Friday, July 17, 2020
The Legal System Should Not Be a Tool for Bullies
By BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/30jC1RK
For Third Time This Week, the Federal Government Carries Out an Execution
By BY HAILEY FUCHS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2ZFoWDe
Is COVID-19 Causing a Church Crisis? Almost Two-Thirds of US Churches Report Drop in Giving
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Investigators: Texas couple defrauded Army out of millions
Federal agents have seized more than 20 vehicles and the money from 10 bank accounts belonging to married U.S. Army veterans in Texas, saying the pair used personal information stolen from soldiers to defraud the military out of as much as $11 million. Army investigators obtained warrants last month to confiscate the funds and property and to collect evidence of the alleged fraud during their search of the home of the retired sergeants, according to recently unsealed federal court records. In an affidavit seeking to search Kevin Pelayo and Cristine Fredericks' home in Killeen, a city near Fort Hood about 150 miles (240 kilometres) southwest of Dallas, investigators described how the couple allegedly used a transportation reimbursement program for federal employees to swindle the Army out of $2.3 million to $11.3 million.
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Fox News Host Admits She Doesn’t Trust Fox Polls, Deliberately Misleads Pollsters
Fox News host Melissa Francis admitted on Thursday that she doesn’t trust her own network’s polling—conducted by a group considered among the industry’s most trustworthy pollsters—while also claiming on-air that she deliberately misleads pollsters when they call her.With President Donald Trump trailing former Vice President Joe Biden by double digits in many national and battleground state polls, a narrative has formed that there are so-called “secret Trump voters” who don’t feel comfortable expressing their support for the president. A recent Monmouth poll in Pennsylvania, which finds Biden up by 13 points, shows that a majority of voters in the state believe a secret Trump vote exists.“The media consistently reports that Biden is in the lead, but voters remember what happened in 2016. The specter of a secret Trump vote looms large in 2020,” Monmouth pollster Patrick Murray wrote upon the poll’s release.During a Thursday afternoon Fox News discussion on Brad Parscale’s demotion as Trump campaign manager, Francis expressed her distrust of political polling by citing her own experience with deceiving pollsters.After fellow Fox host Lisa “Kennedy” Montgomery said the 2016 polls were “completely wrong” and that current polls are using that same methodology, Francis noted that she is “familiar” with the polls because she has been polled twice recently.“Because I’m not affiliated with a party, I am married, I have three children,” she said. “I think I am a woman of a certain age, so I am sort of the vote that people are looking for. I have a blast when they call me.”“None of the information—sometimes I’m somebody who voted for [New York Mayor Bill] de Blasio but now I was thinking about Trump,” Francis continued. “Sometimes it just depends how I toy with these folks.”After this writer tweeted out a clip of Francis’ comments while asking “are Fox News hosts now claiming they openly lie to pollsters to help push the narrative that all the polls are wrong,” the Fox News personality responded that polling is “garbage.”“Any pollster who calls me - I do not tell the truth,” she wrote. “It’s not their business. But I misled them left and right in equal measure. Polling is in fact garbage. I also do *always* disclose where I work and ask from whom they purchased my information.”When asked whether this meant that she believed her own network’s polls are also “garbage,” Francis replied: “I don’t trust any polling at all based on my personal experience.”Interestingly, despite claiming to find all polling to be “garbage,” Twitter sleuths pointed out that she has a history of boosting polling data that supports various Fox-friendly narratives.Francis later tweeted that she has never heard anyone tell her they've been contacted by a pollster but that she personally has been polled “20 times in the past 5 years.” She added that this has “undermined my own personal confidence in polling, that is my opinion.”According to poll analysis digital outlet FiveThirtyEight, Fox News is rated as one of the most accurate polling organizations, with an A rating. Furthermore, much has been made about the inaccuracy of the 2016 presidential election polls. Post-election analysis, however, shows that the accuracy of the national polls was pretty much on par with every election of the past 50 years. The average of the final polls was also largely in line with Hillary Clinton two-point popular vote win.Beyond that, polling since the 2016 election has been even more accurate. During the 2018 midterm elections, which resulted in a blue wave in the House of Representatives, non-partisan polls were far more accurate than any average poll since 1998. Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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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New York City enters final reopening phase as California, Florida, and Texas cases surge
