motherjones--2020-01-17--The Women’s March Has Gotten Much Smaller. That’s Partly by Design.

Three years ago , nearly half a million women and their allies descended on the nation ’ s capital to showcase their outrage over the election of Donald Trump and launch a new movement for women ’ s equality .
On Saturday , fewer than 10,000 participants are expected to attend the fourth annual Women ’ s March in Washington , DC .
But to leaders of women ’ s movements around the country , the decline doesn ’ t represent a collapse of women ’ s activism , but rather a channeling of the energy of the 2017 Women @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the state and local level across the country .
“ I see the Women ’ s March from 2017 as a very public statement , ” says Hilary Levey Friedman , president of the Rhode Island chapter of the National Organization for Women , who participated in the 2017 Rhode Island Women ’ s March .
She adds , “ Of course that same event just isn ’ t going to get the same continued attention , but that doesn ’ t mean that that power and interest has dissipated .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ harness it on specific things.
” Rhode Island is at the center of that new effort .
State legislatures passed more bills to protect abortion rights in 2019 than in the previous 10 years combined .
Rhode Island hadn ’ t adopted pro-choice legislation in more than 40 years when it passed a bill in June to guarantee the right to an abortion in case Roe v. Wade is struck down .
Kelly Nevins became executive director of the Women ’ s Fund of Rhode Island , a local nonprofit that invests in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before the election of Donald Trump .
She remembers the rush of activism that followed the 2017 Women ’ s March .
“ We had been fairly quiet for a while , ” says Nevins , “ but when all of that happened , there was a surge of people , particularly of women , that felt that women ’ s rights were being attacked and had a thirst and interest for doing something local.
” Nevins ’ organization joined with several other groups , including the Womxn Project , the Rhode Island @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Southern New England , to push the Rhode Island state legislature to pass the abortion rights bill last year .
This was a massive feat in the country ’ s most Catholic state , where several top Democratic lawmakers had been endorsed by Rhode Island Right to Life , an anti-abortion group .
Nevins credits the show of force at the Women ’ s March with empowering women .
Still , 2019 was hardly a slam dunk for women ’ s rights .
The onslaught of abortion bans , primarily in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and may have left many feeling that there was nothing to celebrate three years after Trump ’ s inauguration .
The declining number of marchers may also have to do with the controversy surrounding last year ’ s march .
Tamika Mallory , one of the co-presidents of the 2019 march , was criticized for attending an event with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan , where he recited anti-Semitic conspiracy theories .
Sources told Tablet magazine that Mallory had said Jewish people were particularly guilty of exploiting black and brown people and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Women ’ s March later issued a statement disavowing Farrakhan and anti-Semitism .
Mallory ultimately stepped down .
Amid the controversy , so did two other leaders of the march , Linda Sarsour , a Palestinian-American activist , and Bob Bland , a fashion designer and activist .
Meanwhile , some activists had begun to question whether the original march represented real activism or just dissatisfaction with Trump ’ s election .
Isa Noyola , a trans Latina activist and a new member of the march ’ s executive board , acknowledges @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that despite the smaller crowds , this year ’ s march will be a productive and intersectional space .
“ I was not a part of the first marches , nor did I feel represented , ” explains Noyola , adding , “ I was very critical in the beginning.
” As someone involved in activism for most of her life , she felt that the original march struggled to center marginalized communities that had already been engaged in fights for equality long before the march ’ s inception .
She also thought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grassroots organizers .
One of the biggest changes this year will be a focus on four core issues—reproductive rights , immigration , gender-based violence , and climate change—marking a departure from the broad scope of the first march .
Noyola says this year ’ s march will highlight global movements for women ’ s liberation and grassroots activism .
There will be no speakers or celebrity guest stars .
Instead , the Chilean protest group Lastesis will lead demonstrators on a march to the White House , where they will perform a rendition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” ( “ A rapist in your path ” ) , a Chilean anthem that has come to represent global movements against gender-based violence .
“ This is a marathon , not a sprint , ” says Noyola .
“ For folks not showing up , there ’ s so many opportunities to show up in your local communities , your local organizing .
”

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Three years ago, nearly half a million women and their allies descended on the nation’s capital to showcase their outrage over the election of Donald Trump and launch a new movement for women’s equality. On Saturday, fewer than 10,000 participants are expected to attend the fourth annual Women’s March in Washington, DC. But to leaders of women’s movements around the country, the decline doesn’t represent a collapse of women’s activism, but rather a channeling of the energy of the 2017 Women’s March into more tangible causes at the state and local level across the country.
“I see the Women’s March from 2017 as a very public statement,” says Hilary Levey Friedman, president of the Rhode Island chapter of the National Organization for Women, who participated in the 2017 Rhode Island Women’s March. She adds, “Of course that same event just isn’t going to get the same continued attention, but that doesn’t mean that that power and interest has dissipated. It just means that people are learning to harness it on specific things.”
Rhode Island is at the center of that new effort. State legislatures passed more bills to protect abortion rights in 2019 than in the previous 10 years combined. Rhode Island hadn’t adopted pro-choice legislation in more than 40 years when it passed a bill in June to guarantee the right to an abortion in case Roe v. Wade is struck down.
Kelly Nevins became executive director of the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island, a local nonprofit that invests in women and girls, just two weeks before the election of Donald Trump. She remembers the rush of activism that followed the 2017 Women’s March. “We had been fairly quiet for a while,” says Nevins, “but when all of that happened, there was a surge of people, particularly of women, that felt that women’s rights were being attacked and had a thirst and interest for doing something local.”
Nevins’ organization joined with several other groups, including the Womxn Project, the Rhode Island chapter of NOW, and Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, to push the Rhode Island state legislature to pass the abortion rights bill last year. This was a massive feat in the country’s most Catholic state, where several top Democratic lawmakers had been endorsed by Rhode Island Right to Life, an anti-abortion group. Nevins credits the show of force at the Women’s March with empowering women.
Still, 2019 was hardly a slam dunk for women’s rights. The onslaught of abortion bans, primarily in the South and Midwest, demoralized many women and may have left many feeling that there was nothing to celebrate three years after Trump’s inauguration.
The declining number of marchers may also have to do with the controversy surrounding last year’s march. Tamika Mallory, one of the co-presidents of the 2019 march, was criticized for attending an event with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, where he recited anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Sources told Tablet magazine that Mallory had said Jewish people were particularly guilty of exploiting black and brown people and were leaders of the slave trade. The Women’s March later issued a statement disavowing Farrakhan and anti-Semitism. Mallory ultimately stepped down. Amid the controversy, so did two other leaders of the march, Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-American activist, and Bob Bland, a fashion designer and activist.
Meanwhile, some activists had begun to question whether the original march represented real activism or just dissatisfaction with Trump’s election.
Isa Noyola, a trans Latina activist and a new member of the march’s executive board, acknowledges previous critiques of the march and believes that despite the smaller crowds, this year’s march will be a productive and intersectional space. “I was not a part of the first marches, nor did I feel represented,” explains Noyola, adding, “I was very critical in the beginning.” As someone involved in activism for most of her life, she felt that the original march struggled to center marginalized communities that had already been engaged in fights for equality long before the march’s inception. She also thought it had a hard time connecting to grassroots organizers.
One of the biggest changes this year will be a focus on four core issues—reproductive rights, immigration, gender-based violence, and climate change—marking a departure from the broad scope of the first march. Noyola says this year’s march will highlight global movements for women’s liberation and grassroots activism. There will be no speakers or celebrity guest stars. Instead, the Chilean protest group Lastesis will lead demonstrators on a march to the White House, where they will perform a rendition of “Un violador en tu camino” (“A rapist in your path”), a Chilean anthem that has come to represent global movements against gender-based violence.
“This is a marathon, not a sprint,” says Noyola. “For folks not showing up, there’s so many opportunities to show up in your local communities, your local organizing.”


motherjones--2020-01-18--It Is Rare to Give a Middle Finger As Good as Selena Gomez’s “Rare”

Selena Gomez is back , and she ’ s vying , again , for a number one hit this week with Rare .
It ’ s been rightfully hailed as her best work yet , and it ’ s basically like listening to someone give the middle finger to their past .
A public fight with the lupus disease , an even more public breakup , and even somehow more public stint in mental health treatment are acknowledged and told to shove it .
( But in a healthy way . )
With Rare Gomez is moving onto bigger and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stars Dance shouldn ’ t be totally forgotten , both fit into the era ’ s of pop music they were born into—the former heavy on the EDM beats and the latter defining Selena ’ s “ ASMR-style production.
” But on Rare Gomez “ seems to have a grasp on her range , ” Quinn Moreland writes in Pitchfork .
Let ’ s go ahead and rank these tracks !
13 .
“ People You Know ” This is a fine song , nothing truly standout about it 12 .
“ A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) ” The last song on the album , it wraps up the collection in a nice and tight way .
No more , no less .
11 .
“ Fun ” A classic Gomez track , reminiscent of something like “ Same Old Love ” or “ Hands to Myself ” —inside Gomez ’ s comfort zone and nothing to write home about .
10 .
“ Kinda Crazy ” This is a perfect post-breakup song and would be a perfect addition to any “ Fuck You ” playlist aimed at an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Off ” The story Gomez tells with “ Cut You Off ” is one of lessons learned , and lessons still being learned , helping bring a self-awareness to the album that contextualizes the other tracks .
7 .
“ Crowded Room ” In her collaboration with 6LACK , Gomez turns a tired pop trope—being the only two people in a crowded room to connect—into something fun , sexy , and ultimately refreshing .
6 .
“ Look At Her Now ” Her most radio-made single , “ Look At Her Now ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 5 .
“ Ring ” Easily her most experimental track on the album , it plays with sound and silence in ways that elevate the song similar to Carly Rae Jepsen ’ s “ The Sound ” —the highest of compliments .
4 .
“ Lose You To Love Me ” Give us the drama Gomez !
Gomez ’ s first Billboard # 1 single is an introspective look at losing yourself in a relationship , only being able to recognize the stranger in the mirror you ’ ve become after a devastating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Yes .
The pop-drop in this song tracks with the emotional buildup ( and final release ) of the story Gomez tells about herself .
2 .
“ Dance Again ” “ Dance Again ” is to Rare what “ Me & the Rhythm ” was to Revival : A reclamation of body and mind through trendy sounds and honest lyrics .
1 .
“ Rare ” Rare is it that a title song the best track off an album , but “ Rare ” explodes with a freedom unlike anything Gomez has @ @ @

