Heavy rains, mudslides, close roads in Oregon
Flooding and mudslides from heavy rains in Oregon overnight closed several roads, including a portion of Interstate 84. (Jan. 13)
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On the same day that rioters supporting President Trump stormed and vandalized the U.S. Capitol, history was also made in Georgia, where Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock, the two Democrats on the Georgia Senate runoff ballot, defeated the Republican incumbents. One week after Democrats pulled off their improbable feat, Georgians reflected on the impact of the historic win.
An Atlanta medical examiner has confirmed the death, which followed the man’s arrest last week
The head of the Afghan Taliban has ordered officials in the movement to take only one wife because extravagant weddings and bridal payments are depleting funds and leading to accusations of embezzlement. The edict from Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada was also an attempt to quash bad publicity that Taliban leaders were having profligate weddings. “We instruct officials of the Islamic Emirate, in accordance with Islamic Sharia [Islamic jurisprudence], to avoid second, third, and fourth marriage if there is no need,” he said in a written message earlier this month, Voice of America reported. Taliban officials have been instructed to share the order with their subordinates after complaints about the scale of spending on weddings. Afghans face huge social pressure to spend lavishly on their nuptials, while the groom must also often pay a hefty sum to the bride's family. Wives are sometimes kept in separate houses, meaning a groom must fund several households. “Up-to two million Afghanis (nearly £19,000) are paid for dowry in some parts of Afghanistan and the Taliban officials would seek this money for their second marriage,” one source told the broadcaster. The movement has also sometimes faced internal tensions as frontline fighters resent the movement's leadership appearing to lead the high life in Pakistan or Doha. “Families of several officials of the Islamic Emirate do not have a lot of money. Therefore, more marriages could affect their prestige, trustworthiness, and personality,” the message said. The message urged the movement to “protect yourself against accusation and disgrace,” adding that “transparency” and “gaining trust” were essential for their struggle. Abstaining from multiple marriages would protect the Taliban from “accusations of bribery, misappropriation, or embezzlement” and save them from seeking illicit sources of wealth. Akhundzada told followers that the orders were based on Islamic injunctions and have the support of religious scholars. Islam allows men to have up to four wives as long as they are treated equally, though the practice is frowned upon and uncommon in many Muslim societies. The message said there were exemptions to the new rule for officials who had a “legitimate need” or who used their own funds for weddings.
In an extraordinary letter Tuesday, all eight of the top U.S. military officers told U.S. service members that last week's deadly mob attack on the U.S. Capitol was an illegal "direct assault" on not just Congress but also America's constitutional order, and "the rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition, and insurrection."The letter from the Joint Chiefs of Staff followed Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy's approval of 15,000 National Guardsmen, some armed with lethal weapons, to help secure the Capitol amid credible threats of violence from armed militia groups leading up to President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration next Tuesday. Biden, the four-star generals reminded U.S. forces in their letter, "will be inaugurated and will become our 46th commander in chief."> The Joint Chiefs of Staff have sent this letter to the U.S. military about the attack on the U.S. Capitol, and the forthcoming transition of power to President-elect Biden as "our 46th Commander in Chief." pic.twitter.com/IzlYmAygfe> > — Breaking News (@BreakingNews) January 12, 2021"As service members, we must embody the values and ideals of the nation," the Joint Chiefs said. "We support and defend the Constitution. Any act to disrupt the constitutional process is not only against our traditions, values, and oath; it is against the law."Some retired military officers participated in Wednesday's insurrection, and Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) asked the Pentagon on Monday to cooperate with the FBI and Capitol Police to determine the extent of participation in the "seditious conspiracy" by current and former service members. Another veteran, Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), said Sunday that McCarthy should screen any military personnel involved in inauguration security to make sure none are "sympathetic to domestic terrorists."More stories from theweek.com Do Democrats realize the danger they are in? America's rendezvous with reality What 'Blue Lives Matter' was always about
Calvin Goode “deserves to be laid to rest with deep respect and gratitude, not hateful racist remarks,” said Rep. Ruben Gallego.
A federal judge on Thursday ordered a retired firefighter in Pennsylvania to be detained pending trial, after prosecutors filed charges alleging he hurled a fire extinguisher at police during last week's mob attack on the U.S. Capitol. Magistrate Judge Henry Perkin for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said the alleged actions of Robert Sanford, 55, of Chester, Pennsylvania, posed a "danger to the community" as well as to "democracy and our legislators." According to court documents, Sanford was captured on video hurling what appears to be a fire extinguisher at police.
As the fallout continues following last Wednesday’s Capitol insurrection, Democratic New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to her social media this week to share the terror she experienced that day – at times fearing her own congressional colleagues would turn her over to the angry mob to be killed. Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”?
