Tears for the Defense: Eighteen-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse broke down in sobs yesterday as he testified about shooting and killing Joseph Rosenbaum, the first of two men he killed and one he wounded during street demonstrations in Kenosha, Wisconsin in August of 2020. It seemed theatrical, but reporters in the court later said the jury appeared to be moved by it and the judge called a break.

  Rittenhouse took the stand in support of his claim that he had acted in self-defense in all three shootings. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I defended myself,” Rittenhouse said.

  It was a dramatic day in which the prosecutor clashed with Judge  Bruce Schroeder, who has a tough reputation. 

  Rittenhouse had gone to Kenosha and volunteered to help protect a car dealership, armed with an AR-15 rifle and a small medical kit.

  During his testimony, Rittenhouse admitted that he routinely drove a car without a license and was present that night in violation of a police curfew. He also admitted that a friend bought his AR-15 rifle for him because he was too young to buy his own at the time and he ‘thought it was cool.”

  The prosecution is trying to prove that Rittenhouse recklessly inserted himself into the situation resulting in two deaths. Rittenhouse’s gun was loaded with full metal jacket rounds, a military grade bullet, but Rittenhouse said he didn’t know the difference, “A bullet is a bullet.”  

 Speaking of the Rosenbaum killing, Rittenhouse said, “A gunshot is fired from behind me, directly behind me.” He went on, “And I take a few steps, and that’s when I turn around. And as I’m turning around, Mr. Rosenbaum is, I would say, from me to where the judge is, coming at me with his arms out in front of him. I remember his hand on the barrel of my gun.”

  Rittenhouse said he knew he was using deadly force but at the same time did not intend to kill anyone. He shot Rosenbaum four times.

Paying More: The prices of everything from cars to gasoline and hamburgers are  rocketing. Overall, prices rose by 6.2 percent in the past 12 months, the fastest pace since 1990.

  “It’s worrisome, even though wages are going up,” President Biden said during remarks about ports and the shipping crisis yesterday afternoon at the Port of Baltimore.

  A collision of events is aggravating the problem. People are returning to workplaces after two years of pandemic isolation but there’s also a labor shortage. Jobs are going unfilled. The ports are jammed with incoming goods, causing shortages and higher prices in the stores. The price of motor fuels is up 59 percent from a year ago.

Getting Warmer: The United Nations climate agency on Wednesday issued its draft of an international agreement that urges participating countries “to accelerate the phasing out” of coal for fuel and stop subsidizing oil and gas.

  The goal is to limit global temperature rise by mid-century to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit over pre-industrial levels. The planet has already warmed by 1 degree Fahrenheit and going beyond 2.7, scientists say, the risk increases for deadly heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods, and the extinction of species. 

  The trouble with the accord is that it has no deadline, no penalties, and effectively, no teeth.

The Spin Rack: Residents of Flint Michigan exposed to lead in the drinking water by the city’s lead pipes will get a settlement totaling $626 million. — A federal judge rejected Donald Trump’s immediate appeal to withhold documents sought by the House committee investigating the January 6^th insurrection. — Scott Fairlamb, a former New Jersey gym owner, was sentenced to 41 months in prison for assaulting a police officer during the January 6^th Capitol insurrection, the stiffest sentenced meted out so far among 650 people charged in the riot. In another case, prosecutors are seeking a four-year sentence for Jacob Chansley, the “Q-Anon Shaman” who was shirtless wearing a furry horned headdress on the Senate floor. — A federal judge ruled that Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates in schools violates the rights of students with disabilities. That means schools may issue their own rules for masking.  

The Obit Page: Former South African President FW de Klerk, who dismantled the country’s vicious racial separation system known as apartheid, has died of cancer at age 85.

  de Klerk had climbed his country’s political ladder defending racial separation then shocked his country and the world with a change of direction when he became president in 1989. He released from prison South Africa’s world-noted apartheid protester Nelson Mandela and together the two men ended up sharing the Nobel Peace Prize.

Great Food: The FBI identified a previously unknown Capitol rioter through a restaurant review he posted online. They had been looking for a man who had been wearing a helmet and a sweater saying “Guns Don’t Kill People, Clintons Do.” Thomas Patrick Hamner posted his review along with a picture of himself which allowed the FBI to match him up with insurrection video. Hamner had posted, “Great food, close by, glad I found them,” and so is the FBI.

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