Monday, August 31, 2020

Mom rips gun and shoe from man accused of kidnapping her 1-year-old, Georgia cops say

Mom rips gun and shoe from man accused of kidnapping her 1-year-old, Georgia cops sayThe child has since been found safe, officials say.




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Cuomo says state considering indoor dining in NYC, but

Cuomo says state considering indoor dining in NYC, but Despite progress in New Jersey and other parts of New York, indoor dining in New York City may not happen any time soon, Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio suggested on Monday.




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Hundreds of protesters arrested by Belarusian police as 100,000 rally against Lukashenko

Hundreds of protesters arrested by Belarusian police as 100,000 rally against LukashenkoTens of thousands of opposition supporters marched through the Belarusian capital of Minsk on Sunday calling for an end to strongman Alexander Lukashenko's rule, despite heavily armed police and troops blocking streets and detaining dozens of demonstrators. Protests have now entered a third week since the disputed presidential election on August 9 in which Mr Lukashenko claimed victory, while opposition rival Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said she was the true winner. An AFP journalist and local media estimated that more than 100,000 people came to Sunday's protest, equalling the scale of the rallies on previous weekends, the largest demonstrations the country has seen since independence from the USSR.




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Indiana Congressman introduces bill to ban protest 'thugs' from receiving unemployment aid

Indiana Congressman introduces bill to ban protest 'thugs' from receiving unemployment aidU.S. Rep. Jim Banks introduced a bill that would ban people from receiving unemployment aid if convicted of a federal offense related to protests.




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Canada statue of John A Macdonald toppled by activists in Montreal

Canada statue of John A Macdonald toppled by activists in MontrealJohn A Macdonald was accused of letting famine and disease decimate indigenous Canadian communities.




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Argentina says it reaches deal to avoid debt default



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Patriot Prayer no stranger to protests in Northwest

Patriot Prayer no stranger to protests in NorthwestThe man who was fatally shot in Portland, Oregon, as supporters of President Donald Trump skirmished with Black Lives Matter protesters was a supporter of a right-wing group called Patriot Prayer, which doesn't have a big national footprint but is well known in the Pacific Northwest. Patriot Prayer's founder, Joey Gibson, has held pro-Trump rallies repeatedly in Portland and other cities since 2016. The events have drawn counterprotesters from around the region and had heightened tensions in Portland long before Black Lives Matter demonstrators began nearly 100 days of nightly protests over the police killing of George Floyd.




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U.S. Postal Service tells Congress delivery performance has improved

U.S. Postal Service tells Congress delivery performance has improvedThe U.S. Postal Service told Congress on Monday that delivery performance has improved and returned to early July levels after it came under harsh criticism. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in mid-July made changes that critics said were significantly delaying deliveries. In mid-July, the Postal Service said it emphasized the need to adhere to existing transportation schedules and ensure trucks run on schedule.




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Biden Condemned Violence. Why Won’t Trump?


By BY MICHELLE GOLDBERG from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2QNebcp

Trump Defends Kyle Rittenhouse


By BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3lE5lfl

A Long History of Language That Incites and Demonizes


By BY PETER BAKER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/31KRbBp

‘We Germans,’ Alexander Starritt by the Author: An Excerpt


By Unknown Author from NYT Books https://ift.tt/2ENgSIq

Unwitting Progressives for Trump


By BY BRET STEPHENS from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2QJ2YJY

Facebook Could Block Sharing of News Stories in Australia


By BY DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI AND MIKE ISAAC from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/32KSNdo

Frustrated by Election Boycott, Venezuela’s Leader Pardons 100 Opponents


By BY ANATOLY KURMANAEV from NYT World https://ift.tt/3hYVvCR

A Teacher and Congresswoman Confronts School Reopenings


By BY REID J. EPSTEIN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3jxJ29n

Trump Fans Strife as Unrest Roils the U.S.


By BY PETER BAKER AND MAGGIE HABERMAN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2YQLyQa

Wikipedia article of the day for September 1, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for September 1, 2020 is Vespro della Beata Vergine.
Vespro della Beata Vergine (Vespers for the Blessed Virgin) by Claudio Monteverdi is an extended composition for the evening vespers on Marian feasts, printed in 1610. The composer set the usual Latin psalms and Magnificat, but also solo concertos in the style of the emerging opera. The ambitious composition, which uses traditional Gregorian chant as cantus firmus, is scored for soloists, choirs of up to ten parts, and orchestra. Monteverdi wrote it when he was maestro di capella in Mantua, where he served as musician and composer for the Gonzagas, the Dukes of Mantua. He had it printed in Venice, with a dedication to Pope Paul V dated 1 September 1610 (pages from a copy pictured). He then travelled to Rome to deliver it to Pope Paul in person. Monteverdi became director of music at San Marco in Venice in 1613. His Vespers represent a milestone of music history at the transition from Renaissance to Baroque styles.

