Entirely Inedible: On Glitches and Losses and Lies
Apologies for re-visiting GOP lowlifes and their yammering Mad Emperor, but damn things are getting weird out there. Having ended his trial not with a bang but a craven whine - so much for "absolutely" testifying: "I tell the truth" - Trump gave a daft, dark speech at the NRA convention, calling Biden "a Manchurian candidate," vowing to roll back all gun control, pondering a third term and slamming the country as a “cesspool of ruin." Then a long glitch turned him bizarrely silent. It was blissful.
In brief: To the cretins of a sick, corrupt, fast-diminishing NRA gathered in Dallas to endorse him, the tinpot babbled and spewed his usual ugly gibberish. Biden is "a threat to democracy" who'd get the electric chair if a Republican, he's fighting "hateful communists and criminals," Alvin Bragg is "Soros-backed," not even Lincoln did more for "the black individual in this country than Donald J. Trump," he won 31 golf championships or 29, he's just like his friggin' "genius" uncle at MIT, he's "a better physical specimen" than Obama, he's started an imaginary "Gun Owners For Trump" to stop "the violent migrant crime wave (Biden) has unleashed on our country" though violent crime has fallen sharply, and gun owners, of which he's clearly not one, are "under seesh, we're under seesh but they didn't move us an inch" so on Day One "we'll roll back every gun control measure."
Then came what was widely billed a McConnell-like, 35-second "freeze" but in fact more resembled a system glitch - in his brain, his reading of the room or the teleprompter. He was in the middle of his 6th-grade report - "The Texas spirit of proud independence was forged by cowboys and cattle hands, ranchers and rangers...Many came here with nothing but the boots on their feet, the clothes on their back, the gun in their saddle. Together they helped make America into the single greatest nation in the history of the world" - when he fell silent. For a long time. So did the room. He shook his head, furrowed his brow, stared. An ad popped up for a gold IRA: "Text TRUMP." Finally, QAnon/Nazi music swelled and he came back to awful life: "But now, we are a nation in declined. We are a failing nation." Cue inflation, collapsing banks, drugs, crime, dirty airports, other "horror" by "these tyrants and villains."
When news came of his "Milli Vanilli-type" malfunction, he shrieked, "Donald Trump doesn’t freeze!" He cited a "record crowd of very enthusiastic patriots" and a standard pause before "the musical interlude" and besides Biden "freezes all the time," also he didn't fall when his podium once almost tipped over and he can drink a glass of water! Observers noted it was like "Amateur City for a live performance": At his rallies there's "cheering MAGA morons," this time "just the abyss" of a dark room and NRA stage, like a sit-com before they add the laugh track. His team miscalculated, the crowd missed their cue, he has a memorized shtick he's too dumb to tweak, and he couldn't understand why nobody was cheering. Besides, one summarized, "Never, ever trust anything when it comes to Trump. His very existence is a criminal fraud, foully perpetrated to the detriment of the universe."
Donald Trump Rejects Claims He 'Froze' During Rallywww.youtube.com
Meanwhile, the universe is diminished by each of his repulsive followers in the news. "Sam Alito is a fascist insurrectionist," notes Noah Berlatsky in a piece subtitled, "Stop with the appeasement, you quisling motherfuckers." "He displayed a symbol of support for fascist insurrection shortly after an attempted fascist insurrection. The obvious conclusion would be that (Alito) supports fascist insurrection. He told us who he is. We should believe him." Ditto Rudy Giuliani, now cringingly hawking coffee to pay his legal bills, and Greg Abbott, who with no legal or moral justification pardoned Daniel Perry, serving 25 years for murdering a BLM protester - a pardon, writes Will Bunch, proving the law only applies if an undemocratic few in power say it does, and "a gross injustice in a former Confederate state that (reeks) of the bad old days (when) white men lynched Emmett Till and laughed at justice."
Thus, the "inverted reality" embraced by VP-hopefuls dutifully echoing the Big Lie. "Once one of the two major governing parties no longer believes elections are binding," notes Rachel Maddow, "in many important ways, the democracy ship has sailed." Along with Christina 'Election Integrity' Bobb's creepy mugshot, we have Marco Rubio, the latest to fudge on accepting election results, arguing it's Democrats who questionGOP wins (and pay people $10 to vote). He also says Dems are the extremists on abortion and he supports protecting "all unborn human life," though when it comes to the lives of what he claims are up to 30 million migrants - "We don't even know who these people are" - the son of immigrants says, "This is not immigration...This is an invasion of the country." Add another sad bootlicker inexplicably in thrall to the guy who praises "the late, great Hannibal Lecter," though it turns out it's not reciprocal.
