| Trump on Supreme Court vacancy: 'When you have the votes, you can sort of do what you want' Posted: 21 Sep 2020 08:26 AM PDT  The president on Monday defended the Republican plan to bring his pick to replace the Supreme Court vacancy left by Ruth Bader Ginsburg to a vote so close to an election, even though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to do the same in 2016.
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| Family of Slain Louisville BBQ Owner Files Suit Over Notorious Killing Posted: 21 Sep 2020 10:13 AM PDT  The family of David McAtee, a Black Louisville, Kentucky restaurateur who was shot and killed in June by cops and the National Guard during protests over the police killing of local emergency medical technician Breonna Taylor, filed a wrongful death lawsuit on Monday, just over 48 hours after the man's nephew was shot and killed in virtually the same spot.It was the latest harrowing episode in a cycle of bloodshed that has seemingly singled out a beloved local family.The lawsuit targets the Louisville Metro Police Department, the Kentucky National Guard, and a slew of officers and National Guard members the family says were involved in the June 1 shooting. It also names the two white Louisville cops previously identified as having been party to the killing—Katie Crews and Austin Allen. When, after the shooting, it was revealed that neither officer had their body camera activated, Mayor Greg Fischer fired Steven Conrad, the local police chief.As has become routine in an era of increased scrutiny of police killings of people of color, the two officers were placed on leave, and a joint state-federal investigation was announced. But attorney Steve Romines, who is representing the McAtees, said the probe into the fatal shooting of the celebrated barbecue chef had been virtually invisible, and seemed to go nowhere."They had indicated that [the investigation] would be transparent and all the information would be provided," Romines told The Daily Beast. "Literally none of it has been provided, and we're left with no other option but to go forward [with our lawsuit]. I understand the need for a proper, thorough investigation to ensure justice, but there's a big difference between that and dragging it out like this."The elder McAtee was killed when police and National Guard arrived to enforce a curfew amid the peak of Black Lives Matter protests sparked in part by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis—as well as the killing Taylor—this spring. On the night in question, a large crowd was eating at McAtee's restaurant, Yaya's BBQ Shack, and McAtee's niece, Maychelle, was threatened by police projectiles as she stood by the doorway. In the lawsuit, McAtee claims she was hit three times. Police have said—and provided surveillance footage they say shows—that McAtee fired his own gun at least once from the restaurant as police and National Guard made their approach.Almost as soon as police say McAtee fired, a hail of police and National Guard gunfire erupted, killing him. State officials later said they concluded that the fatal shot was fired by a member of the National Guard, and that the shooting was justified.In a statement, a spokesperson for the Louisville Metro Police Department said it did not comment on pending litigation. Crews could not immediately be reached for comment on the lawsuit, and the National Guard did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Crews had reportedly mocked a demonstrator she encountered earlier that night, posting on Facebook: "I hope the pepper balls that she got lit up with a little later on hurt."When reached by phone Monday, Allen told "I wish I could comment, but you know how it is."Law enforcement officials claim McAtee fired at least two rounds from a 9mm pistol he wore on his belt. Crews and Allen fired at McAtee at least 19 times, according to officials. The family's lawsuit does not say McAtee fired on officers during the incident, but explains that he had been advised by police officers who regularly ate at YaYa's to carry a gun for his own protection.The family is seeking unspecified monetary damages, including funeral expenses. And now they are facing an even fresher tragedy.Marvin McAtee—David McAtee's nephew—took over YaYa's BBQ after his uncle's death. Over the weekend, Marvin was reportedly shot and killed in an apparently unrelated incident just steps from where David was gunned down. Police said they have not yet identified any suspects.Reached by phone, Odessa Riley, David McAtee's grandmother, said she was planning her second funeral in three months—and couldn't talk for long."Everybody's on their way over," Riley told The Daily Beast. "The family's on their way over, the funeral home people are on their way over. Today is a bad day."Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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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| China admits Uighur birthrate has dropped by nearly one-third Posted: 21 Sep 2020 10:48 AM PDT  Chinese officials have admitted that birth rates have plummeted among its ethnic Uighurs, fuelling claims that Beijing is subjecting its Muslim minority to a campaign of forced birth control. Official statistics show that in Xinjiang, the north-western province where most of the 10 million strong Uighur community live, birth rates dropped by almost a third in 2018. The figures follow accusations that Beijing is attempting to reduce the Uighur population by threatening women with fines or spells in mass detention camps if they flout harsh family planning measures. At least a million Uighurs are believed to have passed through the detention camps in recent years, which Beijing insists are voluntary schools to teach Uighurs of the dangers of Islamic extremism. Human rights groups say they are used to eradicate Uighur culture, in tandem with forced abortion and sterilisation policies that amount to "demographic genocide".