Trump defends supporters accused in deadly clashes

The US president suggests right-wing activists in Wisconsin and Oregon acted in self-defence.

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Hundreds of migrants still dying in Med five years since 2015

Five years on from the migrant crisis of 2015 hundreds are still dying in the Mediterranean.

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Still ill with coronavirus six months later: 'I have no idea how to get better'

For some people Covid just will not go away – one woman’s Instagram diary of her long-haul illness.

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Rival powers jockey for the lead in hypersonic aircraft

The US, China and Russia are pouring money into aircraft that can fly at five times the speed of sound.

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Prashant Bhushan: India finds an unlikely hero in lawyer-activist

Prashant Bhushan refused to apologise to the Supreme Court and got a symbolic one-rupee fine.

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Sunday, August 30, 2020

If the police officer who shot Jacob Blake can prove he feared an 'imminent risk of death or great bodily harm,' his shooting could be legally justified

If the police officer who shot Jacob Blake can prove he feared an 'imminent risk of death or great bodily harm,' his shooting could be legally justifiedAn officer shot Jacob Blake while he had his back turned toward them. If they reasonably feared for their lives, it may be legally justified.




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Hundreds of protesters arrested by Belarusian police as 100,000 rally against Lukashenko

Hundreds of protesters arrested by Belarusian police as 100,000 rally against LukashenkoTens of thousands of opposition supporters marched through the Belarusian capital of Minsk on Sunday calling for an end to strongman Alexander Lukashenko's rule, despite heavily armed police and troops blocking streets and detaining dozens of demonstrators. Protests have now entered a third week since the disputed presidential election on August 9 in which Mr Lukashenko claimed victory, while opposition rival Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said she was the true winner. An AFP journalist and local media estimated that more than 100,000 people came to Sunday's protest, equalling the scale of the rallies on previous weekends, the largest demonstrations the country has seen since independence from the USSR.




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State report shows hundreds test positive for COVID-19 at Florida schools in August

State report shows hundreds test positive for COVID-19 at Florida schools in AugustThe Florida Department of Health accidentally released a report on COVID-19 outbreaks at schools across the state — from daycare centers to colleges — and found that nearly 900 students and staffers had tested positive during a two-week period in August as schools had just begun or readied to reopen.




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Hour by hour: Hurricane Laura raged outside my front door. I hunkered down for the night.

Hour by hour: Hurricane Laura raged outside my front door. I hunkered down for the night.At night, you can't see tornadoes coming. You can't see how far the trees bend. You can't sleep because of the sounds of the storm.




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Fact check: Biden tax plan would raise rates for those who make more than $400K, corporations

Fact check: Biden tax plan would raise rates for those who make more than $400K, corporationsThe claim that families who make $75,000 would see their tax rate double under the Democratic nominee's plan is false.




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The real threats to American law and order are Trump's craven enablers

