| UN official: Catastrophe looming from oil tanker off Yemen Posted: 15 Jul 2020 04:51 PM PDT  The U.N. environment chief said Wednesday that "time is running out" to avert an environmental, economic and humanitarian catastrophe from a deteriorating oil tanker loaded with 1.1 million barrels of crude oil that is moored off the coast of Yemen. Inger Andersen told the U.N. Security Council that an oil spill from the FSO Safer, which hasn't been maintained for over five years, would wreck ecosystems and livelihoods for decades. Houthi rebels, who control the area where the ship is moored, have denied U.N. inspectors access to the vessel so they could assess the damage and look for ways to secure the tanker by unloading the oil and pulling the ship to safety.
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| 'You're not welcome here.' The painful racial reckoning playing out in a Wendy's parking lot Posted: 15 Jul 2020 03:25 PM PDT  The death of an 8-year-girl near a Wendy's fast-food restaurant that was taken over by protesters after the shooting of Rayshard Brooks has left this city, already bruised after weeks of protests against racial inequality, grappling with how to bring about lasting, meaningful change.
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| Flight delay melee: Spirit passengers arrested after kicking and punching employees and tossing phones, food and shoes at them Posted: 15 Jul 2020 01:27 PM PDT  Three Philadelphia women who were mad about a flight delay were arrested at Fort Lauderdale Airport after kicking and throwing items at Spirit staff.
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| The California woman who refused to wear a face mask in Starbucks is considering suing to get half of the barista's $100,000 in GoFundMe tips Posted: 16 Jul 2020 03:58 AM PDT  People raised more than $100,000 for Lenin Gutierrez, a Starbucks barista who was shamed by Amber Gilles for trying to enforce a face-mask rule.
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| Zambia health minister denies corruption charges in court Posted: 16 Jul 2020 04:40 AM PDT |
| Pennsylvania voters raise concern over 'secret Trump voters' in their communities Posted: 16 Jul 2020 03:21 AM PDT  Reaction from Black Voices for Trump member Paris Dennard and Democratic strategist Mustafa Tameez.
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| 'Disturbing': Trump USPS head announces major changes, amid calls to increase service for mail-in voting Posted: 16 Jul 2020 10:14 AM PDT  The new head of the United States Postal Service (USPS) has established some major operational changes in a Monday memo, including slowed mail delivery in an effort to cut costs.Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a major donor to President Donald Trump, took over the mail service last month and has since enacted "difficult" changes to help the USPS financial situation.
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| Sen. Tammy Duckworth finally lifts her block against 1,123 military promotions after reassurances that Alexander Vindman was not retaliated against by the Army Posted: 14 Jul 2020 06:05 PM PDT  Sen. Tammy Duckworth effectively stalled the promotions and demanded an answer on whether Vindman's promotion was sandbagged by the military.
