Internet Best Practices

• Mueller witness bragged about access to Clintons secured with illegal campaign cash, says Justice Department -

  An emissary for two Arab princes boasted to unnamed officials of a Middle Eastern government about his direct access to Hillary and Bill Clinton while funneling more than $3.5 million in illegal campaign contributions to the 2016 Clinton campaign and Democratic fundraising committees, according to a federal indictment.

  
  

• California congressman Duncan Hunter announces resignation after corruption plea -

  Hunter's announcement that he would step down came days after the leading California lawmaker, a former U.S. Marine Corps combat veteran, entered his guilty plea in federal court in San Diego. "Shortly after the Holidays I will resign from Congress," Hunter, 42, said in a written statement released by his communications director.

  
  

• Cory Booker to Introduce Bill Banning Race-Based Hair Discrimination -

  Democratic presidential candidate Senator Cory Booker will introduce a bill on Thursday prohibiting race-based hair discriminationThe Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act will target discrimination against natural or protective hairstyles frequently associated with a particular race, including specific hair textures and styles such as such as braids, twists or locs.?Discrimination against black hair is discrimination against black people,? the New Jersey Democrat said in a statement. ?Implicit and explicit biases against natural hair are deeply ingrained in workplace norms and society at large. This is a violation of our civil rights, and it happens every day for black people across the country.""No one should be harassed, punished, or fired for the beautiful hairstyles that are true to themselves and their cultural heritage,? Booker added.Rep. Cedric Richmond (D., La.) plans to introduce a similar bill in the House, joined by Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D., Mass.), Marcia Fudge (D., Ohio), and Barbara Lee (D., Calif.).This year, California and New York passed legislation prohibiting race-based hair discrimination, and around a dozen other states are reportedly considering doing so.The hair discrimination issue has made several headlines in recent months. Booker took a particular interest in the issue after a high school wrestler from New Jersey, Andrew Johnson, was forced last year to cut his dreadlocks to comply with hair length regulations or face forfeiting a wrestling match. The referee subsequently faced accusations of racism.Another incident involving allegations of racism turned out to be false. A sixth-grade girl claimed three white boys at her school physically attacked her, called her "ugly," and cut off some of her dreadlocks. Later, however, she admitted that she had lied and made up the story.Booker is currently battling sagging poll numbers with only 2 percent support according to the Real Clear Politics average of national polls.

  
  

• Pakistan pulls back on prosecuting Chinese sex traffickers -

  Pakistan has declined to pursue a sprawling case against Chinese sex traffickers due to fears it would harm economic ties with Beijing, the AP reported on Wednesday. Pakistan has been seeking closer ties with China for years as Beijing continue to make major investments in the country?s infrastructure.

  
  

• Developing weather pattern has forecasters on early alert for potentially significant storm -

  As a stormy pattern resumes in the eastern United States during the second week of December, meteorologists are pondering the path and impact of a storm around the middle of the month. Forecasters are considering a range of scenarios that include a major disruptive storm with high winds, heavy rain and back-breaking snow to less severe impacts ranging from beneficial rain and nuisance snow to cold and mainly dry conditions.Americans with travel plans for Saturday, Dec. 14, to Sunday, Dec. 15, should keep tabs on the latest forecasts as this storm could potentially have crippling effects on travel and daily activities.At this point, there is a wide range of possibilities."In the more extreme scenario, a storm will strengthen rapidly while moving northward from the Gulf of Mexico and take a path inland of the Atlantic coast or perhaps over the spine of the Appalachians," Randy Adkins, AccuWeather senior meteorologist, said.Such a dynamic storm may bring coastal flooding and flash flooding along the Eastern Seaboard as strong winds would pump moisture from the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico inland. The weather system could be volatile enough to spawn some severe thunderstorms along its eastern side.In this extreme scenario, the storm may unleash very heavy snow from parts of the Tennessee Valley to a portion of the Ohio Valley and central Great Lakes. Under a scenario like this, weather would cause significant impacts to travel and shipping at a busy time of the year and could cause delays or full cancellations of schools for students in these regions."On a more toned-down scenario, a much weaker storm would travel from the northeastern Gulf of Mexico then off the Carolina coast before heading out to sea," Adkins said. If the storm takes a track along the Southeast coast, it might cause minor disruptions and delays, but conditions would be manageable.A narrow swath of accumulating snow and/or a wintry mix would occur from the southern Appalachians to the mid-Atlantic coast and eastern New England in this scenario.On the southern side of a weaker storm, drenching rain would arrive in areas of the Southeast, which could use some precipitation."The realm of scenarios are in the dozens this far out, including an even more eastward track out to sea or even farther to the west," Adkins said.Should the storm track out to sea, it would spare much of the Northeast any precipitation whatsoever, Adkins observed.But if the storm takes a track toward the Mississippi Valley, it might allow a cold wedge of air to set up an ice storm for the Carolinas and the Virginia Piedmont region, as well as the central Appalachians and interior Northeast. No matter what the outcome ends up being for the eastern U.S. next weekend, it does appear that part of the Southeast in need of rain will get some precipitation."Areas from South Florida to northern Georgia and upstate South Carolina are experiencing abnormally dry to moderate drought conditions," AccuWeather forecaster Dave Bowers pointed out."Most scenarios with the storm next weekend should offer some rainfall in the Southeast," he added. AccuWeather's global headquarters in State College, Pa., where forecasters will be keeping a watchful eye on storm potential for the East Coast next weekend. AccuWeather meteorologists are confident there will be a storm that travels northeastward from the Gulf of Mexico next weekend and they will be monitoring this developing weather pattern nonstop in the coming days.There are storms and weather whiplash ahead of this emerging weather system prior to next weekend for the Central and Eastern states. If one storm does not have a significant impact for your area, another one just might. Download the free AccuWeather app to check the forecast in your area. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.

  
  

• 19 unforgettable images from the Pearl Harbor attack 78 years ago -

  December 7, 1941 began as a perfect Sunday morning. These photos show the attack by Imperial Japan that changed history.

  
  

• Hong Kong police sound alarm over homemade explosives -

  Hong Kong's much-maligned police force provided a rare behind-the-scenes look Friday at its bomb disposal squad to show the potentially deadly destructive force of homemade explosives seized during months of protests that have shaken the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. In July, police announced the seizure of about 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of TATP, which has been used in militant attacks worldwide. Other recent seizures in Hong Kong involved far smaller amounts, just 1 gram, of TATP, or tri-acetone tri-peroxide.