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Selena Gomez is back, and she’s vying, again, for a number one hit this week with Rare. It’s been rightfully hailed as her best work yet, and it’s basically like listening to someone give the middle finger to their past.
A public fight with the lupus disease, an even more public breakup, and even somehow more public stint in mental health treatment are acknowledged and told to shove it. (But in a healthy way.) With Rare Gomez is moving onto bigger and better things: herself.
Revival and Stars Dance shouldn’t be totally forgotten, both fit into the era’s of pop music they were born into—the former heavy on the EDM beats and the latter defining Selena’s “ASMR-style production.” But on Rare Gomez “seems to have a grasp on her range,” Quinn Moreland writes in Pitchfork.
Let’s go ahead and rank these tracks!
13. “People You Know”
This is a fine song, nothing truly standout about it
12. “A Sweeter Place (feat. Kid Cudi)”
The last song on the album, it wraps up the collection in a nice and tight way. No more, no less.
11. “Fun”
A classic Gomez track, reminiscent of something like “Same Old Love” or “Hands to Myself”—inside Gomez’s comfort zone and nothing to write home about.
10. “Kinda Crazy”
This is a perfect post-breakup song and would be a perfect addition to any “Fuck You” playlist aimed at an ex.
9. “Let Me Get Me”
A danceable bop.
8. “Cut You Off”
The story Gomez tells with “Cut You Off” is one of lessons learned, and lessons still being learned, helping bring a self-awareness to the album that contextualizes the other tracks.
7. “Crowded Room”
In her collaboration with 6LACK, Gomez turns a tired pop trope—being the only two people in a crowded room to connect—into something fun, sexy, and ultimately refreshing.
6. “Look At Her Now”
Her most radio-made single, “Look At Her Now” only gets better with every listen.
5. “Ring”
Easily her most experimental track on the album, it plays with sound and silence in ways that elevate the song similar to Carly Rae Jepsen’s “The Sound”—the highest of compliments.
4. “Lose You To Love Me”
Give us the drama Gomez! Gomez’s first Billboard #1 single is an introspective look at losing yourself in a relationship, only being able to recognize the stranger in the mirror you’ve become after a devastating heartbreak.
3. “Vulnerable”
Yes. The pop-drop in this song tracks with the emotional buildup (and final release) of the story Gomez tells about herself.
2. “Dance Again”
“Dance Again” is to Rare what “Me & the Rhythm” was to Revival: A reclamation of body and mind through trendy sounds and honest lyrics.
1. “Rare”
Rare is it that a title song the best track off an album, but “Rare” explodes with a freedom unlike anything Gomez has done before.


motherjones--2020-01-18--How a Reporter Discovered the Doctored Photo From the 2017 Women’s March

If you had stepped into the National Archives in the past few weeks and entered an exhibit meant to honor women ’ s suffrage , you would have seen an iconic photograph of the 2017 Women ’ s March in Washington , DC .
But if you looked closer , you might have noticed that words on certain signs—like those critical of Donald Trump—were blurred out .
Signs displaying the words “ vagina ” and “ pussy ” were also camouflaged .
At least that ’ s what Washington Post reporter Joe Heim realized .
He tracked down the original @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mario Tama , and confirmed that the photo in the National Archives gallery had been doctored .
A day before activists kicked off a smaller Women ’ s March across the country , a spokesperson for the National Archives told the Washington Post that 2017 image was altered “ so as not to engage in current political controversy.
” In other words , the non-partisan federal agency wanted to keep depictions of fervid political outcry out of a historical portrait of activism .
The National Archives soon apologized for altering the image and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as possible with one that uses the unaltered image.
” The changes may have been overlooked if it had not been for Heim ’ s watchful eye .
Here ’ s how he got the story :

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If you had stepped into the National Archives in the past few weeks and entered an exhibit meant to honor women’s suffrage, you would have seen an iconic photograph of the 2017 Women’s March in Washington, DC. But if you looked closer, you might have noticed that words on certain signs—like those critical of Donald Trump—were blurred out. Signs displaying the words “vagina” and “pussy” were also camouflaged.
At least that’s what Washington Post reporter Joe Heim realized. He tracked down the original image, taken by Getty Images photographer Mario Tama, and confirmed that the photo in the National Archives gallery had been doctored.
A day before activists kicked off a smaller Women’s March across the country, a spokesperson for the National Archives told the Washington Post that 2017 image was altered “so as not to engage in current political controversy.” In other words, the non-partisan federal agency wanted to keep depictions of fervid political outcry out of a historical portrait of activism. The National Archives soon apologized for altering the image and pledged to “replace it as soon as possible with one that uses the unaltered image.”
We made a mistake. As the National Archives of the United States, we are and have always been completely committed to preserving our archival holdings, without alteration. pic.twitter.com/VTWOS4R7GY — US National Archives (@USNatArchives) January 18, 2020
The changes may have been overlooked if it had not been for Heim’s watchful eye. Here’s how he got the story:
A number of people have emailed asking how we learned the National Archives had altered the photo from the 2017 Women’s March. The short answer is: chance. The little bit longer answer I’ll explain in this thread.
1/? — Joe Heim (@JoeHeim) January 18, 2020
I was at the Archives earlier this week for a totally unrelated story about tourists coming to the Archives look at the Constitution (a story I still hope to write). On the same floor there is the Women’s Suffrage exhibit with this very large photo at the entrance 2/? — Joe Heim (@JoeHeim) January 18, 2020
I stopped to look at it. As I was trying to read some of the signs the marchers were carrying, I noticed one was blurred out. I thought that was odd and so I looked more closely at the rest of the image and saw other signs that had been blurred. So I took the photocredit info 3/? — Joe Heim (@JoeHeim) January 18, 2020


motherjones--2020-01-18--Trump Shares New Details of Soleimani’s Killing With GOP Donors at Mar-a-Lago Fundraiser

In the weeks after President Donald Trump authorized the killing of Iran ’ s top military official , Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani , administration officials tried to justify its actions in confusing and contradictory ways .
When he first announced the assassination , Trump claimed it was to “ stop a war.
” In his latest version of events , which he shared with Republican donors at his Mar-a-Lago compound on the evening of January 17 , Trump reportedly said Soleimani had been a “ noted terrorist ” who was “ on our list ” and was “ saying bad @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to an audio recording obtained by CNN and the Washington Post .
“ How much of this shit do we have to listen to ?
” Trump asked , according to CNN .
“ How much are we going to listen to ?
” The US drone strike earlier this month escalated longstanding tensions with Iran and fears of a new war in the Middle East .
Trump warned that if Iran retaliated against the drone strike , the United States would bomb the country ’ s cultural sites—a maneuver that ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ On Jan. 8 , Iran ’ s revolutionary guard fired missiles at military outposts housing US personnel in Iraq .
Though Trump initially said that no one was harmed , it turned out that 11 men had been injured , including eight Americans .
The audio obtained by CNN and the Washington Post reveals Trump ’ s view of the final moments of the strike that killed “ two for the price of one ” —Soleimani and Iraqi military leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis , who Trump wrongly described as the “ head of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ listening to military officials as they watched the strike from “ cameras that are miles in the sky.
” “ They ’ re together sir , ” Trump recalled the military officials saying .
“ Sir , they have two minutes and 11 seconds .
No emotion .
‘ 2 minutes and 11 seconds to live , sir .
They ’ re in the car , they ’ re in an armored vehicle .
Sir , they have approximately one minute to live , sir .
30 seconds .
10 , 9 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a sudden , boom , ” he went on .
“ ‘ They ’ re gone , sir .
Cutting off.
’ ” “ I said , where is this guy ?
” Trump continued .
“ That was the last I heard from him.
” The Washington Post reported that Trump crudely described Soleimani as “ the father of the road side bomb ” who was responsible for “ every young , beautiful man or woman who see walking around with no legs , no arms.
” Notably absent from Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he and administration officials had previously used in the days after the killing : that Soleimani posed an “ imminent threat ” against the United States .

