| Republican says he will take Trump-promoted Covid-19 treatment after implying he contracted coronavirus by wearing a mask Posted: 30 Jul 2020 12:17 PM PDT  A Texas Republican who tested positive for Covid-19 wrongly suggested he may have contracted the novel coronavirus by wearing a face mask — and said he would be taking an unproven treatment touted by Donald Trump.Louie Gohmert (R—Tx) tested positive on Wednesday during a White House procedural screening just before he was set to fly with the president to Texas on Air Force One.
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| Biden Says He Wants to Play in Texas. His Website Makes It Impossible. Posted: 31 Jul 2020 12:17 AM PDT  Joe Biden's campaign says it wants to flip Texas. To do that, they have put nominal ad money into the state and publicly emphasized the importance of it. But up through this week, their main digital organizing tool for getting volunteers coordinated there was being hampered by what was chalked up as either a technical mistake or an operational work-in-progress. Searches for campaign-sanctioned events through the Biden online organizing page in major areas like Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, El Paso, Plano, Corpus Christi, and Lubbock all came up empty this week, with some results directing individuals to virtual events in nearby states like Arkansas. The issue arose between the Biden campaign and the Texas Democratic Party over which so-called "Mobilize" dashboard—a third party online search tool used by the Biden campaign—should be employed, the state party said. While there were and are virtual events being planned by the Texas Democratic Party in most of the major cities, they weren't visible through the Biden campaign's dashboard, only on the state party's page,By Thursday afternoon—after The Daily Beast posed questions to the state party and the campaign about searches coming up with no results—select events did begin to appear under some cities. But many cities continued to show no current or future events even when checking on various browsers and with various users. Dr. Jill Biden to Join Women in the World Texas and Shine a Spotlight on Military FamiliesThe general absence of information on events could potentially hurt the campaign's efforts to bring in volunteers in one of their targeted flip states. Those hoping to get involved in the Biden campaign's Texas operations are unable to do so through his website—a hurdle that was not apparent when looking for events in other target states like Arizona, Florida and Georgia. A Biden campaign official said that the "mobilize integration is still taking place in certain places like Texas, but the organizing events listed under the [Texas Democratic Party] are still very much our organizing events" and that "eventually, the events will populate in our mobilize [site] also." A spokesman for the Texas Democrartic Party also downplayed the significance of the matter by saying that the party was seeing strong enthusiasm. "We're doing a lot," said Abhi Rahman, the Texas Democratic Party's communications director. "...And we're getting a lot of attendance at all these too. We're not worried about that." The possibility of turning Texas blue in the general election has held a certain fascination among Democrats who saw former El Paso Rep. Beto O'Rourke come tantalizingly close to unseating Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in 2018. Those Democrats are now waiting for Biden to pick up where O'Rourke left off, with even his former rival speculating that the state will be in play on Nov. 3"Texas will be competitive in [the] presidential race," Cruz said to a group of reporters on AF1 on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg News. "I think the president will win Texas" he added, before acknowledging that "the hard left is angry." The Time to Argue About Biden's Economic Plans? After November 3.The promotional snafu around Biden's events could complicate the already uphill battle he faces in turning Texas blue. It also could provide another signal that the campaign's focus on the state is largely ceremonial. "My sense is Biden campaign has yet to really commit to Texas as a target," said Keir Murray, a Democratic strategist based in Houston. "It's big and pricey, and not necessary to win. That said, it is winnable. Maybe they're taking a wait and see approach?"The Biden campaign official pointed to several areas where they believe they've made significant progress in the state, such as holding "numerous open-press virtual events focused on Texas" with surrogates in recent months, including with O'Rourke. Biden's wife, Jill Biden, headlined a recent virtual event for Texas on home healthcare, and last week, the campaign launched their first general election ads in the state.Among Democrats in Texas, however, there is hope that Biden focuses more time and resources there. With 38 electoral votes, Texas offers an insurance policy of sorts that could help boost his pathway towards victory if he falls short in other states."If he wants to win Texas he's going to invest in Texas," Gilberto Hinojosa, the chair of the Texas Democratic Party, told The Daily Beast. "He's going to have to show a monetary presence in terms of advertisement, digital advertisement, and funding for organizers to expand what we're doing. It's still a close race."Publicly, the campaign has emphasized the state's significance. In an electoral strategy map shared with reporters in May, senior campaign officials listed only three states they were looking to "expand" in November towards the pathway to 270 delegates: Texas, Arizona, and Georgia. The campaign's rationale to make plays for those states was "based on 2018 trends," officials said at the time of the briefing. But recent data on money transferred from the Democratic National Committee, Biden Victory Fund, and Biden for President filed with the Federal Election Commission suggest that other states are being more aggressively targeted than Texas. The DNC has given $802,743 to the Arizona Democratic Party, while the Biden Victory Fund contributed $10,000. In Georgia, the DNC spent $553,097, with the Biden Victory Fund giving $5,000. In Florida, where Democrats have watched the disarray around the Republican National Convention unfold before Trump eventually withdrew from the planned event, the DNC spent nearly $2 million, while the Biden Victory Fund contributed $10,000 to the state's Democratic Executive Committee.Texas shows a smaller investment than Arizona and Florida, but slightly higher than Georgia, which is much smaller in size. Biden for President gave $2,500, Biden Victory Fund contributed $5,000, and the DNC chipped in $576,663, according to the data filed with the FEC. (The DNC has also provided voter data to Arizona, Florida, Georgia and Texas valued at $340,802, FEC records indicate).Hinojosa, the highest-ranking Democratic Party official in Texas, said that he has received a promise from the Biden campaign that they will be expanding their physical organizational presence in the near future, including adding a state director, deputy director, and senior advisers. But for now, national party committees, including the DNC, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee are doing most of the heavy lifting as part of a "coordinated campaign" for down ballot races. "There's already a serious commitment by the national party in Texas," Hinojosa said. "There is no question that it reduces the amount of investment that the Biden campaign would have to make in Texas, as compared to other states where you have not seen that commitment."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. 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| Appeal blocks NYCLU’s release of police discipline records Posted: 30 Jul 2020 10:34 AM PDT  A federal appeals court has halted a civil rights organization's plan to publish a database of New York City police disciplinary records, the latest twist in a lawsuit by public safety unions seeking to block their disclosure. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals interceded Wednesday after the unions appealed a district court judge's ruling that had cleared the way for the New York chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union to make the records public under a new state transparency reform. A stay will remain in effect at least until Aug. 18, when the appeals court said it will hear arguments.
