| Trump’s Voter Fraud ‘Proof’ Turned Out to Be the Real Fraud Posted: 26 Aug 2020 07:24 PM PDT  Citizens throughout the nation are counting on using mail ballots to vote in November without placing their lives at risk. President Donald Trump is determined to prevent them from doing so, if they live in heavily Democratic metropolitan areas, that is. Trump claims that allowing widespread mail balloting is an invitation to massive and systematic fraud, saying: "What they're doing is using COVID to steal an election. They're using COVID to defraud the American people." But when a judge ordered Trump's campaign to come up with evidence for the president's fraud claims, the campaign produced absolutely nothing. Still, there's ample evidence that if Trump gets his way, hundreds of thousands of duly registered voters will not be able to vote, or will have their ballots go uncounted—more than enough to sway the outcome of a close election.On June 29, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit demanding the voiding of the efforts of Pennsylvania's state officials to facilitate mail voting during the pandemic, pursuant to a recently enacted law. Among other things, Pennsylvania is allowing the use of ballot drop boxes, so voters can avoid returning ballots through the mails. In light of revelations that Trump's recently installed Postmaster General (and fundraiser), Louis DeJoy, deliberately engineered new inefficiencies and delays at the Postal Service (particularly in Philadelphia), the need for drop boxes is even more clear. But that's only made the Trump campaign more determined to prevent their use. Al Gore: If Trump Refuses to Concede, the Military Would Run Him OutAccording to the Trump campaign's complaint, Pennsylvania voting officials "have sacrificed the sanctity of in-person voting at the altar of unmonitored and unsecured mail-in voting and have exponentially enhanced the threat that fraudulent or otherwise ineligible ballots will be cast and counted in the upcoming General Election." Trump's complaint uses the word "fraud" no fewer than 51 times. Given the centrality of Trump's fraud claims, on Aug. 13 the Pittsburgh federal judge hearing the case, Nicholas Ranjan (a Trump appointee), ordered the campaign to provide any and all evidence supporting its allegations "concerning potential or actual fraud or voter misconduct," including "from the use of drop boxes, absentee ballots, or vote-by-mail." When the Daily Beast asked the Trump campaign for a copy of the materials it produced, the campaign declined to share one. It later became clear why, when the campaign's interrogatory responses were disclosed. The filings contained virtually no evidence of mail-in or drop-box ballot fraud, let alone fraud of a nature and scale remotely sufficient to change the outcome of a statewide election. Instead, the document contained a grab bag of examples of campaign irregularities, errors and misconduct, many taken from newspaper articles, and none substantiating the massive mail voting fraud claims the campaign made in its complaint. Indeed, the campaign was reduced to making the absurd contention that it does "not need to demonstrate any evidence of fraud to prove" its case, even though the campaign's complaint was laced with, and grounded on, claims of a grave risk of fraud. Of course, it's nothing new for Trump and his associates to make claims without evidence. Apart from the president's now regular rants about "rigging" the upcoming election, Attorney General William Barr has repeatedly contended that "if you have wholesale mail-in voting, it substantially increases the risk of fraud." Barr has even joined Trump in asserting that foreign nations are poised to engage in massive counterfeiting of mail in ballots to sway the outcome of the election. But when asked if he had any evidence whatsoever to support his claims, Barr has repeatedly admitted, most recently before Congress, that he has none, and instead is relying entirely on what he calls "common sense." A senior official of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence recently contradicted Barr, stating that the intelligence community has no evidence that foreign powers intend to manipulate mail-in ballots. In fact, as