| Trump’s Voter Fraud ‘Proof’ Turned Out to Be the Real Fraud Posted: 26 Aug 2020 07:24 PM PDT  Citizens throughout the nation are counting on using mail ballots to vote in November without placing their lives at risk. President Donald Trump is determined to prevent them from doing so, if they live in heavily Democratic metropolitan areas, that is. Trump claims that allowing widespread mail balloting is an invitation to massive and systematic fraud, saying: "What they're doing is using COVID to steal an election. They're using COVID to defraud the American people." But when a judge ordered Trump's campaign to come up with evidence for the president's fraud claims, the campaign produced absolutely nothing. Still, there's ample evidence that if Trump gets his way, hundreds of thousands of duly registered voters will not be able to vote, or will have their ballots go uncounted—more than enough to sway the outcome of a close election.On June 29, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit demanding the voiding of the efforts of Pennsylvania's state officials to facilitate mail voting during the pandemic, pursuant to a recently enacted law. Among other things, Pennsylvania is allowing the use of ballot drop boxes, so voters can avoid returning ballots through the mails. In light of revelations that Trump's recently installed Postmaster General (and fundraiser), Louis DeJoy, deliberately engineered new inefficiencies and delays at the Postal Service (particularly in Philadelphia), the need for drop boxes is even more clear. But that's only made the Trump campaign more determined to prevent their use. Al Gore: If Trump Refuses to Concede, the Military Would Run Him OutAccording to the Trump campaign's complaint, Pennsylvania voting officials "have sacrificed the sanctity of in-person voting at the altar of unmonitored and unsecured mail-in voting and have exponentially enhanced the threat that fraudulent or otherwise ineligible ballots will be cast and counted in the upcoming General Election." Trump's complaint uses the word "fraud" no fewer than 51 times. Given the centrality of Trump's fraud claims, on Aug. 13 the Pittsburgh federal judge hearing the case, Nicholas Ranjan (a Trump appointee), ordered the campaign to provide any and all evidence supporting its allegations "concerning potential or actual fraud or voter misconduct," including "from the use of drop boxes, absentee ballots, or vote-by-mail." When the Daily Beast asked the Trump campaign for a copy of the materials it produced, the campaign declined to share one. It later became clear why, when the campaign's interrogatory responses were disclosed. The filings contained virtually no evidence of mail-in or drop-box ballot fraud, let alone fraud of a nature and scale remotely sufficient to change the outcome of a statewide election. Instead, the document contained a grab bag of examples of campaign irregularities, errors and misconduct, many taken from newspaper articles, and none substantiating the massive mail voting fraud claims the campaign made in its complaint. Indeed, the campaign was reduced to making the absurd contention that it does "not need to demonstrate any evidence of fraud to prove" its case, even though the campaign's complaint was laced with, and grounded on, claims of a grave risk of fraud. Of course, it's nothing new for Trump and his associates to make claims without evidence. Apart from the president's now regular rants about "rigging" the upcoming election, Attorney General William Barr has repeatedly contended that "if you have wholesale mail-in voting, it substantially increases the risk of fraud." Barr has even joined Trump in asserting that foreign nations are poised to engage in massive counterfeiting of mail in ballots to sway the outcome of the election. But when asked if he had any evidence whatsoever to support his claims, Barr has repeatedly admitted, most recently before Congress, that he has none, and instead is relying entirely on what he calls "common sense." A senior official of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence recently contradicted Barr, stating that the intelligence community has no evidence that foreign powers intend to manipulate mail-in ballots. In fact, as election experts have demonstrated, Barr's claim that mail ballots are a likely source for massive, systematic fraud—let alone a foreign power's scheme to sway an election—is entirely contrary to common sense. A database maintained by the conservative Heritage Foundation indicates that, over a period of nine years, there were all of 15 cases of voter fraud in the five states that employ universal mail-in voting; furthermore, as election expert Rick Hasen has explained, it would likely require thousands of counterfeit or otherwise fraudulent ballots to sway the outcome of a state's election, something that would be virtually impossible to carry off. A senior FBI official similarly recently stated