Jose Garcia
Jose Garcia's JournalSouth Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg out of town for nearly half the days in recent months
SOUTH BEND — From Austin, Texas, to West Hollywood, Calif., South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s presidential bid has taken him out of town nearly half of the days in recent months, according to his daily calendar, news stories and information online.
Of the 120 days from Feb. 1 through May 31, Buttigieg was away or plans to be away from the South Bend area at least 55 days, or 45 percent of the calendar days.
Looking at only weekdays, he’s been gone or plans to be out of town for 39 of 86 days — also about 45 percent.
Buttigieg didn’t formally declare his candidacy until April 14, but on Jan. 23 he announced he was exploring a run for president. His popularity mushroomed, and he received a burst of national media attention, after a CNN town hall on March10.
MORE: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.southbendtribune.com/news/local/south-bend-mayor-pete-buttigieg-out-of-town-for-nearly/article_1d601801-4a24-5474-b807-39ce46274b8b.amp.html
GOP senator announces bill to block companies from tracking online activity
Source: The Hill
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) on Monday announced he will introduce legislation that would block internet companies from tracking users' activity online by creating a so-called Do Not Track list.
The bill would create a Do Not Track database for users to opt into if they no longer want companies to collect their data beyond what is "necessary" for those services to run. It would be modeled after the federal "Do Not Call" registry, which allows users to say they no longer want to receive telemarketing calls - though that list has been panned for failing to stave off the deluge of telemarketing calls Americans receive every day.
Hawley, a freshman senator who has sought to make a name for himself as a prominent critic of tech giants, said in a statement released Monday morning that the Do Not Track database would give users more "control" over their information online.
"Big tech companies collect incredible amounts of deeply personal, private data from people without giving them the option to meaningfully consent," Hawley said. "They have gotten incredibly rich by employing creepy surveillance tactics on their users, but too often the extent of this data extraction is only known after a tech company irresponsibly handles the data and leaks it all over the internet."
Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/technology/444482-gop-senator-announces-bill-to-block-companies-from-tracking-online-activity?amp&__twitter_impression=true
Al Jazeera journalists suspended after posting anti-Semitic video about Holocaust
Source: The Hill
Al Jazeera suspended two journalists after they posted a video that questioned "how true" the Holocaust is.
The journalists posted the video on the AJ+ social media service, according to The Guardian. The video described the deaths of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust as a "narrative" "adopted by the Zionist movement," according to the newspaper, drawing swift condemnation.
The journalists also attached a caption to the video that read, "The gas chambers killed millions of Jews ... So the story says. How true is the #Holocaust and how did the Zionists benefit from it?"
The video also stated that "Israel is the No. 1 beneficiary from the Holocaust, using it as an excuse for ethnic cleansing and exterminating Palestinians," according to The Jerusalem Post.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/media/444529-al-jazeera-journalists-suspended-after-anti-semitic-video-about-holocaust?amp&__twitter_impression=true
Supreme Court tosses out ruling allowing lawsuits against drug manufacturer
Source: The Hill
The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a lower court to reconsider whether hundreds of lawsuits against a pharmaceutical company can move forward.
The justices unanimously ruled that the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals should revisit its prior ruling allowing for the legal challenges against the drug manufacturer Merck & Co. Hundreds of individuals had filed suit against the company over the osteoporosis drug Fosamax, alleging that the firm failed to comply with state law by not quickly including a warning on the drug label that it could cause thigh-bone fractures.
The company had argued that the lawsuits were preempted by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations on changing drug labels, claiming that the FDA would not have approved the change.
Merck pointed to the FDA rejecting their attempt in 2008 to add a warning about potential stress fractures as reason to believe they would also not approve a warning about the thigh-bone fractures.
Read more: https://thehill.com/regulation/444556-supreme-court-tosses-out-ruling-allowing-lawsuits-against-drug-manufacturer?amp&__twitter_impression=true
Supreme Court sides with Native American hunter as Gorsuch joins liberals
Source: The Hill 1
The Supreme Court on Monday sided with a Wyoming hunter charged with off-season hunting, ruling 5-4 that a 150-year-old treaty between a Native American tribe and the United States was still active and protected the man's rights.
Clayvin Herrera was charged in 2014 with off-season hunting, but he argued that an 1868 treaty between the U.S. and the Crow Tribe - of which he is a member - protected his ability to hunt at that time.
Wyoming had argued that the treaty was invalidated when it achieved statehood and lower courts agreed, leading to Herrera's conviction on the hunting charge.
