| Trump says he is holding up coronavirus aid to block Postal Service funds for voting by mail Posted: 13 Aug 2020 08:10 AM PDT  The president said on Thursday that he is willing to block a relief package because it contains money for the U.S. Postal Service that would shore up election infrastructure amid the pandemic.
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| Oregon State Police Withdraws from Portland Courthouse after D.A. Announces He Won’t Prosecute Most Rioters Posted: 14 Aug 2020 05:50 AM PDT  Oregon state police are backing out of an agreement to protect the Portland federal courthouse from rioters, after the Multnomah County district attorney announced he will not prosecute most rioters who are arrested.Portland has seen riots almost every night since the May death of George Floyd, an African American man killed during his arrest by Minneapolis police officers. Rioters initially targeted the federal courthouse in the city, but after federal and state law enforcement came to an agreement to jointly protect the courthouse, rioters moved on to attack city police.Multnomah County D.A. Mike Schmidt announced on Tuesday that his office would not prosecute most rioters who have been arrested, except where charges include deliberate property damage, theft, or threat of violence. Police have arrested over 500 people since the riots began, but less than 50 have been prosecuted so far.Oregon state police told KOIN 6 on Thursday that they are ending their deployment at Portland's federal courthouse because of anger over Schmidt's decision after being called in to assist as part of the agreement reached between local authorities and the federal government."The Oregon State Police is continually reassessing our resources and the needs of our partner agencies and at this time we are inclined to move those resources back to counties where prosecution of criminal conduct is still a priority," OSP said in a statement.Governor Kate Brown said the withdrawal was being coordinated between all relevant agencies."This transition was made in coordination with local and federal officials," Brown wrote on Twitter. "If further state support is needed in Portland, OSP troopers will be available to return to the city.""The OSP Troopers assigned to this event demonstrated the best traditions of the agency's commitment to service, however, our initial commitment to the City of Portland has concluded and it is time we integrate this valuable resource back to their respective communities," OSP said in a statement to National Review. "OSP will always be here for Portland, as we have for decades and I'll continue to assess subsequent resource demands with the Portland Police Bureau Chief, whom I have a great deal of respect for and a strong working relationship."
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| Bald eagle takes down government drone Posted: 13 Aug 2020 04:24 PM PDT  The device was mapping shoreline erosion when it was attacked in the air.
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| Fox Host makes ominous prediction about Joe Biden then immediately tries to walk it back Posted: 13 Aug 2020 10:41 AM PDT  Fox News host Jeanine Pirro suggested Wednesday night that "something" was going to happen to presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden that would keep him from appearing on the ballot come November.Her comment during an appearance on "The Five" as she was answering a question about a recent poll from right-wing outlet Rasmussen that claimed more than half of its respondents didn't believe Mr Biden would survive his first term in office.
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| Bison violently attacks motorcyclist in South Dakota Posted: 14 Aug 2020 11:04 AM PDT  A motorcyclist has survived a violent attack by a bison in the Black Hills of South Dakota, sheriff's officials said.
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| You Need These High-Design Lawn Games to Maximize Summer Fun Posted: 14 Aug 2020 07:00 AM PDT |
| 3 women arrested for allegedly attacking a Chili's host for enforcing social distancing Posted: 14 Aug 2020 11:57 AM PDT  "I was kind of fighting for my life," restaurant hostess Kelsy Wallace, 17, said. "I was really scared, calling out for my mama."
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| The Beirut blast leveled historic neighborhoods. Some fear developers may finish the job Posted: 13 Aug 2020 04:33 AM PDT  Restoring historic districts badly damaged in the Beirut blast will be a tall order given Lebanon's weak economy and developers' eagerness to move in.
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| U.S. judge dismisses NRA lawsuit challenging gun shop closures in New York state Posted: 14 Aug 2020 01:24 PM PDT  A federal judge on Friday dismissed the National Rifle Association's lawsuit challenging New York's decision to close gun stores in the state in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. The decision came eight days after New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit seeking to dissolve the gun rights group, accusing senior leaders of corruption including the improper diversion of millions of dollars. U.S. District Judge Mae D'Agostino said the NRA lacked standing to challenge on behalf of its members a March 20 executive order by Governor Andrew Cuomo requiring gun stores to close in the state because they were "non-essential" businesses.
