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☆ 'It was a death trap.' Their loved ones died working in the extreme heat. Now they demand change
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-19 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

By Friday, he had his accident, and my son was gone Saturday morning,” Velma Infante, his mother, told CNN. CNN spoke to two women who lost loved ones who died while working outdoors in the extreme heat. According to what Eugene’s then-supervisor told Carla, her husband collapsed in a neighbor’s front yard while delivering mail. Velma Infante carries this vial which holds a print out of her son Gabriel's last heart beats. Velma Infante worries that other state governors might follow Abbott’s example and implement similar laws that could potentially roll back local worker protections.

Persons: Los Angeles CNN — Gabriel Infante, “, Gabriel’s, Joshua Espinoza, Infante, EMTs, Infante wasn’t overdosing, ” Velma Infante, ”, Carla Gates, Eugene Gates, ’ Gates, Eugene, Carla, ” Gates, Carla didn’t, ” Carla, Eugene’s, Gates, Kimetra Lewis, Aaron Fisher, ’ Infante, Velma, ” Infante, Gabriel, ” Velma, Velma Infante, Gabriel's, John General, ’ ” Velma, Greg Abbott’s, Biden, we’re Organizations: Los Angeles CNN, CNN, US Postal Service, Dallas, Medical, National Association of, Carriers, USPS, Texas, Occupational Safety, Health Administration Locations: San Antonio , Texas, Bexar County , Texas, Bexar County, Dallas, Texas, Lakewood , Texas, Gates, Austin

☆ Berenice Abbott Captured Manhattan in the Throes of Heady Change
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Karen Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

If you were an American artist or writer in the 1920s, Paris was where you wanted to be. She had lived in New York once, just eight years before, but in her absence the city had been scaled up: new skyscrapers were rising, the population was exploding, and every block, it seemed, was abuzz with commerce and construction. (The market crash of October 1929 was still many months away). Suddenly, Paris was passé. The exhibition’s focus is a disbound scrapbook with seven to nine photographs per page, all taken over the course of that year, as Abbott paced the streets (and piers, bridges and train platforms) with a hand-held camera and a compulsion to capture New York’s unruly, cutthroat modernity.

Persons: Berenice Abbott, —, Man Ray, James Joyce, Djuna Barnes, “ Bernice ”, Berenice, ”, Abbott, “, Berenice Abbott’s Organizations: Metropolitan Museum Locations: American, Paris, Springfield , Ohio, New York, “, Lower Manhattan, United States

A 3-year-old child died while traveling on a bus chartered by the state of Texas as it transported asylum seekers from the border city of Brownsville to Chicago as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s program to send migrants from Texas to Democratic-run cities in other states, officials said. The child’s parents were also on the bus when the child began showing symptoms of an illness, including a fever and diarrhea, before losing consciousness, according to Representative Joaquin Castro, a Democratic congressman from San Antonio whose office was briefed on the death. “Following this check, prior to boarding, no passenger presented with a fever or medical concerns,” the statement said, without specifying when the death had taken place. A spokesman did not respond to requests for additional information, including the timing of the death, the nature of the illness, the name or sex of the child or the country of origin of the family.

Persons: Greg Abbott’s, Joaquin Castro Organizations: Gov, Democratic, Texas Department of Emergency Management, . Customs, Border Protection Locations: Texas, Brownsville, Chicago, San Antonio

CNN —Mexico’s President Andres Manuel López Obrador has condemned Texas’s anti-migrant buoys, calling the border enforcement tactic on the Rio Grande river “inhumane” after bodies were found in the waters that flow along the US-Mexico border. “Abbott shouldn’t act like that; it’s inhumane,” he also said, directly attacking Texas Gov. Two bodies were found in separate incidents by United States and Mexican officials in the Rio Grande river, according to Mexico’s foreign ministry on Wednesday. It is unclear what caused their deaths, though Texas officials have said that they suspect that the person found caught in the floating barrier had died upstream. Texas began installing buoy barriers along portions of the Rio Grande river in July.