Dr. Hannibal Lecter DECLINES Trump's V.P. Offerwww.youtube.com
And that guy just keeps losing. New earnings filings show Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, reported a net loss of $327.6 million, with revenue of just $770,500, in its first fiscal quarter since debuting as a public company on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Also, his campaign to get back the job he so disastrously failed to do isn't doing well in the Saying the Quiet Part Aloud Dept. After eloquently suggesting he might limit access to contraception - "We're looking at that, and I'm going to have a policy on that very shortly...You will find it, I think, very smart" - he abruptly backtracked - "Things really do have a lot to do with the states, and some states are gonna have different policies" - almost like he has no idea what he's talking about. Same with a slipshod video he posted to celebrate his upcoming victory, that touted "A UNIFIED REICH," which quickly went missing.
And there's his trial, nearing its ignoble end. Despite 10 contempt findings, he isn't in jail, but not much else went well. His D-list, red-tie, Hell's Angels! posse - "circling (him) like the cold fragments of a destroyed planet" - was widely mocked, witnesses gave damning testimony, after insisting he'd testify he chickened out, and after claiming MAGA warriors would storm the barricades if he was prosecuted, nobody came. So he made them up: "Thousands of people were turned away, it is an armed camp to keep people away, it looks like Fort Knox." This is complete and utter bullshit," said one observer. Others: "There is virtually complete freedom of movement around the courthouse," "Nothing is happening," "There is a mouse pissing on a ball of cotton in China - that’s how quiet it is out here." Later, he bleated Judge Merchan should dismiss the case: "The right thing to do is to END THIS SCAM NOW AND FOREVERMORE." Yes. Please.
Global Tribunal Issues 'Historic' Ruling for Oceans and Small Island Nations
An international tribunal on Tuesday delivered a decision that green groups and leaders of small island nations celebrated as a "groundbreaking victory for ocean and climate protection."
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) announced in an advisory opinion that greenhouse gas emissions are marine pollution under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and parties to the treaty "have the specific obligation to adopt laws and regulations to prevent, reduce, and control" them.
The advisory came in response to a December 2022 submission by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (COSIS), which includes Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Niue, Palau, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
"The tribunal's opinion is an historic legal victory for small island nations, demonstrating their global leadership on this crucial issue for the future of humankind," said Payam Akhavan, a COSIS legal representative to ITLOS. "It is a manifest injustice that they make negligible contributions to the problem, but suffer the worst effects of rising sea levels and extreme weather events that have brought some to the brink of extinction."
"As the guardian of the ocean treaty, ITLOS has taken the critical first step in recognizing that what small island nations have been fighting for at the COP negotiations for decades is already part of international law," he continued, referring to United Nations climate summits. "The major polluters must prevent catastrophic harm to small island nations, and if they fail to do so, they must compensate for the loss and damages."
"To those that would hide behind the weaknesses of international climate treaties, this opinion makes clear that compliance with the Paris agreement alone is not enough."
COSIS was initiated at COP26 by Tuvalu along with Antigua and Barbuda, whose prime minister, Gaston Browne, welcomed the ITLOS decision, stressing that "small island states are fighting for their survival" and "some will become inhabitable soon because of the failure to mitigate greenhouse emissions."
Eselealofa Apinelu, Tuvalu's high commissioner to Fiji, pointed out that the advisory opinion "spells out the legally binding obligations of all states to protect the marine environment; to protect against the existential threats posed by climate change."
Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) Climate & Energy Program director Nikki Reisch noted Tuesday that "to those that would hide behind the weaknesses of international climate treaties, this opinion makes clear that compliance with the Paris agreement alone is not enough."
"Pledges and promises at annual climate conferences do not satisfy states' legal duties to take all necessary measures to prevent, reduce, and control the greenhouse gas emissions polluting the marine environment, in line with climate science and the goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C," Reisch continued.
"We know that doing so requires rapidly phasing out all fossil fuels. States that fail to comply face legal responsibility," she added. "Protecting the global commons of the oceans and atmosphere is a matter of life and death—not just for entire marine ecosystems and the coastal and island communities most directly dependent on them and at greatest risk from climate change, but for all of humanity and the planet as a whole."
