| United Nations calls on US police to halt use of force against journalists covering protests Posted: 24 Jul 2020 11:26 AM PDT  Journalists covering protests in the United States should be permitted to do their jobs without fear of attack or arrest, the United Nations human rights office said on Friday.A mounting crackdown on reporters by authorities has been seen in recent weeks as the Trump administration has deployed federal agents to several cities where demonstrators are calling for racial justice.
|
| Dr. Birx says 'we have to change our behavior now' as U.S. faces 'essentially three New Yorks' Posted: 24 Jul 2020 06:27 AM PDT  The White House's coronavirus task force coordinator is imploring Americans to change their behavior "now."Dr. Deborah Birx, response coordinator of President Trump's coronavirus task force, spoke to Today on Friday as new COVID-19 cases have continued to climb in the U.S. and especially in Texas, California, and Florida."I just want to make it clear to the American public: what we have right now are essentially three New Yorks with these three major states," Birx said. "And so we're really having to respond as an American people, and that's why you hear us calling for masks and increased social distancing to really stop the spread of this epidemic."New York was for a time the hardest-hit state in the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic; its daily number of new COVID-19 cases has since fallen. California earlier this week surpassed New York as the state with the most reported coronavirus cases total, though its population is much larger, and New York has still reported more COVID-19 deaths. Texas and Florida have also faced surging COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.Birx described the nation's COVID-19 outbreak as "very serious," and speaking on Trump's recent decision to cancel the Florida portion of the Republican National Convention, she said this is an example of the kind of steps that are needed as the virus continues to spread."This is a signal to the American people: we have to change our behavior now before this virus completely moves back up through the north," she said. "We can do that, and we can do that as an American people." > White House task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx talks to @SavannahGuthrie about the rising coronavirus cases in states including Florida, Texas and California. > > "What we have right now are essentially three New Yorks with these three major states," she says. pic.twitter.com/mczzED47NX> > -- TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 24, 2020More stories from theweek.com The coming Republican power grab on the Supreme Court Trump says he 'often' regrets his tweets LeBron James group to donate $100,000 toward paying Florida ex-felons' fines so they can vote
|
| Tom Cotton Introduces Bill to Prohibit Federal Funding for Schools Using ‘1619 Project’ Curriculum Posted: 23 Jul 2020 12:26 PM PDT  Senator Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) introduced a law on Thursday that would prohibit federal funding for schools that incorporate curriculum from the New York Times's "1619 Project."The 1619 Project, named after the year when colonists first brought slaves to the U.S., attempts to retell American history by emphasizing the importance of slavery in the country's earliest years. However, historians have criticized the project for basic "factual errors" and a " displacement of historical understanding by ideology." (One example of such an error in the project is the assertion that the colonies revolted from British rule in order to preserve slavery.)"The New York Times's 1619 Project is a racially divisive, revisionist account of history that denies the noble principles of freedom and equality on which our nation was founded," Cotton said in a statement. "Not a single cent of federal funding should go to indoctrinate young Americans with this left-wing garbage."According to Cotton, the bill would not affect federal funding allocated to low-income or special-needs students.The Times has announced plans to incorporate material from the project in public school curricula. Districts in several major cities including Chicago, Ill., and Washington, D.C., have adopted some of these materials.Writer Nikole Hannah-Jones won a Pulitzer Prize in April for her lead essay for the project.
|
| Two of the ISIS terrorists dubbed the Beatles admit involvement in captivity of Kayla Mueller, James Foley Posted: 23 Jul 2020 01:00 PM PDT  In exclusive interviews, the two men, Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, for the first time admitted their involvement in the captivity of Mueller.
|
| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez denounces 'sexist slur by congressman' Posted: 23 Jul 2020 11:37 PM PDT  "I am someone's daughter," says Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez following a heated exchange with a colleague.
|
| A Texas hospital is so overrun with coronavirus cases that officials say it will send the patients least likely to survive home to die Posted: 24 Jul 2020 05:42 AM PDT  Starr County health officials said the county's only hospital doesn't have space and a committee would review which patients are most likely to die.
|
| 'How long did you serve, Tucker?' Another woman who lost her legs in Iraq backs Tammy Duckworth over Carlson's snark Posted: 23 Jul 2020 07:26 AM PDT  Despite their heroic military careers, Tammy Duckworth, Marissa Strock and many more American women like them continue to endure indignities on the home front.