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| Portland has become the focal point of Black Lives Matter protests in America, but it has a tortured history when it comes to race Posted: 30 Jul 2020 07:10 AM PDT  For years in Oregon's early history, white locals barred Black people from living in its borders. It's now one of the least diverse states in America.
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| South Korean general sacked over defector's return Posted: 30 Jul 2020 10:10 PM PDT  The man's departure only came to light when Pyongyang -- which insists it has not had any coronavirus cases -- announced at the weekend that a "runaway" who had returned across the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone was suspected of having the disease. Inter-Korean relations have been in a deep freeze following the collapse of a summit in Hanoi between Kim and US President Donald Trump early last year over what the nuclear-armed North would be willing to give up in exchange for a loosening of sanctions.
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| Nearly a third of Poland has declared 'LGBT-free zones.' The EU is denying funds to them. Posted: 31 Jul 2020 03:44 AM PDT  "EU values and fundamental rights must be respected by Member States and state authorities," said Commissioner Helena Dalli in a tweet Tuesday.
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| The White House reportedly scrapped a national testing plan because the virus was mostly hitting blue states Posted: 31 Jul 2020 08:23 AM PDT  Lives likely could've been saved if the White House had focused on people rather than politics when the pandemic began, Vanity Fair reports.Unlike other countries, the U.S. has struggled to present a unified national strategy on COVID-19 testing, and the country now leads the world both in confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths. But it reportedly had experts developing a testing plan since the virus' beginnings -- and then scrapped it entirely once it appeared the virus was largely hitting Democratic states, one expert tells Vanity Fair.Despite his lack of scientific or governmental experience, President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner took charge of the testing plan and stacked a team with "bankers and billionaires," Vanity Fair writes. But diagnostic testing experts were eventually called in, and the team created a plan to tackle testing supply shortages and delays in reporting results."The plan, though imperfect, was a starting point," Vanity Fair writes, and "would have put us in a fundamentally different place" today, one person who worked on it said. But it faced resistance from the top of the White House, where Trump reportedly worried high test numbers would hurt the economy and his re-election prospects. And perhaps most disturbingly, one member of the team suggested there was no point in rolling out the plan because the virus seemed to be hitting blue states, an expert told Vanity Fair. "The political folks believed that because it was going to be relegated to Democratic states, that they could blame those governors, and that would be an effective political strategy," the expert said.All of that might explain why Kushner was so hopeful just a few months ago. > Jared Kushner, April 29: "I think you'll see by June a lot of the country should be back to normal and the hope is that by July, the country's really rocking again."> > July 31: > > .> > -- Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) July 31, 2020More stories from theweek.com Could America split up? New Lincoln Project video imagines what it's like to wake up from a coma in 2020 'Massive undercount' feared as Census Bureau reportedly moves to end in-person count early
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| Hong Kong security law: Four students arrested for 'inciting secession' Posted: 29 Jul 2020 06:21 PM PDT  Those arrested include Tony Chung, the ex-leader of a group that called for Hong Kong independence.
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| These 13 states need to lock down now, according to Harvard coronavirus experts Posted: 30 Jul 2020 09:22 AM PDT  A report released by the Trump administration's coronavirus task force warns that 21 states are now in the "red zone" and need to take aggressive steps to slow the spread of COVID-19. But new guidelines from Harvard University show the task force's recommendations may be too weak to suppress the virus.
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| Letters to the Editor: Portland protesters, it's time to stop. You're playing into Trump's hands Posted: 31 Jul 2020 03:00 AM PDT  God forbid President Trump gets another four years in office because of average voters' disgust with violent protests.
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| In attempt to discourage people from funding the Syrian regime, the US State Department sanctions Bashar al-Assad's son Posted: 29 Jul 2020 10:23 PM PDT  "Syria sanctions are not intended to harm the Syrian people....or hinder our stabilization activities in northeast Syria," the State Department said.
