#Chief of Coast Guard District

[beardedmrbean]

After a trial that spanned 98 days of testimony, massive amounts of evidence and 241 government witnesses, the unanimous jury’s verdict was read in Chief U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson’s court in Honolulu. The jury had deliberated for about four days.

Federal prosecutors maintained—and 49-year-old Miske denied—that he orchestrated the 2016 killing of Johnathan Fraser, best friend to Miske’s only son, Caleb. Miske blamed Fraser for the traffic accident that killed his son, prosecutors said.

The jury Thursday convicted Miske of killing Fraser, whose body has never been found.

Outside the court after the verdict was read, Ashley Wong, Fraser’s girlfriend in 2016, said, “It won’t bring him back.”

Fraser’s mother Shelly Miguel and other family and friends, many wearing “Justice for Johnny ” T-shirts, also attended and cried and embraced outside the federal court building after the verdict.

Miguel and Wong both said the verdict provided that justice for Fraser.

In all, the jury convicted Miske of 13 of 16 charges related to running a criminal enterprise.

”We, the jury, having found the defendant guilty of Count One, further unanimously find that, as part of the offense charged in Count One, the defendant committed, on or about July 30, 2016, murder in the second degree of Johnathan Fraser, ” the unanimous jury declared, according to court records.

He also was convicted of conspiracy to use chemical weapons, kidnapping for hire, murder for hire, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to commit assault in aid of racketeering, and other charges. He was found not guilty of bank fraud and drug charges.

The federal government alleged that starting in the late 1990s until 2020, Miske and his associates ran the “Miske Enterprise ” through a pattern of racketeering activity.

The racketeering activity included murder, kidnapping, arson, chemical warfare and robbery, according to federal prosecutors.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark A. Inciong, Michael David Nammar, William KeAupuni Akina and Aislinn Affinito prosecuted the case. Prosecutors declined comment following the verdict.

On July 11, in closing arguments, Inciong reminded jurors that there are 14 standards that can be used to convict him of a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO ) conspiracy charge, but they need only two.

”One robbery, one kidnapping … only two … so I just want to be clear there were multiple incidents, ” said Inciong, speaking in court while walking the jurors through an overhead projection of the RICO conspiracy requirements.

The investigation that led to Thursday’s verdict was run by the Honolulu Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division, Homeland Security Investigations, EPA-CID and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives.

Task force officers with the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Coast Guard Investigative Service, U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, Hawaii National Guard, 93rd Civil Support Team and the Office of Investigations—Office of the Inspector General for the Social Security Administration, assisted in the years-long investigation.

Miske was defended by Lynn E. Panagakos and Michael Jerome Kennedy. They declined comment following the verdict.

Miske’s defense team told the story of a man who came up hard but mixed the tactics of the hustlers who provided his street smarts with savvy businessmen and laborers who taught him the value of honest hard work.

Miske was not a monster, his attorneys argued, but an entrepreneur with a passionate approach to his work. He did the hard jobs for local people.

His attorneys described Miske as a legitimate businessman who made sure to give back to the community he credits with raising him.

Miske built family business Kama ‘aina Termite and Pest Control into an industry leader and started solar and plumbing businesses. He fumigated numerous “cultural treasures ” in Hawaii, and highlighted his pro bono work to tent the Neal S. Blaisdell Center when the city could not afford it, his attorneys said.

But the government alleged that Miske controlled illegal markets popular in Hawaii and owned nightclubs where brawls over bar tabs were common and associates were accused of using chemical weapons against rival club owners.

The Miske enterprise made millions of dollars selling illegal commercial-­grade aerial fireworks on the black market, they told the jury.

Allegations including using fishing boats to move drugs and money were among the charges Miske faced.

Federal prosecutors also said Miske wanted other people killed, but they think many acts were never carried out.

Miske was facing 16 separate criminal charges and stood trial alone after his alleged co-conspirators John Stancil, Dae Han Moon, Preston M. Kimoto, Miske’s daughter-­in-law Delia-Anne Fabro ­-Miske, Jarrin Young and Jason K. Yoko ­yama accepted a plea deal from federal prosecutors.

When the U.S. Attorney’s Office indicted Miske on June 18, 2020, on charges of racketeering, conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, robbery, murder-for-hire conspiracy, marketing illegal drugs, firearms, chemical weapons, drugs and bank fraud, they also indicted 10 of his associates.

The Miske criminal enterprise modeled itself after big-city organized crime groups, federal prosecutors told the jury.

Authorities accused the organization of using businesses to further its criminal objectives, including Kama ‘aina Termite & Pest Control, Kama ‘aina Holdings, Hawaii Partners, Kama ‘aina Plumbing and Home Renovations, Kama ‘aina Home Renovations, Makana Pacific Development and the Encore Nightclub, which was formerly known as M Nightclub.

According to federal prosecutors, Miske and the criminal enterprise waged violence against “rivals, competitors and innocent members of the community over a period spanning years, if not decades. In so doing, Miske participated in, directed and facilitated numerous assaults, kidnapping, extortion, the use of firearms, attempted murder and murder for hire.”———Star-Advertiser photographer Jamm Aquino contributed to this report.

[mariacallous]

MANILA, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for a deadly bombing at a Catholic Mass in the Philippines on Sunday that killed at least four people and injured 50 others.

The attack was carried out in a university gymnasium in Marawi, a city in the south of the country besieged by Islamist militants for five months in 2017.

The Islamic State group, which wields influence in the country's south, said on Telegram its members had detonated the bomb.

Earlier on Sunday, before Islamic State's claim, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr condemned "the senseless and most heinous acts perpetrated by foreign terrorists". Police and the military strengthened security in the country's south and around the capital Manila.

In Rome, Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims during his Sunday address, and, in a separate written message, appealed to "Christ the prince of peace (to) grant to all the strength to turn from violence and overcome every evil with good".

Law enforcement operations to bring to justice the perpetrators of the "terrorist activity" will "continue unabated", Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told a press conference.

There were "strong indications of a foreign element" in the bombing, Teodoro said, refusing to elaborate so as not to compromise ongoing investigation.

Fragments of a 16-mm mortar were recovered at the scene, senior police official Emmanuel Peralta told the press conference.

HIGH ALERT

The blast in Marawi, capital of Lanao del Sur province, followed a series of military operations against local pro-Islamic State groups in the southern Philippines, the military chief said.

One on Sunday in Lanao del Sur led to the killing of a leader of the Dawlah Islamiya-Maute group.

"It is possible that what happened this morning was a retaliatory attack," Armed Forces Chief Romeo Brawner told the press conference.

The Islamic State-linked Maute seized Marawi on May 2017, seeking to make it a Southeast Asian "wilayat" – or governorate - for Islamic State.

In the ensuing five-month battle, Islamist fighters and Philippine forces killed more than a thousand people, including civilians.

Images shared by the Lanao del Sur government on Facebook showed military officials surveying the gym at the Mindanao State University where the blast occurred, which appeared intact except for burn marks in the centre.

Videos posted by DZBB radio on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, showed rescuers carrying injured people out of the gym on plastic chairs.

Police offices in Mindanao and the capital region were placed on high alert and police checkpoints tightened "to prevent possible follow-up incidents", police official Peralta said.

The coast guard directed its districts to intensify pre-departure inspections at ports.

Mindanao State University said in a Facebook post it was "deeply saddened and appalled by the act of violence that occurred during a religious gathering". "We unequivocally condemn in the strongest possible terms this senseless and horrific act."

The university said it was suspending classes until further notice.

[wordexpress]

"Underwater Noises" Detected By Rescuers In search For Missing Titanic Sub

Shortly before the Coast Guard tweet, Rolling Stone magazine quoted an internal email sent to US Department of Homeland Security officials saying a Canadian plane involved in the search "heard banging sounds in the area every 30 minutes."

Rescuers using sonar to search for the missing Titanic submersible with five people onboard detected “underwater noises” in the North Atlantic near where the craft vanished two days earlier, the US Coast Guard said Wednesday.

“Canadian P-3 aircraft detected underwater noises in the search area. As a result, ROV (remotely operated vehicle) operations were relocated in an attempt to explore the origin of the noises,” the US Coast Guard’s First District said on its official Twitter page.

The ROV searches “have yielded negative results but continue,” the military branch said, adding that data from the Canadian aircraft had been shared with US Navy experts to inform future search plans.

The announcement is the most encouraging sign yet that the tourists who were en route Sunday to visit the wreckage of the Titanic in a 21-foot (6.5-meter) minisub might still be alive, as rescue teams race to reach them before their air supply runs out.

US and Canadian coast guard ships and planes are scouring 7,600 square miles (20,000 square kilometers) of ocean — larger than the US state of Connecticut — for the vessel, which was attempting to dive some 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

Shortly before the Coast Guard tweet, Rolling Stone magazine quoted an internal email sent to US Department of Homeland Security officials saying a Canadian plane involved in the search “heard banging sounds in the area every 30 minutes.”

The submersible, named Titan, was carrying three fee-paying passengers: British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and his son Suleman.

OceanGate Expeditions chief executive Stockton Rush and French submarine operator Paul-Henri Nargeolet were also onboard.

Harding and Nargeolet are both members of The Explorers Club, a group which supports scientific expeditions.

“There is cause for hope, based on data from the field — we understand that likely signs of life have been detected at the site,” The Explorers Club said in a statement.

[roman-catholic-mass-readings]

7th August >> Mass Readings (Except USA)

Wednesday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time 

or

Pope Saint Sixtus II and his Companions, Martyrs 

or

Saint Cajetan, Priest.

Wednesday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time 

(Liturgical Colour: Green. Year: B(II))

First Reading Jeremiah 31:1-7 You shall be rebuilt, virgin of Israel.

I will be the God of all the clans of Israel – it is the Lord who speaks – they shall be my people.

The Lord says this: They have found pardon in the wilderness, those who have survived the sword. Israel is marching to his rest. The Lord has appeared to him from afar: I have loved you with an everlasting love, so I am constant in my affection for you. I build you once more; you shall be rebuilt, virgin of Israel. Adorned once more, and with your tambourines, you will go out dancing gaily. You will plant vineyards once more on the mountains of Samaria (the planters have done their planting: they will gather the fruit). Yes, a day will come when the watchmen shout on the mountains of Ephraim, ‘Up! Let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God!’

For the Lord says this: Shout with joy for Jacob! Hail the chief of nations! Proclaim! Praise! Shout: ‘The Lord has saved his people, the remnant of Israel!’

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Jeremiah 31:10-12,13

R/ The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.

O nations, hear the word of the Lord, proclaim it to the far-off coasts. Say: ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and guard him as a shepherd guards his flock.’

R/ The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.

For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, has saved him from an overpowering hand. They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion, they will stream to the blessings of the Lord.

R/ The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.

Then the young girls will rejoice and will dance, the men, young and old, will be glad. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will console them, give them gladness for grief.

R/ The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.

Gospel Acclamation James 1:18

Alleluia, alleluia! By his own choice the Father made us his children by the message of the truth, so that we should be a sort of first-fruits of all that he created. Alleluia!

Or: Luke 7:16

Alleluia, alleluia! A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited his people. Alleluia!

Gospel Matthew 15:21-28 The Canaanite woman debates with Jesus and saves her daughter.

Jesus left Gennesaret and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Then out came a Canaanite woman from that district and started shouting, ‘Sir, Son of David, take pity on me. My daughter is tormented by a devil.’ But he answered her not a word. And his disciples went and pleaded with him. ‘Give her what she wants,’ they said ‘because she is shouting after us.’ He said in reply, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.’ But the woman had come up and was kneeling at his feet. ‘Lord,’ she said ‘help me.’ He replied, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs.’ She retorted, ‘Ah yes, sir; but even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.’ And from that moment her daughter was well again.

