Politics and Current
Harris distributes meals and comforts families as they observe the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in Georgia
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris he handed out meals, hugged a shocked family and conducted surveys Hurricane Helene an “extraordinary” path of destruction through Georgia on Wednesday as she left the campaign trail to pledge federal aid and look on firsthand at scenes of downed trees, damaged homes and lives turned the wrong way up.
She visited Augusta, where power lines ran along the sidewalk and utility poles were cracked and broken. The vp spoke from a podium in front of a house with a fallen tree balanced on it, paying tribute to those that died in the disaster while attempting to set a tone of unity and hope for communities now facing an extended and expensive rebuilding process.
Harris and President Joe Biden, who visited the Carolinas on Wednesday, sought to show commitment and competence in helping devastated communities following former Republican President Donald Trump’s false claims about their administration’s response.
Harris said she desired to “see the damage in person, which is unusual.” She expressed admiration for a way “people unite. People help complete strangers.”
The Democratic presidential candidate said it shows that “the vast majority of us have much more in common than what divides us” – echoing an announcement she often uses during the campaign.
Before delivering the remarks, Harris could possibly be seen hugging and cuddling her family of 5 as they handled the effects of the storm.
“We are here for the long haul,” she said.
Harris also visited a Red Cross relief center and received information from local officials praising those working to “meet the needs of people who need to be seen and heard.”
“I’m listening now,” she said.
Lifestyle
Brittany Smith, an Augusta resident, emerged from the distribution center with Styrofoam boxes of food and cups of fruit, elated that she had taken a photograph with the vp. She said there was a hole in her roof and she needed to send her children some other place since it wasn’t secure there.
Harris’ visit, she said, “improved the situation” despite the difficulties.
Smith stated that she encouraged Harris to go to town relatively than simply appear on television. “She is a person. She’s not just a voice.”
About 200 miles north in the Carolinas, Biden was also surveying the storm’s effects. With many roads in the area inaccessible, he flew a helicopter over fallen trees, twisted metal and towering piles of debris in Asheville’s often tourist-friendly downtown.
From the air, Biden saw flooded roads, piles of shredded wood and displaced sandbags, emergency trucks and downed power lines. In one place, houses were partially underwater and it was difficult to differentiate the lake from the land.
Visits to disaster zones are a familiar responsibility for Biden, who was often called upon to survey damage and provide comfort to victims of tornadoes, wildfires and tropical storms. However, it was Harris’ first visit to the affected area as vp.
Because of the devastation Biden endured on Wednesday, he was unable to exit and comfort people in person, as Harris did in Georgia.
Biden was wearing a vest and boots, and before the plane ride, he hugged and grabbed the hand of Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, who was at the airport in Greenville, South Carolina, to satisfy him. The mayor was visibly moved. they stated that they couldn’t close the only functional road in the area for Biden’s convoy.
Biden will return to the region on Thursday to go to Florida and Georgia, and Harris plans her own trip to North Carolina in the coming days as Helene’s aftermath continues to pose a political and humanitarian test for the administration.
Before leaving Washington, Biden mentioned how ongoing dockers’ strike could make it harder to deliver supplies to the hardest-hit areas.
“Natural disasters have incredible consequences. The last thing we need is a man-made disaster taking place in the ports,” he said. “We are already receiving pushback, we are hearing from residents in the region that they are having trouble getting the product they need because of the strike at the port.”
Harris is under particular scrutiny as her White House bid involves an end, and Helene’s path included battleground states Georgia and North Carolina.
The vp last visited natural disaster sites as a senator from California, including: when she traveled to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017 and when she walked through the charred wreckage in Paradise, California after the 2018 Campfire.
Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Harris’ campaign manager and former state director in her Senate office, said the vp uses her experience comforting victims as a courtroom prosecutor to attach with people after tragedies.
She said the trip to Georgia was a likelihood for Harris “to continue to show her leadership and ability to get things done, compared to Donald Trump and J.D. Vance who want to dismantle essential services and the role that government should play “.
Trump, the Republican candidate, on Monday, he traveled to Valdosta, Georgia with a Christian charity that brought trucks with fuel, food, water and other supplies. The former president accused Biden of “asleep” and not responding to calls from Georgia’s Republican Governor Brian Kemp. However, Kemp spoke with Biden the previous day and the governor said the state was getting every part it needed.
Biden was furious with Trump’s claims, saying Trump “is lying and the governor told him he was lying.”
The storm’s death toll rose to a minimum of 178, and some places were without power, running water and cell service. Later Wednesday, Biden flew to Raleigh, North Carolina, for a briefing with officials and called Helene a “storm of historic proportions.”
“The nation supports you,” Biden said.
The tone of each Harris and Biden was markedly different from Trump, who claimed without evidence that Democratic leaders were withholding aid from Republican areas. He recently threatened to withhold aid from California for the wildfires over disagreements with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
When Trump was presidentPuerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria, in which 3,000 people died. His administration waited until the fall of 2020, just weeks before the presidential election, to release $13 billion in recovery aid for Puerto Rico. The federal government watchdog also found that Trump administration officials obstructed an investigation into aid delays.
