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Is the spike in gas prices good for America?

The average price of gasoline at the pump in the U.S. last week was $4.58 a gallon. It will doubtless spike up to $5.00 before too long as it is already above $6 in California.

U.S. gas prices are cheap compared to Europe. If you fancy traveling to London for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the price $5.79; if you love Paris in the springtime, $5.54; and if you want to see the pope, Rome is $5.96. Some countries you might like to visit are even higher.

Gasoline prices follow oil prices. Every $10 increase in the price of crude oil adds about 24 cents to the cost of each gallon of gasoline at the pump. And oil prices have surged. Since the first of the year, oil has risen as much as 58 percent and retail gas 24 percent. The principal culprit, according to some experts, has been not cancelation of the Keystone Pipeline or COVID -19, but Putin’s move on Ukraine. It may be said, however, that oil prices were already spiking ahead of the invasion.

Americans have long taken cheap gas as a foregone conclusion, and have been profligate in its consumption. When I visited London in the 1970s, the price in New York was roughly 60 cents a gallon, and after converting liters to gallons, and pounds to dollars, I was astonished to learn that the price in the UK was over $2.

There is a political problem with high gas prices. They are a hardship on working Americans as prices rise overall in an inflated economy. Gasoline costs may amount to $5,000 a year for a heavily taxed family.

But in the long run, an inflated price for gasoline is, I would argue, good for the environment. It may encourage people to take carpools to work, to bicycle and walk more. This will improve health and welfare.

The price spike may further spur the development of battery-driven cars. Both Ford and General Motors have said they will be manufacturing all-electric fleets by 2030. I never thought I would live to see the day.

True, batteries need to be recharged, and their energy efficiency will turn on the “energy mix” in the local electricity grid. Most grids in the U.S. are powered by multiple sources of energy, including renewables such as wind and solar. President Biden has pledged to work towards decarbonizing the U.S. electricity grid by 2035. And the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill provides funding for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

High gas prices may intensify the search for alternative energy sources. Former President Trump claims wind farms kill birds, but they make a sustainable source of battery recharging. Hydrogen as an alternative transportation fuel stems from its ability to power fuel cells in zero-emission vehicles, its potential for domestic production and the fuel cell’s fast filling time and high efficiency. Today 95 percent of the hydrogen produced in the United States is made by natural gas reforming, an advanced production process that builds upon the existing natural gas pipeline delivery infrastructure.

Besides, hydrogen is much cheaper than crude and may also be a source of clean energy. The Green New Deal movement has been anathema to the far-right climate deniers, who have argued that environmentalists are undercutting the teachings of religion.

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) has cited the Bible as his basis for denying climate change. Inhofe, past chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has argued for years that only God, not men and women, can affect climate. He said in a 2012 address: “[M]y point is, God’s still up there. The arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what He is doing in the climate is to me outrageous.” It couldn’t be that the real basis is that Oklahoma is an oil and gas state.

Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), who served in the House for 24 years, believes global warming is nothing to worry about “because God promised in the book of Genesis that he wouldn’t destroy the earth after the flood.” God decides when the “earth will end,” he thundered. Shimkus forgot that the almighty’s promise was tightly hedged: “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” In the words of Shakespeare: “The devil can cite scripture for his purpose.”

But if the price of gas continues to rise, there may be the same kind of rejection of gasoline as a fuel for automobiles as occurred with heavily taxed tobacco. No environmentalist claim that the planet will become uninhabitable unless we reduce emissions will land with greater force on the gas guzzling American people than the end of cheap gas.

Will the country decisively move toward renewable energy if gas at the pump is $7 or $8?

James D. Zirin is a lawyer and author.

Source: TEST FEED1

Suspect in onstage Dave Chappelle attack says show was 'triggering'

The man charged with attacking Dave Chappelle while he was performing on stage earlier this month said the comedian’s show at the Hollywood Bowl in California was “triggering.”

Isaiah Lee, who is charged with assault with a deadly weapon after he tackled Chappelle while holding a replica gun that could eject a blade, told The New York Post in an exclusive interview that he was triggered by the comedian’s jokes on the LGBTQ community and homelessness.