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| Chinese scientist arrested after seeking medical care Posted: 30 Jul 2020 05:07 PM PDT |
| COVID-19 patient who had double transplant didn’t recognize body Posted: 31 Jul 2020 05:33 AM PDT  A Chicago woman who became the nation's first COVID-19 patient to undergo a double lung transplant said, "I looked at myself and couldn't recognize my body."
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| A Louisiana woman who planted seeds from a mysterious package says she's not worried. But the USDA is, and it's asking people not to plant these unknown seeds. Posted: 30 Jul 2020 09:10 PM PDT  "Then we saw the post saying don't plant them. I mean, I'm not scared about it, I'm not worried about it, but I guess people are," Aucoin told WAFB.
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| Fact check: Joe Biden didn't take a knee upon seeing a flag; he was talking to a child Posted: 30 Jul 2020 02:09 PM PDT  While visiting his childhood home this month, the presidential candidate kneeled to talk to a child. It's false to say he "took a knee" for the flag.
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| NYPD Perfected Chilling Arrests Way Before Feds in Portland Posted: 30 Jul 2020 01:41 AM PDT  It looked like one of the videos circulating from Portland, Oregon: Police officers surrounded a young woman and dragged her, kicking, into an unmarked van. But the footage, captured on Tuesday, wasn't the feds. It was the New York City Police Department.Nikki Stone, an 18-year-old activist, was a well-known figure at recent racial justice protests, and at Occupy City Hall, a since-disbanded local protest camp geared at cutting police funding. A homeless transgender woman, she previously told Gothamist that the protest encampment was one of the first places she felt safe from police. That ended when plainclothes police pulled Stone into an unmarked vehicle. Her arrest wasn't part of a federal insurgency but routine practice by NYPD, especially when used against the homeless and people of color, critics say. But now it was turned against an activist during protests specifically targeted at racism and police brutality.'It's Spooky Right Now': Inside the Creepy Federal Crackdown on Portland Protesters"This is standard operating procedure for the warrant squad, as far as I know," Eugene O'Donnell, a former NYPD officer, Brooklyn prosecutor, and current professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told The Daily Beast. He was referring to an NYPD division that seeks people with open warrants. "They would seek to make an arrest as quickly and as unobtrusively as possible. Therefore they use unmarked vehicles routinely."The NYPD, which did not return a request for comment on Wednesday, announced that Stone had been arrested on charges of criminal mischief and vandalism. Specifically, she was accused of spray-painting graffiti and painting on four police cameras around the site of the former Occupy City Hall protest encampment. The department confirmed that the warrant squad was behind the arrest.Jennvine Wong, a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society's Cop Accountability Project, said the aggressive arrest seemed out of step with the allegations against Stone."It seems to me that they should be prioritizing more serious cases than criminal mischief and graffiti," she told The Daily Beast.That said, arrests by plainclothes officers in unmarked cars—no matter their unit—are a fairly well-known phenomenon in New York City's public defender circles, she said. "We have all had clients who had that experience," Wong said. "It is something that is a well-known part of our practice. It may not happen every other day or every other week, but it is common enough to practitioners in the public defense world that they are familiar with these tactics. They know it happens and they have had more than one client it's happened to."Footage of Stone's aggressive arrest drew national attention for its similarities to arrests by federal agents in Portland, who stormed the city in an initiative cheered by President Donald Trump. Those agents have led a weeks-long campaign against local unrest, arresting some demonstrators in unmarked vans and widely deploying less-lethal weapons against the crowds. Trump recently announced the deployment of federal agents to more cities, but State Senator Zellnor Myrie, who represents parts of Brooklyn, said his constituents were used to such incidents."The video is incredibly disturbing and understandably inflames passions for those of us who want to see public safety done in a way that is compassionate," Myrie told The Daily Beast. "But this is not uncommon. What happened was unfortunate and tragic, and because it was captured on video, more people will be able to witness it, but in Black and brown communities, this is the type of treatment that we have been crying out about for decades. This is the type of treatment, the rough handling, the lack of notice, the disrespect, the use of force, all these things have plagued the communities I represent."Homeless people have also long been subject to arrest in unmarked NYPD vans, as Vice reported in 2015. A homeless man told the outlet NYPD sometimes entered homeless shelters late at night, seeking people with open warrants, and packed them into waiting vans with little notice. "You're asking, 'What's going on?' Then they crush you into the vans like sardines. And it's a freezer in there," he said.Myrie noted that marginalized communities also face raids from federal forces like immigration agencies—some of which were deployed against protesters in Portland. Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighborhood, which he represents, has seen Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids on restaurants accused of hiring undocumented people. In nearby Gravesend, Brooklyn, plainclothes ICE agents shot a 26-year-old man in the face while attempting to arrest his mother's boyfriend in February.Arrests like Stone's are "not new. There are a lot of open questions about the warrant squad's practices," Myrie said, noting that NYPD claims it uses unmarked vans for safety reasons.In a crowd of protesters who already distrust police, however, the arrest could have an additional chilling effect, compelling activists to be even more on the lookout for law enforcement. Myrie noted a recent history of NYPD crackdowns at protests, where officers have deployed pepper spray, cuffed journalists, and driven SUVs into crowds. "You can't expect the public to give you the benefit of the doubt when we see the type of aggressive environment and behavior that we believe is unwarranted," he said.The specter of arrest in an unmarked van only makes matters worse.In a moment when "this president has sent unmarked vehicles and unidentified law enforcement officials into people's protests, this warrants a very serious investigation and discussion," Myrie said.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| EU sanctions Russian intelligence, North Korean and Chinese firms over alleged cyberattacks Posted: 30 Jul 2020 10:43 PM PDT  The European Union on Thursday imposed travel and financial sanctions on a department of Russia's military intelligence service and on firms from North Korea and China over their suspected participation in major cyberattacks across the world. In its first ever sanctions related to cybercrime, the EU targeted the department for special technologies of the Russian military intelligence service, known as Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, it said in a statement. The bloc accused the Russian service of having carried out two cyberattacks in June 2017, which hit several companies in Europe resulting in large financial losses. The service is also accused of two cyberattacks against Ukraine's power grid in 2015 and 2016. Four individuals working for the Russian military intelligence service were also sanctioned for allegedly participating in an attempted cyberattack against the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the Netherlands in April 2018. North Korean company Chosun Expo was also sanctioned on suspicion of having supported the Lazarus Group, which is deemed responsible for a series of major attacks worldwide, including an $81 million (£61.74 million) heist against Bangladesh Bank's account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 2016, the world's biggest cyber fraud. The company is also allegedly linked to an attack against Hollywood film studio Sony Pictures to prevent the release of a satirical movie about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2014. The U.S. Treasury last year imposed sanctions on the Lazarus Group and two other North Korean hacking groups for their alleged participation in the attacks on Sony Pictures and the central bank of Bangladesh, among others. It said North Korea's main intelligence service was behind the hacking groups. North Korea has denied any involvement in cyberattacks. The EU sanctions also hit Chinese firm Haitai Technology Development, which is accused of having supported cyberattacks - known as Operation Cloud Hopper - aimed at stealing commercially sensitive data from multinationals across the world. Two Chinese individuals allegedly involved in the attacks were also sanctioned. Sanctions include travel bans and asset freezes. EU individuals, companies and other entities are forbidden from making funds available to those blacklisted. China's diplomatic mission to the European Union said in a statement early on Friday that China "is a staunch defender of network security and one of the biggest victims of hacker attacks." China wants global cyberspace security to be maintained through "dialogue and cooperation" and not by unilateral sanctions, the statement added.
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| Exclusive: CDC projects U.S. coronavirus death toll could top 180,000 by Aug. 22 Posted: 31 Jul 2020 10:05 AM PDT  As coronavirus cases have continued to rise in the U.S. throughout the summer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is forecasting that the total American death toll from COVID-19 could hit 182,000 by the fourth week of August, according to an internal government document obtained by Yahoo News. More than 150,000 Americans have died due to coronavirus as of Thursday, according to the latest CDC numbers, which were included in a July 30 senior leadership brief. The new projection, which has not yet been publicly released, contradicts the more optimistic portrait that President Trump and others in his administration have painted about the pandemic.
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| Russia opens criminal case against Kremlin critic after planned anti-Putin protest Posted: 31 Jul 2020 05:25 AM PDT  Russian authorities said on Friday they had opened a criminal case against an opposition Moscow city councillor who had planned a rally against President Vladimir Putin because she had allegedly violated laws on street protests. The Moscow branch of Russia's Investigative Committee, the body that probes serious crimes, said Yulia Galyamina had "repeatedly violated the established procedure" for organising and staging protests, rallies and pickets. Galyamina was involved in a campaign against what she said were Putin's illegal plans to remain in power.
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| Ex-police officer in George Floyd death asks for charges to be dropped Posted: 30 Jul 2020 05:24 AM PDT  A police officer charged in connection with the death of George Floyd has applied to have his charges dropped, court documents show.Lawyers for Tou Thao, 34, have put forward a motion stating that the former Minneapolis police officer could not have known that Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes, was about to commit a crime.
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| Two pilots dead after firefighting planes collide while battling Nevada Fire; NTSB investigating Posted: 30 Jul 2020 08:57 PM PDT  Two airplanes have collided while battling a 500-acre wildfire in southeastern Nevada, according to authorities.
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| Killer of Rafiki, Uganda's rare silverback mountain gorilla, jailed Posted: 30 Jul 2020 03:27 AM PDT  The Ugandan hunter said that he had killed the animal in self defence when he was attacked.
