"An icebreaker carrying scientists on a year-long international effort to study the high Arctic has returned to its home port in Germany carrying a wealth of data that will help researchers better predict climate change in the decades to come."
"More than half of US states are seeing an increase in new Covid-19 cases, with five states -- Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Tennessee and Vermont -- reporting a jump of more than 50% in one week."
"In response to the virus' resurgence, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce in Parliament on Monday a three-tier local lockdown system, formally known as "Local COVID Alert Levels," for England, his office said." No color coding? Am disappoint.
In other news, things don't seem to be going well in the UK regarding COVID.
"The virus responsible for Covid-19 can remain infectious on surfaces such as banknotes, phone screens and stainless steel for 28 days, researchers say… The findings from Australia's national science agency suggest SARS-Cov-2 can survive for far longer than thought… However, the experiment was conducted in the dark. UV light has already been shown to kill the virus." Wash. Your. Hands.
"They’re not cures and it’s not likely that everyone will be able to get them as President Donald Trump has suggested. But experimental antibody drugs like the one Trump was given are among the most promising therapies being tested for treating and preventing coronavirus infections."
"He's not alone in taking such precautions against the virus. Lincoln County has one of the nation's highest asbestos mortality rates. At least 400 people have died from asbestos-related diseases, which can include asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer. At least 1 in 10 people in Libby have an asbestos-related illness, according to Miles Miller, a physician assistant at the Center for Asbestos Related Disease… 'Our patients having an underlying lung disease would make recovery from COVID-19 more difficult,' Miller says."
"This catastrophic collapse was one of the country’s most consequential failures to control the virus. And it wasn’t unexpected: For decades, politicians and corporate officials ignored warnings about the risks associated with America’s overdependence on foreign manufacturing, and a lack of adequate preparation at home, the AP and 'FRONTLINE' found." And the problems still aren't resolved.
"A leader of protests against new coronavirus restrictions in Brooklyn has been arrested on charges of inciting people to riot and unlawful imprisonment of a journalist who was chased and trapped by a crowd, police said."
"A security guard hired to protect a Denver television news crew covering opposing rallies of right-wing and left-wing political activists is being held in custody on suspicion of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a protester, police said on Sunday."
"Protesters took to Portland's streets on Sunday night to take down statues of former presidents in what they described as an 'Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage.'… The activists tore down statues of Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln and some protesters smashed windows at the Oregon Historical Society."
"Michigan law enforcement is on high alert after the FBI revealed an alleged plot by extremist groups to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also involved a 'plan to target and kill police.'… 'We're cautious. We're absolutely more careful,' said First Lt. Mike Shaw of the Michigan State Police. 'This is one of the tactics these anti-government, domestic terrorism groups use. Law enforcement is the face of the government. if you're mad at the government, you're mad at the police.'" Hey, I've got an idea, how about not supporting them and giving them a pass like many police have done (like they dud with Kyle Rittenhouse).
"Despite polls showing long-standing approval of Whitmer's handling of the coronavirus, she faced loathsome criticism at protests like these staged by conservative political groups and tacitly supported by Republicans in the state Legislature."
How goes Brexit? "This county, Kent, voted by 60%-40% to leave the EU in Britain’s 2016 referendum, but Swandale said visions of truck stops and customs depots were not uppermost in their minds."
"President Donald Trump’s proclamation Friday commemorating Columbus Day veered from a typical White House holiday announcement, with stark warnings of 'radical activists' seeking to tarnish the explorer’s legacy."
"It’s official. Every time residents of Danbury, Connecticut, flush, they will be sending their special deliveries to the John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant."
"We heard a lot from people who shared this worry the U.S. flag has been weaponized, deliberately redefined as a more conservative symbol owned by some Americans more than others." Symbols evolve, their meaning changes over time. And how we (as US citizens) feel about our flag is complex, and infused with a little bit of idolatry.
"The former Vice Chairman of the Postal Board of Governors testified Thursday that the Trump administration has been "politicizing" the Postal Service and using Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to inappropriately influence the organization for political ends that will eventually harm the customers and businesses the Postal Service is supposed to serve."
"In a candidate forum with the South Carolina Senate race contenders, Senator Lindsey Graham has said he did not believe there was systemic racism in his state, insisting young black people would be safe, 'as long as they're conservative.'" I'm sure it sounded better in his head.
"A New York Times analysis of tax records showed that more than 200 companies, special-interest groups and foreign governments have funneled millions of dollars to President Trump’s properties while reaping benefits from the president and his administration." The swamp in all it's hoary glory.
"It’s easy to dismiss these flubs as minor communications errors, but communicating with the public is one of the most important things White Houses do. And this one has made such a hash of things that it has compounded the very real substantive problems confronting an administration that has more of its fair share of those as well."
"President Donald Trump takes his Covid denial tour back to the campaign trail Monday as the tense final stretch of an election now three weeks away gets a fresh jolt with Senate hearings on his Supreme Court pick Amy Coney Barrett… Trump, who announced Sunday, without providing evidence, that he has tested "totally negative" after his bout with the virus, plans to hold his first rally since his diagnosis was publicly disclosed, in Florida, in what risks turning into yet another super spreader event."
"A stack of hay bales on a western Massachusetts farm that were painted to show support for the Democratic presidential ticket went up in flames, and one man has been arrested in connection with the blaze, authorities said."
"McLaughlin concluded his presentation with a dire warning: If campaigns didn’t improve their digital fundraising dramatically, they’d have no way to counter a 'green tsunami' of Democratic spending in the fall, according to three people familiar with the meeting… Six months later, the green tsunami is here. And it’s threatening to wipe out the Republican Senate majority." Money doesn't win elections, votes do. Money can get your message out there, but it won't work if that message is a dud to begin with.
"Top US government scientist Anthony Fauci has said a clip of him used in a Trump campaign advert is misleading… His words that he 'can't imagine that anybody could be doing more' to fight Covid-19 appear in the ad to refer to President Donald Trump specifically… But Dr Fauci, who clashed with Mr Trump before on Covid, was actually talking about himself and other staff."
"Dueling town hall events, with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on ABC and President Donald Trump on NBC, may be on the air this Thursday, since the town hall-style debate between the two men is off… As with almost everything involving Trump, though, his plans are subject to change."
"As the presidential election looms, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, tells NPR's Morning Edition that the military plays no role in politics, and that he has complete trust in America's institutions to manage election disputes… 'We have established a very long 240-year tradition of an apolitical military that does not get involved in domestic politics,' Milley told NPR's Steve Inskeep on Sunday." And for very good reasons.