election experts have demonstrated, Barr's claim that mail ballots are a likely source for massive, systematic fraud—let alone a foreign power's scheme to sway an election—is entirely contrary to common sense. A database maintained by the conservative Heritage Foundation indicates that, over a period of nine years, there were all of 15 cases of voter fraud in the five states that employ universal mail-in voting; furthermore, as election expert Rick Hasen has explained, it would likely require thousands of counterfeit or otherwise fraudulent ballots to sway the outcome of a state's election, something that would be virtually impossible to carry off. A senior FBI official similarly recently stated that "[i]t's extraordinarily difficult to change a federal election outcome through [coordinated] fraud alone."Trump lost a round when the Pennsylvania federal court case was temporarily stayed by the judge hearing it in favor of allowing the Pennsylvania law issues in the case to first be addressed by state courts; but it will likely be revised. In the meantime, the Trump campaign can be expected to continue to peddle its bogus fraud claims in every court in which it can be heard. But there is now no doubt that the Trump challenges to mail voting are grounded on phantom, and indeed, fantastically fraudulent, claims of fraud. But there's nothing speculative about the consequences of allowing Trump to get away with his scheme to suppress and limit mail voting. If Trump succeeds, thousands of eligible voters will be prevented from casting their votes, or will complete ballots that are not counted. The Washington Post reported that more than 534,000 mail ballots went uncounted during the recent primaries, many in battleground states, including because signatures were rejected or ballots were received past the deadlines. The vast majority of these ballots were cast by duly registered citizens who had every right to vote. At the end of the day, of course, the Trump campaign has no actual interest in preventing voter fraud; rather, the president wants to make it even more difficult for people who reasonably fear going to crowded polling places in heavily Democratic metropolitan areas from effectively voting by mail, and thereby from voting at all. That is a classic voter disenfranchisement scheme, and it is directly at odds with the principles of democracy.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Iranian man sentenced to nine years in prison for beheading daughter while she slept in 'honour killing' Posted: 28 Aug 2020 06:25 AM PDT  An Iranian has been sentenced to nine years in jail for beheading his teenaged daughter in her sleep, local media reported Friday, adding that the mother wants him executed. The so-called "honour" killing of 14-year-old Romina Ashrafi on May 21 sparked widespread outrage, with media condemning "institutionalised violence" in the Islamic republic. Media said Romina was decapitated at the family home in the village of Talesh in the northern province of Gilan. "Despite the judicial authorities' insistence on a 'special handling' of the case, the verdict has terrified me and my family," Rana Dashti, the mother, told ILNA news agency. "I don't want my husband to return to our village ever again," she said, calling for the verdict to be reviewed and changed to "execution". Having lived with the man for 15 years, Dashti said she now fears for the life of the rest of her family. Ebtekar newspaper said at the time of Romina's killing that Iran's "eye for an eye" retributive justice does not apply to a father who kills his child, for which the customary sentence is jail time and fines. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has "expressed his regrets" following the girl's killing and called for the speedy passing of several anti-violence bills. Romina had reportedly run away after the father refused to give permission for her to marry a man 15 years her senior. But she was detained by authorities and taken home, despite having pleaded with a judge that she feared for her life if returned. The man she wanted to marry, Bahman Khavari, was sentenced to two years in prison, local media said, without specifying the charge. The legal age of marriage for women in Iran is 13.
