Wednesday, July 14 top stories
Wednesday, July 14 top stories
It is Wednesday, July 14. Here are today’s top stories.
Lego demands company to stop making Lego-looking gun
A company in Utah named Culper Precision came up with a gun covering design that makes guns look just like a Lego toy.
News reports said Lego sent the gun company a cease and desist letter, demanding them to stop producing the “Block19” design.
The gun company’s CEO said they sold fewer than 20 of the items and would comply with Lego’s cease and desist order.
An organization called Moms Demand Action, which advocates for stricter gun controls, said the gun could cause children to die in unintentional shootings because they look just like toys.
The gun company said they were only trying to provide gun owners more enjoyment and pointed out that there are already laws in place to penalize anyone who fails to secure their firearms from juveniles.
LAPD looking for truck that killed person below manhole
The Los Angeles Police Department said they are looking for a white pickup truck that was seen in a video driving over a manhole cover that only a moment earlier was opened by a person below it.
The LAPD said there was a 20-year-old man — a pedestrian — who was trying to lift the manhole cover from below, but when the truck hit it, it caused him to fall back down the manhole and die. They did not explain what the man was doing in the manhole.
Here is a video from the LAPD. This may be graphic for some people.
[Video]
We see from the video that the manhole cover was in the middle of the street, on the white lines. The truck was on the left lane, but it's right tires were on the white lines at the time of impact. There are a lot of questions on whether the driver was intentional or not when they hit the manhole.
Baltimore police officer charged with murdering stepson
NBC News reported a 34-year-old police officer in Baltimore, Eric Banks Jr., was charged with murdering his 15-year-old stepson after other police officers found the boy’s body hidden in an attic crawlspace.
The article explained that the mother, who is married to the officer, contacted police to say she couldn’t reach his son by phone and felt he was being held against his will.
When officers went to the home and questioned Banks, he said the boy left. When the officers checked the home, they found the body in a hole in the attic and bloody clothes in a drawer.
When the officers started placing Banks in handcuffs, he tried to grab one officer’s gun, but other officers managed to detain him. Banks shouted, “My life is over.”
NBC News explained that in June, the mother sought an order of protection from Banks, citing mental and emotional abuse and alleged that he was stalking her.
[Sponsored Video from Sorenson: www.sorenson.com]
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Australian officials mandate masks, order lockdowns
Officials in Victoria, Australia announced all people aged 12 and above are to wear face masks in all workplaces, classrooms, and outdoors if social distancing is not possible due to an outbreak of Covid-19 with 11 new confirmed cases.
When you compare the U.S. and its daily cases in our states — for example Michigan had about 700 new cases yesterday — 11 cases sounds very low. But Victoria has almost entirely kept daily case numbers in the single digits since October 2020 despite having a population of over 6 million people.
The Victoria outbreak is partly blamed on a crew of movers from out of state who were infected and did not wear masks when they worked at an apartment.
Other parts of Australia are reporting higher than normal Covid-19 numbers. Sydney has been in a lockdown for three weeks already and it may be extended to July 30.
Australia has only 12% of its population fully vaccinated and news reports say people are frustrated with the government because the vaccine rollout has been slow.
To compare, in the U.S., the vaccination rate is nearly 50% fully vaccinated.
It seems like we’re going through opposite problems right now — the U.S. has plenty of vaccines but many don’t want to take them, while in Australia many want the vaccines but the government is struggling to meet the need.
Roy Moore’s lawsuit tossed
On Tuesday, a federal judge dismissed a $95 million defamation lawsuit from Roy Moore against comedian and actor Sacha Baron Cohen over an interview they had for Showtime’s “Who is America?” series.
Cohen tricked Moore into doing an interview with him by posing as an Israeli anti-terrorism expert who wanted to give him an award for his support of Israel. During the interview, Cohen said he had a special device that could detect pedophiles and when he waved it near Moore, it would beep. Moore immediately stopped the interview and walked away.
For context, Moore lost a U.S. Senate election in Alabama in 2017 after he was accused of sexual misconduct with underage girls when he was in his 30’s. Moore has denied the allegations.
The federal judge explained that Moore signed a release form which prohibited any legal claims over the interview. The judge also said the episode was clearly a joke and that no reasonable viewer would see it as something serious.
Schumer wants to decriminalize marijuana at federal level
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced he has a draft bill to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. The bill is called the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act.
Axios explained that it aims to remove marijuana from the “Controlled Substances Act” and for there to be a federal tax on marijuana products. Tax revenue would be used for grants to support communities most impacted by marijuana prosecutions.
The bill also proposes for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to not regulate marijuana anymore, instead placing that jurisdiction within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other agencies.
Although this is a strong proposal from Democrats, It is doubtful that the bill would get through a divided Senate because most Republicans are not ready to support progress on marijuana laws.
Only five U.S. states fully ban any kind of marijuana, while many allow it for medical reasons. 18 states allow it for recreational use. Marijuana is still illegal at the federal level, so many marijuana-related businesses can’t hold bank accounts among other restrictions.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-14/lego-demands-stop-to-us-company-toy-gun/100291810
https://culperprecision.com/
https://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article252736643.html
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-14/face-mask-rules-reintroduced-victoria-covid-health-department/100294588
https://www.smh.com.au/national/australia-news-live-nsw-cases-and-exposure-sites-grow-melbourne-awaits-testing-results-20210714-p589gt.html
Who is America Segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kaJaDx51iw
https://www.axios.com/marijuana-decriminalization-federal-schumer-0c48fd49-eb1c-49e9-9bbe-084a2dd97075.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/baltimore-officer-charged-murder-after-stepson-found-hidden-home-s-n1273932