Food Network star Alton Brown apologizes after ‘flippant’ Holocaust remarks on Twitter
Brown, host and creator of “Good Eats,” claims he made the comments while remarking on the current political climate.
Food Network star and “Iron Chef America” host Alton Brown apologized Wednesday after making “flippant” remarks about the Holocaust on Twitter.
Brown, who became a celebrity chef as host and creator of “Good Eats,” claims he was commenting on the current political climate and that the Holocaust references were not for “humorous effect.”
According to screenshots circulating online of now deleted tweets from Tuesday night, the television personality made references to being moved to camps and asked if there will be striped uniforms “like the ones at Auschwitz or will plaid be in vogue?” NBC News has not viewed the original tweets.
When one user replied to Brown to “take it easy,” Brown — in a tweet that has not been deleted as of Wednesday and was seen by NBC News — responded, “F— you.”
StopAntisemitism.org, a non-profit group dedicated to documenting anti-Semitic behavior, posted a screenshot of one of Brown’s original tweets along with his headshot, calling the reference “vile.”
“The @FoodNetwork host of Iron Chef America @altonbrown just spat on the graves of six million Jews with his vile, atrocious comment!” the organization tweeted on Tuesday.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=NBCNews&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1326367463118942214&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Fpop-culture%2Fpop-culture-news%2Ffood-network-star-alton-brown-apologizes-after-flippant-holocaust-remarks-n1247466&siteScreenName=NBCNews&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
The @FoodNetwork host of Iron Chef America @altonbrown just spat on the graves of six million Jews with his vile, atrocious comment! pic.twitter.com/r0f7MJanh9— StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) November 11, 2020
Brown apologized Wednesday for the “flippant” reference to the Holocaust, which killed an estimated six million Jewish people.
“It was not a reference I made for humorous effect but rather to reflect how deeply frightened I am for our country,” Brown tweeted Wednesday. “It was a very poor use of judgement and in poor taste.”https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=NBCNews&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1326559420533321733&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Fpop-culture%2Fpop-culture-news%2Ffood-network-star-alton-brown-apologizes-after-flippant-holocaust-remarks-n1247466&siteScreenName=NBCNews&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
I apologize for the flippant reference I made to the Holocaust in my tweet last night. It was not a reference I made for humorous effect but rather to reflect how deeply frightened I am for our country. It was a very poor use of judgement and in poor taste.— Alton Brown (@altonbrown) November 11, 2020
Brown has become known over the years for his controversial Twitter account and comments. Eater reported in 2011 that Brown announced he was going to leave the platform after someone made a fake account posing as his wife.
The outlet reported at the time that Brown would “regularly post a bunch of tweets only to delete them en masse, usually within twelve hours.”
Social media users were upset with Brown on Monday for saying he had voted for Republicans for “most” of his life, in a tweet that has also been deleted but reported on by multiple outlets, including Eater and Newsweek. Brown did not delete a response to a fan, however, who said he was “disappointed” in the television host.
“Frankly, you have no right to be disappointed in me,” Brown tweeted. “None whatsoever. I have used my own platform to speak my mind. You may dislike me, certainly but disappointment in me should be reserved for say…bad recipes.”
Representatives for Alton Brown and the Food Network did not immediately respond to NBC News requests for comment.
Article via NBCNews
Cardi B Addresses Backlash Over New Reebok Collaboration
Article via Yahoo
Fans have been hype about Cardi B‘s shoe collaboration with Reebok ever since it was announced. But after she released promotional images dressed as the Hindu goddess Durga, some people were immediately disturbed and started calling Cardi B out for “mocking” their culture. Amid mounting backlash, Cardi B took to Instagram to apologize for the blunder, saying she didn’t mean any harm.
Cardi B channeled Durga in a promotional image for her Reebok collaboration
Ahead of the Nov. 13 release of her collection, Cardi B posed for the cover of Footwear News, where she dressed as Durga. The Daily Mail says Durga is “a warrior woman with eight hands” carrying a variety of weapons. But instead of weapons, Cardi B held one of her shoes.
