Weekend …

Vatican insider: Pope Francis covered up abuse
> National Catholic Register
… former Vatican ambassador to U.S. … told Pope Francis in 2013 about sexual abuse against a prominent priest …  Francis took no action … calling for Francis to step down.
>> CBS News version

Judge slaps down White House union busters
> NPR

What happens to McCain’s Senate seat?
> Politico

Vietnam: Monsanto must pay for Agent Orange damage
> The Independent via Yahoo

Surprise! China’s first “homegrown” web browser a fake
> Shanghaist
Software startup a laughing stock on social media … claiming to develop China’s first  homegrown browser … exposed for copying Google.

In French city, it’s bloody war of butchers vs. vegans
> The Telegraph via Yahoo

Red Tide Update
> Anna Maria Island Sun
“The water is still reddish, brown and ugly looking. We’re still getting about the same level of (dead) fish each day as well. The occasional tarpon keeps coming up each day also.”
Pharmacist traded Oxy for blow jobs
> Tech Times
…. 64-year-old Richard Hiller … a licensed pharmacist in Towson, Maryland, admitted to filling out fraudulent opioid prescriptions … would direct women to back area of the pharmacy …. intercourse or other sexual acts in exchange …

TRUMP DUMP

[Weisselberg] knew where every nickel went to, he knew where every nickel came from,” said Travis Snell, a former assistant attorney general for New York state who worked on the Trump University case.
“And anybody who would want to know more about any of Trump’s finances, Weisselberg is going to have knowledge about all of that.”

Martin London, a lawyer who represented former Vice President Spiro Agnew, said that President Trump should resign from office to keep federal prosecutors from prosecuting his family.  “It’s only going to get worse.”

Pence shuts his yap (CNN)

Airport thugs sued … seized cell phone (The Register)

POLL: 70% support Medicare for all
The Hill
… also showed majority of Americans supports free college tuition … Forty-one percent of Republican … 79 percent of Democrats.
>>> ObamaCare more popular than GOP tax law…

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STUDY: No amount of alcohol safe…
AFP
Even an occasional glass of wine or beer increases the risk of health problems and dying… major study on drinking in 195 nations … 2.8 million premature deaths worldwide each year.
“There is no safe level of alcohol,” says … lead author for a consortium of more than 500 experts. … Presumably THIS study wasn’t funded by brewers, vintners and distillers. (Actually, the cash came from Gates Foundation.)

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Uh-oh. Trump Org’s finance guy flips
Raw Story
— Weisselberg has detailed information about all of  business and finance operations. … Trump granted Weisselberg and the two eldest Trump sons financial control over the organization after he was elected president.
>>>Trump Sought Advice on Pardoning Manafort…
Politico
“I am not aware of any conversations regarding that at all,” says press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. 
>>>Nat’l Enquirer boss granted immunity…
CNBC
 >>> Trump’s dirty secrets in a safe
AP

Those anti-vaxxers on Twitter were Russian trolls
Vice News

My wife did it, says indicted Congress dude
CNN

Georgia racists lose bid to close polling places
HuffPost

John Lennon’s killer denied parole 10th time
Time

Scientists puzzled by weird algae bloom in Lake Superior
Minnesota Public Radio

What is this weird Twitter army of Amazon drones cheerfully defending warehouse work?
Tech Crunch

San Francisco “robo-burger” wows the crowds
NPR
— Creator is not the only restaurant to feature a food-making robot while also making an effort to retain its humanity. Cafe X has three San Francisco locations. Each features a robotic coffee-making arm that can produce drinks in 30 to 40 seconds. Customers retrieve their beverages by punching in a texted code sent to their phone.

McSalad McParasites make hundreds Mcsick
McNBC New York
 CDC reporting 507 people in 16 states … diagnosed with  intestinal illness after consuming salads at McDonald’s … a 16 percent increase in cases in two weeks … 731 percent increase since the first announcement mid-July … raw food from McD? I think not.

Election handicapper Sabato moves 10 races toward Dems…
The Hill

Magic mushrooms to treat depression gets FDA okay…
Newsweek

NASA Chief Wants to Send Humans to Moon — ‘To Stay’…
Space.Com
“If you go back to 2009 … NASA made a critical discovery… moon has hundreds of billions of tons of water ice.  … that should have changed our direction immediately.”

The Athletic:  Sports Site Hiring Spree Becomes Story in Itself…
NY Times

8-year-old walks dog, mom gets visit from cops, social workers
Reason