World Bank: Lebanon blast caused damage up to $4.6 billion

The massive explosion in Beirut earlier this month that killed and injured thousands of people has caused up to $4.6 billion in physical damage, the World Bank said in a report released Monday. The Aug. 4 blast was caused by the explosion of nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate stored at the Port of Beirut since 2014. The blast was the most destructive single incident in Lebanon’s history with thousands of buildings, including residential homes, hospitals, schools and museums suffering considerable damage.

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More migrant arrivals fuel local anger in Italy's Lampedusa

A fishing boat carrying nearly 370 migrants landed overnight on the Italian island of Lampedusa, the country's news agencies said on Sunday, fueling anger from local officials over a recent rise in illegal arrivals.

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Letters to the Editor: California's blackouts prove it: We still need oil and gas for energy

California's leaders need to set aside ideology and admit that in the near term, the state still needs fossil fuels to prevent blackouts.

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Trump's Kenosha visit highlights his reelection message: Only Trump will keep you safe

With protests continuing to rage in Kenosha, Wis., over the Aug. 23 police shooting of African-American Jacob Blake, President Trump will travel there Tuesday on a visit to the key swing state that will echo his “law and order” campaign message.

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What is the right-wing group Patriot Prayer linked to Portland confrontations and who is Joey Gibson?

The fatal shooting of a supporter of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer has shined a spotlight on the group and its founder, Joey Gibson.

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House Democrats say postmaster Louis DeJoy has ignored their document requests

House Democrats say Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is giving them the cold shoulder.When DeJoy testified for the House Oversight Committee last week, many congressmembers requested documents regarding the changes he has overseen at the United States Postal Service. But DeJoy apparently hasn't followed up, prompting Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), the committee chair, to say Monday she'd soon be subpoenaing DeJoy for those documents.> New: @OversightDems say they will subpoena Louis DeJoy for withholding key documents about USPS mail delays from Congress. He has not provided a single additional document since testifying on August 24 https://t.co/dS4Q52mPPx pic.twitter.com/apaDYfqSPw> > — Ari Berman (@AriBerman) August 31, 2020Reports of delays and mismanagement within the postal service have gone up under DeJoy's watch, and Republicans have tried to block funding for the USPS to try and fix those problems. Democrats say it's because the Trump megadonor is trying to further a long-held conservative goal of phasing out the post office for private business. Trump has also admitted that he is withholding funding from the USPS because without it, "you can't have universal mail-in voting."More stories from theweek.com Data firm predicts election 'chaos' as Trump seems to win in a landslide before losing as more votes are counted Ron Jeremy hit with 20 more sexual assault charges involving 13 women Pandemic adviser with no epidemiology background reportedly pushes White House to adopt herd immunity strategy

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Worth the wait: Yellowstone’s Giantess Geyser erupts for first time in six years

Giantess is one of the biggest geysers in the national park, and typically explodes between twice and six times a year In these troubled times there comes a point where we all need to let off steam.For this huge geyser in Yellowstone park, the moment was now and the eruption was spectacular, after a six-year wait.But, for the rest of us, watching this natural phenomenon is strangely meditative and beautifully distracting from much of the bad news around, despite the violent geothermal forces propelling it.Giantess Geyser spouted for the first time in more than six years in Yellowstone National Park, which straddles part of Wyoming and a little of Montana, on 25 August, according to the US National Park Service (NPS).“She” has more typically erupted between twice and six times a year in the past, according to the NPS website, and blasts a spout up to 200ft high.“The surrounding area may shake from underground steam explosions just before the initial water and/or steam eruptions,” the NPS website adds.Giantess is one of the biggest geysers in the park, alongside phenomena such as the super-tall Steamboat geyser, the largest active geyser in the world, and the park’s most famous, Old Faithful, renowned for its punctual regularity as it soars from the ground about 20 times a day.Colorful hot spring features in the park include the blue-hued Morning Glory Pool and the psychedelic Grand Prismatic spring, as well as whiffy, sulfurous bubblers and roiling natural pots of scalding hot water fizzing out of the rocks.The features are among more than 10,000 hot springs and geysers in the park, a Unesco world heritage site.