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| African American History Museum Publishes Graphic Linking ‘Rational Linear Thinking,’ ‘Nuclear Family’ to White Culture Posted: 15 Jul 2020 12:46 PM PDT  The National Museum of African American History and Culture has published a graphic on its website that suggests concepts such as "rational linear thinking," the "nuclear family," and an emphasis on "hard work" are specific to "white culture."The article, titled "Talking About Race," delves into white privilege and "the way that white people, their customs, culture, and beliefs operate as the standard by which all other groups" are "compared.""Whiteness and the normalization of white racial identity throughout America's history have created a culture where nonwhite persons are seen as inferior or abnormal," the article reads.The accompanying graphic describes "white culture" as adopting certain aspects and assumptions, such a "work before play" attitude and the belief that "hard work is the key to success." The "nuclear family," described as a mother, father, and 2.3 children, is the "ideal social unit" embraced by white culture, the graphic says.White culture also emphasizes respect for authority, delayed gratification, self-reliance, independence and autonomy, the value of property rights and ownership, progress, planning for the future, politeness, and decision-making, according to the graphic.> The National Museum of African American History & Culture wants to make you aware of certain signs of whiteness: Individualism, hard work, objectivity, the nuclear family, progress, respect for authority, delayed gratification, more. (via @RpwWilliams)https://t.co/k9X3u4Suas pic.twitter.com/gWYOeEh4vu> > -- Byron York (@ByronYork) July 15, 2020 The graphic cites data from a 1990 paper by Judith H. Katz titled, "Some Aspects and Assumptions of White Culture in the United States."Since 2007, Katz has worked as an advisor for a nonprofit organization called Net Impact, which says it partners with some of the country's most powerful companies, including ExxonMobil, 3M, McDonalds, the Coca-Cola Company, Starbucks, Microsoft, the Walt Disney Company, Bank of America, Monsanto, and Nestlé Waters North America.The company also partners with the U.S. National Park Service, which the group listed as having contributed more than $100,000 to the organization during fiscal year 2013.Net Impact focuses on promoting "equity and inclusion" and "working across sectors for a more just and sustainable world," and runs chapters across the globe on university campuses, in cities, and in companies."We believe in the power of the business sector to drive social and environmental change, and we welcome a variety of companies to partner with us," Net Impact says on its website.The National Museum of African American History & Culture did not respond immediately to a request for comment on whether it stands by the assertions made in the graphic.
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| Ethiopia says rising waters at mega-dam a 'natural' part of construction Posted: 15 Jul 2020 02:11 PM PDT  Ethiopia on Wednesday acknowledged that water levels behind its mega-dam on the Blue Nile River were increasing, though officials said this was a natural part of the construction process. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has been a source of tension in the Nile River basin ever since Ethiopia broke ground on it in 2011, with downstream countries Egypt and Sudan worried it will restrict vital water supplies. Addis Ababa has long intended to begin filling the dam's reservoir this month, in the middle of its rainy season, though it has not said exactly when.
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| California to release rules for reopening schools on Friday as coronavirus cases mount Posted: 16 Jul 2020 12:42 PM PDT  California Governor Gavin Newsom will release new guidelines for opening schools as coronavirus cases continue to mount in the most populous U.S. state, his office said Thursday. The guidelines, to be released on Friday, come amid an intense debate across the United States about whether it would be safe to send children and teachers back into the classroom amid an ongoing pandemic. The discussion has taken on a political tinge, as Republican President Donald Trump urges a return to regular school schedules, while many Democrats urge a more cautious approach, such as a continuation of virtual lessons.
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| Intel: Putin’s Hillary Hackers Now After Our COVID-19 Vaccine Secrets Posted: 16 Jul 2020 09:43 AM PDT  A Russian hacking group that played a role in breaking into Democratic networks during the 2016 election is now trying to steal coronavirus research, according to officials in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. In a joint cybersecurity advisory released by the three countries, intelligence agencies warned that a Russian hacking ground referred to as "APT29" had "targeted various organisations involved in COVID-19 vaccine development in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, highly likely with the intention of stealing information and intellectual property relating to the development and testing of COVID-19 vaccines."The group conducted basic vulnerability scanning against specific external IP addresses owned by the organizations. They then deployed public exploits against the vulnerable services identified.How Russian Trolls Weaponize Virus Lies to Undercut UkraineIt's unclear whether the hackers were successful in accessing or stealing any research data, but one British official told The Daily Beast that the joint statement was an attempt to "stop" it from happening."We're not going to comment on operational detail," the official