Good morning! Here is your news briefing for Tuesday July 13, 2021
1.) THE DAILY SIGNAL
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2.) THE EPOCH TIMES
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3.) DAYBREAK
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4.) THE SUNBURN
Sunburn — The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics — 7.13.20
Good Tuesday morning.
Here’s hoping today is the day Michelle comes home from the hospital. In the meantime, Sunburn is chock full of news and scoops.
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It seems 2022 will be a watershed year for the future of gambling in Florida.
Finance reports for June showed at least $42 million in contributions to a handful of new committees on the block, all of which hope to reshape the state’s gambling laws four years after an amendment reserved that right for Florida voters.
Florida Education Champions posted the most, showing a $20 million rake through eight-figure checks from DraftKings and FanDuel.
Last month, the committee announced its intentions: It wants to open up the state’s sports betting market to all comers sans oversight from the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which was granted exclusive rights to run the industry in a new Gaming Compact approved by lawmakers in May.
But two other committees with more nebulous goals also filed reports that would be considered colossal even if the election were 16 weeks out, let alone 16 months.
The first, Florida Voters in Charge, showed a $17 million check from Las Vegas Sands, the multibillion-dollar resort and casino company built by the late Sheldon Adelson and still controlled by his family. The company has wanted a Vegas-style resort-casino in South Florida for years, but committee spokesperson Sarah Bascom stopped short of saying that’s their goal in 2022.
She said the committee is simply “contemplating various options with no intention to violate the recently passed compact/revenue sharing agreement.”
And then there’s People Against Regulatory Legislation Addressing You — an explication for PARLAY — which Magic City Casino staked with $15 million. Similar to Florida Voters in Charge, the committee did not lay out any specific goals.
According to committee chair Isadore Havenick, the group will “make sure our family business and other multigenerational family businesses are not excluded from any conversations that could cannibalize us.”
One final committee has yet to show its hand: Voters in Control.
The committee’s first finance report hasn’t been parsed by the Division of Elections. Still, sources tell Florida Politics that it will show a significant contribution from the Seminole Tribe when it goes live. The Tribe is hoping to squash amendments that would open the door for more operators, tacitly muting the significance of its historic win with the new Gaming Compact.
Seminole Gaming spokesperson Gary Bitner said as much.
“This is millions of out-of-state corporate dollars to try and manipulate the people of Florida, who are smarter than that. They think they can buy their way into the state. Our team intends to use our Florida dollars to protect the interests of the people of Florida,” he said in a statement to Florida Politics.
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Personnel note: Alan Williams appointed Asst. Deputy Secretary at Joe Biden’s HUD — The Department of Housing and Urban Development has tapped Williams, a former member of the Florida House of Representatives, for a key post. Williams was named deputy assistant secretary for intergovernmental relations in the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations. “These talented and diverse individuals join HUD ready to deliver results for the American people by tackling our nation’s housing challenges to build a stronger, more equitable America,” HUD provided in a statement. Williams served in the Legislature from 2008 to 2016, at which point he was term-limited. During his time in the House, he chaired the Florida Legislative Black Caucus and worked as House Democratic Whip from 2012 to 2016.
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Personnel note: Bob Asztalos heads to Florida Department of Veterans Affairs — Longtime Florida Health Care Association lobbyist Asztalos is now working as the Deputy Executive Director at the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs. Asztalos is a veteran government relations pro — he spent 30 years lobbying for FHCA and was also tasked with coordinating the association’s emergency response efforts. He retired from FHCA late last year and has spent the past eight months working as an emergency management consultant for his own firm, Asztalos & Associates. The George Washington University graduate has also served as the Nursing Home Stakeholders Team Leader at the State Emergency Operations Center since 2004.
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Personnel note: Vivian Myrtetus now partnerships and policy head at Helbiz — Myrtetus has a new top spot in the micro-mobility world. A former Southeastern U.S. government relations manager at Spin and government relations senior manager at Lime has joined Helbiz as its head of partnerships and policy. In the new role, Myrtetus will help the company expand its business into new markets across North America, working closely with local government officials, lawmakers and universities. “We are thrilled to welcome Vivian to our team,” Helbiz founder and CEO Salvatore Palella said. “Her appointment as Head of Partnerships and Policy is fully in line with our strategic plan to expand into new markets and will continue to position Helbiz as a leader within the micro-mobility space.”
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Personnel note: Becker brings on Chris Berardini — Law and lobbying firm Becker welcomed Berardini to its federal lobbying practice this week. He comes to the firm from Iron Bridge Strategies, a boutique firm he founded. Before that, he spent 13 years working as a Chief of Staff in Congress. “We are very excited that Chris has joined our team. We know that our clients will greatly benefit from his international, legislative, and corporate experience,” said Omar Franco, head of Becker’s federal lobbying practice. Berardini played a key role in the passage of The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act Reauthorization Act, The Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 and The Multinational Species Conservation Funds Semipostal Stamp Act. He was also instrumental in securing funding for New York and New Jersey following Hurricane Sandy.
— SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —
— @marcorubio: For those new to the issue of #Cuba the protests we are witnessing was started by artists, not politicians. This song #PatriaYVida powerfully explains how young Cubans feel. And its release was so impactful, you will go to jail if caught playing it in Cuba
Tweet, tweet:
—@JakeSullivan46: The U.S. supports freedom of expression and assembly across Cuba, and would strongly condemn any violence or targeting of peaceful protesters who are exercising their universal rights.
—@SenJanetCruz: For over half a century, #Cuba has suffered at the hands of its government. Make no mistake, their current situation has been exacerbated by the pandemic, but this has been a long time coming. They are pleading for food, medicine, and the restoration of their country. We must support the brave men and women in Cuba, who are risking their lives in order to stand up to the oppressive regime. I stand by them and their relentless fight for the freedom they deserve.
— @CortesBob: Looks like I will live to see a #CubaLibre before I see #PRStatehood. I’m good with that as our Cuban Brothers and Sisters are long overdue. #keepfighting #SOSCuba #PatriaYVida
— @alextdaugherty: .@SenRickScott on Cuba protests: “We cannot return to [Barack] Obama–Biden appeasement policies. We cannot lift sanctions or restore diplomatic relations with the Cuban dictatorship.”
Tweet, tweet:
— @brhodes: The Cuban people suffer doubly from a repressive government and a cruel U.S. embargo. They deserve policies that empower them and help them improve their lives.
— @antoniogm: Cellphones were illegal in Cuba until 2008. Even basic 3G data on phones wasn’t available until 2018 (and is still prohibitively expensive). Still, you’re seeing images of government repression come out of Cuba that would have been impossible even a couple years ago.
— @ric23: Strongly worded statement by @POTUS in support of the Cuban people. But we need more than strong words. We need direct diplomacy and an easing of sanctions that, as Biden recognized, “have done nothing to advance democracy or human rights” or curb COVID-19 spread in #Cuba.
—@MiamiAbel: I’m already sick of Republicans using this for their own politics. Democrats are not Communists. Democrats don’t want the U.S. to turn into Cuba. And if you want to have a conversation about authoritarianism, let’s talk about the GOP curbing FREE SPEECH and PROTEST in Florida.
—@Dgleick: Every time we do a tweet about Haiti, all the comments are “what about Cuba!?” and every time we do a tweet about Cuba, all the comments are “what about Haiti?!” and I want to die.
—@realStanVG: Just finished reading the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and all 27 Amendments. Doesn’t take long, and I don’t think I’d done it since I was a college freshman which was a couple of years ago.
Tweet, tweet:
— DAYS UNTIL —
Jeff Bezos travels into space on Blue Origin’s first passenger flight — 7; new start date for 2021 Olympics — 10; second season of ‘Ted Lasso’ premieres on Apple+ — 10; the NBA Draft — 15; ‘Jungle Cruise’ premieres — 17; ‘The Suicide Squad’ premieres — 24; Marvel’s What If …? premieres on Disney+ — 29; Florida Behavioral Health Association’s Annual Conference (BHCon) begins — 36; St. Petersburg Primary Election — 42; Disney’s ‘Shang Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings’ premieres — 52; NFL regular season begins — 58; Broadway’s full-capacity reopening — 63; 2022 Legislative Session interim committee meetings begin — 69; ‘The Many Saints of Newark’ premieres (rescheduled) — 73; ‘Dune’ premieres — 80; Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary party starts — 80; MLB regular season ends — 82; ‘No Time to Die’ premieres (rescheduled) — 87; World Series Game 1 — 106; Florida TaxWatch’s Annual Meeting begins — 106; St. Petersburg Municipal Elections — 112; Florida’s 20th Congressional District primary — 112; Disney’s ‘Eternals’ premieres — 116; Disney Very Merriest After Hours will debut — 118; ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ rescheduled premiere — 129; San Diego Comic-Con begins — 136; Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story’ premieres — 150; ‘Spider-Man Far From Home’ sequel premieres — 157; NFL season ends — 180; 2022 Legislative Session starts — 182; Florida’s 20th Congressional District election — 182; NFL playoffs begin — 186; Super Bowl LVI — 215; ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ premieres — 255; ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ premieres — 297; ‘Platinum Jubilee’ for Queen Elizabeth II — 324; “Black Panther 2” premieres — 360; ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ sequel premieres — 451; “Captain Marvel 2” premieres — 486.
— #SOSCUBA —
“Biden says U.S. stands with Cuban people, protests are a ‘clarion call for freedom’” via Michael Wilner and Nora Gamez Torres of the Miami Herald — President Biden said on Monday the United States supports the Cuban people and called their rare protests a “clarion call for freedom and relief” from the pandemic and decades under dictatorship. “We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba’s authoritarian regime,” Biden said in a statement first obtained by McClatchy. The President’s response comes one day after thousands of people took to the streets in cities and towns across Cuba, including Havana, to call for an end to dictatorship and demand food and vaccines.
“Marco Rubio warns of a ‘Mariel style crisis’ after Cuba protests” via Alex Daugherty of the Miami Herald — Rubio, who is Cuban American and the top Republican on the Senate committee responsible for Latin American affairs, said Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel’s government will encourage an exodus, likely by boat, if it perceives the U.S. as backing political protesters. “We must not cave to blackmail & [Biden] must warn them that encouraging mass migration will be considered a hostile action,” he said on Twitter. History suggests that Rubio’s statement could come true. In 1994, the government under Fidel Castro opened maritime borders and around 35,000 Cubans attempted to leave the country mostly on makeshift rafts and boats not intended for ocean voyages. Some of the balseros made it to South Florida and others died at sea.
“Rick Scott demands ‘loud and unequivocal’ Cuba response from Biden” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics — Scott issued a statement Monday, urging a “loud and unequivocal” stance by the U.S. against the communist regime in Cuba currently “shaking with fear” in the face of unprecedented protests throughout the country. “I stand proudly with the heroic Cuban freedom fighters & call on Biden to immediately impose further sanctions on the tyrannical regime. We cannot let up,” Scott tweeted Monday, setting up a longer statement that extended those themes. “I stand proudly with the heroic freedom fighters across Cuba that have taken to the streets determined to regain their freedom and put an end to the Castro dictatorship,” Scott asserted.
—“Jimmy Patronis condemns ‘decades of repression’ in Cuba” via Jason Delgado of Florida Politics
“Cuban dissidents in Miami ask U.S. to intervene on the island after massive protests” via Bianca Padró Ocasio of the Miami Herald — A group of Cuban exiles in Miami and local conservative activists from Venezuela, Colombia and Nicaragua called for people in Miami to support a nationwide strike in Cuba and for the Biden administration to intervene in the aftermath of massive protests on the island. “The Cuban people are not on the streets asking for medicine; they’re not on the streets asking for food. They’re in the streets demanding freedom,” said Orlando Gutierrez-Boronat, a Cuban exile and prominent human rights advocate in Miami. “What they are saying is they don’t want a tomorrow with the Communist Party in charge.” Gutierrez-Boronat said that the Cuban President’s “call for violence” should be enough for the U.S. to get involved.
“Thousands of people flood streets near Little Havana to support protesters in Cuba” via Monique O. Madan of the Miami Herald — About 5,000 people erupted in protest around the Little Havana area Sunday night in support of protests in Cuba calling for the end of Cuba’s communist government amid shortages of food, necessities and vaccines. “This moment is historic. That hasn’t happened in decades. Today the Cuban people have demonstrated that they want change, and they want it now,” said Alexander Otaola, a Cuban American social media influencer and political activist. Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo told the Miami Herald that zero arrests were made and that there was one medical emergency, a seizure. “It’s been a peaceful demonstration,” Acevedo said. “Our city is exercising its First Amendment right.”
—“Cubans in Orlando unite in solidarity with #SOSCuba and demand justice and freedom” via Jennifer A. Marcal Ocasio and Ginayra Alvarado Villegas of the Orlando Sentinel
“‘We stand with you’: Hundreds rally in Tampa to show support for Cuba protests” via Kelly Hayes of Florida Politics — Hundreds gathered in West Tampa Sunday afternoon to show support for protesters in Cuba who took to the streets earlier that day in one of the largest anti-government demonstrations the country has seen in decades. Cuban protesters flooded the country’s streets Sunday to call for change, protesting food shortages and high prices amid the coronavirus crisis. To show solidarity, a couple of hundred people flooded streets across West Tampa near Raymond James Stadium, waving Cuban flags and blasting Reggaeton in a parade of celebration and hope. The Tampa rally lasted into the night, with police shutting down nearby streets. The crowd dispersed by about 10 p.m.
“Russian Foreign Ministry considers outside interference in Cuba’s affairs unacceptable” via Teller Report — She expressed confidence that “the Cuban authorities are taking all necessary measures to restore public order in the interests of the citizens of the country within the framework of the national Constitution and current domestic legislation.” “We consider it unacceptable for outside interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state and any other destructive actions that would encourage the destabilization of the situation on the Island,” the diplomat said on the agency’s website. Earlier, the U.S. President’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that Washington “supports freedom of speech and assembly throughout Cuba and strongly condemns any violence or harassment of peaceful demonstrators.”
“Police patrol Havana in large numbers after rare protests” via Andrea Rodriguez of The Associated Press — Large contingents of Cuban police patrolled the capital of Havana on Monday following rare protests around the island nation against food shortages and high prices amid the coronavirus crisis. Cuba’s President said the demonstrations were stirred up on social media by Cuban Americans in the United States. The demonstrations in Havana and other communities around the tightly controlled country marked some of the biggest displays of anti-government sentiment in decades, and authorities appeared determined to stop them. Internet service was also spotty, possibly indicating an effort to prevent protesters from communicating with each other. The demonstrations were extremely unusual on an island where little dissent is tolerated. The last major public demonstration of discontent took place in 1994.
— 2022 —
“Powerful Senator pushes Realtors to drop housing campaign” via Steve Bousquet of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — Florida Realtors have launched a statewide ballot initiative to permanently block the use of a housing trust fund for anything other than housing. The Realtors’ campaign to change the state Constitution follows a legislative session in which lawmakers again raided what’s known as the Sadowski trust fund, this time with permanent diversions of up to $100 million a year to fight flooding and sea-level rise and for grants to cities and counties. House Speaker Chris Sprowls tweeted that Realtors have a “self-serving special interest agenda,” and a key Senator also strongly opposes the Realtors’ action. “I am taking it personally,” said Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, the likely next Senate President and a real estate lawyer.
Spotted at The Lodge at Pebble Beach for a fundraiser for the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee: Sens. Wilton Simpson, Aaron Bean, Doug Broxson, Travis Hutson, Debbie Mayfield, Keith Perry, Kelli Stargel, and Travis Blanton, Brad Burleson, Chris Clark, former Speaker Steve Crisafulli, Anthony DiMarco, Steve Dyal, Cory Guzzo, Craig Hansen and former Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, Sonya and Jeff Hartley, Rich Heffley, John Holley, Nick Iarossi, Tracy and Frank Mayernick, Trey McCarley, Kris Money, Jon Rees, Eric Silagy, and Derek Whitis.
