text:
This giant cluster of galaxies and hot gas, known as the Bullet Cluster, provides strong evidence of dark matter, a mysterious form of matter that produces no detectable energy but that exerts a strong gravitational influence on the visible matter around it. Two big groups of galaxies have passed through each other relatively undisturbed. Gas in the galaxies has rammed together and remained in the center of the cluster. The gas has heated to millions of degrees, producing X-rays (shown in red). The gravity of the galaxies "bends" the light of galaxies behind it. From this effect, astronomers calculate that the cluster must contain enormous amounts of dark matter (the densest concentrations of dark matter are shown in blue). Like the visible galaxies, the clouds of dark matter around them have passed through each other with no effect. [NASA/CXC/CfA/M.Markevitch; STScI/Magellan/U.Arizona/D.Clowe; ESO WFI]
You are here
Bullet Cluster
About 150 million years ago as seen from Earth, two clusters of galaxies rammed together. The collision stripped away most of the gas from the galaxies, forming a giant, superhot cloud. But the galaxies themselves flew right through each other. And apparently, so did something else: dark matter.
Collectively, the entire complex of stars, gas, and dark matter is known as the Bullet Cluster.
The view of galaxies beyond those in the Bullet Cluster is "bent" by gravity. By mapping these distortions, scientists found that there's far too much gravity to be accounted for by the Bullet's visible stars and gas. The most likely source for the extra gravity is dark matter -- matter that produces no detectable energy, but that exerts a gravitational pull on the visible matter around it.
Steven Weinberg, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist at The University of Texas, explains:
WEINBERG: Most of the matter in the original two clusters of galaxies is in some form that doesn't collide with itself very efficiently -- it doesn't interact, it's not like ordinary matter. Ordinary matter -- the gas that fills the clusters of galaxies -- underwent a collision, and remained more or less in the center of the clusters, and is now glowing hot from the effects of the collision. The dark matter has just sailed through, and we see it only through its effect in bending the light, through its gravitational field, of more-distant galaxies. It's a vivid example of evidence for cold dark matter.
More about dark matter tomorrow.
Script by Damond Benningfield, Copyright 2010
Production and distribution of this week's programs is made possible in part by the Texas Cosmology Center.
- ‹ Previous
- Next ›
Get Premium Audio
Listen to today's episode of StarDate on the web the same day it airs in high-quality streaming audio without any extra ads or announcements. Choose a $8 one-month pass, or listen every day for a year for just $30.


text:
The number of people charged with drinking and driving offences during the holidays in 2011 more than doubled from the previous year.
Toronto police are teaming up with members of parliament and Mothers Against Drunk Driving to officially launch their Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (RIDE) campaign Saturday night.
However, It seems the message behind RIDE is not getting through to many drivers.
In 2010, Toronto police charged 60 people with drunk driving offences during the holidays, but in 2011 that number had more than doubled to 123.
Toronto police also impounded more than 200 vehicles during last year's 37-day holiday campaign.
This year's launch will be highlighted by the first spot-check of the holiday season and what police are calling an elaborate display featuring a mock collision in order to reinforce the message of how devastating impaired driving can be.
Also on HuffPost

subset: commoncrawl


text: Our animals are ready for the Grand Prix of Baltimore, are you?! We're excited to announce the return of our special 7-Day ticket, which allows guests to visit National Aquarium, Baltimore as many times as they like for seven consecutive days! We're providing this offer In celebration of the Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT and this exciting time for our home city of Baltimore. There is so much to see at National Aquarium and the Inner Harbor - with this special National Aquarium seven-day ticket, you will have the opportunity to leisurely explore it all! Guests visiting between Monday, August 26, and Monday, September 2, can purchase the special ticket and visit the Aquarium as many times as they like for seven consecutive days beginning with their first admission. The seven-day ticket is just one of several special offers for ticket buyers during Grand Prix week! The seven-day ticket offer is available to purchase online at aqua.org or onsite at National Aquarium, Baltimore. All tickets issued for August 26 through September 2 will be valid for seven full days. Grand Prix of Baltimore ticket holders can enjoy the additional benefit of accelerated entry by presenting their valid Grand Prix of Baltimore entry (e.g., pass, hand stamp, wristband) and a valid National Aquarium entry ticket between Friday, August 30, and Sunday, September 1. Accelerated entry enables these ticket holders to bypass the general admission line. Entry is subject to timed and maximum building capacity restrictions. One of the many things visitors will be able to experience during their visit to Baltimore and National Aquarium is Blacktip Reef, our newest, coral-filled exhibit replicating an Indo-Pacific reef! The exhibit is active with life that you can experience from many vantage points, including a floor-to-ceiling pop-out viewing window that allows you to virtually come face-to-face with the 20 fast-moving blacktip reef sharks; Calypso, the 500+-pound sea turtle and more than 700 other animals! Our newest exhibit, Blacktip Reef, is just one of the many things visitors will be able to experience during their visit to National Aquarium this week! To further encourage downtown visitors, the Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT will offer 10% off all adult race tickets (except Andretti Club and Kona Grill Turn 1 Club tickets) with purchase of a National Aquarium ticket through Sunday, September 1. Customers will receive a promotional code from the Aquarium that can be redeemed online via Mission Tix by entering the code on the "Promotions and Special Offers" tab or at any Grand Prix of Baltimore box office location. Code must be presented to redeem discount. For tickets and event information, visit the official event website at RaceOnBaltimore.com. We hope to see you downtown during Grand Prix week! Tags: aquarium-promotion, blacktip-reef, grand-prix, grand-prix-of-baltimore, grand-prix-of-baltimore-presented-by-srt, grand-prix-promotion, national-aquarium-2, national-aquarium-in-baltimore, special-offer Categories: News Previous Post Next Post


text:
Bobby Brown Gossip
Bobby Brown gossip, latest news, photos, and video.
JLo's love tweet and Whitney, but no Bobby
Twitter/ JLo
Jennifer Lopez tweeted this photo of herself with that backup dancer earlier this week to commemorate Valentine's Day, their first one together, and their only one together as not man and wife. She is totally marrying him. She is totally diving right into that dumpster and pulling out her 4th husband. Full Story
Sit DOWN Bobby Brown
Bobby Brown is writing a book. Or he's babbling into a tape recorder while someone else writes his book for him. Needless to say, a dude who's hard up for cash and crack will say anything. In his tome, Bobby alleges that it was Whitney who led him astray and not vice versa. "I never used cocaine until after I met Whitney. Full Story
Baby…it's good to see you
Whitney Houston showed up with daughter Bobbi Kristina last night in London for Fashion Rocks. By all accounts she looked trim and enthusiastic and not stoned. This is very good news. After over a decade of debauchery with Bobby Brown and then stumbling post split into her own drug-addled drama, Whitney finally, hopefully, seems in control of her life. Full Story
Sexy Humour and His Wife
My husband always brags about seeing Radiohead in the mid-90s at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver – small venue, legendary acoustics, a music lover's dream. Now I have something to match him. Today, Jerry Seinfeld at the media presentation for Bee Movie – his animated collaboration with Dreamworks about the plight of bees and the mistreatment of bees in our society that he conceived and wrote along with many former members of the Seinfeld show. Full Story
Meet Murphy Brown!
Mel B is the best of smut. And the ways she mucks around in it, she always means business. Check it out – she dated Eddie Murphy. She got pregnant, they broke up, he didn't want anything to do with her, she says he's the daddy, he openly accuses her of promiscuity, and she doesn't hide. Full Story
Whitney: Bobby-free finally
Hoo-rah.Whitney Houston's divorce from Bobby Brown will be final on April 24th with a court granting sole custody of 14 year old Bobbi Christina to her mother. Whitney was emotional during the hearing, shedding a few tears upon hearing the judge's ruling, and candidly expressing in public her thoughts on Bobby as a father: "If he says he"s going to come, sometimes he does. Full Story
Posh Fashion Week continues
Brown leather coat we"ve seen before but still... Posh dressed to kill while looking for schools for the kids and also the American Beckham castle, reportedly turning down several because they"re "too small". Plans for renovations include soccer themed motif in all boys" room, the idea being to almost create pitch inside the mansion. Full Story
Whitney is the old Britney
I know it's supposed to be good news. That after Goddess knows how many years, Whitney Houston has finally emerged from her cracked induced psychosis and decided to leave that piece of gap-toothed sh-t she's been married to for much, much too long. Good news, absolutely. But I'm more haunted than I am happy, more pessimistic than I am relieved. Full Story
Whitney in rehab?
That's the story according to the National Enquirer. And while my first instinct is usually an eye roll whenever I read anything associated with that rag, it"s hard to ignore this one especially since they"ve been right on top of Whitney"s descent into crackhead hell from the minute they paid off her unscrupulous sister in law. Full Story


text:
Gunman among 7 dead after Fla. apartment shootout
HIALEAH, Fla. — Police say a gunman who barricaded himself with hostages inside a South Florida apartment complex has killed six people before being shot to death by a SWAT team.
Sgt. Eddie Rodriguez tells The Associated Press the hours-long standoff began around 6:30 p.m. EDT in a five-story building in Hialeah, just a few miles north of Miami.
He says the bodies of three women and two men were found throughout the apartment complex after police arrived. Another man was killed across the street when the gunman allegedly spotted him and took aim.
Rodriguez says the two hostages the man took were unharmed. Before the shootout, police had been able to communicate with the gunman.
Rodriguez says police were still investigating the motive and identifying the gunman and victims.


text:
What does it mean to be a UFOMT Volunteer?
Volunteers are an essential part of Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre and play a vital role by helping to increase financial support, reducing costs, and providing skilled assistance.
