Friday, September 21, 2018
'Least impressive sex I ever had': Stormy Daniels tells all about Trump in bombshell book - MSNBC News
'Least impressive sex I ever had': Stormy Daniels tells all about Trump in bombshell book
The book, titled "Full Disclosure," was obtained ahead of its Oct. 2 release by The Guardian newspaper.
by Adam Edelman / Sep.18.2018
Adult film star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an affair with President Donald Trump more than a decade ago and is suing the president, described sex with the future commander in chief as "the least impressive sex I’d ever had" in a new book.
The book, titled "Full Disclosure," was obtained ahead of its Oct. 2 release by The Guardian newspaper. NBC News has not obtained the book.
"It may have been the least impressive sex I'd ever had, but clearly, he didn't share that opinion," she wrote, according to The Guardian.
Daniels had lingering remorse over the experience for years, writing that any time she'd see Trump on television, she'd think: "I had sex with that, I’d say to myself. Eech."
The White House had no immediate comment about the new book.
Victory for Stormy Daniels as Trump, Cohen give up on hush deal
SEP.11.201802:51
After the tryst with Daniels, Trump promised to put her on his "The Apprentice" reality show, Daniels writes in the book, according to The Guardian, and even indicated he would fix the results in her favor to have her last on the show.
"We'll figure out a way to get you the challenges beforehand," Daniels quoted Trump has having told her. "And we can devise your technique."
"He was going to have me cheat, and it was 100 percent his idea," she wrote, according to The Guardian.
China hits back at Trump, adds tariffs to $60B of U.S.-made products
Years later, when Trump would decide to run for president, Daniels repeatedly dismissed the idea he could win — until, of course, he eventually did.
"It will never happen, I would say," Daniels wrote. "He doesn’t even want to be president."
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, also describes Trump’s sex organs in graphic detail.
Daniels has suggested she had a one-time sexual encounter with Trump in a hotel room. She alleged in a civil lawsuit that she and Trump had an "intimate relationship" that lasted from summer 2006 "well into the year 2007" and which included meetings in Lake Tahoe and at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The White House denies Trump had an affair with her.
But Trump's private attorney, Michael Cohen, admitted in February he had paid her $130,000 — which she says was to buy her silence over the "intimate relationship." NBC News reported in April that Daniels is cooperating with federal investigators as part of their criminal investigation into Cohen.
In May, Trump said Daniels was paid to stop "false and extortionist accusations" she made about a sexual encounter with him. Trump has forcefully denied the affair. Daniels has filed two lawsuits against Trump, one to get out of a nondisclosure agreement she signed in October 2016 ahead of the November presidential election in exchange for the $130,000, and another for defamation.
All the plastic you can and cannot recycle - BBC News
Sept. 21, 2018.
All the plastic you can and cannot recycle
By Wesley Stephenson
Data journalist
Most people are trying their best to recycle plastic - but the many different ways in which recycling is collected by different councils across the UK has left them confused.
What can be recycled and what can't? We are putting more plastic in the recycling than ever before - but pictures of sea life tangled in all manner of waste plastic mean the pressure is on to do more.
The government is now considering changing the way plastic is recycled in England. In the rest of the UK the strategy for recycling is a devolved issue.
Each council collects their plastic recycling differently. BBC analysis shows there are 39 different sets of rules for what can be put in plastic recycling collections:
Most collect bottles
Others collect pots, tubs and trays
Some collect a much wider range
Around the UK, all four nations are hoping to improve their recycling rates. The review by the government may change the target for recycling in England, but currently the aim is that 50% of waste will be recycled by 2020.
Scotland has a target to recycle 70% of waste by 2025 as does Wales. Northern Ireland has a proposal that 60% of municipal waste is recycled by 2020.
Waste plastic is collected is different ways too:
Some local authorities collect all their recycling in one bin
Others ask households to separate their plastics from the rest of their recycling
Councils also employ many different companies to collect and sort their plastics.
And having different recycling schemes in different areas - for example, in some areas you can recycle margarine tubs and in other areas you cannot - makes labelling difficult.
Five ways to break up with plastic
Giant plastic catcher heads for ocean clean-up
The woman who found a new threat in plastic
Most people in Britain regularly recycle plastic but almost half have had disagreements at home about what type they can put in which bin, a ComRes poll for the BBC suggests.
And more than a quarter have these disagreements at least once a month.
What to expect from the government's review?
Of all the things we recycle, plastic is the most complicated. It comes in a profusion of very different types.
Many products carry labels about recycling but some do not. And the labels themselves can be a problem.
Your eye might fall on a recycling symbol but miss the very small print saying the item will not actually be collected from your home.
If you see the phrase "widely recycled" on a packet or carton, it means many councils will take it but not necessarily all of them.
Each of the UK's local authorities has come to its own decisions about what to accept and what to refuse:
In Reading, a yoghurt pot can be thrown into recycling
In Manchester it cannot
Swindon has plans to join the small band of councils recycling no plastic at all
The government realises the arrangements can be confusing, even irritating. And in England it's undertaking a review of the whole recycling system.
Ministers could order manufacturers to use only the types of plastic that are easiest to recycle - but might that lead to higher prices?
They could insist on labels that everyone can see and understand - but how would that work on tiny pots and bottles?