“Florida House Republicans launch ‘Firewall for Freedom,’ touting policies championed by conservatives” via Jordan Kirkland of the Capitolist — The Florida House Republican Campaign Committee (FHRCC) unveiled a new statewide digital ad campaign on Monday, touting policies championed by the Republican-led legislature during the 2021 Legislative Session. The nearly two-minute spot, titled ‘Firewall for Freedom,’ features 17 GOP state lawmakers taking a victory lap following a successful 2021 Legislative Session that saw the Florida Legislature carry several hot-button issues across the finish line for Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republicans. Many of the key victories highlighted in the video were core tenets of the Governor’s legislative agenda, including jump-starting Florida’s economy following the COVID-19 pandemic, cracking down on bad actors who riot and loot, and safeguarding and securing future statewide elections.
“Sports betting initiative staked with $20M from DraftKings, FanDuel” via Drew Wilson of Florida Politics — The political committee backing a proposed constitutional amendment to allow sports betting platforms to operate in the state raised $20 million in June, new finance reports show. The committee, Florida Education Champions, was formed in early June and is something of a joint effort between DraftKings and FanDuel, the two biggest names in the sports betting business. When it launched, insiders said the companies staked the committee with a “significant amount” of cash. As foreshadowed, the committee’s first finance report listed a $10 million infusion from DraftKings and another $10 million from FanDuel.
—”Democrat Natalie Jackson raises $51K for CD 10 campaign” via Scott Powers of Florida Politics
—“Jason Fischer maintains cash edge early in SD 4 race, but opponents make up ground” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
—“Janet Cruz’ 2022 campaign adds $13K in June” via Drew Wilson of Florida Politics
—“Lori Hershey launches with $32K in HD 16 bid, trails Adam Brandon overall” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
—“Taylor Yarkosky hits $125K raised for HD 32 bid” via Drew Wilson of Florida Politics
—”Berny Jacques leads June fundraising for HD 66, brings in $13K” via Kelly Hayes of Florida Politics
“Chris Latvala backs Kim Berfield to succeed him in HD 67” via Janelle Irwin Taylor of Florida Politics — Latvala is endorsing Berfield as his successor in House District 67. Berfield is one of two Republicans running in 2022 to replace Latvala, who is not seeking reelection due to term limits. “The greatest honor of my life has been to represent House District 67 in the Florida House. I have known Kim for almost 20 years. She was an accomplished Member of the House, and she has been virtually a lifelong resident of this district and a lifelong member of our Republican party,” Latvala said in a written statement. Latvala’s statement is a dig at Berfield’s opponent, Jason Holloway, who, despite being a registered Republican, previously worked as a legislative aide to Sen. Darryl Rouson, a Democrat. Berfield previously served in the Florida House from 2000-2006.
—“Lindsay Cross raises $52K in first month running for HD 68” via Drew Wilson of Florida Politics
—“Rick King, Paulette Armstead top HD 88 field in June fundraising” via Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics
—“Chip LaMarca adds $25K to defend HD 93 seat” via Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics
—“Tom Fabricio raises $10K in June as he seeks second term in HD 103” via Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics
—”With $10K June haul, Vance Aloupis reelection war chest hits $76K” via Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics
—”Demi Busatta Cabrera crosses $80,000 raised for HD 114 reelection” via Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics
—“Jim Mooney raises $28,000 in June to defend HD 120 seat” via Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics
— DATELINE TALLY —
“Ron DeSantis says state will review condo association disclosure requirements following Surfside collapse” via Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics — DeSantis repeated his promise to review condo association regulations following the deadly building collapse in Surfside, killing at least 94 people. DeSantis spoke Monday at a virtual event with the Florida Chamber of Commerce, where the Governor also promoted additional charitable causes to help victims of the June 24 collapse. Asked whether the state would consider tightening fiduciary controls on condo associations, DeSantis said everything would be on the table during next year’s Legislative Session. DeSantis explained more answers would be coming in the months ahead, as the investigation was still in its early stages.
“Nikki Fried calls on DeSantis to do more for Tampa Bay red tide crisis” via Kelly Hayes of Florida Politics — Fried is calling on DeSantis to issue an executive order in response to the severe red tide outbreak plaguing the Tampa Bay area. In a letter to DeSantis Monday, Fried says the current red tide outbreak is considered worse than the massive 2018 outbreak on the state’s coast. “The current red tide crisis has been considered worse than the 2018 red tide with experts noting both the unusually early timing and unlikelihood of swift resolution,” Fried wrote. The 2018 outbreak led to then-Gov. Scott declaring a state of emergency for seven counties impacted by the algae bloom. The executive order provided state funding and made available state biologists and scientists for cleanup and animal rescue efforts, among other resources.
“Florida to seek $945M to boost Medicaid” via News Service of Florida — Sen. Bean, a Fernandina Beach Republican, said the DeSantis administration is poised to send a proposal to the federal government that would allow the state to draw down a 10 percentage-point increase in federal Medicaid funds. The increased federal funds were included in the American Rescue Plan Act, a stimulus package signed by Biden in March. If the state’s plan is approved, Florida will draw down roughly $945 million more for Medicaid services over the next two years, Bean said. Lawmakers were aware of the availability of the additional Medicaid funds for home- and community-based when as they were crafting the 2021-2022 budget but did not include the additional money in the record-high $100 billion spending plan.
“Paul Renner: Legislature may examine changes to building codes” via Jim Turner of News Service of Florida — As the investigation continues into the deadly condominium collapse in Surfside, Rep. Renner said lawmakers don’t need to make immediate changes to state building codes. The future House Speaker pointed to the inability of the Champlain Towers South condo association to quickly address safety and structural repairs needed for the once 12-story building. “It will be something I assure you that we’re going to look at and address and determine whether the solutions are legislative or whether they’re an issue of basically a breach of fiduciary duty on the part of the (condo association) board members,” Renner said. He cautioned against seeking legislative remedies before the actual cause of the South Florida disaster is determined.
“AARP ranks Florida lawmakers’ voting record on priority bills” via Haley Brown of Florida Politics — The AARP Florida issued the 10th edition of its Legislative Voting Record Monday. The digital book includes detailed, vote-by-vote information on key legislation from the 2021 Legislative Session. The voting record dives into votes taken during committee meetings and final actions by the full House and Senate. “We’re excited to provide the Voting Record as a resource to our members and all Floridians. The Voting Record is available in a user-friendly digital flipbook format,” AARP Florida Advocacy Manager Jack McRay said in a written statement. Not every bill from the Session is included in the AARP Florida’s published record.
“How $45K went unaccounted for from PAC with ties to ‘ghost’ candidate scandal” via Annie Martin and Jason Garcia of the Orlando Sentinel — At least $45,000 in spending that cannot publicly be accounted for was reported last year by an obscure political action committee with ties to the growing scandal surrounding so-called “ghost” candidates in several key Florida Senate elections, including one in Central Florida. Records show the political committee, called “Liberate Florida,” was set up a few months before last year’s election by a friend of a Republican strategist involved in the spoiler candidate scandal.
— STATEWIDE —
“Governor unveils $29M in grants for rural communities” via Renzo Downey of Florida Politics — DeSantis announced $29 million in development grants for 42 small and rural communities Monday. The Governor made the announcement in Green Cove Springs, which is slated to receive $700,000 for three neighborhood revitalization improvement projects. Those funds are available through the Florida Small Cities Community Development Block Grant Program under the Department of Economic Opportunity. Only cities with populations less than 50,000 or counties with unincorporated populations of less than 200,000 are eligible for the grants. “We’ve got some really big populated areas — they’re great, and they do a lot for the state — but we’ve got to make sure that we’re tending to our small municipalities and some of our rural communities,” DeSantis said.
“Patronis, Ashley Moody make gains in net worth” via Jim Turner of News Service of Florida — CFO Patronis, whose family-owned landmark restaurant in Panama City Beach has recently weathered a major storm and a pandemic, reported his net worth grew 2.8% in the past year. Fellow Cabinet member Attorney General Moody, with a fiscal portfolio bolstered by land holdings and investments, saw her net worth go up 21.8%, according to financial disclosures posted on the Florida Commission on Ethics website. Meanwhile, Agriculture Commissioner Fried, who hopes to become the Democratic nominee for Governor next year, continues to refine her annual financial disclosure report due July 1. Disclosure forms require elected officials to list their estimated net worth, along with assets and liabilities valued at more than $1,000 and information about their income.
“Citrus season ends on sour note” via Jim Turner of News Service of Florida — The USDA announced Florida growers produced enough oranges — mostly for orange juice — to fill 52.8 million 90-pound boxes, the industry standard, during the season that began late last summer. The total is up slightly from a June forecast of 52.7 million boxes but below preseason expectations that growers would fill 57 million boxes. The current crop is also down from 67.3 million boxes in the 2019-2020 season. Florida growers have struggled for years against residential and commercial development, imports, changes in beverage consumption habits, and, since 2005, citrus greening, an incurable bacterial disease. But the Florida Citrus Commission is trying to capitalize on a reported increase in demand for orange juice during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.
— CORONA FLORIDA —
“Leon County’s COVID-19 cases up 62.1%; Florida cases surge 51.4%” via Mike Stucka of the Tallahassee Democrat — New coronavirus cases leaped in Florida in the week ending Sunday, rising 51.4% as 23,747 cases were reported. The previous week had 15,684 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19. Florida ranked third among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States increased 47.5% from the week before, with 136,187 cases reported. With 6.45% of the country’s population, Florida had 17.44% of the country’s cases in the last week. Many places did not report cases and deaths around the Fourth of July, which would shift those cases into the following week and make week-to-week comparisons inaccurate.
“Carnival Cruise Line requires unvaccinated travelers buy insurance for Florida cruises” via Taylor Dolven of Florida Politics — Unvaccinated and booked on a Carnival Cruise Line cruise from a Florida port after July 31? You’ll have to buy special COVID-19 travel insurance. Carnival Cruise Line joined Royal Caribbean International in requiring COVID-19 travel insurance for unvaccinated passengers on cruises from Florida ports. Carnival requires all passengers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 but allows for preapproved exemptions for unvaccinated passengers if they agree to extra testing and, in the case of Florida, travel insurance. The travel insurance must be in the name of the unvaccinated passenger and must cover at least $10,000 of medical expenses and $30,000 of emergency medical evacuation expenses.
“Jerry Demings urges vaccinated people to wear masks indoors as COVID-19 cases surge in Orange County among unvaccinated.” via Stephen Hudak and Ryan Gillespie of the Orlando Sentinel — Amid a surge in new COVID-19 infections, Demings said Monday vaccinated people should strongly consider wearing face masks while in crowded places indoors. Demings, in issuing his warning, said the CDC has shifted the county back into the “high risk” category. He said he wasn’t issuing a mandate, but a “strong recommendation.” Specifically, Demings recommends that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks indoors when in crowds.
— CORONA NATION —
“Few options for Biden as vaccination pace hits a wall” via Adam Cancryn of POLITICO — The Biden administration is running out of ideas for jump-starting the pace of coronavirus vaccinations, raising the prospect that more than a quarter of American adults could still be vulnerable to the virus into the fall. The federal immunization campaign has slammed into rising partisanship and deep resistance among the 91 million adults who remain unvaccinated, turning what was once an all-out sprint into a marathon with no clear end in sight. The administration is now strategizing over how to manage a nation with 68% of the population at least partially vaccinated, where pockets of the country will be subjected to periodic outbreaks while most Americans move on.
“Summer camps hit with COVID-19 outbreaks; are schools next?” via Heather Hollingsworth, Kantele Franko and Lindsey Tanner of the Orlando Sentinel — The U.S. has seen a string of COVID-19 outbreaks tied to summer camps in recent weeks in places such as Texas, Illinois, Florida, Missouri and Kansas, in what some fear could be a preview of the upcoming school year. In some cases, the outbreaks have spread from the camp to the broader community. The clusters have come as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. has reversed course, surging more than 60% over the past two weeks from an average of about 12,000 a day to about 19,500.
“Most unvaccinated people have low incomes” via Bob Herman of Axios — More than half of unvaccinated Americans live in households that make less than $50,000 annually. Making it easier for the working poor to get the COVID-19 vaccine without dinging their already-low incomes could help boost the country’s vaccination rates. Vaccination has been politicized, but juggling work schedules and child care could be bigger factors than politics. Workers also may worry about taking unpaid time off if they come down with any vaccine side effects. Rewards may not move the needle a lot if companies don’t make it easy to get the vaccine or offer full pay for any time off.
— CORONA ECONOMICS —
“Inflation threat may be boosted by changes in globalization, demographics and e-commerce” via Gwynn Guilford of The Wall Street Journal — For the past few decades, the Federal Reserve has succeeded in keeping inflation low — perhaps too low. It had an assist: Shifts in the global economy, including globalization, demographics and the rise of e-commerce, helped keep prices in check. Some economists say these so-called secular forces have begun to reverse in ways that the pandemic has intensified. “The factors that were … playing a significant role in that low-inflation environment last cycle are beginning to fade,” said Sarah House, director and senior economist at Wells Fargo. That could have important implications for the Fed as it grapples with how much of the current inflation pickup is temporary, and for the U.S. economy as a whole.
“What happens to the economy when $5.2 trillion in stimulus wears off?” via Andrew Van Dam of The Washington Post — The U.S. government spent at least $5.2 trillion to combat the COVID-19 crisis. It stands as one of the most expensive, ambitious experiments in U.S. history. And it succeeded. A final phase of that assistance could begin this week when the Treasury Department begins a $110 billion program of child tax credit payments for millions of Americans. Those benefits are set to run through the end of the year. But even that program runs out, assuming it is not renewed. Previous attempts to let pandemic-related benefits expire were met with last-minute extensions, as economic updates remained dismal. But the White House appears ready to let the training wheels come off this year as positive indicators pile up.
— MORE CORONA —
“U.N.: World hunger was dramatically worse in pandemic year” via Frances D’Emilio and Edith M. Lederer of The Associated Press — The United Nations lamented a “dramatic worsening” of world hunger last year, saying much of that is likely connected to the pandemic. A report issued jointly by five U.N. agencies said hunger outpaced population growth in 2020, with nearly 10% of all people estimated to be undernourished. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the data shows between 720 million and 811 million people faced hunger last year — as many as 161 million more than in 2019. More than 2.3 billion people, or 30% of the global population, lacked year-round access to adequate food. This indicator, known as the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity, leaped in one year as much as in the five previous years combined.
“Greece pressures vaccine skeptics as infections surge” via Derek Gatopoulos of The Associated Press — Health care workers in Greece will be suspended if they refuse to get vaccinated under a new mandatory policy announced Monday by the country’s prime minister. Staff at nursing homes will be suspended starting Aug. 16 if they don’t book a vaccination appointment, with a similar policy to follow in September for hospital workers. Starting Friday, and until the end of August, all indoor commercial areas will only be available for the vaccinated. “After a year and a half, no one can claim ignorance about the coronavirus anymore,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said. “The country will not shut down again due to attitude adopted by certain people … It’s not Greece that’s a danger, but unvaccinated Greeks.”
“Israel starts administering third dose of Pfizer vaccine to at-risk adults” via Shira Rubin, Emily Rauhala, Yasmeen Abutaleb and Tyler Pager of The Washington Post — Israel’s Ministry of Health on Monday began offering a third dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to severely immunocompromised adults in what health experts say could be the first phase of an experiment to provide coronavirus booster shots for older people and the most vulnerable. The recommendation said the new program’s goal was to raise antibody levels among immunocompromised citizens, including cancer patients, recipients of liver transplants, and others. It said that it had still not decided to administer third shots for the general adult population. Globally, the push to introduce booster shots has prompted pushback from the WHO and rights groups, who say the focus should remain on getting first doses to the world’s most vulnerable.