Politics and Current
If it weren’t for Abraham Lincoln, ‘coloured people’ ‘would not have’ basketball, Indiana Republican tells black C-Span host in racist on-air tirade
A caller identifying himself as Rick, a Republican from Indiana, called C-Span Sunday to remind viewers what people in power looked like 70 years ago.
Or perhaps it was all a joke. Or a challenge. Or the results of one too many moonshines.
Or perhaps it serves as a reminder that Donald Trump’s re-election has empowered racists to say the silent part out loud.
Rick, from Crawfordville, Indiana, was clearly wanting to be noticed, telling the show’s black host, Kimberly Adams, that in keeping with the Bible, “men should rule the home” and girls should “just clean.”
“But anyway, sidebar, you know, ever since Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed, boy, chaos has gone to hell, it’s gone hand in hand with the Democrats.” Rick said. “And what really annoys me, Kimberly, is that these people of color are always saying Trump is so bad.”
Rick’s use of the word “colourful”, a derogatory term utilized by more polite racists as an alternative choice to the N-word, tells you all the pieces it’s good to learn about his standpoint.
But if there was any doubt, Rick didn’t back down from his own Bull Connor-inspired conversation topics (Connor was Birmingham, police commissioner in Alabama for 24 years, famous for using fire hoses and police attack dogs against civil rights demonstrators).
“Can’t they think back to the time of their ancestors when the British came to them and things like that?” he asked. “I don’t understand why the hell people of color, Republicans, were the ones who released them. The Democrats held them there for slavery. I just don’t understand it.”
For those wondering why Adams didn’t chime in, well, that is not how it works for a C-Span host. Company policy requires them to maintain their opinions to themselves.
But Adams needed to quietly have a good time when Rick’s line began to creak.
“Rick, your line is breaking a little,” she said hopefully.
Unfortunately, Rick’s line got here back in time to lecture Black people on why they needs to be more grateful.
“If it weren’t for Abraham Lincoln, these guys wouldn’t have had a basketball game or a football game,” he said, before concluding with a warning from the Bible, issue of Revenge.
“Seriously, weather-wise, it’s going to be bad in the south,” Rick said. “So all you people, Democrats in the South, you better repent now because the storm is coming your way.”
It’s unclear whether Rick is an actual person or an actual parody, but commenters on Raw Story, which published the story on Monday, mostly took him literally.
“He’s just some idiot who probably still lives in his mother’s basement (basements are a thing in rural Indiana),” one viewer said. “Don’t shit yourself here. Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania are full of people who know nothing about anything outside their local inbreeding bubble.”
Another said that Rick is just not only a throwback, but in addition a glance into America’s Trumpian future:
“MAGA rats are getting closer to using the n-word in national media. Good luck with kindness, America, if they can pull it off. Where does the GOP find these simpletons?”
Another commenter, borrowing a page from Trump, questioned Rick’s roots:
“I bet he graduated from a school in Florida.”
Politics and Current
Racial Justice Experts Condemn Trump’s Attack on DEI in Schools as Perpetuating ‘White Delusions’
Activists and education experts are sharply criticizing President-elect Donald Trump’s proposal for “reparations” for so-called “victims” who’re discriminated against in diversity, equity and inclusion teaching programs, also known as DEI.
Trump and Republicans’ goal in eliminating DEI from public education, Johns said, is to “prevent students and censored individuals from engaging in critical thinking in a way that makes it easier to maintain this regime.”
In the video, Trump promised to make use of the Justice Department’s authority to “pursue federal civil rights cases” against schools that “racially discriminate and schools that persist in overt, unlawful discrimination under the guise of equity.”
The president-elect announced that grants from schools promoting racial equality could be taxed and fined. He proposed that “part of the confiscated funds should then be used to compensate the victims of these illegal and unjust policies… that have hurt our country so much.”
While some online have described Trump’s proposal as “reparations” for white people, racial justice advocates explain that the term is misleading.
“It’s really necessary that we do not loosen up with the word ‘compensation.’ He himself didn’t use the word ‘reparations,’ and I feel it is vital that we do not start overusing that term, especially as we proceed to try to coach people on what it means,” said Dr. Marcus Anthony Hunter, author of Radical Reparations: Healing the Soul of a Nation “.
Dr. Johns said Trump’s “restitution” proposal might be higher described as “grievance subsidies” for white people. The scholar and activist said Trump’s renewed attacks on DEI are nothing latest.
“What he did is consistent with what the Daughters of the Confederacy did after the Civil War,” Johns said, referring to the group’s promotion of a false “Lost Cause” ideology that minimized the role of slavery as a reason behind the Civil War and portrayed the Confederacy in a more positive light.
