Wednesday,  July 29th, 2020

Biden to announce VP pick next week Former Vice President Joe Biden will announce his running mate next week, he said Tuesday. “I’m going to have a choice in the first week in August,” Biden said, promising reporters “I’ll let you know when I do.” Biden has said he will pick a woman as his running mate, and protests over systemic racism in America have raised arguments that he should select a Black woman. Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), both formerly presidential contenders themselves, have gotten a lot of attention as potential vice presidential candidates. Reports also indicate Obama administration National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms are in serious consideration. Source: Axios

Astronomers at Pan-STARRS announce the discovery of a small near-Earth object (NEO) HLV2514, which is an Amor asteroid near Mars. The asteroid was first discovered in June 2020 by two 14-year-old Indian schoolgirls who were participating in a NASA project. (CNN)

Iran records a record high 235 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. The health ministry urges not to visit Mashhad as the virus infections rose by 300 percent over a one month period. (Al Arabiya)

Osaka and Aichi prefectures post a single day record high of 155 and 110 new COVID-19 cases respectively in the last 24 hours. (The Japan Times)

Major League Baseball postpones the Miami Marlins’s next six games after 17 members of the organization tested positive for COVID-19. (ESPN)

United States Attorney General William Barr defends the Department of Justice’s decision to send security forces to Portland in a congressional testimony. Portland has seen 61 consecutive days of protests, which escalated after federal officers arrived this month. (BBC)

Kodak to use $765 million U.S. government loan to launch new pharmaceuticals arm The Eastman Kodak Company, known for making film and other photography-related products, will receive a $765 million loan from the federal government in order to start producing pharmaceutical ingredients. A new division, Kodak Pharmaceuticals, will focus on manufacturing two types of chemicals used to make generic pills and tablets, creating 350 jobs in Rochester, New York, and St. Paul, Minnesota. In recent years, Kodak has made some materials for pharmaceutical companies, Executive Chairman Jim Continenza told The Washington Post, and the company is “truly doing this to help tighten and fix the supply chain of pharmaceuticals in America.” Kodak has struggled to survive in a world with digital cameras and smart phones, but the company’s stock more than tripled after the loan was announced. Source: The Washington Post

Report: Russia is pushing coronavirus disinformation U.S. intelligence officials have reportedly determined that Russian operatives are spreading disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic on English-language websites directed at American audiences. Russian military intelligence is using a series of websites to amplify false claims the COVID-19 virus was created by the U.S. military, among other propaganda, according to newly declassified intelligence materials. The disinformation campaign is reportedly similar to efforts made by Russia ahead of the 2016 election, but more difficult to stamp out because the websites appear more legitimate than previous bots and fake social media accounts. The operatives appear to be attempting to exploit the pandemic to cause confusion ahead of the presidential election. The trio of websites published about 150 articles between May and early July. Source: The Associated Press

Monday’s regularly scheduled baseball games between the Baltimore Orioles and Miami Marlins, and the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies, are postponed because 14 members of the Marlins traveling party, including 12 players, tested positive for COVID-19. Tuesday’s Orioles-Marlins game is also postponed; the status of the second Yankees-Phillies game will be announced later. Miami just finished a three-game series in Philadelphia this past weekend. Before Sunday’s series finale, Miami learned that four of its players had tested positive and adjusted its lineup accordingly. (WFLA-TV)

The End

 

This Day in History

1148 – The Siege of Damascus ends in a decisive crusader defeat and leads to the disintegration of the Second Crusade.

1588 – Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines: English naval forces under the command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake defeat the Spanish Armada off the coast of Gravelines, France.

1693 – War of the Grand Alliance: Battle of Landen: France wins a Pyrrhic victory over Allied forces in the Netherlands.

1818 – French physicist Augustin Fresnel submits his prizewinning “Memoir on the Diffraction of Light”, precisely accounting for the limited extent to which light spreads into shadows, and thereby demolishing the oldest objection to the wave theory of light.

1921 – Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party.

1932 – Great Depression: In Washington, D.C., troops disperse the last of the “Bonus Army” of World War I veterans.

1945 – The BBC Light Programme radio station is launched for mainstream light entertainment and music.

1950 – Korean War: After four days, the No Gun Ri Massacre ends when the US Army 7th Cavalry Regiment is withdrawn.

1958 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

1965 – Vietnam War: The first 4,000 101st Airborne Division paratroopers arrive in Vietnam, landing at Cam Ranh Bay.

1967 – Vietnam War: Off the coast of North Vietnam terhe USS Forrestal catches on fire in the worst U.S. naval disaster since World War II, killing 134.

John McCain was crucially involved with this fire. Little known true fact. The other guy, White, was killed in the “accident.” So, jus sayin. I’m sure it was all a big misunderstanding.

1973 – Greeks vote to abolish the monarchy, beginning the first period of the Metapolitefsi.

1981 – A worldwide television audience of over 700 million people watch the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Wow, TV really sucked in 1981. So did viewers.