— PRESIDENTIAL —
“White House doesn’t rule out sending troops to Haiti, says political future unclear” via Michael Wilner of the Miami Herald — The Biden administration has not ruled out sending U.S. troops to Haiti to help secure the country amid political fallout from the assassination of its President, Jovenel Moïse, the White House said on Monday. A high-level delegation of U.S. officials spent Sunday on the ground in Port-au-Prince meeting with three men at the center of a power struggle in the country, each claiming to be Haiti’s rightful leader. The U.S. team briefed Biden on their initial assessment on Monday morning, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
“Voters chose boring over bombast. They got Biden’s penchant for pontificating.” via Michael D. Shear of The New York Times — “I know that’s a boring speech,” Biden said at the end of 31 minutes and 19 seconds filled with statistics, academic studies, and global gross domestic product comparisons. To be sure, the details of governing are mind-numbingly tedious. But when the President starts a speech, what can seem like high-stakes drama to those inside the Washington Beltway often feels like the stuff of PBS documentaries to the rest of the country. The details in Biden’s speeches often trip him up as well, leading to mumbles, stumbles, pauses and real-time corrections as he struggles through the dense material on the teleprompter.
— EPILOGUE: TRUMP —
“In Donald Trump Organization prosecution, the top charge carries the most uncertainty” via Jacob Gershman of The Wall Street Journal — The most serious offense leveled in a 15-count indictment of Trump’s longtime right-hand man, Allen Weisselberg, also carries the most uncertainty for New York prosecutors. The charge, a single count of second-degree grand larceny, stands out in the July 1 indictment, which alleges that the Trump Organization and Weisselberg, its chief financial officer, cheated on taxes over the course of more than a decade. Prosecutors say the company secretly padded Weisselberg’s compensation, subsidizing everything from his Upper West Side residence to home furnishings and private-school tuition. In all, prosecutors say, Weisselberg concealed around $1.8 million in taxable income and evaded more than $900,000 in taxes.
“Trump Organization CFO removed as officer of subsidiaries, records show” via Corinne Ramey of The Wall Street Journal — The Trump Organization has removed longtime finance chief Allen Weisselberg as an officer at some of its subsidiaries, after prosecutors accused him and the company of a 15-year tax-fraud scheme, according to public filings and people familiar with the matter. The removal of Weisselberg as an officer from multiple Trump Organization entities comes amid discussions of potential changes in the chief financial officer’s duties, responsibilities and possibly title at Trump’s company, people familiar with the matter said. Weisselberg, who has worked for the Trump family since 1973, is expected to remain at the company, the people said.
“Trump has completed his journey toward embracing the Capitol rioters” via Philip Bump of The Washington Post — Two sentences from Trump’s interview on Sunday with Maria Bartiromo of Fox News encapsulate how the former President has come to publicly embrace the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on his behalf. The first was Trump’s declaration that those involved were “tremendous — in many cases, tremendous people, tremendous people.” The other revealing sentence came not from Trump but from Bartiromo. As has happened so often before, she offered no pushback on Trump’s claims, abdicating her responsibilities as a journalist and her network’s responsibility to inform its audience to instead bask in the energy of being Trump’s hypeman.
“Trumpworld wants distance from QAnon even as the ex-President winks at it” via Tina Nguyen and Meridith McGraw of POLITICO — This past weekend, two promoters of QAnon conspiracy theories were given press credentials to Trump’s MAGA rally in Sarasota, The men took selfies with their badges, taunted journalists covering the event as “fake news,” showed off their wristbands printed with the movement’s slogan “#WWG1WGA” and generally reveled in the access they’d scored. Trump’s press team said the two men, Jeffrey Pedersen and his podcast co-host Shannon Shadygroove, were not welcome and had registered for the rally with “Red State Talk Radio,” a network that has sent people who, a Trump aide said, “appear to be legitimate” to events before. Trump’s team said they are considering a new policy to verify reporters ahead of events to prevent people like the two men from gaining access.
— CRISIS —
“DOJ reviewed reports of potential misconduct, complicity by officers responding to Capitol riot” via Kyle Cheney of POLITICO — The Justice Department has reviewed reports of alleged misconduct by police officers who responded to the Jan. 6 assault on The Capitol and is preparing to share them with defense attorneys in the sprawling case. The U.S. attorney’s office said it is providing those reports at the request of multiple lawyers for the accused rioters. Those lawyers have inquired about allegations that some officers may have been “complicit in the Jan. 6 Capitol Breach,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Regan wrote in the filing.
“Video of U.S. Capitol riot ‘contradicts public narrative,’ says St. Augustine man’s lawyer” via Steve Patterson of The Florida Times-Union — The lawyer for a St. Augustine man indicted after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol is finding common cause with news organizations asking the government to release video she says “contradicts the government’s accusations and their indictment.” A 30-second video clip “exposes the weakness of their case … and it contradicts the public narrative that the government has put forward,” John Steven Anderson’s attorney, Marina Medvin, told a federal judge in Washington last week. Sixteen media companies calling themselves the Press Coalition last month asked court permission to intervene in Anderson’s case. They want to dispute a government contention that a video clip from a closed-circuit TV camera should be exempt from release under a protective order Medvin previously opposed.
“The Republican Party’s top lawyer called election fraud arguments by Trump’s lawyers a ‘joke’ that could mislead millions” via Josh Dawsey of The Washington Post — The Republican Party’s top lawyer warned in November against continuing to push false claims that the presidential election was stolen, calling efforts by some of the former President’s lawyers a “joke” that could mislead millions of people. Justin Riemer, the RNC’s chief counsel, sought to discourage a Republican Party staffer from posting claims about ballot fraud on RNC accounts as attempts by Trump and his associates to challenge results in several states, such as Arizona and Pennsylvania, intensified. The email shows key figures in the party were privately disturbed by the false claims being made about the election by Trump and his supporters
— D.C. MATTERS —
“Monthly payments to families with children to begin” via Jason DeParle of The New York Times — If all goes as planned, the Treasury Department will begin making a series of monthly payments in coming days to families with children, setting a milestone in social policy and intensifying a debate over whether to make the subsidies a permanent part of the American safety net. With all but the most affluent families eligible to receive up to $300 a month per child, the United States will join many other rich countries that provide a guaranteed income for children, a goal that has long animated progressives. Experts estimate the payments will cut child poverty by nearly half, an achievement with no precedent.
“Senate Democrats introduce bill to replenish Capitol Police, National Guard coffers” via Marianna Sotomayor and Tony Romm of The Washington Post — Senate Democrats unveiled a plan Monday to quickly replenish accounts that fund U.S. Capitol Police officers and National Guard salaries, both of which are expected to run out as early as next month because of the amount of overtime tallied after the Jan. 6 insurrection. Although bipartisan support exists to ensure that Capitol Police officers and National Guard members earn their pay, striking a deal depends on compromising on scope. The Democratic proposal almost doubles the amount of spending that narrowly passed the House in May by redirecting funds to address pandemic-related costs incurred by the Defense Department and speeding up the Afghan Special Immigration Visas. The bill would put $31.1 million in the Capitol Police overtime account.
“Bernie Sanders, Biden meet as infrastructure bill swells past $3.5T” via Lisa Mascaro and Jonathan Lemire of The Associated Press — Sanders and Democratic senators on the Budget Committee huddled privately late Monday at the Capitol with key advisers to the President during a consequential time for Biden’s top priority. Congress is racing to put together a sweeping infrastructure proposal for initial votes later this month. He and Biden had a “very good discussion,” he said. Sanders said he and the President did not discuss a top-line figure, but the Vermont senator mentioned his own more far-reaching $6 trillion proposal, including expanding Medicare for older adults. Later at the Capitol, he told reporters that the Democrats’ package would be bigger than $3.5 trillion, an amount floated as in line with Biden’s initial proposal.
— LOCAL NOTES —
“EDF video outlines climate challenges, solutions in Miami-Dade” via Drew Wilson of Florida Politics — The Environmental Defense Fund on Monday released the first in a series of videos aimed at educating Floridians on the current effects of climate change and possible solutions to address it. The first “Keeping Florida, Florida” segment focuses on the potentially catastrophic effects sea-level rise could have in South Florida and details the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-proposed Back Bay Study, which recommends traditional, hardened infrastructure, including a seawall, to protect the region. They are pitching an alternative anchored by natural and nature-based solutions, such as oyster reefs and mangroves, that can build long-term flood resilience while “keeping Florida Florida.”
To watch the video, click on the image below:
“Lori Alhadeff adds nearly $67K in first month of reelection bid thanks to $50K self-loan” via Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics — Alhadeff added nearly $67,000 in her first month since filing for reelection in the Broward County School Board District 4 race. Alhadeff boosted that number with a $50,000 self-loan and adding close to $17,000 in outside donations. According to her team, she has nearly all of that $67,000 haul on hand as of June 30. Alhadeff lost her daughter, Alyssa, in the 2018 shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School. Alhadeff ran for and won the District 4 seat just months later, pushing the county to institute reform following the attack in Parkland, which killed 17 and injured 17 others. The district spans the northwestern part of the county, including Coral Springs, Margate, North Lauderdale, Parkland and Tamarac.
“Broward in no rush to change building codes after Surfside” via Lisa J. Huriash of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — Broward County says it won’t rush into sweeping code changes to ensure condo buildings are safe despite the catastrophe in Surfside. The county might ultimately discuss more frequent recertifications of condos as well as geotechnical studies on the buildings’ foundations. But an advisory board concluded Monday that changes should wait until the cause of the Surfside collapse is determined. “It makes no sense. It would be irresponsible. It would certainly not be wise,” said Daniel L. Lavrich, an engineer and the chairman of Broward’s Structural Committee, an advisory committee to the Board of Rules and Appeal. That didn’t sit well with Fort Lauderdale’s Mayor, Dean Trantalis, who doesn’t want to wait.
“‘Beating the odds’: New report on large city schools highlights Duval Schools’ work to close opportunity gap” via Emily Bloch of The Florida Times-Union — The Council of the Great City Schools, a highly regarded educational advocacy organization, released a study called “Mirrors or Windows?” that aimed to measure cities’ progress over the last decade when it comes to if scores are improving among students in urban areas with large concentrations of poverty. The report highlighted Duval County as one of the 17 areas out of 27 cities being measured that posted “statistically significant positive district effects in 2019.” Other cities and areas similarly spotlighted included Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, the District of Columbia and Miami-Dade County. Duval Schools Superintendent Diana Greene said, “the report reaffirms what is evident from visiting our classrooms. The quality of the instructional experience in our schools is exemplary.”
“About 300 homes, the subject of an alleged Ponzi scheme, to be sold around Tampa Bay” via Emily L. Mahoney of the Tampa Bay Times — About 300 homes are about to hit the inventory-starved Tampa Bay real estate market. That’s thanks to federal government efforts to recover money lost by hundreds of elderly investors in what it contends was a Ponzi scheme. The accused fraudster is a company called EquiAlt, led by Tampa real estate investor Brian Davison. Davison raised the money from more than 1,100 investors nationwide, and promised that “substantially all” of it would be used to buy distressed properties to yield “generous returns.” Instead, returns were less than expected, according to the court documents, and EquiAlt “resorted to fraud.” Burt Wiand, the court-appointed receiver in the case, said he’s planning to hold an auction within the next month, starting with 30 properties.
“Seminole County opens computer lab to help residents apply for rental, mortgage aid” via Caroline Glenn of the Orlando Sentinel — Seminole County opened a computer lab on Monday to help residents apply for rental, utility and mortgage assistance, a recognition of the “digital divide” that exists within the region. Located in Sanford at 520 W. Lake Mary Boulevard, the center has five stations with a computer and scanner and has staff on-site to help Seminole residents submit the necessary documents to receive a slice of the federal COVID-19 relief allotted for catching up on rent or mortgage payments. The lab’s hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Cora Yon, program manager for the county’s community services department, encouraged residents to call 407-665-0000 to make an appointment. The center will also take walk-ins, depending on availability.
— TOP OPINION —
“Hey Biden, hands off Cuba!” via Jacob Silverman of the New Republic — Rubio, who is of Cuban descent, has tweeted frequently over the past few days in support of anti-government protesters while taking the opportunity to bash the Biden administration as insufficiently supportive of their efforts. The line expressed by Rubio has spread quickly among his colleagues. Republican politicians and conservative media outlets, from Rep. Lauren Boebert to DeSantis to Fox News, have echoed those sentiments while calling the Cuban protests an indictment of socialism, communism, or choose-your-left-wing ideology. Many of them use the #SOSCuba hashtag, which has become a locus for anti-regime expression of a pungently right-wing flavor.
— OPINIONS —
“To conservatives, history is bunk. ‘All that’s in the past: Why bring it up’?” via Diane Roberts for Florida Phoenix — DeSantis hates our freedoms and rightfully so. Why should Florida allow eggheads like me to go around teaching impressionable students about, say, the Rosewood Massacre in 1923 when dozens of Black people were tortured and murdered by a white mob in Levy County while law enforcement turned a blind eye. Under DeSantis’ new dictate, students can now record their professors in class to see if any untoward anti-racism intrudes into the academic setting. The Critical Race Theory crowd I may or may not hang around with claims the arc of America’s story might suggest a certain amount of institutional racism. When he becomes U.S. President-for-Life, maybe our Governor will ban libraries, making everything much, much simpler and more comfortable.
— ON TODAY’S SUNRISE —
About every Florida politician in sight is condemning the Cuban government’s crackdown on protesters and expressing solidarity with the people of Cuba. Sen. Rubio is warning this could trigger the next Mariel boatlift.
Also, on today’s Sunrise:
— The next Speaker of the Florida House says he doesn’t see the need for any immediate action by the Legislature to address the condo collapse in Surfside. Renner says the code works … the problem here appears to have been the condo association.
— Renner also warned against seeking legislative remedies before figuring out the actual cause of the disaster.
— The Governor hits the road to announce $30 million in grants for some of the least populated areas of the state. They’re called Small City Community Development Block Grants. That money will pay for everything from sidewalks and sewers to downtown revitalizations.
— Starting next month, Carnival Cruise Lines says anyone who wants to set sail on one of their ships from a Florida port will have to be vaccinated … or buy a special travel insurance policy to cover any COVID-19 related expenses.
— And finally, authorities are accusing a Florida Man of trying to smuggle crystal meth into the Orange County jail — by concealing it in his foreskin.
To listen, click on the image below:
— ALOE —
“Epcot Food and Wine Fest returns earlier and lasts longer than usual for 2021” via Sharon Kennedy Wynne of the Tampa Bay Times — After a year of keeping crowds at bay and in masks at Walt Disney World parks, the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival returns this week with its most bountiful version ever, one that will be released with two waves of new food booths in summer and fall. Even though most of the food booths will open July 15, several will debut on Oct. 1 in conjunction with Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary, including the Kenya, Lobster Landing and a Mac & Eats kiosk. The festival runs through Nov. 20, and visitors still need an advance park reservation, though Disney has said it intends to be back at full capacity by the fall. Guests who are fully vaccinated are no longer required to wear masks unless they are on buses or other Disney transportation and indoor attractions.
“Disney World announces holiday plans, changes” via DeWayne Bevil of the Orlando Sentinel — Walt Disney World has announced its holiday lineup for 2021. The list includes themed fireworks but not Candlelight Processional, and there’s a new after-hours Christmas offering at Magic Kingdom in place of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Disney Very Merriest After Hours will debut on Nov. 8 and continue on select nights through Dec. 21. A limited number of tickets will be sold, Disney says. Very Merriest will include “Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks,” which debuted in 2019. Tickets go on sale sometime in August for the event, which will feature characters across the park, holiday décor and treats.
“‘Roadrunner’ director on Anthony Bourdain’s suicide, Asia Argento and the public’s ‘unprocessed trauma’” via Ellen Gamerman of The Wall Street Journal — Three years since Bourdain died by suicide at age 61, the celebrity chef still commands notice. A new documentary is bringing that attention to a boil. “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain” takes an intimate look at the food-and-travel TV star’s life from his breakout success as the author of the 2000 memoir “Kitchen Confidential” to his rise in popular series like “No Reservations” and “Parts Unknown.” The movie takes a turn as it deals with his death and attempts by his close circle to process the loss. Oscar-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville said he wanted his movie to address what he called some of the public’s “unprocessed trauma” around Bourdain’s sudden passing.