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| Jesuit priest calls Lou Holtz's comment on Biden's Catholic faith 'terrible' Posted: 26 Aug 2020 07:17 PM PDT  Lou Holtz, a former college football coach, caused controversy during the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night when he declared that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is a "Catholic in name only."Biden has been vocal about his faith, which he says has helped him through difficult times in his life, like when his son, Beau Biden, died of brain cancer in 2015. Holtz made his judgment while delivering a speech praising President Trump, saying he is a man who "genuinely cares about people" and is someone Americans can "trust." Not long after Holtz was finished, liberals and conservatives alike jumped to Biden's defense on Twitter.> Did Lou Holtz just call Democrats "Catholic in Name Only?" > > Biden goes to Mass weekly. He's a devout Catholic and a man of actual faith who doesn't pretend to be one like Trump. > > These people are so dishonest.> > — Tara Setmayer (@TaraSetmayer) August 27, 2020> Disgusting lie by Lou Holtz that Biden is a 'Catholic in name only.'> > WaPo: "Biden almost always has rosary beads in his pocket ... He has written and spoken at length of how faith helped him grieve the loss of his first wife and daughter many years ago, and his son Beau."> > — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 27, 2020> Tonight I learned that one's status within the Catholic Church can apparently be determined by *checks notes* a Division I college football coach. https://t.co/kT6eFQSjuk> > — Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) August 27, 2020> During the Republican Convention, Lou Holtz just said that Joe Biden is not a real Catholic.> > Who is he to judge another man's faith?> > — Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) August 27, 2020> Lou Holtz called Biden a "Catholic in name only" so here's a clip of Trump being asked what his favorite Bible verse is. pic.twitter.com/GRy3mCFWtI> > — Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) August 27, 2020On MSNBC, Jesuit priest James Martin said he doesn't believe this is something "you should say about anybody." Holtz, he continued, "cannot look into the soul of Joe Biden ... I think it's a really terrible thing to say about someone. He has no clue what's going on inside of Joe Biden's heart."> "He cannot look into the soul of Joe Biden," Rev. James Martin says in response to Lou Holtz's RNC2020 statement suggesting Joe Biden and other politicians are "Catholics in name only."> > "He has no clue of what is going on inside of Joe Biden's heart," he adds. pic.twitter.com/g8Olfxj65b> > — MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 27, 2020Holtz has been involved in Republican politics for decades. In 1983, he resigned as the University of Arkansas' football coach after being criticized for appearing in commercials endorsing the re-election of Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.). At the time Helms, who once said the 1964 Civil Rights Act was "the single most dangerous piece of legislation ever introduced in the Congress," was leading the effort to keep Martin Luther King Jr. Day from becoming a national holiday.More stories from theweek.com 7 scathingly funny cartoons about the Republican National Convention That 'famous' Lincoln quote in Lara Trump's RNC speech? He never said it. New jobless claims decline but stay above 1 million
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| China arrests 12 fleeing Hong Kong by speedboat: city police Posted: 28 Aug 2020 05:33 AM PDT  A dozen people fleeing Hong Kong on a speedboat, including an activist arrested under the draconian new national security law, have been captured by China, police in the city said Friday.
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| Rusten Sheskey, the officer who shot Jacob Blake, is a former campus officer who investigated a hate crime, and said he liked being a cop because 'people trust us' Posted: 27 Aug 2020 03:15 AM PDT  Rusten Sheskey shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back on Sunday evening, prompting huge protests and a renewed national movement.
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| 'I didn’t know it was going to be this bad': Cameron Parish, Louisiana, bears brunt of Laura's wrath Posted: 27 Aug 2020 02:25 PM PDT  A tiny beach town in southwestern Louisiana bore the brunt of Hurricane Laura as winds estimated at 150 mph demolished nearly everything in its path.
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| Teen who held BLM event gets $2500 bill for police overtime Posted: 28 Aug 2020 02:36 PM PDT |
| Fake cancer drugs were cooked up in Alabama man’s kitchen — some with hair, feds say Posted: 27 Aug 2020 04:01 PM PDT  Patrick Bishop, 54, earned millions selling the bogus cancer treatments, according to court filings. Prosecutors said he spent it on houses and luxury cars.
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| Arizona GOP worried Trump and McSally will cost them the state: “Arizonans are fed up” Posted: 27 Aug 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Trump and McSally's sagging poll numbers now threaten to flip both chambers of the state legislature to Democrats
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| Breonna Taylor’s ex-boyfriend says she had nothing to do with alleged drug crimes Posted: 28 Aug 2020 01:00 PM PDT  The ex-boyfriend of Breonna Taylor speaks out and claims she was not involved in illegal activities. Breonna Taylor's ex-boyfriend has come forward in an attempt to clear up her alleged involvement in any criminal activity. Jamarcus Glover, 30, was the target of the narcotics investigation leading to the execution of the no-knock warrant that resulted in the police shooting and killing Taylor, the Courier-Journal reports.
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| Teacher reinstated after parents complained about Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ posters Posted: 27 Aug 2020 12:13 PM PDT  A Texas school district backtracked after placing English teacher Taylor Lifka on leave over the posters in her virtual classroom.
