Dear Commons Community,

We remember the lives lost on September 11th, 2001. We mourn for those whose lives were changed forever. We also remember the bravery, courage, and humanity shown by our first responders and fellow citizens who rushed to the World Trade Center on that horrific day.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

While Australians yesterday mourned the death of Queen Elizabeth, republicans also revived a longstanding debate on ending the country’s association with the 1,000-year-old monarchy.

The British monarch is the head of state in Australia, among 14 other realms outside the United Kingdom, although the role is largely ceremonial.  As reported by Reuters.

Australia has long debated the need to keep a distant monarch. A 1999 referendum in Australia on becoming a republic lost with 55% of voters opposed.

“Our thoughts are with her family and all who loved her. Now Australia must move forward,” said Australian Greens Party leader Adam Bandt, a prominent republican.

“We need Treaty with First Nations people, and we need to become a Republic,” he wrote on Twitter.

Bandt was accused, even by some fellow republicans, of being disrespectful by bringing up the issue just hours after the queen’s death.

“Not the right time to call for a republic irrespective of where you sit on the monarchy/ republic spectrum. Not respectful after her long life of service,” one of Bandt’s followers said in response to the tweet.

Bandt’s office did not immediate respond to an email seeking comment.

The Australian Republic Movement also offered condolences while noting that the queen had backed Australia’s right to become a fully independent nation during the 1999 referendum, saying she had affirmed it was “an issue for the Australian people and them alone to decide.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has spoken in support of moving toward a republic. But on Friday he said: “Today’s a day for one issue and one issue only, which is to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II.”

Similar debates are occurring in the Caribbean, where Jamaica has signalled it may soon follow Barbados in ditching royal rule.

Queen Elizabeth was instrumental in keeping the Commonwealth intact.  Her passing will cause ripples throughout it!

Tony

Doug Mastriano

Dear Commons Community,

The  University of New Brunswick has made public Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano’s 2013 doctoral dissertation about legendary World War I hero, U.S. Army Sgt. Alvin C. York, including six pages of recently added corrections. As reported by the Associated Press.

Researchers who have long criticized Mastriano’s investigation into Sergeant York as plagued by factual errors, amateurish archaeology and sloppy writing say the dissertation, released last month by the University, echoes the problems in his 2014 book based on the same research.

Mastriano won the Republican primary in May thanks, in part, to a late endorsement by former President Donald Trump. He came to political prominence by leading protests against pandemic mitigation efforts, energetically supporting the movement to overturn Trump’s 2020 reelection defeat and appearing outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The far-right state senator, a retired Army colonel, regularly brings up his Ph.D. status in public remarks and on the campaign trail as evidence of his knowledgeability. When a photo of Mastriano wearing a Confederate uniform (above) surfaced last month, he brandished his academic credentials as a defense of his credibility.

Mastriano’s 480-page thesis includes a retelling of York’s life story and the results of Mastriano’s own research. The version now online has Mastriano’s June 2021 corrections, appended after a complaint from another researcher prompted the university to review the work.

A University of New Brunswick history professor, Jeff Brown, provided documents to The Associated Press that recorded his own misgivings about the dissertation nearly a decade ago when he was on Mastriano’s doctoral committee. He says he was “appalled” by the dissertation and “disturbed by the fact that no one on the committee was qualified to evaluate the huge part of it that was archaeological.”

Brown said he flagged glaring issues to other faculty members and administrators and was dismissed from Mastriano’s committee by the lead adviser — yet the published dissertation still listed Brown on the title page, giving the impression that he endorsed the material.

Brown said in an email that Mastriano’s main adviser, now-retired history professor Marc Milner, told him “that as it turns out, I never really needed to be on the examining committee after all, so there was no need to worry about evaluating Mastriano’s dissertation (despite the fact that I had already done so).”

“This was presented to me as a favour, to relieve me of the necessity of having to decide whether to sign off on it or not,” Brown added. “I never understood how I suddenly became superfluous.”

