"A smoke-generating pyrotechnic device used during a gender reveal party sparked the El Dorado Fire burning near Yucaipa, which has charred more than 7,000 acres, officials said Sunday." I've never really understood the allure of a "gender reveal" party. Showers? Sure, a community event to support the parents.
"Los Angeles County recorded its highest-ever temperature Sunday as the weekend heat fanned wildfires across California and put additional strain on the state's power network… 'We reached 121 degrees (F) in Woodland Hills, California. That is the highest-ever temperature at a station, beating 119 degrees on July 22, 2006,' Bruno told CNN Sunday."
This kind of heat can kill. "Authorities in Los Angeles County shut down trails in the Santa Monica Mountains after a woman died while hiking as a record-setting heatwave and wildfires scorched California… The cause and manner of death had not been determined, but foul play wasn't suspected, Navarro said. Malibu Search and Rescue, a unit within the sheriff’s department, said it responded to several heat-related rescues Saturday."
So, do you really want to hear about all the "this many coronavirus cases after this event" stories? I appreciate that this is sensationalism news, but it's just that, sensationalism. There's a small component of "cultural education" in them, but mostly they're being pushed as, "aren't these people stupid?" No, they're being given signals that it's "okay" by the president and his advisors, by their college administration ("surely if it were dangerous they wouldn't have us on campus"), and by the QAnon wing nuts.
"India's recorded coronavirus case total has surpassed that of Brazil, making India the second worst-affected country in the world after the United States." The race is on!
"More than 1,000 protesters marched in Rochester for the fifth night in a row on Sunday, calling for justice in the death of Daniel Prude in police custody… The latest demonstration came after the mayor and police chief reaffirmed that they have no intention of resigning, saying they believe they are the best people to help reform the city following Prude's death."
How goes Brexit? "If London and Brussels don't reach a deal by October, the U.K. will be ready to accept this and "move on," Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to say Monday… The two sides aim to agree a deal on trade and future relations by the time of an October 15 meeting of EU leaders so that the agreement can be ready by the time the Brexit transition period expires at the end of the year." Hard Brexit it is.
"A US service member was injured in Somalia Monday when Al-Shabaab attacked US and Somali forces, according to the US military… Al-Shabaab attacked the forces using 'a vehicle employed as an improvised explosive device and mortar fire,' US Africa Command said in a statement. The injured service member is in stable condition and is receiving treatment for injuries that are not assessed to be life-threatening. The US military also said at least one Al-Shabaab fighter was killed during the attack."
"Witnesses in Belarus say they saw a leading opposition figure being bundled into a minibus in Minsk and driven away, according to local media… Police have denied detaining Maria Kolesnikova in the Belarusian capital, Interfax news agency reports."
"Doctors treating Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny say he is out of an induced coma and his condition, since being poisoned, has improved… He is responding to verbal stimuli, they said. Mr Navalny, 44, was flown to Germany after falling ill on a flight in Siberia in August."
"But it is not just Assange that will be in the dock. Beside him will sit the fundamental tenets of media freedom that underpin the rights to freedom of expression and the public's right of access to information. Silence this one man, and the US and its accomplices will gag others, spreading fear of persecution and prosecution over a global media community already under assault in the US and in many other countries worldwide." At one time I would have agreed with this, but then Assange let himself be used to intentionally bring down another government. He allowed lying by omission of the data he had. He allowed himself to be a conduit of misinformation. To be truthful, his original aim of wikileaks was to disrupt governments by publishing secrets, so it wasn't a long jump to what he did. But here's the difference between wikileaks and other journalists to publish leaks, the journalists give contexts and weed out the irrelevant materials and do protect some secrets. Assange mostly just dumps the material and let's others do that work in the public sphere, which they often do incorrectly. In general I believe there should be fewer secrets and governments should be held to account by their people for their actions. And if Assange had stopped there he would have a stronger case. But he appointed himself kingmaker and that put him outside the rules of journalism.
"President Donald Trump was on the defensive on Sunday over what critics said was a 'pattern' of disrespect towards the U.S. military following media reports that he had disparaged fallen veterans, the fallout from which could harm his campaign for re-election on Nov. 3."
"President Donald Trump is coming after Laurene Powell Jobs, the philanthropist billionaire who owns a majority stake in The Atlantic. The sixth-richest woman in the world, Jobs is the widow of Apple (AAPL) co-founder Steve Jobs… On Thursday, The Atlantic published a story written by its editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg that reported four anonymous sources said Trump called Americans who died in battle 'losers' and 'suckers.'"
"In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Customs and Border Protection chief Mark Morgan said that 'groups like Antifa' are sending organized protestors by plane to cities around the country to incite violence… But when asked by NBC News to provide examples of groups sending protestors by plane to cause violence, a CBP spokesman said there was no information to support Acting Commissioner Morgan’s claim. Instead, the spokesman said Morgan was referring generally to the fact that many protestors at protests around the country are from out of state." I would say this is stick paranoia, but coming from the government, this might be an attempt at pre-establishing an excuse for future actions.
"The sheriff's department in Austin, Texas, said several boats sank during a boat parade in support of President Trump on Lake Travis on Saturday afternoon. The Travis County Sheriff's Office said they responded to "many" distress calls that started at 12:15 p.m. CT… According to the sheriff's department, the wake in the water was caused by 'many, many' boats on the water." That is almost the perfect encapsulation of the modern GOP. And, of course, they're blaming it on antifa… because why wouldn't they.
"We found 198,351 Georgia voters who supposedly moved from their registration addresses who, in fact, have not moved at all, and therefore were wrongly purged, a 63.3% error rate." A PDF report from the ACLU and the Palest Investigative Fund on the Georgia vote purge push. "For reasons explained herein, the cancellations concentrate among younger citizens and citizens of color." Funny how that always seems to be the case.
"Growing numbers of elections offices across the U.S. are using electronic devices to sign voters in at the polls — a shift that has occurred with little scrutiny despite a host of security questions and a history of balloting meltdowns… While tampering with e-pollbooks wouldn’t directly change anyone’s vote, malfunctions or cyberattacks against the devices could sway the outcome in other ways — for instance by causing delays that prevent people from voting."
"The Department of Justice admitted on Thursday that Attorney General Bill Barr’s description of a case that he claimed to be proof of mass election fraud via mail-in ballots was incorrect… 'Prior to his interview, the Attorney General was provided a memo prepared within the Department that contained an inaccurate summary about the case which he relied upon when using the case as an example,' DOJ spokesperson Kerri Kupec told the Washington Post." It was the intern's fault the Attorney General lied.
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