“I identify as bisexual … and I wanted him to know what he said was triggering,” Lee told journalists from his cell at Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles. “I wanted him to know that next time, he should consider first running his material by people it could affect.”

Lee, 23, said he is a single father who has experienced homelessness before and that Chappelle’s jokes went too far that night.

“It’s a struggle and I wanted Dave Chappelle to know it’s not a joke,” he told the Post.

Lee allegedly tackled Chappelle at the beginning of May at the Hollywood Bowl during the comedian’s performance for the “Netflix is a Joke” festival. Security officers quickly detained Lee and, he says, broke his arm and gave him black eyes.

A day after the event, a judge ordered Lee to be held on a $30,000 bail.

Lee told The New York Post he did have a replica handgun when he tackled Chappelle, but the weapon was not pulled out when he rushed the stage. He says he did not want to harm Chappelle and he also spoke to the outlet about a history of sexual abuse.

Lee, an aspiring rapper under the name of “noname_trapper” who once released a song called “Dave Chapell,” is also facing separate charges for the attempted murder of a roommate in Los Angeles in December, which he has pleaded not guilty to.

The Chappelle incident occurred not long after actor Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage during the Academy Awards in April, spurring calls to protect against violence against comedians.

Chappelle has been criticized for his jokes on the LGBTQ, and particularly transgender, community, which reached a crescendo when he released his Netflix special last fall: “The Closer.”

Lee said in the new interview that Chappelle asked to speak with him backstage after the incident.

“I told him my mother and grandmother, who fought for his civil rights to be able to speak, would be upset at the things he said,” Lee said.

According to Lee, Chappelle answered: “Now your story will die with you, son.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Sex at two Europe raves may explain unusual monkeypox outbreaks, says WHO expert

A longtime World Health Organization (WHO) infectious disease expert said the recent outbreaks of monkeypox may be explained by sexual transmission from two recent raves in Europe.

David Heymann, who chaired a meeting of the World Health Organization’s advisory group on infectious disease threats on Friday to discuss the outbreak, told The Associated Press that the raves held in Spain and Belgium are the leading theory to explain the disease’s recent unprecedented spread.

“It’s very possible there was somebody who got infected, developed lesions on the genitals, hands or somewhere else, and then spread it to others when there was sexual or close, physical contact,” Heymann said. “And then there were these international events that seeded the outbreak around the world, into the U.S. and other European countries.”

Heymann called the outbreaks “a random event.”

Monkeypox has remained endemic in animals in areas of Africa, a main source of outbreaks in the region that does not usually spread across borders. 

But now, recent cases in the U.S. and Europe have caused concern. Belgium, the site of one of the raves, has implemented a mandatory three-week quarantine for confirmed patients, but President Biden said he doesn’t expect the U.S. to follow suit.

Heymann, who also serves as a professor of infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, also pointed to the smallpox vaccine, which is shown to be highly effective against monkeypox infection.

“This is not COVID,” Heymann told the AP. “We need to slow it down, but it does not spread in the air and we have vaccines to protect against it.”

Massachusetts public health officials last week confirmed a case of monkeypox in a person who had recently traveled to Canada, followed by a confirmed case in New York City and a suspected case in Broward County over the weekend.

The cases have left infectious disease experts perplexed as they investigate the sources of the outbreaks. WHO said on Saturday that the cases — which span 12 nonendemic countries — have mainly been identified among men who have sex with men and sought diagnoses in primary care and sexual health clinics.

In total, WHO said it is tracking 92 confirmed cases and 28 possible cases.

“However, the extent of local transmission is unclear at this stage, as surveillance has been limited,” the WHO said in its statement. “There is a high likelihood of identification of further cases with unidentified chains of transmission, including in other population groups.”

Monkeypox is spread through close contact with an infected animal or person, generally through lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials, like clothing and bedsheets.

Germany has four confirmed cases linked to exposure at parties “where sexual activity took place” in Spain’s Canary Islands and Berlin, the AP reported.