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Filmmaker Michael Moore warns of 2016 redux, says Trump support is ‘OFF THE CHARTS’

This is not an affirmation of celebration from a Donald Trump supporter, but a warning from filmmaker Michael Moore. The Oscar-winning documentary director posted on social media that signs are pointing to a Trump reelection come November. Moore, an avid critic of the president and advocate of Sen. Bernie Sanders, took to his Facebook page to let his followers know that history may be repeating itself as the president’s poll numbers rise in swing states that will be critical to winning the electoral college.

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Black Lives Matter is just tip of iceberg. Economic gain, worker protections, voting also key

'My work is about uprooting structural racism from every aspect of our society — our economy, our government and our communities.'

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Kim Klacik: President Trump is producing real results for the Black community

Republican congressional candidate Kim Klacik joins Maria Bartiromo on 'Sunday Morning Futures.'

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Paul Rusesabagina: Hotel Rwanda film hero arrested

Paul Rusesabagina's efforts to save people during the Rwanda genocide were depicted in a film.

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Swift Boat mastermind to launch massive super PAC to boost Trump

The late effort, expected to include some of the party's biggest givers, comes as Trump has been overwhelmed by Joe Biden on TV.

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Will my child be sent home for cough, runny nose? What to know about day care guidelines during COVID-19

With flu, cold and allergy season around the corner, experts say a runny nose or cough is almost inevitable at daycare facilities.

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New top story on Hacker News: Python setuptools v50 breaks pip installation on Debian/Ubuntu

Python setuptools v50 breaks pip installation on Debian/Ubuntu
11 by mrlatinos | 1 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Ask HN: Captcha Alternatives?

Ask HN: Captcha Alternatives?
46 by ev1 | 41 comments on Hacker News.
TLDR: I help with a gaming community-related site that is being targetted by a script kiddie, they are registering hundreds of thousands of accounts on our forums to 'protest' a cheating (aimbot) ban. They then post large ASCII art spam, giant shock images (the first one started after we blocked new accounts from posting [img]), the usual. Currently we use a simple question/answer addon at registration time - it works against all untargeted bots and is just a little "what is 4 plus six" or "what is the abbreviation for this website" type of question. It's worked fine for years and we don't really get general untargeted spam. I am somewhat ethically disinclined to use reCAPTCHA, and there are some older members that can't reasonably solve hcaptcha easily. Same for using heavy fingerprinting or other privacy invading methods. It's also donation-run, so enterprise services that would block something like this (such as Distil) are both out of budget and out of ethics. Is there a way I can possibly solve this? Negotiation is not really an option on the table, the last time one of the other volunteers responded at all we got a ~150Gbps volumetric attack. I've tried some basic things, like requiring cookie and JS support via middleware; they moved from a Java HTTP-library script to some kind of Selenium equivalent afterward. They also use a massive amount of proxies, largely compromised machines being sold for abuse.

New top story on Hacker News: Hapax Legomenon

Hapax Legomenon
8 by brudgers | 1 comments on Hacker News.

A Teacher and Congresswoman Confronts School Reopenings

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

Trump Fans Strife as Unrest Roils the U.S.

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

A series of primaries in Massachusetts could be a bellwether for the Democratic Party.

By BY JACEY FORTIN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/34OFiMu

American Intelligence Knows What Russia Is Doing

By BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2YQMJiE

¿Qué es eso en la terraza del Met? Un enorme y hermoso muro

By BY HOLLAND COTTER from NYT en Español https://ift.tt/3bcmOGU

‘Allá vamos otra vez’: España vive una segunda ola de coronavirus

By BY PATRICK KINGSLEY AND JOSÉ BAUTISTA from NYT en Español https://ift.tt/32BdhoU

The Padres Bulk Up and Set Their Sights on Catching the Dodgers

By BY TYLER KEPNER from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/32F7q2c

Turkey launches new military drills as East Med tensions mount

Turkey on Saturday launched new military drills in the eastern Mediterranean and Greece accused Turkish jets of an incursion as tensions mount in a maritime standoff between the NATO members.