The real threats to American law and order are Trump's craven enablersThe president railed against ‘violent anarchists, agitators and criminals’ but he surrounds himself with lawless lackeysOne week ago, Rusten Sheskey, a seven-year veteran of the Kenosha, Wisconsin, police department, fired at least seven shots at the back of a Black man named Jacob Blake as he opened his car door, leaving the 29-year-old father of five probably paralyzed from the waist down.After protests erupted, self-appointed armed militia or vigilante-type individuals rushed to Kenosha, including Kyle Rittenhouse, a white 17-year-old who traveled there and then, appearing on the streets with an AR-15 assault rifle, allegedly killed two people and wounded a third.This is pure gold for a president without a plan, a party without a platform, and a cult without a purpose other than the abject worship of Donald J Trump.To be re-elected Trump knows he has to distract the nation from the coronavirus pandemic that he has flagrantly failed to control – leaving more than 180,000 Americans dead, tens of millions jobless and at least 30 million reportedly hungry.So he’s counting on the reliable Republican dog-whistle. “Your vote,” Trump said in his speech closing the Republican convention Thursday night, “will decide whether we protect law-abiding Americans, or whether we give free rein to violent anarchists, agitators and criminals who threaten our citizens.”“We will have law and order on the streets of this country,” Vice-President Mike Pence declared the previous evening, warning “you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.”Neither Trump nor Pence mentioned the real threats to law and order in America today, such as gun-toting agitators like Rittenhouse, who, perhaps not coincidentally, occupied a front-row seat at a Trump rally in Des Moines in January.Pence lamented the death of federal officer Dave Patrick Underwood, “shot and killed during the riots in Oakland, California”, earlier this year, implying he was killed by protesters. In fact, Underwood was shot and killed by an adherent of the boogaloo boys, an online extremist movement that’s trying to ignite a race war.Such groups have found encouragement in a president who sees “very fine people” supporting white supremacy.The threat also comes from conspiracy theorists like Marjorie Taylor Greene, the recently nominated Republican candidate for Georgia’s 14th congressional district and promoter of QAnon, whose adherents believe Trump is battling a cabal of “deep state” saboteurs who worship Satan and traffic children for sex. Trump has praised Greene as a “future Republican star” and claimed that QAnon followers “love our country”.And from people like Mary Ann Mendoza, a member of Trump’s campaign advisory board, who was scheduled to speak at the Republican convention until she retweeted an antisemitic rant about a supposed Jewish plan to enslave the world’s peoples and steal their land.> Since Trump promised he would hire 'the best people', 14 Trump aides, donors and advisers have been indicted or imprisonedClearly the threat also comes from hotheaded, often racist police officers who fire bullets into the backs of Black men and women or kneel on their necks so they can’t breathe. Needless to say, there was little mention at the Republican convention of Jacob Blake, and none of George Floyd or Breonna Taylor.And the threat comes from Trump’s own lackeys who have brazenly broken laws to help him attain and keep power. Since Trump promised he would only hire “the best people”, 14 Trump aides, donors and advisers have been indicted or imprisoned.Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W Giuliani – who ranted at the Republican convention about rioting and looting in cities with Democratic mayors – has repeatedly met with the pro-Russia Ukrainian parliamentarian Andriy Derkach, whom American intelligence has determined is “spreading claims about corruption … to undermine former Vice President Biden’s candidacy and the Democratic Party”.In addition, federal prosecutors are investigating Giuliani’s business dealings in Ukraine with two men arrested in an alleged campaign finance scheme.Trump’s new postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, who had been a major Trump campaign donor before taking over the post office, is being sued by six states and the District of Columbia for allegedly seeking to “undermine” the postal service as millions of Americans plan to vote by mail during the pandemic.Not to forget the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, who spoke to the Republican convention while on an official trip to the Middle East, in apparent violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits officials of the executive branch other than the president and vice-president from engaging in partisan politics.You want the real threat to American law and order? It’s found in these Trump enablers and bottom-dwellers. They are the inevitable excrescence of Trump’s above-the-law, race-baiting, me-first presidency. It is from the likes of them that the rest of America is in serious need of protection.




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A teen activist in New Jersey received a $2,500 bill to pay for police presence at a Black Lives Matter protest she organized

A teen activist in New Jersey received a $2,500 bill to pay for police presence at a Black Lives Matter protest she organizedMayor Mario Kranjac of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, said the bill covered police presence and their overtime hours.




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Protests erupt at Portland police building, mayor's condo

Protests erupt at Portland police building, mayor's condoFires set outside a police union building that's a frequent site for protests in Portland, Oregon, prompted police to declare a riot early Saturday and detain several demonstrators. An accelerant was used to ignite a mattress and other debris that was laid against the door of the Portland Police Association building, police said in a statement. As officers approached to move demonstrators away from the building and extinguish the fire, objects including rocks were thrown at them, police said.




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Kate Bedingfield on Biden's plans to return to campaign trail, civil unrest's impact on race for White House

Kate Bedingfield on Biden's plans to return to campaign trail, civil unrest's impact on race for White HouseBiden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield joins Chris Wallace with insight on 'Fox News Sunday.'




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Report: New York tenants were not aware they would be featured at the Republican National Convention

Report: New York tenants were not aware they would be featured at the Republican National ConventionThe tenants were interviewed by a HUD official, they said. The RNC was criticized for blurring the lines between the government and partisan politics.




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Trump, Vicar of Fear and Violence


By BY CHARLES M. BLOW from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/3bbyA4D

Jon Rahm Sinks a Big Putt to Win Playoff at the BMW Championship


By BY ASSOCIATED PRESS from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/31Iok0E

Stories of 2020: Five Lives Caught in a Year of Upheaval and Pain


By BY PETER BAKER, JOHN BRANCH, JOHN ELIGON, REID J. EPSTEIN, DAN LEVIN AND MARC STEIN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3gJPdVW

Norway bunker partygoers poisoned with carbon monoxide

More than 20 people were hospitalised after attending the party in the Norwegian capital Oslo.

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Europe's migrant crisis: The year that changed a continent

More than a million people arrived in Europe in 2015. Five years on, we reflect on what's changed.

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The search engine boss who wants to help us all plant trees

Christian Kroll is the boss of Ecosia, which donates 80% of its profits to tree-planting projects.

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Letter from Africa: Why Kenyans are no longer cheering their constitution

It is a time of reflection 10 years after the country was promised a rebirth, writes Waihiga Mwaura.

