| 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.
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| ‘She Has No Role’: Biden Condemns Ousted Women’s March Organizer Linda Sarsour after Her DNC Appearance Posted: 19 Aug 2020 07:00 AM PDT  Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden condemned the views of former Women's March co-chair Linda Sarsour, who has been repeatedly accused of anti-Semitism, after she participated in a Democratic National Convention council meeting on Tuesday.Sarsour, a Muslim activist who endorsed Biden after he announced Senator Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) as his running mate last week, spoke at the DNC's "Muslim Delegates and Allies Assembly" on Tuesday, sparking disapproval in light of her history of controversial comments on Jews and Israel. "Joe Biden has been a strong supporter of Israel and a vehement opponent of anti-Semitism his entire life, and he obviously condemns her views and opposes BDS, as does the Democratic platform," Biden spokesman Andrew Bates said, according to CNN's Jake Tapper. "She has no role in the Biden campaign whatsoever."Bates then pointed out that the official Democratic platform says, "We oppose any effort to unfairly single out and delegitimize Israel, including at the United Nations or through the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement."Sarsour apologized in 2018 for failing to condemn anti-Semitism among march organizers and then stepped down from her role as co-chair one year later due to anti-Semitic comments."Sarsour is the one who stands with terrorists and bigots, including Louis Farrakhan. Sarsour shared a platform with and praised Rasmea Odeh – a Palestinian-Arab terrorist responsible for murdering Jewish students; praised an Arab kid holding rocks to throw at Israelis as 'the definition of courage,' and tweeted her support for the intifada – the knifing, bombing and shooting campaigns in which Palestinian-Arab terrorists murdered and maimed 12,000 Jews," a Zionist Organization of America statement said in August 2019.The march's co-president Tamika Mallory, who was similarly ousted over anti-Semitic controversy, also spoke at the DNC at a virtual meeting of the Democratic Black Caucus on Monday.Mallory attended an address by anti-Semitic nation of Islam leader Louis Farrkahn in 2018, during which Farrakhan labeled Jews "satanic" and called them his "enemy." Mallory posted on social media after the event that Farrakhan was the "GOAT," or greatest of all time. She later refused to denounce Farrakhan in January 2019, leading the DNC to drop its sponsorship of the Women's March.
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| Barack Obama put Kamala Harris in an impossible position Posted: 19 Aug 2020 09:05 PM PDT  The best that can be said of Kamala Harris' speech at the DNC on Wednesday night is that it was the second best of the evening. But putting it that way doesn't quite capture the reality of what happened. Barack Obama delivered an incredible speech — a rhetorically accomplished, complexly argued case for defeating Donald Trump, and he delivered it impeccably, staring straight into the camera, drilling right to the souls of the American people.In that respect, Harris was in an impossible position. Originally Obama's remarks were supposed to follow the speech of the vice-presidential nominee, but the former president reportedly suggested flipping the order once Harris' name was announced. That inadvertently set Harris up for failure. But if she had gone first, her pedestrian, disjointed speech, delivered in a tone of phony overacting, would have been largely forgotten by the morning. Obama really was that good, and Harris really was that bad.Rather than making an argument, Harris set out to do what she was expected to — introduce herself to the country. But she did it in a cloying, cliché-ridden way. And she wove the story of her family and career into the political history of the country by way of the identity-politics categories so beloved of left-wing activists and the Democratic Party's consultant class. She started by talking about women. Then transitioned to Black women. Then added in her Indian heritage, and Latinos. Later she name-checked Indigenous people, denounced structural racism, and then, in a tone of high earnestness, made the most cringe-inducing declaration of the entire convention so far: "There is no vaccine for racism."Unlike Obama, who used the camera so expertly, Harris delivered her remarks on a large stage ringed with American flags before an auditorium empty of all but a handful of journalists, photographers, and producers. The vibe started at awkward and sank lower from there.The cardinal rule for running-mates is to do no harm to the ticket. I doubt this single speech hurt the Democrats' prospects in November. But there is no way it helped.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
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| A poultry farm in Maine received shipments of chicks that were dead on arrival. It's blaming the post office. Posted: 19 Aug 2020 08:48 PM PDT  "It's one more of the consequences of this disorganization, this sort of chaos they've created at the post office," Rep. Chellie Pingree said.
