| 'His standard playbook': How Trump spent the week of the DNC on counterprogramming Posted: 19 Aug 2020 03:46 PM PDT  As leaders on both sides of the political aisle criticized Donald Trump while praising Joe Biden at this week's virtual Democratic National Convention, the president did his best to steal the spotlight with a range of calculated counter-programming events and statements.
|
| Megan Boswell, mom of Tennessee's 2-year-old 'baby Evelyn' has been charged with her murder months after the toddler's remains were found Posted: 20 Aug 2020 01:05 PM PDT  Evelyn Boswell went missing in December, but a family member didn't report it until February. Her remains were found on a family member's property.
|
| McConnell challenges McGrath to socially distanced debate Posted: 19 Aug 2020 12:00 PM PDT  Republican Mitch McConnell laid down a challenge Wednesday to his Democratic opponent in Kentucky — a socially distanced debate with no notes on statewide television. McConnell, the Senate majority leader who is seeking a seventh term in the November election, issued the debate challenge in a letter to Democrat Amy McGrath's campaign. "This would be a debate just between the two of us," McConnell wrote.
|
| U.S. senator calls for federal investigation into beating near Portland protests Posted: 18 Aug 2020 07:01 PM PDT  U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham urged the department to probe the case as Portland police identified a 25-year-old man suspected of taking part in the Sunday night attack and asked him to surrender. "This shocking attack by a mob against a young man in the streets of Portland is beyond the pale," Graham, an ally of U.S. president Donald Trump, said in a written statement.
|
| Macron and Merkel meet with Turkey, Belarus, COVID on the agenda Posted: 20 Aug 2020 08:32 AM PDT  French President Emmanuel Macron received German Chancellor Angela Merkel at his Mediterranean holiday retreat on Thursday to discuss a long list of burning issues including the coronavirus pandemic, post-election unrest in Belarus and growing tensions with Turkey.
|
| Rep. Debbie Dingell warns Democrats that voter concerns over violence could be more important than trade this election year Posted: 19 Aug 2020 05:25 PM PDT  Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell worries the spike in violence in many urban areas, combined with attacks on the police, could be a wedge issue in the presidential election.
|
| Fact check: If the vice president becomes president, House speaker doesn't become new VP Posted: 20 Aug 2020 11:20 AM PDT  If Joe Biden is elected but unable to serve a full term, Kamala Harris would become president. Nancy Pelosi, as speaker, wouldn't automatically be VP.
|
| As wildfires sweep through California, COVID-19 impacts the state's ability to rely on inmate fire crews Posted: 19 Aug 2020 10:46 PM PDT  California is dealing with a shortage of inmate fire crews to battle the extreme conditions.
|
| These Black Lives Matter Protesters Had No Idea How One Arrest Could Alter Their Lives Posted: 19 Aug 2020 07:15 AM PDT  Young protesters, particularly those of color, arrested at protests can face chilling consequences
|
| Cliff collapses in Grand Canyon revealing 313 million-year-old footprints, park says Posted: 20 Aug 2020 10:00 AM PDT  The footprints were in plain view to hikers, the park said.
|
| Rep. Joe Kennedy III denies knowledge that his father contributed millions to super-PAC in support of Senate race Posted: 19 Aug 2020 02:12 PM PDT  Massachusetts congressman and Senate primary candidate Joe Kennedy III tells Yahoo News Editor in Chief Daniel Klaidman and Chief Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff that he had no knowledge that his father, Joe Kennedy II, had transferred a large sum of money into a super-PAC supporting his primary run against Sen. Ed Markey.
|
| Warren Buffett advised Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky to 'get rich slow.' The home-sharing platform just filed to go public during a pandemic. Posted: 20 Aug 2020 07:58 AM PDT  Chesky cut costs, raised cash, and slashed Airbnb's workforce this year as lockdowns and travel restrictions hammered demand.