CIEL and Greenpeace International last year had formally urged ITLOS to reach the conclusion that the tribunal ultimately did.
Louise Fournier, legal counsel for climate justice and liability at Greenpeace, also cheered the outcome, saying Tuesday that "the ITLOS advisory opinion marks a significant step forward in international environmental law and the protection of our oceans."
"It sets a clear legal precedent for addressing climate change through existing international frameworks and reinforces states' responsibilities to act on climate change," Fournier said. "Oceans are the world's largest carbon sink. Our oceans provide us with food, livelihoods, culture, and half of the oxygen in the atmosphere; they are vital in the fight against the climate crisis, and in maintaining all life on the planet. ITLOS confirmed it unanimously: Climate change is an existential threat to human rights."
As Reutersreported:
But the road to concerted global action is far from smooth.
China, the world's biggest carbon polluter, had argued in court that the tribunal did not have general authority to issue advisory opinions, saying these could fragment international law. China's foreign ministry was not immediately available for comment.
Additional forthcoming legal opinions could further complicate matters, as the international community prepares for COP29.
"This is the first of three advisory opinions international tribunals have been asked to provide to clarify what legal obligations states have to combat climate change," Euronewsexplained. "Opinions are also expected from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice."
FTC Chair Lina Khan Should Take Jim Cramer's 'Unhinged' Obsession as 'Badge of Honor'
The American Economic Liberties Project on Monday called outCNBC's Jim Cramer for at least dozens of "hostile" televised attacks on Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan and her "historic pro-working families record."
The left-leaning group has been compiling Cramer's "most egregious on-air outbursts" over Khan since early last year and its tracker now features more than 30 clips from "Mad Money" and "Squawk on the Street."
When President Joe Biden nominated Khan to lead the FTC in 2021, she was an associate professor of law at Columbia Law School who had previously worked for the Open Markets Institute, the office of former Commissioner Rohit Chopra, and the U.S. House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law.
As the clips collected by the project show, Cramer has described Khan as an "empty suit," "stupid," and a "total hack." The ex-hedge fund manager has also compared the agency leader's views to those of Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx, and Don Quixote.
Cramer has called out specific FTC actions under Khan—repeatedly blasting a lawsuit against Amazon, a company founded by one of the richest persons on the planet—and broadly accused the "rogue" agency of "torturing all the companies that America likes."
When one of Cramer's colleagues pointed out last October that he has taken "every opportunity to just come back to Khan," he responded, "No, I've missed opportunities and I regret that."
The tracker page states that "if Cramer was accurately reporting what the FTC is doing, he would see that Chair Khan is pursuing a pro-business, pro-innovation, and pro-worker agenda. And he is capable of it: he did, for example, proclaim the FTC's case against Kroger-Albertsons to be strong."
Noting Cramer's praise for Jonathan Kanter, an assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice whom the host has called a "heavyweight" and "rigorous thinker," the page adds that "he is so blinded by his obsession of Chair Khan that he sometimes even rails against her for suits brought by the DOJ and forgets to give the Antitrust Division credit for its work."
American Economic Liberties Project spokesperson Jimmy Wyderko said in a statement Monday that "Jim Cramer's anger over the FTC's enforcement record has turned into a full-blown obsession, launching nearly weekly barbs at Chair Khan with the zeal of a carnival barker defending his turf."
"This has manifested on national cable news through a series of unhinged, incoherent, and often inaccurate rants from Jim Cramer attacking the FTC for standing up to big corporations and delivering kitchen table wins to working families," he continued.
"Given Jim Cramer's role as mouthpiece and cheerleader for monopolists across the economy, Chair Khan should consider his harassment a badge of honor," Wyderko added. "We hope to see Jim Cramer get over his fixation syndrome, which is evidently even starting to frustrate his colleagues, as soon as he is able."
'Guess I Hit a Nerve': McGovern Rebukes 'Pathetic' GOP for Striking Remarks About Trump
Congressman Jim McGovern had a few additional disparaging words Thursday for his GOP colleagues, a day after factual remarks about former president Donald Trump he made on the House floor were formally stricken from the record by Republicans who control the gavel.
"I guess I hit a nerve," McGovern said in an early morning post on X.
"In their creepy cult-like devotion to Trump," added the Massachusetts Democrat, "House Republicans won't allow anybody to say anything they deem as negative about him on the floor. So much for freedom of speech. Like I said yesterday—pathetic!"