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| Leaked files contain more evidence of Kremlin links to one of the biggest donors to Boris Johnson's Conservative party Posted: 21 Sep 2020 03:47 AM PDT  The husband of a major donor to Boris Johnson's Conservatives has allegedly been secretly funded by a Russian oligarch with links to Vladimir Putin.
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| Why We’re Never Buying Rectangular Rugs Again Posted: 21 Sep 2020 11:32 AM PDT |
| Tropical system emerges over South Florida as Hurricane Teddy targets Bermuda, Beta moves toward Texas Posted: 21 Sep 2020 09:06 AM PDT |
| Navalny says nerve agent was found 'in and on' his body Posted: 21 Sep 2020 06:20 AM PDT  Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny demanded Monday that Russia return the clothes he was wearing on the day he fell into a coma in Siberia, calling it "a crucial piece of evidence" in the nerve agent poisoning he is being treated for at a German hospital. In a blog post Monday, Navalny said the Novichok nerve agent was found "in and on" his body, and said the clothes taken off him when he was hospitalized in Siberia a month ago after collapsing on a Russian flight are "very important material evidence." Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin's fiercest critic, fell ill on a domestic flight to Moscow on Aug. 20, was brought to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk and was transferred to Germany for treatment two days later.
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| Republican group targets ‘hypocrite’ Mitch McConnell for turnabout on Supreme Court nominations during election season Posted: 21 Sep 2020 11:06 AM PDT  'GOP senator, thy name is hypocrite'
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| U.S. charges New York City police officer with acting as illegal agent of China Posted: 21 Sep 2020 01:05 PM PDT |
| Florida man fights off attacking alligator by poking its eyes; survives with 65 stitches Posted: 21 Sep 2020 10:04 AM PDT  Mark Johnson, 61, was attacked by alligator and survived with 65 stitches. Here's the trick he used, which FWC warns doesn't always work.
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| Tens of thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts traveled to the Lake of the Ozarks for a bike rally weeks after a similar event in Sturgis was linked to COVID-19 cases in 8 states Posted: 20 Sep 2020 08:39 AM PDT  Lake Ozark Mayor Gerry Murawski said last week that he didn't expect motorcyclists to wear masks to Bikefest because "that's just the way they are."
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| Solomon Islands: Men working for WW2 bomb clearing agency die in explosion Posted: 20 Sep 2020 08:07 PM PDT  The men were working to help dispose of the many unexploded World War Two bombs on the islands.
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| Egypt discovers 14 ancient sarcophagi at Saqqara Posted: 20 Sep 2020 05:25 PM PDT  Egypt's antiquities ministry announced Sunday the discovery of 14 sarcophagi in the Saqqara necropolis south of Cairo that had lain buried for 2,500 years.
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| U.S. Space Force deploys troops to the Arabian Desert Posted: 21 Sep 2020 03:51 AM PDT  The newly formed U.S. Space Force is deploying troops to a vast new frontier: the Arabian Peninsula.