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Wikipedia article of the day for August 31, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for August 31, 2020 is New York State Route 175.
New York State Route 175 is a west–east state highway located in Onondaga County, New York, in the United States. The 15.46-mile (24.88 km) route begins at an intersection with U.S. Route 20 east of the village of Skaneateles. It heads towards the northeast as Lee Mulroy Road, traversing farmland. It then passes through the village of Marcellus before ending at a junction with U.S. Route 11 in Syracuse. Designated in the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, the highway brought about an increase in population and development along its route. The section of Route 175 from downtown Marcellus to New York State Route 173 in Onondaga was built along the historical Seneca Turnpike, which was established in 1800 and dissolved in 1852. At 157 miles (253 km), the turnpike was the longest in the state at the time and was instrumental in the development of the villages of Skaneateles and Marcellus.

Norway bunker partygoers poisoned with carbon monoxide

More than 20 people were hospitalised after attending the party in the Norwegian capital Oslo.

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Europe's migrant crisis: The year that changed a continent

More than a million people arrived in Europe in 2015. Five years on, we reflect on what's changed.

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The search engine boss who wants to help us all plant trees

Christian Kroll is the boss of Ecosia, which donates 80% of its profits to tree-planting projects.

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Letter from Africa: Why Kenyans are no longer cheering their constitution

It is a time of reflection 10 years after the country was promised a rebirth, writes Waihiga Mwaura.

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Government paid influencers to promote Test and Trace

Taxpayer money was used to pay influencers to promote Test and Trace.

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Saturday, August 29, 2020

How to Build a Catapult From Newspaper


By BY GODWYN MORRIS AND PAULA FRISCH from NYT At Home https://ift.tt/2GaP7dz

Phoenix Settles With Black Family After Police Drew Guns Over Reported Doll Theft


By BY CHRISTINA MORALES from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/32BL69E

Top US general says military will not escort Donald Trump from the White House if election disputed

Top US general says military will not escort Donald Trump from the White House if election disputedAmerica's most senior general has declared the military will not intervene if Donald Trump were to decline to leave the White House following a disputed US election. In a letter to Congress, Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he did not envisage soldiers playing any role if Republicans and Democrats did not agree on the result. Mr Trump has repeatedly voiced concerns that the election will be undermined by fraud during widespread mail-in voting amid the coronavirus pandemic, and suggested that the result may never be known. Joe Biden, the Democrat nominee, has said he fears Mr Trump will try to "steal" the election but the military would "escort him from the White House with great dispatch." Democrat congresswomen Elissa Slotkin and Mikie Sherrill wrote to the general seeking answers as to what the military's role would be. In a written response General Milley, known to be a student of military history, wrote: "I believe deeply in the principle of an apolitical US military. In the event of a dispute over some aspect of the elections, by law US courts and the US Congress are required to resolve any disputes, not the US military. "I foresee no role for the US armed forces in this process. We will not turn our backs on the Constitution of the United States." Ms Slotkin said: "These are just prudent questions to be asking given the things that the president has been saying publicly." She said the general's answers "demonstrated that the chairman recognised the military's role in our elections is to essentially stay out, that the military's role in the peaceful transition of power is to stay out." Last month, Mr Trump said it was too early to guarantee he would accept the election results. He said: "I have to see. Look, I have to see. No, I'm not going to just say yes. I'm not going to say no."




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Man booked in slaying of 3, including Fort Hood soldier



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Does Kyle Rittenhouse Have a Self-Defense Claim?