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| 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.
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| How Steve Bannon allegedly duped Trump’s supporters into funding ‘lavish lifestyle’ with a ‘fraudulent’ border wall campaign Posted: 20 Aug 2020 06:01 AM PDT  Thousands of Donald Trump's supporters were duped by his former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and others into supporting an online crowdfunding effort to build the president's long-promised border wall, federal prosecutors have alleged.The indictment of Mr Bannon, Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea was the result of what prosecutors described as an illegal scheme which "defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors, capitalising on their interest in funding a border wall to raise millions of dollars, under the false pretence that all of that money would be spent on construction" along the US-Mexico border.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Fact check: Vice President Mike Pence 'can't wait' to be on debate stage with Kamala Harris Posted: 20 Aug 2020 05:20 PM PDT  The vice president has said on at least two occasions that he's looking forward to debating the Democratic senator in October in Utah.
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| 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
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Trump explodes at Obama’s convention speech, repeating false accusation of spying on campaign Posted: 20 Aug 2020 02:35 AM PDT  Watching Wednesday night's Democratic convention, Donald Trump launched a Twitter barrage against his predecessor Barack Obama, whose speech painted the president as an incompetent egocentrist who has failed to "grow into the job".Tweeting in furious capital letters, Mr Trump repeated an unfounded accusation he has been trading on for months now. "HE SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN, AND GOT CAUGHT!"
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| 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
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| Mauritius oil spill: Satellite images show removal operation Posted: 19 Aug 2020 03:26 AM PDT  Satellite images capture tug boats trying to remove the broken vessel, which spilled tonnes of oil.
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| 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.
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| 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 ...
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| ‘Is that supposed to be a bad thing?’: Trump responds to questions about being at the center of QAnon conspiracies Posted: 19 Aug 2020 03:50 PM PDT  At a press conference on Wednesday, President Trump said he hadn't heard much about the QAnon conspiracy theory but that he understands its supporters like him.
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| Strike at Belarus' state TV erodes government control Posted: 20 Aug 2020 04:52 AM PDT  In a new challenge to Belarus' authoritarian ruler, hundreds of employees of state television have gone on strike amid a rising tide of protests, calling for his resignation after a vote the opposition saw as rigged. The journalists' action this week has shaken the government's control of the media, helping further erode President Alexander Lukashenko's grip after 26 years of iron-fisted rule. Vyacheslav Lomonosov, one of Belarusian TV employees who joined the labor action, said he and his colleagues could no longer tolerate an official ban on reporting the truth about a brutal crackdown on protests that has stoked international outrage.
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| Pelosi Accuses Trump, McConnell of ‘Standing in the Way,’ Vows to Flip House and Senate in Convention Speech Posted: 19 Aug 2020 08:02 PM PDT  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday addressed the Democratic National Convention and vowed to over come Republican obstruction by securing Democratic majorities in both chambers of Congress in November.Pelosi said Democrats in the House have passed and sent bills to the Senate dealing with health care costs, raising paychecks, voting rights, police reform, immigration, LGBT rights, gun violence, and climate change, among other issues."All of this is possible for America," Pelosi said. "Who was standing in the way? Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump.""Our nation faces the worst health and economic catastrophe in our history," the California Democrat continued.Pelosi said that the $3 trillion coronavirus stimulus package proposed by Democrats "is essential to safeguard lives, livelihood, and the life of our democracy.""And who was standing in the way? Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump," she said. "Instead of crushing the virus, they're trying to crush the Affordable Care Act."Pelosi also repeated Democrats' commitment to preserving abortion access."We are unleashing the power of women to take our rightful place in our national life by championing a woman's right to choose and defending Roe v. Wade," she said."Who's standing in the way? Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump," she repeated.Democrats are also considering a move known as the "nuclear option," or changing Senate rules to eliminate the 60-vote threshold currently required to end debate, which would allow a future Democratic Senate majority to pass legislation with a simple majority of 51 votes."We will increase our majority in the House. We will win a Democratic majority in the Senate. We will elect Kamala Harris vice president. And we will elect Joe Biden president of the United States of America," Pelosi promised.Also slated to speak Wednesday night at the convention are former president Barack Obama, 2016 Democratic nominee for president Hillary Clinton, and Senator Kamala Harris, who is presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden's running mate.
