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When she realized workers’ rights were the most urgent issue to solve, she joined forces with another CSO leader, César Chávez, and founded the National Farm Workers Association. Thanks to the dedication of her and her fellow activists, the group was instrumental in securing aid and disability insurance for California farm workers, and fought for the Agricultural Labor Relations Act, which allowed those workers to organize and ensure better working conditions. Something Huerta is most known for is her work on the nationwide boycott of grapes after she witnessed unfair working conditions in Central Valley, a boycott that reached up to 17 million people. She was arrested many times and was attacked by police during her peaceful protests as well.
And yet, many people today will never truly understand all she did for California workers’ rights, work that has affected millions across the country. Even though our nation still has yet to fully respect our agricultural workers, a majority of whom are Latinx, we are so much further than before thanks to her dedication.
But Huerta is a woman, constantly thought of as “Chávez’s sidekick,” when she’s even included in the conversation at all. Despite the amazing things she has created and accomplished through every obstacle in her way, Huerta experienced an incredible amount of sexism from both the people she fought and those she represented. In addition to being an organizer, Huerta was also a mother to 11 children, a fact that many counted against her.
During her speech, Huerta addressed this specifically. She said that we need to teach young women to support and protect themselves, thus building their own support system. “Prince Charming does not exist,” she joked. Additionally, Huerta called for feminists, not just women, to take power in government and help improve this country.
Her words about gender and activism were inspiring. While we are seeing more women take power in organizing roles since Huerta’s time, respect for their movements and words is still lacking.
But then she said names. Names I had never heard before. Nan Freeman, an 18-year-old killed while picketing at a sugar mill. Rufino Contreras, a 28-year-old shot by foremen. Nagi Daifallah, a 24-year-old killed by a sheriff. Juan de la Cruz, a 60-year-old killed on a picket line. Rene Lopez, a 21-year-old who died in protest.
The fact that it’s impossible to know every person killed for protesting in this country is a sad reality. But when names like the five Huerta mentioned, who are considered the martyrs of CSO’s movement, are barely discussed in U.S. History classes, that’s a problem. When Huerta herself is not mentioned next to Chávez’s name, that’s a problem. The organizing done by working-class Latinos is absolutely essential and absolutely deserves its place in the classroom.
We are doomed to repeat history if we are not taught about activists in the past. Huerta’s work, along with so many others, is so crucial to our country’s development, but we rarely learn about her and her movements. Like Huerta mentioned during her speech, our country is full of “abysmal” ignorance. Part of this stems from our nation’s children not being regularly taught activist history. Yes, progress is built by campaigning and doing door-to-door groundwork, but how are young people supposed to engage in politics if they have few leaders, especially leaders with similar backgrounds, to look up to?
Huerta is a powerhouse in the activist community, and she reminds me of my great-grandmother, who also faced incredible racism and sexism in her activism for Latinx youth. The two of them are some of my many role models and I hope to use their strength to power my own activism.
Latinos have been disrespected in this country for centuries. Huerta’s speech reignited a fire inside me, one that I will stoke as long as I can. Gracias, Dolores. Sí, se puede.
The video obtained from a McCain staffer by Cyber Berkut appears to match the ISIS-produced James Foley execution video. Senator McCain has well-known ties to such Islamic fundamentalist groups.
News reports of the July 16 shootings in Chattanooga Tennessee already provide some curious features that warrant close scrutiny. Perhaps unsurprisingly, complete oversight of the shooting investigation has been turned over to the FBI. Also, the Israeli-linked SITE Intelligence Group is involved in providing the news frame for alleged shooter Muhammed Youssef Abdulazeez.
For over a decade now the FBI has been busy creating phony terror events throughout the US to provide the semblance of a discernible enemy in the “war on terror,” as investigative reporter Trevor Aaronson has documented. This has proven immensely lucrative for the Western military-intelligence-media complex.
MHB provided a detailed analysis of SITE in 2014, suggesting that journalists should be wary of information distributed by the organization. The SITE Intelligence Group, headed up by Rita Katz, an ardent Zionist whose father was executed in Iraq in 1969 after being convicted of working for Israeli intelligence, is well-known as the first to furnish major news media with the Islamic State “beheading videos” of US citizens purportedly held captive and executed by ISIS.
“The Islamic State (IS) released a video showing its beheading of an American citizen, James Wright Foley, and its threatening to execute another, Steven Joel Sotloff, if U.S.-authorized military operations against the group continue,” SITE announced on its “Jihadist News” section in September 2014.