Footwear News explained the shoot on Instagram, writing: “[Cardi B] pays homage to Durga, the Hindu goddess, whose symbols of protection and inner strength resonate as much in modern times as they have through the centuries. Like Durga, Cardi B is a dominant female voice at a critical time.” But people still weren’t happy with the concept. https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=cheatsheet&dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-1&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1326219206531178497&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cheatsheet.com%2Fentertainment%2Fcardi-b-speaks-out-after-backlash-over-new-reebok-collaboration.html%2F&siteScreenName=cheatsheet&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=500px
Looking like a literal goddess, #CardiB serves as our November cover star. The rapper gets candid with FN about her future in the fashion industry, her upcoming @Reebok collab and her relentless need to win in the exclusive interview. https://t.co/gSpMMKEz4U— Footwear News (@FootwearNews) November 10, 2020
The backlash to Cardi B’s photo was intense
Taking to the comment section on Footwear News’s Instagram page, one person wrote, “Not Western media culturally appropriating Hindu Religion…again.”
A second social media user wrote in part, “Oh wow cultural appropriation in the interest of selling footwear. Gonna go out on a limb and say you guys really missed the mark here. The caption makes it worse, if thats possible. Paying homage by depicting a religious icon holding a sneaker. yup, what a great way to honor a goddess.”
“We as hindus don’t even go inside temples with shoes on and you here have depicted a DEVI WITH SHOES IN HER HAND! It’s so disrespectful,” read another comment. “Also, it’s just another example of how western companies look down on asian countries and their culture just for commercialization. This is literally DISRESPECTFUL.”
“Wtf are you thinking,” another comment said in part.
Other social media users agreed that it was off-putting but argued that Cardi B would never intentionally try to disrespect anyone. “You cannot expect everyone to know everything,” one fan added.
Amid mounting criticism, Cardi B apologized for the photo
As backlash continued to roll in, Cardi B went on Instagram early on the morning of Nov. 11 to apologize.
“When I did the Reebok shoot, the creatives told me I was going to represent a Goddess, that she represents strength, femininity, and liberation, and that’s something I love and I’m all about,” she began. “And I thought it was dope, but if people think I’m offending their culture or their religion I want to say I’m sorry. That was not my intent. I do not like disrespecting nobody’s religion; I wouldn’t like it if someone offended my religion.”
“When people dress as Virgin Mary and Jesus, as long as they do it in a beautiful, graceful way, I wouldn’t feel a type of way. But I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful; maybe I should have done my research. I’m sorry, I can’t change the past but I’m gonna do more research for the future,” she concluded.
Check out some Lovelyti videos:
Lucasfilm executive defends The Mandalorian’s controversial Baby Yoda moment
In case you missed the uproar, The Mandalorian stirred up a Baby Yoda-size controversy with last week’s episode, “The Passenger.”
The episode featured Mando (Pedro Pascal) ferrying a new character, Frog Lady (Misty Rosas), and her precious container of eggs that represented her entire hope for her ancestral line, which is facing extinction. Frog Lady needed to get the eggs to her husband to fertilize them before the equinox. Several times during the episode, Baby Yoda, a.k.a. the Child, was caught eating the eggs, unbeknown to Frog Lady (apparently, she’s not so great at counting). It was a darkly comic running gag, but also had some fans slamming the show for, in their view, turning Baby Yoda into a villain and playing off something that Frog Lady would doubtless find upsetting and horrifying as a joke.
Lucasfilm creative art manager Phil Szostak tweeted some reasoning behind the move Monday: “For the record, Chapter 10 of #TheMandalorian makes it clear that the Frog Lady’s eggs are unfertilized, like the chicken eggs many of us enjoy. But obviously, chickens aren’t sentient beings and the Child eating the eggs is intentionally disturbing, for comedic effect.”
For the record, Chapter 10 of #TheMandalorian makes it clear that the Frog Lady’s eggs are unfertilized, like the chicken eggs many of us enjoy. But obviously, chickens aren’t sentient beings and the Child eating the eggs is intentionally disturbing, for comedic effect.#StarWars https://t.co/Js51fLpE3C— Phil Szostak (@PhilSzostak) November 9, 2020
Some fans upset about the scenes didn’t find that explanation satisfying (at least, not nearly as satisfying as Baby Yoda found Frog Lady’s eggs).
