| US attorney: 18 more arrested in Portland on US charges Posted: 23 Jul 2020 10:04 PM PDT  Eighteen people have been arrested this week in Portland, Oregon, on federal charges while protesting the presence of federal law enforcement agents, the state's top U.S. prosecutor said Friday. The number of arrests doesn't include those made early Friday, when federal agents again used tear gas against demonstrators. The charges involving the protests include assaulting federal officers, arson and damaging federal property, U.S. Attorney for Oregon Billy J. Williams said.
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| CCTV shows suspects in fishing trip 'massacre' following victim into Florida dollar store Posted: 23 Jul 2020 10:32 AM PDT  CCTV footage from a Florida convenience store has shown the suspects arrested in connection with a fishing trip "massacre" in the same store as one of the victims just before they were murdered.
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| China's empire of cotton Posted: 24 Jul 2020 07:42 AM PDT  I wish I could say that I was surprised to learn that one fifth of the world's cotton garments are made from material sourced to Xinjiang in China, the misleadingly named "autonomous region" in which the country's Uighur Muslim minority are subject to forced labor. I also wish that I could nod along with the coalition of human rights groups and labor unions demanding that companies from Adidas to L.L. Bean stop relying upon slavery.Instead, I groaned. This is not because I am indifferent to the plight of the Uighurs and to millions of workers exploited by the global fashion industry around the globe, but because the most recent calls for American companies to divest from Xinjiang are painfully naive. Like most such campaigns, this one is most likely to accomplish one thing: making those who read about it feel better.The truth is that even if all of the brands named in this press release agreed to do exactly what is being asked of them — namely, close their factories in Xinjiang, demand that raw materials from the region not be used in their products manufactured elsewhere — it would make very little difference. For one thing, very few companies have any meaningful control over where their products are manufactured, much less where the materials used in their products are sourced from. The vast majority of global textile manufacturing is handled through layer upon layer of subcontractors. Orders are placed in the hope of being filled as rapidly as possible. (This is why it is called "fast fashion," after all.) In order to meet corporate demands, a company handling a contract for H&M or Abercrombie will farm out the actual production to another firm or group of firms, who in turn divide the work between any number of other operations. By the time an order for a hundred thousand pairs of stretch cotton chinos reaches the sub-sub-subcontractors, the chain of accountability isn't weak: it's nonexistent.Hence the reason that I would not be surprised to read in the coming weeks that many of the brands criticized by End Uyghur Forced Labor and other groups have agreed to take the steps that are asked of them. Ralph Lauren might insist to a firm it has contracted to fill orders for its discount line that no Xinjiang cotton be used, but even if the company were actually interested in enforcing these terms, it would be unable to do so. This is why for major corporations these lofty-sounding ethical initiatives are always a no-brainer.Ethical consumption fantasies are not going to save the victims of globalized capitalism. So what might be done instead? We could shore up American cotton production and impose tariffs on textile imports from Asia and invest in the revival of our all-but-extinct domestic clothing industry. This would be a good thing in itself, especially if it meant unionization for the workers thus employed (unlike in recent decades, when American textile production was heavily concentrated in the "right-to-work" South). It would also be a very tough sell to the American people, who have gotten used to the idea that a garment is an essentially disposable, and therefore inexpensive, consumer good rather than an investment in something meant to last years.But even this would only go so far. Never mind the fact that it would require sweeping government action of a kind to which neither of our two major political parties is committed and nothing short of a revolution in American consumption habits and corporate logistics. A wholesale revival of the American textile industry would not meaningfully alter the demand for fast fashion in Europe, Japan, India, and, indeed, China, which is itself the destination for perhaps as much as 50 percent of its textile manufacturing. A hundred thousand Americans could start earning $30 an hour sewing Levi's on these shores tomorrow, and it would not meaningfully undercut the demand for garments sourced to Xinjiang.Does this mean it is not with pursuing? Absolutely not. It does not follow from the fact that a given evil is ineradicable that we are not obligated to do everything that is within our power to avoid cooperation, however remote, with it. But we should not have any illusions about the power of our humane feelings — expressed as consumer choices — to save the world's most vulnerable people either.More stories from theweek.com Republicans face unemployment renewal 'time crunch of their own making' Fox & Friends marvels at Trump repeating 'person, woman, man, camera, TV' The pandemic is accelerating the video gamification of sports
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| Two of the ISIS terrorists dubbed the Beatles admit involvement in captivity of Kayla Mueller, James Foley Posted: 23 Jul 2020 01:00 PM PDT  In exclusive interviews, the two men, Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, for the first time admitted their involvement in the captivity of Mueller.
