Unemployment Claims Rise for the First Time Since March to 1.4 Million

The Department of Labor reported Thursday that over 1.4 million Americans filed additional claims for unemployment last week, marking the first weekly increase in claims since March.

The number of Americans filing for unemployment had been declining each week before mid-July, but the Thursday report marks the 18th week in a row that unemployment claims have been above one million, CNBC reported.

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Trump Calls Off Florida Segment of GOP National Convention

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has scrubbed his planned Republican National Convention scheduled for Florida next month, citing a “flare-up” of the coronavirus.

Trump’s formal renomination will still go forward in North Carolina, where a small subset of GOP delegates will still gather in Charlotte, North Carolina, for just four hours on Aug. 24. Florida was to have hosted four nights of programming and parties that Trump had hoped would be a “four-night infomercial” for his reelection.

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Commentary: President Trump’s Case for Excluding Illegal Aliens from the Census Is Stronger Than You Think

President Donald Trump has issued an executive memorandum to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to discount illegal aliens who are subject to legal removal from the U.S. Census.

Here, the President is invoking the Fourteenth Amendment, Section 2 of the Constitution, which states, “Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed.”

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‘We Will Not Retreat’: DHS’ Chad Wolf Defends Portland Intervention Amid Riots

Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said the ongoing protests in Portland are “the complete opposite” of peaceful demonstrations and that the federal government would “not retreat.”

“We support and we will protect those who want to peacefully protest,” Wolf said in a press conference Tuesday. “Unfortunately, what we’re seeing in Portland every night, roughly from midnight to 4:30 or 5 a.m. is the complete opposite.”

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Commentary: The Death of Standards at the New York Times

The mainstream press has spent a lot of time and energy recently attacking Tucker Carlson, none more enthusiastically than CNN’s simpering and shrieking little eunuch, Brian Stelter. Of course Carlson, with the No. 1 rated show in the history of cable news, can laugh all the way to the bank in response to most of these critics. This is nothing new: Fox News is used to its top stars being attacked by the thought-monolith, leftist media and benefitting from the drama in the ratings. For those of us on the Right, it’s amusing and tiresome all at once.

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US Ratchets up China Tensions, Closing Houston Consulate

The United States ordered China to close its consulate in Houston, escalating tensions between the world’s largest economies as President Donald Trump ramps up pressure against China ahead of the November election. Beijing denounced the order Wednesday as “outrageous” and said it would draw a firm response if not reversed.

The physical closure of the consulate, one of six in the United States along with China’s mission to the United Nations, marked a dramatic step in increasingly contentious relations that have been strained not only by the coronavirus pandemic but by disputes over trade, human rights, Hong Kong and Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea.

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Powerful Quake Jolts Alaska Towns, Produces Small Tsunami

A powerful earthquake off Alaska’s southern coast jolted coastal communities late Tuesday, and some residents briefly scrambled for higher ground over fears of a tsunami.

There were no immediate reports of damage in the sparsely populated area of the state, and the tsunami warning was canceled after the magnitude 7.8 quake off the Alaska Peninsula produced a wave of a less than a foot.

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Trump Deploys Feds to More States Under ‘Law-and-Order’ Push

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will send federal agents into Chicago and Albuquerque to help combat rising crime, expanding the administration’s intervention in local enforcement as he runs for reelection under a “law-and-order” mantle.

Using the same alarmist language that he has employed in the past to describe illegal immigration, Trump painted Democrat-led cities as out of control and lashed out at the “radical left,” even though criminal justice experts say the increase in violence in some cities defies easy explanation.

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New York Planned Parenthood Condemns Founder’s ‘Harmful Connections to the Eugenics Movement’

Planned Parenthood of Greater New York condemned its founder Margaret Sanger for her “harmful connections to the eugenics movement” and vowed to remove her name from their building, according to the group’s statement released Tuesday.

“The removal of Margaret Sanger’s name from our building is both a necessary and overdue step to reckon with our legacy and acknowledge Planned Parenthood’s contributions to historical reproductive harm within communities of color,” Karen Seltzer, chairwoman of Planned Parenthood of Greater New York’s board, said in a statement reported by the New York Times.

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U.S. Will Pay $1.95 Billion for 100 Million Doses of Coronavirus Vaccine Doses

The federal government pledged $1.95 billion for an order of up to 600 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine, which is set to enter key large-scale trials in the coming weeks. The average cost of a dose based on this deal is $3.25.

American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German partner BioNTech announced the deal in a press release Wednesday. The companies are on track to produce 100 million doses by the end of the year and potentially 1.3 billion doses by 2022.

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Keith Ellison’s Son Appears to Berate Officers Suffering From PTSD

Minneapolis City Council Member Jeremiah Ellison, the son of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, berated cops who are presently away from the job as many of those officers suffer from PTSD related to the George Floyd riots.

Ellison placed the blame for the recent uptick in violence squarely on cops recently, as he suggested that law enforcement has abandoned the city amidst his own council’s attempts to abolish the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD). He then suggested that officers are lying about having PTSD because they hate the citizens of Minneapolis. Although he hedged this claim almost immediately, his words drew a sharp response from the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association (MPPOA).

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Ohio Dems Want Nuclear Bailout Law Repealed as Scandal Grows

A nuclear plant bailout law should be repealed immediately, Democratic members of the Ohio House announced Wednesday as a bribery scandal involving one of the state’s most powerful lawmakers unfolded over the law’s passage.

The announcement came a day after Larry Householder, the Republican speaker of the Ohio House, and four associates were arrested in a $60 million federal bribery case connected to the taxpayer-funded bailout.

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Leading Ohio Republicans Ask Larry Householder to Resign After His Recent FBI Arrest

Leading Ohio Republicans have called on Speaker of the House Larry Householder (R-Glenford) to resign after his recent arrest for allegedly participating in a $60 million bribery scheme.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) arrested Householder along with Matt Borges, the former Ohio Republican Party chairman; Jeffrey Longstreth, a longtime political strategist for Householder; Neil Clark, the former budget director for the Ohio Republican Caucus; and Juan Cespedes, a Columbus lobbyist.

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