Barge Company Will Preserve 649 Acres of Habitat and Pay Over $2 Million for Injuries to Natural Resources Resulting from its Oil Spill in the Mississippi River near New Orleans
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edla/pr/barge-company-will-preserve-649-acres-habitat-and-pay-over-2-million-injuries-natural
WhatsApp outage ‘a nightmare’ for group working to rescue Afghans, American citizens
While Twitter is full of jokes about the outage plaguing Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, it’s no laughing matter to Safi Rauf.
“It’s a nightmare,” Rauf —who depserved as a linguist and cultural advisor embedded with Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan and now runs a major rescue effort for those left behind — told Military Times. “I have people all over Afghanistan I can not communicate with.”
Rauf founded the Human First Coalition. It is one of several ad hoc organizations that sprung up during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan when it became clear tens of thousands of people who helped the U.S. and its allies over the course of 20 years of conflict would be left behind, possibly facing retribution from the Taliban. The messaging service WhatsApp has played a significant part of the communications effort, Rauf said. All told, he is in contact with about 2,500 people in Afghanistan.
“I have people all over Afghanistan trying to communicate with me through WhatsApp and I can not get a hold of them,” he said.
Human First Coalition has helped rescue more than 6,000 people from Afghanistan, including about 1,000 American citizens and their families, Rauf said.
The outage, he said, “is a concern” for those still needing help. Several former interpreters have reached out to Military Times via WhatsApp on a regular basis.
“It sucks,” Bryan Stern — who founded Project Dynamo, which recently worked with Human First Coalition and other groups to get a flight of more than 100 people out of Afghanistan — told Military Times. “The entire world uses WhatsApp and similar apps. It’s like a phone outage.”
Mike Jason, a retired Army colonel and executive director of Allied Airlift 21, which has helped rescue about 700 people, told Military Times that the outage “is affecting out ability to get info from our Afghans.
“However,” he added, “we had established alternate communication platforms and those are still available, so it’s more an inconvenience.”
https://www.navytimes.com/flashpoints/2021/10/04/whatsapp-outage-a-nightmare-for-group-working-to-rescue-afghans-american-citizens/
>https://twitter.com/realchrisrufo/status/1445167453105897475?s=19
Justice Department Addresses Violent Threats Against School Officials and Teachers
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-addresses-violent-threats-against-school-officials-and-teachers
Thousands of Unvaccinated New York City Teachers on Unpaid Leave: Union
Thousands of unvaccinated New York City teachers were placed on unpaid leave after a citywide mandate went into effect, according to the United Federation of Teachers.
About 97 percent of teachers and other school staff represented by the union got the vaccine, the United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew confirmed in a news conference on Monday afternoon.
“Under 4,000” of about 121,000 workers represented by the United Federation of Teachers were missing from city schools as of Monday, Mulgrew said in response to a question about how many teachers were taken off the payroll due to the city’s vaccine mandate. He said that individuals who receive the vaccine in the near future can return to work immediately.
Some of those unvaccinated teachers have lost “their livelihood,” Mulgrew said, although he stressed that staff should get vaccinated. Mulgrew also stated he is concerned about a lack of school safety officers and staffing issues, namely in District 75 in Staten Island and other areas.
Classes resumed in person on Monday after New York City gave an Oct. 1 deadline for teachers to get the vaccine. Mulgrew said that about 1,000 teachers and school staff got the shot over the past weekend and are now in class as of Monday.
“Every adult in our schools is now vaccinated. That’s going to be the rule going forward. That’s the way to keep kids safe,” Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, said during a briefing on Monday. “Ninety-five percent of all full-time [Department of Education] employees are vaccinated, 96 percent of all teachers, 99 percent of all principals,” he added
“I just think this should be a personal choice,” one longtime Brooklyn special education teacher told the New York Post. “The most distressing thing is that we were told we were essential last year and now we’re just nothing.”
City schools chancellor Meisha Porter told CNN last week that she doesn’t expect the mandate to trigger a teacher or staffing shortage.
“We have more subs that are vaccinated than unvaccinated, teachers and our superintendents have been working with our principals to develop plans to ensure our students get the education and continue to get the education they deserve in person,” Porter said.
A similar mandate for teachers and school staff is scheduled to go into effect in Los Angeles on Oct. 15.
A group of teachers and other employees filed a lawsuit against the citywide mandate, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene. However, Justice Sonia Sotomayor denied the request on Oct. 1.
COVID-19 is the illness caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.
https://www.ntd.com/thousands-of-unvaccinated-new-york-city-teachers-on-unpaid-leave-union_684465.html
FORMER SEC BRANCH CHIEF LISA BRAGANCA “Ken Griffin was not wholly truthful with congress. Not to use legal jargon, but that is a no-no.”
Lisa Bragança worked as a SEC Enforcement Branch Chief, where she led investigations into securities fraud, insider trading, market manipulation, and other trading practices.
Interview: twitter.com/LisaBraganca/status/1444292731740868615
https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/former-sec-branch-chief-lisa-braganca-ken-griffin-was-not-wholly-truthful-with-congress-not-to-use-legal-jargon-but-that-is-a-no-no/
Chek't
Hillsong founder Brian Houston to plead not guilty to child sex abuse charges
Hillsong founder Brian Houston will plead not guilty to concealing information about child sexual abuse, a Sydney court has heard.
Key points:
The investigation into the concealment of information began in 2019
Lawyers for the Hillsong founder say he will plead not guilty to the charges
Frank Houston admitted to the abuse before he died in 2004
The 67-year-old's lawyer was served with a court attendance notice over the allegations in August.
He was charged with concealing a serious indictable offence of another person.
Court documents reveal the charge relates to an indecent assault of a male allegedly committed by his late father, Frank Houston, in 1970.
The matter was mentioned briefly this morning before Downing Centre Local Court.
Mr Houston didn't appear, but his lawyer indicated he would plead not guilty.
The case was adjourned until November 23.
The court documents also state Mr Houston is accused of concealing the information between September 1999 and November 2004, in Baulkham Hills and elsewhere around NSW.
They say he allegedly knew that he “had information that might be of material assistance in securing the prosecution of Frank Houston” and “without reasonable excuse, failed to bring that information to the attention of the NSW Police Force”.
Police have previously said their investigation began in 2019.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions reviewed a brief of evidence and provided advice in August.
The evangelist has recently returned to Australia after being based in the United States for several months.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard Frank Houston admitted to the abuse, which took place in Australia and New Zealand several decades ago.
Frank Houston was allowed to retire from the church before the abuse became public.
He died in 2004.
Mr Houston has previously said the charges came "as a shock" to him and vowed to "set the record straight".
"I vehemently profess my innocence and will defend these charges, and I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight," he said in a statement.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-05/hillsong-founder-brian-houston-pleads-not-guilty/100514102
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-05/hillsong-founder-brian-houston-pleads-not-guilty/100514102