Saturday, 3 September 2016

Detroit's African-Americans cast cynical eye on Trump

Posted by Unknown, on 04:13

Donald Trump visits Detroit Saturday insisting he is the change agent that America's blackest big city needs in the White House, but residents have a message for the Republican presidential nominee: Not buying it.
Many here acknowledge that Barack Obama, the nation's first black president, has fallen short in improving conditions in blighted communities.
But in interviews ahead of the Republican flagbearer's scheduled appearance at a black church, several African-American Detroiters told AFP they were adamant that Trump is not the answer.
"We have evaluated the Republican Party's platform and found it wanting, examined its most recent messenger and found him revolting," said Eric Williams, who runs a clinic at Wayne State University Law School that helps black small business owners.

Detroit's African-Americans cast cynical eye on Trump

Michael Mathes
AFP News
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Donald Trump has argued that despite their propensity to vote Democratic, black Americans have been let down by the policies of Democratic party stalwarts
Donald Trump visits Detroit Saturday insisting he is the change agent that America's blackest big city needs in the White House, but residents have a message for the Republican presidential nominee: Not buying it.
Many here acknowledge that Barack Obama, the nation's first black president, has fallen short in improving conditions in blighted communities.
But in interviews ahead of the Republican flagbearer's scheduled appearance at a black church, several African-American Detroiters told AFP they were adamant that Trump is not the answer.
"We have evaluated the Republican Party's platform and found it wanting, examined its most recent messenger and found him revolting," said Eric Williams, who runs a clinic at Wayne State University Law School that helps black small business owners.
"There's absolutely nothing Donald Trump can do to significantly raise his standing in the African-American community."
Trump in recent weeks has repeatedly argued that despite their propensity to vote Democratic, black Americans have been let down by the policies of party stalwarts like his campaign rival Hillary Clinton.
"What the hell do you have to lose" in voting Trump, he blared in Ohio last month, albeit to a vastly white crowd, as he highlighted the rampant unemployment, horrific schools and war-zone-like violence that plague some black communities.
Detroit, which is more than 80 percent black, is all-too-familiar with such problems.
The city filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history in 2013, and its failing schools are under emergency management, with enrolment steadily shrinking.
Downtown is undergoing a renaissance of sorts. But midtown black neighborhoods remain decimated, with buildings boarded up, rows of homes abandoned, and crime and drugs abundant.
- Suspicion -
In the 1970s and later, a large and prosperous middle class born out of Detroit's automobile industry imploded as car plants shed jobs, closed up or moved out.
"The black middle class suffered the most" because so many African-Americans had been drawn to the auto sector, only to see those jobs disappear, said Reynolds Farley, a professor of population studies at the University of Michigan who has studied Detroit for decades."There's a great deal of suspicion among blacks, and whites, that Trump could actually bring back those jobs," he added.
"Detroiters don't really think he has a solution."
Instead, they wince at his racially charged rhetoric, including his repeated verbal assaults on a federal judge of Mexican heritage, and his goading on of attendees at his rallies who get into fisticuffs with protesters, several of whom have been black.
Democrats regularly remind voters that Trump's backers include former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke -- although the candidate has publicly rejected the extreme-right endorsement -- and that Trump spearheaded the dubious "birther" movement which sought to cast doubt on Obama's nationality.
"No, we don't forget that," Williams said of Trump's birther conspiracy. "Why would we? It's where his heart is."
Trump will sit for an interview by the pastor of Great Faith Ministries International, Bishop Wayne T. Jackson, and then address the congregation for five or 10 minutes, according to reports.
A woman named Charelle, who asked that her last name not be used, said it was "ludicrous" to think Trump has any intention of legitimately addressing the concerns of black America during such a brief visit.
"Sure he can come and sit there and be engaged with black folks. But it's just a photo op, to cast doubt on Obama's nationality.
"No, we don't forget that," Williams said of Trump's birther conspiracy. "Why would we? It's where his heart is."
Trump will sit for an interview by the pastor of Great Faith Ministries International, Bishop Wayne T. Jackson, and then address the congregation for five or 10 minutes, according to reports.
A woman named Charelle, who asked that her last name not be used, said it was "ludicrous" to think Trump has any intention of legitimately addressing the concerns of black America during such a brief visit.
"Sure he can come and sit there and be engaged with black folks. But it's just a photo op, and then he can say 'Look, I'm not racist!'" she said.
David Bullock, a pastor and civil rights activist running for a seat on Detroit's city council, said Republicans and Democrats alike "have failed distressed urban communities for years."
But Clinton has a massive advantage among black voters because of the extensive groundwork that she and her husband president Bill Clinton laid in the 1990s and earlier.
"There's a layer of trust that Hillary has with traditional black leadership that Trump just doesn't have. And he doesn't have time to build that," said Bullock.
But Trump may not even be aiming to peel black votes away from ClintonHe could be strategizing that dumping on Democrats -- repeatedly citing their failure to notably improve conditions in inner cities -- will convince some blacks to stay home on election day.
That, warned Bullock, might help swing a battleground state such as North Carolina, where the race is tight and the African-American population is substantial, in Trump's favor.
"From the Trump side, this makes perfect sense," he said of the candidate's visit. "But we know that this is not about helping Detroit. This is a campaign stunt."AFP