Neither Milner nor Mastriano responded to multiple requests for comment.

I don’t think the University of New Brunswick is proud of this situation!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Donald Trump threatened to sue Fox News and The Lincoln Project yesterday for false advertising after an insulting ad (see video above) created by The Lincoln Project that aired on the cable network  in one local market in New Jersey — where Trump owns a golf course.

The ad is titled “Sucker,” and it basically explains to MAGA Republicans why they are suckers for believing anything Trump tells them:

“Dear MAGA, we have some bad news. No, not that he lost. Not that your little coup attempt failed and its planners and the attackers are going to jail. No. The really bad news is why Trump told you he lost. Why he set it up way before the 2020 election. It wasn’t voter fraud but it was fraud.

“Trump told you the election was stolen ripped you off, to sucker you, to take your hard-earned money and shovel it into his pockets. He spent it on himself not to take back the White House.

“It was the biggest scam in political history. Every dollar you sent him paid to keep his shady business empire and lavish lifestyle going. It was a sucker game all along. And you know who the sucker is? You.”

The ad copy may address “MAGA Republicans,” but The Lincoln Project intentionally targets Trump, purchasing local ad time on Fox News in Bedminster, New Jersey, where the former president spends the summer months, according to Mediaite.

The commercial was designed specifically to invoke Trump’s ire, and it apparently succeeded based on the rant he unleashed Wednesday on Truth Social:

“The Perverts and Lowlifes of the Lincoln Project are back on, where else, Fox News. I thought they ran away to the asylum after their last catastrophic campaign, with charges made against them that were big time sleaze, and me getting many millions more votes in 2020 than I got in 2016. The Paul Ryun run Fox only has high standards for “Trump” ads, but not for anyone else. The Perverts should not be allowed to “false advertise,” and Fox News should not allow it to happen. See you all in Court!!!”

It should be noted that Trump notoriously threatens lawsuits but rarely files them ― probably because the discovery process could force him to answer embarrassing questions under oath.

That and the First Amendment protections of political speech are probably why Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson, a former Republican strategist, didn’t seem too worried about the threat.

“In 2020, The Lincoln Project took up a long-term free lease in Trump’s brain. His threat to sue the Lincoln Project today is like Trump himself; impotent, flabby, and pathetic,” he told Mediaite.

Wilson said he was “delighted” by the chance of a lawsuit and released a Twitter video (see below) in which he bluntly told Trump to “go for it.”

“Go for it. Go for it, bitch. Come at me. I can’t wait,” he taunted. “Do it. Do it. I double dog dare you.”

Wow!

Tony

Bernard Shaw

Dear Commons Community,

Bernard Shaw, the longtime lead anchor of CNN and an original member of the news network, died Wednesday at age 82.

The veteran newsman died following a battle with pneumonia unrelated to COVID-19, his family said yesterday, according to CNN.  As reported by CNN.

“Bernie was a CNN original and was our Washington Anchor when we launched on June 1, 1980,” said Chris Licht, CEO of CNN, in a statement. “He was our lead anchor the next twenty years from anchoring coverage of presidential elections to his iconic coverage of the First Gulf War live from Baghdad in 1991.”

Shaw was the first-ever lead anchor for CNN who moderated presidential and vice presidential debates and co-anchored the show “Inside Politics” for nearly a decade before retiring in 2001.

“Even after he left CNN, Bernie remained a close member of our CNN family providing our viewers with context about historic events as recently as last year,” Licht said. “The condolences of all of us at CNN go out to his wife Linda and his children.”

A public memorial will be held on a yet-to-be-announced date following a private funeral service for family and guests, according to CNN.

Bernard Shaw was the trusted voice for news during the Gulf War.  Americans tuned into his daily reports  to hear what he had to say about the fighting going in the Middle East as a result of the Iraqi invasion and annexation of Kuwait.

The New York Times has an obituary of Mr. Shaw here.

May he rest in peace!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

The Associated Press compiled the following milestones in Queen Elzabeth II’s life in memory of her passing yesterday.

