The Trump administration refused Thursday to commit to putting Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. Reneging on an Obama administration decision to replace slave owner Andrew Jackson — President Trump’s favorite president — with Tubman, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin explained he would base a new $20 bill design on preventing counterfeiting rather than on a new portrait.
“Ultimately, we will be looking at this issue,” Mnuchin said in a CNBC interview. “It’s not something I’m focused on at the moment.”
Tubman never waited for a man to affirm her.
Tubman reveled in defying men, defying governments, defying slavery, defying Confederate armies and slave catchers who put a $40,000 bounty on her head.
This black woman who stood 5 feet tall was utterly and completely fearless.
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The $20 bill is getting a new face. The U.S. Treasury says anti-slavery crusader Harriet Tubman will replace former President Andrew Jackson on the Twenty. (Reuters)
As water began to recede in some parts of flood-ravaged Houston and as Harvey, now a tropical depression, shifted its wrath to the Beaumont-Port Arthur area of Texas, there were reports early Thursday that a chemical plant at risk of exploding had done just that.
There were two explosions at the Arkema plant in Crosby, about 30 miles northeast of downtown Houston, around 2 a.m., the French chemicals company that owns the plant said in a statement.
It said there was a risk of further explosions at the site.
“We want local residents to be aware that the product is stored in multiple locations on the site, and a threat of additional explosion remains,” Arkema said.
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The scene at a meeting point in the Energy Corridor neighborhood in Houston on Wednesday.Credit Andrew Burton for The New York Times
Two explosions and plumes of black smoke were reported at a flooded chemical plant in Crosby, Texas on Thursday, officials said.
One deputy has been taken to the hospital after he inhaled fumes from the Arkema peroxide plant, the Harris County sheriff’s office tweeted. Nine others drove themselves to the hospital as a precaution, the sheriff’s office said.
The explosions were reported around 2 a.m. (local time).
The facility, which is between Houston and Beaumont, had been closely monitored after plant officials said they expected a chemical reaction that will likely cause a fire that will “resemble a large gasoline fire.”
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And Then – Two explosions reported at chemical plant
“Please return to your vehicles,” the ferry attendant announced over the intercom. “We are approaching the terminal.” I dusted off powdered doughnut residue and left the circular snack bar as the boat crossed the Vineyard Sound.
My first vacation on Martha’s Vineyard was bartered. Jessica B. Harris, the culinary historian, English professor and writer, needed eyes for the drive up from New York, and hands, to unload multiple pieces of luggage and white plastic shopping bags filled with pantry items and Swedish red licorice.
In return I would stay in Dr. Harris’s pink-trimmed cottage in Oak Bluffs. Between the pale blue hydrangea bushes of that storied neighborhood and the shoreline of the Inkwell, a historically African-American beach on the island, I met seasoned black Vineyarders whose screen doors swung open in time-honored hospitality.
Many lifelong connections to Martha’s Vineyard began in Dr. Harris’s kitchen. The moments spent communing over brimming picnic baskets, and the salty-sweet smell of serenity, bring people back time and again.
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The culinary historian and writer Jessica Harris, bottom left, hosts a “five to seven” soirée on her porch.Credit Elizabeth Cecil for The New York Times
The US Food and Drug Administration approved a new leukemia treatment, which the agency considers the first gene therapy it has cleared to hit the market in the United States.
The treatment, called Kymriah, aims to give some patients a second chance after first-line drugs have failed. This may happen in up to a fifth of patients, according to the FDA.
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Each dose of Kymriah contains a patient’s own immune cells, which are sent to a lab to be genetically modified using a virus. This therapy — known as chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, or CAR-T — gives the cells the ability to recognize and kill the source of the cancer.
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh just discovered 91 new volcanoes in Antarctica, bringing the total number of volcanoes in the region up to 138. Their biggest concern is that some of these volcanoes might be active.
As she was getting on in years and her resources dwindled, Virginia Rayford took out a special kind of mortgage in 2008 that she hoped would help her stay in her three-bedroom Washington rowhouse for the rest of her life.
Rayford, 92, took advantage of a federally insured loan called a reverse mortgage that allows cash-strapped seniors to borrow against the equity in their houses that has built up over decades.
But the risks of the financial arrangement are stark — and today the frail widow finds herself facing foreclosure.
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Virginia Rayford took advantage of a federally insured loan called a reverse mortgage that allows cash-strapped seniors to borrow against the equity in their houses that has built up over decades. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post)
While countless Houstonians are still waiting for rescue, Tropical Storm Harvey has now swallowed another Texas city.
“Our whole city is underwater right now but we are coming!” Port Arthur Mayor Derrick Freeman posted Wednesday morning on Facebook. “If you called, we are coming. Please get to higher ground if you can, but please try (to) stay out of attics.”
