New Harris border security ads mark 180 from years of liberal immigration advocacy
The Harris campaign released a new ad touting Vice President Kamala Harris’ work as a California prosecutor to crack down on the border, a seemingly different message than the one she attempted to highlight while preparing to be sworn in as a U.S. senator. “Kamala Harris has spent decades fighting violent crime. As a border state prosecutor, she took on drug cartels and jailed gang members for smuggling weapons and drugs across the border,” the ad, titled, “Tougher,” says. The ad also points to the Democratic presidential nominee’s time as vice president, arguing she “backed the toughest border control bill in decades. And as president, she will hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking.” The bill referenced in the ad, a bipartisan agreement between President Biden and a handful of senators, was voted down by Republicans in the Senate in February. A later attempt to revive the bill was also rejected by GOP lawmakers in May, despite the president’s plea for lawmakers to “stop playing politics” with border security. KAMALA HARRIS’ CAMPAIGN CRITICIZES TRUMP FOR SERVING ‘SELF-OBSESSED RICH GUYS’ AFTER INTERVIEW WITH ELON MUSK Harris has vowed to revive the legislation again as president. “Fixing the border is tough. So is Kamala Harris,” the ad states. The ad comes as Harris attempts to go on the offensive on border security, an issue Republicans have sought to highlight as one of her weaknesses after the Biden administration saw record levels of illegal border crossings, most notably after the vice president was put in charge of solving the “root causes” of illegal immigration. However, the tough-on-the-border history the Harris campaign is seeking to highlight seemingly stands in stark contrast to Harris’ message when she was first elected to the Senate in 2016, when the then-senator elect touted her record of “defending immigrants and refugees” after learning she was tapped to serve on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. KAMALA HARRIS DECLINES TIME MAGAZINE INTERVIEW AS SHE CONTINUES TO AVOID THE PRESS “I’m proud to have had a long career as a prosecutor protecting public safety and defending immigrants and refugees,” Harris wrote in a post on Medium at the time. “Here in California, I fought to pass laws that protect immigrant victims of crime and illegal retaliation for undocumented immigrants who report crimes,” she continued. “And during our campaign, I was a leading voice for increasing — not stopping — the number of asylum seekers our country accepts from Syria and other war-torn countries.” Meanwhile, Republicans have continued to attack Harris’ record on the border, releasing an ad last month that labeled the vice president “weak” and “dangerously liberal” on border security. Former President Trump has also leaned into the attacks on Harris, taking to Truth Social Sunday to highlight the vice president’s record as the so-call “border czar” of the Biden administration. “Kamala Harris was put in sole charge of the Border,” Trump said. “It quickly became the WORST AND MOST DANGEROUS BORDER IN HISTORY. As President, Harris will completely DESTROY OUR COUNTRY!” The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment. Get the latest updates on the ongoing border crisis from the Fox News Digital immigration hub.
‘Is this a joke?’: Rashida Tlaib furious at Blinken for celebrating Geneva Conventions anniversary
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., is heckling the State Department for commemorating the anniversary of the Geneva Conventions on Tuesday, accusing the Biden administration of facilitating Israel’s alleged violations of the historic peace agreement. “Is this a joke?” Tlaib wrote on X regarding a statement from Secretary of State Antony Blinken to mark the occasion. “You supported sending more U.S. made bombs being used to commit war crimes. The government of Israel bombed hospitals, schools, and tents full of displaced Palestinians. How can you say you are for respecting international human rights laws?” HEZBOLLAH LAUNCHES 30 ROCKETS INTO ISRAEL Blinken had said, “Today we commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Geneva Conventions of 1949. The United States reaffirms our steadfast commitment to respecting international humanitarian law and mitigating suffering in armed conflict. We call on others to do the same.” The Geneva Conventions of 1949 is a set of four peace treaties affirming standards for the treatment of civilians, prisoners of war and other noncombatants. Her comments come as Israel’s military readies for a possibly imminent attack by Iran in retaliation for the killing of Hamas’ political leader in Tehran. Despite being a Democrat, Tlaib has been one of President Biden’s harshest critics in terms of Israel. HAMAS REFUSES TO ATTEND GAZA CEASE-FIRE TALKS AS BIDEN SAYS IT’S ‘STILL POSSIBLE’ TO REACH DEAL Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, is a leader in the growing faction of the progressive left who are critical of Democrats’ traditionally close ties with Israel. Those fractures have been on full display in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel. Twenty-two House Democrats voted with Republicans to censure Tlaib for her comments on Israel on Nov. 7 last year, a month after the attack. COTTON SLAMS HARRIS AS ‘NAIVE’ ON IRAN, BLASTS VP FOR NOT BEING TOUGH ON HAMAS During Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress last month, Tlaib mounted a silent protest by holding a sign that read “war criminal” on one side and “guilty of genocide” on the other. She held the sign up for most of the speech despite appearing to be asked not to do so by House staff several times. Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for comment on her recent remarks.