A more controversial idea is to get councils to harmonise their plastic recycling systems - but that risks provoking an uproar over local democracy
The desire to boost plastic recycling rates is clear. But every option comes with challenges. The word is, we'll see the government's plans in November.
Plastic can often become too contaminated for recycling and have to be sent to landfill or incinerated instead. This happens for several reasons:
People are confused about what goes in which bin
People are not always very careful about what they put in
The plastic is contaminated with food waste
In areas where all recycling is collected in one bin, one type of waste can contaminate another
Bottles are mainly made of PET and HDPE and these are easy to collect and recycle
Most trays are made from polypropylene and this is pretty easy to recycle too but not all councils have access to the right facilities
LDPE, used to make some carrier bags and cling film, is easy to process but more difficult to sort and can often be contaminated with food
Polystyrene, used to make some yoghurt pots and plastic cutlery, is not widely recycled
PVC makes up small amount of packaging but can contaminate other plastic recycling
Biscuit wrappers and meat trays can be made from a mixture of many different types of plastic, making them the most difficult type of packaging to recycle
All plastic can be recycled - but it is not always economical to do so.
Bottles attract the best prices, especially clear ones, which is why almost all councils recycle them
Coloured plastic is less desirable because the colour cannot be removed, restricting its reuse
Polystyrene is almost never recycled because there is no market for it
Most bottles will be sent for reprocessing in this country.
But plastic that is less valuable - about two-thirds collected for recycling - goes overseas and this figure has been rising.
Earlier this year, the National Audit Office reported the plastic sent abroad could be highly contaminated, meaning it may not be reprocessed and could end up in landfill or contributing to pollution.
Some countries are refusing to take any more of our waste.
China and Thailand have banned waste imports
Malaysia is considering banning imports of waste plastic
These bans are having an effect on the prices paid for waste plastic.
And this year the prices of the more contaminated plastics have fallen below zero, meaning companies are now expecting to be paid to take them away.
All the plastic you can and cannot recycle
By Wesley Stephenson
Data journalist
Most people are trying their best to recycle plastic - but the many different ways in which recycling is collected by different councils across the UK has left them confused.
What can be recycled and what can't? We are putting more plastic in the recycling than ever before - but pictures of sea life tangled in all manner of waste plastic mean the pressure is on to do more.
The government is now considering changing the way plastic is recycled in England. In the rest of the UK the strategy for recycling is a devolved issue.
Each council collects their plastic recycling differently. BBC analysis shows there are 39 different sets of rules for what can be put in plastic recycling collections:
Most collect bottles
Others collect pots, tubs and trays
Some collect a much wider range
Around the UK, all four nations are hoping to improve their recycling rates. The review by the government may change the target for recycling in England, but currently the aim is that 50% of waste will be recycled by 2020.
Scotland has a target to recycle 70% of waste by 2025 as does Wales. Northern Ireland has a proposal that 60% of municipal waste is recycled by 2020.
Waste plastic is collected is different ways too:
Some local authorities collect all their recycling in one bin
Others ask households to separate their plastics from the rest of their recycling
Councils also employ many different companies to collect and sort their plastics.
And having different recycling schemes in different areas - for example, in some areas you can recycle margarine tubs and in other areas you cannot - makes labelling difficult.
Five ways to break up with plastic
Giant plastic catcher heads for ocean clean-up
The woman who found a new threat in plastic
Most people in Britain regularly recycle plastic but almost half have had disagreements at home about what type they can put in which bin, a ComRes poll for the BBC suggests.
And more than a quarter have these disagreements at least once a month.
What to expect from the government's review?
Of all the things we recycle, plastic is the most complicated. It comes in a profusion of very different types.
Many products carry labels about recycling but some do not. And the labels themselves can be a problem.
Your eye might fall on a recycling symbol but miss the very small print saying the item will not actually be collected from your home.
If you see the phrase "widely recycled" on a packet or carton, it means many councils will take it but not necessarily all of them.
Each of the UK's local authorities has come to its own decisions about what to accept and what to refuse:
In Reading, a yoghurt pot can be thrown into recycling
In Manchester it cannot
Swindon has plans to join the small band of councils recycling no plastic at all
The government realises the arrangements can be confusing, even irritating. And in England it's undertaking a review of the whole recycling system.
Ministers could order manufacturers to use only the types of plastic that are easiest to recycle - but might that lead to higher prices?
They could insist on labels that everyone can see and understand - but how would that work on tiny pots and bottles?
A more controversial idea is to get councils to harmonise their plastic recycling systems - but that risks provoking an uproar over local democracy
The desire to boost plastic recycling rates is clear. But every option comes with challenges. The word is, we'll see the government's plans in November.
Plastic can often become too contaminated for recycling and have to be sent to landfill or incinerated instead. This happens for several reasons:
People are confused about what goes in which bin
People are not always very careful about what they put in
The plastic is contaminated with food waste
In areas where all recycling is collected in one bin, one type of waste can contaminate another
Bottles are mainly made of PET and HDPE and these are easy to collect and recycle
Most trays are made from polypropylene and this is pretty easy to recycle too but not all councils have access to the right facilities
LDPE, used to make some carrier bags and cling film, is easy to process but more difficult to sort and can often be contaminated with food
Polystyrene, used to make some yoghurt pots and plastic cutlery, is not widely recycled
PVC makes up small amount of packaging but can contaminate other plastic recycling
Biscuit wrappers and meat trays can be made from a mixture of many different types of plastic, making them the most difficult type of packaging to recycle
All plastic can be recycled - but it is not always economical to do so.