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Michael Moore warns that Donald Trump is on course to repeat 2016 win

Film-maker says enthusiasm for president in swing states is ‘off the charts’ and urges everyone to commit to getting 100 people to voteThe documentary film-maker Michael Moore has warned that Donald Trump appears to have such momentum in some battleground states that liberals risk a repeat of 2016 when so many wrote off Trump only to see him grab the White House.“Sorry to have to provide the reality check again,” he said.Moore, who was one of few political observers to predict Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016, said that “enthusiasm for Trump is off the charts” in key areas compared with the Democratic party nominee, Joe Biden.“Are you ready for a Trump victory? Are you mentally prepared to be outsmarted by Trump again? Do you find comfort in your certainty that there is no way Trump can win? Are you content with the trust you’ve placed in the DNC [Democratic National Committee] to pull this off?” Moore posted on Facebook late on Friday.Moore identified opinion polling in battleground states such as Minnesota and Michigan to make a case that the sitting president is running alongside or ahead of his rival.“The Biden campaign just announced he’ll be visiting a number of states – but not Michigan. Sound familiar?” Moore wrote, presumably indicating Hillary Clinton’s 2016 race when she made the error of avoiding some states that then swung to Trump.“I’m warning you almost 10 weeks in advance. The enthusiasm level for the 60 million in Trump’s base is OFF THE CHARTS! For Joe, not so much,” he later added.He continued to voters: “Don’t leave it to the Democrats to get rid of Trump. YOU have to get rid of Trump. WE have to wake up every day for the next 67 days and make sure each of us are going to get a hundred people out to vote. ACT NOW!”Moore cited CNN polling of registered voters this month to assert that “Biden and Trump were in a virtual tie”, including a poll that showed the pair tied at 47% in Minnesota. Moore said that Trump “has closed the gap to 4 points” in Michigan.A national CNN poll this month showed that Biden’s lead over Trump has narrowed nationally, 50% to 46%, while a survey from the Republican-leaning Trafalgar Group found Biden and Trump statistically tied at 47% in Minnesota, and Trump narrowly leading Biden in Michigan. The margin of error for the poll, which surveyed 1,048 people, is 2.98%.Moore, a vocal supporter of Bernie Sanders’s leftwing candidacy, warned in October 2016 that “Trump’s election is going to be the biggest ‘f*** you’ ever recorded in human history – and it will feel good,” even as Clinton appeared to be sailing to victory.“Whether Trump means it or not is kind of irrelevant because he’s saying the things to people who are hurting, and that’s why every beaten-down, nameless, forgotten working stiff who used to be part of what was called the middle class loves Trump,” Moore warned at that time.Moore’s latest warnings come as Trump said at a campaign event in New Hampshire on Friday night that he supported seeing the first female president of the United States, but recommended his daughter over the Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris.“They’re all saying ‘we want Ivanka,’” Trump told his supporters. “I don’t blame them.”

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Trump, Vicar of Fear and Violence

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/2YPoIZg

Eat Out to Help Out discount comes to an end

The government's dining discount scheme ends on Monday, but there are calls for it to be extended.

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Government paid influencers to promote Test and Trace

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

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Mauritius oil spill: 'We want to protect our island'

Young locals are helping to prevent environmental damage after an oil leak from a ship that ran aground.

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U.S. military identifies two soldiers killed in Black Hawk training crash

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Chicago police respond to 10 shootings in about 3 hours Sunday, including 3 homicides and an attack that left 2 officers seriously wounded

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A couple received an anonymous note calling their unpainted house an "eyesore," then they received over $48,000 to help with repairs

A couple that has suffered multiple health issues received a note shaming them for their unpainted house. A GoFundMe page raised money for repairs.

