Top Items:

United Airlines to Require All U.S. Employees to Get Covid-19 Vaccines — The airline is the first U.S. carrier to mandate vaccines for all employees — United Airlines will require its U.S. employees to be vaccinated this fall, the first major airline to take this step as the Delta variant drives …
Discussion:
CNBC, New York Times, WHDH-TV, ABC News and CBS Los Angeles
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Inside One Company's Struggle to Get All Its Employees Vaccinated — At an optical business in New York City, it took months of coaxing, a cash bonus and a weekly testing mandate to persuade 90 percent of the staff to get a coronavirus vaccine. — Tiara Felix loves her job at an eyewear store …

CNN fires three employees who went into the office unvaccinated. — CNN said on Thursday that it had fired three employees who violated its coronavirus safety protocols by going to the office unvaccinated, one of the first known examples of a major American corporation's terminating workers for ignoring a workplace vaccination mandate.

Some school districts defy U.S. governors on mask rules.
Discussion:
NPR, Common Dreams, Illinois Policy and Florida Politics
Quinnipiac University Poll:
Americans On COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements: Yes For Health Care Workers, No For Restaurant Customers, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds …
Americans On COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements: Yes For Health Care Workers, No For Restaurant Customers, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds …
Felicia Schwartz / Wall Street Journal:
Novavax Delays Seeking U.S. Regulatory Approval for Covid-19 Vaccine
Novavax Delays Seeking U.S. Regulatory Approval for Covid-19 Vaccine
Discussion:
New York Times, WTOP and Financial Times

Biden administration considers withholding funds and other measures to spur vaccinations — The Biden administration is considering using federal regulatory powers and the threat of withholding federal funds from institutions to push more Americans to get vaccinated — a huge potential shift …
Discussion:
NBC News, HotAir, Fox News, Breitbart, The Federalist, Outside the Beltway, Fortune, Raw Story, Brookings and Vanity Fair
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Houston ISD to consider mask mandate next week, superintendent says — Houston ISD Superintendent Millard House II said Thursday he plans to bring a mask mandate for ratification to the district's board meeting next week, setting the stage for the state's largest district to potentially buck …

Too many Republicans are taking covid-19's side in the fight against the pandemic
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Los Angeles Times, Florida Phoenix, CNN, UnHerd and Media Matters for America
The Tennessean:
‘All of them’: Tennessee health chief says children's hospitals will fill up as the delta variant surges
‘All of them’: Tennessee health chief says children's hospitals will fill up as the delta variant surges
Discussion:
Political Wire
Financial Times:
Florida's hospitals set a bleak pandemic record
Florida's hospitals set a bleak pandemic record
Discussion:
New York Post, CNN and Slate

Andrew Cuomo's Last Play to Hold Onto Power “He is not resigning,” said one ally. “It is just not in his nature to ever do that.” — There is almost no one left in Democratic politics in New York or across the country — not from the president of the United States to the lowest local ward heeler …
Discussion:
Joe.My.God., Gothamist, Vox, New York Times and THE CITY
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How Cuomo and His Team Retaliated Against His Accusers
Discussion:
ABC News, Politico, New York Post and New York Magazine
Lachlan Markay / Axios:
Scoop: Dem fundraising platform ActBlue boots Cuomo
Scoop: Dem fundraising platform ActBlue boots Cuomo
Discussion:
Breitbart, The Daily Caller, New York Post, Fox News, CNN, The Hill, Washington Free Beacon, Insider, Washington Post, TheBlaze and Washington Examiner
Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
Human Rights Campaign Staff Rip Their President Over Ties To Andrew Cuomo
Human Rights Campaign Staff Rip Their President Over Ties To Andrew Cuomo
Discussion:
The Hill, Outspoken, The Daily Caller, New York Post, Mother Jones and Washington Free Beacon

'We're Going Back To The Capitol': Ex Trump Campaign Official Announces ‘Huge’ Protest — “We're going to push back on the phony narrative that there was an insurrection,” Matt Braynard told former White House strategist Steve Bannon. — The former data chief for Donald Trump's 2016 campaign …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Raw Story
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Washington's hottest club is Joe Manchin's houseboat — Generally speaking, the first rule of visiting Joe Manchin III's houseboat is don't talk about Joe Manchin's houseboat. — This week, however, when Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) tested positive for the coronavirus after attending …

Biden's Ratings Slip, but It's More Than Just Delta Fears — Like Donald Trump before him, President Biden didn't get much of a political honeymoon. Even before he finished his first full week of work at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, an early February Gallup poll found views of the former Vice President …