Independence Day 2024: Delhi Metro timings changed for August 15; check revised schedule here
Delhi metro services will commence at 4 am on August 15 in order to facilitate the public to attend the Independence Day ceremony on Thursday.
Doctor rape-murder case: Kolkata HC transfers probe to CBI, Bengal state healthcare remains in…
The direction was passed in the wake of a petition moved by the victim’s parents praying for a court-monitored probe and multiple other PILs seeking probe transfer to the CBI.
Minnesota GOP leader sounds alarm on Walz trying to ‘bamboozle’ rural voters: ‘Bernie Sanders in flannel’
DULUTH, Minn. – The Republican Party chair of a rural county in central Minnesota is blasting the prevalent media narrative that Gov. Tim Walz is a “moderate” and tells Fox News Digital that rural voters across the country are being “bamboozled” by that talking point. “I do have a message for most of our rural people here and anybody else that may be watching this, please, you’re getting hoodwinked,” Lowell Smith, a state college educator and chair of the Crow Wing County GOP in Brainerd, Minnesota, told Fox News Digital. “You’re getting bamboozled. He’s lying to you. He is not for rural America. He only cares about very liberal policies that would be embraced by the elite. He’s not for us. He’s basically. You can’t remember who said it, but he really is. Bernie Sanders and flannel. They’re trying to market him as not being that. But he’s a liberal just dressed in flannel. He’s against the Second Amendment. He’s not for rural America.” Smith continued, “Governor Walz’s values do not align with much of rural Minnesota at all, or for much of rural America. He kind of originally ran to try and be a moderate, but every policy he has taken, everything that he has done since being elected has been ultra liberal and nothing has reflected that he’s a moderate at all, so it made perfect sense that Kamala Harris picked him to be her running mate.” Smith told Fox News Digital that when he speaks to rural voters in Minnesota, “everybody’s really angry” about Walz “letting the state burn for about four days” during the George Floyd riots in 2020 that caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. MINNESOTA MURDER STATS ROSE UNDER WALZ’S LEADERSHIP AS HE TRIES TO TIE VIOLENT CRIME TREND TO TRUMP: DATA Additionally, Smith pointed to the tax policy and business climate under Walz in Minnesota and said that Democrats in control of the state have “squandered” a $17 billion surplus under Walz’s leadership. The nonpartisan Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index for 2024, which was published in October 2023, ranked Minnesota as having the 44th best tax climate for businesses in the country. An analysis published by the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in January found that Minnesota’s tax code was the most progressive of all 50 states, with only the District of Columbia having a more progressive tax code. “In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make,” Walz told a Philadelphia crowd about abortion during his introduction as Vice President Kamala Harris’ vice presidential pick. “Even if we wouldn’t make the same choice for ourselves, there’s a golden rule: Mind your own damn business.” Smith told Fox News Digital that rural voters in Minnesota take issue with that claim given Walz’s record on COVID, which he has been widely criticized for by Republicans. “His policies did not reflect that at all,” Smith said. “He set up a tip line to where, basically, you could snitch off your neighbor if they were not wearing their mask, or they kept their business open and there would be civil fines attached to that.” MINNESOTA DEM LAWMAKER DEFENDS WALZ AGAINST ‘RADICAL’ LABEL FROM GOP: ‘COULDN’T DISAGREE MORE’ “So that was kind of reminiscent for up here back in communism when you had family members spying on family members and that is not what us in rural Minnesota really believe in.” Smith told Fox News Digital that residents in his county colloquially refer to Walz as “Tampon Tim” due to his policies on transgender issues, including allowing menstrual products to be placed in school bathrooms across the country, including boys’ bathrooms. Democrats have pushed back against that line of attack, but Smith says that Walz has essentially made Minnesota a “sanctuary state” for transgender issues. “Embracing that transgender ideology, so much so that he’s made Minnesota a sanctuary state to where if you’re a minor in Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, and your parents do not agree with you, you can drive into Minnesota, then at that point, for lack of a better term, Minnesota can take possession of you and allow