In the past few days, I’ve seen several excellent posts condemning a well-known designer brand for their use of crocodile skins for leather goods while exposing the conditions in which these innocent creatures are ‘farmed’, with images and descriptions that made the bile rise in my throat. Such barbarity is utterly appalling. It should be noted that this isn’t the first time this particular atrocity has been exposed, nor is this the first designer to be associated with it. And don’t misunderstand me. It’s good that these horrors are being exposed. Light should be shone into ALL the dark hells where our fellow earthlings endure the atrocities that our speciesism is demanding and paying for.
Angry and sad emotes abound on every post that I’ve seen. So why haven’t I shared them? After all we should be angry, we should be disgusted, we should be outraged. But anger, outrage and…
Planned Parenthood CEO says Texas abortion law is ’emblematic of vigilante justice.’ Hear whyCNNNow PlayingPlanned Parenthood…Planned Parenthood CEO says Texas abortion law is ’emblematic of vigilante justice.’ Hear why 02:06
Frida Ghitis (@fridaghitis) a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She is a CNN Contributor, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. View more opinion on CNN.
(CNN)The cry of “Freedom!” echoes across the land, rising from places like Texas, controlled by Republican officials who are using every tool at their disposal to ban mask mandates or vaccine requirements. It’s curious, then, that as of Wednesday morning, the women of Texas are essentially banned from choosing to get an abortion.The same politicians who declare that mask requirements are an intolerable intrusion by government into sacrosanct individual freedom, have just imposed the country’s most restrictive abortion law since the Supreme Court made abortion legal in the landmark 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade.Frida GhitisThe Texas law, SB8, went into effect because the US Supreme Court and a federal appeals court refused to stop it, even though it stands in clear violation of the current law. Until now, the courts had allowed some restrictions, generally banning late-term abortions, those happening beyond the stage where a fetus is viable, about 24 weeks in.
Texas’s law does two things differently — deviously.
First, it bans abortions after only six weeks of pregnancy. Six weeks into gestation, few women know they are pregnant. At six weeks, a woman is late for just one period. Professionals say 85% to 90% of abortions occur after that point. Some women may seek abortions earlier, perhaps after a rape or incest. The draconian Texas law, unlike most other laws that restrict abortion, also makes it illegal for women to terminate a pregnancy that came as the result of rape or incest. The only exception is for “medical emergencies.”
The second repugnant aspect of the Texas law is its system of enforcement, redolent of the methods used by the secret police in fascist regimes. Just like, for example, East Germany’s Stasi turned neighbor against neighbor, making spies of its citizens and creating criminals out of everyday people, this law relies on snitching and on turning perfectly normal behavior into punishable offenses.The legislation dictates that any private citizen can file a lawsuit against a health care provider or any person they believe aided and abetted an abortion, and it creates a system of veritable bounties for successful civil lawsuits, with a minimum potential payout of $10,000 in damages, plus legal fees for the informants.
Doctor: Covid cases in kids are becoming more complicated. It’s time for politicians to get out of our wayTo aid and abet an abortion, someone could do as little as drive a pregnant woman to a doctor. The law could mobilize battalions of abortion “bounty hunters.”The idea is so corrosive, so poisonous, that one can see it spawning all manner of vindictive actions. Anyone can turn anyone in. Emotional and financial harassment of abortion providers is all but assured, but there’s also room for frivolous assaults driven by completely unrelated motives.As President Joe Biden noted, the law “blatantly violates” rights established decades ago, and will have a significant impact not only on women, particularly minority women.The effect begins immediately, even if the law’s long-term prospects are unclear. The Supreme Court will hear a major abortion case this fall.Anti-abortion groups are delighted, of course. One organization already set up a website for anonymous whistleblowers to start turning in anyone they suspect of breaking the law. Opponents of the law responded in kind, targeting the website with phony entries, hoping to flood it with useless material.The unique approach, making private citizens instead of the government a key element of the law, was a tactical move that experts say makes it more difficult for the courts to overturn it. But it does nothing to conceal the fact that the government in Texas is telling women what to do with their bodies.