New York City has reached a major milestone in its COVID-19 fight.Once the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City will move to its final phase of reopening on Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced Friday. Malls, gyms, and cultural institutions will remain closed, as will indoor dining, but most other businesses can reopen with appropriate social distancing measures.At the peak of its pandemic, New York state often saw hundreds of COVID-19 deaths per day, but reported 10 deaths on Friday. Coronavirus hospitalization totals in the state dropped to 765, the lowest they've been since mid-March, and less than one percent of COVID-19 tests came back positive in the last 24 hours, Cuomo also said Friday.Meanwhile across the south and west of the U.S., things are going the other direction. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Friday most schools will not reopen in the state, a decision Los Angeles and San Diego public schools made earlier this week. Newsom has also scaled back reopenings and closed bars and other businesses in surging counties.Florida recorded 128 new deaths from COVID-19 in the past day on Friday afternoon, its fourth day of death tolls over 100. And in Texas, FEMA sent in extra body bags and refrigerated trucks to prepare for a surging death toll. Still, governors in both states have resisted shutting down businesses again.More stories from theweek.com Our time of dread Unidentified federal agents in camo and rented minivans are grabbing people off Portland's streets 7 scathing cartoons about the push to reopen schools
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Plague squirrels spread ‘Black Death’ in Colorado and kill teenage boy in Mongolia
The "Black Death" has returned to Colorado after an infected squirrel passed the bubonic plague onto a human in the state for the first time in five years.It comes as health authorities continue to monitor an outbreak of bubonic plague after a 15-year-old boy died in Mongolia from eating an infected marmot, a type of ground squirrel.
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Ohio veteran, 37, who went viral for refusing to wear a mask, died of COVID-19
As the COVID-19 pandemic drags on, the US Army is still looking for new ways to get to a fight in Europe
In the open: White House advisers tussle over virus response
Infighting over the White House's handling of the coronavirus pandemic is spilling further into public view, with trade adviser Peter Navarro panning Dr. Anthony Fauci as President Donald Trump stands watch. The president insisted he had a “very good relationship with Dr. Fauci” and said his staffers were working together.
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Kamala Harris made her mark confronting Joe Biden. Could they end up as running mates?
Maxwell could "squeal" on "well-known names," Epstein accuser says
Ex-Assistant Accused of Stealing Charged in Grisly NYC Murder of Tech CEO
A former executive assistant to tech entrepreneur Fahim Saleh, whose dismembered body was found in his luxury Manhattan apartment this week, was charged with second-degree homicide on Friday.Tyrese Haspil, 21, was taken into custody by the NYPD on Thursday night in connection with the gruesome slaying of the 33-year-old startup whiz.A law-enforcement source told The Daily Beast that detectives began zeroing in on Haspil after finding message exchanges in which Saleh had accused him of stealing tens of thousands of dollars over a period of time.Investigators ran a credit-card check and determined that Haspil’s was used to buy a saw and cleaning supplies from a nearby Home Depot the day after the murder. His card was even used to pay for rides to and from the crime scene, a law-enforcement source said. Saleh was the co-CEO of Gokada, a Nigerian-based motorbike ride-share company, akin to a two-wheeled Uber. He also had an investment firm called Adventure Capital, and Haspil listed himself as chief of staff on one social-media site.Haspil, who has his own marketing and consulting company, was described by police as the former executive assistant to Saleh who, among other things, handled the finances.While Saleh had not reported Haspil’s alleged theft to the cops, he had given Haspil the opportunity to repay the missing funds over time, police said on Friday.Family of Butchered Tech Whiz Begs NYPD to Find ‘Evil’ KillerInstead, on Monday afternoon, Saleh was followed into the elevator at his Lower East Side condo complex by a man dressed in a black designer suit with a mask and hood to match. Detectives who watched video of the encounter said he looked like the “Grim Reaper.”The elevator opened right into Saleh’s $2 million apartment, which occupied the entire seventh floor of the 10-story building—and his assailant stepped in behind him. Investigators believe he may have used a Taser on Saleh, who crumpled to the floor.The elevator doors then closed, so videocameras did not capture what happened next, but the autopsy made it plain: Saleh was killed by multiple stab wounds to the torso.The killer, detectives believe, waited until the victim’s blood coagulated before cutting up the body with an electric saw and putting parts in contractor garbage bags.When NYPD cops arrived at the apartment Tuesday afternoon, alerted by a concerned family member, they found Saleh’s torso, with the head and limbs removed. They suspected the butcher was interrupted and fled before he could get rid of all the remains.Cops Hunt for ‘Grim Reaper’ After CEO’s Cut-Up Body Found in NYC Luxury ApartmentHaspil appears to have expensive tastes, as reflected not just by the black designer suit that police say he wore to the murder scene but also by the numerous Louis Vuitton items he posted for sale on Tradesy.com, including a pair of $660 shoes, which he marked down from $795.Saleh’s family issued an anguished statement on Wednesday begging police to find the person behind a crime “we still cannot fathom.”