A couple of examples: “I’m a mom. It’s not funny at all to hear mama frog lady go into great detail about how important & beloved her eggs are to her & have to watch them get eaten on 3 separate occasions for s—s & giggles. Can’t just *one* mom get to survive AND keep her kids?” one user tweeted. Another wrote, “for the record, the frog lady was very adamant about the fact that her eggs were important to her, and that it was her last and only chance to have kids, so it’s actually closer to f—ing up someone’s [in vitro fertilization] which would be incredibly upsetting for a wannabe mom. it’s not funny.”
For those who are not taking this seriously, the folks at Funko Pop have you covered with this toy below (and for those who are upset about the scene, this might take you to a whole other level):
Yup, an adorable-looking toy inspired by what some consider the show’s darkest moment. Now you too can play with Baby Yoda as he cruelly gobbles up the hope and future of Frog Lady’s family. Baby Yoda become Death, the destroyer of worlds, in Funko Pop form.
This all does, however, raise an interesting idea.
Last season, I did a tongue-in-cheek post speculating about whether Baby Yoda might turn out to be evil after he used the Force to choke Cara Dune (Gina Carano). Showrunner Jon Favreau has said Game of Thrones helped serve as a bit of inspiration, of sorts, going into season 2. It would be interesting if in season 8 we learned that the Child was the Daenerys Targaryen of this story and all these little controversies were hints along the way. That said, I don’t really think Disney would ever make this beloved character a true villain. But I do think the show could toy, so to speak, with the idea that Baby Yoda is more… complex than we might assume (and perhaps simply due to the fact he is a Child, and children are often cruel without realizing it). In other words, this week’s dark story choice might turn out to be more intentional than the callous joke that some of its critics assume.
TikTok star Zoe Laverne apologizes for kissing her 13-year-old fan
Watch the video on https://nypost.com/2020/11/03/tiktok-star-19-apologizes-for-kissing-her-13-year-old-fan/
A 19-year-old TikTok star is facing backlash after a leaked video showed her kissing a 13-year-old fan when they “just ended up catching feelings for each other.”
Zoe Laverne, who has nearly 18 million followers on the app, apologized in a livestream this week for her actions but denied “grooming” the young fan and fellow TikToker, Connor. The Post is withholding his last name due to his age.
“I didn’t groom Connor, I wouldn’t do that. He’s a kid and I’m aware of that. It just happened,” she said in the stream, according to Business Insider. “We both were in a dark place when we first became friends and we both just ended up catching feelings for each other. And friends do that, they catch feelings for each other. That’s not a bad thing. Yes, the age is a bad thing. Yes, it’s wrong. Yes, it’s not good. We both realized that and we stopped.”
Connor, who goes by @cxnnorjoyce on the app and has over 350,000 followers, frequently collaborates with Laverne in her videos. However, Laverne says they have since ended their friendship.
A few weeks ago, messages between a former friend of Laverne’s and her ex-boyfriend leaked, in which her former pal called Laverne’s interactions with Connor “pedophilia.” Later, videos leaked on social media that appeared to show the two kissing.
In a statement posted to Instagram stories, Connor said Laverne “did not rape” him.
Laverne said she told Connor’s mother about the kiss after it happened, according to screenshots that appear to be taken from her private Instagram account. “She wasn’t happy obviously but she understood that we are both teenagers and that feelings can be caught.”
The TikTok star’s own mother has defended her daughter’s actions. “Anybody can reach over and kiss somebody. They’re best friends,” she said in a livestream.
Both Laverne and Connor have subtly addressed the scandal in TikTok videos. A few days ago, Connor posted a video of him strutting with the text “me coming back to social media acting like nothing happened.”
