US Drawing Down Troops in Afghanistan as Taliban Attacks Surge

VOA News

Published on Jul 21, 2020

The United States is calling on all parties in Afghanistan to reduce violence and to come to the table for peace talks, but Taliban violence continues

COVID’s Hidden Toll (full film) | FRONTLINE

FRONTLINE PBS | Official

Premiere in progress. Started 10 minutes ago

How the COVID crisis has hit vulnerable immigrants and undocumented workers who have helped keep America fed during the pandemic.

Portland Protests Grow Despite Violent Crackdown from Militarized Federal Agents & Local Police

Democracy Now!

Published on Jul 21, 2020

Heavily armed federal officers without name tags have carried out nightly attacks on antiracist demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, and snatched people off the streets into unmarked vans, sparking widespread outrage. “What we’ve seen is a continuous escalation in violence against our protesters,” says Lilith Sinclair, an Afro-Indigenous local organizer in Portland. They note the federal violence follows many years of “severe police brutality” from local police. “It’s left the people of Portland not only worried about their safety, but, even more so, justified in the fight that we’re engaged in.”

“Camouflaged Goon Squads”: Outrage, Legal Challenges in Portland as Federal Agents Snatch Pr otesters

Democracy Now!

Published on Jul 21, 2020

The U.S. attorney for the District of Oregon has called for an investigation into the conduct of federal officers deployed to protests in Portland, calling their behavior “unlawful.” Local officials are also mounting legal challenges to remove the agents from city streets. Juan Chavez, project director and attorney at the Oregon Justice Resource Center, says it’s a terrifying situation for Portland residents who face “these camouflaged goon squads” who often refuse to identify themselves or their agencies. “They just appear in the middle of the night next to people who are in and around downtown who then get corralled into these vehicles, not told where or who’s picking them up,” he says.

Indigenous Activist Crystal Cavalier-Keck Takes On North Carolina Pipeline | NowThis

NowThis News

Published on Jul 21, 2020

Another natural gas line is threatening to harm Native land, this time in North Carolina — and Indigenous activist Crystal Cavalier-Keck is trying to stop it.

Trump returns to briefing podium with ‘mixed messaging’ on pandemic

PBS NewsHour

Published on Jul 21, 2020

President Trump returned to the podium Tuesday afternoon to resume briefings about the coronavirus pandemic. Yamiche Alcindor joins Judy Woodruff to discuss Trump’s “mixed messages” about the extent of the national COVID-19 crisis, plus what the Department of Homeland Security is saying about its controversial response to protests occurring in cities like Portland, Oregon.

Colleges and universities grapple with decision to return to campus

PBS NewsHour

Published on Jul 21, 2020

U.S. colleges and universities are scrambling to finalize their fall plans as coronavirus infections continue to rise significantly in much of the country. While some students, faculty and staff are looking forward to returning to campus, others are raising serious health and safety concerns. Hari Sreenivasan reports on how schools are approaching the decision, for our annual Rethinking College series.

Atlanta Mayor Worries U.S. is Headed on “Course For Disaster” | Amanpour and Company

Amanpour and Company

Published on Jul 21, 2020

Georgia’s governor, unlike Maryland’s, is on the same page with President Trump. In fact, Governor Brian Kemp is going so far as to sue the mayor of Atlanta to block the city’s mask mandate. Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms was elected in 2017 and is reportedly on Joe Biden’s short list as a potential running mate. She speaks with Walter Isaacson about all this, as well as why she opposes defunding the police.

Originally aired on July 21, 2020.

PROSSER GIFFORD 1929 – 2020 – The New York Times

Prosser Gifford, of Woods Hole, Massachusetts, scholar, author, academician, died peacefully in his home on July 5, 2020 with family by his side. He was 91. Prosser led a self-described “life of learning” and thrived on rigorous intellectual debate. Prosser was born May 16, 1929 in New York City, the only child of Barbara Prosser and John A. Gifford. He earned degrees from Yale University in 1951; Merton College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar in 1953; Harvard Law School in 1956; and a PhD in History from Yale University in 1964. Lured by Calvin Plimpton, President of Amherst College, he became the first Dean of the Faculty at Amherst in 1967.

Prosser wrote that his proudest achievements during his 12-year tenure as Dean were leading the commission that resulted in Amherst College Trustees admitting women in 1974 and increasing the number of women faculty members from one when he arrived to 26 when he left in 1979. After leaving Amherst College he became Deputy Director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, convening scholars from around the world to collaborate on research, writing, and discussion of world issues.

The Wilson Quarterly described Prosser as an “exemplar of the strenuous life.” Prosser served as Director of Scholarly Programs at the Library of Congress from 1990 until his retirement in 2005. He was the first director of the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress that brought together some of the world’s eminent thinkers and supervised the selection of the $1 million Kluge Prize for lifetime achievement in the humanities and social sciences. In 2005, Prosser and his wife Deedee moved from Washington, DC to Woods Hole, MA. He was Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the Marine Biological Laboratory for 13 years, President of the Woods Hole Public Library, and an active member of the Church of the Messiah.

Prosser’s great passion was sailing. He met his wife Deedee in a sailing race in Woods Hole when he was 11 years old and she was nine. He crewed for the Bermuda Race half a dozen times and raced trans-Atlantic twice, once a hurricane-filled trial from New York to Spain. He captained his own boat the Windhover 28 times between Woods Hole and Solomons Island, Maryland. Prosser was married to Shirley M. “Deedee” for 56 years until her death in 2010. He is survived by his three loving daughters, Barbara, Paula and Heidi; their respective spouses Bill Shimer, Chris McKenzie, and George Melas-Kyriazi, and his six grandchildren: Eliot and Sophie Shimer; Jessica and Melanie McKenzie; and Luke and Lily Melas-Kyriazi. He was an adored father and revered grandfather and will be missed tremendously.

Prosser will be remembered for his kindness, his gentleness, his generosity of spirit and mind, and most distinctly his signature laugh that could be identified anywhere and is known by all who met him. A private burial will take place at the Church of the Messiah in Woods Hole, MA. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to the Yale University Library: giving.yale.edu/supportProsserGifford or the Woods Hole Public Library woodsholepubliclibrary.org/

To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store.
Published in New York Times on Jul. 19, 2020.

See related:

• Prosser Gifford 1929-2020 | Merton College, Oxford
• Prosser Gifford (1929 ∼ 2020)
• Prosser Gifford (Wikipedia)
• Prosser Gifford ~Beloved Father, Kind Friend, Teacher, Quiet Leader, & Gentle Giant of World History
• The Rhodes Family Will Miss a Compassionate “Gentle Giant” of World Historical Understanding
• Yale Loses a Prominent African Historian and Compassionate “Gentle Giant”
• Learning and Teaching World History in a Time of Global Crisis
• Senior Rhodes Scholar Inspires a New Approach to the Study of Africa Through Historical Cartography
  and
• Repatriating African History: Artifacts, Technology, New Communities & New Narratives

Interview with United Farm Workers Union President Teresa Romero

Danielle Nierenberg

Streamed live 33 minutes ago

Teresa Romero, President of the United Farm Workers Union, is the first Latina and first immigrant woman to become president of a national union in the United States.

Food-matters,