  
  

• The 25 Best Sci-Fi Movies on Netflix Right Now -

  
  

• Russian spies used French Alps as 'base camp' for hits on Britain and other countries -

  Fifteen Russian spies, including those accused of the Salisbury nerve agent attack, used the French Alps as a ?base camp? to conduct covert operations around Europe over a five-year period, according to reports. The revelations came as Germany expelled two Russian diplomats after prosecutors said there was ?sufficient factual evidence? linking Moscow to the killing of a former Chechen rebel commander in central Berlin. According to Le Monde, British, Swiss, French, and US intelligence have drawn up a list of 15 members of the 29155 unit of Russia's GRU military spy agency who all passed through France?s Haute-Savoie mountains close to the Swiss and Italian borders. They stayed between 2015 and late 2018, notably in the towns of Evian, Annemasse and Chamonix - the scene of a ski chase in the 1999 James Bond film, The World Is Not Enough. They arrived from London, Moscow, Spain and often Geneva. The Le Monde report added five new names to those already published by online investigative outlets such as Bellingcat and The Insider. Their identities and movements were uncovered during a joint probe by allied counterespionage services in the wake of the attempted poisoning of defector Sergei Skripal in Salisbury in March 2018, said the paper. Britain and its allies accuse the Kremlin of seeking to assassinate Mr Skripal, a charge Russia vehemently denies. Those who stayed in the Haute-Savoie included Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov - the cover names of the two GRU agents accused of carrying out the attack on Mr Skripal, along with Serguei Fedotov, the suspected mastermind. According to Le Monde, a fourth agent believed to be linked to the Skripal assassination attempt and who stayed in the Alps, Serguei Pavlov, was located in the UK by MI6 in 2017. Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, the Russian suspects in the Skripal poisoning, are among those alleged to have used the French Alps as a base Credit: Getty Images Europe Le Mondesaid the five new names cited, all aliases, are Alxandre Koulaguiine, Evgueni Larine, Tour Nouzirov, Naman Youssoupov and Guennadi Chvets. The unit was also active in areas such as Bulgaria, Moldova, Montenegro and Ukraine. Western intelligence services involved found no material or arms left behind by the agents during their stays in France, Le Monde said, but their presence was confirmed by where they ate, stayed and shopped. "The most likely hypothesis is to consider it (Haute-Savoie) as a rear base for all the clandestine operations carried out by unit 29155 in Europe," said a senior French intelligence official, quoted by Le Monde. The paper said that one theory is that by staying in the Alps, the agents hoped to shake off any suspicion before they carried out their missions, which could explain why they conducted no covert missions on French soil. On Wednesday, Angela Merkel?s government summoned the Russian ambassador and ordered two of the embassy staff to leave the country within seven days. The two diplomats concerned are believed to be Russian intelligence officers, according to local media reports. The German foreign ministry said they had been declared persona non grata in protest at Russia?s failure to cooperate with investigations into the killing of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Georgian national shot dead in a Berlin park in August. The suspected killer was captured by police attempting to dispose of a gun believed to be the murder weapon in the nearby river Spree. He was carrying a Russian passport which identified him as Vadim Sokolov, but German prosecutors on Wednesday confirmed that they now believe that is a false identity. Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were both poisoned with Novichok, a banned chemical weapon, in Salisbury Credit: Social media/EAST2WEST NEWS Police findings indicate that it is ?highly likely? the arrested man is Vadim Krasikov, a Russian national previously wanted for the murder of a businessman in Moscow in 2013, prosecutors said. A senior MP in Angela Merkel?s Christian Democrat party (CDU) on Thursday described the case as a ?return to the days of the Cold War?. ?Counterintelligence and foreign reconnaissance against Russia must be significantly expanded,? Armin Schuster told Bild newspaper. ?Germany must get its act together if a foreign state can order murder on German soil.?. France denies any ?laxism? by its embassy in Moscow for handing him a 90-day emergency visa on July 29 on a fictitious address. He passed through Paris before travelling on to Berlin. British and French intelligence sources told Le Monde the assassination was ?ordered by the pro-Kremlin Chechen regime of Ramzan Kadyrov with logistical help of the Russian state?. According to Le Monde, French intelligence suspects the Berlin assassination was leaked to the public for ?political reasons? linked to President Emmanuel Macron's apparent rapprochement with Moscow. Last week, Mr Macron said: ?Has the absence of dialogue with Russia made the European continent any safer? ... I don?t think so.? ?France's desire to rebuild strategic ties with Moscow has clearly prompted reactions from states who prefer direct confrontation with Russia,? said one French intelligence source, who denied any French ?complacency or naivity? towards Moscow. French surveillance of foreign Russian espionage was, the source told Le Monde, ?no doubt higher than any other service in Europe?.

  
  

• Trump news: President rages against Pelosi after she orders Congress to draw up articles of impeachment -

  House speaker Nancy Pelosi has ordered the House to draw up articles of impeachment against Donald Trump over the Ukraine scandal.?The facts are uncontested. The president abused power for his personal benefit at the expense of national security by withholding military aid and crucial Oval Office meeting in exchange for an announcement of an investigation into his political rival,? she said at a short press conference on Capitol Hill.

  
  

• St. Louis Woman Looked Up ?What to Do if Your Husband Is Upset You Are Pregnant? Before Her Murder: Warrants -

  Before she went missing last month, a St. Louis woman looked up ?what to do if you husband is upset you are pregnant? on her phone, according to search warrants.Beau Rothwell, 28, reported the disappearance of his six-weeks-pregnant wife, Jennifer Rothwell, on Nov. 12, after she failed to show up for work at a chemical engineering firm. Two days later, authorities charged him with second-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence in connection with his 28-year-old wife?s slaying. Rothwell is currently being held without bond after authorities on Nov. 19 located his wife?s body?which was found after he gave up information on her location, police said.In the newly released search warrants obtained by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, investigators say Beau Rothwell called authorities at 9:44 p.m. on Nov. 12 to report his wife of four years missing. He initially told investigators they had spent the night before watching cooking television shows together, and he had last seen her leaving for work the next morning.Charred Body Found in NYC Storage Unit Is ?Very Likely? Missing Mom, Police SayPolice later found her car parked with her cell phone inside about a mile from their home just outside Creve Coeur.?She has not been seen or in contact with anyone since leaving her home. Jennifer has no history of leaving and is normally in contact with family members and friends on a daily basis,"  St. Louis County police said at the time of her disappearance.When authorities tried to search their home, Rothwell did not let police enter and barred them from looking at his car and cell phone. He also refused to give police a DNA sample, and immediately requested an attorney.As they searched the perimeter of the couple?s home, investigators found various cleaning supplies, including rubber gloves and paper towels in a trash can, the warrants state. St. Louis County police told The Daily Beast in a statement video surveillance also shows Rothwell purchasing the supplies with a gift card and cash at Dierbergs grocery store on Nov. 11. ?This purchase was oddly at a time during a major snow event involving dangerous driving conditions, and was also contradictory to Beau Rothwell?s statement that he was home with his wife all night,? the warrant states.Husband of Missing Connecticut Mom Jennifer Dulos Takes Stand in Civil Lawsuit Brought by Mother-in-LawOn Nov. 13, after obtaining a search warrant for the couple?s home, detectives found ?empty cleaning bottles, wet carpet soaked with bleach, large areas of blood in carpeting and underlying pad,? police said. ?DNA from the victim?s mother and father was analyzed and is consistent with the blood found in the carpet,? the warrant states. Detectives also described the home as having an ?overwhelming? smell of bleach and other cleaners, adding that the drywall in the basement appeared to be damaged and contained samples of human hair. In the attached garage, investigators found a 2015 GMC Canyon pick-up truck that also smelled of bleach. The night, Rothwell was arrested on suspicion of murder. On Nov. 18, authorities found Jennifer in a wooded area during a six-hour search near Troy, Missouri. According to the Post-Dispatch, detectives found the 28-year-old naked and partially covered in branches and brush after her husband allegedly gave up information about her location. The medical examiner?s office has not yet determined her official cause of death. Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  
  