Explaining the situation in a social media thread on Wednesday evening, McGovern detailed how earlier in the day Republicans in the House "moved to 'take down my words,' a procedural term meaning they think I violated the rules and that my words should be stricken from the record. Why? Because I stated facts about Trump's trials."
Watch the clip showing McGovern's remarks and the reaction it received:
🧵 This afternoon during debate, Republicans moved to “take down my words,” a procedural term meaning they think I violated the rules and that my words should be stricken from the record. Why? Because I stated facts about Trump’s trials.
Let’s talk about it. pic.twitter.com/LqMMMIMsZF
— Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) May 23, 2024
Posting a complete transcript of his remarks, McGovern said: "Read them yourself. Whether you love Trump or hate him, I was simply stating facts about his legal problems. I didn't say he was guilty or innocent. I didn't disparage him. I was stating facts."
And here's what he said:
We have a presumptive nominee for president facing 88 felony counts, and we're being prevented from even acknowledging it. These are not alternative facts. These are real facts.
A candidate for president of the United States is on trial for sending ahush money payment to a porn star to avoid a sex scandal during his 2016 campaign, and then fraudulently disguising those payments in violation of the law. He's also charged with conspiring to overturn the election. He's also charged with stealing classified information, and a jury has already found him liable for rape in a civil court.
And yet, in this Republican-controlled House, it's okay to talk about the trial, but you have to call it a "sham." It's okay to say that the jury is rigged, but not that Trump should be held accountable. It's okay to say the court is corrupt, but not that Trump is corrupting the rule of law.
As the Washington Postreported, the House "was brought to a halt for over an hour" after Republicans objected to McGovern's remarks, including one lawmaker, Republican Congresswoman Erin Houchin of Indiana, who declared, "Mr. Speaker, I demand that his words be taken down."
At the time of the procedural altercation, it was Rep. Jerry L. Carl (R-Ala.) presiding over the House floor and holding the Speaker's gavel who first admonished McGovern as he told members they must refrain from attacks directed toward "presumed nominees for the office of the president," in this case Trump.
After an hour of deliberation with the clerk and members of the GOP-controlled Rules committee, Carl went back to the lectern to announce that McGovern's words, in his judgement, were a violation of an archaic House rule that originally was conceived to prevent, as the Post reports, "House members from criticizing the king."
Carl argued it was "a breach of order to refer to a candidate in terms... personally offensive." While Trump is not technically the Republican nominee for president at this point, and won't be until the RNC convention this summer, Carl argued the rule also applies "once there's no reasonable dispute that the candidate will receive the nomination."
Following this announcement, McGovern's remarks were ordered stricken and he was barred from speaking on the House floor for the remainder of the day.
"Apparently, Republicans are allowed to say [on the House floor] that Trump's trial is a sham, and the judge is corrupt and the jury is rigged," McGovern said in his Wednesday evening post. "But it's against the rules for me to even acknowledge that the trials exist."
"But look," he added, "I get it."
"Republicans don't want Americans to know the truth about the man they support. I will keep speaking the truth," said McGovern. "They can try to shut me up, but they will fail. They don't want Americans to know the truth about the man they support. We need to make sure everyone hears it."
Nevada Coalition Submits 200K+ Signatures for Abortion Rights Ballot Measure
An amendment to enshrine abortion rights in Nevada's Constitution moved one step closer to appearing on this November's ballot Monday as reproductive rights defenders submitted nearly twice the number of required signatures to state election officials.
Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, the coalition spearheading the ballot measure, said it submitted more than 200,000 signatures from every county in the state—where abortion is legal up to 24 weeks of pregnancy—supporting the Nevada Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment. Proposed 2024 Nevada ballot questions need 102,362 verified signatures to qualify; campaigners generally aim to collect double the required number of signatures, as many are disqualified for various reasons.
"This is a true testament to the volunteers, supporters, and coalition partners who recognize the importance of codifying abortion rights into our state constitution," Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom said on social media. "We're officially one step closer."
"The number of signatures gathered in just over three months shows how deeply Nevadans believe in abortion rights and its importance to this moment in our nation's history."
Speaking to supporters outside the Clark County Courthouse in Las Vegas on Monday, Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom president Lindsey Harmon said that "the majority of Nevadans agree that the government should stay out of their personal and private decisions... about our bodies, our lives, and our futures."
"The number of signatures gathered in just over three months shows how deeply Nevadans believe in abortion rights and its importance to this moment in our nation's history," Harmon added.