|
| China's Sinopharm says coronavirus vaccine could be ready by year-end - state media Posted: 23 Jul 2020 12:16 AM PDT  A coronavirus vaccine candidate developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) could be ready for public use by the end of this year, state media reported on Wednesday, ahead of a previous expectation it may become available in 2021. Sinopharm Chairman Liu Jingzhen told state broadcaster CCTV the company expects to finish late-stage human testing within about three months. Sinopharm's unit China National Biotec Group (CNBG), which is responsible for two coronavirus vaccine projects, said in June the shot may not be ready until at least 2021 as a lack of new infections in China made it difficult to find people to test it on.
|
| Vivian remembered as courageous, humble Civil Rights warrior Posted: 22 Jul 2020 10:15 PM PDT  The nation paid its final respects Thursday to the Rev. C.T. Vivian, a pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement who helped end segregation across the South and left an abiding imprint on U.S. history. Vivian, a close ally of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., was mourned by civil rights icons along with TV personality and author Oprah Winfrey, baseball legend Hank Aaron and others during a funeral at Providence Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta. Vivian died July 17 at age 95.
|
| CCTV shows suspects in fishing trip 'massacre' following victim into Florida dollar store Posted: 23 Jul 2020 10:32 AM PDT  CCTV footage from a Florida convenience store has shown the suspects arrested in connection with a fishing trip "massacre" in the same store as one of the victims just before they were murdered.
|
| GOP relief bill has less unemployment aid and $20 billion for farmers Posted: 23 Jul 2020 02:04 PM PDT  The Republican coronavirus relief bill includes no local aid, smaller unemployment benefits and $20 billion for farmers.
|
| The 5 Best Leaf Vacuums for Yard Cleanup Posted: 24 Jul 2020 12:15 PM PDT |
| Donald Trump Admits He ‘Often’ Retweets Without Thinking in Barstool Sports Interview Posted: 24 Jul 2020 01:15 PM PDT  President Donald Trump got just about as introspective as he's capable of getting during an interview with Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy this week at the White House.The interview included such hard-hitting questions as "Do you love doing Twitter?""There are times when I love it," Trump said with a smile. "Too much sometimes, right?" After getting his social-media guru Dan Scavino to confirm his current total number of followers, the president boasted about his "very big voice" in the face of "fake news," adding, "It's been very important for me." Then Portnoy, who made sure to point out that his nickname is "El Presidente," asked if the actual president ever tweets something out and then wakes up the next day and thinks, "Aw man, I wish I didn't send that one out." "Often," Trump replied. "Too often." He then went on to explain that "in the old days," people would write a letter and then put it in a drawer and decide the next day if they actually wanted to mail it. "But we don't do that with Twitter," he said. "We put it out instantaneously, we feel great, and then you start getting phone calls." When his staff asks him questions like, "Did you really say this?" Trump said that his first response is often, "What's wrong with that?" "You know what I find? It's not the tweets, it's the retweets that get you in trouble," Trump added. He didn't mention any specific examples, but it's quite possible the recent video of a supporter repeatedly shouting "White power!" may have been on his mind (among his other infamously bigoted or conspiratorial retweets). Portnoy then asked Trump how exactly he ends up retweeting so many "crazy" people. "You don't even look, you just press retweet, you just fire from the hip!" he said."Well, you see something that looks good and you don't investigate it," Trump replied, "and you don't look at exactly what is on the helmet, which is in miniature, and you don't blow it up. But I have found, almost always, it's the retweets that get you in trouble." "I've seen that a little bit with you," Portnoy agreed before moving on to bait Trump into trashing Dr. Anthony Fauci. Barstool Sports Employees of Color Go to Extremes to Get Founder Dave Portnoy's Half-Assed Apology for RacismInside Barstool Sports' Culture of Online Hate: 'They Treat Sexual Harassment and Cyberbullying as a Game'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.
|
| San Diego shipyard inks $10 million contract for Bonhomme Richard firefighting and cleanup Posted: 23 Jul 2020 10:36 AM PDT  NASSCO San Diego will continue to aid cleanup through November.
|
| Elon Musk says he doesn't support another government stimulus because of 'special interests.' Most of his 44,000 employees likely benefited from it. Posted: 24 Jul 2020 10:20 AM PDT  The median Tesla worker makes $55,000, meaning tens of thousands of them likely benefitted from the stimulus law.