that "[i]t's extraordinarily difficult to change a federal election outcome through [coordinated] fraud alone."Trump lost a round when the Pennsylvania federal court case was temporarily stayed by the judge hearing it in favor of allowing the Pennsylvania law issues in the case to first be addressed by state courts; but it will likely be revised. In the meantime, the Trump campaign can be expected to continue to peddle its bogus fraud claims in every court in which it can be heard. But there is now no doubt that the Trump challenges to mail voting are grounded on phantom, and indeed, fantastically fraudulent, claims of fraud. But there's nothing speculative about the consequences of allowing Trump to get away with his scheme to suppress and limit mail voting. If Trump succeeds, thousands of eligible voters will be prevented from casting their votes, or will complete ballots that are not counted. The Washington Post reported that more than 534,000 mail ballots went uncounted during the recent primaries, many in battleground states, including because signatures were rejected or ballots were received past the deadlines. The vast majority of these ballots were cast by duly registered citizens who had every right to vote. At the end of the day, of course, the Trump campaign has no actual interest in preventing voter fraud; rather, the president wants to make it even more difficult for people who reasonably fear going to crowded polling places in heavily Democratic metropolitan areas from effectively voting by mail, and thereby from voting at all. That is a classic voter disenfranchisement scheme, and it is directly at odds with the principles of democracy.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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| Kenosha police chief blames protesters for their own deaths because they were ‘out after curfew’ Posted: 26 Aug 2020 07:12 PM PDT  The Kenosha, Wisconsin police chief blamed two protesters who were fatally shot for their own deaths because they violated curfew. Chief Daniel Miskinis held a press conference on Wednesday to offer an update on the protests that have overwhelmed the city of 100,000 after Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old father of three, was shot in the back on Sunday by police.
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| China arrests 12 fleeing Hong Kong by speedboat: city police Posted: 28 Aug 2020 05:33 AM PDT  A dozen people fleeing Hong Kong on a speedboat, including an activist arrested under the draconian new national security law, have been captured by China, police in the city said Friday.
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| West Mathewson: South African conservationist killed by white lions Posted: 27 Aug 2020 03:06 AM PDT  Police say two lions attacked the lodge owner as he was taking them for a walk, in front of his wife.
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| Rusten Sheskey, the officer who shot Jacob Blake, is a former campus officer who investigated a hate crime, and said he liked being a cop because 'people trust us' Posted: 27 Aug 2020 03:15 AM PDT  Rusten Sheskey shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back on Sunday evening, prompting huge protests and a renewed national movement.
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| Fake cancer drugs were cooked up in Alabama man’s kitchen — some with hair, feds say Posted: 27 Aug 2020 04:01 PM PDT  Patrick Bishop, 54, earned millions selling the bogus cancer treatments, according to court filings. Prosecutors said he spent it on houses and luxury cars.
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| GOP official warns that a single law is going to delay election results in Midwest swing states Posted: 28 Aug 2020 02:00 AM PDT  The top Republican election official in Ohio on Thursday said that other Midwestern states where the presidential election was decided four years ago are in a "really terrible situation" because they have so far not allowed mail-in ballots to be processed in an expedited way.
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| Iranian man sentenced to nine years in prison for beheading daughter while she slept in 'honour killing' Posted: 28 Aug 2020 06:25 AM PDT  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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| Teen who held BLM event gets $2500 bill for police overtime Posted: 28 Aug 2020 02:36 PM PDT |
| Invisible workers: Prison fire crews save lives while incarcerated then left to fend for themselves once released Posted: 28 Aug 2020 08:04 AM PDT  There are currently more than 14,000 firefighters struggling to battle roughly 7,000 blazes in California, many working 24-hour shifts. Among those pushed to the limit, as this year's fire season in California burns an area now the size of the state of Delaware, are approximately 3,100 inmates trained as wildland firefighters.
