CDC: COVID Vaccine Ready to Distribute by Nov. 1

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CDC: COVID Vaccine Ready to Distribute by Nov. 1

(Headline USA) The federal government has told states to prepare for a coronavirus vaccine to be ready to distribute by Nov. 1.

The timeline raised alarm among left-wingers about an “October surprise”—a vaccine approval driven by political considerations ahead of a presidential election, rather than science.

Democrats have insisted since the virus became a national emergency in mid-March that pandemic concerns justified a massive push toward mail-in ballots, which would open the possibility also of massive ballot fraud.

Although they have said little about mass gatherings during recent racial-justice protests, they maintain that polling places would pose a deadly risk to voters.

But in a letter to governors dated Aug. 27, Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said states “in the near future” will receive permit applications from McKesson Corp., which has contracted with CDC to distribute vaccines to places including state and local health departments and hospitals.

“CDC urgently requests your assistance in expediting applications for these distribution facilities and, if necessary, asks that you consider waiving requirements that would prevent these facilities from becoming fully operational by November 1, 2020,” Redfield wrote.

He wrote that any waivers will not compromise the safety or effectiveness of the vaccine. The Associated Press obtained the letter, which was first reported by McClatchy.

Redfield told Yahoo Finance that officials were preparing “for what I anticipate will be reality, is that there’ll be one or more vaccines available for us in November, December.”

James S. Blumenstock, a senior vice president at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, said the CDC was offering “an aggressive but necessary timetable” but that public health agencies were mobilizing to prepare detailed plans.

Several vaccine and public health experts pointed out that final stage trials of experimental vaccines are still recruiting, and are at best halfway through that process.

The vaccines are two doses, and each is given a month apart. Several experts told the AP they did not understand how there could be adequate data on whether the vaccines work and are safe before Nov. 1.

“Being ready is reasonable. Cutting short phase 3 trials before you get the information you need isn’t,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia immunization expert who sits on the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee.

Peter Hotez, dean of Baylor University’s tropical medicine school, said he was “very concerned” about whether the Food and Drug Administration would use an emergency use authorization to approve a vaccine before knowing whether it works and is safe.

“It gives the appearance of a stunt rather than an expression of public health concern,″ Hotez said

Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota infectious disease expert, said he was concerned about an “October surprise” with a vaccine being rushed through ahead of the election.

“The public health community wants a safe and effective vaccine as much as anybody could want it,” Osterholm said. “But the data have to be clear and compelling, that the vaccine is effective and that it’s safe.”

He said there was a “credibility gap” between doctors and the FDA about how rigorous products are being evaluated during the pandemic.

Some states on Wednesday said they were working on next steps while still awaiting details from CDC.

New Mexico Human Service Secretary David Scrase said the state was preparing to administer coronavirus vaccines on a limited basis starting in November to health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities. The broad public vaccine roll-out is slated for January. He said current vaccine provider networks are robust and adequate for the COVID-19 effort.

Regarding the timing of the CDC request to expedite or waive permits for distribution centers to open Nov. 1, Scrase said, “I can’t tell you about the political motivations on that.”

A spokesman for Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee said the state was reviewing its next steps.

“News of a vaccine is encouraging and a testament to the power of American innovation,” said the spokesman, Gillum Ferguson.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Panicked Dems Sue to Block ‘Spoiler’ Kanye West from Ballots

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Panicked Dems Sue to Block ‘Spoiler’ Kanye West from Ballots

(Associated Press) An Arizona resident has asked a judge to bar Kanye West from appearing on Arizona’s Nov. 3 ballot, accusing the hip hop artist of serving as an election spoiler and arguing that a law prohibits him from running in the state as an independent presidential candidate.

A similar lawsuit being waged by top Democrat firm Perkins Coie sought to keep West off the ballot in Virginia.

Lawyers for Rasean Clayton said in a lawsuit filed Monday that independent presidential candidates can appear on Arizona’s ballot if they aren’t registered with a recognized political party and gather enough voter signatures to nominate them. But Clayton’s lawyers say West, who has dozens of workers gathering petition signatures in Arizona, isn’t qualified to be on the ballot because he’s a registered Republican.

Even if West were able to gather enough signatures, the lawsuit said the hip hop artist’s late-in-the-game candidacy would make no difference to his chances of winning the race.

“West will not be able to qualify for the ballot in enough states to muster enough electoral votes to prevail,” Clayton’s lawyers wrote. “West’s minimal interest in playing a spoiler candidate on Arizona’s ballot is not enough to outweigh the factors favoring emergency relief.”

West has already qualified to appear on the ballot in several states, including Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Tennessee and Utah.

The rapper and music producer announced his intention to run for president on July 4 and faces a deadline late Friday afternoon in Arizona for turning in more than 39,000 valid signatures to appear on the ballot.

