating to a GoFundMe fundraiser for providing fire relief to First Nations communities.
Women's March Global partnered with Amnesty International, Equality Now, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, Marie Stopes U.K., Minority Veterans of America, Planned Parenthood Global, SheDecides, and the WOW Foundation to organize this year's action.
"Women's March Global is honored to be working alongside such impact-driven organizations that have been such a force for change for women worldwide," said Mishra-Newbery. "Together, we will inspire change and launch women and their allies into a new decade of activism."
National Nurses United (NNU), the largest union of registered nurses in the United States, announced in a statement Friday that its members planned to join marches nationwide—from Chicago, El Paso, Kansas City, and Washington, D.C., to multiple cities in California and Florida.
"As proud union nurses, we are marching because we know unionism and feminism go hand in hand," explained NNU executive director Bonnie Castillo, RN. "The collective voice and protection of our union is what enables our women-dominated workforce to advocate for our patients, for each other, and for healthier, safer communities."
NNU vice president Sandy Reding, RN, said that "we know with a union contract, we can combat wage discrimination, workplace violence, and gender discrimination. But really, we take part in this march to speak up for our communities. We want to make sure we have clean air and water and that people can get the medical care they need when they need it."
Union member Terrie Weeks, RN, who will be attending an event in Gulfport, Florida, has been involved in the Women's March since it began.
"I'm marching because I want my country back," Weeks said. "I really want to stand up for the rights of myself and my sisters. Nurses are advocates for our patients; we are advancing the right for everyone to have high-quality healthcare, a high-quality environment, and a high-quality social safety net."
The first Women's March was held in the two days that followed U.S. President Donald Trump's inauguration in 2017. What started as a series of U.S. actions to protest the new president grew into a global affair that drew millions of people to the streets.
As Common Dreamsreported at the time, march organizers in Kenya said that "the recent elections in the United States have shown how real the threat is to our collective rights and liberties. We march together for the protection of our rights, our safety, our families, our health, and the health of our planet—recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our society."


rawstory--2020-01-17--Kansas City radio station agrees to broadcast Russian-funded propaganda six hours a day

Thanks to a lease agreement struck by a local radio operator , a Kansas City area radio station can now @ @ @ @ @ a day , The Kansas City Star reports .
RM Broadcasting LLC has agreed to @ @ @ @ @ state media program Radio Sputnik .
The Star reports that the lease agreement lets RM @ @ @ @ @ programming “ from 6 to 9 a.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. seven days a @ @ @ @ @ website , which says that it ’ s the radio station that will ‘ tell @ @ @ @ @ liberal media wont ( sic ) tell you , ’ lists Radio Sputnik in its @ @ @ @ @ Star points out , Sputnik , along with the Kremlin-funded outlet RT , “ contributed @ @ @ @ @ serving as a platform for Kremlin messaging to Russian and international audiences , ” according @ @ @ @ @ Director of National Intelligence .

Thanks to a lease agreement struck by a local radio operator, a Kansas City area radio station can now broadcast Kremlin-funded propaganda six hours a day, TheKansas City Star reports.
RM Broadcasting LLC has agreed to broadcast programming from the Russian state media program Radio Sputnik.
The Star reports that the lease agreement lets RM Broadcasting air Sputnik's programming "from 6 to 9 a.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. seven days a week. KCXL’s website, which says that it’s the radio station that will 'tell you the things that the liberal media wont (sic) tell you,' lists Radio Sputnik in its morning programming."
As The Star points out, Sputnik, along with the Kremlin-funded outlet RT, “contributed to the influence campaign by serving as a platform for Kremlin messaging to Russian and international audiences,” according to an assessment from the Director of National Intelligence.


rawstory--2020-01-17--US dumps huge amounts of sand on Miami Beach to tackle climate change erosion

Dozens of trucks have started dumping hundreds of thousands of tons of sand on Miami Beach as part of US government measures to protect Florida ’ s tourist destinations against the effects of climate change .
“ We have erosion hotspots , ” said Stephen Leatherman , an expert on beaches and the environment at Florida International University .
“ When the beach is critically narrow , there ’ s not enough room for recreation for all the people that come here , and more important , perhaps , all these buildings need to be protected , ” he said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Dr Beach ” — said that rising sea levels , triggered by climate change , are causing the accelerated erosion of the famous beach , as well as coastal storms and in particular hurricanes .
The Army Corps of Engineers this month began the $ 16 million operation to dump 233,000 cubic meters ( 8.2 million cubic feet ) of sand on eroded areas of Miami Beach by June , a project that was originally designed to address damage wrought by Hurricane Irma in 2017 .
Every day , trucks will tip @ @ @ @ @ @ @ containing 22 tons of sand , onto the beach , the Army said in a statement .
“ Some people say it ’ s like throwing millions of dollars out in the ocean every year and maybe they ’ re right , but we have to do it ; we have to have the beach here , ” said Leatherman .
“ South Florida is considered ground zero for climate change , ” he said .
“ I mean , not only do we have beach erosion , we got flooding going on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ too often now , where some roads get flooded.
” A King tide is an especially high spring tide .
The project is part of an overall $ 158 million federally funded plan to protect Miami from hurricanes and control beach erosion .