you to get that transgender surgery or health care without your parents consent or even knowledge,” Smith said. “Even in Minnesota, if your child is gender confused, the state may step in and take your child and allow health care directives to be directed toward your child against the parent’s wishes. This just does not sit well with us up here.” TIM WALZ HAS TIES TO MUSLIM CLERIC WITH ANTISEMITIC VIEWS, GAVE STATE FUNDING TO HIS GROUP: REPORT Smith told Fox News Digital that residents around Brainerd are so fed up with Walz’s policies that a local business along Highway 10 in Royalton, Minnesota, put up a sign seen by thousands of motorists showing Walz with his head inserted in his rear end that reads, “Gov. Walz, Northern MN is trying to see things from your point of view. Sponsored by Rocks & Cows of the North.” The “Rocks & Cows” refers to a comment made by Walz in 2017 about rural America that the Trump campaign has seized on, but some say was taken out of context. Fox News Digital asked Smith what issues rural voters in his county tell him they are most concerned about in the November election. “The top three issues that we hear first and foremost is our budget nationally as far as our money,” Smith explained. “We want to ensure that we have a strong economy and that does not look to be going that well. The next thing will be control of crime. Crime is rampant through most of the democratically controlled areas and people want to be safe in their neighborhoods and in their homes.” “Lastly would be the control of the border, which would be the massive flood or what we hear up here, as they call it, an invasion from other countries into our country every week.
A hidden ocean on Mars, would it spur human settlement?
A stream of liquid water could be brimming beneath the craggy, tan rock crust on Mars, enough to make up a whole ocean, according to a NASA study, whose results were published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Here’s more about NASA’s latest discovery, and what it tells us about the potential of human settlements on the Red Planet in the future: How did NASA find water on Mars? NASA’s outer-space robotic explorer, the InSight Lander, touched down on Mars in 2018. It studied seismic waves on the planet, which read data from more than 1,300 marsquakes before shutting down two years ago. InSight collected data from a plain near the planet’s equator called Elysium Planitia. A group of researchers combined this data with computer models and speculated that underground water is the most likely explanation for the seismic readings. While NASA found liquid saltwater on Mars in 2015, the latest discovery is significant because it indicates the large amount of water the planet possibly holds in fractures 11.5km (7.15 miles) to 20km (12.4 miles) underground. The lead scientist of the research, Vashan Wright of the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, said that if the InSight data collected at Elysium Planitia is representative of the rest of Mars, the water would be enough to fill a global ocean 1 to 2km (0.6 to 1.2 miles) deep. Drills and other equipment will be needed to further investigate and confirm the presence of water. It has long been discovered by scientists that Mars once had water, maybe even in ample amounts. Last year, China’s Mars rover also found that water may be more widespread than previously thought. “There were thoughts that some of the water escaped when Mars lost its atmosphere,” Wright told Al Jazeera. How did Mars lose its atmosphere? Alastair Gunn, a radio astronomer at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester, told the BBC that Mars used to have a strong magnetic field like Earth. The motion of molten iron in Earth’s core generates the field, which protects from cosmic radiation and from the solar wind, which refers to energetic charged particles flowing from the sun. However, Mars cooled internally and switched off this field. This solar wind stripped Mars of its atmosphere, turning it cold and dry. Will there be human settlements on Mars? A NASA rover called the Perseverance Rover, which was launched in 2020, has manufactured oxygen on Mars, Amitabha Ghosh, a space scientist who has worked with NASA, told Al Jazeera. “So we just need water in some form for human existence as well as making rocket fuel,” said Ghosh. Plans for humans to inhabit Mars are not recent. Billionaire and technology entrepreneur Elon Musk has been striving to colonise Mars for over a decade under SpaceX, his rocket company. SpaceX employees have long been fleshing out the blueprint of a Martian city where humans roam, complete with dome habitats and spacesuits. “Elon Musk is making a Starship which can