Bill Gates Says Schools Should Reopen; CDC Director Admits There Are More Suicides and Overdoses Than COVID Deaths, Lockdowns Bad for Mental Health

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Bill Gates Says Schools Should Reopen Despite COVID-19

By Fox News Business. Bill Gates is siding with President Trump, saying US schools should reopen in the fall despite the continued spread of the coronavirus — claiming “the benefits outweigh the costs.”

“I’m a big believer that for young children, the benefits in almost every location — particularly if you can protect the teachers as well — the benefits outweigh the costs,” the billionaire philanthropist said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” in an interview aired Tuesday.

“As you get up to age, like, 13 and higher, then you’ll have to look at your locale to decide what you’ll do with high schools,” Gates said. “And if they’re not in, then you have to put massive effort into trying to get there to be continued learning online.”

The comments come as Trump continues to push for schools to reopen in September, warning that students are falling behind in their education after months of at-home learning due to the coronavirus lockdown. (Read more from “Bill Gates Says Schools Should Reopen Despite COVID-19” HERE)

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CDC Director Admits There Are More Suicides and Overdoses Than COVID Deaths, Lockdowns Bad for Mental Health

By Townhall. Center for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield testified in a Buck Institute webinar that suicides and drug overdoses have surpassed the death rate for COVID-19. Redfield argued that lockdowns and lack of public schooling constituted a disproportionally negative impact on young peoples’ mental health.

“We’re seeing, sadly, far greater suicides now than we are deaths from COVID. We’re seeing far greater deaths from drug overdose that are above excess that we had as background than we are seeing the deaths from COVID,” he said.

Roughly 146,000 people have died from COVID or COVID-related causes in the U.S., according to CDC data.

The most recent publicized federal data records 48,000 deaths from suicide and at least 1.4 million attempts in 2018. In 2019, almost 71,000 people died from drug overdoses.

Where Redfield obtained his data is unknown, although a doctor at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, CA claimed the facility has “seen a year’s worth of suicide attempts in the last four weeks.” He did not say how many deaths occurred, or whether the statement was exaggerated for emphasis. (Read more from “CDC Director Admits There Are More Suicides and Overdoses Than COVID Deaths, Lockdowns Bad for Mental Health” HERE)

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WATCH: Barr Laughs at PA Lawmaker Who Doesn’t Even Know What Policy She’s Asking Him About

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Tuesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing with Attorney General William Barr had plenty of popcorn moments, but one exchange the witness had with Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) deserves an honorable mention. As Dean, a Democratic representative from Pennsylvania, was questioning the attorney general, she seemed to completely forget her point. And Barr instantly called her bluff.

Dean began her interrogation with a timeline of events on the day President Trump walked from the White House to St. John’s Episcopal Church, which had been lit on fire the night before during George Floyd-related riots in the city. About 15 minutes before he took his stride to the church, park police sprayed protesters outside the White House in Lafayette Square with PepperBalls, clearing the area. Barr said it was a coincidence.

She then displayed a description of the DOJ’s use of less-lethal weapons from a 2009 report. It explained that the accuracy and accompanying blunt trauma impact of PepperBalls make it “an ideal chemical dispensing system.” So, Dean concluded that although Barr claimed it “wasn’t a chemical,” he must at least be aware of his department’s policy.

“What policy?” Barr asked.

(Read more from “WATCH: Barr Laughs at PA Lawmaker Who Doesn’t Even Know What Policy She’s Asking Him About” HERE)

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Bernie’s Campaign Co-Chair: Voting for Biden Is Like Eating ‘a Bowl of S***’; Dems May Face Revolt at Convention; Another Democrat Rep Refuses to Endorse Biden

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By Daily Caller. Former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign co-chair Nina Turner on Monday compared voting for 2020 presidential nominee Joe Biden to “eating a bowl of s**t.”

In an Atlantic piece titled “Don’t Count Trump Out,” Turner was asked about voting for Biden, to which she said: “It’s like saying to somebody, ‘You have a bowl of s**t in front of you, and all you’ve got to do is eat half of it instead of the whole thing.’ It’s still s**t.” (Read more from “Bernie’s Campaign Co-Chair: Voting for Biden Is Like Eating ‘a Bowl of S***’” HERE)

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‘Squad’ Member Rashida Tlaib Refuses to Endorse Biden

By Townhall. When it comes to Joe Biden, Democrats have an enthusiasm problem, and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib is the latest example.