• Merkel expresses 'shame' during Auschwitz visit, vows to fight anti-Semitism -

  Angela Merkel expressed "deep shame" on Friday during her first visit as chancellor to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Holocaust memorial and vowed to fight rising racism and anti-Semitism in Germany and Europe. Dressed in black, Merkel said the crimes committed at the site in southern Poland where the Nazis ran their largest death camp would always be part of German history. Merkel brought a 60-million-euro ($66.13 million) donation from Germany's federal government and its 16 states to help conserve the site where 1.1 million people were killed, most of them Jews.

  
  

• Virginia Commission Calls for Repeal of ?Explicitly Racist? and ?Segregationist? Laws -

  A Virginia state commission released a report Thursday calling for the official repeal of ?deeply troubling? state laws still on the books that contain ?explicitly racist language and segregationist policies.?The Commission to Examine Racial Inequity in Virginia Law published a lengthy report saying that the outdated laws should not ?remain enshrined in law? despite no longer being in effect.?The commission believes that such vestiges of Virginia?s segregationist past should no longer have official status,? the report states. "The devastating long-term social, economic, and political impact of legalized segregation in Virginia continues to plague people of color today."While many of the laws the commission cited have been nullified by courts, such as the ban on interracial marriage in the ?Act to Preserve Racial Integrity,? the commission warned that they could become relevant again with another court ruling.?Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no child shall be required to enroll in or attend any school wherein both white and colored children are enrolled,? a 1956 law continues to read.Democratic governor Ralph Northam spearheaded the commission in June to identify state laws that ?were intended to or could have the effect of promoting or enabling racial discrimination or inequity.? The governor said he would focus on promoting racial equality for the rest of his term after weathering a scandal earlier this year over a racist yearbook photo depicting one person in blackface and another in a KKK outfit.Northam pledged in a statement Thursday to repeal all racially discriminatory language in Virginia law.?If we are going to move forward as a Commonwealth, we must take an honest look at our past,? the governor said. ?We know that racial discrimination is rooted in many of the laws that have governed our Commonwealth?today represents an important step towards building a more equal, just, and inclusive Virginia.?

  
  

• Weather whiplash to bring warmup, heavy rain and flood threat followed by Arctic blast to Northeast -

  As the holidays approach and many may find themselves dreaming of a white Christmas, Mother Nature has a different idea up her sleeves. The weather pattern will soon be reversed in the northeastern United States, allowing wintry landscapes to transform into a sloppy, muddy mess instead.Forecasters are closely watching a storm system that is expected to take shape and track toward the Great Lakes early next week -- and it will be the player that will help to flip the weather conditions in the East. As wintry weather and yet another snowstorm are predicted for portions of the Midwest, surging warm and moist air will race out ahead of the system.Temperatures are expected to rebound to the 30s over the northern tier to near 50 F in parts of Virginia as a southerly breeze develops on Sunday.On Monday, temperatures are forecast to surge into the 40s across the northern tier and the 50s and 60s across part of the mid-Atlantic region. The warm air combined with rain will dissolve the deep snow over part of the Northeast, potentially leading to flooding issues for some communities. Recent storms have buried parts of New York state and central and northern New England under as much as 1-3 feet of snow in the last couple of weeks. A car makes its way through a snowy landscape in Highland Falls, N.J., Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2019. The last of the snow is falling over parts of New Jersey after leaving behind power outages in the northwest part of the state. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) That snowcover contains a significant amount of locked-up moisture, called the snow-water equivalent.Within the existing snow on the ground, there is between 1 and 5 inches of water as of Thursday, Dec. 5.Many areas, including those places where deep snow is on the ground, may stay well above freezing Sunday night, which can allow the snow to soften up. This image was taken from the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019. (NOAA) Some of the deep snow may harmlessly melt from Sunday to early Monday before the storm and its soaking rain arrives, but there is a risk that surging temperatures, moist air and drenching rain may cause a rapid meltdown of the existing snowcover from later Monday into Tuesday.Instead of releasing the 1-5 inches of water by itself, another 1-2 inches of water may be added in depending on the intensity of the rainfall that occurs. "Since the ground is not frozen, some of the melting snow and rain will be absorbed by the soil and should avoid disastrous stream and river flooding," Dale Mohler, AccuWeather senior meteorologist, said.However, some quick rises on small streams are likely with minor flooding possible in low-lying areas that are prone to flooding during heavy rain or spring thaw events. Some of the rivers may surge to bank full as well."Even if only part of the snow melts and only a light amount of rain falls, piles of snow along streets and highways that are blocking storm drains can lead to urban flooding," Brett Anderson, AccuWeather senior meteorologist, said.Anderson said that property owners should make sure that runoff has easy access to storm drains ahead of the system's arrival to reduce the risk of flooding as a precaution."Even in some of the major cities along the Interstate 95 corridor from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia and New York City where there is no appreciable snow on the ground, enough rain can fall to cause travel delays and ponding on roads that drain poorly," Dave Bowers, AccuWeather forecaster, said.Ski resorts in the region that have gotten off to their earliest start in recent years will take a hit from the storm. Those seeking ideal ski conditions are encouraged to hit the slopes into Sunday, before the rainstorm arrives.Along with bringing a swath of heavy snow to part of the Upper Midwest, next week's storm is predicted to unleash Arctic air in its wake later Tuesday and Wednesday. Remaining areas of slush and standing water can freeze as temperatures plummet across the northeastern U.S. There is a chance that the cold air may catch up with the back end of the rain and cause a period of snow at the tail end of the storm at midweek.Since the storm will be weak rather than strong, it's possible that a secondary storm may develop along the push of frigid air, according to AccuWeather Chief Broadcast Meteorologist Bernie Rayno."I am pretty convinced that a storm is going to form along this boundary [between warmer air in place and colder air surging] into the Carolinas Tuesday night. Then, the question becomes does the storm goes out to sea and the cold front blasts out to sea? Or, does the storm have enough energy because of all of the energy associated with the jet stream that the storm strengthens? And, if it does, it won't go out to sea. It will come up the coast. If the storm does strengthen, you've got to worry about a snowstorm," Rayno said.The I-95 corridor of the mid-Atlantic and eastern New England could face snow if the latter and stronger scenario unfolds. If a weaker secondary storm develops, then it will likely push out to sea. If a secondary storm forms and it strengthens enough, it may bring snow to the Northeast. No indications are currently pointing to a big snowstorm developing and rather it could be more of a nuisance snowfall, according to Rayno.However, this type of weather pattern has yielded major snowstorms in the past, and meteorologists will have to keep a watchful eye on how all of the weather players come together, Rayno added.AccuWeather meteorologists are also tracking the potential for yet another significant storm toward the middle of the month, warning that it could be disruptive to the eastern U.S. Download the free AccuWeather app to check the forecast in your area. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.