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| Jill Biden says Trump attacks over husband Joe Biden's mental faculties are 'ridiculous' Posted: 19 Aug 2020 10:21 AM PDT  Jill Biden has dismissed as "ridiculous" suggestions that her husband Joe Biden, 77, is less sharp-minded than he was in the past as the Donald Trump campaign released an advert attacking his mental faculty. Mr Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, would be the oldest person ever elected to the US presidency if he wins in November and has faced relentless questions from his political opponents about his mental acuity given his age. Mrs Biden starred in the second night of the Democratic convention on Tuesday, giving the closing address and being featured in a short film about her life, and then did a round of TV interviews on Wednesday morning. Asked in one about Trump campaign claims that her husband has "lost a step or two in the last few years" and whether that was a fair issue to raise in an election race, Mrs Biden said: "No, it's ridiculous." She went on: "I mean, Joe's on the phone every single minute of the day talking to governors who are calling him and Nancy Pelosi [the House of Representatives speaker], he's on the Zoom, he's doing fundraisers. He's doing briefings. I mean he doesn't stop from nine in the morning to eleven at night."
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| 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."
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| InfoWars Reporter Hailed As a Deep State Victim. The Cops Say She Just Robbed Her Mom. Posted: 20 Aug 2020 01:27 AM PDT  When InfoWars correspondent Millie Weaver was arrested last week, her supporters claimed she was the victim of a "deep state" prosecution of a truth-telling journalist. By Tuesday afternoon, they had raised more than $170,000 to help her fight the charges. In reality, Weaver wasn't some heroine at the vanguard of a fight against nefarious government agents. Instead, she was arrested on charges of robbing her own mother, according to newly released court documents from police and prosecutors. But despite the less dramatic plot, Weaver's backers are still laying claim to her victimhood status. And she does not appear inclined to give the money back.On Friday, Weaver livestreamed her arrest at her Ohio home by sheriff's deputies in Portage County. She claimed she didn't know why she was being arrested, complained that she had not been warned via the mail that she was about to be indicted, and insisted–as she was being arrested—that she was on the cusp of a major professional moment. "I was literally about to break huge breaking news right now and I'm being arrested and I have no idea why," Weaver said on her livestream.Alex Jones and Infowars Ordered to Pay $100K in Court Costs for Sandy Hook CaseSoon after the arrest, one of Weaver's supporters published "Shadow Gate," a convoluted "documentary" in which Weaver and a handful of oddball characters allege a deep-state conspiracy among government contractors alleged to be the puppet masters behind American politics. And soon after that, Weaver's right-wing allies quickly claimed that the damaging secrets in "Shadow Gate" were what prompted the authorities to descend on her. Blaze TV host Elijah Schaffer claimed Weaver had been arrested "for allegedly obtaining leaked government documents." Attorney Robert Barnes, who has represented InfoWars in the past, claimed that Weaver's arrest was probably "criminalizing journalism that obtains information from whistleblowers."Ezra Levant, the head of conservative Canadian outlet Rebel News, set up a GoFundMe page in Weaver's name. With Weaver in jail, the donations began pouring in.> What happened to MillieWeaver likely reflects local authorities weaponizing the theory in the Assange indictment, criminalizing journalism that obtains information from whistleblowers. This is why the Assange indictment threatens the First Amendment so dangerously.