IT: 🏛 Senate impeachment trial begins this week - Should they convict or acquit?

Welcome to Monday, February 8, exoskeletons and endoskeleton...

The Senate on Tuesday will begin the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump on the charge of “incitement of insurrection.” 

House Democrats will make their case for why they believe Trump committed high crimes and misdemeanors for his conduct in the weeks leading up to - and the morning of - the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

In a preview of their arguments for this week's trial, lawyers Bruce Castor and David Schoen wrote that the impeachment trial is unconstitutional as Trump is no longer in office, and denied his responsibility in inciting the Capitol attack.

"It is admitted that persons unlawfully breached and vandalized the Capitol, that people were injured and killed, and that law enforcement is currently investigating and prosecuting those who were responsible," Schoen and Castor argued.

"It is denied that... Trump incited the crowd to engage in destructive behavior. It is denied that the phrase 'if you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a country anymore' had anything to do with the action at the Capitol as it was clearly about the need to fight for election security in general, as evidenced by the recording of the speech."

Should the Senate convict Trump in his impeachment trial?

No $15 Minimum Wage for Now

During last week's Vote-a-Rama in the Senate, the upper chamber approved a measure that prohibits an increase of the federal minimum wage during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), who offered the No Federal Minimum Wage Hike to $15 During COVID amendment, said:

Do you support or oppose a $15 minimum wage?

Under the Radar

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday released its jobs report for January 2021, which found the U.S. economy added 49,000 jobs and the unemployment declined by 0.4 percentage points to 6.3%. The Dow Jones forecast of economists projected a gain of 50,000 jobs and the unemployment rate to remain at 6.7%.

About 4 million (or 40%) of Americans who were unemployed in January had been without a job for at least 27 weeks, as this USAFacts chart shows:

How do you feel about recent trends in the job market?

And, in the End…

Go exploit the forces of lift and drag on this National Kite Flying Day.

Kites were invented in Asia, though we can only speculate on their exact origin. Here's the 1766 woodblock Kite Flying by Suzuki Harunobu:

Too cold outside for kite flying? Stay in and mix up a bowl of cement for Oatmeal Monday,

—Josh Herman

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