I live in Texas and I am really angrySuch an invasive action by government into one of the most personal decisions a citizen can make is particularly jarring in the middle of a pandemic — during which many of the same people promoting this law have rejected out of hand the government’s right to interfere in their lives.Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed the bill into law and is the state’s top Republican official, has issued executive orders banning any mandates related to the coronavirus. He declared his opposition to any restrictions to fight the virus. He solemnly proclaimed it’s “past the time for government mandates,” and “time for personal responsibility.”In Texas, even private businesses are banned from requiring proof of vaccination from their customers, a crass violation of free-market principles. The state has banned public school systems from requiring face masks, a direct violation of the long-standing Republican tenet advocating local control of schools and other jurisdictions. In fact, no governmental entity, no matter how small, is permitted to issue vaccine or mask mandates. Covid has killed more than 57,000 people in Texas.The governor and his GOP fans are pro-choice on masks and vaccines, and pro-life on abortion. They are for freedom and personal responsibility on masks, but against it on abortion.Curious, isn’t it?Get our free weekly newsletter
The contradiction is revealing. There’s more than hypocrisy at work — although there is plenty of that. It is plain that Texas Republicans’ cries of “freedom” have little to do with freedom. And the devotion to “life” is not altogether about saving lives.Many opponents of abortion are sincere about their beliefs. And some opponents of Covid restrictions genuinely believe government’s power should be more limited. But in the Venn diagram, those who fall in both categories, including Abbott and the bulk of Texas GOP politicians, there is something else at play: They are playing politics with people’s lives.
(CNN)The winds fueling the massive Caldor Fire in California may subside in the coming days, bringing the possibility of lighter fire activity after the blaze drove thousands out of their homes this week.”The issues and conditions that weather was causing, especially for the last couple of days, are going to be mitigated by much lighter winds across the fire,” Incident Meteorologist Jim Dudley said in an update Wednesday.”We’re still going to have dry conditions, humidity is going to be low, but we’re not going to have the wind tomorrow (Thursday). And getting into Friday, the winds get even lighter … across the entire fire,” Dudley added.
Get the latest storm and extreme weather updates delivered straight to your inbox from CNN.Sign Me UpBy subscribing you agree to ourprivacy policy.South Lake Tahoe was spared Wednesday as the fire remained in the mountains, away from the main portion of the tourist city, “which is a very good thing,” Dave Lauchner, a spokesman for Cal Fire Team 6, told CNN.
“At this point, we’ve been able to keep it out of South Lake Tahoe,” Lauchner said. “We’re hoping to keep it up on the hill,” he added.Still, the fire remained significantly active Wednesday due to dry conditions and strong winds.”These strong winds increased fire behavior dramatically along the northern area of the fire,” Cal Fire said in an update.The flames forced the evacuation of thousands of people from South Lake Tahoe this week and pose a risk to more than 32,000 structures after destroying hundreds of homes, officials have said.
A Lake Tahoe resident played the violin as his family sat at standstill in Caldor Fire evacuation trafficThe city, normally bustling with vacationers, was a gray ghost town Tuesday, with empty parking lots, closed roads and shuttered businesses as the fire’s thick smoke hovered over the area.Overall, more than 59,000 people have been placed under evacuation orders in the state, according to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.In neighboring Nevada, evacuation warnings were also issued for Douglas County as the Caldor Fire inches toward the state’s border, according to Cal Fire.Gov. Steve Sisolak declared a state of emergency Monday in anticipation of flames crossing state lines. California Gov. Gavin Newsom also declared a state of emergency for the counties surrounding Lake Tahoe.Wednesday, the White House approved Newsom’s request for a presidential emergency declaration to receive direct federal aid for the Caldor Fire. The move will “supplement state, local and tribal government emergency services for the protection of lives, property, public health and safety,” Newsom’s office said in a news release
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestFirefighter Brentt Call walks through a burned-over area of the Bootleg Fire near Klamath Falls, Oregon, on July 27.Hide Caption33 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestCal Fire Capts. Tristan Gale, left, and Derek Leong monitor a firing operation in California’s Lassen National Forest on July 26. Crews had set a ground fire to stop the Dixie Fire from spreading.Hide Caption34 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestFirefighters try to reach a fire site in Quincy, California, on July 25.Hide Caption35 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestVolunteers sort clothing at a donation shelter for those affected by the Bootleg Fire in Bly, Oregon.Hide Caption36 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestScott Griffin surveys his property, which was destroyed by the Bootleg Fire in Sycan Estates, Oregon.Hide Caption37 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestFlames consume a home as the Dixie Fire tears through the Indian Falls community of Plumas County, California, on July 24.Hide Caption38 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestPeople stand behind the fire line as flames from the Steptoe Canyon Fire spread through dry grass in Colton, Washington, on July 22.Hide Caption39 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestPlumes of smoke from the Dixie Fire rise above California’s Plumas National