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| Shark attacks a snorkeler in the Florida Keys, sheriff’s office says Posted: 20 Sep 2020 11:16 AM PDT |
| At least 5 organizations say they won't help brands audit supply chains in China's Xinjiang region Posted: 21 Sep 2020 10:45 AM PDT  As concerns grow over the alleged human rights abuses and forced labor in China's Xinjiang territory, five organizations told The Wall Street Journal they won't provide labor-audit or inspection services of companies' supply chains in the region. Two other auditing companies told the Workers Rights Consortium they won't operate in Xinjiang in emails reviewed by the Journal, but did not respond to requests for comment. Another firm confirmed it would no longer conduct audits there, but did not elaborate.The withdrawal of auditors has sparked some mixed reactions, says the Journal. Some other firms acknowledged the challenges of detecting forced labor in Xinjiang — auditors have been detained by Chinese authorities and others are required to rely on Beijing-approved translators who may convey misinformation at factories employing Uighurs and other Turkic-speaking minorities, while some workers simply find the risk of telling the truth to auditors to be too great — but also expressed concern that blacklisting the region could push human rights abuses even further underground.At the same time, there's a sense that third-party auditors generally are more inclined to serve corporate interests, lowering the chances of exposing violations, the Journal reports. That's why labor rights groups and Uighur rights activists have urged organizations to halt audits in Xinjiang. Ultimately, they believe forcing companies to shift their supply chains out of the region is the only way to avoid contributing to forced-labor practices. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.More stories from theweek.com McConnell unexpectedly rejects Democrats' funding bill, leaving U.S. on the verge of government shutdown The audacious case for Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett Judge extends deadline for Wisconsin absentee ballots
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| Revealed: evidence shows huge mail slowdowns after Trump ally took over Posted: 21 Sep 2020 08:30 AM PDT  Louis DeJoy's policies, which he said were intended to boost efficiency, led to widespread outcry this summerThe United States Postal Service (USPS) saw a severe decline in the rate of on-time delivery of first-class mail after Louis DeJoy took over as postmaster general, according to new data obtained by the Guardian that provides some of the most detailed insight yet into widespread mail delays this summer.Shortly after taking the helm, DeJoy – a major Republican donor with no prior USPS experience – implemented operational changes he said were intended to make the financially beleaguered agency more efficient. Those changes included an effort to get USPS trucks to run on time and limiting extra trips to transport late mail, with the result that mail was often left behind.Many critics have noted that DeJoy chose to make these changes at the worst possible time, in the midst of a pandemic and months ahead of a presidential election in which a record number of people are expected to vote by mail.In late August, DeJoy announced he was putting the changes on hold until after the election, and last week a federal judge in Washington blocked USPS from implementing them. The changes were clearly aimed at "voter disenfranchisement", given the increased role USPS will play in this year's presidential election, the US district judge Stanley Bastian wrote in his ruling."It is easy to conclude that the recent Postal Services' changes is an intentional effort on the part the current Administration to disrupt and challenge the legitimacy of upcoming local, state, and federal elections," Bastian wrote.Map of USPS first-class on-time delivery rates dropping just weeks after DeJoy was appointed.Describing the data, Philip Rubio, a history professor at North Carolina A&T university who is also a former postal worker, said: "This is a remarkable graphic illustration that reveals the decline of on-time first-class mail from the very first day after Postmaster General DeJoy's policies were announced and implemented.""Not only do we see the national picture for first-class mail delivery worsening over time after DeJoy's policies become effective, but we also see locally conditions varying and even emerging for the worse."Of note, some areas in key swing states saw significant declines in on-time delivery rates of first-class mail. In the postal district for northern Ohio, on-time delivery rates dropped as low as 63.60% in mid August. In the Detroit postal district, on-time delivery fell to 61.01% the same month.USPS has pledged to facilitate timely delivery of mail-in ballots for the election and work closely with election officials to ensure that happens. But the relationship has been rocky recently; some election officials fumed when the agency sent out a mailing to every household with information about mail-in voting without thoroughly consulting with them. The generalized mailer was misleading for voters in the handful of US states that automatically mail all registered voters a ballot.Although DeJoy's changes have been paused until after the election, the new data shows that first class mail continued to be delivered late across the country after his reversal. In the Baltimore postal district, for example, the on-time delivery rate remained at less than 60% at the end of August."Unfortunately, even though on-time performance improved after those changes were put on pause, delivery speed is still well below normal and far below the postal service's own targets," said Steve Hutkins, a professor at New York University who runs Save The Post Office, a blog that monitors the agency."The harms that were done have not yet been undone."David Partenheimer, a USPS spokesman, declined to comment specifically on the data, citing ongoing litigation. USPS released a statement on Friday saying that on-time delivery for first class mail continued to improve in September and that on time departures for trucks continued to improve."The improvements are a result of the Postmaster General's commitment to drive operational discipline and improve efficiencies across processing, transportation and delivery," the agency said in its statement.