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

---------------------------

Pope Saint Sixtus II and his Companions, Martyrs   

(Liturgical Colour: Red. Year: B(II))

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Wednesday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading Wisdom 3:1-9 The souls of the virtuous are in the hands of God.

The souls of the virtuous are in the hands of God, no torment shall ever touch them. In the eyes of the unwise, they did appear to die, their going looked like a disaster, their leaving us, like annihilation; but they are in peace. If they experienced punishment as men see it, their hope was rich with immortality; slight was their affliction, great will their blessings be. God has put them to the test and proved them worthy to be with him; he has tested them like gold in a furnace, and accepted them as a holocaust. When the time comes for his visitation they will shine out; as sparks run through the stubble, so will they. They shall judge nations, rule over peoples, and the Lord will be their king for ever. They who trust in him will understand the truth, those who are faithful will live with him in love; for grace and mercy await those he has chosen.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 125(126):1-6

R/ Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap.

When the Lord delivered Zion from bondage, it seemed like a dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, on our lips there were songs.

R/ Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap.

The heathens themselves said: ‘What marvels the Lord worked for them!’ What marvels the Lord worked for us! Indeed we were glad.

R/ Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap.

Deliver us, O Lord, from our bondage as streams in dry land. Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap.

R/ Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap.

They go out, they go out, full of tears, carrying seed for the sowing: they come back, they come back, full of song, carrying their sheaves.

R/ Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap.

Gospel Acclamation James 1:12

Alleluia, alleluia! Happy the man who stands firm, for he has proved himself, and will win the crown of life. Alleluia!

Gospel Matthew 10:28-33 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body.

Jesus said to his apostles: ‘Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows. ‘So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven. But the one who disowns me in the presence of men, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

----------------------------

Saint Cajetan, Priest 

(Liturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II))

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Wednesday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading Ecclesiasticus 2:7-13 You who fear the Lord, trust the Lord.

You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy; do not turn aside in case you fall. You who fear the Lord, trust him, and you will not be baulked of your reward. You who fear the Lord hope for good things, for everlasting happiness and mercy. Look at the generations of old and see: who ever trusted in the Lord and was put to shame? Or who ever feared him steadfastly and was left forsaken? Or who ever called out to him, and was ignored? For the Lord is compassionate and merciful, he forgives sins, and saves in days of distress.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 111(112):1-9

R/ Happy the man who fears the Lord. or R/ Alleluia!

Happy the man who fears the Lord, who takes delight in all his commands. His sons will be powerful on earth; the children of the upright are blessed.

R/ Happy the man who fears the Lord. or R/ Alleluia!

Riches and wealth are in his house; his justice stands firm for ever. He is a light in the darkness for the upright: he is generous, merciful and just.

R/ Happy the man who fears the Lord. or R/ Alleluia!

The good man takes pity and lends, he conducts his affairs with honour. The just man will never waver: he will be remembered for ever.

R/ Happy the man who fears the Lord. or R/ Alleluia!

He has no fear of evil news; with a firm heart he trusts in the Lord. With a steadfast heart he will not fear; he will see the downfall of his foes.

R/ Happy the man who fears the Lord. or R/ Alleluia!

Open-handed, he gives to the poor; his justice stands firm for ever. His head will be raised in glory.

R/ Happy the man who fears the Lord. or R/ Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation Matthew 5:3

Alleluia, alleluia! How happy are the poor in spirit: theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Alleluia!

Gospel Luke 12:32-34 It has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom. ‘Sell your possessions and give alms. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

[globalaffairs]

22 Killed In Kerala Tourist Boat Tragedy, Multiple Rules Were Broken

The incident took place around 7 pm near Tuvalthiram beach in the Tanur area of Malappuram.

New Delhi: At least 22 people, including seven children, were killed when a double-decker boat overturned and sank near a beach in Kerala’s Malappuram district Sunday evening, the state government informed.

The incident took place around 7 pm near Tuvalthiram beach in the Tanur area of the district. A case has been registered against the boat’s owner for culpable homicide, the police said.

Although the exact number of passengers on the boat is still unknown, 40 were with tickets while many others were without one. The boat reportedly did not have a safety certificate either.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Indian Coast Guard personnel are engaged in rescue work. Underwater cameras are being used to track down those who are still missing.

Leaders across the political spectrum expressed their shock and sadness at the incident.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the deaths and announced a compensation of ₹ 2 lakh to the families of each victim.

“Pained by the loss of lives due to the boat mishap in Malappuram, Kerala. Condolences to the bereaved families. An ex-gratia of ₹ 2 lakh from PMNRF (Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund) would be provided to the next of kin of each deceased,” the Prime Minister’s office tweeted Sunday evening.

Congress leader and former Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi too wished for the speedy recovery of those injured.

“Distraught by the news of a houseboat capsizing in Malappuram, Kerala. My heartfelt condolences to all those who have lost their loved ones, and wishes for the speedy recovery of those injured.” “I appeal to Congress workers to assist authorities in rescue operations,” Mr Gandhi tweeted.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced that he will visit the site today and directed Malappuram district collector to immediately carry out an emergency rescue operation. Police, fire and health officials along with locals from Tanur were engaged in the rescue work.

The Chief Minister also announced that Monday has been declared as a day of mourning with all government events postponed as a mark of respect to the victims.

According to the police, the cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained.

[clarklovescarole]

March 1938: The Los Angeles Flood

March 4, 1938 – Evening Standard

The death toll in the California flood disaster is mounting every hour. The latest reports state that 35 people have lost their lives. A number of them were killed by landslides; others were swept away by the flood water and drowned.

It is described as the worst disaster in the region since the earthquake of 1933, which wrecked Long Beach and killed 150 people.

Clark Gable Forced To Abandon Car

The homes of Miss Norma Shearer, Mr. James Stewart, and Miss Anita Loos, Miss Billie Burke and Mr. Robert Montgomery are also cut off by the flood water, which is in some cases entered the houses. 

High seas prevented some coast guard boats from reaching the marooned stars. Small bridges were torn from their foundations. 

Miss Kay Francis was rescued by the police from her car, which as standing in 4ft. of water. 

Miss Ginger Rogers and Mr. Richard Dix reached their studio after a thrilling race with the deepening water. 

The lower part of Miss Joan Bennett’s house in the lower Beverly Hills district was flooded. Miss Isabel Jeans only just escaped a landslide while in her car. 

Mr. Clark Gable was forced to abandon his car on a flooded road. 

Twentieth Century Fox Studios estimated that they have suffered damage to their sets amounting to more than £20,000. At the Paramount studios, all productions have been stopped and the executive offices submerged. 

Boats were used to take Miss Sylvia Sydney, Mr. George Raft, Miss Dorothy Lamour, Miss Mary Carlisle, and Mr. Ray Milland to and from the sound stages. 

Many studios made hurried arrangements to house their workers on sound stages and in dressing rooms last night. Shirley Temple stayed overnight in a bungalow at the studio.

Some of the ranches owned by film stars have suffered severely including those owned by Mr. Bing Crosby and Miss Carole Lombard. Mr. Robert Taylor and Miss Barbara Stanwyck, who own adjoining ranches, were rescuing horses from rising water. 

March 27, 1938 – St. Louis Globe

Carole Tired Out From Year of Work

Carole Lombard fans will find these bits of private drama enacted in Hollywood which isn’t screened.

Carole isn’t just one of those dizzy hoydens some of her recent pictures have made her appear: she has her serious moments and good impulses.

The other day, accompanied by Clark Gable, she made a tour of some of the districts devastated by the flood and was greatly impressed.

She saw the damage done – in some cases destruction – to private residences and the hardships of occupants who remained to salvage what they could.

Carole, pretty much worn out by her almost ceaseless work for a year past, recently refused a persistent radio chain offer of large financial proportions.

But what she saw in her tour made her forget a doctor’s warning that a long rest was imperative, and she had planned a vacation.

Evidence of the plight of so many women and children made her feel a sense of duty. She sent word to the radio chiefs that she will go on. 

The preparations for the broadcast will involve a lot of work and worry at a time she’s been told that she must build up her depleted strength.

All the proceeds of the broadcast for herself and the artists she will enlist to aid will go to the flood sufferers through the Red Cross.

[swldx]

Voice of America 0316 19 Mar 2023

9775Khz 0256 19 MAR 2023 - VOICE OF AMERICA (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) in ENGLISH from MOPENG HILL. SINPO = 55333. English, dead air s/on @0256z. @0259 Yankee Doodle int fb news anchored by Tommy McNeil @0300z. North Korea fired a ballistic missile towards the sea off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula on Sunday, news agency Yonhap reported, citing South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The Japan Coast Guard also said what was fired by North Korea could be a ballistic missile. Russia, China and Iran have completed three-way naval exercises in the Arabian Sea that included artillery fire at targets on the sea and in the air, the Russian defense ministry said on Saturday. The exercises, off the Iranian port of Chabahar, took place as Russian President Vladimir Putin prepares to host his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Moscow for a three-day state visit starting on Monday. Kosovo and Serbia have reached an agreement on implementing a European Union-backed deal to normalize ties, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said late on Saturday, though the two leaders said disagreements remain. The United Nations confirmed that the deal to export Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports, which was due to expire Saturday, has been extended, but it did not say for how long. Russia agreed to extend the grain deal for only 60 days, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russia’s TASS news agency on Saturday. "We repeat once again. Russia agreed to extend the deal for 60 days." President Joe Biden called on Congress to give regulators more authority to claw back pay and penalize executives at distressed banks "whose mismanagement contributed to their institutions failing." Former U.S. president Donald Trump, in a social media posting Saturday, told his followers that, based on what he called leaks from the Manhattan district attorney’s office, he expects to be arrested Tuesday. Trump, in the message on his Truth Social platform, called on his supporters to “PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!” Britain's interior minister arrived in Rwanda Saturday for a visit aimed at reinforcing the United Kingdom government's commitment to a controversial plan to deport some asylum-seekers to the African country. Ahead of her visit, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the migration policy “will act as a powerful deterrent against dangerous and illegal journeys.” @0305z “Encounter” anchored by female announcer talking about anniversary of Iraq invasion. Backyard fence antenna, Etón e1XM. 100kW, BeamAz 350°, bearing 84°. Received at Plymouth, United States, 14087KM from transmitter at Mopeng Hill. Local time: 2156.

[newssy]

Kerala Governor particiaptes in 'A day at sea' with Coast Guard – ThePrint – ANIFeed

Kochi (Kerala) [India], February 1 (ANI): Coast Guard District Headquarters (Kerala and Mahe) conducted a Day at Sea on its Raising Day on Wednesday, with Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan as the Chief Guest. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad reviewed the demonstration of the Coast Guard at sea. The Coast Guard Ships Samarth took the Governor to the sea. Apart from Samarth, Sarang, Samar, Abhinav,…

[manleycollins]

Journal Entry #72 - The Phone - Alexander Graham Bell, Inventor and Co-Founder of AT&T - Must Did Not Know How Crazy Communication Would Become - And My In-Person and Postal Mail Communications Independence - Who am I talking to?

JOURNAL ENTRY #72 Name: Manley M Collins Social Security Number: 5 7 9 – * * – 6 5 4 1 Date of Birth: 06/21 Place of Birth: Washington, District of Columbia Country of Birth: United States of America Date: July 4, 2022

TOPIC: The Phone - Alexander Graham Bell, Inventor and Co-Founder of AT&T - Must Did Not Know How Crazy Communication Would Become - And My In-Person and Postal Mail Communications Independence - Who am I talking to?

Happy Independence Day to the United States of America!

Schizophrenia and the recognition of my American mental health issues was created solely based on the topic when I shelled out information about a future to people that I did not know what I was talking about. Normally, life would call it a 'lie' or 'alternative truth', but made sure my American life, in English, reap every word of having anything mentioned about my future and losing it very fast with little or no evidence. So now my readers or people now dislike or love me revealing my past and present of what he/she does not expect to see.

