Good Morning.
Three American presidents gave praise for John Lewis at the congressman’s funeral in Atlanta on Thursday. A fourth, Donald Trump, did not attend, but his presence was strongly felt in praise of Barack Obama, which was perhaps Obama’s most explicit political speech since leaving office.
Describing Lewis as the founding father of “a better and more complete United States,” Obama called on Americans to defend the long-standing cause of the late civil rights leader: the right to vote. Without mentioning his successor by name, Obama harshly criticized “those in power who are doing everything they can to discourage people from voting.”
This is the worst recession in the US since GDP was first recorded
With no end in sight to the US coronavirus crisis, the country’s economy has just suffered its biggest contraction since World War II, declining at an annual rate of 32.9% between April and June. Last week, another 1.43 million Americans applied for unemployment, while in Washington, Republican infighting has delayed replacing the $ 600 expansion to weekly unemployment benefits, a lifeline for millions amid the pandemic.
However, in the midst of the worst recession since GDP was first recorded, tech companies Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google released results that caused their already-soaring stock prices to skyrocket.
Trump suggests delaying elections, just as Biden predicted
When Joe Biden warned in April that Trump might try to postpone the presidential election, the Trump campaign dismissed the idea as “inconsistent ramblings of conspiracy theory.” But sure enough, Thursday morning, minutes after the release of that epic horrifying economic news, the president tweeted without evidence that the “universal vote by mail” would lead to “the most UNACCURRENT AND FRAUDULENT election in history,” and added:
Delay the election until people can vote properly and safely ???
The power to change an election date rests with Congress, not the president, and even Republicans quickly dismissed the suggestion. But critics say Trump’s real goal is to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election, to contest its outcome if he loses.
Michael Brown’s killer will not be prosecuted yet
With protests over the death of George Floyd still fresh in memory, old wounds were reopened in the case of another police murder that sparked widespread riots six years ago. The chief prosecutor for St. Louis County, Missouri, announced that he will not charge Darren Wilson, the former police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown in Ferguson in August 2014.
Wesley Bell, the county’s first black prosecutor, promised to reopen the case after taking office in January 2019. But after a five-month review of the evidence, his office was unable to prove that Wilson committed murder or manslaughter. . Leaving the case was “one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do,” Bell said.
In other news …
Climate countdown: 96 days to save Earth
At least 96 cities, which together represent a quarter of the world economy, have committed to ensuring that their Covid-19 recoveries are environmentally sustainable. And 96 is also the number of days until the United States withdraws from the Paris climate agreement. Read the latest in our climate countdown series.
Great readings
What can we learn from the utopias and dystopias of movies?
If we are lucky, the Covid-19 pandemic could provide an opportunity to shape a kinder and more ecologically harmonious future. Or it could leave the world darker and darker. Anna Smith looks to science fiction movies for indicators of our post-closure existence.
The new wave of Chinese nationalism.
China faces international criticism for its treatment of the Uighurs and its takeover of Hong Kong. But at the national level, Beijing’s aggressive stance has fueled nationalist sentiment, at the expense of more moderate views. Lily Kuo reports.
Opinion: I killed someone when I was a police officer
Thomas Owen Baker once shot and killed a suspect carrying a knife as a police officer in Arizona. Now a PhD student investigating police culture says such violent incidents are the product of an environment that we have all contributed to creating.
Generally there is a complex combination of race, class, weapons, violence, capital, and other social forces that lead to the fatal encounter. Simply identifying a handful of bad officers and sending them to prison is not a sufficient solution. We must work towards a society where citizens and their government representatives, the police, are not so terrified of each other.
Last thing: I was a pen pal of Tupac
When she was in her early 20s, Nina Bhadreshwar requested an interview with Tupac Shakur for a small magazine that she had started in England, on social issues like racism and police brutality. A phone call turned into a transatlantic correspondence and a unique friendship.
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