Today's News: September 14, 2018

World News

Zimbabwe’s government criticized over cholera outbreak
The Hill – Zimbabwe’s new government is battling criticism over a cholera outbreak that has killed at least 25 people.
A crowdfunding initiative by the finance minister amid reports of government spending on new vehicles for Cabinet members has only swelled public anger.
Some local non-governmental organizations on Friday blamed the government for the deaths in an outbreak that is spreading beyond the capital and raising fears of a repeat of the 2008 epidemic that killed over 4,000 people.

Yemen’s Houthis say Saudi-Emirati led coalition kills 15 people
Al Jazeera – The civilian death toll continues to rise in Yemen, but aid agencies warn that casualties from attacks could pale compared with deaths from shortages of food and medicine if supply lines remain cut.

Indigenous communities crippled in Argentina amid economic crisis
Al Jazeera – The crisis is affecting the poor in every possible way, and while the government tries to contain the impact, for some it is already too late.

France unveils ‘new battle’ against poverty
Al Jazeera – $9bn will be invested to create long-term opportunities and jobs for people, to pull them out of poverty within the decade.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Justice Ginsburg: ‘I Would Not Look to the US Constitution’
The Daily Signal (2012) – Conservatives are often ridiculed for criticizing activist judges who fail to respect the Constitution. We are told that it is not conservative originalists (labeled ignorant and extremist) but rather enlightened liberal judges—with their nuanced understanding of constitutional penumbras—who truly respect the spirit of the Constitution.
Conservatives, however, have good reason to be skeptical of the left’s “respect’’ for the Constitution. Just last week, for example, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told an Egyptian TV station that she would not recommend the U.S. Constitution as model for Egypt’s new government.
The problem, you see, is that the U.S. Constitution is “a rather old constitution.” Ginsburg suggested that Egyptians should look instead to the Constitution of South Africa or perhaps the European Convention on Human Rights. All these are “much more recent than the U.S. Constitution.”
Ginsburg’s comments echo those by Washington University professor David Law, who published a study with Mila Versteeg on the U.S. Constitution’s declining influence worldwide. In an interview, Law unfavorably compared the Constitution to “Windows 3.1”—outdated and unattractive in a world of sleek and sexy modern constitutions. Such obsession with the age of the Constitution is both absurd and irrelevant.
The claim that the Constitution is too antiquated to apply to the modern world. The principles of the Constitution, although first articulated centuries ago, are not tied to the material conditions of a bygone age. They rest on that most solid and enduring of all foundations: human nature. The Constitution itself contains no policy prescriptions. Rather, it is a short, elegantly written document that create a framework for a free people to confront the political questions of their times.
Americans should be very wary of those who would seek to upend the Constitution from the firm grounding in human nature that has allowed it to endure for more than two centuries and would transform it into an instrument devoted to policies of passing whimsy.

The Latest: Ex-Trump campaign boss Manafort pleads guilty
AP – Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has pleaded guilty to two federal charges as part of a cooperation deal with prosecutors.
The deal requires him to cooperate “fully and truthfully” with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

Chelsea Clinton: ‘Un-Christian’ to roll back abortion ‘rights’
Washington Examiner – Chelsea Clinton said that it would be “un-Christian” to roll back abortion protections granted by the U.S. Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade.
“When I think about all of the statistics, that are painful, of what women are confronting today in our country, and what even more women confronted pre- Roe, and how many women died, and how many more women were maimed because of unsafe abortion practices, we just can’t go back to that,” Clinton said during a SiriusXM Progress Town Hall clip uploaded Thursday.
“That’s unconscionable to me. And also, I’m sure that this will unleash another wave of hate in my direction, but as a deeply religious person, it’s also un-Christian to me,” Clinton said.