Volunteers use their talents and special interests to help year round. Some contribute to special events, educational projects, artist hospitality, or public relations. Others help by working in various offices taking on diverse assignments such as data entry, word processing, answering telephones, translating, and other tasks.
Opportunities for volunteer service with UFOMT vary throughout the year, and from season to season. Appropriate training is given for agreed-upon assignments. Successful volunteer work is based on mutual respect and understanding between staff and volunteers.
What are the benefits of becoming a volunteer?
What are some volunteer opportunities?
Administrative | Office support, copying, shredding, assembling of mailings, collating, typing, data entry, filing, merchandise processing, mailing, phone, etc.
Public Relations | Season brochure and poster distribution, UFOMT Liaison, proofreading, sorting press clippings, mailings.
Artist Hospitality | Driving artists to and from airports, assembling information packets, preparing linen/kitchen boxes, cleaning apartments, misc. apartment maintenance.
Education | Backstage help for Opera by Children.
Festival Boutique | Customer service, sales and display.
Café des Artistes | Customer service and clean up in refreshment tent, assist with Breakfast with the Stars breakfasts.
How do I join?
Joining is as simple as requesting or downloading a
Guild - Volunteer Application, filling it out and mailing or dropping it by our office, OR you can contact Sorry, you need Javascript on to email me. for more information.
Volunteer Coordinator
435.750.0300 ext. 105
Sorry, you need Javascript on to email me.
59 South 100 West
Logan, UT 84321
Guild - Volunteer Application


text:
- Free Consultation and Quote
- Professional and friendly staff
- Maintenance Agreements
- Certified by Recycling Association
Eliminating unexpected situations
To come up with the most suitable choices with Wood Refinishing in Hardyville, VA, you need to be well informed. We will ensure you understand what should be expected. We take the surprises from the picture by offering appropriate and thorough advice. Start by dialing 888-331-3439 to discuss your work. Within this phone call, you get your questions resolved, and we'll schedule a time to start work. We are going to work closely with you through the entire project, and our company can arrive promptly and ready.
Wood Refinishing Guys will be here for all your expectations regarding Wood Refinishing in Hardyville, Wyoming
If you find yourself setting up a process for Wood Refinishing in Hardyville, VA, there are lots of reasons to work with Wood Refinishing Guys. We'll be the most suitable choice whenever you need the best cash saving options, the very best equipment, and the top rank of client satisfaction. We offer the expertise you will want to satisfy all of your ambitions. Contact 888-331-3439 to communicate with Wood Refinishing Guys and discuss all your goals when it comes to Wood Refinishing in Hardyville.


text:
Brett Kavanaugh and Sexual Harassment: The Two Faces of Chuck Grassley
Co-published by Newsweek
Senator Charles Grassley has raced to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, in spite of sexual assault allegations against the Supreme Court nominee. Contrast this with Grassley's public support for victims of sexual harassment in the judicial branch during a June hearing of his committee.
Co-published by Newsweek
It's a little peculiar to watch a C-SPAN clip from mid-June and hear the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Charles Grassley (R-IA), waxing sympathetic about women who came forward claiming they were sexually harassed by a federal judge.
"Being a whistleblower, or saying something's wrong — sometimes you ruin yourself professionally," Grassley says. "But because of these women's bravery, we can hopefully begin to make real significant changes to these powerful imbalances that allow harassment to thrive."
The venue was a committee hearing focused on developing a better process to address sexual harassment claims in the federal judiciary branch. More than a dozen women alleged that acts of sexual misconduct had been committed by the powerful former Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' Chief Judge, Alex Kozinski, who had resigned from the bench last December under a cloud.
Contrast the Senator's show of sympathy at this hearing to his office's recent treatment of the women who have come forward with accusations of sexual assault against U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a Washington, DC Circuit Court judge.
The Senator has rushed ahead with the nominating process in spite of several allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh. He refused to back an FBI investigation into sexual assault claims made by Christine Blasey Ford, the Palo Alto University psychology professor, that Kavanaugh assaulted her at a party in the early 1980s when they were both teenagers. Grassley gave Ford repeated ultimatums to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee and, even before the committee had an opportunity to hear her testimony, he scheduled a vote on the nominee for this coming Friday. In a tweet that was later deleted, Mike Davis, the committee's chief counsel on nomination, wrote that he was "unfazed and determined" to see Kavanaugh confirmed.
Heidi Bond, one of the women Grassley described as brave, apparently noticed the dissonance. She sent a to Grassley last Saturday urging him to treat Ford with respect. "Every attack that is being leveled at Dr. Ford could be applied to me as well, and in that regard, it feels personal for me, and I suspect for many victims of harassment and assault," wrote Bond, who left the legal profession and is now a romance novelist who goes by the pen name Courtney Milan. She asked that Grassley establish a timetable to hold an impartial investigation into Blasey's claims.
Judge Kozinski's alleged harassment of Bond and others – and the efforts that grew out of it to combat sexual misconduct in the judiciary – have been an important if buried footnote in the headline-grabbing hearings that have been defined by harrowing allegations of the nominee sexually assaulting as many as three women as a teenager and college student.
Kavanaugh clerked for Kozinski in the early 1990s and remained friends with him over the decades. Kozinski helped Kavanaugh secure a clerkship at the Supreme Court with Justice Anthony Kennedy, who he will replace if confirmed. Yet Kavanaugh claimed – under oath – in early September to be completely unaware of his mentor's predilection for porn and sexually explicit jokes, in spite of the fact that it was considered an open secret, as the Intercept, Bond and others have pointed out.
The Kozinski scandal galvanized the leadership of the 30,000-employee-strong federal judiciary to take action, thanks to a group of current and former law clerks who, in a letter sent to Chief Justice John Roberts and others in December 2017, demanded reforms to the process for bringing harassment claims forward.
A group of women lawyers gathered 700 signatures in "just a matter of a few days," in a testament to the "power of women's informal networks," according to Sara McDermott, a Los Angeles attorney and a member of Law Clerks for Workplace Accountability.
In response, Roberts established a Working Group, which issued a report in early June. Based on input from anonymous surveys and interviews with court employees, the Working Group determined that "inappropriate conduct, although not pervasive in the Judiciary, is not limited to a few isolated instances."
But the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Jenny Yang, in written testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, cautioned against drawing optimistic conclusions from a small number of formal complaints, given that 70 percent of individuals experiencing harassment never report it.
She also acknowledged that the structure of the federal judiciary brings with it built-in risk factors for sexual harassment — "significant power disparities and 'high value' employees' who often operate by their own rules," and "workforces lacking diversity where men typically dominate leadership posts."
Jaime Santos, from Law Clerks for Workplace Accountability, put it more bluntly when she testified at the June hearing that judges are "more demigods than they are employers." Santos added that law clerks and externs from "numerous federal courts shared with us that they had felt demeaned, belittled or humiliated during their clerkships or externships. Some shared stories about being asked sexual questions during job interviews, hearing their judge or co-clerks speak about female attorneys in derogatory and objectifying terms."
When the report emerged in June, Grassley, who is now leading the dash to vote on Kavanaugh's nomination, seemed to echo the response of Law Clerks for Workplace Accountability in describing the report as overly vague, and said it "kicks the can down the road."
For her part, McDermott said she is "glad that there is movement," but worries that without more specifics there will not be the kind of culture change that is needed in the judiciary. She would like to see a national reporting hotline supplant a process that often requires a complainant to report to the chief judge of a circuit or district court. The courts' leadership should require reforms of the lower courts based on best practices, she added.
"Judges are the ones who hear sexual harassment claims" in court, as well as other claims of workplace misconduct, says McDermott. "If the judiciary can't get a handle on these sorts of workplace issues even within their own ranks, it's hard to be sure that the judge sitting on your case is going to take these things seriously."
"But also, I think we should be holding the judiciary to a high standard," she added. "These are people who, [in their] job, must be fair and impartial. Historically, we have asked that they be of higher moral character than the average person."
NY Pension Chief Cashes in on Natural Gas
Co-published by WNYC and Sludge
Revolving Doors: New York state's chief investment officer invested millions of retirement dollars in a fossil fuel company – and then joined the company's board the same week she retired.
Co-published by WNYC and Sludge
New York State's former top pension investment officer was appointed to the board of a natural gas conglomerate after the pension system bought up the company's bonds, rejected demands to divest from fossil fuels and supported multimillion-dollar pay packages for the company's executives after the firm's stock price had dropped.
Vicki Fuller was appointed as a director of The Williams Companies on July 31st — the same week she left her position as the chief investment officer of the New York State Common Retirement Fund.
The CIO job — appointed by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli — is considered one of the world's most powerful financial positions, directing $207 billion of investments for a system responsible for safeguarding the retirement savings of more than a million current and former state employees and their beneficiaries. Fuller will be granted $275,000 worth of salary and company stock every year for the part-time position serving on Williams' board.
On the Spot: NY State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli
The move comes during an increasingly bitter policy debate between the comptroller's office and environmental groups over whether the pension fund should divest itself from fossil fuel companies that contribute to climate change. In correspondence with DiNapoli over the last two months, major environmental groups have asked whether Fuller's new position is a reward for her and DiNapoli's ongoing opposition to selling off the fund's fossil fuel holdings.
As September's Climate Week commences in New York, those same pro-divestment groups on Monday sent a letter to the state ethics commission requesting a formal investigation of a comptroller's office that has already seen one leader sent to prison in an influence-peddling scandal, and another bond investment official recently convicted on bribery charges.
"Ms. Fuller's appointment calls into question the integrity of the management of the New York State Common Retirement Funds by New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli," wrote 30 groups to state ethics officials. "It is outrageous to us that a person can one day be CIO of the New York state pension funds and the next day take a well-compensated appointment as a board member of the corporation into which she oversaw – or even directed – large investments while helping to shield the company from an adverse divestment decision by the funds."