No federal law currently prohibits educational programs deemed DEI, except the ban on race-based admissions, also known as affirmative motion, invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023. However, several governors have attempted to ban DEI programs through state-level laws. It’s also unclear whether Trump can actually impose a penalty on school funds as he claims.
Dr. Hunter said Trump’s claim for “restitution” in equity reminded him of a 2023 racial discrimination lawsuit filed by a white student attending Howard University Law School. Although the coed’s claim of being “treated differently” due to his race was the identical released A federal judge allowed his case to be heard under the guise of losing his scholarship on “racial grounds.”
“For a lot of these things, you have to be able to prove verifiable damages,” Hunter said. “So a few of what (Trump) says will occur isn’t possible because people cannot really prove the damage. “It’s also a rhetorical conversation that’s just very dangerous.”
“When it comes to redress for victims, I’m really not sure where they go from there,” James said. “I have not heard of students who have concerns that DEI programs on campuses or at their institutions are discriminatory against them.” She added: “I would like to know more about where they get arguments like victimization.”
Ultimately, advocates warn that eliminating DEI from classrooms will undo what little progress has been made in diversifying schools and raising multicultural knowledge.
“DEI is truly part of how we ensure an inclusive society that prioritizes belonging and allows everyone to thrive safely,” Dr. James said. “So the idea that we are eliminating DEI teachings and principles in schools means that we are trying to divide our society as a whole.”
She continued: “Removing these programs means that we are going to see a scarcity of culturally responsive teaching on the a part of teachers, which implies they’ll not recognize or use instructional materials that teach different histories that reflect different cultures and different identities. “
NBCJC’s Dr. Johns warns that the implications of attacks on DEI and Trump’s proposal to eliminate the Department of Education can have more serious consequences for Black, Brown and LGBTQ students and teachers.
“I even have witnessed and are available into contact with children who experience political persecution that limits their access to care, their access to affirming and supportive educators, their ability to seek out after-school groups and programs where they will be affirmed and know that they’re brilliantly and splendidly done thoroughly as they’re,” Johns said.
He continued: “They have few lifelines that prevent them from having fun, let alone pursuing the option of suicide, which continues to increase in numbers when we think about black youth in general, and then racial and ethnic minority youth who are also members of sexual groups, minority communities.”
“Where do teachers go when they are wrongfully targeted by white actors? Where do we tell people to complain?” Johns asked.
However, Dr. Johns reminds us that public education and the “prison industrial complex” “were never intended to affirm the benefits or otherwise ensure the well-being of black people, which is why we have a long tradition of creating institutions that do this work.”
He added: “I hope that churches, communities, associations and organizations, many of which we show up in ministry, will understand the need to fill this gap in a radically inclusive and loving way.”
Politics and Current
UFC champion Jon Jones does the ‘Donald Trump dance’
Jon Jones’ electrifying TKO victory over Stipe Miocic on November 16 left his claim as the best fighter in UFC history virtually undisputed as he defended his heavyweight title, defeating the 42-year-old Miocic with a devastating spinning kick to the midsection that stopped him.
According to Jones interrupted his victory at Madison Square Garden, imitating Donald Trump’s dance, later presenting him with the title and celebrating with the president-elect.
Jones’ post-fight speech mainly focused on his desire to proceed fighting in the UFC, even at the age of 37.
“I’ve decided that perhaps I won’t retire and that I would like to have some conversations with (UFC President) Dana (White) and (UFC Chief Business Officer) Hunter (Campbell) and we’d like to do some negotiations and if all goes well, possibly we’ll provide you with the whole lot you wish to see,” Jones told UFC’s Joe Rogan.
Jones also praised his opponent, who was unable to inform whether Jones’ offense had an effect on him or not until he received a devastating kick to the stomach.
“It’s like fighting the Terminator,” Jones explained to Rogan. “It’s very, very discouraging to hit someone who doesn’t reply to it. But that body shot, regardless of how strong you might be, liver is liver.
Jones expressed his appreciation for Trump, who was at ringside alongside White and Elon Musk. Trump was also joined by House Speaker Mike Johnson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kid Rock.
“I want to thank President Donald Trump very, very much for being here tonight,” Jones said, prompting a loud ovation that was a “USA! USA!” chant.
Dana White is a longtime friend and supporter of Trump. he spoke at the 2016 and 2024 Republican National Conventions, each times at Trump’s request.
According to the Associated Press, Jones praised White’s connections to Trump on the eve of the event at MSG, telling reporters: “Seeing Dana on stage during the election, I feel like that moment just lifted the entire sport. Americans and people from all over the world were asking: who is this bald guy? It represents all of us.”
Rogan also hosted Trump on his podcast during a three-hour interview and encouraged Trump to make false claims about voting, voter fraud and Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election.
Rogan also endorsed Trump in the presidential election, and his appearance on Rogan’s show was a part of Trump’s strategy to have interaction young male voters through recent media during his campaign.
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