Category Archives: Michigan

Michigan: threat of toxic contamination looms after dam failures trigger flooding

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Catastrophic flooding could potentially release toxic pollution from site contaminated by Dow Chemical

Catastrophic flooding triggered by dam failures in Michigan could potentially release toxic pollution from a site contaminated by the industrial giant Dow Chemical.

Dow’s facility in Midland, Michigan, where the company is headquartered along the Tittabawassee River, manufactured chlorine-based products beginning in the early 1900s. The company discharged dioxins, chemical compounds which can cause reproductive harm and cancer, into the river.

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Michigan dam failures force thousands to flee flooding – video

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Rapidly rising water overwhelmed dams and forced the evacuation of about 10,000 people in central Michigan, where flooding struck communities along rain-swollen waterways and the governor said downtown could be 'under approximately nine feet of water' by Wednesday

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Coronavirus US live: Trump abruptly leaves press conference after clash with reporters

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Trump ends the briefing on a very abrupt and sour note.

Asked by CBS White House Correspondent Weijia Jiang why he is so fixated on comparing the US’ testing capability to other countries as opposed to focusing on the lag that still exists here, Trump snapped: “Maybe that’s a question you should ask China. Don’t ask me, ask China that question, okay?”

Trump throws a fit when @kaitlancollins of CNN tries to ask him a question and abruptly ends the press conference pic.twitter.com/58AVZ9CABl

Trump walked out of his own news conference after accusing @weijia of asking a "nasty question" and refusing to take @kaitlancollins's questions after calling on her.

Trump spent Mother’s Day sending conspiratorial tweets about his predecessor. In one tweet he accused Obama of committing the “biggest political crime in American history, by far!” Trump.

Asked to name the crime he is accusing Obama of committing, Trump replied: “Obamagate. it’s been going on for a long time it’s been going on before I even got elected.”

Related: Trump charges Obama with 'biggest political crime in American history'

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Trump says he’s ‘learned a lot from Richard Nixon’ during Fox interview – live

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Trump’s mention of tapes in his extraordinary references, in a live phone call into Fox News, to how he learned from Richard Nixon is interesting, to say the least.

“When I fired Comey, you know what hit the fan,” Trump on Fox News. "I study history," including on Nixon.
"Of course, there was one difference. ... #1 he may have been guilty. And #2 he had tapes all over the place. I wasn’t guilty. I did nothing wrong. And there were no tapes.” https://t.co/xJIkEuPY7O

Trump tweeted: “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!”

The tweet, which if taken at face value would suggest Trump has been secretly taping White House meetings, came after the New York Times reported that he demanded “loyalty” from Comey in a private dinner held shortly after Trump took office.

Related: Trump threatens ex-FBI head Comey with possible 'tapes' of conversations

Here’s transcript of Trump’s full comments about Richard Nixon during his call in to Fox News this morning.

Here's the transcript of Trump's comments this morning about what he learned from Richard Nixon. (Of course, Trump did fire a bunch of people.) pic.twitter.com/Ltl8WKvTPe

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California to reopen some businesses this week as lockdowns ease across US – as it happened

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That’s all for today, thanks for following along. A recap of the day:

Senator Elizabeth Warren said today she believed Joe Biden’s comments on the sexual assault allegation were “credible and convincing”.

“I saw the reports of what Ms [Tara] Reade said, I saw an interview with vice-president Biden. I appreciate that the vice-president took a lot of questions, tough questions. And he answered them directly and respectfully. The vice-president’s answers were credible and convincing,” the senator and former presidential candidate said, according to a CNN reporter.

Related: Senate rejects Joe Biden's request to search for records on Tara Reade

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Coronavirus US live: states ponder reopening as deaths pass 65,000

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Donald Trump disputed warnings from the US Capitol physician and said it is safe for the Senate to return to the Washington DC building next week in a tweet which, as usual, needs a bit of explanation.