DiNapoli's office says they've already reviewed the matter and found nothing wrong. In an August letter to environmental groups, his counsel, Nancy Groenwegen, wrote: "We are not aware of any facts to support a conclusion that Ms. Fuller's post-[Common Retirement Fund] appointment as an independent director on the Williams board creates a conflict of interest, nor are we aware of any decision under the State's ethics laws by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics or its predecessor agencies that would prohibit her from accepting such an appointment."
The controversy combines ongoing concerns about Albany corruption with the simmering debate over whether Democrats like DiNapoli are following through on their promises to do all they can to combat climate change. While DiNapoli escaped a primary challenge in his current reelection bid, environmental groups furious with his opposition to divestment are now pressuring him as he heads into a general election campaign against Republican investment banker Jonathan Trichter.
"This creates red flags because the CIO job is the most powerful appointed financial position in the state of New York," said former Deputy New York Comptroller Thomas Sanzillo, who served under DiNapoli. "There needs to be an independent review because there is a perception of a conflict of interest."
The decision to launch an investigation will be up to the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, which is largely comprised of commissioners appointed by a governor who himself has ties to Williams. Capital & Main previously reported that a Cuomo-led political group raked in $100,000 from Williams earlier this year, and Cuomo's own re-election campaign this year is run by a registered lobbyist for Williams who is on leave from her firm. At the same time, Williams is asking the Cuomo administration to approve a controversial pipeline that environmentalists say threatens the state's waterways.
Comptroller's Office Cites Internal Review
As comptroller, DiNapoli serves as the sole trustee of the state's pension system. He appointed Fuller CIO in 2012. During Fuller's six-year tenure in that $365,000-a-year job, the pension fund more than doubled its total stock and bond holdings in Williams. New York's state pension fund is now one of Williams' 100 largest institutional shareholders, according to Nasdaq records.
Last year, as a major shareholder, the pension system voted to support an executive compensation program that paid the company's top officials $62 million between 2014 and 2016 — a period that saw the firm's stock price plummet nearly 20 percent. This year, nine days after Fuller left her state job, the comptroller's office voted against the company's executive compensation program.
Under Fuller, the pension system in early 2015 added $110 million worth of Williams bonds to the state's portfolio. That same year, Moody's changed Williams' financial outlook to "negative" in a report warning that its bonds could be particularly risky investments.
The company and its affiliates, wrote Moody's, were "weakly positioned for their respective [bond] ratings owing to their high financial leverage and the execution risk on growth projects."
The specific bonds New York purchased were downgraded in 2016, but have since returned to investment grade, according to the comptroller's office.
DiNapoli, a former assemblyman from Long Island, took over the office in 2007 following the resignation of then-Comptroller Alan Hevesi in a fraud scandal. Later, Hevesi also pleaded guilty in a pay-to-play scandal in which he steered $250 million of pension fund investments to a private equity fund after receiving nearly $1 million in gifts from the founder of the fund.
In 2009, DiNapoli issued an executive order that created a new code of conduct for the comptroller's office. It established wide-reaching policies governing conflicts of interest and financial transparency. In 2016, those policies were lauded by an outside contractor that was hired by the comptroller's office to review its ethics rules. However, DiNapoli's updated code of conduct still did not place any limitations on the type of employment investment officers can seek after leaving the comptroller's office or any other post-employment ethics guidelines.
While environmental groups are calling for an independent investigation of Fuller's move, the comptroller's office says it has already conducted its own internal review, according to the letter from DiNapoli's counsel.
In the lead-up to Fuller announcing her plan to retire from her government job, Fuller was told of an ethics advisory that requires state officials to recuse themselves from matters involving companies offering them post-government employment, and to wait 30 days from the recusal before discussing that employment.
Fuller told the comptroller's office "that the company had no matters pending" before the pension fund, and DiNapoli's office said it "confirmed that there were no investment matters involving the Williams Companies pending during the relevant time frame of May-July 2018."
During that time, however, state officials had the ongoing power to buy or sell the pension fund's holdings in Williams — and the pension fund considered resolutions for Williams' May 10th shareholder meeting. Additionally, Williams was also at that time asking for input from the pension fund and other stockholders on a proposed merger and financial reorganization of the company.
For its part, Williams said Fuller's appointment to the company's board had nothing to do with decisions at the pension fund.
"Ms. Fuller came to the company's attention through a third-party recruitment firm that was engaged to assist the company in replacing a retiring director," said Williams spokesperson Keith Isbell. "She did not meet with any members of the company's board or management until after the May 2018 announcement of her retirement from the NYS Common Retirement Fund."
Isbell said Fuller will not be expected to interact with the New York state pension fund in her role on Williams' board. Both Fuller and DiNapoli declined interview requests for this story.
A Larger Debate Over Divestment
The battle over Fuller's move underscores not only ongoing concerns about the revolving door between business and government in Albany, but also environmentalists' demands for investors across the globe to sell off their holdings in fossil fuel companies. Already, institutions representing more than $6 trillion of capital have committed to divest, and in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio and city Comptroller Scott Stringer have supported divestment and announced new investments in renewable energy.
More than six percent — or roughly $13 billion — of New York's state pension fund is in fossil fuel-related investments, according to a report by the activist group Fossil Free. While DiNapoli was running for reelection the year before the state bought Williams' bonds, he said he would consider following environmental groups' demands to divest the fund from fossil fuel companies.
However, DiNapoli has since refused to divest, even as New York City pension funds divest and state legislators and the governor have demanded the state follow suit. In 2016 — less than two years before being appointed to Williams' board — Fuller led the fight against legislation that would require divestment. She argued that shareholders should instead engage with companies to show them that climate change is a significant risk to their business model.
"We do actively engage our portfolio companies, but we're patient," Fuller said at an October 2016 roundtable hosted by state senators Liz Krueger and Brad Hoylman at Baruch College. "So if we think a particular issue requires our attention we will engage the company, write a letter, propose resolutions, vote against board members. And if we are not successful the first time we keep coming back. That approach has borne fruit for us. Some people don't believe in engagement, but I can tell you the proof is what we've been able to accomplish."
To support this assertion, the comptroller's office has touted DiNapoli-led shareholder resolutions prompting fossil fuel companies to more thoroughly disclose environmental information. Those include a resolution that led to an agreement with Cabot Oil and Gas requiring the company to disclose its policies on using toxic chemicals for fracking; a resolution compelling ExxonMobil to conduct a study of its impact on climate change; and resolutions prompting DTE Energy, Dominion Energy and Southwestern Energy to detail how they would comply with the 2015 Paris Agreement that committed nations across the globe to carbon emission reductions.
Groups like 350.org counter that the most powerful way to reduce fossil fuel development and reduce carbon emissions is for large institutions to divest from oil and gas companies, thereby denying them investment capital.
"Engagement with the fossil fuel producers isn't working – they're determined to stick to their business model," 350.org founder Bill McKibben said in 2015, when New York lawmakers first introduced legislation that would require the pension fund to divest its fossil fuel holdings.
With DiNapoli still opposing divestment three years later, McKibben in May 2018 authored a Rolling Stone magazine essay that said: "Because of (DiNapoli's) high-profile insistence on 'engagement' with the industry, he's become a stand-in for a thousand other political 'leaders' who can't quite summon the nerve necessary to break with the fossil-fuel industry, even when science and economics are making it clear where the future must lie. It's so much easier to keep doing what you've always done – but at this point inertia is the planet's most powerful enemy, and DiNapoli is threatening to become inertia's avatar."
DiNapoli Touts Work on Climate Change, But Critic Says He's Being "Used."
DiNapoli has continued to stake out a public profile as a crusader against climate change. He has said he views climate change as a "material risk for our portfolio" and his office has shifted some of the pension fund's investments into companies that reduce their carbon footprint. Earlier this month, the pension fund was praised by the Asset Owners Disclosure Project for its work addressing climate risk.
"I continue to speak out when the Fund's portfolio companies fail to take the steps necessary to adapt to the changing world," DiNapoli said at the time. "Those of us who are working to make the Paris Agreement a reality may take separate avenues, but we share a common goal — to help build the growing low carbon economy. I am proud that the Fund is part of that worldwide effort."
The office does not appear to have used that kind of leverage against Williams during Fuller's tenure. And more generally, some of the fund's highest profile moves against the industry have not always generated significant results. For example, after DiNapoli made headlines forging the deal with ExxonMobil to publish a study on how climate change could affect its future business, the company used the study to simply reiterate its commitment to a business based on fossil fuel profits.
Meanwhile, the fossil fuel industry has aggressively used DiNapoli to deflect increasing pressure from the divestment movement. In just the last year, the Independent Petroleum Association of America publishedfive separateblogposts and twonewspaper essays citing DiNapoli's opposition to divestment — and embrace of shareholder engagement — as a reason other public officials across the country should reject environmentalists' demands.
"With the retirement money of New York's working families on the line, let's hope that the State Legislature supports Comptroller DiNapoli and pushes back against fossil fuel divestment," said one of the association's essays.
"DiNapoli as the sole person in charge of the pension fund's investment strategy has made it clear that he has no plans to divest," said another. "Let's hope the fiduciaries of other pensions across the country follow suit."
Sanzillo, the former deputy comptroller, said it all adds up to "a rather sophisticated game" in which DiNapoli has become a shield for the industry.
"Why has DiNapoli allowed himself to be used by the industry as their poster child for responsible shareholder engagement?" he asked. "The industry has basically said [DiNapoli] is the greatest thing in the world, and the reason they said that is because he pulled punches on the shareholder work and he is not being forceful….It looks cynical. It looks like he was saying he was pressuring the companies, and then he backed off, and that's a game that cynical shareholders do play, and there's something wrong here."