said. "However, we know that U.K. organizations involved in the COVID-19 response have been targeted. We believe they are targeting organizations to steal information and intellectual property. The [National Cyber Security Centre] has said this group is scanning IT networks looking for ways to get in and access sensitive material. The action from NCSC is intended to help stop that happening."APT29, sometimes referred to as "Cozy Bear," is widely believed to be a government-run hacking group associated with Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service or SVR and has "a long history of targeting governmental, diplomatic, think-tank, healthcare and energy organizations for intelligence gain," according to Anne Neuberger, director of the NSA's Cybersecurity Center.In 2016, APT29 hackers broke into the Democratic National Committee's networks alongside hackers from Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate, known as GRU. Unlike their military intelligence counterparts, APT29 appears to be focused more on traditional espionage rather than carrying out hack-and-leak influence operations."They're there to quietly collect intelligence. If you get targeted by them, you might simply never know that they're in your network. They're not going to drop something later or blow something up there," John Hultquist, Director of Intelligence Analysis at the cybersecurity firm FireEye and an expert on Russian hacking groups, told The Daily Beast.Hultquist says Russian government-linked hackers have been seen targeting pharmaceutical and biotech companies before but the focus in the past was different. "We've seen it more on the disruptive angle or in situations where it just wasn't clear what they were going after." In particular, Hultquist points to the NotPetya attack, the single most expensive cyber attack in history in which Russia unleashed destructive malware designed to look like ransomware. The attack primarily targeted networks in Ukraine but companies and countries around the world were affected, including the pharmaceutical giant Merck, which filed a $1.3 billion insurance claim related to losses from the incident.Biotechnology research has long been a target for countries engaged in economic espionage. In a 2018 report on "Foreign Economic Espionage in Cyberspace," the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center listed the biotechnology industry as one of the targets in which foreign intelligence services have the "highest interest."But the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have changed the targeting priorities of several state-backed hacking groups to a focus on collecting pandemic-related intelligence, according to Hultquist."These are extraordinary times. We're seeing a lot of different actors don't generally get into the intellectual property space or this type of space showing up," said Hultquist.Moscow Held Back Dirt So It Could Slime President HillaryIn May, the FBI issued a statement indicating that the bureau was "investigating the targeting and compromise of U.S. organizations conducting COVID-19-related research by [China]-affiliated cyber actors and non-traditional collectors" who sought to steal "valuable intellectual property (IP) and public health data related to vaccines, treatments, and testing from networks and personnel affiliated with COVID-19-related research."Iranian hackers have also reportedly been active in attempting to steal COVID-19 research data. Reuters reported that Iranian-linked hackers posed as journalists in emails as part of an attempt to hack Gilead, which makes the COVID-19-fighting antiviral drug remdesivir. Google's Threat Analysis Group, which analyzes cybersecurity threats for the company, subsequently announced that it had "found new, COVID-19-specific targeting of international health organizations," consistent with the Iranian-linked hacking group known as "Charming Kitten," which "corroborates reporting in Reuters."In terms of COVID-19-related espionage, cybersecurity firms like FireEye noticed state-run hacking campaigns begin almost from the start of the pandemic. In January 2020, according to a FireEye report, hackers linked to the Vietnamese government broke into local government networks in Wuhan, China and China's Ministry of Emergency Management in an apparent attempt to learn more about the pandemic amid efforts by Chinese officials to suppress news of the outbreak. The combination of a deadly global pandemic and an atmosphere of mistrust means cybersecurity experts don't expect campaigns like the one called out by the U.S., Britain, and Canada on Thursday to end anytime soon."There's going to be espionage against the research institutions, academia, pharmaceutical companies, local municipalities who have case spikes—there's a tremendous amount of mistrust going on in the world and, given that environment, they're going to deploy this capability," said Hultquist.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Kentucky Democratic party stalwart sentenced to prison Posted: 16 Jul 2020 03:01 PM PDT  Kentucky businessman and Democrat Party stalwart Jerry Lundergan was sentenced on Thursday to 21 months in prison for making illegal contributions to the failed U.S. Senate campaign of his daughter, former Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes. Prosecutors said Lundergan, 73, orchestrated a scheme to funnel more than $200,000 in illegal contributions to Grimes' 2014 campaign against Republican Mitch McConnell.
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| New Yahoo News/YouGov poll: Trump's 'culture war' on Biden isn't winning voters to his side Posted: 15 Jul 2020 10:19 AM PDT  Trump's latest campaign ad claims "you won't be safe in Joe Biden's America" because "Biden stands with" the "radical left-wing mob."