There is tremendous CoronaVirus testing capacity in Washington for the Senators returning to Capital Hill on Monday. Likewise the House, which should return but isn’t because of Crazy Nancy P. The 5 minute Abbott Test will be used. Please inform Dr. Brian P. Monahan. @MarkMeadows

The White House said it would be “counterproductive” for Dr Anthony Fauci to testify before Congress next week and is blocking him from speaking about the government’s response to the pandemic ina House committee hearing.

Fauci, who has worked at the National Institute of Health since 1968, has been a source of measured, expert analysis on the Covid-19 outbreak in press briefings and interviews. This has put him at odds with the president, who has downplayed the pandemic and disputed facts about the crisis.

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Coronavirus US live: Trump hails Senate return and says Pelosi ‘crazy’ for not reopening House – as it happened

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Here’s a look at today’s major news items ...

Donald Trump has appeared to confirm that Kim Jong Un is “alive and well” after weeks of speculation over the North Korean leader’s health.

“I, for one, am glad to see he is back, and well!” Trump wrote, quote-tweeting North Korean state media photos of Kim attending a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory.

I, for one, am glad to see he is back, and well! https://t.co/mIWVeRMnOJ

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Coronavirus: US reaches one million confirmed cases – live updates

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Mike Pence’s office has dubiously argued the vice president does not need to wear a mask because he is regularly tested for coronavirus.

The vice president faced questions about his lack of mask usage earlier this month after a photo circulated of a mask-less Pence greeting Colorado governor Jared Polis, who was wearing a mask in the picture.

Vice President Mike Pence was criticized for ignoring mask guidelines when visiting the Mayo Clinic facilities in Minnesota today.

Footage of Pence’s visit showed the vice president not covering his face as he met with the clinic’s employees and at least one patient.

PENCE flouts Mayo Clinic policy that everyone on campus wear a mask, even as he meets with staff and a patient. pic.twitter.com/kfo64KQDhU

Mayo Clinic had informed @VP of the masking policy prior to his arrival today.

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Michigan senator apologizes for wearing Confederate flag face mask

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Dale Zorn initially defended his actions, saying it was part of ‘our history’, but eventually apologized after widespread outrage

A Republican politician in Michigan has apologized after wearing a face mask that appeared to depict the Confederate flag, an image offensive to many Americans as a symbol of racism and slavery.

Michigan state Senator Dale Zorn wore the mask during a Senate vote at the state capitol in Lansing on Friday. He initially defended his actions, saying his wife had made the mask and that it depicted the flag of Tennessee or Kentucky.

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US anti-lockdown rallies could cause surge in Covid-19 cases, experts warn

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Epidemiologist predicts ‘new epidemic surge’ as protesters across the US flout social distancing measures

As healthcare workers in Colorado and Pennsylvania staged counter-protests against rightwing anti-quarantine rallies that continue to spread across the US, some experts warned such rallies could cause a surge in coronavirus cases.

Several nurses gathered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Monday, where a protest against stay-at-home orders was taking place. The nurses carried signs urging people to go home.

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What happened when healthcare workers confronted anti-lockdown protesters – in one photo

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A standout image by photographer Alyson McClaran captures a face-off between a healthcare worker and an angry protester

The weekend has seen a spate of anti-lockdown protests across the US in Ohio, Michigan and Colorado.

But a standout image by photographer Alyson McClaran came on Sunday from Denver, Colorado. As protesters gathered outside the capitol steps and others assembled in their automobiles to ask the city to reopen for business, healthcare workers stood in the middle of the road in their scrubs. After having spent the last weeks treating Covid-19 patients, they staged their own demonstration: they wanted to remind the protestors of why the shutdown measures are important.

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‘They seem very responsible to me’: Trump defends anti-lockdown protesters – video

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The US president urged supporters to 'liberate' three states led by Democratic governors on Friday, apparently encouraging protests against stay-at-home restrictions. 'These are people expressing their views,' Trump said during his daily White House coronavirus briefing.

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Joe Biden hopes to cement lead in crucial Democratic primaries

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Bernie Sanders, second in the race, campaigns in Michigan hoping to win the state with the most delegates

Joe Biden is hoping to cement his position as frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president on Tuesday, as millions of voters in six states have their say in the next round of primary election contests.

