memeorandum: 5th graders at Georgia school are sent home due to Covid-19 (Shawn Nottingham/CNN)

3:40 AM ET, August 12, 2021

Top Items:

EXCLUSIVE: Cyber expert says his team can't prove Mike Lindell's claims that China hacked election — SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The cyber expert on the “red team” hired by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell now says the key data underpinning the theory that China hacked the 2020 election unveiled at the Cyber Symposium is illegitimate.

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Beast, Strangely Blogged and Raw Story

Daniel Villarreal / Newsweek:

‘This Is a Mistake’: Steve Bannon Slams Mike Lindell's Symposium for Not Proving Voter Fraud — Right-wing media figure Steve Bannon has slammed MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell's cyber symposium for failing to present evidence that actually proves Lindell's long-touted claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential elections.

Discussion: Gizmodo

New York Times:

Texas Hospitals Are Already Overloaded. Doctors Are ‘Frightened by What Is Coming.’ — Across Texas, health officials warned of a growing crisis not seen in months, with more than 10,000 Texans hospitalized and intensive care units stretched thin. — SAN ANTONIO — At least two hospitals …

Discussion: The Texas Tribune

Washington Post:

Republicans risk becoming face of delta surge as key GOP governors oppose anti-covid measures — In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has banned local governments from implementing mask requirements even as he pleads for emergency medical help in combating a surge in coronavirus cases from the delta variant.

Discussion: Florida Politics, Raw Story and No More Mister Nice Blog

Scott Lemieux / Lawyers, Guns & Money:

The Politics of Bad Faith — Ted Cruz and Kevin Cramer introduced an amendment that would ban COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and it's worthy of examination because its structure reveals the utter stupidity and cynicism of the entire enterprise: … Given the language of “personal autonomy” …

Josh Boswell / Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: ‘The Russians have videos of me doing crazy f***ing sex!’ Hunter Biden is seen in unearthed footage telling a prostitute that Russian drug dealers stole ANOTHER of his laptops for blackmail while he was close to overdosing in a Vegas hotel room — Hunter Biden claims Russian …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Gateway Pundit, americandigest.org, The Daily Caller, Sputnik News, Breitbart, RedState, New York Post, Twitchy and Ace of Spades HQ

Ashton Pittman / Mississippi Free Press:

Mississippi's Hospital System Could ‘Fail’ In 10 Days, UMMC Warns As Feds Rush In — With COVID-19 patients overflowing at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, including in its pediatric center, hospital leaders are warning that the medical system statewide could be on the verge of failing without drastic intervention.

Discussion: HotAir and Raw Story

Ashton Pittman / Mississippi Free Press:
With Mississippi Hospitals Near Calamity, Gov. Reeves Left State For GOP Political Event

Discussion: Mississippi Today and Raw Story

Katie Benner / New York Times:

Former U.S. attorney in Atlanta says Trump wanted to fire him for not backing election fraud claims. — Byung J. Pak, a former U.S. attorney in Atlanta, told congressional investigators on Wednesday that his abrupt resignation in January had been prompted by Justice Department officials' warning …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Mediaite, Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Law & Crime

Isaac Stanley-Becker / Washington Post:

Rand Paul discloses 16 months late that his wife bought stock in company behind covid treatment — An aide to the Kentucky Republican said he prepared the disclosure last year and only recently learned that it was never transmitted — Sen. Rand Paul revealed Wednesday that his wife bought stock …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, CNN, Zandar Versus The Stupid, UPROXX, Raw Story, Washington Examiner, ABC News and Raw Story

Charles Gaba / ACA Signups:

U.S. #COVID19 vaccination levels by county OVER TIME — As regular readers know, I've become a bit obsessive over tracking COVID-19 vaccination rates at both the state and county levels over the past month or so. I post the daily rate levels daily on Twitter, and once a week I've been updating …

Discussion: CBS News

CNN:

FDA expected to authorize Covid-19 vaccine booster shots for immunocompromised people within the next 48 hours — Fauci: I believe FDA will approve vaccines ‘very soon’ — (CNN)The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to announce within the next 48 hours that it is authorizing …

Discussion: Politico, ABC7, KARK-TV, Townhall, New York Post, KVEO-TV, Washington Examiner, Forbes, WATE-TV, Joe.My.God., Fox News, NBC 6 South Florida, Bloomberg, Sputnik News and NBC News

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:

Giuliani told agents it was okay to ‘throw a fake’ during political campaign — Rudolph W. Giuliani's promise of a “big surprise” to help Donald Trump's election in October 2016 led to Democratic accusations the FBI was feeding him secrets about an investigation of Hillary Clinton.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Examiner and Raw Story

Leana Wen / Washington Post:

The pandemic has become more dangerous for children. Here's how to help keep them safe. — Unvaccinated children will soon be starting school during what might be the most dangerous moment in the pandemic for them. — In the week ending Aug. 5, more than 93,000 children tested positive …

Discussion: USA Today, The College Fix, Daily Kos and Mediaite

Politico:
Children's hospitals are swamped with Covid patients — and it may only get worse

Discussion: Portland Mercury, Fox News, Washington Post and Forbes

Apoorva Mandavilli / New York Times:
What to Know About Breakthrough Infections and the Delta Variant

Discussion: Yahoo News, HotAir and Arizona Mirror

Michaeleen Doucleff / NPR:
The Delta Variant Isn't As Contagious As Chickenpox. But It's Still Highly Contagious

Discussion: HotAir, RedState, New York Times, Twitchy and Townhall

CNBC:

Kathy Hochul vows big change from ‘toxic’ Cuomo administration, will fire ‘unethical’ staffers — New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul said she is ready to take over as governor from Andrew Cuomo, and vowed not to have a “toxic” workplace as Cuomo allegedly has had for three terms.