For more than a decade, the state has been trying and failing to chase Planned Parenthood out of Texas.
Texas restricted and then banned abortion. The state removed Planned Parenthood affiliates from state-funded health programs and turned down federal dollars rather than allow Planned Parenthood to receive them. Planned Parenthood has been cut out of funding for cancer screenings, contraception, HIV prevention and sex education.
Despite this concerted effort from the highest levels of state government, Planned Parenthood’s clinic doors have remained open in Texas.
“My mantra is, every day that I show up to the clinic, I’m winning,” said Dr. Amna Dermish, the chief operating and medical services officer at Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas.
But now, the organization is facing a potentially existential threat from its longtime tormentor.
Last year, the state filed a federal lawsuit claiming Planned Parenthood improperly billed Medicaid for $10 million in payments during the period when the state was trying to remove the organization from the program.
Texas is seeking more than $1.8 billion in reimbursement, penalties and fees.
Planned Parenthood has called the lawsuit meritless, pointing out that there was an injunction in place that allowed it to continue to bill Medicaid during that time.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a conservative who previously worked on anti-abortion cases as a religious liberty lawyer, will hear arguments from both sides today in Amarillo.
“We have weathered a lot of storms, but we’ve always been able to come through and be there for our patients,” Dermish said. “That ultimately is why I come to work every single day, and it’s just my biggest fear if one day we’re not able to do that.”
Early efforts to defund Planned Parenthood
At the dawn of the 2010s, a long-simmering tension between conservative states and Planned Parenthood reached a full boil.
It was Planned Parenthood’s work as an abortion provider that put a target on its back. But because, typically, state or federal funds can’t be used to fund abortion services, red states have had to find other ways to starve Planned Parenthood of its resources.
Texas, as is its style, led the way. In 2011, legislators eviscerated the state’s family planning budget from $111 million to $38 million and directed the remaining money to be distributed first to public agencies, like county health departments, and primary care centers. Specialized family planning organizations like Planned Parenthood could access this funding only if there was no one else willing to offer contraception and family planning services in the area.
Files at an Austin Planned Parenthood show a range of medical services provided. Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune
As a result of these funding cuts, 82 clinics — 25% of publicly funded clinics statewide — closed or stopped providing family planning services. Clinics that remained open scaled back their hours and services, especially when it came to more expensive and time-intensive contraception methods like IUDs, sterilization and vasectomies.
Most of the clinics that closed were not affiliated with Planned Parenthood. But at the same time, legislators tried to remove Planned Parenthood from the Women’s Health Program, another funding stream that helped low-income women access contraception. This program was primarily funded by the federal government, which paid $9 for every $1 that Texas kicked in.
The Obama administration told Texas it couldn’t exclude a qualified health care provider from the program; the courts agreed, as they did in every case concerning a state’s effort to cut Planned Parenthood out of federal funds.
But then, Texas did something no other state had tried yet: It walked away from about $30 million in annual federal funds rather than allow Planned Parenthood to continue to provide contraception to low-income women. In 2013, Texas launched its own women’s health program, relying entirely on state dollars.
Texas’ reproductive health care landscape never recovered from this tornado, even when the state tried to make up the lost funding in future sessions.
“Because they had decimated a network that had taken decades to build, if they wanted to actually effectively fix that problem, they would have had to devote even more resources in a dedicated way,” said Amanda Stevenson, a sociologist at the University of Colorado who studied these changes. “Once you close a clinic, getting it open again is way more expensive than just staying open.”
This was just the beginning: In 2015, legislators removed Planned Parenthood from the Breast and Cervical Cancer Services program, which provides cancer screenings to low-income women, and cut off funding for one affiliate’s long-standing HIV prevention program.
“Every time the state cuts these programs in an attempt to score political points ... the true victims here are tens of thousands of women and men who no longer have access to health care that they need,” Rochelle Tafolla, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, told the Texas Tribune at the time.
Removing Planned Parenthood from Medicaid
Just as the dust was beginning to settle on these huge changes to the family planning program, Texas opened a new line of attack on Planned Parenthood. The impetus was videos secretly recorded by anti-abortion activists that claimed to show Planned Parenthood employees in California discussing the illegal sale of fetal remains.
Planned Parenthood vehemently denied the claims, saying the videos were doctored and instead reflected conversations about the legal donation of fetal tissue for research purposes.
The same activists also visited a Planned Parenthood in Houston, and Attorney General Ken Paxton said at the time he had obtained “hours of recordings” detailing how the clinic handled fetal remains.
Twelve states, including Texas, and Congress investigated the claims; a grand jury in Texas found no evidence of wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood — and, instead, indicted the anti-abortion activists for their deceptive methods. (The charges were later dismissed.)
But Texas used the public outrage around these videos to try to finally remove Planned Parenthood from the Medicaid program once and for all. At the time, Planned Parenthood clinics in Texas received about $3.1 million a year in Medicaid funding to provide family planning and primary care to low-income Texans.
As one of just 12 states that has not expanded the program, Medicaid in Texas essentially provides health insurance coverage only for children, pregnant women, disabled adults and the poorest residents.
“These are very vulnerable patients,” said Laura Thomas, vice president of patient care at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast. “And a lot of practices don’t take Medicaid, or they have a long waitlist or maybe the facility isn’t accessible … so it felt really important that we keep being able to provide this.”
In 2016, Texas Health and Human Services Inspector General Stuart Bowen issued a final notice to Planned Parenthood, saying the undercover videos showed the organization acting in a way that “violate[s] generally accepted medical standards, as reflected in state and federal law, and are Medicaid program violations that justify termination.”
Planned Parenthood sued, kicking off a yearslong legal battle to determine whether Texas had the right to remove a provider from the joint state-federal program. In 2017, a judge granted an injunction that allowed Planned Parenthood to continue to treat patients and bill Medicaid while this question moved through the courts.
During this time, Planned Parenthood affiliates in Texas continued to provide birth control, cancer screenings, HIV tests and other medical services to patients on Medicaid, it continued to bill the state for those services and it continued to be reimbursed.
Finally, in March 2021, the final ruling came down, allowing Texas to remove Planned Parenthood from the Medicaid program.
“That was one of the hardest days of my career,” Thomas said. “These were patients we’d been treating for a long time, who came to us for a lot, and we were just very worried about where they were going to go.”
With several rounds of funding and program cuts under their belt, the providers at Planned Parenthood knew there wasn’t a robust system of medical practices that accepted Medicaid waiting to catch these new patients.
“The assumption that patients will simply obtain their health care elsewhere is simply not true,” said Laura Terrill, the president at Planned Parenthood South Texas. “We’ve seen STI rates increase, maternal mortality rates increase, teen pregnancy increase … after health centers were forced to close.”
The clinics did what they could, making medical records available for transfer, preparing lists of possible providers and fundraising to provide low-cost private pay options. While this was happening, the state implemented a new abortion law that prohibited the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy. Planned Parenthood, like all abortion clinics in Texas, complied.
“This was a time when we should be encouraging additional people to come into the health care network, and instead, there was a concerted effort to kick critically important providers out of the network,” Terrill said.
And then came the lawsuit. Texas and an anonymous filer, claiming to be associated with the group that released the videos back in 2015, claim Planned Parenthood should have to pay back all the Medicaid reimbursements it received while the injunction was in place.
The 2022 lawsuit, filed by Paxton before he was impeached this year, argues that Planned Parenthood erred by not appealing the initial termination through administrative channels and instead pursuing the case through the courts.
Though they’re seeking to claw back $10 million in payments, they’ve asked the judge to order Planned Parenthood to pay an additional two times that value, plus civil penalties and interest from the day the payment was billed as well as expenses, costs and attorneys fees.
The estimated $1.8 billion payment would likely bankrupt Texas’ three Planned Parenthood affiliates several times over at a moment the organization argues they are needed more than ever.
Dr. Amna Dermish, chief operating and medical services officer at Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, and Melissa Lynn, a nurse practitioner at the Waco clinic, discuss ultrasounds at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Austin on Aug. 8, 2023. Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune
“We have a high uninsured and underinsured rate in Texas,” Dermish said. “We have an epidemic of syphilis. We have no access to prenatal care. I don’t see anybody rushing to fill that void, and in the aftermath of [Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization], there’s been no effort to truly expand access to care. It’s just so frustrating.”
Thomas said one of the most painful parts of this lawsuit is the implication that the organization, knowing how dedicated Texas is to shutting it down, failed to follow proper administrative procedure.
“Our organization knows we always have to be making decisions that are the most ethical and the most compliant with any rule or regulation out there, so it just felt like a great injustice,” she said. “I had hoped that if you play by the rules and do the right thing, it will turn out right, but that’s not the case.”
This lawsuit was filed in 2022 in Amarillo, a city that does not have a Planned Parenthood clinic, ensuring it would be heard by Kacsmaryk, a favorite judge among conservative litigants.
Before President Donald Trump appointed him to the bench, Kacsmaryk worked for First Liberty Institute, a conservative religious liberty firm based in Plano. He litigated several anti-abortion cases and has espoused personal animus toward abortion.
In April, Kacsmaryk suspended approval of mifepristone, a common abortion-inducing drug. The U.S. Supreme Court put that ruling on hold temporarily. He also ruled that Title X, a long-standing federal program that provides confidential contraception to anyone, including minors, violated Texas parents’ rights.
Planned Parenthood has called this lawsuit meritless and asked Kacsmaryk to dismiss it entirely. But Texas and the anonymous plaintiff recently filed a brief claiming a June Supreme Court decision about the False Claims Act clarified the law in their favor.
Kacsmaryk is scheduled to hear arguments from both sides today. He has not said when he will rule.
Disclosure: Planned Parenthood has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.


rawstory--2020-01-17--Republicans are shooting for a much shorter impeachment trial than Bill Clinton’s: report

As President Trump ’ s impeachment trial in the Senate gets underway , Republicans are looking to speed up the @ @ @ @ @ “ eyeing a schedule that would maintain the same overall number of hours for opening @ @ @ @ @ employed in Clinton ’ s case , but spreading it out over fewer days , @ @ @ @ @ President Bill Clinton ’ s impeachment trial was five weeks .
Republicans want Trump ’ @ @ @ @ @ “ In their partisan opening resolution , Republicans are considering providing 24 hours of opening @ @ @ @ @ impeachment managers and the White House counsel .
If each team wants to use the @ @ @ @ @ they may have to do so over as few as two days , potentially leading @ @ @ @ @ Read more over at POLITICO .

