Jon Ritzheimer (left) and Ammon Bundy (right, speaking at the microphone) at their daily press conference.
Credit: Spencer Sunshine.
For a town of fewer than 3,000 residents, Burns, Oregon, sees a lot of business. Travelers heading from Boise to Bend on I-20 stop by here, as do visitors to the nearby wildlife refuge and from other parts of Harney County. Some blocks look like a quaint old Oregon town, the rest is “Anywhere, USA.” The residents seem nice but also direct and unafraid to speak their minds.
Their occupation is starting to divide the community, turning neighbors against each other.
When armed right-wing paramilitaries took over the headquarters of the nearby Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on January 2, this is the town they thrust into the national headlines. The armed group’s apparent leaders—Ammon Bundy, 40, and Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, 54—succeeded in drawing media coverage and pushing their talking points. But their occupation is starting to […]
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Sunday, January 17th, 2016
, - BBC News Online (U.K.)
Stephan: Governors Rick Snyder, Sam Brownback, Scott Walker, Bobby Jindal, Rick Scott, are some of the leading examples of the inability of Republicans to govern at the state level in a way that produces social wellness. Ideologues to a man, they are incompetent to a startling degree. All are "small government" bloviators. But note that when they have screwed it up so badly they literally can't fix it they all turn to "big" government to bail them out.
Please note also that this is what we look like to the rest of world.
Film-maker Michael Moore, who is from Flint, attended a rally in the city on Saturday.
Credit: Jake May/The Flint Journal
US President Barack Obama has declared a state of emergency in Flint, Michigan, where the water has become contaminated with lead.
The city’s water became contaminated after a change in supplier in 2014. Corrosive water leached lead from old pipes into the water supply.
The emergency declaration will unlock $5m (£3.5m) in federal funding.
Earlier in the week, Governor Rick Snyder had requested $31m from the federal government.
He said the need in the city of almost 100,000 people “far exceeds the state’s capability” and sought a disaster declaration.
But reports in Michigan said Mr Obama denied that request, that would have freed up more than the $5m, as such declarations are only made for natural disasters.
In October, testing revealed increased lead levels in water supplies and in children’s blood. Lead exposure can cause learning disabilities and behavioural problems in […]
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