"US President Donald Trump is not the only leader on the world stage to have contracted coronavirus… His positive test, announced in the early hours of Friday, puts him in the company of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin." I think he was starting to feel left out. Also, not that I don't trust the president, but I'd like to see an official report.
Because it comes one day after this… "First Lady Melania Trump was secretly recorded in the summer of 2018 expressing her frustration at being criticized for her husband's policy of separating families who illegally crossed the southern border while at the same time needing to perform traditional first lady duties, such as preparing for Christmas… 'I'm working ... my a** off on the Christmas stuff, that you know, who gives a f*** about the Christmas stuff and decorations? But I need to do it, right?'"
"Trump is 74, an age that makes him more vulnerable to the virus. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told reporters Friday that the president has 'mild symptoms.'" Kremlinology here we come. In keeping with my "don't wish this on my worst enemy" stance, I hope the Trumps recover quickly.
"People along the east coast of the United States should get a great opportunity to see a rocket launch from their own backyards tonight… Weather permitting, observers from Massachusetts to the Carolinas could see an International Space Station-bound Cygnus spacecraft launch atop a two-stage Antares rocket tonight (Oct. 1) ,(editors note, the lift-off has been delayed to Oct 2 at 9:16pm) blasting off from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia."
"United Launch Alliance has been attempting to launch a spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office, valued at more than $1 billion, for quite a while now. On Tuesday evening, just hours before the company's latest attempt to launch the large Delta IV Heavy booster, the mission was scrubbed again… The weather at the launch site was far from optimal, but the mission was delayed due to a technical problem with the launch pad. What is notable is that this is now the third issue that the company, ULA, has experienced with its ground systems equipment at Space Launch Complex-37 in Cape Canaveral, Florida for this flight."
"With an uncountable number of stars in the Universe, you'd think their explosive deaths would be fairly common. However, rarely do we get to see the spectacular way these supernova events unfold in the visible spectrum - but that's exactly the treat the Hubble Space Telescope has given us today."
"Dry, windy weather threatened to propel the Glass Fire on a destructive path through the heart of California’s famed Wine Country on Thursday, as new evacuation orders were issued and worried firefighters on the front lines did all they could to keep the huge blaze at bay."
"High fever, body aches, headaches and exhaustion are some of the symptoms participants in Moderna and Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine trials say they felt after receiving the shots."
"Even as the novel coronavirus pandemic ravages humanity — the death toll currently stands at more than 1 million deaths worldwide out of nearly 34 million confirmed cases — there is some surprising good news about a more common type of disease: Influenza. As Scientific American reported on Wednesday, flu season has been close to nonexistent in the Southern Hemisphere this year, though it would normally have taken off around March. That means thousands of lives or more have been spared by the flu virus, which normally kills 100,000 to 500,000 people a year."
"The world's second biggest fashion retailer, Sweden's H&M, says it plans to cut 250 of its stores globally… The closures will come next year after the firm said the Covid-19 pandemic had moved more shoppers online."
"Oscar-winning film directors James Cameron, Clint Eastwood and Martin Scorsese joined forces with movie theater owners on Wednesday… In a letter to the leaders of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, they said the coronavirus pandemic had dealt a devastating blow to movie theaters and that without funds 'theaters may not survive the impact of the pandemic.'"
"Prosecutors charged a 36-year-old man Wednesday with a brazen ambush of two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies earlier this month, an apparently unprovoked shooting as they sat in a squad car outside a rail station."
"First-time claims for unemployment insurance totaled 837,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday as the jobs market continues its plodding recovery from the coronavirus pandemic… Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting 850,000. The weekly total represented a decline of 36,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised 870,000, according to seasonally adjusted numbers." Best economy ever my ass.
"Job growth slowed sharply in September, as U.S. employers added just 661,000 new workers… The report from the Labor Department is the last snapshot of the job market before the November election… Unemployment in September dipped to 7.9%, from 8.4% in August. The drop was driven primarily by people leaving the workforce — especially women. As a new school year began with many students still home, women left the workforce in September at four times the rate that men did."