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| Israel court says woman can be extradited in child sex case Posted: 21 Sep 2020 12:28 AM PDT  An Israeli court on Monday approved the extradition of a former teacher wanted in Australia on charges of child sex abuse, potentially paving the way for her to stand trial after a six-year legal battle. Malka Leifer, a former educator who is accused of sexually abusing several former students, has been fighting extradition from Israel since 2014. Leifer maintains her innocence and the battle surrounding her extradition has strained relations between Israel and Australia.
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| Trump tells supporters 'you'll never see me again' if he loses to Biden Posted: 20 Sep 2020 08:20 AM PDT  Trump made similar remarks in 2016, saying, "I don't think I'm going to lose, but if I do, I don't think you're ever going to see me again."
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| 'The Democrats are running two big gambles': Gingrich Posted: 21 Sep 2020 04:11 AM PDT  Newt Gingrich on the Senate battle that looms over the Supreme Court's vacancy
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| The cruise industry will implement these COVID-19 precautions: testing, masks, ventilation, more Posted: 21 Sep 2020 10:03 AM PDT  The cruise industry has announced mandatory changes designed to make it safe to sail during the COVID-19 pandemic – ideally by the end this year.
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| Bull rider killed in Texas rodeo Posted: 21 Sep 2020 07:01 AM PDT  Rider was studying animal sciences at Oklahoma State University
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| Botswana says toxins in water killed hundreds of elephants Posted: 21 Sep 2020 01:31 AM PDT  Toxins in water produced by cyanobacteria killed more than 300 elephants in Botswana this year, officials said on Monday, announcing the result of an investigation into the deaths which had baffled and alarmed conservationists. Cyanobacteria are microscopic organisms common in water and sometimes found in soil. Not all produce toxins but scientists say toxic ones are occurring more frequently as climate change drives up global temperatures.
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| More thyroid medicines recalled for being too weak. People have reported problems Posted: 20 Sep 2020 06:09 AM PDT  Testing and customer complaints of medical problems resulted in two lots of NP Thyroid tablets getting recalled by manufacturer Acella Pharmaceuticals.
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| 3 ways McConnell’s drive to replace Ginsburg could be derailed Posted: 20 Sep 2020 09:36 AM PDT  All is not lost yet. But gear up for a fight
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| Jawar Mohammed: Top Ethiopia opposition figure 'proud' of terror charge Posted: 21 Sep 2020 06:15 AM PDT  Jawar Mohammed did not admit guilt in court but accused the government of targeting opponents.
