Big Time News Blog: 10/27/19

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Ruling liberal candidate Martinez leading Uruguay election: media polls

Ruling liberal coalition candidate Daniel Martinez is leading the Uruguay election but a determining second round will be needed, according to exit polls.

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NBC’s Offer to Release Victims From Secrecy Pacts Is B.S.

Lucas Jackson/ReutersIt’s the oldest trick in the book: dump a piece of embarrassing news late on a Friday night and hope people will forget about it over the weekend. It’s highly likely that’s what NBC’s strategy was when it had Rachel Maddow announce what sounded like a release of former employees from sexual harassment non-disclosure agreements. But if Comcast/NBC execs think this will bury the scandal, they have miscalculated: It’s only opening the floodgates to more questions.The late-Friday-night announcement said, “Any former NBC News employee who believes that they cannot disclose their experience with sexual harassment as a result of a confidentiality or non-disparagement provision in their separation agreement should contact NBCUniversal and we will release them from that perceived obligation.” Reporters immediately jumped on this with questions, and here are some they should be asking:Why is NBC making victims, who have already endured trauma, come crawling on their hands and knees to ask the company to release them from confidentiality agreements? Play out the scenario: a woman with no representation or money calls the company and asks, “Will you let me speak?” NBC then tells her to cough up all the information she has. Then what happens? Does the company just say, “You’re free to talk”? Or do they retain the right to deny her—or stipulate that she can talk about x but not about y? This seems to be evidence that the company is re-traumatizing victims and still trying to keep them under its thumb. How many women are really likely to volunteer for this cattle call?If NBC genuinely wants to root out the harassment and cover-up problem, it should issue a blanket statement automatically allowing everyone with a secret agreement of any type involving NBC/MSNBC to speak freely and publicly about harassment, retaliation, and tangential gender-based issues. Importantly, the statement should release ALL current and former employees AS WELL AS individuals related to them. Because there are people still inside the company, not just former staffers, who need and want to speak. Furthermore, a declaration from NBC should cover all secret documents, not only NDA’s relating to separation agreements. Companies like NBC frequently hide NDAs by calling them something else, such as “confidential information agreements” or “sensitive information agreements.” They all bar victims and others from providing potentially explosive information about NBC/MSNBC execs and on-air talent. And importantly, a blanket release should allow any individual to speak publicly about information not just regarding sexual harassment, but also gender harassment, retaliation, silencing and cover-ups. Because the rot at NBC is not just confined to sexual misconduct; it’s the protection and enabling of perpetrators and the backlash against victims or anyone who dares to complain.Then there is the nagging question: If NBC is suddenly deciding to offer victims the chance to maybe speak out, isn’t this a backdoor admission that it does, in fact have secrets it is hiding? Why, then, does parent company Comcast still refuse to open an investigation using independent, outside counsel—when NBC Universal has just now indicated there is something to investigate?While reporters ask these hard questions, Silence Breakers Alliance is pledging to assist any current or former NBC employee who wishes to provide information about the years-long scandal at the company. It will be held in strictest confidence; we can be reached through our website, silencebreakersalliance.org.Linda Vester was an anchor and correspondent for NBC News and Fox News Channel. In 2017 she publicly accused NBC’s Tom Brokaw of sexual harassment—Brokaw has publicly denied the allegations. Vester founded Silence Breakers Alliance, a foundation to financially support efforts to end harassment in the workplace.It’s Not Just Ronan Farrow: NBC News Killed My Rape-Allegation Story TooRead more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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Trump announces grisly death of Islamic State leader Baghdadi during U.S. raid

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday announced that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killed himself during a daring overnight raid by elite U.S. special operations forces in Syria, in a major victory as he fights a Democratic-led impeachment inquiry. Baghdadi died alongside three of his children by detonating an explosives-laden vest when he fled U.S. forces into a dead-end tunnel during the attack, which took place in the Idlib region in northwest Syria, the Republican president said in a televised address to the nation from the White House.

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The Latest: California governor declares statewide emergency

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a statewide emergency as wildfires and extreme weather conditions forced almost 200,000 people from their homes. The flames came dangerously close to homes in Vallejo. In the south, a wildfire in the Santa Clarita area north of Los Angeles has destroyed 18 structures, threatened homes and critical infrastructure.