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| A Black social worker is suing American Airlines, alleging employees accused her of kidnapping the white toddler she was escorting on a flight Posted: 16 Jul 2020 12:33 PM PDT  A Black social worker alleged American Airlines employees accused her of kidnapping the white toddler she was bringing home from a parental visit.
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| Amid spike in crime, a question of who owns the streets Posted: 15 Jul 2020 09:38 AM PDT |
| Sign at Michigan shop warns masked customers of armed employees. 'Lighten up,' owner says. Posted: 15 Jul 2020 10:57 AM PDT  The sign asks customers to "remove your mask or raise both hands high" to avoid being mistaken as a robber. It's a joke, the owner says.
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| Congress edges toward deal to extend federal unemployment subsidy in coronavirus bill Posted: 15 Jul 2020 05:14 PM PDT  The question of whether to extend a temporary federal unemployment insurance subsidy seems like more of an argument over how much to provide rather than whether to extend it.
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| Ex-Pemex boss faces hearing over graft charges on return to Mexico Posted: 16 Jul 2020 09:33 AM PDT  A former boss of Mexican state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos faces an initial court hearing on Friday, an official said, as he lands in Mexico from Spain to answer corruption charges that could engulf leaders of the last government. Emilio Lozoya has been charged with bribery and money laundering dating back to his 2012-16 tenure at the helm of the firm known as Pemex. Under Mexican law, Lozoya, 45, must make an initial statement to a judge once he enters the country.
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| India coronavirus: Kuwait's new expat bill has Indians worried Posted: 15 Jul 2020 10:10 PM PDT  Kuwait's expat quota bill, if approved, will force nearly 800,000 Indians to return home.
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| Chinese executives get 'pre-test' injections in vaccine race Posted: 15 Jul 2020 10:10 PM PDT  In the global race to make a coronavirus vaccine, a state-owned Chinese company is boasting that its employees, including top executives, received experimental shots even before the government approved testing in people. "Giving a helping hand in forging the sword of victory," reads an online post from SinoPharm with pictures of company leaders it says helped "pre-test" its vaccine. Whether it's viewed as heroic sacrifice or a violation of international ethical norms, the claim underscores the enormous stakes as China competes with U.S. and British companies to be the first with a vaccine to help end the pandemic — a feat that would be both a scientific and political triumph.
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| Fox Host Neil Cavuto Cuts Away From Trump Speech to Note It ‘Mischaracterized’ Obama’s Record Posted: 16 Jul 2020 03:36 PM PDT  Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto cut into a White House speech by President Donald Trump on Thursday to once again correct some mischaracterizations the president made, specifically over former President Barack Obama's economic record, which Cavuto noted was very solid.In what was yet another campaign-type speech on White House grounds, the president blasted regulations put in place by the Obama administration in the wake of the 2008 recession, claiming the former president had destroyed jobs in the process.While the speech aired live on Fox News, Cavuto cut away in order to issue a fact-check for his viewers."I do want to clarify a couple of things he said, that no president in history has cut regulations as much as he has. That is true," he noted, adding: "I think [Trump] might have mischaracterized the regulations that were added under Barack Obama."Cavuto, who regularly draws Trump's ire for his critical coverage, pointed out that his audience "might recall we had this little thing called the financial meltdown" and that many of the regulations were put in place to prevent banks from selling risky mortgage securities, which helped cause the financial crisis.The veteran Fox anchor then dispelled the notion that the post-meltdown regulations damaged the economy under Obama."The unemployment rate did, under Barack Obama, go down from a high of 10 percent to around 4.7 percent," Cavuto stated. "President Trump, of course, sent that even lower, eventually getting us down to a 3.5 percent unemployment rate. But I didn't want to leave you with the impression that during those eight years when Obama first came into office and we were bleeding about a million jobs a month that that was standard fare and that characterized the whole eight years."Additionally, the Fox host said, "it was not a disaster under Barack Obama," pointing out that the Dow Jones tripled during the 44th president's tenure and that companies did "very well.""Americans did very, very well," he concluded. "So I just want to put that in some context here."Fox News Host Grills Betsy DeVos on 'Reckless' Plan to Reopen SchoolsRead more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Facebook is adding a label to all posts about voting from federal officials and political candidates, including the president Posted: 16 Jul 2020 07:28 AM PDT  Facebook will label any post about voting from a politician or federal official, whether the posts contain accurate or inaccurate information.