Tony

LONDON (AP) — Key milestones in the life of Queen Elizabeth II, who died yesterday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland at age 96 after serving more than seven decades on the throne.

—April 21, 1926: Born Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary in Mayfair, London, the first child of the future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, later called the Queen Mother.

—Dec. 10, 1936: Elizabeth becomes heir-apparent to the throne after her uncle King Edward VIII abdicates and her father becomes king.

—Oct. 13, 1940: Elizabeth makes first public speech at age 14 on the BBC Children’s Hour to reassure children who had been separated from their parents during the Blitz.

—1945: Elizabeth is made a Subaltern in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, serving for Britain during World War II.

—Nov. 20, 1947: Elizabeth marries Prince Philip Mountbatten of Greece and Denmark at Westminster Abbey.

—Nov. 14, 1948: Prince Charles, now Prince of Wales, heir-apparent to the throne, is born.

—Aug. 15, 1950: Elizabeth’s second child and only daughter, Anne, the Princess Royal, is born.

—Feb. 6, 1952: Elizabeth becomes queen upon the death of her father George VI.

—June 2, 1953: Crowned in a grand coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey. She sets out on a tour of the Commonwealth, visiting places including Bermuda, Fiji, Tonga, Australia, and Gibraltar.

—Feb. 19, 1960: Elizabeth’s third child, Prince Andrew, is born.

—March 10, 1964: Elizabeth’s fourth child, Prince Edward, is born.

—May 1965: Elizabeth makes a historic visit to West Germany, the first German visit by a British monarch in 52 years.

—1977: Elizabeth celebrates her Silver Jubilee, which marks 25 years on the throne.

—1992: Elizabeth has what she describes as an “annus horribilis,” or a “horrible year.” The year sees marriages for three of her four children end. Also that year, a fire damages Windsor Castle. Public outcry over the cost of repairs amid a recession prompts the queen to volunteer to pay income taxes.

—Aug. 31, 1997: Princess Diana dies in a car crash in Paris. Under public pressure to demonstrate her grief, Elizabeth makes an unprecedented television broadcast in tribute to Diana’s memory.

—2002: Elizabeth marks 50 years of reign with her Golden Jubilee. The year also sees the deaths of Elizabeth’s mother and her sister, Margaret.

—Dec. 20, 2007: Elizabeth becomes the longest-living British monarch, overtaking Victoria.

—May 2011: Elizabeth makes a historic visit to Ireland — the first visit by a British monarch since Irish independence.

—2012: Elizabeth marks 60 years of her reign with a Diamond Jubilee.

—Sept. 9, 2015: Elizabeth surpasses Queen Victoria and becomes the longest-serving monarch in British history.

—June 11, 2016: Britain celebrates Elizabeth’s official 90th birthday with three days of national festivities.

—Feb. 6, 2017: Elizabeth becomes the first British monarch to celebrate a Sapphire Jubilee, marking 65 years on the throne.

— March 2020: Elizabeth and Philip move from Buckingham Palace in London to Windsor Castle at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

—April 9, 2021: Prince Philip, Elizabeth’s husband of 73 years, dies at age 99.

–Oct. 20, 2021: Elizabeth spends a night in a London hospital undergoing health tests. She cancels major engagements in subsequent months, on doctors’ orders to only undertake light duties.

–Feb. 6, 2022: Elizabeth becomes first British monarch to reach a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years as sovereign.

–June 2022: Elizabeth makes limited public appearances during a four-day holiday weekend celebrating her Platinum Jubilee.

–Sept. 6, 2022: Elizabeth meets Boris Johnson and Liz Truss at her summer holiday home in Scotland to oversee the handover of power from the outgoing prime minster to his successor. The ceremonies, traditionally held at Buckingham Palace in London, were moved to Balmoral for the first time in the queen’s reign in light of her mobility problems.

–Sept. 8, 2022: Elizabeth dies at Balmoral Castle in Scotland at age 96. Her eldest son becomes King Charles III.