Monday, October 12, 2020
Friday, October 9, 2020
Linkee-poo Friday Oct 9
"The FBI says it thwarted what it described as a plot to violently overthrow the government and kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and federal prosecutors are expected to discuss the alleged conspiracy later Thursday… The alleged plot involved reaching out to members of a Michigan militia, according to a federal affidavit filed Thursday."
"Thirteen people were charged Thursday in an alleged domestic terrorism plot to kidnap Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, federal and state officials announced… The alleged scheme included plans to overthrow several state governments that the suspects "believe are violating the US Constitution," including the government of Michigan and Whitmer, according to a federal criminal complaint." And then the president and the White House blamed Gov. Whitmer of "sowing division."
"The Wolverine Watchmen, the Michigan group accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and others, is one of an estimated two to three dozen armed Michigan groups that some fear could pose a growing threat."
"Hurricane Delta started hitting parts of Louisiana and Texas early Friday as the National Hurricane Center warned that preparations should be rushed to completion… The coast is expected to see tropical-storm force winds in the next few hours. When they do, it will be dangerous to make preparations for the Category 3 storm – or impossible to complete them, said forecasters. "
"This year's Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the World Food Programme (WFP) for its 'efforts to combat hunger' and its 'contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas.'"
"In just a few days, NASA is going to bounce its probe OSIRIS-REx off asteroid Bennu. The mission will collect a sample from the asteroid, and return it to Earth for closer study - one of the first missions of its kind."
"The US is averaging more than 45,000 new Covid-19 positive tests each day -- up 8% from the previous week and more than double what the country was seeing in June, as lockdown restrictions were easing."
"Top congressional Democrats condemned President Donald Trump on Thursday after the commander in chief suggested that he might have contracted Covid-19 from Gold Star family members who were too close to him when telling stories of their loved ones who died in the line of duty." I'm sure he couldn't have contracted it from the numerous people in his circle who have previously tested positive.
"The National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirms dead mink at a Taylor County mink farm have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection, the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans. Kevin Hoffman, Public Information Officer, Division of Animal Health tells NewsChannel 7, nine mink initially tested positive for the virus, however, several hundred have died."
"The US president’s actions have exacerbated the pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 people in the United States, rolled back environmental and public-health regulations and undermined science and scientific institutions. Some of the harm could be permanent."
"In March, as it rapidly became clear that the coronavirus pandemic would upend our lives, the U.S. Department of Education offered student loan borrowers a break from their monthly payments… Less than 11% of people with federal student loans are repaying them during the pandemic, according to data analyzed by higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz. That means about 4.6 million out of 42 million borrowers are continuing to pay down their debt." It's what's called a "debt bomb."
"President Donald Trump, in a head-spinning reversal, has told allies he's interested in a large-scale stimulus deal, according to a person with direct knowledge of his comments… But for Trump, who faced dropping markets and criticism from within his own party for his decision to abruptly end talks earlier this week, it marks another turn in the long-shot negotiations."
"Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict draws in fighters from Mideast."
"A fire pushed up a high-rise apartment building by strong winds in a South Korean port city left scores of people with mostly minor injuries, officials said Friday. Early footage from the scene in Ulsan showed a huge ball of orange flame soaring up the 33-floor building and shooting through the roof as crews tried to put it out from below."
"The Trump administration sued Yale University on Thursday, accusing the school of violating federal civil rights law by discriminating against applicants based on their race… The Justice Department lawsuit is the most drastic action the Trump administration has taken to combat the use of race in university admissions, a practice that has repeatedly been upheld by the Supreme Court. But race-based affirmative action is considered vulnerable under the conservative majority on the high court, which would expand further if the Senate confirms President Donald Trump’s nominee, Amy Coney Barrett." I've lost count of how many times they've sued over this and lost.
"The U.S. Supreme Court has refused, for now, to reimpose FDA regulations that require women seeking medication abortion to pick up the prescribed pills in person at a clinic instead of by mail… The court's decision came Thursday night on a 6-to-2 vote that rejected an emergency appeal from the Trump administration."
"Trump continued to careen from topic to topic on Sean Hannity's show, promoting conspiracy theories, peddling falsehoods, and launching attacks on Democrats and the media during a roughly 25 minute conversation. But it was arguably the President's health that took center stage. During the interview, Hannity twice asked Trump if he had been tested for the coronavirus since he became ill last week. It was a question that the President apparently couldn't answer… It wasn't just Trump's comments on his health that drew attention. It was what the audience could hear at home. At least twice during the interview, Trump had to pause his sentences and audibly clear his throat and cough."
"President Donald Trump's increasing political desperation is raising concerns about his judgment following his aggressive Covid-19 treatment and as suspicion mounts that the White House is not telling the truth about his health… In a day of chaos Thursday, Trump repeatedly shifted his position on a new plan for a virtual second presidential debate and suddenly decided to back negotiations over a coronavirus economic rescue package he had killed off earlier in the week. His actions suggested a campaign in disarray as he trails Democratic nominee Joe Biden by double digits only 26 days from Election Day."
"Stepien also suggested that the CPD's choice to make the debate virtual was part of a conspiracy against Trump, insisting they 'must stop protecting Joe Biden from this in-person debate.' He claimed that 'the American people can see through this obvious attempt to shield Biden from another shellacking like he got two weeks ago in Cleveland.'"
"President Trump berated his own cabinet officers on Thursday for not prosecuting or implicating his political enemies, lashing out even as he announced that he hoped to return to the campaign trail on Saturday just nine days after he tested positive for the coronavirus." In authoritarian regimes, eventually everyone is on the outs.
"A federal appeals court reinstated the fraud conviction of Hunter Biden’s former business partner on Wednesday, reversing a lower court judge who had granted his request for a retrial… Hunter Biden was not implicated in the scheme, which defrauded the Oglala Sioux Indian tribe out of the proceeds of bond sales. But the scheme was committed under the auspices of a broader business venture in which Hunter Biden was involved, and the perpetrators invoked his name to bolster their legitimacy, according to testimony and a consultant’s slide presentation presented at trial. A lawyer for Hunter Biden has said his name was invoked without his knowledge and that he cut ties with the perpetrators when he learned of their misconduct."
"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., plans to introduce legislation Friday that would create a 'Commission on Presidential Capacity,' which would be involved in presidential transfer of power procedures under the 25th Amendment… The legislation would create the commission 'to help ensure effective and uninterrupted leadership in the highest office in the Executive Branch of government,' Pelosi's office said in a news release."