“Many of these global reports of monkeypox cases are occurring within sexual networks,” said Inger Damon, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s poxvirus research division, which includes monkeypox.

“However, healthcare providers should be alert to any rash that has features typical of monkeypox. We’re asking the public to contact their healthcare provider if they have a new rash and are concerned about monkeypox,” she said.

Source: TEST FEED1

Buffalo shooting highlights new rise of violent white supremacy, and a demand for action

In the aftermath of the domestic terror attack that took place in a Buffalo supermarket, we’re reminded that hate still has a foothold in this country and in our communities. These senseless acts of violence, borne out of white supremacy, aren’t the result of some outside force. But rather the direct result of our country’s inaction to address hate.

The communities I represent in Maryland have felt this familiar pain. This week, the University of Maryland dedicated a new memorial plaza in honor of Lt. Richard Collins III — a soon-to-be graduate of Bowie State and ROTC candidate. He was a son, a friend, and someone with a bright and promising future ahead of him. Lt. Collins was murdered in an act of hate for the color of his skin.

The factors that led to the senseless murders in Buffalo and the murder of Lt. Collins are longstanding and well known. Extremism is on the rise as isolated individuals and racists spread their lies and toxic ideologies on the internet. These young men are radicalized, indoctrinated, and moved to violent acts. And too often, the perpetrators, like the man in Buffalo, are able to commit such atrocities because our permissive and loophole-ridden patchwork of gun laws allows weapons capable of mass death to get into the wrong hands.

The numbers don’t lie. We need to act with urgency.

In 2020, the FBI reported the highest number of hate crimes in 12 years. Over 60 percent of the victims were targeted because of a racial, ethnic, or ancestral bias. Of those crimes, Black individuals were victims of hate crimes more than any other group. 

This year, 57 historically Black colleges and universities and houses of worship received bomb threats. And U.S. police departments across the country indicate a double-digit spike in hate crimes in 2021 and a continued rise into 2022, including a 223.7 percent rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, a 58.7 percent rise in anti-Jewish hate crimes, and a 51.3 percent rise in anti-Gay hate crimes.

Guns make this virulent hate even more deadly. According to Everytown, in an average year, over 10,300 hate crimes in the United States involve a firearm—more than 28 each day. Black Americans are too often the victims of these hate-filled attacks, as are trans Americans.

In Congress right now, I have legislation to raise the age to purchase a semiautomatic rifle from 18 to 21 years old. Most Americans have to wait until the age of 21 before they can legally buy alcohol, rent a vehicle or gamble. But under federal law, an 18-year-old can walk into a gun store and buy a military-style assault weapon, just like the teenager in Buffalo. Republicans have blocked this legislation.

In Congress right now, I’m preparing to reintroduce legislation to tackle extremism within the ranks of our military. It’s a model that we can adapt to not only identify when individuals are beginning to go down the wrong path but also ensure proper intervention before violence occurs. Republicans last year blocked this legislation.

And President Biden can continue to bolster the Department of Justice’s capabilities to investigate and prosecute domestic terrorists after former President Donald Trump both ignored and stoked the worst impulses of the extreme right. It must be noted that the Buffalo shooter’s manifesto targeting support for Black communities bears a striking resemblance to the former president’s diatribes against Baltimore as “a disgusting, rat and rodent-infested mess” despite the money spent there.

Words matter. We need each and every Republican leader to denounce the hate-filled rhetoric that has permeated on cable, online and from the mouths of some of the most powerful individuals in our country.

We cannot have a country where Black Americans and people of color live in fear that they will be the next victim of this kind of senseless attack. We cannot give in to a reality where good people can run a simple errand and be murdered in hate. That’s not the America I fought to defend, nor is it a version of America that we can accept.

We continue to mourn these tragic events of injustice and stand with all those continuing to grieve. But today, and every day, we need to recommit ourselves to action.

For the ten souls who lost their lives in Buffalo, for the memory of Lt. Collins, and the individuals taken from loved ones far too soon, we cannot ever allow hate to win.

Rep. Anthony Brown represents Maryland’s 4th District.

