President Donald Trump recently designated sundry drug cartels operating in Mexico as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO).

Designating the cartels as FTOs was one of President Trump’s campaign promises, and it was something conservatives had long urged former President Joe Biden to do to no avail. 

The cartels designated are Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Cártel de Sinaloa, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, Cártel del Noreste (formerly Los Zetas), La Nueva Familia Michoacana, Cártel de Golfo (Gulf Cartel), and Cárteles Unidos.

The FTO designation expands financial sanctions against the cartels and authorizes the use of military force against them.

Elon Musk took to social media to speak about the designation, alleging it could result in “drone strikes” against the cartels. 

The use of military force against cartels operating in Mexico is unlikely, however, as Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum has opposed the idea and criticized it as a violation of Mexico’s sovereignty.

"The Mexican people will not accept under any circumstances interventions, interference or any other act from abroad that could be harmful to the integrity, independence and sovereignty of the nation," said President Sheinbaum.

Sheinbaum also claimed she would study the possibility of erecting constitutional reforms to further protect Mexico’s sovereignty. 

State Department Secretary Marco Rubio explained the FTO designation is intended to “protect our nation, the American people, and our hemisphere.”  

“That means stopping the campaigns of violence and terror by these vicious groups both in the United States and internationally,” said Secretary Rubio. “These designations provide law enforcement additional tools to stop these groups.”

Tren de Aragua, MS-13, and the Sinaloa cartels are perhaps the most infamous groups, especially given their increased activity in the US during President Biden’s administration. 

Biden took certain actions against the cartels, such as designating Tren de Aragua as a transnational criminal organization (TCO).

Tren de Aragua is Venezuela’s largest gang with an estimated 5,000 members and has recently been linked to numerous criminal investigations in the US and Mexico.

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The Mexican drug cartels are stronger than ever, their power heightened by the ongoing border crisis. Representative Mike Waltz (R-FL), as a former Green Beret, called for the use of military intelligence to "start putting the cartels on their back foot" in a recent appearance on Fox News, especially as these syndicates are working with America's foreign adversaries as proxies.

Rep. Waltz reminded viewers and host Harris Faulkner of how Green Berets aided the South American country of Colombia in battle against the infamous Medellin Cartel and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and that "we have to take the same approach with the cartels in Mexico, Sinaloa and Jalisco, that control nearly a third of the country fighting the Mexican Army, not the police, to a standstill, control our border, and are making billions of dollars per month trafficking humans, fentanyl, and weapons into our country."

Additionally, Rep. Waltz reiterated that he, Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), former President Donald Trump, and his running mate Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) have spoken about using "military resources, not an invasion, but offensive cyber, space, and other types of intelligence to start putting the cartels on their back foot and help law enforcement get control of the situation."

"Not only do they dominate our border now, they are setting up outposts and gangs in our inner cities. We have got to get this situation under control. Green Berets have a unique mindset by, with, and through locals, law enforcement, and others to do that," the Florida Congressman continued.

Host Harris Faulkner recalled recent intelligence suggesting the cartels no longer rely on working with American gangs to distribute drugs and are taking advantage of the number of people entering the country illegally to have them establish gangs that they control directly.

Waltz warned that "it is even worse" as "these cartels are now connecting with our foreign adversaries and acting as proxies. The Iranians are working with them for assassination attempts and infiltrating Hezbollah. ISIS is infiltrating, we arrested eight in three different cities plotting to attack us again, and I think most significantly, [cartels] are working with the Chinese Communist Party."

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Washington – U.S. Senators Roger Marshall, M.D. (KS) and Rick Scott (FL) introduced the Drug Cartel Terrorist Designation Act to formally designate certain drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

Senators Scott and Marshall have introduced the Act as a means to combat the growing threat posed by mortal fentanyl drugs illegally transported into the United States.

When asked about the legislation, Senator Rick Scott said:

“Fentanyl is a leading cause of death among young people in the United States—and those who knowingly distribute the highly lethal drug are declaring war on Americans. For far too long, people have suffered addiction and death because of this evil drug that is pouring across Joe Biden’s open southern border; and to put an end to this crisis, these cartels must be held accountable and classified as terrorists. I am proud to join Senator Marshall in standing up against this crisis and urge this commonsense legislation pass the Senate immediately.”

The legislative measure would formally designate the following drug cartels, infamous for their transportation of volumes of illegal guns and drugs into the country, namely Fentanyl, as Terrorist Organizations: Reynosa/Los Metros faction of the Gulf Cartel, The Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas, The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, The Sinaloa Cartel.