Persons: CNN —, Andres Manuel López Obrador, ” Lopez Obrador, “ Abbott, ”, Greg Abbott, Brandon Bell, Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, ” López Obrador, Abbott, “ Organizations: CNN, Texas Gov, Mexico’s National Institute of, US Justice Department, Foreign, Biden, Border Patrol Locations: Rio, Mexico, United States, Texas, Rio Grande, Eagle, Maverick County . Texas

CNN —Texas has separated at least 26 migrant family units on the southern border since July 10 under Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star border initiative, according to Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid immigration attorney Kristin Etter. “This is just a very harsh and cruel detour from the asylum process,” Etter told CNN in an interview Wednesday. This is a shift in Texas DPS policy on the border, Etter says. Children and their mothers were never separated, but instead turned over to the US Border Patrol together,” Texas DPS Communications Chief Travis Considine said in a statement.

Persons: Greg Abbott’s, Kristin Etter, ” Etter, Etter, Greg Abbott's, Brandon Bell, “, Travis Considine, “ It’s, Biden, Abbott Organizations: CNN, Lone Star, Texas Rio, Legal, Texas Department of Public Safety, Trump, US Border Patrol, Etter . Texas Gov, Biden, Getty, Texas DPS, DPS, ”, ” Texas DPS Communications, Houston Chronicle, Border Patrol, US Department of Justice Locations: Texas, Eagle, , Texas, Etter, ” Texas, Kristin Etter Texas Rio, Mexico, Rio

☆ Gov. Abbott’s Policing of Texas Border Pushes Limits of State Power
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( J. David Goodman | More About J. David Goodman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Along Texas’ 1,200-mile-long border with Mexico, state troopers routinely arrest migrants for trespassing. Texas National Guard troops unspool razor wire along the banks of the Rio Grande. Greg Abbott has been testing the legal limits of what a state can do to enforce immigration law. He has overseen aggressive deterrence by state police officers at the border and mounted a brazen challenge to federal authority by placing a floating barrier in the middle of the Rio Grande. In the small border city of Eagle Pass, the state police bulldozed vegetation from a sandbar in the middle of the river last month to create a new security outpost.

Persons: Greg Abbott, Abbott Organizations: Texas National Guard, Gov, Lone Star, Republican Locations: Texas, Mexico, Rio Grande . State, Rio Grande, Eagle

☆ Beto O’Rourke: Governor Abbott’s Operation Lone Star Is Deadly and Also Failing - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Beto O Rourke | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

This “prevention through deterrence” framework risks worsening the humanitarian crisis at the border. Mr. Biden must change course, and that begins by stopping Mr. Abbott. The president should order the immediate removal of the lethal razor wire and obstructions in the Rio Grande and ensure that Border Patrol are unimpeded by Texas Department of Public Safety officers— today. And I can see why it might be tempting to allow the governor to assume ownership over the Texas border rather than pursue a public confrontation on an issue that is this politically charged. Be on the right side of history, demonstrate the kind of strong, decisive leadership that Americans are desperate for, and the politics will follow.

Persons: they’re, Biden, Abbott Organizations: Texas Department of Public Safety Locations: United States, Rio, Texas

☆ Texas governor to defy DOJ request to remove floating barriers in Rio Grande: ‘Texas will see you in court, Mr. President’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Chris Boyette Priscilla Alvarez | Chris Boyette | Priscilla Alvarez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Greg Abbott will not be ordering floating barriers to be removed from the Rio Grande, in defiance of the US Department of Justice. The Justice Department gave Texas a deadline of Monday at 2 p.m. ET to commit to the removal of the floating border barriers or face legal action, according to the letter sent to Abbott. The governor’s actions are cruel and putting both migrants and border agents in danger,” White House spokesman Abdullah Hasan said. Among the complaints are reports that Texas troopers were told to push back migrants into the Rio Grande and ordered not to give them water.

Persons: Greg Abbott, “, ” Abbott, Joe Biden, ”, Abbott, Abbott’s, Abdullah Hasan, Ted Cruz, Biden’s Organizations: CNN, Texas Gov, US Department of Justice, DOJ, Justice Department, Texas, The, Department gave Texas, Republican, Texas Constitution, Patrol, Department of Homeland Security, United States Army Corps of Engineers, Justice, Texas Department of Public Safety, DPS Locations: Rio Grande, “ Texas, Texas, Mexico, United States, Rio

☆ DOJ says it’s assessing the situation along the Texas-Mexico border amid ‘troubling reports’ over migrant treatment
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Priscilla Alvarez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

“The department is aware of the troubling reports, and we are working with DHS and other relevant agencies to assess the situation,” DOJ spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa told CNN. CNN previously reported that the Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department were in ongoing discussions about what actions could be taken against the state. That suit lists the state of Texas and Abbott, as well as the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard. But it wouldn’t mark the first time the Justice Department has sued on border-related matters. Last year, the Justice Department sued Arizona for placing shipping containers along the US southern border – a move taken by then-Republican Gov.