DiNapoli has rejected suggestions that his anti-divestment strategy is a deliberate defense of the oil and gas industry. Instead, he has asserted that ownership stakes in fossil fuel companies give him necessary leverage over those firms, and he has also insisted that he is fulfilling his fiduciary obligations to generate the largest possible investment returns for pensioners.
"The New York State Common Retirement Fund and the State Comptroller are not being used by anyone," said DiNapoli's spokesperson, Jennifer Freeman. "The State Comptroller, as the trustee of the (pension fund), is acting as a prudent investor, committed to ensuring the New York State and Local Retirement System is able to pay retirement income to state and local workers. The Fund's interest is in protecting its long-term value so public workers have peace of mind that their retirement funds are growing and the cost to taxpayers is minimized."
In 2017, a study from the Suffolk County Association of Municipal Employees found that the state could forfeit up to $2.8 billion of investment returns if it divests from fossil fuels.
But those projections — and DiNapoli's underlying argument — have been questioned.
A May report by Corporate Knights found that New York's pension fund would have generated an additional $15 billion of returns had it sold off its fossil fuel holdings and reinvested them in renewable energy. A July report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis found that in the past three to five years, "Global stock indexes without fossil fuel holdings have outperformed otherwise identical indexes that include fossil fuel companies."
"Investors with long-term horizons should avoid oil and chemical stocks on investment grounds. They face a sustained headwind," wrote Jeremy Grantham, the legendary asset manager who co-founded the investment firm GMO. "Ethical arguments for divestments are simply not necessary. They are a pure bonus."
Critics of the oil and gas industry have asserted that corporations are not properly accounting for their exposure to climate-related losses. Last week, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren introduced legislation that would require more climate-related disclosures. At the same time, a new book by journalist Bethany McLean finds that natural gas investments are on shakier financial footing than their quarterly financial reports suggest.
Sanzillo said that if New York state's pension fund embraces divestment, it can play a pivotal role in the climate change fight because of its sheer size.
"This is the third-largest fund in the United States," he said. "If the comptroller tells his money managers that we need a portfolio that is fossil-free, every large money manager in the world will have to adapt.
"It tells JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and all the other major financial advisers that this is the product institutional investors want, and you better come up with it, or you aren't going to have customers any more," Sanzillo said.
This story was produced in partnership with WNYC public radio and Sludge, which covers money in politics.
Rick Scott Invested in the Same Financial Firms As Florida's Pension System
Co-published by MapLight
For most of his time in office, Florida's governor has shielded his investments from public view. A new disclosure shows Rick Scott and his wife have invested at least $18 million in financial firms managing money for the state's pension system that he oversees.
Co-published by MapLight
Former SEC Lawyer: "There needs to be an investigation into whether the state is subsidizing Rick Scott's personal returns."
Florida Gov. Rick Scott and his wife have invested at least $18 million in three financial firms managing money for the state's pension system that Scott oversees — a situation that intertwines the governor's personal finances with his responsibility for supervising state employees' retirement savings.
The investments were first divulged in a federal financial disclosure form that Scott filed as part of his U.S. Senate campaign in July. For most of his time in office, Scott has shielded his investments from public view, and only reported their overall value in his blind trust.
The terms of Scott's investments remain undisclosed. The firms' own corporate documents say they can give certain investors special preferences not afforded to other investors — and experts have in recent yearsargued that hedge funds, private equity firms, and other "alternative investments" are giving such preferences to elite investors. One former Securities and Exchange Commission attorney told MapLight and Capital & Main that Scott must disclose whether he is being given such preferences.
Critics have raised questions about how blind the Scott family trusts really are.
Florida ethics laws are supposed to prohibit state officials from entering into contractual relationships with companies that do business with their agencies. However, after Scott became governor in 2011, state ethics officials said he and his family members could put their assets into a blind trust to avoid conflicts of interest and still maintain their investments in companies operating in Florida.
Critics have raised questions about how blind the Scott family trusts really are. Scott placed one of his longtime business associates in charge of managing his blind trust. The Tampa Bay Times reported that Scott's blind trust has invested with a private equity firm tied to a high-speed rail project in Florida. The trust also had an indirect interest in a cancer treatment company that received tax breaks from Scott's administration.
"The question is whether Rick Scott is being allowed to invest on better terms than the state pension fund."
"When Governor Scott was elected, he put all of his assets in a blind trust, which is managed by an independent financial professional who decides what assets are bought, sold or changed," said Scott campaign spokesperson Lauren Schenone. "The rules of the blind trust prevent any specific assets or the value of those assets within the trust from being disclosed to the governor, and those requirements have always been followed."
Scott is one of three state officials who serve as trustees for the Florida State Board of Administration, which manages a $160 billion fund for roughly 400,000 retirees. Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis oversee lucrative state investment deals granted to cash-hungry Wall Street firms.
The three firms that have received $325 million worth of Florida pension investments have allowed the Scott family's blind trusts to simultaneously invest their personal fortunes in these funds. Scott's investments in the funds did not appear in a 2014 disclosure itemizing his holdings. His campaign did not say when the investments were made.
"There are no ethics rules that prohibit or limit a trustee from investing in funds also invested in by the SBA," said SBA spokesperson John Kuczwanski, though he added that trustees are subject to Florida's general code of ethics. Kuczwanski said that the governor has no involvement in specific pension investment decisions.
Don Hinkle, a Democratic lawyer, filed a lawsuit last year alleging that the governor has failed to comply with the state's blind trust and financial disclosure laws. He said he was surprised by the news that Scott had invested in the same firms as the Florida pension system.
"I would think that he would have avoided investments where the state of Florida's money is propping his up," Hinkle told MapLight and Capital & Main.
In 2011, a few months after Scott became governor, the SBA committed $150 million to Highline Capital Partners, a New York-based hedge fund. Scott's financial disclosure shows that his family's trusts have invested at least $4 million in the same Highline fund as the state.
The SBA also committed $100 million in 2015 to a hedge fund managed by Canyon Capital Advisors, a Los Angeles-based firm created by veterans of the notorious investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert, which was driven into bankruptcy as a result of illegal and unethical trading practices. Scott and his family have invested at least $12 million in Canyon funds, according to his financial disclosure.
Before Scott became governor, the SBA invested $75 million with VSS, a New York-based private equity firm that was launched by a co-founder of Psychology Today. Scott and his wife, Ann, have invested more than $2.2 million in another VSS fund. A spokesperson for VSS said the firm doesn't comment on its investors.
Allthreefirms' SEC filings say they can offer certain investors special fee terms or other benefits not offered to other investors.
"Alternative investment funds have the ability to offer every investor different fees at a different rate of return, so the question is whether Rick Scott is being allowed to invest on better terms than the state pension fund," said former SEC attorney Edward Siedle, whose Florida-based firm conducts forensic investigations of state pension systems.
"If you give one investor an advantage, another investor has to be disadvantaged," Siedle said. "That means there needs to be an investigation into whether the state is actually subsidizing Rick Scott's personal returns and whether the governor enjoys advantages that are harming the retirees."
Schenone, Scott's spokesperson, said that his blind trust has "been upheld multiple times by the State Commission on Ethics and the court system. Governor Scott has also followed the requirements of all state and federal financial filings."
She noted that former Florida Republican Gov. Jeb Bush and Scott's 2010 Democratic opponent Alex Sink had also used blind trusts, although Scott's campaign attacked Sink for hers at the time.
"Blind trusts sound good but can run afoul of state laws requiring public officials to disclose their personal finances," a Scott campaign ad said in 2010. "[But] simply moving large amounts of money into a blind trust does not magically erase the knowledge of what you own."
Cuomo Kept Fossil Fuel Pipeline Alive, Then Hired Pipeline's Lobbyist to Run Reelection Bid
Co-published by WNYC New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration delayed — rather than blocked — a fracked-gas pipeline project just before Cuomo hired Maggie Moran, a registered lobbyist for the pipeline's parent company, to run his reelection campaign.
Co-published by WNYC New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration delayed — rather than blocked — a fracked-gas pipeline project just before Cuomo hired Maggie Moran, a registered lobbyist for the pipeline's parent company, to run his reelection campaign.
Despite questions about special interests and revolving doors, Cuomo decided to hire a registered lobbyist to run his campaign.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo hired a lobbyist for a natural-gas pipeline company to run his re-election campaign at the same time his administration was throwing a potential lifeline to the company's controversial New Jersey-New York pipeline project.
Less than three months before the administration postponed a decision on the project, the fossil fuel company in question also donated $100,000 to a Democratic Party governors' organization that supports Cuomo, government records show.
Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi asserted that there was no link between the lobbying, the donations and the administration's pipeline decisions.
"Protecting New Yorkers and our environment are this administration's top priorities, which is why decisions on individual projects are made at the agency level by career public servants who conduct a rigorous review of the facts and the science," Azzopardi said.
The company — Transco, a subsidiary of The Williams Companies, a Tulsa-based fossil fuel conglomerate — has been seeking permission from Cuomo administration regulators since June of 2017. The project is a 23-mile natural gas pipeline from Old Bridge, New Jersey to Rockaway, New York.
Cuomo touts his environmental record but has also declined to reject fossil fuel industry campaign cash.
As residential customers seek to switch from heating oil to natural gas, Williams has argued that the pipeline expansion is necessary to "help ensure that reliable gas supplies are available to support these conversions." The company says the project will displace about 900,000 barrels of heating oil a year and reduce CO2 emissions in New York City and Long Island.