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| Teacher reinstated after parents complained about Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ posters Posted: 27 Aug 2020 12:13 PM PDT  A Texas school district backtracked after placing English teacher Taylor Lifka on leave over the posters in her virtual classroom.
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| Detained Colombia businessman was negotiating with Iran for Venezuela, lawyers say Posted: 28 Aug 2020 05:13 AM PDT |
| Arrest made after firefighter’s wallet stolen as he battled wildfires, CA officials say Posted: 28 Aug 2020 03:42 PM PDT  The thief drained the bank account of the firefighter after the wallet was lifted from his vehicle. officials said.
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| Breonna Taylor’s ex-boyfriend says she had nothing to do with alleged drug crimes Posted: 28 Aug 2020 01:00 PM PDT  The 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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| 'Donald Trump froze': Kamala Harris rips into the president before his RNC speech Posted: 27 Aug 2020 02:30 PM PDT  Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris delivers an advance rebuttal to President Trump's RNC speech.
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| Israel strikes Gaza after Palestinian militants fire rockets Posted: 27 Aug 2020 10:15 PM PDT |
| Kim Jong-un inspects the damage as North Korea reels from floods and Typhoon Bavi Posted: 27 Aug 2020 09:49 PM PDT  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a rice-growing area devastated by a typhoon on Thursday, as the reclusive country reels from back-to-back natural and manmade catastrophes. Photos released by state media of the authoritarian leader inspecting fields alongside mask-wearing officials appeared to be framed to convey his benevolence as citizens struggle to cope with the impact of severe monsoon flooding, and the economic toll of the pandemic and ongoing global sanctions. Typhoon Bavi slammed into the country's southwestern province of Hwanghae, dealing a damaging blow to its corn stalks, rice paddies and other crops, and raising fears of increased hunger among an already malnourished population. Ten million people are reported by the United Nations to be suffering from food insecurity, living from harvest to harvest. The country also suffers from years of neglected infrastructure, which exacerbates the effects of natural disasters.
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| Virtually the Best: Kids’ Furniture for an A+ Home-Learning Setup Posted: 28 Aug 2020 08:00 AM PDT |
| Elon Musk confirmed a Russian national tried to bribe a Tesla employee with $1 million in a bungled ransomware attack Posted: 28 Aug 2020 04:46 AM PDT  The 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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| Letters to the Editor: Here's how police can end protests: Stop shooting unarmed Black people Posted: 28 Aug 2020 03:00 AM PDT  People who don't like sometimes nonpeaceful protests should put pressure on police to stop shooting unarmed Black people.
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| Mail ballots from nursing home residents, entire family didn’t count in Florida primary Posted: 28 Aug 2020 10:58 AM PDT  Wayne Tinker was among more than 262,000 Miami-Dade County voters who cast a mail ballot in last week's primary elections — and among the thousands of voters whose ballots didn't count.
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| US Marshals found 39 missing children in a 2-week operation, 15 of whom they say were sex-trafficking victims Posted: 28 Aug 2020 10:23 AM PDT  The US Marshals located 39 missing children in Georgia, and arrested nine suspects on charges that ranged from sex trafficking to parental kidnapping.