Ahead of Midterms, GOP Considers New “Contract with America”
The New American – Faced with an apparently uphill battle to keep their majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Republican Party is looking back nearly a quarter of a century to a strategy that helped them gain a majority for the first time in decades. A movement in the party looks to recreate the hugely successful Contract with America.
Written by Newt Gingrich (shown) and Dick Armey, the 1994 document was historic in that it made the midterms a more national election. Rather than just running against their local opponent, Republicans could also point to an agenda with a simple, unified message of reform that all candidates for Congress could reference during their individual campaigns. After the Contract with America was released, six weeks before the 1994 midterms, Republicans gained 54 seats in the House of Representatives and 9 seats in the Senate.
The 1994 version of the Contract with America was seen as a major victory for America’s conservative movement.

Efforts to Denigrate Robert E. Lee at Washington and Lee University Fail
The New American – President William Dudley of Washington and Lee University, after reviewing a commission’s 31 recommendations given to him in May, has opted to reject its suggested changes to Lee Chapel. The main recommendation was to convert Lee Chapel into a museum.
General Robert E. Lee is buried in Lee Chapel, on the campus of the college where he served as president and that now bears his name, along with fellow Virginian George Washington. With the continued agitation to knock down statues of Confederate heroes — of which there is no greater Confederate icon than Lee — many thought President Dudley would follow that pattern, and diminish Lee’s status at the school.
Stefani Evans, a third-year law student and member of the Coalition for Campus Change, was highly critical of Dudley’s decision to keep Lee Chapel as it is, insisting, “It’s like President Dudley is saying in one sense that he supports diversity, but in the same sentence he’s saying we are unwilling to change the fact that Lee is the centerpiece of campus.”

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh ‘categorically’ denies claim about alleged behavior in high school
Fox – Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh vigorously denied claims involving an alleged high school incident made in an undisclosed letter and turned over to FBI by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
“I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time,” Kavanaugh, 53, said in a statement Friday.
Feinstein ignited controversy Thursday by releasing a statement saying she turned information about Kavanaugh over to the FBI. She did not detail the accusation, and Republicans accused her of trying to orchestrate a last-minute smear.
>> Related: Dem Senators Who Decry ‘Dark Money’ Coordinate With Dark Money Group Spending Millions Against Kavanaugh

Licensed gun owner aids Illinois cops in shootout with suspect; 1 officer injured
Fox – A licensed gun owner was hailed Thursday for his role in helping police in suburban Chicago stop a suspect who was firing an automatic weapon, officials said.
Officials commended the unnamed civilian for his actions as they stood outside a hospital where Cicero police Officer Luis Duarte, 31, was undergoing surgery for four gunshot wounds suffered during the shootout, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Trump blasts John Kerry for ‘illegal meetings’ with Iranian regime
Fox – President Trump blasted John Kerry for having “illegal meetings” with members of the Iranian Regime and questioned whether the former secretary of state was registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
“John Kerry had illegal meetings with the very hostile Iranian Regime, which can only serve to undercut our great work to the detriment of the American people. He told them to wait out the Trump Administration! Was he registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act? BAD!” Trump tweeted Thursday night.

Planned Parenthood Admits… We Are Paid To Do Abortions’
The LIberty Beacon – An abortion factory that has been masquerading as a “women’s health clinic” openly admitted to what most already knew, according to a new book.
Dr. Gina Loudon recently wrote a book called Mad Politics: Keeping Your Sanity in a World Gone Crazy. According to the book, she called Planned Parenthood clinics for a period of years asking if any expectant mothers carrying a child with Down syndrome might be willing to adopt the child out, and if the organization would be willing to notify her if they came across any such cases.
She never received a call back. What she did receive, though, was a clear picture of exactly what Planned Parenthood cares about. Money.
Loudon recounted a story about calling a Missouri Planned Parenthood and asking is she could send a picture of her family for the staff to keep on file, in case any expectant mother would consider adopting out her child.
“We are not in the business of adoptions,” a staffer told her. “I suggest if you want an adoption, you call an adoption clinic. We are paid to do abortions.”