If enacted, it will also ban any foreign citizen from entering the United States who is a member of one of these cartels, was formally associated with the organization ,or has "engaged in terrorist activity" related to that organization.

Similarly, the Act will Make it against the law for individuals who knowingly provide "material support or resources" to the cartel to enter the United States.

Moreover, the act plans to Grant the Secretary of the Treasury the authority to freeze the assets of each cartel and block any transactions relating to those assets.

Finally, if enacted, the legislation would request a report on criminal organizations engaged in similar illicit drug-transporting activities to discern their potential addition to the Foreign Terrorist Organization list.

The bill was introduced to the Senate on Wednesday and was forwarded to the Committee on Foreign Relations, where it currently remains.

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By Luis Fleischman @LuisFleischman

Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran has been a state sponsor of terrorism. Iran has sought to expand the Islamic revolution and its influence. It cooperates with the Taliban, an extreme Islamist group in Afghanistan, and is also expected to interfere in the recent conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. 

Iran’s criminal activities are a key component of this strategy. Organized crime is a fundamental piece in the export of jihadism, especially when the Islamic Republic itself is under heavy sanctions.

Iran’s own ships, planes and transport companies are used to traffic drugs and alcohol, smuggle oil, launder money and conduct large-scale arms trafficking. Iran receives money from opium production in Afghanistan,  providing weapons to the Taliban in exchange, which it uses to fight U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. The illegal business is mainly used to expand Jihad or terrorism and to finance its allies in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon. 

Iran is also active in Latin America, a geographically and strategically important area for the U.S. It sent large numbers of weapons and cash to Venezuela, a declared enemy of the United States. Venezuela is a mega narco-state that has partnered with Iran to boost its own criminal activities. According to a DEA report, Hezbollah raised a billion dollars a year from cocaine and arms trafficking, and money laundering. According to the report, the cocaine trade originated in Venezuela and Mexico, while profits came and were laundered in the United States. Iran also benefitted from the Maduro regime’s illicit sale of gold, which is obtained through inhuman exploitation of miners by the Venezuelan government with FARC dissidents, members of the Colombian ELN and criminal gangs. According to security expert Douglas Farah, Iran received $500 million in gold bars from Maduro in exchange for more than 1.5 million barrels of oil plus repairs to decaying Petroleos de Venezuela’s (PDVSA) facilities. 

Venezuela’s partnership with Iran has enabled the Islamic nation and its proxies such as Hezbollah, to penetrate deep into the continent. Venezuela provided passports to Hezbollah members and also influenced other countries in the region to do the same. 

According to Emanuel Ottolenghi from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Hezbollah’s Latin American networks have cooperated with drug cartels and criminal syndicates in shipping cocaine to the U.S., distributing and selling narcotics, and laundering the profits, which help finance Iran’s subversive adventures in the Middle East.

Iran's criminal activities will continue to grow as sanctions against it intensify and its tax coffers empty. Hezbollah receives from Iran only 20% of its budget. Organized crime serves to secure the other 80%. 

Evidently, Iran’s presence in Latin America is a direct threat to U.S national security. 

In 2007, a Hezbollah member stationed in Guyana attempted to conduct a terrorist attack at Kennedy Airport. Similarly, in 2011 Iran attempted to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington with the help of Los Zetas, a notoriously violent Mexican drug cartel. Terrorism expert Matthew Levitt reported in 2013 that members of the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel received weapons and explosives training in Iran. A recent Atlantic Council report pointed to Iran’s political-terrorist agenda as the main motivator. Crime is a means to sustain it.  

Regardless of who will be elected next president of the United States, it is crucial that these issues be addressed. 

But how?

On the one hand, sanctions are not going to be sufficient to deter Iran. On the other, options such as restoring the 2015 JCPOA (Iran deal) or reaching a deal with Venezuela similar to the one with Cuba in 2014, would not serve our national security.

Even if we achieve nuclear peace, Iran’s criminal and destabilizing activities will continue as it seeks to drive its revolutionary expansionist ambitions. Sanctions relief will increase funding to destabilizing actions. A comprehensive deal to halt these activities would be impossible to achieve. 

