News Roundup 08/29/20
The March on Washington is returning to the nation’s capital
Hundreds of people from across the nation gathered in the Lincoln Memorial on Friday, August 28th, to commemorate the 57th anniversary of the historic March on Washington, where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. made his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. More than 200,000 people attended the original March in 1963 officially titled, “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” This March was to demand police reform and justice in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and other racially motivated police murders. Marchers were seen wearing masks and medical professionals also had a temperature check station that caused long lines to enter the event.
Source: CNN
Source: National Action Network
The GOP four day National Convention is over
President Trump chose the White House as the stage of the National GOP Convention in clear violation of the Hatch Act prohibiting elected officials from engaging in specific political activity. Trump has been involved in many lawbreaking instances, and congressional Republicans have turned a blind eye; Trump knows this, and as an inevitable result, the rule of law is dead for him. Black Republicans got primetime on the convention even though only 8% of black voters supported Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Social distance was a loser at the convention; people without masks and closely spaced together gathered in the White House lawn. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio also got special attention as Republicans used him as a scapegoat to demonstrate the inanities of a Democratic mayor to contain the virus and address problems such as housing for Black Americans.
Source: Vox
Welcome to a hotter Earth
This week the nation witnessed a tropical storm, a hurricane, and wildfires. In California more than 2000,000 people have been evacuated, in the Gulf Coast, the week started with a tropical storm and ended with a hurricane. The increased CO2 emissions come increasing temperatures in dry areas that lead to drought, enabling wildfires, and floods following increased precipitation in humid areas. Changes in weather patterns also increase disease outbreak as warmer weather causes people and animals to move and contact each other in dangerous ways. Scientists warn that as the world gets warmer, there will be more catastrophic global disasters, and the only way to stop it is to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Source: NPR
California Representative Katie Porter quizzes the United States Postmaster General
California Representative Katie Porter questions Postmaster General Louis DeJoy before the House oversight committee. With basic questions such as the price of a stamp to mail a postcard and the estimated number of people voting by mail the last election, Porter displayed the lack of knowledge that Dejoy has of the organization. She grilled him about the recent changes in the USPS that are causing significant delays in the eve of the presidential election, where millions are estimated to cast their vote by mail. Dejoy stated he did not direct the changes and that he had no knowledge of who decided to remove collection boxes, unplugging and destroying machines, and changing employee procedures. He refused to commit to reversing the changes and would not commit to resigning if the independent investigation revealed that he had a conflict of interest in managing the organization.
Source: Vox
Keith Dwayne Nelson; the 5th federal inmate executed this summer
Keith Dwayne Nelson, from Kansan, was sentenced to death after he was found guilty of the kidnapping, rape, and killing of a ten-year-old girl in 1999. The federal government had not executed anyone since 2003. The Department of Justice recently reinstated the death penalty, and Nelson was the fifth execution this summer, and there are two more scheduled. Nelson’s had appealed on the grounds that the drug pentobarbital violated the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act. DC Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the injunction on Thursday evening, and execution was completed on August 28th at 4:32 pm.
Source: CNN
Source: Washington Post