Some Detroit blacks not rolling out welcome mat for Trump

Posted by Unknown, on 03:57

DETROIT (AP) — Toni McIlwain believes that as a candidate for president, Donald Trump has a right to go anywhere he wants. But, she says, it takes a lot of nerve for him to visit Detroit.
Many black people here, she says, are still stung by the Republican presidential nominee's visit to Michigan last month, when he went before a mostly white audience and declared, "You live in your poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed." He asked, rhetorically, what blacks had to lose by voting for him instead of Democrat Hillary Clinton.
"People picked up on" Trump saying "you're all just crap," said McIlwain, who for years ran a community center that offered education and drug prevention programs in one of Detroit's most distressed neighborhoods."He generalized the total black community. How dare you talk to us like that and talk about us like that?" she said.
Trump is going to Detroit to make what appears to be a late attempt to woo black voters roughly two months before the general election. Unlike his usual campaign stops where he confidently addressed mostly white crowds that supported him and his plans for the country, Trump's visit will be more intimate.
He'll attend a service Saturday at an African-American church, but is expected to address the congregation with only a brief greeting. He is also scheduled to record a private interview with the church's media mogul pastor, Bishop Wayne T. Jackson, and take some kind of tour with his former rival, Detroit native Dr. Ben Carson.Carson, who has been advising Trump's campaign, told The Associated Press that the trip would serve as an opportunity for the GOP nominee to see first-hand the challenges residents face as he refines his policy plans.
"It always makes much more of an impression, I think, when you see things first-hand. It makes a much bigger impact," Carson said, adding that he hoped the visit would also leave the people Trump meets with a better sense of the candidate, who tends to be far less caustic in smaller settings than he appears on stage.
But the risky nature of the visit was underscored by what appeared to be unusually cautious planning by the Trump campaign.
On Thursday, The New York Times published what it said was a script of pre-approved questions Trump would be asked in his interview with Jackson, along with prepared answers.
Jackson told CNN on Friday that he "didn't see anything wrong" with clearing his questions with the campaign and hadn't offered softballs. Trump's intention was to meet and speak with local residents while he's in town "because he's been criticized," Jackson said, "for preaching to African-Americans from a backdrop of white people."
Chances are a larger crowd of black voters will be outside the church protesting Trump's presence in the city.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Democratic Rep. Brenda Lawrence are expected to speak against Trump's candidacy on Saturday morning outside Great Faith Ministries International.Another group of clergy also is planning a separate protest rally Saturday outside the church.
For Trump, courting black voters is a challenge. Most polls show his support among black voters is in the low single digits. Many blacks view some of his campaign rhetoric as insulting, and racist.
"Donald Trump does not mean any black people any good," said Crystal Jackson, who has owned the C-Spot barbershop in northwest Detroit for the past seven years.
Jackson, who is not related to Bishop Jackson, said Trump's campaign trail commentary about black lives is a pure illustration that "he has no clue" about blacks, the middle class or the poor."He's already told us what he thinks of us," Jackson said. "So, I think this election is extremely important. We have to get out and vote."
If Trump truly wanted to have a dialogue with blacks in Detroit and hear about their concerns, he would have "arranged an opportunity for people to speak" with him, said the Rev. Horace Sheffield, one of several prominent pastors, labor leaders and elected officials planning a silent march Saturday morning to Bishop Jackson's church.
"That's why we're marching down the street silently — because he doesn't want to hear our voice," Sheffield said. "We're ignored. We're invisible. We don't count. And we're not going to be used at the last minute."Detroit is about 80 percent black, and many are struggling. Nearly 40 percent of residents are impoverished, compared with about 15 percent of Americans overall. Detroit's median household income is just over $26,000 — not even half the median for the nation, according to the census.
The city's unemployment rate has dropped, but is still among the highest in the nation. And public school students have lagged behind their peers on statewide standardized tests.
Trump was received warmly Friday by a group of African-American business, civic and religious leaders during a roundtable discussion in Philadelphia. But others, like Ryan Boyer of the city's Labor District Council, rebuked him, saying Trump "has no prescription to help inner-city America."
In Detroit, that's how Donna Lewis, 59, feels."You don't invite the devil into your house," Lewis said. "He's a racist. He can't help nobody. I don't think he has enough ability to run the country."
Lewis also believes Saturday's visit shows Trump's desperation as election day draws closer and he needs the black vote.
"He left us out and he wants to make up for that," she said. "But it's a little too late."  AP
___