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In the weeks after President Donald Trump authorized the killing of Iran’s top military official, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, administration officials tried to justify its actions in confusing and contradictory ways. When he first announced the assassination, Trump claimed it was to “stop a war.” In his latest version of events, which he shared with Republican donors at his Mar-a-Lago compound on the evening of January 17, Trump reportedly said Soleimani had been a “noted terrorist” who was “on our list” and was “saying bad things about our country,” according to an audio recording obtained by CNN and the Washington Post.
“How much of this shit do we have to listen to?” Trump asked, according to CNN. “How much are we going to listen to?”
The US drone strike earlier this month escalated longstanding tensions with Iran and fears of a new war in the Middle East. Trump warned that if Iran retaliated against the drone strike, the United States would bomb the country’s cultural sites—a maneuver that’s long been considered a war crime. On Jan. 8, Iran’s revolutionary guard fired missiles at military outposts housing US personnel in Iraq. Though Trump initially said that no one was harmed, it turned out that 11 men had been injured, including eight Americans.
The audio obtained by CNN and the Washington Post reveals Trump’s view of the final moments of the strike that killed “two for the price of one”—Soleimani and Iraqi military leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who Trump wrongly described as the “head of Hezbollah.”
According to CNN:
He went on to recount listening to military officials as they watched the strike from “cameras that are miles in the sky.” “They’re together sir,” Trump recalled the military officials saying. “Sir, they have two minutes and 11 seconds. No emotion. ‘2 minutes and 11 seconds to live, sir. They’re in the car, they’re in an armored vehicle. Sir, they have approximately one minute to live, sir. 30 seconds. 10, 9, 8 …’ ” “Then all of a sudden, boom,” he went on. “‘They’re gone, sir. Cutting off.’ ” “I said, where is this guy?” Trump continued. “That was the last I heard from him.”
The Washington Post reported that Trump crudely described Soleimani as “the father of the road side bomb” who was responsible for “every young, beautiful man or woman who see walking around with no legs, no arms.”
Notably absent from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago speech was the rationale he and administration officials had previously used in the days after the killing: that Soleimani posed an “imminent threat” against the United States.


motherjones--2020-01-19--Bloomberg and Steyer Make Top 10 List of Biggest Super-PAC Donors Ever

On January 21 , 2010 , the Supreme Court opened the super-PAC era with its 5-4 ruling in the Citizens United case .
While the decision left the limits on donations to politicians in place , it blew open caps on outside spending—money given to groups that campaign for or against candidates without officially being part of their campaigns .
The decision led to a flood of spending by corporations and unions , as well as superwealthy donors who dropped more than $ 3 billion on super-PACs in the past decade .
As a new report by Public Citizen finds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from a handful of people—including presidential candidates Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg .
Between 2010 and 2020 , 25 donors ( including couples ) accounted for 47 percent of all super-PAC donations from individuals— $ 1.4 billion in total .
At the top of the list were Republican megadonors Sheldon and Miriam Adelson , whose $ 292 million represented one tenth of all donations .
Steyer ( $ 255 million ) and Bloomberg ( $ 155 million ) took the second and third spots , respectively .
Liberal financier and conservative bogeyman George @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 44 million .
Steyer , a hedge fund billionaire who is heavily self-funding his presidential run , says he would like to see Citizens United repealed .
Bloomberg ’ s campaign site says he “ has worked to eliminate the corrosive power of money in politics.
” The former New York City mayor has said he will spend as much as $ 1 billion on the 2020 election .

On January 21, 2010, the Supreme Court opened the super-PAC era with its 5-4 ruling in the Citizens United case. While the decision left the limits on donations to politicians in place, it blew open caps on outside spending—money given to groups that campaign for or against candidates without officially being part of their campaigns. The decision led to a flood of spending by corporations and unions, as well as superwealthy donors who dropped more than $3 billion on super-PACs in the past decade. As a new report by Public Citizen finds, nearly half of that money came from a handful of people—including presidential candidates Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg.
Between 2010 and 2020, 25 donors (including couples) accounted for 47 percent of all super-PAC donations from individuals—$1.4 billion in total. At the top of the list were Republican megadonors Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, whose $292 million represented one tenth of all donations. Steyer ($255 million) and Bloomberg ($155 million) took the second and third spots, respectively. Liberal financier and conservative bogeyman George Soros was the tenth largest donor with $44 million.
Steyer, a hedge fund billionaire who is heavily self-funding his presidential run, says he would like to see Citizens United repealed. Bloomberg’s campaign site says he “has worked to eliminate the corrosive power of money in politics.” The former New York City mayor has said he will spend as much as $1 billion on the 2020 election.


motherjones--2020-01-19--Ahead of Richmond Rally, Apple and Google Are Letting Nazis Use This App to Coordinate

Neo-nazi and fascist groups have been posting antisemitic and racist messages and calls for violence on the encrypted messaging app Telegram in advance of a massive gun rally in Richmond , Virgina on Monday that far-right extremists are expected to attend and that officials fear might turn violent .
“ If you are not ready to leave your family , friends and daily life and get violent then you need to sit the fuck down , ” read a message posted by one account with over a thousand followers that has pushed a new civil war .
“ Virginia is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will decide the fate and the rate for this year.
” Another account with thousands of followers has been posting compressed files of “ reading material ” in the lead up to event with file names like “ Guerrilla Warfare , Terrorism , ” “ Tracking and Evasion , ” and “ Revenge Anarchy.
” On sites like 4chan and other forums popular with internet racists , there ’ s little that can be done to stop neo-Nazis and white supremacists from posting and organizing .
But in the case of Telegram , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ power to curb neo-Nazi communications if they choose to .
Both companies have rules for apps in their app stores that Telegram aggressively and frequently violates .
Instead of enforcing these policies , the companies have stood idle as extremist groups have taken advantage of their inaction to communicate , organize , recruit , and rally allies and members on Telegram .
As these groups prepare to descend on Richmond where they ’ ve called for violence , Apple and Google have the ability to take away a potentially critical organizing and communication @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Review Guidelines ban apps that have “ Defamatory , discriminatory , or mean-spirited content , including references or commentary about religion , race , sexual orientation , gender , national/ethnic origin , or other targeted groups.
” Additionally , apps that have content that “ encourages violence ” also violate Apple ’ s rules .
Google Play ’ s Developer Policy bans apps “ that promote violence , or incite hatred against individuals or groups based on race or ethnic origin , religion.
” White nationalist , neo-Nazi , and fascist Telegram channels @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these rules , by advocating for violence against a host of racial groups , ethnicities , and the police , while frequently posting anti-Semetic and racist content .
Telegram appears to be adhering to Apple ’ s rules in select cases .
Certain fascist and neo-Nazi Telegram channels aren ’ t accessible in the iPhone app .
When users try to access them , they ’ re met with a message that reads “ Unfortunately , this channel couldn ’ t be displayed on your device because it violates Apple App Store Review @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provision barring content discriminating against race , religion , and other categories .
Overall though , hundreds of openly hateful groups , many of which implicitly or overtly call for violence , are still operating unfettered on Telegram , according to one list of Neo-Nazi Telegram channels Mother Jones reviewed .
It ’ s unclear why both companies have neglected to enforce their own platform policies on Telegram .
Apple told Mother Jones that it is looking into the issue , and said that developers are responsible for moderating their own content .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the developer and work with them to address the issues and potentially remove the app if a solution isn ’ t reached .
Google declined to comment .
Telegram did not respond to a request for comment .
Apple has taken action on Telegram in the past , briefly removing it from the app store in 2018 for unspecified “ inappropriate content.
” Telegram , which the Anti Defamation League has called a white supremacist “ safe haven , ” is a valuable tool for right-wing extremists .
Unlike other encrypted messaging apps @ @ @ @ @ @ @ users can post publicly to their followers and anyone else that accesses the channel , making it useful not just for communicating but also for recruiting new members .
While Telegram has taken a vigorous free speech approach , it has taken down some public channels in the past , including ones backing ISIS .
Telegram itself has admitted that while it is committed to privacy , it has no qualms taking down public content , but has yet to meaningfully address its right-wing extremist problem .

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Neo-nazi and fascist groups have been posting antisemitic and racist messages and calls for violence on the encrypted messaging app Telegram in advance of a massive gun rally in Richmond, Virginia, on Monday that far-right extremists are expected to attend and that officials fear might turn violent.
The companies have stood idle as extremist groups have taken advantage.
“If you are not ready to leave your family, friends and daily life and get violent then you need to sit the fuck down,” read a message posted by one account with over a thousand followers that has pushed a new civil war. “Virginia is less than a week away and it will decide the fate and the rate for this year.”
Another account with thousands of followers has been posting compressed files of “reading material” in the lead up to the event with file names like “Guerrilla Warfare, Terrorism,” “Tracking and Evasion,” and “Revenge Anarchy.”
On sites like 4chan and other forums popular with internet racists, there’s little that can be done to stop neo-Nazis and white supremacists from posting and organizing. But in the case of Telegram, though, Google and Apple have the power to curb neo-Nazi communications if they choose to.
Both companies have rules for apps in their app stores that Telegram aggressively and frequently violates. Instead of enforcing these policies, the companies have stood idle as extremist groups have taken advantage of their inaction to communicate, organize, recruit, and rally allies and members on Telegram. As these groups prepare to descend on Richmond where they’ve called for violence, Apple and Google have the ability to take away a potentially critical organizing and communication tool.
Apple’s App Store Review Guidelines ban apps that have “Defamatory, discriminatory, or mean-spirited content, including references or commentary about religion, race, sexual orientation, gender, national/ethnic origin, or other targeted groups.”Additionally, apps that have content that “encourages violence” also violate Apple’s rules. Google Play’s Developer Policy bans apps “that promote violence, or incite hatred against individuals or groups based on race or ethnic origin, religion.”
White nationalist, neo-Nazi, and fascist Telegram channels routinely share content that violates all of these rules, by advocating for violence against a host of racial groups, ethnicities, and the police, while frequently posting anti-Semetic and racist content.
Telegram appears to be adhering to Apple’s rules in select cases. Certain fascist and neo-Nazi Telegram channels aren’t accessible in the iPhone app. When users try to access them, they’re met with a message that reads “Unfortunately, this channel couldn’t be displayed on your device because it violates Apple App Store Review Guidelines, section 1.1.1,” the provision barring content discriminating against race, religion, and other categories.
Overall though, hundreds of openly hateful groups, many of which implicitly or overtly call for violence, are still operating unfettered on Telegram, according to one list of Neo-Nazi Telegram channels Mother Jones reviewed.
It’s unclear why both companies have neglected to enforce their own platform policies on Telegram. Apple told Mother Jones that it is looking into the issue, and said that developers are responsible for moderating their own content. The company noted that it would notify the developer and work with them to address the issues and potentially remove the app if a solution isn’t reached. Google declined to comment. Telegram did not respond to a request for comment.
Apple has taken action on Telegram in the past, briefly removing it from the app store in 2018 for unspecified “inappropriate content.”
Telegram, which the Anti Defamation League has called a white supremacist “safe haven,” is a valuable tool for right-wing extremists. Unlike other encrypted messaging apps, Telegram functions as a platform where users can post publicly to their followers and anyone else that accesses the channel, making it useful not just for communicating but also for recruiting new members.
While Telegram has taken a vigorous free speech approach, it has taken down some public channels in the past, including ones backing ISIS. Telegram itself has admitted that while it is committed to privacy, it has no qualms taking down public content, but has yet to meaningfully address its right-wing extremist problem.