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| Lindsey Graham breaks with Trump: ‘No issue’ whether Kamala Harris is US citizen Posted: 14 Aug 2020 11:18 AM PDT  Trump stoked an untrue theory that Harris isn't eligible to be vice president.
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| 43 felony charges, new task forces: Here's what Chicago is doing to combat potential looting Posted: 14 Aug 2020 02:33 PM PDT  Dozens of people have been charged in connection with widespread looting in downtown Chicago earlier this week, the county prosecutor said.
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| Scorching temperatures in Death Valley will shatter records in West, southwest Posted: 13 Aug 2020 11:01 AM PDT  Cities like Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson and Salt Lake City could experience record high temperatures in the coming days.
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| Venezuela jails 15 for decades over botched invasion Posted: 14 Aug 2020 02:51 PM PDT  Venezuela on Friday sentenced 15 people to more than two decades in prison over a failed invasion plot that President Nicolas Maduro has said was an attempt to overthrow him.
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| White House report recommends Georgia issue statewide mask mandate Posted: 14 Aug 2020 11:36 AM PDT  Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is trying to stop Atlanta from mandating masks.
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| US 'foils' militant cryptocurrency fundraising Posted: 14 Aug 2020 05:35 AM PDT  The US government seizes millions from the Islamic State group, al-Qaeda and the armed wing of Hamas.
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| Cadillac will charge a subscription fee for Super Cruise, its answer to Tesla's Autopilot, after the trial period ends Posted: 13 Aug 2020 10:06 AM PDT  Cadillac's subscription fee for the Super Cruise technology will kick in after the first three years of use are up.
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| A slogan whose ambiguity serves a purpose Posted: 13 Aug 2020 03:00 AM PDT  The fact that the slogan "Defund the police" needs explanation is a plus because it serves as a quick, catchy way into a larger, more complex story.
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| Close contact with a Covid-19 sufferer brings 20 per cent chance of catching virus, study finds Posted: 13 Aug 2020 08:34 AM PDT  Coming into close contact with a Covid-19 sufferer yields a 20 per cent chance of catching the disease, a new study shows. The large-scale survey, by Imperial College London, found antibodies in one in five people who said they had interacted with a positive case. Overall, some 3.4 million people are now estimated to have been infected with coronavirus – about six per cent of the population. The results come from the world's largest home testing programme looking for past evidence of the disease, using fingerprick testing kits. The study tracked the spread of infection across England after the pandemic's first peak, with volunteers testing themselves at home between June 20 and July 13. People living in London were most likely to have been infected, along with those working in care homes and health care, people from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups and people living in larger households. The programme suggested a total of 13 per cent of people living in London had Covid-19 antibodies, compared with less than three per cent in the south-west of England. People working in care homes (16 per cent) and healthcare (12 per cent) returned far higher results than people who were not key workers, at five per cent. The study found that 17 per cent of black volunteers had antibodies, while the categories of Asian and other ethnic minorities had 12 per cent each. The figure among white volunteers was only five per cent. People aged 18-34 showed the highest incidence of antibodies, at eight per cent, while the over-65s had the lowest rate, at just three per cent (the graphic below shows infections by age range during July and August).
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| Antifa website redirected to Biden’s campaign site causes right-wing conspiracy meltdown Posted: 13 Aug 2020 02:23 PM PDT  The website for anti-facist group Antifa redirected to Joe Biden's campaign website on Wednesday, which led some people to claim that the Democrats are connected to the organisation.For a few hours on Wednesday, Antifa.com redirected to JoeBiden.com, the campaign website of the presumptive Democratic candidate for president, before it returned back to the original page of the group Donald Trump has described as being run by "anarchists."
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| He used social media to pimp a 14-year-old in Miami airport hotels, cops say. He’s 17 Posted: 13 Aug 2020 02:45 PM PDT  A 14-year-old runaway told cops she got sold for sex at hotels across the street from Miami International Airport up to five times a day, according to a police report. The first statutory rapist called himself "Slime," the girl said. He paid in Percocet.