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| Tom Cotton Introduces Bill to Prohibit Federal Funding for Schools Using ‘1619 Project’ Curriculum Posted: 23 Jul 2020 12:26 PM PDT  Senator Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) introduced a law on Thursday that would prohibit federal funding for schools that incorporate curriculum from the New York Times's "1619 Project."The 1619 Project, named after the year when colonists first brought slaves to the U.S., attempts to retell American history by emphasizing the importance of slavery in the country's earliest years. However, historians have criticized the project for basic "factual errors" and a " displacement of historical understanding by ideology." (One example of such an error in the project is the assertion that the colonies revolted from British rule in order to preserve slavery.)"The New York Times's 1619 Project is a racially divisive, revisionist account of history that denies the noble principles of freedom and equality on which our nation was founded," Cotton said in a statement. "Not a single cent of federal funding should go to indoctrinate young Americans with this left-wing garbage."According to Cotton, the bill would not affect federal funding allocated to low-income or special-needs students.The Times has announced plans to incorporate material from the project in public school curricula. Districts in several major cities including Chicago, Ill., and Washington, D.C., have adopted some of these materials.Writer Nikole Hannah-Jones won a Pulitzer Prize in April for her lead essay for the project.
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| Qantas just retired the iconic Boeing 747 with a commemorative last flight flown by the airline's first female captain who drew a kangaroo in the sky Posted: 23 Jul 2020 12:31 PM PDT  Qantas ended the near-50-year reign of the Australian Queen of the Skies, the jet that opened up Australia to the rest of the world.
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| U.S. insurers explore officer coverage as police reform debate rages Posted: 24 Jul 2020 04:03 AM PDT  The bill authored by Democratic Senator Alessandra Biaggi follows a number of police reforms in New York and other U.S. states and cities, which were prompted by a wave of protests against police brutality and racial injustice since May. Biaggi's bill would require local governments to pay for the individual policies, but officers would pay any premium increases arising from their misconduct.
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| Court orders 4th sentencing for actress in 2010 fatal crash Posted: 24 Jul 2020 09:39 AM PDT  A former "Melrose Place" actress who has already served a sentence for a fatal drunken driving crash could go back to prison. The complicated legal history of the case against Amy Locane includes three sentences imposed by two judges, as well as numerous appeals. It stems from a crash in March 2010 that killed Helene Seeman and seriously injured her husband, Fred, as they turned into their driveway in Montgomery Township in central New Jersey.
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| Ahead of hearing with big tech CEOs, Cicilline says a Biden presidency would lead to regulation next year Posted: 23 Jul 2020 02:00 AM PDT  A top Democrat leading an antitrust investigation into the nation's top technology companies said Wednesday his committee will release a report by the end of August with recommendations on legislation that Congress could pass into law as soon as next year.
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| Top Dem Donors Once Hated Warren. Now They Hardly Think of Her Posted: 23 Jul 2020 05:35 PM PDT  Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) spent much of the Democratic primary belting back (and even happily promoting) attacks from monied interests on everything from the details of her wealth tax to her grander vision for financial restrictions in the country.Now, some cash-flush alarm-sounders have gone mute on the Massachusetts Democrat. "Not a peep," one prominent Democratic donor adviser said when asked if Warren's name is mentioned with any regularity on finance calls about the general election. "I'm on calls 12 hours a day and it just doesn't ever come up."As former Vice President Joe Biden attempts to give something to both progressives and moderates unified against President Donald Trump, Warren has become an increasingly front and center part of the presumptive nominee's broad reach. She hosted one of the Biden team's most profitable fundraisers, bringing in $6 million, according to the campaign, and has appeared in a variety of virtual events intended to encourage enthusiasm and turnout. Last week, Symone Sanders, a senior adviser to Biden's campaign, hosted a joint event with Warren and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, who supported her bid. "Vote like your life depends on it because it does. Pick any issue you care about, I guarantee it is on the line in this election and Joe Biden has a vision for how to make change," Warren said during the virtual event, which was later turned into a press release and distributed through the campaign's media list with an "ICYMI" flag. For months, before Biden secured the party's presumptive backing, some moderate Democrats warned against the perceived electoral problems of promoting progressive fiscal policies too strongly. The better approach, the thinking among some in Biden's circle went, was don't spook the donor class by shunning "big-dollar fundraisers," as Warren proudly did during her own bid. At one point, Biden's camp even seemed to use an oft-repeated Republican insinuation that Warren's posturing on such issues was "elitism."Bernie Backers Crave Warren's Support, but Her Fans Might Vote Biden AnywayWith just over three months until the general election, however, concerns about the progressive senator, and the direction she may steer Biden towards if he's elected, seem to be on the backburner among affluent Democrats. Hypothesizing, planning around, or even freaking out about what role she could potentially play in a Biden administration is not worthy of entertaining