motherjones--2020-01-20--Racist Policies in Urban Neighborhoods Have Created Deadly “Heat Islands”

This piece was originally published in The Guardian and appears here as part of our Climate Desk Partnership .
Deadly urban heatwaves disproportionately affect underserved neighborhoods because of the legacy of racist housing policies which have denied African Americans home ownership and basic public services , a landmark new study has found .
Extreme heat kills hundreds of people in the US every year—more than any other hazardous weather event , including hurricanes , tornadoes and flooding , according to the Centers for Disease Control .
Heatwaves have been occurring more frequently since the mid-20th century , and are expected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and longer-lasting due to the climate crisis .
However , exposure to extreme heat is unequal : temperatures in different neighborhoods within the same city can vary by 20F .
It is mostly lower-income households and communities of color who live in these urban “ heat islands ” which have historically had fewer green spaces and tree canopy , and more concrete and pavements and thus are less equipped to cope with the mounting effects of global heating .
This new study reveals how current temperature disparities echo the legacy of past racially @ @ @ @ @ @ @ municipal services and support for home ownership during the mid-20th century are now the hottest areas in 94 % of the 108 cities analysed by researchers at Portland State University and the Science Museum of Virginia .
“ This systematic pattern suggests a woefully negligent planning system that hyper-privileges richer and whiter communities , ” said Vivek Shandas , professor of urban studies and planning at Portland State University who authors the paper .
The study , published today in the journal Climate , is the first to examine the link between historical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deadly heatwaves .
“ As climate change brings hotter , more frequent and longer heatwaves , the same historically underserved neighborhoods – often where lower-income households and communities of color still live – will face the greatest impact , ” Shandas added .
Globally , temperatures have been rising since the beginning of the 20th century , with 18 of the 19 warmest years on record occurring since 2001 .
Each year , more than 600 Americans die and 65,000 or so seek emergency medical care for excessive heat exposure .
As heatwaves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expect to see an increase in deaths and illnesses , particularly among vulnerable groups such as children , the elderly , economically disadvantaged communities , and those with pre-existing conditions like heart disease , asthma and diabetes This new study examined the link between historic “ redlining ” and current heat islands .
Beginning in the 1930s , some , mostly African American neighborhoods – designated with red lines – were categorized as too risky for investment , and denied home loans and insurance .
As a result , the housing stock fell @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to create wealth through homeownership or move into “ better ” suburban neighborhoods , which intensified segregation and wealth inequalities .
Redlined neighborhoods also had the lowest public and private investment .
Researchers used satellite images to analyse the relationship between summertime surface temperatures and “ redlining ” in 108 cities across the country .
Nationally , the study found formerly “ redlined ” neighborhoods are 5F warmer , on average , than non-redlined neighborhoods .
However , the difference is much starker in some cities .
For instance in Portland , Oregon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ found a 12 to 13F difference between formerly redlined and non-redlined neighborhoods , compared with 1-2 F in Pittsburg , Pennsylvania and Flint , Michigan .
“ The patterns of the lowest temperatures in specific neighborhoods do not occur because of circumstance or coincidence .
They are a result of decades of intentional investment in parks , green spaces , trees , transportation and housing policies that provided ‘ cooling services ’ , which also coincide with being wealthier and whiter across the country … neighborhoods are not made equal , ” said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how those policies are literally killing those most vulnerable to acute heat.
” “ This study is a textbook case of how structural racism in housing compounds environmental , climate and health risks , ” Dr Robert Bullard , distinguished professor of urban planning and environmental policy at Texas Southern University , told the Guardian .
“ Zip code is still a potent predictor of health and well-being… environmental vulnerability maps closely with racial injustice.
” Redlining was banned in the 1968 Fair Housing Act , but those neighborhoods are still predominantly home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who are disproportionately exposed to a variety of environmental hazards such as lead , poor water and air quality , over development and limited shade .
Numerous studies have exposed the legacy of these historic policies in racial disparities in healthcare , access to healthy food , incarceration and public resources allotted for schools , transport and and other public infrastructure .
Now , these results illustrate a need for better urban planning and climate mitigation policies .
“ Our study is just the first step in identifying a roadmap toward equitable climate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our cities , ” said coauthor Jeremy Hoffman of the Science Museum of Virginia .
Shandas added : “ By recognizing and centering the historical blunders of the planning profession over the past century , we stand a better chance for reducing the public health and infrastructure impacts from a warming planet .
”

This piece was originally published in The Guardian and appears here as part of our Climate Desk Partnership.
Deadly urban heatwaves disproportionately affect underserved neighborhoods because of the legacy of racist housing policies which have denied African Americans home ownership and basic public services, a landmark new study has found.
Extreme heat kills hundreds of people in the US every year—more than any other hazardous weather event, including hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Heatwaves have been occurring more frequently since the mid-20th century, and are expected to become more common, more severe and longer-lasting due to the climate crisis.
However, exposure to extreme heat is unequal: temperatures in different neighborhoods within the same city can vary by 20F. It is mostly lower-income households and communities of color who live in these urban “heat islands” which have historically had fewer green spaces and tree canopy, and more concrete and pavements and thus are less equipped to cope with the mounting effects of global heating.
This new study reveals how current temperature disparities echo the legacy of past racially motivated town planning. Urban neighborhoods denied municipal services and support for home ownership during the mid-20th century are now the hottest areas in 94% of the 108 cities analysed by researchers at Portland State University and the Science Museum of Virginia.
“This systematic pattern suggests a woefully negligent planning system that hyper-privileges richer and whiter communities,” said Vivek Shandas, professor of urban studies and planning at Portland State University who authors the paper.
The study, published today in the journal Climate, is the first to examine the link between historical housing policies to disproportionate exposure to current deadly heatwaves.
“As climate change brings hotter, more frequent and longer heatwaves, the same historically underserved neighborhoods – often where lower-income households and communities of color still live – will face the greatest impact,” Shandas added.
Globally, temperatures have been rising since the beginning of the 20th century, with 18 of the 19 warmest years on record occurring since 2001.
Each year, more than 600 Americans die and 65,000 or so seek emergency medical care for excessive heat exposure. As heatwaves become increasingly frequent and severe, scientists expect to see an increase in deaths and illnesses, particularly among vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly, economically disadvantaged communities, and those with pre-existing conditions like heart disease, asthma and diabetes
This new study examined the link between historic “redlining” and current heat islands.
Beginning in the 1930s, some, mostly African American neighborhoods – designated with red lines – were categorized as too risky for investment, and denied home loans and insurance.
As a result, the housing stock fell into disrepair, and residents were unable to create wealth through homeownership or move into “better” suburban neighborhoods, which intensified segregation and wealth inequalities. Redlined neighborhoods also had the lowest public and private investment.
Researchers used satellite images to analyse the relationship between summertime surface temperatures and “redlining” in 108 cities across the country.
Nationally, the study found formerly “redlined” neighborhoods are 5F warmer, on average, than non-redlined neighborhoods.
However, the difference is much starker in some cities. For instance in Portland, Oregon, and Denver, Colorado, researchers found a 12 to 13F difference between formerly redlined and non-redlined neighborhoods, compared with 1-2 F in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and Flint, Michigan.
“The patterns of the lowest temperatures in specific neighborhoods do not occur because of circumstance or coincidence. They are a result of decades of intentional investment in parks, green spaces, trees, transportation and housing policies that provided ‘cooling services’, which also coincide with being wealthier and whiter across the country … neighborhoods are not made equal,” said Shandas. “We are now seeing how those policies are literally killing those most vulnerable to acute heat.”
“This study is a textbook case of how structural racism in housing compounds environmental, climate and health risks,” Dr Robert Bullard, distinguished professor of urban planning and environmental policy at Texas Southern University, told the Guardian. “Zip code is still a potent predictor of health and well-being… environmental vulnerability maps closely with racial injustice.”
Redlining was banned in the 1968 Fair Housing Act, but those neighborhoods are still predominantly home to lower-income communities and communities of color who are disproportionately exposed to a variety of environmental hazards such as lead, poor water and air quality, over development and limited shade.
Numerous studies have exposed the legacy of these historic policies in racial disparities in healthcare, access to healthy food, incarceration and public resources allotted for schools, transport and and other public infrastructure.
Now, these results illustrate a need for better urban planning and climate mitigation policies.
“Our study is just the first step in identifying a roadmap toward equitable climate resilience by addressing these systemic patterns in our cities,” said coauthor Jeremy Hoffman of the Science Museum of Virginia.
Shandas added: “By recognizing and centering the historical blunders of the planning profession over the past century, we stand a better chance for reducing the public health and infrastructure impacts from a warming planet.”


motherjones--2020-01-20--Trump Says the US Is Ready for War. Not All His Troops Are So Sure.

