Linkee-poo and the sky is a hazy shade of winter

"Gray wolves, a species that has long been vilified and admired, will no longer receive federal protections under the Endangered Species Act in the Lower 48 U.S. states, the Trump administration announced Thursday."

"For the first time, the United States added cases faster than one every second on Thursday, Johns Hopkins data shows. The United States reported 88,521 new coronavirus cases, a record for one day. That equaled a new coronavirus case every 0.976 seconds."

"As coronavirus cases rise swiftly around the country, surpassing both the spring and summer surges, health officials brace for a coming wave of hospitalizations and deaths. Knowing which hospitals in which communities are reaching capacity could be key to an effective response to the growing crisis. That information is gathered by the federal government — but not shared openly with the public."

Why we can't have nice things… "Statz thought this could be a teachable moment, so that week she used a children’s book, an educational video and a worksheet to lead a discussion on racism and why people were protesting. She considered the materials neutral. The worksheet posed questions like, 'What is the Black Lives Matter Movement trying to do?' and 'How Do We Stop Systemic Racism?' The students seemed engaged, and asked a lot of questions, she said." And then the parents got involved.

"The young man came to the protest over the police killing of George Floyd wearing a tactical vest on his chest and a skull mask over his face. In grainy video footage captured outside of Minneapolis’s 3rd Police Precinct on the night of May 28, the man can be seen pulling out an AK-47 style rifle and blasting 13 shots into the police building. The shooting happened shortly before the structure was set ablaze… On Friday, federal officials issued a complaint against a 26-year-old Texan, Ivan Harrison Hunter, they say they have identified as the man in the video. Hunter faces one count of participating in a riot, with a sentence of up to five years in prison… But along with the charge, federal officials unsealed an affidavit accusing Hunter of being part of a loose nationwide network of violent extremists, known as 'boogaloo' boys (also spelled 'bois')." You'd think the Blue Lives Matter people would be shouting about this.

"Two grand jurors who heard the Kentucky Attorney General's Office presentation of the Breonna Taylor case say prosecutors were dismissive of their questions and that there was an "uproar" when jurors realized Louisville police officers wouldn't be charged with Taylor's death… The grand jurors -- who are choosing to remain anonymous, citing security concerns -- spoke to journalists by phone Wednesday evening along with their attorney, Kevin Glogower, and community activist Christopher 2X. They spoke about how their service on the Taylor case was unlike dozens of other cases they heard throughout their month of service."

"Louisville police Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, who was shot in the leg during the deadly March 13 raid at Breonna Taylor's apartment, filed a lawsuit against her boyfriend alleging assault, battery and emotional distress."

"When asked why the family, who has yet to bury Wallace, would not want to pursue murder charges against the two officers who fired seven rounds each into him on Monday, Johnson replied, 'Here's why: they were improperly trained and did not have the proper equipment by which to effectuate their job.'" It's a complex response.

"Three civil rights groups filed a federal class-action lawsuit Thursday challenging the Trump administration's recent crackdown on diversity training… The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, National Urban League and National Fair Housing Alliance call President Trump's Sept. 22 executive order 'chillingly punitive' censorship that violates guarantees of free speech, equal protection and due process."

"Jeremy Corbyn joined Labour 55 years ago as a teenager and led the party into the last general election… But the Islington North MP has now been suspended, pending an investigation… We can't tell you what the result of that will be, but we can explain why the party says the decision has been taken..."

"President Donald Trump's senior adviser Stephen Miller has fleshed out plans to rev up Trump's restrictive immigration agenda if he wins re-election next week, offering a stark contrast to the platform of Democratic nominee Joe Biden… In a 30-minute phone interview Thursday with NBC News, Miller outlined four major priorities: limiting asylum grants, punishing and outlawing so-called sanctuary cities, expanding the so-called travel ban with tougher screening for visa applicants and slapping new limits on work visas."