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| ‘I Don’t Think There Should Be Any Debates:’ Nancy Pelosi Says Biden Should Not ‘Legitimize’ Trump Posted: 27 Aug 2020 09:35 AM PDT  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said on Thursday that Joe Biden should not participate in debates with President Trump during the general election campaign."Don't tell anybody I told you this, especially don't tell Joe Biden: I don't think there should be any debates," Pelosi told reporters at a press conference. "I do not think that the president of the United States has comported himself in a way that has any association with truth, evidence, data, and facts. I wouldn't legitimize a conversation with him, nor a debate in terms of the presidency of the United States."> �� WOW. THERE IT IS. → Nancy Pelosi just said "I don't think that there should be any debates."> > Even top Democrats know @realDonaldTrump would absolutely crush Joe Biden on a debate stage.> > So they're desperate to keep him hidden in his basement until the election.> > Pathetic. pic.twitter.com/wUvS8Xu7GI> > -- Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) August 27, 2020The Biden-campaign responded that while it sympathized with Pelosi's remarks, Biden would debate Trump later this year."We certainly agree with Speaker Pelosi on her views of the President's behavior," Biden-campaign rapid response director Andrew Yates said in a statement. "But just as she has powerfully confronted that behavior in the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room, Joe Biden looks forward to doing the same on the debate stage."Pelosi's comments come after Biden has avoided many traditional media events, refusing to sit down with a number of prominent network anchors and print reporters but granting an interview to rapper Cardi B."They're not putting anybody out on any of the Sunday shows. I don't understand what's going on here," Fox News host Chris Wallace said in mid-August. "This just is of a piece with the the vice president not not doing really any serious interviews, not answering any questions since the rollout."
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| Minneapolis under curfew, state of emergency after Black homicide suspect's death Posted: 27 Aug 2020 01:59 AM PDT  The city has been the center of protests following the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, who died in May after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Floyd's death and further violence against Black people have led to broader anti-racism protests and demonstrations against police brutality in cities across the United States. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey imposed a curfew following what he described as mass looting of businesses, destruction of property and unrest.
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| A former SpaceX intern says she reported sexual harassment to HR — and it cost her the opportunity for a full-time job Posted: 28 Aug 2020 08:43 AM PDT  In a new lawsuit, the former SpaceX intern says her manager made inappropriate comments and wanted to take her to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
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| Airbus unveils B-model Lakota helos to enter US Army fleet next year Posted: 28 Aug 2020 01:31 PM PDT  A new Lakota will join the Army National Guard in 2021.
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| 26 children — one as young as 3 — rescued in Georgia sex trafficking sting, feds say Posted: 28 Aug 2020 09:00 AM PDT  "Operation Not Forgotten" helped locate nearly 40 missing kids.
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| Second Trump DHS official to turn on president brands him ‘racist’ in new attack ad Posted: 27 Aug 2020 02:34 PM PDT  A second former member of Donald Trump's Department of Homeland Security has turned on the president, branding him "racist" and endorsing Joe Biden.Elizabeth Neumann, who served in the department until April of this year, indicated the rise of white supremacy and the handling of the coronavirus pandemic as her reasons for turning on the president.
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| Injunction barring Richmond from removing monument tossed Posted: 27 Aug 2020 03:14 PM PDT  The Virginia Supreme Court has tossed out an injunction handed down by a Richmond judge that barred officials from removing the only remaining Confederate monument owned by the city. Richmond Circuit Judge Bradley Cavedo issued a 60-day injunction in July shortly after Mayor Levar Stoney ordered the removal of the city's Confederate monuments, using authority under a local emergency order, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Thursday.
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| Kentucky man faces $750,000 fine, possible jail time for violating Canada's Quarantine Act Posted: 27 Aug 2020 02:32 PM PDT  A Northern Kentucky man traveled to a Canadian resort and got a visit from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for violating Canada's Quarantine Act.
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| Delhi 2020 religious riots: Amnesty International accuses police of rights abuses Posted: 28 Aug 2020 03:54 AM PDT  Amnesty International finds police beat protesters and rioted with Hindu mobs against Muslims.
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| An ex-Cisco employee pleaded guilty to causing damage to the tech giant's network which shut down over 16,000 Webex Teams accounts Posted: 27 Aug 2020 01:57 PM PDT  An ex-Cisco employee pleaded guilty to breaking into into the tech giant's network and wiped out thousands of Webex Teams accounts.