"Moving this case to federal court has, I guess, the advantage of a different and presumably more sympathetic jury pool," said anchor Alex Wagner. "How meaningful do you think that that will be for someone like Mark Meadows?"
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?
"So I think sometimes, we get too comfortable talking about juries as though they are voting pools, right?" said Vance. "We think about juries — how does that county vote? In my experience as a prosecutor, people's political beliefs really don't impact their jury service. Judges do a great job of telling them that they have to decide cases based on the evidence and the law that they're instructed on and that they hear in the courtroom, and that they need to leave at the door any biases that they might have, including their political affiliation. You know, we know juries are really good at doing that."
"So while Meadows and some of the other defendants, Trump, may perceive some advantage in moving into federal court, where the jury pool exceeds Fulton County — it goes up into Georgia's northern counties on the east, it touches Alabama, so, some very conservative parts of the state — they may perceive an advantage," said Vance. However, "In reality, there may not really be a big one there."
"But even if there isn't an advantage, I think Joyce would agree with me that, what this shows is the opportunity for a delay," cut in NBC legal correspondent Laura Jarrett, also on the panel. "This indictment hasn't even been baked for 24 hours, and already they have a removal motion going."
Watch the video below or at the link here.


rawstory--2020-01-17--Trump just picked Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz for his Senate trial — and it’s already humiliating

Trump just picked Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz for his Senate trial — and it’s already humiliating for them all

President Donald Trump ’ s impeachment defense team will include Kenn Starr and Alan Dershowitz , multiple outlets confirmed on Friday .
On a surface level , the picks make reasonable sense .
Dershowitz is known for being a Democratic-leaning and notable constitutional scholar , who has become a repeat defender of Trump since his election .
Starr was the prosecutor who brought the impeachment case against President Bill Clinton , so he knows the terrain well .
But on any further inspection , the reasoning behind the choices falls apart .
And as news of their selection spread on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that reveal the poor optics of Trump using Dershowitz and Starr as his defenders .
Dershowitz , for one , is in an awkward position because through his years-long defense of Trump , he has insisted he was interested in or angling to join the president ’ s defense team .
“ I have no interest in changing my status from being an independent commentator on the current situation .
I have no interest in becoming a lawyer in the case , ” Dershowitz told the Washingtonian in 2018 , when Trump ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Robert Mueller ’ s probe .
“ I ’ m going to continue to say what I think .
Sometimes that will help the President , sometimes it may not help the President .
I ’ m independent , and I ’ m going to remain that way.
” In August 2017 , when MSNBC ’ s Ari Melber asked Dershowitz if he had “ provided any formal counsel to Donald Trump or his aides , or accepted any money , or would you consider providing counsel to them ?
” “ What @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in response .
“ Have I accepted money ?
I ’ m a liberal Democrat .
I supported Hillary Clinton.
” Watch the clip below : Then there ’ s the problem of Dershowitz ’ s ties to Jeffrey Epstein .
Dershowitz was Epstein ’ s lawyer when the financier got what is widely regarded as a phenomenal sweetheart deal as he was facing charges of sex trafficking , events that have failed to be fully explained to this day .
And two women say they were directed to have sex with Dershowitz @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sex trafficking scheme ; he denies the charges .
Of course , Trump had his own longtime friendship with Epstein , and he appointed the federal prosecutor who oversaw Epstein ’ s sweetheart deal to be his Labor secretary , so perhaps the president figures one more tie to Epstein couldn ’ t hurt .
When it comes to Ken Starr , the pick is an awkward look because he was such a fierce crusader for Clinton ’ s impeachment which was , by any reasonable measure , based on much more flimsy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He ’ ll bring a lot of the baggage of the last impeachment to this debate and people will start making comparisons and saying if then this , then that , ” said the New York Times ’ Peter Baker of the choice .
“ And it ’ s an interesting choice to want to import the 21-year old fight into his fight today.
” And then there ’ s what Trump said about Starr during the Clinton impeachment .
“ I think Ken Starr is a lunatic , ” Trump said in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I really think that Ken Starr is a disaster .
… It was a long and terrible process , I really think that Ken Starr was terrible.
” Maureen Dowd , a New York Times opinion columnist , noted that Trump told her in 1999 : “ Starr ’ s a freak .
I bet he ’ s got something in his closet.
” And while Starr often offered favorable commentary for the president during his legal troubles , many noted that there have been times when he seemed less confident about Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the EU Gordon Sondland testified in the House Intelligence Committee hearings , Starr said : “ It doesn ’ t look good for the president , substantively.
” He called the testimony a “ bombshell ” and said it would guarantee impeachment articles .
Since this is the Trump presidency we ’ re discussing , there ’ s bound to be more than just embarrassing quotes to dig up about Starr , and indeed there is .
He recently left his post at Baylor University after allegations arose that the school mishandled sexual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he worked for Epstein .
Monica Lewinsky , who bore the brunt of Starr ’ s aggression as he went after Clinton , share her thoughts after he was announced as a member of the Trump defense :

President Donald Trump’s impeachment defense team will include Kenn Starr and Alan Dershowitz, multiple outlets confirmed on Friday.
On a surface level, the picks make reasonable sense. Dershowitz is known for being a Democratic-leaning and notable constitutional scholar, who has become a repeat defender of Trump since his election. Starr was the prosecutor who brought the impeachment case against President Bill Clinton, so he knows the terrain well.
But on any further inspection, the reasoning behind the choices falls apart. And as news of their selection spread on Friday, several developments and arguments emerged that reveal the poor optics of Trump using Dershowitz and Starr as his defenders.
Dershowitz, for one, is in an awkward position because throughout his years-long defense of Trump, he has insisted he was not interested in or angling to join the president’s defense team.
“I have no interest in changing my status from being an independent commentator on the current situation. I have no interest in becoming a lawyer in the case,” Dershowitz told the Washingtonian in 2018, when Trump’s legal issues largely surrounded Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe. “I’m going to continue to say what I think. Sometimes that will help the President, sometimes it may not help the President. I’m independent, and I’m going to remain that way.”
In August 2017, when MSNBC’s Ari Melber asked Dershowitz if he had “provided any formal counsel to Donald Trump or his aides, or accepted any money, or would you consider providing counsel to them?”
“What an insulting question!” Dershowitz said in response. “Have I accepted money? I’m a liberal Democrat. I supported Hillary Clinton.” Watch the clip below:
Then there’s the problem of Dershowitz’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Dershowitz was Epstein’s lawyer when the financier got what is widely regarded as a phenomenal sweetheart deal as he was facing charges of sex trafficking, events that have failed to be fully explained to this day. And two women say they were directed to have sex with Dershowitz while a part of Epstein’s sex trafficking scheme; he denies the charges. Of course, Trump had his own longtime friendship with Epstein, and he appointed the federal prosecutor who oversaw Epstein’s sweetheart deal to be his Labor secretary, so perhaps the president figures one more tie to Epstein couldn’t hurt.
When it comes to Ken Starr, the pick is an awkward look because he was such a fierce crusader for Clinton’s impeachment which was, by any reasonable measure, based on much more flimsy grounds than Trump’s.
“He’ll bring a lot of the baggage of the last impeachment to this debate and people will start making comparisons and saying if then this, then that,” said the New York Times’ Peter Baker of the choice. “And it’s an interesting choice to want to import the 21-year old fight into his fight today.”
And then there’s what Trump said about Starr during the Clinton impeachment.
“I think Ken Starr is a lunatic,” Trump said in a TV interview in 1999. “I really think that Ken Starr is a disaster. … It was a long and terrible process, I really think that Ken Starr was terrible.”
Maureen Dowd, a New York Times opinion columnist, noted that Trump told her in 1999: “Starr’s a freak. I bet he’s got something in his closet.”
And while Starr often offered favorable commentary for the president during his legal troubles, many noted that there have been times when he seemed less confident about Trump’s innocence. After Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland testified in the House Intelligence Committee hearings, Starr said: “It doesn’t look good for the president, substantively.” He called the testimony a “bombshell” and said it would guarantee impeachment articles.
Since this is the Trump presidency we’re discussing, there’s bound to be more than just embarrassing quotes to dig up about Starr, and indeed there is. He recently left his post at Baylor University after allegations arose that the school mishandled sexual assault cases. And like Starr, he worked for Epstein.
Monica Lewinsky, who bore the brunt of Starr’s aggression as he went after Clinton, share her thoughts after he was announced as a member of the Trump defense:


