Lasting immunity seen after mild coronavirus infections . . . A series of new studies have revealed signs of strong and lasting immunity in people who developed a mild coronavirus infection, according to a report on Sunday. The studies, which have yet to be peer-reviewed, uncovered that antibodies and immune cells capable of recognizing the virus were apparently present months after infections concluded. The findings could help to eliminate the previous concerns over whether the virus could trick the immune system into having a poor memory of prior infections. Fox News

 

Church challenges Calif. Covid restrictions noting exception made for BLM protests . . . A California church is challenging Democratic governor Gavin Newsom's restrictions on in-person worship in the state, arguing that the regulations unconstitutionally target religious groups. The legal complaint draws a direct comparison between religious observances and Black Lives Matter protests that have occurred across the nation over the past months. It claims that if the protests are allowed to proceed without government interference, then in-person worship should be able to as well. Washington Free Beacon

 

Democrats deploy postal issue against Trump . . . U.S. Democrats stepped up pressure on Sunday against a cost-cutting campaign by President Donald Trump’s appointed Postal Service chief that they fear will hold up mail-in ballots in November’s election, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling lawmakers back and several states considering legal action. Top Democrats in Congress called on Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and another top postal official to testify this month at a hearing on a wave of cuts that has slowed mail delivery across the country, alarming lawmakers ahead of the Nov. 3 election when up to half of U.S. voters could cast ballots by mail. Reuters

 

 

Democratic convention to focus on Trump Covid-19 "failure" . . . The coronavirus pandemic will loom large over this week’s Democratic convention — and will be the key part of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s messaging. Biden’s path to the White House is tied to the pandemic in that he argues President Trump’s complete mishandling of the crisis is the final reason voters should end his presidency at one term. At this week’s convention, held with no crowds given the health risks of the pandemic, Biden and other speakers will use the COVID-19 crisis to highlight Trump’s failure as they seek to convince voters to turn him out of office. The Hill

 

Black Lives Matter to play major role in Dem convention . . . The message of Black Lives Matter will be woven throughout the 2020 Democratic National Convention, starting with a focus on racial injustice during the first night of programming. The plan by convention organizers to elevate the Black Lives Matter movement reflects the party’s growing embrace of its calls for action on racial inequality and police brutality over the past four years, particularly since the May 25 police killing of George Floyd. The Hill

 

 

Sanders: Let's elect Biden and then move country to the Left . . . 

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) said on Sunday that his supporters should elect presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden so they can keep pushing the country further to the left. "We're going to do everything that we can to elect Biden and—after he's elected—move this country in as progressive a way as we possibly can," Sanders said on CNN's State of the Union. He added that such lobbying would include his signature Medicare for All health care policy proposal, among other left-wing measures. Washington Free Beacon

 

Mark Levin: Harris the most extremist radical ever to run for high office . . . She compared the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service ... to the Ku Klux Klan," said Levin. "She believes in government-run health care for illegal aliens. Imagine what that will do to health care. She believes in the elimination of private health care," he continued. Levin described Harris' support of the Green New Deal as a "socialist attack on capitalism." He said: "She wants to eventually eliminate in short order coal, oil, natural gas, all fossil fuels and eliminate fracking. She wants to repeal the president's tax cuts for the middle class. She wants to massively increase taxes on all Americans." Fox News

 

 

Squad member Pressley calls for "unrest in the streets" . . . There should be “unrest in the streets” over President Trump and his political allies turning a "deaf ear" to Americans' concerns, including those about the "dismantling" of the U.S. Postal Service -- which amounts to voter suppression, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., said Friday. Conservatives on Twitter quickly condemned Pressley's remarks as "unhinged," "horrible" and "disgusting." Pressley made her remarks Saturday on MSNBC's "AM Joy." Fox News
 

 

Trump says Goodell is going to kill football . . . Donald Trump lashed out at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Sunday morning for going back on banning professional football players from kneeling for the national anthem. 'He's going to kill football,' Trump told Sinclair's Eric Bolling during an interview on 'America This Week' with the former Fox News host. 'People aren't going to watch.' Daily Mail
 

Obama bypasses coastal protection laws to build massive beach house complex . . . A beachfront compound in Hawaii where former President Barack Obama reportedly plans to retire has used a planning loophole to retain a seawall that is likely causing beach erosion, according to ProPublica. State officials and community members told the outlet that Obama plans to reside in the $8.7 million compound on Oahu's Waimanalo Beach, which was purchased by his close friend Marty Nesbitt in 2015. Permits obtained by ProPublica reportedly show that developers are building three homes, two pools and a security perimeter on the property after tearing down the site's mansion, which was famous for being the house from "Magnum, P.I."