until after Nov. 3, several Democratic fundraisers and even top anti-Trump Republicans agreed. "I speak to a lot of donors," a second well-connected Democratic national fundraiser in Biden's finance bubble told The Daily Beast. "The Biden donors are interested in having Joe Biden elected president and defeating Donald Trump. Anything else can be dealt with secondarily," the fundraiser said. "I think there were fears about her being vice president, but I've heard not one person—and I talk to a lot—[say] we're worried she's going to be in the cabinet. I think nobody's there yet."A spokesperson for Warren did not respond to a request for comment. Warren has remained very much in the fold after ending her presidential bid in March, the same month that Biden ultimately promised to put a woman on the ticket as his running mate. Whispers about her as a potential vice presidential pick seemed to start just after she endorsed Biden the following month. Officially, the campaign has not given any indication about whom they might select, but in mid-April, Warren said "yes" when asked by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow if she would agree to take the position if offered. Since then, Biden has faced some sustained calls to choose a Black woman for that role, and on Monday, he acknowledged to anchor Joy Reid in her inaugural primetime program on the same network that he was vetting four Black women among his pool of candidates. But the campaign, and Biden himself, have nonetheless kept Warren top of mind. "We're so lucky to have you on the front line," Biden said about Warren, according to a pool report from the joint Biden-Warren fundraiser in June. In that event, the former vice president gave substantial praise to the senator, and vice versa, over their respective policy achievements and personal stories. At a time of increased economic instability and public health concerns from coronavirus—intertwined crises Biden often refers to in tandem in his stump speeches—Warren, who conceived of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under former President Barack Obama, has helped inform his view on a number of national policies, according to a report by the Associated Press on Wednesday, which noted that Biden and Warren "talk every 10 days or so." "I think we're at a moment in which a lot of people's acute concerns about Elizabeth Warren and her policies in government have been lapped, taken over, by acute concerns about whether or not the economy is ever going to come back," Stu Loeser, a longtime spokesman for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, told The Daily Beast. Warren and Bloomberg vehemently disagreed over a host of political issues immediately following his late entrance into the Democratic field. In Nov. 2019, as The Daily Beast pointed out at the time, Warren chose Bloomberg as the first Democrat to overtly attack after previously promising to remain positive in tone on her rivals throughout the cycle. In one notable debate performance, she abruptly called Bloomberg, then her arch rival, an "arrogant billionaire" whom the country should not just "substitute" out for Trump. But tensions from those well-positioned around wealthy Democrats seemed to have softened as the general election nears, with Biden's campaign walking a fine line between looping in the party's left-leaning faction and even a growing number of Republicans to defeat Trump."I don't think you're going to find that many of us that are huge fans of Elizabeth Warren, just like we were absolutely firmly against Bernie Sanders," said Sarah Longwell, a GOP strategist who co-founded Republican Voters Against Trump, one of the groups across the aisle strategizing around limiting Trump to one term in the White House. "We've been Republicans all our lives." "That being said, we also are doing this knowing full well that electing Joe Biden means that he's going to do things with other Democrats," she said. "We do this because Donald Trump is an existential threat to the country."Another well-established voice in conservative, anti-Trump circles agreed that Warren's name doesn't come up much at all these days. Upon reflection, the GOP media source said that she would possibly pack a greater punch as a top dog in the Senate on policy, particularly if Democrats reclaim the chamber, rather than in the administration. But as the tension around Warren has temporarily been put on hold among Biden's donor set, not every Democrat close to money is willing to embrace her fully, and some are convinced it's more a matter of when, not if, she becomes a polarizing figure again."Wall Street just inherently doesn't trust Elizabeth Warren, and that could be for good reasons or bad reasons. But I think the calculation that Joe Biden will have to make is whether or not he's willing to take the risk of appointing a friend over true economic recovery," said another major Biden bundler in the financial sector who supports Warren's work in advocating for financial consumers.Speaking freely about Warren possibly being an adviser, versus taking on a formal role in the administration, a separate Biden bundler said: "I want to hope that that's what the campaign is intentionally doing—making sure that she has a voice, and that her amazing track record of protecting working families is incorporated into the platform." But the bundler added an element of caution that still lingers from decades of head-butting with the left."I think there's a much different conversation that would need to happen if she's actually being considered for a cabinet-level post at Treasury, or the Fed. I mean, there would be instant economic chaos if she's even continued to be talked about as an appointee to the Fed."—Scott Bixby contributed to this reportRead 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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| 5 Seattle media outlets have to hand over their unpublished photos from a George Floyd protest to help police investigate suspected crimes, judge rules Posted: 24 Jul 2020 04:00 AM PDT  The Seattle Police Department subpoenaed five media outlets for their footage from a May 30 protest to aid its probe into alleged violence.
