July 31, 2020

Karen Bass is pro-Scientologist...

https://twitter.com/alxthomp/status/1289325268918661122

July 31, 2020

Rep. Sanford Bishop allegedly misused more than $90,000 in campaign and official funds

Source: Politico

Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop of Georgia allegedly improperly spent more than $90,000 in official funds and campaign funds on personal expenses, including "fuel, golf expenses, meals, travel, tuition and entertainment," according to a newly released report from the Office of Congressional Ethics.

The independent watchdog agency said much of the total went to paying expenses at golf clubs where Bishop is a member. And more than $16,000 in congressional funds were reportedly spent at annual holiday parties at one club for the staffs of Bishop and his wife, Vivian Creighton Bishop, a Georgia municipal judge.

OCE has recommended that the House Ethics Committee launch a full-scale investigation into Bishop, who was first elected to office in 1992. The secretive panel announced on Friday that it was still reviewing the matter; there is no deadline for the Ethics Committee to act.

However, the Ethics panel's announcement triggered the public release of OCE's report, which shows an extensive pattern of alleged improper spending by Bishop over a lengthy period of time.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/31/sanford-bishop-allegedly-misused-campaign-funds-389742

July 31, 2020

#RingoGate: Ernst Targets Greenfield's Dog (IA-SEN)

Iowa Starting Line

The race for Iowa’s U.S. Senate seat took a turn for the silly on Friday when Theresa Greenfield’s campaign found out that Sen. Joni Ernst name-dropped Greenfield’s dog during a recent event as a way to criticize her opponent.

The morning began with Greenfield’s communications director highlighting an excerpt of a Caffeinated Thoughts article about the conference call with Sen. Lindsay Graham that took place on Wednesday.

In full, the offending paragraph reads: “Well, while I’m out there talking to folks about the Paycheck Protection Program opportunities, when I’m talking to them about supports needed in our rural health care system, when I’m talking about supports necessary for child care so that moms and dads can get back to work, she’s been hiding in her basement taking selfies with her dog Ringo. So, you know, she has not exhibited leadership throughout this entire process.”

https://twitter.com/chevytothe_levy/status/1289228636797755392

July 31, 2020

David Duke has been banned from Twitter

Source: CNN

Twitter permanently banned the account of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke on Thursday night, after multiple violations of the company's hateful conduct policy.

The company's policy forbids accounts that "promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people" on the basis of personal characteristics. Duke, who was the leader of a KKK offshoot from 1974 to 1978, has been routinely condemned for racism, anti-Semitism, misogyny, and homophobia.

It was unclear what specific action warranted Duke's suspension, but a Twitter spokesperson told CNN that the decision was "in line with our recently-updated guidance on harmful links."

Twitter (TWTR) announced earlier this week that it would block certain URLs and links that contained hateful content, and stated that "accounts dedicated to sharing content which we block" could be suspended.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/31/tech/david-duke-twitter-ban/index.html

July 31, 2020

Joe Biden narrows down his VP list, with Karen Bass emerging as one of several key contenders

Source: CNN

(CNN)Joe Biden heads into the weekend weighing the biggest decision of his presidential campaign so far, and people close to the process tell CNN that the former vice president is believed to have now begun to narrow his personal shortlist of potential running mates to a handful of women.

In more than two dozen interviews with CNN in recent days, members of Congress, top Democratic donors, Biden allies and others close to the vice presidential vetting process said California Rep. Karen Bass, the 66-year-old chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, has gained real traction in the late stage of the search. Amid furious last-minute lobbying and speculation about Biden's historic decision, California Sen. Kamala Harris and Susan Rice, Barack Obama's former national security adviser, are also believed to be among the most serious contenders.

The search continues to be conducted under extreme secrecy, with even many top campaign advisers in the dark about the vetting process. Several additional women have also gone through extensive examination by the Biden team, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Florida Rep. Val Demings and Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth. Others, including Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham have also received various levels of scrutiny by the vetting team.