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| Berkeley moves toward removing police from traffic stops Posted: 15 Jul 2020 07:59 AM PDT  After hours of emotional public testimony and a middle-of-the-night vote by Berkeley leaders, the progressive California city is moving forward with a novel proposal to replace police with unarmed civilians during traffic stops in a bid to curtail racial profiling. The City Council early Wednesday approved a police reform proposal that calls for a public committee to hash out details of a new Berkeley Police Department that would not respond to calls involving people experiencing homelessness or mental illness. The committee also would pursue creating a separate department to handle transportation planning and enforcing parking and traffic laws.
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| National Association of Police Organizations president explains decision to endorse President Trump Posted: 15 Jul 2020 08:26 PM PDT  Major law enforcement lobbying group throws weight behind President Trump.
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| Breonna Taylor protesters want police in jail. Instead, 435 of them have been arrested. Posted: 16 Jul 2020 12:35 PM PDT  The 87 arrested Tuesday were the latest example of protesters in the Breonna Taylor movement being unfazed by punishment from a justice system they don't endorse.
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| Seven ships catch fire at Iran's Bushehr port, agency says Posted: 15 Jul 2020 05:32 AM PDT |
| US Navy carries out second 'freedom of navigation' op off Venezuela coast Posted: 15 Jul 2020 04:11 PM PDT  The US Navy on Wednesday deployed a warship off the coast of Venezuela to challenge what it called Caracas' "excessive maritime claim in international waters." It was the second time in three weeks that the US Navy has carried out such a "freedom of navigation" operation, a move that Venezuela previously called a "provocation." "Today, the US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Pinckney (DDG 91) challenged Venezuela's excessive maritime claim in international waters during a successful freedom of navigation operation in the Caribbean Sea," US Southern Command said in a statement.
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| Back to school: Working parents will need help from employers Posted: 16 Jul 2020 02:00 AM PDT  COVID-19 and going back to school will bring complications to working parents so employers should be finding ways to help.
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| Bangladesh hospital owner arrested over fake coronavirus test results Posted: 15 Jul 2020 08:40 PM PDT  A Bangladesh hospital owner accused of issuing thousands of fake negative coronavirus test results to patients at his two clinics was arrested on Wednesday while trying to flee to India in a burqa, police said. The arrest marked the end of a nine-day manhunt for Mohammad Shahed over allegations of giving fake certificates to patients saying they were virus free without even testing them. Mr Shahed, 42, was one of more than a dozen people detained by authorities over the past few days in connection with the scam. Experts warn the false documents have worsened the already dire virus situation in the country of 168 million people by casting doubt about the veracity of certificates issued by clinics. "He was arrested from the bank of a border river as he was trying to flee to India. He was wearing a burqa," Rapid Action Battalion spokesman Colonel Ashique Billah told AFP. "His hospitals carried out 10,500 coronavirus tests, out of which 4,200 were genuine and the rest, 6,300 test reports, were given without conducting tests." Mr Shahed is also accused of charging for the certificates and virus treatments even though he had agreed with the government that his hospitals in the capital Dhaka would provide free care. A well-known doctor and her husband were also arrested by police and accused of issuing thousands of fake virus certificates at their Dhaka laboratory. The alleged scams could badly hurt migrant workers seeking to go abroad and whose remittances are key to Bangladesh's economy, said Shakirul Islam of migrant rights group OKUP. Italy last week suspended flights to Rome from Bangladesh to stem the spate of coronavirus cases within the community. Several passengers arriving from Dhaka had tested positive for Covid-19. "Some of the Bangladeshis who were tested positive in Italy were allegedly carrying negative Covid certificates from Bangladesh," Shakirul Islam claimed. "The government must ensure quality of Covid-19 tests in local laboratories for the sake of its overseas job market." Nearly $19 billion was sent back to Bangladesh by an estimated 12 million migrant workers last year, according to the central bank. Bangladesh has reported just more than 193,000 infections and 2,457 deaths so far. But medical experts say the real figures are likely much higher because so little testing has been carried out. The impoverished country has restarted economic activities after lifting a months-long virus lockdown at the end of May, even as the number of cases continues to rise.