rawstory--2020-01-17--Ken Starr is leading Trump’s defense team — years after Trump called him a ‘lunatic’ and a ‘wacko’

According to reports , President Trump has selected who will defend him as his impeachment trial in the Senate ramps up .
But as the Washington Post ’ s Aaron Blake points out , one of the members of Trump ’ s newly-selected legal team was once a target of his ire .
When Kenneth Starr led the impeachment effort against former President Bill Clinton , Trump was not a fan .
“ I think Ken Starr ’ s a lunatic , ” Trump said at the time .
“ I really think that Ken Starr is a disaster.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was terrible , ” he added .
In another interview , this time with Geraldo Rivera when Hillary Clinton was running for state senator of New York , Trump brought up Starr ’ s name again .
“ [ Bill Clinton ] had a very tough life the last few years , ” Trump said .
“ I mean , what could be tougher than that ?
I mean , can you imagine those evenings when he ’ s just being lambasted by this crazy Ken Starr , who is a total wacko @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I mean , he is totally off his rocker.
” Why the turnaround ?
According to Blake , it ’ s because Starr has wooed Trump thanks to his appearances on Fox News .
“ Saying things that Trump likes on cable TV is a surefire way to gain his good graces , and Starr has certainly done that , ” Blake writes .
“ Starr began appearing on Fox News during the early days of the Russia investigation to cast doubt on the evidence .
And Trump noticed and quickly began hailing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ once repeatedly labeled a crazy person.
” Read more over at The Washington Post .

The Ku Klux Klan, a secretive white supremacist society that had been proliferating with alarming speed across the United States, had recruited thousands of Filipinos in Hawaii to join its ranks.
“An alleged member of the Filipino Branch of the Ku Klux Klan has been buried alive by Hawaiian laborers whom the klan is alleged to have terrorized, according to the county attorney here,” read a 1922 United News wire story that was picked up by papers as far away as Kansas. “The Filipino Ku Klux Klan, according to the county attorney’s office … is terrorizing Hawaiian labor.”
There were reports in newspapers that the group was extorting workers and assaulting anyone who refused to pay or otherwise crossed them.
“The organization was formed more than six months ago by local Filipinos and has gradually increased its membership until more than 2,000 Filipinos in all parts of the territory have become members,” the Honolulu Star-Bulletin wrote in October of 1922, in one of a series of articles about an investigation of the group led by prosecutors on Oahu.
If the idea of a Filipino branch of the KKK operating in Hawaii seems unreal, it’s because it was.
ALSO READ: Kentucky cops release KKK member who pulled a loaded gun on LGBTQ protest
It took about a week for Hawaii officials to figure out that there was no link between Filipino laborers and the terrorist group burning crosses on lawns across the American South — though perhaps it shouldn’t have even taken that long.
“It’s absurd,” said Jonathan Okamura, a professor emeritus at the University of Hawaii Manoa whose work focuses on race and ethnicity in Hawaii. “It’s absolute nonsense to think that Filipinos had an organization that was affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan and you would think members of the press would realize this.”
That reporters and editors at multiple publications gave so much credence to the story — running front page reports about the issue over multiple days — says a lot about media coverage of Hawaii’s Filipino community in the 20th century.“
Filipinos were a group that was very much targeted,” Okamura said. “So the newspapers would pick up on any issue that would represent Filipinos in this negative light.”
The negative stereotyping of Filipino workers by newspapers in the 1920s — a period when Filipinos were helping lead a burgeoning labor movement on Hawaii’s plantations — had harmful consequences that continue to reverberate today.
Hawaii has ‘no room’ for the KKK
In the early 1920s, Hawaii newspapers frequently featured stories about the troubling spread of the Ku Klux Klan in towns across the United States.
Readers in Honolulu and Hilo were well informed about federal investigations of the group. About violence inflicted by the Klan in Georgia. About failed efforts to ferret them out of Sacramento, California.
But people in the islands could rest easy, local law enforcement officers said in 1921. Hawaii was too “cosmopolitan” in the character of its population, too desirous of quiet and harmony, for the terrorist group to take root here.
So ridiculous was the idea that the white supremacist organization would be taken seriously in the Hawaiian Islands, that when the KKK sent a recruitment letter to a prominent Honolulu businessman in 1921, the incident was covered by two local newspapers.
A year later, when an editor at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin received a threatening letter signed by the “KKK,” the paper asked readers to decide if the letter was “a threat or a joke.”
Then came the fall of 1922.
“An organization, which is known as the Filipino Ku Klux Klan, has been operating in Hawaii during the past few months and has terrorized the Filipinos in outlying districts,” the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported on Oct. 17, 1922.
The information came from a county prosecutor in Honolulu who was launching an investigation into the matter after a “prominent” member of the Filipino community made a complaint. A missing Filipino man had reportedly been a member of the KKK, the paper reported, and the attorney was told that he had been “buried alive as punishment for violating one of the rules of the order.”
In the following days, the Star-Bulletin — along with other papers in Hawaii and wire services as well — reported that the organization appeared to have recruited thousands of members and was spread across the islands. It was unclear if the group was affiliated with the mainland KKK or just modeled after the organization, reports said.
When Honolulu deputy attorney Claus Roberts found a pamphlet written in “the Filipino language” with the letters K.K.K. on the back cover, one Filipino man refused to read the pamphlet and another “started to translate and then attempted to tear the book into pieces,” the Associated Press reported in a story with the headline “Late Discoveries Deepen Mystery of Filipino K.K.K.”
Within days, the labor commissioner of the Philippines contacted the AP to point out that “KKK” were also the initials of a protective society in the Philippines called Kataastaaasan Kagalangalang Katipunan Dismasalang, which means “the highest and most respected order of Dismasalang.” The labor commissioner also said he had encouraged Filipinos in Hawaii to establish fraternal societies to “improve their standard of living and for mutual protection.”
Roberts eventually came to the conclusion that there was no connection between plantation laborers and the mainland-based Ku Klux Klan. But despite earlier proclamations that he would finalize his investigation within a week, newspapers never published a follow-up on the results or what happened to the missing Filipino worker.
A ‘demonized’ group
Filipino laborers started arriving in Hawaii in 1906 to perform backbreaking labor on sugar plantations.
Although Hawaii had already experienced multiple transformative waves of immigration — in 1920, roughly 40% of Hawaii’s population was Japanese — the experience of Filipino immigrants was different than that of the Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese and Puerto Rican plantation workers who had preceded them.
Most of the Filipino workers were single men, often with little education, Okamura said. They were young. There was a much greater gender imbalance than there had been with previous immigrant groups. And some of them did get into trouble with the law.
When these young men were arrested for gambling or fighting or drinking, the press went wild.
In 1911, the Honolulu Advertiser dramatically declared that half of arriving workers from the Philippines were were “diseased and will have to be deported” and alleged that labor agents working on behalf of plantations were ex-criminals who were targeting recruits from the slums of Manila with “criminal propensities.”
“More Bad Filipinos Come” was the headline of a 1911 Hawaiian Star article about health problems among recent immigrants.
Something must be done about the “Filipino problem” an editorial writer opined in the Maui News in 1915, suggesting that the YMCA or the National Guard do something to “keep these irresponsible men from having too much time on their hands.”
“No question they were the most racially denigrated group in Hawaii,” Okamura said.
Okamura believes the media’s portrayal of Filipinos as somehow criminally-inclined contributed to the disproportionate number of Filipino men who were executed in Hawaii during the plantation era.
Okamura studied Hawaii newspaper coverage of death penalty cases between 1900 and 1944. Stories about Filipino men accused of murder frequently stated their race in the headline — something rarely done in stories about crimes committed by people of other ethnicities. The language used in the newspaper articles about Filipino murder cases also included much more graphic and violent details than other coverage of the day, he said.
More than half of the 42 men executed in that time period were Filipino — and more than two-thirds of men during the period when the most executions happened — although they made up a much smaller portion of the population. Even more striking is the amount of time juries deliberated in some of those cases — a mere three minutes in one instance.
At the same time that Filipinos were being ostracized and targeted, they were also starting to take a lead role in labor organizing. Filipino workers led a significant labor strike on the plantations in 1919. Two years after they were accused of starting a local branch of the KKK, they would organize another strike that brought together other plantation groups.
“They were challenging the dominant racial boundary in Hawaii between non-haoles and haoles, who controlled politics and the economy through the plantations,” Okamura said.
Although media coverage of ethnic communities has improved significantly in recent decades — and it is general practice not to identify the ethnicity of suspects unless it pertains directly to the crime — stereotypes of Filipinos as being violent or crass continue to this day, Okamura contends.
Today, Filipinos make up one of the largest ethnic communities in Hawaii. Yet despite their size, the group still has not achieved the same level of economic or political success as earlier waves of immigrants to Hawaii.
And while the days of explicit racism in media coverage are hopefully behind us, some of the stereotypes perpetuated in that coverage remain entrenched in society.
“Stereotypes are hard to get to get rid of,” Okamura said. “Because they get reinforced in so many different ways.”