— HAPPY BIRTHDAY —
Celebrating today are Dan Sweeney of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Tampa City Council member Guido Maniscalco. Belated best wishes to Callie Neslund of Mosaic.
___
Sunburn is authored and assembled by Peter Schorsch, Phil Ammann, Renzo Downey and Drew Wilson.
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24.) ROLL CALL
Morning Headlines
President Joe Biden heads to Philadelphia for what’s billed as a major address on voting rights on Tuesday as Democrats from the Texas Legislature are in Washington lobbying for the same. The Texas Democrats left their home state Monday in a bid to deny a quorum to a special session for Republican-backed elections legislation. Read more…
Senate Budget Committee Democrats huddled late into the night Monday with Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and White House aides Brian Deese and Louisa Terrell to discuss the budget reconciliation package they plan to use to enact most of President Joe Biden’s economic proposals. Read more…
In the last mile of our battle against COVID, the enemy is us
OPINION — With America so close to a permanent return to normal, the nation will soon be facing a full-blown COVID-19 crisis that can’t be blamed on scientific failures or Chinese secrecy about potential lab leaks. This is the ultimate expression of Pogo’s long-ago dictum from the comic strips: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Read more…
Click here to subscribe to Fintech Beat for the latest market and regulatory developmentsin finance and financial technology.
US effort to combat China’s tech rise ‘not nearly enough’
The United States faces a monumental task in keeping its focus on the long-term challenge posed by China’s quest for technology leadership, according to more than a dozen people interviewed for a series on the competition between the U.S. and China over science, technology, and research and development. Read more…
House spending panel frets over future in Afghanistan
House lawmakers charged with setting the Pentagon’s budget are concerned about the fallout from the nearly complete U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, including the implications for U.S. security, for oversight of billions of American dollars and for the safety of thousands of Afghans who aided the U.S. war effort. Read more…
‘No training’ is a common staff complaint. Meet the Congress coaches
A new coaching program run by the House chief administrative officer is part of an effort to beef up support resources in the sprawling workplace that is Congress. Four coaches are now tasked with helping staffers navigate the decentralized structure of Capitol Hill, where every lawmaker’s office can feel like its own tiny world. Read more…
Democrats mull keeping debt limit out of budget reconciliation
Democrats are leaning toward lifting the Treasury Department’s borrowing cap outside of the partisan budget reconciliation process, according to sources familiar with the discussions, meaning they’d need at least 10 Senate Republicans on board. Read more…
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25.) POLITICO PLAYBOOK
POLITICO Playbook: ‘Just say we won’: WaPo duo goes inside the Trump White House on Election Day
DRIVING THE DAY
NEW — WaPo’s Carol Leonnig and Phil Rucker have a juicy read on what former President DONALD TRUMP and his aides were saying on Election Night, excerpted from their forthcoming book, “I Alone Can Fix It” ($30) for WaPo today.
Some highlights:
— On the mood in the White House: “The morning of Nov. 3, 2020, President Trump was upbeat. The mood in the West Wing was good. Some aides talked giddily of a landslide. … Trump’s voice was hoarse from his mad dash of rallies, but he thought his exhausting final sprint had sealed the deal. He considered JOE BIDEN to be a lot of things, but a winner most definitely was not one of them. ‘I can’t lose to this f—— guy,’ Trump told aides.”
— On Fox News calling Arizona for Biden: “‘What the f— is Fox doing?’ Trump screamed. Then he barked orders to [JARED] KUSHNER: ‘Call Rupert! Call James and Lachlan!” And to Jason Miller: “Get Sammon. Get Hemmer. They’ve got to reverse this.’ The president was referring to Fox owner RUPERT MURDOCH and his sons, JAMES and LACHLAN, as well as BILL SAMMON, a top news executive at Fox. Trump’s tirade continued. ‘What the f—?’ he bellowed. ‘What the f— are these guys doing? How could they call this this early?’”
— RUDY GIULIANI, MARK MEADOWS, BILL STEPIEN and JASON MILLER discussing vote totals: “Giuliani went state by state asking Stepien, Meadows and Miller what they were seeing and what their plan was. ‘What’s happening in Michigan?’ he asked. They said it was too early to tell, votes were still being counted and they couldn’t say.
“‘Just say we won,’ Giuliani told them. Same thing in Pennsylvania. ‘Just say we won Pennsylvania,’ Giuliani said. Giuliani’s grand plan was to just say Trump won, state after state, based on nothing. Stepien, Miller and Meadows thought his argument was both incoherent and irresponsible. ‘We can’t do that,’ Meadows said, raising his voice. ‘We can’t.’” The full excerpt
GOP SENATORS GO WOBBLY ON BIF — It was after 9 p.m. on Friday, and staff for the bipartisan Senate infrastructure working group were hammering out legislative text over Zoom. Suddenly, the girlfriend of a staffer for Sen. ANGUS KING (I-Maine) walked into the room to announce they had a visitor. In walked the senator himself to thank those on the call — including aides to Sens. SUSAN COLLINS (R-Maine), JACKY ROSEN (D-Nev.), ROB PORTMAN (R-Ohio) and JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) — for their hard work.
Thought No. 1: These people really know how to live it up on a Friday night.
Thought No. 2: This could all be for naught. Here’s why: Yes, we heard that the bipartisan infrastructure group and their staffs had late-night calls and videos throughout the two-week recess. Three sources in the group told us staff are racing to finalize bill text to introduce it as early as this week. But as our Burgess Everett and Marianne LeVine report, a crop of the 11 Republicans who originally backed the so-called BIF (“bipartisan infrastructure framework”) is getting cold feet amid “harsh scrutiny from the right.”
Support from the five GOP senators who negotiated the deal — Collins, Portman, MITT ROMNEY (Utah), LISA MURKOWSKI (Alaska) and BILL CASSIDY (Louisiana) — is “solid,” our colleagues write. But the other six, including JERRY MORAN (Kansas) and LINDSEY GRAHAM (S.C.), are raising concerns about pay-fors. Privately, BIF members in both parties expect the CBO may say the proposed pay-fors will fall short of covering the bill’s cost. There’s a quiet expectation that the IRS enforcement portion of the plan may not be “scorable,” leaving a $100 million hole. It would present a perfect opportunity for Republicans looking for an out to jump ship.
The group will meet today at 5 p.m. to touch gloves. More in Burgess and Marianne’s story here … The Hill also has a story about Graham’s concern … And Natasha Korecki and Chris Cadelago sniff out a change in the White House’s messaging on infrastructure, spurred partly by climate activists.
VOTING RIGHTS DEJA VU — It’s Groundhog Day for the Democratic Party when it comes to voting rights. Once again, civil rights leaders and the left are clamoring for Biden to nix or alter the filibuster in order to pass the party’s voting rights bills. And once again, Biden is likely to disappoint.
The president is headed to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia this afternoon to give a speech on a topic where he just can’t win. But White House press secretary JEN PSAKI has made clear that Biden has no plans to mount a campaign against the filibuster.
Psaki dismissed House Majority Whip JIM CLYBURN’S (D-S.C.) suggestion that Biden should be pressuring Manchin to vote for a carveout on issues related to the Constitution or voting specifically. “Determination about making changes will be made by members of the Senate, not by this president or any president, frankly, moving forward,” she said at her briefing Monday, adding that Biden’s views on keeping the filibuster intact haven’t changed.
SO WHAT WILL BIDEN SAY? He “plans to ‘blast the denial of the right to vote as grounded in autocracy, undemocratic, un-American, and unpatriotic,’” Laura Barrón-López reports, while calling “for a ‘new coalition’ of advocates, activists, students, faith leaders, labor leaders, and business executives ‘to overcome this un-American trend and meet the moment’ through ‘turnout and voter education.’” Read her full preview here
MEANWHILE, Democratic members of the Texas legislature are engaging in their own version of a filibuster regarding voting rights, vowing to remain outside of Texas for the duration of the 30-day special summer session in order to block Republicans from passing their voting restrictions.
We caught up with some of the Democrats as they settled in in Washington and learned a few things:
— They made the decision to come here Sunday after the voting restriction bill made it out of committee and left Monday out of worry of getting compelled back if they are in Texas when the session starts today at 10 a.m.
— The Texas House Democratic Caucus paid for chartered jets to D.C. as well as accommodations (for now).
— They have to stay out of the state until the special summer session is over on Aug. 7 if they want to keep the bill from becoming law. Some of them intend to have their families come visit.
— They’ll be on the Hill today and are hoping to stay in D.C. as long as it takes to convince moderates to find a way to pass voting rights legislation. (See above for the likelihood of that.)
— They’ve been in touch with the White House about setting up a meeting.
Good Tuesday morning, and thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri.
LATEST IN CUBA — “Cuba arrests activists as government blames unrest on U.S. interference,” by Reuters’ Sarah Marsh and Nelson Acosta … And Sabrina Rodríguez and Nahal Toosi look at how the Biden administration is responding.
BIDEN’S TUESDAY:
— 9:30 a.m.: The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief.
— 1 p.m.: Biden will leave the White House for Philadelphia, arriving at 2:05 p.m.
— 2:50 p.m.: Biden will speak about protecting the right to vote at the National Constitution Center.
— 4:10 p.m.: Biden will depart Philadelphia, getting back to the White House at 5:15 p.m.
Principal deputy press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE will gaggle on Air Force One on the way to Philadelphia.
THE SENATE will meet at 10 a.m. to take up UZRA ZEYA’S nomination to be undersecretary of State for civilian security, democracy and human rights, with a vote at 11:30 a.m. — the same time as a cloture vote for JULIE SU’S nomination as deputy Labor secretary. After a recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m., if cloture has been invoked, the chamber will vote on Su’s confirmation at 2:30 p.m.
THE HOUSE will meet at 9 a.m. in a pro forma session.
PLAYBOOK READS
CONGRESS
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — The U.S. Conference of Mayors — now led by NAN WHALEY of the great Dayton, Ohio — will announce today that more than 369 mayors in all 50 states and the District of Columbia support the bipartisan infrastructure framework. We wouldn’t be surprised if the Biden administration touts this missive when the president speaks about the BIF package later this week. Letter here
BERNIE SNUBS FLOATED $3.5 TRILLION RECONCILIATION FIGURE — On Sunday night, Axios quoted “key negotiators” saying they expect the Democrat-only infrastructure bill that emerges out of the Senate Budget Committee to total $3.5 trillion. It was seen by some on the Hill as a message to that committee’s chair, BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.), that he can forget about the $6 trillion he’s eyeing for climate, child care, health care, education and the like.
Well, the Budget chair didn’t take kindly to the nudge from the unnamed Democratic negotiators. After meeting with Biden on Monday, he walked right up to a microphone and panned the idea of settling on $3.5 trillion. “No … I think, quite frankly, a strong majority of the members of the Democratic Caucus want to go as big as we possibly can.” JM Rieger has the video
Budget panel Democrats met Monday night and emerged without an agreement on a top-line number, though Sen. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-Md.) told reporters he thought they were close on a deal and could strike one as soon as today. This is a first test for Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER, who needs all Democrats to unify behind a budget to unlock reconciliation. So sooner or later, Sanders and Manchin need to reach an agreement. Failure isn’t really an option for Democrats on this one.
ANOTHER BUDGET DILEMMA — “Hill security talks at a new impasse with Capitol Police running low on cash,” by Caitlin Emma and Nicholas Wu
TRUMP CARDS
TELL US HOW YOU REALLY FEEL — “The Republican Party’s top lawyer called election fraud arguments by Trump’s lawyers a ‘joke’ that could mislead millions,” by WaPo’s Josh Dawsey: “JUSTIN RIEMER, the RNC’s chief counsel, sought to discourage a Republican Party staffer from posting claims about ballot fraud on RNC accounts, the email shows, as attempts by Trump and his associates to challenge results in a number of states, such as Arizona and Pennsylvania, intensified.
“‘What Rudy and Jenna are doing is a joke and they are getting laughed out of court,’ Riemer, a longtime Republican lawyer, wrote to LIZ HARRINGTON, a former party spokeswoman on Nov. 28, referring to Trump attorneys RUDY GIULIANI and JENNA ELLIS.”
WEISSELBERG INDICTMENT FALLOUT — “Trump Organization CFO Removed as Officer of Subsidiaries, Records Show,” by WSJ’s Corinne Ramey: “The Trump Organization has removed longtime finance chief ALLEN WEISSELBERG as an officer at some of its subsidiaries, after prosecutors accused him and the company of a 15-year tax-fraud scheme, according to public filings and people familiar with the matter.”
STATE-SIDE
STILL NOT HAPPY AT STATE: A few days after Biden took office in January, we wrote about a general state of despair among career diplomats after four years working under Trump. Our unscientific sampling found serious doubts that things would improve much under Biden — particularly on the question of whether their loyalty to the State Department would be rewarded with promotions to higher positions.
Almost six months later, their skepticism appears well founded.
We’re hearing the same gripes from career officials that it’s taking way too long to be promoted — and that the new administration has left them in limbo about if or when it might happen. They are discouraged after watching other career officials who left during the Trump administration return for plum political appointments — while they waited around to be rewarded during the next administration. Many hoped that as Trump-era vacancies were filled, more rank-and-file career foreign service would move up in the process.
“There is almost more disillusionment and impatience with the rank and file than in the Trump years,” said one career official. “A lot of people have left or have one foot out the door.” Rep. JOAQUIN CASTRO (D-Texas), who has taken up the issue of diversity and morale at State, blamed the Trump administration for the workforce blues. “Their mismanagement left numerous positions vacant and denied career diplomats promotion opportunities, creating significant backlogs,” he told Playbook in a statement. “Now the Biden administration needs to act with urgency to not only fill these appointments and retain top talent, but also ensure State’s senior leadership reflects the diversity of America.”
According to a Harvard study reported by Foreign Policy, “nearly a third of the U.S. State Department’s diplomats and professional support staff are considering leaving the department and are actively looking for new jobs.” The study argues that the problems at State go beyond the Trump years, “pointing to systemic management problems that will hinder the State Department’s ability to recruit and retain talent.”
A senior State department responded that frustrations about promotions notwithstanding, only about 3% of these officials actually end up leaving the department annually — and that’s been consistent since the 1990s.
“It’s safe to say [promotions] will be in line with [the pace of] the past two years,” said a senior State Department official. One area of growth will be the civil service. The department is now focused on replacing colleagues who left during the 2017 hiring freeze under then-Secretary REX TILLERSON.
POLITICS ROUNDUP
WHOOPSIE — “Newsom won’t be listed as a Democrat on recall ballot, judge says,” L.A. Times: “Gov. GAVIN NEWSOM cannot identify himself as a Democrat on the September recall ballot because he missed the deadline to designate his party affiliation, a superior court judge in Sacramento ruled Monday. Superior Court Judge JAMES P. ARGUELLES said in his ruling that Newsom’s assertion that the oversight was a good-faith error on the part of his attorney was not enough to overcome the clear language of California election law.”
THE TRUMP EFFECT — “‘Get on the team or shut up’: How Trump created an army of GOP enforcers,” by David Siders and Stephanie Murray: “From the earliest days of his presidency, Donald Trump and his political team worked to re-engineer the infrastructure of the Republican Party, installing allies in top leadership posts in key states. The effect has been dramatic — and continues to reverberate nearly six months after he left office. …
“In red states, blue states and swing states, these leaders — nearly all of whom were elected during Trump’s presidency or right after — are redefining the traditional role of the state party chair. They are emerging not just as guardians of the former president’s political legacy, but as chief enforcers of Trumpism within the GOP. It figures to be a boon for him if he runs for another term in 2024, but also carries the risk of tying the party’s fortunes too closely to an ex-president whose political brand is toxic to many voters.”
ONE OF THESE IS A LOT LIKE THE OTHER — NYT’s Shane Goldmacher pointed out on Twitter that a flag promoting Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS looks a lot like Trump’s presidential campaign merch. The pics
PLAYBOOKERS
A MOVING INTERVIEW — Bethesda Magazine’s Steve Roberts speaks with Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Sarah Bloom Raskin “about meeting in law school at Harvard, how they were changed by the riot at the Capitol, and the acts of kindness inspired by the death of their son, Tommy.”
