SHAKEDOWN: BLM Demands Cut of Louisville Business Profits for Protection

Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters issued “social justice” and “black liberation” demands regarding “diversity” to a restaurant owner in Louisville, KY, including a directive for “donations” to organizations run by non-whites.

Listed demands from a BLM affiliate in Louisville include racial quotas for staff and ownership of business suppliers, donations to organizations run by non-whites, and adjustment to dress codes. The posters used the acronym “BIPOC” (“black or indigenous persons of color”) as a euphemism for non-white persons:

23% of Staff is BIPOC in Front of House

23% of inventory is from BIPOC retailer(s)

Regular donations to BIPOC organization

Dress code policy does not discriminate against BIPOC patrons of employees.

Additional demands issued via the letter included the option to give 1.5 percent of revenues to a local “black nonprofit or organization” in lieu of purchasing a minimum of 23 percent of the business’s inventory from “black retailers,” mandated “diversity and inclusion training” for all employees, and displaying of left-wing messaging to support “reparations.”

The posters include a stated commitment to be publicly visible as a public service announcement pending future “inspections” of restaurants and other businesses. (Read more from “SHAKEDOWN: BLM Demands Cut of Louisville Business Profits for Protection” HERE)

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Pastors Prepare for Renewed Battle Over Church Closures

By Washington Examiner. When California Gov. Gavin Newsom in July announced revamped restrictions on worship, churches statewide resisted, drawing the attention of pastors nationwide as they prepare for a renewed struggle over church closures.

Newsom’s restrictions require all churches to suspend singing during services and most to hold their churches outside. Citing already burdensome restrictions placed on them in the spring, many church leaders refused to comply, most notably John MacArthur, a celebrity pastor who declared in a Sunday sermon that “Christ, not Caesar, is head of the church.”

MacArthur’s sermon won widespread approval from many evangelicals. Greg Locke, a Tennessee pastor with a large social media following, in a video this week cited MacArthur to make clear to his congregation that he has no plans to close again if shutdowns return to the state.

“Churches should be open,” he said. “There should be no excuses. I will go to jail before I close my church.” (Read more from “Pastors Prepare for Renewed Battle Over Church Closures” HERE)

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Church Encourages People Dealing With COVID-19 Saying ‘Be Careful, Not Fearful’

By ABC 6. The Licking County Health Department is actively working with the administration of Christian Life Center in Heath regarding an outbreak of COVID-19 illnesses related to the church.

The department has conducted contact tracing of individuals who are confirmed with COVID-19 and attend the church. So far at least 32 confirmed cases have been reported in the congregation of about 600 people.

“We appreciate their willingness to work with our staff to prevent further spread of the virus. We continue to urge county residents to stay home if they are sick, wear a mask in accordance with the state’s order, maintain proper social distancing and wash their hands frequently,” said Chad Brown, Health Commissioner. . .

“We are going to be careful but not going to be fearful. We are going to trust God is with us through it all,” said Ensey. “This is unprecedented. Everybody has been doing their best trying to navigate a very unique season for everybody.” (Read more from “Church Encourages People Dealing With COVID-19 Saying ‘Be Careful, Not Fearful'” HERE)

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CDC: Hospitals Have Incentive to Overcount Coronavirus Deaths

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield agreed that some hospitals have a monetary incentive to overcount coronavirus deaths as they do deaths for other diseases.

“I think you’re correct in that we’ve seen this in other disease processes, too. Really, in the HIV epidemic, somebody may have a heart attack but also have HIV — the hospital would prefer the [classification] for HIV because there’s greater reimbursement,” Redfield said during a House panel hearing Friday when asked by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer about potential “perverse incentives.”

Redfield continued: “So, I do think there’s some reality to that. When it comes to death reporting, though, ultimately, it’s how the physician defines it in the death certificate, and … we review all of those death certificates. So I think, probably it is less operable in the cause of death, although I won’t say there are not some cases. I do think though [that] when it comes to hospital reimbursement issues or individuals that get discharged, there could be some play in that for sure.”