Biden's team has yet to tell any of the women they've considered in earnest for the vice presidential role that they are officially out of the running, people familiar with the process said, with one source saying 11 women are still formally being considered.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/31/politics/joe-biden-running-mate/index.html

July 31, 2020

The LINCOLN PROJECT strikes again...

https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1289274776310210561

July 31, 2020

Have you ever wondered how much the Koch Brothers spend on defeating Pelosi or Schumer?

The answer is: $0.00.

They don't invest emotionally in campaigns against people they hate but which aren't remotely winnable. They invest strategically in winnable campaigns elsewhere to take away their majority control.

Meanwhile, too many people here think we should spend money on defeating Jordan or McCarthy or Nunes or McConnell or.....

July 31, 2020

Democrats exit briefing saying they fear elections under foreign threat

Source: The Hill

House Democrats are warning that the integrity of November's elections are under significant threat from foreign actors - and the Trump administration, they say, is going out of its way to conceal the danger from the public.

Emerging from a long, classified briefing with top administration officials in the Capitol, a host of Democrats said they now have less confidence that the elections will be secure from outside influence than they did going into the meeting.

"I don't feel comfortable about what's going on," said Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.). "Very disturbing."

"Horrible briefing," said Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.).



Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democrats-exit-briefing-saying-they-fear-elections-under-foreign-threat/ar-BB17qmM8?ocid=st

July 31, 2020

Tampa teen accused of being 'mastermind' behind Twitter hack that targeted high-profile accounts

Source: WFLA News

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A Tampa teenager is in jail, accused of being the “mastermind” behind a hack on the social media website Twitter that caused limited access to the site and high-profile accounts, according to jail records and the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office.

...snip...

Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren filed 30 felony charges against the teen this week for “scamming people across America” in connection with the Twitter hack that happened on July 15. The charges he’s facing include one count of organized fraud, 17 counts of communications fraud, one count of fraudulent use of personal information with over $100,000 or 30 or more victims, 10 counts of fraudulent use of personal information and one count of access to computer or electronic device without authority.

Hillsborough County Jail records show Clark was booked into jail shortly after 6:30 a.m. Friday.

Warren’s office says the scheme to defraud “stole the identities of prominent people” and “posted messages in their names directing victims to send Bitcoin” to accounts that were associated with the Tampa teen. According to the state attorney, the scheme reaped more than $100,000 in Bitcoin in just one day.

Read more: https://www.wfla.com/news/hillsborough-county/tampa-teen-accused-of-being-mastermind-behind-twitter-hack-that-targeted-high-profile-accounts/

July 31, 2020

Sperm don't swim anything like we thought they did, new study finds

Source: Live Science

Under a microscope, human sperm seem to swim like wiggling eels, tails gyrating to and fro as they seek an egg to fertilize.

But now, new 3D microscopy and high-speed video reveal that sperm don't swim in this simple, symmetrical motion at all. Instead, they move with a rollicking spin that compensates for the fact that their tails actually beat only to one side.

"It's almost like if you're a swimmer, but you could only wiggle your leg to one side," said study author Hermes Gadêlha, a mathematician at the University of Bristol in the U.K. "If you did this in a swimming pool and you only did this to one side, you would always swim in circles. … Nature in its wisdom came [up] with a very complex, ingenious way to go forward."

...snip...

The sperm tails weren't wiggling, whip-like, side-to-side. Instead, they could only beat in one direction. In order to wring forward motion out of this asymmetrical tail movement, the sperm head rotated with a jittery motion at the same time that the tail rotated.The head rotation and the tail are actually two separate movements controlled by two different cellular mechanisms, Gadêlha said. But when they combine, the result is something like a spinning otter or a rotating drill bit. Over the course of a 360-degree rotation, the one-side tail movement evens out, adding up to forward propulsion.



Read more: https://www.livescience.com/sperm-swim-like-corkscrews.html