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| Cop fired for racist Christmas decorations returns to work Posted: 13 Aug 2020 03:40 PM PDT |
| Mei Xiang, the National Zoo's female giant panda, is very pregnant and her cub could come as soon as this weekend Posted: 14 Aug 2020 12:11 PM PDT  The panda cub could be the first cub at The National Zoo since Bei Bei was born in 2015. He left to China last year.
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| ‘The President Was Not Encouraging’: What Obama Really Thought About Biden Posted: 14 Aug 2020 02:11 AM PDT  Behind the friendship was a more complicated relationship, which now drives the former vice president to prove his partner wrong.
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| US seizes millions of dollars of Iranian fuel bound for Venezuela Posted: 14 Aug 2020 01:47 PM PDT  The US says it seized 1.1 million barrels of fuel from four tankers en route to Venezuela.
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| Astronomers find "Milky Way look-alike" 12 billion light years away Posted: 13 Aug 2020 04:08 PM PDT  The galaxy appears as a near-perfect ring of light — a so-called "Einstein Ring."
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| Special Tactics Airman Who Fought Off Taliban Despite Concussion Will Get Silver Star Posted: 13 Aug 2020 12:08 PM PDT  For his actions on May 25, 2013, in Afghanistan's eastern Ghazni province, John Grimesey will receive the Silver Star.
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| Chainsaw-wielding men covered in blood arrested on Toronto beach Posted: 14 Aug 2020 09:54 AM PDT  Two men have been arrested after appearing on a Canadian beach spattered in blood and wielding chainsaws.Witnesses alleged that they menaced and "charged" at various people gathered at Toronto's Cherry Beach on Sunday morning, before police quickly intervened, responding to reports of a large fight.
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| These states require travelers to self-quarantine or present negative COVID-19 test Posted: 14 Aug 2020 04:39 AM PDT  States are opening back up, but some still require or recommend visitors self-quarantine for two weeks. Find out where.
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| Drug-dealing stripper wanted white supremacist gang to kill Texas roommate, feds say Posted: 14 Aug 2020 01:29 PM PDT  Besides dancing and dealing, the Dallas man had murder on his mind, according to authorities.
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| Protesters in Minneapolis say they won't clear barricades around the George Floyd Memorial until the city leaders meet their 24 demands Posted: 12 Aug 2020 08:50 PM PDT  Some of the demands include recalling Hennepin County Attorney, Mike Freeman, and ending qualified immunity.
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| Biden says Trump's USPS funding opposition shows he 'doesn't want an election' Posted: 13 Aug 2020 12:27 PM PDT  Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is slamming recent comments from President Trump he says prove his opponent doesn't "want an election." Biden spoke Thursday after Trump in a Fox Business interview said he is against the funding for the United States Postal Service that Democrats are pushing for in a stimulus bill, with the president suggesting this is specifically because he wants to prevent universal mail-in voting during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Pure Trump," Biden said of these comments. "He doesn't want an election."The Biden campaign in a statement on Thursday also accused the president of "sabotaging a basic service that hundreds of millions of people rely upon, cutting a critical lifeline for rural economies and for delivery of medicines, because he wants to deprive Americans of their fundamental right to vote safely."In the Fox Business interview, Trump, who has asserted without evidence that increased mail-in voting during the coronavirus crisis would result in widespread voter fraud, had said that without the $25 billion for the USPS that Democrats want and that he is blocking, "you can't have universal mail-in voting, because they're not equipped to have it." > "Pure Trump," Joe Biden says when asked about Pres. Trump's comments on U.S. Postal Service. "He doesn't want an election." https://t.co/JsAo4rBy2e pic.twitter.com/uZyScwGMfk> > -- ABC News (@ABC) August 13, 2020More stories from theweek.com Are bread riots coming to America? USPS warns delays could prevent mail-in votes from being counted in nearly every state Postal workers are sounding the alarm as mail sorting machines are removed from processing facilities
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| US says Iran forces board ship in international waters Posted: 13 Aug 2020 12:35 AM PDT  Iranian forces boarded a tanker in international waters in the Gulf of Oman, using a helicopter and two ships to take over the vessel for several hours, US officials said. "Today in international waters, Iranian forces, including two ships and an Iranian "Sea King" helicopter, overtook and boarded a ship called the 'Wila'," the US Central Command said in a tweet on Wednesday.