A Maricopa County judge is scheduled to hear arguments in the legal challenge on Thursday afternoon.

Attorney Tim LaSota, who represents West in the Arizona challenge, described the lawsuit as a “last-ditch effort on the eve of the (signature filing deadline) to deprive voters of a choice.”

LaSota brushed aside criticism that West is trying to be a spoiler aimed at hurting Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s chances in Arizona.

“That’s just political hyperbole,” LaSota said. “I don’t want to get into the politics of it. But obviously I think there is a lot to be achieved by someone else running for president.”

Clayton’s attorneys said the lawsuit must be resolved quickly because the deadline for Arizona’s ballots will be printed on Sept. 8 and 9.

It’s unclear if Clayton has any connections to the Arizona Democratic Party. Joe Roth, one of his attorneys, and the state Democratic Party didn’t return a call Wednesday seeking comment.

Seattle Clears Occupiers from CHAZ Park; Finds Machetes, Axes, Spikes, Mortar

Joshua Paladino
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Seattle Clears Occupiers from CHAZ Park; Finds Machetes, Axes, Spikes, Mortar

The Seattle Police Department and Parks Department cleared out a park in Capitol Hill on Tuesday that vagrants have repeatedly occupied and vandalized.

During the cleanup effort, they found machetes, axes, spike strips, shields and a mortar, Fox News reported.

Occupiers turned Cal Anderson Park into a tent city this summer. The police and parks department previously dismantled the tent city and told vagrants to leave in the middle of August, but the same conditions quickly reemerged, the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog reported.

Seattle officially closed the park on June 30, but that has not prevented Black Lives Matter and Antifa activists from turning it into a CHAZ-esque police no-go zone.

Cal Anderson Park is in the same neighborhood as the former Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.

Spray paint on a building reads, “ACAB,” meaning “All Cops are Bastards,” and “Sovereign Land, No Cops.”

Police officers said they discovered the weapons while searching through a tent.

They took the weapons as evidence while the department investigates who they belong to.

Police arrested seven people, including three for assault, three for trespassing, and one for a felony warrant.

The parks department said in a statement that the occupiers have put themselves and Capitol Hill residents in danger.

“The Seattle Fire Department has received nearly 22 calls to 911 regarding bonfires, rubbish/garbage fires, and requesting medical aid within the park, in August alone,” the statement said.

“Residents living nearby have reported breathing issues as a consequence of smoke from the illegal fires and the types of items burned,” it continued. “Due to firefighter safety and access issues, firefighters have been unable to safely respond to extinguish the illegal burns.”

Those who organized the park’s occupation said they are there to help homeless people.

Social workers have tried to give aid to the homeless people by sending them to shelters, the parks department said in a statement.

“Preliminary data show that System Navigators have made at least 54 engagements and 13 referrals to shelter at Cal Anderson Park throughout the closure period,” the statement said.

City officials put up fences and welded the doors to the park’s bathrooms.

The police department seems to be taking steps to prevent reoccupation of Cal Anderson Park.

The mid-August cleanup kept the park safe and clean for only a few hours, the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog reported.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has ordered Seattle to slow the cleanup of homeless and protester encampments because of the virus, which has led to a growing number of the filthy, dangerous areas.

Also in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, the Seattle Police Department has taken back control over the East Precinct building, which they abandoned when CHOP terrorists occupied the area.

But the East Precinct was targeted again last week.

Arsonists used quick-dry concrete to try to seal the doors, with the police still inside, and light the building on fire. Their plan failed. The department is fortifying the area.

ERNST: We Should Be ‘So Skeptical’ of COVID-19 Numbers

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ERNST: We Should Be ‘So Skeptical’ of COVID-19 Numbers

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, suggested this week that she believes the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths has been overstated, and she urged voters to remain skeptical too.

“These healthcare providers and others are reimbursed at a higher rate if COVID is tied to it, so what do you think they’re doing?” Ernst said during a campaign event on Monday after being asked whether she believes the figures have been inflated.

Health experts have acknowledged that the numbers being reported by state officials could be much higher than they actually are.

Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, admitted earlier this summer that hospitals actually have an incentive to over-report coronavirus deaths.

Ernst, who is up for reelection this November, referenced this when asked why she was skeptical of the numbers.

She also brought up new data from the CDC that revealed only 6% of coronavirus deaths were directly caused by COVID-19. All other deaths were linked to underlying medical conditions or varying circumstances.

“They do get reimbursed higher amounts if it’s a COVID-related illness or death,” Ernst told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.

“I heard the same thing on the news. … They’re thinking there may be 10,000 or less deaths that were actually singularly COVID-19. … I’m just really curious. It would be interesting to know that.”

Ernst’s Democratic opponent, Theresa Greenfield, accused Ernst of not taking the coronavirus pandemic seriously.