However, a century-old seawall is set to remain thanks to a loophole that allowed the sellers to obtain an easement on the seawall for a one-time payment of $61,400, despite environmental experts who warn it could cause coastal damage and beach erosion, according to ProPublica. Fox News

 

 

Trump threatens to intervene in New York City after massive violence . . . President Trump has lashed out at New York City's mayor Bill de Blasio after a weekend of violence where at least 52 people were shot, leaving seven dead across the city.  'Law and Order. If @NYCMayor can't do it, we will!' the president wrote on Twitter late on Sunday night.  Data from the NYPD data shows 20 people were injured in 12 shooting incidents on Friday, another 23 wounded on Saturday in 20 separate shootings. On Sunday, nine people were shot. Daily Mail

 

 

Other Arab countries may soon make peace with Israel after UAE accord . . . Officials in Washington and Jerusalem over the weekend again suggested that other Gulf Arab powers, including Bahrain and Oman, may soon follow the UAE’s lead and recognize Israel, whose own leader went to lengths over the weekend to frame Thursday’s historic deal with the Emirates as a major victory for his hard-line policies. All sides were trying to gauge the size of the tectonic shift marked by the UAE-Israeli deal, which opens the door to a broader alliance of Sunni Arab state and Israel against Iran and its regional allies. Iran joined Palestinian leaders in angrily denouncing the accord, with Tehran saying it would have recalibrate its ties to the UAE in the wake of the news. Washington Times

 

 

Lukashenko offers to share power in Belarus . . . Alexander Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus, said on Monday he would be willing to hand over power after a referendum, in an apparent bid to pacify mass protests and strikes that pose the biggest challenge to his 26 years in office. In a sign of Lukashenko’s growing vulnerability, he faced heckling and chants of “step down” during a speech to workers at one of the large state-run industrial plants that are the pride of his Soviet-style economic model and core support base. Reuters

 

Japan economic plunge wipes all gains under Abe . . . Japan was hit by its biggest economic slump on record in the second quarter as the coronavirus pandemic emptied shopping malls and crushed demand for cars and other exports, bolstering the case for bolder policy action to prevent a deeper recession. 

The third straight quarter of declines knocked the size of real gross domestic product to decade-low levels, wiping out the benefits brought by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “Abenomics” stimulus policies deployed in late 2012. Reuters

Death Valley hits 130 degrees, hottest US temp in 107 years . . . On Sunday, the thermometer at Death Valley's Furnace Creek, located in the deserts of Southern California, soared to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. If verified, it would be the hottest temperature recorded in the U.S. since 1913, and perhaps the hottest temperature ever reliably recorded in the world. The highest temperature ever recorded on Earth was also observed in Death Valley — 134 degrees Fahrenheit in 1913. However, many experts contend that temperature reading, along with various other temperatures recorded that summer, was likely an observer error. CBS News

 

Worst heat in 70 years threatens to take down California grid . . . In the past 72 hours, the state has declared two grid emergencies and instituted the first rolling blackouts since the 2001 energy crisis to protect a system strained by people blasting air conditioners and power plants tripping offline. The region’s electricity system operator has warned of more rotating outages through Wednesday with temperatures forecast to reach as high as 112 degrees Fahrenheit in some parts of the state. Bloomberg 

 

 

Driver brutally beaten by Portland protestors . . . Violence erupted in Portland late Sunday just blocks from the federal courthouse after the driver of a pickup truck crashed, was reportedly pulled from the vehicle and then brutally beaten by a mob after a confrontation with protesters. The man identified as the driver could be seen getting punched, kicked and ordered not to leave in the middle of a city street. The man in the video, at one point, appeared dazed after the initial assault, but suffered the worst blow when he absorbed a roundhouse kick to the side of the head. Fox News

 

 

Universe expected to slowly fizzle out . . . It's not expected to happen anytime soon, but one scientist has calculated when the universe will end. The research, published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, notes that sometime over the "next few trillion years," when the universe is dead as we know it, stars will continue to explode, not with a giant bang, but "very, very slowly fizzle." “It [the universe] will be a bit of a sad, lonely, cold place,” the study's lead author, theoretical physicist Matt Caplan, saidt. “It’s known as ‘heat death,’ where the universe will be mostly black holes and burned-out stars.” Fox News

 

 

The end is near: Now there's a shortage of pepperoni pizza . . . Pepperoni lovers may have to learn to be OK with plain pizza for a bit. Pizza shops across the United States say they’re paying higher prices for the popular topping and have noticed that the supply has become tighter. Restaurants from New York to South Dakota have reportedly seen a significant increase in price, with the cost nearly doubling in some areas. Pork processors have had to deal with a reduced number of workers during the pandemic. The other possible reason is that the demand for pizza has risen during the lockdowns and pandemic. Fox News