Belarus: IOC expels two coaches over Krystina Timanovskaya case — Two Belarusian coaches have lost their Olympic accreditations after allegedly attempting to force an athlete to leave the games in Tokyo. — The International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed that Artur Shimak and Yury Maisevich had left the Olympic Village.
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Gabrielle Tétrault-farber / Reuters:
Exclusive: Belarusian sprinter decided to defect on way to airport over safety fears
Exclusive: Belarusian sprinter decided to defect on way to airport over safety fears
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Forbes, One America News Network, Snopes.com, Al Jazeera, TheJournal.ie, Associated Press and WTOP

Employers Added 943,000 Jobs in July, Unemployment Rate Fell to 5.4% — Robust job growth last month reflects a strong labor market ahead of the Delta variant threat — Employers added jobs at the best pace in nearly a year in July and the unemployment rate fell sharply …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller

Felt Alive Again — There was a glorious yet fleeting moment this summer, between waves, when the Covid case count was at its lowest since the beginning of the pandemic. Before the Delta variant began heightening anxieties and led to increased calls for a return to wearing masks, the city felt, shockingly, almost normal.

Tucker Carlson's Self-Loathing International Tourism — Tucker Carlson is spending a week in Budapest in order to annoy Americans and everybody else who believes in the ideals of America: the rule of law, a free press, free elections, the conviction that democracy is preferable to autocracy.

It is time for Congress to act again to protect the right to vote — Merrick B. Garland is attorney general of the United States. — Our society is shaped not only by the rights it declares but also by its willingness to protect and enforce those rights. Nowhere is this clearer than in the area of voting rights.
Discussion:
Politico

Matt Gaetz denies sex crimes and attacks Fox News in desperate hourlong YouTube video — Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) targeted Fox News this week in the premiere episode of his Firebrand YouTube program. — Earlier this year, Gaetz disappeared from Fox News broadcasts after he made an appearance …
Discussion:
YouTube, Mediaite and Washington Examiner

New York Magazine Writer Baffled by Support for the Rule of Law — At New York magazine, Ed Kilgore has penned a confession: He has no principles, and he doesn't understand people who do. — Kilgore is absolutely baffled that, in his words, “conservatives are freaking out about the eviction moratorium …
Discussion:
Cincinnati.com, USA Today and New York Magazine

Nancy Pelosi's Surprise Flip on Student Debt Cancellation Came After Urging From Billionaire Power Couple … The drive to persuade President Joe Biden to cancel student debt took a major hit last week when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stunned Congress with a surprise statement in opposition.
Discussion:
Common Dreams

The ‘disinformation’ deception — “We're flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, almost matter-of-factly, in July. The same week, Biden communications director Kate Bedingfield insisted that social media companies …

Washington is still shying away from punishing Putin's closest cronies. Why? — MOSCOW — Few topics rattle the Kremlin quite as much as Western sanctions targeting its officials and oligarchs. For all its nationalistic posturing, the regime of Vladimir Putin — as corrupt as it is authoritarian …

CRT Roundup: Fairfax County Schools Sent Second Graders Video Vilifying Cops: ‘I Feel Safe When There Are No Police’ — Over the last year, teachers and administrators nationwide have weaponized K-12 education, injecting progressive politics into classrooms, and indoctrinating students …
Discussion:
Breitbart, Washington Examiner and In Defense of Liberty
Samuel Levine / Federal Trade Commission:
Letter from Acting Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection Samuel Levine to Facebook — Today, Acting Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection Samuel Levine sent the following letter to Mark Zuckerberg concerning Facebook's misleading claims regarding the company's consent decree with the FTC:
Discussion:
Financial Times, Washington Post, The Verge, One America News Network and Protocol, more at Mediagazer »

Pressure Mounting To Launch ‘McMafia Law’ Probe Into Trump's Scottish Golf Courses — Manhattan district attorney's charges against the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer add fuel to fight to reveal cash sources for foreign golf courses. — Lawyers for a global activist organization …
Discussion:
Raw Story

Teaching Race in Kindergarten — Oregon's new standards for social science exchange colorblindness for racialism. This is not progress. — From school boards to state legislatures, a battle is raging over how public schools should teach students about race and racism in the United States.

How Trump stiff-armed Congress — and gaslighted the courts — to build his wall — Pentagon records obtained by POLITICO paint the clearest picture yet of how far the Trump administration went to get around Congress and speed the diversion of military construction funds to build its border wall in 2019.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal and The National Interest