Does Kyle Rittenhouse Have a Self-Defense Claim?Kenosha, a city of 100,000 in Wisconsin’s southeastern corner, now confronts the question of when lethal force is justified in two different cases. One, the shooting of Jacob Blake by a police officer, I addressed yesterday. The other is the case of Kyle Rittenhouse, who is alleged to have killed two people and injured one during the civil unrest this week, and who has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide, reckless homicide, and other offenses.Rittenhouse is a 17-year-old from Antioch, Ill., about a half hour’s drive from Kenosha. Inexplicably, this underage police cadet from out of state wound up on the streets after curfew in a place where a riot was likely imminent, doing interviews with journalists and openly carrying an AR-15–style rifle.There can be no question that Rittenhouse and whatever adults were in charge of him made idiotic decisions. Minors should not stand guard at riots play-acting at being cops. But even people who knowingly put themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time are allowed to defend themselves against attack when they get there. So the biggest legal question is: Did Rittenhouse defend himself against attack with an appropriate amount of force, or were the people he shot the ones acting in self-defense by trying to disarm him?The very beginning of the situation is not on video that I am aware, but the complaint against Rittenhouse contains some key details from Richard McGinnis, a Daily Caller reporter who was interviewing Rittenhouse at the time:> McGinnis said that as they were walking south another armed male who appeared to be in his 30s joined them and said he was there to protect the defendant. McGinnis stated that before the defendant reached the parking lot and ran across it, the defendant had moved from the middle of Sheridan Road to the sidewalk and that is when McGinnis saw a male ([Joseph] Rosenbaum) initially try to engage the defendant. McGinnis stated that as the defendant was walking Rosenbaum was trying to get closer to the defendant. When Rosenbaum advanced, the defendant did a “juke” move and started running. McGinnis stated that there were other people that were moving very quickly. McGinnis stated that they were moving towards the defendant. McGinnis said that according to what he saw the defendant was trying to evade these individuals.After that, much of the situation was recorded, and the New York Times has done an excellent job of stitching the videos together. This Twitter thread from a co-author of the piece nicely explains the events and (for those willing to watch graphic footage) provides the key clips:> A teenager faces charges in shootings that left 2 people dead in Kenosha, WI. The @nytimes Visual Investigations team reviewed hours of livestreams to track 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse’s movements during and leading up to the shootings. [THREAD] https://t.co/FRCYlS5wgH> > -- Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) August 27, 2020 The first video starts with people already chasing Rittenhouse, one of whom throws something at him. One person even fires a handgun in the air — and another, Rosenbaum, charges at Rittenhouse, who shoots him. After that, there are more shots from an unknown source, and Rittenhouse calls a friend on his phone and leaves.But again he’s pursued, with some protesters urging others to join in, and this time he falls down. Several people move in on him, and he takes shots at three, hitting two. One is holding a handgun and survives a shot to the arm; the other has a skateboard and dies. Again there are additional mysterious gunshots after the fact.Obviously, a big unanswered question right now is how this all really got started. But as we wait for that information, let’s take a gander at the Wisconsin laws at issue.There are two extremes here: justifiable use of deadly force and first-degree intentional homicide. So let’s see what the law says about those two situations, bearing in mind that other charges can apply if Rittenhouse’s behavior fell in between them. (There are plenty of options: Rittenhouse is charged with reckless homicide for the first fatal shooting, first-degree intentional homicide for the second, and attempted first-degree intentional homicide for the nonfatal one, in addition to charges for reckless endangerment and bearing a dangerous weapon as a minor.)Quite typically for a U.S. state, Wisconsin allows civilian use of deadly force when one “reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm.” One major issue, then, will be whether Rittenhouse reasonably thought that the folks engaging with him meant to inflict serious injury, not just disarm him.But what if Rittenhouse provoked the confrontation to begin with? That’s bad for a claim of self-defense, but it doesn’t preclude one. Here’s another excerpt from the Wisconsin statute books:> (a) A person who engages in unlawful conduct of a type likely to provoke others to attack him or her and thereby does provoke an attack is not entitled to claim the privilege of self-defense against such attack, except when the attack which ensues is of a type causing the person engaging in the unlawful conduct to reasonably believe that he or she is in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm. In such a case, the person engaging in the unlawful conduct is privileged to act in self-defense, but the person is not privileged to resort to the use of force intended or likely to cause death to the person's assailant unless the person reasonably believes he or she has exhausted every other reasonable means to escape from or otherwise avoid death or great bodily harm at the hands of his or her assailant.> > (b) The privilege lost by provocation may be regained if the actor in good faith withdraws from the fight and gives adequate notice thereof to his or her assailant.> > (c) A person who provokes an attack, whether by lawful or unlawful conduct, with intent to use such an attack as an excuse to cause death or great bodily harm to his or her assailant is not entitled to claim the privilege of self-defense.So, even if Rittenhouse bears some responsibility for the initial conflict, he can still argue that he did everything he could to escape the situation and withdraw from the fight. Both shooting incidents began with him running away.Moving to the other extreme, to prove first-degree intentional homicide, prosecutors will have to show that Rittenhouse “cause[d] the death of another human being with intent to kill that person” and will have to disprove the existence of any “mitigating circumstances” the defense asserts. If the prosecution fails at the latter task, the offense is knocked down to the second degree.Mitigating circumstances include “adequate provocation,” meaning the victim did something “sufficient to cause complete lack of self-control in an ordinarily constituted person”; “unnecessary defensive force,” meaning Rittenhouse “believed he . . . was in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm and that the force used was necessary to defend [himself],” even though the belief was unreasonable; and “prevention of felony,” meaning he believed his actions were necessary to stop the “commission of a felony,” even though the belief was unreasonable. In other words, even if Rittenhouse unreasonably thought his actions were necessary, he can get the charge downgraded, though in that case he’ll still have committed a very serious offense.Rittenhouse is already a hero to some and a supervillain to others; in that sense, he is the Bernie Goetz of 2020. The highest charge against him strikes me as a stretch, but beyond that I don’t have any bold opinions yet. The outcome for each shooting will depend on whether Rittenhouse reasonably feared for his life, which in turn might depend on broader context we lack thus far — and even if all three shootings were justified, there are still firearms and reckless-endangerment charges for him to contend with.Where the f*** were this kid’s parents?




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New Jersey mayor rescinds $2,500 police overtime bill sent to student who organized BLM protest

New Jersey mayor rescinds $2,500 police overtime bill sent to student who organized BLM protestAfter holding the protest in July, Emily Gil received a letter from Mayor Mario Kranjac saying she owed $2,499.26 for police overtime.