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At least 12 people have already died in the Texas flooding. One of them, Houston police Sgt. Steve Perez, drowned while trying to get to work.
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Evacuees at the Bob Bowers Civic Center in Port Arthur face flooding again as waters rise at the shelter.
The largest oil refinery in the country is shutting down as Hurricane Harvey causes more catastrophic flooding.
Early Wednesday, Motiva said it started closing its Port Arthur refinery “in response to increasing local flood conditions.” The plant won’t open until flood waters recede.
Motiva had been steadily reducing production at the plant for days. Late Tuesday it was running at only 40% capacity.
Harvey, which has been downgraded to a tropical storm, made a second landfall Wednesday near the Louisiana-Texas border. It is expected to bring winds of 30 to 40 mph and a 2- to 4-foot storm surge in the area.
Port Arthur is located along the border of both states. Mayor Derrick Freeman said on Facebook overnight that the “whole city is underwater right now.”
Special Counsel Robert Mueller has issued subpoenas to a former lawyer for Paul Manafort and to Manafort’s current spokesman, an aggressive tactic that suggests an effort to add pressure on the former Trump campaign chairman.
The subpoenas seeking documents and testimony were sent to Melissa Laurenza, an attorney with the Akin Gump law firm who until recently represented Manafort, and to Jason Maloni, who is Manafort’s spokesman, according to people familiar with the matter.
Manafort is under investigation for possible tax and financial crimes, according to US officials briefed on the investigation. The allegations under investigation largely center on Manafort’s work for the former ruling party in Ukraine, which was ousted amid street protests over its pro-Russian policies.
In the world, human beings are facing various problems. People who are full of greed, anger, and ignorance are seen to be fighting with each other in words and deeds. As the fighting continues, various problems such as civil wars, wars of aggression, and wars of aggression are occurring. As world peace is being destroyed, humans are facing unbearable problems. Innocent children and women are not getting the rights they deserve and deserve. I can't think of one thing every time. What is it? The United Nations. If we look at the responsibilities and duties of the United Nations, I think it is not suitable for solving the problems that are happening in the world today. In fact, the United Nations and the World Security Council, such an organization must rule the world, must be able to give orders, and must have various ways to obey orders. There must be no organization that can influence more than that organization. There should be experts from each country. They can even dominate the superpowers like the US, China, and Britain. Only then will global peace be achieved quickly. Now, if a country with power develops more militarily, economically, or socially than its own country, then powerful countries will jealously seek out enemies and wage war. Or they will attack with fighter jets. In this, innocent people are losing their lives. No one understands the value of a life. You should think about how to achieve global peace by controlling these. If the US continues to be the permanent president of the UN, world peace will never be achieved. If you think carefully, no one sees that they are working for the common good, but for their own benefit, for the benefit of their own country. The permanent president of the UN and the Security Council has rejected this, As a young Rohingya, I have come to realize that only by electing the president and secretary from among the countries in the world through a secret ballot system and governing the world fairly can we achieve global peace. The United Nations and the Security Council are organizations in which any country must govern, give orders, and make them obey their orders. For example, only when a defendant is tried in court can we hold the leaders of the countries in check and control them, can we achieve global peace smoothly. Otherwise, it will not be easy for powerful countries to use various excuses to end this war every year, every year, for the benefit of themselves and their countries. No country's leaders pay any attention to the words of the United Nations and the Security Council. If we look at it in practice, look at the Rohingya issue. Myanmar is a small country. Even that country has been under siege for 8 years. What action can be taken? Why is the UN and the Security Council Powerless? Without such Power, how can the organization bring about global peace? Everyone should think about it. Whether there is a veto or a strong one, all countries in the world can only achieve global peace if they are subject to the UN and the Security Council. Seek peace in the quiet embrace of nature. Peace is an indispensable need of the human race. It is not as if one person can kill another person, and it is as if one country can attack another country, but instead of trying to build peace, we must try to destroy the peace now, and the world is getting hotter and is on the verge of collapse. I especially appeal to all the world experts to urgently try to bring about peace in all parts of the world. Mr, Noor Muhamed Arkhan Rohingya Youth Myanmar
Film and Writing Festival for Comedy. Showcasing best of comedy short films at the FEEDBACK Film Festival. Plus, showcasing best of comedy novels, short stories, poems, screenplays (TV, short, feature) at the festival performed by professional actors.
The $20 bill is getting a new face. The U.S. Treasury says anti-slavery crusader Harriet Tubman will replace former President Andrew Jackson on the Twenty. (Reuters)
And Then – Two explosions reported at chemical plant
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Evacuees at the Bob Bowers Civic Center in Port Arthur face flooding again as waters rise at the shelter.
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