"Thirteen people were charged Thursday in an alleged domestic terrorism plot to kidnap Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, federal and state officials announced… The alleged scheme included plans to overthrow several state governments that the suspects "believe are violating the US Constitution," including the government of Michigan and Whitmer, according to a federal criminal complaint." And then the president and the White House blamed Gov. Whitmer of "sowing division."
"The Wolverine Watchmen, the Michigan group accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and others, is one of an estimated two to three dozen armed Michigan groups that some fear could pose a growing threat."
"Hurricane Delta started hitting parts of Louisiana and Texas early Friday as the National Hurricane Center warned that preparations should be rushed to completion… The coast is expected to see tropical-storm force winds in the next few hours. When they do, it will be dangerous to make preparations for the Category 3 storm – or impossible to complete them, said forecasters. "
"This year's Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the World Food Programme (WFP) for its 'efforts to combat hunger' and its 'contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas.'"
"In just a few days, NASA is going to bounce its probe OSIRIS-REx off asteroid Bennu. The mission will collect a sample from the asteroid, and return it to Earth for closer study - one of the first missions of its kind."
"The US is averaging more than 45,000 new Covid-19 positive tests each day -- up 8% from the previous week and more than double what the country was seeing in June, as lockdown restrictions were easing."
"Top congressional Democrats condemned President Donald Trump on Thursday after the commander in chief suggested that he might have contracted Covid-19 from Gold Star family members who were too close to him when telling stories of their loved ones who died in the line of duty." I'm sure he couldn't have contracted it from the numerous people in his circle who have previously tested positive.
"The National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirms dead mink at a Taylor County mink farm have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection, the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans. Kevin Hoffman, Public Information Officer, Division of Animal Health tells NewsChannel 7, nine mink initially tested positive for the virus, however, several hundred have died."
"The US president’s actions have exacerbated the pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 people in the United States, rolled back environmental and public-health regulations and undermined science and scientific institutions. Some of the harm could be permanent."
"In March, as it rapidly became clear that the coronavirus pandemic would upend our lives, the U.S. Department of Education offered student loan borrowers a break from their monthly payments… Less than 11% of people with federal student loans are repaying them during the pandemic, according to data analyzed by higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz. That means about 4.6 million out of 42 million borrowers are continuing to pay down their debt." It's what's called a "debt bomb."
"President Donald Trump, in a head-spinning reversal, has told allies he's interested in a large-scale stimulus deal, according to a person with direct knowledge of his comments… But for Trump, who faced dropping markets and criticism from within his own party for his decision to abruptly end talks earlier this week, it marks another turn in the long-shot negotiations."
"Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict draws in fighters from Mideast."
"A fire pushed up a high-rise apartment building by strong winds in a South Korean port city left scores of people with mostly minor injuries, officials said Friday. Early footage from the scene in Ulsan showed a huge ball of orange flame soaring up the 33-floor building and shooting through the roof as crews tried to put it out from below."
"The Trump administration sued Yale University on Thursday, accusing the school of violating federal civil rights law by discriminating against applicants based on their race… The Justice Department lawsuit is the most drastic action the Trump administration has taken to combat the use of race in university admissions, a practice that has repeatedly been upheld by the Supreme Court. But race-based affirmative action is considered vulnerable under the conservative majority on the high court, which would expand further if the Senate confirms President Donald Trump’s nominee, Amy Coney Barrett." I've lost count of how many times they've sued over this and lost.
"The U.S. Supreme Court has refused, for now, to reimpose FDA regulations that require women seeking medication abortion to pick up the prescribed pills in person at a clinic instead of by mail… The court's decision came Thursday night on a 6-to-2 vote that rejected an emergency appeal from the Trump administration."
"Trump continued to careen from topic to topic on Sean Hannity's show, promoting conspiracy theories, peddling falsehoods, and launching attacks on Democrats and the media during a roughly 25 minute conversation. But it was arguably the President's health that took center stage. During the interview, Hannity twice asked Trump if he had been tested for the coronavirus since he became ill last week. It was a question that the President apparently couldn't answer… It wasn't just Trump's comments on his health that drew attention. It was what the audience could hear at home. At least twice during the interview, Trump had to pause his sentences and audibly clear his throat and cough."
"President Donald Trump's increasing political desperation is raising concerns about his judgment following his aggressive Covid-19 treatment and as suspicion mounts that the White House is not telling the truth about his health… In a day of chaos Thursday, Trump repeatedly shifted his position on a new plan for a virtual second presidential debate and suddenly decided to back negotiations over a coronavirus economic rescue package he had killed off earlier in the week. His actions suggested a campaign in disarray as he trails Democratic nominee Joe Biden by double digits only 26 days from Election Day."
"Stepien also suggested that the CPD's choice to make the debate virtual was part of a conspiracy against Trump, insisting they 'must stop protecting Joe Biden from this in-person debate.' He claimed that 'the American people can see through this obvious attempt to shield Biden from another shellacking like he got two weeks ago in Cleveland.'"
"President Trump berated his own cabinet officers on Thursday for not prosecuting or implicating his political enemies, lashing out even as he announced that he hoped to return to the campaign trail on Saturday just nine days after he tested positive for the coronavirus." In authoritarian regimes, eventually everyone is on the outs.
"A federal appeals court reinstated the fraud conviction of Hunter Biden’s former business partner on Wednesday, reversing a lower court judge who had granted his request for a retrial… Hunter Biden was not implicated in the scheme, which defrauded the Oglala Sioux Indian tribe out of the proceeds of bond sales. But the scheme was committed under the auspices of a broader business venture in which Hunter Biden was involved, and the perpetrators invoked his name to bolster their legitimacy, according to testimony and a consultant’s slide presentation presented at trial. A lawyer for Hunter Biden has said his name was invoked without his knowledge and that he cut ties with the perpetrators when he learned of their misconduct."
"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., plans to introduce legislation Friday that would create a 'Commission on Presidential Capacity,' which would be involved in presidential transfer of power procedures under the 25th Amendment… The legislation would create the commission 'to help ensure effective and uninterrupted leadership in the highest office in the Executive Branch of government,' Pelosi's office said in a news release."
Thursday, October 8, 2020
Linkee-poo Thursday Oct 8
"Hurricane Delta has strengthened back into a Category 2 as it heads for a Friday landfall on the Gulf Coast with storm surge flooding, damaging winds and rainfall flooding from Louisiana and east Texas to Mississippi."
"The 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature has been given to the U.S. poet Louise Glück for what the Swedish Academy calls 'her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal.'"