|
| Ahead of hearing with big tech CEOs, Cicilline says a Biden presidency would lead to regulation next year Posted: 23 Jul 2020 02:00 AM PDT  A top Democrat leading an antitrust investigation into the nation's top technology companies said Wednesday his committee will release a report by the end of August with recommendations on legislation that Congress could pass into law as soon as next year.
|
| Exclusive: More than 40 countries accuse North Korea of breaching U.N. sanctions Posted: 24 Jul 2020 08:21 AM PDT  More than 40 countries accused North Korea on Friday of illicitly breaching a United Nations cap on refined petroleum imports and called for an immediate halt to deliveries until the end of the year, according to a complaint seen by Reuters. The 15-member U.N. Security Council imposed an annual cap of 500,000 barrels in December 2017 in a bid to cut off fuel for North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. The complaint said North Korean vessels continue to conduct ship-to-ship transfers at sea "on a regular basis as the DPRK's primary means of importing refined petroleum."
|
| Minneapolis council shifts police media duties to city staff Posted: 24 Jul 2020 10:18 AM PDT  The Minneapolis City Council voted Friday to shift police media duties from the Police Department to city staff in what one council member called a move to improve trust, amid calls for changes in policing after George Floyd's death. The shift in media duties won't affect the city's bottom line, but was seen as emblematic of a struggle over the future of policing in Minneapolis, where a majority of council members favor replacing the current department with a different kind of public safety agency. Overall, the City Council members redirected more than $1 million from a $193 million police budget Friday.
|
| India coronavirus: 14-year-old sexually assaulted at Delhi Covid-19 centre Posted: 23 Jul 2020 09:20 PM PDT  The accused and another man who allegedly filmed the incident have been arrested.
|
| NASA will launch a balloon the size of a football stadium into the stratosphere Posted: 24 Jul 2020 08:47 AM PDT  NASA will launch a telescope named ASTHROS and a balloon the size of a football stadium so researchers can study the formation of stars.
|
| The millionaire Republicans campaigning to oust Trump Posted: 24 Jul 2020 06:30 AM PDT  A growing number of wealthy conservative Americans are hoping to oust President Trump in November's election.
|
| Does Tucker Carlson hate America? Posted: 24 Jul 2020 04:51 AM PDT  Tucker Carlson is only capable of two facial expressions. One is a deeply furrowed brow that narrows his eyes to a point at which they almost disappear, not dissimilar to the face a child makes when they are hangry, or lost, or both. He uses this expression when he is describing the point of view of someone with whom he disagrees. The other is a wide-eyed look of pleading which sends his eyebrows rising at least an inch in the other direction. It is an expression meant to portray logic and reason, of why-do-you-hate-America indignity. He uses it chiefly when describing his own views and solutions to the problems facing the country.All of this is to say that if eyes are windows to the soul, Carlson's spirit is black and white. He is a binary man whose whole career has been defined by his opposition to, and his apparent hatred of, other people and ideas. And at a time when America is more polarised than ever, he is having a moment.
|
| The Media Can’t Stop Misleading on Guns Posted: 23 Jul 2020 01:58 PM PDT  With the possible exception of religion, there is no issue in American political life that is as poorly covered as guns. At RealClearPolitics, John Lott reports that legacy media outlets often quite literally allow anti–Second Amendment activists to write their news stories on gun policy. Politico hasn't quite done that today, but . . . well, I'm not sure having reporters dutifully repackaging Everytown USA press releases is any better.Politico's piece is headlined "Blocked gun sales skyrocket amid coronavirus pandemic." I have been curious to find out how the anti–Second Amendment crowd would spin the recent spike in gun sales -- which has been especially concentrated among new owners and women -- and I now have my answer:> Internal FBI data reveal a jarring new stat: The number of people trying to buy guns who can't legally own them has skyrocketed. That came as part of a surge in gun purchases in the first three months of 2020, compared to the same time period in 2019. And the change has raised concerns about gun safety.Reporters who lard up their pieces with adjectives such as "jarring," "massive," "whopping," and "raised concerns" are usually trying to convince readers of something that isn't true. And so it is here. Indeed, all this Politico piece tells us is that the National Instant Criminal Background Check System is working exactly as intended.Groups such as Everytown spend a lot of time trying to convince Americans that their country doesn't have a background-check system at all. They're good at it, too; millions of voters seem to be under the impression that criminals can walk into a Walmart and walk out with an AR-15. And yet suddenly Everytown is upset that "jarring" numbers of people are being denied guns by the FBI. Isn't that the point of the system?And about those numbers . . . the piece goes on:> In March 2019, the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) ran background checks on 823,273 attempted gun buys (the system immediately greenlights the vast majority of transactions). This past March, however, NICS processed more than 1.4 million background checks — a massive spike. The most dramatic shift, though, might be in how many people the system blocked from buying guns.