Therefore, the U.S. must embark on a global strategy to crack down on Iran’s criminal activities, as well as on those countries and entities that collaborate in transnational organized crime. In our Hemisphere, Venezuela is key. The U.S. should continue sanctioning individuals and organizations that support the Maduro regime’s criminal activities. But sanctions will not suffice to end the regime. Thus, the U.S. and its international allies should consider a naval blockade, in addition to collaborative surveillance, tracking and law enforcement. This naval blockade should lead to complete U.S. control of the routes used to transport drugs. Humanitarian aid should be provided to Venezuela, but ensuring it’s cut off from alternative sources of income and from any aid coming from Maduro allies such as China, Russia, Turkey and Iran.  

In this context, the U.S. should also maintain its presence in Venezuela to protect potential asset seizures from one of Maduro’s organized crime allies, Russia or Iran. 

Likewise, Cuba should be pressured to stop supporting Maduro. If necessary, by means of naval blockade as well. 

The U.S. must also continue to fight against corruption and promote democracy by strengthening ties with NATO and other democratic nations, and agreeing on a policy to promote democracy and rule of law without military intervention. Corruption, a key tactic of criminals and terrorists, must be addressed and its transgressors properly sanctioned. In our backyard, countries such as Mexico and many Central American nations are infected with rampant corruption that only serves as breeding ground for nefarious activities.

The U.S. should work with our democratic allies across the world to combat local corruption.      

The idea that the world is not America’s problem, which has been promoted directly or indirectly by both the Obama and Trump Administrations, is hollow. If we don’t address transnational organized crime, it will come back to bite us in our own homeland.

Luis Fleischman, PhD, is co-President of the Palm Beach Center for Democracy & Policy Research and director for the InterAmerican Institute for Democracy. He has written extensively on Latin America & the Middle East. He is  also the author of “Latin America in the post-Chávez era: the Threat to U.S. Security.”

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THE BUG SPREADS

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to take incoming fire from both Republicans and Democrats over his re-opening of the state after the COVID-19 virus outbreak. DeSantis’ loudest critic, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D), wants her home county of Broward and the rest of the state to “follow Miami-Dade's lead and reverse our disastrous reopening.”

 Miami- Dade County recently called for some closings to resume

Wasserman Schultz also opposes the latest “reckless reopening order” DeSantis is pushing to mandating schools to open in the fall, saying that the decision to reopen schools should come from local school districts. 

Many of DeSantis more “colorful” Republican, who recently protested the temporary closing of beaches in South Florida, actually want DeSantis to do the exact opposite and are hating on the first term governor, calling him a “traitor” and a ‘failed’ governor for not doing so.

So, it begs to ask, to prevent infection, what are the riskiest activities Americans should avoid?

According to a study conducted by the Texas Medical Association, going to the beach only poses a moderate risk of catching the virus. Going to the mall, not so much.

But the riskiest activities are not going to make you happy, especially if you are a gym rat like Gov. DeSantis, Mystery Man Rob, and myself.

Moderate-High -- Eating at a buffet, working out at a gym, going to an amusement park, going to a movie theater, attending a large music concert, going to a sports stadium, and attending a religious service

High-Risk --Going to a hair salon or barbershop, eating in a restaurant, attending a wedding or funeral, traveling by plane, playing basketball, playing football, hugging or shaking hands when greeting a friend.

Opening up schools is listed as being a moderate risk, as is going to the beach. (SEE THE CHART BELOW)

Anti-Semitism, God, and Florida 

Arguably the biggest anti-Semite in the world outside of any Nazi, is Nation of Islam founder Louis Farrakhan.

Over this past weekend, Fuhrer Farrakhan said he prayed that God would bring down the COVID to Florida…MUST-READ!!!!

Visit The Floridian

Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez @MayorGimenez -I signed Amendment 2 to Emergency Order 26-20, prohibiting indoor dining at restaurants in Miami-Dade County, effective this Thursday. On-site dining can only take place outdoors. Only take-out & delivery service may be offered during nightly curfew hours of 10 pm & 6 am. It also shuts down entertainment venues, including theaters, concert halls, casinos and arcades. The order mandates clients to wear masks inside gyms/fitness centers at all times as well. Amendment 2 restricts short-term vacation rentals.

Marco Rubio @marcorubio -Which setting presents a higher risk of spreading #COVID19?

A. A football team having practice outdoors; or

B. Kids from various households playing Madden for hours in a bedroom?

Does the science match which one of these is banned & which one is allowed?

Rick Scott @SenRickScott -The #PPP program has helped many small businesses in FL & across the US during this tough time, but for months, I’ve called for reforms to the program to ensure taxpayer $$ goes to those who truly need it. Now, we can clearly see the abuse. We have to step up & fight for reform.