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden officials eyeing diesel stockpile to ease shortage

The Biden administration is in talks to tap to into a federal diesel reserve to address energy shortfalls, an official with knowledge of the matter confirmed to The Hill Monday. 

An interagency team of officials has been monitoring East Coast diesel supplies and developing policy recommendations to address them, the official said.

“The team has prepared emergency declarations for President authorize release from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve if conditions deteriorate,” they added. “We would call this a bridge to deal with short term supply shortfalls.” 

The Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, created in 2000, is a Northeast-based stockpile of about 1 million barrels of home heating oil. Due to its relatively small size, the reserve is considered to be of limited long-term use, about a day’s worth of supply for the region, according to the White House. It has only been tapped once before, in 2012 after Superstorm Sandy battered the East Coast. 

The White House official framed the crunch as a consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a frequent refrain from the Biden administration as the war has thrown global energy markets into disarray. 

“In recent weeks, the team noted a worrisome decline in diesel inventories in the Northeast (below 20M barrels), as well as on-the-ground reports of supply issues, resulting from a lack of supply in part resulting from Putin’s actions in Ukraine and the disruption in the energy market,” the official said.  

CNN first reported that Biden administration officials were exploring the reserve to ease rising diesel prices.

Although the stockpile is likely too small to significantly reduce prices, the official said it could be useful in averting disruptive spot outages. While the White House said diesel prices appear to be stabilizing, it is concerned about the potential effects of shortfalls heading into hurricane season and winter. 

Diesel prices hit a record average high of $5.577 a gallon last Wednesday, according to AAA. As of Tuesday, the average was down slightly to $5.554. In the Northeast, which has fewer refineries, the spikes have been even more extreme. New England had an average price of $6.431 as of last Wednesday, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.  

Source: TEST FEED1

Bill Clinton: Biden cares 'more about the people than the polls'

Former President Clinton is arguing President Biden does not care about his popularity with the American people and is focused instead on solving problems the country faces.

“In his first 16 months in office, Joe Biden has done exactly what he said he would do if elected—help America overcome an unprecedented pandemic, rebuild a battered economy from the bottom up and middle out so that it works for all of us, and restore our standing in the world,” Clinton said in a write up about Biden for Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2022.

“We still face stern tasks, including taming inflation without causing a recession, and combatting violent crime. The usual sound bites and answers that dominate the news won’t help. But a get-the-job-done leader who cares more about the people than the polls, more about winning the future than rewriting history, will. That’s who Joe Biden is. And why I’m glad he’s on the job.”

A NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll released on Monday found Biden’s approval rating hit a new low with 40 percent of respondents saying they “strongly disapprove” and 17 percent saying they “somewhat disapprove” of the president’s job in office.

Biden was among people listed on Time’s 100 dispatch under its “leaders” section, which also included Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and podcaster Joe Rogan.

Source: TEST FEED1

CDC, Florida health officials investigating state's first presumptive monkeypox case

The Florida Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are investigating a presumptive case of monkeypox that has been identified in Broward County.

In a statement on Sunday, the Florida Department of Health in Broward County said the presumptive case was related to international travel and the person involved is currently isolated.

“DOH-Broward is conducting epidemiological investigations to notify possible exposures and offer potential post-exposure prophylaxis. At this time, DOH-Broward has not identified any additional cases,” the department said.

A presumptive case means that the patient has tested positive at the local level but has yet to be confirmed by a national body such as the CDC. In most situations, presumptive cases become confirmed cases.

News of the likely monkeypox infection in Florida comes just days after the first U.S. case of monkeypox in 2022 was confirmed to have been detected in a Massachusetts man who had recently traveled to Canada.

Over the weekend, New York state health officials confirmed that a New York City resident had also tested positive for monkeypox.

Most incidents of monkeypox are found in central and western Africa, with infections outside of these regions being relatively rare. The recent cases that have been detected across Europe have left health officials stumped due to the unclear train of transmission.

Monkeypox is still considered to pose a low risk to the general public, though the CDC has issued a health advisory for physicians to be vigilant of the symptoms.