|
| Where's Tulsi? Posted: 18 Aug 2020 08:12 PM PDT  Few things could have actually enlivened the funereal proceedings that were the second night of this year's virtual Democratic National Convention. But one thing that might have gone a long way in that direction was hearing from Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, the one 2020 primary candidate who was awarded delegates but not given a speaking role.It is strange to think that only four years ago Gabbard was still considered a rising star in the Democratc Party. At the DNC in 2016, it was Gabbard who was chosen to nominate Sen. Bernie Sanders as the official second-place finisher in the delegate tally, the role taken on Tuesday night by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.These days Gabbard is a pariah in her party. There are some fairly obvious reasons for this. Not only did she tear apart Kamala Harris' record as a prosecutor during last year's debates; she also voted against one of the articles of impeachment against President Trump back in February. Like most principled critics of America's foreign policy, her lack of interest in knee-jerk partisanship has done her no favors.Foreign policy is a topic about which we've heard little so far at this year's convention. If nothing else, Tuesday night's endorsements from John Kerry, Cindy McCain, and Colin Powell served as a reminder that a Biden administration would be committed to the same interventionism that left us with an unwinnable war in Afghanistan and perhaps the most geographically expansive refugee crisis in human history in North Africa and the Middle East.Tulsi is not the only former Democratic presidential candidate who would have made Tuesday night better television. I would have paid $50 for a pay-per-view convention in order to hear Marianne Williamson talk about the power of love.More stories from theweek.com Joe Biden is already planning a failed presidency 5 brutally funny cartoons about Trump's assault on the Post Office The elephant in the room at the DNC
|
| Mauritius to scuttle oil-spill tanker, Japanese owner apologises Posted: 18 Aug 2020 11:47 PM PDT  Mauritius said on Wednesday it planned to scuttle the Japanese-owned bulk carrier that ran aground off its shores and spilled oil over pristine waters and fragile coral reefs. The MV Wakashio struck a coral reef off the Indian Ocean island on July 25 and began spilling oil on Aug. 6, prompting the government to announce a state of environmental emergency. The spill spread over a vast area of endangered corals, affecting fish and other marine life in what some scientists have called the country's worst ecological disaster.
|
| Brooklyn mother traveling with 6 children forced off JetBlue flight when her 2-year-old daughter wouldn't wear mask Posted: 19 Aug 2020 06:59 PM PDT  NEW YORK - A Brooklyn mother traveling alone with her six children was forced off a JetBlue flight in Orlando, Florida, Wednesday when her 2-year-old daughter wouldn't wear her mask. Flight attendants ordered Chaya Bruck of Midwood to get off the Newark, New Jersey-bound plane after her daughter Dina refused to keep the face covering on - and when the desperate mom tried to explain the tot ...
|
| 'At some point, we obviously will be gone.' Trump declines to give timetable for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq Posted: 20 Aug 2020 10:37 AM PDT  President Trump discussed U.S. troop levels in Iraq during an Oval Office meeting Thursday with the country's new prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
|
| California firefighters `taxed to the limit' seeking help Posted: 19 Aug 2020 10:20 PM PDT  More than two dozen major fires were scorching California on Thursday and taxing the state's firefighting capacity, sparked by an unprecedented lightning siege that dropped nearly 11,000 strikes over several days. The fires have destroyed 175 structures, including homes, and are threatening 50,000 more, said Daniel Berlant, an assistant deputy director with the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. In all, 33 civilians and firefighters have been injured, and two people have died.
|
| A lawyer for a police officer charged in George Floyd's death says Floyd 'killed himself' by dying from an overdose and a heart condition Posted: 20 Aug 2020 08:18 AM PDT  The lawyer for Thomas Lane, a former Minneapolis police officer, said the cops charged in George Floyd's death were just "doing their jobs."