Rep. Ted Deutch @RepTedDeutch -44 Florida hospitals at ICU capacity. Many are smaller facilities. Some are not. We’ve known this was possible for months. Governor DeSantis continues to minimize the severity of the outbreak.  

 Rep. Lois Frankel @RepLoisFrankel -I'm proud to support the LHHS FY 2021 Appropriations Bill that makes a robust investment in every American & includes critical funding for those impacted by #COVID19. It will help fix our broken unemployment system, support seniors, & fully fund #TitleX.

RepRossSpano @RepRossSpano-China lied, Americans died— while the World Health Organization looked the other way. This is the right call by @realDonaldTrump! No taxpayer dollars should continue going to the WHO until they are held accountable. #FL15

Rep. Donna E. Shalala @RepShalala -Miami-Dade County alone now has more than 51,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. That is greater than the total number of infections in more than 30 different states. This is the greatest failure of leadership from a Governor of Florida in generations.

“At Least Five GOP Senators To Skip Republican National Convention Next Month” by The Floridian’s Mona Salama – At least five Republican senators will not attend the Republican National Convention next month in Jacksonville, Florida, citing their own reelection campaign, concerns about Florida latest surge in coronavirus cases, or personal reasons for making other plans in late August. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) became the first senator on Monday to announce that he will not attend the GOP convention, the first time he is skipping the event since being elected to the Senate 40 years ago due to the “virus situation.” “I’m not going to go. And I’m not going to go because of the virus situation,” Grassley said Monday morning on a conference call with reporters. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) became the second Republican senator to also announce that he will not be attending the party’s national convention. Alexander, who is retiring at the end of the year didn’t cite coronavirus as a reason to skip the gathering, but for a different reason. His office released a statement Tuesday morning saying the Tennessee Senator, despite holding an honorary leadership role with Trump’s reelection campaign is giving up his delegate spot to “those who have not had that privilege” to attend the convention before. “Senator Alexander is an honorary chair of the Tennessee Trump campaign, but he will not be attending the convention because he believes the delegate spots should be reserved for those who have not had that privilege before as he has had,” Alexander’s office said in a statement.

“Anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan prayed for COVID deaths in Florida” by The Floridian’s Javier Manjarres – COVID-19 infection rates aren’t the only thing on the rise in Florida these days. Antisemitism continues to run rampant in the Sunshine State and across the country. The nation of Islam founder and outspoken anti-Semite, Lois Farrakhan, has proclaimed that he prayed that God would bring coronavirus to Florida as punishment to the Cuban and Jewish communities. He proclaimed that God answered his prayer. “Florida, are you becoming the epicenter of the coronavirus? I asked God to do that. That, I asked him for. While Florida was white all the way around. Now, you’re deep red. I asked God for that. I just want to show you that this man that is talking to you has power with God. I’m not fake. I’m the real deal. You can take it or let it alone – wait a minute – why did I ask God to drop that on Florida? Because of you, Florida, and those who ran out or were run out of Cuba, who were members of the Jewish community, who lost everything. Your hatred for Fidel Castro. Florida has stood in the way of a better relationship with the government of Cuba. Yeah, I asked God to bring down the virus heavily on Florida.” – Lois Farrakhan The South Florida Democratic Congressional Delegation, which includes Jewish-American Representatives Ted Deutch, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Lois Frankel, and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, have openly condemned anti-semitism, but have yet to called out Rep. Ilhan Omar’s past anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements. These members of Congress represent a significant Jewish population. Nearly 9% of the total population in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach are Jewish.

“Trump Administration Officially Withdraws From World Health Organization” by The Floridian’s Mona Salama – The United States on Tuesday has officially withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Trump Administration announced. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee announced the withdrawal notice on Twitter while blasting the decision amid the coronavirus pandemic. “Congress received notification that POTUS officially withdrew the U.S. from the @WHO in the midst of a pandemic,” Menendez tweeted. “To call Trump’s response to COVID chaotic & incoherent doesn’t do it justice. This won’t protect American lives or interests — it leaves Americans sick & America alone.” A senior administration official confirmed that “the United States’ notice of withdrawal, effective July 6, 2021, has been submitted to the UN Secretary-General, who is the depository for the WHO” late Monday evening. In mid-May, President Trump initially announced his intention to withdraw after sending a strongly worded letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In the letter, Trump threatened to permanently freeze U.S. funding of $450 million a year to the global health entity unless WHO“commit to major substantive improvements” within 30 days based on “repeated missteps” his administration investigations has found in its responses to the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.