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| Biden's polling lead over Trump holds steady at 8 points, but his sizable cash advantage is new Posted: 20 Sep 2020 09:31 PM PDT  A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released Sunday showed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden leading President Trump by 8 percentage points, 51 percent to 43 percent, among registered voters — the same margin the poll showed in February, before COVID-19, the economic swoon, the anti-racism protests following George Floyd's death, and all the other craziness of 2020."Simply put: In 2020, the fundamentals of our country have been shaken to our core, while the fundamentals of the election have not," said Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt, who conducted the survey with Republican Bill McInturff. NBC's Chuck Todd made a smiler point on Sunday's Meet the Press.But one thing has changed: money. Biden and the Democratic National Committee entered September with $466 million in the bank, a cash advantage of $141 million over Trump and the Republican National Committee's $325 million, The New York Times reported Sunday night, citing newly released campaign finance reports. In the spring, Trump and the RNC had a $187 million lead over Biden and the DNC.In August alone, the joint Biden-DNC committee brought in a record $364.5 million while the Trump-RNC committee raised $210 million. The Biden campaign alone raised $212 million and spent $130.3 million; the Trump campaign raised $61.7 million, spent $61.2 million, and added about $900,000 in debt. "Money in the candidate's own committees, as opposed to the political party's account, is the most valuable of funds because election rules require those accounts to pay for certain types of spending, such as television ads," the Times reports.Some Republicans are baffled at Trump's financial disadvantage, given that he and the RNC raised $1.3 billion since 2018. Trump's campaign says it invested heavily in a ground campaign it says Biden can never match.The WSJ/NBC poll found a record 75 percent of voters rating their interest in the election a 10 out of 10, and more than 70 percent say the debates won't sway their decision much or at all. In another sign the electorate is pretty set, 38 percent said they won't vote for Biden under any circumstances versus 47 percent who said the same of Trump. The poll was conducted Sept. 13-16 among 1,000 voters, and its martin of error is ± 3.1 percentage points.RealClearPolitics gives Biden a 6.5-point lead it its aggregate of polls; FiveThirtyEight gives Biden a 6.7-point lead and 77 percent odds to win the Electoral College.More stories from theweek.com McConnell unexpectedly rejects Democrats' funding bill, leaving U.S. on the verge of government shutdown The audacious case for Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett Judge extends deadline for Wisconsin absentee ballots
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| Trooper wounded in crash faced firing in Black man's death Posted: 21 Sep 2020 12:32 PM PDT  A Louisiana state trooper was critically injured early Monday in a single-vehicle highway crash that came hours after learning he would be fired for his role last year in the in-custody death of a Black man. Master Trooper Chris Hollingsworth received word Sunday that State Police intended to terminate him following an internal investigation into the May 2019 death of Ronald Greene, a case that has drawn mounting scrutiny and become the subject of a federal civil rights investigation. State Police, despite growing pressure, have repeatedly declined to release body-camera footage and other records related to Greene's arrest, citing the ongoing investigations.
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| Finnish cruise ship evacuated after running aground in Baltic sea Posted: 20 Sep 2020 09:08 AM PDT  A Finnish passenger cruise ship was evacuated on Sunday after it ran aground off the island of Aland in the Baltic Sea, the cruise line and emergency services said Sunday.
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| 'A crazy year up north': Arctic sea ice shrinks to 2nd-lowest level on record Posted: 21 Sep 2020 02:20 PM PDT  The amount of summer sea ice in the Arctic has been steadily shrinking over the past few decades because of man-made global warming, experts say.
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| New Zealand ends all pandemic restrictions outside main city of Auckland Posted: 20 Sep 2020 06:33 PM PDT  New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday lifted all coronavirus restrictions across the country, except in second-wave hotspot Auckland, as the number of new infections slowed to a trickle. "Our actions collectively have managed to get the virus under control," she told reporters in Auckland. New Zealand, a nation of five million, appeared to have halted community transmission of COVID-19 earlier this year, but a fresh outbreak in Auckland in August prompted the government to place the city back in lockdown.
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| Three jailed after being caught with 109 undersized lobsters in the Keys, police say Posted: 21 Sep 2020 02:39 PM PDT  Three Lower Keys residents were jailed Friday after state fish and wildlife police said they were found with more than 100 undersized lobsters and a haul of out-of-season stone crab claws.
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| Florida governor threatens 'unconstitutional' felony charges in sweeping proposal to curb protests Posted: 21 Sep 2020 02:16 PM PDT  Drivers who kill demonstrators while fleeing 'mob' not liable, Ron DeSantis says
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| 'Never be seen again': Where Confederate statues go after being taken from public spaces Posted: 21 Sep 2020 12:26 AM PDT  More than 130 Confederate monuments and other historic statues were taken down across three dozen states amid a wave of protests and calls for racial justice over the past four months.