The symptoms of monkeypox can include fever, headache, muscle pain and the characteristic rash that covers the face and body. The pathogen incubates for about five to 13 days and a person is considered to be contagious upon the onset of symptoms. They are presumed to be infectious until their skin lesions scab over and new, healthy skin has formed.

Source: TEST FEED1

Carbon transition means global development must learn to love mining

Decarbonization does not mean de-mineralization. To realize the carbon transition, we are going to have to ramp up mining all around the world.

Over the next few decades, metal outputs for aluminum, copper, lithium, cobalt, nickel, and other metals will have to increase exponentially. As such, by 2050, the world will need 160 million tons of aluminum and 20 million tons of copper to produce the necessary clean energy technologies and batteries for the carbon transition. Given the current technologies, the world will need to mine 40 times the current quantities of metals to phase out internal combustion engines in gas-powered vehicles. Demand for cobalt and lithium — essential ingredients in electric vehicle batteries — are predicted to increase 500 and 900 percent respectively. 

Much of this mining is going to happen in developing countries, which will include mining on indigenous lands. To mitigate the adverse effects of mining, the global development community is going to have to spend a lot more of its people, time and money on mining activities or around mining.

If the carbon transition is to happen at all, there will need to be ways to support cleaner, better-governed mining extraction activities for the next several decades. 

Given the potential carbon transition, mining will be a critical source of growth and tax revenues for economies of developing countries. Mining projects generate tax revenues for national governments and can provide good livelihoods. Tax revenues generated by mining can be used to finance roads, pay for teachers and other public goods.

However, the global development community so far has not reconciled the necessity of mining for the carbon transition. The aid world has been conflicted at best on the issue. Many development finance institutions and multilateral banks do not finance mining. Some parts of the aid community completely boycott mining projects.  

Many avoid the topic of mining because it is considered a “dirty” word. But it is important to acknowledge that all forms of energy have challenges, including what is deemed “clean” energy-things like wind, solar and electric vehicles. After all, everything in modern life comes from the earth in some way; either mined or grown agriculturally. Clean energy is no different. In this way, clean energy raises increased dilemmas over human rights, the environment, governance, and corruption. It evokes questions such as: How are the revenues earned from mining going to be allocated among national and local governments? How can we ensure local communities impacted by mining are also beneficiaries? What sort of infrastructure and power projects need to be built to support mining operations? How can we properly use water? 

There is undoubtedly a question of maintaining human rights when it comes to mining. Take the case study of cobalt. Cobalt is crucial to produce batteries for electric vehicles and other electric devices like phones and computers; 70 percent of the world’s cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), but the cobalt industry has documented and pervasive human rights problems with child labor, few safety standards, and violence between small scale artisanal miners and larger mining companies. If we are to realize a 500 percent increase in cobalt mining to meet the demand for electric vehicles alone, major interventions must occur to address the human rights issue. Stakeholders up and down the cobalt supply chain must ensure that companies are holding cobalt miners to fair and ethical standards, including preventing child labor and ensuring safety protections are in place.

On the environmental side, mining can have an impact on soil, water, and air quality. Mining is often a very water intensive endeavor and often happens near water sources, including rivers, streams, and groundwater. If waste left behind from mining is not properly disposed of, metals and chemicals can pollute the nearby water and damage ecosystems. In addition, substandard smelting operations can release gases and particulate matter that are harmful to the environment and local communities. Again, the global development community should play a constructive role to promote responsible mining. With today’s technologies, mining does not have to be pollution heavy. There are ways to mitigate and dispose of mining pollution properly. 

There are significant issues around mining and governance. When there is a lack of proper governance and regulations there can be human rights issues and environmental problems. How monies are managed matters. Corruption and bribery often prevent governments at the national, state, and local level from enforcing safety and ethical policies at mining sites. To address problems in mining, international organizations, aid agencies, and multilateral banks should work together to raise standards. This can help encourage better governance by holding companies accountable on how they are implementing local workforces and mining operations. This will can also support local regulators in cracking down on unsafe and unhealthy practices.

Many companies are sensitized to these issues and follow ESG principles, which is influencing them to restructure portfolios, commit to carbon reduction, and promote better governance.  

