Global pandemic toll hits 1 million
This has been one of the most difficult years in recent memory for Americans. With 200,000+ U.S. coronavirus deaths (and 1 million globally), economic strife, civil unrest, environmental disasters, corruption, and disinformation combining to challenge us individually and as a nation, our mettle has certainly been tested. Thankfully, American democracy will not be defeated. More than 1.125 million Americans have already voted in the general election, with record turnout expected. We have not lost our resolve; hardships and tumult have strengthened it. We owe a debt of gratitude to state elections officials and voting rights activists who've worked tirelessly, often thanklessly, and against a powerful resistance to pandemic-proof the nation's voting systems and expand the vote to as many Americans as possible. In a year marked by calamity and incompetence, their efforts demonstrate that a commitment to solving problems can still overcome politics. Our democracy is stronger for it. —Mindy Finn
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One million dead from COVID-19
The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has marked another nightmarish milestone, taking more than a million lives worldwide. Declared a pandemic over six months ago, COVID-19 has swept through nearly every nation on the planet, infecting more than 33 million people, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Roughly half of the world's fatalities have been reported in just four countries—the United States, Brazil, India, and Mexico—with the U.S. death toll of approximately 205,000 topping the grim list. —CNBC
— Et tu, Dr. Birx? According to documents and interviews with officials, the White House pressured the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to play down the risk of sending children back to school amid the pandemic, and tried to circumvent the CDC in a search for alternate data showing that the pandemic was weakening and posed little danger to children. The effort, which included White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Deborah Birx, reportedly attempted to pressure public health professionals to fall in line with President Trump's election-year agenda of pushing to reopen schools and the economy as quickly as possible. Ugh. —The New York Times
— A bright spot. New coronavirus tests that show on-the-spot results in 15 to 30 minutes are about to be rolled out across the world. The saliva test, which looks like a pregnancy test, with two blue lines displayed for positive, has received emergency approval from the World Health Organization. A second rapid test is expected to receive approval shortly. Great news. —The Guardian
— More relief? House Democrats have unveiled a $2.2 trillion COVID-19 bill that would provide another round of $1,200 relief checks, reauthorize the small-business lending program, bring back the $600 federal boost to the unemployment benefit through January, and provide assistance for the airline industry. But don't get your hopes up too high—it's likely to face strong opposition in the Republican-controlled Senate. —USA Today
MORE: Ex-Pence aide Olivia Troye sounds alarm: 'A lot of people in the White House don't believe this virus is real' —Mediaite
Were Black voters targeted for voter suppression in 2016?
— The database of nearly 200 million American voters sorted likely Democratic voters into several categories, such as "Core Clinton," "Disengaged Clinton," and "Deterrence." The third category had a disproprtionately high number of Black voters—3.5 million—suggesting a bid to dissuade them from voting at all.
— The file spans 16 states, including Michigan and Wisconsin, where Trump won in 2016 by an exceptionally narrow margin. Black voter turnout fell in both states by more than 12 points compared to 2012.
— The president's re-election campaign has called the revelation "fake news," and an aide who handled data in 2016 said the material went unused by the campaign. —The Washington Post
MORE: Religious data platform 'targets mentally ill, vulnerable people' —Deutsche Welle
ST Ed Board: Best disinformation defense? You
"Part of the guard is government, which has mostly focused on preventing an election hack. But less has been done to blunt the insidious internet meddling from foreign forces or even deliberate disinformation from homegrown groups. ... Since these institutions can't do it alone, individuals are the best line of disinformation defense." —Star Tribune
MORE: Federal agencies warn of disinformation around cyberattacks on election infrastructure —The Hill
FEC complaint targets Parscale
— The complaint alleges the Trump campaign paid millions of dollars to campaign-connected vendors without reporting those payments to the FEC. It specifically homes in on a firm created by Parscale ostensibly to circumvent media buyers, American Made Media Consultants, which has been paid more than $106 million.
— Parscale's firms have long been an object of scrutiny for receiving large sums from the Trump campaign and for Parscale maintaining a lavish lifestyle well beyond the means of most presidential campaign managers.
— "Voters have a right to know how campaigns are spending money to influence elections," said CLC President Trevor Potter, a Republican and former FEC Chair. "This scheme flies in the face of transparency requirements mandated by federal law, and it leaves voters and donors in the dark about where the campaign's funds are actually going." —Forbes
Ghosh: Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict tests Turkey-Russia alliance
"Recep Tayyip Erdogan's alliance of convenience with Vladimir Putin has survived conflicts of interest in Syria and Libya, but it faces a sterner test in the Caucasus, where the outbreak of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan puts the leaders of Turkey and Russia in opposition. And having burned his bridges with Europe and expended most of his brownie points with the U.S., Erdogan clearly has the weaker hand." —Bloomberg
MORE: Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan threatens to spiral into full-blown war —NPR
Like COVID-19, QAnon is spreading
— "QAnon is like tofu; it can take on whatever flavor you add." Though the central tenet of the theory is that Donald Trump is fighting an international ring of "deep state" pedophiles harvesting the blood of children, QAnon is an amorphous edifice that keeps changing, sometimes overlapping with other conspiracy myths, including anti-Semitic ones, according to Guhl. —Deutsche Welle
— Why is it happening now? In this year of the coronavirus pandemic, a particular strain of the theory is emerging in the mainstream: a belief that the "official story" is in fact a Big Lie, being told by powerful, shadowy interests—in this case, scientists and governments conspiring to use COVID-19 for their own dark purposes.— It's not as rare as you think. Estimates of how many Americans firmly believe at least one discredited conspiracy theory hover around 50%. "With all changes happening in politics, the polarization and lack of respect, conspiracy theories are playing a bigger role in people's thinking and behavior possibly than ever," said Shauna Bowes, a research psychologist at Emory University. —The New York Times
MORE: If your friends or family have fallen for an internet conspiracy cult, here's what you should do —The Guardian
Garvey: Kindness is down but not out
"The 2020 election will, blessedly, one day end. But our neighbors, family, and countrymen and countrywomen will still be here. I want to live in a place, a spiritual and mental place, where I still feel kindness toward all, no matter what someone believes and whether or how they voted." —Chicago Tribune
'Fires do not have borders'
— The crews will undergo orientation and training sessions before they will be sent to work in California's Sequoia National Park, where the Sequoia Complex Fire—which spans more than 144,000 acres—was ignited by lightning on Aug. 19 and is only about 35% contained.
— "I am excited about this unique opportunity to visit a station where I worked and trained when I was young. The training I received helped me advance my career, and now I feel able to help USFS and Sequoia, bringing firefighters from Mexico with me, to provide support in the California firefighting effort," said Eduardo Cruz, the current director of CONAFOR.
— "Thankfully, our Department of Defense and international partners are able to support us in this time of need, as wildfire activity will likely carry on for the foreseeable future, particularly in California," said Ken Schmid, Bureau of Land Management Fire Operations. —Upworthy
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Thank you for keeping me updated on how far the corruption of the administration goes. First, let me say that I am one of the lucky ones during this pandemic and economic downturn. I still have my job and am able to pay my mortgage and buy food. With that being said, we had to send right back to the government the "stimulus check" we received back in May to cover what we owed in taxes for 2019. Since this "president" has been in office, we have "owed" the feds money. I am an office-worker, and my husband works in construction. We work hard, and our state and federal taxes are taken out with every paycheck. But for two years now, we have had to pay additional. So when I hear that the worst president in my lifetime paid $750, it makes me so mad that my stomach hurts. What a joke! Thank you again for THE TOPLINE! —Dana K., California
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