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Orthodox Ethiopians criticise PM Abiy over deadly clashes

Ethiopia's influential Orthodox church on Sunday criticised Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's response to ethnic and religious clashes that left nearly 70 dead, saying he was failing to protect its members. Violence erupted in the capital Addis Ababa and the outlying Oromia region on Wednesday after a prominent activist accused security forces of trying to orchestrate an attack against him -- a claim police officials denied. It quickly morphed into clashes and a police official said Friday that 67 people had died in Oromia.

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Comey: If reports are true, Trump engaged In 'shocking abuse of power'

If news accounts are accurate about the facts concerning President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, said former FBI Director James Comey, then the president engaged in a “shocking abuse of power,” and “the House has no choice but to pursue an impeachment inquiry.”

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No wonder Wall Street fears Warren and Sanders – they speak for the people

Donald Trump’s victory showed right v left is irrelevant but he made anti-establishment fury work for those in chargeElizabeth Warren speaks in New Hampshire. Photograph: Elise Amendola/APIn the conventional view of American politics, Joe Biden is a moderate while Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are on the left and Donald Trump is on the right.This conventional view is rubbish. Today’s great divide is not between left and right. It’s between democracy and oligarchy.There are no longer “moderates”. There’s no longer a “center”. The most powerful force in American politics today is anti-establishment fury at a rigged system.Four decades ago, when America had a large and growing middle class, the left wanted stronger social safety nets and more public investment in schools, roads and research. The right sought greater reliance on the free market.In those days, a general election was like a competition between two hotdog vendors on a long boardwalk extending from left to right. To maximize sales, each had to move to the middle. If one strayed too far left or right, the other would move beside him and take all sales from the rest of the boardwalk.This older American politics is now obsolete. As wealth and power have moved to the top and the middle class has shrunk, more Americans have joined the ranks of the working class and poor.> Most Americans – whether once on the left or right – have become politically disempowered and economically insecureMost Americans – regardless of whether they were once on the left or right – have become politically disempowered and economically insecure. Nowadays it’s the boardwalk versus private jets on their way to the Hamptons.As Rahm Emmanuel, Barack Obama’s chief of staff and former mayor of Chicago, told the New York Times: “This is really the crack-up. Usually fights are Democrats versus Republicans, one end of Pennsylvania versus the other, or the left versus the right. Today’s squabbles are internal between the establishment versus the people that are storming the barricades.”In 2016, Trump harnessed many of these frustrations, as did Sanders.The frustrations today are larger than they were in 2016. Corporate profits are higher, as is CEO pay. Markets are more monopolized. Wealth is more concentrated at the top. Although the official unemployment rate is lower, most peoples’ incomes have gone nowhere and they have even less job security.Meanwhile, Washington has become even swampier. Big corporations, Wall Street and billionaires have flooded it with money and lobbyists. Trump has given out all the tax cuts, regulatory rollbacks and subsidies they have ever wanted. The oligarchy is in charge.Why hasn’t America risen up in protest? Because American democracy was dysfunctional even before Trump ran for president. The moneyed interests had already taken over much of it.It’s hard for people to get very excited about returning to the widening inequalities and growing corruption of the decades before Trump. Which partly explains why Biden is foundering.> The stark reality is that Democrats cannot defeat Trump’s authoritarian populism with an establishment candidateAt the same time, Trump and his propagandists at Fox News have channeled working-class rage against the establishment into fears of imaginary threats such as immigrants, socialists and a “deep state”.But a large majority of Americans – right and left, Republican as well as Democrat – could get excited about moving toward a real democracy and economy that worked for the many.This is why the oligarchy is so worried about Warren’s rise to frontrunner status in some polls.Politico reports that Democratic-leaning executives on Wall Street, in Silicon Valley and across the corporate world are watching her with an increasing panic.“Ninety-seven per cent of the people I know in my world are really, really fearful of her,” billionaire Michael Novogratz told Bloomberg.These Democratic oligarchs hope Biden, or perhaps Pete Buttigieg or Amy Klobuchar, can still take Warren out.In just the third quarter, Buttigieg raised about $25,000 from executives at Wall Street firms including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and hedge fund giants like Bridgewater, Renaissance Technologies and Elliott Management. And another $150,000 from donors who described their occupation as “investor”.If Biden implodes and neither Buttigieg nor Klobuchar takes the lead from Warren, Wall Street and corporate Democrats hope former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg will ride into the primary at the last minute.It won’t work. The stark reality is that Democrats cannot defeat Trump’s authoritarian populism with an establishment candidate who fronts for the oligarchy.The only way Democrats win is with an agenda of fundamental democratic and economic reform, such as provided by Warren and also by Sanders.Unless Democrats stand squarely on the side of democracy against oligarchy, the risk on election day is that too many Americans will either stand with Trump or stay home. * Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. He is also a columnist for Guardian US