This story was published originally by ProPublica , a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power .
Sign up for ProPublica ’ s Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox as soon as they are published .
Between the killing of Iran ’ s most important general and Iran ’ s missiles hurtling toward American troops in Iraq , President Donald Trump took time to discuss America ’ s military prowess .
“ The United States just spent Two Trillion Dollars on Military Equipment , ” he tweeted on Jan. 5 .
“ If Iran @ @ @ @ @ @ @ American , we will be sending some of that brand new beautiful equipment their way.
” Besides being wrong ( the military has not spent that much ) , he repeated a mistake that military leaders have made for years : emphasizing weapons over the fitness of the men and women charged with firing them .
Over the past 18 months , ProPublica has dug into military accidents in recent years that , all told , call into question just how prepared the American military is to fight America ’ s battles .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gulf or the Korean Peninsula , the Navy and Marine Corps are likely to play crucial roles in holding strategic command of the sea and defending against ballistic missiles .
Those branches , though , do not need billions of dollars of new weapons , our examination revealed .
They need to focus on the basics : its service members , their training and their equipment .
The Government Accountability Office , Congress ’ watchdog , has been sounding the alarm for years , to little effect .
In 2016 , the GAO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Afghanistan had taken their toll : “ The military services have reported persistently low readiness levels.
” In 2018 , the agency focused on the Navy and Marine Corps .
All seven types of aircraft it tracked , from cargo planes to fighters like the F/A-18D , had repeatedly missed goals for being prepared for missions .
“ Aviation readiness will take many years to recover , ” the GAO said .
In a report last month , the GAO found that only about 25 % of Navy shipyard repairs were completed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to face persistent and substantial maintenance delays that affect the majority of its maintenance efforts and hinder its attempts to restore readiness , ” it said .
The services ’ problems with readiness burst into public view in the summer of 2017 , when two American destroyers collided with two commercial ships in separate incidents that left 17 sailors dead and scores injured .
They were the Navy ’ s worst accidents at sea since the 1970s .
Both the USS Fitzgerald and the USS John S. McCain were deployed to the 7th @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
What both ships needed , ProPublica found , was more time to train and more sailors .
Neither ship was fully qualified for its battle missions ; neither ship had a full crew ; both ships had patched together navigation systems that failed to work at times .
Sailors on both ships described being shortchanged in training and exhausted by the pace of operations .
One-hundred-hour work weeks were not uncommon .
On the Fitzgerald , for instance , a sailor had to manually press a button more than 1,000 times to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
On the evening of the collision on June 17 , the Fitzgerald was under the control of a relatively inexperienced officer who ordered the destroyer to turn directly into the path of a cargo carrier .
On the McCain , the Navy had installed a touch-screen navigation system as a cheaper alternative to traditional steering wheels and throttles .
The design of the new system was so confusing that the sailors using it accidentally guided the McCain into an oil tanker in the Singapore Strait on Aug. 21 .
Dakota Bordeaux , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said of the new navigation system , “ There was actually a lot of functions on there that I had no clue what on earth they did.
” It was not that the Navy was unaware of the problems .
Top commanders had simply ignored urgent messages for help .
Military leaders wanted missions completed .
They cared less about whether the men and women on duty were forced to cut corners to do them .
In January 2013 , Vice Adm. Thomas Copeman issued a warning at the Surface Navy Association Symposium @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Navy officers in charge of warships .
Readiness , he said , was headed toward a “ downward spiral.
” “ It ’ s getting harder and harder I think for us to look the troops in the eye , ” Copeman told the audience .
“ If you ’ re an admiral in the Navy , ” he later told ProPublica , “ you may have to make that decision to send people into combat , and you better not have blood on your hands the rest of your life because you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in peacetime to make them ready.
” The Navy ’ s surface forces needed $ 3.5 billion , he said , just to fix what was wrong with training alone .
Copeman raised the specter of a “ hollow ” Navy without those additional funds .
Three years later Janine Davidson , the undersecretary of the Navy , sounded the alarm again .
The Navy remained short of adequately trained sailors and reliable ships .
“ It ’ s sleepwalking into a level of risk you don ’ t realize you have , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 7th Fleet , the largest of the Navy ’ s forward-deployed fleets , was perhaps most vulnerable .
In 2017 , top officers laid out the armada ’ s dire conditions for its senior commander , Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin .
Training was down .
Certifications , which crews received after proving they were prepared to handle crucial war-fighting duties , had dropped from 93 % completed in 2014 to 62 % in 2016 .
That year , only two of the fleet ’ s 11 destroyers and cruisers received all recommended maintenance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of its scheduled upkeep .
Aucoin sent the assessment to the top brass .
But the portrait of crisis got him nothing .
Low-level officers on the decks of ships and high-ranking leaders up the chain of command said they made similar warnings and were shut down .
Scores of sailors reached out to us and testified to some combination of fear , lack of training and an absence of confidence in the Navy ’ s leadership .
“ If the Navy paid more attention to the job satisfaction and intrinsic motivation of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other systemic issues will fix themselves , ” one sailor wrote .
We examined other Navy episodes directly relevant to today ’ s situation with Iran .
In 2016 , the crew of two American gunboats was seized in the Persian Gulf by Iran ’ s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps , the military force dominated by Qassim Suleimani , the major general killed by a drone strike outside the Baghdad Airport this month .
The sailors on the gunboats undertook a last-minute mission without proper training or equipment and were captured after straying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ base on Farsi Island .
An international incident was avoided only through military pressure and last-minute diplomatic maneuvers .
We also examined the state of the Navy ’ s minesweepers .
The Persian Gulf is one of the few places in the world where such ships may prove indispensable .
Nearly a quarter of the world ’ s oil supplies pass through the Strait of Hormuz at the gulf ’ s entrance .
The Iranians have threatened to use mines to block it in case of conflict .
The Navy has fewer than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
One sailor told us the sonar meant to detect mines was so imprecise that in training exercises it flagged dishwashers , crab traps and cars on the ocean floor as potential explosives .
“ We are essentially the ships that the Navy forgot , ” another sailor said of his own minesweeper , which had not left port in 20 months .
The Department of the Navy oversees the Marine Corps .
And a Marine Corps aviation accident in December 2018 raised its own questions about readiness .
A midair collision between @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fuel tanker over the Pacific left six Marines dead .
The same patterns showed up again : Local commanders had warned higher-ups of a lack of training , nonfunctioning aircraft and faulty equipment .
Squadron 242 , whose fighter jets were involved in the accident , was designed to leap quickly into an attack against North Korea in case of conflict .
The commander ’ s own reports showed the squadron was consistently not capable of completing seven of its 10 “ mission essential tasks , ” such as armed reconnaissance and traveling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In commentary written in response to the findings of a safety board investigation after the incident , the commander for the tanker squadron , which lost five Marines in the crash , was unsparing .
“ In an [ area of operations ] where the mantra of ‘ Fight Tonight ’ is repeated everywhere , ” Lt. Col. Mitchell Maury said , referring to the Pacific , “ we are not manned , trained , and equipped to execute to the appropriate level of effectiveness.
” In isolation , each of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be sure , but not a cause for widespread alarm .
But our reporting showed a broad and alarming pattern .
The Navy and the Marine Corps had routinely ignored their sailors and Marines , their equipment and their training .
The result : men dying during peacetime .
Are the two branches ready to fight a war against Iran tonight ?
It ’ s a question that nobody hopes to ever answer .
But it ’ s a question that goes beyond expensive new weapons .

