NYT Falsely Claims Huge Spike in COVID-19 Hospitalizations

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The New York Times on Wednesday reported that coronavirus hospitalizations have risen dramatically and are nearing their April peak. The Times, however, either overlooked or ignored a serious factor: Way more states are reporting hospitalizations now than were reporting at the April peak.

“The rising hospitalizations reflect the scale of serious illnesses,” the Times said. “Nearly as many people are in hospitals now as there were when New York was at its worst.” The latter part is true. The Times notes that as of July 22, 59,628 people were being treated in hospitals for the Wuhan virus. During the peak of the outbreak on April 15, when New York was the nation’s hot spot, 59,940 were hospitalized for the virus. The data comes from The Atlantic’s COVID Tracking Project, which collects virus data daily from all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., and five U.S. territories.

“[H]ospitalizations may be the clearest measure of how widely the virus is causing the most serious illnesses, and could offer a glimpse of what is ahead,” the New York Times reports.

The problem is that the article’s own source reveals that the spike in numbers can be partly attributed to the fact that Florida, the country’s third-most-populous state, began reporting hospitalizations only two weeks ago, meaning sheer hospitalization numbers are not the clearest measure of the virus’s seriousness— at least not the way the Times compares them.

A deeper dive into the data reveals Florida wasn’t the only addition to hospitalization counts. On April 15, a total of 37 states and territories were included in the near-60,000 hospitalization figure, with New York bearing the brunt of the caseload. July’s so-called spike includes data from 52 states and territories. (Read more from “NYT Falsely Claims Huge Spike in COVID-19 Hospitalizations” HERE)

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WATCH: Woman Pepper Sprays Couple Enjoying Picnic Because They Weren’t Wearing Masks

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A woman has gone viral after reportedly pepper spraying a couple having a picnic in a San Diego, California, dog park — allegedly because they weren’t wearing face masks while eating their lunch. . .

Ash O’Brien says that she and her husband, Jarret Kelley, were minding their own business and enjoying a sunny picnic lunch with their three-month-old puppy when a raving woman approached them.

O’Brien says that the masked woman called the couple “idiots” and stuck up her middle finger at the two dining before deploying pepper spray at them and their food.

Video footage of the incident shows the unnamed woman appearing to spray a substance on and around Kelley while O’Brien hysterically wails in the background.

The footage, which was captured by a bystander, shows Kelley attempting to wrest the purported spray away from the woman as the bystander shouts, “What is your problem? You just maced him! You just maced him and their food because you disagree!”

(Read more from “WATCH: Woman Pepper Sprays Couple Enjoying Picnic Because They Weren’t Wearing Masks” HERE)

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Epstein Floodgates Open as Judge Rules Explosive Ghislaine Maxwell Docs Be Unsealed

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Epstein Floodgates Open as Judge Rules Explosive Docs Detailing Ghislaine Maxwell’s Sex Life Can Be Unsealed in Virginia Giuffre’s Defamation Case Within a Week

By Daily Mail. A judge today has ordered the unsealing of a vast tranche of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, which could shed light on his friendship with powerful men accused of having sex with his victims.

Judge Loretta Preska said that 80 documents – which will run to hundreds of pages – should be made public within a week.

The documents will include depositions from Ghislaine Maxwell, which could explain her alleged role in Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.

They could include details about Maxwell’s sex life that her lawyers have previously tried to stop from being released, relating to a seven-hour, 418-page deposition Maxwell gave which her legal team said was ‘extremely personal, confidential’. . .