Early voting already: Trump chances may hinge on non-whites

Posted by Unknown, on 03:31

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two months before Election Day, early voting kicks off next week in North Carolina, the first in a run of key states where minority voters and young adults who cast ballots in advance could give one of the White House contenders a decisive advantage.
For Donald Trump, it's a major test of whether his recent outreach to non-white groups is translating into votes. In the increasingly diverse battleground states of North Carolina, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, Arizona and Georgia — all must-win states for Trump, except Colorado — it's minorities in particular who can tip the scales.
Early voters are expected to make up between 50 to 75 percent or more of all ballots in the six states, based on 2012 figures. That's compared to a national average of 35 percent, up from 22 percent in 2004, according to election data compiled by The Associated Press.Mail-in ballots are popular among older, white Republicans, and party officials are betting they can bank plenty of their votes. But in several swing states, Hispanics, blacks and first-time voters typically have been more likely than whites to cast ballots early — and cast them for Democrats. Therein lies the challenge for team Trump.
Says Marlon Marshall, Hillary Clinton's director of state campaigns and political engagement: "We can't say this will be locked up with early voting, but it can absolutely make a huge difference."
"Every early voter we get is one less person we need to mobilize on Election Day," he says.
The Trump campaign says it is taking early voting very seriously — with 133 field offices and plans to add 24 more. The campaign is also leaning heavily on the Republican National Committee to identify reliable white Republican voters in battlegrounds to mail in absentee ballots and keep his numbers up.
Trump also has vaguely urged supporters to volunteer as "election observers" to root out what he says is Democratic voter fraud. He made that assertion after courts rejected a voter ID law in several states, including North Carolina, citing a risk of disenfranchising the poor, minorities or young people who were less likely to have acceptable IDs — and who are more likely to vote Democratic.
The Republicans' get-out-the-vote effort is still significantly behind Clinton's, which, by contrast, is more than double the size of Trump's and rivals Barack Obama's massive 2012 operation."A campaign with a superior voting operation can make a difference, and right now Donald Trump has shown little sign of organization," said Ryan Williams, a former senior staffer to Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. He pointed to Trump's hire just last week of a national field director. At this point in 2012, Williams said, the Romney campaign had a fully staffed field team working intensely with the national party to help identify likely voters, organize turnout events, register voters and knock on doors.
National Republican officials say they now have 1,000 paid staffers and 5,000-plus trained organizers and other volunteers in 11 states assigned to help mobilize voters for both Trump and down-ballot GOP candidates. Heavy focus will be on boosting absentee mail-in balloting in Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Iowa, using the party's own massive data analytics program.The Clinton campaign has more than 250 field offices in nine states compared to Trump's 133 nationwide, though Trump adviser Karen Giorno says his number will increase, especially in Florida. The Clinton team declined to reveal personnel details, but the 2012 mobilization involved thousands of paid staffers — including 500 in Florida alone — and 50,000-some trained organizers and other volunteers, according to Jen O'Malley Dillon, Obama's top field director in 2012 and now a senior adviser to the Democratic National Committee.
Republican officials stress that a main goal in 2016 will be to avoid deep early vote deficits, explaining that most Republicans are "habitual" Election Day voters
In all, 37 states and the District of Columbia will allow voters to cast ballots by mail or at polling sites before Nov. 8. In mid to late October, a host of states launch in-person early voting, favored by non-whites and young adults who largely back Democrats. The most ardent supporters tend to vote first, and a key test will come in the remaining weeks.
Put in place last spring, the Clinton ground game relies on a massive voter file to help track both committed supporters and persuadable voters. Volunteers fan out to make their pitches and keep prospective voters informed of deadlines, polling locations and how to request absentee ballots. With new voter ID laws or other restrictions set to be in place in 15 states, a "voter protection team" of lawyers also is working with county officials in North Carolina, Florida, Nevada and Colorado.
In Obama's historic 2008 race, he ran up such big early voting advantages in four battlegrounds — Colorado, Florida, Iowa and North Carolina — that his rival, John McCain, couldn't catch up, despite winning the Election Day vote in those states, according to AP data.  AP