Laverne posted a similar clip, titled, “me coming back to TikTok after I get canceled for the 100th time.”@zoelaverne
Burger King wants you to order from McDonald’s
Fast food chain Burger King has taken a rather unusual step: calling on customers to order from archrival McDonald’s, as well as a number of other competing restaurants.The company’s UK arm tweeted a statement Monday asking consumers to support their local fast food outlets during the coronavirus pandemic, whether they are Burger King or not.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1323246831686606851&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2020%2F11%2F02%2Fbusiness%2Fburger-king-order-mcdonalds-scli-intl-gbr%2Findex.html&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
We know, we never thought we’d be saying this either. pic.twitter.com/cVRMSLSDq6— Burger King (@BurgerKingUK) November 2, 2020
“We never thought we’d be asking you to do this, but restaurants employing thousands of staff really need your support at the moment,” read the tweet, which names KFC, Subway and Domino’s Pizza, as well as other chains.”So, if you want to help, keep treating yourself to tasty meals through home delivery, takeaway or drive thru.”Pizza Hut, Five Guys, Greggs, Taco Bell, Papa John and Leon also get a mention, as do independent food outlets.
“Getting a Whopper is always best, but ordering a Big Mac is also not such a bad thing,” reads the message.The UK hospitality industry has been hit hard by the pandemic, and new restrictions set to come into force in England on Thursday are likely to make things worse, with all restaurants closed except for takeout or delivery.While Burger King UK is appealing to a sense of solidarity with the wider food industry, the company’s North America operation has taken a more confrontational approach to promotion.
The burger chain offered a free Whopper to customers who drive by one of the “the scariest places on earth” — five shuttered restaurants once operated by rivals McDonald’s (MCD), Wendy’s, Sonic or Jack in the Box.As part of a Halloween-themed promotion, customers within 300 feet of one of the listed abandoned locations could confirm their location on the Burger King app to receive a coupon for a free Whopper.
Article via CNN
The Queen attributed Princess Diana’s failed marriage to bulimia struggles: report
Queen Elizabeth reportedly held some closed-minded thoughts regarding Princess Diana’s struggles with bulimia and even wondered whether they were what caused her relationship with Prince Charles to deteriorate.
The claim came forward in a book by Andrew Morton titled, Diana: Her True Story – in Her Own Words and according to its excerpts, the Queen blamed Princess Diana’s bulimia for ending her marriage.
The book in question was reportedly written in accordance to hidden tapes that the Princess of Wales would send of Mr. Morton during some of her lowest moments.
People magazine picked one of the princess’s reported confessions and explained how the princess’s bulimia initially began as a result of Prince Charles’s snide comments on her figure.
According to the report, “Princess Diana recalls the prince saying, ‘Oh, a bit chubby here, aren’t we?'” before pinking her waist. This was what allegedly ended up “triggered off something in me.”
Even royal author Ingrid Seward admitted, “[Diana] was bulimic” in her documentary titled Fergie Vs Diana: Royal Wives at War. Reportedly, “The queen always said she’s like a nervy racehorse and said treat her with kid gloves. Later on they blamed the failure of Diana’s marriage on her bulimia which wasn’t really the case at all.”
Another royal expert also chimed in during Seward claim and added how Princess Diana “was unsure of herself and she was very emotional. The royal family are not used to people who emote.”
“You don’t do that; you have a stiff upper lip. If you wish to cry you go to your room and do it there but Diana wasn’t that sort of person. She showed her emotions, she couldn’t help it.”
Article via The News
FBI: Hackers stole source code from US government agencies and private companies
FBI blames intrusions on improperly configured SonarQube source code management tools.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has sent out a security alert warning that threat actors are abusing misconfigured SonarQube applications to access and steal source code repositories from US government agencies and private businesses.
Intrusions have taken place since at least April 2020, the FBI said in an alert sent out last month and made public this week on its website.
The alert specifically warns owners of SonarQube, a web-based application that companies integrate into their software build chains to test source code and discover security flaws before rolling out code and applications into production environments.
SonarQube apps are installed on web servers and connected to source code hosting systems like BitBucket, GitHub, or GitLab accounts, or Azure DevOps systems.
But the FBI says that some companies have left these systems unprotected, running on their default configuration (on port 9000) with default admin credentials (admin/admin).
FBI officials say that threat actors have abused these misconfigurations to access SonarQube instances, pivot to the connected source code repositories, and then access and steal proprietary or private/sensitive applications.