"Wilbur Ross, an investor-turned-U.S. commerce secretary, has long been accused of ethical violations because of his failure to extricate himself from his business ties. Documents obtained by Foreign Policy show that Ross’s potential conflicts of interest around Chinese business are greater than previously known… In Chinese corporate documents obtained by Foreign Policy, Ross is listed as serving on the board of a Chinese joint venture until January 2019—nearly two years into his term as commerce secretary. That joint venture, now called Huaneng Invesco WLR (Beijing) Investment Fund Management Co., is an investment partnership formed in September 2008 between Huaneng Capital Services, the U.S. management company Invesco, and a firm Ross founded, WL Ross & Co. Huaneng Capital Services is an arm of China Huaneng Group, a major state-owned power producer." A relationship Mr. Ross just conveniently forgot to disclose on his security declarations.

"The emails show that Susan Pompeo routinely gives instructions to State Department officials from her personal email address about everything from travel plans and restaurant reservations to the elite Madison Dinners that NBC News reported on in May… Many involve routine matters like logistics and scheduling for official events that would involve coordination with the secretary's spouse in any administration. But other requests, such as seeking assistance with planning a multiday visit for an elite group of young executives from Kansas, appear to be less directly connected to advancing the State Department's core mission… They include maintenance requests for the house the Pompeos rent on a Washington-area military base, which Susan Pompeo appears to be routing through the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service. Emails show special agents from the service's Secretary of State Protective Division updating Susan Pompeo about repairs to the HVAC system in 2018 and to the porch and stairs in 2019."

"The final debate between Republican Sen. David Perdue and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff, scheduled for Sunday, has been canceled after Perdue dropped out to attend a campaign rally." You know, after he got owned in the last debate.

"With apologies to The Raconteurs, the presidential race continues to be 'steady as she goes,' with little sign of tightening despite a plethora of new polls. FiveThirtyEight’s presidential forecast gives Joe Biden an 89 in 100 shot at winning the election, while President Trump has just an 11 in 100 chance. This makes Biden the favorite, but still leaves open a narrow path to victory for Trump, for whom a reelection win would be surprising — but not utterly shocking." If you haven't voted and you're registered, go out and vote.

"President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden plan to crisscross Midwestern battleground states on Friday, with each staging three events across the critical region. Both plan to appear in Minnesota and Wisconsin, while Biden is also touching down in Iowa and Trump is also traveling to Michigan."

"A Florida entrepreneur is the first defendant to plead guilty in a campaign finance and business fraud case involving associates of Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and attorney for President Donald Trump… David Correia, 45, pleaded guilty Thursday to two felony counts: one of making false statements to the Federal Election Commission and one of conspiracy to commit wire fraud." The friends you keep.

"One month before a purported leak of files from Hunter Biden's laptop, a fake 'intelligence' document about him went viral on the right-wing internet, asserting an elaborate conspiracy theory involving former Vice President Joe Biden's son and business in China… The document, a 64-page composition that was later disseminated by close associates of President Donald Trump, appears to be the work of a fake 'intelligence firm' called Typhoon Investigations, according to researchers and public documents." Compare and contrast with the media treatment of the Steele Dossier, and then realize this is how the media treats actual disinformation.

"Long before Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced her as his running mate, Kamala Harris was the target of widespread online misinformation… Social media posts included racist claims that she was ineligible to serve in the White House or that she was lying about her Black and Indian heritage. Her mother is from India and her father from Jamaica."

"Walmart on Thursday said it has pulled guns and ammunition from the sales floors of its U.S. stores as it seeks to keep firearms from being stolen should social unrest erupt." Just your normal pre-election action.

"According to the latest Gallup poll, released this morning, 69 percent of registered voters say that they are more enthusiastic to vote this year compared to previous elections. That is a stark contrast to the 2016 election, when enthusiasm to vote was relatively low. According to Gallup, which has asked voters about how enthusiastic they are to vote for at least the last two decades, only about half of registered voters said they were more enthusiastic to vote in 2016 than they had been in previous elections."

"The memes were 'trying to push this narrative of, "The system is a mess and there's no point in you participating,"' Bannerman said. She recalled statements like, '"Democrats and Republicans are the same. There's no point in voting." "Obama didn't do anything for you during his term, why should you vote for a Democrat this time around?"'… Black and Latino voters are being flooded with similar messages in the final days of the election, according to voting rights activists and experts that track disinformation." Waves to my Russian friends.