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| Democratic voters have chosen establishment pragmatism over idealism to take back the Senate Posted: 16 Jul 2020 07:03 AM PDT  The battle lines for control of the US Senate came into clearer focus on Tuesday, as primary voters in Texas, Maine, and Alabama made their picks to face a trio of vulnerable incumbents this fall. Democratic voters across the country put pragmatism over the kinds of progressive ideas pushed by the likes of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.One thing is clear after Tuesday's results: the national Democratic party continues to have its way in senatorial primaries, with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's picks sweeping every swing state so far this cycle.
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| Man blamed for nearly half Sri Lanka virus cases speaks out Posted: 14 Jul 2020 09:36 PM PDT  For months he's been anonymous, but now Prasad Dinesh, linked by Sri Lankan authorities to nearly half of the country's more than 2,600 coronavirus cases, is trying to clear his name, and shed some of the stigma of a heroin addiction at the root of his ordeal. Under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a former army lieutenant colonel credited with helping end Sri Lanka's long civil war in 2009 with a brutal military campaign against separatists, the Indian Ocean island nation has used the armed forces to combat the virus. When Rajapaksa was elected president last year, a health unit was created in the intelligence service that sprang into action when COVID-19 first appeared, according to State Intelligence Service Assistant Director Parakrama de Silva.
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| Woman Who Ran Away to Join ISIS As Teenager Can Return to U.K. to Fight Citizenship Decision, Court Rules Posted: 16 Jul 2020 08:32 AM PDT  Shamima Begum, the woman who ran away from her London home as a teenager to join ISIS in 2015, has won the right to return to the U.K.
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| In historic move, North Carolina city approves reparations for Black residents Posted: 16 Jul 2020 05:10 AM PDT  The Asheville City Council said it will provide reparations for Black residents for historic wrongs, including slavery and discrimination.
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| Second group of U.S. diplomats fly back to China amid frayed ties Posted: 15 Jul 2020 02:52 PM PDT  A chartered commercial aircraft left Dulles airport outside Washington for the South Korean capital, Seoul, where passengers would transfer to another aircraft outfitted for medical operations before flying to the Chinese city of Guangzhou. The flight, only the second of many required to return more than 1,200 U.S. diplomats with their families, was the first since negotiations hit an impasse two weeks ago over conditions China wanted to impose on the Americans, prompting the State Department to postpone flights tentatively scheduled for the first 10 days of July. The U.S. is working to fully restaff its mission in China, one of its largest in the world, which was evacuated in February because of COVID-19.
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| It started like any other Kremlin crackdown. This time anti-Putin protests followed. Posted: 16 Jul 2020 03:45 AM PDT  Demonstrators have held banners saying "Free Sergei Furgal," while others have called on President Vladimir Putin to resign.
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| Jerry Falwell Jr. joins Hannity to discuss Liberty University's lawsuit against the New York Times Posted: 15 Jul 2020 06:53 PM PDT  Liberty University files defamation suit against the New York Times over COVID coverage, accuses paper of falsely reporting coronavirus outbreak on campus.