SPOTTED at a champagne toast at MSNBC’s D.C. bureau to mark 25 years of the network being on air: Rashida Jones, Cesar Conde, Joy Reid, Andrea Mitchell, Kasie Hunt, Hallie Jackson, Tiffany Cross and Geoff Bennett. “We have gone through some very difficult times, but I really do believe that we are coming out of this stronger not just as individuals, not just as a team, but as a news organization,” Conde said.
FIRST LADY FILES — Glamour is announcing its College Women of the Year honorees, with help from first lady Jill Biden — in whose honor all of the women are from community colleges, for the first time. Glamour also talked to Biden about community colleges, being a mother in school and teaching. And there’s video of the first lady surprising two of the honorees.
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Cady Stanton has joined USA TODAY as a digital editor fellow. She previously was a social media specialist at the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.
— Erenia Michell has been hired as head booking producer for NewsNation’s new 8 p.m. Eastern primetime show “On Balance with Leland Vittert,” which premieres July 19. She most recently was segment producer/booker for Fox News’ “The Story with Martha MacCallum.”
MEDIA MOVES — Thomas McKinless is now a video editor at Newsy, which is doubling the size of its newsroom ahead of an Oct. 1 over-the-air launch. He previously was video editor at Roll Call, where he did the Hits and Misses series. … The New Yorker is adding Parul Sehgal as a staff writer and Kyle Chayka, Matthew Hutson and Luke Mogelson as contributing writers. Sehgal currently is a book critic at the NYT.
TRANSITIONS — Amish Shah is joining the SEC’s Division of Enforcement as an attorney. He most recently was deputy chief investigative counsel for the House Oversight Dems. … Becca Charen is now campaign manager for Joseph Rocha’s congressional campaign in California. She most recently was research director for John Hickenlooper’s Senate campaign, and is a DSCC alum. … Ryan Thornton is joining Uber as senior associate of external affairs. He most recently was senior manager of comms at the Information Technology Industry Council. …
… Rachael Marsh has rejoined Bracewell as a partner in its energy regulatory practice. She previously held various positions at FERC, most recently as a top legal adviser to Commissioner Neil Chatterjee. … Allegra Harpootlian will be a comms strategist at the ACLU. She currently is comms manager for peace and security at ReThink Media. … Evie Fordham is now an account executive at District Media Group. She previously was a digital reporter at Fox News.
WEEKEND WEDDINGS — Cate Martel, author of The Hill’s 12:30 Report, and Danny Vinik, a recent Georgetown Law grad, got married Saturday in Newport, R.I. The POLITICO alums originally met during their college study abroad programs in Florence, Italy, and later reunited when they both moved to D.C., coincidentally living on the same floor of the same apartment building — and then both working at POLITICO. Pic, via Molly Lo Photography … Another pic
— Mosheh Oinounou, founder of Mo Digital and a CBS Evening News alum, and Alexandra Sall, founder of ALSALL Studios, got married Saturday at the Peconic Bay Yacht Club in Southold, N.Y., before about 70 family members and close friends. The couple met on a dating app in 2018 and had their first date at the Jewish Food Society’s annual “Noshes and Spiels” festival. Pic, via Yumi Matsuo … Another pic, via Janna Riggle
WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Tara Hayes, director of human welfare policy at the American Action Forum, and Lt. Col. Ethan Hayes, a strategist for the U.S. Army, welcomed Aurelia Sienna on Saturday. Pic … Another pic
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: WaPo’s Josh Dawsey and Devlin Barrett … Joe Lockhart … Americans for Prosperity’s Tim Phillips … Anne Schroeder … Will Dempster … Microsoft’s Kate Frischmann … Amanda Hunter of the Barbara Lee Family Foundation … Todd Zwillich … Jen Howard … Alex Vogel … Zaina Javaid … Punchbowl’s Max Cohen … Julie Eddy Rokala of Cassidy & Associates … Dan Smith … Patricia Brooks … Michelle Gaps … Casey Katims … Celia Fischer … Elizabeth Bagley … former Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) (7-0) … Heather Larrison … Gabby Seay … Aneesh Chopra … José Andrés
Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike Zapler, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Allie Bice, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross.
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26.) AMERICAN MINUTE
27.) CONSERVATIVE DAILY NEWS
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28.) CAFFEINATED THOUGHTS
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29.) PJ MEDIA
The Morning Briefing: Democrats Want All Elections to Be Lawless Fraud-Fests
Top O’ the Briefing
Democrats Hate Election Integrity
Happy Tuesday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. Our synchronized swimming get-together is now judgment-free.
Somewhere along the way, the Democrats in America became completely broken. Most would say that it was when Donald Trump was elected president in 2016 but I think they were in the process of breaking long before that. I’d say that Trump was the straw that broke the camel’s back but that would probably make me racist against people who live in places where there are camels. Or camelist.
It is safe to say that Trump hastened their arrival at complete brokenness.
That brokenness has resulted in the Democrats rejecting pretty much anything that Republicans support. Sometimes it finds them rejecting positions on issues that, until recently, they supported.
The Democrats are now opposed to anything that Republicans advocate for in the way of election integrity. If Republicans were to propose a law that mandated that everyone breathe freely while voting, Democrats would find a way to call that a “restriction.”
We are currently witnessing some thoroughly embarrassing (for America) and pathetic behavior by members of the Texas House of Representatives, which Tyler wrote about yesterday before it even got underway:
Almost every single Democrat in the Texas House of Representatives plans to leave Austin on Monday in an attempt to stymie the special session that Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) called. As PJ Media’s Bryan Preston reported, Abbott called the special session in order to advance legislation on election integrity, border security, social media censorship, family violence prevention, protecting women’s sports, fighting critical race theory, and curbing access to abortion-inducing drugs, among other things.
At least 58 of the 67 Democrats in the Texas House plan to skip out on their jobs, an echo of the stunt Democrats pulled in 2003, NBC News reported. The move would paralyze the chamber.
Most of the Democrats plan to fly to Washington, D.C., in order to rally for H.R. 1, the federal takeover of elections that Democrats dub the “For the People Act.” According to NBC News’ source, most the Democrats plan to fly on two private jets.
Wrap your heads around that. Elected state representatives are abandoning their responsibilities to rally in support of federal control.
This is what happens in a world where public schools don’t teach history or civics.
Of course, they eventually did flee the state, and they’re quite proud of themselves. Personally, I hope they continue being smug attention whores, because I don’t think that it is going to work out the way that they think it will:
The Texas Dem toddler tantrum is all about avoiding a vote on election integrity laws that Republicans in Texas have put forward. For all of the same “blah, blah…RACIST” reasons they oppose everything.
More from Tyler:
While Democrats have attacked election integrity laws as “Jim Crow on steroids” or an insidious plan to make sure that black people cannot vote, the election integrity laws aim to correct election irregularities that plagued the 2020 election, such as ballot drop-boxes with insecure chains of custody and the widespread mailing of mail-in ballots using outdated voter lists.
I keep asking why Democrats are so bitterly opposed to any, and I do mean any, laws that would shore up election integrity and make people feel like their votes were worth something. I keep coming up with the same answer: they want elections to be free-for-alls that are open to the introduction of fraud. It’s the only conclusion that explains their full-court press disinformation campaign about anything Republicans have suggested this year.
Of course, chaos and an election riddled with irregularities worked out well for them last year, so one can see why they’d like that to be the norm. That’s what H.R. 1 is all about. It’s federal oversight that perversely makes sure that states and municipalities can’t do much in the way of, you know, oversight.
You don’t have to take my word for it when it comes to Democrats having disdain for election laws. Take prominent Dem Donna Brazile’s.
We’re going the need the receipts for this one, Donna. Here’s what former interim DNC chair Donna Brazile said on ABC “This Week” on Sunday: “I’m an election official, ok? And if I began to give people access to the ballot through online applications for absentee ballots, I can be arrested. It’s criminalizing voting in ways we should not criminalize voting.”
Well, yes. If you break the law, you’re a criminal. This is not complicated. If you violate election laws passed by the duly elected legislature, what you’re doing is illegal. No one should have the power to unilaterally change election laws, although several governors and secretaries of state did in 2020—illegally, in my opinion—citing COVID concerns.
Democrats are terrified about anything that introduces transparency or security in elections. I’m not implying that fraud is ultimately their goal, I’m stating it outright. Their even bigger long-term goal is one-party rule in the United States, which they know they can’t achieve as long as elections can’t be gamed.
Hopefully, they won’t be able to pollute the entire process by November of next year. If they do, get your gulag bag packed.
Everything Isn’t Awful
PJ Media
VodkaPundit: Shocking Depths of Fauci-China Connection Revealed in New Documents
[WATCH] Why This American Record-Breaker Has Me Excited About the Olympics
The Climate Justice Myth: How Green Energy Hurts the Poor, the Middle Class, and the Environment
Texas Democrats Running Away From Their Duties Isn’t New or ‘Uncharted’
Illegal Immigrant Deaths Soar During Heat Wave
Pro-Biden Super PAC Has a Dire Warning for Democrats Ahead of Crucial Midterms
Daily Dose of Downey: Swindle, Rape, Kill, Grope, Burn, Assault–But Only if You Are a Leftist
ORWELLIAN: Ibram Kendi Dismisses Critical Race Theory Concerns as ‘a Fictional Monster’
No Mob For The Blob: BlobFest 2021 Is a Bust
Now Belief in Creationism Is ‘White Supremacy.’ News Flash: We Won’t Bow to Your Secular Idols
France Learns About Islam’s 1,400-Year Assault
North Korea Faces Another Terrible and Totally Avoidable Famine
Four Arrested, ‘Guns Laid Out’ Near Baseball All-Star Game
BREAKING: Biden Breaks His Silence on Cuba Protests
Townhall Mothership
Schlichter: The Coming of Strong Man Populism and the Power of ‘No!’
So there’s that…Poll: Majority of Minorities, Democrats Oppose Anti-American Olympic Protests
Biden State Department Spox Called Out by AP Reporter For Making Up History About Trump Agreements
Kamala Should Get All the Pinocchios for Description of Runaway Texas Dems
Kira: Biden Wants to Censor Your Text Messages for COVID ‘Misinformation’
CPAC: Lawrence B. Jones Calls for the GOP to Engage With Black America
#CoutureWar. Concealed Carry Fashion Show At 2021 NRA Annual Meeting
Cam&Co. LA County Sheriff Running Against “Woke Left”
Mexican Avocado Farmers Arm Up Amid Growing Violence
Op-Ed Blatantly Lies About Arming Criminals At Gun Shows
BBC: Western video bloggers are useful idiots for Chinese propaganda
Um…no. NIH report: “Parents should lose veto power” over trans children decisions
VIP
Kruiser’s (Almost) Daily Distraction: My Chess Game Really Needs Some Work
VodkaPundit, Part Deux: Richard Branson and the Retro Future of Spaceflight
Dr. Fauci’s Latest Comments on Vaccine Hesitancy Are Disingenuous and Wrong
Matt Damon Gets a Valuable Lesson About Conservative Folk
Dr. Fauci Indicates Support for Local COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates Amid a New FDA Warning
GOLD ‘Unredacted with Kurt Schlichter’: The FBI Is Not On the American Peoples’ Side
Around the Interwebz
A QUESTION THAT NEEDS AN ANSWER. Why Do Nipples Hurt?
The eugenicist roots of the assisted-dying movement
What’s the Difference Between Flexibility and Mobility (and Why Should You Care)?
Priest beaten, arrested amid Cuba protests
This Nighttime Drone Shot of a Futuristic City Is Actually a Sea Urchin
Bee Me
The Kruiser Kabana
Kabana Gallery
Kabana Tunes
“Hockey puck” and “dipstick” have been underused as epithets since Rickles died. I’m gonna bring them back.
30.) WHITE HOUSE DOSSIER
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31.) THE DISPATCH
The Morning Dispatch: Cubans March for Freedom
Plus: the dangerous heat waves in California and the Southwest.
The Dispatch Staff | 7 min ago | 1 |
Happy Tuesday! The Dispatch’s softball team faces off against the Brookings Institution tonight, with the winner taking sole control of first place. Please send some good vibes our way—we’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow!
Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories
- The White House on Monday expressed support for the Cuban people as mass protests in the Caribbean nation extended into their second day. “We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba’s authoritarian regime,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.
- Israel’s Ministry of Health on Monday began offering a third dose of Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine to severely immunocompromised individuals as the Delta variant spreads. Pfizer executives briefed U.S. health officials on Monday about the possibility, but no shift in policy was announced. “The CDC and the FDA said that based on the data that we know right now, we don’t need a boost,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said. “That doesn’t mean that that won’t change. We might need … to give boosters either across the board or to certain select groups, such as the elderly or those with underlying conditions.”
- Army Gen. Austin Scott Miller—the top commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan since 2018—stepped down from his post on Monday, transferring his authority to Marine Corps Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command.
- The Senate unanimously confirmed Jen Easterly—an Army veteran and National Security Agency alumna—to serve as the new director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Monday.
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken made clear yesterday that the Biden administration would continue the Trump administration’s rejection of most of China’s maritime claims in the South China Sea. “We call on the PRC to abide by its obligations under international law, cease its provocative behavior, and take steps to reassure the international community that it is committed to the rules-based maritime order that respects the rights of all countries, big and small,” Blinken said.
- The Food and Drug Administration announced Monday it will add a new warning label to the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine after about 100 preliminary cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome have been detected out of the 12.8 million Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients. “Although the available evidence suggests an association between the Janssen vaccine and increased risk of GBS, it is insufficient to establish a causal relationship,” the FDA said in a statement.
Cuban Protesters: ‘We Are Not Afraid’
Thousands occupied the streets of Cuba on Sunday and Monday in a striking display of solidarity against their socialist leadership, calling for an end to the autocracy and corruption responsible for the country’s food shortages, economic disrepair, and vulnerability to COVID-19. “No tenemos miedo,” or “we are not afraid,” was the rallying cry of the day—even as Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel ordered police to harass protesters and rallied pro-government supporters to do the same.
“We are calling all the revolutionaries in the country, all the communists, to take to the streets and go to the places where these provocations are going to take place,” Díaz-Canel said Monday in an apparent call for vigilantes to target participants in the demonstrations, which he attributed to the work of “opportunists, counterrevolutionaries, and mercenaries paid by the U.S. government.”
Ramiro Valdés Menéndez—an 89-year-old politician and participant in the Cuban Revolution of the 1950s—parroted Díaz-Canel’s paranoia on Twitter, proclaiming that the residents of the southern city of Santiago de Cuba did not allow the “counterrevolutionary criminals” to do the bidding of the United States.
Cuba responded as police states are wont to do, deploying law enforcement to beat, fire water cannons at, and in some instances, shoot at protesters. More than 100 were arrested by the end of the day Sunday. Kentik, a network monitoring company, reported internet outages following the demonstrations as authorities sought to stifle the spread of dissent.
In contrast to anti-government movements preceding it, Sunday’s unrest was striking in its broad inclusion of protesters across the ideological and socioeconomic spectrum. Gatherings began in the town of San Antonio de los Baños—some 20 miles from the capital of Havana—and spread East to more than 50 cities and towns across the small island nation.
It’s Getting Hot in Here
When we asked Michael Wehner—a senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory—to comment on the heat wave, he responded with a query of his own: “Which one?”
“It’s a pretty active year for heat waves,” Wehner told The Dispatch, speaking in his personal capacity and not as a representative of the lab. After record-breaking temperatures hit the Southwest in mid-June and the Pacific Northwest in late June, the heat has come for California and the Southwest yet again.
While it can be tempting to reach for simple narratives about what causes extreme events like these, reality is often more complex.
“Causality can be kind of a deep philosophical question,” Wehner said. “In the climate sciences, we take a rather practical viewpoint borrowing techniques used from epidemiology. And so what we recognize is that a complex event, like a disease, for instance, or a heatwave or a storm, has many different elements that all have to be just right for the event to happen. And so there’s usually not one causal factor. It’s usually the confluence of a number of things.”
