The interesting thing about the Republican National Convention this year is that the GOP is just not adopting an official platform in any way, signaling that whatever Trump wants to do is fine with them.
So much for the myth of the reasonable Republican.
Meanwhile, for weeks, the Trump administration has been hammering the FDA to get some kind of coronavirus treatment approved, seeking to get the good PR by floating one miracle cure or another right before the election.
Now, it appears they’ve found their in: A treatment, known as convalescent plasmablood, in which blood plasma from recovering patients is used to cure those still suffering from the disease.
Previously, top federal scientists had delayed FDA approval because they thought it needed further study, according to the New York Times.
They’re probably not wrong: the Times reports that randomized clinical trials have not proven that convalescent plasma works.
For a few months, the federal government kept most Americans’ heads above water -- but the life rafts are gone, and now we’re starting to sink.
29 million adults reported not having enough to eat in late July, as expanded unemployment benefits started to end.
During the same period, 15 million renters reported being behind on rent payments.
Trump’s new $300 a week unemployment expansion will only last a few weeks, and when it’s gone, poverty levels could rise to above Great Recession levels if the government doesn’t do more to help.
According to WaPa, the additional $600 a week that Bernie Sanders and other Democratic leaders fought for had a huge effect on keeping people afloat. 17 million people would have dropped below the poverty line without direct intervention from the Government. #LEFTISBEST
Progressives wanted an even bigger investment, of course, but it goes to show that even what we were able to get from the GOP admin and Senate had a huge impact.
A lot of Americans are looking at dark times unless Congress can get its act together and push forward more aid.
*WaPo
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After a blitzkreig confirmation process and a hasty swearing-in ceremony, Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump successfully installed Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court on Monday night.
The Senate voted 52-48. Every Democrat, Independent, + Susan Collins voted against Barrett, but it did nothing to McConnell’s ironclad majority.
After the vote, Trump put together a slapdash swearing-in ceremony on the South Lawn to get Barrett on the bench as fast as possible.
It’s hard to fully grasp what this news means.
Some of the first cases Barrett sees will be related to elections in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, and she could also be part of a ruling if election results next week get challenged.
A new report shows that Donald Trump used Facebook for a massive voter deterrence operation in 2016, targeting up to 3.5 million black voters in swing states with negative ads about Hillary Clinton in an attempt to suppress votes and “cultivate hopelessness" » »
The report by UK's Channel 4 is based on a massive data leak of Trump campaign advertising data that shows the campaign compiled files on 198 million US voters and then used an algorithm to sort them into categories based on their economic and domestic statuses and other data »
One of these categories was called “deterrence,” which effectively meant voters who could be persuaded to stay at home if hit with the right ads. 3.5 million of those voters were black, and many of them lived in swing states like Florida »
A major investigation finds it’s not just bad for the environment – it’s produced in conditions tantamount to slavery »»
A new @AP investigation offers the most comprehensive look yet at labor abuses in the palm oil industry.
The AP interviewed more than 130 workers from palm companies who labored on plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Those two countries produce most of the world’s palm oil
Workers spoke of child labor, outright slavery and rape. Fishermen who escaped years of slavery on boats described coming ashore in search of help, but instead being trafficked onto plantations -- sometimes with police involvement » »
Protests that have been ongoing in Louisville picked up again after yesterday’s announcement that no officers would be charged directly with killing Taylor, despite a preemptive declaration of emergency by the mayor.
Online video showed white men carrying guns and wearing military-style uniforms patrolling the streets.
The vigilantes moved apparently unimpeded by police.
Many businesses and government offices were boarded up and a twenty-five block perimeter of the city was closed to traffic.
Before night fell, police deployed a chemical agent into a crowd of protesters and made several arrests.
Two former intelligence officials have made some pretty stunning allegations: that Federal agents sent to quell protests in Portland Oregon also engaged in a classified cell phone cloning operation that aimed to lift information off of protesters phones.
According to @thenation, the DHS has not come clean about this.
Details of the operation are still classified, but @kenklippenstein reports that it included interceptions of protesters phone calls by either the DHS or other federal agencies involved, like the DOJ.
While this would be a shocking weaponization of unwarranted surveillance against citizens exercising first amendment rights, it’s not exactly hard to believe.