Persons: Xochitl Hinojosa, Steve McCraw, Greg Abbott’s, ”, Biden, Karine Jean, Pierre, ” Jean, –, Abbott, Doug Ducey Organizations: CNN, The Justice Department, Texas, DHS, of Public Safety, Operation Lone Star, Democratic, Department of Homeland Security, Justice Department, Gov, –, Department of Justice, Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas National Guard, Texas Department of Public, Arizona, Republican Locations: Texas, Mexico, Rio, White, Arizona

☆ Who Should Be Tracking Their Glucose?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Dana G. Smith | More About Dana G. Smith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But in recent years, glucose has become one of the trendiest biometrics to track for people striving to optimize their health. That’s in large part because of the increasing accessibility of a tool called a continuous glucose monitor, or C.G.M. C.G.M.s monitor levels of glucose — the body’s main source of energy — in real time. A tiny needle-like sensor sticks into the skin and reads glucose levels in the fluid between cells. Now, there are at least five companies that market and sell apps and C.G.M.s to people without diabetes, claiming that knowing your glucose levels can help you lose weight and improve your health.

Persons: Abbott, Dexcom

☆ The Texas Heat Dome Shows an Exhausting Glimpse of the Future - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( Jeff Goodell | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

The heat dome made visible the barbarity of the state’s political leadership. Despite the state’s massive budget surplus, many Texas prisons remain without air-conditioning, turning cells into torture chambers on hot days. Around me, people drank iced coffees and bottled water, seemingly unconcerned as the heat outside beat down mercilessly. At the height of the Texas heat wave, the official Twitter account for a Texas university football team featured a video of a fully suited player running sprints while dragging a heavy chain. “Working in that Texas heat,” the tweet boasted, followed by a fire emoji.

Persons: I’d, Greg Abbott, Abbott’s Organizations: Texans, Texas Locations: Gulf, me, India, Pakistan, Texas, Austin

☆ Texas Governor Names Interim Attorney General After Paxton Impeachment
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( David Montgomery | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Why It MattersIn announcing his choice, Mr. Abbott cited Mr. Scott’s past experience as a former deputy attorney general who “knows how the Office of Attorney General operates.”Mr. Scott served as Mr. Abbott’s top deputy for civil litigation when the Republican governor served as attorney general before becoming the state’s chief executive in 2015. Mr. Scott also served on an interim basis as Texas secretary of state, the chief elections officer appointed by the governor, for just over a year before stepping down in December 2022. During the political turbulence following Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory over Donald Trump, Mr. Scott briefly represented the former president in an unsuccessful lawsuit against the certification of Pennsylvania’s vote after other attorneys quit. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, and the litigation chief Chris Hilton, who has made news recently by denouncing lawmakers’ moves toward impeachment. “That was true regardless of who the secretary was, including John Scott,” Mr. Taylor said.

Persons: Abbott, “, Mr, Scott, Abbott’s, ” Mr, Joe Biden’s, Donald Trump, Paxton, Judd Stone, Antonin Scalia, Ted Cruz, Chris Hilton, Sam Taylor, John Scott, Taylor, Gov, Dan Patrick Organizations: Republican, Human Services, Daily, The Texas Tribune, U.S, Supreme, The Texas Senate, Senate Locations: Texas, Ted Cruz of Texas

☆ Gun-loving Texas, where most households own a firearm, has become an epicenter of mass shootings
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Emma Tucker | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +23 min

CNN and the GVA define a mass shooting as a shooting that injures or kills four or more people, not including the shooter. They argue that more firearms and higher gun ownership increases public safety – a stance that continues to be at odds with gun violence experts and data. The area around the Robb Elementary School signs has become a memorial dedicated to the victims of the May 24 mass shooting. Mass shootings are just a piece of that, and the strategies that we’re laying out will impact mass shootings. They’ll also impact a lot of other types of gun violence and that’s absolutely critical to saving lives,” Horwitz said.