Forest, near the Pacific Gas and Electric Rock Creek Power House, on July 21.Hide Caption40 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestFirefighters walk near a wildfire in Topanga, California, on July 19.Hide Caption41 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestA firefighter does mop-up work in the Fremont-Winema National Forest, which has been struggling with the Bootleg Fire in Oregon.Hide Caption42 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestA car is charred by the Bootleg Fire along a mountain road near Bly, Oregon.Hide Caption43 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestNicolas Bey, 11, hugs his father, Sayyid, near a donated trailer they are using after their home was burned in the Bootleg Fire near Beatty, Oregon.Hide Caption44 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestFirefighters extinguish hot spots in an area affected by the Bootleg Fire near Bly, Oregon.Hide Caption45 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestA bear cub clings to a tree after being spotted by a safety officer at the Bootleg Fire in Oregon.Hide Caption46 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestFirefighters work to protect Markleeville, California, from the Tamarack Fire on July 17. The Tamarack Fire was started by a lightning strike.Hide Caption47 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestThe Tamarack Fire burns in Markleeville, near the California-Nevada border, on July 17.Hide Caption48 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestA member of the Northwest Incident Management Team 12 holds a map of the Chuweah Creek Fire as wildfires devastated Nespelem, Washington, on July 16.Hide Caption49 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestA cloud from the Bootleg Fire drifts into the air near Bly, Oregon, on July 16.Hide Caption50 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestFirefighters spray water from the Union Pacific Railroad’s fire train while battling the Dixie Fire in California’s Plumas National Forest on July 16.Hide Caption51 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestHorses climb a hillside that was burned by the Chuweah Creek Fire in eastern Washington.Hide Caption52 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestFire from the Bootleg Fire illuminates smoke near Bly, Oregon, on the night of July 16.Hide Caption53 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestA firefighter battles the Bootleg Fire in the Fremont-Winema National Forest, along the Oregon and California border, on July 15.Hide Caption54 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestA firefighting aircraft drops flame retardant on the Bootleg Fire in Bly, Oregon, on July 15.Hide Caption55 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestFirefighters dig away at hot spots underneath stumps and brush after flames from the Snake River Complex Fire swept through the area south of Lewiston, Idaho, on July 15.Hide Caption56 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestBurned cars sit outside a home that was destroyed by the Chuweah Creek Fire in Nespelem, Washington.Hide Caption57 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestEvacuee Dee McCarley hugs her cat Bunny at a Red Cross center in Klamath Falls, Oregon, on July 14.Hide Caption58 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestAn airplane drops fire retardant on the Chuweah Creek Fire in Washington on July 14.Hide Caption59 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestOperations Section Chief Bert Thayer examines a map of the Bootleg Fire in Chiloquin, Oregon, on July 13.Hide Caption60 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestFire consumes a home as the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, tears through Doyle, California, on July 10. It’s the second time in less than a year that the small town has been ravaged by a wildfire.Hide Caption61 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestMen hug a member of the Red Cross at a Bootleg Fire evacuation center in Klamath Falls, Oregon.Hide Caption62 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestEmbers blow across a field as the Sugar Fire burns in Doyle, California, on July 9.Hide Caption63 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestFirefighters monitor the Sugar Fire in Doyle, California, on July 9.Hide Caption64 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestIn this long-exposure photograph, taken early on July 2, flames surround a drought-stricken Shasta Lake during the Salt Fire in Lakehead, California.Hide Caption65 of 65
Photos: Wildfires raging in the WestJason Marone of the Roseville Fire Department hoses down a hot spot burning close to homes in the Christmas Valley area of Meyers, California, on Tuesday, August 31.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE (CBS13) – Mandatory evacuations have South Lake Tahoe looking like a ghost town just days from the long Labor Day holiday weekend which usually lures tourists.
Local wildlife rescue groups have had their hands full moving all of their animals away from the path of the flames. Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care says it was ready. Within just the last six months, the group used grant money to buy an animal trailer and anxiety-safe crates just in case they had to evacuate.
“We can’t believe what our eyes are showing us. That the devastation and the speed at which fire comes through and the fact that these animals are running for their lives,” said Greg Erfani, LTWC Board Member.
“We were as everybody when we started seeing these fires getting closer and closer there was this panic, you know what are we going to do with all these animals,” Erfani told CBS13. “It was difficult because these are wild animals and our goal is to keep these animals wild. They don’t like human interaction.”
The center was basically able to piecemeal off all the animals to smaller sister organizations like the Gold Country Wildlife Rescue and the California Raptor Center. Their many ambassador animals like Porky the porcupine are now all safe with their handlers.
