Thousands take to Chile streets to mark protest movement anniversary

Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered Sunday in a central Santiago square to mark the anniversary of a protest movement that broke out last year demanding greater equality in Chile.

The demonstration comes just a week before Chileans vote in a referendum on whether to replace the dictatorship-era constitution -- one of the key demands when the protest movement began on October 18, 2019.

Protests broke out a year ago initially as a response to a hike in metro fares, before mushrooming into a general demonstration against inequality and the government of President Sebastián Piñera.

At: https://news.yahoo.com/thousands-chile-streets-mark-protest-211705700.html

Protesters torch the San Francisco de Borja church in Santiago, Chile, during protests held today on the first anniversary of the country's massive, pro-constitutional reform demonstrations.

The church belongs to the Carabineros military police, whose policy of deliberately aiming for protesters' eyes has blinded over 400.

Argentina: Reporters Without Borders alerts on push by right-wing lawmakers to intimidate reporters

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) issued an alert over an attempt to intimidate three independent journalists in Argentina by right-wing lawmakers.

RSF condemned a criminal complaint filed this week against Ari Lijalad, Franco Mizrahi and Roberto Navarro of the popular center-left news journal El Destape ('The Reveal'), by four congressmen from the right-wing 'Together for Change' coalition.

The complaint is over the publication of snippets from intelligence files linked to a political espionage scandal dating from the 2015-19 Mauricio Macri administration.

The files, obtained from the Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI), showed that Julián Stornelli, the son of a federal prosecutor with close ties to Macri (Carlos Stornelli), had been an AFI agent as recently as 2016.

Julián Stornelli's AFI post appears to confirm allegations that the AFI had colluded with his father Carlos in a wide-reaching espionage and extortion campaign against opponents and public contractors during Macri's tenure.

Extornelli

Numerous AFI agents - as well as Federal Prosecutor Carlos Stornelli - have been indicted since 2019 in connection with the related d'Alessiogate extortion and espionage case, in which Stornelli is alleged to have collected at least $12 million in ransom payments from framed victims.

Both Marcelo d'Alessio and Stornelli have close and longstanding ties to former President Macri.

"The selectivity of the complaint for a crime with penalties of up to 6 years in prison acquires retaliatory overtones for the information about a widespread illegal espionage plot that would have operated between 2016 and 2019," RSF declared in its Spanish Twitter page.

"The essential commitment of journalism is with the right of people to be informed. Excuses such as 'breach of secrets concerning security' should not be used to censor voices for other purposes."

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&tab=wT&sl=es&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eldestapeweb.com%2Fpolitica%2Flibertad-de-expresion%2Freporteros-sin-fronteras-condeno-la-persecucion-del-macrismo-contra-periodistas-de-el-destape-2020101619170

Journalists Ari Lijalad, Franco Mizrahi and Roberto Navarro of the popular Argentine news journal El Destape.

A criminal complaint filed against them this week by four right-wing congressmen for revealing further links between Argentine intelligence and indicted prosecutor Carlos Stornelli in a 2016-19 espionage and extortion case was condemned by RSF as an "attempted intimidation."

The four congressmen are close to former President Mauricio Macri, under whose tenure the abuses took place.

Bernard Cohen, lawyer who took on mixed marriage laws, dies

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

Bernard S. Cohen, who won a landmark case that led to the U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of laws forbidding interracial marriage and later went on to a successful political career as a state legislator, has died. He was 86.

Cohen and legal colleague Phil Hirschkop represented Richard and Mildred Loving, a white man and Black woman who were convicted in Virginia in 1959 of illegally cohabiting as man and wife and ordered to leave the state for 25 years.

Cohen and Hirschkop represented the Lovings as they sought to have their conviction overturned. It resulted in the Supreme Court's unanimous 1967 Loving v. Virginia ruling, which declared anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional.

Cohen died Monday of complications from Parkinson's disease at his home in Fredericksburg, said his son, Bennett Cohen.

Read more: https://www.inquirer.com/wires/ap/bernard-cohen-lawyer-who-took-mixed-marriage-laws-dies-20201014.html

Civil rights lawyer Bernard Cohen with members of the Prince William County Bar Association in 2016.

Cohen co-represented Richard and Mildred Loving, whose landmark 1967 case, Loving v. Virginia, overturned state miscenegation laws nationwide.

Houston billionaire Robert Brockman charged with $2 billion tax fraud

Federal prosecutors have charged Houston billionaire Robert Brockman in a $2 billion tax fraud scheme that they say is the largest such case ever against an American.

Department of Justice officials said at a news conference Thursday in San Francisco that 79-year-old Brockman hid the money over 20 years in a complicated scheme involving false returns and secret bank accounts.

Prosecutors also charged him with investor fraud.