  
  

• History Book Nightmare: Russia Could Have Nuked Away America's Submarine Fleet -

  By cutting off communications.

  
  

• Report: Officer recorded kissing Chicago chief reassigned -

  A female officer who was reportedly caught on video kissing then-Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson at a popular restaurant in October was transferred weeks later from his personal security detail to another role on the police force, a department spokesman said. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi confirmed to WBEZ that the officer, who was appointed to Johnson's security detail in 2016, was reassigned in early November to the technical services bureau. Johnson?s attorney, Thomas Needham, didn't respond to questions about a relationship or the officer?s transfer, the radio station reported.

  
  

• Two school shootings a day apart: Wisconsin reckons with impact of armed guards -

  Shootings involving resource officers renew debate over the role of armed teachers or police in schools Shootings a day apart at two high schools in Wisconsin have shaken the state and sparked a renewed debate over how to combat violence in American schools.An Oshkosh police department resource officer shot a 16-year-old student Tuesday after the boy stabbed him in the officer?s office at Oshkosh West high school. A day earlier, a resource officer at Waukesha South high school helped clear students out of a classroom after a 17-year-old student pointed a pellet gun at another student?s head. Another police officer entered the room and shot the student.Neither of the students who were shot suffered life-threatening injuries. The Democratic governor of Wisconsin, Tony Evers, called the shootings ?breathtaking and tragic?.?The trauma that happens because of this just ripples through the community,? Evers added. ?It will take time for people to recover from this. Trauma is a significant issue. We have to be patient.?The debate about the role of armed teachers or police in schools has been a constant in the wake of school shootings across the country. But rarely have armed resource officers been able to prevent a shooting.An estimated 43% of public schools have armed officers on campus, according to a survey by the National Center for Education Statistics. The survey covered the 2015-2016 school year, the most recent year surveyed. That figure doesn?t include schools with armed private security guards or teachers and administrators who carry guns.The US Department of Justice has adopted best practices for resource officers from the National Association of School Resources. Those guidelines call for resource officers to serve as police officers as well as teachers and mentors.Nasro recommends such officers have three years of experience and says they should be willing to engage with students and have excellent communication skills. They should complete a school-based policing course before being assigned to the beat and complete an advanced school policing course Nasro provides within a year of completing the basic course. They also should complete biannual training on how lone officers should handle threats and assailants.No Wisconsin laws spell out any special requirements for resource officers or restrictions on their weapons. But the state department of justice has adopted best practices similar to Nasro?s recommendations, calling for officers to work with schools on the extent of their duties, the skills they need, and where school discipline ends and illegal conduct begins. The state guidelines also suggest officers receive training in child development, restraint policies and de-escalation strategies.It?s not clear what led to Tuesday?s stabbing at Oshkosh West high school, which has 1,700 students. The police chief, Dean Smith, said that the officer and the student got into an ?altercation? in the officer?s office, the student stabbed the officer with an edged weapon ? Smith declined to elaborate ? and the officer opened fire with his 9mm pistol, hitting the student once. It?s unclear how many times the officer may have fired. Officials said the officer has 21 years of experience with the Oshkosh police department and has served as a school resource officer since 2017.At Waukesha South high school, 80 miles (130km) south of Oshkosh in suburban Milwaukee, a 17-year-old student apparently grew angry with another student and pointed a pellet gun at the other student. The school?s resource officer helped clear students from the classroom.Linda Ager told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the Waukesha shooting happened in the classroom of her husband, Brett Hart, a special education teacher at Waukesha South. Ager said her husband restrained the student until the resource officer arrived.At some point, another officer entered the room and shot the student who refused to drop the weapon. Police said the boy pointed the gun at officers as they confronted him.Police said the student with the pellet gun underwent surgery and was in stable condition.?Today?s tragic event shows that trained school resource officers can save lives,? Vickie Cartwright, the Oshkosh superintendent, said at a news conference on Tuesday.As school shootings have become more frequent, gun rights advocates and gun control advocates have sparred over how best to respond to them. Supporters of gun restrictions have argued that putting more guns in schools does little to prevent shootings and just puts students at greater risk.Last year armed guards at three high-profile school shootings ? Marshall county high school in Benton, Kentucky; Majory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida; and Santa Fe high school in Texas ? were unable to stop those shootings. In Parkland, the school?s resource officer remained outside rather than enter the building to engage the shooter and try to stop it.But gun-rights advocates believe having more armed educators and law enforcement in schools will help stop a shooter from going on a rampage.?This confirms that action can, and should, be taken to mitigate harm and limit casualties when weapons are brought into school,? Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican, said on Tuesday.Evers, the Wisconsin governor, said he is committed to working with Republicans who control the legislature on increasing mental health funding for schools.Evers said on WTMJ-Radio that he thinks Republicans will work with him on that, even though they did not provide as much funding for mental health programs as Evers requested in the state budget approved this summer. Republicans also refused to take up a pair of gun safety bills earlier this year that Evers said were part of the solution to combating violence in schools.Evers, a former state superintendent of schools who worked as a principal, school superintendent and administrator before he was elected governor, said the issue is particularly striking for him, given his background and the fact that has three grown children and nine grandchildren. Two of his children attended the high school in Oshkosh where the shooting occurred.?Our kids need help,? he said. ?I?ve been around long enough to see how this has amplified over time. The time is now to take it on.?

  
  

• Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin is working with the Federal Reserve to curtail another repo rate crisis, report says -

  Mnuchin told the House that he and Fed Chair Jerome Powell met multiple times to discuss liquidity concerns ahead of year-end reserve obligations.

  
  

• Hillary Clinton says Trump ?shocked into silence? by her offer of help after he won presidency -

  In her debut appearance on popular radio program The Howard Stern Show, Hillary Clinton said she stunned Donald Trump into silence when she offered to help him in his presidency.Ms Clinton has been on a promotional tour for a book she wrote with her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, called ?The Book of Gutsy Women? and sat down with Mr Stern on Wednesday.