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| Kim Jong-un inspects the damage as North Korea reels from floods and Typhoon Bavi Posted: 27 Aug 2020 09:49 PM PDT  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a rice-growing area devastated by a typhoon on Thursday, as the reclusive country reels from back-to-back natural and manmade catastrophes. Photos released by state media of the authoritarian leader inspecting fields alongside mask-wearing officials appeared to be framed to convey his benevolence as citizens struggle to cope with the impact of severe monsoon flooding, and the economic toll of the pandemic and ongoing global sanctions. Typhoon Bavi slammed into the country's southwestern province of Hwanghae, dealing a damaging blow to its corn stalks, rice paddies and other crops, and raising fears of increased hunger among an already malnourished population. Ten million people are reported by the United Nations to be suffering from food insecurity, living from harvest to harvest. The country also suffers from years of neglected infrastructure, which exacerbates the effects of natural disasters.
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| Invisible workers: Prison fire crews save lives while incarcerated then left to fend for themselves once released Posted: 28 Aug 2020 08:04 AM PDT  There are currently more than 14,000 firefighters struggling to battle roughly 7,000 blazes in California, many working 24-hour shifts. Among those pushed to the limit, as this year's fire season in California burns an area now the size of the state of Delaware, are approximately 3,100 inmates trained as wildland firefighters.
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| Forecasters eye two developing systems in the Atlantic: Nana, Omar could be next up on the heels of Hurricane Laura Posted: 28 Aug 2020 08:41 AM PDT  Although the remnants of Hurricane Laura are still drenching parts of the US Friday, there are already concerns about more storms stirring in the Atlantic.
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| Presidential historian Jon Meacham: I endorsed Biden because 'this is an existential election' Posted: 27 Aug 2020 02:47 PM PDT  Historian and author Jon Meacham discusses why Trump is unfit for office and how he came to speak at the Democratic National Convention. He also shares his thinking on the Kenosha shootings and statue removals.
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| Elon Musk confirmed a Russian national tried to bribe a Tesla employee with $1 million in a bungled ransomware attack Posted: 28 Aug 2020 04:46 AM PDT  The DOJ accused a Russian national of offering $1 million to an employee to install malware. Elon Musk confirmed the employee worked for Tesla.
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| Mail ballots from nursing home residents, entire family didn’t count in Florida primary Posted: 28 Aug 2020 10:58 AM PDT  Wayne Tinker was among more than 262,000 Miami-Dade County voters who cast a mail ballot in last week's primary elections — and among the thousands of voters whose ballots didn't count.
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| Florida man cleared after 37 years in jail for rape and murder as new DNA evidence comes to light Posted: 27 Aug 2020 03:30 AM PDT  A man who has spent 37 years in a Florida jail has been cleared after new DNA evidence found him not guilty of rape and murder, Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren announced on Wednesday.Mr Warren told a press conference that his conviction review unit has determined that Robert DuBoise, 55, did not commit the 1983 murder and rape of 19-year-old Barbara Grams, who was attacked while walking home from her restaurant job in Tampa.