Following news of the apparent execution of Sotloff that emerged on September 2, 2014, Katz nervously explained to CNN how SITE was actually capable of releasing the beheading video before even ISIS could.
The location from where the video was obtained from is the location where ISIS usually uploads their original videos to [sic]. The video shows a clear message from ISIS that follows the same message that it had before. And in fact within a short time after our release, ISIS’ account on social media indicated that within a short time [sic] they would be releasing the video, only we actually had that video beforehand and were able to beat them with the release (emphasis added).
A new video has recently come to light from the Russian-based group Cyber Berkut that further calls SITE’s “intel” into serious question. Illicitly obtained from a staffer of US Senator John McCain, the clip suggests how the ISIS beheading videos were rather predictably shot in an indoor studio under controlled conditions. This is significant in terms of Katz’s SITE because the entity has regularly been the self-declared exclusive conduit of the stories incorporating this imagery.
Much like Charleston Church shooter Dylann Roof, Abdulazeez may have been “radicalized” through use of the internet. Yet as with the “God is Great” hijackers of September 11, 2001, Abdulazeez’s religious-inspired fanaticism didn’t get in the way of his debauchery. On April 20, 2015 the would be Islamic extremist was arrested in Chattanooga, charged with driving while intoxicated, and released on a $2,000 bond.
As scheduling evolves and we try to get more original episodes on air, we have to cut and paste and sometime trimming episodes on some of those shows to get more originals on the air. They possibly can get a couple of more episodes. It depends where they are in production, they will let us know when [we need to make that call].
Right now, Criminal Minds is already a part of CBS' fall schedule. If CBS were to simply air the 15 episodes it has ordered, the show would be ending earlier than the May ending dates most shows with the common 22-episode network order would have. Sometimes a network will use the timeslot of a show with a short order to introduce a new series later in the season. However, sometimes a network will ultimately end up adding episodes to a series, which seems to be what Kelly Kahl is stating could very well happen with Criminal Minds this season.
Upping episode count wouldn't be wholly unexpected. It, in fact, often happens with first season shows. A network will sign on for a set number of episodes and then will add on if the program is popular. As an aging show, CBS knows that Criminal Minds has a built-in audience, yet it is waning in popularity as it ages, as well. Fewer episodes means a less costly series, as well. Still, whether or not Criminal Minds ends up getting a full episode order in Season 14, Kelly Kahl was also unwilling to say at TCA (via Deadline) that Season 14 will be the last for the series.
I'm not saying this is the last season, We will have an honest discussion with them at the right time.
If Criminal Minds were to continue beyond Season 14, a new deal would need to be struck with the cast. At this point the series is one of the longest-running scripted shows on television, but the cast has changed a lot during recent seasons. Thomas Gibson was fired. Paget Brewster returned to the series. Shemar Moore left the series, although guest stints have been a thing. New characters were brought in. Then, Season 13 ended on a crazy cliffhanger. It's unclear where the CBS series will go in the new season, but we'll be sure to keep you updated all the way. Criminal Minds returns to the schedule on Wednesday, October 3 at 10 p.m. ET, only on CBS.
Authorities believe the shooter set a series of brush fires in and around Forest Lakes, about 40 miles east of Payson.
Jon Paxton of the Coconino County Sheriff's Office talks about the hunt for someone who shot at a U.S. Forest Service wildland firefighter.
FOREST LAKES — A large-scale search continued Wednesday morning on the Mogollon Rim for an arsonist who authorities say fired a handgun and then a shotgun at a forest service employee.
Search crews have been scouring the area by ground and air in an effort to locate the shooter, a man described as a possible transient who has been in the area for about 2½ months.
"We are urging anyone with any information or any sightings of this individual or someone who looks like the individual, to call 911," said Jon Paxton, a spokesman for the Coconino County Sheriff's Office.
Authorities believe the unidentified man had set a series of small brush fires Monday in and around Forest Lakes, a small community off State Route 260 about 40 miles east of Payson. Fire crews were able to extinguish the fires almost as quickly as they sparked.
A U.S. Forest Service wildland firefighter was patrolling the area at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday when a man jumped out of the bushes with a handgun.
The firefighter began to run to his vehicle as the man shot an estimated five to seven shots, Paxton said. At one point, the firefighter tripped and the suspect pulled out a shotgun from his belongings and continued to shoot another two to four times.