Officials provided two examples of past incidents:
“In August 2020, unknown threat actors leaked internal data from two organizations through a public lifecycle repository tool. The stolen data was sourced from SonarQube instances that used default port settings and admin credentials running on the affected organizations’ networks.
“This activity is similar toa previous data leak in July 2020, in which an identified cyber actor exfiltrated proprietary source code from enterprises throughpoorly secured SonarQube instances and published the exfiltrated source codeon a self-hosted public repository.”
Forgot problem resurfaces in 2020
The FBI alert touches on a little known issue among software developers and security researchers.
While the cyber-security industry has often warned about the dangers of leaving MongoDB or Elasticsearch databases exposed online without passwords, SonarQube has slipped through the cracks.
However, some security researchers have been warning about the dangers of leaving SonarQube applications exposed online with default credentials since as far back as May 2018.
At the time, data breach hunter Bob Diachenko warned that about 30% to 40% of all the ~3,000 SonarQube instances available online at the time had no password or authentication mechanism enabled. https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=ZDNet&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=996767433007550466&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zdnet.com%2Farticle%2Ffbi-hackers-stole-source-code-from-us-government-agencies-and-private-companies%2F&siteScreenName=ZDNet&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
After @zackwhittaker covered EE leak, I ran a couple of queries on Sonarqube. Shocked to see more than 3K+ instances available, with roughly 30-40% of them set without auth, and almost half of those containing source code with prod data. Big names involved, another area to cover. pic.twitter.com/tKBRLOYzq1— Bob Diachenko (@MayhemDayOne) May 16, 2018
This year, a Swiss security researcher named Till Kottmann has also raised the same issue of misconfigured SonarQube instances. Throughout the year, Kottmann has gathered source code from tens of tech companies in a public portal, and many of these came from SonarQube applications.
“Most people seem to change absolutely none of the settings, which are actually properly explained in the setup guide from SonarQube,” Kottmann told ZDNet.
“I don’t know the current number of exposed SonarQube instances, but I doubt it changed much. I would guess it’s still far over 1,000 servers (that are indexed by Shodan) which are ‘vulnerable’ by either requiring no auth or leaving default creds,” he said. https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=ZDNet&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1295718019814096907&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zdnet.com%2Farticle%2Ffbi-hackers-stole-source-code-from-us-government-agencies-and-private-companies%2F&siteScreenName=ZDNet&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
The source code of @novasolutionsys has been published on a public repo.
Among the contents there are the mobile application source codes of Mexican banks like:
– @Citibanamex
– @BancoSabadellMX
– @BanCoppel
The data was allegedly taken from a misconfigured SonarQube instance. pic.twitter.com/yn48OrtWFI— Bank Security (@Bank_Security) August 18, 2020
To prevent leaks like these, the FBI alert lists a series of steps that companies can take to protect their SonarQube servers, starting with altering the app’s default configuration and credentials and then using firewalls to prevent unauthorized access to the app from unauthorized users.
Anne Hathaway Apologizes for the Portrayal of Limb Differences in ‘The Witches’
Article via YahooNews
Anne Hathaway has apologized for the “pain caused” by The Witches in a statement responding to criticism over the film’s portrayal of limb difference.
The 37-year-old actress plays the Grand High Witch in the latest adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1983 novel of the same title. The film features the witches as having three elongated fingers on each hand, rather than the clawed hands described in the book.
Some felt the visual portrayal was insensitive towards disabled people, prompting the hashtag #NotAWitch to trend on Twitter after the film’s release.
“I have recently learned that many people with limb differences, especially children, are in pain because of the portrayal of the Grand High Witch in The Witches,” Hathaway said in a statement on Instagram. “As someone who really believes in inclusivity and really, really detests cruelty, I owe you all an apology for the pain caused. I am sorry.”
She added that she did “not connect limb difference when the look of the character was brought to me; if I had, I assure you this never would have happened.”
The star concluded, “I’m sorry to kids with limb differences: now that I know better I promise I’ll do better. And I owe a special apology to everyone who loves you as fiercely as I love my own kids: I’m sorry I let your family down.”