Based on my telephone logs and great memory, people wonder who do I talk to if I am not speaking to them specifically. For me, my 792 contact list is 10% of the amount of people I would have had if I had my storage drives and no distractions in putting people in various information systems and backing up various places. I do believe in speaking to humans over artificial intelligence or interactive voice response systems. Those people I spoke over the phone or in-person or video call are as follows:

Brothers of Rho Kappa Lambda of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., police officers and every other type of officer, attorneys, lawyers, teachers, LGBTQIA+ associates/friends, heterosexual friends, families, my paternal family members, my maternal family members, classmates from Cross High School, South Carolina State University, and University of Phoenix, track and field teammates, football players, basketball players, disabled persons, Asian, Indian, European, African, American, French, Italian, Mexicans, Latinos, Brazilians, Jewish, Muslim, drug dealers, gun owners, Beta Delta of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Future Business Leaders of America, Chief Executive Officers, presidents, vice presidents, directors, project managers, program managers, leaders, small business owners, entrepreneurs, barbers, hairstylists, Human Resources managers, my co-workers, supervisors, and managers from every position on my resume, security officers, librarians, administrative assistants, doctors, nurses, case workers, mental health professionals, resource officers, principals, assistant principals, military - army, navy, marines, coast guard, air force, government officials, government employees, government contractors, the courts, judges, custodians, Phi Beta Lambda Business Fraternity, travelers, skateboarders, punk rockers, me phi me, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Sigma Gamma Rho, Zeta Phi Beta, homeless professionals, drug users, Omega Psi Phi, Kappa Alpha Psi, Phi Beta Sigma, Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma, Phi Mu Alpha, Up2Us Coaches/Coaches Across America, AmeriCorps, City Year, any department in any state I resided in, United Parcel Service, DHL Express, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, Apple, Nike, Amazon, insurance agent, appraisers, sales personnel, technologists, gamers, leasing agents, apartment owners, banks, brokerage firms, hotels, motels, airlines, restaurants, public transportation workers, car rentals, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, children, teens, adolescents, garbage workers, recruiters, headhunters, airport workers, all the violators of the Ten Commandments, sinners, pastors, deacons, choir members, ushers, meetup groups, church congregation, actors, gym and fitness gurus, bodybuilders, athletes from other sports, research professionals, and many more….even if do not specifically mention your area of expertise I am talking to you or something related to you.

Ever since the Journal Entry regarding my depression and how it came to fruition, I never have and do not plan to shut up for anybody since 2007-2008. I know all this information is coming fast, but I am just like you sharing in bits in pieces, but I am all at once to catch up.

Pine Street Inn provided me a locker for storage. It is about half the size of a middle school or high school locker. I only store daily stuff, such as my multivitamins (Vega All-in-One Protein Shake, Gatorade G-Fit, Lenny & Larry's Plant Based Cookies, Metamucil Fiber Gummies, Metamucil 4-in-1 Single Packs, One-A-Day Men's Multivitamin, Hydroxycut, Metamucil Cinnamon Fiber Wafers), everyday clothing, medications, and work clothing. I do laundry every two weeks. You can see them in my photo albums. Pine Street Inn provided more housing applications to Somerville Housing Authority, Pine Street Inn Housing, Woodburne Apartments, and The Bay State Banner real estate section had housing lotteries. I am still on the lottery list for a brand new affordable housing project. At Pine Street Inn, I had to get a tuberculosis test and reading done, which I was informed I was supposed to get every six (6) months.

With my former residence in Atlanta, Georgia and in between actual health or medical plans, I never signed up for public insurance. So with me very focused on rolling off United Healthcare impacting the ability for my bills to paid by MassHealth (BMC Community Health Plan now WellSense). I wanted to test At-Home Medical Tests for all the same services you see in my photo albums. I did the tests publicly so others can see me do it. The results were the same.

Racial profiling and customer profiling does happen in Boston, Massachusetts despite importing diversity to create diversity. So here it goes, Target (Beacon Hill), a white/Latino retail floor employee, did racial and customer profiling, and I informed them through their surveys. CVS Pharmacy (North Station), overabundance of female employees, did racial and customer profiling, and I informed them through their surveys, but it still happens at random. StarMarket (North Station), a white manager, did racial and customer profiling, but stopped surveys for a year now. Whole Food Market (Charles River Plaza) security did racial and customer profiling, and I informed them through their surveys and it stopped.

I got my Monkeypox/smallpox vaccine JYNNEOS from Boston Medical Center Sexual Health Clinic. I still have a residual mark from where the vaccine was placed. Hopefully, my Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides start helping my hair, skin, and nails along with my prenatal multivitamins.

I purchased TurboTax to prepare to file my taxes.

I attended BayState (Massachusetts) Summer Games. I ran the 100m, 200m, and long jump. I won the long jump. I may or may not plan to go California for the State Games of America. It is in my photo blog.

I had to seriously pray the Lord's Prayer, read a Bible verse, Joel Osteen's message of the day, and recited the 23rd Psalm before my criminal court hearing at New York City / New York State Criminal Courts. It is in my photo blog. I also attended my follow up court date in September 2022, and the case and charges were dismissed. I talked to my pro-bono The Legal Aid Society attorney via the phone, and he told me I can get a Certificate of Disposition if I needed it, but most likely not available for the next day. The way I booked my trip was through Megabus and Marriott. I booked to hear the decision and leave immediately. My case came up first and the judge told me the decision without the presence of my attorney. I did eat a good meal at Whole Foods Market (Hudson Yards) to treat myself. I missed the USATF Masters Outdoor Nationals Championship in Lexington, Kentucky. I signed up for eTrack, the free case tracking service provided by the New York State Unified Court System, to actually track my case, which I never found and could not add. Checkr, Inc. provided all the employers that I am employed by and uses Checkr's service to provide the post-adverse action notice due to New York's situation.

I joined new workforce apps called Adia and Instawork. Adia Solutions LLC, works with Adecco staffing, and I filled out the profile. My first gig was Wyndham Hotel & Resorts (Beacon Hill). I worked as a bellman and backoffice customer service. I made some friends, associates, and acquaintances. It was my first time seeing the tipping business in the hotel other than housekeeping. When I can tip, I normally tipped the housekeeping and restaurant workers. I never thought about the bellpeople. I worked as a custodian and engineer, but I had to tell the supervisor that I do not mind moving other people (Wyndham's) stuff once a month and I do not do this type of physical activity on the regular.

Boston Medical Center had to prepare me for my first colonoscopy. My BMC primary care physician prescribes Golytely as the medication and gave me the instructions. I discussed the instructions with McInnis Health Center (Boston HealthCare for the Homeless Program) doctors and nurse. A month before the procedure, McInnis Health Center provided interesting advice, but not efficient planning on how to go about the day. As the procedure came close, I was in discussion with BMC on how to prepare and I planned a week ahead for it scheduling a PT1 Medical ride. McInnis calls the Friday before the procedure on Tuesday, and ask, "Am I still coming to the McInnis House?" I politely while enraged had to tell them, "No, I made other plans."

I communicated quite a bit through the Massachusetts General Hospital, McInnis Health Center, and Boston Medical Center information system with practitioners more than any other hospital information system for care.

Transitioning from Arbour Counseling Session (Zoom Calls) to Boston Medical Center In-Person (through the Bridge Clinic - Psychiatry Department) (Previous Journal topics - I just was repeating them to new people verbally)

Boys Relationships Sex Travel Materialism Research before buying Attachment Give and Take Work on trauma Touching and Assaults Thinking and Feelings Begin Cognitive Behavior Therapy or Cognitive Processing Therapy (homework on myself)

Other Topics from Summer and Fall 2022:

I started participating in University of Phoenix Dissertation to Publication Workshop. I attended University of Phoenix Knowledge without Borders Summit. I attend the UOPX KWB in person in Chicago and Washington, DC/Virginia, but this time it is virtual.

I started working with Massachusetts Vocational Rehabilitation Center for SSA's Ticket to Work to be local and not have Illinois's virtual center involved.

I never paid attention to what was happening with my toes. After everything happens and distractions, time becomes available to actually pay attention to myself.

I worked with some new rental startup companies, such as SplitSpot and June Homes. They are two of I do not know how many that rent out the megahomes throughout Boston and other cities. SplitSpot does an application and roommate approval process for a room. SplitSpot was funny because you provide a profile and roommate communication data is shared so I had to talk to the roommates. For one place, all the rooms were vacant and the potential roommate was in another state (Florida), and disapproved me. For another place, two male roommates and a potential female roommate with a pet, disapproved me, but during phone conversation individually with all three tried to blame each other for stating their vote, 'No.' June Homes does an application and credit check before roommate approval process for a room. When June Homes denied me on credit, I had to clutch the pearls and reflect that I have to have good credit score of 650 and above to rent a room in the house plus pay deposit.

I went to Atlanta, Georgia for the first part of my vacation and stayed at the Marriott TownePlace Suites. I switched from the J.W. Marriott at the last minute to prevent any shenanigans like New York City. I met a few South Carolina State University college people (we were not in the same class to say classmate). I told all my Atlanta-based friends I was there, but I guess they wanted to do schizophrenia and not see me physically. It did not matter, but I had a great time seeing three hairstylists and/or barbers and meeting people from Atlanta LGBTQIA+ Pride weekend, and unexpectedly ran into Rho Kappa Lambda brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. at House in the Park. I flew Delta Airlines and used my points. I had a terrible experience at Subway restaurant at Atlanta Hartsfield airport, the supervisor replaced the sandwich, and the Delaware North assistant general manager did reach out to me. See my photo album.

I spent my second half of vacation in Charleston/North Charleston, South Carolina. I rented a car from Atlanta and drove to South Carolina. I played with the hands-free technology and cruise control on rural road with minimal to no traffic. I had to work at Dorchester County District Two (South Carolina Public Schools). I signed up for three days to get my feet wet and see how everything operates. See my photo album. It was very restful and relaxing. I went through a half box of magnums and eight regular condoms so it was good. Walmart was nearby so I was happy. UberEats worked very well on my order from Bonefish Grill, and it was hot and delightful. Finally, I found the CSC Works smartphone app, it worked well at the Extended Stay America hotel, and gave me a bonus for using the app. The CSCWorks vendor does Boston system of laundry centers, but you have to use a smartcard connected with one site.

I signed up for United States Department of Homeland Security Transportation Security Authority's Pre-Check program. My Global Entry program known traveler number expired. I signed up for the new program.

I attended Snow Companies - Gilead - Advisory Board program on HIV prevention services and medicines.

I had to subscribe to AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss because my original two-year subscription expired. I did a month break between the original expiration and new subscription to see if anything was going to happen. I had to replace the front glass on my iPhone.

ZipCar kept sending me reminders about re-establishing membership.

I updated my National Board's Candidate Management System (NBCMS) profile, which is supported by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

I joined a new meetup Skip the Small Talk Online through the Hey Siri group. This is the first time I had audio issues over the Apple iPhone. I could hear everything, but they could not hear me. We troubleshooted for thirty (30) minutes.

I filled out DoorDash Shop and Deliver form. I was already doing it, but I guess they wanted to make it official. UberEats provided these types of orders when they know I am at the end of my day.

I updated my Hilton profile.

All of Us Research provided some data.

Allied Universal sends me Special Security Briefing I guess to keep in touch and get additional business.

Massachusetts General Brigham started sending more research surveys about new features.

I started Busuu Live Lessons.

I participated in USATF Potomac Valley Association and PVTC Zoom call and voting process. This was a first ever.

I sent in my United States Department of State Passport Application through the United States Postal Service.