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| Fauci Recommends Wearing Goggles or Eye Shields to Protect against Coronavirus Posted: 30 Jul 2020 05:21 AM PDT  Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, suggested Wednesday that Americans consider wearing goggles or an eye shield in addition to face masks to ensure more complete protection against the coronavirus. "If you have goggles or an eye shield, you should use it," he said in an interview with ABC News on Instagram Live Wednesday.While eye protection isn't "universally recommended" at this time, he said it could become a standard recommendation "if you really want perfect protection of the mucosal surfaces." > Dr. Anthony Fauci to @DrJAshton: "If you have goggles or an eye shield, you should use it. It's not universally recommended, but if you really want to be complete, you should probably use it if you can." https://t.co/SJPZn8fN6F pic.twitter.com/Ml87aBuclI> > -- ABC News (@ABC) July 29, 2020"You have mucosa in the nose, mucosa in the mouth, but you also have mucosa in the eye," he continued. "Theoretically, you should protect all the mucosal surfaces. So if you have goggles or an eye shield you should use it."While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already recommends wearing a face mask that covers the nose and mouth in public, the virus can also enter through the eyes."If you really want to be complete, you should probably use it if you can," he said, noting that the reason eyewear hasn't been recommended yet is "it's so easy for people to just make a cloth mask."Heading into the fall, which health experts have warned may be "one of the most difficult times that we have experienced in American public health" as COVID-19 and influenza converge, Fauci is encouraging people to get vaccinated against the flu. He hopes face masks will protect from the flu as well as the coronavirus, ABC reported.
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| Doctors behind viral COVID-19 misinformation video met with Vice President Pence Posted: 29 Jul 2020 12:02 PM PDT  A group of doctors who took part in a viral video that was taken down Tuesday by social media companies for spreading disinformation about the coronavirus met with Vice President Mike Pence, according to the co-founder of a group that organized the event.
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| Joe Biden's running mate - none will satisfy all sections of the party Posted: 30 Jul 2020 01:00 AM PDT  Kamala Harris? Val Demings? Democrats speculate but no single candidate will be able to satisfy all the interest groups and sectors of the partyIt doesn't matter who Joe Biden picks as his running mate – somebody will be disappointed.The former vice-president and de facto Democratic presidential nominee on Tuesday said he would make a selection in the first week of August.The selection process has largely been kept secret with as many as two dozen names floating around as potential running mates.Vice-presidential nominees rarely decide elections and the common rule among political operatives is that a candidate should pick someone who does no harm. But in the 2020 presidential cycle, Biden's selection has added importance. If he wins the 2020 presidential election, Biden has indicated that he may not run for re-election, immediately putting his vice-president into contention for 2024.Biden's public criteria for the role are that it be someone he feels "simpatico" with, and it be a woman. He recently said there were "four Black women" he was considering picking. Democrats close to Biden's inner circle believe Biden has narrowed his pool down to about six names but he is still very much undecided.But among the many candidates mentioned by Biden himself, or anonymous Democratic operatives in articles gaming out his choices, or pundits, there is no single person who would satisfy all the interest groups and sectors of the Democratic party, each of which has its favorites.Democrats hoping to elevate someone with law enforcement credentials would like to see the Florida congresswoman Val Demings, a former chief of the Orlando police department.But progressives and their affiliated groups have pushed for someone like the Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams or Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren."The campaign needs to show progressives across this country that he recognizes that the future of the party is with progressives and the only way to do that is by choosing a really strong progressive to be his vice-presidential candidate," said Charles Chamberlain, the executive director of the progressive Democracy for America outside group.At one point centrists in the party were hoping for the Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar before Klobuchar took herself out of the running. Meanwhile, mayors across the country would like to see one of their own get the nod – someone like Atlanta's Keisha Lance Bottoms.Democrats who think executive experience and a history of winning statewide elections want someone like the Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer, or the New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. Others who think a military background would help Biden oust Donald Trump have pushed for the Illinois senator Tammy Duckworth.And in recent days the former Obama administration national security adviser Susan Rice has been a hot topic of political articles about Biden's potential running mate.But no single candidate fits the bill for everyone.Dorian Warren, the president of the progressive organizing group Community Change, who wants Biden to pick Abrams and said she would be disappointed if she were overlooked. "But it depends on who the pick ultimately is. But there would be disappointment, for sure. I think, second, is what could the Biden team imagine the next best use of [Stacey Abrams]?"The Abrams team have been aggressive in putting forward her candidacy. They eagerly set up interviews with reporters and Abrams surrogates like Warren. Abrams has also appeared at multiple fundraising events for Biden.Other groups have also been active in support of their choices. The Democratic veterans group VoteVets have released ads pushing for Duckworth."Tammy was kind of the only veteran out there that they were looking at," said Jon Soltz, the chairman of VoteVets. "The point of what we were trying to do was show what that would look like and that she should be considered."Mayors across the country enjoy a tight community. One of the more prominent mayors, Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles, is on the committee charged with helping Biden make his pick. His counterparts in other cities have expressed their support for Bottoms or Demings."The Florida mayors particularly have been pushing for Demings," said the maor of Dayton, Ohio, Nan Whaley. "We have Keisha in the mix too which we're excited about as a mayor."It's possible Biden will infuriate varying sectors of the Democratic party depending on who he picks. If he picks a Caucasian women, Biden risks disappointing the African American community. If Biden picks a centrist he could disappoint the progressive wing of the party and depress turnout among activists in that wing. If Biden picks a progressive, he might turn off moderates and Republicans the campaign and its allies have been working to woo.If he picks a member of Congress, that could give pause to voters eager to see an executive join the former vice-president. A recent poll conducted for the liberal thinktank Data for Progress found that independent voters want Biden to put an emphasis on "governing effectiveness" in picking a running mate.And if he picks someone like Rice or Abrams, that could worry Democrats who think Biden's running mate needs a record of winning elections statewide. Neither Abrams or Rice have ever won elections statewide. And Rice has never run a federal campaign, although she took a serious look about challenging the Republican senator Susan Collins in Maine.In recent days a set of donors have warned Biden against picking Harris, according to a CNBC report. But Biden's peril only extends so far. More so than in past cycles, Democrats across the party say they just want to see Biden beat Trump."I would say that if Biden picks someone besides Tammy Duckworth we're still going to enthusiastically attack Donald Trump," Soltz said.