In the case of these heat waves, the most obvious contributing factor is the fact that it’s summer. “Beyond that, there have been some unusual patterns of the atmospheric circulation,” Wehner said. Climate change exacerbates the effects of both of these things. As the bell curve of temperatures has shifted right over the past few decades, extreme temperatures have become more common even as median temperatures don’t feel that different.
After the heat wave in the Pacific Northwest, Wehner contributed to a “rapid attribution study” that found it was about 4 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than it would have been without climate change. Although that heat wave was an extremely rare event, it was made at least 150 times more likely by climate change—and that’s just the lower bound of the estimate. “Without climate change, it pretty much was not going to happen,” Wehner said.
Worth Your Time
- We here at The Dispatch—in TMD and Vital Interests, and on the website—have written a lot about Afghanistan in recent weeks, including the likely repercussions of the United States’ withdrawal from the region. For a thoughtful argument in favor of the Biden administration’s decision to follow through on the withdrawal, check out Michael Brendan Dougherty’s latest in National Review. “The mission in Afghanistan when the United States invaded 20 years ago was to destroy al-Qaeda’s operations, get Osama bin Laden, and punish the Taliban for hosting terrorists who attacked us,” he writes. “We accomplished these missions years ago.” Even with the Taliban’s recent military successes in Afghanistan, Dougherty argues that it is not America’s responsibility to “babysit a society … lamentably surrounded by a people trapped in a stage of development that Germania escaped nine centuries ago. We have much, much more important things to do.”
- On the latest episode of the Odd Lots financial and economics podcast, Bloomberg’s Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway were joined by Kurt Alexander, CFO of Omni Hotels and Resorts, to discuss the nationwide labor shortage, why employers are struggling to find workers, and what Omni is doing to attract talent in the current conditions.
Presented Without Comment
ScottGordonNBC5 @ScottGordonNBC5
ON PLANE TO DC: Texas Democratic lawmakers are leaving state to break quorum to stop Republican voting bill. Veteran Capitol observers say this is unchartered territory. Photo from Democrat on the plane. https://t.co/YOuOMb0A2m https://t.co/abWoARvFIC
Something Incredibly Fun
New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso won his second consecutive Home Run Derby last night, but the evening’s most entertaining matchup came in the first round between Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels and Juan Soto of the Washington Nationals. The two young superstars tied twice, eventually having to resort to a sudden death round to determine the winner.
Toeing the Company Line
- On yesterday’s Advisory Opinions, Sarah and David take a macro look at the most recent Supreme Court term and provide some of their overarching takeaways. How have the Trump-appointed justices shaped the makeup of the court? Are there any thematic throughlines to the court’s jurisprudence this term?
- Anyone who grew up watching Schoolhouse Rock knows how a bill becomes a law. But, when it comes to infrastructure, how does a bill become a road? Price explains.
- Also on the site today, Walter Olson writes about how our electoral institutions withstood the test of the 2020 election but asks, “Will the line hold next time??”
Reporting by Declan Garvey (@declanpgarvey), Andrew Egger (@EggerDC), Charlotte Lawson (@charlotteUVA), Ryan Brown (@RyanP_Brown), Harvest Prude (@HarvestPrude), Tripp Grebe (@tripper_grebe), Emma Rogers (@emw_96), Price St. Clair (@PriceStClair1), Jonathan Chew (@JonathanChew19), and Steve Hayes (@stephenfhayes).
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32.) LEGAL INSURRECTION
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37.) LARRY J. SABATO’S CRYSTAL BALL
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40.) REUTERS
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43.) REDSTATE
Loudoun County Parents Discover Chilling CRT Teacher Training Material Decrying “Heterosexism” and Parental Autonomy
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48.) NBC MORNING RUNDOWN
Tuesday, July 13, 2021
Good morning, NBC News readers.
President Joe Biden is expected to deliver a major speech on voting rights today and blast a flurry of GOP-backed voting law changes as “un-American.” Britney Spears’ next court hearing is expected tomorrow, but experts say her allegations of abuse are unlikely to end her conservatorship. And TikTok has morphed into another megaphone for vaccine misinformation, according to a new report.
Here’s the latest on that and everything else we’re watching this Tuesday morning.
President Joe Biden plans to blast the flurry of new Republican-backed voting law changes Tuesday as “the most egregious attempts to harm the integrity of our democracy since the Civil War.”
Biden, who will be speaking steps from Independence Hall in Philadelphia in his first major speech on the issue, is expected to argue that the sustained Republican effort to enact new stricter voting laws is “undemocratic, un-American and unpatriotic.”
The president’s address will be closely scrutinized in both parties — perhaps most of all by his fellow Democrats. No area may better demonstrate the state of the increasingly uneasy truce between Biden and his party’s activist base than the tactical divide between them over the issue.
Leading progressives, and even some of Biden’s traditional allies, have gone increasingly public with their frustration about what they see as Biden’s inaction in making the case for federal legislation to counter Republican-led voting law changes.
Tuesday’s top stories By Dareh Gregorian and Hallie Jackson | Read more Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization chief financial officer indicted on tax fraud charges earlier this month, has quietly been removed from top positions at more than two dozen Trump subsidiaries.
By Daniella Silva | Read more Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel blamed his country’s woes — from food and medicine shortages to power outages — on the U.S. embargo Monday a day after Cuba’s streets largest anti-government protests in decades. By Doha Madani | Read more Spears told the court that her previous psychiatrist was abusive, but the allegation is neither uncommon in conservatorships nor likely to help her case, lawyers say. OPINION By Michael C. Bender | Read more Ronna McDaniel, head of the Republican National Committee, offered President Donald Trump some savvy political advice in the early months of the pandemic which he promptly ignored, but which may have cost him the election, the Wall Street Journal’s senior White House reporter writes in an excerpt from his new book “Frankly, We Did Win This Election.” By Brandy Zadrozny | Read more The Institute for Strategic Dialogue tracked Covid-19 vaccine misinformation spread through TikTok’s sounds feature. It found that anti-vaccination audio tracks have gone viral as a kind of chain message, with the original claims and content often hidden by TikTok. BETTER By Erica Chayes Wida | Read more Want to start investing in the stock market in 2021? Here’s everything you need to know about stock apps that can help you invest on a budget.
Want to receive the Morning Rundown in your inbox? Sign up here.
Also in the news …
Looking to get into baking this summer? Hand mixers can be an affordable and space-saving option for most of your baking needs.
One fun thing In Utah, sometimes fish do fly.
It’s the most efficient way to restock some remote lakes.
Watch a video of thousands of baby fish called “fingerlings” being dropped from a plane into lakes near Bicknell, Utah, to repopulate them with marine life.
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49.) NBC FIRST READ
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From NBC’s Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Ben Kamisar
FIRST READ: What’s the endgame? Dems, Republicans face the same question on a range of thorny topics
It’s a busy midsummer day in American politics.
President Biden is set to deliver a speech on voting rights in Philadelphia at 2:50 p.m. ET.
Texas Democrats are in DC after fleeing the state legislature to deny Republicans a quorum to pass their voting restrictions.
The U.S. Senate is back at work on infrastructure and a reconciliation package.
And in the marquee race of 2021, Virginia GOP gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin won’t attend this month’s debate with Dem nominee Terry McAuliffe, which was going to be moderated by PBS’ Judy Woodruff.
These different stories pose the same question for both parties: How can you win in a situation where success ranges from the nearly impossible to the incredibly difficult?
REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
On voting rights, can Democrats pass anything given the Senate math and the GOP filibuster? Or is the better approach, as the Biden White House seems to think, to win on the issue in 2022 and 2024?
On those Texas Democrats, are they only delaying inevitable defeat in the GOP-controlled state legislature? (Remember, when Texas Democrats fled the state back in 2003 protesting a GOP redistricting plan, Republicans eventually passed that redistricting plan.)
On infrastructure and reconciliation, can Biden and the Democrats walk the tightrope of holding on to GOP support, while also keeping Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on the same page?
And in Virginia, can Youngkin really avoid questions from national reporters and anchors – especially on the topic of Donald Trump – when the former president keeps on involving himself in the contest?
All are difficult questions, where the most likely answer may be unsatisfying.
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What Biden is expected to say in Philly
Speaking of Biden’s speech today in Philly, NBC’s Mike Memoli gets a preview from a White House official.
“The president will highlight that the greatest irony of the 28 voter suppression laws that have been passed across 17 states this year alone is that the 2020 election took place in extraordinarily difficult circumstances and it stands as a model for the trustworthiness and precision of our system, given that over 80 judges – including judges appointed by his predecessor – threw out every challenge to it.”
More: “The president will give Democrats credit for unanimously voting to advance the For the People Act, and decry Republican obstruction of its path. And he will reiterate that the work to pass it and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act are only beginning.”
But don’t miss this from Memoli’s reporting: “[O]fficials have been careful about how he uses his political capital, seeing a better use in mobilizing Democrats to put voting rights front and center in next year’s midterm elections.”
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TWEET OF THE DAY: Reality check
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Data Download: The numbers you need to know today
34,001,707 : The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, per the most recent data from NBC News and health officials. (That’s 19,910 more than yesterday morning.)
610,529: The number of deaths in the United States from the virus so far, per the most recent data from NBC News. (That’s 29 more since yesterday morning.)
334,600,770: The number of vaccine doses administered in the U.S., per the CDC.
48 percent: The share of all Americans who are fully vaccinated, per the CDC.
58.9 percent: The share of all American adults at least 18 years of age who are fully vaccinated, per CDC.
100: The number of Guillain-Barré syndrome cases reported in those who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, prompting an FDA warning.
5 percent: The estimated increase in the consumer-price index in June, per a Wall Street Journal survey of economists.
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Party off
In California’s upcoming recall, “California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, cannot identify his political affiliation on the ballot during the coming recall election, a judge ruled Monday,” per NBC News.
“State Superior Court Judge James Arguellas denied Newsom’s request that his party be listed on the ballot after he failed to identify his political preference by a filing deadline.”
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ICYMI: What ELSE is happening in the world?
First Lady Jill Biden will lead the U.S. Olympic delegation to Tokyo.
After a meeting with Pfizer, U.S. health agency reiterates that Covid vaccine booster not necessary.
Trump was wrong about officer who shot Jan. 6 rioter Ashli Babbitt, law enforcement official says.
Indicted Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg is removed from top roles at subsidiaries.
There’s a slew of new reporting this week about Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election.
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52.) MANHATTAN INSTITUTE
53.) LOUDER WITH CROWDER
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62.) 1440 DAILY DIGEST
No images? Click here Good morning. It’s Tuesday, July 13, and we’re covering protests in Cuba, wildfires in the West, and much more. Have feedback? Let us know at hello@join1440.com. First time reading? Sign up here. NEED TO KNOWCuba CrackdownAt least 80 people were arrested yesterday as the Cuban government cracked down on widespread anti-government protests. Among those detained were popular human rights activist and opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer and poet Amaury Pacheco. The arrests come one day after thousands took to the streets across the country (map here) in what were the largest demonstrations in Cuba since the 1959 Communist revolution. The country’s mostly state-controlled economy shrunk by 11% last year, with its tourism industry collapsing amid the pandemic and a poor harvest for sugarcane, one of Cuba’s main exports. At the same time, the country’s COVID-19 caseload has skyrocketed, hitting almost seven times the US average on a per capita basis. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel accused the US of instigating the unrest. Western Wildfires Southern Oregon’s Bootleg Fire grew to at least 153,000 acres yesterday, burning through part of the state’s Fremont-Winema National Forest for the seventh day. The blaze is almost one-quarter the size of the Long Draw Fire in 2012, Oregon’s largest wildfire in the past century. The fire, whose perimeter stretches 87 miles, was 0% contained as of this morning. Separately, the River Fire in central California has burned through 9,000 acres and was 10% contained as of this morning. The flames come as western and southwestern states grapple with the latest in a series of heat waves. Death Valley, California, recorded the hottest daily low temperature in US history Sunday at almost 108 degrees, while Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport tied its all-time high temperature Saturday at 117 degrees. The heat comes two weeks after temperature records fell across the Pacific Northwest and western Canada. A recent analysis suggested the intensity of the previous weather pattern—a phenomenon known as a heat dome—may be linked to a weakening summer jet stream. Texas WalkoutDemocratic state legislators in Texas staged a walkout yesterday in an effort to delay consideration of an election and voting reform bill. Their absence means the state’s House chamber won’t have a quorum—the minimum number of lawmakers required to be present in order to hold a vote. At least 59 lawmakers traveled en masse to Washington, DC, to advocate for a federal voting rights bill. The move comes after Gov. Greg Abbott (R) convened a special congressional session to consider a slew of proposals that also included border security and abortion rights. The regular May session ended similarly, when Democrats walked out to stall a vote on the same legislation. Lawmakers must remain out of the state for nearly a month to run out the clock on the special session. See an overview of the election and voting reform bill here (along with the full text here). In partnership with The Motley Fool DON’T MISS THE BOATWe all know those stock picks: the ones that got away. We thought and thought about making the investment, then decided against it. Next thing you know, it’s doubled in value. Now, The Motley Fool can’t guarantee you’ll never have that feeling again. But they’re doing their best to make it less awful. You see, Tom Gardner, The Motley Fool’s cofounder, makes monthly stock picks for Stock Advisor members. Returns have been pretty astounding, averaging 606% since inception. But every now and then, he releases a “Double Down” recommendation, providing investors who missed the boat on a great stock with another chance to invest … and the opportunity for investors who did buy to add to their gains. Tom’s past Double Down picks include Netflix, Amazon, and Apple. And he’s got another three available to you today. Sign up for Stock Advisor today to read Tom’s three latest Double Down recommendations. Returns as of 7/8/21 Please support our sponsors! IN THE KNOWSports, Entertainment, & Culture> Cedric the Entertainer tapped to host 2021 Emmy Awards, which return with a limited in-person audience after the 2020 ceremony was mostly virtual (More) | Emmy nominations to be unveiled this morning (11:30 am ET) (More) > “Night Court” star Charlie Robinson dies at 75 due to cardiac arrest and cancer (More) | Drake Bell, former star of Nickelodeon’s “Drake and Josh,” sentenced to two years of probation on child endangerment charges (More) > New York Mets’ Pete Alonso wins his second straight Home Run Derby (More) | See preview of tonight’s MLB All-Star Game (7:30 pm ET, Fox) from Coors Field in Denver (More) Science & Technology> US health regulators add warning to the label of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine regarding Guillain-Barré syndrome after roughly 100 cases of the disease were self-reported out of 12.8 million shots administered; scientists said the data were suggestive but insufficient to establish a clear link (More) > Researchers demonstrate the first precision breeding of sugarcane using CRISPR gene-editing, potentially allowing the growth of crops tailored to specific local environments (More) | Want to learn more about CRISPR? Check out our 1440 curated resource page (More) > Amazon receives regulatory approval for radar-based sensors that monitor user sleeping habits by detecting motion throughout the night (More) Business & MarketsBrought to you by The Ascent > Virgin Galactic shares trade up in premarket trading after Richard Branson’s successful Sunday voyage, but shares drop 17% on the day after company announces $500M stock sale (More) | Tesla CEO Elon Musk testifies in Delaware court in shareholder lawsuit over $2.6B acquisition of SolarCity (More) > Public filings show Trump Organization removed CFO Allen Weisselberg as an officer from some of its subsidiaries, following indictment on alleged tax evasion scheme (More) > Flipkart—the “Amazon of India”—raises $3.6B at a $37B valuation (More) From our partners: This new credit card is a reward-seeker’s dream, offering 2% cash back on all purchases (no more tracking categories) and a generous sign-up bonus. The Ascent’s independent team of experts is calling it one of the market’s best all-around cards. Learn more today. Politics & World Affairs> Army Gen. Austin “Scott” Miller steps down as the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan nears an end; Miller was the longest-serving commander of the US mission in the country (More) > Officials identify Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Florida-based doctor, as one of the alleged masterminds behind the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse; Sanon reportedly believed he would be installed as president (More) > Florida peninsula grapples with a red tide; an estimated 110 tons of dead sea life has been collected near the St. Petersburg area from toxic algae bloom (More) | What are red tides? (More) IN-DEPTHThe Big FaintThe Ringer | Claire McNear. In 2004, then 13-year-old Akshay Buddiga shot to viral fame after fainting during the finals of the national spelling bee. But Buddiga rebounded—almost literally—nailing the word “alopecoid” and entering American pop culture lore. (Read) Simulation CityThe Verge | Andrew Hawkins. What’s the best way of training autonomous vehicles to drive without risking real-world accidents? For Google’s sister company Waymo, the answer was to construct an entirely virtual world. (Read) IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEEDIn partnership with The Motley Fool Missing your chance on a Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation doesn’t have to be the end of the road. While their recommendations average 606% overall, sometimes the second recommendation for select stocks is where you could tap into big returns. Take, for example, Netflix (up 29,110% since the second recommendation), Amazon (up 1,970%), and Apple (up 2,538%). And today, The Motley Fool has three more Double Down recommendations, free for Stock Advisor members. Returns as of 7/8/21 Please support our sponsors! ETCETERAHow Google search results vary around the world. Medieval French coins found in Poland—maybe? Hero journalist navigates hard seltzer festival. Northrop Grumman wins a contract to build homes orbiting the moon. South Korea regulates slower workout music in gyms. Tampa Bay Lightning dent the Stanley Cup (literally). Seriously, stop dumping pet goldfish in lakes! An amazing history of failed startups. Clickbait: Drug dealers pitching ethically sourced cocaine. Historybook: Julius Caesar born (100 BCE); First World Cup takes place in Uruguay (1930); HBD Sir Patrick Stewart (1940); RIP artist Frida Kahlo (1954); Live Aid concert raises more than $125M for Africa famine relief (1985). “Nothing is worth more than laughter.” – Frida Kahlo Enjoy reading? Forward this email to a friend.Why 1440? The printing press was invented in the year 1440, spreading knowledge to the masses and changing the course of history. Guess what else? There are 1,440 minutes in a day and every one is precious. That’s why we scour hundreds of sources every day to provide a concise, comprehensive, and objective view of what’s happening in the world. Reader feedback is a gift—shoot us a note at hello@join1440.com. Interested in advertising to smart readers like you? Apply here! |
63.) AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH
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72.) FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATION
73.) POPULIST PRESS
74.) THE POST MILLENIAL
75.) BLACKLISTED NEWS
76.) THE DAILY DOT
July 13, 2021 Welcome to the Tuesday edition of Internet Insider, where we dissect tech and politics unfolding online. Today:
BREAK THE INTERNET Biden’s new executive order urges FCC to restore net neutrality President Joe Biden urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reinstate net neutrality rules in an executive order he signed recently.