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Convicted Russian agent Maria Butina released from prison and deported

Russian gun rights activist Maria Butina released from prison and left Miami on a flight to Moscow Friday night.

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Pete Buttigieg responded to homophobic comments made by a local Tennessee official, advocating for an 'approach with compassion'

"He's right that there is a gay man running for president, he doesn't seem to be right about much else," Buttigieg said.

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Congresswoman Katie Hill resigns amid allegations of improper relationships with staffer

Democrat congresswoman Katie Hill has resigned amid allegations she had an improper relationship with a campaign staff member.“This is the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but I believe it is the best thing for my constituents, my community, and our country,” she said in a statement.

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‘He died like a dog’: Trump announces killing of ISIS leader al-Baghdadi in Syria

President Trump announced the killing of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State, or ISIS, group, in a televised address on Sunday morning.

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UPDATE 1-Northern California wildfire evacuation orders rise to 180,000

The southward march of a Northern California wildfire toward the more populated areas above the San Francisco Bay led officials on Sunday to raise the number of residents ordered to leave their homes in the area to 180,000. The increase, from 130,000 earlier on Sunday, came as wind gusts pushed the Kincade Fire down from the rolling hills and wine regions of northern Sonoma County and threatened communities as far south as northern Santa Rosa, officials said. Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick, defending the evacuation orders which he said had been criticized by some as overly cautious, increased the police presence in evacuation zones.

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Esper: US troops, armored vehicles going to Syria oil fields

The United States will send armored vehicles and combat troops into eastern Syria to keep oil fields from potentially falling into the hands of Islamic State militants, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said. It was the latest sign that extracting the military from Syria is more uncertain and complicated than President Donald Trump is making it out to be.

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Israel's Gantz, Netanyahu hold talks to break gov't deadlock

Israel's prime minister and his main rival opened a new round of unity talks Sunday in the latest effort to break a political stalemate and avoid an unprecedented third parliamentary election in less than a year. Israel has been paralyzed by political deadlock following an inconclusive election last month, with neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud nor the rival Blue and White party in control of a 61-seat majority in parliament. After nearly a month of efforts, Netanyahu last week said he had failed to cobble together a coalition.

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Honduran inmate who linked president's brother to drug deals killed

An alleged drug dealer with knowledge of drug shipments involving a brother of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez convicted this month for drug trafficking, was killed on Saturday in prison, his lawyer said. Magdaleno Meza, who had been in the El Pozo prison since June 2018 on charges of money laundering, was shot dead during a fight between inmates of the facility, the deputy director of the national penal authority, German McNiel, told reporters. Meza's lawyer, Carlos Chajtur, told Reuters his client was attacked by two armed men trying to stop him from talking about the information about drug deals he had in several notebooks in case he was called to testify in the United States.

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Homeowner says a mystery object damaged his house. It didn't fall from a plane, FAA says

Authorities including the Federal Aviation Administration have not been able to identify a canister-type object that damaged a Kentucky man's home.

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Joe Biden's changing looks have reportedly become a 'minor obsession of the White House' and Trump

Early on, Trump was worried about Joe Biden. Privately, he doesn't like his 'look,' or the plastic surgery he thinks Biden has had done.

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Cyclone heads to Gulf coast as rain douses Southeast

Storms with heavy rains doused the drought-parched South on Friday, prompting alerts for floods and tornadoes as Post-Tropical Cyclone Olga headed for the Gulf coast. The National Hurricane Center said Olga, located in the Gulf of Mexico south of Louisiana, would contribute to rainfall that could total 8 inches (20 centimeters) in spots by Sunday. Neither it nor Tropical Storm Pablo, far out in the Atlantic, was expected to reach hurricane strength.

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