Bottles attract the best prices, especially clear ones, which is why almost all councils recycle them
Coloured plastic is less desirable because the colour cannot be removed, restricting its reuse
Polystyrene is almost never recycled because there is no market for it
Most bottles will be sent for reprocessing in this country.
But plastic that is less valuable - about two-thirds collected for recycling - goes overseas and this figure has been rising.
Earlier this year, the National Audit Office reported the plastic sent abroad could be highly contaminated, meaning it may not be reprocessed and could end up in landfill or contributing to pollution.
Some countries are refusing to take any more of our waste.
China and Thailand have banned waste imports
Malaysia is considering banning imports of waste plastic
These bans are having an effect on the prices paid for waste plastic.
And this year the prices of the more contaminated plastics have fallen below zero, meaning companies are now expecting to be paid to take them away.
Republican Lawmaker Blasted for Joking About Sexual Assault - Bloomberg ( source : Associated Press )
Republican Lawmaker Blasted for Joking About Sexual Assault
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 21, 2018, 11:09 AM GMT+10
Rock Hill, S.C. (AP) -- U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman's off-color remark at a campaign event in which he made a joke involving the Supreme Court nomination battle in Washington has drawn fire.
The Republican congressman made light Thursday of the ongoing debate involving Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, joking that another high court judge has emerged with her own accusations of sexual assault. The Post and Courier reports the Rock Hill lawmaker, during a Kiwanis Club debate, asked the crowd if they'd heard the late-breaking news from the Kavanaugh hearings.
The punchline, the report says: "Ruth Bader Ginsburg came out that she was groped by Abraham Lincoln."
The remark drew scattered laughter and applause at the event, and sparked immediate condemnation from South Carolina Democrats and others on social media.
___
Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.postandcourier.com
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 21, 2018, 11:09 AM GMT+10
Rock Hill, S.C. (AP) -- U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman's off-color remark at a campaign event in which he made a joke involving the Supreme Court nomination battle in Washington has drawn fire.
The Republican congressman made light Thursday of the ongoing debate involving Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, joking that another high court judge has emerged with her own accusations of sexual assault. The Post and Courier reports the Rock Hill lawmaker, during a Kiwanis Club debate, asked the crowd if they'd heard the late-breaking news from the Kavanaugh hearings.
The punchline, the report says: "Ruth Bader Ginsburg came out that she was groped by Abraham Lincoln."
The remark drew scattered laughter and applause at the event, and sparked immediate condemnation from South Carolina Democrats and others on social media.
___
Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.postandcourier.com
Amazon Plans to Build Thousands of ‘Cashierless’ Stores Across America - TIME
Amazon Plans to Build Thousands of ‘Cashierless’ Stores Across America
Posted: 19 Sep 2018 02:14 PM PDT
Amazon.com Inc. is considering a plan to open as many as 3,000 new AmazonGo cashierless stores in the next few years, according to people familiar with matter, an aggressive and costly expansion that would threaten convenience chains like 7-Eleven Inc., quick-service sandwich shops like Subway and Panera Bread, and mom-and-pop pizzerias and taco trucks.
Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos sees eliminating meal-time logjams in busy cities as the best way for Amazon to reinvent the brick-and-mortar shopping experience, where most spending still occurs. But he’s still experimenting with the best format: a convenience store that sells fresh prepared foods as well as a limited grocery selection similar to 7-Eleven franchises, or a place to simply pick up a quick bite to eat for people in a rush, similar to the U.K.-based chain Pret a Manger, one of the people said.
An Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment. The company unveiled its first cashierless store near its headquarters in Seattle in 2016 and has since announced two additional sites in Seattle and one in Chicago. Two of the new stores offer only a limited selection of salads, sandwiches and snacks, showing that Amazon is experimenting with the concept simply as a meal-on-the-run option. Two other stores, including the original AmazonGo, also have a small selection of groceries, making it more akin to a convenience store.
Shoppers use a smartphone app to enter the store. Once they scan their phones at a turnstile, they can grab what they want from a range of salads, sandwiches, drinks and snacks — and then walk out without stopping at a cash register. Sensors and computer-vision technology detect what shoppers take and bills them automatically, eliminating checkout lines.
The challenge to Amazon’s plan is the high cost of opening each location. The original AmazonGo in downtown Seattle required more than $1 million in hardware alone, according to a person familiar with the matter. Narrowing the focus to prepared food-to-go would reduce the upfront cost of opening each store, because it would require fewer cameras and sensors. Prepared foods also have wider profit margins than groceries, which would help decrease the time it takes for the stores to become profitable.
News of the company’s potential ambitions for AmazonGo sent shares of grocery and retail rivals lower. Walmart Inc. declined as much as 0.6 percent, reversing an earlier gain, while Target Corp. dropped about 1.5 percent and Kroger Co. slid as much as 3.1 percent.