In an interview with Newsweek contributor Steve Friess, Tlaib said she would not be endorsing the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. But Tlaib, who represents Detroit and is a member of the progressive “Squad,” is no friend of President Trump.

“If there is one person who wants Donald Trump out of the White House, it’s me,” Tlaib stated. “And I’m going to work extremely hard. . . Why? Because my residents cannot afford another four years of Trump. They just can’t.” . . .

“If the ultimate goal is to get rid of Donald Trump, that doesn’t have to involve me actually endorsing Biden,” she said. “My constituents don’t need to be bogged down in, ‘Is he the best candidate?’ That’s not what you have to convince my residents. They need to come out in droves and be inspired by something. And that is going to be a vote against Donald Trump.” (Read more from “‘Squad’ Member Rashida Tlaib Refuses to Endorse Biden” HERE)

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Bernie Sanders Delegates Mount Convention Rebellion Over ‘Medicare for All’

By Politico. A revolt is brewing among Bernie Sanders delegates three weeks from the Democratic National Convention.

More than 360 delegates, most of whom back Sanders, have signed on to a pledge to vote against the Democratic Party’s platform if it does not include support for “Medicare for All,” the petition’s organizers told POLITICO. They argue that single-payer health care is an urgent priority amid a worldwide pandemic and the biggest unemployment crisis since the Great Depression.

“This pandemic has shown us that our private health insurance system does not work for the American people. Millions of people have lost their jobs and their health care at the same time,” said Judith Whitmer, a Sanders delegate and chair of the convention’s Nevada delegation who helped spearhead the pledge. “There’s people leaving the hospital now with millions of dollars in medical bills. What are we going to do about that?”

The warning is all but certain to set up a clash between Sanders’ most dedicated supporters and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, who opposes Medicare for All, at a time when the party is seeking to demonstrate unity ahead of its August convention. Though the petition signers have little chance of revising the platform to include Medicare for All support, they do have the numbers to draw attention to their protest and cause. (Read more from “Bernie Sanders Delegates Mount Convention Rebellion Over ‘Medicare for All'” HERE)

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Mayor Claims White Provocateurs Dressed as BLM Supporters Starting Riots; Rioters Hurl Molotov Cocktails at Federal Officers in Portland; Seattle Mayor Blames Riots on President Trump; Dozens of Cops Injured (VIDEO)

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Mayor Says Riots Started by “Undercover White Supremacists” Masquerading as BLM Supporters

By Tauren Dyson. The mayor of Richmond, Virginia, has blamed undercover white supremacists for the riots during Black Lives Matter protests this weekend.

On Sunday, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney claimed white supremacists had marched “under the banner of Black Lives Matter” during the protests and inflamed the situation until it became a riot.

“Last night, that [violence] reared its ugly head right here in the City of Richmond … We saw some violent actions, violent protests, spearheaded by white supremacists. And frankly, it was disgusting. Disgusting. As they held plywood shields that read, ‘BLM,’ these folks toured areas of damage downtown, The Fan, breaking windows, tagging private property with hateful language,” Stoney said during a press conference, according to News 6.
(Read more from this story HERE)
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Molotov Cocktails Thrown at Federal Court

By Breitbart. Protests descended into violent chaos yet again in Portland over the weekend, as protesters targeted the federal courthouse and reportedly hurled Molotov cocktails toward federal officers.

Chaos erupted in the city again late Sunday into early Monday morning as protesters attempted to breach the fence of the federal courthouse, hurling “mortar-style fireworks over the fence.”A group also lit what the Portland Police described as a “large fire in Lownsdale Square Park”:

On July 27, 2020 at about 12:59 a.m. somebody started a fire just inside the fence along SW 3rd Avenue. The fire started quickly, grew into large flames on the sidewalk, and was out within about a minute. Following that, dozens of people approached the outside of the fence with shields and began throwing objects over it.