US student missing from China since 2004 spotted in North Korea, served as Kim Jong-un's English tutor – report

Posted by Unknown, on 03:17
The disappearance of an American student from China about 12 years ago has stirred a controversy with media outlets claiming that the man, then 24, was allegedly abducted by the North Korea government. Reports state that David Sneddon was taken to Pyongyang to serve as an English tutor for then would-be leader Kim Jong-un.
Sneddon was believed to have died in China's Yunnan Province in a hiking accident, but has been apparently spotted alive in North Korea's capital. However, the US State Department has dismissed the reports and said that it do not have any "verifiable evidence" to show that Sneddon was kidnapped by the North.
Spokesperson John Kirby said on Thursday (1 September) that their embassy in Beijing and the consulate in Chengdu, China "have been in regular, ongoing contact with local authorities since David Sneddon was reported missing in China in August of 2004". He added that the department has already handed over all information they had gathered on the missing boy to his parents and that they "continue to closely monitor this matter... raise it with Chinese authorities".
"I cannot speculate for the reasons of his disappearance. However, I can tell you that we have seen no verifiable evidence to indicate that Mr Sneddon was abducted by North Korean officials," Kirby said.
The speculation that Sneddon may have been kidnapped by North Korea surfaced following a report in Yahoo News Japan, which quoted Choi Sung-yong, head of South Korea's Abductees' Family Union, as stating that the missing man is an English teacher in Pyongyang now – believed to be living with his wife and two children.
Although the reports have not been verified, a fresh ray of hope is seen by David's parents – Roy and Kathleen Sneddon. The man was last seen on 14 August 2004, leaving a Korean restaurant in Shangri-La and was reported missing on 26 August after he failed to meet his brother at the airport in Seoul, South Korea.
Chinese authorities, at the time were of the view that the man was probably killed during a hiking accident at Tiger Leaping Gorge. However, the fact that David's body was never recovered prompted the Snoddens to believe that their son was alive and they, thus, continued their efforts to search for him via a website and a Facebook page.
"We initially thought that China had picked David up thinking he was involved in the underground railroad, because a former companion of his had been teaching a North Korean family in Beijing," Roy Sneddon told The Daily Mail. But they were later led to believe that their son was abducted by North Korea."I received a phone call from a US citizen near Seoul," Roy said and added that the man told him his wife was a defector and so, was "in touch with a community of people who left North Korea". The unidentified man told Roy that "there is someone who matches the description of your son and he's teaching English in Pyongyang".
Referring to the recent report, Kathleen said that they do not blindly believe on whatever is written in the media. "Right now we're saying we're 'hopefully optimistic'," she said. THE  DAILY  MAIL

Abe calls for 'new epoch' in Russia-Japan ties hit by WWII dispute

Posted by Unknown, on 03:04

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin for a new era in ties hampered by a territorial dispute dating back to WWII.
"Let's put an end to this abnormal situation which has lasted 70 years, and together start to build a new epoch in Russia-Japan ties that will last the next 70 years," Abe told Putin during a speech translated into Russian after the pair met for talks in Russia's far eastern city of Vladivostok.
Tokyo-Moscow relations are hamstrung by a row dating back to the end of World War II when Soviet troops seized the southernmost islands in the Pacific Kuril chain, known as the Northern Territories in Japan.
The tensions have prevented the countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending wartime hostilities, hindering trade and investment ties.The two sides are now on a concerted drive to improve relations with Abe currently on his second trip to Russia this year and Putin set to visit Japan in December.
- Warm words, no breakthrough -
Despite the warm words and clear desire to improve trade, which has been hit by sanctions slapped on Moscow by stalwart US ally Tokyo over Russia's meddling in Ukraine, there has been no major breakthrough on a deal to end the territorial dispute.
In his speech Saturday to an economic forum in Vladivostok a day after holding talks with Putin, Abe also proposed to the Russian president that the two of them should meet annually in the city to try to hammer out their differences.
Talking on the same stage as Abe, Putin said that, while both Tokyo and Moscow wanted to defend their national interests, the two sides needed to bury the hatchet once and for all.
"Today it is obvious that we can't let the chances that we have slide by," Putin said.
"Each of us looks at this problem through the prism of their national interests but we all agree on one thing -- we need to solve the problem," Putin said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters after the two leaders met Friday that they had focused on boosting trade ties, but remained vague about the prospects of solving the territorial conflict.
Russia has angered Japan recently by building new modern compounds for its troops stationed on two of the disputed islands.Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev infuriated Tokyo last year when he visited the islands, which are home to some 19,000 Russians.AFP