"Pruitt’s successor, Andrew Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist, told Congress in February that the EPA had 'cleaned up more Superfund sites in the last three years than the Obama administration did in their first term.'… But an investigation by InsideClimate News, the Texas Observer and NBC News, based on interviews with more than 50 experts inside and outside of government and a review of thousands of pages of EPA records, found that virtually all of those cleanups had begun decades earlier."
"The researchers found that the coronavirus can live on the skin for a 'significantly longer' amount of time than the flu. Specifically, SARS-CoV-2 lived on skin for more than nine hours, while the influenza A virus lived on skin for less than two hours." Wash your hands, people.
"So what’s the difference between the virus spreading through respiratory droplets and being airborne? It comes down to the size of the droplets and how they travel." Wear a mask. Also we still don't have enough masks (especially N95s).
"Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious diseases expert, emphasized the dangers of Covid-19 on Tuesday, contradicting President Donald Trump's false claim that the coronavirus was only as deadly as the flu… People infected with Covid-19 do display 'flu-like' symptoms, Fauci said Tuesday in an interview with NBC News' Kate Snow. But the damage the coronavirus can do 'is very much different from influenza.'"
"Regeneron says it has applied to the US Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization for its experimental monoclonal antibody therapy, the same antibody cocktail given to President Donald Trump Friday after he was diagnosed with the virus."
"There’s evidence that reinfection is unlikely for at least three months even for people who had a mild case of COVID-19. That’s how long New York City researchers found stable levels of protective antibodies in a study of nearly 20,000 patients of the Mount Sinai Health System."
"President Trump has credited the apparent improvement of his coronavirus infection to, as he put it in one tweet, 'some really great drugs' that were 'developed, under the Trump Administration.'… Yet in April the National Institutes of Health abruptly terminated funding for the China bat research project with no clear explanation. In the weeks earlier, Trump administration officials had been pushing a largely discredited theory that the Chinese lab that EcoHealth Alliance was partnered with – the Wuhan Institute of Virology – had accidentally released the virus causing COVID-19." Trump's constant beating of the drum about what was done under his presidency (which almost all turn out to be the conclusion of projects started under Obama or Bush) reminds me of Chekov's schtick about how everything was invented in Russia (which was a Cold War joke).
"A grand jury indicted Mark and Patricia McCloskey Tuesday on charges of exhibiting guns at protesters in a June incident in their neighborhood and added a charge of tampering with evidence for both members of the couple."
"First-time claims for unemployment benefits totaled 840,000 last week, higher than expected in another sign that the spike in job growth over the summer has cooled heading into Election Day… Though the total was a bit worse than Wall Street expected, it still represented a modest decline from the upwardly revised 849,000 from a week earlier. It also was the lowest level of claims since the virus-induced shutdown in mid-March."
"Two years ago, about 12% of American households reported they didn't have enough food. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, that number has nearly doubled. It's even more severe for Black and Hispanic families… Experts say the problem of food insecurity in America needs longer-term solutions. Erthain Cousin, former U.S. Ambassador to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, tells NPR's Michel Martin the country needs to think bigger than food banks and start investing in businesses that can improve nutrition in low-income communities." An audio story.
"President Donald Trump said Thursday that stimulus negotiators are 'starting to have some very productive talks,' days after his stunning decision to halt deliberations with top Democrats."
"President Trump called for another round of coronavirus stimulus checks to Americans after calling off stimulus negotiations with Democrats on Tuesday afternoon."
"After a rocky, short-lived tenure at the National Institutes of Health, a former top federal scientist who clashed with the Trump administration in the early days of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak has stepped down from his post over what he said were continued efforts to thwart his work on the nation's pandemic response."
"The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to allow counting for the 2020 census to end soon… In an emergency request on Wednesday, Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall said that the Census Bureau must immediately wrap up its field operations, now that it's passed the bureau's internal target date of Oct. 5, in order to have a chance of meeting the legal deadline for delivering the first set of census results to President Trump by year's end."
"That brazen ruling in Michigan previews where the U.S. Supreme Court might take the country, especially with the breathing room that a 6–3 conservative supermajority would create. Although the news media have mostly focused on what a Justice Amy Coney Barrett would mean for abortion and gun rights, her confirmation may pose a more fundamental threat to good governance. The United States Supreme Court, like the Michigan Supreme Court, may become an even more stridently partisan instrument than it already is, one that by design will frustrate Democratic efforts to govern." Well, that was the plan when the GOP set up the Federalist Society, wasn't it?
"A Pro-Trump militant group has recruited thousands of police, soldiers, and veterans. An Atlantic investigation reveals who they are and what they might do on Election Day."
"A federal judge in California has ordered that Twitter reveal the identity of an anonymous user who allegedly fabricated an FBI document to spread a conspiracy theory about the killing of Seth Rich, the Democratic National Committee staffer who died in 2016."
"President Donald Trump required personnel at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to sign nondisclosure agreements last year before they could be involved with treating him, according to four people familiar with the process… The four people familiar with the process did not know whether, during the president's most recent visit over the weekend, he had the same requirement for Walter Reed staff members who had not previously been involved in his care."
"President Trump said Thursday that he’s not contagious 'at all' days after he was discharged from the hospital after a brief stay to treat him for Covid-19." And yet people coming near to him must don full PPE (N95, gown, gloves, eye protection).
"President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that he might have contracted Covid-19 from Gold Star family members who were too close to him when telling stories of their loved ones who died in the line of duty."
"A Postal Service mail carrier in New Jersey was arrested Wednesday for allegedly discarding mail, including 99 general election ballots… The discarded ballots were addressed to residents of West Orange, N.J., U.S. Attorney Craig Carpentino said."
"Liban Osman is featured prominently in a video released last week by the conservative media operation Project Veritas claiming there is 'massive voter fraud' in Minnesota orchestrated by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar… In his first interview, Liban Osman tells the FOX 9 Investigators he was offered $10,000 by community activist Omar Jamal to say he was collecting ballots for Congresswoman Ilhan Omar." Project Veritas lie? Shocked, shocked I am…
"Be the eyes and ears of the Trump campaign. Be vigilant. Don't assume the worst in people. And be courteous -- even to Democrats… Those are just some of the instructions the Trump campaign is giving to the tens of thousands of poll watchers it's preparing to deploy across the country as part of a nationwide effort on Election Day, according to training videos the campaign has posted in 17 states that were reviewed by CNN."