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This story was published originally by ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for ProPublica’s Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox as soon as they are published.
Between the killing of Iran’s most important general and Iran’s missiles hurtling toward American troops in Iraq, President Donald Trump took time to discuss America’s military prowess.
“The United States just spent Two Trillion Dollars on Military Equipment,” he tweeted on Jan. 5. “If Iran attacks an American Base, or any American, we will be sending some of that brand new beautiful equipment their way.”
Besides being wrong (the military has not spent that much), he repeated a mistake that military leaders have made for years: emphasizing weapons over the fitness of the men and women charged with firing them.
Over the past 18 months, ProPublica has dug into military accidents in recent years that, all told, call into question just how prepared the American military is to fight America’s battles.
If forced to fight in the Persian Gulf or the Korean Peninsula, the Navy and Marine Corps are likely to play crucial roles in holding strategic command of the sea and defending against ballistic missiles.
Those branches, though, do not need billions of dollars of new weapons, our examination revealed. They need to focus on the basics: its service members, their training and their equipment.
The Government Accountability Office, Congress’ watchdog, has been sounding the alarm for years, to little effect. In 2016, the GAO found that years of warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan had taken their toll: “The military services have reported persistently low readiness levels.”
In 2018, the agency focused on the Navy and Marine Corps. All seven types of aircraft it tracked, from cargo planes to fighters like the F/A-18D, had repeatedly missed goals for being prepared for missions. “Aviation readiness will take many years to recover,” the GAO said.
In a report last month, the GAO found that only about 25% of Navy shipyard repairs were completed on time. “The Navy continues to face persistent and substantial maintenance delays that affect the majority of its maintenance efforts and hinder its attempts to restore readiness,” it said.
The services’ problems with readiness burst into public view in the summer of 2017, when two American destroyers collided with two commercial ships in separate incidents that left 17 sailors dead and scores injured. They were the Navy’s worst accidents at sea since the 1970s.
Both the USS Fitzgerald and the USS John S. McCain were deployed to the 7th Fleet, based in Yokosuka, Japan. What both ships needed, ProPublica found, was more time to train and more sailors.
Neither ship was fully qualified for its battle missions; neither ship had a full crew; both ships had patched together navigation systems that failed to work at times.
Sailors on both ships described being shortchanged in training and exhausted by the pace of operations. One-hundred-hour work weeks were not uncommon.
On the Fitzgerald, for instance, a sailor had to manually press a button more than 1,000 times to refresh a radar screen tracking nearby traffic. On the evening of the collision on June 17, the Fitzgerald was under the control of a relatively inexperienced officer who ordered the destroyer to turn directly into the path of a cargo carrier.
On the McCain, the Navy had installed a touch-screen navigation system as a cheaper alternative to traditional steering wheels and throttles. The design of the new system was so confusing that the sailors using it accidentally guided the McCain into an oil tanker in the Singapore Strait on Aug. 21.
Dakota Bordeaux, the young sailor steering the ship, said of the new navigation system, “There was actually a lot of functions on there that I had no clue what on earth they did.”
It was not that the Navy was unaware of the problems. Top commanders had simply ignored urgent messages for help. Military leaders wanted missions completed. They cared less about whether the men and women on duty were forced to cut corners to do them.
In January 2013, Vice Adm. Thomas Copeman issued a warning at the Surface Navy Association Symposium, one of the premier gatherings of Navy officers in charge of warships. Readiness, he said, was headed toward a “downward spiral.”
“It’s getting harder and harder I think for us to look the troops in the eye,” Copeman told the audience.
“If you’re an admiral in the Navy,” he later told ProPublica, “you may have to make that decision to send people into combat, and you better not have blood on your hands the rest of your life because you didn’t do everything you could in peacetime to make them ready.”
The Navy’s surface forces needed $3.5 billion, he said, just to fix what was wrong with training alone. Copeman raised the specter of a “hollow” Navy without those additional funds.
Three years later Janine Davidson, the undersecretary of the Navy, sounded the alarm again. The Navy remained short of adequately trained sailors and reliable ships.
“It’s sleepwalking into a level of risk you don’t realize you have,” she said to ProPublica.
The 7th Fleet, the largest of the Navy’s forward-deployed fleets, was perhaps most vulnerable. In 2017, top officers laid out the armada’s dire conditions for its senior commander, Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin.
Training was down. Certifications, which crews received after proving they were prepared to handle crucial war-fighting duties, had dropped from 93% completed in 2014 to 62% in 2016. That year, only two of the fleet’s 11 destroyers and cruisers received all recommended maintenance. One ship got only a quarter of its scheduled upkeep.
Aucoin sent the assessment to the top brass. But the portrait of crisis got him nothing.
Low-level officers on the decks of ships and high-ranking leaders up the chain of command said they made similar warnings and were shut down. Scores of sailors reached out to us and testified to some combination of fear, lack of training and an absence of confidence in the Navy’s leadership.
“If the Navy paid more attention to the job satisfaction and intrinsic motivation of sailors, then a lot of these other systemic issues will fix themselves,” one sailor wrote.
We examined other Navy episodes directly relevant to today’s situation with Iran. In 2016, the crew of two American gunboats was seized in the Persian Gulf by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the military force dominated by Qassim Suleimani, the major general killed by a drone strike outside the Baghdad Airport this month.
The sailors on the gunboats undertook a last-minute mission without proper training or equipment and were captured after straying into the waters surrounding an Iranian naval base on Farsi Island. An international incident was avoided only through military pressure and last-minute diplomatic maneuvers.
We also examined the state of the Navy’s minesweepers. The Persian Gulf is one of the few places in the world where such ships may prove indispensable. Nearly a quarter of the world’s oil supplies pass through the Strait of Hormuz at the gulf’s entrance. The Iranians have threatened to use mines to block it in case of conflict.
The Navy has fewer than a dozen minesweepers, many in disrepair. One sailor told us the sonar meant to detect mines was so imprecise that in training exercises it flagged dishwashers, crab traps and cars on the ocean floor as potential explosives.
“We are essentially the ships that the Navy forgot,” another sailor said of his own minesweeper, which had not left port in 20 months.
The Department of the Navy oversees the Marine Corps. And a Marine Corps aviation accident in December 2018 raised its own questions about readiness. A midair collision between a F/A-18D Hornet and a KC-130J Hercules fuel tanker over the Pacific left six Marines dead.
The same patterns showed up again: Local commanders had warned higher-ups of a lack of training, nonfunctioning aircraft and faulty equipment.
Squadron 242, whose fighter jets were involved in the accident, was designed to leap quickly into an attack against North Korea in case of conflict. The commander’s own reports showed the squadron was consistently not capable of completing seven of its 10 “mission essential tasks,” such as armed reconnaissance and traveling into enemy airspace to bomb known targets.
In commentary written in response to the findings of a safety board investigation after the incident, the commander for the tanker squadron, which lost five Marines in the crash, was unsparing.
“In an [area of operations] where the mantra of ‘Fight Tonight’ is repeated everywhere,” Lt. Col. Mitchell Maury said, referring to the Pacific, “we are not manned, trained, and equipped to execute to the appropriate level of effectiveness.”
In isolation, each of the events seemed an unfortunate accident—regrettable, to be sure, but not a cause for widespread alarm.
But our reporting showed a broad and alarming pattern. The Navy and the Marine Corps had routinely ignored their sailors and Marines, their equipment and their training. The result: men dying during peacetime.
Are the two branches ready to fight a war against Iran tonight? It’s a question that nobody hopes to ever answer. But it’s a question that goes beyond expensive new weapons.


motherjones--2020-01-20--Virginia’s Massive Pro-Gun Rally Draws Big Crowds, Big Weapons, and Alex Jones in a Big Armed Vehicl

Virginia’s Massive Pro-Gun Rally Draws Big Crowds, Big Weapons, and Alex Jones in a Big Armed Vehicle

It had all the ingredients for a powder keg : Thousands of heavily armed protesters pissed off about proposed gun control laws , troubling online calls for violence and a new civil war , and echoes of a deadly rally that took place in the same state three years ago .
But the pro-gun rally in Richmond , Virginia , on Monday did not end in violence , as many had feared .
Instead , it ended with the shrill , gravelly baritone of Alex Jones ’ voice , as the notorious conspiracy theorist and Infowars founder popped out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ vehicle , cruising around and screaming at passersby through a megaphone .
“ If they try to take our firearms , ” he yelled , “ 1776 will commence again !
” Ever since a newly elected Democratic majority took control of Virginia ’ s state legislature in November , gun owners and 2nd Amendment activists have been preparing for a fight to protect the state ’ s gun laws , which for years—partially because the headquarters of the National Rifle Association are located in the state—have been some of the loosest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ group Virginia Citizens Defense League had planned a peaceful pro-gun rally on the Martin Luther King , Jr. holiday , which in Richmond happened to fall on Lobby Day , an annual day for residents to lobby lawmakers on all sorts of issues , including gun laws .
But in the weeks leading up to the massive gun rally , neo-Nazi and fascist groups online shared plans to co-opt the rally to advance their own violent agenda .
On Facebook pages , and on sites like 4chan and the encrypted messaging app Telegram @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and white supremacists were calling the day the “ boogaloo ” —neo-Nazi slang for the start of a new civil war .
“ If you are not ready to leave your family , friends and daily life and get violent then you need to sit the fuck down , ” said one message posted to Telegram by an account with over a thousand followers .
Last week , the FBI announced they had arrested seven members of the extremist neo-Nazi group known as The Base , three of whom had allegedly planned to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of violence .
In response to the heightened sense of potential danger , Virginia governor Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency , temporarily banning weapons from the grounds of the state capitol—Virginia law allows gun owners to openly carry firearms without a permit .
But his move only exacerbated the fury of gun advocates .
To get into the official rally space on the Capitol grounds , where the VCDL had set up a stage for local pro-gun activists and politicians to address the crowd , attendees had to go through a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ packing heat could slip through .
Instead , thousands of gun-wielding Second Amendment advocates—many of whom were carrying assault weapons and AR-15-style rifles—crowded the streets around the security perimeter of the capitol grounds .
Many proudly held signs that said , with variations , that Northam and other government officials could “ pry their guns out of their cold , dead hands ” and that “ gun rights are civil rights.
” If any other members of The Base were in attendance , they did not make themselves known , and the only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the disavowed former Proud Boy , who was booted from the group because his anti-Semitic and racist views were too extreme even for this far-right group .
He has been an outspoken supporter of Jason Kessler , who organized the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017 , as well as James Fields Jr. , the avowed neo-Nazi who killed Heather Heyer at that rally and is now serving a life sentence .
Though members of other far-right groups—including the Three Percenters , the Oath Keepers , and Proud Boys—were spotted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ consisted of a smattering of militia types and extremely vocal Donald Trump supporters wearing MAGA hats and frequently breaking out into chants of “ TRUMP !
” and “ USA !
” Trump did not attend , but he managed to fire off a tweet in support of the rally : Inside the state capitol , it was business as usual for all lawmakers , with a full session of the state ’ s House of Delegates and Senate , as is Lobby Day tradition .
Though the rally outside the state capitol @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of rage , especially directed at Northam , with signs comparing him to Adolph Hitler and other famous fascist leaders throughout history .
Nonetheless , despite the anger and the tensions , the violence that had been feared never took place .
Local law enforcement officials estimated that 22,000 people were in attendance , and only one person was arrested—a 21-year-old woman who allegedly broke the state ’ s anti-mask law ( though , for what it ’ s worth , I saw hundreds of militia-styled attendees in masks at today ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ relative calm might be that unlike previous right-wing rallies , there was no counter protest .
Antifa and gun control groups like Everytown and Moms Demand Action urged their supporters not to show up to counter protest , citing the concerns for safety .
“ I think that their intimidation tactics are a way to scare us into backing down , ” said Courtney Champion , a volunteer with the Virginia chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America .
Despite the threats of violence , Champion , along with a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a hotel room a few blocks from the rally where they closely monitored the day ’ s events .
“ I think that a lot of the pushback that we ’ re getting right now is because we flipped our state ’ s legislature in the NRA ’ s backyard , “ she added , “ and they know that we ’ re winning .
”