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| Nigerian police rescue Kano man locked up in his parents' garage Posted: 14 Aug 2020 09:52 AM PDT  The emaciated aged 30 had been left for at least three years without proper care, police say.
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| Iowans grapple with aftermath of Monday's deadly derecho, 'a disaster that we have never seen' Posted: 14 Aug 2020 12:00 PM PDT  The National Guard arrived in Cedar Rapids on Friday to assist residents there after Monday's deadly derecho storm that was like a hurricane
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| Cops’ helicopter got too close — so Georgia man shot it, feds say. He’s going to prison Posted: 13 Aug 2020 03:53 PM PDT  Terry Kielisch reportedly told investigators "he didn't like it flying near his home."
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| The COVID-19 virus can spread through the air – here's what it'll take to detect the airborne particles Posted: 14 Aug 2020 05:12 AM PDT  A growing body of research shows that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can spread from person to person through the air. Indoor spaces with poor ventilation in areas where the virus is prevalent are particularly hazardous.In the fictional world of "Star Trek," public health officials and first responders would be able to determine instantly if a space had a dangerous concentration of airborne virus, and any other pathogen, by simply waving around a tricorder. That technology, imagined 60 years ago, is still firmly in the realm of fiction. However, devices that can rapidly detect particular airborne pathogens – including SARS-CoV-2 – are in the works in various research laboratories. The air we breatheDetection of the presence of airborne virus particles is complicated by the mixture of other particles in the air. The atmosphere includes a large number of floating particles, a significant fraction of which are biological. Typically, with each breath, you inhale about a thousand biological particles.These bioaerosols include live and dead organisms, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, pollen and plant and animal debris. Viruses are the smallest of these particles. They range in size from 10 to 300 nanometers, or millionths of a millimeter. In contrast, red blood cells average about 6 to 8 microns, or 6,000 to 8,000 nanometers, in diameter. Bacteria range from 1 to 4 microns and fungi 5 to 10 microns. Plant and animal debris is generally larger than 10 microns.Most of these biological particles are not a health concern, because most are bits of plants and animals, including humans. However, it only takes a small number of dangerous microbes to produce a pandemic. IDing bad news microbesTo understand the potential threat from bioaerosols, it's important to identify the small fraction of problematic or pathogenic microbes from among all the bioaerosols present. Bioaerosol identification begins with capturing biological particles from the air, typically by collecting particles on a filter, in a liquid vial or on hydrogels. Often, researchers transfer the collected bioaerosols to a culture medium that is designed to support microbe growth. How the microbes respond to a specific culture medium – the size, shape, color and growth rate of the microbe colony – can indicate the microbe species. This process can take several days to weeks, and is often ineffective. It turns out the scientists can only identify about 1% of airborne microbes with this approach.Increasingly, scientists are relying on gene-based analyses to map viruses and other microorganisms collected in air samples. One popular technique for gene-based analysis is polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which uses an enzymatic reaction to make many copies of a specific gene or portion of a gene so that the genetic sequence – DNA or RNA – can be detected in a sample. A PCR test can be designed to spot gene sequences specific to a microorganism so that detecting the sequence equals identifying the microorganism. This technique is currently the gold-standard for detecting the presence of SARS-CoV-2 from nasal swab samples. PCR-based methods are very accurate in identifying pathogens.Next generation sequencing technology makes it possible to rapidly sequence organisms' whole genomes. Using these techniques, researchers now have the ability to understand the entire population of microorganisms — their diversity and abundance — in the air. Rapid detectionDespite these advances, there is still a lot of work to be done to be able to instantaneously identify the presence of pathogens in air. Current techniques for identifying microbes are expensive, require specialized equipment and involve long processing steps. They also can't detect a species from small amounts of genetic material.Recent advances, however, provide some promise for the development of sensors that can provide quick information about bioaerosols. One approach uses laser induced florescence. In this technique, particles are illuminated with light of a particular color or wavelength, and