I attended Oracle Cloud World. It was whole breadth of knowledge and experience on how one organization works around a winning product. I do not have the $5,000 annually for training and certification around it, but learning bits and pieces through webinar and technical papers works too.

I participated in new Crunch Fitness Malden class offerings. I participated in Crunch Fitness Summerville group fitness classes. I tried to enter North Charleston's Crunch Fitness, but that is when I was notified that my gym membership expired.

I am reading the newsletters, responses to my letter (all the different thoughts), and participating in polls by the United States Congress (Senators and Representatives).

Federal Express attorneys tried to answer the civil suit by stating nothing happened and deny everything. We are at the pre-trial conference stage. MCAD still pending. I was told to decide MCAD vs Superior Court, but I told them to settle. I am only looking for one settlement from Federal Express, but however I can proceed with Pre-Trial and private investigator to proceed with one trial for both courts.

Southampton Street Shelter's case is left with the State of Massachusetts, but just continuous notice of appearances by different attorneys. I am unsure what that is about.

I am getting prepared to 'sit and wait' because the government trained me well to let routine drive people crazy up the wall, plus speakerphone, and wait until the end of time for something to give way or give me my money for what your people did.

From my Nokia first cellphone to current Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy Smartphone Apps:

Remember black and grey screen snake game. I loved that game.

Remember black and grey screen Tetris game. Using the keypad and directional keys to get the blocks right.

I had the UberEats, Uber Driver, and Uber apps on my smartphone. I was using them, but until New York took Uber away. I threw the whole business in the trash, uninstalled, and did not bring to new phone. It is backed up in cloud storage.

I had the DoorDash driver, and DoorDash apps on my smartphone. I was using them, but until New York took DoorDash away. I threw the whole business in the trash, uninstalled, and did not bring to new phone. It is backed up in cloud storage.

I had the Grubhub driver, and Grubhub apps on my smartphone. I was using them, but until New York took Grubhub away. I threw the whole business in the trash, uninstalled, and did not bring to new phone.

Google Chrome has done a great job syncing data with is apps platform. I was impressed just as much as I use Firefox in syncing data and search abilities.

The Google sync with Android phone was impressive. No duplicate data anywhere…yep, throwing shade to Apple.

Security got much better with Android. AT&T Cloud, AT&T Call Protect, AT&T ActiveArmor, plus Samsung HIYA and Samsung Cloud service darn sure capture my data, photos, music, documents, everything to help me not miss one communication beat plus secure any data network for a minimum fee. No Google Cloud or Microsoft Cloud services yet.

Starbucks app exemplifies the service provided by its restaurants. It has not missed yet, even with a cup of iced water. I love the rewards, but I do not have Starbucks budget like that. Thanks for always remembering my birthday.

McDonald's app knew its customers and how to get them store with the $1 deals, but when inflation raised it to $2. I had to rethink my trips to all the Boston's McDonalds. I went for breakfast and lunch/dinner.

Grindr, Jack'd, GROWLr, Scruff, Recon, Bro, 3Fun, Mr X apps (outside of Massachusetts) are used for the purpose of sex and hookups, and its actual purpose. Inside Massachusetts, New York, or Northeast is for scamming, headaches, and from me-educational purposes to eliminate those gray matter opinions. Remember my scamming Journal Entry what folks tried to do to me.

Google Authenticator was better than Microsoft Authenticator for rolling over from various phones. I understand Microsoft's logic to authenticate each account, but it becomes a headache when more websites are rolling out multi-factor or two-way authentication. ID.me is very good for government multi-factor or two- way authentication. Adobe Access authentication is pretty good for the Adobe suite of products.

My banks, credit cards, and brokerage firms worked all my phones and iPad.

Zoom was and is pretty good with weblinks. It is used by most organizations. I played with the various backgrounds. It was slight hiccup when I tried to switch phones on my personal account, but I recovered figuring out it was multi-factor authentication had to be turned on. Google Duo/Google Meet was pretty good. Apple FaceTime was good. Video calling became a better experience.

[newstfionline]

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Employers, insurers push to make virtual visits regular care (AP) Make telemedicine your first choice for most doctor visits. That’s the message some U.S. employers and insurers are sending with a new wave of care options. Amazon and several insurers have started or expanded virtual-first care plans to get people to use telemedicine routinely, even for planned visits like annual checkups. They’re trying to make it easier for patients to connect with regular help by using remote care that grew explosively during the COVID-19 pandemic. Advocates say this can keep patients healthy and out of expensive hospitals, which makes insurers and employers that pay most of the bill happy. But some doctors worry that it might create an over-reliance on virtual visits. “There is a lot lost when there is no personal touch, at least once in a while,” said Dr. Andrew Carroll, an Arizona-based family doctor and board member of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Landlords and renters both struggling (Washington Post) In the covid economy of 2021, the federal government has created an ongoing grace period for renters until at least July, banning all evictions in an effort to hold back a historic housing crisis that is already underway. More than 8 million rental properties across the country are behind on payments by an average of $5,600, according to census data. Nearly half of those rental properties are owned not by banks or big corporations but instead by what the government classifies as “small landlords”—people who manage their own rentals and depend on them for basic income, and who are now trapped between tenants who can’t pay and their own mounting bills for insurance, mortgages and property tax. According to government estimates, a third of small landlords are at risk of bankruptcy or foreclosure as the pandemic continues into its second year.

Pandemic baby bust unprecedented in Bay Area, California history (San Francisco Chronicle) U.S. residents are having fewer babies this year. And California’s birth rates in January and February—around the time when early pandemic babies would be due—declined by 15% compared to the same period last year, the steepest year-over-year decline for those months since at least 1960, according to a Chronicle analysis. We used data from California’s Health and Human Services department, which collects monthly birth totals per county. We found that the state’s births declined from nearly 70,000 in the first two months of 2020 to fewer than 59,000 in the same period in 2021.

Zoom Court Is Changing How Justice Is Served (The Atlantic) Last spring, as COVID‑19 infections surged for the first time, many American courts curtailed their operations. As case backlogs swelled, courts moved online, at a speed that has amazed—and sometimes alarmed—judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys. In the past year, U.S. courts have conducted millions of hearings, depositions, arraignments, settlement conferences, and even trials—nearly entirely in civil cases or for minor criminal offenses—over Zoom and other meeting platforms. As of late February, Texas, the state that’s moved online most aggressively, had held 1.1 million remote proceedings.

Mexico City metro overpass collapses onto road; 20 dead (AP) An elevated section of the Mexico City metro collapsed and sent a subway car plunging toward a busy boulevard late Monday, killing at least 20 people and injuring about 70, city officials said. Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said 49 of the injured were hospitalized, and that seven were in serious condition and undergoing surgery. The overpass was about 5 meters (16 feet) above the road in the southside borough of Tlahuac, but the train ran above a concrete median strip, which apparently lessened the casualties among motorists on the roadway below. “A support beam gave way,” Sheinbaum said, adding that the beam collapsed just as the train passed over it.

El Salvador’s judiciary (Foreign Policy) Lawmakers in El Salvador voted to remove five influential Supreme Court judges and the attorney general over the weekend in a move U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has noted with “grave concern.” The motions to remove the officials passed with a supermajority in El Salvador’s legislature, now ruled by President Nayib Bukele’s New Ideas party following a sweeping victory in February’s elections. Addressing the international community on Twitter Bukele dismissed rebukes over the move. “With all due respect: We are cleaning house … and this doesn’t concern you,” Bukele said.

‘Hospitals are full’ as Argentina COVID-19 cases hit 3 million (Reuters) Argentina coronavirus cases hit 3 million on Sunday since the pandemic began, as medical workers said hospitals were full to capacity despite toughened government measures to bring down the spread of infections. The government of President Alberto Fernandez this week unveiled a new round of tougher restrictions as a second wave of infections has battered the country, filling up intensive care units and setting new daily records for cases and deaths. Marcela Cid, owner of a business on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, said that Argentines were increasingly “locked into a situation” that while necessary, was of little help to anyone trying to move beyond the pandemic.

EU proposes reopening external borders (AP) In an announcement sure to be welcomed by travelers worldwide, EU officials on Monday proposed easing restrictions on visiting the 27-nation bloc as vaccination campaigns across the continent gather speed. Travel to the European Union is currently extremely limited except for a handful of countries with low infection rates. But with the summer tourist season looming, the bloc’s European Commission hopes the new recommendations will dramatically expand that list. The Commission hopes the move will soon allow travelers reunite with their friends and relatives living in Europe and support the bloc’s economy this summer. Under the Commission’s proposal, entry would be granted to all those fully vaccinated with EU-authorized shots. Coronavirus vaccines authorized by the European Medicines Agency, the bloc’s drug regulator, include Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

Indian leader’s party takes electoral hit amid virus surge (AP) India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi suffered a resounding defeat in a key state election on Sunday, indicating his Hindu nationalist party’s political strength may be slipping as the country struggles to contain an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was unable to dislodge West Bengal state’s firebrand chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, after a hard-fought campaign. His party also failed to win in two southern states, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. But the BJP secured a second term in the northeastern state of Assam and an alliance with regional parties led it to victory in the union territory of Puducherry. Even before the current virus surge, Modi’s party faced stiff challenges in these local legislative elections. Following the disappointing results, Modi stands weakened but faces no threats to staying on as prime minister until his term ends in 2024.

Formal Withdrawal from Afghanistan Begins (AP) US and NATO troops stationed in Afghanistan formally began the withdrawal phase over the weekend, a process that is expected to last through the summer and officially end Sept. 11. Roughly 3,000 US troops and 7,000 coalition troops remain in the country, along with a reported 18,000 Pentagon-employed contractors. The exit has been framed as nonconditional—meaning ongoing attacks by the Taliban against the Afghan government won’t delay the withdrawal. Many have questioned the ability of the Afghan National Army to provide security against the Taliban absent international forces. Despite assurances by Afghan officials, Taliban forces have established themselves across most of the country. Afghan forces control an estimated one-third of the country’s districts, with the Taliban controlling about 10%, and nearly half—areas that include a total of roughly 14 million people—currently contested.

Chinese man crosses Taiwan Strait by rubber dinghy, seeking ‘freedom and equality’ (Washington Post) A Chinese man appeared to sail undetected through the highly militarized Taiwan Strait in a rubber dinghy, fleeing his native China for Taiwan in search of “freedom,” according to Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration. The man, identified only by his surname, Zhou, left Shishi county in Quanzhou, a port city in Fujian province, at 10 a.m. on Friday, arriving more than 10 hours later at Taichung port on Taiwan’s western coast, Taiwan’s Coast Guard said on Monday. Officials said they were still investigating Zhou’s journey over the 100-mile stretch of sea between China and Taiwan, which is patrolled by hundreds of Chinese and Taiwanese coast guard ships and naval vessels. Coast Guard officials, relaying Zhou’s account of his journey, told reporters he had traveled in a rubber raft measuring 8.8 feet by 5 feet that he bought on the Chinese e-commerce site Taobao and fitted with an outboard motor. The incident has prompted concerns about the security of the contentious waterway at a time when military observers worry that long-standing tensions between the governments of China, Taiwan and the United States, which is committed to defending Taiwan, could boil over into military conflict.

Australia warns its citizens of jail and $50,000 fine if they return from India (Washington Post) Even in the pandemic era of closed borders, Australia’s latest travel restriction stands out: Anyone, including Australian citizens, who arrives in the country after visiting India in the previous 14 days can face up to five years in jail, a $50,000 fine or both. On Monday, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison defended the move. Australia had seen a sevenfold increase in the percentage of people traveling from India who tested positive for the coronavirus, the prime minister told Sydney’s 2GB radio station. The decision to threaten even Australian citizens with jail time if they return home from India during its record-breaking coronavirus surge is a significant escalation of border restrictions for Australia, an island nation that had already mandated strict controls at its borders throughout the pandemic.