Nevada constitutional amendments must be approved by voters twice. If the proposed abortion rights amendment qualifies for the ballot and is approved by voters this November, it will appear again on the 2026 statewide ballot.
Last November, Carson City District Court Judge James Russell sided with right-wing advocacy groups who argued that the proposed amendment violates Nevada law by covering more than one subject. After Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom subsequently narrowed the proposal's focus, Russell ruled the coalition could proceed with signature gathering. In April, the Nevada Supreme Court affirmed the proposed ballot measure's original language.
Four states—Florida, Kansas, Maryland, and New York—have abortion rights measures on November's ballot, while Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, and Nevada have proposed such initiatives.
Since the right-wing U.S. Supreme Court voided half a century of federal abortion rights nearly two years ago in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, seven states have let voters weigh in on the issue. People in all seven states—including conservative Kansas, Kentucky, and Montana—have voted to either protect and expand abortion rights or defeat measures seeking to restrict access to the procedure.
Meanwhile, 14 states have enacted total abortion bans, while 27 have legislated restrictions on the procedure based on duration of pregnancy,
according to the Guttmacher Institute.
ICJ Orders Israel to 'Immediately Halt Its Military Offensive' in Rafah
Emphasizing that Israel had not convinced the International Court of Justice that sufficient efforts have been made to protect civilian life from harm, the ICJ on Friday ordered the Israel Defense Forces to end its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah at once and to open the southern border crossing from Egypt to humanitarian aid.
"Israel must immediately halt its military offensive or any other action in the Rafah governorate which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part," said Judge Nawaf Salam, president of the court, which is the United Nations' top judicial panel.
He added that the court was "not convinced that the evacuation efforts and the related measures that Israel affirms to have undertaken to enhance the security of civilians in the Gaza Strip and in particular those recently displaced from Rafah governorate [are] sufficient to alleviate the immense risk, which the Palestinian population is exposed to as a result of the military offensive in Rafah."
Salam said that in examining South Africa's case focusing on the Rafah offensive, which has forced more than 800,000 people to flee Rafah following the displacement of more than 1 million people to the city since October, the court had found the humanitarian situation in Rafah is now "disastrous" and has "deteriorated further" since the ICJ issued its last order to Israel in March.
That order demanded that Israel allow desperately needed humanitarian aid into Gaza, as dozens of deaths from starvation were reported, including among children.
But on May 6, Israel seized control of the Rafah crossing, leaving local hospitals with a rapidly depleting supply of medical equipment and fuel and intensifying the starvation crisis in the city and across Gaza.
The court ordered Israel to "open the Rafah crossing for unhindered provision at scale of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance."
It also said Israel must "ensure the unimpeded access to the Gaza Strip of any commission of inquiry, fact-finding mission, or investigative body mandated by the competent organs of the U.N. to investigate allegations of genocide."
The ICJ's rulings are legally binding but Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who in April called for the "total annihilation" of Rafah and other Gaza cities, said Friday that the government "will not agree" to stopping its military assault.
Al Jazeera reported that Israel is not planning to "respond to the decision of the court, both politically or militarily."
Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), said countries—including the U.S.—that have continued to fund the Israel Defense Forces as the civilian death toll in Gaza has skyrocketed must halt their support in light of the ruling.
"The court's clear and unequivocal ruling ordering a halt to Israel's military offensive in Rafah leaves no ambiguity about what should follow: an arms embargo on Israel," said Whitson. "Continued U.S. arms transfers to Israel would constitute deliberate defiance of the court's orders and make our government complicit in genocide."
While Israel "will not hold itself accountable and will not voluntarily end its crimes," said DAWN advocacy director Raed Jarrar, the ruling confirmed that "international action is needed."
"The international community has an obligation to use pressure and sanctions to force Israel to end its atrocities, just as it used pressure and sanctions to force South Africa to end apartheid," said Jarrar.
Over 2,000 Feared Dead in 'Devastating' Papua New Guinea Landslide
"I have 18 of my family members being buried under the debris and soil that I am standing on, and a lot more family members in the village I cannot count," one survivor said.
A landslide that struck a remote part of Papua New Guinea on Friday may have killed more than 2,000 people.
The death toll was reported in a letter seen byThe Associated Press that was sent by National Disaster Center Acting Director Luseta Laso Mana to the United Nations resident coordinator on Sunday.