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A Democratic turf war is raging — even as progressives try to elect Biden

A Democratic turf war is raging — even as progressives try to elect BidenOff-the-radar battles between moderates and progressives have broken out over health care, police reform and primary challenges.




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CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta fears attendees of Trump's RNC speech will get COVID-19 and 'may even die'

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta fears attendees of Trump's RNC speech will get COVID-19 and 'may even die'CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta couldn't be more exasperated by President Trump's decision to speak before a packed crowd at the Republican National Convention, fearing some attendees could die from COVID-19 as a result.Trump on Thursday delivered his acceptance speech at the RNC before a crowd of about 1,500 people who weren't practicing social distancing and few of whom were wearing masks, a fact Gupta sounded the alarm about on Friday morning, expressing deep frustration that such an event took place during the coronavirus pandemic."The history books will be written about this chapter in our lives at some point, and it will show events like that and say that in the middle of a pandemic ... at a time when there were more than 5 million infected, we started having events like that again," Gupta said. "It's really frustrating. It's mind-boggling."Gupta went on to say that this demonstrates that some people still haven't "learned" how dangerous COVID-19 is, and he raised concerns about the coronavirus spread the event may lead to."There will be people who became infected as a result of that event last night," Gupta said. "And there will be people who will spread it, and possibly require hospitalization, may even die as a result of that event last night."CNN's Jim Acosta reports that a senior White House official dismissed concerns about the crowd at the event by declaring, "Everybody is going to catch this thing eventually." But Gupta pushed back against that flippant comment, noting that what COVID-19 "does to the body" long term still isn't clear and warning, "You don't want this virus." > "There will be people who became infected as a result of that event last night, and there'll be people who will spread it and possibly require hospitalization, may even die," @drsanjaygupta says about the large crowd that wasn't socially distanced for Trump's RNC speech. pic.twitter.com/BIU3JBTV0W> > -- CNN (@CNN) August 28, 2020More stories from theweek.com Trump's RNC polling bounce more about 'subtraction on the Biden side,' pollster suggests 5 more scathingly funny cartoons about the Republican National Convention Many uninsured coronavirus patients reportedly don't qualify for Trump's coverage program because of other illnesses




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If the police officer who shot Jacob Blake can prove he feared an 'imminent risk of death or great bodily harm,' his shooting could be legally justified

If the police officer who shot Jacob Blake can prove he feared an 'imminent risk of death or great bodily harm,' his shooting could be legally justifiedAn officer shot Jacob Blake while he had his back turned toward them. If they reasonably feared for their lives, it may be legally justified.




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Hurricane Laura was the latest storm to strengthen fast, but is rapid intensification really becoming more common?