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It had all the ingredients for a powder keg: Thousands of heavily armed protesters pissed off about proposed gun control laws, troubling online calls for violence and a new civil war, and echoes of a deadly rally that took place in the same state three years ago. But the pro-gun rally in Richmond, Virginia, on Monday did not end in violence, as many had feared. Instead, it ended with the shrill, gravelly baritone of Alex Jones’ voice, as the notorious conspiracy theorist and Infowars founder popped out of a hatch from inside an armored Infowars’ vehicle, cruising around and screaming at passersby through a megaphone.
“If they try to take our firearms,” he yelled, “1776 will commence again!”
Ever since a newly elected Democratic majority took control of Virginia’s state legislature in November, gun owners and 2nd Amendment activists have been preparing for a fight to protect the state’s gun laws, which for years—partially because the headquarters of the National Rifle Association are located in the state—have been some of the loosest in the country. The gun rights group Virginia Citizens Defense League had planned a peaceful pro-gun rally on the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, which in Richmond happened to fall on Lobby Day, an annual day for residents to lobby lawmakers on all sorts of issues, including gun laws.
But in the weeks leading up to the massive gun rally, neo-Nazi and fascist groups online shared plans to co-opt the rally to advance their own violent agenda. On Facebook pages, and on sites like 4chan and the encrypted messaging app Telegram, militia members, fascist coalitions, and white supremacists were calling the day the “boogaloo”—neo-Nazi slang for the start of a new civil war. “If you are not ready to leave your family, friends and daily life and get violent then you need to sit the fuck down,” said one message posted to Telegram by an account with over a thousand followers. Last week, the FBI announced they had arrested seven members of the extremist neo-Nazi group known as The Base, three of whom had allegedly planned to attend the Richmond rally and commit acts of violence.
In response to the heightened sense of potential danger, Virginia governor Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency, temporarily banning weapons from the grounds of the state capitol—Virginia law allows gun owners to openly carry firearms without a permit. But his move only exacerbated the fury of gun advocates.
To get into the official rally space on the Capitol grounds, where the VCDL had set up a stage for local pro-gun activists and politicians to address the crowd, attendees had to go through a single gate lined with metal detectors—no one packing heat could slip through. Instead, thousands of gun-wielding Second Amendment advocates—many of whom were carrying assault weapons and AR-15-style rifles—crowded the streets around the security perimeter of the capitol grounds. Many proudly held signs that said, with variations, that Northam and other government officials could “pry their guns out of their cold, dead hands” and that “gun rights are civil rights.”
If any other members of The Base were in attendance, they did not make themselves known, and the only neo-Nazi I spotted was Jovi Val, the disavowed former Proud Boy, who was booted from the group because his anti-Semitic and racist views were too extreme even for this far-right group. He has been an outspoken supporter of Jason Kessler, who organized the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, as well as James Fields Jr., the avowed neo-Nazi who killed Heather Heyer at that rally and is now serving a life sentence. Though members of other far-right groups—including the Three Percenters, the Oath Keepers, and Proud Boys—were spotted at the rally, the crowd mostly consisted of a smattering of militia types and extremely vocal Donald Trump supporters wearing MAGA hats and frequently breaking out into chants of “TRUMP!” and “USA!” Trump did not attend, but he managed to fire off a tweet in support of the rally:
The Democrat Party in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia are working hard to take away your 2nd Amendment rights. This is just the beginning. Don’t let it happen, VOTE REPUBLICAN in 2020! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2020
Inside the state capitol, it was business as usual for all lawmakers, with a full session of the state’s House of Delegates and Senate, as is Lobby Day tradition. Though the rally outside the state capitol was peaceful, there was no shortage of rage, especially directed at Northam, with signs comparing him to Adolf Hitler and other famous fascist leaders throughout history.
Nonetheless, despite the anger and the tensions, the violence that had been feared never took place. Local law enforcement officials estimated that 22,000 people were in attendance, and only one person was arrested—a 21-year-old woman who allegedly broke the state’s anti-mask law (though, for what it’s worth, I saw hundreds of militia-styled attendees in masks at today’s rally).
One reason for the relative calm might be that unlike previous right-wing rallies, there was no counter protest. Antifa and gun control groups like Everytown and Moms Demand Action urged their supporters not to show up to counter protest, citing the concerns for safety. “I think that their intimidation tactics are a way to scare us into backing down,” said Courtney Champion, a volunteer with the Virginia chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. Despite the threats of violence, Champion, along with a few other Moms Demand Action volunteers were in a hotel room a few blocks from the rally where they closely monitored the day’s events. “I think that a lot of the pushback that we’re getting right now is because we flipped our state’s legislature in the NRA’s backyard,” she added, “and they know that we’re winning.”


motherjones--2020-01-21--They Were Promised Broadband and High-Tech Jobs. They’re Still Waiting.

This story was originally published by ProPublica , a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power .
Sign up for ProPublica ’ s The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox as soon as they are published .
The timing seemed perfect .
Muncy ’ s contract as a nurse at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Lexington had ended , and she wasn ’ t ready to retire .
With an annual salary of $ 77,000 , Muncy would have enough money to help her daughter pay for medical school .
But the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Muncy didn ’ t have on her farm , an hour ’ s drive from Lexington , the state ’ s second largest city .
So , Muncy gave up the job .
She hasn ’ t found another since .
“ I realized there was no hope for us , ” said Muncy , 64 , who after losing the position wrote a letter to state lawmakers begging them to move quickly on a plan for broadband access in rural communities .
Muncy hoped to spare other residents the helplessness she felt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employment .
KentuckyWired , the much-heralded plan to improve internet connectivity across the state , promised to create financial opportunities through reliable , high-speed internet access for rural communities that have repeatedly been hammered by the loss of jobs in the coal and tobacco industries .
But the project is stalled and its future looks increasingly bleak because of a number of missteps by state officials and Macquarie Capital , the Australian investment bank managing the ambitious plan , the Louisville Courier Journal and ProPublica have reported .
In the next few months @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Andy Beshear , will have to make key decisions on the direction of KentuckyWired , which is already two years behind schedule and could cost $ 1.5 billion over the next 30 years .
Beshear , a Democrat who was elected in November , has repeatedly declined to say what he plans to do as impatient lawmakers threaten to block funding .
A spokeswoman for his office said he is still receiving briefings and information related to the project , which began under the gubernatorial administration of his father , Steve Beshear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so much to residents in rural communities has yet to deliver , and it ’ s unclear if and when it will .
“ It ’ s becoming a pretty dire situation for some folks here who had hoped to build businesses around access to high-speed internet , ” said state Rep. Angie Hatton , a Democrat who represents Letcher County , where the median household income is about $ 30,000 annually and 31 percent of the population lives in poverty .
Rural Kentucky Keeps Getting Left Behind Rural Kentucky has long grappled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In 2020 , 38 counties in eastern Kentucky were deemed economically distressed by the Appalachian Regional Commission .
The state ’ s ambitious broadband internet plan was not meant to solve all the needs in rural communities .
Still , state leaders said it would help bring a wave of high-tech jobs to the region and provide residents better opportunities to start their own businesses given the lack of companies investing in such areas .
But residents , some of whom don ’ t know about KentuckyWired , are still waiting .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ who lives in Defeated Creek , a tiny community in rural Letcher County , said the unavailability of high-speed internet makes it difficult to run her online business .
Scott said it can take hours to download the designs she needs for the T-shirts and candles she sells online , slowing production and delivery to customers .
The satellite internet service she has isn ’ t even fast enough for her children to access their schoolwork from home via Google Classroom , a web application teachers use to post assignments and communicate with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get special permission to complete their homework on paper during snow days , which further hamper already spotty internet .
“ We ’ re not the only ones , ” Scott said .
Still , she added , in Kentucky ’ s mountain hollows , or hollers as they are known , “ it ’ s a real job to get internet.
” Rural Kentucky ’ s steep hills and thick forests make the installation of fiber-optic cable difficult and costly .
One in 11 Kentuckians—roughly 405,000 mostly rural residents—have no wired broadband @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Federal Communications Commission data .
For those who do have internet access , it ’ s either too slow or simply unaffordable .
“ Remember the old dial up ?
” said Defeated Creek resident Adam Smith , imitating the antiquated swish and beep sounds familiar to former AOL users .
“ That slow internet ?
That ’ s fast for us.
” KentuckyWired ’ s new proposed completion date is nine months away .
Even if the state meets that deadline , many rural residents won ’ t have immediate access to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cable that will bring broadband to state agencies across Kentucky , but in order for individual homes and businesses to tap into the new network , third-party providers still need to hang the so-called last mile .
And many of those providers are reluctant to make plans without first knowing how much the state ’ s private-sector partner , Macquarie , will charge for access to the network .
“ That might be another 10 years or 20 years while all that last mile stuff gets built , ” said Doug Dawson , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The wait may be too long for Mike Joseph , a lifelong resident of Yeadiss , an unincorporated community in rural Leslie County .
Joseph , 55 , said after his father purchased a house in London , Kentucky , he no longer had family in the area .
His wife of 18 years suggested that they move to Harlan in southeastern Kentucky near the Virginia border , where they own a rental property and where broadband is available .
“ That ’ s the deciding factor on us moving , better @ @ @ @ @ @ @ maintenance and IT supervisor at the Leslie County jail , which relies on the internet for communication and pays nearly $ 1,700 per month for a sluggish connection .
It ’ s money that could be used for better vehicles and better salaries , Joseph said .
At least one third-party provider , Vernon Engle , who owned B & B Communications , started stringing fiber in Joseph ’ s county in anticipation of KentuckyWired .
Engle said he spent tens of thousands of dollars to do so while he awaited the opportunity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Engle said he was forced to sell his business last year at a $ 340,000 loss after the state blew past its July 31 completion deadline .
“ Darned if You Fund It and You ’ re Darned if You Don ’ t ” Uncertainty over the plan for KentuckyWired has lawmakers clamoring for action from the governor as they field questions from frustrated rural residents .
State Sen. Jimmy Higdon , a Republican from Lebanon , said the rural residents he serves regularly request that his office help improve internet service in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s bet for catching up .
But now , Higdon said : “ It ’ s one of them subjects you ’ d just as soon not talk about .
You ’ re darned if you fund it and you ’ re darned if you don ’ t. ” Project managers are asking lawmakers to approve $ 100 million for KentuckyWired this legislative session , an increase of $ 28 million from the previous budget .
It ’ s not the current request but the skyrocketing price tag , which is 50 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that worries state Rep. Robert Goforth .
“ I mean , $ 1.5 billion is a considerable amount of money that these folks sent us to Frankfort and entrusted us to spend wisely and do the best job we can with it , ” Goforth , a Republican from East Bernstadt , said .
“ Someone dropped the ball here , and we need to figure out what we can do to make the best of a bad situation.
” Andy Beshear , much like Matt Bevin , a Republican who served @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before him , has offered no solution .
“ Unless somebody in the Beshear administration can come up with a plan to save it—a viable plan , a workable plan—and somebody steps up and says this will work , I don ’ t see us funding something that ’ s going down a dead-end street , ” Higdon said .
Some lawmakers fear that cutting off funding for KentuckyWired will be more expensive in the long run .
Others are ready to kill the project .
“ What do they say ?
Fish @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rep. Lynn Bechler , a Republican from Marion and one of KentuckyWired ’ s harshest critics .
“ Well , it ’ s no longer fishing .
Let ’ s cut the bait.
” While at a “ hog kill ” in Defeated Creek , Roger Fields said delays in getting high-speed internet have slowed promises for relief as jobs continue to disappear in his community .
But the 66-year-old former coal worker was focused on a more pressing issue , ensuring that he and his neighbors had enough meat for the winter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ internet , residents say they ’ ll just have to continue doing what they ’ ve always done : They ’ ll have to depend on each other .
“ Wouldn ’ t want to live no other place , though , ” Fields said as he carved up a warm pig ’ s head while others hacked away at a torso dangling from a nearby tractor .
“ Look what neighbors we ’ ve got .
See all this work .
For this , they don ’ t charge nothing .
”