Ernst’s Senate races is one of the tightest in the country. The Cook Political Report labeled it a “toss-up,” even though earlier this year Ernst’s seat was marked as “lean Republican.”

California Legislature Passes Bill Easing Sex-Offender Registry Requirements

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California Legislature Passes Bill Easing Sex-Offender Registry Requirements

The California legislature passed a bill on Monday that would ease sex-offender registry rules for those who commit sexual acts with minors in order to end “discrimination against LGBTQ young people.”

The bill, which now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, would “exempt from mandatory registration under the act a person convicted of certain offenses involving minors if the person is not more than 10 years older than the minor and if that offense is the only one requiring the person to register,” according to the bill.

Adults who are not 10 years older than the minor would not be automatically added to the sex-offender registry if convicted of engaging in oral or anal sex with a minor, the bill—referred to as SB145—states.

Instead, the decision to add them to the registry would be up to individual judges.

Current law allows judges to make individual decisions to keep teenagers off the sex-offender registry for having sex with someone close to their own age.

These exceptions only apply to “penile–vaginal” intercourse, though, which is discriminatory against gay teenagers, according to LGBT activists.

“SB 145 ends discrimination against #LGBTQ young people on the sex offender registry. Currently, these youth are forced onto the registry for consensual sex — even if a judge doesn’t think it’s appropriate — in situations where straight youth are not,” state Rep. Scott Wiener said in a statement. “This discrimination destroys lives.”

The bill passed California’s state assembly by a vote of 41-18, and the Senate by a vote of 23-10. Many state legislators, however, objected to the bill.

“I cannot in my mind as a mother understand how sex between a 24-year-old and a 14-year-old could ever be consensual, how it could ever not be a registrable offense,” Democratic Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez said. “We should never give up on this idea that children should be in no way subject to a predator.”

Atlantic City Mayor Pushes Back on BLM Plans to Paint Historic Boardwalk

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Atlantic City Mayor Pushes Back on BLM Plans to Paint Historic Boardwalk

(Associated Press)

Atlantic City is attempting to co-opt plans by protesters to paint “Black Lives Matter” on the seaside gambling resort’s famous Boardwalk by doing the same thing in a place of its own choosing — on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, in front of its civil rights memorial.

Mayor Marty Small, who is black, said at a news conference Wednesday that painting the historic Boardwalk is illegal and that the city will host a community event about 90 minutes after the scheduled start time of the protest rally that was to include the Boardwalk painting.

“We believe there’s a better way to handle it,” Small said. “Painting on the Boardwalk is prohibited.”

Small praised the organizer of the Boardwalk event, Steve Young, who has drawn the ire of many in city government for organizing a protest with the stated aim of “shutting the city down” just as its pandemic-shuttered casinos reopened.

The city is trying to strip Young of two city posts he holds because of the July protest.

But the mayor invited Young to join the city-sponsored event, even though Small stopped short of asking him to cancel the Boardwalk event.

Reached after the mayor’s speech, Young said in an interview that Friday’s rally will go on as scheduled and will include a brother of George Floyd, whose death while in police custody triggered the first wave of recent race-riots.

But Young said he was not sure whether participants would still try to paint the Boardwalk.

“We want to keep things peaceful,” he said. “We do not want to be confrontational.”

The city has consulted with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, Small said, and is prepared to respond to whatever may happen Friday.

There have been three racial justice demonstrations in Atlantic City this year. The first, on May 31, was followed by theft and property destruction for which about 100 people were charged. A second on June 6 was peaceful.

Young organized the July 4 protest as the casinos were permitted to reopen after more than three months of being shut due to the coronavirus outbreak.

He was among seven people arrested when marchers tried to block the entrance of the Atlantic City Expressway, the main route to the city and its casinos.

Prosecutors in NC Charge 19 Illegals w/ Vote Fraud

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Prosecutors in NC Charge 19 Illegals w/ Vote Fraud

Federal prosecutors in North Carolina announced voter fraud charges Wednesday against 19 non-citizens accused of illegally casting a ballot in 2016.

Each defendant voted in a federal election in 2016, and one defendant also voted in 2018, according to a news release from United States Attorney Matthew G.T. Martin’s office.

In some instances, the defendants were also charged with related offenses such as making a false statement.

The news release did not list the defendants’ nationalities or say how their alleged crimes had been uncovered, although it said the matters had been investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, an investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

Brief charging documents provided few details about any of the allegations. Many defendants did not have an attorney listed in court records.

The Associated Press attempted to call all attorneys who were listed, reaching only one, who declined comment on his client’s behalf.

A conviction of voting by a non-citizen carries a maximum term of one year imprisonment, a fine not to exceed $100,000, or both.

DON LEMON: Trump Using ‘Fear’ to Fuel Ongoing ‘Civil War’

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DON LEMON: Trump Using ‘Fear’ to Fuel Ongoing ‘Civil War’

CNN’s Don Lemon repeated a claim this week that President Donald Trump could start a “civil war” by using “fear” to motivate his base.