rawstory--2020-01-17--Promise made, promise broken: New analysis finds Trump is losing more often than he’s winning

One of the main arguments that President Donald Trump ’ s reelection campaign has been making in favor of giving him a second term is that he has been keeping his 2016 campaign promises .
Trump , at a MAGA rally in Toledo , Ohio on January 9 , nonsensically told the crowd , “ I ’ ve completed more promises than I ’ ve made.
” But according to analysis from the Washington Post , Trump has actually been breaking his promises more often than he has kept them .
The Post ’ s Glenn Kessler notes that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ December 2016 , and according to the most recent Promise Tracker update , Trump “ has broken about 43 % of 60 key promises and kept about 35 % .
He settled for a compromise on 12 % .
” Kessler lists specific promises , noting which ones Trump has kept and which ones he hasn ’ t .
The promises that Trump has kept range from U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership ( TPP ) and renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement ( NAFTA ) to changing visa rules to “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ goes on to list a variety of broken promises — for example , the Mexican government hasn ’ t agreed to pay for a U.S./Mexico border wall , and the Affordable Care Act hasn ’ t been repealed .
“ Trump ’ s promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act backfired spectacularly in his first year in office , and the backlash over repeal votes taken by Republicans helped Democrats retake control of the House in the midterm elections , ” Kessler explains .
“ Trump had made other promises on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Medicaid funds and allowing for the purchase of health insurance across state lines , that also failed to be realized.
” Other broken promises , Kessler observes , range from a $ 1 trillion infrastructure plan to reducing the number of tax brackets in the U.S. from seven to three to ending the Common Core program .
Kessler also cites some “ compromises ” Trump has made .
Trump , for example , promised to reduce corporate taxes from 35 % to 15 % , but the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 21 % — not 15 % .
“ That ’ s still a big cut , ” Kessler acknowledges , “ but less than what Trump had promised .
”

One of the main arguments that President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign has been making in favor of giving him a second term is that he has been keeping his 2016 campaign promises. Trump, at a MAGA rally in Toledo, Ohio on January 9, nonsensically told the crowd, “I’ve completed more promises than I’ve made.”
But according to analysis from the Washington Post, Trump has actually been breaking his promises more often than he has kept them.
The Post’s Glenn Kessler notes that the publication debuted its Trump Promise Tracker in December 2016, and according to the most recent Promise Tracker update, Trump “has broken about 43% of 60 key promises and kept about 35%. He settled for a compromise on 12%.”
Kessler lists specific promises, noting which ones Trump has kept and which ones he hasn’t. The promises that Trump has kept range from U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to changing visa rules to “enhance penalties for overstaying.” But Kessler goes on to list a variety of broken promises — for example, the Mexican government hasn’t agreed to pay for a U.S./Mexico border wall, and the Affordable Care Act hasn’t been repealed.
“Trump’s promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act backfired spectacularly in his first year in office, and the backlash over repeal votes taken by Republicans helped Democrats retake control of the House in the midterm elections,” Kessler explains. “Trump had made other promises on health care, including letting states manage Medicaid funds and allowing for the purchase of health insurance across state lines, that also failed to be realized.”
Other broken promises, Kessler observes, range from a $1 trillion infrastructure plan to reducing the number of tax brackets in the U.S. from seven to three to ending the Common Core program.
Kessler also cites some “compromises” Trump has made. Trump, for example, promised to reduce corporate taxes from 35% to 15%, but the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 reduced the corporate tax rate to 21% — not 15%.
“That’s still a big cut,” Kessler acknowledges, “but less than what Trump had promised.”


rawstory--2020-01-17--‘Relentlessly obsessed’ Trump blasted for ‘craven’ decision to gut Michelle Obama’s healthy school l

‘Relentlessly obsessed’ Trump blasted for ‘craven’ decision to gut Michelle Obama’s healthy school lunch rules on her birthday

This Friday , the Trump administration announced that it will be rolling back school lunch standards on vegetables and fruits @ @ @ @ @ First Lady Michelle Obama , The Hill reports .
The Agriculture Department said in a @ @ @ @ @ will allow schools more flexibility “ because they know their children best.
” But according @ @ @ @ @ critics on Twitter , the move is just another vindictive attempt to reverse any and @ @ @ @ @ of the Obama White House :