DR Congo declares state of siege over eastern bloodshed (Reuters) Militants killed at least 19 people, including 10 soldiers, in raids on two villages in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday, hours after President Felix Tshisekedi declared a state of siege in two provinces. A surge in attacks by armed militias and inter-communal violence in the east have killed more than 300 people since the start of the year as government troops and U.N. peacekeepers struggle to stabilize the situation. The most recent attacks took place early on Saturday when militants raided two villages in North Kivu’s regional hub of Beni, local authorities said. Tshisekedi had declared a state of siege in North Kivu and Ituri provinces on Friday.

[roman-catholic-mass-readings]

23rd March >> Mass Readings (Except USA)

Saturday, Fifth week of Lent 

(optional commemoration of Saint Turibius of Mongrovejo, Bishop)

(Liturgical Colour: Violet: B (2))

First Reading Ezekiel 37:21-28 I will bring them home and make them one nation.

The Lord says this: ‘I am going to take the sons of Israel from the nations where they have gone. I shall gather them together from everywhere and bring them home to their own soil. I shall make them into one nation in my own land and on the mountains of Israel, and one king is to be king of them all; they will no longer form two nations, nor be two separate kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and their filthy practices and all their sins. I shall rescue them from all the betrayals they have been guilty of; I shall cleanse them; they shall be my people and I will be their God. My servant David will reign over them, one shepherd for all; they will follow my observances, respect my laws and practise them. They will live in the land that I gave my servant Jacob, the land in which your ancestors lived. They will live in it, they, their children, their children’s children, for ever. David my servant is to be their prince for ever. I shall make a covenant of peace with them, an eternal covenant with them. I shall resettle them and increase them; I shall settle my sanctuary among them for ever. I shall make my home above them; I will be their God, they shall be my people. And the nations will learn that I am the Lord, the sanctifier of Israel, when my sanctuary is with them for ever.’

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Jeremiah 31:10-13

R/ The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

O nations, hear the word of the Lord, proclaim it to the far-off coasts. Say: ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him and guard him as a shepherd guards his flock.’

R/ The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, has saved him from an overpowering hand. They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion, they will stream to the blessings of the Lord.

R/ The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Then the young girls will rejoice and dance, the men, young and old, will be glad. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will console them, give gladness for grief.

R/ The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Gospel Acclamation Ezekiel 18:31

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory! Shake off all your sins – it is the Lord who speaks – and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

Or: John 3:16

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory! God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son: everyone who believes in him has eternal life. Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

Gospel John 11:45-56 Jesus was to die to gather together the scattered children of God.

Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did believed in him, but some of them went to tell the Pharisees what Jesus had done. Then the chief priests and Pharisees called a meeting. ‘Here is this man working all these signs’ they said ‘and what action are we taking? If we let him go on in this way everybody will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy the Holy Place and our nation.’ One of them, Caiaphas, the high priest that year, said, ‘You do not seem to have grasped the situation at all; you fail to see that it is better for one man to die for the people, than for the whole nation to be destroyed.’ He did not speak in his own person, it was as high priest that he made this prophecy that Jesus was to die for the nation – and not for the nation only, but to gather together in unity the scattered children of God. From that day they were determined to kill him. So Jesus no longer went about openly among the Jews, but left the district for a town called Ephraim, in the country bordering on the desert, and stayed there with his disciples. The Jewish Passover drew near, and many of the country people who had gone up to Jerusalem to purify themselves looked out for Jesus, saying to one another as they stood about in the Temple, ‘What do you think? Will he come to the festival or not?’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

[forged-through-trials]

Everything was in place to take down Audens Avidius. All that was left was to wait out until the morning, while keeping a look out to make sure nothing happened to Lorunk and Ruslan. That out of the way, it was time to rest and wait until morning.

On the trip back to the Market District, we passed through the Arboretum, and who should we run into on the way, but Thoronir; our mark for the scheming price-gougers Society of Concerned Merchants’ job. Well, I’m not exactly happy with Jensine right now, given the stunt she pulled, but hey, I figure it’s still worth looking into his operation. Trials: “Ho, you’re ‘Thoronir’, right? I hear you’re cleaning up right now. Might I ask about your inventory?” Thoronir: “What about my inventory?” Trials: “Where’s it come from?” Thoronir: “Well, that would be a trade secret. I can’t divulge how I pass the great savings on to you, now can I? “Just like a baker not revealing his best recipes, or a clothier guarding his best designs, or a butcher not revealing where he gets his meat from--” Trials: “I’m not sure about that last one. I feel like I’d be more comfortable knowing where my meat comes from.” Thoronir: “Suffice to say, my sources are quite reliable and low cost. That way, you walk out with a full coinpurse.” Trials: “...you’re a really happy businessman.” Thoronir: “Why shouldn’t I be happy? I’m making a killing. And it’s the kind of ‘killing’ where I don’t have to eat anyone.” Trials: “...wat?” Thoronir: “IDidn’tSayNuffin’.” Thoronir rushed off after that, vanishing into the dark of the night. But I gave chase, sneaking after him. He made for the Market District, and I followed him through, tailing him carefully.

It was close to midnight as Thoronir approached a garden somewhere behind Rindir’s Staffs and Edgar’s Discount Spells, and I followed after, hiding against a corner, as a blond Nord approached, and spoke with him. I leaned in as close as I could, and listened in. Thoronir: “That you, Agarmir?” Agarmir: “Shhhh! Not so loud. How many times have I told you that?” Thoronir: “Sorry, I am not used to this kind of meeting. It always makes me nervous.” Agarmir: “Well, just shut up and listen to me. The next shipment will be sooner than I expected. Just have the money ready.” Thoronir: “Same assortment of things? I mean, I have enough clothing for now.” Agarmir: “You take what I get! I get notice at the last second, and I have to jump on it. No time to be picky about it.” Thoronir: “Well, that Society is putting more pressure on me. So maybe we better cut back for now.” Agarmir: “You cut back now, and I’m going to take my business elsewhere. Or maybe pay a visit to that Jensine and tell her about your little scheme.” Thoronir: “Fine, you made your point. Contact me when you have the items, and we’ll meet again.” Agarmir: “Don’t worry, it will be very soon. Now get outta here.” Jeez, that was about the rudest transaction I’ve ever heard that didn’t involve me. We have some literal back-alley deals going on. Something shady is definitely going on here, or else why would Thoronir need to meet his contact in the middle oft he night? Agarmir was our next lead. As the source of Thoronir’s ultra-cheap wares, he’s the one to tail to discover what the nature of this shady business is. We gave chase after him, and followed him over toward the Talos Plaza District. There, he entered a house, presumably, his. Now, breaking into a place while the owner was there is a pretty dangerous move, so I gave him an hour to, hopefully, go to bed... only to find that he’d barred the door. Who the hell barricades their door when they’re at home? Is he expecting a zombie horde or something? So that was a bust. As long as Agarmir was home, there was no getting into his house. Out of options for the moment, Ruin and I retreated back to the Market District, renting our familiar room at the Merchant’s Inn and turning in for the night. The morning came, and it was time to check on Lorunk and Ruslan. Ruin and I rushed on over to the Temple District, and met up with the pair once they’d exited their houses. I explained my intentions to escort them, and followed to duo over into the Elven Gardens District, where they sought out Captain Hayn.

Ruslan: “We’d like to report a crime. Watch Captain Avidius stole all of our money while we were shopping in Jensine’s Merchandise.” Lorunk: “That’s right!” Itius Hayn: “I see. These are very serious charges. I’ll need you both to provide two witnesses to the crime.” Ruslan: “...but we are the witnesses.” Itius Hayn: “You can’t expect me to just take your word for it. If I did, something might actually get done in this city!” Trials: I leaped out from a corner and screamed. “Just do your job, jackass!” Itius Hayn: “Ugh, great. Internal Affairs will be on me like kitty-litter on a Khajiit. I’ll be filing paperwork for a week after this, but, fine!” Our two witnesses rushed home after that, but I tailed Hayn for the moment. I really wanted to see the moment when Avidius got what was coming to him.

Back in the Market District, that is exactly what went down. Itius Hayn: “Audens Avidius, you are under arrest for extortion and petty theft. Surrender peacefully and keep what little dignity you have left.” Avidius: “I’m surprised, Ititus. I didn’t think even you would stoop to arresting a fellow Captain.” Itius Hayn: “Only those who break the law.” Avidius: “Damn, and I would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for those meddling lizards!” Trials: “Have fun in the dungeons, jerk-face!” Avidius: Increasingly unhinged. “Someday, I’ll get out, and when I do, you’ll pay! You’ll both pay!” Trials: I crossed my arms and smirked knowingly. “Take him away, boys.” Itius Hayn: “Hey! I give the orders here!” He turned to two generic guards. “Bake him away, toys.” Generic Guards: “...huh, what?” Itius Hayn: He flushed awkwardly. “...just do what the lizard says.”

It was late afternoon by then, so, feeling good about a day’s work well done, Ruin and I swaggered back on toward the Talos Plaza District, where we tried Agarmir’s door again. Success! This time it was unbarred. We gave a quick look around to make sure the coast was clear, and then broke in. Ruin: “Where did you learn to pick locks and break-and-enter this way?” Trials: “Ruin, Ruin, buddy, we’re not ‘breaking-and-entering’. We’re... investigating.” Ruin: “Without a warrant or probable cause?” Trials: I rolled my eyes at him. “Well, you can feel free to hang out here and find me two witnesses. I’ll just be in here, doing my job.” Ruin: “You know what? You’re right, that system is stupidly obtuse.” In, we went, and I zeroed in on the basement right away. I figured, it was more likely he was keeping shady stuff down there, than it was likely he was keeping stuff in his bedroom. Down in the basement, the place looked a sight; blood stains, clothes strewn about, and piles and piles of a mysterious powder, as well as muddied shoes and shovels all over the place. On a corner table lined with candles, I found a book labeled as “Macabre Manifest.” ...really strange name for a book. Points for the alliteration, but that’s pretty on-the-nose considering that I presume Agarmir is looking to hide his dirty-dealings.

The contents of the book confirmed what the title implied. Again, not sure why Agarmir wanted to advertise this. Was he worried he might forget what his business was all about? And indeed, the contents of the book revealed the ghoulish details of Agarmir’s business. If the big header at the beginning of the book that read “Recently Deceased” was anything to go by, it seemed the stock he was selling to Thoronir was obtain via grave-robbing! Huh, if he’s stealing from the dead, maybe he is worried about zombie hordes coming to exact their revenge after all. Ruin: He snorted, gritting his teeth. “Grave-robbing? How repulsive!” Trials: “...Ruin, we nick stuff off of dead people all the time.” Ruin: “There’s a vast difference between slaying a bandit in combat, looting the spoils, and robbing from the honored-dead.” Trials: “Really? Because the only difference I see is that robbing the ‘honored-dead’ means you’re messing with people who had money and/or connections.” Ruin: “I think it’s a bit more complicated than just that.” Trials: “I don’t think it is.” Ruin: “Well... we’ve been hired to prove Thoronir’s stock was ill-gotten, and even if this system doesn’t make a lot of sense, by their clown-shoes logic, Thoronir’s stock is indeed ill-gotten. We have what we need to get paid.” Trials: “...hmm, true enough, BUT, I don’t feel good about selling Thoronir up the river like that.” Ruin: “Why?” Trials: “Because Jensine’s a bint and I don’t like her face. “Besides, I have a hunch that Thoronir doesn’t know what’s going on. Let’s confront him and see how he reacts to this evidence.”