|
| Portland riots rage as protesters set fires, attack government building Posted: 19 Aug 2020 06:03 AM PDT  Protesters lit fires, threw rocks and smashed windows at county government offices in Portland, Ore., on Tuesday, prompting police to declare a riot, after weeks of mostly peaceful antiracism demonstrations.
|
| ‘No one wants to touch this case.’ Probe into payoffs in NFL players’ case goes nowhere. Posted: 20 Aug 2020 03:00 AM PDT  A police investigation revealed that a Miami high school football coach might have paid $55,000 in cash to four men who claimed they'd been robbed by two NFL players in Miramar. The payoffs, according to a detective's report, were made so the victims would change their story — and took place in a downtown Miami law office.
|
| How Ukraine's audacious secret service successfully scammed Putin and his mercenaries Posted: 19 Aug 2020 08:30 AM PDT  Ukraine tricked 32 Russian mercenaries into confessing their jobs and almost flying straight into Ukrainian custody.
|
| Obama reportedly moved his speaking slot at the DNC so he could 'pass the torch' to Harris Posted: 19 Aug 2020 06:52 PM PDT  Former President Barack Obama knows what it's like to make history at a Democratic National Convention, and soon, so will Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.).Obama was set to give the final speech during night three of the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, but instead, he asked organizers to switch things up and give his slot to Harris, a person familiar with the matter told The Washington Post. Why? Because as the first Black president, he wanted to "pass the torch" to Harris, who is poised to become the first Black and South Asian woman on a major party's presidential ticket. Now, he will speak before Harris, and she will deliver the night's final address.More stories from theweek.com 5 bitingly funny cartoons about the Democratic National Convention Can Joe Biden salvage the DNC? A confused Kirsten Dunst asks Kanye West why he put her on his campaign poster
|
| ‘I nominate my friend’: Security guard who once told Joe Biden ‘I love you’ helps secure his candidacy Posted: 19 Aug 2020 02:59 AM PDT  A security guard who once blurted out "I love you" to Joe Biden in an elevator was the first person to nominate him as the Democrats' presidential candidate on Tuesday.Jacquelyn Brittany, who works at the New York Times, first met Mr Biden when the former VP was attending an editorial board meeting at the publication's Manhattan office in December.
|
| Coronavirus cases reported in fraternities, sororities at 2 universities Posted: 19 Aug 2020 11:58 AM PDT  Auburn University and North Carolina State reported the outbreaks Tuesday, a day after Oklahoma State University began its semester with an entire sorority under quarantine.
|
| California wildfires chase people from homes into smoky air Posted: 19 Aug 2020 04:49 AM PDT  Crews worked in blistering heat Wednesday to beat back wildfires that ignited across Northern California, sending thousands of people from their homes into smoky air, briefly halting traffic on an interstate and killing a pilot on a firefighting mission. Hundreds of fires were burning across California, including 23 major fires or groups of fires that Gov. Gavin Newsom blamed on "extraordinary weather" and "all of these lightning strikes." Five to seven people were injured in a fire in Stanislaus County, southeast of San Francisco, Sheriff Jeff Dirkse told the Sacramento Bee.
|
| Body cam footage shows Phoenix police restraining a man on asphalt in 100-degree heat who later died Posted: 20 Aug 2020 02:08 PM PDT  Phoenix police launched an internal investigation and released footage showing the arrest of Ramon Lopez, 28, who died in hospital shortly afterward.
|
| Greece denies illegally pushing migrants back to sea after New York Times investigation found 1,000 cases Posted: 20 Aug 2020 06:33 AM PDT  Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has denied renewed claims of illegal pushbacks of asylum-seekers at sea and accused Turkey of peddling "misinformation" about his country's "tough but fair" border management. "If there's any incident that needs to be explored, if there's any exaggeration at any given point, I'm going to be the first to look into it," Mitsotakis told CNN late Wednesday. "Greece is a country that respects the rule of law, we've granted asylum to tens of thousands of people," the PM said. The New York Times on August 14 said Greece was "abandoning" migrants at sea for the Turkish coastguard to rescue. It said it had interviewed survivors from five such episodes, and cited additional evidence from independent watchdogs, two academic researchers and the Turkish coastguard. Based on its research, the Times said more than 1,000 asylum seekers had been "dropped at sea" since March. Mitsotakis said the reports "essentially originate from Turkey". "Some of these reporters who do these types of exploratory journalism should be more careful in checking their sources," he said. "These types of reports are also an insult to our coastguard (which) has saved literally tens of thousands of refugees and migrants at sea, and our islands have always provided shelter to those in greater need," Mitsotakis said.