Critics say the location of the pipeline puts the waters and shores of Lower New York Bay at risk of contamination and other environmental damage, and that it will continue the region's reliance on fossil fuels, thereby setting back the fight against climate change.
Cuomo's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) temporarily denied a water quality certification for the pipeline in April. But the ruling also allowed the company to re-submit the proposal for approval "without prejudice" — a maneuver that keeps the embattled project alive. The company submitted a new application in May — and Cuomo has declined to answer questions about whether or not he agrees with Stringer that the proposal should be blocked.
Amid the intensifying battle over the pipeline, Williams hired lobbying firm Kivvit to advocate for its interests in Albany last fall, according to state ethics records. Among the lobbyists registered to represent Williams is Maggie Moran, a well-known operative who advised his gubernatorial campaign in 2010.
In June, while she was registered as a pipeline lobbyist, Cuomo hired her to take the reigns of this year's campaign. Moran took over two months after Joe Percoco, who ran both of Cuomo's previous campaigns, was convicted on federal corruption charges — one of several corruption scandals that have dogged the Cuomo administration in recent months. She took a leave of absence from Kivvit when she joined the campaign, a spokesman says.
In the last few years, Cuomo's administration has faced multiple corruption scandals, fueling critics' assertions that he is too close to Albany influence peddlers.
State records show that Moran, who declined an interview request, began lobbying on behalf of Williams in September 2017 — three months after Williams first submitted its pipeline proposal to Cuomo administration regulators. Those records also show that Moran's lobbying has been specifically targeted at the executive branch that Cuomo heads. Kivvit's website says Moran "oversees all aspects of Kivvit's day-to-day operations" and Kivvit has continued to lobby for Williams in 2018. Kivvit's managing director is former Cuomo communications director Rich Bamberger.
As Cuomo administration regulators were reviewing the pipeline, Williams made two donations totaling $100,000 to the Democratic Governors Association, which lists Cuomo as a member of its leadership team and which has provided the campaign with polling research.
Internal Revenue Service records show that in February, one $50,000 donation came from Williams Companies and another $50,000 contribution came from the "Williams Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company" — which is the overseer of the pipeline project before Cuomo's administration. The New York Times on Friday reported that in that same month, Cuomo traveled to a Washington, D.C. DGA event on a chartered plane — and the association paid $10,725 for his trip.
Soon after the Williams donations to the DGA and Cuomo's trip to the DGA event, the DGA gave more than $20,000 to Cuomo's campaign, according to state disclosure records.
A Cuomo campaign spokesperson, Abbey Collins, said the governor did not solicit Williams' contribution to the DGA.
Azzopardi, the spokesman for the governor's office, said: "At no point did the agency or the governor's office get approached on this project by Kivvit — any suggestion otherwise would be a trip into tinfoil hat country."
The company has given regularly to both the Democratic and Republican governors' associations in the past.
June 30, 2017 – Transco, a Williams subsidiary, submits an initial application to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation for a water permit for the NESE pipeline.
September, 2017 – The Williams Companies hires public-affairs firm Kivvit to represent the pipeline project to the Cuomo administration.
Feb. 13, 2018 – The Williams Companies make a $50,000 contribution to the Democratic Governors Association, which lists Andrew Cuomo on its leadership team.
Feb. 21, 2018 – Transco makes a separate $50,000 contribution to the DGA.
April 20, 2018 – Under pressure from environmental groups to permanently block the NESE, the state instead keeps the project alive by dismissing Transco's application "without prejudice."
May 17, 2018 – Transco resubmits the water permit application, effectively delaying a final decision on the project until 2019.
May-June, 2018 – New York State ethics records show that Maggie Moran, managing partner at public affairs firm Kivvit, was registered to lobby for Williams on "Energy Issues."
June 13, 2018 – The DGA makes a $20,166.66 contribution to Cuomo's reelection campaign.
June 15, 2018 – Cuomo hires Moran to run his campaign, according to Politico.
The 2018 donations appear to be among the company's largest ever to the DGA. The DGA has said corporate donations to the group cannot be earmarked to specific campaigns or candidates, and therefore there is no link between donations and public-policy influence.
Williams spokesperson Keith Isbell declined to discuss the company's lobbying activities, its relationship with Moran or its donations to the DGA on the record.
"New York's energy demands continue to grow at a startling rate," he said. "The Northeast Supply Enhancement project is a critical step toward ensuring New York has the infrastructure in place to meet that demand with a mix of energy sources that are reliable, affordable and clean."
In the last few years, Cuomo has faced multiple corruption scandals, fueling critics' assertions that he is too close to Albany influence peddlers. Percoco, one of his closest aides, was convicted in March on federal corruption charges, and in July several other top Cuomo allies were found guilty of perpetrating a massive bid-rigging scheme.
Despite questions about special interests and revolving doors, Cuomo decided to hire a registered lobbyist to run his campaign amid the corruption trials. That decision follows Cuomo's 2015 hiring of lobbyist William Mulrow to serve as his top aide in Albany.
Cuomo is now facing a spirited Democratic primary challenge from actress Cynthia Nixon, who has demanded an end to pipeline approvals. During the campaign, the governor has touted his environmental record, including his formation of the U.S. Climate Alliance with other blue-state governors following the Trump administration's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement last year. The Cuomo administration has also rejectedtwo other proposed pipeline projects.
But Cuomo has declined to reject fossil fuel industry campaign cash, and earlier this year affirmed his support for natural gas development — even as environmental groups continue to pressure his administration to block proposals for new gas-fired plants and pipeline projects around the state.
In the NESE pipeline fight, the Cuomo administration denied Williams' subsidiary Transco a water quality certification, citing "potentially significant environmental impacts that raised serious concerns."
"The construction of the project could have significant water quality impacts in New York State," said Cuomo DEC appointee Thomas Berkman in a letter released just weeks after Nixon entered the primary race against the governor. "This includes potentially significant impacts from the resuspension of sediments and other contaminants, as well as to habitats due to the disturbance of shellfish beds and other benthic resources. In addition, the construction of the Project could potentially impact Atlantic sturgeon and other protected species."
However, because state regulators rejected the application "without prejudice," the state allowed Williams to resubmit its proposal in May. That has raised fears among environmental activists that Cuomo's administration is delaying a decision on the pipeline until after next week's gubernatorial primary and the general election in November.
According to bi-monthly reports filed with the state's Joint Commission on Public Ethics, Moran was registered to lobby the executive branch of New York State government on behalf of Williams as recently as May and June of this year — just as the pipeline's water quality permit was resubmitted, and just before she joined the Cuomo campaign as manager.
Cuomo campaign spokeswoman Abbey Collins said "Maggie was not on the campaign when the decision was made by the governor's administration."
She said Moran's firm handled media relations and advertising for the company but didn't lobby the legislature or the executive branch. She said it was required to register as a lobbyist by new rules about companies that have contact with the press.
In a letter filed with state ethics regulators, an official from the Williams Companies said the conglomerate hired Moran's firm to "engage in communications activities to the general public that spur communications to the executive and legislative branches of New York State government."
Williams is not the only Moran client with business before Cuomo. State records show that as of June, Moran has also been registered to lobby "administrative branches of New York State government" on behalf of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, which is currently negotiating with the New York Department of Health over the price of its cystic fibrosis drug Orkambi. Records show that Vertex hired Kivvit in May of this year, immediately following a state panel's recommendation that New York's Medicaid program impose a price cap on Orkambi.
Another of Moran's clients at Kivvit is Tesla. The electric carmaker is the parent company of SolarCity, whose state-funded RiverBend factory is at the center of the ongoing Buffalo Billion probe. That investigation has seen Percoco convicted in federal court on three counts of bribery and fraud, and another former Cuomo aide, Todd Howe, plead guilty on similar charges.
Kivvit clients have contributed at least $544,000 to Cuomo's campaigns since 2014, according to state campaign finance disclosures. Moran herself has donated $10,000 to Cuomo since 2015, records show.
In addition to approval from the Cuomo administration, Williams' NESE pipeline also needs approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), whose five commissioners — four of whom are appointees of President Trump — are expected to issue a ruling on whether the project can move forward later this month.
The agency in March issued a report finding that the project "would result in some adverse environmental impacts" including "long-term impacts on air quality and noise" from a compressor station. However, the same report also asserted that most of the "impacts would be temporary and occur during construction."
A coalition of environmental and citizens groups, Stop the Williams Pipeline, submitted more than 6,000 comments in opposition to the pipeline to the FERC during its public comment period. The group is also collecting signatures on a its members plan to submit to Cuomo later this year.
In announcing his opposition to the pipeline this week, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer said he was concerned about the impact on many of the region's sensitive ecosystems.
"The 23-mile pipeline would extend from New Jersey, along the Staten Island coast, past Coney Island and into the Rockaways," he said in a statement. "Allowing the construction of the pipeline risks damage to many of New York's most precious habitats and natural assets, including New York Harbor, Jamaica Bay, and the Rockaways' many beaches."
Kavanaugh's Artful Dodging Leaves Roe v. Wade and Other Questions Unanswered
Legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky says the Supreme Court nominee "is going to move constitutional law very substantially to the right, and this will hurt a lot of people. I think he's going to be the fifth vote to gut many federal civil rights laws."
Legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky says the Supreme Court nominee "is going to move constitutional law very substantially to the right, and this will hurt a lot of people. I think he's going to be the fifth vote to gut many federal civil rights laws."
Throughout the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings on U. S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Capital & Main will discuss the proceedings with Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. Below is an excerpt of an interview that followed Wednesday's testimony.
Capital & Main: Kavanaugh has written extensively on the idea of precedent and, on Wednesday, when asked about Roe v. Wade, described it as "precedent upon precedent." What does that mean? Is he saying anything of substance?