Anne Hathaway has apologized for the “pain caused” by The Witches in a statement responding to criticism over the film’s portrayal of limb difference.
The 37-year-old actress plays the Grand High Witch in the latest adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1983 novel of the same title. The film features the witches as having three elongated fingers on each hand, rather than the clawed hands described in the book.
Some felt the visual portrayal was insensitive towards disabled people, prompting the hashtag #NotAWitch to trend on Twitter after the film’s release.
“I have recently learned that many people with limb differences, especially children, are in pain because of the portrayal of the Grand High Witch in The Witches,” Hathaway said in a statement on Instagram. “As someone who really believes in inclusivity and really, really detests cruelty, I owe you all an apology for the pain caused. I am sorry.”
She added that she did “not connect limb difference when the look of the character was brought to me; if I had, I assure you this never would have happened.”
The star concluded, “I’m sorry to kids with limb differences: now that I know better I promise I’ll do better. And I owe a special apology to everyone who loves you as fiercely as I love my own kids: I’m sorry I let your family down.”https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1323208613553414145&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.harpersbazaar.com%2Fcelebrity%2Flatest%2Fa34606856%2Fanne-hathaway-sorry-the-witches-criticism%2F&siteScreenName=Yahoo&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
@WarnerBrosUK was there much thought given as to how this representation of limb differences would effect the limb difference community?! @ReachCharity @RoaldFull pic.twitter.com/kiTEAuYt7i
— Amy Marren (@amy_marren) November 2, 2020
Along with her message, Hathaway also shared a video from the Lucky Fin Project, an organization supporting those with limb differences.
British Paralympic swimmer Amy Marren explained on Twitter why the film was stigmatizing, as she wrote, “It’s not unusual for surgeons to try and build hands like this for children/adults with certain limb differences and it’s upsetting to [see] something that makes a person different being represented as something scary.”
Marren continued, “My fear is that children will watch this film, unaware that it massively exaggerates the Roald Dahl original and that limbs differences begin to be feared.”
A spokesperson for Warner Bros. also responded to the backlash to say that the company was “deeply saddened to learn that our depiction of the fictional characters in The Witches could upset people with disabilities” and “regretted any offence caused.”
Supreme Court appears willing to leave Obamacare in place
Article via CNBC
- The Affordable Care Act seems likely to withstand its third challenge at the Supreme Court.
- During arguments in a case seeking to eliminate Obamacare, two of the court’s conservatives on Tuesday signaled they would not strike down the landmark legislation.
- Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh suggested that the court may cast aside the individual mandate while leaving the rest standing.
The Affordable Care Act seems likely to withstand its third challenge at the Supreme Court.
During arguments in a case seeking to eliminate Obamacare, two of the court’s conservatives on Tuesday signaled they would not strike down the landmark legislation.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who cast the key vote in 2012 upholding Obamacare, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, an appointee of President Donald Trump, suggested that the court may cast aside a challenged provision of the law, known as the individual mandate, while leaving the rest of it standing.
Such a decision would leave in place the central aspects of the 900-plus page legislation which have transformed American health-care over the past decade, from the expansion of Medicaid in dozens of states to the requirement that insurers cover those with preexisting conditions.
The individual mandate provision, as enacted in 2010, requires most Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty. The GOP-controlled Congress reduced the penalty to $0 in 2017.
The Supreme Court upheld the mandate in 2012 under Congress’s taxing power, but Texas and other Republican-led states argued that the reduction of the penalty made that justification no longer workable, and as a result the whole Affordable Care Act must be struck down.
The Trump administration, via the Department of Justice, argued in favor of the red states’ challenge.
The court’s six conservatives seemed sympathetic to arguments made by Kyle Hawkins, the Texas solicitor general, and acting Justice Department Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall that the individual mandate became unconstitutional when it was stripped of an accompanying penalty.
But Roberts and Kavanaugh suggested that would not doom the rest of the law.
“I think it’s hard for you to argue that Congress intended the entire act to fall if the mandate was struck down,” Roberts told Hawkins. Roberts was appointed by President George W. Bush.