Congresswoman’s chief of staff says she was ‘deeply concerned’ by ‘Trump’s aims to incite violence’
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have spent the past few years living in a six bedroom, 6.5 bathroom rented home in Washington, D.C.'s exclusive Kalorama neighborhood. The family could count high-profile officials and even one former president among their neighbors — as well as their own Secret Service detail, who had to rent a nearby apartment to use the bathroom because they weren't allowed inside the Kushner-Trump home, neighbors and law enforcement sources tell The Washington Post.It's not unusual for Secret Service agents to stay out of the typically expansive homes they're guarding, instead using a garage or auxiliary building as their home base, the Post notes. But Kushner and Trump took that to an extreme, forcing the Secret Service to install a porta-potty outside their home just so they had somewhere to relieve themselves, sources said. The unsightly outdoor bathroom was taken down after neighbors complained.That's when the Kushner-Trump detail started using a bathroom in the Obama family's nearby garage. But they were kicked out when "a Secret Service supervisor from the Trump-Kushner detail left an unpleasant mess in the Obama bathroom," the Post notes. Agents then headed to to Vice President Mike Pence's home a mile away to use the toilet or, when time was short, counted on nearby restaurants and even knocked on neighbors' doors. One of those neighbors eventually ended up renting a $3,000/month basement studio to the agents, making $144,000 in taxpayer money by the time the lease expires this September.A White House spokesperson denied Trump and Kushner barred Secret Service from their home, saying it was the force's choice not to come inside — something one law enforcement officer disputed. Read more at The Washington Post.More stories from theweek.com Do Democrats realize the danger they are in? America's rendezvous with reality What 'Blue Lives Matter' was always about
Rumors are circulating regarding the future of Kim Jong Un's sister. Some believe North Korea's leader may have demoted his sister over general policy failures.
A racing pigeon has survived an extraordinary 13,000-kilometer (8,000-mile) Pacific Ocean crossing from the United States to find a new home in Australia. Kevin Celli-Bird said Thursday he discovered the exhausted bird that arrived in his Melbourne backyard on Dec. 26 had disappeared from a race in the U.S. state of Oregon on Oct. 29. Experts suspect the pigeon that Celli-Bird has named Joe, after the U.S. president-elect, hitched a ride on a cargo ship to cross the Pacific.
Two Virginia police officers charged in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol have military backgrounds -- with one still serving as a corporal in the National Guard.
His lawyer said he has been receiving death threats and would like to ‘like to just get home to his family’
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has had a whirlwind of a week.After the deadly riot at the United States Capitol last Wednesday, he threw cold water on his Republican colleagues' Electoral College challenges, saying "enough is enough," which led to him getting harassed by Trump supporters at the airport. But just a few days later he was on a plane with President Trump en route to Texas for a border wall event. Most recently, he came out strongly against impeaching Trump.In a statement Wednesday, Graham echoed fellow Republican lawmakers who argue impeachment would only further divide the country, since Trump is heading out of office soon anyway.Graham criticized Democrats for moving forward with the "snap impeachment," accusing them of attempting a "do-over" after last year's impeachment, which ultimately stalled in the Senate. But he had sharp words for his own party, as well, saying that Republicans who "legitimize this process" are "doing great damage not only to the country, the future of the presidency, but also to the party" since he thinks it would unfairly "demonize" Trump voters at-large because of the "actions of a seditious mob." Without naming him, Graham also appeared to take a shot at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who is reportedly pleased Democrats are impeaching Trump again. > .@LindseyGrahamSC makes clear again he's opposed to impeachment, saying it's "the last thing the country needs." > Also includes this line: "As to Senate leadership, I fear they are making the problem worse, not better." pic.twitter.com/RFavpMd5uC> > -- Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) January 13, 2021More stories from theweek.com Do Democrats realize the danger they are in? America's rendezvous with reality What 'Blue Lives Matter' was always about
Kirbyjon H. Caldwell, 67, was sentenced Wednesday in Shreveport, Louisiana, where he and his co-defendant, Gregory A. Smith, were indicted in 2018. Caldwell, who in March pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, was the senior pastor of Houston's Windsor Village United Methodist Church, which has about 14,000 members. According to federal prosecutors, Caldwell and Smith, a Shreveport-based investment adviser, used their clout and influence to persuade people to invest about $3.5 million in historical Chinese bonds.