The court sided with Herrera and found that the treaty with the tribe did not expire when Wyoming became a state in 1890. They also ruled against Wyoming's argument that Bighorn National Forest, where Herrera was hunting, was not "unoccupied lands" as required under the treaty.
Read more: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/444538-supreme-court-sides-with-wyoming-hunter-as-gorsuch-joins-liberals?amp&__twitter_impression=true
India's Narendra Modi Appears Headed for Re-election, Exit Polls Show
Source: New York Times
NEW DELHI — Prime Minister Narendra Modi, one of the most powerful and divisive leaders India has produced in decades, appeared headed for re-election, according to exit polls released Sunday at the end of mammoth parliamentary elections.
Mr. Modi seems to have emerged from the largest democratic vote in human history relatively unscathed by growing complaints across India about joblessness and distress on farms.
According to all of the major exit polls, Mr. Modi’s brand of brawny Hindu nationalist politics, coupled with his efforts to project a strong image of India abroad, played well among the 900 million registered voters. If the voter surveys prove accurate, Mr. Modi is positioned to govern with a strong hand for five more years.
To the very end, he campaigned as a passionate Hindu. Mr. Modi spent Saturday night and Sunday morning, the last day of the election, praying at a Hindu shrine and meditating in a remote Himalayan cave.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/19/world/asia/india-modi-election-polls.html
U.S. cancels $929 million in California high speed rail funds after appeal rejected
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration said Thursday it was formally cancelling $929 million in previously awarded funding for California's high-speed rail program after rejecting an appeal by the state.
The U.S. railway regulator, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), said on Thursday it had canceled the funding awarded in a 2010 agreement after it said the state had "repeatedly failed to comply" and "failed to make reasonable progress on the project."
In a statement on Thursday, FRA said it was still considering "all options" on seeking the return of $2.5 billion in federal funds the state has already received.
The decision is the latest salvo in an ongoing battle between the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and California. The largest U.S. state has repeatedly sued the Trump administration and officials expect the state will sue over the rescinding of rail funding.
Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN1SM2F9
Broward, Palm Beach counties bracing for planeloads of immigrants from crowded U.S. camps
Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The Trump administration is preparing to move migrants from overcrowded camps along the U.S. border to Broward and Palm Beach counties, local officials said Thursday.
Broward Mayor Mark Bogen said law enforcement was told to expect two planeloads of 135 migrants each week, starting in about two weeks. Half the passengers would go to Palm Beach County and half to Broward.
Bogen called the idea “irresponsible” and said the undocumented immigrants could become homeless in South Florida.
If so, Bogen said, "I would suggest that we bring them to the Trump hotels and ask the president to open his heart and home as well.”
Read more: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-immigrants-coming-south-florida-20190516-kxbobliqnvandgs5sqq7d6m5rm-story.html?outputType=amp&__twitter_impression=true
Stacey Abrams speaks out against Georgia boycott over abortion ban
Former Georgia governor candidate Stacey Abrams (D) is speaking out against calls for an entertainment industry boycott of the state over its new abortion legislation.
Despite her disapproval of Georgia's strict new "heartbeat" abortion ban, Abrams said Wednesday that a boycott is not "the most effective, strategic choice for change."
"I respect the call for a boycott on Georgia, but I do not believe it is the most effective, strategic choice for change," the Democratic rising star tweeted. "However, I know the perpetrators of #HB481 - most of them men - will not be moved by protest. In fact, they want the ability to demonize the film industry while profiting from its presence."
More: https://www.google.com/amp/s/thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/443919-stacey-abrams-pushes-back-on-georgia-boycott-i-do-not-believe-it-is-the%3famp
Bullock becomes first 2020 Dem to pick up endorsement from statewide elected official in Iowa
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock became the first 2020 Democratic presidential candidate to be endorsed by a statewide elected official in Iowa - the first state in the nation to hold primary caucuses.
Bullock announced early Thursday that he had been endorsed by Iowa's Democratic attorney general, Tom Miller.
"Governor Bullock can win the Democratic nomination, beat Donald Trump, and repair our nation - and I will be there at every step to help how I can," Miller said, according to The Des Moines Register.
Miller is the state's top Democrat and the nation's longest-serving attorney general, the Register noted. He was also among the first to endorse then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in 2007, helping give the future president a foothold in the state, it added.
More: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/443977-bullock-becomes-first-2020-dem-to-pick-up-endorsement-from-statewide?amp&__twitter_impression=true
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