“Fear is a good motivating factor, this president knows it,” Lemon told fellow anchor Chris Cuomo.

“But this is the dangerous thing: In exploiting people’s fear and anxiety, what he’s doing is possibly going to cause a civil war in this country, and I don’t necessarily mean a violent one. That certainly can happen,” he continued. “Actually, I think we’re in the middle of one right now, where we can’t agree on anything.”

Lemon then downplayed the violent riots taking place in several Democratic-run cities, arguing that the U.S. has “dealt with riots in this country” from “the beginning of time.”

The difference now, however, is that Trump is a “demagogue using [unrest] to hold on to power, trying to extract power form the people and from the system so he can hold onto it,” Lemon continued.

Trump has actively worked to put down the violence and destruction being wrought by leftist activists in Portland, Seattle, Chicago, and other cities.

Democrats, however, have only just started to acknowledge the damage these protests have inflicted—and only because their poll numbers are beginning to take a hit.

Lemon admitted as much last week.

“It’s showing up in the polling. It’s showing up in focus groups. It is the only thing right now that is sticking,” Lemon said.

“The riots and the protests have become indistinguishable,” he added. “…  I think Democrats are ignoring this problem or hoping that it will go away, and it’s not going to go away.”

But the Democratic officials in these cities have done next to nothing to put down the unrest.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan allowed protesters to hijack a six-block zone in the city for weeks, and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler demanded that federal officers leave his city after Trump sent them to secure the federal courthouse.

Miami Herald Scolds Cuban Columnist for Referring to Athletes as America-Bashers

Joshua Paladino
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Miami Herald Scolds Cuban Columnist for Referring to Athletes as America-Bashers

A sports columnist at the Miami Herald said professional athletes who boycott games and spread false and malicious information about the United States are “America bashing,” Reclaim the Net reported.

The journalist, Armando Salguero, wrote the tweet in response to a video from the Tennessee Titans, in which players said America is fundamentally racist.

“We’re tired of dealing with the systematic oppression,” said Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who is white and earns nearly $30 million a year.

This isn’t the first time that Salguero has sparked beef with Tannehill, the former Miami Dolphins QB, who was traded last year after struggling with the Dolphins only to make a surprise playoff run with his new team.

Salguero also has been critical of Colin Kaepernick in the past for his virtue-signaling protests while kneeling for the national anthem.

The Miami Herald defended the professional athletes when they shared their anti-American sentiments, but the paper failed to do the same for Salguero.

Salguero’s Twitter biography reads in part, “Jesus Christ first…[Cuban flag] by birth, [American flag] by God’s grace.”

His family fled Cuban communism and settled in the United States.

The publisher and executive editor of the Miami Herald scolded Salguero for his allegedly racist comment.

NFL, NBA, MLB and WNBA players have all partnered with Black Lives Matter to protest America and boycott their own games.

REPORT: 5M Americans Bought Guns for the First Time This Year

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REPORT: 5M Americans Bought Guns for the First Time This Year

More than 5 million Americans purchased guns for the first time this year, and many of them are minorities, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

In its annual survey of gun stores across the country, the foundation found that 58% of recent firearm purchases were made by black men and women, which is “the largest increase of any demographic group.”

And although the majority of new gun owners were men, 40% of the first-time gun purchasers were women, the foundation reported.

In total, there has been a 95% increase in firearm sales and a 139% increase in ammunition sales compared to this time last year, the foundation reported.

This study confirms what many gun stores have been anecdotally reporting for months: Americans are buying firearms more than they ever have before—in large part because the ongoing riots and the coronavirus pandemic have unsettled them.

Also potentially driving the sales are concerns that elected officials may try to restrict access to firearms.

Last month, for example, a Florida mayor banned the sales of guns as part of his efforts to control the spread of COVID-19.

“This is a tectonic shift in the firearm and ammunition industry marketplace and complete transformation of today’s gun-owning community,” said Lawrence Keane, the senior vice president of general counsel for National Shooting Sports Foundation.

“These first-time buyers represent a group of people who, until now, were agnostic regarding firearm ownership,” Keane said. “That’s rapidly changing, and these Americans are taking hold of their God-given right to keep and bear arms and protect themselves and their loved ones.”

The FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System logged a 70% increase in background checks compared to what they were this time last year, too, according to recent data.

“I’ve been in this business going on 14 years, and I have never seen this much demand. There are shortages of nearly every single defensive firearm currently manufactured,” Justin Anderson, marketing director for Hyatt Guns in Charlotte, NC, said earlier this summer.

“Large shipments are arriving in the morning and are selling out the same day,” he said. “Our concealed carry classes are filling up so fast that we are adding dates to try to keep up with demand.”

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