only biological particles respond by fluorescing, or emitting light. This technique can be used to identify and quantify the presence of biological particles in air in real-time but it doesn't differentiate between a safe and a harmful microbe. Another advance is using mass spectrometry for bioaerosol detection. In this technique, a single bioaerosol particle is blasted apart with a laser and the molecular fragments are immediately analyzed to determine the molecular composition of the particles. Researchers are also using Raman spectroscopy-based sensors. Raman spectroscopy can identify molecular composition from light reflected off of samples without destroying the samples. Big challenge in a small packageThese techniques are advancing instant detection and identification of airborne bacteria and fungi, but they are less efficient in detecting viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. This is primarily because viruses are very small, which makes it difficult to collect them with air samplers and difficult to perform PCR analysis given the small amount of DNA/RNA. Researchers are working to address the limitations of detecting airborne viruses. In our lab at Clarkson University, we have developed a low-cost bioaerosol sensor and collector for wide-scale bioaerosol sampling. This battery-operated sampler uses a micro-sized high-voltage source to ionize airborne viruses, bacteria and fungi and collect them on a surface. Ionization gives the biological particles an electrical charge. Giving the collection surface the opposite charge causes the particles to stick to the surface.Samples from our collector can be analyzed with new portable DNA/RNA sequencers, which allows for near real-time bioaerosol detection with low-cost, hand-held equipment. Where's my tricorder?These advances could soon make it possible to detect a known pathogen, like SARS-CoV-2, with a portable device. But they're still far from being a tricorder. [Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter.]For one, they require relatively high levels of a pathogen for detection. Being able to identify a virus like SARS-CoV-2 at lower levels that are nonetheless sufficient for disease transmission will require developing sensors with lower detection limits. Additionally, these sensors can only be tailored to detect specific pathogens, not scan for all possible pathogens.Though the equivalent of the tricorder in "Star Trek" isn't around the corner, the need for such a device has never been greater. Now is an opportune time for the emergence of new sensing techniques piggy-backing on the dramatic advances being made in the fields of electronics, computing and bioinformatics. When the next new pathogen emerges, it would be nice to have a tricorder handy.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * Rapid home-based coronavirus tests are coming together in research labs — we're working on analyzing spit using advanced CRISPR gene editing techniques * Aerosols are a bigger coronavirus threat than WHO guidelines suggest – here's what you need to knowSuresh Dhaniyala is President, Potsdam Sensors, a startup that is commercializing TracB. He has received funding from the National Science Foundation.Shantanu Sur has received funding from the National Science Foundation Hema Priyamvada Ravindran does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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| Eric Trump: Don’t know why Harris will ‘magically become this unicorn to rejuvenate Biden’ Posted: 13 Aug 2020 06:39 AM PDT  Trump Organization Executive Vice President, Eric Trump, weighs in on Joe Biden and Kamala Harris making first debut as Democratic presidential ticket on 'Fox & Friends.'
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| Defying precedent, Trump says he will give Republican convention speech from the White House lawn Posted: 13 Aug 2020 05:49 PM PDT  "I'll probably be giving my speech at the White House because it is a great place," Trump told the New York Post on Thursday.
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| Mozambique's leader blames 'war' in north on wealth-seekers Posted: 14 Aug 2020 05:06 AM PDT |
| After months of haggling, Lockheed moves on German air defense bid Posted: 14 Aug 2020 09:55 AM PDT  Lockheed Martin and MBDA Deutschland have submitted another bid for Germany's next-generation air defense system, following negotiations throughout the summer that some observers said nearly tanked the project.
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| 34 Camping Essentials for Your RV, Trailer, or Badass Camper Van Posted: 14 Aug 2020 02:11 PM PDT |
| US economist proposes $12 trillion in slavery reparations to eliminate black-white wealth gap Posted: 14 Aug 2020 07:13 AM PDT  A renowned economist has said that $12 trillion should be afforded to black Americans in reparation for slavery to help the close wealth gap.Duke University professor, William Darity Jr, and writer, Kirsten Mullen, jointly published a report for The Roosevelt Institute, an American liberal think tank, laying out a case for slavery reparations.