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| Detained Colombia businessman was negotiating with Iran for Venezuela, lawyers say Posted: 28 Aug 2020 05:13 AM PDT |
| CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta fears attendees of Trump's RNC speech will get COVID-19 and 'may even die' Posted: 28 Aug 2020 07:29 AM PDT  CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta couldn't be more exasperated by President Trump's decision to speak before a packed crowd at the Republican National Convention, fearing some attendees could die from COVID-19 as a result.Trump on Thursday delivered his acceptance speech at the RNC before a crowd of about 1,500 people who weren't practicing social distancing and few of whom were wearing masks, a fact Gupta sounded the alarm about on Friday morning, expressing deep frustration that such an event took place during the coronavirus pandemic."The history books will be written about this chapter in our lives at some point, and it will show events like that and say that in the middle of a pandemic ... at a time when there were more than 5 million infected, we started having events like that again," Gupta said. "It's really frustrating. It's mind-boggling."Gupta went on to say that this demonstrates that some people still haven't "learned" how dangerous COVID-19 is, and he raised concerns about the coronavirus spread the event may lead to."There will be people who became infected as a result of that event last night," Gupta said. "And there will be people who will spread it, and possibly require hospitalization, may even die as a result of that event last night."CNN's Jim Acosta reports that a senior White House official dismissed concerns about the crowd at the event by declaring, "Everybody is going to catch this thing eventually." But Gupta pushed back against that flippant comment, noting that what COVID-19 "does to the body" long term still isn't clear and warning, "You don't want this virus." > "There will be people who became infected as a result of that event last night, and there'll be people who will spread it and possibly require hospitalization, may even die," @drsanjaygupta says about the large crowd that wasn't socially distanced for Trump's RNC speech. pic.twitter.com/BIU3JBTV0W> > -- CNN (@CNN) August 28, 2020More stories from theweek.com McConnell inexplicably claims that Democrats want to tell Americans 'how many hamburgers you can eat' 5 more scathingly funny cartoons about the Republican National Convention The X-Files is getting an animated comedy spinoff
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| Israel strikes Gaza after Palestinian militants fire rockets Posted: 27 Aug 2020 10:15 PM PDT |
| Virtually the Best: Kids’ Furniture for an A+ Home-Learning Setup Posted: 28 Aug 2020 08:00 AM PDT |
| Hurricane Laura was the latest storm to strengthen fast, but is this rapid intensification really becoming more common? Posted: 28 Aug 2020 05:25 AM PDT  Hurricane Laura blew up quickly as it headed for the Louisiana coast, intensifying from a tropical storm to a major hurricane in less than 24 hours. By the time it made it landfall, it was a powerful Category 4 hurricane with 150 mile-per-hour winds.The Atlantic has seen several hurricanes rapidly intensify like this in recent years. In 2018, Hurricane Michael unexpectedly jumped from Category 2 to Category 5 in the span of a day before hitting the Florida Panhandle. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in 2017 also met the definition of rapid intensification: an increase of at least 35 miles per hour in a 24-hour period. Based on preliminary reports from the National Hurricane Center, Laura gained 65 mph in one 24-hour period and, more impressively, added 80 mph from Aug. 25 to Aug. 27.But do all these fast-growing, powerful storms in recent years mean rapid intensification is becoming more common?With information about hurricanes coming through social media and phone apps, that's a question hurricane scientists like myself are hearing a lot. It's useful to consider a few things: the history of U.S. hurricanes, why the Atlantic is currently so active, and the ingredients that allow storms to strengthen so quickly. What makes storms blow up?Just as a pastry chef needs all the ingredients to successfully make a cake, storms like Laura need favorable conditions to be able to form and rapidly intensify. Three key ingredients help a hurricane rapidly intensify: * Warm ocean waters. Hurricanes draw energy from warm surface water, particularly when it's at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer. * Ample moisture, or water content in the atmosphere, to maintain clouds. * Low vertical wind shear. This is a measure of how the wind changes speed and direction with height in the atmosphere. High wind shear will disrupt the clouds, making it hard for the storm to stay together.When all of these ingredients are present, vigorous thunderstorms can form and organize, allowing a robust eyewall to develop. Large-scale changes in ocean temperature, like the El Niño–Southern Oscillation and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, can also have an impact on hurricane activity.Because these ingredients change, the Atlantic hurricane season varies year to year. This year, as the seasonal forecasts created by Colorado State University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned, the ingredients are favorable for an active season with more major hurricanes. A review of storms from 1981 to 2012 found that 70% of major Atlantic hurricanes – those reaching Category 3 or higher – had gone through rapid intensification. Why don't all