President Joe Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election by more than 7 million votes nationally, more than 11,000 votes in Georgia and more than 154,000 votes in Michigan.
The Fulton County grand jury’s 98-page indictment cites charges of conspiracy, racketeering, forgery and perjury, among other charges, totaling 41 charges against 19 individuals. Those charged include Trump and Giuliani, as well as Trump’s former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and ex-Georgia Republican Party Chairman David Shafer.
The investigation that led to the indictment stems from a recording of a phone call was released to the public at the start of 2021 where Trump asked Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes” after Trump was the first Republican presidential candidate to lose Georgia in almost 30 years.
The indictment cites Michigan several times, saying, “Trump and the other Defendants charged in this Indictment refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump.”
Then-Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R-Levering) and then-Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake), along with other Michigan GOP lawmakers, met with Trump on Nov. 20, 2020, in the Oval Office. The indictment said the “meeting was an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy” that the 2020 election was wrought with fraud.
Shortly after, on Dec. 2, Giuliani and another indicted supporter of Trump, attorney Jenna Ellis, were invited to the Michigan House of Representatives Oversight Committee, which was chaired at the time by Rep. Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp.). Hall is now the House minority leader.
Both Ellis and Giuliani spread misinformation about the 2020 election Trump lost. Giuliani was allowed to question those testifying, in a break with typical hearings.
The day after Giuliani’s visit to Michigan, the Georgia grand jury says he committed the felony offense of false statements when knowingly and unlawfully told the Georgia Senate Judiciary Subcommittee that at least 96,600 mail-in ballots were fraudulent in the state.
He added that the Dominion Voting Systems equipment used in the presidential election in Antrim County, Mich., recorded 6,000 votes for Biden when the votes were actually for Trump, which is misleading as the error was quickly rectified before any official count.
During the Michigan hearing, Ellis implored lawmakers to take the reins on certifying the election and refuse to certify election results. She and Giuliani brought a host of speakers who claimed mass fraud in the 2020 election and rejected state electors who didn’t support a Trump victory.
Kathy Berden (left), 70, appears over Zoom in a Lansing court on August 10, 2023. (Photo: Anna Liz Nichols)
As Biden won Michigan, a winner-take-all state, he won all 16 electoral votes. On Dec. 14, 2020, the Democratic slate of electors met at the Michigan Capitol to cast their votes for Biden.
However, a group of 16 Republicans met, as well. Fake documents were submitted to the National Archives in an attempt to certify Trump as the winner of Michigan in 2020.
The 16 Republicans were charged by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in July with several felonies. The group includes former Michigan Republican Party Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock, Michigan GOP National Committeewoman Kathy Berden, Wyoming Mayor Kent Vanderwood and Shelby Township Trustee and Clerk Stanley Grot.
All 16 individuals have been arraigned and pleaded not guilty.
Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and Twitter.


rawstory--2020-01-17--GOP senator refuses to answer questions on impeachment witnesses when reporter corners him in airpor

GOP senator refuses to answer questions on impeachment witnesses when reporter corners him in airport

Sen. Cory Gardner ( R-CO ) this week refused to directly answer questions about witnesses at President Donald Trump ’ s impeachment trial after getting cornered at an airport by a local reporter .
Steve Staeger , a reporter with Colorado-based news station 9News , confronted Gardner at Dulles International Airport on Thursday night and asked him about whether he ’ d be open to allowing new witnesses at Trump ’ s Senate trial , which is due to start this coming Tuesday .
Gardner , however , refused to answer the question .
“ We have a trial , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ That ’ s where we ’ re at right now .
I take my impartiality duty seriously.
” Gardner is considered one of the most vulnerable incumbent Republicans in the Senate , as he comes from a state that Democrat Hillary Clinton won in 2016 and will likely be running against former Colorado Gov .
John Hickenlooper , who has strong name recognition throughout the state .
As 9News notes , Gardner has been very difficult to track down recently and has “ dodged requests for scheduled interviews.
” Watch the video of @ @ @

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) this week refused to directly answer questions about witnesses at President Donald Trump's impeachment trial after getting cornered at an airport by a local reporter.
Steve Staeger, a reporter with Colorado-based news station 9News, confronted Gardner at Dulles International Airport on Thursday night and asked him about whether he'd be open to allowing new witnesses at Trump's Senate trial, which is due to start this coming Tuesday.
Gardner, however, refused to answer the question.
“We have a trial," the Republican senator said. "That’s where we’re at right now. I take my impartiality duty seriously."
Gardner is considered one of the most vulnerable incumbent Republicans in the Senate, as he comes from a state that Democrat Hillary Clinton won in 2016 and will likely be running against former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who has strong name recognition throughout the state.
As 9News notes, Gardner has been very difficult to track down recently and has "dodged requests for scheduled interviews."
Watch the video of Gardner below.


rawstory--2020-01-17--Watch: Reince Priebus reveals Trump’s impeachment defense will be ‘so what?’

Fired former Trump White House chief of staff Reince Priebus has revealed what the president ’ s main impeachment defense will be starting next week when he is tried for the high crimes and misdemeanors of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress .
That ’ s literally going to be the summation of all the allegations against a sitting president of the United States of America , the supposed leader of the free world .
“ Sometimes the best defense is the ‘ so what ?
’ defense .
If everything the Democrats said is true , it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lev Parnas said is true , it ’ s still not impeachable .
That ’ s what this is about , ” Priebus , who Trump fired in 2017 , told Fox News ’ Sean Hannity Thursday night .
Of course , Priebus is wrong .
Constitutional scholars and legal experts will have no problem refuting that argument .
Related : Internet Mocks Trump ’ s Choice to Have Pam Bondi , Alan Dershowitz , and Ken Starr Defend Him at Senate Impeachment Trial Call it the 21st century version of disgraced President @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Well when the president does it , that means that it is not illegal.
” The Washington Post ’ s Greg Sargent calls the new “ so what ?
” defense “ particularly ugly.
” Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license

David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement

Trump’s legal troubles have only helped to boost his chances to win the Republican nomination for president this campaign season, making it difficult for any of his challengers to gain ground. And analysts believe that will remain the case, at least for the short term.
“My expectation is that the latest indictments will not change the current political climate or move a great many people,” says Kevin Wagner, a professor of political science at Florida Atlantic University. “I suspect it will reinforce the current divisions.”
Michael Binder, professor of political science at North Florida University, says that while most Trump supporters are unhappy about the latest legal development, he doesn’t think it will necessarily boost his huge polling numbers.
“At some point, there’s diminishing returns when it comes to benefits, and I suspect that we’re at or near that point,” he says.
“I wouldn’t expect much poll movement until there’s a conviction, or something goes viral after one of the upcoming debates,” he adds.
Wagner says that public perceptions might change when the Georgia trial actually takes place, because unlike the federal cases Trump is facing, the case in Fulton County would be televised to the nation.
“So it could potentially be received but understood differently, but it’s too early to tell,” he told the Phoenix in an email. “In the short term, it will probably be the status quo and may even strengthen former President Trump with his supporters who are likely GOP primary voters.”
Speaking to New England reporters on Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that while he hadn’t had the opportunity to read the new indictment, he called it “an example of this criminalization of politics,” adding that “I don’t think it’s good for the country.”
DeSantis has previously criticized the “weaponization” of the government when discussing Trump’s previous indictments, but appeared more critical last week in referring to both the missing documents case and the events of Jan. 6, 2021, two of the other cases where Trump has been indicted by federal authorities.
“If, on the other hand, the election is not about Jan. 20, 2025 (inauguration day for the next president) but Jan. 6, 2021, or what document was left by the toilet at Mar-a-Lago, if it’s a referendum on that, we are going to lose,” DeSantis told NBC News.
Suarez has not responded to a request for comment, but did tell Fox Business in June that if he were elected president he would pardon Trump.
Other GOP presidential candidates are weighing in on the latest Trump indictment, with some rallying to the former president’s defense.
“Here we go again: another disastrous Trump indictment,” Vivek Ramaswamy tweeted. He went on to say that “As someone who’s running for President against Trump, I’d volunteer to write the amicus brief to the court myself: prosecutors should not be deciding U.S. presidential elections, and if they’re so overzealous that they commit constitutional violations, then the cases should be thrown out & they should be held accountable.”
There have been a few Republicans who have been critical of Trump, such as former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, another GOP presidential candidate. In a press release issued Monday night, he called the Georgia indictment “another day of challenge for our democracy.”
“Over a year ago, I said that Donald Trump’s actions disqualified him from ever serving as President again,” he said. “Those words are more true today than even before.”
Meanwhile, DeSantis is fading in New Hampshire, the site of what will be the first Republican primary in the nation next year. (The Iowa caucus will be earlier in January.)
An Emerson College poll of 837 registered New Hampshire voters published Tuesday has DeSantis now in third place with 8%, one point behind former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Neither are remotely close to Trump, however, who leads with 49% support, to Christie’s 9%.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.