Amazon has become the world’s largest online retailer by offering a vast selection and quick, convenient delivery. In physical stores, Amazon is emphasizing convenience over selection to win business. Amazon’s other brick-and-mortar initiatives include about 20 bookstores around the U.S. and the natural grocery chain Whole Foods Market, acquired last year. AmazonGo is the most distinctive of all of its physical stores.
At a Washington D.C. event last week, Bezos said Amazon was “very interested” in physical stores, but only if it has something new to offer. “If we offer a me-too product, it’s not going to work,” he said.
Such an expansion could put Amazon back into an investment cycle. Bezos is willing to lose money on long-term initiatives when he smells opportunity. Amazon Web Services, the company’s fast-growing and profitable cloud-computing business, was unprofitable for years and Bezos stuck with it, according to a person familiar with the matter. Amazon also routinely loses money expanding internationally.
Adding 3,000 convenience stores would make AmazonGo among the biggest chains in U.S. The internet giant is considering plans to have about 10 locations open by the end of this year, about 50 locations in major metro areas in 2019, and then as many as 3,000 by 2021, said the people, who requested anonymity discussing internal plans. Opening multiple locations in proximity, like it’s doing in Seattle, could also help Amazon reduce costs by centralizing food production in one kitchen serving many stores.
The U.S. currently has 155,000 convenience stores, with 122,500 of them combined with gas stations, according to industry group NACS. Non-fuel purchases at convenience stores totaled $233 billion in 2016, with cigarettes and other tobacco products the best-selling items.
Amazon is targeting dense urban areas with lots of young, busy, affluent residents willing to spend a little more than a typical fast-food experience for better quality food, the people said. The target locations make it less of a threat to suburban gas station-convenience store combinations and more of a threat to big cities’ quick-service eateries, such as Subway Restaurants, Panera Bread Co. and Pret a Manger. U.K.-based Pret has 450 locations worldwide, including New York, Boston and Chicago, focusing on fresh, healthy grab-and-go foods.
AmazonGo will be more of a threat to fast-casual restaurants if it is targeting cities, said Jeff Lenard, vice president of NACS. Shoppers rate location and a lack of lines as the most important factors when shopping for convenience, he said.
“AmazonGo already has no lines,” Lenard said. “The key to success will be convenient locations. If it’s a quarter mile from where people are walking and biking, the novelty of the technology won’t matter. It’s too far away.”
Posted: 19 Sep 2018 02:14 PM PDT
Amazon.com Inc. is considering a plan to open as many as 3,000 new AmazonGo cashierless stores in the next few years, according to people familiar with matter, an aggressive and costly expansion that would threaten convenience chains like 7-Eleven Inc., quick-service sandwich shops like Subway and Panera Bread, and mom-and-pop pizzerias and taco trucks.
Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos sees eliminating meal-time logjams in busy cities as the best way for Amazon to reinvent the brick-and-mortar shopping experience, where most spending still occurs. But he’s still experimenting with the best format: a convenience store that sells fresh prepared foods as well as a limited grocery selection similar to 7-Eleven franchises, or a place to simply pick up a quick bite to eat for people in a rush, similar to the U.K.-based chain Pret a Manger, one of the people said.
An Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment. The company unveiled its first cashierless store near its headquarters in Seattle in 2016 and has since announced two additional sites in Seattle and one in Chicago. Two of the new stores offer only a limited selection of salads, sandwiches and snacks, showing that Amazon is experimenting with the concept simply as a meal-on-the-run option. Two other stores, including the original AmazonGo, also have a small selection of groceries, making it more akin to a convenience store.
Shoppers use a smartphone app to enter the store. Once they scan their phones at a turnstile, they can grab what they want from a range of salads, sandwiches, drinks and snacks — and then walk out without stopping at a cash register. Sensors and computer-vision technology detect what shoppers take and bills them automatically, eliminating checkout lines.
The challenge to Amazon’s plan is the high cost of opening each location. The original AmazonGo in downtown Seattle required more than $1 million in hardware alone, according to a person familiar with the matter. Narrowing the focus to prepared food-to-go would reduce the upfront cost of opening each store, because it would require fewer cameras and sensors. Prepared foods also have wider profit margins than groceries, which would help decrease the time it takes for the stores to become profitable.
News of the company’s potential ambitions for AmazonGo sent shares of grocery and retail rivals lower. Walmart Inc. declined as much as 0.6 percent, reversing an earlier gain, while Target Corp. dropped about 1.5 percent and Kroger Co. slid as much as 3.1 percent.
Amazon has become the world’s largest online retailer by offering a vast selection and quick, convenient delivery. In physical stores, Amazon is emphasizing convenience over selection to win business. Amazon’s other brick-and-mortar initiatives include about 20 bookstores around the U.S. and the natural grocery chain Whole Foods Market, acquired last year. AmazonGo is the most distinctive of all of its physical stores.
At a Washington D.C. event last week, Bezos said Amazon was “very interested” in physical stores, but only if it has something new to offer. “If we offer a me-too product, it’s not going to work,” he said.
Such an expansion could put Amazon back into an investment cycle. Bezos is willing to lose money on long-term initiatives when he smells opportunity. Amazon Web Services, the company’s fast-growing and profitable cloud-computing business, was unprofitable for years and Bezos stuck with it, according to a person familiar with the matter. Amazon also routinely loses money expanding internationally.