Footage from the protests show demonstrators throwing what appear to be Molotov cocktails toward federal officers:

(Read more from “Battle Portland: Rioters Hurl Molotov Cocktails at Federal Officers” HERE)

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Seattle Mayor: Trump Doing ‘Dry Run for Martial Law’ and Is ‘Responsible’ for Riots in City – Best Way to Have Peace Is ‘Bring More Justice’

By Breitbart. On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan (D) stated that President Trump’s actions “were responsible for what happened this weekend” in Seattle and “we are seeing the dry run for martial law.” Durkan also stated that the best way to bring peace to the city “is to bring more justice to the systems.”

Durkan said, “We don’t need the help that the president’s offering, and, in fact, I think the president’s actions have directly escalated and were responsible for what happened this weekend. Many people who were interviewed by media said they came to the protest because of what’s happening in Portland. The protest itself was billed as something in solidarity with Portland. And so, we are — today, I requested the Department of Homeland Security — since there was no actions directed against the federal properties here — to ask them to remove the standby team that they have.” (Read more from “Seattle Mayor: Trump Doing ‘Dry Run for Martial Law’ and Is ‘Responsible’ for Riots in City – Best Way to Have Peace Is ‘Bring More Justice’” HERE)

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59 Cops Injured in Seattle

By Brian Trusdell. Fifty-nine police officers were injured during weekend riots in Seattle, the department reported, including abrasions, bruises, burns and a torn knee ligament with one hospitalization.

The Seattle Police Department blotter posted images of some of the injuries and wounds and included four body-cam videos stitched together, three of which showed explosives being thrown and detonating amid the cops and a fourth which showed a wooden plank hurled into the officers from a throng of retreating rioters.

“Officers are recovering from protests yesterday where they were struck with explosives, rocks, bottles, and wood,” the post said Saturday’s mayhem. (Read more HERE)

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USDA Warns Against Mysterious, Unidentified Seeds Mailed from China to Multiple US States; “Possible Bioterrorism”

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By Emily Czachork. Kentucky is one of eight U.S. states where residents have reportedly received parcels containing unlabeled seeds, seemingly sent from China by mail.

Ryan Quarles, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, issued an alert [Sunday:] “Multiple states have opened investigations,” he wrote on Twitter, before providing residents with instructions should they receive one of the unsolicited parcels.

A photo attached to Quarles’ tweet showed six small seed bags wrapped in clear packaging. One seemed to contain a different variety of seed from the rest. Chinese characters appeared on two mailing labels pictured, as did a description listing the parcels’ contents as “jewelry” in English.

Agricultural departments in Virginia, Washington, Louisiana and Kansas shared nearly identical reports late last week. Each warned of potentially invasive species in its alert notice and encouraged residents to report any related information to the state. Residents in Utah, Arizona and Ohio have reportedly received unlabeled packages with seeds as well. (Read more about the unidentified seeds HERE)

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USDA Warns Against Chinese Seeds

By Thomson/Reuters. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday warned residents against planting unsolicited packages of seeds arriving from China because they could harm the environment.

At least eight states, from Washington to Ohio, have also told residents in recent days not to put the seeds in the ground, after they arrived apparently from China in the mailboxes of people who did not order them. Officials said the seeds could be invasive species that could threaten crops or livestock.

“At this point in time we don’t have enough information to know if this is a hoax, a prank, an internet scam or an act of agricultural bioterrorism,” Ryan Quarles, Kentucky’s agriculture commissioner, said in a video posted on the department’s website. . .

The Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Read more about the unidentified seeds HERE)

The Real Danger With Mail-In Voting Is Presenting Itself Clearly; Soros, Wealthy Donors Pouring Millions Into Fraud-Laced Effort

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By Townhall. Say what you will about President Trump on this issue. He may not frame it right or whatever, but he is right that mail-in voting is a disaster. There is a possibility of fraud. Sorry, even The New York Times admitted that, and on top of those concerns, it’s the viability of this system. We’ve lost close to 30 million ballots in the last four elections. They’re gone. Lost forever. Still, the so-called fact-checkers say mail-in voting is pretty much fine.