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| Decades-old photo of Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell and a Confederate flag lives on and on Posted: 13 Aug 2020 10:34 AM PDT  McConnell said he thinks the photograph was taken during his first term in the Senate at a Sons of Confederate Veterans meeting in Louisville.
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| ‘Ridiculous amount’ of drugs seized in biggest-ever heroin bust in Georgia, feds say Posted: 14 Aug 2020 11:15 AM PDT  An Atlanta man has been indicted, and authorities say more arrests are likely.
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| Gretchen Whitmer is America's most incompetent politician Posted: 14 Aug 2020 02:45 AM PDT  If there is one thing we know about coronavirus it's that it disproportionately affects the aged. The average victim of the new virus is older than the American life expectancy. It should stand to reason, then, that the majority of our efforts ought to be directed at protecting the elderly who are the most vulnerable.Even before the pandemic it was clear that nursing homes were hellish dens of illness and filth. These institutions, the vast majority of which are run on a for-profit basis, are not a fit place for anyone. Which is why it is almost unbelievable that in some states patients with active cases of COVID-19 are still being moved from hospitals to elder care facilities.The results have been predictable. Nursing homes, which have been the focal point of the epidemic in this country since March, are responsible for at least 40 percent of all deaths attributed to the coronavirus. Governors in vast majority of states decided some time ago that no one infected with the virus should be sent to a nursing home and that every other imaginable precaution should be taken to ensure that the disease is not introduced to places in which it is guaranteed to spread like wildfire. Among them, after a long delay, was the Democratic governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, who has otherwise distinguished himself during the present crisis mostly for a series of obnoxious CNN appearances with his brother, Chris.This has not been the case in my home state of Michigan. Two weeks ago, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Cuomo's fellow Democrat, vetoed a piece of legislation that would have prevented patients with active COVID-19 infections from being placed in nursing homes. Instead, the legislation would have required these individuals to be treated in entirely separate, otherwise empty facilities reserved exclusively for those who have already contracted the disease.It is impossible to mount a scientific justification for Whitmer's veto. It was an act of pure spite, a move that signaled nothing save her unlimited contempt for the Republican-controlled state legislature. Her feeble defense — that not placing virus patients in nursing homes where their chances of infecting their fellow occupants are all but guaranteed would have violated their medical rights and privacy rights — is risible on its face. Where were the supposed rights of the same individuals when they were moved from hospitals to nursing homes, ostensibly in accordance with guidelines from the CDC? Where were the rights of those who would be exposed to this lethal disease? Only three days after the first case of the virus was confirmed in Michigan, the head of the Healthcare Association of Michigan proposed treating coronavirus patients in vacant facilities in a widely shared letter. This idea, which would almost certainly have saved hundreds and perhaps even thousands of lives, was imperiously dismissed out of hand by Whitmer.Why should anyone be surprised, though? This is the same governor who decreed that it was illegal to visit one's own private vacation home and to purchase garden gnomes in stores that were otherwise open, who decided to open the northern half of the state for the explicit purpose of visiting Traverse City, where days later a patriotic marina owner refused to allow Whitmer's husband to launch his expensive boat ahead of others who had been waiting longer. Whitmer is everything critics accuse President Trump of being: venal, narcissistic, hypocritical, obtuse, willfully ignorant, and totally indifferent to human life.I can think of no greater or more obvious indictment of our national media than the fact that America's most incompetent public servant was feted as a plausible choice for the Democratic Party's vice presidential nomination. Republican governors can be accused, with varying degrees of accuracy, of making light of the current pandemic.Whitmer stands alone in her positive insistence upon maximizing the death toll by the only surefire means known to science.More stories from theweek.com Are bread riots coming to America? USPS warns delays could prevent mail-in votes from being counted in nearly every state Postal workers are sounding the alarm as mail sorting machines are removed from processing facilities
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