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| Israel says it arrested Hamas militant who fled strip by sea Posted: 30 Jul 2020 07:44 AM PDT |
| Man fires 'warning shots' in Miami hotel lobby after telling guests 'you all aren't social distancing' Posted: 30 Jul 2020 11:20 AM PDT  A man was arrested in Florida after firing "four warning shots" and telling a mother and her son that they weren't social distancing in a hotel lobby.
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| What Pullout? Feds Gas Moms in Fresh Portland Crackdown Posted: 30 Jul 2020 08:31 AM PDT  PORTLAND—With roughly two-dozen federal officers in riot gear marching towards her, Demetria Hester linked arms with two other mothers in yellow shirts. "Hands up!" she chanted. "Don't shoot!" responded the crowd, warily watching a line of federal agents coming towards them from behind a cloud of tear gas and smoke from munition fire. Though the number of protesters in downtown Portland had dwindled to about 100 shortly after midnight Thursday, the number of federal agents out on the streets was larger than ever. Hours after Oregon Governor Kate Brown announced the gradual removal of federal law enforcement officers from Portland, more than 200 of those officers were clashing with protesters outside the federal courthouse, using tear gas to clear the surrounding streets.Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and President Donald Trump had disputed the governor's announcement, the former tweeting that federal officers would "remain in Portland until the violent activity toward our federal facilities ends." And if the scene in Portland early Thursday morning was any indication, the unrest there isn't close to finished.The line of federal agents, holding shields and riot shotguns, shoved a wall of protesters back from the front of the courthouse. Then came the tear gas, lobbed into the crowd by U.S. Marshals and officers with the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. 'It's Spooky Right Now': Inside the Creepy Federal Crackdown on Portland ProtestersProtesters frantically dodged the flying thick metal canisters and backed away from the rising smoke. With her hands still in the air, Hester pulled down a respirator mask over her mouth. "Hands up!" she kept chanting through her mask, and then slid on a pair of goggles. "Don't shoot!" came the crowd's reply, muffled by the sting of tear gas and the sound of jostled bodies. After tackling and arresting a protester, federal officers continued throwing tear gas into the crowd to clear the area. Her bloodshot eyes tearing up, Hester backed away from the heavy volley of teargas and munitions, coughing into her respirator. "We weren't doing anything wrong," she told The Daily Beast between coughs. "We were just peacefully protesting." Indeed, before officers closed in, Hester and the other demonstrators standing in front of the courthouse had been peacefully chanting. "George Floyd." "Breonna Taylor." "Black Lives Matter." Earlier in the night, however, a small number of protesters had become violent: shining lasers at officer's faces and chucking fireworks at the federal courthouse. Now it appeared police officers were targeting specific people for arrest, and tear gassing anyone else in the way. Another demonstrator dressed in yellow—the designated color of the so-called "Wall of Moms," a group of mothers focused on defending Black lives from police brutality—offered Hester a moist towelette to rub across her stinging eyes. Though Hester came out Wednesday night to protest police brutality alongside other yellow-shirted moms, the 45-year-old mother of two and grandmother of three has been active in the Black Lives Matter movement since May 2017. It was then Hester was assaulted by convicted killer Jeremy Christian the day before he killed two men on a Portland commuter train following a racist tirade. In her testimony, Hester said she interrupted Christian as he was screaming about minorities, after which he hit her in the face with a bottle, badly bruising her right eye. The next day, Christian directed another racist tirade at a small group of young girls, and fatally stabbed two men who interfered. The trial ended late last month with a sentence of life in prison without parole. "It was really after that trial that I started coming down here," Hester said of the protest site, where a final burst of intense clashes were coming to an end. Hester and a few other mothers asked me where my car was and insisted on walking me there, because "that's what moms do." Hester, alongside several other Black activist mothers, has helped take charge of the Wall of Moms alongside a group called Moms United for Black Lives after the former's original founder was accused of "anti-blackness."Amid the chaos on the street, Hester recounted the day she was attacked by Christian, when she approached an officer with the Portland Police Bureau and pointed her attacker out. Christian was not arrested."That white supremacist got special treatment from the police. That's not acceptable," she said, pausing to spit out the taste of tear gas. "And that's what we're here fighting for today." So even if the feds did pull out of her city, it was hard to imagine activists like Hester would be satisfied."It won't make a difference if they leave or stay," Hester said, referring to the federal officers. "It all comes down to white privilege in this country." Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. 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| What is the SpaceX Crew Dragon? Posted: 31 Jul 2020 03:34 AM PDT  A guide to SpaceX's Crew Dragon vehicle, which carries astronauts to the space station.