“There are no words or actions to provide any of us comfort except the capture of the person who exhibited nothing short of evil upon our loved one,” it said.“We need and urge the NYPD and other members of law enforcement to work diligently to get to the bottom of this horrific crime and bring justice for Fahim.”Born in Saudi Arabia and raised in upstate New York, Saleh began dabbling in digital businesses in high school, hit it big with an app called PrankDial, and then set his sights on the developing world. He invested in Colombia, launched a company in his parents’ native Bangladesh, and then created Gokada.“His brilliant and innovative mind took everyone who was a part of his world on a journey and he made sure never to leave anyone behind,” the family said. “Fahim found success at an early age and built on it year after year, while remaining grounded and committed to helping others. No matter what he did, he did it while thinking of the greater good and his family. His parents and his sisters were his light and he was theirs.”His alleged killer has a scant public profile, with his Instagram and Twitter accounts locked. It appears Haspil ran track at Long Island’s Valley Stream Central High School, where he took part in the Future Business Leaders of America competition, winning a first-place prize in a national competition for website design.It’s not clear whether or where he attended college. On a freelance site, he advertised himself as a software developer and graphic designer and wrote that “as an entrepreneur, I understand the importance of proactivity and results and I’ve learned the meaning of responsibility and accountability.”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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Veteran U.S. Congressman Engel defeated by liberal Bowman in New York primary
Liberal Black former middle-school principal Jamaal Bowman has ousted veteran Democratic U.S. Representative Eliot Engel from the congressional seat representing parts of New York City that he was first elected to in 1988. The primary race was closely watched as a test of the strength of the Democratic Party's left wing after moderate Joe Biden became the presumptive presidential nominee. The New York Times and the Associated Press both called the result of the June 23 election on Friday.
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U.S. extends ban on cruise ships as CDC says coronavirus 'continues to expand rapidly'
NYPD sergeants union chief Ed Mullins appears on Fox News with a QAnon mug behind him
National Association of Police Organizations president explains decision to endorse President Trump
Pelosi says Trump is 'like a man who refuses to ask for directions' on coronavirus pandemic
‘Overwhelmed and Terrified’: Las Vegas’ Reopening Backfires Terribly
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to pummel the United States, Las Vegas seems to be operating business as usual. Casinos have been open since June 4—undeterred by the 123 visitors who have tested positive for the highly contagious virus and the 51-year-old Caesars employee who died in late June.But it’s not business as usual for doctors and nurses in Las Vegas’ besieged health-care system, who say they are “overwhelmed and terrified” about the massive influx of new cases in a state officially deemed a “red zone” by the White House. “I would say in the last month we’ve been completely overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients and our hospital is running out of space,” one Las Vegas emergency room doctor, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of professional retaliation, told The Daily Beast on Friday. “Not only are we overwhelmed and terrified, but based on the numbers for the rest of the country, it’s only going to get worse for us.”'A Sinking Ship’: Arizona Docs Say Ducey Steered State Into COVID-19 SurgeOne of the states that loosened coronavirus restrictions in May, Nevada has set records for new cases throughout July. The rate of new cases per 100,000 residents is higher than the national average, putting Nevada in the top ten states for cases per capita—alongside Arizona, Texas, and Florida, now the epicenter of the pandemic. In Las Vegas, where local officials protested against the stay-at-home order, the hospital system is starting to feel the effects of the cascading outbreak. The Las Vegas area set a new record of 1,315 new cases on Thursday, according to the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services.And Sin City is a microcosm for the whole state—which also shattered COVID-19 numbers on Thursday with 1,447 new cases and six new deaths. ICUs are at about 84 percent capacity. “It’s even more troubling that COVID-19 in Nevada is disproportionately impacting communities of color,” Bethany Khan, the