> > — Robert Barnes (@Barnes_Law) August 15, 2020Over the weekend, there was near-total silence from local authorities about the charges she faced. Indeed, when asked whether Weaver was arrested for her documentary, a county jail official only "laughed" in an interview with the Daily Dot. But official documents now show that Weaver's arrest had nothing to do with the deep state—unless the alleged conspiracy includes her own mother. Weaver is formally facing three felony charges for robbery, evidence tampering and obstruction of justice, as well as a misdemeanor domestic charge over an April family fight gone wrong. Weaver's husband, Gavin Wince, and her brother, Charles Weaver, are facing the same charges.The incident in question took place on April 25, when Millie Weaver began arguing with and insulting her mother, Felecia McCarron, according to a police report. McCarron started a recording on her phone, in an apparent attempt to catch Weaver, Weaver's brother, and Weaver's husband talking about her. The Weavers and Wince allegedly tried to take her phone away in a scuffle, and all three allegedly "wrestled Felicia to the ground." "Chuck grabbed Felicia's arm as Gavin grabbed the other," the report reads. "Millie joined in and they all threw Felicia to the ground and held her down."Judge in InfoWars Case Says She's Been Notified of Death Threats by The FBIThe trio succeeded in taking the phone, according to McCarron's account, in what constitutes the "robbery" Weaver is charged with. McCarron, who suffered a small abrasion in the scuffle, fled to a neighbor's house and called 911. While there, she saw Charles Weaver running to the back of the house, in what she took to be an attempt to hide her phone.When deputies arrived, the Weaver siblings and Wince claimed that McCarron suffered from mental issues and had in fact lost her phone days earlier, the report alleges. But deputies became suspicious of the trio, suspecting that they were making up the explanation on the spot. Further investigation proved that McCarron had been texting someone from her church on her phone shortly before the alleged robbery, meaning that she couldn't have lost it days earlier. By comparison, the deputies found McCarron's version of events believable."As Millie told the story, she paused numerous times and seemed to be thinking of the details as she spoke," the report reads. "The three would look at one another and pause, as if looking for the right answer before one would provide an answer."The trio's alleged attempts to lie to officers were so obvious to authorities that they were described as absurd. At one point, Weaver's brother Charles told an officer that he had run behind the house to check out a flooding issue, not to hide the phone. When the officer pointed out that there were no footprints in the mud to show that Weaver had gone behind the house, Charles countered that he had "jogged" — which supposedly wouldn't have left footprints. "I commented on the absurdity of their explanation," one deputy's account of the interview reads.Millie Weaver didn't respond to a request for comment. Wince and Charles Weaver, along with McCarron, couldn't be reached for comment. Even as the details about Weaver's case trickled out, her supporters continued to believe she had been somehow punished by the government for her "Shadow Gate" video. Roughly a dozen Weaver supporters gathered outside an Ohio courthouse Monday for Weaver's hearing, carrying signs that said "Shadow Gate" or "Free Millie Now." One claimed that Weaver had been "arrested for journalism." And while Weaver's arrest turned out to be related to an alleged robbery of her mother, rather than deep-state skulduggery, GoFundMe will still allow Weaver to receive the $170,000 she's raised so far. GoFundMe will offer donors refunds if they request them, according to a statement."In order to honor the intent of the fundraiser and pay legal fees related to this arrest, the funds will be transferred to Weaver's legal counsel," the statement reads. "This will ensure the money raised will only be used for the campaign's stated purpose."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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| American Airlines says it will stop flying to 15 US cities in October, leaving some without an airline — here's the full list Posted: 20 Aug 2020 06:47 AM PDT  American is trimming its route network in preparation for the expiration of government assistance through the CARES Act scheduled for October 1.
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| Wolverines spotted at Mount Rainier National Park for the first time in over 100 years Posted: 20 Aug 2020 03:23 PM PDT  "It's really, really exciting," said Mount Rainier National Park Superintendent Chip Jenkins.