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| Alabama prison officers ‘use cruel and unusual punishment’ on inmates, DOJ says Posted: 24 Jul 2020 07:15 AM PDT  Alabama prisons have used "cruel and unusual punishment" on inmates by allowing correctional officers to perform routine beatings, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said following an investigation."Our investigation found reasonable cause to believe that there is a pattern or practice of using excessive force against prisoners in Alabama's prisons for men," Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the department's Civil Rights Division said.
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| GOP relief bill has less unemployment aid and $20 billion for farmers Posted: 23 Jul 2020 02:04 PM PDT  The Republican coronavirus relief bill includes no local aid, smaller unemployment benefits and $20 billion for farmers.
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| Student files climate change lawsuit against Australian government Posted: 23 Jul 2020 10:01 AM PDT  Katta O'Donnell is accusing Canberra of failing to disclose risks from climate change to its bonds.
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| Judge: No immediate ruling on Robert E. Lee statue removal Posted: 22 Jul 2020 10:19 PM PDT  A Richmond judge heard arguments Thursday but said he would not immediately issue a ruling in a lawsuit over Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's plans to remove an enormous statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Attorney Gen. Mark Herring's office asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit and dissolve an existing injunction barring the removal of the statue from historic Monument Avenue. The lawsuit was filed by William C. Gregory, a descendant of signatories to a 1890 deed that transferred the statue, pedestal and ground they sit on to the state.
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| San Diego shipyard inks $10 million contract for Bonhomme Richard firefighting and cleanup Posted: 23 Jul 2020 10:36 AM PDT  NASSCO San Diego will continue to aid cleanup through November.
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| U.S. envoy condemns Afghan airstrikes against Taliban as civilians among 45 killed Posted: 22 Jul 2020 12:20 PM PDT |
| Joe Biden claims Trump is the first racist president. Critics point out other presidents owned slaves. Posted: 22 Jul 2020 02:41 PM PDT  Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, on Wednesday called his likely opponent, President Trump, the first racist president in the history of United States. It appears to be the first time he's explicitly described Trump as a racist.The comment occurred during a virtual town hall meeting as Biden was addressing Trump's propensity to blame China for the coronavirus pandemic and call the pathogen the "China virus." Biden said that "we've had racists" who have tried to get elected president before, but Trump "is the first one that has."Critics were quick to dispute the comments, though not in defense of the president. Instead, several observers argued many other American presidents deserve the label. > Twelve presidents enslaved black people. Many oversaw Jim Crow. Why say this?And I repeat: it isn't about Trump "being a racist," even the worst one ever. It is about what you'll do, @JoeBiden, to fix or stop the racist policies that he has set in motion. https://t.co/0zwpnrtY9O> > -- Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) July 22, 2020> 12 presidents owned slaves https://t.co/johRiMvg70> > -- Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) July 22, 2020More stories from theweek.com Florida poll puts Biden 13 points over Trump City investigator inspects Trump's D.C. hotel after president, guests spotted not wearing masks Fox & Friends marvels at Trump repeating 'person, woman, man, camera, TV'
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| Man arrested after pulling gun during mask argument at Florida Walmart Posted: 24 Jul 2020 07:45 AM PDT  Vincent Scavetta, 28, was charged with aggravated assault with a firearm and improper exhibition of a firearm and arrested.
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| Doctors are posting bikini selfies in protest of a study that said it is 'unprofessional' for female medics to share bikini photos online Posted: 24 Jul 2020 08:08 AM PDT  Three male researchers created fake social media profiles to collect photos of female doctors in bikinis for the 2019 study.