communications director for the Culinary Union in Las Vegas, told The Daily Beast on Friday. “Workers fear that they will contract the virus and bring it home to their families or possibly die from it.”At least 626 people have died from the coronavirus and 31,915 have been infected in Nevada—continuing a trend across much of the South and West after states lifted lockdown measures. Worse still, the rate of positive COVID-19 test results has reached a staggering 24.3 percent, rising continuously over the last month.Las Vegas Not-So-Politely Declines Mayor’s Bonkers Offer to Become Virus ‘Control Group’To curtail the surge, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak has rolled back premature reopening plans, introduced a mask mandate, and closed down bars in seven counties, including Vegas. But he left it up to local leaders to enact more restrictive measures—and Las Vegas seems to be operating as usual. In the weeks after Nevada’s casinos reopened on June 4, after being shuttered for three months, at least 123 visitors have tested positive for the coronavirus.Brian Labus, a professor of public health and outbreak investigation at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told The Daily Beast that while cases in the state are surging, state officials have “stepped up” and taken “the main steps” to ensure the spread is curtailed. “The problem comes down to the fact that people didn’t take the social distancing seriously when we reopened,” Labus said. “I think the mask mandate will have a big dent on cases.”Labus also stressed that Sin City “exists for tourism” and therefore has a unique issue of balancing “its economy with the safety issues.”“You have to remember the kind of people who are coming to Las Vegas right now. It’s the people who are the least concerned about this outbreak right now—least likely to follow the social distancing,” he said, noting that tourists are not counted in Nevada’s numbers.“When you are on vacation, you want to forget about all your problems—and that includes the coronavirus. But there is still a pandemic, and not following health guidelines puts everyone at risk.”Khan said the pressure on reopening the strip has meant “hotel and casino workers are working in fear every day.” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman has been notably silent after calling the state shutdown in March “total insanity” and suggesting Las Vegas could be a “control group” to test the impact COVID-19 would have on a community that didn’t close its doors. Over 500 Employees at Trump’s Las Vegas Hotel Have Been Laid Off Amid Coronavirus“We would love to be that placebo side so you have something to measure against,” she said during a wild April interview on CNN that prompted residents to begin efforts to remove her. Goodman’s office did not respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment.Late last month, Adolfo Fernandez, a 51-year-old employee at Caesars Entertainment on the strip, died after testing positive for COVID-19. The utility porter died just two days after getting his virus diagnosis—and before the casino implemented a company-wide mask policy.The Culinary Union has since filed a lawsuit against several major casinos—including The Signature at the MGM Grand—to protect workers returning to work. The lawsuit states that the casino hotels have not adopted precautions to address the virus, have not conducted adequate tracing, and haven’t informed employees of positive tests among co-workers. Khan, who said 20 union members and their spouses or kids had died from COVID-19 in the last three months, stressed that the lawsuit was aimed at ensuring that hotel and casino workers don’t have to live “with the same fear every day they go to work.”The White House, according to a report obtained by the Center of Public Integrity, believes Nevada is already facing catastrophic virus consequences. In a July 14 document from the White House Coronavirus Task Force, public health officials said Nevada had reached “red zone” status—meaning there were more than 100 new cases for every 100,000 residents in the prior week. Nevada had about 173 new cases per capita in the previous week, compared to the national average of 119. “Las Vegas continues to have [a] concerning rise in cases,” the report said, noting that its county is one of the top three in the state with the highest COVID-19 cases. (Clark County, Washoe, County and Elko County represent 97.9 percent of the new cases in Nevada.)In order to combat the surge, the White House document suggested Nevada—and 17 other states—limit large gatherings, close down indoor establishments, and issue a mask mandate. A New York Times study also showed Nevada’s surge to be among the highest in the world. The study of the number of daily infections between June 28 and July 5 showed Arizona and Florida are the two most infected places in the world. Nevada placed ninth, before Mississippi, Texas, Georgia, and the country of Panama. Nevada also ranked before Brazil, a country seen as one of the world's most severe hot spots with more than 2 million cases recorded since March. “The big surge in cases in Nevada [is] among Las Vegas residents—but even if Las Vegas puts a bunch of measures in place, it wouldn’t matter unless it was implemented statewide. You can’t just focus on one jurisdiction, because people move around,” Labus said. Las Vegas hospitals are feeling the surge of new cases and are overwhelmed, understaffed, and short on supplies—unable to keep up with what researchers believe is the “tipping point” before a state loses control of the pandemic. For the ER doctor, who said he had worked over 100 hours this week alone, the fear is knowing that the worst of the virus is yet to come for Las Vegas. He also said that some of the hospital’s beds are being taken up by patients from out-of-state, like Arizona.