storms grow this quickly?Just having the right water temperature and moisture won't ensure that storms will undergo rapid intensification or become major hurricanes. We saw that with Hurricane Marco. It swept through the Gulf of Mexico just ahead of Hurricane Laura but weakened to a tropical storm before landfall.A big difference was the wind shear. The thunderstorms powering Marco's core struggled to stay connected to its circulation as high wind shear in the Gulf of Mexico stripped them away.When then-Tropical Storm Laura passed over Cuba into the Gulf, the high wind shear conditions had receded, leaving nothing but a favorable environment for Laura to develop catastrophic winds and a dangerous storm surge. As with ice skaters who pull their arms in during a spin to rotate faster, the thunderstorms of Laura's eyewall pulled in the atmosphere around the storm, causing the winds to accelerate into a high-end Category 4 storm. While there are additional complexities to this process, a theoretical framework for intensification that I further developed with colleauges highlights how the location of eyewall thunderstorms relative to the storm's maximum winds triggers rapid intensification. This theory has been supported by eyewall observations collected during "hurricane hunter" flights. So, are these events becoming more common?This is a challenging question and an active topic of research. Because rapidly intensifying hurricanes are fairly rare, there isn't enough information yet to say if rapid intensification is happening more often. The hurricane research community has consistent, reliable observations of storm intensity only since the start of the satellite era and routine storm-penetrating "hurricane hunter" flights since the 1970s.We have seen more rapid intensification events in recent years, and some scientists have concluded that the warming climate is likely playing a role. However, we've also had more active hurricane seasons in those years, and more work needs to be done in this area to understand global trends, such as why hurricanes are crossing ocean basins more slowly. To try to answer this puzzle, hurricane researchers are using historical records to help refine mathematical theories and computer simulations of storms to better understand rapid intensification. The new knowledge will continue to improve forecast guidance and lead to a better understanding of how hurricanes will change in an evolving climate system.[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * How to protect communities from natural disasters – what research tells us * Hurricanes can cause enormous damage inland, but emergency plans focus on coastsChris Slocum receives funding from and is employed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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| Virginia Senate Approves Bill to Downgrade Penalty for Assaulting a Police Officer Posted: 27 Aug 2020 11:22 AM PDT  The Virginia Senate approved legislation on Wednesday that would downgrade the legal penalty for a suspect found guilty of assaulting a police officer.Senate Bill 5032 would, if signed into law, eliminate the state's six-month mandatory minimum prison sentence for assaulting an officer, and also gives a local judge or jury the authority to downgrade the crime from a felony to a misdemeanor. The Virginia Senate voted 21-15 to approve the bill.Senator Scott Survell, a Democrat who proposed the legislation, said the bill was not meant to apply in cases of serious injury suffered by police officers."What we're talking about here are situations that involve much more insignificant minor touches," Survell said in comments reported by the Associated Press. However, state Republicans slammed the legislation in light of ongoing efforts nationwide to "defund" police departments."What in the world are we doing?" Senator John Cosgrove Jr. said. "Have you seen the attacks on police officers?"The bill will now move to the House, where Democrats hold a 55-45 majority.Democrats took control of the Virginia legislature in 2019 for the first time in decades, with Democrat Ralph Northam in the governor's office. That newfound power has led state Democrats to attempt to pass a flurry of liberal legislation, including stricter gun-control laws. The Washington Post noted in February of this year that Democrats were submitting so much legislation that lawmakers were working overtime trying to process the proposals.
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| Fox News anchor Chris Wallace slams colleagues for appearing to rationalize 17-year-old charged in Kenosha shooting: 'There is no justification' Posted: 27 Aug 2020 06:20 PM PDT  The veteran Fox News host said he didn't think it was right for vigilante justice to "fill the void" of police presence at protests.
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| Recovery hopes dashed for India's recession-hit economy: Reuters poll Posted: 27 Aug 2020 08:08 PM PDT  India's deepest recession on record will linger through the rest of this year and begin to lift only in early 2021 as a rapid surge in the coronavirus spread squelches a nascent rebound in consumption and business activity, a Reuters poll showed. New Delhi has already set aside $266 billion of economic rescue spending and the Reserve Bank of India has slashed interest rates by 115 basis points since March, suggesting more is required to shield the economy from the pandemic-induced disruptions to businesses and livelihoods. The coronavirus is spreading faster in India than anywhere else in the world, with more than 3.3 million people already infected and related deaths at over 60,000.