Sen. Mike Lee is saying the quiet part out loud. "Lee is articulating a view that has long been in vogue on the American right but which Republican politicians were generally hesitant to express openly. The premise is that liberty is a higher value than democracy, and they define liberty to mean a right to property that precludes redistribution. That is to say, the far right does not merely view progressive taxation, regulation and the welfare state as impediments to growth, but as fundamentally oppressive. A political system that truly secured freedom would not allow the majority to gang up on the minority and redistribute their income for themselves." And then there was his tweet this from late last night… "Democracy isn’t the objective; liberty, peace, and prospefity (SIC) are. We want the human condition to flourish. Rank democracy can thwart that."
"President Donald Trump said his coronavirus infection was a 'blessing from God' because it educated him about potential drugs to treat the disease in a video meant to demonstrate his return to work after several days in the hospital." He then went on to say that politics is delaying the vaccine. The crazy intensifies. Also, this tidbit which I thought about when his doctor released the statement, "Trump's labs, he said, 'demonstrated detectable levels of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies from labs drawn Monday.'… Regeneron, the company that makes the experimental antibody treatment given to Trump on Friday, said the test likely showed evidence of the treatment, not Trump's own immune response."
"Just a reminder that before Trump’s COVID diagnosis…" A twitter thread on the number of things that happened just before Trump contracted COVID.
"The 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature has been given to the U.S. poet Louise Glück for what the Swedish Academy calls 'her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal.'"
"Pruitt’s successor, Andrew Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist, told Congress in February that the EPA had 'cleaned up more Superfund sites in the last three years than the Obama administration did in their first term.'… But an investigation by InsideClimate News, the Texas Observer and NBC News, based on interviews with more than 50 experts inside and outside of government and a review of thousands of pages of EPA records, found that virtually all of those cleanups had begun decades earlier."
"The researchers found that the coronavirus can live on the skin for a 'significantly longer' amount of time than the flu. Specifically, SARS-CoV-2 lived on skin for more than nine hours, while the influenza A virus lived on skin for less than two hours." Wash your hands, people.
"So what’s the difference between the virus spreading through respiratory droplets and being airborne? It comes down to the size of the droplets and how they travel." Wear a mask. Also we still don't have enough masks (especially N95s).
"Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious diseases expert, emphasized the dangers of Covid-19 on Tuesday, contradicting President Donald Trump's false claim that the coronavirus was only as deadly as the flu… People infected with Covid-19 do display 'flu-like' symptoms, Fauci said Tuesday in an interview with NBC News' Kate Snow. But the damage the coronavirus can do 'is very much different from influenza.'"
"Regeneron says it has applied to the US Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization for its experimental monoclonal antibody therapy, the same antibody cocktail given to President Donald Trump Friday after he was diagnosed with the virus."
"There’s evidence that reinfection is unlikely for at least three months even for people who had a mild case of COVID-19. That’s how long New York City researchers found stable levels of protective antibodies in a study of nearly 20,000 patients of the Mount Sinai Health System."
"President Trump has credited the apparent improvement of his coronavirus infection to, as he put it in one tweet, 'some really great drugs' that were 'developed, under the Trump Administration.'… Yet in April the National Institutes of Health abruptly terminated funding for the China bat research project with no clear explanation. In the weeks earlier, Trump administration officials had been pushing a largely discredited theory that the Chinese lab that EcoHealth Alliance was partnered with – the Wuhan Institute of Virology – had accidentally released the virus causing COVID-19." Trump's constant beating of the drum about what was done under his presidency (which almost all turn out to be the conclusion of projects started under Obama or Bush) reminds me of Chekov's schtick about how everything was invented in Russia (which was a Cold War joke).
"A grand jury indicted Mark and Patricia McCloskey Tuesday on charges of exhibiting guns at protesters in a June incident in their neighborhood and added a charge of tampering with evidence for both members of the couple."
"First-time claims for unemployment benefits totaled 840,000 last week, higher than expected in another sign that the spike in job growth over the summer has cooled heading into Election Day… Though the total was a bit worse than Wall Street expected, it still represented a modest decline from the upwardly revised 849,000 from a week earlier. It also was the lowest level of claims since the virus-induced shutdown in mid-March."
"Two years ago, about 12% of American households reported they didn't have enough food. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, that number has nearly doubled. It's even more severe for Black and Hispanic families… Experts say the problem of food insecurity in America needs longer-term solutions. Erthain Cousin, former U.S. Ambassador to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, tells NPR's Michel Martin the country needs to think bigger than food banks and start investing in businesses that can improve nutrition in low-income communities." An audio story.
"President Donald Trump said Thursday that stimulus negotiators are 'starting to have some very productive talks,' days after his stunning decision to halt deliberations with top Democrats."
"President Trump called for another round of coronavirus stimulus checks to Americans after calling off stimulus negotiations with Democrats on Tuesday afternoon."
"After a rocky, short-lived tenure at the National Institutes of Health, a former top federal scientist who clashed with the Trump administration in the early days of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak has stepped down from his post over what he said were continued efforts to thwart his work on the nation's pandemic response."
"The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to allow counting for the 2020 census to end soon… In an emergency request on Wednesday, Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall said that the Census Bureau must immediately wrap up its field operations, now that it's passed the bureau's internal target date of Oct. 5, in order to have a chance of meeting the legal deadline for delivering the first set of census results to President Trump by year's end."
"That brazen ruling in Michigan previews where the U.S. Supreme Court might take the country, especially with the breathing room that a 6–3 conservative supermajority would create. Although the news media have mostly focused on what a Justice Amy Coney Barrett would mean for abortion and gun rights, her confirmation may pose a more fundamental threat to good governance. The United States Supreme Court, like the Michigan Supreme Court, may become an even more stridently partisan instrument than it already is, one that by design will frustrate Democratic efforts to govern." Well, that was the plan when the GOP set up the Federalist Society, wasn't it?
"A Pro-Trump militant group has recruited thousands of police, soldiers, and veterans. An Atlantic investigation reveals who they are and what they might do on Election Day."
"A federal judge in California has ordered that Twitter reveal the identity of an anonymous user who allegedly fabricated an FBI document to spread a conspiracy theory about the killing of Seth Rich, the Democratic National Committee staffer who died in 2016."
"President Donald Trump required personnel at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to sign nondisclosure agreements last year before they could be involved with treating him, according to four people familiar with the process… The four people familiar with the process did not know whether, during the president's most recent visit over the weekend, he had the same requirement for Walter Reed staff members who had not previously been involved in his care."
"President Trump said Thursday that he’s not contagious 'at all' days after he was discharged from the hospital after a brief stay to treat him for Covid-19." And yet people coming near to him must don full PPE (N95, gown, gloves, eye protection).
"President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that he might have contracted Covid-19 from Gold Star family members who were too close to him when telling stories of their loved ones who died in the line of duty."