  
  

• Police Officer Under Investigation After Footage Said to Show Him Groping Dead Woman -

  A Los Angeles police officer has been placed under investigation, a police spokesman said Wednesday.Body camera footage was said to show him groping a deceased woman's breasts, according to a person familiar with the case.The unidentified male officer was not working while the case was under investigation, Josh Rubenstein, the department spokesman, said.The officer had been assigned to the Central Division and was responding to an overdose call, he said. Rubenstein declined to provide specific information about the incident, including when it occurred, because it is part of a personnel investigation.Supervisors throughout the jurisdiction conduct random reviews of video on a monthly basis, Rubenstein said.All uniformed officers assigned to patrol the Los Angeles area have cameras, he said, and roughly 7,000 cameras are issued."If this allegation is true, then the behavior exhibited by this officer is not only wrong, but extremely disturbing, and does not align with the values we, as police officers, hold dear and these values include respect and reverence for the deceased," the board of directors for the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the police officers' union, said in a statement on Wednesday. "This behavior has no place in law enforcement."Police departments around the country have increasingly used body cameras after several high-profile shootings. In 2015, about 95% of large police departments started using body cameras or said they would use them in the future, a national survey said.A 2017 study of more than 2,000 Washington, D.C. officers conducted over 18 months showed officers with body cameras used force and prompted civilian complaints at nearly the same rate as officers without the equipment.A Baltimore police officer was suspended and charges against a man were dropped after a body-camera recording appeared to show an officer planting a bag of drugs at the scene of an arrest in January 2017. In that case, the camera retained recordings beginning 30 seconds before it was activated.In November 2018, The New York Times published body-camera recordings of an arrest in Staten Island that raised questions regarding police behavior. In this case, lawyers for the defendant claimed the footage contained possible proof that an officer planted a marijuana cigarette. The officer and the Police Department denied any wrongdoing.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company

  
  

• As outrage mounts over rape in India, victim set ablaze on way to court -

  A 23-year-old rape victim was set ablaze by a gang of men, including the alleged rapist, as she made her way to court in the northern India on Thursday, police said, stirring public outrage and shame over the scourge of crimes against women. During the past week, thousands of Indians have protested in several cities following the alleged rape and murder of a 27-year-old vet near the southern city of Hyderabad. Protesters and parliamentarians are pressing for courts to fast-track rape cases and demanding tougher penalties.

  
  

• Judge Allows Criminal Trial to Proceed against Pro-Life Investigators -

  A San Francisco judge ruled Friday that the criminal trial may move forward against the pro-life investigators who went undercover to record abortion industry executives talking about procuring fetal body parts.Judge Christopher Hite deemed the evidence sufficient to send to trial the case against David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt of the Center for Medical Progress, who are charged with nine felony counts, one count of conspiracy and eight counts of illegal taping. Six additional counts were dropped.Daleiden, 30, and Merritt, 64, several years ago surreptitiously recorded executives from Planned Parenthood and other organizations haggling about compensation for the procurement of fetal parts for researchers who request them.The Thomas More Society, representing the two pro-life investigators, announced the decision on Friday in a tweet.> BREAKING NEWS: 6 counts in David Daleiden's criminal case have been thrown out of court and 9 remain. Judge Hite deems the evidence enough to go to trial on 9 counts. More to follow!> > -- Thomas More Society (@ThomasMoreSoc) December 6, 2019Lila Rose, president of the pro-life group Live Action, called the charges against the investigators "unfounded and outrageous" in a statement on Friday's decision, saying they "have nothing to do with violating privacy or video recording laws but everything to do with protecting the powerful and wealthy abortion industry.""The same year David and Sandra published their recordings of Planned Parenthood employees haggling over the price of aborted baby body parts, videos taken by undercover animal rights activists were praised and led to investigations of abuse in the poultry industry," Rose said.Last month, the jury in the separate civil case against Daleiden and Merritt handed Planned Parenthood a win under federal racketeering statutes, awarding the abortion giant over $2.2 million.

  
  

• Bloomberg says ending 'nationwide madness' of gun violence drives his presidential bid -

  Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg said on Thursday he wants to become president to end "the nationwide madness" of U.S. gun violence, calling it evil and saying he would allow its victims to file lawsuits against gun manufacturers.

  
  

• This Is How the U.S. Marine Corps Wants to Deter Russia and China -

  Big changes are coming.

  
  

• 'Dark money' ties raise questions for GOP Sen. Ernst of Iowa -

  An outside group founded by top political aides to Sen. Joni Ernst has worked closely with the Iowa Republican to raise money and boost her reelection prospects, a degree of overlap that potentially violates the law, documents obtained by The Associated Press show. Iowa Values, a political nonprofit that is supposed to be run independently, was co-founded in 2017 by Ernst's longtime consultant, Jon Kohan. It shares a fundraiser, Claire Holloway Avella, with the Ernst campaign.

  
  

• Trump Administration Authorizes 'Cyanide Bombs' to Kill Predators Again, Months After Backlash -

  The devices have been used to poison thousands of coyotes, foxes and feral dogs to protect wildlife

  
  

• A polyamorous 20-year-old is in a relationship with 4 men while pregnant with her first child. She says it's working. -

  20-year-old Florida-native Tory Ojeda is in a polyamorous relationship with four men and is expecting her first child.

  
  

• Here's how Trump could be impeached, removed from office, and still win re-election in 2020 -

  After removing a president, the Senate must separately vote by simple majority to prevent them from holding a federal office in the future.

  
  

• Florida Keys Deliver a Hard Message: As Seas Rise, Some Places Can't Be Saved -