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| Mitch McConnell's most savage move is to back off Posted: 20 Sep 2020 05:42 AM PDT  The conventional wisdom today is that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will stop at nothing to confirm the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg's replacement on the Supreme Court, either prior to the election or in the lame duck session before the next Congress is seated in January. Kentucky's Machiavelli has already put out a statement indicating this is precisely what he will do. President Trump is on board, calling for the nomination process to proceed "without delay," and conservative activists are energized to finally have an insurance vote for when one of the existing conservative justices goes rogue. Most observers expect that McConnell would jam a nominee through in November or December even if Republicans have lost the presidency and the Senate to Democrats.Maybe — but there's an alternate path that is politically smarter for McConnell's chances of holding onto the Senate in November and preserving the GOP's hold on the federal judiciary even if they don't. And that is to leave the seat open until January.Can you imagine the shock if McConnell were to back off of his pledge to give a nominee a vote before the next president is inaugurated? If he were to give a speech announcing his intention to reduce, if only temporarily, the high stakes and anger around the Supreme Court? Mitch McConnell is the Stanislavsky of faux sincerity. He would knock it out of the park. The press coverage would be fawning: "Master brawler issues rare call for national unity." He could curry favor with the millions of Americans who hold President Trump's coronavirus response in contempt by saying that the Senate is simply too busy working on another relief package to take up the difficult work of confirming a Supreme Court nominee. Better yet, he could work with House Democrats to actually pass a relief bill, which would have the virtue not only of being popular and helping his most vulnerable caucus members, but would also be the right thing to do. (In other countries this strange concept is known as "governing.")McConnell could, alternatively, simply have other Republican senators take one for the team. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) don't have to face voters for years. Alexander is retiring. Have them bear the brunt of activist frustration and ask them to grit their teeth and endure the fusillade of angry tweets from the president. Either way, Republicans would appear magnanimous, a look they haven't worn in so long they'd have to pray it still fits.Backing off the mania to replace Ginsburg as quickly as possible would also relieve the pressure on blue state Republicans like Cory Gardner (Colo.) and Susan Collins (Maine) in advance of their long-shot bids to keep their seats. Martha McSally (Ariz.), who also looks like a goner according to today's polling, might also get a boost from a change in public perceptions of the Republican Party. Some subset of the suburban women who helped canonize Ginsburg might soften their opposition to these candidates, who are now seen, rightly, as mindless apologists for Trumpism and its horrors. I'm not just making this up — there's data. In a New York Times/Sienna College poll last week, voters in Maine, Arizona, and North Carolina favored having Biden pick the next Supreme Court justice by 12 points, 53-41. Forcing these three embattled senators to defend a hardball maneuver just weeks before they face the voters seems like political suicide.Of course, polling also, paradoxically, suggests that Americans support holding hearings this year, just as they did in 2016, when the Republican-controlled Senate refused to even entertain the idea of confirming Merrick Garland, Barack Obama's nominee to replace the late Antonin Scalia. But the GOP paid no price for defying a supermajority of voters that year, instead reaping the benefits of conservative enthusiasm for maintaining control of the judiciary. And it's one thing to tell pollsters you support hearings in theory — quite another when faced with the reality of replacing the country's most renowned liberal jurist with a hardline conservative bent on gutting abortion rights.It is possible that nothing McConnell does or doesn't do can save the GOP's Senate majority, which may survive or perish based on how President Trump does on Nov. 3. But even if the GOP loses the Senate and the presidency, keeping the seat open until January could do something even more important for McConnell and the conservative movement's 40-year-long struggle to conquer the federal judiciary: It would suck the air right out of the nascent court-packing movement on the left. Holding Ginsburg's seat open for Biden would allow Republicans to claim that everything is even — both Obama and Trump were prevented from filling crucial seats in an election year. An eye for an eye. Justice has been served.The court-packing threat is no longer an idle one. While it was once the purview of progressive activists and obscure college professors like me, the idea has gone mainstream in the hours since RBG's death. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) took to Twitter yesterday and announced that if Republicans move forward with confirming RBG's replacement in the lame duck session, "the incoming Senate should immediately move to expand the Supreme Court." Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are both going with some version of "all options are on the table." These are not Squad radicals, folks. If these cautious, establishment Democrats are talking about court packing, it's no longer an abstraction.Why not just let Biden fill Ginsburg's seat and thus content themselves with a 5-4 majority? That split is what they risked it all for by holding Garland's seat open in the first place! If GOP elites are nervous about maintaining control of the institution, they could ask Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito to step down and replace them in the lame duck session, which would be much less likely to cause apoplexy on the left. Then Republicans would have a full complement of conservatives in good health, they would likely not have to worry about any of them dying for a decade, and the five of them could go about merrily wrecking the next Democratic administration's policy agenda.Go ahead and laugh this all off, because it probably is preposterous. McConnell has never missed an opportunity to pursue short-term gain at the expense of the GOP's long-term political fortunes, and there probably aren't enough Senate Republicans willing to stop him. But people chuckled nearly a year ago when I said that McConnell's best move for the GOP's political future would be to go ahead and convict Trump and remove him from office.How different would the political landscape look today if Mike Pence had been president when the United States collided with the coronavirus in March? Say what you will about him, but every indication is that he would have taken it seriously and in all likelihood, the act of doing so would have provided him with a huge public opinion bonus, as it has for even the most unpopular governors in the country who made an effort to combat the virus. Instead of fighting to retain the Senate against the headwinds of a relentlessly divisive and unpopular president, McConnell and Republicans would almost certainly be fighting from a position of strength, perhaps even from an insurmountable fortress. Pence would be cruising.Instead, they yoked themselves forever to President Trump, and now they're fighting an uphill battle for their own survival. And it's why they might want to think twice about snapping to attention and forcing another conservative radical onto the Court just because the president told them to.More stories from theweek.com How a productivity phenomenon explains the unraveling of America How the Trump-Russia story was buried The conservatives who want to undo the Enlightenment
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| Australian journalist says he fled China after authorities threatened to detain his teenage daughter Posted: 21 Sep 2020 05:35 AM PDT  Chinese authorities threatened to detain an Australian journalist and his 14-year-old daughter two years ago, in apparent retaliation for his coverage of China. Matthew Carney, then the Australian Broadcasting Corp's Beijing bureau chief, was already bracing for trouble after being reprimanded by Chinese foreign ministry representatives upset over his coverage, which they had deemed unfavourable to the country. The last meeting he had with representatives ended with him being told he had personally broken Chinese laws and was now under 'investigation.' The problems continued when Carney sought to renew his journalist visa. During the process, he was instructed to report to a facility and to bring his daughter, where a lead interrogator later alleged she had broken visa rules. He was told because his daughter is an adult under Chinese law, that "as the People's Republic of China is a law-abiding country, she will be charged with the visa crime."
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| DeKalb school board member accused of making racist remarks Posted: 20 Sep 2020 02:27 PM PDT  Joyce Morley, a DeKalb County school board member, said those accusing her of making racially insensitive comments during a recent meeting are mishearing what she actually said. During an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday, Morley explained that video from the emotionally-charged board meeting shows her saying the word "rights" and not "whites" when discussing the school district's plans to reopen schools. During the Monday meeting in question, Cheryl Watson-Harris, DeKalb schools superintendent proposed that students and staff return to in-person learning as early as October, but on a part-time basis.
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| 6 Louisville police officers are under internal investigation for their roles in fatal Breonna Taylor shooting Posted: 21 Sep 2020 05:01 PM PDT  Three additional officers who were at Breonna Taylor's apartment — Tony James, Michael Campbell and Michael Nobles — are also under investigation.
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| Two key GOP senators propose $28.8 billion in airline assistance to avoid job cuts Posted: 21 Sep 2020 01:50 PM PDT  Two key Republican senators on Monday introduced legislation that would authorize $28.8 billion in payroll assistance to avoid thousands of airline industry layoffs set to begin on Oct. 1. Senators Roger Wicker, who chairs the Commerce Committee, and Susan Collins, who chairs the appropriations subcommittee overseeing airline issues, introduced the measure that would grant airlines a new bailout days before existing payroll support runs out. Airlines are making a last-ditch effort to win funding, but face an uphill battle with Congress shifting its attention to the pending Supreme Court vacancy, congressional aides say.
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| The CIA sent a team of 4 operators on a spy mission targeting China. None came back. Posted: 20 Sep 2020 06:48 AM PDT  In 2008, the CIA sent a team of four operators on a spy mission targeting China. None came back. Internally, the CIA officers blamed the mission failure and deaths of four of their men on Bob Kandra, the Special Activities Division chief at the time.