The indictment was unsealed Thursday and Brockman is scheduled to make an appearance.

Brockman is the chairman and CEO of Reynolds and Reynolds. He is also chairman/CEO and founder of Universal Computer Systems, Inc.

At: https://www.khou.com/article/news/crime/houston-billionaire-robert-brockman-charged-in-tax-fraud-scheme/285-d9086d47-3b58-4bfb-a838-68aa94794bf2

Reynolds and Reynolds CEO and GOP megadonor Robert Brockman: charged with $2 billion in tax evasion, plus investor fraud.

94-year-old comes 300 miles with family to cast her vote in-person in Detroit

"I wanted to make sure my vote counted," said Mildred Madison."This was very easy. I could sit in my wheelchair."

Signed, sealed and delivered. After driving nearly 300 miles, the son and daughter of 94-year-old Mildred Madison brought her from the Chicago area Monday morning to make sure her vote is counted.

Madison, who is caring for her sister just outside of Chicago, says she usually votes absentee but when her primary ballot was late coming in, she didn't want to take any chances.

While living in Cleveland, she was a member of the city council and sat on the state board of education. Madison has also been a president of the league of women voters in Cleveland and Detroit.

"I wasn't going to miss this at all. It was most important, no matter what I had to do," she said.

At: https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/94-year-old-comes-300-miles-with-family-to-cast-her-vote-in-person-in-detroit



94-year-old Mildred Madison, who is registered in Detroit but is currently caring for a sister in Chicago, never received her Michigan absentee ballot.

"My parents could not vote in the south and they make sure that all of their children were going to vote," said Mildred.

Influential MGB designer Don Hayter dies at 94

Don Hayter, MG's last Chief Engineer, died Friday, October 9, reports the MG Car Club. Hayter played a major role in the design of the MGB, a highly influential and innovative roadster that went on to become the best-selling MG sports car of all time.

Hayter came to MG from Aston Martin in 1956, at which point he was named the company's Chief Body Draughtsman. There, he worked on the MGA Twin Cam, but soon started working on the MGB.

He was later appointed Chief Engineer of MG in 1973, where he stayed until MG's Abingdon facility was closed in 1980.

The MGB was a state-of-the-art design for 1962, when it debuted. It was a unibody car as opposed to body-on-frame, and it was one of the first cars to feature crumple zones that would protect the passenger compartment in collisions under 30 mph.

Hayter was responsible for turning the MGB from a prototype into a buildable car, finalizing the windshield, hood and dashboard designs. The MGB had a long life, remaining in production from 1962 to 1980.

At: https://www.thedrive.com/news/36993/influential-mgb-designer-don-hayter-dies-at-68

British auto engineer Don Hayter, with his 1979 MGB Tourer.

Forestry officials warn to 'social distance' from hairy-looking caterpillars

Attention Virginia residents! Beware the fluffy and hairy-looking caterpillar that has been crawling around the eastern part of the state.

The puss caterpillar, which transforms into the southern flannel moth when it becomes an adult, may resemble a tiny toupee - but it’s actually one of the most venomous caterpillars in the United States according to a profile by Donald W. Hall, professor emeritus of University of Florida's Entomology and Nematology Department.

The Virginia Department of Forestry has been receiving reports of recent sightings and issued a warning on Tuesday with a photo of one of the caterpillars.

The department told Virginians in a Facebook post to Social Distance away from this caterpillar!

At: https://www.today.com/news/virginia-residents-warned-avoid-venomous-puss-caterpillars-t193946

The puss caterpillar - whose foul temper and poisonous sting have prompted Virginia officials to issue a statewide warning.

French-Japanese designer Kenzo Takada dies from COVID-19

Kenzo Takada, the iconic French-Japanese fashion designer famed for his jungle-infused designs and free-spirited aesthetic that channeled global travel, has died. He was 81.

The family said in a statement to French media Sunday that Takada died from complications from COVID-19 in a hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris.

Takada's death came at the tail end of Paris Fashion Week, whose nine-day calendar is undertaking an unusual fashion season for spring-summer 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. It was only days ago that the Kenzo fashion house unveiled its bee-themed collection here.

Though Takada had been retired from his house since 1999 to pursue a career in art, Kenzo remains one of the most respected fixtures of high Paris fashion. Since 1993, the Kenzo brand has been owned by the French luxury goods company LVMH.

"His amazing energy, kindness, talent and smile were contagious," said Kenzo artistic director Felipe Oliveira Baptista, who unveiled the bee-themed collection to fashion editors Wednesday. “His kindred spirit will live forever.”

At: https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Fashion-designer-Kenzo-Takada-dies-from-COVID-19-15620237.php

Kenzo Takada, 1939-2020.