In the news:

- Sports news as cricketer Azeem Rafiq apologised for antisemitic posts on Twitter, days after he accused others of racism. It seems like he was caught out, very much like when he played for Yorkshire.
- Pret-a-Manger are apparently going on a hiring spree ahead of Christmas and are looking for people to fill lots of rolls
- Environmental news as Kerry Katona announced that her bank balance had achieved net zero

But the larger story this week was out of America, specifically Kenosha Wisconsin, after Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted on all charges, and it seems that the only people who are likely to go to jail are the those who immediately started rioting, setting fire to things and showing their discontent by going down to the Apple store to protest the verdict by stealing a Macbook Pro and maybe some Nike shoes while they’re in town. For those who didn’t follow the story he’s a brief rundown

- Last summer there was a large Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha Wisconsin following the shooting by police of an african-american man called Jacob Blake
- The protest very quickly turned violent
- Kyle Rittenhouse meanwhile was visiting his father and took a rifle with him when he went to defend a car dealership.
- A number of protestors attacked him and tried to beat and then shoot him to death. Shots were fired on both sides and in the end Kyle was alive but 2 of his attackers weren’t because apparently Kyle was a good shot whilst they had more troubleshooting than Windows 95
- Kyle was subsequently arrested and the court case was over whether he acted in self-defence or not. The jury decided that yes, he was within his rights to shoot back at people who were firing guns at him. The case seemed pretty black and white but therein lies the racial lens stories like this are reported through these days

The actual verdict in this case came as no surprise to anyone if they’d actually followed the facts. There was video footage of what happened and the star witness even admitted that he raised his weapon first. The case had largely become a real-life version of the Star Wars argument about whether Han shot first, except this being America it’s unclear which side is more vocal: Star Wars fans, or left wing political activists. To many, a court a case like this shouldn’t be about the facts, it should be about what they feel and be based on emotions and rather than determine the legal status of an individual incident, it should be solely based on settling a broader political question. The news media spent the last year portraying Rittenhouse as a domestic terrorist and to them it was so morally important to convict him that an MSNBC was given a restraining order preventing him going near the court-house after he started researching the names and addresses of the jurors so that if they acquitted him then he could publish everything online and let the mob enact their own form of vengeance-justice. Joe Biden, then still running for president, used an image of Rittenhouse as part of a campaign video denouncing white supremacy and there’s now talk that he could be sued for defamation. I guess because it’s not a proper court case in the States unless someone is being sued for millions of dollars, although Biden may have the last laugh if he settles and hands over the cash only to point out that thanks to his hyperinflation, 20 million dollars isn’t enough to buy a beer. For me the most American part of the story is the horrific corruption and nepotism in small-town America. The mayor John Antaramianlet the town burn for his own political ends. His cousin Ed Antaramian is the City Attorney. His nephew Michael Easton is the Kenosha City Judge. His other nephew is Tip McGuire who’s the State Representative and His other cousin is Laura Belsky the County Board Supervisor. That is insane, it’s like something crazy out of a tv show or movie. Maybe they’ll make a movie out of the Kyle Rittenhouse story, but just be careful telling someone you’re looking for shooting locations. Especially if you intend to hire Alec Baldwin.