In his first television interview since being shot in the back by police, Jacob Blake admitted that he not only had a knife in his possession at the time of the shooting, but also “dropped” it before picking it up again. “I realized I had dropped my knife, had a little pocket knife. So I picked it up after I got off of him because they tased me and I fell on top of him,” Blake told Michael Strahan in an interview that aired Thursday on ABC’s Good Morning America (GMA). “I shouldn’t have picked it up, only considering what was going on,” he continued. “At that time, I wasn’t thinking clearly.” Earlier this month, Kenosha County district attorney Michael Graveley said that he would not file charges against Officer Rusten Sheskey, who shot Blake seven times, given that the officer was acting in self-defense against an armed assailant. Blake also had a past arrest for resisting police with a knife. Blake’s admission contradicts past statements from his family and attorneys, who denied that he had a knife in his possession when police shot him on August 23, in an incident that stemmed from a 911 call made by the mother of Blake’s children, who told police that Blake was trying to drive away in her rental car with two of his sons. “My son didn’t have a weapon,” Blake’s father told the Chicago Sun-Times for an August 25 story. Patrick Salvi Jr., an attorney for the Blake family, told CNN on August 26 that Blake did not have a knife in the car. “Witnesses confirm that he was not in possession of a knife and didn’t threaten officers in any way,” Blake’s attorney, Ben Crump, said in a statement released on August 27. At the time, Blake had a warrant out for his arrest on charges of trespassing, disorderly conduct, and third-degree sexual assault, which the operator relayed to the responding officers. With the outstanding felony charges, police were required by law to take Blake into custody. In the interview with GMA, Blake also claimed that “I hadn’t done anything so I didn’t feel like they were there for me,” though investigators later found that, prior to the arrest, Blake had looked up his own warrant on a police website and had sent a text mentioning the warrant. ABC made no mention of either fact in the interview. The shooting went viral on social media after being recorded on video, showing officers screaming at Blake to “drop the knife.” In the subsequent days — which included deadly violence, rioting, and looting — the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation revealed that Blake admitted to having “a knife in his possession.” But much of the mainstream press ran with the initial claim that he was “unarmed.” “Wisconsin’s governor on Monday called in the National Guard to help quell unrest after police shot an unarmed Black man in the latest incident this summer to stir cries of injustice and divide a nation over the urgency of bringing fundamental change to law enforcement,” read the lede of five-person Washington Post byline on August 24. Earlier this month, the Post drew pushback after it maintained the “unarmed” description of Blake in reporting the decision by authorities to not pursue police charges. Though the paper did correct the narrative, one story published January 5 still refers to Blake as “unarmed.” The Post did not return a request for comment on the discrepancy. In the days after the shooting, CNN ran multiple articles describing Blake as “unarmed” which have yet to be corrected. “Video shows police shoot unarmed Black man” is a current link to an August 24 segment hosted by CNN anchor Jake Tapper. An August 28 USA Today “fact check” titled “Jacob Blake did not ‘brandish’ knife, get gun before Kenosha police shooting” argued that “Blake was not ‘brandishing’ anything in the video taken by bystanders,” even as it noted that the clip “shows something in Blake’s hand, but the resolution is low, so it could be a knife.” But rather than issue a correction or a retraction on January 5, PolitiFact merely updated the post with an editor’s note stating that prosecutors had revealed “Blake was armed with a ‘razor blade-type knife’ when he was shot by police.” The explanation? “That does not affect the rating for this item because ratings are based on what is known at the time.” In other words, it used to be true.
Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday declared that the presidency was no job for a woman because of their emotional differences to men, and dismissed speculation that his daughter would succeed him next year. The Philippines has had two women presidents, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo from 2001 to 2010 and Corazon Aquino from 1986 to 1992.
Several Republicans seen not complying with the new safety check, reports said
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) launched the House GOP's anti-impeachment case Wednesday during the debate preceding the vote on whether to impeach President Trump on charges of inciting an insurrection.Jordan argued this impeachment, the second of Trump's term, was a last-gasp effort by Democrats, who have been trying to remove him from office since he entered the White House in 2017. The reason, in Jordan's eyes? "Politics and the fact that they want to cancel the president," Jordan said.> Rep. @Jim_Jordan: "Democrats are going to impeach the president for a second time one week, one week before he leaves office. Why? Why? Politics and the fact that they want to cancel the president." pic.twitter.com/elZYT5ZGgR> > -- CSPAN (@cspan) January 13, 2021Jordan continued to focus heavily on "cancel culture," claiming his Democratic colleagues want to silence Trump, his allies, and anyone who doesn't agree with them. "The attack on the First Amendment has to stop," he said. "Stop and think about it. Do you have a functioning First Amendment when the cancel culture only allows one side to talk? When you can't even have a debate in this country?"Critics quickly pointed out that Jordan's comments came during a nationally televised debate, which seemingly pokes a hole in the theory. > "you can't even have a debate in this country" says jim jordan, during debate> > -- David Mack (@davidmackau) January 13, 2021> "Do you have a functioning First Amendment when the cancel culture only allows one side to talk?" asks Rep. Jim Jordan, addressing the House of Representatives in a televised speech> > -- Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) January 13, 2021More stories from theweek.com Do Democrats realize the danger they are in? America's rendezvous with reality What 'Blue Lives Matter' was always about
NASA declared the Mars digger dead Thursday after failing to burrow deep into the red planet to take its temperature. Following one last unsuccessful attempt to hammer itself down over the weekend with 500 strokes, the team called it quits. "We’ve given it everything we’ve got, but Mars and our heroic mole remain incompatible,” said the German Space Agency's Tilman Spohn, the lead scientist for the experiment.