  KEY WEST, Fla. -- Officials in the Florida Keys announced what many coastal governments nationwide have long feared, but few have been willing to admit: As seas rise and flooding gets worse, not everyone can be saved.And in some places, it doesn't even make sense to try.On Wednesday morning, Rhonda Haag, the county's sustainability director, released the first results of the county's yearslong effort to calculate how high its 300 miles of roads must be elevated to stay dry, and at what cost. Those costs were far higher than her team expected -- and those numbers, she said, show that some places can't be protected, at least at a price that taxpayers can be expected to pay."I never would have dreamed we would say 'no,'" Haag said in an interview. "But now, with the real estimates coming in, it's a different story. And it's not all doable."The results released Wednesday focus on a single 3-mile stretch of road at the southern tip of Sugarloaf Key, a small island 15 miles up U.S. Highway 1 from Key West. To keep those 3 miles of road dry year-round in 2025 would require raising it by 1.3 feet, at a cost of $75 million, or $25 million per mile. Keeping the road dry in 2045 would mean elevating it 2.2 feet, at a cost of $128 million. To protect against expected flooding levels in 2060, the cost would jump to $181 million.And all that to protect about two dozen homes."I can't see staff recommending to raise this road," Haag said. "Those are taxpayer dollars, and as much as we love the Keys, there's going to be a time when it's going to be less population."The people who live on that 3-mile stretch of road were less understanding. If the county feels that other parts of the Keys ought to be saved, said Leon Mense, a 63-year-old office manager at a medical clinic, then at least don't make him pay for it."So somebody in the city thinks they deserve more of my tax money than I do?" Manse asked. "Then don't charge us taxes, how does that sound?"She suggested the county could offer residents a ferry, water taxis, or some other kind of boat during the expanding window during which the road is expected to go underwater during the fall high tides."If that's three months a year for the next 20 years, and that gets them a decade or two, that's perhaps worth it," Haag said. "We can do a lot. But we can't do it all."At a climate change conference in Key West on Wednesday, Roman Gastesi, the Monroe County manager, said elected leaders will have to figure out how to make those difficult calls."How do you tell somebody, 'We're not going to build the road to get to your home'? And what do we do?" Gastesi asked. "Do we buy them out? And how do we buy them out -- is it voluntary? Is it eminent domain? How do we do that?"Administrators and elected officials are going to have to start to rely on a "word nobody likes to use," Gastesi said, "and that's 'retreat.'"The county's elected officials must now decide whether to accept that recommendation. The mayor of Monroe County, Heather Carruthers, said she hopes the cost of raising the roads turns out to be lower than what her staff have found, as the need for adaptation leads to better technology.Still, Carruthers said, "We can't protect every single house."Asked how she expected residents would respond, Carruthers said she expects pushback. "I'm sure that some of them will be very irate, and we'll probably face some lawsuits," she said. "But we can't completely keep the water away."The odds of the county winning future possible lawsuits over the policy are unclear. The novelty of what the Keys' officials are proposing is perhaps best demonstrated by the fact that nobody can say for certain whether it's legally defensible.The law generally requires local governments to maintain roads and other infrastructure, because failure to do so will reduce the property value of surrounding homes, according to Erin Deady, a lawyer who specializes in climate and land-use law and is a consultant to the county on adapting to rising seas. But local officials retain the right to decide whether or not to upgrade or enhance that infrastructure.What's unclear, Deady said, is whether raising a road to prevent it from going underwater is more akin to maintaining or upgrading. That's because no court has yet ruled on the issue."The law hasn't caught up with that," Deady said.She said she thinks the county is within its rights to refuse to elevate the road at the end of Sugarloaf Key, so long as it's transparent about the rationale for that decision. "At some point, there's an economic consideration," she said. "We can't manage every condition."The debates over county spending and legal precedents will determine the future of Old State Road 4A, two lanes of asphalt tucked between mangroves that mostly obscure the water threatening it from all around. On a recent afternoon, the only signs of life on this road were the occasional passing car, along with the gates many of the road's few residents have erected to keep unwanted visitors out of their driveways.Henry Silverman, a retired teacher from Long Island in New York, bought a house on the southern edge of Sugarloaf Key 10 years ago. The building's first floor is 18 feet off the ground; a boardwalk cuts through a forest of mangroves to his boat launch. His wife, Melissa, said that when farmers burn sugar cane in Cuba, 90 miles to the south, they can see the plumes of smoke from their roof and even smell the sugar.Still, climate change is encroaching on their treehouse paradise. Hurricane Irma in 2017 blew out their screens and pushed water through the windows. Each high tide brings the saltwater a little bit closer, killing the palm trees under the deck and popping the wooden slats off the boardwalk. The couple used to fly down from Long Island in a Cessna, until one day the runway at the island's airport was underwater."What's government for? They're supposed to protect your property," Silverman said from behind the wheel of his shallow skiff boat on a recent afternoon.The couple listed the variety of jobs that depend on the people who live on this street: Landscapers, construction workers, caterers, carpenters, the restaurants up the road. "There's a lot of trickle-down," Silverman said.Still, he conceded that it might be difficult to generate sympathy among the broader public for the plight of this neighborhood. "Nobody feels sorry for anybody living down here," Silverman said, gesturing across the water to the gated mansions that line the shore.Mense, who lives in the last house on the road, suggested that officials focus instead on slowing global warming, without which no amount of adaptation will be enough for these islands."Maybe we should think about stopping, or trying to stop, the cause of the water rising," Mense said. "At what point will the road be high enough?"Others seemed resigned. Georgia Siegel, a 73-year-old yoga teacher who grew up in Buffalo, New York, and moved here 20 years ago, said that if the government decided this area can't be sustained, she would simply leave."What am I going to do?" Seigel asked, standing on the narrow beach in front of the home that she and her husband built. "It's a problem that's bigger than me."Not everyone was so sanguine about the prospect. A woman who lives in one of the more modest homes along this road, who asked not to be identified for fear that discussing flooding would hurt her property value, said she worried what the county's plans mean for her future."This is all I have," she said, gesturing to her house next to the water. "If that road goes under, I go under."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company

  
  

• UPDATE 8-Indian police kill 4 men suspected of rape, murder, drawing applause and concern -

  Indian police shot dead four men on Friday who were suspected of raping and killing a 27-year-old veterinarian near Hyderabad city, an action applauded by her family and many citizens outraged over sexual violence against women. The men had been in police custody and were shot dead near the scene of last week's crime after they snatched weapons from two of the 10 policemen accompanying them, said police commissioner V.C. Sajjanar. Thousands of Indians have protested in several cities over the past week following the veterinarian's death, the latest in a series of horrific cases of sexual assault in the country.

  
  

• Banks gave $745 billion to groups planning new coal power plants: NGOs -

  Financial institutions have channeled $745 billion over the past three years into companies planning new coal-fired power plants, according to a report by environmental groups, who are urging global banks to stop financing the sector. The report's release comes as world leaders met this week in Madrid for a 12-day UN climate summit, where they are expected to hammer out some of the details of the 2015 Paris agreement.

  
  

• Purdue president apologizes for calling black scholar ?rarest creature in America? -

  Two weeks after he told students an African American scholar was the ?rarest phenomenon,? Purdue President Mitch Daniels retracted his statement.

  
  

• Bombs Away! The Powerful B-52 Bomber Is Getting Even More Deadly -

  Time for an upgrade.

  
  

• Navy vet?s ashes destined for sunken Pearl Harbor battleship -

  On Dec. 7, 1941, then-21-year-old Lauren Bruner was the second-to-last man to escape the burning wreckage of the USS Arizona after a Japanese plane dropped a bomb that ignited an enormous explosion in the battleship?s ammunition storage compartment. This weekend, divers will place Bruner?s ashes inside the battleship?s wreckage, which sits in Pearl Harbor where it sank during the attack 78 years ago that thrust the United States into World War II. The Southern California man will be the 44th and last crew member to be interred in accordance with this rare Navy ritual. The last three living Arizona survivors plan to be laid to rest with their families.

  
  

• Bloomberg says he shouldn't have called Booker 'well-spoken' -

  The New Jersey senator said he was "taken aback" by the former New York mayor's language.

  
  

• Thousands of Las Vegas shooting victims will have to split an $800 million settlement. Now, 2 retired judges have to decide which victims deserve the most. -

  Though $800 million seems like an enormous settlement, some 4,500 people joined the lawsuit against MGM Resorts. Some will need more than others.