“They’re all in great hands and they’re protected and now our staff and our volunteers can go and take care of their own homes that are in danger. So animals came first for us,” said Erfani.
Many want to help, but the staff and animals have been forced out of their facility. They actually can’t take any physical items or food, but they do need financial support. You can donate on the Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care website.MORE NEWS:Sprinklers Left On At Lake Tahoe Homes Hampering Firefighting Efforts
Pararescue personnel with the Alaska Air National Guard’s 210th Rescue Squadron used an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter like this one in the search for 12 mountaineers stranded in poor weather on Klutlan Glacier southeast of Mt. Bona in Wrangell-St Elias National Park. The mountaineers were rescued June 1 after the 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, dispatched an Alaska Army National Guard CH-47 Chinook with a paramedic from the 2nd Battalion, 211 Aviation Regiment.1PRINT|E-MAIL
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – Alaska Air National Guardsmen of the 176th Wing rescued ahunter suffering from an accidental gunshot wound Aug. 30 about 170 miles southeast of Fairbanks and north of Chicken.
Another hunting party came upon the injured hunterand notified Alaska State Troopers, who requested assistance from the Alaska Rescue Coordination…
Pro-choice and pro-life protesters rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court during the hearing of the Whole Woman’s Health v. Cole case on Wednesday, March 2, 2016.
The lawsuit argues the state law mandating a hunt is unconstitutional.Written By:Danielle Kaeding / Wisconsin Public Radio|8:44 pm, Aug. 31, 2021
Hunters and trappers in Wisconsin needed less than three days to exceed the DNR’s wolf harvest goal quota by about 40%. (Photo courtesy of the Wisconsin DNR)
A coalition of animal rights groups is suing to stop Wisconsin’s fall wolf hunt, arguing that the state law that mandates a hunt is unconstitutional.
Thelawsuitfiled in Dane County Circuit Court by Animal Wellness Action, Friends of the Wisconsin Wolf and Wildlife, Project Coyote and other groups seeks to overturn state law thatrequires a wolf hunting seasonwhen the animal isn’t listed as a federal endangered species. The groups also want a judge to reverse the 300-wolf quota set by the Natural Resources Board for the upcoming November hunt, and they want to prevent the Wisconsin Department of…
An EMS medic from the Houston Fire Department prepares to transport a COVID-19 positive 2-year-old to a hospital in Houston, Texas, on August 25, 2021.
As we enter a new school year with students actually in the building, as autumn looms a few scant weeks away, and as the Delta variant of COVID-19 leaves us guessing as to what comes next in this long, lethal slog, “uncertainty” is the watchword of the day. A number of positive indicators are running into the teeth of a seemingly ceaseless tide of bad news, and as ever, the acolytes of Trump continue to kill their supporters through disinformation.
When discussing the climate crisis, we speak often of the dangers of “feedback loops” — factors feeding into factors that accelerate the process. The spread of COVID has been no different: A segment of the population either refuses to take the threat seriously or has limited access to the vaccine, the virus ravages that segment, and out of that sickened segment emerge variants like Delta. As a segment of the population continues to dismiss the threat or fails to have vaccine access, the variant hits harder than before, and the increased number of infected people become incubators for an even more dangerous variant. This fits the definition of a feedback loop.
Underscoring this is the emergence from South Africa of a new COVID variant, this one designated as C.1.2. As yet officially unnamed, this new variant has been found in China, New Zealand, Switzerland, Portugal, Mauritius, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DAR) and England. As we have learned, COVID gives not a damn about borders, and the fact of its existence overseas means it could very easily be here in the U.S. already. Delta came from India, remember.
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The South African scientists studying C.1.2 noted that it has “concerning constellations of mutations.” They went on to warn, “While these mutations are not characteristic of current VOCs/VOIs, they have been associated with escape from certain class 3 neutralizing antibodies. The combination of these mutations presents a potentially novel antigenic landscape for C.1.2 variant specific antibodies.”
The science-to-English translation of this is stark: C.1.2 may be capable of evading to one degree or another the protections provided by our vaccines. Delta has caused more “breakthrough” infections of vaccinated people because its viral load is approximately 1,200 times that of the original virus, and because the vaccines do not provide 100 percent protection from infection.
How exactly are variants created? “According to the scientists,” reports Joseph Choi of The Hill, “these mutations likely occurred in a single individual who had a prolonged case of COVID-19, resulting in an accelerated evolution.”
