Final phase testing of vaccines begins . . . The first large-scale American trial to test a potential COVID-19 vaccine began about 6:45 Monday morning in Savannah, Georgia, when the first participant received a shot in the arm. To test for safety and effectiveness, 15,000 people will get two shots of the candidate vaccine a month apart. Another 15,000 will receive a placebo on the same schedule. The first trial is a collaboration between the NIH and a biotechnology company called Moderna. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, partnering with German vaccine developer, announced late Monday that it had also launched an equally-sized late-stage trial of its candidate vaccine. Several other trials of different candidate vaccines are expected to begin in the next two to three months. USA Today

 

Sun Belt hot spots stabilizing . . . Top officials and healthcare experts expressed hope Monday that the surge of COVID-19 cases in the Sun Belt is stabilizing.  “It looks like Arizona, Texas, and probably Florida at the very least are starting to hit a plateau,” former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said Monday. Available intensive care unit beds, an important measure of the pressure on hospitals, appear to have either stabilized or improved in those states. Washington Examiner
 

Fauci and Kaepernick to share RFK Human Rights Award . . . Colin Kaepernick and Anthony Fauci will share a “human rights” award this year. The former NFL quarterback and the nation’s top infectious-disease expert are among the recipients of this year’s Ripple of Hope Award. “At a time when the courageous pursuit of equality and justice has become political and riddled with adversity, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights stands with these modern-day human rights defenders in their inspirational fight for progress,” the organization said. Washington Times

 

 

National Security Advisor O'Brien positive for coronavirus . . . How long before this gets to President Trump? I am sure that the Biden people are almost counting on this, while keeping their guy in the basement where he won’t be exposed to a single virus or bacterium. O’Brien claims he didn’t get it at the White House. White House Dossier

 

Caller threatens to kill federal troops, but C-SPAN takes it in stride . . . Incredible. Trump 2020 adviser Boris Epshteyn was on C-SPAN Sunday when someone called in and bragged that a Trump supporter had been killed in Milwaukee and that federal troops would soon meet the same fate. Host Jesse J. Holland tried to simply move along, to Ephshteyn’s disbelief. And next, on our murderers’ line, Jack from Toledo, go ahead, please. White House Dossier

 

GOP rolls out coronavirus bill . . . The bill includes: $16 billion in new funds for coronavirus testing, $105 billion for schools, and a five-year shield from coronavirus-related lawsuits unless an entity — such as a business, school or government agency — engaged in “gross negligence” or “intentional misconduct.” The measure will also provide a second round of stimulus checks. Similar to the CARES Act from late March, it would give a payment to those making up to $75,000 a year. That amount scales down until it hits an income ceiling of $99,000, where it phases out altogether. For small businesses, the legislation provides another round of loans under the Paycheck Protection Program but requires businesses to have lost at least 50 percent of their revenue to be eligible. The Hill

 

 

John Lewis lies in state at the Capitol . . . The late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a civil rights legend who maintained a crusade for voting rights throughout his 33 years in Congress, lay in state in the Capitol on Monday in a ceremony reserved for the most revered of statesmen. Lawmakers paid emotional tributes to Lewis, who was the youngest speaker at the 1963 March on Washington and suffered a skull fracture at the hands of state troopers in Selma, Ala., on what became known as “Bloody Sunday.” Lewis died on July 17 at age 80 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. His casket, draped in an American flag, rested atop a catafalque originally built in 1865 for when former President Lincoln lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda. The Hill 

 

Trump will not go see Lewis lying in state . . . He’ll probably be accused of not being respectful enough to pay his “respects,” and this will be further confirmation that he is a “racist.” And if he did go, it would cause a national scene, and he would be accused of not being respectful, making the event about him, and being a racist. Which of course is why I am sure he is not going. So as to leave Lewis in peace and let the event be about his life. White House Dossier

 

Democratic platform honors tribes that fought against US in War of 1912 . . . The preamble to the Democratic Party’s draft platform formally honors a list of Native American tribes that resided on the land where its convention is being held—but neglects to acknowledge that many of these groups allied with the British and took up arms against the United States during the War of 1812. The platform praises Native American communities that resided in the region, including the Chippewa, the Ho-Chunk Nation, and the Menominee Nation—groups that sided against the United States in the brutal 1812 conflict. Washington Free Beacon

 

Trump announced he would throw out the first Yankees pitch. No one told the Yankees . . . An hour before Dr. Anthony S. Fauci threw the first pitch at the season opener between the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals, Trump declared that he, too, had been invited to throw out his own opening pitch. There was one problem: Mr. Trump had not actually been invited on that day by the Yankees, according to one person with knowledge of Mr. Trump’s schedule. His announcement surprised both Yankees officials and the White House staff. New York Times