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| Judge Rules Michael Cohen Was Retaliated Against Over Trump Tell-All, Sends Him Home Posted: 23 Jul 2020 08:49 AM PDT  A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday ordered Michael Cohen to be released from prison this week after finding that authorities "retaliated" against the former Trump lawyer for writing a tell-all book about the president. "I make the finding that the purpose of transferring Mr. Cohen from furlough and home confinement to jail is retaliatory," U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein stated Thursday, adding that "it's retaliation because of his desire to exercise his First Amendment rights to publish a book and to discuss anything about the book or anything else he wants on social media and with others."Cohen, who was sentenced in 2018 to three years in prison after pleading guilty to lying to Congress about hush-money payments and plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, was allowed in May to serve the remainder of his time behind bars in home confinement due to concerns about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Trump Seethes About Michael Cohen's Early Release and New Tell-AllBut on July 9, he was ordered back to prison after questioning an agreement that barred him from publishing a tell-all book, his legal team said. The order prompted Cohen to sue Attorney General William Barr and the Bureau of Prisons director last week. During a virtual hearing, Hellerstein ruled that Cohen could return to home confinement without restrictions based on his First Amendment rights. The judge agreed with Cohen's legal team that the former Trump lawyer was sent back to prison as an act of "retaliation" over his upcoming book. Hellerstein said that during his 21 years on the bench, he had never "seen such a clause," adding, "How can I take any other inference but that it was retaliatory?" Cohen will be released to home confinement at his Upper East Side home at 2 p.m. on Friday after he is tested for the coronavirus. His son has been tasked with bringing him home. While Cohen will be allowed to serve his time at home, the judge stressed that he will still have a number of restrictions on his movements and future employment. The decision to allow Cohen to return home comes just one day after prosecutors alleged Cohen was "combative" during a July 9 meeting—and that's what landed him back at Otisville Federal Correction Institution. "He was antagonistic during a meeting with probation officers at which he was supposed to sign the agreement that would have allowed him to complete the remaining portion of his criminal sentence in home confinement," prosecutors wrote in a Wednesday court filing, adding that Cohen "took issue with nearly every provision in the agreement." Under that agreement, Cohen could have "no engagement of any kind with the media, including print, tv, film, books, or any other form of media/news." Prosecutors said in a filing that he is "free to work on his book while incarcerated." In Cohen's lawsuit, the former Trumpkin said his "graphic" book would show "Trump's personality and proclivities, his private and professional affairs, and his personal and business ethics."Trump's Lawyer Threatens Michael Cohen as He Remains in JailCohen's lawyers argued that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons violated the former Trump lawyer's First Amendment rights by throwing him back in prison. He is "currently imprisoned in solitary confinement because he is drafting a book manuscript that is critical of the President of the United States—and because he recently made public that he intends to publish this book shortly before the upcoming election," they said.His lawyers sought a temporary restraining order allowing for Cohen's release, which Hellerstein agreed to on Thursday. During the hearing, Hellerstein also stressed he was highly skeptical of the prosecution's argument that Cohen was not locked up for his book. Despite largely siding with Cohen's defense team, Hellerstein did say that both sides need to work together in the coming days to negotiate restrictions on the former Trump lawyer's relationship with the media. 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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| Police union president: Pelosi knows nothing about law enforcement Posted: 24 Jul 2020 10:41 AM PDT  Chicago Fraternal Order of Police president John Catanzara, Jr. weighs in on resistance to federal officers being sent to U.S. cities with rises in crime.
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| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez denounces 'sexist slur by congressman' Posted: 23 Jul 2020 11:37 PM PDT  "I am someone's daughter," says Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez following a heated exchange with a colleague.
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| The Media Can’t Stop Misleading on Guns Posted: 23 Jul 2020 01:58 PM PDT  With the possible exception of religion, there is no issue in American political life that is as poorly covered as guns. At RealClearPolitics, John Lott reports that legacy media outlets often quite literally allow anti–Second Amendment activists to write their news stories on gun policy. Politico hasn't quite done that today, but . . . well, I'm not sure having reporters dutifully repackaging Everytown USA press releases is any better.Politico's piece is headlined "Blocked gun sales skyrocket amid coronavirus pandemic." I have been curious to find out how the anti–Second Amendment crowd would spin the recent spike in gun sales -- which has been especially concentrated among new owners and women -- and I now have my answer:> Internal FBI data reveal a jarring new stat: The number of people trying to buy guns who can't legally own them has skyrocketed. That came as part of a surge in gun purchases in the first three months of 2020, compared to the same time period in 2019. And the change has raised concerns about gun safety.Reporters who lard up their pieces with adjectives such as "jarring," "massive," "whopping," and "raised concerns" are usually trying to convince readers of something that isn't true. And so it is here. Indeed, all this Politico piece tells us is that the National Instant Criminal Background Check System is working exactly as intended.Groups such as Everytown spend a lot of time trying to convince Americans that their country doesn't have a background-check system at all. They're good at it, too; millions of voters seem to be under the impression that criminals can walk into a Walmart and walk out with an AR-15. And yet suddenly Everytown is upset that "jarring" numbers of people are being denied guns by the FBI. Isn't that the point of the system?And about those numbers . . . the piece goes on:> In March 2019, the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) ran background checks on 823,273 attempted gun buys (the system immediately greenlights the vast majority of transactions). This past March, however, NICS processed more than 1.4 million background checks — a massive spike. The most dramatic shift, though, might be in how many people the system blocked from buying guns.> > In March 2019 and February 2020, the NICS system blocked about 9,500 and 9,700, respectively. But in March 2020, it blocked more than double that amount: a whopping 23,692 gun sales.What these stats show is that very few prohibited Americans attempt to buy guns from dealers (this number is even lower than typically suggested, because many of them aren't attempting to hoodwink the FBI but are simply ignorant of the law), and that this is as true in 2020 as it was in 2019. The rejection rate in February 2019 was 0.6 percent and in February 2020 it was 0.68 percent. In March 2019, the rejection rate was 1.15 percent, and it was 1.64 percent in March 2020. As a 2019 Government Accountability Office report inidicates, the number of rejected applications has consistently been around 1 percent for years. Remaining around the historical average is neither "whopping," "jarring," nor "massive," despite the framing of the piece.The piece goes on:> NICS's website says it only blocks gun sales for a narrow number of reasons: because the would-be purchaser has been involuntarily committed to a mental institution, for instance, or because the potential buyer is subject to a restraining order for stalking an intimate partner.Actually, NICS says nothing of the sort on its website. Rather, it offers eleven rather broad grounds and circumstances in which a person can be denied a gun. We know they are broad because no other constitutional right has anything close to as many restrictions on it. I can assure you that if the FBI had eleven reasons to deny women abortions, Politico wouldn't be characterizing them as "narrow" constraints.Politico finishes off the short piece off by quoting a couple of completely baseless statements from Everytown president John Feinblatt:> "This FBI data confirms our fear that America's background check system is completely overwhelmed, which means that more guns are slipping through the cracks and being sold to prohibited purchasers," John Feinblatt, the president of Everytown, said in a statement. "Mitch McConnell can stop this by taking action to close the Charleston loophole, but he's too scared of the gun lobby's waning political power to do anything, even as gun violence rises in the midst of a pandemic."There is no evidence to bolster the assertion that the system is "completely overwhelmed" or that more people are "slipping through the cracks." In fact, the FBI spokesperson says in the piece that the NICS "has reallocated resources to address the incoming volume of NICS transactions."Also, there's no such thing as the "Charleston loophole." I realize that activists such as Feinblatt think every gun purchase in America reflects a "loophole" that needs to be closed, but the three-day waiting limit on checks was purposely written into the 1998 law -- which makes it the opposite of a loophole. The provision was added to the law to ensure that the FBI couldn't arbitrarily deny Americans their Second Amendment rights. The Charleston church shooter obtained his gun -- despite his drug use -- not because of problems with the law but because of a data-entry error. If that is distressing to Feinblatt and his organization, perhaps he should ask the Democratic House to stop ignoring FBI requests for more NICS funding.The simple truth is that these numbers reflect an established pattern: When gun purchases rise -- probably initially owing to the helplessness felt by many people during the COVID-19 lockdown, and later compounded by the lawlessness that erupted in big cities -- other numbers will rise with them. Ultimately, Feinblatt's objection isn't to more background checks; it's to more gun ownership. That's his job, so it's to be expected. But what's the media's excuse?
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| Taliban propose potential Afghan talks timeline as violence soars Posted: 23 Jul 2020 10:04 AM PDT  The Taliban are prepared to hold peace talks with the Afghan government next month straight after the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, the insurgents said Thursday, provided an ongoing prisoner swap has been completed. The development comes amid soaring violence that has threatened to derail US-backed efforts to bring Kabul and the Taliban to the negotiating table and seek an end to Afghanistan's nearly 19-year-old war. The Taliban are "likely ... ready to begin intra-Afghan negotiations immediately after Eid in case the process of the release of the prisoners is completed," the insurgents' political spokesman Suhail Shaheen said on Twitter.
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| Geraldo Rivera praises 'brave' Trump for sending good wishes to accused sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell Posted: 22 Jul 2020 03:02 PM PDT  Fox News contributor Geraldo Rivera defended Donald Trump's well-wishes to alleged child sex trafficker and Jeffery Epstein confidante Ghislaine Maxwell on Twitter Wednesday.During Mr Trump's coronavirus press briefing on Tuesday, he was asked about Ms Maxwell and offered his sympathies to her.