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

The claim that families who make $75,000 would see their tax rate double under the Democratic nominee's plan is false.

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"His politics are appalling": Steve Mnuchin's family speaks out in disgust over his fealty to Trump

His family has not only criticized him but publically accused him of racism

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Kentucky AG has received ballistics in Breonna Taylor case

Kentucky's attorney general has received a long-awaited FBI ballistics report in the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor. Attorney General Daniel Cameron tweeted Sunday that there is additional analysis needed now that the report is in his hands, and there would be no announcement on the investigation this week. “We continue to work diligently to follow the facts and complete the investigation,” Cameron tweeted.

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

The tenants were interviewed by a HUD official, they said. The RNC was criticized for blurring the lines between the government and partisan politics.

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Trump to visit Wisconsin city on Tuesday where police shot Black man in the back

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday will visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, the city that has seen unrest since a white police officer shot a Black man in the back, a White House official told reporters on Saturday. Trump will meet law enforcement officials and assess damage in the city where the officer shot Jacob Blake, who is paralyzed from the waist down and remains in hospital, the official said. A 17-year-old boy is being held by authorities in Kenosha on suspicion of shooting three people who were protesting the shooting of Blake.

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SpaceX may attempt 3 rocket launches on Sunday

SpaceX, Elon Musk's aerospace company, has scheduled two back-to-back Falcon 9 launches in Florida, just nine hours apart.

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

Mayor Mario Kranjac of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, said the bill covered police presence and their overtime hours.

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German govt condemns 'unacceptable' attempt to storm Reichstag

The German government Sunday slammed the "unacceptable" behaviour of protesters during a mass rally against coronavirus restrictions in which hundreds were arrested and an attempt was made to storm the Reichstag parliament building.

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New top story on Hacker News: Ex-neuralink employees describe rushed timelines clashing with science’s pace

Ex-neuralink employees describe rushed timelines clashing with science’s pace
29 by DanielleMolloy | 14 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Drug Cartel Now Assassinates Its Enemies with Bomb-Toting Drones

Drug Cartel Now Assassinates Its Enemies with Bomb-Toting Drones
8 by eplanit | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Banks create money out of thin air, but it's less impressive than it sounds

Banks create money out of thin air, but it's less impressive than it sounds
3 by baobabKoodaa | 1 comments on Hacker News.

How to Build a Catapult From Newspaper

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

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

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

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

By BY MARC STEIN from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/31GQF7a

Coronavirus Around the World

By Unknown Author from NYT Home Page https://ift.tt/3hHLF8b

Coronavirus: Life chances at risk if pupils don't return to school, Williamson says

The education secretary has written an open letter to parents insisting that schools are safe.

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Man booked in slaying of 3, including Fort Hood soldier

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Does Kyle Rittenhouse Have a Self-Defense Claim?

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

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Biden notes 'the violence we're witnessing is happening under Donald Trump. Not me.'

There's been a lot of talk at this week's Republican National Convention about the dystopian hellhole of "Joe Biden's America." On Thursday evening, Joe Biden said he wasn't sure President Trump is aware he's been in charge of America for the past three and a half years. "If you think about it, Donald Trump saying, 'You're not going to be safe in Joe Biden's America,'" he told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "All the video being played is in Donald Trump's America." (Or, to be fair, Spain.) Biden formalized that idea in a statement.> Inbox: "Is Donald Trump even aware he's president?" pic.twitter.com/tFLtRNXFW5> > — Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) August 27, 2020"Is Donald Trump even aware he's president?" Biden asked. "These are not images from some imagined 'Joe Biden's America' in the future. These are images from Donald Trump's America today. The violence we're witnessing is happening under Donald Trump. Not me. It's getting worse, and we know why." Trump "refuses to even acknowledge there is a racial justice problem in America," he added. "Instead of looking to calm the waters, he adds fuel to every fire. Violence isn't a problem in his eyes — it's a political strategy. And the more of it, the better for him."White House counselor Kellyanne Conway had actually made a similar point on Thursday morning, telling Fox & Friends that "the more chaos and anarchy and vandalism and violence reigns, the better it is for the very clear choice on who's best on public safety and law and order."Biden said he has "made it clear" there's "no place for violence, looting, or burning. None. Zero." He predicted that Trump would attack him again in his RNC acceptance speech. But, he added, "when Donald Trump says tonight you won't be safe in Joe Biden's America, look around and ask yourself: How safe do you feel in Donald Trump's America?"More stories from theweek.com Trump's RNC polling bounce more about 'subtraction on the Biden side,' pollster suggests 5 more scathingly funny cartoons about the Republican National Convention Many uninsured coronavirus patients reportedly don't qualify for Trump's coverage program because of other illnesses