China is becoming a major leader in mining. China is already a major player in processing minerals and is in the process of aggressively buying up mineral deposits around the world. It’s environmental record is not the best. If the U.S. and our allies do not engage more actively on mining — including in developing countries — the U.S. could switch from being largely beholden to the OPEC cartel to a cartel made up of China and Russia.

All the dilemmas presented above can be mitigated — not necessarily solved — by various forms of development assistance, including foreign aid and development finance. Governments, starting with the United States, need to signal their commitments to work more intensively around mining and with mining companies given the changes in the world today.

Daniel F. Runde is a senior vice president and William A. Schreyer chair in Global Analysis at CSIS. He previously worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development, the World Bank Group, and in investment banking, with experience in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

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Black and Jewish communities are under attack: Here’s how we protect ourselves

Recent months have not been easy for the Black and Jewish communities in the United States. Even before a racially motivated gunman in Buffalo killed 10 African-Americans, the FBI reported 57 bomb threats to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) since January. The Jewish community endured at least 42 bomb threats since January 1, mostly at Jewish community centers, according to a count kept by the Secure Community Network (SCN).  In January, an armed attacker held four Jews hostage at a Colleyville, Texas synagogue for 11 hours.

No threats of violence or intimidation will prevent the education of Black students or the religious expression of Jewish individuals. Our communities have faced racism and antisemitism for decades without shuttering our campuses or closing our doors. We shall always overcome, but we need help to do so.

We need more security funding to adequately protect our communities.

We face one of the most complex and dynamic threat environments in our nation’s history. Whether the threats and attacks come from domestic extremists or international terrorists, it is essential that our security efforts outpace criminals in terms of preparation, resources and sophistication.

HBCUs employ their own campus security and law enforcement, but often lack the training and resources to fully respond to complex threats. Bomb threats especially have the potential to disrupt the education of Black students or the religious and cultural life of the Jewish community as campuses and facilities are forced to shut down to investigate the credibility of every bomb threat received.

Fortunately, our government has responded to these recurring threats. Congress has made additional security funding available to HBCUs through the Project School Emergency Response to Violence program. In Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) recently called for emergency funding to be used to enhance security at Virginia’s HBCUs.

As part of President Biden’s budget proposal, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security supports calls for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) to double in funding from $180 million to $360 million. Unfortunately, even this level of funding is below the $400 million in grant funding sought by nonprofit facilities last year.

Given the recent surge in extremist threats, the need for funds is even higher today.  

These grants have been used by nonprofits and faith-based communities to add electric locks on doors, place panic buttons in school classrooms, install cameras, build new security gates and strengthen glass doors and exterior windows. Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, one of the hostages from Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, credited the Nonprofit Security Grant Program for updated cameras that provided vital information to the police and FBI during the hostage incident.

We need the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to increase to ensure all institutions, from HBCUs to Jewish community centers, are as safe, secure and prepared as possible. As we have seen, these attacks can happen anywhere at any time against anyone, which is why additional funding is vital to keeping all our institutions safe.

The program has also allowed communities to invest in security training. Training is crucial to preparing for attacks and learning how to survive them. With the numerous bomb threats against HBCUs, and the attacks seen on the Jewish community from the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh to the hostage-taking in Colleyville, it is vital community members be trained on what to do when faced with an active threat. Survivors in Pittsburgh and Colleyville credit their survival to strategies and techniques learned from their training. More security funding from the Nonprofit Security Grant Program will lead to more lives saved and more communities protected.

Our communities remain under constant threat. We cannot choose when and where the next attack will be, but we can choose to be as prepared and safe as possible.

The Black and Jewish communities stand together in our determination to live our lives happily, peacefully and safely. America can only be a land of freedom and opportunity if all people feel safe pursuing their academic and religious missions. 

Together, we call on Congress to take action and do more — so crime can be prevented, and lives can be saved. 

Michael Masters is the CEO of the Secure Community Network, a non-profit organization that protects Jewish facilities in the United States. Wayne Frederick is the president of Howard University in Washington, D.C. 

Source: TEST FEED1