Biden’s call was part of a larger sweeping executive order attempting to promote competition in the country’s economy and combating corporate consolidation.
Net neutrality rules were adopted by the FCC in 2015 and prevent internet service providers (ISPs) from blocking, throttling, or using paid prioritization on internet speeds. The rules also classified ISPs under Title II of the Communications Act, which gave the FCC authority over the providers. All of that was undone in 2017 by the Republican-led FCC, which repealed the rules.
Specifically, Biden’s order “encourages the FCC to restore net neutrality rules undone by the prior administration.”
The inclusion of net neutrality in the order is significant and makes it clear that the administration supports reinstating the rules.
However, restoring net neutrality will not be possible without Biden filling out the FCC.
Currently, the agency is locked in a 2-2 deadlock along party lines. The agency is supposed to have five commissioners, and Biden can nominate someone to become another commissioner or the chair.
A vote on restoring net neutrality will almost assuredly go down party lines, making that fifth spot at the commission critical.
Biden has moved much slower than past presidents to fill out the FCC. Advocates and tech rights groups have been urging Biden to name a fifth commissioner for months. Deputy Tech Editor
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INTERNET RIGHTS ‘It’s a fundraising grift’: Trump’s social media lawsuit roasted by legal experts Former President Donald Trump announced that he was suing big tech companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter, but experts are already predicting that the lawsuit won’t go very far.
Trump unveiled his lawsuit in a press conference, calling it “beautiful” and framing it as a way to fight back against his long-standing—but light on evidence—belief that social media companies have a bias against conservatives.
Trump naturally has a personal interest in fighting the companies. He was banned from Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube after posting on the platforms following the Capitol riot. Since being booted off the platforms, Trump’s reach online has plummeted.
As for the likelihood of his lawsuit succeeding, the general consensus seems to be that it is nothing more than a “stunt.”
“This lawsuit is a stunt and it’s unlikely to find traction in the courts,” Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said in a statement.
The lawsuit’s likely purpose—an attempt to galvanize his base at a time where he’s struggled to get the same attention he did while in office—was on full display shortly after the announcement.
Fundraising emails were sent out asking people to contribute “any amount right now to show your support for President Trump’s lawsuit against Big Tech.”
“This is not a lawsuit. It’s a fundraising grift,” Evan Greer, the director of Fight for the Future, said in a statement. “While it’s silly to pretend that the moderation decisions of Big Tech don’t have a significant impact on free expression, the First Amendment enables private platforms to make exactly the kind of moderation decisions they wish to make as non-government entities. From a legal perspective, this lawsuit is likely to go nowhere.” —A.W.
BIG TECH Twitter verified a number of bot accounts—raising questions about security Questions have been raised over Twitter’s verification process after a handful of suspicious accounts were seen with blue checkmarks.
In a tweet thread on Sunday, Twitter user Conspirador Norteño, a data scientist focused on disinformation, highlighted six newly-created accounts that had all been verified.
While it’s common for malicious actors to hack into already-verified accounts, the six users had all been created just 26 days ago. Not only that, the accounts shared nearly all the same followers and had not made a single tweet.
The profile pictures for two of the accounts even appeared to be stock images, while others seem to have been created with artificial intelligence. Dozens of the accounts’ followers looked the same as well, using computer-generated photos of humans and cats for their profiles.
Although the majority of the accounts and their followers had not tweeted, several had. Conspirador Norteño noted that of the handful that had made tweets, nearly all of the content was related to automated Korean spam.
It remains unclear how the accounts were able to get verified, let alone so quickly. The Daily Dot reached out to Twitter to inquire about the accounts but did not receive a reply by press time. Staff Writer
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77.) HEADLINE USA
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78.) NATURAL NEWS
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79.) POLITICHICKS
80.) BLACKPRESSUSA
81.) THE WESTERN JOURNAL
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82.) CNN
Tuesday 07.13.21 Families could start getting enhanced child tax credit payments from the IRS as soon as this week. Think you qualify? Use our calculator to see how much you may be entitled to. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On With Your Day. People line up last week for coronavirus testing in Seoul, South Korea. Coronavirus
Americans need to make a choice to avoid a looming coronavirus surge, a CNN medical expert says: Get vaccinated, or actually follow through on safety precautions like masking and social distancing. That choice is playing out elsewhere, as well. COVAX, the global vaccine-sharing initiative, signed deals with two Chinese pharmaceutical companies for more than half a billion Covid-19 vaccines by the first half of next year to try to combat the spreading Delta variant. In Seoul, South Korea, the Health Ministry has implemented an unusual gym restriction: no fast music, which it reasons can lead to rapid breathing. Back in the US, the FDA warned of a possible increased risk of a rare neurological complication known as Guillain-Barré syndrome tied to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The FDA says it hasn’t established that the vaccine could cause the syndrome — just an increase in reports.
Voting rights
Texas state House Democrats left the state yesterday in an effort to block Republicans from passing a restrictive new voting law during a special legislative session. The session was specifically called to discuss more voter restrictions after state Democrats walked out in the final hours of the regular session to quash a similar piece of legislation. Already this year, Republican-led states including Florida, Georgia and Iowa have enacted restrictive new voting laws. Democrats in Congress have pushed measures that would expand access to the ballot box nationwide, but GOP opposition in the Senate has kept efforts from advancing. This afternoon, President Biden is set to give a major speech in Philadelphia on voting rights.
White House
In addition to voting rights, there are new developments (and new complications) for other big Biden administration priorities. Senate Democrats unveiled a $3.7 billion proposal to supplement security funding at the Capitol and beyond following the January 6 Capitol riot. This expanded plan, put forth by Sen. Patrick Leahy, would also provide funding to help Afghan supporters of the US military obtain visas as the US ends its combat presence there. Meanwhile, Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill is in danger of becoming less bipartisan. Some initial GOP backers now say they may vote against it due to misgivings about how the bill would be funded and worries that Democrats would also pass a larger version of the bill without Republican support.
Haiti
Several men involved in the assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise previously worked as US law enforcement informants, according to people briefed on the matter. At least one man, who was arrested, worked as an informant for the US Drug Enforcement Administration. Several more of the 28 people in custody are allegedly Colombian mercenaries hired through a Florida-based security company. Top foreign officials, including members of the US National Security Council and Colombia’s chief of national intelligence, have visited Haiti since Moise’s death. Key questions about last week’s attack remain notably unanswered, like how the attackers got into the country, how they were armed and furnished with vehicles, and why none of Moise’s security detail or residential staff were injured amid the abundant gunfire.
China
Japan warns that growing military tension around Taiwan and the economic and technological rivalry between China and the US are threatening peace and stability in East Asia. Japan’s annual defense white paper also pointed to China as Japan’s main national security concern. Beijing has increased military activity around Taiwan, which is near the western end of the Japanese archipelago. Over the weekend, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also asserted a firm US stance on China’s claims to the South China Sea. He reaffirmed the US commitment to protecting the Philippines’ armed forces from attack in the region, and he observed the fifth anniversary of a ruling rejecting China’s expansive territorial claims over the waterway.
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Bras that feel like no bra Ever feel like your bra is poking you more than it’s supporting you? Meet 6 functional and fashionable bras that feel like no bra. They are so comfy, you might fall asleep in them. People are talking about these. Read up. Join in. Netflix and Paris Hilton have teamed up for a cooking show
Martin Lawrence’s daughter and Eddie Murphy’s son are dating Yes, it’s real life for these two nice young people, but admit it … this would make a great movie plot for their dads, too.
Puppies ‘get’ us more than human-raised wolf puppies do, study finds
Tick season is here. Here’s what you need to know
It’s so hard to get a house right now, some people are dropping out of the market
This England team deserve to be lauded as heroes, not racially abused on social media.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on reports of online racist abuse of some England soccer players following their heartbreaking Euro 2020 final defeat this weekend $1.56 million That’s how much a copy of Super Mario 64 recently sold for, smashing the record for the most expensive sale ever of a video game at auction. Brought to you by CNN Underscored We tested smart bikes to find out if buying a Peloton is worth it We spent several months clipped in, tapping back and turning up resistance on five of the best smart bikes on the market to help you decide which machine is the best investment for you. Mail time! 5 THINGS You are receiving this newsletter because you’re subscribed to 5 Things.
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83.) JUST THE NEWS
Just The News: Daily Newsletter
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84.) POWERLINE
- Keep a Close Eye on Cuba
- Loose Ends (134)
- Jobs Americans won’t do — their old ones
- New meaning of transparency
- Covid lessons learned: Kevin Roche versus Star Tribune
Keep a Close Eye on Cuba
Posted: 12 Jul 2021 03:35 PM PDT (Steven Hayward)John noted last night the large anti-regime protests in Cuba, and one hopes that this is the beginning of the end for the Castro tyranny, in just the way that mass protests in Eastern Europe in 1989 presaged the fall of the Berlin Wall in November of that year, and the collapse of Communist rule shortly thereafter. There are reasons to worry about this scene, however. Protestors took to the streets “in cities all around the country” according to media reports. Did these protests happen spontaneously? There are credible reports of building unrest among Cubans for several months now, but protests usually require some planning, coordination, and communication. Cuba keeps a tight lid on communications (and especially the internet). It is reported today that Cuba has shut down the internet to hinder further protest planning. Cuban intelligence is really good: can it be they had no inkling that a protest might be reaching critical mass? Or could this have been a false-flag operation of Cuban intelligence to smoke out leading dissidents so as to identify and arrest them? There are lots of examples of the Communist regimes of old in Eastern Europe actually setting up or running “opposition” groups for the very purpose of identifying and arresting potential troublemakers. And protests of any kind in Cuba are very rare. Keep your eye out to see if we get credible reports of mass arrests, though the the Cuban government will likely do this quietly and out of sight of foreign observers to the largest extent possible. Maybe the Cuban regime has grown less competent—wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened in a Communist country—or has lost its nerve to some extent. Incompetence is actually the proximate cause of the Berlin Wall coming down in an instant in 1989. But it is good to bear in mind a central fact from that now long-ago happy ending: As Angelo Codevilla once put it in his inimitable direct style: Communist rule collapsed when the rulers lost the will to shoot their own people in large enough numbers. Do we think Cuba’s rulers have reached that point? I doubt it.* Hope to be wrong about all of this. * I know of a credible account from more than 25 years ago where someone asked Fidel and Raul Castro over a fancy dinner what would happen if they liberalized Cuba at all. One of the Castros reportedly answered: “We’d all be hanging from lampposts in a week.” |
Loose Ends (134)
Posted: 12 Jul 2021 10:36 AM PDT (Steven Hayward)• Lately I’ve been dipping into the great memoirs of Raymond Moley again. Moley was FDR’s closest confidante early from the governor’s mansion in Albany and into the White House in 1933. In fact, Moley wrote most of FDR’s very problematic First Inaugural Address (but not the much more problematic Commonwealth Club Address). Moley broke with FDR after 1936, appalled by where he thought the New Deal had gone badly wrong, and FDR’s increasing monomania. Afterwards Moley moved to the right and eventually became a Republican. He wrote this in one of his memoirs, and see if it doesn’t apply to today:
• Over at the American Thinker, Gamaliel Isaac writes:
Let us hope this is true. I am doubtful. The biggest question for the fall is what is going to happen on college campuses that were shut down for the last academic year, and hence missed the chance for campus protests about George Floyd, BLM, Defund the Police, etc. Will the “great reset” entail things calming down, with students and faculty alike saying they’ve had enough wokery, or will there be pent up demand to push even further to the left? I can see either outcome happening. • Finally—what’s wrong with the humanities on college campuses in 10 seconds:
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Jobs Americans won’t do — their old ones
Posted: 12 Jul 2021 08:20 AM PDT (Paul Mirengoff)Some conservatives dispute the idea that there are “jobs Americans won’t do.” In my neighborhood, however, there are jobs that only recent immigrants seem willing to perform, even when the compensation is quite generous (e.g., shoveling snow for a few hours after a big storm for $300 or more). Now, there is a new set of jobs that many Americans seem very reluctant to do — the ones they did before the pandemic. Anyone paying attention has noticed this phenomenon. Megan McArdle discusses it in this column. She writes:
This situation will change once the government stops granting extended unemployment benefits and sending stimulus checks. However, it’s not clear that things will ever return to normal in the job market. It’s easy to imagine labor shortages persisting in the service industry. If they do, we can expect increased reliance by employers on illegal immigrants to fill the gaps. And if Americans have become too lazy or too entitled to work in their old jobs, a surge in illegal immigration is what the country deserves. |
New meaning of transparency
Posted: 12 Jul 2021 07:17 AM PDT (Scott Johnson)We took a look at Hunter Biden’s new approach to monetizing his father’s office in “The art of the con.” Like Andrea Peyser in her July 8 New York Post column I linked to there, Miranda Devine zooms in the arrangements intended to cover the ethical issues inherent in the sale of Hunter Biden’s works of art. In her New York Post column this morning, Devine quotes this exchange with the psickening Jen Psaki at Friday’s White House press conference:
Devine comments: “Quite a level indeed. So much transparency that no one is allowed to know anything.” One can only hope that there will be more to come on this transparently absurd story. |
Covid lessons learned: Kevin Roche versus Star Tribune
Posted: 12 Jul 2021 05:42 AM PDT (Scott Johnson)The Star Tribune editorial board seeks to formulate “Early lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic.” On its news and opinion pages since March 2020 the paper has served with rare exception as a voice of hysteria concerning the virus and cheerleading for Governor Walz. It might be interesting to have them formulate early lessons of their coverage and punditry. On this occasion the editors use one Andy Slavitt to look back and draw lessons learned from the pandemic. Last month Slavitt stepped down as a temporary senior advisor to the COVID-19 Response Coordinator in the Biden administration. Now he is the author of the book Preventable. He seeks to deliver his wisdom to the masses. Lessons learned according to Slavitt and the Star Tribune include the following:
By contrast with the editors of the Star Tribune, Kevin Roche deems Slavitt a member of Minnesota’s own Axis of Evil for his role in the pandemic. Kevin responds to the Star Tribune editorial in his Healthy Skeptic post “The Axis of Evil strikes again.” Kevin has followed Slavitt’s contributions to the public health debate and finds that Slavitt has distinguished himself thusly:
Here is the heart of Kevin’s response:
Kevin concludes: “Instead of a hagiography, Andy Slavitt and his ilk should be pilloried and banned from the public forum. I pray that someday there will be a real investigation into how the epidemic was handled and that these hectoring merchants of doom and ruination get what they so richly deserve–a good tarring and feathering.” Yesterday our friends at RealClearPolitics posted a link to the Star Tribune editorial in its featured editorial lineup. It is still there as I write this morning. Many readers will see it there. It badly needs the counterpoint that Kevin provides. |
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85.) THE POLITICAL INSIDER – WAKE UP EDITION
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86.) THE PATRIOT POST
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87.) DECISION DESK HQ
88.) DIGG
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89.) THE POLITICAL INSIDER – LUNCH BREAK
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90.) CONSERVATIVE TRIBUNE
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91.) USA TODAY
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92.) THE DAILY BEAST
93.) RIGHT & FREE
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It should come as no surprise, but VP Harris isn’t doing great at her job based on news coverage and pols. And things look to be getting worse. Unlike our last vice president, Harris seems more like a figurehead than an actual leader. Even when tapped to deal with a massive crisis, she has come up pretty much empty. Sure, the mainstream media has tried to spin her failures as successes. But the American people aren’t fooled. And a recent poll offers some very bad news for Kamala.