> > In March 2019 and February 2020, the NICS system blocked about 9,500 and 9,700, respectively. But in March 2020, it blocked more than double that amount: a whopping 23,692 gun sales.What these stats show is that very few prohibited Americans attempt to buy guns from dealers (this number is even lower than typically suggested, because many of them aren't attempting to hoodwink the FBI but are simply ignorant of the law), and that this is as true in 2020 as it was in 2019. The rejection rate in February 2019 was 0.6 percent and in February 2020 it was 0.68 percent. In March 2019, the rejection rate was 1.15 percent, and it was 1.64 percent in March 2020. As a 2019 Government Accountability Office report inidicates, the number of rejected applications has consistently been around 1 percent for years. Remaining around the historical average is neither "whopping," "jarring," nor "massive," despite the framing of the piece.The piece goes on:> NICS's website says it only blocks gun sales for a narrow number of reasons: because the would-be purchaser has been involuntarily committed to a mental institution, for instance, or because the potential buyer is subject to a restraining order for stalking an intimate partner.Actually, NICS says nothing of the sort on its website. Rather, it offers eleven rather broad grounds and circumstances in which a person can be denied a gun. We know they are broad because no other constitutional right has anything close to as many restrictions on it. I can assure you that if the FBI had eleven reasons to deny women abortions, Politico wouldn't be characterizing them as "narrow" constraints.Politico finishes off the short piece off by quoting a couple of completely baseless statements from Everytown president John Feinblatt:> "This FBI data confirms our fear that America's background check system is completely overwhelmed, which means that more guns are slipping through the cracks and being sold to prohibited purchasers," John Feinblatt, the president of Everytown, said in a statement. "Mitch McConnell can stop this by taking action to close the Charleston loophole, but he's too scared of the gun lobby's waning political power to do anything, even as gun violence rises in the midst of a pandemic."There is no evidence to bolster the assertion that the system is "completely overwhelmed" or that more people are "slipping through the cracks." In fact, the FBI spokesperson says in the piece that the NICS "has reallocated resources to address the incoming volume of NICS transactions."Also, there's no such thing as the "Charleston loophole." I realize that activists such as Feinblatt think every gun purchase in America reflects a "loophole" that needs to be closed, but the three-day waiting limit on checks was purposely written into the 1998 law -- which makes it the opposite of a loophole. The provision was added to the law to ensure that the FBI couldn't arbitrarily deny Americans their Second Amendment rights. The Charleston church shooter obtained his gun -- despite his drug use -- not because of problems with the law but because of a data-entry error. If that is distressing to Feinblatt and his organization, perhaps he should ask the Democratic House to stop ignoring FBI requests for more NICS funding.The simple truth is that these numbers reflect an established pattern: When gun purchases rise -- probably initially owing to the helplessness felt by many people during the COVID-19 lockdown, and later compounded by the lawlessness that erupted in big cities -- other numbers will rise with them. Ultimately, Feinblatt's objection isn't to more background checks; it's to more gun ownership. That's his job, so it's to be expected. But what's the media's excuse?
|
| 'What if I don't comply?' Indiana Republican lawmaker posts a photo of a .45-caliber handgun in response to GOP governor's mask order Posted: 24 Jul 2020 09:59 AM PDT  State Rep. Jim Lucas says he plans to draft legislation to "rescind this level of power."
|
| The coronavirus curves are starting to flatten — again. But complacency now could prove deadly. Posted: 23 Jul 2020 12:08 PM PDT  There's no evidence from the rest of the world that relying on people to behave themselves can actually suppress the coronavirus to a manageable level, as opposed to merely slowing its spread. So far, only lockdowns have done that.
|
| Mexican minister quits after clash over navy's anti-drugs role Posted: 23 Jul 2020 09:55 AM PDT  Mexico's communications and transportation minister said on Thursday he was resigning because he disagreed with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's decision to hand control of ports to the navy as the government seeks to curb drug trafficking. Anxious to stop chemicals used to make narcotics entering the country, Lopez Obrador wants the navy to oversee ports and customs facilities, a decision that the outgoing minister, Javier Jimenez Espriu, was not in agreement with. "We had a dispute that happens between free men," Lopez Obrador said in a video announcing Jimenez Espriu's exit.