GOOGLE co-founder Sergey Brin comparing Trump voters to ‘fascists’
Daily Mail – Leaked video from a Google conference held in the wake of the 2016 Presidential Election shows the company’s co-founder comparing Trump voters to ‘fascists’.
The footage, obtained by Breitbart, also shows the company’s executives vowing to halt the rise of populism and urging employees to console one another after the election result.
The damaging video pours further doubt onto Google’s claims of political impartiality just a few days after it was accused of trying to boost Latino voter turnout to help Hillary Clinton.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin can be seen on stage in front of hundreds of employees saying he was ‘deeply offended’ by Trump’s election and that it ‘conflicts with many of Google’s values.’

Parents Upset As School Holds Active Shooter Drill; Police Fire Blanks Throughout Campus
CBS – At Bethel Park High School on Thursday, an active shooter drill is scheduled to get underway during an extended third period class.
This drill will include the sound of gunfire, but blanks will be fired, not real bullets. School Police and Bethel Park Police will conduct the exercise.
Nanette Adams has a son who just this year enrolled in the High School. She and some other parents contacted KDKA-TV News saying they were concerned about the drill; more specifically, the fact that blanks were bring used.
“Students have been prepared; although, I have not been advised about what that preparation consists of,” Adams said. “My concern is for students who may have some sort of issue with anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder, special needs students.”

Economy & Business

Levi Strauss to Spend Over $1 Million in Support of Increasing Gun Control
The New American – A recent political statement made by the CEO of Levi Strauss is likely to see the denim company torn apart just like the pair of jeans on the company’s iconic label.
Chip Bergh, the San Francisco-based company’s chief executive, announced the creation of the Safer Tomorrow Fund, an initiative aimed at “working to end gun violence in America.”
“You may wonder why a company that doesn’t manufacture or sell guns is wading into this issue, but for us, it’s simple. Americans shouldn’t have to live in fear of gun violence. It’s an issue that affects all of us — all generations and all walks of life,” Bergh wrote in an op-ed published by Forbes.

Trump greenlights tariffs on about $200 billion more in Chinese products – Reuters
RT – President Donald Trump has given a go ahead to additional tariffs on Chinese goods worth about $200 billion, Reuters reported. The instruction to aides comes despite attempts by the Treasury to restart talks with Beijing. According to the report, which first appeared on Bloomberg, the Trump administration has decided to delay the public announcement of the measure “based on concerns raised in public comments.”
Trump ordered the new salvo in his trade war with China after meeting Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Bloomberg sources said. Mnuchin was earlier trying to kick-start negotiations with China, which responded in kind to the previous round of 25-percent tariffs on goods worth $50 billion and promised to act likewise in the future.

Energy & Environment

New Bern, NC, residents rescued after Hurricane Florence storm surge leaves them stranded
Fox – Authorities in the coastal city of New Bern, N.C., were working with federal responders to rescue at least 150 residents who reported themselves stranded in Hurricane Florence’s storm surge.
Colleen Roberts, public information officer for the city of about 30,000 residents, told Fox News that 200 people had been rescued so far as the Category 1 storm battered the area with strong winds and a life-threatening surge.

Science & Technology

Sessions, AGs To Meet on Regulating High Tech
The New American – The threat has been hanging in the air for weeks, with Trump’s repeated criticism of Google and its industry brethren for their open leftism and hostility to conservatives. Conservatives say they’re being censored. The Tech Titans say they aren’t.
An antitrust probe and regulation might be coming. The question: Should the Tech Giants, given their size and power, be regulated like utilities?
The latest on the move came Thursday, when the Justice Department invited even more states to participate in a big pow wow on September 25 to discuss the matter.
As The Hill reported, “Attorney General Jeff Sessions planned the meeting to discuss what the DOJ calls a “growing concern” that some tech companies are ‘hurting competition and intentionally stifling the free exchange of ideas on their platforms.’”
Those remarks came as reps for Big Tech — Facebook’s headmistress Sheryl Sandberg, and Twitter’s top tweeter, Jack Dorsey — testified on Capitol Hill about foreign agents using their platforms, with Dorsey defending himself against accusations that his company routinely mistreats conservative users.