Adding 3,000 convenience stores would make AmazonGo among the biggest chains in U.S. The internet giant is considering plans to have about 10 locations open by the end of this year, about 50 locations in major metro areas in 2019, and then as many as 3,000 by 2021, said the people, who requested anonymity discussing internal plans. Opening multiple locations in proximity, like it’s doing in Seattle, could also help Amazon reduce costs by centralizing food production in one kitchen serving many stores.
The U.S. currently has 155,000 convenience stores, with 122,500 of them combined with gas stations, according to industry group NACS. Non-fuel purchases at convenience stores totaled $233 billion in 2016, with cigarettes and other tobacco products the best-selling items.
Amazon is targeting dense urban areas with lots of young, busy, affluent residents willing to spend a little more than a typical fast-food experience for better quality food, the people said. The target locations make it less of a threat to suburban gas station-convenience store combinations and more of a threat to big cities’ quick-service eateries, such as Subway Restaurants, Panera Bread Co. and Pret a Manger. U.K.-based Pret has 450 locations worldwide, including New York, Boston and Chicago, focusing on fresh, healthy grab-and-go foods.
AmazonGo will be more of a threat to fast-casual restaurants if it is targeting cities, said Jeff Lenard, vice president of NACS. Shoppers rate location and a lack of lines as the most important factors when shopping for convenience, he said.
“AmazonGo already has no lines,” Lenard said. “The key to success will be convenient locations. If it’s a quarter mile from where people are walking and biking, the novelty of the technology won’t matter. It’s too far away.”
Lisa Lerer Hi. Welcome to On Politics, your guide to the day in national politics - New York Times
The New York Times
September 20, 2018 | Evening Edition
Lisa Lerer Hi. Welcome to On Politics, your guide to the day in national politics. I’m Lisa Lerer, your host.
Katherine Kendall, one of the first women to accuse Harvey Weinstein, said she was unprepared for the way her story would be challenged.
Katherine Kendall, one of the first women to accuse Harvey Weinstein, said she was unprepared for the way her story would be challenged. Emily Berl for The New York Times
On Sunday, Christine Blasey Ford was a lone voice telling her story.
Four days later, she might be the only person not telling her story.
Politics has a way of chewing people up and leaving their lives almost unrecognizable. But the speed and aggression by which both parties have transformed Dr. Blasey’s #MeToo story into a political football has been striking.
On Capitol Hill, Democrats are calling for an F.B.I. investigation. Republicans are rejecting that, and want to question her instead. As of Thursday night, they’re negotiating, with Dr. Blasey’s lawyer ruling out a Monday hearing but saying she’d be open to testify next week.
So far, Dr. Blasey has been silent, communicating only through her lawyers.
We know that Dr. Blasey understood that telling her story came with risks. She told the Washington Post that she held off going public because of concerns about what it would mean for her family.
Katherine Kendall, one of the first women to come forward with accusations against Harvey Weinstein, told me that she was unprepared for the onslaught of media attention and the way her story would be challenged.
“There were people who were like, ’Why are you doing this?’ Like rocking the boat of Hollywood was my mission in life. And it really wasn’t,” she said. “All I did was tell the truth. I wasn’t trying to start something.”
Ms. Kendall attended private school in Washington around the same time as Dr. Blasey, and she said that while they didn’t know each other, their worlds were likely very similar.
“Part of the culture was like, ‘Don’t speak out,’” Ms. Kendall said. “I was definitely taught that it wouldn’t be well received and you would be the one that gets hurt. And now we’re seeing that is exactly what happens.”
The scrutiny on Dr. Blasey is more intense than what Ms. Kendall faced, because it involves not just power and money but politics, too. The stakes are enormous: The outcome of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing will set the direction of the Supreme Court for a generation.
And yet, there’s something deeply familiar about her experience, particularly in the Trump era. The president has used his platform (and frequently his Twitter account) to insult private citizens, typically those who oppose him, in a way that’s largely unprecedented in recent national politics.
So, where does all this leave Dr. Blasey? We don’t know yet. Her lawyers say that since she went public, she’s faced death threats, had her email hacked and had to leave her home.
As for her life after all this is done? Well, that might be the one thing in this whole mess that is clear: For Dr. Blasey, nothing will ever be the same.
____________________
Fleg’s four questions for Texas
There’s a Senate race in Texas this year — it’s pretty close, perhaps you’ve read about it? On Friday, at last, Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke are meeting for their first debate. Matt Flegenheimer, a Times political reporter who has covered this race (and Mr. Cruz’s 2016 run for president), has some questions:
1) Can “Beto-mania” translate off the stump?
Mr. O’Rourke’s skills as a campaigner are legitimate, premised on a gift for making even the generic sound inspirational. (“This is a time for us to be for something,” he thundered in Houston recently.) Debates are different. Can he afford to summon the same high-mindedness when Mr. Cruz batters him from a few feet away as an out-of-touch liberal?
2) Can Cruz channel his inner debate champ?
Mr. Cruz was an accomplished debater in college. This can cut both ways. In 2016, he had some highly effective moments — slashing, funny, quick on his feet — setting traps for President Trump and his rivals. But Mr. Cruz could also occasionally come off as litigious, pestering moderators and getting lost in the weeds. Can he strike a balance on Friday? Because …
3) Will Cruz be “likable” enough?