Dear Commons Community,

Class is back in session — and approximately 900,000 New York City schoolkids are expected to report to school today.

With the ringing of school bells and the rumbling of the yellow buses come a host of changes, big and small, and lingering challenges on the horizon. For instance, snow days will be a thing of the past and replaced by remote learning anytime there is excessive inclement weather. Here are five things to look out for as the school year kicks off courtesy of Daily News education reporter,  Michael Elsen-Rooney.

A changed COVID-19 landscape

This year, for the first time since before the pandemic, city kids and teachers will start school without a mask requirement, after the face-covering rule was lifted last spring. COVID-19 quarantine rules will also look very different than last year at this time, with kids exposed to a positive case in class no longer required to isolate. Kids who share a classroom with a virus-positive peer will now be given rapid tests.

There are still other COVID-19 requirements on the books, though, including an ongoing vaccine mandate for all staff, students participating in sports and some after-school activities, and visitors to school buildings.

An ongoing fight over budget cuts

A fierce debate over enrollment-driven budget cuts has consumed many parents, educators and administrators over the summer, and the fight is far from over.

The on-the-ground effects of the budget slashes, which have forced some schools to cut staff positions and programs, could become clearer as kids and teachers return to school.

A stunning judicial decision temporarily halted the cuts, but was subsequently reversed by a higher court. Further arguments in the case are set for the end of September.

Meanwhile, the City Council, which approved a big chunk of the cuts in the first place, has promised a “muscular” fight to restore some of the cuts when the city’s budget comes up for modification later in the fall.

More data on learning loss — and more questions

The nation got its most comprehensive look yet last week at the extent of the academic challenges the pandemic wrought, with math and reading scores plunging last year compared with prepandemic levels.

More precise testing data — including New York City-specific scores — is expected next month, which will likely turn up the scrutiny on the city’s plans to spend billions in remaining stimulus funds and help students recover.

A continuing focus on school safety

Last year’s full-time return to in-person classes brought with it a marked surge in the number of weapons turning up in city schools, reigniting a long-running and thorny debate about how best to keep students and schools safe.

Schools Chancellor David Banks has pledged to keep school safety as a major focus — and strike a balance between using approaches like police and metal detectors and more supportive services like restorative justice and mental health services. Banks announced Wednesday that 850 new school safety agents have been hired for this school year.

Will attendance and enrollment bounce back?

Getting kids to sign up for school and show up consistently has been a major challenge for many big urban school systems during the pandemic, including New York City’s.

The Education Department is forecasting further enrollment declines this year, but final numbers aren’t released until later in the fall.

Meanwhile, chronic absenteeism reached unprecedented levels last school year, and many of the city’s newly hired superintendents have identified improving attendance as a priority.

We wish Schools Chancellor David Banks good luck with the start of the new school year!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

A dozen people dressed as angels surrounded their LGBTQ peers and allies at a “Back to School Pride Night” event Saturday in Provo, Utah, shielding them from a crowd of protesters that yelled anti-LGBTQ slurs (see video above).

Community members sporting wings made of white sheets stood hand-in-hand to block the messages of the protesters, who had gathered at Kiwanis Park to object to the off-campus Pride event organized by students at Brigham Young University (BYU).  As reported by The Hill.

Protesters yelled hateful slurs at the group of LGBTQ students and allies that attended Saturday’s celebration, calling them “pedophiles” and “groomers.” Many attended to voice their opposition to a drag show that featured current and former BYU students as performers.

Under BYU’s Honor Code, which students agree to live by as part of their admission requirements, same-sex relationships are strictly prohibited and LGBTQ student groups are not permitted to meet or hold events on-campus.

The religious school, operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which does not recognize same-sex marriage, was praised by students and LGBTQ advocates in 2020 when it removed a rule from its Honor Code that banned “homosexual behavior.”

Just three weeks later, however, officials clarified that students in same-sex relationships who engaged in public displays of affection like hand-holding or kissing would be subject to disciplinary action.