"A Postal Service mail carrier in New Jersey was arrested Wednesday for allegedly discarding mail, including 99 general election ballots… The discarded ballots were addressed to residents of West Orange, N.J., U.S. Attorney Craig Carpentino said."
"Liban Osman is featured prominently in a video released last week by the conservative media operation Project Veritas claiming there is 'massive voter fraud' in Minnesota orchestrated by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar… In his first interview, Liban Osman tells the FOX 9 Investigators he was offered $10,000 by community activist Omar Jamal to say he was collecting ballots for Congresswoman Ilhan Omar." Project Veritas lie? Shocked, shocked I am…
"Be the eyes and ears of the Trump campaign. Be vigilant. Don't assume the worst in people. And be courteous -- even to Democrats… Those are just some of the instructions the Trump campaign is giving to the tens of thousands of poll watchers it's preparing to deploy across the country as part of a nationwide effort on Election Day, according to training videos the campaign has posted in 17 states that were reviewed by CNN."
Sen. Mike Lee is saying the quiet part out loud. "Lee is articulating a view that has long been in vogue on the American right but which Republican politicians were generally hesitant to express openly. The premise is that liberty is a higher value than democracy, and they define liberty to mean a right to property that precludes redistribution. That is to say, the far right does not merely view progressive taxation, regulation and the welfare state as impediments to growth, but as fundamentally oppressive. A political system that truly secured freedom would not allow the majority to gang up on the minority and redistribute their income for themselves." And then there was his tweet this from late last night… "Democracy isn’t the objective; liberty, peace, and prospefity (SIC) are. We want the human condition to flourish. Rank democracy can thwart that."
"President Donald Trump said his coronavirus infection was a 'blessing from God' because it educated him about potential drugs to treat the disease in a video meant to demonstrate his return to work after several days in the hospital." He then went on to say that politics is delaying the vaccine. The crazy intensifies. Also, this tidbit which I thought about when his doctor released the statement, "Trump's labs, he said, 'demonstrated detectable levels of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies from labs drawn Monday.'… Regeneron, the company that makes the experimental antibody treatment given to Trump on Friday, said the test likely showed evidence of the treatment, not Trump's own immune response."
"Just a reminder that before Trump’s COVID diagnosis…" A twitter thread on the number of things that happened just before Trump contracted COVID.
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Linkee-poo Wednesday October 7
Eddie Van Halen, and so it goes.
"Hurricane Delta hit Mexico on Wednesday morning as an extremely dangerous Category 2 storm, coming ashore near Puerto Morelos along the northeastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula… After battering the Yucatan on Wednesday, Delta is forecast to emerge into the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday night and Thursday and restrengthen into a Category 3 major hurricane, forecasters said."
"SpaceX is now in the business of building satellites that do more than beam broadband around the globe. Elon Musk's space company is one of two awarded a contract from the Space Development Agency (part of the US Department of Defense) to build four satellites each that can track missile threats from low-Earth orbit." All that's left is for Elon to buy that small, volcanic island he's had his eyes on.
"Half of US states are reporting an uptick in new Covid-19 cases and some state leaders have sprung into action to help curb the spread of the virus… Wisconsin issued an emergency order Tuesday limiting public gatherings to no more than 25% of a room or building's total occupancy, the governor's office said… 'We're in a crisis right now and need to immediately change our behavior to save lives,' Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement." Here we go again.
"Long lines greeted people looking to get a coronavirus test at the Alliant Center Tuesday as organizers dealt with new hours, more demand, and a big change in staffing… At one point the sign that displayed the projected wait times warned those arriving Tuesday afternoon they would be there for three hours before getting tested."
"'The president actually showed up in the Oval Office yesterday with extra precautions with respect to his Covid-19,' Kudlow said. 'And he’s getting a lot better, he’s much strong. So there was some limited activity.'" Narrator's voice, Kudlow was lying.
"A former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health titan who led the eradication of smallpox asked the embattled, current CDC leader to expose the failed U.S. response to the new coronavirus, calling on him to orchestrate his own firing to protest White House interference… Dr. William Foege, a renowned epidemiologist who served under Democratic and Republican presidents, detailed in a private letter he sent last month to CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield his alarm over how the agency has fallen in stature while the pandemic raged across America."
"A 16-month congressional investigation into Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook has found that the tech giants hold 'monopoly power' in key business segments and have abused their dominance in the marketplace, in a full-throated condemnation of the giants." Shocked, shocked they are to find gambling going on…
"Dozens of people have reportedly been killed and hundreds more wounded since fighting erupted between Azerbaijan and Armenia just over a week ago. The two countries' military forces are clashing over the Azerbaijani breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, and with some major world powers backing opposing sides in the standoff — and the U.S. notably absent — there are concerns the conflict could escalate."
"Facebook has banned all accounts linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory movement from its platforms… 'Starting today, we will remove Facebook Pages, Groups and Instagram accounts,' the company said on Tuesday." But not the people who propagated the conspiracy theories.
"As a new caravan of about 2,000 Honduran migrants pushed north through Central America toward the United States this week, people throughout the region were asking a question: Why now?… Some political analysts and government leaders are suspicious of the caravan’s timing — a month before the U.S. presidential vote — given that a similar mass migration weeks before the 2018 midterm elections became a major campaign issue used by President Trump and other Republicans to drive immigration-wary supporters to the polls." Why now? Because the weather is good for the journey.
"President Donald Trump publicly turned down the Democratic stimulus offer, or the updated $2.2 trillion HEROES Act that passed the House last week, sending stocks plunging on Tuesday afternoon… The tweets came as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin returned to the negotiating table in hopes of crafting legislation that could pass both the Democratic-controlled House and GOP-controlled Senate. Mnuchin confirmed to Pelosi over the phone that the president was walking away from the talks." Nice country you've got there. Shame if anything happened to it.
"A federal judge in New Jersey on Tuesday rejected an attempt by President Donald Trump's campaign to curtail part of the state's vote-by-mail plan just weeks before Election Day… Trump's campaign had asked the court to stop the state from allowing election officials to process ballots received by mail 10 days before Election Day and those received two days after Election Day even if those ballots don't have a postmark."
"Early voting started Tuesday in Ohio and the Franklin County Board of Elections is already reporting problems… Some absentee ballots have been sent to the wrong addresses." Hey, ho, way to go Ohio.
"Collins’ 24 years in the Senate, where she carefully cultivated the image of a pragmatic centrist, is now in serious danger of being washed away under a flood of ads and rising anti-Trump fervor. And if she goes down, the Senate Republican majority may go with her." No, senator, your constituents are realizing you're not a centrist and have caught on to your "concerned senator" schtick.
"Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe released a slew of documents Tuesday that former US officials and national security veterans said are likely part of a Russian disinformation campaign… Brennan, meanwhile, told CNN's Jake Tapper that Ratcliffe's 'selective declassification of information' was 'appalling.'" But her emails.
And the take from Bullshit Mountain.
Note that even though the president tweeted "No redactions" there are plenty of redactions. Also note there is an easy reason the Clinton campaign might want to highlight the Trump campaign collusion with Russia at the end of July 2016, and that's because the FBI had already started investigating connections between the Trump campaign and the Russians (IIRC).
"Hurricane Delta hit Mexico on Wednesday morning as an extremely dangerous Category 2 storm, coming ashore near Puerto Morelos along the northeastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula… After battering the Yucatan on Wednesday, Delta is forecast to emerge into the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday night and Thursday and restrengthen into a Category 3 major hurricane, forecasters said."
"SpaceX is now in the business of building satellites that do more than beam broadband around the globe. Elon Musk's space company is one of two awarded a contract from the Space Development Agency (part of the US Department of Defense) to build four satellites each that can track missile threats from low-Earth orbit." All that's left is for Elon to buy that small, volcanic island he's had his eyes on.
"Half of US states are reporting an uptick in new Covid-19 cases and some state leaders have sprung into action to help curb the spread of the virus… Wisconsin issued an emergency order Tuesday limiting public gatherings to no more than 25% of a room or building's total occupancy, the governor's office said… 'We're in a crisis right now and need to immediately change our behavior to save lives,' Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement." Here we go again.
"Long lines greeted people looking to get a coronavirus test at the Alliant Center Tuesday as organizers dealt with new hours, more demand, and a big change in staffing… At one point the sign that displayed the projected wait times warned those arriving Tuesday afternoon they would be there for three hours before getting tested."
"'The president actually showed up in the Oval Office yesterday with extra precautions with respect to his Covid-19,' Kudlow said. 'And he’s getting a lot better, he’s much strong. So there was some limited activity.'" Narrator's voice, Kudlow was lying.
"A former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health titan who led the eradication of smallpox asked the embattled, current CDC leader to expose the failed U.S. response to the new coronavirus, calling on him to orchestrate his own firing to protest White House interference… Dr. William Foege, a renowned epidemiologist who served under Democratic and Republican presidents, detailed in a private letter he sent last month to CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield his alarm over how the agency has fallen in stature while the pandemic raged across America."
"A 16-month congressional investigation into Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook has found that the tech giants hold 'monopoly power' in key business segments and have abused their dominance in the marketplace, in a full-throated condemnation of the giants." Shocked, shocked they are to find gambling going on…
"Dozens of people have reportedly been killed and hundreds more wounded since fighting erupted between Azerbaijan and Armenia just over a week ago. The two countries' military forces are clashing over the Azerbaijani breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, and with some major world powers backing opposing sides in the standoff — and the U.S. notably absent — there are concerns the conflict could escalate."
"Facebook has banned all accounts linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory movement from its platforms… 'Starting today, we will remove Facebook Pages, Groups and Instagram accounts,' the company said on Tuesday." But not the people who propagated the conspiracy theories.
"As a new caravan of about 2,000 Honduran migrants pushed north through Central America toward the United States this week, people throughout the region were asking a question: Why now?… Some political analysts and government leaders are suspicious of the caravan’s timing — a month before the U.S. presidential vote — given that a similar mass migration weeks before the 2018 midterm elections became a major campaign issue used by President Trump and other Republicans to drive immigration-wary supporters to the polls." Why now? Because the weather is good for the journey.
"President Donald Trump publicly turned down the Democratic stimulus offer, or the updated $2.2 trillion HEROES Act that passed the House last week, sending stocks plunging on Tuesday afternoon… The tweets came as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin returned to the negotiating table in hopes of crafting legislation that could pass both the Democratic-controlled House and GOP-controlled Senate. Mnuchin confirmed to Pelosi over the phone that the president was walking away from the talks." Nice country you've got there. Shame if anything happened to it.
"A federal judge in New Jersey on Tuesday rejected an attempt by President Donald Trump's campaign to curtail part of the state's vote-by-mail plan just weeks before Election Day… Trump's campaign had asked the court to stop the state from allowing election officials to process ballots received by mail 10 days before Election Day and those received two days after Election Day even if those ballots don't have a postmark."
"Early voting started Tuesday in Ohio and the Franklin County Board of Elections is already reporting problems… Some absentee ballots have been sent to the wrong addresses." Hey, ho, way to go Ohio.
"Collins’ 24 years in the Senate, where she carefully cultivated the image of a pragmatic centrist, is now in serious danger of being washed away under a flood of ads and rising anti-Trump fervor. And if she goes down, the Senate Republican majority may go with her." No, senator, your constituents are realizing you're not a centrist and have caught on to your "concerned senator" schtick.
"Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe released a slew of documents Tuesday that former US officials and national security veterans said are likely part of a Russian disinformation campaign… Brennan, meanwhile, told CNN's Jake Tapper that Ratcliffe's 'selective declassification of information' was 'appalling.'" But her emails.
And the take from Bullshit Mountain.
Note that even though the president tweeted "No redactions" there are plenty of redactions. Also note there is an easy reason the Clinton campaign might want to highlight the Trump campaign collusion with Russia at the end of July 2016, and that's because the FBI had already started investigating connections between the Trump campaign and the Russians (IIRC).
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Linkee-poo Tuesday Oct 6
"Hurricane Delta rapidly intensified into a powerful Category 2 storm Tuesday and is expected to reach Category 4 status as it rips across the Gulf of Mexico then treks north toward the U.S. southeast." You know, the same region already hit by 3 major hurricanes this year.
"Meanwhile, NASA personnel are getting a sense of how the new suit will perform on the moon by testing the design underwater in the massive Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory pool at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA uses the lab to simulate spacewalks, since engineers can mimic different levels of gravity underwater, like low Earth orbit's microgravity and the moon's one-sixth gravity."