“DeSantis extends state of emergency in Florida for another 60 days” by WSVN – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has extended the state of emergency in Florida for an additional 60 days. DeSantis signed the order Tuesday. The state of emergency was originally declared in March at the start of the pandemic. It was then extended in May. At the time, DeSantis said the emergency declaration allows for what he called a unified command structure to limit the spread of the virus and to allow the state to more effectively mobilize resources. “It also allows — if need be — out-of-state medical personnel to operate in Florida,” he said. “It allows us to more swiftly purchase any necessary supplies, including masks and materials and equipment necessary to set up field hospitals.” The extension comes as Florida deals with a spike in cases of the virus.

“Florida schools must reopen with in-person instruction, education commissioner says” by NBC News’ Elizabeth Chuck – Florida's education commissioner said Monday all public schools must reopen to students in-person when the academic year begins next month, even as cases of the coronavirus continued to surge in his state. In the emergency order, Commissioner Richard Corcoran called schools "not just the site of academic learning" but also crucial places in students' lives that provide "nutrition, socialization, counseling and extra-curricular activities," adding that their reopening was critical to "a return to Florida hitting its full economic stride." Corcoran's order, which applies to the fall semester, requires schools to open "at least five days per week for all students" subject to guidance from public health officials. It comes as coronavirus cases in Florida top 206,000 and the daily number of new cases has reached record highs. The mandate shocked some Florida educators, including Amy Spies, a fourth-grade teacher in Daytona Beach whose small classroom cannot accommodate the recommended six feet of space between each of her 22 students. "I can think of no other industry forcing an entire workforce into such an unsafe environment," she said, adding that she and other teachers were in "utter disbelief." "It is physically impossible to meet [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] social distancing requirements if schools are at full capacity."

“Trump heads to U.S. military’s Southern Command in Florida as coronavirus cases surge” by CNBC’s Amanda Macias – President Donald Trump will meet Friday with leaders of the U.S. military’s Southern Command, the combatant command on the front lines of America’s effort to curb drug trafficking, the White House confirmed Tuesday. In April, the Trump administration announced expanded counternarcotics operations near Central America in order to disrupt the flow of drugs into the United States. The anti-drug operations, a Trump campaign promise, have also led to efforts to outfit the U.S.-Mexico border with a wall. “In cooperation with the 22 partner nations, U.S. Southern Command will increase surveillance, disruption and seizures of drug shipments and provide additional support for eradication efforts which are going on right now at a record pace,” Trump said during an April 1 White House briefing. “We’re deploying additional Navy destroyers, combat ships, aircraft, and helicopters; Coast Guard cutters and Air Force surveillance aircraft, doubling our capabilities in the region,” he added, flanked by national security officials. During June alone, U.S. Southern Command reported the interception of more than 35,014 pounds of suspected cocaine with an estimated value of $546 million. The trip to Doral, Florida, comes as the Sunshine State reports a steady surge of coronavirus cases, a trend that challenges the Trump administration’s push to reopen the U.S. economy.

“Trump’s convention bash upended by Florida’s coronavirus crisis” by Politico’s Marc Caputo and Gary Fineout – President Donald Trump redirected the Republican National Convention to Florida after North Carolina's Democratic governor couldn’t “guarantee” a full venue in August because of the coronavirus pandemic. But with coronavirus cases skyrocketing in Florida as Trump's poll numbers drop in his must-win battleground state, it looks like the president won't get his full-blown festivities there, either. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a close Trump ally, refused to say on Tuesday whether he would lift a rule mandating that indoor gatherings stay under 50 percent capacity — which would hold the Jacksonville convention to 7,500 people. Two octogenarian GOP senators, Lamar Alexander and Chuck Grassley, announced they wouldn’t attend the convention amid the pandemic, which has hit the elderly the hardest. And Trump himself seemed to acknowledge that his plans for an all-out reelection bash will likely be crimped. He had the power to put his convention in the home of more politically friendly local officials, but Trump can't change the inherent problems in holding a political convention in the middle of a global pandemic. "It really depends on the timing,” Trump told Voice of America late Tuesday, when asked about downsizing the convention. “Look, we're very flexible. We can do a lot of things. But we're very flexible.”