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| Huge rise in Americans researching how to move to New Zealand - where coronavirus is under control Posted: 31 Jul 2020 07:38 AM PDT  The number of Americans researching how to move New Zealand, where the coronavirus pandemic has been kept under control, has risen 160 per cent.According to The New Zealand Herald, some 112,800 more Americans visited New Zealand's immigration website last month compared to the same time last year.
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| Malaysia's ruling coalition stumbles as key ally quits political pact Posted: 30 Jul 2020 01:21 AM PDT  The biggest party in Malaysia's ruling coalition withdrew from a political alliance with the prime minister on Thursday, two days after its former leader and premier Najib Razak was sentenced to jail over the multi-billion dollar 1MDB scandal. The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party said it would continue to support the government in parliament, but the move still undermines Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's administration. UMNO makes up the largest bloc in the coalition, which has only a two-seat pariliamentary majority.
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| 3 Georgia inmates are being praised for rescuing their guard after he fell unconscious and split his head open Posted: 30 Jul 2020 12:03 PM PDT  The story of the inmates' rescue drew attention on social media and prompted donations to the inmates' accounts, according to the sheriff's office.
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| Hurricane Isaias slams Puerto Rico, could hit Florida on weekend Posted: 30 Jul 2020 09:22 PM PDT  The storm will bring "potentially life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides" to Puerto Rico and elsewhere in the Caribbean, forecasters said.
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| China celebrates completion of rival sat navigation system Posted: 30 Jul 2020 10:41 PM PDT |
| EU extends ban on American travelers – again – with US COVID-19 cases far outpacing European countries Posted: 31 Jul 2020 09:03 AM PDT  For the second time this month, the European Union extended its travel ban on Americans on Thursday, as U.S. COVID-19 infections continued to rise.
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| Ignorance turns to outrage as cancel culture comes for Norwegian flag at Michigan B&B Posted: 30 Jul 2020 08:37 PM PDT  Owners of bed and breakfast in Saint Johns, Michigan removed Norwegian flag after passers-by mistook it for Confederate flag; reaction from Princeton professor Robert George.
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| Austin, Texas, joins growing number of U.S. cities in declaring racism a 'public health crisis' Posted: 30 Jul 2020 12:18 PM PDT  Dozens of cities and counties have passed similar declarations in the wake of George Floyd's death.
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| Barbie shuts down Donald Trump Jr.'s snide tweet about new campaign dolls Posted: 30 Jul 2020 07:57 AM PDT  Donald Trump Jr. has a theory about the new Barbie doll collection, featuring a Black female presidential candidate and her all-woman campaign team.
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| One US Marine is dead and 8 are missing after an amphibious assault vehicle accident off Southern California Posted: 31 Jul 2020 02:45 AM PDT  The US Marine Corps said the accident took place during a routine training exercise near the island of San Clemente.
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| Did the CIA Torture an Undercover DEA Agent for a Mexican Drug Cartel? Posted: 31 Jul 2020 12:11 AM PDT  Narcos: Mexico's first two seasons revolve around the 1985 murder of undercover DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, who was abducted, tortured and slain by the Guadalajara Cartel he was investigating. Mining thrilling drama from reality, the Netflix series is a true story about bravery and villainy that's overflowing with larger-than-life figures, be it the bold Camarena, the ruthless cartel kingpins Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo and Rafael Caro Quintero, or the resolute DEA agents intent on bringing to justice those responsible for their comrade's killing—the latter group led by Walt Breslin, a take-no-prisoners American tasked with leading the retaliatory mission against the drug lords.Unlike most of those featured in Netflix's hit, Walt Breslin isn't a real person but a composite character based largely on DEA agent Hector Berrellez, the supervisor of the inquiry into Camarena's assassination. And in Amazon's new The Last Narc, Berrellez tells his own harrowing tale of taking on Guadalajara's kingpins—and in the process delivers revelations about the U.S. government's own culpability in the death of one of their own.Netflix Exposes Trump's Shady Mob Ties in 'Fear City: New York vs. The Mafia'The Nazi Hunter Taking On Mark ZuckerbergDirected by Tiller Russell, The Last Narc is a four-part docuseries (premiering July 31) about the vast conspiracy that fatally ensnared Camarena. In a dim, empty bar illuminated only by light streaming through a background doorway and window, the candid Berrellez recounts his own involvement in the War on Drugs. Brought up by a tarot card-reading mom (here seen plying her supernatural trade), and compelled to pursue a law-enforcement career after his brother became hooked on heroin at age 12, Berrellez is a bearded, weathered cowboy with a glint in his eyes that says he means business. Forthrightly reminiscing about pulling guns on suspects—and shooting down one dealer during an undercover bust gone awry—he instantly comes across as the real deal, and thus a fascinating tour guide into this sordid cartel milieu.Berrellez's career took off once he joined the DEA, and he was soon ordered to figure out who had done in Camarena. According to wife Geneva "Mika" Camarena and colleagues Mike Holm and Phil Jordan, Camarena was a daring and driven agent determined to take down the mighty Guadalajara Cartel, and he certainly put a dent in their empire when he discovered (and, with the help of pilot Alfredo Zavala, photographed from the sky) Rancho Búfalo, a sprawling marijuana plantation that was subsequently torched by Mexican soldiers, thereby costing the cartel billions. On its own, that blow was enough to put