Erwin Chemerinsky: He's saying nothing of substance. First, even if the court doesn't explicitly overrule Roe v. Wade, they can kill it by a thousand cuts by upholding the myriad of laws that impose restrictions on abortion. Two years ago, the court struck down a Texas law that would have closed most of the facilities in the state where abortions were performed. It was 5-3, with Justice [Anthony] Kennedy in the majority. The court can uphold laws like that and basically undercut Roe v. Wade. But beyond that, the fact that he says it's precedent upon precedent, or that he respects precedent, doesn't tell us what he's going to do when he's a justice and he has the power to overrule Roe v. Wade.
You can respect precedent until you don't.
Exactly. And that's true of every justice. I wrote a piece in the National Law Journal a few weeks ago saying that I don't think the senators should waste their time asking his views on precedent. Because what he'll say is, "Of course I believe in precedent." Except sometimes precedent has to be overruled.
Earlier this week, the Brookings Institutionreleased a report in which the authors argued that Kavanaugh, if confirmed, must recuse himself from any future cases that deal with criminal investigations personally involving Trump.
I read it. We're in an unprecedented situation. I can't think of another time when a president who was under such active criminal investigation and being subjected to so many civil suits was nominating somebody to the Supreme Court. In the context of Richard Nixon, his appointments were in 1969 and 1971, and the Watergate burglary wasn't until June of 1972. But it's got to be remembered that whether a justice is recused is entirely up to that justice. Ultimately, if Kavanaugh is confirmed, whether he'll recuse himself is up to Kavanaugh.
You were also among hundreds of legal scholars whosigned a letter opposing the nomination of Kavanaugh. The letter argued that he "reflects a backward-looking view of the Constitution" and that his record "reveals a predisposition to decide cases in order to achieve results that threaten fundamental rights and in some cases the very lives of Americans." If he is confirmed, what might change?
I think he is going to move constitutional law very substantially to the right, and that this will hurt a lot of people. I think he will be the fifth vote to either effectively or explicitly overrule Roe v. Wade. I think he will be the fifth vote to find that all affirmative action is unconstitutional. I think he's going to be the fifth vote to allow states much more latitude in imposing the death penalty and draconian punishments. I think he's going to be the fifth vote to gut many federal civil rights laws. I think that no longer will the majority of the court protect gay and lesbian rights.
During the second day of the confirmation hearing, Kavanaugh was pressed by Democratic senators about his views on executive power—specifically about whether a president has the ability to pardon himself, or whether he can be forced to respond to a subpoena.
So if we're not going to get any new information from Kavanaugh during the hearing, what does a look at his past tell us about his views on executive power?
He's got a paper trail on that. He wrote a law review article saying that he doesn't believe that a sitting president should be subject to criminal or civil investigations. He gave a speech in which he said the case he most wants to see overruled in the Supreme Court is a case called Morrison v. Olson. That was a 1988 case that was 7-1, and which upheld the constitutionality of the independent counsel. He gave a speech where he said that the United States v. Nixon was likely wrongly decided. This was the unanimous Supreme Court case that said President Nixon had to release the Watergate tapes. This is something that makes Kavanaugh very troubling at this moment in history. Now more than ever, we need the courts to enforce the Constitution and check the president. This is a president who shows no understanding of the Constitution at all, who shows enormous autocratic impulses, and we have a Congress that so far has been unwilling to check the president. That means it's the courts or nothing.
Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh Faces a Low Admissions Bar
"Kavanaugh," says UC Berkeley law school dean Erwin Chemerinsky, "doesn't have to say any more than is needed to make sure he doesn't lose the Republican vote, and he knows that."
"Kavanaugh," says UC Berkeley law school dean Erwin Chemerinsky, "doesn't have to say any more than is needed to make sure he doesn't lose the Republican vote, and he knows that."
Throughout the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings on U. S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Capital & Main will discuss the proceedings with Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. Below is an excerpt of an interview that followed Tuesday's testimony.
Capital & Main: The first day saw more than 70 arrests of protesters, along with an attempt by Democrats to delay Kavanaugh's hearing. How unusual are these sorts of tactics?
Erwin Chemerinsky: It was very unusual for the Democrats to, in such a coordinated way, say that the hearing should be postponed until they have access to documents. Their point is: There's no hurry. What's the rush? Why not give us a chance to look at the documents? The problem is, of course, that the Republicans have the majority of the committee, and there's nothing the minority party can do about it.
What might these documents reveal?
They could contain information that is very relevant to evaluating Brett Kavanaugh. As an example, the memos regarding Jay Bybee, the judge on the Ninth Circuit of Appeals, didn't come out until after [Bybee] was already confirmed. Among the documents that came out was [his approval of] the so-called torture memos. [Bybee was confirmed by the Senate in 2003; his role in the torture memos wasn't revealed until the following year.] Bybee would not have been confirmed if those documents had been known prior to his confirmation. So what the Democrats are saying is, "We should have access to all these documents—and we just got 42,000 of them last night. We need time to process them."
Overall, did the American public learn anything new Tuesday?
No, not anything that we didn't know before. We knew that Kavanaugh was going to give an opening statement filled with platitudes. And that's what we got.
Supreme Court confirmation hearings can feel like a public performance in which very little, by design, is actually revealed.
In January 2006, I testified against the confirmation of Samuel Alito. At a break in the proceeding, then-Senator Joe Biden came up to me and said, "This is all an exercise in Kabuki theater." He said that everyone knew that Samuel Alito was going to be a very conservative Supreme Court justice. The Republicans were all pretending he had no ideology, and the Democrats were all trying to ask him a question to trip him up, and he was too smart for that. I think that's what we're seeing again. Kavanaugh doesn't have to say any more than is needed to make sure he doesn't lose the Republican vote, and he knows that. I'm guessing that's what we're going to see this week.
Right, exactly. What he knows is that he doesn't have to actually answer questions.
Ohio, NJ and California Pension Funds Invested $885 Million in Hedge Fund That Controls National Enquirer Parent
Co-published by MapLight and Fast Company
Under Republican governors, two states pumped hundreds of millions of dollars of pension cash into a high-risk hedge fund that took control of the National Enquirer's parent company, American Media Inc.
Co-published by MapLight and Fast Company
During the last five years, taxpayers in New Jersey, Ohio and California have owned large financial stakes in the owner of the media company that allegedly helped the Trump campaign bury negative stories, according to documents reviewed by Capital & Main and MapLight.
Under Republican governors, New Jersey and Ohio committed at least $650 million of pension cash into Chatham Asset Management, a high-risk hedge fund that has taken control of the National Enquirer's parent company, American Media Inc., which is at the center of the federal investigation into President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. California's pension fund also has a $235 million stake in a Chatham fund.
The hedge fund is run by Anthony Melchiorre, a GOP donor who reportedly met with the president and AMI CEO David Pecker at the White House soon after Trump took office. Melchiorre and his wife have donated more than $100,000 to Republican candidates and party committees since 2010.
Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen, recently pleaded guilty to breaking campaign finance laws stemming from payments he made to women to hide affairs with the former reality TV star and real estate magnate. AMI executives helped Cohen purchase stories that could have hurt Trump's presidential bid, according to the Wall Street Journal.
AMI has denied it helped Trump's campaign, although Pecker was recently granted immunity as part of the Cohen probe. Former FEC commissioner Trevor Potter, the head of the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, last week said the situation "presents a serious legal problem for AMI." If those legal troubles end up depressing the market value of AMI, teachers, firefighters, cops and other public employees also could potentially suffer losses at a time when their pension funds are already facingshortfalls.
A New Jersey Treasury Department spokesperson said in an email that its Division of Investment "is in regular contact with its investment partners regarding underlying portfolio companies and provides feedback when appropriate. While DOI plays no role in the management of a fund's portfolio companies, it expects the funds to invest in good businesses with strong management teams that follow all applicable laws."
"I am personally appalled by the Enquirer being an accessory to Cohen's criminal behavior on behalf of the candidate," said Tom Bruno, a state union representative who is the chairman of the pension's board of trustees and serves on New Jersey's State Investment Council, which oversees the pension system's investments.
"If the allegations are true, I would vote and argue for full divestiture," he said. "I cannot talk on behalf of the entire SIC, but I will be doing everything in my power to convince a majority to vote the same way."
Chatham did not respond to questions about how exposed taxpayers and pension systems might be to AMI and any financial consequences of its legal entanglements. A spokesman for the Ohio pension system said Thursday that the state asked for its money to be withdrawn from the Chatham fund in 2015; the money was redeemed in 2017.
"State officials are well-positioned and duty-bound to investigate allegations of potential wrongdoing in hedge fund portfolios," said former Securities and Exchange Commission attorney Edward Siedle.
In 2013, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's administration moved$300 million of pension cash into the Chatham Fund, LP, which has owned a stake in AMI, according to SEC records. Last year, barely three months before Christie left office, his administration steered another $200 million to another Chatham vehicle.
In 2013 and 2014, an Ohio pension system partially controlled by Gov. John Kasich's appointees committed $150 million to Chatham. The hedge fund finalized its deal to buy an ownership stake in AMI in the summer of 2014.
The Christie administration's shift of $500 million into Chatham makes New Jersey retirees a substantial investor in the hedge fund, which manages $3.2 billion in assets, according to state records. Those records show the original $500 million investments are now worth as much as $692 million.
Best known for its lurid Enquirer headlines ("Aliens Are Living in My Toilet"), AMI has been beset by a difficult environment for print publications. Chatham has warned that its investments are risky and that a client "may lose its entire investment in a troubled company." In early 2018, private equity giant Blackstone removed Chatham from one of its major investment funds.