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| U.S. authorities say 18 Portland protesters face federal charges Posted: 24 Jul 2020 11:12 AM PDT  The U.S. Justice Department on Friday said it has arrested 18 people and charged them for alleged crimes committed during recent anti-racism protests in Portland. In a statement, the department said all 18 had made a first appearance in federal court and were released pending jury trials or other court proceedings. Billy Williams, the Portland United States Attorney, said that five people were charged for allegedly committing crimes including assaulting a federal officer, trespassing and creating a disturbance during protests on the night of July 20-21.
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| Elon Musk says he doesn't support another government stimulus because of 'special interests.' Most of his 44,000 employees likely benefited from it. Posted: 24 Jul 2020 10:20 AM PDT  The median Tesla worker makes $55,000, meaning tens of thousands of them likely benefitted from the first bailout laws.
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| Hong Kong lawmaker says, "I don't know how I can protect myself" Posted: 24 Jul 2020 06:37 AM PDT  "We were supposed to have rule of law. But now it's rule by law, or even rule by fear," pro-democracy legislator Tanya Chan told CBS News.
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| NASA will launch a balloon the size of a football stadium into the stratosphere Posted: 24 Jul 2020 08:47 AM PDT  NASA will launch a telescope named ASTHROS and a balloon the size of a football stadium so researchers can study the formation of stars.
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| The body of professional poker player Susie 'Q' Zhao has been found charred in a Michigan park Posted: 24 Jul 2020 07:11 AM PDT  Police are treating Zhao's death as a homicide, and say it is possible her death was connected to her career.
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| Court upholds Alex Jones sanctions in Sandy Hook case Posted: 23 Jul 2020 01:22 PM PDT  The Connecticut Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a sanction against Infowars host Alex Jones over an angry outburst on his web show against an attorney for relatives of some of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, who are suing him for defamation. The court issued a 7-0 decision rejecting Jones' claims that his comments aimed at attorney Christopher Mattei were protected by free speech rights, and upholding a lower court's ruling that Jones violated numerous orders to turn over documents to the families' lawyers. The lower court judge barred Jones from filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, as a penalty for his actions.
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| Genetic impact of colonial-era slave trade revealed in DNA study Posted: 24 Jul 2020 10:09 AM PDT  The consequences of rape, maltreatment, disease and racism are revealed by the findings.
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| Senate GOP, White House reach tentative $1 trillion pact to break coronavirus aid logjam Posted: 23 Jul 2020 07:33 AM PDT  The latest talks show some signs of resolving intraparty clashes that have kept negotiations at a dead stop for weeks.
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| Trump’s well wishes to Ghislaine Maxwell defended by White House press secretary Posted: 24 Jul 2020 01:54 AM PDT  Donald Trump's press secretary has defended the president offering his good wishes to Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's girlfriend who has been charged with procuring underage girls for sexual abuse.Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, said Mr Trump had not meant to wish Ms Maxwell well, but was instead hoping for "justice to be served for victims in this case".
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| California Cops Scramble to Find Special Needs Toddler After Parents Stop Cooperating Posted: 23 Jul 2020 11:23 AM PDT  California authorities on Thursday continued their desperate search for a special needs toddler who has been missing for over a week—a search made more difficult now that his parents have "stopped cooperating" with investigators. Thaddeus Sran, 2, was reported missing on July 15 after his parents said he vanished from their home in Madera, about 30 minutes outside Fresno, the City of Madera Police Department said in a statement. His parents told police that they put the toddler to bed around 10 p.m. but when they woke up to check on their son at around 8:30 a.m. the next morning, he was gone.But while City of Madera Police Chief Dino Lawson called the incident "a parent's worst nightmare" last week, authorities are now alleging that the couple has not helped in the ongoing search for the 2-year-old. "Unfortunately, Thaddeus' parents stopped cooperating early on in the investigation. We believe their assistance, in this case, would be helpful," the police said in a statement to The Daily Beast. "We are hopeful that they will resume cooperating with Madera Police Department detectives and help us to locate Thaddeus."The police department, which did not provide the parents' names or say if the couple has been accused of any crime, has been extremely tip-lipped about their investigation. Stressing that they "will not stop looking for Thaddeus," the department declined to give any updates on the case. According to his missing person's poster, Thaddeus was last seen wearing a red shirt and Spiderman pants with a diaper underneath. Authorities said an Amber Alert was never issued for the 30-pound child because there was no information about a possible vehicle. Police added that the toddler's family has offered a $5,000 reward for any information to help find him. Lawson also revealed last week that the toddler