  
  

• ?The View? Devolves Into Shouting Match Over Barron Trump Pun -

  Despite the lack of Meghan McCain on Thursday?s broadcast of The View, things still devolved into a tense and heated back-and-forth when the table discussed the right-wing outrage over impeachment witness Pamela Karlan?s wordplay pun involving Barron Trump?s name. During Wednesday?s House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearing, Karlan?a Stanford Law professor?attempted to make a point about the Constitution, noting that President Donald Trump is not a monarch. ?So while the president can name his son Barron, he can?t make him a baron,? Karlan said. After First Lady Melania Trump and other conservatives lashed out at the legal expert, claiming she attacked a minor, Karlan offered an apology.Discussing the backlash to Karlan?s play on words, hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar pointed out that the professor was merely making an analogy using Barron?s name and was not being ?disrespectful or nasty? towards a young child. This immediately prompted conservative co-host Abby Huntsman to fire back.?I might be the only one here that sees this as pretty sick and a total low blow and stupid,? Huntsman huffed, causing guest host Bari Weiss to ask what was so ?sick? about it.?Because I think talking about political kids unless they?re on the front lines, they?re off-limits,? the daughter of former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman said. ?I?m the only one at the table that has been a political child.?Amy Klobuchar Schools Meghan McCain on ImpeachmentAfter claiming that Democrats are constantly giving Republicans ?ammunition? with moments like this, Huntsman then took issue with Behar arguing that Trumpworld has no right to act offended over the pun due to Trump?s family separation policy at the border.?The ?kids in cages? argument, it?s brought about every other day on this show and elsewhere because I feel like that?s always the defense you go to when you can?t defend on the Democratic side,? Huntsman stated.Co-host Sunny Hostin, meanwhile, added to the growing chaos on The View set by saying she actually agreed with Huntsman, insisting that it was ?ill-advised and quite frankly just dumb? for Karlan to make a ?joke? during the hearing.?It wasn?t a joke, Sunny!? Behar shot back.Moments later, Behar wondered why Huntsman thought it was ?wrong? to bring up the plight of migrant children a lot, asking her what her objection is to it.?My issue with it, is it?s what we teach our kids not to do,? Huntsman replied. ? I got in trouble for saying this, but Joy said it worse. So you should be in trouble. It doesn?t really equate. When they are hitting on Barron, I?m not sure what ?kids in cages? that has to do with that.??It shows the hypocrisy,? Behar retorted.?What did Barron do?? Huntsman declared, again alleging he was the victim of an attack.?It had nothing to do with Barron,? Goldberg interjected. ?Only his name. It?s just his name.?Goldberg then ended the contentious segment by claiming there was ?no comparison? between a bad pun and the U.S. treatment of migrant children.?It is apples and oranges because a bad pun out of the mouth of somebody you can say, don?t do the pun again,? the Oscar-winner concluded. ?Hard to do that with the kid in the cage.??The View? Host Abby Huntsman Defends Kellyanne Conway: ?She?s Been Getting Bullied?Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  
  

• North Carolina GOP Rep Says He Won?t Seek Reelection After District Redrawing -

  Representative George Holding (R., N.C.) announced Friday that he will not seek reelection in 2020 after a North Carolina district reconfiguration put his seat in danger.?I should add, candidly, that yes, the newly redrawn Congressional Districts were part of the reason I have decided not to seek reelection,? he said in a statement. ?But, in addition, this is also a good time for me to step back and reflect on all that I have learned.?Holding, a former federal prosecutor who is wrapping up his fourth-term on Capitol Hill, added that he hoped to return to public office at some point in the future.> JUST IN: George Holding (R-NC) announces he's leaving Congress after redrawn map leaves him with a heavily Democratic district. pic.twitter.com/yX3tfxK1Sg> > -- Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) December 6, 2019Holding?s announcement comes after a North Carolina panel of judges confirmed a GOP redrawing of Congressional Districts which likely cedes Holding?s Wake-County seat to a Democratic challenge.According to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, Holding?s seat has changed from leaning Republican to likely Democrat.Republicans currently hold 10 of 13 congressional seats in North Carolina, but were forced to redesign the map after state judges blocked the existing district layout for the 2020 elections, citing excessive partisan bias. Despite picking up two seats, Democrats remain opposed the new map over allegations it did not do enough to reverse gerrymandering.Holding is the 18th House Republican not to seek reelection, and the second in two days, after Georgia Republican Tom Graves announced Thursday that he would no longer run for office.

  
  

• Why many Indians cheered police for killing gang rape accused -

  Many Indians took to social media on Friday to applaud the police killings of four men accused in the gang rape and murder of a 27-year-old veterinarian in the southern city of Hyderabad. Court cases drag on for years and few result in convictions, legal experts say.

  
  

• Incredible photos show how the White House has celebrated Christmas through the years -

  The White House halls have been decked for the holidays every December since John and Abigail Adams held the first Christmas party in 1800.

  
  

• Azerbaijan plants 650,000 trees to celebrate poet - but green activists grumble -

  Oil-rich Azerbaijan planted more than half a million trees on Friday to celebrate a 14th century poet, an initiative the government said would help tackle climate change but some environmental activists called "a waste of money". The Azeri ministry of ecology said 650,000 trees were being planted across the country to mark the 650th anniversary of the birth of Seyid Imadeddin Nesimi, whose work touched on the relation between man and nature. Countries from India to Malawi have launched large-scale tree-planting efforts, but scientists have warned that such initiatives are not a panacea against global warming.

  
  

• India Is About to Start Targeting Citizens Without Proof of Ancestry -

  All voting-age Indians may soon be asked to submit government-issued ID to prove citizenship. That may be a challenge for women, religious minorities and members of oppressed castes.

  
  

• Mexicans fleeing violence form new encampment on border -

  An exodus of migrants fleeing drug cartel violence and corruption in Mexico has mired hundreds of immigrants in ramshackle tent camps across the border from El Paso and brought new chaos to a system of wait lists for asylum seekers to get into the U.S. Migrant tent camps have been growing in size at several border crossings in Ciudad Juarez, driven by a surge in asylum seekers from regions in southern Mexico gripped by cartel violence. One camp in Juarez is populated by about 250 Mexican asylum seekers, who are living in increasingly cold conditions as they wait for U.S. authorities to let them in to the country.

  
  

• China imposes 'reciprocal' restrictions on US diplomats -

  China on Friday said it had taken "reciprocal" measures against US diplomats in the country, ordering them to notify the foreign ministry before meeting with local officials. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China had notified the US embassy of the new measures on Wednesday, which she said were a "countermeasure" to Washington's decision in October to restrict Chinese diplomats. In October, the US ordered Chinese diplomats to notify the State Department in advance of any official meetings with US diplomats, local or municipal officials, and before any visits to colleges or research institutions.

  
  

• Employee shot at a Virginia post office -

  Authorities say a postal worker has been shot at a northern Virginia post office by an agent for the Postal Service's Inspector General's office. News outlets report that it happened Wednesday morning at the parking lot of the Lovettsville post office in Loudoun County.

  
  

• Justin Amash: Dems 'missed an opportunity' to 'persuade people' about Trump impeachment -

  Amash tweeted Thursday that "Democrats made a strategic error in not engaging more with" Jonathan Turley, who was the sole witness called by the GOP.