“This is uncharted waters and it seems like everyone in Las Vegas has been too lax about the pandemic,” the doctor said, stressing that local officials have not taken the necessary precautions to ensure they “stop the virus in its tracks months ago.”“People here in Las Vegas don’t see this pandemic as an issue—well, once the hospitals are filled and there is nowhere to go, they will realize they should have been more careful.”A spokesperson for University Medical Center in Las Vegas confirmed to The Daily Beast the hospital’s ICU occupancy had exceeded 90 percent but stressed they “have the ability to significantly expand this capacity.” “Following a detailed planning process, we have teams in place to activate alternative surge space throughout UMC as needed. We are currently using extra space within a large PACU [post-anesthesia care unit] to care for a small number of patients with non-COVID-related medical concerns,” the spokesperson said, adding that the hospital had not received any virus patients from Arizona. The hospital does take out-of-state trauma patients who need additional care.According to the Nevada Hospital Association, the state recorded its highest day for hospitalizations this week, with 1,051 on Tuesday. By Thursday, about 77 percent of staffed beds across the state were occupied, and 785 confirmed virus patients were admitted. About 40 percent of the state’s ventilators are in use.Sixto Zermeno, a bellman at The Signature at MGM Grand, said in a video announcing the union’s lawsuit, that he hadn’t been able to see his daughter for three weeks while he recovered from COVID-19.“[G]etting this disease has been extremely difficult for me and my family,” he said. “I have not been able to see my nine-year-old daughter in person since I tested positive—I haven’t been able to hug my daughter or see her for 3-weeks now.“The Signature at MGM Grand had three months to prepare and they didn’t. None of our upper management had a clue what to do and that’s unfortunate. They put a lot of us and our families at risk.”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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Scientists unravel secrets of ultra-black fish swimming the deepest depths
"In the deep, open ocean, there is nowhere to hide and a lot of hungry predators," said zoologist Karen Osborn of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, a co-author of the research published in the journal Current Biology. At such depths, bioluminescence - light emission by living organisms - is the only light source.
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Florida reported 100% positive COVID-19 tests from some labs. That's wrong, hospital system says.
Iran's plan to execute 3 protesters sparks huge backlash
China moves rocket into place for upcoming Mars mission
China has moved a rocket into position to launch a rover to Mars in one of three upcoming missions to the red planet, one from the U.S. and another by the United Arab Emirates. The Long March-5 carrier rocket is China’s heaviest-lift launch vehicle and has been used experimentally three times, but never with a payload. Dubbed Tianwen-1, China’s mission to Mars aims to land a rover to gather scientific data.
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Guardian identified for small child found wandering Sunday morning by Fort Myers police
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The disappearance comes just a few weeks after an American female scientist was killed on the Greek island of Crete. from Yahoo News - L...
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Iran started counting down Sunday to the launch of a new scientific observation satellite scheduled within hours, the country's telecomm...
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By BY MANNY FERNANDEZ AND SARAH MERVOSH from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/34W4JcC
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The United States is placing a leading Chinese oil importer on its sanctions blacklist for trading in Iranian crude, Secretary of State Mike...
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The demonstration gained national attention after a news report from Salt Lake City TV station KTVX-TV was shared on Twitter and TikTok this...
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Hugging her brother who clasps a protective arm tightly around her shoulder, Princess Haya bint Al-Hussein appears eager to ensure the flag ...
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U.S. President Donald Trump was briefed by his top national security advisers on Sunday on U.S. airstrikes against what U.S. officials said ...
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The man suspected of a shooting at a mosque in Norway may also have killed a relative before launching the attack, police said late on Satur...