|
| Christian abortion critics urge Dems to change platform Posted: 24 Jul 2020 06:05 AM PDT  A group of more than 100 Christian pastors, religion professors and other advocates is urging the Democratic National Committee to adopt a party platform that's friendlier to abortion opponents. In a letter organized by the anti-abortion group Democrats for Life and set to be sent Friday, the group of Christians calls on the Democratic Party to rescind its platform's support for ending restrictions on federal funding for abortion. Last year, Joe Biden, the Democrat's presumptive presidential nominee, shifted his position to back an end to restrictions on government funding for abortion.
|
| 5 Seattle media outlets have to hand over their unpublished photos from a George Floyd protest to help police investigate suspected crimes, judge rules Posted: 24 Jul 2020 04:00 AM PDT  The Seattle Police Department subpoenaed five media outlets for their footage from a May 30 protest to aid its probe into alleged violence.
|
| Genetic impact of African slave trade revealed in DNA study Posted: 24 Jul 2020 01:20 PM PDT  The consequences of rape, maltreatment, disease and racism are revealed by the findings.
|
| FBI believes Chinese researcher with links to Beijing's military in hiding in consulate in San Francisco Posted: 23 Jul 2020 10:53 AM PDT  The FBI believes that a Chinese scientist with links to Beijing's military is hiding out in China's consulate in San Francisco to evade arrest.
|
| Ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's jailing 'was retaliation' for book Posted: 23 Jul 2020 12:16 PM PDT  A judge found Michael Cohen's re-arrest to be in retaliation for a book critical of Donald Trump.
|
| How the Murder of an Ethiopian Singer Triggered an Uprising Against a Disintegrating Democracy Posted: 24 Jul 2020 11:58 AM PDT  The songs of Haacaaluu Hundeessaa spoke to the country's grassroots about historical injustices
|
| Astrophysicists published the largest 3D map of the universe ever made, filling in 11 billion years of history Posted: 24 Jul 2020 07:29 AM PDT  It's the most comprehensive 3D map of the cosmos to date, covering millions of galaxies and supermassive black holes.
|
| Here's the Lineup of Bases Next to Get the Army Greens Uniform Posted: 23 Jul 2020 05:02 PM PDT  Army uniform officials have released an updated plan to field the new World War II-style Army Green Service Uniform.
|
| U.S. clears way for drugmakers to share COVID antibody capacity Posted: 23 Jul 2020 02:12 PM PDT  In a letter to Lilly, Amgen, AbCellera Biologics, AstraZeneca Plc, Roche Holding's Genentech unit and GlaxoSmithKline Plc, the DOJ said demand for monoclonal antibodies targeting COVID-19 is likely to exceed what one firm could produce on its own. The drugmakers are in various stages of developing experimental monoclonal antibodies - manufactured proteins designed to bind to a targeted cell, neutralize it and mark it for destruction by the immune system - for treatment, or even prevention, of COVID-19.
|
| Taliban propose potential Afghan talks timeline as violence soars Posted: 23 Jul 2020 10:04 AM PDT  The Taliban are prepared to hold peace talks with the Afghan government next month straight after the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, the insurgents said Thursday, provided an ongoing prisoner swap has been completed. The development comes amid soaring violence that has threatened to derail US-backed efforts to bring Kabul and the Taliban to the negotiating table and seek an end to Afghanistan's nearly 19-year-old war. The Taliban are "likely ... ready to begin intra-Afghan negotiations immediately after Eid in case the process of the release of the prisoners is completed," the insurgents' political spokesman Suhail Shaheen said on Twitter.
|
| German court convicts men over 2018 gang rape of 18-year-old Posted: 23 Jul 2020 05:28 AM PDT  The case, in which most of the 11 defendants were Syrian, added to tensions in Germany over migration. Prosecutors say the woman was offered an Ecstasy tablet in a disco in the southwestern city of Freiburg and her drink was spiked with an unknown substance, leaving her unable to fend off the assailants. The Freiburg state court convicted most of the defendants, who were aged 18 to 30 at the time of the time of the assault in October in 2018, of rape, news agency dpa reported.
|
| Doctors are posting bikini selfies in protest of a study that said it is 'unprofessional' for female medics to share bikini photos online Posted: 24 Jul 2020 08:08 AM PDT  Three male researchers created fake social media profiles to collect photos of female doctors in bikinis for the 2019 study.