Questions have been raised about coronavirus counting in hospitals across the country, and conflicting conclusions have been raised about whether or not deaths are being accurately counted. (Read more from “CDC: Hospitals Have Incentive to Overcount Coronavirus Deaths” HERE)

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One Marine Dead, 8 Missing After Training ‘Mishap’

One U.S. Marine has died, another is in critical condition and a rescue operation is underway for eight more service members after a training exercise “mishap” with an amphibious assault vehicle off the coast of Southern California on Thursday.

The deceased Marine, whose name is being withheld for 24 hours so that the family can be informed, was pronounced dead at a hospital in San Diego on Thursday, according to a press release early Friday by the I Marine Expeditionary Force.

The Marine in critical condition and another injured Marine in stable condition were taken to hospitals for treatment. The missing included 7 Marines and one sailor, officials said. . .

Fifteen Marines and one sailor were inside the vehicle for the training exercise near San Clemente Island on Thursday, when they reported taking on water at about 5:45 p.m., the release said. . .

Two amphibious assault vehicles and a safety boat were nearby, he said. All the Marines had floatation devices and some of those rescued were found bobbing with the gear successfully deployed, Osterman said. (Read more from “One Marine Dead, 8 Missing After Training ‘Mishap'” HERE)

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Doctor Fired After Openly Supporting Hydroxychloroquine Treatment for COVID-19 (VIDEO)

Dr. Simone Gold, the Los Angeles-based physician behind America’s Frontline Doctors, a group advocating for hydroxychloroquine to be used in the fight against COVID-19, says she has been fired for expressing her medical opinion.

Gold shared the news in an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson Thursday night, saying she was removed from her job due to her appearance in a viral video touting the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine.

“I’m a board-certified emergency physician for 20 years, and in fact, it seems like until five minutes ago I was considered a hero and people would be clapping and glad that I was doing what I was doing, and then the video came out and I was summarily fired for appearing in what was told to me is an embarrassing video,” Gold told Carlson.

Gold, who graduated from Chicago Medical School in 1989 and completed her residency at Stony Brook University Hospital in New York, appeared in the controversial “White Coat Summit” video earlier this week, organized by her organization and conservative political organization, Tea Party Patriots.

A 40-minute video of a news conference that took place during the summit was posted across social media platforms and quickly garnered millions of views. In the video, one of the doctors, Dr. Stella Immanuel, a Houston pediatrician and religious minister, referred to studies that claim hydroxychloroquine doesn’t work as “fake science.” (Read more from “Doctor Fired After Openly Supporting Hydroxychloroquine Treatment for COVID-19 (VIDEO)” HERE)

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Trump Campaign: Election Will Not Be Delayed

By Fox News. Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller on Sunday cleared up a major point of controversy regarding November’s presidential election, noted the significance of Joe Biden’s running mate, and rejected the notion of the campaign accepting foreign assistance.

After President Trump suggested in a recent tweet that perhaps the election should be delayed due to coronavirus because mail-in voting could expose the election to fraud, senior adviser Jason Miller assured the American public in a “Fox News Sunday” interview that this will not happen.

“The election is going to be on November 3. President Trump wants the election on November 3,” Miller said. Miller went on to say that it is Democratic governors who are trying to extend the election by pushing through mail-in voting and even extending the deadline for mailed ballots to after Election Day.

Meanwhile, Biden is expected to announce his running mate this month, and Miller noted that who he selects is of great importance, given speculation over how long Biden would remain in office if he wins in November.

“It is consequential in the fact that for Joe Biden, his VP pick is in many ways his political living will,” Miller said. “He’s already said he’s going to be a transition candidate on to the next generation. He’s refused to say that he would run for a second term, so it really does matter who is picked.” (Read more from “Trump Campaign: Election Will Not Be Delayed” HERE)

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Fox’s Wallace Presses Trump Adviser on Whether Campaign Would Accept Foreign Assistance

By The Hill. Fox News’s Chris Wallace pressed Jason Miller on Sunday about whether President Trump’s reelection campaign would accept foreign assistance in 2020, with the senior adviser ultimately declaring presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden would be beaten “fair and square.”