Friday, 2 September 2016

Singapore in battle mode against Zika after infections rise

Posted by Unknown, on 06:29


SINGAPORE (AP) — Singapore is encouraging residents to use insect repellent, clear blockages in drains and wear long-sleeved clothing to protect themselves from mosquitoes after the number of Zika infections rose to 189 in the city-state.
Open-air food centers in affected districts had few lunchtime patrons Friday, many apparently fearful of contracting the mosquito-borne virus.
"I understand the food court ... is affected but we shouldn't behave like that," said retiree David Lye, 67, one of the very few customers at the large Macpherson Market and Food Center. "We should be positive and do our part to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes," said Lye. He said he has not been using any mosquito repellant.
Singapore announced its first Zika infection in May, with the virus imported by a 48-year-old man who had traveled to Brazil. On Friday, the Ministry of Health and the NationaEnvironment Agency confirmed 38 more locally transmitted cases, bringing the total to 189, including two pregnant women.
The number includes visitors from Malaysia, and Indonesian and Chinese nationals residing in the city-state.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry issued a travel advisory on Friday for Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries were Zika has appeared, recommending that travelers take precautionary measures and that pregnant women postpone planned trips.
The Zika virus has mild effects on most people, but can be fatal for unborn children. Infection during pregnancy is believed to result in babies with small heads - a condition called microcephaly - and other brain defects.Environment Agency confirmed 38 more locally transmitted cases, bringing the total to 189, including two pregnant women.
The number includes visitors from Malaysia, and Indonesian and Chinese nationals residing in the city-state.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry issued a travel advisory on Friday for Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries were Zika has appeared, recommending that travelers take precautionary measures and that pregnant women postpone planned trips.
The Zika virus has mild effects on most people, but can be fatal for unborn children. Infection during pregnancy is believed to result in babies with small heads - a condition called microcephaly - and other brain defects."So far I have been going to work ... I have been going shopping. Everyone is still living their life per normal," said retail supervisor Shubez Chakraverty, who lives in an affected cluster.
"After all, it's something we cannot control and it's a very minute ... animal that goes around so it's difficult to monitor."
The Ministry of Health and the National Environment Agency said in a joint statement that the government's objective is to keep the incidence of the disease low by reducing the mosquito population and breaking the disease transmission chain.
At one of the identified clusters in MacPherson neighborhood, official Zika leaflets were put up in common areas beneath public apartments.The flyers encouraged residents to take precautions, such as using insect repellent, clearing drains and wearing long sleeves. They also said residents should visit a doctor if symptoms such as fever and rashes arise.
Pest-control workers have been fumigating areas across the island nation of 5.5 million where Zika cases have been identified.
In his first comments since the influx of Zika infections, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a Facebook post Thursday that "Our best defense is to eradicate mosquitoes and destroy breeding habitats, all over Singapore  AP

Mexican director raps president's Trump meeting 'betrayal'

Posted by Unknown, on 06:26

Mexican film director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu condemned Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto for meeting US presidential candidate Donald Trump, branding it a "betrayal" in an article published Friday.
The billionaire real estate tycoon, who has made repeated verbal attacks on Mexico, met Pena Nieto in Mexico City on Wednesday at the invitation of the Mexican president.
"Enrique Pena Nieto's invitation to Donald Trump is a betrayal," wrote Inarritu, who won the Oscar for best director in February for his drama "The Revenant".
"It endorses someone who has insulted us, spat on us and threatened us for over a year before the entire world. It lacks dignity and emboldens a hate campaign against us," he wrote in an opinion article in Spanish daily El Pais.
Trump launched his campaign last year by declaring that Mexico was sending "rapists" and other criminals across the border.
The Republican nominee has threatened to make Mexico pay for a wall on the border to stop migrants from entering the United States illegally.
He has also vowed to deport millions of Mexican immigrants illegally living in the United States, and cancel trade agreements with Mexico.
Pena Nieto has faced a barrage of criticism over his decision to hold talks with Trump, with many accusing him of weakness and humiliation.
He defended his meeting, saying in a television interview on Wednesday that "we must confront the problems, threats and risks facing Mexico."Inarritu is the first filmmaker to win best director Oscars twice in a row.
He won the Academy Award last year for "Birdman," which also scooped up the best picture Oscar. AFP

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