Hurricane Laura was the latest storm to strengthen fast, but is rapid intensification really becoming more common?Hurricane Laura blew up quickly as it headed for the Louisiana coast, intensifying from a tropical storm to a major hurricane in less than 24 hours. By the time it made it landfall, it was a powerful Category 4 hurricane with 150 mile-per-hour winds.The Atlantic has seen several hurricanes rapidly intensify like this in recent years. In 2018, Hurricane Michael unexpectedly jumped from Category 2 to Category 5 in the span of a day before hitting the Florida Panhandle. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in 2017 also met the definition of rapid intensification: an increase of at least 35 miles per hour in a 24-hour period. Based on preliminary reports from the National Hurricane Center, Laura gained 65 mph in one 24-hour period and, more impressively, added 80 mph from Aug. 25 to Aug. 27.But do all these fast-growing, powerful storms in recent years mean rapid intensification is becoming more common?With information about hurricanes coming through social media and phone apps, that’s a question hurricane scientists like myself are hearing a lot. It’s useful to consider a few things: the history of U.S. hurricanes, why the Atlantic is currently so active, and the ingredients that allow storms to strengthen so quickly. What makes storms blow up?Just as a pastry chef needs all the ingredients to successfully make a cake, storms like Laura need favorable conditions to be able to form and rapidly intensify. Three key ingredients help a hurricane rapidly intensify: * Warm ocean waters. Hurricanes draw energy from warm surface water, particularly when it’s at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer. * Ample moisture, or water content in the atmosphere, to maintain clouds. * Low vertical wind shear. This is a measure of how the wind changes speed and direction with height in the atmosphere. High wind shear will disrupt the clouds, making it hard for the storm to stay together.When all of these ingredients are present, vigorous thunderstorms can form and organize, allowing a robust eyewall to develop. Large-scale changes in ocean temperature, like the El Niño–Southern Oscillation and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, can also have an impact on hurricane activity.Because these ingredients change, the Atlantic hurricane season varies year to year. This year, as the seasonal forecasts created by Colorado State University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned, the ingredients are favorable for an active season with more major hurricanes. A review of storms from 1981 to 2012 found that 70% of major Atlantic hurricanes – those reaching Category 3 or higher – had gone through rapid intensification. Why don’t all storms grow this quickly?Just having the right water temperature and moisture won’t ensure that storms will undergo rapid intensification or become major hurricanes. We saw that with Hurricane Marco. It swept through the Gulf of Mexico just ahead of Hurricane Laura but weakened to a tropical storm before landfall.A big difference was the wind shear. The thunderstorms powering Marco’s core struggled to stay connected to its circulation as high wind shear in the Gulf of Mexico stripped them away.When then-Tropical Storm Laura passed over Cuba into the Gulf, the high wind shear conditions had receded, leaving nothing but a favorable environment for Laura to develop catastrophic winds and a dangerous storm surge. As with ice skaters who pull their arms in during a spin to rotate faster, the thunderstorms of Laura’s eyewall pulled in the atmosphere around the storm, causing the winds to accelerate into a high-end Category 4 storm. While there are additional complexities to this process, a theoretical framework for intensification that I further developed with colleauges highlights how the location of eyewall thunderstorms relative to the storm’s maximum winds triggers rapid intensification. This theory has been supported by eyewall observations collected during “hurricane hunter” flights. So, are these events becoming more common?This is a challenging question and an active topic of research. Because rapidly intensifying hurricanes are fairly rare, there isn’t enough information yet to say if rapid intensification is happening more often. The hurricane research community has consistent, reliable observations of storm intensity only since the start of the satellite era and routine storm-penetrating “hurricane hunter” flights since the 1970s.We have seen more rapid intensification events in recent years, and some scientists have concluded that the warming climate is likely playing a role. However, we’ve also had more active hurricane seasons in those years, and more work needs to be done in this area to understand global trends, such as why hurricanes are crossing ocean basins more slowly. To try to answer this puzzle, hurricane researchers are using historical records to help refine mathematical theories and computer simulations of storms to better understand rapid intensification. The new knowledge will continue to improve forecast guidance and lead to a better understanding of how hurricanes will change in an evolving climate system.[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * A burning chemical plant may be just the tip of Hurricane Laura’s damage in this area of oil fields and industry * Hurricanes can cause enormous damage inland, but emergency plans focus on coastsChris Slocum receives funding from and is employed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.




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Six US Air Force B-52 bombers make symbolic sweep over all NATO members

Six US Air Force B-52 bombers make symbolic sweep over all NATO membersThe one-off mission, titled "Allied Sky," is meant to signal the alliance's unity and improve interoperability, say U.S. military officials.




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Australia open to talks over where NZ mosque shooter serves life sentence

Australia open to talks over where NZ mosque shooter serves life sentenceAustralia's prime minister said on Friday he was open to discussions over whether Australian mass killer Brenton Tarrant, jailed for life without parole this week for the New Zealand mosque shootings, should serve his sentence in his home country. Scott Morrison told broadcaster Channel Seven he had not received a formal request from New Zealand for such a transfer, although New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters suggested it after Tarrant was sentenced on Thursday. "We'll have an open discussion and look at the issues around this," Morrison said, adding that the views of the affected families would need to be considered first.




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Dramatic last-second launch abort grounds spy satellite

Dramatic last-second launch abort grounds spy satelliteThe "hot-fire abort" derailed plans for three launches in just two days from Florida's Space Coast.




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Fact check: Jacob Blake did not 'brandish' knife, get gun before Kenosha police shooting

Fact check: Jacob Blake did not 'brandish' knife, get gun before Kenosha police shootingThere was no gun involved. Police did find a knife in the SUV, but authorities haven’t said if Blake held it at some point.




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Riot in Sweden after anti-Muslim Danish leader banned

Riot in Sweden after anti-Muslim Danish leader bannedAt least 10 people were arrested, and several police officers injured, in violence which broke out in southern Sweden after an anti-Muslim Danish politician was blocked from attending a Koran-burning rally, police said Saturday.




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Prominent lawyer in Haiti is shot and killed at his home



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Elon Musk confirmed a Russian national tried to bribe a Tesla employee with $1 million in a bungled ransomware attack

Elon Musk confirmed a Russian national tried to bribe a Tesla employee with $1 million in a bungled ransomware attackThe DOJ accused a Russian national of offering $1 million to an employee to install malware. Elon Musk confirmed the employee worked for Tesla.