For Bernie Sanders – the second of two major remaining candidates in the race – the six primaries in Michigan, Washington, Missouri, Mississippi, Idaho and North Dakota will be a crucial test of whether he can reverse the momentum the former vice-president enjoys coming out of his victories in the Super Tuesday states last week, and prevent him from extending his delegate count lead.

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‘I’d like to vote Democratic’: the swing voters who want a reason not to back Trump again

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Monroe county, Michigan, saw one of the largest swings in the country from Obama to Trump – and so far many swing voters are likely to go for Trump even as they have plenty of doubt

It’s not that James Padot hugely admires Donald Trump or his values.

After all, Padot spent more than four decades as a pipe fitter, a skilled trade that provided a good living but relied on the power of his labour union for work and to ensure he was decently paid.

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Trump rails against refrigerators and promises cleaner dishes at rally

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Trump bemoaned better energy efficiency standards at Milwaukee rally, saying women must wash dishes ‘10 times’

Donald Trump unveiled unusual, new campaign promises to a crowd of thousands of his fervent supporters at a Milwaukee campaign rally on Tuesday: better household appliances.

While Democratic presidential candidates spared over climate change at their debate in Iowa, Trump offered a contrasting message in the vital swing state of Wisconsin by calling out the US Department of Energy for tightening energy efficiency standards for dishwashers, refrigerators, lightbulbs and more.

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The fight to stop Nestlé from taking America’s water to sell in plastic bottles

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Creek beds are bone dry and once-gushing springs are reduced to trickles as fights play out around the nation over control of nation’s freshwater supply

The network of clear streams comprising California’s Strawberry Creek run down the side of a steep, rocky mountain in a national forest two hours east of Los Angeles. Last year Nestlé siphoned 45m gallons of pristine spring water from the creek and bottled it under the Arrowhead Water label.

Though it’s on federal land, the Swiss bottled water giant paid the US Forest Service and state practically nothing, and it profited handsomely: Nestlé Waters’ 2018 worldwide sales exceeded $7.8bn.

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Donald Trump calls congresswoman Rashida Tlaib a ‘crazed lunatic’ – video

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Donald Trump renewed his attack on members of 'the Squad' of Democratic congresswomen of colour on Tuesday, this time targeting representative Rashida Tlaib, calling her 'vicious' and a 'crazed lunatic'. The US president has been engaged in a back-and-forth with the women, following racist tweets he fired off suggesting they return to their countries, though all are American citizens and all but one born in the US

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‘Squash Amash’: how a Republican congressman drew the ire of his party

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Justin Amash is the lone GOP congressman to call for Trump’s impeachment, and his career – at least in his party – is in question

The hundreds of Republicans who gathered for the “squash Amash” rally outside the Michigan congressman Justin Amash’s downtown Grand Rapids office on Friday left nothing in doubt as they spoke about the man they feel betrayed their party by calling for Donald Trump to be impeached.

“Pathetic”, “lightweight loser”, “a joke” and the phrase uttered with perhaps the most derision: Rino, or “Republican In Name Only”.

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‘Ridiculous bullshit’: Donald Trump’s rambling rally in Michigan

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In his first rally since the release of Robert Mueller's report to US attorney general William Barr, Donald Trump has given a 90-minute diatribe against the media and the US Democratic party, claiming he had been 'totally exonerated' after an investigation he described as the 'single greatest hoax in the history of politics in this country'. He also spoke on several other issues critical to his Michiganian audience, including the automobile industry and preservation programs for the Great Lakes. 

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How the US government created a fake university to snare immigrant students

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Court documents reveal stunning scheme used to trap 161 foreign nationals; Ice maintains the students knew the school was fake

The University of Farmington website described a college that would prepare students to succeed in an “ever-globalizing economy.” Students would show up at campus wearing backpacks and asking questions about classes. The US government listed Farmington as eligible to enroll foreign students. The school president, whose LinkedIn page is still online, sent emails to students describing his institution as “a nationally accredited institution authorized to enroll international students.”

But it was all a sham to snare immigrants.

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