Students and community members say they dressed as angels not only to protect LGBTQ+ students from protesters, but also to push back against the university’s policies.

“I’m doing this because I want our LGBTQ community to feel like they can be themselves and know we have their backs,” Sabrina Wong, a BYU student and ally who stood as one of the angels, told the Salt Lake Tribune.

Late last month, LGBTQ student groups including the RaYnbow Collective, an off-campus organization that supports BYU’s LGBTQ community and organized Saturday’s Pride event, said the university had removed resources for queer students from welcome bags given to first-year students.

God bless these angels!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

The cartoon above by Bill Bramhall appeared in yesterday’s New York Daily News.  It parodies the ruling of Judge Aileen Cannon to  grant  Trump’s request to appoint an independent arbiter known as a special master to review materials seized last month from his private Florida club. The decision, which could delay the criminal investigation into Mr. Trump, drew scrutiny from experts who questioned her legal reasoning and criticized some of the language in her opinion about what rights a former president is entitled to.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs will pay nearly $440 million to settle a two-year investigation by 33 states into the marketing of its high-nicotine vaping products, which have been blamed for sparking a national surge in teen vaping.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced the deal yesterday on behalf of the states, which joined together in 2020 to probe Juul’s early promotions and claims about the safety and benefits of its technology as a smoking alternative.

The settlement resolves one of the biggest legal threats facing the beleaguered company, which still faces nine separate lawsuits from other states. Additionally, Juul faces hundreds of personal suits brought on behalf of teenagers and others who say they became addicted to the company’s vaping products.

The state investigation found that Juul marketed its e-cigarettes to underage teens with launch parties, product giveaways and ads and social media posts using youthful models, according to a statement.  As reported by the Associated Press.

“Through this settlement, we have secured hundreds of millions of dollars to help reduce nicotine use and forced Juul to accept a series of strict injunctive terms to end youth marketing and crack down on underage sales,” Tong said in a press release.

The $438.5 million will be paid out over a period of six to 10 years. Tong said Connecticut’s payment of at least $16 million will go toward vaping prevention and education efforts. Juul previously settled lawsuits in Arizona, Louisiana, North Carolina and Washington.

Most of the limits imposed by Tuesday’s settlement won’t affect Juul’s practices, which halted use of parties, giveaways and other promotions after coming under scrutiny several several years ago.

Teen use of e-cigarettes skyrocketed after Juul’s launch in 2015, leading the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to declare an “epidemic” of underage vaping among teenagers. Health experts said the unprecedented increase risked hooking a generation of young people on nicotine.

But since 2019 Juul has mostly been in retreat, dropping all U.S. advertising and pulling its fruit and candy flavors from store shelves.

The biggest blow came earlier this summer when the FDA moved to ban all Juul e-cigarettes from the market. Juul challenged that ruling in court, and the FDA has since reopened its scientific review of the company’s technology.

The FDA review is part of a sweeping effort by regulators to bring scrutiny to the multibillion-dollar vaping industry after years of regulatory delays. The agency has authorized a handful of e-cigarettes for adult smokers looking for a less harmful alternative.

While Juul’s early marketing focused on young, urban consumers, the company has since shifted to pitching its product as an alternative nicotine source for older smokers.

“We remain focused on our future as we fulfill our mission to transition adult smokers away from cigarettes – the number one cause of preventable death – while combating underage use,” the company said in a statement.

Juul has agreed to refrain from a host of marketing practices as part of the settlement. They include not using cartoons, paying social media influencers, depicting people under 35, advertising on billboards and public transportation and placing ads in any outlets unless 85% of their audience are adults.

The deal also includes restrictions on where Juul products may be placed in stores, age verification on all sales and limits to online and retail sales.

Juul initially sold its high-nicotine pods in flavors like mango, mint and creme. The products became a scourge in U.S. high schools, with students vaping in bathrooms and hallways between classes.

Tony