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| Iowa governor's push to reopen schools descends into chaos Posted: 19 Aug 2020 12:35 PM PDT  An aggressive push by Iowa's pro-Trump governor to reopen schools amid a worsening coronavirus outbreak has descended into chaos, with some districts and teachers rebelling and experts calling the scientific benchmarks used by the state arbitrary and unsafe. At issue is Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds' mandate in July that districts offer at least 50% classroom instruction. The conflict intensified Wednesday when the statewide teachers union announced a lawsuit challenging the governor's ability to make such decisions for local districts.
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| Florida Republicans unseat Rep. Ross Spano, nominate far-right activist Laura Loomer, in GOP primaries Posted: 18 Aug 2020 10:04 PM PDT  Republicans in Florida's 15th Congressional District chose Scott Franklin, a Lakeland city commissioner, as their nominee in Tuesday's primary election, unseating freshman Rep. Ross Spano (R-Fla.), currently under federal investigation for alleged campaign finance violations. Spano is the eighth House incumbent defeated in a primary this year — joining four Republicans and three Democrats. That's twice the incumbents unseated in 2018 and the highest number since the post-Watergate 1974 primary season, Politico notes.Democrats, who nominated former TV journalist Alan Cohn as their nominee, had targeted the traditionally Republican district, though Spano's defeat dimmed their chances.Republicans in Florida's 21st District, home to President Trump, selected conservative personality and activist Laura Loomer in a six-way race to challenge Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) in a safely Democratic seat. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who also endorsed Franklin, had backed Loomer and congratulated her on her win. So did Trump.> The President congratulating noted conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, banned from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, PayPal, and others for repeatedly sharing hate speech, for winning her Republican primary. https://t.co/pWKHM4aYsX> > — S.E. Cupp (@secupp) August 19, 2020Gaetz, who won his own primary, got a third win when his candidate Anna Paulina Luna, an Air Force Veteran, won the GOP primary in Florida's 13th District, beating lobbyist Amanda Makki, the candidate backed by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and other GOP leaders. Luna will challenge Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) in November.Kat Cammack, former chief of staff to outgoing Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.), won a 10-way primary to replace him in Florida's solidly red 3rd District. Miami-Lade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, meanwhile, won the GOP primary in Florida's more competitive 26th District and will take on first-term Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-Fla.) in November.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 Cindy McCain makes the jump her husband flirted with in 2001
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| History Keeps Proving John Kerry Wrong Posted: 19 Aug 2020 11:30 AM PDT  It took approximately 20 seconds for former secretary of state John Kerry to drop the first flagrant lie in his Democratic National Convention speech on Tuesday, when he claimed that the Obama administration's so-called Iran deal had "eliminated the threat of an Iran with a nuclear weapon." It didn't get any better from there.Kerry knows well that sunset provisions in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) provided Iran's government with a pathway to building nuclear weapons in a few years. He knows well that Israel uncovered a giant cache of documents with instructions on how to jumpstart a program to build a nuclear arsenal, which undermined both the spirit and the rationale of the nonproliferation agreement Iran signed. He knows that Iran was developing ballistic-missile programs meant to deliver nuclear weapons.Kerry's big accomplishment was to destroy a sanctions program that was working, thereby saving the Islamic Republic from economic ruin. This allowed the Islamist government to strengthen its proxies in Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Yemen, and Iraq.Now Kerry says Trump "doesn't know how to defend the troops"? Well, I'm not sure that the man who oversaw the billions in direct cash payments to a government that had a hand in murdering and maiming hundreds of American troops has the moral authority to level that criticism. Kerry himself acknowledged that sanctions relief would likely end up in the coffers of Iran's Revolutionary Guard -- now a designated terror group. Surely, then, he knew that the pallets of euros and Swiss francs he was shipping to Tehran in an unmarked cargo plane would also find their way to the groups triggering conflicts across the Middle East -- not to mention subjugating people at home.While many argued for a maximum-pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic, Kerry preferred the no-pressure route. The Iran deal, in fact, often seemed to be the Obama administration's top obsession. Nothing would stand in the way. And while the media echo chamber was misleading the public at home, Kerry was placating Russia and allowing a humanitarian disaster to unfold in Syria in an effort to save the deal.Around the time the Obama administration was chasing an Iran deal, the Syrian government, backed