Paxton said the firefighter "amazingly" escaped without getting hit and alerted officials, triggering a manhunt for the shooter.
The Canyon Point Campground was evacuated Tuesday and remained clear Wednesday morning as officials worked in the area.
Multiple law-enforcement agencies searched for the shooter overnight in an effort that included the use of night vision technology and the Arizona Department of Public Safety's helicopter. The shooter remained at large Wednesday morning.
"We consider the individual obviously armed and dangerous," Paxton said.
Paxton said several possible sightings of the man were reported by the public; however, none had led authorities to contact with the individual. With every hour that passes in manhunt situations, the perimeter can increase by about three miles, as the target has further time to move away from the center point of the investigation, he said.
Efforts continued Wednesday as saturation patrols in the area were increased in the forest, along the roads and in nearby neighborhoods. Officials were handing out a flyer with suspect information and details to the public to increase awareness.
Jay Jonas, a clerk at the Circle K near the campgrounds, said sheriff's deputies came by early that morning to give them a stack of fliers to pass out to customers. Two were hung on the front doors.
"(Deputies) are working their way down to town to spread the information," Jonas said. "We're going to stay open. We aren't going to close because of a nutjob."
Outside the store, Greg Matteson was filing up his truck before he headed to Payson for shopping Wednesday morning.
Matteson said he and his family have been camping in their trailer in the Forest Lakes area for about two weeks. They learned of the manhunt Tuesday evening but decided not to leave. He said others families staying in trailers at the private trailer park chose to stay, as well.
"Some people are anxious, but most of us aren't concerned," Matteson said. "We checked in on each other, and we felt like we can stay."
About 35 miles away, in Star Valley, timber cutter Jim Armstrong said he wasn't aware of the search and what had happened Tuesday.
"I reckon we'll all start to hear about it this morning," he said.
A resident in the area since the 1970s who frequently works in the Forest Lakes area, Armstrong said he doesn't believe residents of nearby communities will leave or be afraid by the circumstances.
"Most of us have been here for a long time. We know who's who and who lives here or not," he said, adding that there have been more transients in the area than normal. "It's those who are just passing through who are probably worried."
The Coconino County Sheriff's Office, DPS, Arizona Department of Game and Fish, the Forest Service and the FBI are part of the ongoing investigation.
This is perhaps the most famous photograph of the magnitude 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake that rocked San Francisco in 1989. The 8.4-mile-long San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which carries more than 280,000 cars each day, just wasn't fit for a high magnitude earthquake — kind of a problem for the city by the bay, because the next Big One could hit any day.
So San Francisco is rebuilding the eastern span of the bridge "to last 150 years." It's a gargantuan $5.5 billion project that will require 200 million pounds of structural steel, 5,000 miles of half-inch steel strands in the tension cables and 450,000 cubic yards of concrete. This is California's largest infrastructure project, and when completed in 2013, it will be the largest self-anchored suspension bridge ever built—and a Bay Area landmark.
We got a behind-the-scenes tour of the project from an agent of the Bay Bridge Seismic Safety Project, who showed us around the the new span.
We started our tour on Yerba Buena Island, where construction has already started on the new asymmetrical self-anchored suspension bridge. This is one of two columns that have been built.
You can see the complexity of the project from the top of the tower, where you're confronted by a sea of meshed steel, metal beams, and concrete. Some 2,000 tons of steel will be used in this section alone.
The views are stunning from the top of what would soon support a new roadway: the San Francisco Bay, Treasure Island, the other section of the new bridge (the Skyway) and the foundations for the future towers. The steel girder connecting the skyway to the SAS spans weighs 1,700 tons. It and its twin are the largest ever lifted in Caltrans' 113-year history.
Our tour took us onto the new Skyway, which will connect the East Bay to the suspension bridge near Yerba Buena Island. The bridge already has speed limit signs (50 mph), even though the final completion date is still five years away (when construction started in 2002, the bridge was to be finished by 2007).
Pedestrians and cyclists have always wanted access to the Bay Bridge, so a pathway will connect Yerba Buena Island with the East Bay. Walkers and cyclists will have to take a bus or ferry to get into San Francisco from the span.
The Skyway is wide. But then, it has to be. The Bay Bridge handles more than twice as much traffic each day as the Brooklyn Bridge. Caltrans tells us the new span will have shoulder lanes, which the current span lacks – good news for breakdown-prone jalopies and cops on the prowl. But there will be no increase in bridge capacity.