|
| Nashville police chief orders investigation after officers knock in innocent family's door Posted: 20 Aug 2020 05:07 AM PDT  Interim MNPD chief John Drake made a swift policy change and decommissioned three officers after the search warrant was executed at an Edgehill home.
|
| An overwhelming majority of Americans say the US response to coronavirus makes them feel embarrassed Posted: 19 Aug 2020 07:49 AM PDT  A strong majority of Americans (58%) in a new poll disapproved of President Donald Trump's handling of the pandemic; 68% expressed embarrassment.
|
| Washington tourist breaks quarantine and spends part of Hawaii vacation in jail, cops say Posted: 19 Aug 2020 04:54 PM PDT  Hawaii requires travelers to quarantine for 14 days when they arrive to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
|
| The Democratic Party Just Dissed and All but Disappeared Stacey Abrams Posted: 18 Aug 2020 06:27 PM PDT  Tom Perez and the DNC have got some nerve to sit Stacey Abams at the head of the kid's table, burying one of the most impressive, accomplished and recognizable Black women in America at the end of a so-called "keynote" video that used local leaders to highlight the party's supposed diversity without giving those leaders any real time to actually present themselves, and that aired at 9 PM on Tuesday — an hour before the networks start airing the convention. Sure, the party wants to highlight the ones to watch in the years ahead. Many of the local leaders many Americans saw — "met" would be too strong a word for the 5 to 15 second cuts from pol to pol, like a nerdier version of the celebrity "Imagine" video — for the first time tonight will hopefully go on to truly lead the Democratic party and push it forward on progressive issues that should be the foundation of our democratic and Democratic future. But leaving Abrams two minutes at the end of this montage wasn't a way to showcase a star in the party but a way to put her back in her place—to make plain that she's not part of the party's leadership now. Even as the 77-year-old Joe Biden offers himself as a "bridge" to a more diverse future, the sidelining of Abrams shows the party's need for a real reckoning, not just on policy but also on how they prioritize Black female candidates, especially those in the south. From the Georgia governors race to the South Carolina senate primary all the way through the presidential primary, Democratic leadership is still clearly uncomfortable putting their full support behind non-white and non-male candidates.What Happened to Stacey Abrams Will Happen to Joe BidenNo disrespect to her Democratic colleagues — mostly city council members and state legislators — but Stacey Abrams is by far the most accomplished of the individuals with whom she shared screen time in a format that seemed to be more about showing pictures of the supposed diversity that's coming soon to the national stage rather than actually giving any of the people in those pictures the time to truly introduce themselves. Good luck saying anything more than who you are and maybe a couple of platitudes in less than two minutes.It's notable that one of the other politicians in the video is a former Abrams intern. Rep. Sam Park of Georgia. He is indeed a rising star, but the visual of the two of them on the same virtual stage at this point in their careers is not just inaccurate but insulting — or at least it should be if we are being honest about the history of sexism and anti-Black racism in this country and even within the Democratic party.Are Democrats really saying that the woman who founded Fair Fight and Fair Count has the same political future as first and second term city council members? That the woman who has raised millions upon millions of dollars for candidates across the country should be mentioned in the same breath as someone who has been in office for a shorter period of time than most people spend in college? That the woman who built a voting-rights infrastructure across 20 states and almost single handedly contextualized the severity of the Census crisis should be sat at the kid's table?Again, no disrespect to the newcomers, but the placement of Abrams — not very long after she was considered for, and made the case for herself, as Biden's running mate — feels like a direct message to ambitious and accomplished Black women everywhere who state what they want: "Play by our rules and wait your turn. Do not create your own paths for success, organization, coalition building, fundraising, or much of anything else." For far too long the Democratic Party has half-heartedly asked Black candidates what they can do for them. But just as James Baldwin warned, we need a party that will ask, "What can we do with you?" Abrams did not wait for the DNC to assist her in her nationwide pursuit of democracy and equity, and now she is being punished for her success. One need only to rewatch her State of the Union rebuttal last year to know she has mastered the art of the awkward speech into the void.Yes, the Democratic Party deserves a victory lap about the selection of Kamala Harris as the vice presidential nominee. Similarly, the party took victory laps after the election and reelection of Barack Obama, and let's look at where that got us—a pendulum swing to perhaps the most anti-Black president of the last century. The DNC has never dealt with the structural inequities that exist within the organization and the party, which leaves us with a montage of a few rising stars and one whose light they are trying to dim. 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.