FBI and Blackhawk choppers: National Solar Observatory shuts over mysterious ‘security issue’
RT – The mysterious and sudden closure of the National Solar Observatory in New Mexico is sending alien hunters into a frenzy as the facility remains shut without explanation.
The research institute in Sunspot was evacuated last Thursday along with a nearby United States Postal Service office for unexplained ‘security reasons.’
A spokesperson for the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) which manages the observatory said the evacuation was a precautionary measure due to a security issue. “It was our decision to evacuate the facility,” spokeswoman Shari Lifson added.

Bulk Data Collection By NSA and GCHQ Violated Human Rights Charter, European Court Rules
Activist Post – GCHQ surveillance revealed by Snowden breached privacy rights, according to Strasbourg judges.
GCHQ’s methods for bulk interception of various online communications violated privacy rights and failed to provide sufficient surveillance safeguards, the European court of human rights ruled in a 5-2 ruling
The court found that GCHQ’s “bulk interception” violated article 8 of the European convention on human rights, which guarantees privacy due to “insufficient safeguards” relating to the “communications data.”

Gardening, Farming & Homesteading

9 Incredible Survival Uses For A Plain Old Tin Can
A key component of a good survival plan is to take everyday items and apply them into useful purposes for a disaster scenario. Tin cans are just one of those items.
Tin cans, of course, cannot be resealed after you open and eat the food inside of them, but this does not make them disposable items.
Nine Good Survival Uses For A Tin Can

Storage and organization
Cooking pot / stove
Transporting fire
Making hooks and arrowheads
Showerhead
Warning system
Candle lamp
Shovel
Signal

Health

Beet Juice May Reduce Walking Pain with Leg Artery Disease
Newsmax – Patients with peripheral artery disease who drink beet juice before walking may feel less pain from this type of exercise than people who don’t, a small experiment suggests.

8 Powerhouse Cancer-Fighting Foods
Off Grid News – Did you know that your immune system is capable of healing pretty much every disease known to man? The body’s self-healing capabilities are quite astounding.
Some people have success with vegetarianism, raw foods, ketogenic diets and juicing, just to name a few. Due to the individuality of the human body, one diet simply won’t work well for everyone.
What does work for everyone is banishing heavily processed, unhealthy foods for more natural options. The following 8 cancer-fighting foods will improve your health, thereby reducing your risk of cancer.
8 Cancer-Fighting Foods

Oily/Fatty Fish
Garlic
Spinach
Mushrooms
Tomatoes
Carrots
Strawberries
Broccoli

FDA plans meeting to discuss safety data on breast implants
The Hill – U.S. health regulators say they’ll convene a public meeting of medical advisers next year to discuss new science on breast implant safety, including an independent analysis to be published Saturday that suggests certain rare health problems might be more common with silicone gel implants.
The Food and Drug Administration said it would hold the meeting even as its officials and several independent experts disputed the new work. Leaders of the study concede that it has big limitations and cannot prove that implants cause any of these problems.
Yet it involves nearly 100,000 women and is the largest long-term safety analysis of silicone implants since 2006, when they were allowed back on the U.S. market after a 14-year gap due to safety concerns.

Good News

Mississippi girl, 3, won’t let rare bone disorder stop her from dancing
Fox – A 3-year-old girl born with a rare bone disorder often referred to as “brittle bone disease” has won the hearts of thousands across the country with her singing and dancing videos, which her mother regularly shares on Facebook.
Cyn’Niah, whose official diagnosis is osteogenesis imperfecta type 3, was born with several broken bones and spent the first month of her life in the NICU, her mother, Destini Jackson, told Good Morning America. She is unable to walk or crawl on her own, but that hasn’t stopped her from developing a love of music.