|
| Senate GOP, White House reach tentative $1 trillion pact to break coronavirus aid logjam Posted: 23 Jul 2020 07:33 AM PDT  The latest talks show some signs of resolving intraparty clashes that have kept negotiations at a dead stop for weeks.
|
| Chicago mayor calls for gun control to curb violence Posted: 23 Jul 2020 02:50 AM PDT  Reaction from Gun Owners of America spokesperson Antonia Okafor.
|
| What is QAnon and where did it come from? What to know about the far-right conspiracy theory Posted: 23 Jul 2020 08:28 AM PDT  Twitter has cracked down on thousands of QAnon accounts. Here's a look at where the baseless conspiracy theory comes from and its ties to Trump.
|
| China pushes Huawei, Washington pulls another way Posted: 23 Jul 2020 10:57 AM PDT |
| 'Virtually the entire apparel industry' — from Gap to H&M to Adidas — are profiting from forced Uighur labor, activists say Posted: 23 Jul 2020 08:35 AM PDT  Vast swathes of the fashion industry complicit in China's mass repression of the Uighur Muslims, says a coalition for human rights groups.
|
| Former Chinese property executive who criticised Xi over virus ousted from ruling party Posted: 23 Jul 2020 08:36 AM PDT |
| Coronavirus relief package could lead to Social Security and Medicare cuts Posted: 24 Jul 2020 01:01 PM PDT  The Republican coronavirus relief package will include legislation from Senator Mitt Romney that could result in cuts to Medicare and Social Security.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell confirmed Thursday that the upcoming relief package would include the legislation.
|
| George Floyd murder suspect Derek Chauvin charged with tax evasion Posted: 22 Jul 2020 09:42 PM PDT  Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is charged with multiple counts of tax evasion.
|
| N. Korea's Kim visits chicken farm, calls for improvements Posted: 22 Jul 2020 10:33 PM PDT  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has inspected a new chicken farm being built in a county south of capital Pyongyang and called for improvements to what he described as an outdated poultry industry, state media said Thursday. The North's official Korean Central News Agency didn't say exactly when Kim made the trip to the construction site in Hwangju. The report didn't mention any comments by Kim about U.S.-led international sanctions over his nuclear weapons program, which have increased pressure on the North's broken economy.
|
| LeBron James group to donate $100,000 toward paying Florida ex-felons' fines so they can vote Posted: 24 Jul 2020 12:44 PM PDT  LeBron James is getting involved in helping ex-felons register to vote in Florida.More Than A Vote, the group that James helped establish this year, on Friday announced it would donate $100,000 toward paying fees and fines of people in Florida with past felony convictions so they can register to vote, Politico reports. The group is raising the money to be donated to the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition fines and fees fund. Additionally, the group will host an online screening of a documentary about the late Rep. John Lewis, and proceeds will go to the fund. "Your right to vote shouldn't depend upon whether or not you can pay to exercise it," Miami Heat player Udonis Haslem, who is also a member of More Than A Vote, said.Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 that restored voting rights to felons who have completed their sentences, but the state later passed a law saying that they must pay off court fees and fines before being able to register to vote. That law is facing legal challenges, and a judge in May found it unconstitutional, saying it creates a "pay-to-vote system." But the Supreme Court has allowed the law to stay in effect for now while the legal challenges continue.More Than A Vote was formed in June amid the nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd, and the group describes its priority as "combating systemic, racist voter suppression by educating, energizing, and protecting our community in 2020." James said in an interview with The New York Times last month, "Because of everything that's going on, people are finally starting to listen to us — we feel like we're finally getting a foot in the door. How long is up to us. We don't know. But we feel like we're getting some ears and some attention, and this is the time for us to finally make a difference." More stories from theweek.com The coming Republican power grab on the Supreme Court Trump says he 'often' regrets his tweets New Lincoln Project ad presents brutal timeline of Trump's coronavirus response
|
| Netflix’s Indian Matchmaking Is Bringing Painful Conversations to the Fore. But Is It More Helpful or Harmful? Posted: 24 Jul 2020 01:58 PM PDT  A new reality dating series has ignited a backlash among viewers for the way it handles issues of colorism, casteism and sexism
|
| Fact check: Five Guys employees terminated, suspended, after refusing service to police Posted: 23 Jul 2020 11:04 AM PDT |