Camarena in Gallardo, Quintero and Carrillo's crosshairs. But worse still, it indicated that he was closing in on them, even though they had virtually everyone on their payroll, from local cops and politicians to Miguel de la Madrid, the then-current president of Mexico, as well as his predecessor, Jose Lopez Portillo.On February 7, 1985, the cartel struck, seizing Camarena as he left the office to meet Mika for lunch. At 881 Lope de Vega—a residence owned by Ruben Zuno Arce, a dealer and associate of Quintero—Camarena was horribly tortured, and kept alive (so he could suffer more) by doctor Humberto Álvarez Machaín. After 36 hours, he fell into a coma and was lethally bludgeoned with a piece of rebar by one of Quintero's gunmen. He was then buried in Arce's La Primavera forest (a de facto cartel graveyard), only to later be dug up so he could be "found" by authorities.Berrellez's knowledge of cartel culture and operations is extensive and compelling, as is his explanation of the investigative hurdles he faced while trying to take down his targets. His insights alone make The Last Narc an eye-opening non-fiction account of underworld mayhem. Russell's series, however, also benefits from the input of three cartel henchmen—Jalisco State Police officers Jorge Godoy and Rene Lopez, and their boss Ramon Lira—who relay their experiences as bodyguards for Gallardo, Quintero and Carrillo, as well as their direct participation in Camarena's kidnapping and murder, all before they switched sides and became informants for Berrellez. From describing that broad-daylight snatching of Camarena, to revealing how Carrillo and Quintero argued about how to deal with their prisoner (the former wanted him released; the latter wanted him offed), their commentary affords a window onto a clandestine world fueled by greed, mercilessness, substance abuse and a sense of invulnerability.Stunning first-person details abound in The Last Narc, provided by colorful characters led by Berrellez—a no-nonsense crime fighter who seems tailor-made for a big-screen action franchise, even in older age—and Godoy, who behaves in such a weird manner during his interview that it's not clear if he's drunk, mad, or some combination of the two. In a late scene, Godoy closes his eyes and brushes at his shoulders to dispel the spirits (of Camarena, and others) that haunt him. It's a sight that's all the more transfixing for being so weird, and it's in keeping with the general gonzo nature of the proceedings, which (as in Narcos: Mexico) eventually implicate the CIA and DEA as complicit in Camarena's execution. Led by Berrellez and others' testimony, the series contends that Cuban-born CIA agent Felix Rodriguez partially conducted Camarena's interrogation and torture, because the U.S. government feared that he had stumbled upon a much larger conspiracy—namely, that the CIA was in bed with the cartels, moving guns, drugs and cash through them in order to covertly fund Nicaragua's anti-communist Contras.That theory might not be new, but Berrellez's discussion about his primary role in exposing the scheme—and the personal and professional ramifications he suffered as a result—lends it persuasive credence. The Last Narc thus transforms from a simple murder-mystery into a wide-ranging expose about the entangled relationship between the CIA, the Mexican government, the DFS (Mexico's secret police, created by the CIA) and the cartels. In doing so, it renders Camarena a casualty of a war that was fundamentally unwinnable, since all interested parties had a stake in maintaining the status quo, regardless of the harm it caused the Mexican and American populations. Consequently, the lasting impression left by Russell's series isn't shock or outrage, but despair over a plague supported by a greedy many, and combated by a courageous few who, for their heroic efforts, received nothing but disgrace and death.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| India scraps English as mandatory language in primary schools amid nationalist surge Posted: 31 Jul 2020 07:00 AM PDT  India will scrap the mandatory use of English in its primary schools, with subjects instead taught in Hindi or regional languages like Punjabi, for the first time since its independence in 1947. The controversial move is part of the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the largest educational shake-up in India in 34 years, which was spearheaded by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Hindu-nationalist youth wing, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). As part of the reforms, school syllabuses will focus on "ancient Indian knowledge". Abolishing compulsory English is seen as a way to promote a united Indian identity from an early age. For much of the BJP's support base, English is associated with colonial times and the old corrupt ruling Indian elite which followed afterwards and its abolishment as a mandatory language fits Mr. Modi's wider policy of driving Indian nationalism. While only 0.02 percent of India's 1.38 billion citizens speak English as a mother tongue, it was seen as the vital bridge in a diverse country where 19,500 different languages and dialects are spoken. Parents took to social media to express their anger at the decision, saying it would reduce their children's future employment prospects, with fluent English considered essential for highly-coveted and well-paid jobs overseas. "Why would any progressive country want to eliminate [the] English language from primary school? India enjoys a global advantage for we have the highest English speaking workforce, we are heading towards disaster," wrote one user on Twitter.
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| US frowns upon Iranian supermarket in Venezuela's capital Posted: 30 Jul 2020 02:21 PM PDT  U.S. officials frowned upon the opening of an Iranian supermarket in Venezuela's capital, saying Thursday that any presence of Iran in the Western Hemisphere is "not something we look very favorably on." Acting Assistant Secretary for U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Michael Kozak told journalists in a call that the opening of the market shows this is like an alliance of "pariah" states. "I would be surely surprised if Venezuela is able to obtain much benefit from Iran," said Kozak in his response to a reporter's question about the supermarket.
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