Joe Biden officially became the Democratic candidate for president after a virtual roll call vote across the 57 states and territories last night during the Democratic National Committee. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ9s4x_Mybs

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced he would suspend all cost-cutting measures and operations changes until after the election. The Post Office had been eliminating overtime, reducing hours, and removing postal boxes. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/us/politics/postal-service-suspends-changes.html

Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was overthrown in a military coup d'etat yesterday. Condemned by the international community, the coup came after weeks of protests against Keita and his handling of economic instability. 

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/mali-soldiers-promise-elections-coup-200819094832716.html

The Senate Intelligence Committee released the final bipartisan report on Russian interference into the election. At almost 1000 pages, the Committee confirmed the findings of the Mueller Report that Russia interfered in our election and that the Trump campaign was in communication with the Kremlin. 

"Taken as a whole, Manafort's high level access and willingness to share information with individuals closely affiliated with the Russian intelligence services, particularly Kilimnik and associates of Oleg Deripaska, represented a grave counterintelligence threat," the committee wrote.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/7039336-Report-volume5.html

Come watch Democratic National Convention with Pantsuit Politics on Thursday, Aug 20. We’ll be doing live commentary and chatting with fans on the @hotmicinc app. Use Invite code SARAH818 to download it for FREE at hotmic.io

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The Democratic National Convention officially kicks off tonight at 9 p.m. (ET).

https://www.demconvention.com

Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the House back early from its August recess to vote on legislation that would prohibit operational changes at the USPS that reduce service levels from those in effect in January. Democratic Committee Chairs have also called on the Postmaster General and other top officials to come testify in the next month about changes to post office processes. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/trumps-attacks-on-the-postal-service-deserve-sustained-red-alert-coverage-from-the-media/2020/08/14/6eac0e50-de2f-11ea-8051-d5f887d73381_story.html?utm_source=nextdraft&utm_medium=email

The “SalivaDirect” test - developed by Yale and tested in partnership with the NBA - was given emergency authorization by the FDA. Also, the New York Times spoke with scientists who now say herd immunity would be reached with 45 percent to 50 percent of the population infected, down from the original 75 percent. 

https://twitter.com/ASlavitt/status/1294654256763609090?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top

Protests over last week’s presidential election in Belarus continued over the weekend, with over 200k demonstrators gathering across the country.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2020/aug/16/belarus-protesters-gather-minsk-for-biggest-ever-opposition-rally-in-pictures

A rare storm called a derecho with hurricane-force wind gusts exceeding 100 miles per hour left almost $4 billion dollars in damage in its wake in Iowa. 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iowa-hurting-derecho-storm-recovery/

Robert S. Trump, the President's Younger Brother, Dies at 71.

At Rosalyn's request, let's discuss Jamison v. McClendon and qualified immunity. 

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The pick is in! Joe Biden has chosen Senator Kamala Harris of California to serve as his Vice Presidential nominee. She is the first Black woman, and the first person of Indian descent, to be nominated for national office by a major party.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-picking-harris-biden-makes-history-and-plays-it-safe/2020/08/11/d2b5ac00-dc16-11ea-b205-ff838e15a9a6_story.html

Russia announced it has approved a coronavirus vaccine without large-scale clinical trials or published data from smaller earlier trials. 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-vaccine-russia-coronavirus-development/

The Big Ten and the Pac-12, two major college sports conferences whose schools include Ohio State, Penn State and Oregon, have called off their football seasons for the fall.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/29640578/big-ten-pac-12-postpone-fall-college-football-need-know

QAnon conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene won her runoff in the 14th Congressional District in Georgia to become the Republican nominee. Ilhan Omar beat her primary challenger in Minnesota.

New episode of The Nuanced Life out today!

https://www.pantsuitpoliticsshow.com/blog-tnl/2020/8/10/commemorating-careers-and-workplaces

Jane and Ellen react to Senator Kamala Harris being selected as Joe Biden's running mate. (And Ellen would like a second breakfast). 

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See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The United States reached another grim coronavirus milestone - 5 million cases. President Trump issued four executive orders: a $400 a week unemployment benefit where states will be responsible for 25% of the cost and the system to administer the benefit, asks the HHS and CDC to consider a moratorium on evictions at government subsidized housing, a deferral on the payroll tax through the end of the year, and an extension on federally-held student loans through the end of the year. 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/09/politics/trump-executive-actions-coronavirus-explainer/index.html

Hong Kong police arrested Jimmy Lai, owner of the pro-democracy media company Next Digital, on charges of violating a sweeping new national security law imposed by the Chinese Communist Party. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/09/world/asia/hong-kong-arrests-lai-national-security-law.html

Protests erupted in Belarus after a government exit polling predicted President Aleksander Lukashenko, an authoritarian who has ruled the Eastern European country since 1994, would win re-election over a pro-democracy candidate.

https://www.axios.com/belarus-protests-election-933b5fa4-c2fa-4132-b10d-568e542393a6.html

Protests continued in Lebanon as the fall out from the explosion in downtown Beirut expands. So far, the Justice Minister and nine members of Parliament have resigned and the Prime Minister is calling for early elections. 

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/beirut-police-fire-tear-gas-protesters-regroup-live-updates-200810010528285.html

We’ve got new t-shirts at our store!

https://www.teepublic.com/stores/pantsuit-politics

Beth and I did our weekly checkin on Thursday over on Patreon so go check that out!

https://www.patreon.com/pantsuitpolitics