We jogged back over toward the Market District, burst into the Copious Coinpurse, and slammed the book down on Thoronir’s desk. Trials: “Hey, chief. We pinched this from Agarmir. It’s proof that the stock he’s been selling you is obtained via grave-robbing.” Thoronir: “Oh! A little ghoulish... but I do buy things from adventurers who take things from fallen enemies all the time!” Trials: I shrugged and rolled my eyes. “That’s what I said!” Ruin: He sighed and shook his head. “Sir, whether or not it makes sense, it is the law here in Cyrodiil, and is a capital offense here.” Trials: “...Ruin, why does grave-robbing carry the death-penalty, but necrophilia is only a five-hundred gold fine? I feel like that’s backwards!” Ruin: “...” He paled visibly. “How do you know that?” Trials: “I know a very strange Dark Elf over in Skingrad.” Ruin: “...” He sighed and groaned. “This place is weird.” Thoronir: He paled a little. “Well, if it’s so disreputable that I could get into serious hot-water for it, then you’ll have to put a stop to it at once. I’ll fully cooperate with your investigation, of course, provided you put in a good word for me.” Trials: I gave a friendly salute. “Absolutely. Now, can you tell us what Agarmir might be doing right now?” Thoronir: “He mentioned having ‘something important to do’ today. You don’t think he would dig up another... oh no, he wouldn’t. But I guess he has been! Oh my, what have I gotten myself into??” Trials: “Calm down. We’ll get him. We just need to know where to look.” Thoronir: “Well, assuming he’s still in the city, you’ll want to try Green Emperor Way. It’s the largest graveyard inside the city walls and the likeliest place for him to... uh... ‘do business’.” Trials: “...grave-robbing right under the Emperor’s nose? By the Nine, that sounds really dumb! How has it taken this long for anyone to figure out what he does??” Thoronir: “His beard emits pheromones. It’s the only logical answer.”

Ruin and I raced over to Green Emperor Way, and as we ran the circuit, looking for signs of Agarmir, we noticed the door to the “Trentius Family Mausoleum” was left ajar. Well, if Agarmir was going to roll out the red carpet for me, I was going to take it. We rushed in, and immediately found the Nord himself, and an armored accomplice, within. Agarmir: “I had a feeling you’d catch on sooner or later.” Trials: “We’ve literally never spoken before.” Ruin: “Maybe he also prepared this speech in advance?” Agarmir: “Oh, shut up, both of you! The door locked behind you as you entered, and I’m going to murder you both and chuck you into this unmarked grave.” Trials: “But, it is marked. It says ‘Trentius Family’ on it.” Ruin: “Do you think that, after he buries us alive, he’s going to dig us up and rob our things?” Trials: “See, if he were smart, he’d kill us first, then take our stuff, so that way it’s actually legal.” Agarmir: Increasingly Irate. “Are you two even paying attention?? I’m threatening to murder you!” Trials: “...since we’re in a mausoleum, is it still legal to loot him and his friend when we defeat them? Or would that be grave-robbing?” Ruin: “I do not know. Cyrodiil’s legal code makes no sense to me.” Trials: “Well, as long as there aren’t two witnesses, I think we’ll get off with a warning.” Agarmir: Grinding his teeth. “Stop ignoring me!” Trials: “Wanna go eat at the Feedbag after we’re done here?” Ruin: “You always choose the cheapest places. Why can’t we eat at the Tiber Septim Hotel?” Trials: I offered Ruin the Stink-Eye. “Well, well, lookit Mister Moneybags over here! Do I look like I’m made of Septims?” Ruin: “All I’m saying is; we’re going to be paid for this job, and we’ll only be in the city for a few more days. Let’s try somewhere new.” Agarmir: Deadpan. “You both are horse’s asses.” Trials: “Okay, okay, we’ll compromise and hit up Luther Broad’s Boarding House, deal?” Ruin: “Deal.” The fight was on... and over rather quickly. Turns out, when you show up to a sword-fight wearing your working clothes, you tend not to last very long. His backup lasted a little longer, but with two-on-one odds, we took him down quickly, too. Then, legal or not, I pinched their stuff, and left them for the guards to find and clean up. On the way out, I picked up the soil-stained shovel Agarmir had been using to dig up the Trentius Family plot. Given the... strained legality of all of this, the more evidence I had to prove Agarmir’s guilt, the better. We reported in to Thoronir once we were done, and presented him with Agarmir’ shovel as proof of his defeat. Thoronir: “Then we can at last rest. I feared had he somehow bested you, I’d be next. It’s fortunate that your skills exceeded his. “I’ve come to some decisions. I intend to donate all of the money I have made, as well as what is left of the stolen items, to the temple.” Trials: “That might square you with Arkay, but otherwise, you’re just lucky the guards in this town are super-duper lazy.” Thoronir: “I also want you to know that I had a long discussion with Jensine, and I have decided to join the Society.” Trials: “Bottom text.” Thoronir: “...” He rolled his eyes. “No, I mean, Jensine’s Society for Concerned Merchants.” Trials: I frowned and scowled at him. “Oh, so you’re selling out, huh?” Thoronir: “That’s capitalism, baby. The biggest sellout always wins! “But I realize you risked your life to give me a chance, and Thoronir never forgets things like that. Please, accept this ring... and store credit.” Trials: “...friggin’ smart-alleck.”

Hoping to get some kind of real payment out of this, we made for Jensine’s to offer my final report. Trials: “And that’s the whole story.” Jensine: “Oh yes, Thoronir spoke with me while you were out. He explained his intentions to donate to the local temple, and to join our Society, and fix prices with us buy and sell at a ‘fair’ price. “In return, the Society has decided not to press charges. His name will be absconded from the records of this crime.” Trials: “...” I set my hands on my hips. “Lady, you wouldn’t press charges against Audens Avidius, but you considered pressing them against Thoronir?” Jensine: “That was different. The first one was out of spite! While the second one--” Trials: “--Would have also been out of spite.” Jensine: “...” She scowled. “Just, shut up and take your gold!”

[deniscollins]

Steve Bannon Is Charged With Fraud in We Build the Wall Campaign

What would advise to Brian Kolfage, who lost both his legs and one of his arms during his service in Iraq, and created We Build the Wall as a GoFundMe page in December 2018, which was an immediate success, raising nearly $17 million in its first week online, but wanted to raise much more from donors: (1) Promise potential donors that he would not take a penny in salary or compensation and that all of the money he raised would be used “in the execution of our mission and purpose,” and then pay Kolfage $350,000 secretly from the donations for his personal expenses (and keep about $1 million for yourself too), or (2) find some other way to pay him? Why? What are the ethics underlying your decision?

Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump’s former adviser and an architect of his 2016 general election campaign, was charged on Thursday with defrauding donors to a private fund-raising effort called We Build the Wall, which was intended to bolster the president’s signature initiative along the Mexican border.

Mr. Bannon, working with a wounded Air Force veteran and a Florida venture capitalist, conspired to cheat hundreds of thousands of donors by falsely promising that their money had been set aside for new sections of wall, according to a federal indictment unsealed in Manhattan.

The fund-raising effort collected more than $25 million, and prosecutors said Mr. Bannon used nearly $1 million of it for personal expenses.

Despite the populist aura he tries to project, Mr. Bannon is known to enjoy the high life, and he was arrested at 7:15 a.m. on a $35 million, 150-foot yacht belonging to one of his business associates, the fugitive Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, law enforcement officials said.

Working with the Coast Guard, special agents from the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan and federal postal inspectors boarded the yacht off Westbrook, Conn., the officials said. Mr. Bannon, 66, was on deck, drinking coffee and reading a book, when the raid occurred.

The criminal charges, filed a week before Mr. Trump was to accept the Republican nomination for a second term, marked a stark turn of fortune for the flamboyant political strategist. Mr. Bannon first came to prominence when he was in charge of the right-wing media outlet Breitbart, where he had aligned himself with the alt-right, a loose network of groups and people who promote white identity.

As chief strategist, Mr. Bannon was one of the most powerful figures in the White House early in the Trump administration, but he stepped down in August 2017 after frequently clashing with other aides.

With the indictment, Mr. Bannon became the seventh Trump associate to have been charged with federal crimes, a list that includes Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s former campaign manager; Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser; and Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s onetime lawyer and fixer.

The 24-page indictment, unsealed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, is by far the most politically sensitive case that Audrey Strauss, the acting United States attorney in Manhattan, has handled since she assumed her job after her predecessor, Geoffrey S. Berman, was fired in June by Mr. Trump.

At a brief arraignment on Thursday, Mr. Bannon, sunburned and his hair unbrushed, pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The government agreed to release him from custody on a $5 million bond.

Walking to his car after being freed, Mr. Bannon said, “This entire fiasco is to stop people who want to build the wall.”

Shortly after the charges were announced, Mr. Trump had sought to distance himself from Mr. Bannon and the fund-raising initiative, though the president also expressed sympathy for his former adviser.

“I feel very badly,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I haven’t been dealing with him for a very long period of time.”

The president said he knew nothing about the multimillion-dollar We Build the Wall campaign but quickly contradicted himself.

“I don’t like that project,” Mr. Trump said. “I thought it was being done for showboating reasons.” He called paying for the border wall privately “inappropriate.”

One of Mr. Trump’s sons, Donald Jr., publicly promoted the We Build the Wall effort at an event in 2019, calling it “private enterprise at its finest.”

Donald Trump Jr. said in a statement on Thursday that he had no involvement with the effort beyond praising it at that one event.

A White House official said that President Trump did not know Mr. Bannon would be arrested, and that he was told by aides after it happened.

Attorney General William P. Barr was briefed on the investigation several months ago, according to a Justice Department official, and the federal prosecutor’s office in Manhattan gave him notice that the indictment would be unsealed on Thursday.

According to the authorities, Mr. Bannon hatched the plot to defraud the donors with three other men: Brian Kolfage, a 38-year-old Air Force veteran and triple amputee from Miramar Beach, Fla.; Andrew Badolato, 56, a venture capitalist from Sarasota, Fla.; and Timothy Shea, 49, of Castle Rock, Colo.

Mr. Kolfage and Mr. Badolato were arrested in Florida on Thursday, and Mr. Shea, who prosecutors said funneled money for the group through a shell company he owned, was arrested in Denver.

Mr. Kolfage, who lost both his legs and one of his arms during his service in Iraq, created We Build the Wall as a GoFundMe page in December 2018. It was an immediate success, raising nearly $17 million in its first week online, prosecutors said.

To persuade potential donors to contribute to the effort, prosecutors said, Mr. Kolfage promised them that he would “not take a penny in salary or compensation” and that all of the money he raised would be used “in the execution of our mission and purpose.” According to the indictment, Mr. Bannon described We Build the Wall as a “volunteer organization.”

But all of that was false, prosecutors said. Instead, they claimed, Mr. Kolfage secretly took more than $350,000 in donations and spent it on home renovations, boat payments, a luxury S.U.V., a golf cart, jewelry and cosmetic surgery.

Mr. Bannon, working through an unnamed nonprofit organization, received more than $1 million from We Build the Wall, prosecutors said, some of which he used to pay off hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal expenses.

Mr. Bannon and three others are accused in a scheme to use funds raised for construction to pay for personal expenses.

Court papers suggested that prosecutors were in possession of several text messages between the men, including one in which Mr. Kolfage told Mr. Badolato that the payment scheme was “confidential” and should be kept on a “need to know” basis.

Mr. Kolfage initially pitched We Build the Wall as a way to sidestep the considerable legal and political obstacles to erecting Mr. Trump’s long-sought barrier. While the group has drawn approval from some top Homeland Security and Border Patrol officials, it has also prompted a backlash over its connections to Mr. Trump’s associates and its construction methods.

The federal government has built parts of the wall well within the American side of the border on federally owned land. But the sections built with private funds — slightly less than five miles in all, according to We Build the Wall’s website — have been erected along the riverbank of the Rio Grande in New Mexico and Texas.

Environmental groups have challenged those portions, citing potential harm. When experts recently said that sections along the river could fall into the river, even Mr. Trump criticized the project.