☆ Opinion: DeSantis’ comments about Jordan Neely’s death are part of a dangerous pattern
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Opinion Dean Obeidallah | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Editor’s note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM radio’s daily program “The Dean Obeidallah Show.” Follow him @DeanObeidallah@masto.ai. CNN —We are seeing an alarming pattern emerge in which some GOP leaders defend — and even pledge to pardon — people charged with or convicted of killing a person. “The unfortunate result was the unintended and unforeseen death of Mr. Neely.”Penny has received support from a score of right-wing figures. Instead, DeSantis is sending a message that if you are supported by the GOP base, we may have your back, even if you are charged in someone’s death. After Perry’s conviction, many on the right demanded GOP Texas Gov.

☆ Daniel Perry, convicted of murder for shooting a protester at a Black Lives Matter rally, will be sentenced today
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Nouran Salahieh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —A US Army sergeant convicted of murdering a protester at Black Lives Matter rally is set to be sentenced Tuesday morning – amid moves from Texas’ governor to pardon him. Perry’s legal team argued his actions were justified as self-defense, saying Foster had approached Perry’s car with an assault-style rifle and motioned for Perry to lower his window. The governor can only pardon Perry if the Board of Pardons and Paroles recommends it, according to Texas law. Broden said Foster also made social media posts advocating for violence and supporting riots, most of which can’t be made public due to Texas discovery rules. CNN reached out to the governor’s office for comment on the social media posts.

☆ Opinion: Is Tucker Carlson the reason Texas Gov. Abbott says he’ll pardon a convicted killer?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Dean Obeidallah | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Abbott’s pardon announcement came after he was goaded to do so by figures on the right – from Fox News host Tucker Carlson to the chairman of the Texas Republican Party to Kyle Rittenhouse. There are conflicting accounts as to whether Foster pointed his weapon at Perry or Perry made the first move. They are rioting outside my apartment complex.” Defense attorneys said that Foster had threatened Perry by pointing his gun at Perry. Then Carlson and others on the right began to pressure Abbott to issue a pardon, because they didn’t agree with the verdict. On his Fox News show on Friday night, Carlson called on Abbott to pardon Perry, arguing that the defendant had acted in self-defense – despite the jury rejecting that argument.

☆ After baby formula problems, Abbott Laboratories under DOJ investigation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Laura Strickler | Laura Strickler Is A Senior Investigative Producer | Reporter For Nbc News. She Is Based In Washington. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Abbott Laboratories is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, the company confirmed Friday, almost a year after it shut down a Michigan baby-formula plant after illnesses were reported. Abbott did not specify what aspect of the company is under Justice Department scrutiny. “DOJ has informed us of its investigation and we’re cooperating fully,” an Abbott spokesperson said in a statement to NBC News. The Abbott manufacturing facility in Sturgis, Mich., on May 13, 2022. Abbott voluntarily shut down production at its Sturgis infant formula manufacturing plant on Feb. 17, 2022, after infants who consumed formula made at the plant became sick.

The Sundance Film Festival has long been known for premiering some of the most original — and ultimately the most award-winning — indie titles of the year. As the most notable international film festivals increasingly feature queer titles in their lineups, it’s no surprise that much of the exciting content premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival comes from LGBTQ filmmakers or features queer themes. The Premieres sectionAs usual, many of the year’s most high-profile films, including those from queer creators and featuring queer storylines, are coming out of the festival’s Premieres section. Courtesy of Sundance InstituteEnglert’s film will screen in the world cinema dramatic section alongside queer films “Girl,” from U.K. filmmaker Adura Onashile, and “Mamacruz,” from Spanish director Patricia Ortega. The list of LGBTQ creators and titles doesn’t end there, making this perhaps the most significant Sundance Film Festival for queer cinema yet.

☆ Fact Check-Fabricated Greg Abbott tweet about migrants bussed to DC on Christmas Eve circulates online
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A screenshot purporting to show a tweet about migrants published on Christmas Eve by Governor of Texas Greg Abbott has misled some online. The fabricated tweet purportedly published via Abbott’s official Twitter account (@GregAbbott_TX) features a photograph of Abbott and his family and reads: “We celebrated Christmas Eve by putting migrants on a bus and kicking them out into the freezing cold. Merry Christmas from the Abbott family.”The screenshot circulated after busloads of migrants from the Texas border were dropped near Vice President Kamala Harris’ home in Washington, D.C., on Christmas Eve, and The White House accused Abbott of endangering lives (here). A spokesperson for Abbott did not respond to a request for comment about the fabricated screenshot or whether the governor was behind the incident in Washington D.C. Abbott did tweet the same photograph of his family on Dec. 25, although with a different comment that reads: “From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!” (here)VERDICTFalse.