The documents will also include communications between Maxwell and Epstein from January 2015 when Virginia Roberts made explosive allegations about them in court papers. (Read more from “Epstein Floodgates Open as Judge Rules Explosive Docs Detailing Ghislaine Maxwell’s Sex Life Can Be Unsealed in Virginia Giuffre’s Defamation Case Within a Week” HERE)

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What Ghislaine Maxwell’s Court Document Release Means for Prince Andrew and Others in Epstein’s ‘Little Black Book’

By Forbes. . .[I]t’s important to remember how crucial Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s narrative of her three alleged encounters with Prince Andrew are to her claims of being trafficked, specifically to London, specifically at the hands of Ghislaine Maxwell and Epstein. In this sense it can be argued that the news of the release of the civil documents is worse for Prince Andrew than it is for his old friend Maxwell, since Andrew sits in a luxe sort of confinement of his own making, un-indicted but inexorably at the forefront of the thinking at every turn the criminal case against his friend takes. . .

For his part, Alan Dershowitz, a friend of Epstein’s who advised him as he squeaked out his generous deal from the Florida prosecutors upon his conviction in 2010, welcomed the release. Dershowitz said, “I’m thrilled that all the documents come out, because I have nothing to hide.” . . .

The content from the Roberts Giuffre lawsuit will land imminently, and its triggering effect of renewed, very public scrutiny of that time period in Epstein’s and in Andrew’s lives will present Prince Andrew and his “working group” of legal and public relations advisors with a choice. They will have to unfetter their hitherto unhurried approach toward a more cooperative posture with the American authorities, or, somewhat likelier, they will have to figure out how to employ that process as cover for a more successful groundhog-backing-slowly-into-his-burrow attempt than they have been able to provide the prince to date.

It’s up for grabs whether anybody can, or could, successfully bury the issue for the prince, but that possibility seems far more remote now. Either way, the news of the document release of the Roberts Giuffre civil action is bad for Andrew, and as more documents than these immediate ones will be made public by Judge Preska, the retired prince’s legal and public relations prospects for the coming months look rough. (Read more from “What Ghislaine Maxwell’s Court Document Release Means for Prince Andrew and Others in Epstein’s ‘Little Black Book’” HERE)

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Justice John Roberts Votes Against the Constitution Again, Turns Away Church’s COVID Challenge

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The US Supreme Court on Friday denied a petition from a church in Nevada that argued a policy limiting in-person church attendance to 50 during the coronavirus pandemic violated the Constitution. . .

The church argued that the state policy treated church services differently from other large gatherings including casinos, gyms and restaurants. . .

Although the court’s order was unsigned, Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch dissented, meaning that Chief Justice John Roberts provided the necessary fifth vote by joining the liberals on the bench.

The order marks the second time Roberts has voted to reject a request from a church amid the pandemic.

In May, he sided with the liberals in a 5-4 order against a church in California that was challenging limitations on the number of people who could attend services. (Read more from “Justice John Roberts Votes Against the Constitution Again, Turns Away Church’s COVID Challenge” HERE)

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This Is What Top Democrats Say About Federal Law Enforcement Help for Their Cities

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Democratic mayors and other leaders of some large cities have grown edgier in opposing President Donald Trump’s push to use federal agents to quell violence, using terms such as “resist” and “fascist.”

Some elected Democrats in affected cities have vowed to sue and even arrest federal agents as they criticize federal action to protect government property in Portland, Oregon.

For “Operation Legend,” the White House has announced plans to send federal law enforcement officials to Chicago; Kansas City, Missouri; and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Over the next three weeks, the Justice Department intends to expand the effort into Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee.

Democratic mayors and other leaders in these and other cities mostly object, according to news reports.

Trying to meet with demonstrators Wednesday night in Portland, Mayor Ted Wheeler was booed and told to resign by the crowd and overcome by tear gas deployed by federal agents to control the situation. Wheeler said he was “pissed off” and called the situation “flat-out urban warfare” wrought by the president.

Cities across the nation have seen various levels of unrest and violence since the May 25 death of a black man, George Floyd, in police custody in Minneapolis.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who heads one of America’s most violent cities, previously opposed intervention by federal officials. However, after Trump’s announcement Wednesday of “Operation Legend,” Lightfoot offered a more diplomatic comment.