Miller, appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” initially called it a “silly question” and said that “the folks who have actually taken foreign assistance were the Clinton campaign,” pointing to the opposition dossier compiled by ex-British intelligence official Christopher Steele.

When Wallace pressed the matter, Miller responded, “We’re going to go beat Joe Biden fair and square here.”

“There is no foreign assistance that’s happening in this campaign,” Miller added, asking Wallace if he would ask the former vice president the same question.

“I promise if get an interview with Vice President Biden I will ask him exactly that same question,” said Wallace, who has repeatedly called for Biden to come on the show and said the Biden campaign has declined interview requests. (Read more from “Fox’s Wallace Presses Trump Adviser on Whether Campaign Would Accept Foreign Assistance” HERE)

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NASA Astronauts Splash Down in SpaceX Capsule as Historic Mission Returns to Earth

NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico in a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft Sunday, ending a historic two-month trip to space.

The mission marked the first time that astronauts have launched from American soil since the final Space Shuttle flight in 2011. . .

The spacecraft, named “Endeavour” by the astronauts, left the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday. Hurley and Behnken, both veterans of Space Shuttle missions, had boarded the orbiting space lab May 31 following the eagerly-anticipated launch of the Demo-2 mission from Kennedy Space Center atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

With wind at 2 knots, weather conditions for the capsule’s return to Earth were ideal. The capsule was hoisted aboard the SpaceX recovery ship Go Navigator and its hatch was opened at 3:59 p.m. EDT. Behnken was the first to exit the capsule, giving a thumbs up to the recovery team. Hurley followed shortly after, also giving a thumbs up.

(Read more from “NASA Astronauts Splash Down in SpaceX Capsule as Historic Mission Returns to Earth” HERE)

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UNSEALED COURT DOCS: Bill Clinton Regularly Visited Epstein’s Island With ‘Young Girls’, so did Senate Majority Leader; Documents Reveal Details of Maxwell’s Perverted Activities

By The Blaze. A trove of court documents involving the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell were unsealed Thursday night. The documents include allegations that former President Bill Clinton visited Epstein’s private island. . .

The batch of 47 documents and more than 600 pages unsealed from the now-settled defamation case include the deposition transcripts from Giuffre, email correspondence between Maxwell and Epstein, and the draft of Giuffre’s memoir she was writing about her experiences inside the alleged sex-trafficking ring that provided young women to wealthy and powerful men. . .

(Editor’s note: Page 194 of the deposition shown above mentions former U.S. Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell)

During a court questioning, lawyer Jack Scarola asked Giuffre, “Do you have any recollection of Jeffrey Epstein’s specifically telling you that ‘Bill Clinton owes me favors?'”

“Yes, I do,” Giuffre responded. “It was a laugh though. He would laugh it off. You know, I remember asking Jeffrey what’s Bill Clinton doing here [on Epstein’s island] kind of thing, and he laughed it off and said well he owes me favors.” . . .

“Ghislane, Emmy [another girl who was allegedly a regular at Epstein’s house], and there was 2 young girls that I could identify. I never really knew them well anyways. It was just 2 girls from New York,” Giuffre answered.

(Read more from “UNSEALED COURT DOCS: Bill Clinton Regularly Visited Epstein’s Island With ‘Young Girls'” HERE)

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Bill Clinton Visited Jeffrey Epstein’s Private Island, Unsealed Court Documents Suggest

By Fox News. . .The [released] data include records of a 2011 meeting between accuser Virginia Giuffre and her lawyers where she talked about the powerful people in Epstein’s orbit who she said either flew on his private Boeing 727 or stayed on his private island in the Caribbean. . .

One of the names mentioned was that of former President Bill Clinton. . .

The lawyer asked her to clarify what she was referring to when she mentioned Clinton, and she said the former president was on the island. She said Maxwell was also there, as well as a person named “Emmy” and two young girls.

“And were all of you staying at Jeffrey’s house on the island, including Bill Clinton?” Scarola asked.

