NIH study suggests coronavirus may have been in U.S. as early as December 2019

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A research study run by the National Institutes of Health has turned up evidence of possible coronavirus infections in the United States as early as December 2019, weeks before the first documented infection in this country.

The new report, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, bolsters earlier studies indicating that the virus entered the country under the radar and may have been spreading in the first two months of 2020, well in advance of warnings to that effect from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A volunteer in Illinois who gave blood on Jan. 7, 2020 — in a study unrelated to the emergent virus — tested positive for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, according to the NIH report. It noted that the antibodies typically take 14 days, on average, to develop, and this “suggests the virus may have been present in Illinois as early as December 24, 2019.” Continue reading.

White House to Democrats: Get ready to go it alone on infrastructure

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White House officials told House Democrats Tuesday to get ready to go it alone on infrastructure if bipartisan talks founder, setting the stage for party leaders to tap an obscure budget procedure to move President Biden‘s top domestic priority without Republican support.

Huddling in person in the Capitol for the first time since the COVID-19 crisis hit, members of the House Democratic Caucus were briefed by Steve Ricchetti, a top adviser to Biden, and Shalanda Young, the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, who said they would give Senate negotiators seven to 10 days to reach a bipartisan agreement, according to Democrats in the meeting.

If no deal is reached in that time, the officials said, Democrats will gauge the progress of those talks and charge ahead with a partisan package if need be. Continue reading.

Newsmax host Greg Kelly facing network investigation over controversial tweets that may ‘appeal to racists’

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Newsmax host Greg Kelly is now at the center of an investigation being conducted by the conservative news network following a string of tweets he posted and deleted on Sunday about racism and the U.S. military.

On Monday, June 14, Newsmax spokesperson Brian Peterson released a statement addressing the situation as he acknowledged Kelly’s tweets that appeared to “appeal to racists.” According to the network, Kelly, a retired U.S. Marine Corps Reserve lieutenant colonel, posted a series of tweets that may have crossed the line, New York Daily News reports.

“We understand a series of tweets were posted by Mr. Kelly that, in their totality, indicated his opposition to racism. We at Newsmax never countenance the posting of racist views or views that appeal to racists. We are currently reviewing the matter,” Peterson said in the statement. Continue reading.

‘Highway robbery’: Madison Cawthorn raises suspicions by paying inexperienced buddy $127,111 as top staffer

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Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) appears to be overpaying an underqualified friend to serve on his congressional staff.

Quarterly disbursement statements show Cawthorn’s chief of staff William “Blake” Harp made $31,777.77 in the first quarter of the year, the equivalent of $127,111 annually, despite having no background in government and not much other work experience besides running fireworks stands, reported the Citizen Times.

“One hundred twenty-seven thousand dollars is not exorbitant for a chief,” said another Republican legislative staff member. “It’s highway robbery for anyone for whom it’s their first real job and they bring no discernible skills.” Continue reading.

Biden, E.U. end 17-year Airbus-Boeing trade dispute, seek to calm relations after Trump

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BRUSSELS — President Biden and European Union leaders reached a deal Tuesday to put to rest a 17-year-old trade dispute about subsidies for aircraft manufacturers, officials said, a significant step in calming trade relations after the fury of the Trump years.

A five-year truce, which was announced at a meeting Tuesday in Brussels between Biden and the top leaders of E.U. institutions, was the latest effort in a transatlantic reconciliation tour that the new president started last week at the Group of Seven summit in Britain.

At each stop, including at NATO on Monday, Biden has tried to mend ties that were damaged under President Donald Trump, who often drew close to traditional American adversaries and targeted longtime allies with vitriol. Continue reading.

Why Mike Lindell Can’t Stop

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The MyPillow tycoon has lost business pumping up Trump conspiracy theories, and probably lost his chance at a political future. But he believes he’s on a divine mission to overturn the election—and he’s not alone.

CHASKA, Minn.—One day in mid-May, after a rally in South Dakota to promote his new website, Mike Lindell, the pillow magnate and indefatigable election-conspiracy promoter, barreled into his company headquarters, sat himself down at a long table in a conference room he uses as a makeshift office and slid a dropper under his tongue.

The dropper was full of oleandrin, a plant extract that he touts—alarmingly, to scientists—as both a preventative and “miracle” cure for Covid-19. He squeezed.

“Look at this … I can never get the virus,” he said, near the beginning of the roughly six hours I spent with him over two days at MyPillow. “It’s impossible for me to get it.” Continue reading.

Senate confirms D.C. Circuit nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace Merrick Garland ‘

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The Senate confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Monday to the influential federal appeals court in Washington, elevating a trial court judge who is considered a contender for a potential opening on the Supreme Court.

Three Republicans joined Democrats in approving Jackson’s nomination in a 53-to-44 vote.

Jackson, 50, was nominated in March as part of Biden’s first slate of judicial picks from diverse personal and professional backgrounds. She fills the vacancy left on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by Attorney General Merrick Garland, who served on the bench for 24 years. Continue reading.

In the Know: June 17, 2021

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Governor Tim Walz
As the pandemic winds down, so does the Minnesota Legislature’s battle over Tim Walz’s emergency powers, MinnPost

Minnesota Legislature
Landlord group sues over Minnesota eviction restrictions, MPR News
Legislators reach agreement on tax bill, Minnesota Reformer
Minnesota Legislature Hopes to Provide Money for Water Safety Grants, KNSI
Minnesota medical marijuana advocates pushing for gun rights, Star Tribune
State Capitol remains quiet while talks continue behind the scenes, KSTP

Minnesota News
Latest on COVID-19 in MN: New cases plummet; 3 million with at least 1 shot, MPR News
St. Paul man who allegedly drove car into protesters, killing one, charged with second-degree murder, Pioneer Press
Activists stand athwart highway expansion, yelling stop, Minnesota Reformer
St. Paul Public Schools committee proposes an end to all student suspensions, Pioneer Press
Minnesota National Guard Soldiers Activated, Ready To Respond To Unrest In Minneapolis, CBS Minnesota 

Continue reading “In the Know: June 17, 2021”

Clyde makes good on fighting magnetometer fine in federal court

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The Georgia Republican has downplayed the violence surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol

Rep. Andrew Clyde, the Georgia Republican fined $15,000 for skirting magnetometers on two occasions near the House floor, is fighting the penalty in federal court. 

Clyde, along with Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican fined $5,000 for circumventing the security screening, filed a lawsuit Sunday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging the House rule that imposes such fines violates the Constitution on two fronts.

“House Resolution 73 (H.Res. 73) detains members from engaging in their duties to those they represent, in clear violation of Article I of the Constitution, and seeks to fine Republicans, in violation of the 27th Amendment, to gain undue influence over their behavior and to further Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi’s false political narrative,” Clyde said in a statement Monday. Continue reading.

NATO expands focus to China, a win for Biden in his first trip to the battered alliance

BRUSSELS — NATO leaders on Monday agreed to pivot their alliance to a more confrontational stance toward China, a landmark shift as President Biden sought to boost and reorient the organization after the eruptions and conflict that marked the Trump era.

Biden, in public comments and private meetings at the midway point of his first overseas trip as president, worked to reassure dubious allies that America is back and to rally like-minded democracies in what he repeatedly cast as an existential battle against the world’s autocracies.

Monday’s discussion was a sharp expansion of NATO’s efforts to confront Beijing after years when China was outside the focus of the defensive alliance. The allies agreed in their closing communique that “China’s stated ambitions and assertive behavior present systemic challenges to the rules-based international order.” Continue reading.