“I’ve been very clear that we welcome actual partnership,” Lightfoot said. “But we do not welcome dictatorship. We do not welcome authoritarianism, and we do not welcome unconstitutional arrest and detainment of our residents. That is something I will not tolerate.”

Leo Schmitz, chief of public safety at the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, attended the White House event Wednesday announcing “Operation Legend.” His jurisdiction includes Chicago.

Before his announcement on putting down violent crime in cities, Trump had mentioned the possibility of sending federal law enforcement to New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore, and Oakland, California, which are among U.S. cities with the highest crime rates.

“I’m going to do something—that I can tell you,” Trump told reporters Monday in the Oval Office. “Because we’re not going to let New York and Chicago and Philadelphia and Detroit and Baltimore and all of these—Oakland is a mess. We’re not going to let this happen in our country. All run by liberal Democrats.”

That same day, Philadelphia officials provided some of the most aggressive rhetoric, even threatening to arrest federal officials in the city, making fascist comparisons, and vowing to “resist.”

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said: “My dad volunteered and served in World War II to fight fascism, like most of my uncles, so we would not have an American president brutalizing and kidnapping Americans for exercising their constitutional rights and trying to make America a better place, which is what patriots do.”

“Anyone, including federal law enforcement, who unlawfully assaults and kidnaps people will face criminal charges from my office. At trial, they will face a Philadelphia jury,” added Krasner, who was elected in 2018 with the help of a super PAC funded by liberal billionaire George Soros. “It’s the least we can do to honor those who fought fascism, including those who are fighting it even now.”

In another interview with Democracy Now, Krasner said:

These are Pennsylvania offenses over which the district attorney in Philly has jurisdiction over that area, and we can bring those charges. The law is very clear. We can proceed with those charges in state court. Under certain circumstances, they might end up being processed in federal court. But, initially, we can bring those charges. We can pursue them. And as much as possible, we can put those individuals in front of a Philadelphia jury, who might have something to say about those tactics. …

I would say President Trump is definitely a wannabe fascist. I’m not sure he can spell the word, but he definitely is someone who’s in love with dictators.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney didn’t push back quite as hard, but still resisted the idea of federal law enforcement assistance.

“The president’s threat is wrong on many levels,” Kenney said. “To send federal agents to police U.S. cities that have not requested such aid can only impede the work of local governments and exacerbate already heightened tensions in these cities. And to target cities that are led by Democratic mayors is clearly a politicization of federal resources that should outrage all taxpayers.”

“While the city of Philadelphia has not received any formal notification that federal agents will be sent here,” the mayor said, “we would use all available means to resist such a wrongheaded effort and abuse of power.”

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that the city would sue to keep federal law enforcement out, Fox News reported.

“I want to be very, very clear that we will not allow this to happen,” de Blasio said, adding: “We are New Yorkers and we won’t take lightly if we see federal officers in New York City. If we do, we’ll be in court.”

Trump said “Operation Legend” is named for 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro of Kansas City, who was shot and killed in late June. His killer hasn’t been found.

Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith was among those attending the White House event Wednesday where Trump announced the operation.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, however, called the law enforcement initiative “dog-whistling.”

“What we don’t support is an expanded and broadened mission, which is what we’ve seen in Portland and what we’ve seen hinted at in interviews from the president that look like a federal takeover of policing in Kansas City,” Lucas said, according to The Kansas City Star.

Sheriff Manuel Gonzales of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, a top law enforcement official in the Albuquerque area, also attended the White House event.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, however, told CNN that the law enforcement operation is “about inciting violence.”

“You almost know that something is up because one, the president is talking about Albuquerque, which doesn’t usually happen,” Keller said, “but two, we’ve been told nothing and usually we get formal MOUs [memos of understanding], we get details, there’s task forces that are put in place. We have received no formal documentation on this at all.”

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said a federal presence would be divisive, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported.