“That’s correct,” she responded. “He had about four or five different villas on his island separate from the main house, and we stayed in the villas.” (Read more from “Bill Clinton Visited Jeffrey Epstein’s Private Island, Unsealed Court Documents Suggest” HERE)

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Court Docs Detail Maxwell’s ‘Constant’ Orgies With Young Girls on Epstein’s Island

By New York Post. . .Virginia Giuffre, who has accused Epstein and Maxwell of abusing her, detailed the sex-obsessed world of the pair in a 2016 deposition in a civil case against Maxwell that was made public for the first time Thursday.

Giuffre testified that Maxwell had “continuous” sex with girls and women in front of her, some she believed were as young as 15.

“There’s just a blur of so many girls,” Giuffre told Maxwell’s attorneys when asked if she could name girls she saw Maxwell have sex with.

“There were blondes, there were brunettes, there were redheads. They were all beautiful girls. I would say the ages ranged between 15 and 21.” . . .

“The island was a place where orgies were a constant thing that took place. And again, it’s impossible to know how many,” Giuffre said. (Read more from “Court Docs Detail Maxwell’s ‘Constant’ Orgies With Young Girls on Epstein’s Island” HERE)

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Recent Poll Shows Half of Voters Believe Trump Will Win; Trump Supporters Against Mail-In Ballots Over Voter Fraud Concerns

By Washington Examiner. While many in the media feed off polls showing Democratic challenger Joe Biden poised for a blowout election victory, the third survey this week showed the race much closer, with just 4 points dividing the candidates.

The just-released Emerson College poll showed Biden at 50% and President Trump at 46%. The survey of 964 likely voters has a plus or minus 3.1 percentage point rating of accuracy.

And, it added, “A majority of voters, 53%, still think Trump will be reelected in November.”

It was the third poll this week to show a narrow election. (Read more from “Recent Poll Shows Half of Voters Believe Trump Will Win” HERE)

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Most Trump Voters Say They Will Not Accept the 2020 Results If Biden Wins Because of Mail-In Ballots

By Yahoo News. Most Americans now believe that President Trump will not accept the results of November’s election if he loses to Joe Biden, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll — and an even larger majority of Trump voters say they too will refuse to accept a narrow loss if mail-in ballots contribute to Biden’s victory. . .

Asked whether Trump would “accept the result” if he “loses in a close election” this November, 52 percent of Americans say no. Only 25 percent say yes.

Voters who support Trump, meanwhile, share their candidate’s unfounded suspicions about postal balloting, with a full 55 percent saying they would not “accept the result” if Biden wins “because of an advantage in mail-in votes.” Only 21 percent say they would accept a Biden victory under those circumstances.

The survey, it’s worth noting, was conducted July 28 to 30, mostly before Trump’s tweet about delaying the election. If anything, these gaps will likely widen in the wake of his incendiary suggestion. (Read more from “Most Trump Voters Say They Will Not Accept the 2020 Results If Biden Wins Because of Mail-In Ballots” HERE)

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St. Louis Prosecutor Kim Gardner Fundraised off McCloskey Case. Their Lawyers Want Her Disqualified

Attorneys representing Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple who displayed firearms after a group of protesters broke a gate and approached their private property, want St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner disqualified from the case after she cited her prosecution of the pair in a fundraising email for her re-election campaign.

The McCloskeys’s attorneys included in Wednesday’s motion two fundraising emails from Gardner’s reelection campaign that clearly referred to the McCloskey case, according to court documents reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“You might be familiar with the story of the couple who brandished guns during a peaceful protest outside their mansion,” a July 17 campaign email states, according to court documents.

The email went on to say that “President Trump and the Governor are fighting for the two who pointed guns at peaceful citizens during the Black Lives Matter protests” and later included a request for campaign donations, the court documents show. . .

“In the last 24 hours, there has been a lot of national attention surrounding Kim’s decision to press charges against a couple that brandished guns at a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest,” the July 22 email said, according to court documents. The email went on to ask supporters to “rush a donation today” to signal their support for her in the case, court documents show. (Read more from “St. Louis Prosecutor Kim Gardner Fundraised off McCloskey Case. Their Lawyers Want Her Disqualified” HERE)

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