It remained unclear precisely when the yearlong investigation into the alleged scheme began. But last year, a bank informed Mr. Bannon that federal prosecutors had subpoenaed records related to We Build the Wall, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Prosecutors said that despite the effort’s early success, there were questions almost instantly “about Mr. Kolfage’s background” and the viability of his promises to use the money he had raised to actually build Mr. Trump’s wall.

Because of these concerns, prosecutors said, GoFundMe warned Mr. Kolfage that if he did not find a “legitimate nonprofit organization” to handle the money, it would return it to the donors. Mr. Kolfage claimed that the group had determined that only $800,000 of the funds needed to be given back.

“No rules were broken,” he said in an interview last year.

As the problems with donors mounted, Mr. Kolfage said he would establish a board of advisers and incorporate the group as We Build the Wall Inc.

Mr. Kolfage enlisted Kris Kobach, the former Kansas secretary of state, to serve on the board. Mr. Kobach, a longtime Trump supporter and a prominent immigration hard-liner, was not named in the indictment.

Mr. Kolfage also brought in Mr. Bannon, who had joined Mr. Trump’s campaign as chief executive in August 2016 and later became the White House’s chief strategist.

Several times, prosecutors said, Mr. Kolfage falsely assured his donors that every dime they gave him would go to the wall.

“It’s not possible to steal the money,” he said at one point, according to the indictment. “We have an advisory committee.”

When special agents from the Manhattan federal prosecutor’s office and postal inspectors boarded Mr. Guo’s yacht, the Lady May, in Long Island Sound, they searched the vessel and seized Mr. Bannon’s cellphone, officials said.

The investigators also conducted other searches in Florida, Colorado, Nevada, Missouri and Virginia, including at the homes of all of the defendants, the officials said.

Mr. Guo, a real-estate magnate, has been in exile since 2014 after fleeing China in anticipation of corruption and rape allegations by its government.

While living abroad — sometimes at a palatial apartment overlooking Central Park in Manhattan — he forged relationships with China hard-liners like Mr. Bannon and bought a membership to Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla.

Almost immediately after leaving the White House, Mr. Bannon struck up lucrative financial ties to Mr. Guo that began with a $150,000 loan, according to a memo written in May 2019 and obtained by The New York Times.

The GoFundMe page through which Mr. Bannon and his co-defendants raised money is now inactive. On Wednesday, less than 24 hours before their arrests, Mr. Kolfage made an appearance on Mr. Bannon’s podcast and explained the deactivation as an example of how tech companies censor conservative speech online.

When Mr. Bannon asked how people could continue giving money to the wall campaign, Mr. Kolfage responded by directing potential donors to his personal website, as well as another specifically for wall funding.

“How do people get access to We Build the Wall?” Mr. Bannon said.

“Don’t go to GoFundMe anymore,” Mr. Kolfage replied. “Screw them. Go straight to our website.”

[news4dzhozhar]

Cartel leaders, terrorists, and traitors will be Julian Assange's fellow prisoners if federal prosecutors and intelligence chiefs have their way and he is incarcerated in America's most secure facility.

Once he arrives on U.S. soil after he's extradited, the Australian-born WikiLeaks founder, 47, is likely to a slew of charges — including espionage — that would land him in prison for life. If convicted of such serious charges, Assange would almost certainly end up at the Supermax facility known ADX Florence in Colorado, in part because intelligence officials believe he represents a grave threat to the U.S.

The United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility is home to the nation’s most infamous spies and double agents as well as foreign and domestic terrorists. Known as the “Alcatraz of the Rockies,” the Florence, Colo., maximum-security prison houses 388 male inmates whose escape is assessed as posing a serious threat to U.S. national security.

Prisoners there are under constant surveillance, kept in near-isolation, and are locked in soundproof cells for 23 hours each day.

Gun towers, razor wire, armed guards, and concrete walls ensure that once a prisoner goes in, he is cut off from the outside world. If Assange lands there, he would find himself living with a number of famous turncoats.

Several are doing time for spying for Russia. Robert Hanssen, a former FBI agent who spent the 1980s and 1990s spying for the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation, was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole. Harold Nicholson, a former CIA officer recruited by Russian intelligence in the 1990s, was sentenced to decades in prison — and received an additional sentence after it was revealed he’d used his son to continue working with Russian intelligence even from behind bars.

Noshir Gowadia, who was sentenced to 30 years, was one of the engineers behind the stealth bomber and sold military secrets, including cruise missile technology, to China and others in the 2000s. Kendall Myers, a former State Department official who spied for Cuba, is serving a sentence of life without parole. When he had his wife, now freed, were convicted he told the judge: "Our overriding objective was to help the Cuban people defend their revolution. We share the ideals of the Cuban revolution."

Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera is the Mexican drug lord who headed the Sinaloa Cartel, named after the Mexican Pacific coast state of Sinaloa where it was formed. Known as "El Chapo Guzmán" for his short stature, he became Mexico's top drug kingpin in 2003.

Foreign terrorists include Zacarias Moussaoui, whom prosecutors tried to portray as the “20th hijacker” in the al Qaeda terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. Moussaoui is serving six life terms without parole, two more than Umar Abdulmutallab. Nicknamed the “Underwear Bomber,” Abdulmutallab is in ADX Florence for his efforts to take down an airplane on Christmas Day 2009.

Richard Reid, the British “Shoe Bomber” terrorist who tried to bring down an airline in 2001, is also there serving a life sentence.

The prison even has a cell block known as "Bombers Row," where Pakistani terrorist Ramzi Yousef, who helped carry out the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, is locked up alongside Americans such as "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski, Oklahoma City bombing accomplice Terry Nichols, and Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph.

Not all of ADX Florence's residents are there for life. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who along with his now-deceased brother Tamerlan carried out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, awaits the death penalty.

The sole charge Assange currently faces carries only a maximum penalty of five years in prison. But that charge was likely brought simply to ensure his extradition from Britain, a key U.S. ally. The Department Of Justice alleges Assange conspired with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in cracking a password stored on U.S. Department of Defense computers, which allowed Manning to access secret documents.

Manning turned over those documents to WikiLeaks, which released hundreds of thousands of classified Iraq War combat reports, Guantanamo Bay detainee briefs, and State Department cables.

Charles Stimson, who oversaw the detention of alleged terrorists during his tenure as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs in the Bush administration,, was confident that Assange would face additional counts. “I’m sure there will be superseding indictments. There’s no doubt in my mind as a prosecutor," he said. "They might have a superseding indictment that’s sealed already.”

If Assange is only convicted on the single count, he will likely be sentenced to the full five years. A similar 2016 case centered around Justin Liverman, a hacker who conspired with hacking group Crackas With Attitude to gain unauthorized access to former CIA Director John Brennan’s electronic communications and, later, to a confidential law enforcement database.

Like Assange, Liverman didn’t do the hacking himself but encouraged it — and he got the maximum sentence of five years in 2017. Liverman’s initial indictment was sealed in the Eastern District Court of Virginia, just like Assange’s. Liverman is doing his time at Fort Dix in New Jersey.

Few prisoners are released from the Supermax. One of those who did was Travis Dusenbury, who spent 10 years inside. Recalling his experience in 2016, he said: "You’re just shut off the world. You feel it. It sinks in, this dread feeling. ... It’s just the harshest place you’ve ever seen. Nothing living, not so much as a blade of grass anywhere."

[bountyofbeads]

Hungry, Scared and Sick: Behind Clint’s Razor Wire https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/07/06/us/migrants-border-patrol-clint.html

PLEASE IF YOU DON'T 📖 READ ANYTHING ELSE THIS WEEKEND, PLEASE READ 📖 and SHARE this article on the horrid conditions inside these Trump CONCENTRATION CAMPS. This SHOULD NOT be happening in America.

Hungry, Scared and

Sick: Inside the

Migrant Detention

Center in Clint, Tex.

An out-of-the-way border station

in the desert outside of El Paso

has become the epicenter of outrage

over the Trump administration’s

policies on the southwest border.

By SIMON ROMERO, ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, MANNY FERNANDEZ, DANIEL BORUNDA, AARON MONTES andCAITLIN DICKERSON | Published JULY 6, 2019 | New York Times | Posted July 7, 2019 |

CLINT, Tex. — Since the Border Patrol opened its station in Clint, Tex., in 2013, it was a fixture in this West Texas farm town. Separated from the surrounding cotton fields and cattle pastures by a razor-wire fence, the station stood on the town’s main road, near a feed store, the Good News Apostolic Church and La Indita Tortillería. Most people around Clint had little idea of what went on inside. Agents came and went in pickup trucks; buses pulled into the gates with the occasional load of children apprehended at the border, four miles south.

But inside the secretive site that is now on the front lines of the southwest border crisis, the men and women who work there were grappling with the stuff of nightmares.

Outbreaks of scabies, shingles and chickenpox were spreading among the hundreds of children who were being held in cramped cells, agents said. The stench of the children’s dirty clothing was so strong it spread to the agents’ own clothing — people in town would scrunch their noses when they left work. The children cried constantly. One girl seemed likely enough to try to kill herself that the agents made her sleep on a cot in front of them, so they could watch her as they were processing new arrivals.

A Migrant Jail

This story was a collaboration between The New York Times and The El Paso Times.

“It gets to a point where you start to become a robot,” said a veteran Border Patrol agent who has worked at the Clint station since it was built. He described following orders to take beds away from children to make more space in holding cells, part of a daily routine that he said had become “heartbreaking.”

The little-known Border Patrol facility at Clint has suddenly become the public face of the chaos on America’s southern border, after immigration lawyers began reporting on the children they saw — some of them as young as 5 months old — and the filthy, overcrowded conditions in which they were being held.

Border Patrol leaders, including Aaron Hull, the outspoken chief patrol agent of the agency’s El Paso Sector, have disputed descriptions of degrading conditions inside Clint and other migrant detention sites around El Paso, claiming that their facilities were rigorously and humanely managed even after a spate of deaths of migrant children in federal custody.

But a review of the operations of the Clint station, near El Paso’s eastern edge, shows that the agency’s leadership knew for months that some children had no beds to sleep on, no way to clean themselves and sometimes went hungry. Its own agents had raised the alarm, and found themselves having to accommodate even more new arrivals.

The accounts of what happened at Clint and at nearby border facilities are based on dozens of interviews by The New York Times and The El Paso Times of current and former Border Patrol agents and supervisors; lawyers, lawmakers and aides who visited the facility; and an immigrant father whose children were held there. The review also included sworn statements from those who spent time at El Paso border facilities, inspection reports and accounts from neighbors in Clint.

The conditions at Clint represent a conundrum not just for local officials, but for Congress, where lawmakers spent weeks battling over the terms of a $4.6 billion humanitarian aid package for facilities at the border. The lack of federal investment, some argue, is why the sites have been so strained. But the reports of squalor prompted several Democratic lawmakers to vote against the final bill, which did not have oversight and enforcement provisions.

By all accounts, the Border Patrol’s attempt to continue making room for new children at Clint even as it was unable to find space to send them to better-equipped facilities was a source of concern for many people who worked there.

“I can’t tell you the number of times I would talk to agents and they would get teary-eyed,” said one agent, a veteran of 13 years with Border Patrol who worked at Clint.

Mary E. González, a Democratic state lawmaker who toured the Clint station last week, said that Border Patrol agents told her they had repeatedly warned their superiors about the overcrowded facility, but that federal officials had taken no action.

“They said, ‘We were ringing the alarms, we were ringing the alarms, and nobody was listening to us’ — agents told me that,” Ms. González said. “I genuinely believe that the higher-ups made the Clint situation happen.”

A Forward Operating Base

Architects designed the Clint station as a type of forward base — replete with fueling stations, garages for all-terrain vehicles and horse stables — from which agents could go on forays along the border.