|
| At least 2 people fighting California's raging fires die as thousands flee homes Posted: 20 Aug 2020 05:51 PM PDT  "We are experiencing fires the likes of which we haven't seen in many, many years," Gov. Gavin Newsom said.
|
| Why U.S. intelligence findings undermine the Trump administration's Beijing-centric coronavirus narrative Posted: 19 Aug 2020 01:37 PM PDT  American officials familiar with a new internal report conducted by U.S. intelligence agencies said the findings affirm previous claims that local officials in Wuhan and Hubei Province hid coronavirus information from Beijing at the beginning of the pandemic, The New York Times reports.The U.S. report certainly doesn't exculpate the central government from wrongdoing, which occurred at all levels of the Chinese Communist Party, but it does make for a more nuanced reading of the pandemic's origins and complicates the Trump administration's narrative pinning the spread of the virus directly on Beijing's malfeasance.Michael Pillsbury, a China Scholar at the Hudson Institute who informally advises Trump, said "it makes a huge difference" if Wuhan officials were actually shielding the central government from key information. If Chinese President Xi Jinping wasn't primarily responsible for any cover-ups, Pillsbury told the Times, then his subordinates likely had not engaged in "total deceit" on the coronavirus. That could reopen a door for "good-faith negotiations" between Washington and Beijing that have stalled in large part due to divisions over the virus.Pillsbury, for what it's worth, is a proponent of the U.S. competing with China, but also wants the U.S. to stick to the January trade agreement signed by Trump and Xi. Read more at The New York Times.More stories from theweek.com 5 bitingly funny cartoons about the Democratic National Convention Joe Biden is already planning a failed presidency Kamala Harris' grand finale involved awkward pointing, an empty auditorium, and a Zoom mistake
|
| 'Fort Lori': Chicago police ban protests on Mayor Lori Lightfoot's block, order arrests for anyone who won't leave Posted: 20 Aug 2020 09:15 AM PDT |
| Texas man ‘who killed three neighbours’ had swastika drawn on forehead Posted: 19 Aug 2020 03:53 AM PDT  A Texas man accused of killing three of his neighbours was later found hiding in woods with a swastika drawn on his forehead, authorities said.Michael Wettstein, 60, has been charged with capital murder after allegedly carrying out a total of five shootings in Liberty County on Monday.
|
| White House press secretary compares teachers to 'meat packers' and dismisses safety concerns Posted: 20 Aug 2020 10:37 AM PDT  After comparing teachers to "meat packers," McEnany said, "We've gotta protect our children, and that means getting them back to school."
|
| He was 19 and threw himself over a grenade in Vietnam. He now will be buried at Arlington Posted: 19 Aug 2020 03:00 AM PDT  The body of a local war hero who dove on a grenade in Vietnam to save his friends will be re-interred in November at Arlington National Cemetery.