Last year, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, the Human Rights Campaign, labeled 2021 the “worst year” for LGBTQ rights in modern U.S. history, citing a record number of anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in state legislatures across the country. “The LGBTQ+ community is really under siege right now,” said Ricardo Martinez, CEO of LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Texas. One bill that was successfully implemented, and gained national headlines for months, was Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, or what critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The word “grooming” has long been associated with mischaracterizing LGBTQ people, particularly gay men and transgender women, as child sex abusers. Those losses came after some conservative groups ramped up misleading or inflammatory campaign ads targeting transgender rights.

Three buses coming from Texas dropped off about 140 recent migrants — including babies and young children — near Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence in Washington, D.C. in historically frigid temperatures on Saturday evening. But immigration activists said Saturday’s incident was particularly cruel because of the freezing temperatures in Washington, D.C., and because of the fact that it occurred on Christmas Eve. Madhvi Bahl, an organizer with the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network, confirmed the arrival of the migrants on Saturday to NBC News. The buses dropped the migrants near Harris’ residence at the Naval Observatory. There have been several instances of migrants being dropped off outside, or near, Harris’ residence.

☆ The Biggest Debates and Opinions in 2022 - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +30 min

Opinion The 22 Debates That Made Us Rage, Roll Our Eyes, and Change Our Minds in 2022Debating is what we do here at Times Opinion. To many, she was an icon: She ruled for 70 years, presided over the transition from empire to commonwealth and served as a living link to the generation that won World War II. (Though Ben Bernanke, a former Fed chairman himself, wrote in The Times that that wasn’t going to happen.) The United States and its European allies poured weapons and aid into Ukraine, but how was this going to end? As 2022 draws to a close, the fighting continues and peace talks look as distant as ever — which probably means that the debates will continue.

☆ Top elections official in Texas resigns
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas’ top elections official resigned Monday after an intense year of trying to reassure election skeptics, navigating the rocky launch of new voting laws that resulted in thousands of discarded mail ballots and overseeing a limited audit of the 2020 election. Greg Abbott, came under immediate scrutiny from the moment he took the job in October 2021. Right away, Scott was tasked with trying to give Texas voters confidence about election results and the ability to cast a ballot after Republicans passed a sweeping new voting law just weeks before his appointment. But those efforts got off to a bumpy start during Texas’ first-in-the-nation primary as voters struggled to navigate new mail voting requirements, resulting in counties throwing out nearly 23,000 mail ballots. In the November elections, the rate of rejected ballots had returned to more normal levels, and Scott’s office said there were no major issues surrounding the election.

☆ A teen and his mom are starting over in another state after attacks on trans care
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +10 min

The department began opening investigations into families days later, but Laird told NBC News in March that she didn’t have plans to move. The family’s story reveals part of the impact Abbott’s directive is having on the families of trans youths in Texas. They left out of fear that Noah would lose the care recommended by his medical team, but also because the state was becoming increasingly hostile for trans people, Laird said. He added that Laird and Noah are far from the only ones who have left the state — he knows of several. At least three other families with trans kids have also said in interviews that they have moved.

☆ Fewer states than ever could pick the next president
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

Five states decided the last presidential race by flipping from Trump in 2016 to Joe Biden in 2020 – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Democratic and Republican presidential nominees have each carried 20 states in every election since at least 2008. Democrats did not demonstrate the capacity to threaten any of the GOP’s core 20 states, as Republicans did in Nevada. A race with just Wisconsin, Nevada, Georgia and Arizona as true battlegrounds would begin with Democrats favored in states holding 260 Electoral College votes (including Washington, DC) and Republicans in states with 235. After 2022, the list of genuinely competitive presidential states may be shrinking, but, if anything, that could increase the tension as the nation remains poised on the knife’s edge between two deeply entrenched, but increasingly antithetical, political coalitions.

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