Back at the Bay Bridge headquarters in Oakland, several models showed the complete design of the bridge.
Debate over the single-tower "signature span" design raged as the cost of the project ballooned, and critics called for it to be scrapped in favor of a cheaper design. But the design stayed, and construction on the tower that will support the 1,860-foot bridge is now underway.
Some 17,000 individual wires will be used in the new suspension bridge's single catenary.
The new span is slated to open in 2013, joining the original western span, a classic suspension design that was extensively retrofitted during a five-year project completed in 2004. At that point, the original eastern span, a cantilever design built in 1936, will be dismantled piece by piece (sorry, no huge explosion).
Photo of quake-damaged bridge courtesy of C.E. Meyer, U.S. Geological Survey.
Terming the prime minister a "peddler of untruths", the Congress also challenged him to discuss his allegations against the opposition party in Parliament during the Monsoon Session beginning July 18.
PM Modi had accused the opposition of stonewalling the government's efforts to secure the life of women.
The Congress demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologise for calling it a party for Muslim men only and said the remark showed his "sick mentality".
PM Modi during his speech in Azamgarh on Saturday had come down heavily on the Congress over its stand on triple talaq, asking if it was a party for Muslim men alone.
"The prime minister has continuously hurt the dignity of his office. We strictly oppose what he said yesterday. It shows his sick mentality and twisted mindset," senior Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said.
"There is an attempt by him to divide society... His main opposition, the INC, led the national movement, spearheaded the fight for independence... to call it a Muslim party does not behove a PM. He should apologise for his statement.
"His sick mindset is an issue of national concern. The prime minister gives out statements which are wrong as per history and facts and he should apologise for the same," Mr Sharma said.
The Congress appeals to the prime minister to desist from making "false" statements, he added.
Mr Sharma said PM Modi was the prime minister of the entire country and not only of the BJP.
He said PM Modi had "less knowledge of history and writes his own history".
Mr Sharma also said that while the Congress was against triple talaq, his party wanted to follow the rules of the parliamentary system.
"This government has tried time and again to bypass Parliament. They want to get bills approved without the scrutiny of Parliament," he alleged. The Congress leader said many bills are sent to different committees to ensure that there are no mistakes in formulating laws and questioned how such a process can mean disruption in the process of legislating.
Anand Sharma said PM Modi had "less knowledge of history and writes his own history".
The prime minister had on Saturday said the opposition was stonewalling the government's efforts to secure the life of women, especially Muslim women.
The triple talaq bill has already been passed in the Lower House, but remains pending in the Rajya Sabha amid opposition reservations over it.
Replying to a question, Mr Sharma said: "Since when has (PM) Modi become the protector of women... The state (Uttar Pradesh) in which he was speaking is witnessing rapes daily. Even yesterday when he was giving the speech, a woman was gang-raped in a temple and burnt alive... what action has he taken?"
He said Parliament enjoys certain privileges and the Congress would demand answers from the prime minister in the House for making wrong statements.
"The Congress does not need certification of nationalism from somebody who are the descendants of not only non-participants of the freedom movement but also active collaborators of the British," he said.
The Congress also alleged the Modi government provided false data about the uplifting people from below poverty line.
The prime minister's claim that five crore people have been lifted out of poverty in two years was "laughable", Mr Sharma said.
In fact, after demonetisation and the launch of the GST, crores of people have been thrown below the poverty line, he added.
The Congress leader claimed that 14 crore people were lifted out of the poverty net from 2004 to 2014.
We had a great time at our latest Xconomy Seattle event, “Separating Hype from Reality in Alternative Fuels,” held last night at the new Institute for Systems Biology headquarters in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood.
The presenters sketched some meaty ideas about the drive to develop oil alternatives, challenged a bit of conventional thinking, and got the audience to dive in with great follow-up questions. Here are a few of the big themes that emerged as Luke moderated the main discussion with Ned David and Kristina Burow of Arch Venture Partners—two of the co-founders of San Diego-based Sapphire Energy—and Margaret McCormick, the co-founder and CEO of Seattle-based Matrix Genetics. If you want to see some images from the event, check out this Flickr gallery from Vinh Chung of Total Effects Video.
—Biofuels 3.0: David pointed to the U.S.’s last two attempts to develop biofuels—after the 1970s energy crunch and in the mid-2000s, when national policy ramped up the production of ethanol. Neither of those eras, of course, have delivered much in the way of energy independence.