"The landslide buried more than 2,000 people alive and caused major destruction to buildings, food gardens, and caused major impact on the economic lifeline of the country," Mana wrote.
"This situation necessitates immediate action and international support to mitigate further losses and provide essential aid to those affected."
The landslide buried the village of Yambali in Enga Province beneath 20-26 feet of earth, according to U.N. News. It took place at around 3:00 am local time on Friday, May 24.
"It has occurred when people were still asleep in the early hours and the entire village has gone down," Elizabeth Laruma, the president of the Porgera Women in Business Association, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Laruma said the entire face of the mountain collapsed, squashing homes. Images showed rescue workers moving around downed trees and boulders. Some of the stones unleashed were larger than shipping containers.
"I have 18 of my family members being buried under the debris and soil that I am standing on, and a lot more family members in the village I cannot count," resident Evit Kambu told Reuters. "But I cannot retrieve the bodies, so I am standing here helplessly."
Initial reports put the death toll at around 100. Then, on Sunday, Serhan Aktoprak, country head of the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that approximately 670 people were thought to be buried under the debris and that "hopes of finding them alive are shrinking."
It is not clear how the government reached its figure of more than 2,000 dead, and IOM has not altered its figures.
"We are not able to dispute what the government suggests but we are not able to comment on it," Aktoprak told AP, adding, "As time goes in such a massive undertaking, the number will remain fluid."
The landslide covered 150 homes and displaced around 1,250 people, according to IOM. It also blocked off the only highway traveling into the affected province, making rescue operations more difficult. So far, only five bodies have been pulled from the debris, according to AP. Rescue workers and survivors had been attempting to dig people out of the earth with shovels and farm equipment until the first excavator was donated by a local construction business on Sunday.
In the letter to the U.N., Mana said the ground was still shifting, making the situation "unstable" and posing "ongoing danger to both the rescue teams and survivors alike."
There have also been challenges delivering aid to the survivors: a Saturday delivery brought tarps and water but no food, while the local government gathered food and water on Sunday for only 600 people, The New York Times reported.
"This situation necessitates immediate action and international support to mitigate further losses and provide essential aid to those affected," IOM spokesperson Anne Mandal told the Times.
"If you increase that intensity, you're taking the landscape into an environment it's never experienced, and it will respond. And a landslide is the inevitable response."
International leaders have expressed support.
"Jill and I are heartbroken by the loss of life and devastation caused by the landslide in Papua New Guinea," U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement. "Our prayers are with all the families impacted by this tragedy and all the first responders who are putting themselves in harm's way to help their fellow citizens."
Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong pledged her country's support, saying Friday: "The loss of life and destruction is devastating. As friends and partners, Australia stands ready to assist in relief and recovery efforts."
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres offered "deep solidarity to the people and the government of Papua New Guinea" and "condolences to the victims of the devastating landslides that have caused horrific death and destruction."
The cause of Friday's landslide is under investigation, according toThe Washington Post, but some people in the area have attributed it to a lightning strike or a month of heavy rainfall. The mountain was also already unstable because of a previous landslide, according to U.S. Geological Survey geologist Kate Allstadt.
Papua New Guinea is often struck by fatal landslides, according to ABC. Partly this is because it is a mountainous, tropical country on the Ring of Fire, where both heavy rainstorms and seismic events can destabilize hillsides. It also has a poor, rural population who are more likely to live in a landslide's path.
However, human activities also increase the risk, with industries such as mining, logging, and liquefied natural gas destabilizing terrain or contributing to deforestation. The climate crisis also makes extreme weather events that trigger landslides more likely.
"Slopes are particularly sensitive to short-duration, high-intensity rainfall events," University of Hull vice-chancellor Dave Petley told ABC. "You can go back to first principles—imagine a landscape evolves to deal with the most intense rainfall it experiences. If you increase that intensity, you're taking the landscape into an environment it's never experienced, and it will respond. And a landslide is the inevitable response."
Stand.Earth international program director and chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Tzeporah Berman spoke out in response to Friday's landslide, as well as a heatwave in India and Pakistan and a cyclone in Bangladesh.
"Every ton of new oil, gas, and coal projects will cost lives," she wrote. "It's time for a fossil treaty."
RFK Jr Rejected by Libertarians After They Loudly Booed, Heckled Trump
Kennedy eliminated after receiving support from just 2.07% of delegates. Trump had already failed to be nominated.