  
  

• Students Want Professor Fired for Writing About ?Pederasty? but University of Texas Says It?s Protected Speech -

  A group of students at the University of Texas are calling for the firing of a classics professor who has written extensively on ?pederasty??socially acknowledged romantic relationships between adult men and teen boys?in ancient Greece.Students claim Thomas Hubbard?s academic work ?advocates for violent crime against teen boys? and is being celebrated in online communities that promote pedophilia. In writings reviewed by The Austin American-Stateman, which first reported on the clash, the professor of classics at UT?s College of Liberal Arts calls physical relationships between men and boys in ancient societies a ?proper learning experience.? Separately, in 2010, Hubbard reportedly wrote an article analyzing sexual consent among young boys in antiquity, calling current age of consent laws a ?sad by-product? of a ?naive and self-righteous era? comparable to prohibition.?Contemporary American legislation premised on children?s incapacity to ?consent? to sexual relations stems from outmoded gender constructions and ideological preoccupations of the late Victorian and Progressive Era,? Hubbard reportedly wrote in the peer-reviewed journal Thymos: Boyhood Studies. ?We should consider a different ?age of consent? for boys and girls.?Historically Black Tuskegee University Sued by White Professor for Age, Racial DiscriminationA group called Students for Safety issued a press release last month which claimed that Hubbard ?has used his position to further a community of individuals hoping to prey on underage boys? and that his writings ?encourage these illicit acts.??An individual who advocates for violent crime against teen boys had no business teaching the leaders of tomorrow,? said the release. ?It is clear to us that the University of Texas does not have its students? safety, health, and welfare in mind.??We refuse to stand by while this man uses his status to promote pedophilia,? said the group.Sarah Blakemore, one of the students leading the charge against Hubbard, told The Austin American-Stateman that the professor?s ?academic license? should not be tolerated at a public university since it promotes ?breaking the law.?Citing that Hubbard?s work has been positively received in online communities that promote relationships between men and young boys?including the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA)?Blakemore added: ?If the world?s largest pedophile advocacy group endorsed my book, I would reconsider my life.?Hubbard did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast?s requests for comment. In a statement to The Austin American-Stateman, the classics professor dismissed the concerns of a ?small handful of students,? stating the outcry was not ?based on any careful examination of the full spectrum of my writing on the subject.? He added his works do not enforce NAMBLA?s ?idiosyncratic approach to legal reform and do not share the sexual orientation of its members.? Wiccan Professor Sues Catholic College for Religious DiscriminationAfter the Students for Safety press release circulated to UT students on social media, Hubbard defended his work in a written Q & A, claiming that pedophilia is distinct from pederasty and suggesting there ?is no evidence of adverse mental health effects in countries with lower ages of consent.??I write mainly about ancient Greece, where ?pedophilia? (as defined by psychiatry?s Diagnostic & Statistical Manual, 5th Edition) is not part of the cultural record,? said Hubbard. ?I do discuss the very different phenomenon of ?pederasty??romantic courtship of adolescent males, which was practiced in complex historical cultures as diverse as Ancient Greece, Han-dynasty China, Renaissance Florence, and Samurai-era Japan, as well as some Melanesian, Asian, and African tribal cultures.?He added: ?How teen sexuality should be regulated and how legal violations should be punished are legitimate areas of research and debate among scholars and public policy professionals. Historical and cross-cultural evidence have a place in such discussions.?University spokesperson Shilpa Bakre told The Daily Beast on Thursday ?the university condemns ideas or world views that exploit or harm individuals? but that ?the study of controversial and even offensive ideas is protected by academic freedom and the First Amendment?as is the right of others to strongly disagree with and draw attention to those ideas.? ?If someone is alleged to violate university policy or takes actions that threaten the safety of the campus community, the university will respond swiftly, investigating allegations thoroughly and imposing sanctions as warranted,? Bakre added.The backlash to Hubbard?s writing comes after weeks of protests on campus by student organizers who have called for the university to fire professors with histories of sexual misconduct.College-Admissions Scandal Ringleader Tried to Recruit Seven Stanford Coaches, University SaysStudent organizers have formed a Coalition Against Sexual Misconduct, which has advocated for the firing of English associate professor Coleman Hutchison and philosophy and integrative biology professor Sahotra Sarkar, who were both previously punished by the university for alleged sexual-misconduct policy violations. Sarkar was suspended in 2017 for one semester after students reported that he asked some to pose for nude pictures, invited others to swim with him at a nude beach, and led ?sexual? conversations with students, The Texas Tribune reported.Hutchison, meanwhile, allegedly made ?inappropriate remarks? to his graduate students and then reportedly engaged in a consensual relationship with one. He was subsequently banned from independently supervising graduate students for two years.Despite ongoing outrage from students, both men are still slated to teach undergraduate courses in January.To that end, protesters have staged sit-ins outside administrators? offices, stormed a class, circulated a petition, and issued a list of demands?including a request for the university to publicly name all professors found to have committed misconduct, The Tribune reported. As of Thursday afternoon, about 1,291 people signed on to the list of demands.Lynn Huynh, a student with The Coalition Against Sexual Misconduct, told The Daily Beast on Thursday that the group did not wish to issue an official statement about Hubbard over fear of legal retaliation but that ?faculty/staff who have committed sexual misconduct are not individualized, singular moments of wrongdoing.??What the coalition stands and advocates for is a complete restructuring of a system that has obviously failed to protect students,? Huynh said. ?We demand accountability, transparency, and action from not just our university, but all institutions everywhere addressing the sexual misconduct committed by people who abuse their power against more vulnerable populations.?A fourth sit-in is reportedly planned for Friday.Cuomo Blasts Syracuse U Leadership After White-Supremacist Manifesto Allegedly AirDropped to StudentsThe women and gender studies and advertising junior added Friday?s sit-in will ?serve as a reminder to the student body and administration that sexual misconduct is still pressing issue? at the university and will garner a majority of the approximately 50-person coalition.The university has reportedly released the names of faculty and employees who violated campus misconduct policies through mid-2017 and posted sexual misconduct statistics online. In response to the student movement, it has also formed a campus misconduct working group with students and employees and has hired a law firm to review its policies.In addition, University of Texas President Gregory Fenves and Executive Vice President and Provost Maurie McInnis announced this week that they will attend a student-led forum on the issue in January, where between 150 and 200 students are expected to participate, reported The Daily Texan. The school said on Thursday that administrators have met with student organizers several times since the demonstrations began. University of Texas spokesperson J.B. Bird told The Daily Beast on Thursday that the school?s open records office is currently compiling an updated summary of all sexual misconduct cases at the university since November 2017, which will be available next week.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  
  

• The Story of Henry Lee Lucas, the Notorious Subject of Netflix?s The Confession Killer -

  Thee self-proclaimed serial killer confessed to committing as many as 600 murders. Most of those claims turned out to be lies

  
  

• Jeff Bezos now has 3 women in his elite S-Team exec squad but they're still massively outnumbered by 19 men -

  VP of fashion Christine Beauchamp and VP of advertising Colleen Aubrey have been promoted into Jeff Bezos' S-Team.

  
  

• Victoria Falls shrink to a trickle, feeding climate change fears -

  For decades Victoria Falls, where southern Africa's Zambezi river cascade down 100 metres into a gash in the earth, have drawn millions of holidaymakers to Zimbabwe and Zambia for their stunning views. While they typically slow down during the dry season, officials said this year had brought an unprecedented decline in water levels.