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| Black Lives Matter Removes Language about Disrupting the Nuclear Family from Website Posted: 21 Sep 2020 11:56 AM PDT  The official Black Lives Matter website no longer includes language encouraging the "disruption" of the "Western-prescribed nuclear family structure."The language had been featured on the site's "What We Believe" page, in which the group had laid out its support for various extreme policies and ideals that went beyond police reform and brutality. Attempts to access the page now yield a message that reads, "Page Not Found. Sorry, but the page you were trying to view does not exist," the Washington Examiner first discovered on Monday.The page had described the group as a "global Black family" that engages "comrades with the intent to learn about and connect with their contexts," according to an archive."We make our spaces family-friendly and enable parents to fully participate with their children. We dismantle the patriarchal practice that requires mothers to work 'double shifts' so that they can mother in private even as they participate in public justice work," the organization wrote. "We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and 'villages' that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable."The website still features an "About" page that explains the origin of the organization — it was founded in 2013 after the death of Trayvon Martin — and features a shorter list of its goals. The "About" page says the group's mission "is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.""We affirm the lives of Black queer and trans folks, disabled folks, undocumented folks, folks with records, women, and all Black lives along the gender spectrum," the page reads."We are working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically targeted for demise," it adds.The organization has received criticism for its extremist views, including co-founder Patrisse Cullors 2015 admission that she and her fellow co-founders are "trained Marxists.""I actually do think we have an ideological frame. We are trained Marxists," Cullors said.
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| I'm voting third party in the presidential election. Don't tell me I'm wasting my vote. Posted: 21 Sep 2020 04:00 AM PDT  I keep hearing I'm wasting my vote for the presidential election because I'm voting for Libertarian Party candidate Dr. Jo Jorgensen.
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| Armed and Black. How a group of men licensed to carry guns say they are seeking racial justice Posted: 21 Sep 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Armed Black groups like the Minnesota Freedom Fighters work to protect the streets as calls for racial justice mount.
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| Rush Limbaugh calls for GOP to skip hearings for Trump SCOTUS pick and go straight for floor vote Posted: 21 Sep 2020 02:19 PM PDT  The conservative radio host hopes to avoid confirmation hearings like Brett Kavanaugh's or Clarence Thomas's
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| Sen. Kelly Loeffler stages historically dubious re-enactment to claim she's 'more conservative than Attila the Hun' Posted: 21 Sep 2020 12:49 PM PDT  Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) is willing to reimagine history to prove how conservative she is.Loeffler is trying to fend off both Democrats and Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) to protect her relatively new seat, and rolled out a campaign ad Monday trying to prove she's the real conservative in the race. Playing off the idea that she's "more conservative than Attila the Hun," Loeffler's ad features a grunting Attila and a "liberal scribe" who translates for him: "Fight China" and "attack big government" are among his wishes.> It's true. pic.twitter.com/Yea3phqB2s> > -- Kelly Loeffler (@KLoeffler) September 21, 2020The ad begs a lot questions about the accuracy of Loeffler's ad. For starters, Attila didn't have much to do with China; Genghis Khan is probably who Loeffler was going for. Attila was instead focused on attacking western societies -- the sort of thing conservatives usually don't like.The New York Times' Paul Krugman meanwhile wasn't even sure if Attila could be considered conservative, at least for his time. > Of course there was the whole sacking cities and slaughtering their inhabitants thing. And I guess that's the part that appeals to modern Republicans 3/> > -- Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) September 21, 2020More stories from theweek.com McConnell unexpectedly rejects Democrats' funding bill, leaving U.S. on the verge of government shutdown The audacious case for Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett Judge extends deadline for Wisconsin absentee ballots
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| A makeup brand received a backlash for naming a liquid blush 'Dream Like Anne' after the Holocaust's Anne Frank Posted: 20 Sep 2020 07:28 AM PDT  The Hong Kong-based company Woke Up Like This (WULT) launched a collection of liquid blushes that were named after "inspiring, famous women."
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