rawstory--2020-01-17--Did Trump know Robert Hyde was stalking Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch?

Robert Hyde is a businessman and former marine who ’ s running against Democrat Jahana Hayes for the 5th Congressional seat in Connecticut .
He ’ s the newest entry into the dramatis personae of the Trump-Ukraine saga .
Text messages released by the House suggest Hyde was stalking Marie Yovanovitch , the former US ambassador to Ukraine .
This article was originally published at The Editorial Board Lev Parnas , who turned over the messages , says he never took Hyde seriously .
In an interview with MSNBC ’ s Rachel Maddow , Parnas maligned Hyde ’ s character @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he was not drunk .
Parnas is one of Rudy Giuliani ’ s goons .
In one way or another , he has been at the center of the president ’ s conspiracy to smear Joe Biden and rewrite the history of 2016 so that Ukraine , not Russia , is the enemy .
Parnas is now under indictment for violating campaign-finance laws .
He ’ s coming forward with what he knows about Donald Trump in an apparent bid for leniency .
Parnas has corroborated with direct material evidence what we already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But we shouldn ’ t be gullible .
When Parnas says he never took Hyde seriously , bear in mind there are few if any moral or legal barriers to this president ’ s desires .
Given his record , it seems plausible , at least , for Trump to have permitted , at least , a goon like Robert Hyde to stalk an ambassador who ’ s getting in the way of extorting Ukraine ’ s president in order to defraud the American people .
For his part , Hyde denies having @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s program airing on TV stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group , Hyde said he barely knew Parnas .
He said they were exchanging “ colorful ” messages while “ smoking a couple of cigars somewhere out in the world.
” He told Bolling : “ I thought we were playing .
I didn ’ t know he was so serious.
” Bolling asked : Did you track Yovanovitch ?
“ Absolutely not , ” he said .
“ Are you kidding me ?
I ’ m a little landscaper from fucking Connecticut.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ fucking Connecticut spent considerable time in Trump ’ s entourage and on Trump ’ s properties .
He was prolific on Twitter , posting pictures of himself with well-known Republicans , including Giuliani , Parnas and the president .
Emilie Munson is a reporter for Hearst Connecticut Media covering the 5th Congressional race .
She asked about the selfies .
Hyde was coy , but later sent Munson even more photos of himself with Giuliani , Parnas and Igor Fruman ( Parnas ’ partner , also under indictment ) .
For two goons @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there happens to be lots of photographic evidence suggesting they knew each other .
It turns out the little landscaper from fucking Connecticut has a record of stalking .
Eliza Fawcett led a team of reporters from the Hartford Courant to reveal today a Republican consultant won a temporary protective order against Hyde in late May of last year from a Superior Court judge of the District of Columbia for “ demonstrating an inveterate pattern of monitoring , tracking and surveilling her location.
” According to Fawcett and her team , court documents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the woman ’ s “ personal and professional whereabouts ” and “ would surprise her with unsettling visits ” at business events .
Over a period of months , Hyde sent her “ various forms of social media , text messages and emails , ” the woman alleged , “ with the intent of instilling fear.
” Hyde is also contacted her clients .
The woman , whom the Courant did not identify for her safety , “ became a dysfunctional disaster ” who suffered from “ extreme and prolonged fear , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ per court papers .
From January to April , Hyde stopped contacting the woman .
It was during this time , he contacted Lev Parnas via Whatsapp about Yovanovitch .
“ If you want her out , they need to make contact with security forces.
” “ They are willing to help if we/you would like a price.
” “ Guess you can do anything in the Ukraine with money … what I was told.
” “ Wow .
Can ’ t believe Trumo [ sic ] hasn ’ t fired this bitch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ [ sic ] that.
” On his return , he ambushed the woman on April 1 .
He waited for her to finish dinner at the Trump Hotel in Washington .
In May , she canceled a trip to Trump ’ s Doral resort in Miami knowing Hyde would be there .
Also in May—and this is somewhat curious—the Republican National Committee called “ to tell me they believe I am in danger.
” By the end of the month , the woman had won a temporary protective order against Hyde .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wasn ’ t serious about stalking Yovanovitch .
It ’ s another to say he ’ s wasn ’ t serious while having done that very thing back home .
Criminals , it turns out , will “ joke ” about committing crimes before the moment they commit them .
As for Trump , no one is saying he knew about Hyde stalking Yovanovitch , but Lev Parnas is saying the president was aware of everything he was doing to smear Biden and defraud the American people .
The president might not have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ might not have said no either .
After all , Trump said in his phone call with Ukraine ’ s president , Marie Yovanovitch was “ going to go through some things .
”