Oddball presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was eliminated from contention for the oddball Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination during the party’s national convention Sunday afternoon in Washington. Kennedy was eliminated in the first round of voting after receiving support from 19 delegates, or just 2.07% of delegates.
Earlier, Libertarian Party Chair Angela McArdle had ruled that former president Donald J. Trump was not even qualified to be considered for nomination because he did not submit the proper nominating papers. Trump, however, received six write-in votes -- defeating Stormy Daniels, Denali the Cat, and Sean Ono Lennon.
Donald Trump was booed loudly and repeatedly during his speech to the Libertarians Saturday night as he asked for their support.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, told the party's delegates to unite with him to beat Democrat Joe Biden.
"We must work together," he said. "Combine with us. You have to combine with us."
The crowd responded to Trump's plea with shouts of “Bullshit!” and “Fuck you!"
Accusing Mercedes of 'Wanton Lawlessness,' UAW Seeks New Alabama Vote
"All these workers ever wanted was a fair shot at having a voice on the job and a say in their working conditions," the union said.
The United Auto Workers on Friday formally challenged last week's election loss at a pair of Mercedes-Benz facilities in Alabama, accusing the company of engaging in "an unprecedented, illegal anti-union campaign" and requesting a new vote.
"All these workers ever wanted was a fair shot at having a voice on the job and a say in their working conditions," the UAW said in a statement. "And that's what we're asking for here. Let's get a vote at Mercedes in Alabama where the company isn't allowed to fire people, isn't allowed to intimidate people, and isn't allowed to break the law and their own corporate code, and let the workers decide."
Of the more than 5,000 employees at the two Mercedes-Benz United States International (MBUSI) plants, 2,045 (45%) voted to join the UAW and 2,642 (56%) voted against it. After the ballots were counted, union president Shawn Fain said that it was "obviously not the result we wanted" but "we'll be back."
The UAW complaint to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) accusing MBUSI of "wanton lawlessness" echoes the union and workers' previous allegations that the company engaged in illegal union-busting at the Vance and Woodstock facilities, which led to ongoing reviews from U.S. and German authorities.
"The employer engaged in a relentless anti-union campaign marked with unlawful discipline, unlawful captive audience meetings, and a general goal of coercing and intimidating employees."
"On January 11, 2024, employees of MBUSI publicly announced that they were exploring forming a union with the UAW at MBUSI's facilities," says the new complaint, according toAlabama Reflector. "Almost immediately thereafter, both prior to and during the election period, the employer engaged in a relentless anti-union campaign marked with unlawful discipline, unlawful captive audience meetings, and a general goal of coercing and intimidating employees who were attempting to exercise their Section 7 rights."
The Reflector reported that "the charges include disciplining employees for discussing unionization at work; not allowing union materials or paraphernalia to be distributed; surveilling employees; discharging supporters of the union; forcing employees to be in captive audience meetings, and making comments that union activities will not work."
MBUSI has denied any wrongdoing and a company spokesperson said Friday that "our goal throughout this process was to ensure every eligible team member had the opportunity to participate in a fair election."
"We sincerely hoped the UAW would respect our team members' decision," the MBUSI spokesperson added. "Throughout the election, we worked with the NLRB to adhere to its guidelines and we will continue to do so as we work through this process."
Lisa Henderson is the NLRB's regional director responsible for the complaint. The agency confirmed to CNBC that her office is still investigating the earlier accusations against MBUSI and received the new filing. As the outlet detailed: "If she finds that the objections raise substantial and material issues of fact that could be best resolved by a hearing, she will order a hearing. If after the hearing, she finds that the employer's conduct affected the election, she can order a new election."
Although leading public figures—from Republican Gov. Kay Ivey to retired University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban—battled the UAW push, organizers had high hopes going into last week's vote, which came after a victory at a Volkswagen facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee last month and union workers winning new contracts at the "Big Three" following a six-week strike last year.
Reflecting on the initial outcome in Alabama, Dave Kamper, senior state policy strategist at the Economic Policy Institute, wrote Wednesday that "while this result shows the power of corporations and state governments to smother worker efforts to unionize, even in defeat the UAW helped Mercedes workers win substantial improvements in pay and benefits."
"Workers organizing to improve their working conditions benefit from unions in many ways, but even when a union victory eludes them like in Alabama, the organizing can pay off," he stressed. "The more workers band together to fight for better jobs, the more likely they and other workers will see the benefits."