|
| Hong Kong: US suspends extradition treaty over national security law Posted: 20 Aug 2020 01:14 AM PDT  Three treaties between the US and Hong Kong were suspended, the latest move to pressure China.
|
| Army Destroys Cruise and Ballistic Missile Targets in 2nd Test of New Defense System Posted: 20 Aug 2020 02:12 PM PDT  It was the final live-fire exercise in a limited user test of the Army's Integrated Battle Command System.
|
| California wildfires: Helicopter pilot dies after crash while fighting massive blaze Posted: 19 Aug 2020 05:16 PM PDT  A pilot battling a fire in central California died after his helicopter crashed on Wednesday morning. Crews have been battling wildfires in the state and thousands of people were under orders to evacuate as hundreds of fires blazed across California amid a blistering heatwave now in its second week. Cal Fire said in a statement that the helicopter crashed while fighting a wildfire in western Fresno County while on a water dropping mission. The pilot was the only one on board. As fires raged across the state, smoke over San Francisco and the Bay Area, with atmospheric testing revealing that Northern California's air quality is currently the worst in the world. Authorities have told residents to stay inside and shut their windows. Governor Gavin Newsom has blamed "this extraordinary weather we're experiencing and all of these lightning strikes" for 367 known fires, including 23 major fires or groups of fires. He said the state has recorded nearly 11,000 lightning strikes in 72 hours. Police and firefighters went door-to-door before dawn on Wednesday in a frantic scramble to warn residents to evacuate as fire encroached on Vacaville, a city of about 100,000 between San Francisco and Sacramento. At least 50 structures were destroyed, including some homes, and 50 damaged.
|
| Playful Essentials to Perk Up Your Labor Day Setup Posted: 20 Aug 2020 06:22 AM PDT |
| This is how Democrats get shellacked in 2022 Posted: 20 Aug 2020 09:49 AM PDT  In the 2010 midterms, Democrats were routed because they did not completely fix the Great Recession. Obama economic adviser Larry Summers deliberately lowballed the Recovery Act stimulus in 2009, and Obama himself pivoted to austerity by early 2010. As a result, unemployment was nearly 10 percent on Election Day that year, and the Democrats were swept at the federal and state levels. In the words of Obama, it was a "shellacking."Biden adviser Ted Kaufman, who is in charge of Joe Biden's transition team, signaled in comments to the Wall Street Journal that a Biden administration may make the exact same mistake again. "When we get in, the pantry is going to be bare," he said. "When you see what Trump's done to the deficit … forget about COVID-19, all the deficits that he built with the incredible tax cuts. So we're going to be limited."As a factual matter, Kaufman is grotesquely mistaken on at least two levels. The economy will still be in a deep hole next year, and I have argued before, so long as the economy is below capacity, the American government can borrow without limit. The pantry is not "bare" — on the contrary, bond markets are howling for the government to issue more debt so there will be a goodly supply of safe assets. Second, even if one is worried about the national debt, it is self-defeating to try to cut it down before full employment is reached. As none other than Larry Summers demonstrated in a paper with economist Brad DeLong after his Recovery Act faceplant, borrowing to stimulate during a recession literally more than pays for itself by preventing economic damage and boosting future tax revenue.The most important fact about economic policy over the last 12 years, learned at a terrible cost in both Europe and the U.S., is this: Austerity during a recession makes everything worse.All this is truly unfortunate to hear from Kaufman, who is one of the more progressive advisers on Biden's team, and served well in Biden's Senate seat for two years attacking Wall Street corruption. But unless this kind of thinking is stamped out immediately, a Biden administration will make Democrats lose the 2022 midterms just like they did in 2010.More stories from theweek.com 5 bitingly funny cartoons about the Democratic National Convention A confused Kirsten Dunst asks Kanye West why he put her on his campaign poster Joe Biden's incomparable presidential odyssey
|