It wasn’t even close. The final count was 1,798 against and 738 for, 71% to 29%. The issue in question was whether the employees at an Amazon warehouse in…
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It’s no secret that in recent elections, Florida has gotten more and more red. Democrats lost their one senator. And in both 2016 and 2020, the state went for Trump (by a bigger margin in 2020 than in 2016). Despite this, Democrats continue to strategize for ways to retake the state. But do they really have a chance to flip Florida blue? There might have been a sliver of a chance, until just now. Because according to a top official, Biden’s recent comments just ensured Florida stays red country.
‘The Cuban dictatorship has repressed the people of Cuba for decades.’
94.) SHARYL ATTKISSON
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95.) RIGHTWING.ORG
96.) NOT THE BEE
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Not the Bee Daily Newsletter |
Jul 13, 2021 |
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Sponsored By: Gundry MD 3 Signs Your Olive Oil Is SpoiledIf you cook with or consume olive oil, it is very important that you read this carefully. There is a common risk that American’s are taking every time they cook with, or consume olive oil. The truth is, most American’s have no idea where their olive oil comes from or the quality of their oil, so they have no clue what they are eating. A lot of olive oil sold in stores could be old and spoiled, and now you’re potentially just eating unhealthy fat without receiving any of the nutritional benefits. Click Here To Find Out If Your Olive Oil Is Safe
Scarlett Johansson is ranting about women in Hollywood being underpaid due to sexism (she made $56M in 2019)Black Widow herself thinks women are underpaid in Hollywood. Why? Well, sexism, of course.
Lady got duct-taped to her seat after trying to open the door on an American Airlines flight 😳Welp. That lady was on an American Airlines flight and tried to open the plane door midflight. Then bit a flight attendant. So she found herself duct-taped to her stinking chair and a TikTok vid captured the magic.
Is this state department official actually trying to tell us the protests in Cuba are not about their communist dictatorship but are actually about COVID?We all know why Cubans are protesting. The Cuban people are fighting for and demanding the end of their communist dictatorship.
This Portland resident got extremely triggered when he saw a big, scary truckIn a now protected-tweet, a man got very, very triggered by a mean truck parked on the streets of Portland.
Lori Lightfoot is a complete and total hypocriteLast year, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she wouldn’t allow the National Guard to be deployed in the bloody streets of Chiraq because Orange Man Bad.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence badly photoshopped a blind guy and a woman in a wheelchair into its “annual demographic report” for extra woke pointsIn this episode of T̶h̶e̶ ̶O̶f̶f̶i̶c̶e̶ the Cabinet of the President of the United States, the team of the top intelligence official in America created a badly photoshopped cover picture for its annual “demographic” report in an attempt to complete the intersectional checklist demanded by Wokeism.
Here’s a new, stock Tesla Model S Plaid at a drag strip repeatedly running 9-second quarter miles at 150 mph
Science promises it’s close to delivering immortality – here’s why I’ll trust Jesus insteadJust moments before I walked up onto the stage to preach this last Sunday, I glanced down at my phone to check the time. As soon as I did, this Apple News notification lit up the screen:
Remember the January 6 “insurrectionist” who was caught by the FBI with a “fully constructed LEGO Capitol set?” Yeah, it was still in the box.Just like your lazy kid who can’t be bothered to assemble a 1032-brick LEGO set his grandmother gave him for Christmas, our dedicated “white supremacist domestic terrorist insurrectionist” apparently never got around to actually building that Capitol set.
This guy’s impersonation of Jordan Peterson talking about Pokemon is next level 😆“For example, say you’re a Squirtle. And you keep doing things that make you look weak. It’s like all you can do is tailwhip and tackle — and that’s not good.”
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97.) US NEWS & WORLD REPORT
98.) NEWSMAX
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99.) MARK LEVIN
July 12, 2021
On Monday’s Mark Levin show, Liberty gives people the liberty to destroy liberty and equality is still equality even when you’re living in hell. The Cuban citizens are protesting their government’s destruction of civil society. After six decades of a communist dictatorship, food rationing, and now limited medicine, Cubans have taken to the streets with their shouts for liberty. The Cuban government has shut down the internet to prevent the people from speaking out. The Biden administration blames Cuba’s fiscal mismanagement and the pandemic as the catalyst for this crisis instead of calling it the consequences of communism. Then, “American Marxism” is the most important book Mark’s ever written. Sadly, Marxism has become one of the most accepted ideologies on college campuses because it splintered off into several other movements promoted in classrooms by the teachers’ unions. Theories like collective identity, social movement, oppositional protest, and combat-ready protest are widely taught on college campuses to galvanize mobs of brain-washed anti-American, Marxist sympathizers. Groups like BLM can no longer argue for a color-blind society because of the Farakkhan-esque separatism and Marxist agenda that is being taught in the name of equity. Later, former President Trump’s class-action lawsuit against the big tech companies is solid and well written. While these tech firms are private they act on behalf of the Democrat Party and effectively engage in campaigning. Censoring the oldest newspaper in America and treating a sitting President as if he didn’t exist toward the end of his term was only the beginning. The Democrats will hold onto all of the section 230 protections to shield their corporatist donors in Silicon Valley.
THIS IS FROM:
Fox News
Sanders loves trashing Republicans but won’t condemn truly oppressive Cuban Communists
Rumble
Psaki Won’t Say Communism Is To Blame For Cuba Protests
Newsbusters
Really? CBS Tries to Blame Trump for Cuba’s Crumbling Economy
Newsbusters
Joy Behar Warns, U.S. on ‘Slippery Slope’ to Cuba Because of Election Security Laws!
Wall St Journal
Trump Can Win His Case Against Tech Giants
The podcast for this show can be streamed or downloaded from the Audio Rewind page.
Image used with permission of Getty Images / Eva Marie Uzcategui
100.) WOLF DAILY
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101.) THE GELLER REPORT
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102.) CNS
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103.) DAN BONGINO
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104.) INDEPENDENT SENTINEL
The latest from the corporatists is they will censor text messages and all social media. We’ll keep posting as long as we can. Better bookmark us.
Can you imagine? Text messages?
Coming soon! Third gender on passportsThe US just made passports more inclusive and inaccurate. A third gender option will be added. On June 30, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced that the Department is working… | |
CNN WH reporter spews Cuban Communist propaganda blaming TrumpCNN, the Communist News Network, lived up to its nickname today during the White House presser when a reporter blamed Trump for the Cuban freedom protests, not the vicious communist… | |
Billionaires Talking Climate Change Tie Up Air Traffic w/Their Private JetsA cabal of some of the most high-profile people in media, finance, and technology descended on Idaho’s resort town of Sun Valley in private jets this past week to tackle,… | |
Chilling extension of text message censorship by Biden’s corporatist palsThis is a very chilling report out of Politico. The government is indirectly extending the censorship of Americans to TEXT MESSAGES using their corporatist allies to do the dirty work…. | |
New docs reveal Fauci collaborated with the CCP using US $$$New documents show nine Fauci agency (NIAID) grants for the EcoHealth bat COV research alone and another 490 in collaboration. Judicial Watch received 301 pages of emails and other records via FOIA from… | |
Jen Psaki admits the White House wrote Biden’s Cuba statementWhite House spokesperson Jen Psaki admitted the Biden handlers put out his statement this morning in quasi-support of Cuban protesters. We know he can’t write a statement. He can barely… | |
Donald Trump issues a statement in sharp contrast to Biden’sThe 45th President of the United States Donald J. Trump issued a statement about the massive protests for freedom across Cuba. It stood in sharp contrast to Joe Biden’s. Donald… | |
Fake news guy Brian Stelter tries to get the best of TuckerBrian Stelter of reliable Sources is telling people that Tucker Carlson is at odds with Fox management over the NSA spying accusation. Tucker recently accused the NSA of spying and… | |
Biden admin is sending FEMA and they’re keeping naughty and nice vaccine listsThe Biden administration is sending around door-to-door vaccine pushers, and in addition, White House-coordinated FEMA “surge teams” are being assembled to reinforce local efforts on the ground. “These efforts include… | |
Kamala says farmers, rural people can’t get IDsDemocrats think black people are too stupid to get photo IDs even though they all have them. Biden has said they can’t get IDs. Now Kamala Harris claims farmers and… | |
‘Biden’s filthy administration’ is lying about Cuba to ‘bring communism to America’They are really doing it, guys. Joe Biden’s filthy administration— which is working with China to bring communism to America—is pretending the eruption in Cuba is over Covid-19 and not… | |
Fauci pushes vaccine mandates, trashes Conservatives & the SouthDr. Fauci, the left’s point man on COV mandates, was on State of the Union this Sunday calling for vaccines mandates while attacking conservatives and the south. We should trust… | |
Critical Race Theory Is Doubly Racist Against AsiansCritical Race Theory Is Doubly Racist Against Asians By Marc Ang The battle over critical race theory – at its core, a “different” way of looking at race relations in… | |
Brilliant tweet of the weekThere is no truer tweet than the one below. By now, you have all heard that there are large peaceful protest marches throughout all of Cuba. The Cuban government is… | |
NY Times frames massive Cuban freedom march as ‘anti-government’One Twitter user, Marc Emery, noted that maybe the Times got it right after all, writing, “You got it right this time, @nytimes, freedom IS anti-government.” The New York Times… | |
This Week in History: July 12-18, 2021This Week in Historyby Dianne Hermann “If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand inneed of… | |
13-Year-Old-Boy Shot Dead in the Bronx-Looks Like He Was TargetedPolice are reporting that a 13-year-old boy was fatally shot in the Bronx Sunday afternoon. The male gunman got out of the backseat of a black sedan outside 743 East… | |
RNC on Trump: “They’re doing everything in their power not to help us”The Republican Party abandoned President Trump after Democrats stole the election, according to a new report based on a book by Michael Wolff. Trump attorney Jenna Ellis confirmed that the… | |
Report NYC principal wanted to fire all the white teachersA Washington Heights high school principal is facing a probe by the New York City Department of Education for allegedly discriminating against white teachers. The probe was launched after faculty… | |
Stunning results of new poll on Democrats’ views of the rise of violent crimeThe Democratic polling firm Navigator Research released its weekly survey, National Journal reports. They asked voters what issues they rated as major crises. On most of the 14 issues tested, from… | |
Levin on defeating the Marxists, “we have the power, numbers, resources”As Mark Levin says in the clip below, the media just don’t regurgitate what Democrats say, they are the tip of the spear. These media corporations don’t tell the truth… | |
Breaking…facing imprisonment & death, thousands protest in Cuba, chanting ‘freedom’Cubans have had it with their disastrous socialized medicine and they want freedom. This is as the United States moves towards communism thanks to the Democrat Party under the corrupt… | |
Watch Donald Trump’s CPAC speechFormer President Trump sounds like he’s ready to go to war with these communist scoundrels who have taken over the Democrat Party. YouTube took his speech down already but it’s… | |
Whoa! FBI lied about the fully assembled Lego CapitolLego Man Robert Morss, one of the imprisoned January 6 ‘rioters’, is destined for life imprisonment if the DoJ/FBI has anything to say about it. “Justice Department officials are citing… | |
Adult looks on as young boy rips up neighbor’s flag and flings itA video of a young boy ripping an American flag out of someone’s yard and then flinging it to the ground as his mother watches has caused some strong responses… | |
FBI’s latest message to Americans got ‘Stasi’ trending‘Stasi’ is trending on Twitter in response to the new FBI post asking family members and peers to report signs of’ homegrown violent extremists.’ The FBI is working in conjunction… | |
Hoaxer State Rep was NOT stopped by police for driving ‘black’ in MNMinnesota state Rep. John Thompson made up a story about a racial profiling incident, claiming he was stopped for driving while black. An investigation has also revealed that Thompson doesn’t even… | |
YouTube deletes ACU’s (CPAC) Trump lawsuit video and they can’t postYouTube censored the American Conservative Union (ACU), and they can’t upload videos for a week. So YouTube gave them a strike. Three strikes, and you’re gone. The platform claimed they… |
105.) DC CLOTHESLINE
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106.) ARTICLE V LEGISLATORS’ CAUCUS
107.) THE INTERCEPT
108.) BECKER NEWS
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109.) STARS & TRIPES
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110.) UNCOVER DC
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111.) SONS OF LIBERTY
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112.) MSNBC
July 13, 2021 THE LATEST Monday’s news seemed straight out of a TV drama: Texas Democratic legislators, in a last ditch bid to prevent a bill restricting voting in their state, hopped on a set of chartered planes to escape their state. They leave behind a Republican majority and governor dead-set on getting this bill through, despite no evidence of voter fraud in their state. Which is why those fifty-odd Democrats hope to convince their national counterparts to pass laws that make it easier — not harder — to cast a ballot, Hayes Brown writes.
“Talk about a shot in the arm for Washington Democrats, whose commitment to actually passing voting rights legislation has seemed a little lackluster lately,” Brown writes. “The appearance of a bunch of Texans camping out on Congress’s doorstep is sure to be illuminating for certain bipartisanship-obsessed senators.”
Read Hayes Brown’s full analysis here and don’t forget to check out the rest of your Tuesday MSNBC Daily. TOP STORIES High profile trolls get a pass on Twitter. There has to be a better way. Read More America’s schools are gearing up for a contentious year ahead. Read More His situation differs from Trump voters who engaged in premeditated schemes to cast illegal votes. Read More TOP VIDEOS LISTEN NOW Into America
Trymaine Lee takes a look at the movement to preserve Black historic landmarks. He talks to Brent Leggs, the executive director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, about why it’s important to create a permanent record of the Black experience in America. Listen now THE NEXT 25 Help us celebrate MSNBC’s first 25 years by joining us every day for 25 days as our anchors, hosts, and correspondents share their thoughts on where we’ve been — and where we’re going.
Today, by Joy Reid: Much has changed in America in 25 years. Too much has not.
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113.) NEWSBUSTERS
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