In New Jersey, municipal elections in Paterson have been a disaster. One-in-five ballots were discovered to be fraudulent. Four people are being charged. In New York, their primaries from a month ago have yet to be called. As Fox News’s Brit Hume noted, it’s a “train wreck” (via NYT):

More than three weeks after the New York primaries, election officials have not yet counted an untold number of mail-in absentee ballots, leaving numerous closely watched races unresolved, including two key Democratic congressional contests.

The absentee ballot count — greatly inflated this year after the state expanded the vote-by-mail option because of the coronavirus pandemic — has been painstakingly slow, and hard to track, with no running account of the vote totals available.

In some cases, the tiny number of ballots counted has bordered on the absurd: In the 12th Congressional District, where Representative Carolyn B. Maloney is fighting for her political life against her challenger, Suraj Patel, only 800 of some 65,000 absentee ballots had been tabulated as of Wednesday, according to Mr. Patel, though thousands had been disqualified.

(Read more from “The Real Danger With Mail-In Voting Is Presenting Itself Clearly in New York” HERE)
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Wealthy Americans Pouring Millions into Mail-In Voting Effort

By AP. Deep-pocketed and often anonymous donors are pouring over $100 million into an intensifying dispute about whether it should be easier to vote by mail, a fight that could determine President Donald Trump’s fate in the November election.

In the battleground of Wisconsin, cash-strapped cities have received $6.3 million from an organization with ties to left-wing philanthropy to help expand vote by mail. . . “The pandemic has created a state of emergency,” said Laleh Ispahani, the U.S. managing director for Open Society, a network of nonprofits founded by billionaire progressive donor George Soros. “Donors who haven’t typically taken on these issues now have an interest.”

How much will be spent is unclear because many of the organizations are nonprofits that won’t disclose those details to the IRS until well after the election. Even then, many sources of money will remain unknown because such groups don’t have to disclose their donors, commonly referred to as “dark money.”

(Read more about wealthy Americans’ mail-in voting funding HERE)

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NY Supreme Court Orders Police to Hand Over Private Information About Gun Owners

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The New York State Supreme Court last week granted a motion ordering the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to turn over the name, zip codes and license category of anyone who was granted a firearm license in 2018.

The New York Daily News made the request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request process, which provides public information from government agencies to citizens and journalists.

According to the lawsuit filed against the NYPD, the newspaper makes the argument that they should have access to the information because their reporters “frequently cover gun-related political and policing issues.”

The Daily News argues that the information can be turned over because of a state law – known as the SAFE Act – that declared “that names and addresses of all firearms licenses were public information.”

Under the SAFE Act, gun owners have the ability to opt-out of their information being handed over in FOIA requests but their application has to be approved. It’s the information of those that did not opt-out that the newspaper wants. (Read more from “NY Supreme Court Orders Police to Hand Over Private Information About Gun Owners” HERE)

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Bernie Supporter Joe Rogan Now Says He’ll Vote Trump this November, Moving to Texas

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By Benjamin Fearnow. Podcast host and comedian Joe Rogan said he would rather vote for President Donald Trump than Democratic candidate Joe Biden, arguing that Trump has held up well to the pressure of the office versus Biden.

The Joe Rogan Experience host spoke at his studio Friday with Eric Weinstein, managing director of the Thiel Capital investment firm, where the two compared Trump’s behavior and “fake alpha” persona to that of a professional wrestler. The conversation veered into 2020 politics after Weinstein complained people “express themselves moronically” when they are given no choices in life. The podcast host, who last week described the former Vice President as “very old” and “stumbling,” claimed the Democratic Party “made us all morons” by promoting Biden’s campaign and potential nomination. Rogan has previously stated he would “probably vote for” Bernie Sanders.

He appeared to compliment Trump’s vitality for seemingly “not aging at all” during his time in office.

(Editor’s note: profanity alert)

(Read more from “Joe Rogan Now Says He’ll Vote Trump” HERE)
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Joe Rogan Now Says He’s Moving to Texas

By Jorge Alonso. After moving his podcast to Spotify, Joe Rogan is making another big move in his personal life.