"United Airlines and American Airlines have sent furlough notices to a total of more than 32,000 employees, saying they can't afford to have them on payroll after Thursday – the expiration date for the federal CARES Act Payroll Support Program." I would say this is a pressure technique to get Congress to approve more aid, but unless that aid is tied to keeping jobs I have a feeling the airline industry will lay these people off anyway.
"In normal times, a 9.7% drop in auto sales would cause executives to sweat profusely. These are not normal times… Instead, the industry sees some good things in the decline of U.S. new vehicle sales in the third quarter. Prices are up, inventories are low, and those who are in the market are buying more expensive vehicles."
Fact checking… "Donald Trump’s dubious statement about presiding over 'the greatest economy' in history." False.
"House Democrats narrowly passed their own $2.2 trillion stimulus bill on Thursday night despite ongoing negotiations with Republicans and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin… The legislation, dubbed the HEROES Act 2.0, is a trimmed-down version of the roughly $3 trillion HEROES Act passed in May. At the time, Republicans blocked the legislation—which they called a 'wish list'—due to its high price tag."
How goes Brexit? "The European Union is ready for every type of Brexit, including granting no further EU access to Britain’s financial sector, the bloc’s candidate for financial services chief said in a document seen by Reuters." That's gonna hurt.
"British and EU trade negotiators have failed to close the gap on state aid, a key element barring their new agreement on post-Brexit trade ties, officials and diplomatic sources with the bloc said as 27 national leaders gather in Brussels on Thursday." Hard Brexit here we come.
"States led by officials supportive of abortion rights are preparing for a world without Roe v. Wade. If the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide is overturned by an increasingly conservative Supreme Court, regulation of abortion would fall to state lawmakers."
"A federal judge ruled on Thursday that Attorney General William Barr had violated the law in how he chose the members of a law enforcement group commissioned by President Donald Trump to investigate and make recommendations on the state of the criminal justice system… US District Judge John Bates has ordered the Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice to 'not hold further meetings, sessions, or hearings, or conduct any official business' or 'submit, accept, publish, employ, or rely upon any report or recommendations' until it has met the standards of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, according to the order."
"A judge has ruled that the Trump administration can move forward with its lawsuit against former national security adviser John Bolton over that his tell-all book, which officials say contains classified information."
"Trump deflected, but when Wallace and Biden prompted him to denounce the Proud Boys — a far-right fraternal organization known for enacting political violence — the president instructed the group members to 'stand back and stand by.'… The fiasco raises a question the press has been grappling with for the better part of four years: how does one report on a moment like that responsibly? Bob speaks with Dr. Joan Donovan, Research Director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University, about how the press can cover the president's remarks without amplifying far-right ideologies." On the Media podcast exploring the Proud Boys.
"Brad Parscale, a senior adviser to Donald Trump’s campaign who was involuntarily detained by police this weekend, said he is stepping away from the reelection effort and seeking help for what he called 'overwhelming stress' on him and his family… In a statement provided to POLITICO on Wednesday, Parscale’s wife, Candice, also denied that Parscale physically abused her, despite a police report in which said she told authorities the contrary." Withdrawing comments about abuse is typical behavior for an abusive relationship. I'm sure she just trips and falls into door a lot.
"President Donald Trump condemned 'all White supremacists' Thursday evening after pointedly refusing to do so at Tuesday's presidential debate and in the days since… 'I condemn the KKK, I condemn all White supremacists, I condemn the Proud Boys. I don't know much about the Proud Boys, almost nothing, but I condemn that,' Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity, before he again appeared to equate violence by far-left groups with White supremacists, who his own FBI director says are the largest top domestic terror concern." That only took (looks at watch) way too fucking long.
"Philadelphia police are investigating the theft of an employee's laptop and encrypted USB flash drives from an election machine warehouse, the Philadelphia City Commissioner's office confirmed Wednesday. Officials said the stolen laptop did not contain any election materials and wasn't capable of programming any of the city's election machines." More noise for the "election results were rigged" argument.
"Prior to the first Presidential debate, a baseless conspiracy theory inundated many Americans. The Trump campaign, Fox News, and a slew of Trump-supporting Facebook pages all fueled speculation that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden might wear a secret earpiece to assist him in his debate against President Trump."
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