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| Bush's 2004 strategist says 'people's hair would be on fire' if Bush, Obama had used the White House as a re-election prop Posted: 27 Aug 2020 10:00 PM PDT  President Trump walked from the White House to a stage on the South Lawn to give his Republican National Convention acceptance speech Thursday night, turning "the People's House" into "a partisan prop like no politician has ever done before," Michael D. Shear writes at The New York Times.> This is the image people have in their heads when they write government ethics laws. pic.twitter.com/8ljWmw7pCK> > -- Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) August 27, 2020"Previous presidents have sought to carefully navigate the propriety of mixing campaigning with governing," Shear noted, and while a few have announced their re-election campaigns from inside the White House, none has used it for such an "overtly political event," with "live crowds flanked by giant Jumbotrons on either side of the White House, serving as immense campaign billboards." If Barack Obama or George W. Bush had tried such a stunt during their re-election campaigns, "people's hair would be on fire," Bush's 2004 campaign chief strategist, Matthew Dowd, said on ABC News.> .@matthewjdowd: "I never thought I would see what I'm seeing tonight on the South Lawn. > > I can't imagine what would have happened if we had done that in 2004 or if Barack Obama had done that in 2012...people's hair would be on fire." https://t.co/AL3W4wottM RNC2020 pic.twitter.com/qy1yItFEzi> > -- ABC News (@ABC) August 28, 2020"It's not only, I believe, unethical, misuse of government power," Dowd added. "It may be illegal, what's happening on the South Lawn, and a bad modeling of behavior in the midst of a COVID crisis."None of the Bushes participated in this year's RNC, nor did any Cheneys, Reagans, or McCains. Also, "several dozen former staffers from Sen. Mitt Romney's (R-Utah) presidential campaign, the George W. Bush administration, and the campaign and Senate staff of former Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) have signed on to an effort to elect Joe Biden," Politico reported Thursday. "For the Romney and McCain staffers, they're working to elect the same man they tried to defeat in 2012 and 2008, respectively." (Dowd was not among the Bush alumni who signed a pro-Biden letter.)But perhaps Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) had the most succinct, on-brand response to Trump's use of the White House as a campaign prop. > Get off our lawn.> > -- Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) August 28, 2020More stories from theweek.com McConnell inexplicably claims that Democrats want to tell Americans 'how many hamburgers you can eat' 5 more scathingly funny cartoons about the Republican National Convention The X-Files is getting an animated comedy spinoff
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| Injunction barring Richmond from removing monument tossed Posted: 27 Aug 2020 03:14 PM PDT  The Virginia Supreme Court has tossed out an injunction handed down by a Richmond judge that barred officials from removing the only remaining Confederate monument owned by the city. Richmond Circuit Judge Bradley Cavedo issued a 60-day injunction in July shortly after Mayor Levar Stoney ordered the removal of the city's Confederate monuments, using authority under a local emergency order, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Thursday.
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| Letters to the Editor: Here's how police can end protests: Stop shooting unarmed Black people Posted: 28 Aug 2020 03:00 AM PDT  People who don't like sometimes nonpeaceful protests should put pressure on police to stop shooting unarmed Black people.
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| US defence chief says China 'destabilising' Pacific Posted: 28 Aug 2020 04:27 AM PDT  US Defense Secretary Mark Esper accused China of "destabilising" the Pacific region Friday on a whistle-stop trip to the tiny island nation of Palau.
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| West Mathewson: South African conservationist killed by white lions Posted: 27 Aug 2020 03:06 AM PDT  Police say two lions attacked the lodge owner as he was taking them for a walk, in front of his wife.