The video begins with a close up of the turtle’s head, its dark green, pebbled skin out of place against the stark-white boat deck. Robinson’s hands approach, moving the pliers toward the turtle’s nostril. The tool clamps down on the edge of something — A barnacle? A worm? — barely visible within the dark tunnel. The creature squirms and dribbles blood as the pulling begins. A long, thin object begins to emerge, inch by excruciating inch.
It was August 10, 2015, and marine conservation biologist Christine Figgener was collecting data for her Ph.D. a few miles off the coast of Guanacaste, Costa Rica. She and a colleague, Nathan Robinson, were researching olive ridley sea turtles when they noticed a male had something encrusted in its nose. The pair decided to try to extract the object. Robinson flipped open his Swiss army knife’s pliers and Figgener grabbed her phone and began to film.
“We had no idea what we were frigging looking at,” Figgener said in a newer, annotated version of the video. It wasn’t until one of the researchers cut off a piece of the object that they realized what it was: a four-inch piece of plastic straw.
“We couldn’t believe that such a mundane object that we really use on a daily basis … that we found it in the turtle’s nose,” she said — “that a tiny object caused so much suffering.”
A volunteer holds plastic straws picked during the World Clean-Up day activity in Kendari, Indonesia. Andry Denisah / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images A volunteer holds plastic straws picked during the World Clean-Up day activity in Kendari, Indonesia.
When Figgener uploaded the turtle straw video to her YouTube account eight years ago, it went viral. For a few years, plastic straws were the trendy rallying cry for sustainability. In many ways, the campaign was a success story — one that elevated our awareness of single-use plastics to the point where it resulted in actual policy change. But upon reflection, not all the solutions that spun out of the anti-straw movement actually held water. In recent years, many environmental pundits have focused on the movement’s shortcomings.
To many environmentalists fighting plastic pollution, anti-straw advocacy now feels passé — out of touch with the broader need to address all forms of single-use plastic. But the movement’s rise and fall still holds lessons for the activists of today.
From soda bottles to yogurt containers, there is a lot of plastic pollution out there. So how did we end up so obsessed with straws?
The anti-plastic straw movement didn’t actually originate with Figgener’s turtle video. Back in 2011, a 9-year-old named Milo Cress found it odd that the restaurants he would go to with his mom in Burlington, Vermont, would automatically serve drinks with a straw, whether or not their customer wanted one. He approached the owner of Leunig’s Bistro and Café in Burlington, and eventually, Leunig’s became one of the first establishments in the country to ask customers whether they wanted a straw or not.
Milo Cress, founder of the Be Straw Free campaign, photographed in Niwot, Colorado on August 7, 2012. Mark Leffingwell / MediaNews Group / Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images Milo Cress, founder of the Be Straw Free campaign, photographed in Niwot, Colorado on August 7, 2012.
Eventually, Cress and his mom made some calls to straw manufacturers and estimated that 500 million straws are used and discarded by people in the U.S. every day. The environmental advocacy group Eco-Cycle published Cress’s findings, which in the years since have been cited by nearly every major news media outlet that has covered the plastic straw beat, including CNN, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. (The credibility of that figure has since been questioned, with market research firms determining the figure to be between 170 million and 390 million a day.)
But the turtle video added just the right amount of injury to plastic insult. Figgener’s viral footage helped stir single-use plastic outrage into a frenzy. Celebrities called on their followers to #stopsucking, a social media campaign that aimed to “turn the plastic straw into environment enemy number one.”
Thousands of restaurants joined the pledge and the idea took off, reaching the rare environmental threshold of actual policy change. In 2018, Seattle became the first big city in the United States to ban plastic straws. It was followed shortly by other major municipalities in California, New Jersey, Florida, and other states. That same year, companies including Starbucks and American Airlines jumped on the anti-straw bandwagon, the former announcing it would launch a new “sippy” lid for its cold beverages starting in 2020, allegedly diverting more than 1 billion straws per year.
A flat, plastic lid that does not need a straw is shown on a cup of Starbucks iced tea on July 9, 2018 in Sausalito, California. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images A flat, plastic lid that does not need a straw is shown on a cup of Starbucks iced tea on July 9, 2018 in Sausalito, California.
But for all its success in getting people riled up about plastic pollution, much of that outrage seemed limited to, well, straws, which only make up a small part of the single-use problem. National Geographic calculated that of the 8 million tons of plastic deposited into the world’s oceans each year, only 0.025 percent is comprised of plastic straws.
Some anti-plastic advocates began denouncing the straw bans as “slacktivism,” a type of activism characterized by a lack of commitment or effort. They said the bans gave people an overblown sense that they were making a difference in combating the plastics crisis. For example, anti-straw pledges didn’t seem as concerned with other types of plastic waste or the fossil fuels associated with every part of their life cycle. Even the anti-straw Starbucks sippy lids were actually made from polypropylene, a type of plastic that has a 3 percent recycling rate in the U.S. (The company claimed it was still an improvement, as the new lids could potentially be recycled. Plastic straws are too lightweight and thin to make it through the mechanical recycling sorting process.)
The anti-plastic straw movement also started getting pushback from disability advocates, who pointed out that some people need flexible straws to be able to drink liquids. Paper straws get soggy and fall apart more quickly, reusable straws made of metal are not easy to bend, and silicone straws are difficult to clean.
For the average consumer, functionality is often more important than sustainability, said Leslie Davenport, a climate psychology educator and consultant. “Our brains favor habits because they conserve energy. So if we are going against the current — a BYO straw for example — it’s hard for most people to do so unless highly motivated.”
San Francisco’s Boba Guys tests alternatives to plastic straws made of metal, bamboo, and reusable plastic ahead of a 2018 vote that would ban plastic straws in the city. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images San Francisco’s Boba Guys tests alternatives to plastic straws made of metal, bamboo, and reusable plastic ahead of a 2018 vote that would ban plastic straws in the city.
For restaurants that chose to continue to provide disposable straws, there were options beyond paper or plastic. Straws made with natural materials such as sugarcane and wheat are 100 percent biodegradable, but are inflexible and cost more to manufacture. As a result, many businesses looked to straws made from bioplastics — allegedly compostable plastics made from corn, sugarcane, agave, and other nonpetroleum sources. But according to Brandon Leeds, co-founder of SOFi Paper Products, bioplastics require specific disposal and processing methods, many of which aren’t always followed or clearly outlined, in order for them to decompose effectively.
“Many businesses desire to adopt sustainable practices, and when they encounter these plastic-like alternatives, they may mistakenly believe that they can be environmentally conscious without truly moving away from the plastic aesthetic,” Leeds said. “The absence of stricter governmental regulations allows companies to take advantage of greenwashing tactics, making it difficult to differentiate genuinely sustainable options from those that are not.”
Buying into greenwashing, a term that refers to environmental “solutions” whose appeal is based on appearing environmentally friendly rather than actually being so, “can be an unconscious psychological defense in individuals to shield them from the fear and overwhelming [feeling] of climate change,” Davenport said. “There can be an unexamined story of ‘I’m doing my part’ because it is more soothing than feeling out of control with the harmful and terrifying trajectory we are on with climate change.”
A plastic straw and lid is among the trash washed up on a beach in Santa Monica, California. Citizen of the Planet / Education Images / Universal Images Group via Getty Images A plastic straw and lid is among the trash washed up on a beach in Santa Monica, California.
Plastic straw bans are alive and well today, with new proposals still cropping up at the state and city levels. But eliminating plastic straws is no longer the go-to goal of the anti-plastic movement. Part of that is the result of the existing bans’ success: For many consumers, the absence of plastic straws has become normal, even mundane. Now, anti-plastic advocates hope to harness in new ways the outrage they once inspired.
According to Jackie Nuñez, the Plastic Pollution Coalition’s advocacy and engagement manager and the founder of The Last Plastic Straw, the anti-plastic straw movement helped advance awareness and understanding of other single-use products. California, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon, and Vermont have all placed some form of ban on plastic bags. The U.S. Interior Department stated that single-use plastic products will be phased out of national parks and around 480 million acres of federal land by 2032. In 2022, the Canadian federal government implemented a single-use plastics ban that included bags, cutlery, food service ware, and stir sticks.
It’s not really the item, it’s the material that’s the problem, Nuñez said. “All plastic is pollution by design.”
Some activists have attempted to call attention to the scourge of single-use plastics by staging ‘plastic attacks,’ in which protesters head to the grocery store and proceed to remove the plastic wrapping from the food in their carts and return the waste to the store.
Shoppers leave excess packaging at the entrance to a Brussels supermarket as part of a “plastic attack” designed to to emphasize the over-usage of plastic in supermarkets. NICOLAS MAETERLINCK / AFP via Getty Images Shoppers leave excess packaging at the entrance to a Brussels supermarket as part of a “plastic attack” designed to to emphasize the over-usage of plastic in supermarkets.
Since they began in 2018, the strategy has gone global. Plastic attacks have been reported in places including in Hong Kong, South Korea, Canada, Peru, and the United States. Some of the biggest demonstrations have drawn hundreds of participants.
The anti-plastic straw movement “triggered a lightbulb moment for a lot of people,” Nuñez said. “It ended up becoming a thing I call a gateway issue.”
Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.