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| 'We have nothing': Ethiopia's ethnic unrest leaves destruction in its wake Posted: 15 Jul 2020 08:38 PM PDT  Girma had no choice but to watch from afar as a crowd chanting "This is our place!" set fire to the school he founded more than a decade ago. The unrest that left Girma's school a charred ruin was kicked off by the murder two weeks ago of Hachalu Hundessa, a pop star beloved by Oromos for giving voice to deep-rooted feelings of political and economic marginalisation. Similar property damage has been reported in towns across Oromia, which surrounds the capital Addis Ababa.
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| Bloomberg Pledged Hundreds of Millions to Defeat Trump. Where Is It? Posted: 15 Jul 2020 02:11 AM PDT  Mike Bloomberg's presidential effort redefined campaign lavishness, a billion-dollar behemoth that for a time put the former New York City mayor at the center of the primary conversation until it became clear that many Democrats didn't want to vote for him. But after all that extravagance, the TV advertising blitzes, the free campaign memorabilia and outlandish social media ploys to try and boost his own political fortune, Bloomberg has yet to publicly do the same for the Democratic nominee. After having pledged to help defeat President Donald Trump, Bloomberg has been largely a nonentity on the general election landscape considering his massive primary season spending, according to campaign finance records ending in May. And a Bloomberg spokesperson did not provide an answer on how much more the 78-year-old is willing to spend to boost Biden when responding to a request for comment this week. "As Mike has said, he supports Vice President Biden in defeating Donald Trump," the Bloomberg spokesperson said in an email. "We're currently looking at how to best support Vice President Biden as well as Democratic victories up and down the ballot in November, just as Mike Bloomberg has done in previous cycles." The statement sent to The Daily Beast earlier this week, was the exact same as one published in a CNBC story back in May that described the New York Democrat as "plotting a massive spending blitz," for the former vice president's 2020 effort. "He made a lot of pledges at the beginning," said Rebecca Katz, a progressive Democratic strategist. "...'I'm going to do all these things for my staff, I'm going to do all these things for the Democratic party, I'm going to help the nominee.' And he got great, great press for it. And then he just decided not to." The day after Super Tuesday in March, when the billionaire bowed out of the race, he pledged in a statement to "not walk away from the most important political fight of my life." But according to federal election commission records through the end of May, Bloomberg hasn't shown he's willing to spend anywhere near the kind of cash he invested into his own campaign to help former Vice President Joe Biden's effort.In January, as Bloomberg's campaign was building momentum, The New York Times reported that the former New York City mayor could invest a billion dollars to deny Trump a second term, with the paper reporting he could go on to "create a shadow campaign operation for the general election," in an attempt to help the eventual Democratic standard bearer. Around that same time according to NBC News, Bloomberg's campaign chief Kevin Sheekey told the network that "Mike Bloomberg is either going to be the nominee or the most important person supporting the Democratic nominee for president." At this point, there's little evidence that was anything but bravado.Bloomberg's 2020 campaign proved to be an expensive and at times surreal presidential undertaking. He didn't enter the race until late November, spurning the first four early voting states in a nearly unprecedented gambit. He then bet big on Super Tuesday, thinking he could launch himself to the nomination. Mike Bloomberg Will Do Anything to Look CoolFor a brief period after Biden's disastrous Iowa finish and before his campaign came back to life with a resounding win in the South Carolina primary, Bloomberg's unorthodox and self-funded campaign looked primed to take the moderate standard bearer position away from the former vice president. That all began to change after Bloomberg was eviscerated by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) at the Nevada presidential debate, and only further confirmed when the former New York City mayor failed to win any states on Super Tuesday in March, with only a victory in American Samoa to cheer his supporters. Campaign finance records show Bloomberg self-funded to the tune of over $1 billion, with little to show for the extravagant spending that accompanied such large expenditure. He only earned 51 delegates, according to a tracker from the Associated Press, which meant he invested at least $21 million of his own money for each of them. Bloomberg quickly dropped out of the race the day after Super Tuesday while