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| Jacob Blake is no longer handcuffed to his hospital bed now that his July arrest warrant has been vacated, lawyer says Posted: 28 Aug 2020 02:12 PM PDT  Attorney Patrick Cafferty told the Chicago Sun-Times that $500 bail has been posted so deputies are no longer standing guard in Jacob Blake's room.
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| An ex-Cisco employee pleaded guilty to causing damage to the tech giant's network which shut down over 16,000 Webex Teams accounts Posted: 27 Aug 2020 01:57 PM PDT  An ex-Cisco employee pleaded guilty to breaking into into the tech giant's network and wiped out thousands of Webex Teams accounts.
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| Second Trump DHS official to turn on president brands him ‘racist’ in new attack ad Posted: 27 Aug 2020 02:34 PM PDT  A second former member of Donald Trump's Department of Homeland Security has turned on the president, branding him "racist" and endorsing Joe Biden.Elizabeth Neumann, who served in the department until April of this year, indicated the rise of white supremacy and the handling of the coronavirus pandemic as her reasons for turning on the president.
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| Neighbors with hoses target fires as crews urge them to stop Posted: 26 Aug 2020 10:03 PM PDT  With California firefighters strapped for resources, residents have organized to put out flames themselves in a large swath of land burning south of San Francisco, defending their homes despite orders to evacuate and pleas by officials to get out of danger. The former head of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the effort near a cluster of wildfires around the city of Santa Cruz is larger and more organized than he recalls in previous blazes. The group of wildfires near Santa Cruz has burned 125 square miles (324 square kilometers) and destroyed more than 500 buildings.
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| Boeing grounds several 787 planes after manufacturing defect found Posted: 28 Aug 2020 09:50 AM PDT  Boeing has found manufacturing defects on some of its 787 long-range airliners in areas where parts of the fuselage are joined together, the latest setback for the aircraft maker whose 737 Max is still grounded after two deadly crashes.
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| Minneapolis under curfew, state of emergency after Black homicide suspect's death Posted: 27 Aug 2020 01:59 AM PDT  The city has been the center of protests following the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, who died in May after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Floyd's death and further violence against Black people have led to broader anti-racism protests and demonstrations against police brutality in cities across the United States. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey imposed a curfew following what he described as mass looting of businesses, destruction of property and unrest.
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| Kentucky man faces $750,000 fine, possible jail time for violating Canada's Quarantine Act Posted: 27 Aug 2020 02:32 PM PDT  A Northern Kentucky man traveled to a Canadian resort and got a visit from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for violating Canada's Quarantine Act.
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| Heffernan: Kimberly Guilfoyle shows our way of looking at high society and power is broken Posted: 28 Aug 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Maybe this century's bipartisan obsession with vulgar preening will be bookended by Guilfoyle's 2004 "New Kennedys" photo and her freeze-frame meme from the 2020 RNC.
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| Jacob Blake reportedly released from handcuffs in hospital bed Posted: 28 Aug 2020 02:02 PM PDT  Mr Blake, a black man, was shot in the back by police in Wisconsin, sparking protests.
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| A former SpaceX intern says she reported sexual harassment to HR — and it cost her the opportunity for a full-time job Posted: 28 Aug 2020 08:43 AM PDT  In a new lawsuit, the former SpaceX intern says her manager made inappropriate comments and wanted to take her to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
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| Judge voids 50,000 absentee ballot requests in Iowa county Posted: 28 Aug 2020 06:26 AM PDT  The ruling marks an initial victory for Trump's challenges to absentee voting procedures in three counties in Iowa, which is expected to be a competitive state.
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| US ambassador avoids New Zealand quarantine on return Posted: 27 Aug 2020 11:06 PM PDT  United States Ambassador Scott Brown's diplomatic status has allowed him and his wife to avoid going into quarantine at New Zealand's border after the couple returned from a trip to their home country this week. Just about everybody who arrives in New Zealand is required to spend 14 days isolated in a government-run hotel that is guarded by the military as the country spends billions of dollars on its efforts to eliminate the coronavirus. New Zealand has stamped out most community transmission of the virus and is focusing much of its efforts on keeping the border safe.
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