Discussion: The Guardian, Daily Freeman, Washington Examiner, Forbes, Washington Times, The Hill and USA Today

Edward-Isaac Dovere / The Atlantic:
The Threat of a Cuomo Comeback

Discussion: HotAir, Politico, RedState, NPR, Outspoken and USA Today

Zephyr Teachout / The Nation: The Real Question Is Why Andrew Cuomo Took So Long to Fall

Shawn Nottingham / CNN:

5th graders at Georgia school are sent home due to Covid-19 — Fifth graders at one suburban Atlanta elementary school were sent home Wednesday for virtual learning due to high numbers of positive Covid-19 cases, according to a school district email sent to parents and obtained by CNN.

Tom Cleary / Heavy.com:

Matthew Taylor Coleman: Man ‘Enlightened’ by QAnon to Kill His Kids, Feds Say — Matthew Taylor Coleman is a California man who is accused of abducting and killing his young children in Mexico after he said he became “enlightened” by conspiracy theories, including QAnon.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Forbes, The Daily Beast and CBS Los Angeles

David Reaboi / Late Republic Nonsense:

Autonomy for Red America, Part 1 — In biology, an ecosystem is a complex of living organisms and their interrelationships with their physical environment within a particular unit of space. — In American politics today, the ecosystem of the Right is no less complex and interwoven.

Samantha Melamed / The Philadelphia Inquirer:

After 50 years in prison — 37 in solitary confinement — Philly man's conviction is vacated — In 2017, Arthur “Cetewayo” Johnson won the right to leave solitary confinement after a remarkable 37 years on “restricted release” status in the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections …

Carlos Del Toro / navy.mil:

78th Secretary of the Navy Message to the Fleet — To our Sailors, Marines, civilian employees, and their families and loved ones: … Today, together, we again embrace the most sacred duty - defending our nation and working to build a world more defined by peace than conflict.

CNN:

Intelligence assessments warn Afghan capital could be cut off and collapse in coming months — (CNN)Kabul could be isolated by the Taliban in the next 30 to 60 days, increasing the potential that the Afghan capital could fall under the control of the militant group, according …

Discussion: Responsible Statecraft, Washington Post, CNBC, The Western Journal and Wall Street Journal

Reuters:

Suspected saline switch sparks vaccine stir in Germany — Authorities in northern Germany appealed to thousands of people on Tuesday to get another shot of COVID-19 vaccine after a police investigation found that a Red Cross nurse may have injected them with a saline solution.

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Post, NPR, Raw Story, KRON4, Mediaite and Deseret News

Alex Taylor / BBC:

Kate Clanchy: Author to rewrite memoir amid book's race and ableism row — Publisher Picador is considering alterations to Kate Clanchy's Orwell prize-winning memoir amid accusations of racial and ableist stereotyping. — Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me sparked online criticism …

Discussion: spectatorworld.com, The Guardian and Washington Examiner

Bill McKibben / New Yorker:

The U.N. Climate Panel Tries to Cut Through the Smog — Our social world is as polluted as our physical one—can we still see what we must? — We all live in two worlds: a physical one and a social one. The new report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was released on Monday …

Ameer Benno / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:

Jan 6 Prosecutors admit to possession of “images of officers hugging or fist-bumping rioters, posing for photos with rioters, and moving bike racks” — Calls into question the trespassing and related non-violent crimes charged against defendants like Cuoy Griffin. — Parler — Gab

Discussion: Ace of Spades HQ

Golnaz Esfandiari / Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:

Iran's Next Foreign Minister: A Diplomat With An ‘IRGC Attitude’ — Some say the next Iranian foreign minister's views are as hawkish as the fiercest hard-line elements within Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and that improving relations with Western countries will be difficult.

Sandra Sanchez / KVEO-TV:

Laredo sending busloads of migrants to Austin and Houston without testing for coronavirus — McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Calling it a “public health crisis,” the mayor of Laredo told Border Report on Wednesday that his South Texas city is sending busloads of migrants to Austin and Houston without testing them for coronavirus.

Discussion: BorderReport and KTAB

Gwynn Guilford / Wall Street Journal:

Inflation Stayed High in July as Economy Rebounded — Consumer prices rose 5.4% from a year earlier, the same annual rate as in June, but the monthly pace slowed — Inflation remained elevated in July, but showed evidence of cooling as the economic recovery continued amid pandemic-related supply problems …

Discussion: The Overshoot, Washington Post, CNBC, Reuters, National Review, HotAir, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Daily Caller and Power Line

Martyn McLaughlin / Scotsman:

Court grants permission for judicial review into Unexplained Wealth Order against Donald Trump — Legal efforts to force Scottish ministers to scrutinise the financing of Donald Trump's golf and hotel resorts have overcome a significant hurdle, after the Court of Session granted permission …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Law & Crime, Joe.My.God. and Raw Story

William A. Galston / Wall Street Journal:

Which Voters Made Joe Biden President? — Progressives say Biden owes them but suburbanites put him over the top in 2020. — A new myth is gathering momentum among progressive Democrats: Their “movement” elected Joe Biden, who therefore should support everything they want.

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Federal judge says Trump's accountants must turn over tax records to House panel — A federal judge has ruled that former President Donald Trump's accountants must turn over two years' worth of his tax and financial records to a House committee investigating whether Trump and his businesses profited from his service in the White House.

Christopher F. Rufo / New York Post:

Lie of credit — American Express tells its workers capitalism is racist — American Express, which made a $2.3 billion profit last quarter, invited the great-grandson of the Nation of Islam's founder to tell its employees that capitalism is evil. — It was part of the credit-card giant's …

Discussion: City Journal, Twitchy and National Review