“With few exceptions, protests in Milwaukee have been peaceful,” Barrett said in a statement. “It is preposterous to suggest Milwaukee needs federal agents to quell unrest or manage peaceful protests. Their presence at this time could be counterproductive.”

After Trump named Cleveland as one city that would get assistance from federal law enforcement, Mayor Frank Jackson’s administration told the Plain Dealer newspaper that it “has not been made aware of any additional federal law enforcement resources coming to the city.”

“The Cleveland Division of Police has in the past and will continue to partner with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to combat violent crime in our neighborhoods,” the statement reads. “In [December], the Division of Police announced the Relentless Pursuit initiative, which is designed to combat violent crimes in our neighborhoods with our federal, state and local partners.”

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan told local media: “Early on, we made the decision [that] the bond between the Detroit Police Department and the community was strong enough we could handle the protests ourselves.”

Separately, Duggan issued a joint statement with Detroit Police Chief James Craig opposing federal assistance, which said:

There could be no possible justification for such an action. The Detroit Police Department has had the support of the Detroit community in making sure our city did not have a single store looted or a single fire started during the protests.

Unlike nearly every other major city in the country, the Detroit Police Department never requested assistance from the National Guard–we handled our issues as a community. We definitely have no need for any federal presence being sent in now.

Although Trump mentioned Baltimore earlier this week, a spokesman for Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young told the Baltimore Sun that the city had no indication that the Trump administration had moved on any plans to send federal law enforcement.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf accused Trump of trying to distract Americans from COVID-19.

“I don’t need law enforcement in Oakland; I need testing, I need personal protective equipment,” Schaaf said. “We need direct income support for people who are out of work, that’s what we need. This president seems to confuse a political bent.” (For more from the author of “This Is What Top Democrats Say About Federal Law Enforcement Help for Their Cities” please click HERE)

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WATCH: GOP Reps Push Resolution to Ban Democratic Party Over Ties to Slavery

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A group of Republican House members, led by Rep. Louis Gohmert of Texas, introduced a resolution Thursday that would effectively ban the Democratic Party from the House or force a party name change over past slavery ties — a response to the recent efforts to remove tributes to past members of the Confederacy from the halls of Congress.

It specifically cites the Democratic Party platform’s support for slavery between 1840 and 1856, and other racist actions by party members through the early-to-mid 1900s, before calling on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to “remove any items that names, symbolizes or mentions any political organization or party that has ever held a public position that supported slavery or the Confederacy” from the House and its properties. The resolution also says such a party “shall either change its name or be barred from participation in the House of Representatives.”

Gohmert, in a statement accompanying the bill, told Democrats they should rebrand to “avoid triggering” anyone.

“As outlined in the resolution, a great portion of the history of the Democratic Party is filled with racism and hatred,” Gohmert said. “Since people are demanding we rid ourselves of the entities, symbols, and reminders of the repugnant aspects of our past, then the time has come for Democrats to acknowledge their party’s loathsome and bigoted past, and consider changing their party name to something that isn’t so blatantly and offensively tied to slavery, Jim Crow, discrimination, and the Ku Klux Klan.” (Read more from “GOP Reps Push Resolution to Ban Democratic Party Over Ties to Slavery” HERE)

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New CDC Guidelines Come Down Hard in Favor of Opening Schools

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New US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on education and child care come down hard in favor of opening schools, saying children don’t suffer much from coronavirus, are less likely than adults to spread it and suffer from being out of school.

But the new guidelines posted Thursday do recommend that local officials should consider closing schools, or keeping them closed, if there is substantial, uncontrolled transmission of the virus. . .

“It is critically important for our public health to open schools this fall,” CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said in a statement announcing the updates.