David said the 1970s saw the first big effort to cultivate algae as an alternative fuel source, but that fell short because the technology wasn’t advanced enough to get results. That wrongly led many to believe that algae wouldn’t work, he said.
At present, David said, we’re in the 3.0 phase of U.S. biofuels. Algae was a big focus of this particular discussion, since all three of our panelists have direct experience with that field. With projects like Sapphire Energy’s drive to put a huge algae-fuel production facility in the Mexican desert, you’re seeing “the first building blocks of world-scale capability” for these fuels.
—High stakes, but no quick fixes: McCormick said the latest phase of alternative fuels work is not purely driven by an economic need to reduce spending on oil, but is also by the need to address climate change and national security issues.
Even microbes have to have something to make cells out of. At the scale needed for alternative energy – algae requires peak fertilizers of petroleum and phosphate – just like our food crops. Genetic engineering isn’t going to change the non-sustainable nature of or the mass balance negativity of biofuels – especially algae. However, if we fail to ignore this biofuel flaw we can shrink the window of opportunity we have to develop alternative energy by decreasing the amount of food production potential.
Ned David has it exactly backwards… it is the knowledgeable greentech investors who know about the wide range of renewable energy sources and storage technologies that will eventually contribute to the electrification of the transportation grid, and it is those who can’t see beyond fossil fuels who are waiting for a single “magic bullet” before they change their minds. Fossil fuels are heavily subsidized at every stage: exploration, production, distribution, consumption and passing environmental costs on to the taxpayer and future generations. When will we be willing to abandon these fossil fuel subsidies?
Upstate South Carolina -- a mountainous region sometimes referred to as the Upcountry -- is home to some of the state's most wild and secluded campgrounds. Many of these are primitive campgrounds: quiet spots off the beaten path where you can pitch a tent without modern conveniences like cable television, wireless Internet or even running water in many cases. Primitive camping is for people who really want to get away from it all, and Upstate South Carolina is just the place to do it.
Two state parks in Upstate South Carolina offer primitive tent campsites. Oconee State Park has 15 drive-in tent sites, and Devils Fork has 25 hike-in tent sites that can only be reached by following a short hiking trail from the main family campground. In both parks, tent campers have access to the main campground's restrooms, showers and drinking water, but the tent sites themselves are primitive, with only tent pads, picnic tables and campfire rings. Oconee and Table Rock State Parks also include primitive group tent areas, which include central privies and water spigots and are designed to accommodate large groups of campers.
Upstate South Carolina is home to the Andrew Pickens Ranger District of Sumter National Forest. The district includes 19 campgrounds, all but two of which consist of primitive sites and are restricted to tents only. Primitive campsites in Sumter National Forest are considerably more primitive than those in the area's state parks. The Burrel's Ford Campground has picnic tables, campfire rings and a pit toilet, but the King Creek, Big Bend, Grapevine and most other campgrounds in the forest lack even most of these basic amenities, consisting of no more than an open space to pitch tents among the trees. Dispersed backcountry camping is also permitted throughout most of the Andrew Pickens Ranger District.
A truly primitive camping experience is available along the 100-mile Foothills National Recreation Trail. This trail winds through parts of Sumter National Forest and several state parks. You can select a small section for a day hike or hike the entire thing over the course of a weeklong backpacking trip. Backcountry camping is permitted along most of the trail, though specific regulations vary because the trail passes through state, national and privately owned land. Signs along the trail point to designated camping areas. Accommodations are as primitive as it gets. Pit toilets are provided in a few places, but for the most part, there are no amenities of any king along the trail.
State park camping reservations are available through the South Carolina State Parks website. Most national forest campsites are strictly first come, first served, and additional information is available through the USDA Forest Service website. Backcountry campers are responsible for carrying in all necessary supplies and leaving no trace of their presence when they leave. Drinking water is not available throughout most of Sumter State Forest and along the majority of the Foothills Trail, so bring plenty with you, and be prepared to treat or purify water from springs and streams if you're on a backpacking trip.
President Donald Trump holds up a proclamation to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017, in Washington.
Last week, President Trump announced a plan to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Both Israelis and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as a capital. For decades, the Middle East peace process has hung on the “two-state solution,” where Israelis and Palestinians divide Jerusalem into their respective capitals. While Trump says his decision will help bring about a two-state solution, critics say that prospect is dead.

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