Roberts acknowledged that some Republican lawmakers may have wanted the Supreme Court to strike down the law, “but that’s not our job.”
Kavanaugh told Donald Verrilli, who was solicitor general under former President Barack Obama, that “I tend to agree with you that this is a very straightforward case” and that under the court’s precedents “we would excise the mandate and leave the rest of the act in place.”
Verrilli was arguing on behalf of the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.
Later, Kavanaugh told Hawkins that it “sure seems” like Congress in 2017 wanted to lower the individual mandate penalty without getting rid of the Affordable Care Act’s other provisions, such as its protections for those with preexisting conditions.
The court’s three liberals, Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan are expected to side with California and a coalition of other Democratic-led states that are defending Obamacare. Michael Mongan, the solicitor general of California, argued on behalf of the blue states. It takes five votes to gain a majority on the nine-judge panel.
The Democratic-appointees seemed skeptical of the red states’ argument that the mandate was unconstitutional, and sympathetic to California’s claim that those states lacked even the ability to sue, given their failure to prove that they had been harmed by the law.
“The only thing that changed is something that made the law less coercive,” Kagan said.
Breyer suggested that allowing the red states to bring their claim could open up challenges to all sorts of laws that would be unlawful if they included penalties, such as hypothetical statutes calling for citizens to plant trees, clean up yards or buy war bonds.
Health-care activists warned that if the Supreme Court struck down the Affordable Care Act, more than 20 million people could lose their insurance.
The dispute, which was argued in the shadow of last week’s presidential election, was a central focus of Democrats during the confirmation hearings for Justice Amy Coney Barrett last month. Barrett’s questioning on Tuesday didn’t provide much insight into her thinking about the legal issues.
Two lower courts sided with Texas, including the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals court, that the individual mandate was unlawful. The appeals court did not say whether the rest of the Affordable Care Act would also have to be struck down.
Arguments, which were scheduled to last for 80 minutes, began at 10 a.m. ET and concluded around noon. They were conducted by phone as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and streamed live to the public.
The case became a political flash point in the race between Trump and President-elect Joe Biden, who have sketched out vastly different visions for the future of American health care. Trump pushed to gut the Affordable Care Act, while Biden’s agenda calls for building on the law, which the former vice president played a role in shepherding through Congress in the first place.
The political stakes were amplified by the pandemic, which has killed more than 230,000 in the U.S. and made health care a more salient issue.
Efforts to contain the pandemic also caused a devastating recession, which has resulted in millions losing their health-care coverage. After the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal, died in September, Democrats sought to turn the fight for her replacement, Barrett, into a referendum on the law.
A decision is expected toward the end of June.
The case is known as California v. Texas, No. 19-840
Minneapolis eyeing outside police to help with violent crime, officer shortage
Officials in Minneapolis are considering bringing in police from other jurisdictions as the city faces a shortage of officers and a wave of violent crime, according to a report on Monday.
Officers from the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and Metro Transit Police would form Joint Enforcement Teams and primarily respond to violent 911 calls, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
If the initial proposal is approved by the City Council and Mayor Jacob Frey this week, the teams would form on Sunday and run through the end of the year.
“We’re not gonna be having these people out taking bicycle theft reports. These are going to be people out combating crime issues,” said John Elder, a spokesman for Minneapolis police.
The proposal comes as an unusually large number of officers in Minneapolis have left the force following the death of George Floyd in the city on May 25, according to the paper.
Floyd died after an officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, which ignited a wave of protests and riots throughout the country this year.
After his death, the left-leaning City Council members pushed to disband the Minneapolis police department, as activists in other cities aimed to defund the police.
The unrest, in addition to the departures, has strained the department’s resources, and some officers have filed PTSD claims, according to the Star Tribune.
The city has also seen a wave of violent crime, with 74 homicides recorded this year.
The proposal to bring in outside officers will come before the council’s Policy & Government Oversight Committee on Tuesday, the paper reported. If it passes, a final vote will likely be held on Friday before it goes to Frey for approval.
The mayor supports the plan, according to his office. It’s estimated to cost just under $497,000.
Article via Fox News