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McConnell inexplicably claims that Democrats want to tell Americans 'how many hamburgers you can eat'

McConnell inexplicably claims that Democrats want to tell Americans 'how many hamburgers you can eat'Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) asked Americans to "support Republican Senate candidates across the country and re-elect my friend, President Donald Trump" during the Republican National Convention on Thursday night — including making an ominous (and false) threat that Democrats are prepared to take away your hamburgers if you don't.McConnell has been a bit of a reluctant ally — and even occasional foe — of the president's, even initially announcing he had no plans to talk at the convention before walking the statement back. But speaking from the verdant fields of Kentucky, McConnell stressed the importance of the election for conservative voters. Democrats "want to tell you when you can go to work, when your kid can go to school," McConnell claimed. "They want to tax your job out of existence, and then send you a government check for unemployment."He added that Democrats "want to tell you what kind of car you can drive, what sources of information are credible, and even how many hamburgers you can eat."> 'They want to tell you what kind of car you can drive, what sources of information are credible, and even how many hamburgers you can eat' — Rep. Mitch McConnell thinks he knows what Democrats are all about RNC2020 pic.twitter.com/8FVJvi032X> > — NowThis (@nowthisnews) August 28, 2020While it's not true that Democrats are seeking to regulate hamburgers, CNN's Daniel Dale noted that the claim "may, or may not, be an exaggerated reference to Sen. Kamala Harris's musings about dietary guidelines, which are not mandates."Either way, McConnell's intention was clear: "With two more liberal senators, we cannot undo the damage [Democrats have] done," he said.More stories from theweek.com Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman dies at 43 5 more scathingly funny cartoons about the Republican National Convention Sleepy Donald closes out the RNC




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First confirmed case of COVID-19 reinfection is ‘not surprising,’ doctors say

First confirmed case of COVID-19 reinfection is ‘not surprising,’ doctors sayResearchers in Hong Kong confirmed the first known case of coronavirus reinfection, but many doctors and public health officials say it isn't that surprising given what we know about waning immunity from other coronaviruses.




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Iranian man sentenced to nine years in prison for beheading daughter while she slept in 'honour killing'

Iranian man sentenced to nine years in prison for beheading daughter while she slept in 'honour killing'An Iranian has been sentenced to nine years in jail for beheading his teenaged daughter in her sleep, local media reported Friday, adding that the mother wants him executed. The so-called "honour" killing of 14-year-old Romina Ashrafi on May 21 sparked widespread outrage, with media condemning "institutionalised violence" in the Islamic republic. Media said Romina was decapitated at the family home in the village of Talesh in the northern province of Gilan. "Despite the judicial authorities' insistence on a 'special handling' of the case, the verdict has terrified me and my family," Rana Dashti, the mother, told ILNA news agency. "I don't want my husband to return to our village ever again," she said, calling for the verdict to be reviewed and changed to "execution". Having lived with the man for 15 years, Dashti said she now fears for the life of the rest of her family. Ebtekar newspaper said at the time of Romina's killing that Iran's "eye for an eye" retributive justice does not apply to a father who kills his child, for which the customary sentence is jail time and fines. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has "expressed his regrets" following the girl's killing and called for the speedy passing of several anti-violence bills. Romina had reportedly run away after the father refused to give permission for her to marry a man 15 years her senior. But she was detained by authorities and taken home, despite having pleaded with a judge that she feared for her life if returned. The man she wanted to marry, Bahman Khavari, was sentenced to two years in prison, local media said, without specifying the charge. The legal age of marriage for women in Iran is 13.




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‘It Was Challenging’: Bucks Return, Balancing Basketball and Activism


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Coronavirus Around the World


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Wikipedia article of the day for August 30, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for August 30, 2020 is House of Music.
House of Music is the fourth and final album by American R&B band Tony! Toni! Toné!, released in 1996 by Mercury Records. Bassist-vocalist Raphael Saadiq (pictured), guitarist-vocalist D'wayne Wiggins, and percussionist-keyboardist Timothy Christian Riley worked on its songs independently before recording them together as a group. While doing most of the production, Tony! Toni! Toné! emphasized musicianship and expanded on their previous work's traditional soul influences with live instrumentation and balladry. Music journalists have noted the album's incorporation of old-fashioned and modern sensibilities, themes of love and romance, and witty, sensitive lyrics. The album charted for 31 weeks on the Billboard 200 and sold over a million units in the United States. Critics praised the musicianship and songwriting, later deeming it a masterpiece of 1990s R&B. Despite its success, the group disbanded shortly after due to creative differences and Mercury's management of the album's short-lived marketing campaign.

Friday, August 28, 2020

Breonna Taylor’s ex-boyfriend says she had nothing to do with alleged drug crimes

Breonna Taylor’s ex-boyfriend says she had nothing to do with alleged drug crimesThe ex-boyfriend of Breonna Taylor speaks out and claims she was not involved in illegal activities. Breonna Taylor‘s ex-boyfriend has come forward in an attempt to clear up her alleged involvement in any criminal activity. Jamarcus Glover, 30, was the target of the narcotics investigation leading to the execution of the no-knock warrant that resulted in the police shooting and killing Taylor, the Courier-Journal reports.




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May or later: Rocket Lab may launch a small probe to Venus

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