Mr. Cruz has his fans; you don’t finish second in a presidential primary by accident. But he also has a reputation. Mr. Cruz is acutely aware of the perception, telling a debate audience in 2016 that “if you want someone to grab a beer with, I may not be that guy.” He asked voters, instead, to make him America’s designated driver. (Really, this was his pitch! It was actually refreshing candor.)
4) Can O’Rourke make Cruz pay for Trump-whiplash?
Memories are short in politics, but Mr. Cruz has tested the limits of selective amnesia. First he embraced Mr. Trump during the 2016 primaries. Then he attacked him as a pathological liar and unrivaled narcissist. Then he wouldn’t endorse. Then he did. Does any of that matter anymore? Does anything?
____________________
Nate’s number
We’ve asked Nate Cohn, elections and polling reporter at The Upshot, to check in with On Politics from time to time with a number that’s on his mind. For his first installment, Nate sent us this:
Midterm elections are usually a referendum on the party in power, and the president’s approval rating might be the best single measure of whether the national political environment augurs well for a so-called “wave” election.
Today, the president’s rating is around 40 percent. That’s about the same as it was for Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama before their parties lost control of Congress in 1994, 2006 and 2010.
One reason the president’s approval rating is so useful: It synthesizes everything that voters consider.
Take the economy. One might wonder whether strong economic growth could help the Republicans this year. It could, but if the economy isn’t good enough to lift the president’s approval rating, it probably isn’t good enough to lift the G.O.P.’s fortunes, either.
That’s how it seems to be playing out in our polls of top battleground districts. This week, we’re asking voters about taxes, tariffs, and whether people think the president’s policies have helped their own economic situation.
The results aren’t final, but so far the Republicans are doing all right on economic issues. Voters are split on the tax reform bill, 45 to 46 percent, and they’re also split on the question on the president’s policies, with 47 percent saying they have helped them or their families personally.
Yet the same voters disapprove of the president’s performance, by a 40 to 55 percent margin, and they want Democrats to take control of the House, 50 to 43 percent.
If you haven’t seen The Upshot’s Live Polls yet, check it out. The Times is polling voters in 50 races and posting the results in real time, helping readers understand how polling works — and why it sometimes doesn’t.
____________________
Want to feel smarter?
• In late August, a team of New York Times journalists visited a small town in southeast Puerto Rico, near where Hurricane Maria made landfall, to document the damage that remains. See that story here.
• Pinterest is challenging what it takes to build a successful company in Silicon Valley. Its first users weren’t teenagers, but women in the Midwest. It also seems to be one of the few social media services Russians haven’t cracked into. Read about it here.
• The way our country talks about obesity is both medically and personally destructive, this article in HuffPost argues. In reality, the “epidemic” is nuanced, heartbreaking and empowering. Read the story.
____________________
… Seriously
According to The Post and Courier, Representative Ralph Norman, Republican of South Carolina, opened an election debate on Thursday with a joke about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Abraham Lincoln and sexual assault. Really.
_____________________
Isabella Grullón Paz and Margaret Kramer contributed to this newsletter.
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India bishop accused of rape arrested in Kerala - BBC News
Sept. 21, 2018.
India bishop accused of rape arrested in Kerala
Bishop Franco Mulakkal denies wrongoing
A bishop has been arrested in the southern Indian state of Kerala over allegations that he raped a nun 13 times times between 2014 and 2016.
The 44-year-old woman registered a police complaint in June, alleging that the Catholic Church had taken no action despite repeated appeals.
It led to unprecedented protests by nuns who came out in support of her.
The case has shocked what is one of India's oldest Christian communities and attracted national attention.
The bishop, 54-year-old Franco Mulakkal, was arrested on Friday after being questioned by police for three days, a senior police official speaking on condition of anonymity told BBC Hindi's Imran Qureshi.
Bishop Mulakkal, who denies the accusations, will be brought to court on Saturday.
The Vatican temporarily relieved him of his duties on Thursday.
Mr Mulakkal is the bishop of a diocese in Jalandhar in the northern state of Punjab. And the nun who has accused him belongs to the Missionaries of Jesus, a congregation in Kerala that is part of the Jalandhar diocese.
She alleged that the assaults happened when he visited the convent where she lived in the city of Kottayam, in Kerala.
Sex abuse and the Catholic Church
She has not spoken to the media but she petitioned the Vatican and wrote an open letter to the Pope's representative in the Indian capital of Delhi earlier this month. She claimed that this was the fourth letter she had addressed to the Vatican.
Nuns in Kerala have been demanding the bishop's arrest for weeks
"We experience neglect from every side. We feel the Catholic Church is having concern only for the bishops and priests. We would like to know if there is any provision in the Canon Law for justice for nuns and women,'' she wrote.
India Christian priest arrested over rape charge
Mother Teresa India homes in 'baby trade' investigation
The nuns who held protests for two weeks to demand the bishop's arrest welcomed Friday's news.
"We have won the first round of our struggle," Sister Anupama, who led demonstrations near the Kerala High Court, told the BBC.
"Our struggle is for many such sisters suffering in silence, and we will continue our campaign until all our sisters get justice."