“Florida insurance agent fired after Costco coronavirus mask confrontation” by Fox Business’ Lucas Manfredi – A man has been fired from his job after a video surfaced on social media of him lashing out at an elderly woman who asked him to wear a mask during a heated confrontation at a Costco in Fort Myers, Florida. In the video post on Twitter, the man screams an expletive-ridden tirade telling the woman and a man who appears to be defending her to back up and stop harassing him and his family after he was asked to put on a mask and stay 6 feet away. "You're harassing me?" the man says as he clenches his fists, to which the other man replies, "I'm not harassing you, you're coming close to me." The man continues to approach the pair, yelling, "I feel threatened, I feel threatened! Back up! Threaten me again! Back the f--- up, put your f---ing phone down." According to Twitter reports, one of the customers who was targeted said: "To give Costco the credit, they escorted him out and made me wait inside and monitored him until he left and then they sent someone with me to the car to make sure I'm okay."

“Coronavirus in Florida: Residents still having issues dealing with state unemployment system” by Local 10’s Amy Viteri – Floridians who are out of work still seem to be having problems with the state's unemployment filing system. Some, who are frustrated with the website and call center, say they can't even get a question through. A South Florida resident named Dani is among the thousands in the state that are out of work because of COVID-19. Her position was among the many jobs cut by the cruise line she worked for back in April. She had to move back home with her parents and applied for unemployment benefits in May. “I think the system is set up to be confusing,” she said. :But I don’t know if it’s set up to be confusing or if it’s just really that broken.” She hoped the issues plaguing the overloaded system from a few months ago had been worked out. When Local 10 News spoke to Dani, she had received just two weeks of payments, stuck because the state websites processing claims incorrectly erased her previous job information. "When the information was transferred to reemployment assistance program to the connect system a lot of the information got lost," she explained. For example, page one incorrectly shows she was not impacted by COVID-19. The application also shows her highest level of education as third grade. “It shows that my previous occupation was a front-line manager. I don’t even know what that means,” she said. A call to reach an agent for help starts with a three minute menu process, only to end up receiving a message thanking you "for your patience during this time of high call volume" before the call hangs up.

“Report: Florida teen attended large event, treated with hydroxychloroquine before COVID-19 death” by Fox 13 Tampa Bay – The parents of a 17-year-old Fort Myers girl gave their daughter hydroxychloroquine before taking her to the hospital to get treatment for COVID-19, according to a report by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and WINK News. Soon after attending a large church function with more than 100 others, 17-year-old Carsyn Davis was diagnosed with COVID-19. She died after being hospitalized. First Assembly of God Church in south Fort Myers told WINK News about 140 teens and adults attended a youth service on June 10. A person at church said Carsyn was in attendance at the event. They said the church has stopped holding large events amid the recent spike in Florida's COVID-19 cases. FDLE's report said Carsyn developed symptoms of COVID-19 June 13. On June 19, her mother reportedly used Carsyn’s grandfather’s home oxygen machine to treat Carsyn when she appeared gray. FDLE said Carsyn’s parents also treated her with azithromycin, more commonly known as a Z-Pak, and gave the teen hydroxychloroquine before taking her to the hospital. WINK News reports Carsyn received plasma therapy June 20 and June 21. On June 22, her parents reportedly declined intubation and Carsyn died June 23.

“Florida councilman allegedly caught sleeping during city’s mask debate” by WBBH – A Cape Coral councilman was allegedly caught sleeping during the city’s meeting to discuss a mask mandate on Monday. Councilman Rick Williams was captured on video with his mask over his face, leaned back in his chair, appearing to be sleeping during public comment. Williams voted against the mask mandate for the city. Mayor Joe Coviello released the following statement about the incident: “I expect council members to act in a professional and responsible manner, it’s extremely concerning for a member of council to act with such disregard and disrespect towards the people he represents. It’s now up to Councilmember Williams to explain his action to the Mayor, fellow Councilmember’s and his Constituents. WBBH reached out to Councilman Williams for comment and have not received a response yet.

READ MORE at THE FLORIDIAN

President Donald Trump @realDonaldTrump- Death Rate from Coronavirus is down tenfold!

Adam Schiff @RepAdamSchiff -Trump welcomed Russia’s election help in 2016. He tried to coerce Ukraine’s help in 2019. And he begged China for it this year.

Requiring campaigns to disclose foreign offers of campaign assistance is common sense, even if not in the Senate.

Americans decide American elections.

The post JUICE - Florida Politics' Juicy Read - 7.8.20 - DeSantis Blamed For COVID Spike - Anti-Semitism, COVID, And Florida - Miami-Dade Shuts Down, Again... appeared first on The Floridian.