“School closures have disrupted normal ways of life for children and parents, and they have had negative health consequences on our youth. CDC is prepared to work with K-12 schools to safely reopen while protecting the most vulnerable.” (Read more from “New CDC Guidelines Come Down Hard in Favor of Opening Schools” HERE)

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A Man Died From a Gunshot Wound to His Head. He Was Listed as a COVID-19 Death — and There Are Several More

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A local news outlet in Palm Beach County, Florida, is saying that several deaths reported in the county were incorrectly attributed to COVID-19 — including a 60-year-old man who died from a gunshot wound to his head.

The investigative team at WPEC-TV reported Thursday that at least eight of the 581 deaths listed on a spreadsheet tallying COVID-19 deaths provided by the county medical examiner’s office are incorrectly attributed to the virus. . .

According to the outlet, included on the list is a “90-year-old man who fell and died from complications of a hip fracture” and “a 77-year-old woman who died of Parkinson’s disease.”

Upon presenting their findings to the medical examiner’s office, Operations Manager Paul Petrino acknowledged that the eight cases were errors and said they would be removed.

Palm Beach County resident Rachel Eade, who reportedly also obtained the spreadsheet to fact-check it, added that of the 581 deaths listed, only 169 are listed without any other contributing causes. (Read more from “A Man Died From a Gunshot Wound to His Head. He Was Listed as a COVID-19 Death — and There Are Several More” HERE)

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Chicago Mayor Has Christopher Columbus Statues Removed From Parks Overnight

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Hoping to avoid another high-profile confrontation between police and protesters like the clash that happened last week, Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered the statues of Christopher Columbus removed from Chicago’s Grant and Arrigo parks overnight.

Not all Italian American leaders in Chicago are on board with the decision, but it has received the blessing of some groups, sources said. By taking the statues down, Lightfoot may draw criticism from those who believe she caved to activist demands.

Later Friday morning, Lightfoot said in a series of tweets that the statues were removed “until further notice.”

“We took this step in response to demonstrations that became unsafe for both protesters and police, and to efforts by individuals to independently pull the Grant Park statue down in an extremely dangerous manner,” Lightfoot said in the tweets. “This step is an effort to protect public safety and to preserve a safe space for an inclusive and democratic public dialogue about our city’s symbols. It also will allow us to focus public safety resources where they are most needed — particularly in our South and West Side communities.”

(Read more from “Chicago Mayor Has Christopher Columbus Statues Removed From Parks Overnight” HERE)

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New FBI Notes Re-Debunk Major NYT Story, Highlight Media Collusion to Produce Russia Hoax

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The FBI official who ran the investigation into whether the Donald Trump campaign colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 presidential election privately admitted in newly released notes that a major New York Times article was riddled with lies, falsehoods, and “misleading and inaccurate” information. The February 2017 story was penned by three reporters who would win Pulitzers for their reporting on Trump’s supposed collusion with Russia.

The FBI’s public posture and leaks at the time supported the now-discredited conspiracy theory that led to the formation of a special counsel probe to investigate the Trump campaign and undermine his administration.

“We have not seen evidence of any individuals affiliated with the Trump team in contact with [Russian Intelligence Officials]. . . . We are unaware of ANY Trump advisors engaging in conversations with Russian intelligence officials,” former FBI counterespionage official Peter Strzok wrote of the Feb. 14, 2017 New York Times story “Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts With Russian Intelligence.” That story, which was based on the unsubstantiated claims of four anonymous intelligence officials, was echoed by a similarly sourced CNN story published a day later and headlined “Trump aides were in constant touch with senior Russian officials during campaign.”

Strzok’s notes are the latest factual debunking of these stories, which were previously shown to be false with the release of Robert Mueller’s special counsel report finding no evidence whatsoever in support of the Hillary Clinton campaign assertion that Trump affiliates colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election. A report from the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General on just one aspect of the investigation into Russia collusion — FBI spying on Trump campaign affiliates — also debunked these news reports. (Read more from “New FBI Notes Re-Debunk Major NYT Story, Highlight Media Collusion to Produce Russia Hoax” HERE)

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