Kerala's Christians
Christians are a tiny minority in India - less than 3% of the population. But in the southern coastal state of Kerala, they make up around 20%.
Christians have lived and worshipped in Kerala for some 2,000 years. Kranganor, on the coast of Kerala, is the cradle of Christianity in India where according to legend, St Thomas, or Doubting Thomas - one of the 12 apostles of Jesus - first came ashore in AD52.
All Kerala Christians who trace their ancestry to these times call themselves Syrian Christians. Some have become Catholic or Protestant in their outlook, while others are Orthodox.
India bishop accused of rape arrested in Kerala
Bishop Franco Mulakkal denies wrongoing
A bishop has been arrested in the southern Indian state of Kerala over allegations that he raped a nun 13 times times between 2014 and 2016.
The 44-year-old woman registered a police complaint in June, alleging that the Catholic Church had taken no action despite repeated appeals.
It led to unprecedented protests by nuns who came out in support of her.
The case has shocked what is one of India's oldest Christian communities and attracted national attention.
The bishop, 54-year-old Franco Mulakkal, was arrested on Friday after being questioned by police for three days, a senior police official speaking on condition of anonymity told BBC Hindi's Imran Qureshi.
Bishop Mulakkal, who denies the accusations, will be brought to court on Saturday.
The Vatican temporarily relieved him of his duties on Thursday.
Mr Mulakkal is the bishop of a diocese in Jalandhar in the northern state of Punjab. And the nun who has accused him belongs to the Missionaries of Jesus, a congregation in Kerala that is part of the Jalandhar diocese.
She alleged that the assaults happened when he visited the convent where she lived in the city of Kottayam, in Kerala.
Sex abuse and the Catholic Church
She has not spoken to the media but she petitioned the Vatican and wrote an open letter to the Pope's representative in the Indian capital of Delhi earlier this month. She claimed that this was the fourth letter she had addressed to the Vatican.
Nuns in Kerala have been demanding the bishop's arrest for weeks
"We experience neglect from every side. We feel the Catholic Church is having concern only for the bishops and priests. We would like to know if there is any provision in the Canon Law for justice for nuns and women,'' she wrote.
India Christian priest arrested over rape charge
Mother Teresa India homes in 'baby trade' investigation
The nuns who held protests for two weeks to demand the bishop's arrest welcomed Friday's news.
"We have won the first round of our struggle," Sister Anupama, who led demonstrations near the Kerala High Court, told the BBC.
"Our struggle is for many such sisters suffering in silence, and we will continue our campaign until all our sisters get justice."
Kerala's Christians
Christians are a tiny minority in India - less than 3% of the population. But in the southern coastal state of Kerala, they make up around 20%.
Christians have lived and worshipped in Kerala for some 2,000 years. Kranganor, on the coast of Kerala, is the cradle of Christianity in India where according to legend, St Thomas, or Doubting Thomas - one of the 12 apostles of Jesus - first came ashore in AD52.
All Kerala Christians who trace their ancestry to these times call themselves Syrian Christians. Some have become Catholic or Protestant in their outlook, while others are Orthodox.
Brett Kavanaugh nomination: Trump challenges accuser - BBC News
Sept. 21, 2018.
Brett Kavanaugh nomination: Trump challenges accuser
Brett Kavanaugh denies the allegations by Christine Blasey Ford
President Donald Trump has challenged the woman who has accused his Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault, demanding she provide evidence.
Mr Trump questioned why the FBI was not called at the time of the alleged assault, in 1982, if it was "as bad as she says".
The nomination of Brett Kavanaugh has been held up while the allegations of Christine Blasey Ford are assessed.
Both have agreed to testify before a Senate committee.
However, Prof Ford has set out conditions for her appearance which have yet to be agreed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The committee must approve the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh before it passes to the full Senate for a vote.
The truth about false assault accusations
Kavanaugh accuser 'faces death threats'
Could Kavanaugh confirmation be derailed?
The choice of a new justice for the Supreme Court is pivotal, as it often gives the final word on highly contentious laws and its nine judges have an immense impact on US political life.
What has Mr Trump said?
In a series of tweets, the president again delivered his full support for Judge Kavanaugh, saying he was a "fine man, with an impeccable reputation".
He went on: "I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents. I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!"
He added: "Why didn't someone call the FBI 36 years ago?"
Mr Trump also attacked "radical left wing politicians who don't want to know the answers, they just want to destroy and delay".
Skip Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
The radical left lawyers want the FBI to get involved NOW. Why didn’t someone call the FBI 36 years ago?
11:29 PM - Sep 21, 2018
President Trump had also weighed in on the process on Thursday, telling Fox News: "I don't think you can delay it any longer. They've delayed it a week already... they have to get on with it."
The Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Judge Kavanaugh had originally been scheduled for Thursday.
What was Prof Ford's account?
The details of the alleged assault at a gathering of teenagers at a house in Montgomery County, Maryland, were carried in the Washington Post this week when Prof Ford decided to reveal her identity and tell the story.
She made it clear in the Post that she had told no-one of the incident in any detail until 2012 when she attended couples therapy with her husband.
The psychology professor at Palo Alto University in California said she was being treated for what she said had been the long-term effects of the incident.
She told a senior Democratic lawmaker of her allegation in a confidential letter this summer and only went public after it was leaked.
Judge Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied the allegation.