carry 200 people to Mars in six months. It’s all coming together,” Ghosh added. The SpaceX website deems Mars one of Earth’s closest habitable neighbours. Musk is not the only one with Mars city dreams. The United Arab Emirates Space programme, particularly the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center, aims to establish a human settlement on Mars by 2117. “In 10-15 years, it might not look like science fiction any more,” said Ghosh. Who would live on Mars? It is unlikely that most people will be able to afford to live on Mars, in case human settlements are established on the planet. Space missions are priced very high. In 2011, Cirque Du Soleil billionaire Guy Laliberte paid $35m to go to space. Las Vegas-based Bigelow Space Operations (BSO) said in 2019 that it would charge private astronauts $52m a seat to visit the International Space Station for a month or two. Should humans live on Mars? The prospect of humans living on the Red Planet has raised ethical questions: Some thinkers question whether it is right to move to a “backup planet” after wrecking environmental damage on Earth. Ian Stoner, an instructor of the Department of Philosophy at Saint Paul College Minnesota, wrote an article arguing against establishing human settlements on Mars on moral grounds. “Human presence on Mars, he argued in an article, is likely to constitute a significantly invasive or destructive investigation of the Martian environment.” Humans will impart bacteria, yeast and fungus on the environment of the planet, he added. Earth is already marred by environmental damage due to warming temperatures which have resulted in rising sea levels, floods and droughts. A 2023 Pew Research Center survey asked 10,329 American adults about their top priorities for NASA missions. Sixty percent of respondents wanted NASA to monitor asteroids that could hit Earth. For 50 percent of the respondents, the top priority was to monitor key parts of Earth’s climate system. Only 11 percent of respondents stated the exploration of Mars as their top priority. Katharine Hayhoe, director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University, rebuked the idea that Mars should be colonised instead of climate change on Earth being tackled, in an interview with US-based publication Aerospace America. “If we do not take action to reduce and eventually eliminate our carbon emissions, they will overwhelm human civilisation as we know it, long before Mars is ready to be colonised by large numbers of people,” Hayhoe is quoted saying. While space missions have been unearthing new details about the presence of water and oxygen on the Red Planet, Mars has not been explored by crewed space missions. There is not enough information about how long humans can sustainably survive on the planet. Adblock test (Why?)
What’s Troubling Her? Treating women’s mental health in Afghanistan
A 26-year-old psychologist, Mehriya Qadiri, treats young women as a mental health crisis unfolds across Afghanistan. Psychologist Mehriya Qadiri is in a unique position in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. When the Taliban returned to power and banned women from attending university, Mehriya was unable to finish her bachelor’s degree. However, due to the shortage of mental health professionals, she has been allowed to continue her training and work treating patients, both men and women, in hospital and private practice. For Mehriya, business is sadly booming, mostly because the number of girls and women excluded from society, work and education are queueing up for professional help. Mehriya is overworked and alarmed by the cases of anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts she has to deal with on a daily basis. What’s Troubling Her is a documentary film by Najibulla Quraishi and Mike Healy. Adblock test (Why?)
India’s doctors strike to protest murder of medic
NewsFeed Doctors in India are on strike in protest over the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor while on shift at a Kolkata hospital. Protesters are demanding justice for the victim and stronger legislation to protect healthcare workers from violence. Published On 13 Aug 202413 Aug 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
This AAP leader to hoist tricolour on Independence Day in CM Arvind Kejriwal’s absence
Delhi L-G VK Saxena has nominated Home Minister Kailash Gahlot to hoist the Tricolour on Independence Day.
Meet women who are invited as special guests for 78th Independence Day celebrations at Red Fort, they are…
The Namo Drone Didi and Lakhpati Didi schemes are among the important initiatives of the government for fostering economic empowerment and financial autonomy among women in rural areas.