Monday, August 31, 2020

And another day of the President of the United states actively trying to start a civil war in America comes to a close:

“If you can’t see that your own culture has its own set of interests, emotions, and biases, how can you expect to deal successfully with someone else’s culture?” -- Anne Fadiman

Deaths

US: 187,736 (+512)

World: 854,747 (+4159)

Cases

US: 6,211,796 (+38,560)

World: 25,633,194 (+249,201)

Countdown: 64 days.

A summer of protest, captured by smartphones. “The images produced by ordinary people in 2020 rhyme with those captured by the media in the late 1950s and mid-’60s during the Civil Rights Movement, when police brutalized unarmed Black protesters with dogs, fire hoses, and tear gas. It isn’t hard to see the parallels between what was called unrest then and what is called an uprising now. But for the people shooting these videos of protest and police brutality, using a camera and sharing a video isn’t passive — it is itself an act of protest...The material presented here can feel overwhelming or triggering. Take breaks if you need them.” — Stories and videos from the summer of 2020. Change will happen.

Trump asks federal appeals court to keep eight years of his tax returns away from Manhattan's top prosecutor, saying the handover would cause him irreparable harm. President Donald Trump on Monday urged a federal appeals court not to let Manhattan's top prosecutor have his tax returns, saying "the deck was clearly stacked against" him, and said he would ask the Supreme Court to intervene if necessary. — The man is a criminal.

Barr reportedly removes national security official ahead of elections. The move comes after John Ratcliffe, a Trump loyalist, told Congress his office would no longer give verbal briefings on election security. — Our country is being stolen before our eyes.

Out of the 'basement,' Biden pummels Trump. President Donald Trump might want to be careful about challenging Joe Biden to come out and fight...Looking lively and speaking forcefully, he condemned unwarranted police violence, rioting and looting, and militia activity. Then he laid the blame for all of it at Trump's feet.

Fact-checking Biden's speech on Social Security, fracking and crime.

2 shootings, 2 days: In Kenosha, a microcosm of US strife. A Black man, accosted by police on a domestic dispute call, is left with bullet wounds in his back that will likely keep him from ever walking again. A white 17-year-old, rifle in hand, strolls past authorities untouched amid cries that he just gunned down three people protesting the Black man’s shooting. Two moments of bloodshed, two days and 2 miles apart in Kenosha, Wisconsin. And in those two moments, this mid-sized Midwestern city seemed a stark microcosm of a nation wracked by discord over racial inequity, policing and the meaning of public safety. -- Trump’s America.

President Trump declines to denounce suspected vigilante shooter Kyle Rittenhouse.

Americans are turning out more often and more visibly with guns, a sign of the tension engulfing the country.

Trump offered FBI director job to John Kelly, asked for loyalty. “The day after President Trump fired FBI boss James Comey, the president phoned John Kelly, who was then secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, and offered him Comey's job...But the president added something else — if he became FBI director, Trump told him, Kelly needed to be loyal to him, and only him.” — This from the New York Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Michael Schmidt reporting in his forthcoming book, "Donald Trump v. The United States."

Jacob Blake’s father said that the family does not have a pastor after President Trump said during his press briefing that he spoke with the family’s pastor. -- Trump just makes shit up.

Evangelicals are looking for answers online. They’re finding QAnon instead. How the growing pro-Trump movement is preying on churchgoers to spread its conspiracy theories.

Kids with no coronavirus symptoms may shed virus for weeks, study shows.

Twitter removes tweet shared by Trump with false coronavirus statistics.

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia imposed travel bans on President Alexander Lukashenko and 29 other Belarusian officials on Monday, jumping into action to impose sanctions before the rest of the EU.

The payroll tax deferral takes effect Sept. 1. What it really means for your paycheck. Keep in mind that this payroll tax holiday is only a deferral. Although the president has promised to do away with the tax if reelected, it would require an act of Congress to wipe out the liability altogether.

Hero statue nominations are in. Americans’ suggestions of suitable statues for President Donald Trump’s planned National Garden of American Heroes are in, and they look considerably different from the predominantly white worthies that the administration has locked in for many of the pedestals. The outside nominations are more activist, browner and far more indigenous. Well, for the most part, anyway. The administration also is leaving open the possibility of a statue of Trump himself in the Trump-created statue park after receiving what it said were “multiple nominations” of the president.

Army investigating officer who reportedly made joke about Jews being killed in the Holocaust in viral video.

Viral manicurist Nen10doe defies gender norms in the cosmetics world. At first glance, Darnell Atkins looks far from your average nail technician. Donning a mosaic of tattoos and rocking jet black nails, this manicurist is shaking up the nail industry one appointment at a time. — There are good stories that happen in the world.

Ron Jeremy's been charged with 20 additional counts of sexual assault. If convicted, he faces 250 years to life in prison.

Atheist free speech suit against Arkansas official proceeds.

‘It destroys lives': why the razor-blade pain of vaginismus is so misunderstood. This common condition can lead to relationship breakdown and unnecessary surgery. So why is treatment still so poor and underfunded? Kate Moyle, a psychotherapist and spokeswoman for College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists (COSRT) says that some GPs don’t even know what vaginismus is. “Lots of patients describe having the word Googled in front of them [by their GP],” she says...“We need to make psychosexual training mandatory,” says Frodsham. “Every single doctor, nurse and physio who does intimate examinations should be able to manage: ‘I’ve got a problem with sex.’”

Valeria has synaesthesia - which means she can see colours and feel textures when music plays.

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.