https://twitter.com/KarluskaP/status/1286646447212040193
https://apnews.com/62e35c71744cb154746cbefcda004e08
Christopher Columbus statues taken down at 2 Chicago parks
Two statues of Christopher Columbus that stood in Chicago parks were taken down early Friday at the direction of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a week after protesters trying to topple one of the monuments to the Italian explorer clashed with police.
Crews used a large crane to remove the statue in downtown Chicago’s Grant Park from its pedestal. A small crowd cheered and passing cars honked as the statue came down about 3 a.m. The second statue was removed about 5:30 a.m. Friday from Arrigo Park in Chicago’s Little Italy neighborhood.
In a statement issued after the statues were taken down, the Democratic mayor’s office said they were being “temporarily removed … until further notice.” It said the removals were “in response to demonstrations that became unsafe for both protesters and police, as well as efforts by individuals to independently pull the Grant Park statue down in an extremely dangerous manner.”
“This step is about an effort to protect public safety and to preserve a safe space for an inclusive and democratic public dialogue about our city’s symbols,” the mayor’s office said in the statement, which said the statues were removed following “consultation with various stakeholders.”
Plans to remove the Grant Park statue were first reported Thursday night by the Chicago Tribune and the removal followed hours of vocal confrontations between opponents and supporters of the statue. On July 17, protesters had clashed with police, who used batons to beat people and made arrests after they say protesters targeted them with fireworks, rocks and other items.
“This statue coming down is because of the effort of Black and Indigenous activists who know the true history of Columbus and what he represents,” Stefan Cuevas-Caizaguano, a resident watching the removal, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Both the Grant Park and Arrigo Park statues were vandalized last month. Statues of Columbus have also been toppled or vandalized in other U.S. cities as protesters have called for the removal of statues of Columbus, saying that he is responsible for the genocide and exploitation of native peoples in the Americas.
Pasquale Gianni of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans said the mayor had told him before their removal that both statues would be moved and temporarily housed elsewhere for public safety reasons.
“The Italian American community feels betrayed. The Mayor’s Office is giving into a vocal and destructive minority. This is not how the Democratic process is supposed to work,” he told WLS-TV.
Lightfoot and the city planned to announce a process “to assess each of the monuments, memorials, and murals across Chicago’s communities, and develop a framework for creating a public dialogue to determine how we elevate our city’s history and diversity,” the mayor’s office added in its statement.
The removals come amid a plan by President Donald Trump to dispatch federal law enforcement agents to the city to respond to gun violence, prompting worries that the surge will inhibit residents’ ability to hold demonstrations. A collection of activist groups had filed suit Thursday, seeking to block federal agents to combat violent crime from interfering in or policing protests.
State officials in Oregon had sued for similar requests following the arrival of federal law enforcement due to nearly two months of protests in Portland since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
https://apnews.com/e0f1513d565ef383d257a088adbb5209
As a Black Muslim woman in France, Maria Dabo knows that feeling all too well. For her, the adoption of masks has had an unexpected but welcome side effect: She no longer feels such a standout in the country that has legislated to prevent Muslim women from wearing face-covering veils. With masks required in all indoor public spaces, the French far-right’s long obsession with Islamic veils has been muted.
“I feel like we are a bit better understood,” Dabo said. “Everyone is obliged to do the same as us, which makes me believe that God is busy teaching people a lesson, that covering up isn’t religious or anything else. It’s about not being a fool and protecting oneself.”
https://apnews.com/9126a38ef22c244f9ca18f9584061f8d
AP-NORC poll: 3 in 4 Americans back requiring wearing masks
Three out of four Americans, including a majority of Republicans, favor requiring people to wear face coverings while outside their homes, a new poll finds, reflecting fresh alarm over spiking coronavirus cases and a growing embrace of government advice intended to safeguard public health.
The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research also finds that about two-thirds of Americans disapprove of how President Donald Trump is handling the outbreak, an unwelcome sign for the White House in an election year shaped by the nation’s battle with the pandemic.
https://apnorc.org/
she mad
https://nypost.com/2020/07/23/dr-fauci-flattens-curve-straight-into-ground-on-opening-day-first-pitch/
Anthony Fauci flattens curve straight into ground on Opening Day first pitch
His curve was a little too flat.
White House coronavirus task force member and diehard baseball fan Dr. Anthony Fauci threw the first pitch at the long-awaited 2020 MLB season opener — as the New York Yankees took on the World Series champion Nationals.
But Fauci, 79, should have stuck to infectious diseases — as he fumbled the ball straight into the ground.
Wearing a Nationals jersey and a red face mask, the 5-foot-7-inch righty bounced the ball on the grass, crossing the first base line, far wide of home plate.
He’d been aiming for Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle, but was just a bit outside.
Fauci, a Brooklyn-born Nats fan, did have some pre-game jitters, telling the team’s Ryan Zimmerman he was “quite nervous” about pitching.
“Okay, well don’t worry about it,” Zimmerman — who is sitting out the season for health reasons — had responded in a tweeted video.
“If you bounce it, there’s nobody there to boo you. So, you’ll be good to go.”
Not long before the highly anticipated game, President Trump announced he will throw the opening pitch at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 15.
Trump told reporters he was invited by his pal, Yankees president Randy Levine. He wondered how it would go with no crowd in the stands amid the pandemic.
“They say, ‘How’s the crowd gonna be?’ And you know, it’s like you don’t have a crowd, there was no such thing, it’s gonna be interesting,” Trump said.
https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1286210079352479744
http://twittervideodownloader.com/
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53517022
Ten men convicted over gang rape in Germany
Ten men, mostly Syrian refugees, have been found guilty over the gang rape of a woman outside a German nightclub.
The 2018 attack in the city of Freiburg fuelled anti-foreigner sentiment, with protests by the far right.
The lead defendant was sentenced to five and a half years for the attack - which lasted for more than two hours - while seven others received sentences of up to four years.
Two men received suspended sentences for failing to provide assistance.
One man was acquitted.
The victim, who was 18 at the time, had her drink spiked before being attacked in bushes outside the venue.
Eight of the men on trial were refugees from Syria, while the other three came from Iraq, Afghanistan and Germany.
After the attack - which came following other high-profile attacks committed by immigrants - the anti-Islam Alternative for Germany took to the streets to protest against Chancellor Angela Merkel's liberal policy towards migrants.
Ms Merkel received both widespread praise and criticism for her "open door" policy. She has since admitted that Germany was ill-prepared for the influx.
https://www.koin.com/news/protests/commissioner-jo-ann-hardesty-press-conference-07232020/
Commissioner Hardesty: ‘Sometimes I screw up’
https://twitter.com/tedwheeler/status/1286481736604426241
some wow skit from some european youtube show, something like that
you have enough keywords to find it
>dr fauci doesn't want anybody to catch anything