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| Boeing grounds several 787 planes after manufacturing defect found Posted: 28 Aug 2020 09:50 AM PDT  Boeing has found manufacturing defects on some of its 787 long-range airliners in areas where parts of the fuselage are joined together, the latest setback for the aircraft maker whose 737 Max is still grounded after two deadly crashes.
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| US defence chief says China 'destabilising' Pacific Posted: 28 Aug 2020 04:27 AM PDT  US Defense Secretary Mark Esper accused China of "destabilising" the Pacific region Friday on a whistle-stop trip to the tiny island nation of Palau.
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| Virginia Senate Approves Bill to Downgrade Penalty for Assaulting a Police Officer Posted: 27 Aug 2020 11:22 AM PDT  The Virginia Senate approved legislation on Wednesday that would downgrade the legal penalty for a suspect found guilty of assaulting a police officer.Senate Bill 5032 would, if signed into law, eliminate the state's six-month mandatory minimum prison sentence for assaulting an officer, and also gives a local judge or jury the authority to downgrade the crime from a felony to a misdemeanor. The Virginia Senate voted 21-15 to approve the bill.Senator Scott Survell, a Democrat who proposed the legislation, said the bill was not meant to apply in cases of serious injury suffered by police officers."What we're talking about here are situations that involve much more insignificant minor touches," Survell said in comments reported by the Associated Press. However, state Republicans slammed the legislation in light of ongoing efforts nationwide to "defund" police departments."What in the world are we doing?" Senator John Cosgrove Jr. said. "Have you seen the attacks on police officers?"The bill will now move to the House, where Democrats hold a 55-45 majority.Democrats took control of the Virginia legislature in 2019 for the first time in decades, with Democrat Ralph Northam in the governor's office. That newfound power has led state Democrats to attempt to pass a flurry of liberal legislation, including stricter gun-control laws. The Washington Post noted in February of this year that Democrats were submitting so much legislation that lawmakers were working overtime trying to process the proposals.
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| Jacob Blake's mother said Trump tried to call her about her son's shooting, but she missed it Posted: 27 Aug 2020 06:56 AM PDT  Jacob Blake's mother, Julia Jackson, apologized for missing Trump's call in the aftermath of Blake's shooting. Joe Biden says he has spoken to her.
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| Python caught near Georgia home, leading to concerns of invasive species spreading Posted: 28 Aug 2020 09:18 AM PDT  News of the discovery prompted anger on social media.
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| Trump is about to bungle another natural disaster Posted: 26 Aug 2020 09:10 PM PDT  While the third night of the Republican National Convention progressed, Hurricane Laura was bearing down on Louisiana and Texas. At time of writing, it had reportedly strengthened nearly to Category 5 status, and may end up being one of the 10 strongest hurricanes ever recorded making landfall on the continental U.S.Yet the looming hurricane was barely mentioned during the night's convention proceedings, including a brief note during the opening prayer and a short aside from Vice President Mike Pence. "Our administration is working closely with authorities in the states that will be impacted," he said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency "has mobilized resources and supplies for those in harm's way."In reality, there is little doubt that the Trump administration is going to botch the response to this onrushing disaster. Trump did not manage the response to Hurricane Harvey well, and did almost nothing in response to Hurricane Maria. In Puerto Rico after the latter storm, nearly 3,000 people died in large part because the island went so long without power, cleanup, or rebuilding. We are also months into a viral pandemic that he has catastrophically bungled.What's more, today state budgets have been hamstrung by the coronavirus economic collapse, and Republicans refuse to rescue them. Trump also recently diverted a bunch of FEMA money to pay for a brief boost to unemployment benefits because his party didn't want to authorize additional funding through Congress. When a gormless reality TV host is president, this is the kind of thing that tends to happen.More stories from theweek.com 7 scathingly funny cartoons about the Republican National Convention That 'famous' Lincoln quote in Lara Trump's RNC speech? He never said it. New jobless claims decline but stay above 1 million
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