 

Australia joins US in opposition to Chinese South China Sea expansion . . . Australia submitted a diplomatic note to a United Nations commission on July 23, signaling a shift from neutrality to support for the United States in its fight against China’s expansive South China Sea claims. Australia’s note to the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf challenged the legal basis for many of China’s claims, including those to the Paracel and Spratly Islands, as well as rights to sovereign and internal commerce in the sea’s zone. Washington Free Beacon

 

Defector escapes South Korea for the North . . . Last week, a 24-year-old defector returned to North Korea the way he left in 2017, authorities say. South Korea has identified the man only by his surname, Kim, and said he was the “runaway” who North Korea accuses of illegally crossing their shared border last week with symptoms of COVID-19. Facing a sexual assault investigation, Kim evaded high-tech South Korean border control systems by crawling through a drain pipe and swimming across the Han River to the North on July 19, the South Korean military has said. He appears to have spent several days there before being caught. Reuters

 

Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google to argue they are not monopolies . . . The captains of the New Gilded Age — Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Tim Cook of Apple, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Sundar Pichai of Google — will appear together before Congress for the first time to justify their business practices. Members of the House judiciary’s antitrust subcommittee have investigated the internet giants for more than a year on accusations that they stifled rivals and harmed consumers. New York Times.

 

BLM anti-police crusade obscures its violent, Marxist agenda . . . Beyond Black Lives Matter’s drive to eliminate police brutality is a far more extensive leftist ideology that would upend American economic and social life, according to an examination of BLM leaders’ writings and interviews. BLM’s principal founders have sought guidance from Karl Marx, Mao Zedong and Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro. One talks of the “psychosis of whiteness." BLM leaders say they want capitalism abolished. Washington Times

 

Pittsburgh Steeler Tuitt not kneeling and "screw" anyone who does not like it . . . Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Stephon Tuitt has said that he will not be kneeling during the national anthem when the NFL season resumes in September. 'Also I’m not kneeling for the flag and screw anybody who have a problem with that,' Tuitt wrote on Twitter on Monday. 'My grandmother was a immigrant from the Caribbean and she worked her ass off to bring 20 people over the right way. She had no money and educated herself to be a nurse. She living good now,' he continued. Daily Mail

 

Campus activists demand free tuition as reparations . . . Tulane University activists are demanding that the school offer reparations to the descendants of slaves who worked on the plantation that became campus grounds nearly 200 years ago. Before the school's establishment in 1834—created as a medical university in response to the cholera, yellow fever, and smallpox epidemics—the land was used as a plantation. The school's Black Student Union asked administrators to identify the descendants of the enslaved people who once worked on the plantation and offer them full tuition and more. Washington Free Beacon

 

Ellen DeGeneres Show workplace to be investigated . . . The Ellen DeGeneres Show is under investigation following numerous accounts of a 'toxic' and 'bullying' workplace culture. Ellen, whose philosophy is 'be kind to one another', and her show are now subject to a probe by WarnerMedia which will look into 'staff experiences on set'. An internal memo sent last week explained that current and former staff will be interviewed about claims of 'mistreatment, racism and intimidation' at the show. Host Ellen, 62, hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing herself. Daily Mail

 

Woman is killed in an apparent shark attack in Maine . . . A woman swimming off the coast of Maine was killed Monday after being injured in "what appeared to be a shark attack," according to a statement from Maine Department of Marine Resources. The victim, whose identity is being withheld pending notification of her family, was swimming off the shore of Bailey Island, an island in Casco Bay, when she was injured. "Kayakers nearby brought her to shore and EMS responders were called to the scene where she was pronounced deceased," the statement said. Shark attacks are rare for the state of Maine. The International Shark Attack File listed only one unprovoked shack attack in the state. She may have been mistaken for a seal. CNN

 

 

Man uses PPP loan to buy Lambourghini . . . A Florida man has been arrested and is facing charges after federal prosecutors say he “fraudulently” obtained nearly $4 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans and used some of the money to buy a Lamborghini sports car. David Hines, 29, of Miami, was charged with one count of bank fraud, one count of making false statements to a financial institution and one count of engaging in transactions in unlawful proceeds, the Department of Justice announced. The Hill

 

 

Anthony Fauci "rookie" baseball card sets sales record . . . 

A baseball card of Dr. Anthony Fauci released last week set a sales record, sports card giant Topps announced Monday. The card sold 51,512 copies, an “all-time high,” Topps said on Twitter. It is the first-ever sports card featuring Dr. Fauci. Each card is available to purchase online for 24 hours after the event. The cards, which retailed for $9.99 on Topps’ website, are now selling for roughly $35 per card on Ebay. Washington Times

 

Finally, Fauci is doing something for the economy.