Along with the public pension funds, four other private pension funds — including those for Ford and Toyota Motors employees — have had investments with Chatham, according to financial research firm Preqin.
AMI represents a large portion of Chatham's portfolio. Internal hedge fund records from late 2017 show that AMI investments comprised 23 percent of the Chatham Asset Partners High Yield Fund's portfolio. The hedge fund also has officials who serve as directors at AMI.
Attorney Jay Youngdahl, a former Harvard researcher who has served as a steelworkers pension trustee, said state officials may be able to take action to try to protect retiree investments.
"There are often clauses in agreements between pension funds and hedge funds that give states certain rights and recourse if they believe retirees' money has been invested in companies engaging in criminal activity," he said.
This story has been updated from its original version.
Cuomo Received $25,000 From Weinstein Lawyer's Firm as He Suspended Probe
Co-published by Sludge
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo halted an investigation into the Manhattan DA's handling of the Harvey Weinstein case just as the law firm representing the Hollywood producer gave Cuomo's campaign $25,000.
Co-published by Sludge
Last year, a political firestorm erupted when journalists revealed that Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's lawyer David Boies gave $10,000 to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. in the months after Vance declined to prosecute the movie producer on sexual assault charges. Now, less than a year later, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has halted an investigation into the handling of the Weinstein case just as Boies' law firm gave Cuomo's campaign $25,000, according to state records reviewed by Capital & Main and Sludge.
The controversies spotlight ongoing questions about whether law enforcement actions in New York are being inappropriately influenced by campaign donations.
Amid explosive headlines about Boies' donations to Vance and the district attorney's decision not to prosecute Weinstein, Cuomo in March called for the New York Attorney General's office to investigate the handling of the case, which revolved around accusations that Weinstein groped an Italian model.
While Vance in May opted to reverse course and charge the Hollywood producer, Cuomo declared that an investigation into Vance's original decision to not prosecute Weinstein was necessary because, the governor said, "it is critical not only that these cases are given the utmost attention but also that there is public confidence in the handling of these cases."
However, BuzzFeed on Tuesday reported that Cuomo reversed himself in June, sending a letter to New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood asking her to suspend the investigation for six months. The suspension effectively shields Boies from scrutiny of any potential relationship between his 2015 donation to Vance and Vance's decision not to prosecute Weinstein.
Cuomo's June order came six days after Boies, Schiller & Flexner gave $25,000 to Cuomo's reelection campaign, according to New York campaign finance records. In all, Boies and his law firm have given Cuomo's gubernatorial campaigns more than $245,000 since 2009.
"Neither Mr. Boies, nor anyone from his firm, ever discussed Harvey Weinstein or Mr. Vance with Mr. Cuomo, or anyone from his office, at any time," a spokesperson for Boies Schiller & Flexner said in an emailed statement. "Mr. Boies is a longtime supporter of Mr. Cuomo and his contribution in June was consistent with his contributions to Mr. Cuomo over years past."
Cuomo's spokesperson said the investigation was suspended temporarily in order to avoid interfering with Vance's ongoing prosecution of Weinstein.
"As we said when the Governor directed the Attorney General to investigate the Manhattan DA's Office, it should not interfere with the DA's ongoing criminal case," Cuomo press secretary Dani Lever told Buzzfeed. "Given the recent indictment and prosecution of Harvey Weinstein by the district attorney, the attorney general's investigation has been postponed for six months."
However, Buzzfeed's report pointed out that as criminal proceedings against Weinstein could drag on for years, the attorney general's investigation may effectively be suspended indefinitely.
Update: After this article was published, a state official responded, saying that suspending the investigation had nothing to do with Boies' campaign contributions: "The attorney general's investigation was suspended to avoid situations in which Weinstein's defense attorneys would be able to constantly petition the attorney general's office for information about what they uncovered and undermine a criminal prosecution."
Top Republican on Tax Subcommittee Received Yacht Loan From Foreign Bank Lobbying on 2017 Tax Bill
Federal records show that one of Rep. Vern Buchanan's LLCs financed foreign bank loans to purchase a yacht and a private luxury jet.
Federal records show that one of Rep. Vern Buchanan's LLCs financed foreign bank loans to purchase a yacht and a private luxury jet.
As Republicans were finalizing tax cut legislation in late 2017, a foreign-owned bank seeking to shape the bill gave a seven-figure yacht loan to a top GOP lawmaker on the committee writing the measure, according to documents reviewed by Capital & Main and MapLight.
Representative Vern Buchanan (R-FL), who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee and leads its tax policy subcommittee, has been under fire in recent weeks for purchasing a yacht on the same day he voted for the GOP tax package. Buchanan registered a 73-foot Ocean Alexander vessel named Entrepreneur with the U.S. Coast Guard a month later, according to federal records.
Although Buchanan is one of the wealthiest members of Congress — worth at least $80 million — federal records show one of his limited liability companies financed the purchase with a BMO Harris Bank loan worth as much as $5 million. Since 2016, Buchanan's companies have received three loans worth as much as $35 million from BMO Harris, which is the American subsidiary of the Bank of Montreal. In total, since he was appointed to the Ways and Means Committee in 2010, Buchanan and his companies have received between $17 million and $85 million worth of loans from four lenders.
At the time Buchanan's company received the 2017 yacht loan, BMO Harris was lobbying congressional lawmakers on tax policy overseen by the Ways and Means Committee, according to federal records. Buchanan received a separate BMO Harris loan for a plane in 2016. Records show that loan, worth between $5 million and $25 million, was made around the same time that the bank began lobbying lawmakers on "tax reform proposals."
In all, BMO spent $760,000 lobbying lawmakers in 2017, and records show the bank paid for tax reform lobbying from Tony Podesta, whose firm is being investigated for potential violations of foreign lobbying laws.
In recent years, lending to lawmakers has been a source of controversy, with some critics alleging that politically connected banks can use favorable loan terms as a stealth conduit of political influence. Buchanan did not list the terms of the BMO Harris loans in his 2017 financial disclosure report, which was filed in May, and his office did not respond to questions about the deal.
"For privacy reasons we do not disclose information about specific loans," said BMO Harris spokesperson Patrick O'Herlihy. "We do not provide services or products to public officials that are not also available to the general public."
Craig Holman, an ethics advocate at Public Citizen, said that the bank's loans to Buchanan's company pose a "particularly egregious" conflict of interest.
"It isn't just business for Buchanan," he said. "The loans grant Buchanan the luxuries of a personal jet and a yacht. It is very reasonable to assume those luxuries could well influence Buchanan's official actions."
Both BMO Harris and Buchanan could reap a financial windfall from the tax legislation.
The bank's first annual report after the passage of the GOP measure said corporate tax cuts in the bill are "expected to increase our annual net income from what it would have otherwise been." In late May, shortly after its report was published, the company announced record U.S. profits. BMO Harris had publicly celebrated the bill in January and said it would increase its minimum wage to $15 per hour as a result of the tax cut. Both the Trump administration and House Republicans touted BMO Harris as an example of the tax cut's success.
The bank also announced a plan to repurchase as many as 20 million shares of its own stock — providing ammunition to critics who predicted that companies would use the tax cut windfall to enrich executives and shareholders, rather than to create new jobs.
For his part, Buchanan has promoted the tax cut as a boon to working families.
"The sweeping tax reform bill signed into law last month is already producing results," he said in a statement posted on his website soon after the tax bill passed. "As the son of a factory worker who grew up in the blue-collar suburbs of Detroit, I know firsthand how important a bonus or pay raise can be for a family struggling to make ends meet."
The tax bill could also boost Buchanan's earnings from various corporate entities that he controls, which include real estate holdings and an auto dealership. The legislation slashed rates on "pass-through" income that flows to individuals through businesses that include limited liability corporations, S-corporations and partnerships.
In the case of Buchanan's new yacht, the Republican's financial disclosure forms show that the BMO Harris loan for the vessel — as well as the earlier loan for the purchase of an Embraer luxury jet airplane that can seat 10 people — were made to Buchanan's company, Aircraft Holding and Leasing, LLC.
Buchanan's financial disclosure forms report that he has collected as much as $5 million in pass-through income from Aircraft Holding and Leasing since being elected to Congress in 2006. Buchanan's 2017 disclosure forms report that he had between $1.5 million and $3.3 million of assets in a BMO Harris investment account.
The House Ethics Committee says that it is a violation of congressional gift rules if a lawmaker "is given a loan at a below-market interest rate," though members of Congress aren't required to publicly disclose the terms of loans they receive.
In 2012, congressional investigators found that mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. had a special unit that made discounted loans and gave preferential treatment to lawmakers, congressional staff and other high-ranking government officials. A 2016 Institute for New Economic Thinking study by researchers at the London Business School found that lawmakers who join financial oversight committees receive larger, more favorable loans than other lawmakers.
Proposed Los Angeles Law Would Give Tenants Access to Attorneys
The City Council is considering a 'right to counsel' program that could help curb evictions and homelessness.
The City Council is considering a 'right to counsel' program that could help curb evictions and homelessness.
An estimated 30,000 eviction cases are filed in court each year against Los Angeles city residents. Many more tenants do not show up in court since they know "they have limited legal rights and they have limited access to legal representation," according to a recent report by Tenants Together, a renter advocacy organization.
Urged on by renter advocates, a Los Angeles City Council housing committee voted August 8 to support the creation of a 'right to counsel' law similar to ones that have been adopted by San Francisco and New York.
The committee approved a motion, authored by L.A. City Councilman Paul Koretz, which directs staff to craft a program that would give more tenants facing eviction access to attorneys.