During this week’s episode of the JRE podcast, Rogan revealed that he was leaving Los Angeles for Texas in the coming weeks.

Rogan explained that he wanted to go to a place that didn’t have as many people as L.A. and had a “bit more freedom.” (Read more from this story HERE)

Rioters Target NYPD Vehicles, Light Fires in Chaotic City Scene; Protests Explode Across the Country

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By New York Post. Anti-cop demonstrators wreaked havoc in Lower Manhattan on Saturday night, setting fires and vandalizing several NYPD vehicles.

The chaos and destruction can be seen on video and was meant as a show of solidarity with protesters in Portland and Seattle, according to officials and police sources.

Video of the night’s unrest shows vandals defacing a trio of marked NYPD vans, tagging them with graffiti, slashing their tires and attempting to smash in their windows with a signpost and the wheel of a bicycle.

Another segment of the video shows four demonstrators jumping atop a marked department SUV, one of them holding an inverted American flag with the message “F–k NYPD” scrawled across it in black. . .

A few hundred demonstrators assembled at Rivington and Ludlow streets on the Lower East Side, and from there marched towards One Police Plaza, sowing chaos along the way, sources said. (Read more from “Rioters Target NYPD Vehicles, Light Fires in Chaotic City Scene” HERE)

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Protests Explode Across the Country; Police Declare Riots in Seattle, Portland

By The Washington Post. Protests in several major cities across the country turned violent this weekend, as weeks of civil unrest and clashes between activists and authorities boiled over, sending thousands of people teeming into public squares demanding racial justice.

From Los Angeles to Richmond to Omaha, police and protesters clashed in a tumultuous Saturday night that saw scores arrested after demonstrators took the streets and police in some cities dispersed crowds with tear gas and pepper spray.

In Austin, a man was shot and killed in the midst of a downtown rally. In Richmond, a truck was set ablaze outside police headquarters. Outside of Denver, a Jeep sped through a phalanx of people marching down an interstate when a shot was fired, injuring a protester, police said. (Read more from “Protests Explode Across the Country; Police Declare Riots in Seattle, Portland” HERE)

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WATCH: Pro-Trump Activist Holds up an Entire Flight Because He Will Not Wear a Mask; Police in This State Are Refusing to Enforce Mask Order

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By Mediate. Pro-Trump personality David J. Harris Jr. held up an entire American Airlines flight on Saturday for apparently not complying with the company’s mask policy, and instead, made a scene in the noble fight to defend one’s personal “rights” to not wear a face-covering on board.

“So because I declared that I have a medical reason to not wear a mask, people on the plane are tripping out and may not want to fly on this plane,” the pundit began in a 3-minute video posted to Instagram.

“There are a couple [fellow passengers] that are definitely having an issue, me not wearing a mask,” Harris stated.

A few seconds later, the flight captain could be heard over the intercom, presenting the opportunity for passengers who didn’t feel safe to re-book their travel due to Harris not wearing a mask.

Harris, smirking, continued “They cannot violate your HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) rights at American [Airlines] and ask you anything about your medical issue, so for all the people on the plane who might want to get off, cause they might not feel say, then get the heck off!” (Read more from “WATCH: Pro-Trump Activist Holds up an Entire Flight Because He Will Not Wear a Mask” HERE)

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Police in This State Are Refusing to Enforce Mask Order

By Breitbart. Indiana police departments say they will not enforce Gov. Eric Holcomb’s (R) executive order to make mask-wearing mandatory when it takes effect Monday.

Holcomb first introduced the mask requirement Wednesday, saying violations would be punished as a Class B misdemeanor, but after internal pressure from party members, Holcomb signed an executive order that would leave it up to state and local health departments to enforce the order instead, the Indianapolis Star reported.

Violators of the rule will not face fines or jail time, and state and local police departments say they will not enforce the order once it takes effect Monday.

“We really don’t have an active plan, I guess you could say, to actually enforce it,” said William Young, public information officer for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

“We are referring everybody that has a question about the mask mandate to the Fishers Health Department,” Fishers Police Department Sgt. Tom Weger said. (Read more from “Police in This State Are Refusing to Enforce Mask Order” HERE)

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