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Kenosha police union gives its version of Blake shooting

The Kenosha police union on Friday offered the most detailed accounting to date on officers' perspective of the moments leading up to police shooting Jacob Blake seven times in the back, saying he had a knife and fought with officers, putting one of them in a headlock and shrugging off two attempts to stun him. The statement from Brendan Matthews, attorney for the Kenosha Professional Police Association, goes into more detail than anything that has been released by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which is investigating. The Sunday shooting of Blake, a Black man, put the nation’s spotlight on Wisconsin and triggered a series of peaceful protests and violence, including the killing of two people by an armed civilian on Tuesday.

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Arrest made after firefighter’s wallet stolen as he battled wildfires, CA officials say

The thief drained the bank account of the firefighter after the wallet was lifted from his vehicle. officials said.

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Forecasters eye two developing systems in the Atlantic: Nana, Omar could be next up on the heels of Hurricane Laura

Although the remnants of Hurricane Laura are still drenching parts of the US Friday, there are already concerns about more storms stirring in the Atlantic.

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Portland protesters occupied mayor's presumed condo complex

Police declared a riot at another protest after a fire was set at the police union building.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/34JXQxu

Judge agrees to free Chinese researcher in visa fraud case

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

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

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Mary Trump says GOP convention 'disturbing to watch,' calls portrayal of president a sham

The president's niece said on MSNBC that she was appalled to see her uncle described as a caring family man.

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Dramatic last-second launch abort grounds spy satellite

The "hot-fire abort" derailed plans for three launches in just two days from Florida's Space Coast.

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New top story on Hacker News: How to Pick a Quack: Data

How to Pick a Quack: Data
3 by cinquemb | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Deep Dive into PHP 8's JIT

Deep Dive into PHP 8's JIT
9 by nawarian | 2 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Tower Defense with a twist: all towers must be positioned with CSS Flexbox

Tower Defense with a twist: all towers must be positioned with CSS Flexbox
6 by kissgyorgy | 1 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Why does the government let a company like Herbalife stay in business?

Why does the government let a company like Herbalife stay in business?
17 by xoxoy | 4 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Engineer admits he wiped 456 Cisco WebEx VMs from AWS after leaving

Engineer admits he wiped 456 Cisco WebEx VMs from AWS after leaving
36 by swatkat | 12 comments on Hacker News.

‘Enough Is Enough’: New Racial Justice Leaders Rise in Kenosha

By BY JOHN ELIGON from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/34LP95G

Biden’s Approval Rating, G.O.P. Recasts Trump: This Week in the 2020 Race

By Annie Karni and Astead W. Herndon from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/34I4xjJ

TikTok stars charged over partying in LA during pandemic

Bryce Hall and Blake Gray held parties that breached Covid-19 restrictions, Los Angeles officials say.

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Apple removes Fortnite developer Epic from App Store

The move is the latest in a row between Apple and Fortnite creator Epic over in-app payments.

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‘My son was stillborn and now I help other parents’

Tommy Ferguson’s son Joshua was stillborn in 2009. He says helping others has been a "game changer" for him.

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Trump’s Voter Fraud ‘Proof’ Turned Out to Be the Real Fraud

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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