Where is the committee at now?
Committee chairman Chuck Grassley had called for written testimony by this Friday from Prof Ford and scheduled a hearing on the matter for Monday.
Her lawyer, Debra Katz, rejected this and in a phone call to the committee on Thursday spelled out her client's conditions for testifying.
They include:
Prof Ford will not testify if Judge Kavanaugh is in the room
Judge Kavanaugh must testify first
There can be no appearance before next Thursday
Questions to be posed preferably by senators and not outside counsel
Mark Judge, who is reported to have been a witness to the alleged assault, should be subpoenaed to appear
Agrees to a public hearing but wants limits on the media coverage
Will the conditions be accepted?
There are problems with at least three of the requests.
Why it can take sexual assault allegations years to come out
The Senate Judiciary Committee would have to change the Monday hearing.
It is also not traditional for the accused to testify first and not have an opportunity for rebuttal.
White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said: "Asking for that usual sequence to be reversed is very unusual."
Why is the US top court so important??
Meet the Supremes - who are the justices?
Neither is it traditional for any subpoenas to be issued for the nomination process.
However, Ms Katz suggested there appeared to be room for negotiation when she sent a letter to the committee after the phone call, saying: "The only issue I said was a deal breaker was that Dr Ford cannot appear at a hearing on Monday."
Threats to all sides
Prof Ford, Mr Kavanaugh and the judge's wife have all been receiving threats, as the case becomes increasingly contentious.
Ms Katz said of her client: "She's been receiving death threats which have been reported to the FBI and she and her family have been forced out of their home."
Brett Kavanaugh nomination: Trump challenges accuser
Brett Kavanaugh denies the allegations by Christine Blasey Ford
President Donald Trump has challenged the woman who has accused his Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault, demanding she provide evidence.
Mr Trump questioned why the FBI was not called at the time of the alleged assault, in 1982, if it was "as bad as she says".
The nomination of Brett Kavanaugh has been held up while the allegations of Christine Blasey Ford are assessed.
Both have agreed to testify before a Senate committee.
However, Prof Ford has set out conditions for her appearance which have yet to be agreed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The committee must approve the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh before it passes to the full Senate for a vote.
The truth about false assault accusations
Kavanaugh accuser 'faces death threats'
Could Kavanaugh confirmation be derailed?
The choice of a new justice for the Supreme Court is pivotal, as it often gives the final word on highly contentious laws and its nine judges have an immense impact on US political life.
What has Mr Trump said?
In a series of tweets, the president again delivered his full support for Judge Kavanaugh, saying he was a "fine man, with an impeccable reputation".
He went on: "I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents. I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!"
He added: "Why didn't someone call the FBI 36 years ago?"
Mr Trump also attacked "radical left wing politicians who don't want to know the answers, they just want to destroy and delay".
Skip Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
The radical left lawyers want the FBI to get involved NOW. Why didn’t someone call the FBI 36 years ago?
11:29 PM - Sep 21, 2018
President Trump had also weighed in on the process on Thursday, telling Fox News: "I don't think you can delay it any longer. They've delayed it a week already... they have to get on with it."
The Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Judge Kavanaugh had originally been scheduled for Thursday.
What was Prof Ford's account?
The details of the alleged assault at a gathering of teenagers at a house in Montgomery County, Maryland, were carried in the Washington Post this week when Prof Ford decided to reveal her identity and tell the story.
She made it clear in the Post that she had told no-one of the incident in any detail until 2012 when she attended couples therapy with her husband.
The psychology professor at Palo Alto University in California said she was being treated for what she said had been the long-term effects of the incident.
She told a senior Democratic lawmaker of her allegation in a confidential letter this summer and only went public after it was leaked.
Judge Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied the allegation.
Where is the committee at now?
Committee chairman Chuck Grassley had called for written testimony by this Friday from Prof Ford and scheduled a hearing on the matter for Monday.
Her lawyer, Debra Katz, rejected this and in a phone call to the committee on Thursday spelled out her client's conditions for testifying.
They include:
Prof Ford will not testify if Judge Kavanaugh is in the room
Judge Kavanaugh must testify first
There can be no appearance before next Thursday
Questions to be posed preferably by senators and not outside counsel
Mark Judge, who is reported to have been a witness to the alleged assault, should be subpoenaed to appear
Agrees to a public hearing but wants limits on the media coverage
Will the conditions be accepted?
There are problems with at least three of the requests.
Why it can take sexual assault allegations years to come out
The Senate Judiciary Committee would have to change the Monday hearing.
It is also not traditional for the accused to testify first and not have an opportunity for rebuttal.
White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said: "Asking for that usual sequence to be reversed is very unusual."
Why is the US top court so important??
Meet the Supremes - who are the justices?
Neither is it traditional for any subpoenas to be issued for the nomination process.
However, Ms Katz suggested there appeared to be room for negotiation when she sent a letter to the committee after the phone call, saying: "The only issue I said was a deal breaker was that Dr Ford cannot appear at a hearing on Monday."
Threats to all sides
Prof Ford, Mr Kavanaugh and the judge's wife have all been receiving threats, as the case becomes increasingly contentious.
Ms Katz said of her client: "She's been receiving death threats which have been reported to the FBI and she and her family have been forced out of their home."
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