This is vital: The vaccines may not be bulletproof, but they are almost completely effective at preventing people from becoming severely ill from COVID. If a person avoids becoming severely ill from COVID for a protracted amount of time, they deprive the virus of what is necessary for them to evolve into a new variant.The vaccines may not be bulletproof, but they are almost completely effective at preventing people from becoming severely ill from COVID.
Of all the reasons to get vaccinated, even if a booster is required later, this is one of the best I’ve heard. Though we remain in a terrifying fog regarding what is to come, and even as tens of thousands of new infections are happening daily due to vaccine resistance, there can be no denying that we have made huge strides since last winter. This is almost entirely due to an increasingly vaccinated public.
All of this can be undone by a variant with the ability to evade vaccination. And the way to stop this is by way of vaccination; people who worry about being a petri dish for Big Pharma should worry more about becoming an unvaccinated petri dish for COVID. The longer you are sick, the more likely a new variant emergence becomes. I don’t imagine even the most stalwart pro-Trump MAGA shouter aspires to wake up as Typhoid Mary one day. Skip the shots, and that’s what you’re gambling with.
It appears the issue is trending in a positive direction. The latest surveys reveal a steep decline in the number of people refusing to get the vaccine. A number of factors appear to be causing this: The FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine, workplace vaccination mandates and the beginning of the school year. (Children under 12 now make up the largest group of unvaccinated people in the country, and unfortunately, the solution to that remains months away.)
My favorite part of this survey, according to Axios: “The share of Americans who say they feel hopeful right now has plummeted to 34 percent, from 48 percent in March — but those saying they feel motivated, energized, inspired or resilient has risen by at least as much. That suggests that, rather than giving up, these Americans are reassessing their expectations about how quick a fix the first generation of vaccines alone can be — and resolving to do what it takes over the long haul.”
In other words: Stout hearts. May it be so. Get the shots if you can, please, and break the feedback loop.
The Florida Department of Education on Monday announced it was withholding funds from at least two school districts in the state in response to their rules on masking for students and staff. It’s doing this in spite of last week’s court ruling, which said that the districts were within their rights to make such rules.
The salaries of Broward County and Alachua County school district officials will be withheld, said Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, because the mask rules they implemented, designed to help keep students and staff safe by preventing the spread of coronavirus, went against an order from Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Florida) banning districts from making such rules.
“The withholding of funds will continue monthly until each school board complies with state law and rule,” Corcoran said.
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“What’s unacceptable is the politicians who have raised their right hands and pledged, under oath, to uphold the Constitution but are not doing so,” Corcoran added.
Yet a ruling from Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper on Friday disagreed with the notion that mask rules in schools were unconstitutional, as Corcoran has claimed. Indeed, Cooper sided with parents and school administrators in the state, who had sued the DeSantis administration using the very law that allowed the governor to issue the mask mandate ban in the first place.
Noting that the Parents’ Bill of Rights created by the Republican legislature and signed into law in June by Gov. DeSantis doesn’t allow government leaders to “infringe on the fundamental rights of a parent” regarding a child’s upbringing, education, health care choices and mental health “without demonstrating that such action is reasonable and necessary to achieve a compelling state interest,” Judge Cooper said that the state had not met that standard.
“My ruling in this case, if you want to put it in one sentence, is, I am enforcing the bill passed by the Legislature and requiring that anyone who uses that bill to follow all provisions and not part of the provisions,” Cooper said.
The brazen move by the Florida Education Department also comes as the U.S. Department of Education, through its civil rights office, launched investigations into five states that have issued similar mask mandate bans on localities throughout the country. That investigation so far does not include Florida, Texas, Arkansas and Arizona, due to court decisions and other factors that have not allowed those states’ bans to be fully implemented.
“Some politicians are trying to turn public safety measures — that is, children wearing masks in school — into political disputes for their own political gain,” Biden said earlier this month of governors who were issuing mask mandate bans. “We are not going to sit by as governors try to block and intimidate educators protecting our children.”
In the past few days, I’ve seen several excellent posts condemning a well-known designer brand for their use of crocodile skins for leather goods while exposing the conditions in which these innocent creatures are ‘farmed’, with images and descriptions that made the bile rise in my throat. Such barbarity is utterly appalling. It should be noted that this isn’t the first time this particular atrocity has been exposed, nor is this the first designer to be associated with it. And don’t misunderstand me. It’s good that these horrors are being exposed. Light should be shone into ALL the dark hells where our fellow earthlings endure the atrocities that our speciesism is demanding and paying for. 
Frida GhitisThe Texas law, SB8, 