pledging to stay in the fight to get Trump out of office. Days later, Bloomberg faced criticism for staff layoffs, according to Politico, with the news organization reporting that campaign employees were let go even though there was an understanding they would stay on the job "through November." Roughly two weeks after ending his presidential run, however, Bloomberg and the Democratic National Committee touted that his campaign had "made an $18 million transfer to the DNC to support the Battleground Build-Up 2020 program," in a move that the DNC said would help "organizing in key states," as well as "funding hundreds of organizers." At the time, Bloomberg's campaign said in a public memo that the decision was made in lieu of "creating our own independent entity to support the nominee." According to a Bloomberg staffer, shifting the money to the DNC also meant that the "campaign transferred 13 office leases to state parties," which included three locations in Michigan, as well as spots in North Carolina and other individual posts in Wisconsin and Arizona, among others. The same staffer also noted that Bloomberg had donated more than $20 million to a handful of groups this cycle, including a large donation to the House Majority PAC. But those investments fall well short of what Bloomberg was willing to spend on his own campaign. And even his other political entities seem to be dormant this cycle. Through the end of May, according to the latest campaign finance records, a key Bloomberg-funded super PAC has also been largely dormant. The Independence USA PAC, the former mayor's major source of spending in the 2018 midterm cycle, had reported no independent expenditures through May of this year, according to federal election commission records. The super PAC's website still proudly touts his spending to help Democrats in the 2018 midterms, including that "in July, Mike Bloomberg announced that he would spend $80 million—eventually growing to more than $110 million—to support Democrats this November." It was clear in interviews this week that Bloomberg's past spending has built up goodwill in the party. Because of that, there was limited criticism about Bloomberg not making it clear yet how much he planned on spending to help Biden in November. "I think he's been pretty generous up through this point," famed Democratic operative James Carville told The Daily Beast. Even former Massachusetts congressman Barney Frank, who criticized Bloomberg's presidential run, gave him a pass on not sending more money to Biden's effort so far. "I think he's entitled to spend his money as he wishes," Frank told The Daily Beast "He has been pretty generous. I mean I thought it would have been a terrible idea to nominate him, but over time he's been generous on the causes he cares about." Both the Biden campaign and the DNC said in statements this week that they were grateful for Bloomberg's support so far this cycle, but did not weigh in on whether they would like to see him do more before November. Bloomberg's campaign events also proved to be the ritziest in the crowded Democratic field. In North Carolina the weekend before Super Tuesday, his campaign sponsored a drag brunch to emphasize the mayor's credentials with the LGBTQ community. And on Super Tuesday, as his campaign cratered, voters were treated to loads of free campaign memorabilia, food, and alcohol as it became clear that Bloomberg would not become president. But the very fact that Bloomberg was able to scale up his own 2020 effort so quickly gave some Democrats hope that the former New York City mayor could make another show of force before November's election. "We're in the middle of July, I think there's a lot of time left," said longtime Democratic strategist Mark Longabaugh, who previously worked for Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2016 but switched to businessman Andrew Yang this cycle. "I certainly hope he engages this fall." Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| The Trump administration just pulled coronavirus data out of the CDC's hands, and it means Americans can't see where hospital beds are filled Posted: 16 Jul 2020 08:17 AM PDT  In a statement, the CDC said "hospital-reported COVID-19 data summaries will no longer be provided."
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| Deputies: 3 women attacked airline workers over flight delay Posted: 16 Jul 2020 05:39 AM PDT |
| Head of Air Combat Command to Visit Flying Wings After Series of Crashes Posted: 16 Jul 2020 06:22 AM PDT  Gen. Mike Holmes, head of Air Combat Command, on Wednesday began the first in a series of meetings with airmen.
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| Florida reported 100% positive COVID-19 tests from some labs. That's wrong, hospital system says. Posted: 16 Jul 2020 11:29 AM PDT  The Lee Health hospital system says that its lab testing of potential COVID-19 cases has shown an overall positivity rate of about 18%.
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