The station was never intended to hold more than about a hundred adult men, and it was designed with the idea that migrants would be detained for only a few hours of processing before being transferred to other locations.

Officials have allowed reporters and members of Congress on controlled tours of Clint, but prohibited them from bringing phones or cameras inside, and from entering certain areas. But through interviews with dozens of people with knowledge of the station — including lawyers, former detainees and staff members — The Times was able to model the main areas where children were held: the station’s central processing area, with its cinder-block cells; a converted loading area and yard; and a warehouse on the property.

Parts of the site resemble what might be seen at many government buildings. Photographs in the hallway celebrate the work of the Border Patrol, showing agents on horseback and in all-terrain vehicles. A conference room features high-backed chairs upholstered with faux leather.

But the sense of normalcy fades away the deeper one goes into the station. A detachment of Coast Guard personnel, sent to assist overworked agents, stock an ad hoc pantry with items like oatmeal and instant noodles. Monitors in blue shirts roam the station, hired through an outside contractor to supervise the detained children.

Beyond the pantry, a door leads to the site’s processing center, equipped with about 10 cells. One day this month, about 20 girls were crowded into one cell, so packed that some were sprawled on the floor. Toddlers could be seen in some cells, cared for by older children.

One of the cells functioned as a quarantine unit or “flu cell” for children with contagious diseases; employees have at times worn medical masks and gloves to protect themselves.

A part of the processing area was set aside for detained children to make phone calls to family members. Many broke into tears upon hearing the voices of loved ones, episodes so common that some agents merely shrugged in response.

Clint is known for holding what agents call U.A.C.s, or unaccompanied alien children — children who cross the border alone or with relatives who are not their parents.

Three agents who work at Clint said they had seen unaccompanied children as young as 3 enter the facility, and lawyers who recently inspected the site as part of a lawsuit on migrant children’s rights said they saw children as young as 5 months old. An agent who has worked for Border Patrol for 13 years — and who, like others interviewed for this story, spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the situation — confirmed reports by immigration lawyers that agents have asked migrants who are teenagers to help care for the younger children.

“We have nine agents processing, two agents in charge of U.A.C. care and we have little ones that need their diapers changed, and we can’t do that,” the agent said. “We can’t carry them or change diapers. We do ask the older juveniles, the 16-year-olds or 17-year-olds, to help us out with that.”

As immigration flows change, the scene inside Clint has shifted as well. The number of children in the site is thought to have peaked at more than 700 around April and May, and stood at nearly 250 two weeks ago. In an attempt to relieve overcrowding, agents took all the children out of Clint but then moved more than 100 back into the station just days later.

Unaccompanied boys are kept in a converted loading area that holds about 50 people. Until a few weeks ago, older boys were kept in a tent encampment outside.

Families, including adult parents, were also sent to Clint earlier this year, and Representative Will Hurd, a Republican whose Texas district includes Clint, said that 11 adult males “apprehended that morning” were also being held at the site when he visited on June 29.

Before the influx of migrants began to wane in recent weeks, the agents said they had kept the families in a warehouse normally used to house A.T.V.s. It was converted into two holding areas initially intended to house 50 people each.

A Chief Agent Under Fire

At least two Border Patrol agents at Clint said they had expressed concern about the conditions in the station to their superiors months ago. Even before that, senior Homeland Security officials in Washington had significant concerns about the El Paso Sector’s brash chief patrol agent and his oversight of the facility over the past year, when tighter security along other sections of the border prompted a steep rise in migrant crossings along the section that runs from New Mexico through West Texas.

The situation became so severe that in January, officials at Customs and Border Protection, the agency that oversees the Border Patrol, took the unusual move of ordering the sector chief, Mr. Hull, to come to headquarters in Washington for a face-to-face meeting. The officials were concerned that Mr. Hull, an agency veteran who speaks with a pronounced Texas twang, had moved too slowly to put safety measures in place after the deaths of migrant children, according to a Homeland Security official. After the meeting, Mr. Hull moved forward with the new procedures.

But tension has persisted between Mr. Hull and officials in Washington, particularly in recent months, as the number of migrants continued to increase at his facilities. The officials believe that Mr. Hull and Matthew Harris, the chief of the Clint station, have been slow to follow directives and communicate developments at the facilities in their sector, according to two Homeland Security officials.

Mr. Hull is seen as a hard-liner on immigration issues. He has often been heard saying that migrants exaggerate the problems they face in their home countries.

Officials at the border agency declined multiple interview requests.

Last month, the acting head of C.B.P., John Sanders, ordered an internal investigation into the Clint facility. The investigation — which is being conducted by the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility and the department’s inspector general — has examined allegations of misconduct.

As part of the review, investigators have conducted interviews and watched hours of video footage to see how agents treated detainees. So far, investigators have found little evidence to substantiate allegations of misconduct. But they have found that the facility is several times over capacity and has horrendous conditions.

The uproar over the site is drawing scrutiny on Border Patrol facilities that are some of the least-regulated migrant detention centers in the United States.

That is in part because they are intended in most cases to hold migrants for no more than 72 hours, before they are turned over to better-equipped facilities operated by other government agencies with stricter regulations on, say, the number of toilets and showers required. But the 72-hour limit has been frequently breached during the current migrant surge; some children have been housed at Clint for weeks on end.

Lawyers who visited the Clint station described children in filthy clothes, often lacking diapers and with no access to toothbrushes, toothpaste or soap, prompting people around the country to donate supplies that the Border Patrol turned away.

But Mr. Hull painted a far different picture of his need for supplies in April, when the numbers of children held in Clint were soaring. Mr. Hull told commissioners in Doña Ana County in Las Cruces, N.M., in April that his stations had more than enough supplies.

“Twenty years ago, we were lucky if we had juice and crackers for those in custody,” Mr. Hull said, as quoted in The Las Cruces Sun-News. “Now, our stations are looking more like Walmarts — with diapers and baby formula and all kinds of things, like food and snacks, that we aren’t resourced or staffed for and don’t have the space to hold.”

AN INSPECTOR ARRIVES

One day in April, a man from Washington arrived unannounced around midday at the Clint station. He introduced himself as Henry Moak, and told the agents inside that he was there to inspect the site in his role as Customs and Border Protection’s chief accountability officer.

The Clint station was far over capacity on the day of Mr. Moak’s visit, bulging with 291 children. Mr. Moak found evidence of a lice infestation; children also told him about going hungry and being forced to sleep on the floors.

One girl, a 14-year-old from El Salvador, had been in custody for 14 days in Clint, including a nine-day stretch in a nearby hospital during which Border Patrol agents accompanied her and kept her under surveillance. Mr. Moak did not specify in his report why the girl had been rushed to the hospital. When the girl returned to Clint, another child had taken her bed so she had to sleep on the floor.

Two sisters from Honduras, one 11 and the other 7, told Mr. Moak that they had to sleep on benches in the facility’s hold room, getting their own cot only when other children were transferred out. “The sisters told me they had not showered or brushed their teeth since arriving at Clint station,” Mr. Moak said in his report. Showers had been offered twice during the girls’ time in custody, but the girls were asleep each time, his review showed.

Mr. Moak in the end stated that Clint was in compliance with standards.

One of a team of lawyers who inspected the station in June, Warren Binford, director of the clinical law program at Willamette University in Oregon, said that in all her years of visiting detention and shelter facilities, she had never encountered conditions so bad — 351 children crammed into what she described as a prisonlike environment.

She looked at the roster, and was shocked to see more than 100 very young children listed. “My God, these are babies, I realized. They are keeping babies here,” she recalled.

One teenage mother from El Salvador said Border Patrol agents at the border had taken her medicine for her infant son, who had a fever.

“Did they throw away anything else?” Ms. Binford said she had asked her.

“Everything,” she replied. “They threw away my baby’s diapers, formula, bottle, baby food and clothes. They threw away everything.”

Once at Clint, she told Ms. Binford, the baby’s fever came back and she begged the agents for more medicine. “Who told you to come to America with your baby, anyway?” one of the agents told her, according to the young woman’s account to Ms. Binford.

Border Patrol agents have said they have adequate supplies at Clint for most of the migrants’ needs. The facility lacks a kitchen, they said, so the ramen, granola bars, instant oatmeal and burritos that serve as most of the sustenance for migrants has been the best they could do.

Children sometimes could be seen crying, said one Border Patrol agent, who has worked for seven years at the Clint facility, but it most often seemed to be because they missed their parents. “It’s never because they’re mistreated; it’s because they’re homesick,” she said.

A FATHER FINDS HIS SONS

Not long after Mr. Moak signed off on the conditions inside Clint, a man named Ruben was desperately trying to find his sons, 11-year-old twins who both have epilepsy.

The boys had crossed the border together in early June with their adult sister. They were hoping to reunite with their parents who had come to the United States earlier from El Salvador in order to earn enough money to pay for the boys’ epilepsy medications. They require daily injections and a strict regimen of care to prevent the seizures they began having at age 5.

But the twins were separated at the border from their sister and sent to Clint.

The first time they spoke to Ruben on the phone, the two boys sobbed intensely and asked when they would be able to see their parents again.

“We don’t want to be here,” they told him.

Ruben asked that his last name and the names of his sons be withheld for fear of retaliation by the American government.

Only later did Ruben learn that the boys had been given at least some of their epilepsy medication, and neither one had had a seizure. But one boy reported breaking out in a skin rash, his face and arms turning red and flaky. Both had come down with fevers and said they had been sent temporarily to the “flu cell.”

“There is no one to take care of you there,” one told his father.

It took 13 days after the boys were detained to speak to their father over the phone. A lawyer who had entered the facility, Clara Long of Human Rights Watch, met the boys, tracked down their parents, and helped them make a call. The boys were stoic and quiet, she said, and shook her hand as if “trying to act like little adults” — until they spoke to their father. Then, they could answer only with one- or two-word answers, Ms. Long said, and were wiping tears from their faces.

Much of the overcrowding appears to have been relieved at Clint, and overall arrivals at the border are slowing, as new policies make migrants, mainly from Central America, return to Mexico after they request asylum, as the summer heat deters travelers and as Mexico’s crackdown on its southern border prevents many from entering.

A Border Patrol agent who has long worked in the El Paso area said agents had tried to make things as easy as possible for the children; some bought toys and sports equipment on their own to bring in. “Agents play board games and sports with them,” he said.

But the Border Patrol long “took great pride” in quickly processing migrant families, and making sure children did not remain in their rudimentary stations for longer than 72 hours, the agent said. Clint, he said, “is not a place for kids.”

In the surrounding town, many residents were puzzled and sad at the news of what was happening to children in the station on Alameda Avenue.

“I don’t know what the hell happened, but they’ve diverted from their original mission,” said Julián Molinar, 66, a retired postal deliveryman who lives in a house facing the station. He served in the Army in Europe as the Berlin Wall came down, he said, and was dismayed that there was now talk of building a border wall near his home. As for the Clint facility, he said, “children should not be held here.”

Dora H. Aguirre, Clint’s mayor, expressed sympathy for the agents, who are part of the community in Clint and neighboring El Paso. “They’re just trying to do their job as a federal agency,” she said. “They are trying to do the best they can.”

Simon Romero, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Manny Fernandez and Caitlin Dickerson reported for The New York Times, and Daniel Borunda and Aaron Montes reported for The El Paso Times. Reporting was contributed for The New York Times by Emily Cochrane from Clint; Christina Goldbaum from New York; Miriam Jordan from Los Angeles; and Michael Schmidt from Washington. Lauren Villagran contributed reporting from El Paso for The El Paso Times.

Graphics were produced by Guilbert Gates, Jason Kao, Juliette Love, Jugal K. Patel and Jeremy White. Additional work by Larry Buchanan.