Labor Day Weekend represents the end of summer and the beginning of the election cycle. Like millions of Americans, I'm on the move this weekend.
For me, it started out with two "firsts" since the lockdown in March, a Lyft ride to San Francisco, and then a night out -- a birthday dinner for my son, his 26th.
We met at one of our favorite places, on the waterfront, outside on the patio, everyone masked and gloved serving us. The tables were set well apart.
There was a harvest moon hovering over the Bay. It was delightful, a throwback experience to the way it used to be.
Afterward, my daughter drove up from San Jose to pick me up and transport me down here, where I'll spend a few days with her and her three sons. I don't believe I've ever stayed in this city before.
***
The news cycle is relentless:
* Justice Dept. Plans to File Antitrust Charges Against Google in Coming Weeks -- The attorney general is said to have set a deadline over the objections of career lawyers who say they need more time to build the case. (New York Times)
* Medical journal editor: Trump "simply wrong" that vaccine will be available to public by October (CNN)
* Two members of the 417 Second Amendment Militia group from Missouri traveling to Kenosha, Wisconsin, were arrested Thursday by federal officials and charged with illegally possessing a cache of weapons. FBI agents found in their hotel room an Armory AR-15 rifle, a Mossberg 500 AB 12-Gauge shotgun, two handguns, a silencer, ammunition, body armor, a drone, a twisted cable survival saw, a dagger and other materials, prosecutors said. (CNN)
* Pandemic Drives Millions from Latin America’s Universities -- They were the first in their families to make it to college. But how do you study when you can’t afford to eat? (New York Times)
* As Russian President Vladimir Putin continues his efforts to exert his personal influence around the globe and meddle in American democracy and is accused of using a nerve agent to poison one of his main political opponents, President Donald Trump broke his recent silence on Russia and the attack on Alexey Navalny, calling it "tragic" but emphasizing that he has a good relationship with the Russian leader. (CNN)
* A retired Army general on Thursday night went viral for his scathing response to a report that President Trump made disparaging remarks about dead U.S. service members, telling Trump he’s “no patriot.”Retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton posted a video responding to a new report in The Atlantic which detailed Trump allegedly calling the U.S. service members who were buried in a French cemetery during World War I “losers.” (The Hill)
* Veterans scorn Trump following bombshell report that president and aides have denied -- Military veterans and their families erupted in anger against Trump, following the Atlantic's bombshell report that he had derided fallen U.S. soldiers as “losers" and “suckers.” (Washington Post)
* Even for those who are all too wearily familiar with Trump’s disdain for journalists, his administration’s latest attack on the free press is a bit of a jaw-dropper.In a heretofore unpublicized recent memo, the Pentagon delivered an order to shutter Stars and Stripes, a newspaper that has been a lifeline and a voice for American troops since the Civil War. The memo orders the publisher of the news organization (which now publishes online as well as in print) to present a plan that “dissolves the Stars and Stripes” by Sept. 15 including "specific timeline for vacating government owned/leased space worldwide.” (USA Today)
* Trump's privately built border wall will fail, engineering report says (Texas Tribune)
* Trump's latest attack on mask-wearing may be his worst yet (CNN)
* The US coronavirus death toll is projected to reach 410,000 in the next 4 months if mask use wanes (CNN)
* DHS warns that Russia is spreading false claims about mail-in ballots -- Many of the claims are identical to previous statements from the president and the attorney general. (Washington Post)
***
Goin' places that I've never been
Seein' things that I may never see again
And I can't wait to get on the road again
Like a band of Gypsies we go down the highway
We're the best of friends
Insisting that the world keep turnin' our way
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