by the Islamic Republic, was crossing the president's Red Line and gassing civilians. Michael Doran, a former senior director of the National Security Council, noted that from the beginning of the crisis Obama "showed deference to Iran on the nuclear front" and "the same deference to the Iranian interest in Syria." Even when the Unites States began funding rebel forces in Syria, the administration reportedly wouldn't allow Iranian's ally to be touched.When pressed on the matter by some Syrian civil-society workers in London, then Secretary Kerry snapped, "What do you want me to do, go to war with Russia?" Obama officials -- led by Kerry -- long peddled this false choice: the Iran deal or war. Well, we are no longer a party to Iran deal, and there is no war. Meanwhile, there is a highly weakened Iran, and there are growing alliances among our Sunni allies and Israel.Kerry would continue to entertain Iranian officials even after he was out of government. When Trump ordered a drone strike of the terrorist Qasem Soleimani, a man who masterminded the killing of American soldiers and thousands of Iraqi civilians, Kerry said the world was in "no way at all" safer, and claimed that Trump was risking an "outright war." All Iran did was launch a performative counterstrike.Kerry was wrong about Iran. Kerry was also wrong about Israel -- a nation he doesn't ever seem to consider an "ally" in his speeches about Obama's alleged foreign-policy successes. And when the U.S. embassy was about to be moved to Jerusalem, Kerry warned it would lead to "an explosion" in the Middle East -- more specifically, "an absolute explosion in the region, not just in the West Bank and perhaps even in Israel itself, but throughout the region." Moreover, Kerry declared, it would have a serious and negative repercussions on relations between Israel and the Arab world, making peace far less likely.Of course, outside of some typical Palestinian noise, the opposite has happened. Only recently, Israel and the United Arab Emirates agreed to a historic deal that normalized relations between them. They were no doubt partly brought together by the Obama administration's unprecedented coddling of the mullahs. Other Arab Gulf states are expected join the UAE, though it is well-known that many of them already have clandestine working relationships with Israel. This week, Sudan, the third-largest Arab nation, announced it was close to reaching its own peace deal with the Jewish state.All of this seems pretty significant. It would surely have been massive news if the Obama administration had helped forge the pacts. Right now, though, Obama has one more Nobel prize than he does a peace agreement. And time keeps proving John Kerry wrong.
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| Playful Essentials to Perk Up Your Labor Day Setup Posted: 20 Aug 2020 06:22 AM PDT |
| 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.
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| ‘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.
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| American universities, including Harvard and Princeton, weigh options to protect students from political prosecution under China's new national security law Posted: 19 Aug 2020 09:51 PM PDT  "We have to leave it up to the students whether they enroll because it is ultimately their lives that are going to be affected."
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| 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.
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| Cuomo dismisses undercount concerns in NY care home deaths Posted: 19 Aug 2020 05:02 PM PDT  New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo dismissed concerns that his state's coronavirus death toll in nursing homes could be a significant undercount, saying it makes sense to include only those residents who died on the home's property. Unlike the federal government and every other state with major outbreaks, only New York explicitly says that it counts just residents who died on nursing home property and not those who were transported to hospitals and died there.
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| '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.
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| 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.
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| '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 |
| Sen. Bill Cassidy tests positive for COVID-19, has 'mild symptoms' Posted: 20 Aug 2020 03:42 PM PDT  Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a physician from Baton Rouge, shared on Thursday that he tested positive for COVID-19 and has "mild symptoms."The 62-year-old is the second senator to announce they tested positive for the virus; in March, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) revealed he had tested positive but was asymptomatic. Cassidy is quarantining at his home in Louisiana, and said in a statement he is "strictly following the direction of our medical experts and strongly encourage others to do the same."Cassidy is regularly spotted wearing a mask both at public events and while on Capitol Hill, and said he was tested after being notified on Wednesday that he had been exposed to someone infected with the virus. Earlier in the day, Cassidy, who is up for re-election in November, visited a veterans hospital in Shreveport, where he posed for photos with officials.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
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