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This story was originally published by ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for ProPublica’s The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox as soon as they are published.
A year ago, Mary Lou Muncy landed her dream job advising home health care agencies on wound care.
The timing seemed perfect. Muncy’s contract as a nurse at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Lexington had ended, and she wasn’t ready to retire. With an annual salary of $77,000, Muncy would have enough money to help her daughter pay for medical school.
But the position required high-speed internet access, which Muncy didn’t have on her farm, an hour’s drive from Lexington, the state’s second largest city.
So, Muncy gave up the job. She hasn’t found another since.
“I realized there was no hope for us,” said Muncy, 64, who after losing the position wrote a letter to state lawmakers begging them to move quickly on a plan for broadband access in rural communities. Muncy hoped to spare other residents the helplessness she felt when she was forced to turn away employment.
KentuckyWired, the much-heralded plan to improve internet connectivity across the state, promised to create financial opportunities through reliable, high-speed internet access for rural communities that have repeatedly been hammered by the loss of jobs in the coal and tobacco industries.
But the project is stalled and its future looks increasingly bleak because of a number of missteps by state officials and Macquarie Capital, the Australian investment bank managing the ambitious plan, the Louisville Courier Journal and ProPublica have reported.
In the next few months, the state’s new governor, Andy Beshear, will have to make key decisions on the direction of KentuckyWired, which is already two years behind schedule and could cost $1.5 billion over the next 30 years.
Beshear, a Democrat who was elected in November, has repeatedly declined to say what he plans to do as impatient lawmakers threaten to block funding. A spokeswoman for his office said he is still receiving briefings and information related to the project, which began under the gubernatorial administration of his father, Steve Beshear.
Meanwhile, the project that promised so much to residents in rural communities has yet to deliver, and it’s unclear if and when it will.
“It’s becoming a pretty dire situation for some folks here who had hoped to build businesses around access to high-speed internet,” said state Rep. Angie Hatton, a Democrat who represents Letcher County, where the median household income is about $30,000 annually and 31 percent of the population lives in poverty.
Rural Kentucky Keeps Getting Left Behind
Rural Kentucky has long grappled with crippling poverty and high unemployment rates. In 2020, 38 counties in eastern Kentucky were deemed economically distressed by the Appalachian Regional Commission.
The state’s ambitious broadband internet plan was not meant to solve all the needs in rural communities. Still, state leaders said it would help bring a wave of high-tech jobs to the region and provide residents better opportunities to start their own businesses given the lack of companies investing in such areas.
But residents, some of whom don’t know about KentuckyWired, are still waiting.
Erica Scott, a mother of two who lives in Defeated Creek, a tiny community in rural Letcher County, said the unavailability of high-speed internet makes it difficult to run her online business.
Scott said it can take hours to download the designs she needs for the T-shirts and candles she sells online, slowing production and delivery to customers.
The satellite internet service she has isn’t even fast enough for her children to access their schoolwork from home via Google Classroom, a web application teachers use to post assignments and communicate with students. They’ve had to get special permission to complete their homework on paper during snow days, which further hamper already spotty internet.
“We’re not the only ones,” Scott said. Still, she added, in Kentucky’s mountain hollows, or hollers as they are known, “it’s a real job to get internet.”
Rural Kentucky’s steep hills and thick forests make the installation of fiber-optic cable difficult and costly.
One in 11 Kentuckians—roughly 405,000 mostly rural residents—have no wired broadband service in their area, according to Federal Communications Commission data. For those who do have internet access, it’s either too slow or simply unaffordable.
“Remember the old dial up?” said Defeated Creek resident Adam Smith, imitating the antiquated swish and beep sounds familiar to former AOL users. “That slow internet? That’s fast for us.”
KentuckyWired’s new proposed completion date is nine months away. Even if the state meets that deadline, many rural residents won’t have immediate access to broadband.
The project is installing fiber-optic cable that will bring broadband to state agencies across Kentucky, but in order for individual homes and businesses to tap into the new network, third-party providers still need to hang the so-called last mile. And many of those providers are reluctant to make plans without first knowing how much the state’s private-sector partner, Macquarie, will charge for access to the network.
“That might be another 10 years or 20 years while all that last mile stuff gets built,” said Doug Dawson, a telecommunications consultant based in North Carolina.
The wait may be too long for Mike Joseph, a lifelong resident of Yeadiss, an unincorporated community in rural Leslie County.
Joseph, 55, said after his father purchased a house in London, Kentucky, he no longer had family in the area. His wife of 18 years suggested that they move to Harlan in southeastern Kentucky near the Virginia border, where they own a rental property and where broadband is available.
“That’s the deciding factor on us moving, better internet,” said Joseph, a maintenance and IT supervisor at the Leslie County jail, which relies on the internet for communication and pays nearly $1,700 per month for a sluggish connection.
It’s money that could be used for better vehicles and better salaries, Joseph said.
At least one third-party provider, Vernon Engle, who owned B&B Communications, started stringing fiber in Joseph’s county in anticipation of KentuckyWired.
Engle said he spent tens of thousands of dollars to do so while he awaited the opportunity to tap into the network.
But Engle said he was forced to sell his business last year at a $340,000 loss after the state blew past its July 31 completion deadline.
“The state failed me,” Engle said.
“Darned if You Fund It and You’re Darned if You Don’t”
Uncertainty over the plan for KentuckyWired has lawmakers clamoring for action from the governor as they field questions from frustrated rural residents.
State Sen. Jimmy Higdon, a Republican from Lebanon, said the rural residents he serves regularly request that his office help improve internet service in their communities.
KentuckyWired was the state’s bet for catching up.
But now, Higdon said: “It’s one of them subjects you’d just as soon not talk about. You’re darned if you fund it and you’re darned if you don’t.”
Project managers are asking lawmakers to approve $100 million for KentuckyWired this legislative session, an increase of $28 million from the previous budget.
It’s not the current request but the skyrocketing price tag, which is 50 times the cost originally quoted to taxpayers, that worries state Rep. Robert Goforth.
“I mean, $1.5 billion is a considerable amount of money that these folks sent us to Frankfort and entrusted us to spend wisely and do the best job we can with it,” Goforth, a Republican from East Bernstadt, said. “Someone dropped the ball here, and we need to figure out what we can do to make the best of a bad situation.”
Andy Beshear, much like Matt Bevin, a Republican who served as the state’s top official before him, has offered no solution.
“Unless somebody in the Beshear administration can come up with a plan to save it—a viable plan, a workable plan—and somebody steps up and says this will work, I don’t see us funding something that’s going down a dead-end street,” Higdon said.
Some lawmakers fear that cutting off funding for KentuckyWired will be more expensive in the long run. Others are ready to kill the project.
“What do they say? Fish or cut bait?” said state Rep. Lynn Bechler, a Republican from Marion and one of KentuckyWired’s harshest critics. “Well, it’s no longer fishing. Let’s cut the bait.”
While at a “hog kill” in Defeated Creek, Roger Fields said delays in getting high-speed internet have slowed promises for relief as jobs continue to disappear in his community. But the 66-year-old former coal worker was focused on a more pressing issue, ensuring that he and his neighbors had enough meat for the winter.
In communities still waiting for high-speed internet, residents say they’ll just have to continue doing what they’ve always done: They’ll have to depend on each other.
“Wouldn’t want to live no other place, though,” Fields said as he carved up a warm pig’s head while others hacked away at a torso dangling from a nearby tractor. “Look what neighbors we’ve got. See all this work. For this, they don’t charge nothing.”