had "severe health issues" after he was born prematurely. He said that Thaddeus, who is non-verbal, uses a feeding tube and is just learning how to walk. "Everything is on the table and we're not ruling anything out," Lawson said about the investigation, adding that authorities are looking into the possibility the toddler's disappearance was a possible abduction. Madera Police Lt. Josiah Arnold also revealed to NBC News that the toddler's parents had another daughter who died in 2015, but declined to provide further details. He added, however, that Thaddeus' sister's death was investigated and the case remains open. On Tuesday evening, dozens of residents who have been helping in the search for Thaddeus, including a group of mothers, hosted a vigil at Courthouse Park with candles, photos, and posters asking for "prayers." Many attendees wore red and blue, the colors of Thaddeus' Spiderman pants. "We just want to bring him home safe and alive," Sunndeep Sran, Thaddeus's father's second cousin, told YourCentralValley. She added that while her children go to school with the toddler's siblings, she has not spoken to her cousin since March. "The Sran family appreciates every effort everyone is making," Sran said. "We know as much as the media, what the police department is saying, so we are all in support of bringing Thaddeus home."Lawson said that the Madera County Sheriff's Office, U.S. Marshals, and the FBI were aiding in the case. He said authorities were "hopeful" the toddler's parents "will resume cooperating and come back in and speak with our detectives."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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| WHO reports record daily increase in global coronavirus cases, up over 284,000 Posted: 24 Jul 2020 11:37 AM PDT  The previous WHO record for new cases was 259,848 on July 18. The WHO reported 69,641 new cases in the United States, 67,860 in Brazil, 49,310 in India and 13,104 in South Africa. The largest increases in new deaths were 3,876 in Peru, 1,284 in Brazil, 1,074 in the United States, 790 in Mexico and 740 in India.
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| Federal agents cited footage from a YouTube livestream as evidence for arresting a Portland protester Posted: 22 Jul 2020 03:01 PM PDT  Trump recently ordered federal officers to intervene in ongoing protests in the Portland against the wishes of city and state officials.
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| Triple tropical trouble: Douglas, Gonzalo and Tropical Depression 8 threaten US, Caribbean Posted: 23 Jul 2020 02:03 PM PDT  Three storms are threatening havoc: Hurricane Douglas in the Pacific, tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico, Tropical Storm Gonzalo in the Atlantic.
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| Former Cardinal McCarrick ran sex ring at New Jersey beach house, lawsuit says Posted: 22 Jul 2020 12:14 PM PDT |
| US flies Kuwait emir, 91, to Minnesota after surgery at home Posted: 22 Jul 2020 11:48 PM PDT  Kuwait's 91-year-old ruling emir landed on Thursday in the United States after being flown across the world in a U.S. Air Force C-17 flying hospital, and just days after undergoing an unspecified surgery at home. Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah survived the 16-hour trip under the watch of U.S. medical professionals and Kuwaitis, with Kuwait's state-run news agency KUNA saying Kuwait's ambassador to the U.S. was at the airport for the plane's arrival. Kuwait has not released any information on what medical ailment Sheikh Sabah faces, other than to say he was hospitalized on Saturday and underwent a surgery on Sunday.
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| Retired Marine who carried American flag through Portland protests says ‘terrorists’ have taken over his city Posted: 23 Jul 2020 07:10 AM PDT  Retired Marine Corp. officer, Gabriel Johnson, was looking for unity when he carried an American flag into a Portland protest but instead he found nothing but anger and lawlessness. 'I fought for this country and this is not what I fought for.'
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| Trump trailing Biden in new Texas poll as president loses support among college-educated voters Posted: 22 Jul 2020 12:58 PM PDT  Joe Biden has moved ahead of Donald Trump In the latest Quinnipiac Poll of voting intentions in Texas.The former vice president is preferred by 45 per cent of respondents, and the incumbent president by 44 per cent. In early June those numbers were 44 per cent to Trump and 43 per cent to Biden.
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| India coronavirus: 14-year-old sexually assaulted at Delhi Covid-19 centre Posted: 23 Jul 2020 09:20 PM PDT  The accused and another man who allegedly filmed the incident have been arrested.
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| Water wars: Mekong River another front in U.S.-China rivalry Posted: 23 Jul 2020 11:56 PM PDT  The Mekong River has become a new front in U.S.-China rivalry, environmentalists and officials say, with Beijing overtaking Washington in both spending and influence over downstream countries at the mercy of its control of the river's waters. It's a confrontation in which the Trump administration - which has largely maintained funding for an Obama-era environmental and development programmes in the Lower Mekong - is losing ground. The two powers' struggle recently moved into the realm of science - with the U.S. and Chinese governments each touting different reports about whether China's 11 dams on the river were harming nations downstream.
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| Fact check: Five Guys employees terminated, suspended, after refusing service to police Posted: 23 Jul 2020 11:04 AM PDT |
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