"Basic fairness dictates that if one side of an eviction proceeding has legal representation, the other side should have representation, too, and that equality before the law shouldn't depend on income level," said Jerry Jones, director of public policy at the Inner City Law Center. Jones joined about a dozen speakers at the committee meeting.
Compared to the high cost of addressing the homeless crisis, eviction defense is a relatively inexpensive means to prevent people from becoming homeless, according to Jones.
County and city officials are struggling to find temporary and permanent housing for the tens of thousands of residents who become homeless every year. And while there has been a slight decrease in the county's homeless population since last year, the number of homeless – 53,000 – is still staggering, according to the last count. In addition, more people were homeless for the first time this year than last, suggesting unaffordable rents may be pushing people onto the street.
At the hearing, Janet Gagnon, a representative of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, complained that a right-to-counsel program would "simply give money to defense attorneys." She said that public money would be better spent on vouchers "so that the people can avoid the eviction process entirely."
But a 2017 analysis of pilot programs that offered free legal service to tenants concluded that providing counsel does have benefits. Eviction cases involving represented tenants are more likely to end in settlement, and most of those settlements reduced back-owed rent or helped protect tenants' credit by keeping eviction notices off the public record.
The study, which was conducted by the Judicial Council of California, also found that 67 percent of cases involving represented tenants settled, as compared to 34 percent of cases in which people represented themselves. While all clients in the study received eviction notices, only 6 percent were ultimately evicted from their homes.
Jim Bickhart, a representative of Councilman Paul Koretz, said that the intent of the proposed measure was to expand the capacity of the current network of legal services, which currently serves "several thousand clients a year."
"There is no way this proposal could provide free legal service to every tenant faced with eviction, but we should start somewhere," he added. The motion is scheduled to be voted on by the full City Council on August 17.


text:
Brewers score 6 late to beat D-backs 9-3
PHOENIX (AP) — Wily Peralta had trouble keeping the ball down in the second inning and Arizona took advantage, lining one hit after another.
The right-hander started hitting his spots after that, setting up Milwaukee for a big finish.
Peralta pitched seven effective innings, Aramis Ramirez lined a two-run double in the eighth inning and the Brewers broke open a close game late for a 9-3 victory over the Diamondbacks on Monday night.
"In that second inning, I was missing pitches, missing location," Peralta said. "After that, I just got into a rhythm."
Peralta (7-5) shook off that shaky inning to keep the NL Central-leading Brewers close against Arizona and Brandon McCarthy.
Milwaukee ran away with it once McCarthy left, scoring three runs in the eighth against Will Harris (0-2): two on Ramirez's third hit and another on a run-scoring single by Khris Davis.
Ryan Braun hit a two-run triple off J.J. Putz in the ninth inning and Scooter Gennett had a run-scoring single after homering earlier in the game for the Brewers, who had 12 hits.
"We swung the ball really well throughout the game," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "There were a couple of chances early where we could have broken the game open."
McCarthy gave the Diamondbacks a chance, shaking off his own early troubles to go seven innings. He helped himself out, too, slashing a two-run single in the second inning.
Arizona's bullpen, which has been solid recently, couldn't hold it. Harris gave up the three runs with two outs in the ninth and the Brewers kept hitting from there, sending Arizona to its fifth loss in six games.
"We had it set up pretty good right there, but it didn't work out," said Arizona manager Kirk Gibson, who was ejected in the ninth inning after a review failed to overturn a stolen base call at third base. "Two outs and to score all those runs, it didn't work out the way it wanted to."
Both starters had some rough moments before settling down.
Peralta appeared to be back on track in his last start after two shaky outings, holding the New York Mets to a run over 6 2-3 innings.
The hard-throwing right-hander didn't keep the momentum rolling early against the Diamondbacks, giving up five hits in Arizona's three-run second inning.
Roger Kieschnick had a run-scoring single in in his first at-bat after being called up to replace Bronson Arroyo, who was placed on the disabled list for the first time in his career due to a sore elbow.
McCarthy, a .125 hitter this season, followed with a jam-shot single to right, driving in two more runs to put Arizona up 3-2.
Peralta was sharp after that, retiring 10 straight batters until Kieschnick lined a leadoff single in the seventh. Arizona got two on against him, but Peralta hustled to first base to complete an inning-ending double play.
He allowed three runs and nine hits and struck out six.
"I still thought he fought it, was still up in the zone too much," Roenicke said. "We've got to get him down in the zone, try to get some easy outs. He's working so hard out there to get outs."
McCarthy gave up five runs in his last start and appeared to be headed toward another shaky outing. He gave up two runs in the second inning and a leadoff homer by Gennett in the third, the 15th he has allowed this season.
McCarthy retired 13 of the next 14 batters he faced, though, and was helped along by three double plays.
Left fielder Gerardo Parra had the best of the bunch in the third inning, diving to rob Ramirez of a hit and throwing out Braun at second after he thought the ball was going to fall for a hit. Second baseman Aaron Hill also made diving stop up the middle to get Mark Reynolds in the seventh inning.
McCarthy came out to start the eighth, but was lifted when the Brewers sent up a left-handed pinch-hitter. He allowed three runs and seven hits.
"Back in a good place. I started attacking more and trying to do everything I could to keep us in it and go as deep as I could," McCarthy said.
NOTES: A moment of silence was held before the game to honor Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, who died Monday from cancer at 54. ... The Brewers started Elian Herrera in center field to give Carlos Gomez a night off. Gomez has reached base in 30 straight games. ... Arizona's Paul Goldschmidt extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single in the first inning. ... Arizona LHP Wade Miley will start Tuesday in the second game of the series against RHP Kyle Lohse.


text:
The media takes its lumps over reporting about pit bulls
Monika Courtney had something on her mind and she wanted me to know about it.
The Evergreen freelance writer and self-described "animal advocate" was upset about a headline she saw on a Denver television news story: "Pit bull attacks 6-year-old girl."
Courtney didn't deny the incident happened. But the outspoken opponent of legislation banning a specific breed of dog didn't believe the breed would have been mentioned if it were something other than a pit bull — that's if the story had even been done in the first place.
In short, she believed the media blew it. She's not the first person I've encountered who feels that way. In fact, pit bull supporters in general seem to think the media has helped stereotype the breed as vicious and dangerous while failing to offer other views or context, such as whether or not the pit bull owner's negligence is to blame for an attack.
So I asked Courtney to explain why she felt that way. Here, in her own words, edited for space, is what she e-mailed me:


text:
Terms & Conditions
Terms & Conditions
1. Goods and Services
TLC Outreach Projects is an non-profit organization that provides training and social services to communities in and around the Table View area in Cape Town, South Africa.
TLC Outreach Projects does not sell any goods or offer any services in exchange for a financial contribution on this web site. The donation section of this website is intended to raise funds for the organizations projects and events.
2. Customer Privacy policy
TLC Outreach Projects shall take all reasonable steps to protect the personal information of users. For the purpose of this clause, "personal information" shall be defined as detailed in the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (PAIA).
3. Donation options accepted
Donation may be made via Visa and Mastercard credit cards or by bank transfer into TLC's bank account, the details of which will be provided on request or on the final checkout page of this website.
4. Credit card acquiring and security
Credit card transactions will be acquired for TLC via PayGate (Pty) Ltd who is the approved payment gateway of Standard Bank of South Africa. Paygate uses the strictest form of encryption, namely Secure Socket Layer 3 (SSL3) and no Credit Card details are stored on the website. Users may go to www.paygate.co.za to view their security certificate and security policy.
5. Customer details separate from card details
Donor details will be stored by TLC separately from card details which are entered by the Donor on PayGate's secure site. For more details on Paygate refer to www.paygate.co.za
6. Merchant Outlet country and transaction currency
The merchant outlet country at the time of presenting payment options to the cardholder is South Africa. Transaction currency is South African Rand (ZAR)
7. Responsibility
TLC Outreach Projects takes responsibility for all aspects relating to the transaction including current information of projects and dispute resolution.
8. Country of Domicile
This website is governed by the laws of South Africa and TLC Outreach Projects chooses as its domicilium citandi et executandi for all purposes under this agreement, whether in repect of court process, notice, or other documents or communication of whatsoever nature, SAPS Table View, 18 Pentz Drive, Table View, 7441.
9. Variation
TLC may, in its sole discretion, change this agreement or any part thereof at any time without notice.
10. Company information
This website is run by TLC Outreach Projects based in South Africa with Colleen and Derek Pietersen as Founders.
11. TLC contact details


text:
Your phone model is: Meizu M356
Version for your phone is: UC Browser 18.104.22.1689
Updated date: 2019-11-15
Change phone model:
You may always confuse about which software to install, and I will recommend UC Browser, a requisite APP of mobile, to you. UC Browser strives to improve its technique so as to pander to growing demand from users. It has many amusing features in addition to browsing and searching.
UC Browser is the leading mobile internet browser with more than 400 million users across more than 150 countries and regions. This product is currently available on all major operating platforms in 7 different languages.
Meizu Technology Co., Ltd. is a Chinese electronics manufacturer from Zhuhai. Meizu has created phones and music players and has developed the M6 Mini Player, the M3 Music Card, released in March 2007, and the M8 miniOne mobile phone, released February 2009.The company later planned to release another MP3 player based on the M8 miniOne, named the M7, but cancelled it. Meizu has official stores located in mainland China and Hong Kong. Meizu has recently released its new smartphone in both mainland China and Hong Kong, calling it the Meizu MX and is in one of best selling Chinese smartphones. The company has also released a new OS called Flyme.
Meizu M356 is an non-touchscreen phone manufactured by Meizu, with a resolution of 1080X1800.Meizu M356 users can download the latestUC browserfor Meizu M356 via UCWeb's official website.