"The final possible legal challenge to Led Zeppelin's ownership of Stairway To Heaven has been defeated." The bustle in the hedgerow is over. (Grokked from Dan)
"20th Century Studios has dropped a new trailer for Free Guy, the sci-fi comedy starring Ryan Reynolds, currently slated for a December 11 release. But in these pandemic times, all release dates are basically pencilled in until further notice—which is why Reynolds and company also released an amusing teaser in which they debate potential alternate dates for the film's release." Please don't let Ryan have been a dick in a previous life. And I so want a new Deadpool (like DP1, not so much like DP2) that this is close enough make me part with cash. And for an actor being typecast is usually not a Good Thing™, but I am so here for it. Oh, and Disney, if you're listening, give us another goddamn great Deadpool movie, more like DP1 and less shake weighty, okay? And movie studios, stop mining my childhood for songs for your marketing purposes. (Grokked from Dan)
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its coronavirus guidance Monday, acknowledging that it can sometimes spread through airborne particles that can 'linger in the air for minutes to hours' and among people who are more than 6 feet apart… The CDC cited published reports that demonstrated 'limited, uncommon circumstances where people with COVID-19 infected others who were more than 6 feet away or shortly after the COVID-19-positive person left an area.'" Ta-da! Note, that just because your circumstance of being infected could be explained by droplet, that aerosol contamination might contribute to the viral load necessary to become sick.
"Neurological symptoms are extremely common among Covid-19 patients sick enough to be hospitalized, a study published Monday finds… The symptoms range from mild to severe, and can include headaches, dizziness and altered brain function, according to the study in the journal Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology."
The Planet Money podcast with something I've been thinking about… "The Black Death was one of the worst pandemics in human history, tearing apart the social fabric of medieval Europe and inflicting a gruesome death on up to half the population… But there's another side to it that we don't usually talk about--a sort of silver lining. As the continent was being destroyed, it was also being remade. From the ashes of the Black Death rose a new world that shook up feudal hierarchies, improved the lives of medieval Europeans, and completely transformed the economy." I don't think SARS-CoV2 is deadly enough to force the changes the Plague did, but it will change us in subtle ways.
"President Donald Trump on Tuesday continued to downplay the coronavirus and suggested the United States should learn to live with the pandemic, posting to Twitter hours after returning to the White House from being hospitalized with Covid-19… In his morning tweet, the president likened the highly contagious disease that has killed nearly 210,000 Americans to the seasonal flu, reprising a misleading comparison he repeatedly invoked in the early stages of the U.S. outbreak." Covid is not like the flu (although it may become a regular disease if we keep fucking up the response to it). But the president knows (or has been told) this election is shaping up to be a referendum on his government's response to the disease.
"A strongly medicated President Donald Trump bolted from his VIP hospital bubble Monday, staging a bizarre White House comeback that included an irresponsible mask removal and a reckless pronouncement there is nothing to fear from Covid-19, which has already killed 210,000 Americans." The president is still contagious. And he may think his stunt of taking off his mask was bold and brave, but his grimacing and labored breathing show just how sick he is. This whole incident of the WH outbreak has been mishandled and screwed up that their only way out is to try and spin harder. "Trump's press aides are busily boosting his personality cult of a conquering strongman who beat the virus in order to show Americans there is nothing to be afraid of."
"Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who is currently awaiting coronavirus test results, coughed through a Fox News interview on Monday night in which he attacked Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for consistently wearing a mask, claiming it was a 'political statement' meant to 'scare' people."
"(The president is) being treated with dexamethasone, a powerful steroid recommended for use in severe cases of COVID-19. The drug can carry serious psychological side effects, but Conley said the president hasn't exhibited any of them. He repeatedly declined to provide specifics about the president's lung condition or the last time Mr. Trump tested negative for the virus, citing federal privacy laws."
"A white police officer has been charged with murder in connection with the shooting of a black man following a reported disturbance at a convenience store in a small east Texas town over the weekend, authorities said."
"Weaker-than-expected job growth in September sent a signal that the sharp economic recovery off the coronavirus shutdown may be hitting a wall… The Labor Department reported Friday that nonfarm payrolls increased by 661,000 in September, held back by declines in government employment and an exodus of workers from the labor force."
From Frontline, Growing up poor in America. "Their families were already struggling to make ends meet. Then came the coronavirus… Director Jezza Neumann, who made 2012’s Poor Kids, once again delves into how poverty impacts children. With the 2020 election approaching, Growing Up Poor in America follows three children and their families in the battleground state of Ohio as the COVID-19 pandemic amplifies their struggle to stay afloat. As the country also reckons with issues of race and racism, the children share their worries and hopes about their futures."
"How badly is COVID-19 hurting Americans on the cusp of retirement? Maybe worse than we thought… In an interview, economist Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor at The New School in New York City and one of the nation’s leading experts on retirement, told me that half—that’s right, half—of Americans aged 55 and up will retire in poverty or near poverty." And that's if Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid are still intact.
"Teen spending hit its lowest levels in two decades, according to a new survey, as teens spent less money on food, concerts and events during the coronavirus pandemic, and worry about the economy getting worse." Well, at least they're no longer calling them millennials.
"British Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted Tuesday that his bout of Covid-19 has not robbed him of his mojo, while outlining new spending pledges aimed at restoring the economy to a stronger position than prior to the pandemic." Oh brother.
"The European Union's top court said on Tuesday that Hungary's reform of higher education rules, which forced a university founded by George Soros to move most of its activities out of the country, was in breach of EU law."
"Eric Trump, the president's son, was deposed Monday about the Trump Organization, for which he serves as an executive… Investigators with the New York attorney general's office deposed Trump as part of an investigation into whether President Donald Trump's namesake company improperly inflated the value of certain assets to get tax benefits, according to a source familiar with the probe."
"US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is meeting his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan in Tokyo to discuss how to counter China… The 'Quad meeting' comes as all four countries seek to form a front against an increasingly assertive China." If only we hadn't fucked up our international relationships under Trump we would be in a better position.
"Protesters in Kyrgyzstan, angered by weekend elections they say were rigged, seized and ransacked the country's parliament building, briefly setting part of it on fire early Tuesday, according to local news reports."
"President Trump has once more tried to cast himself as an ally of the Christian right — this time, by nominating Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. This week, On the Media explains how the religious right goes beyond white evangelicals and the persistent allure of persecution narratives in Christianity. Plus, we examine the overlooked religious left. And, we explore how the image of Jesus as a white man was popularized in the 20th century, and why it matters."
"Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito issued a broadside against the high court's 2015 same-sex marriage decision on Monday when the court declined to hear a case brought by a former Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue a marriage license for such couples."
"The Supreme Court has handed a victory to the Republican Party by reinstating the witness requirement for South Carolina mail-in ballots. Previously, the state’s lower courts ruled that witnesses shouldn’t be needed to complete a ballot this year because they could create an unnecessary contact risk during the still-raging pandemic. However, in an order issued Monday, the high court tossed aside that ruling and largely reinstated the requirement for witnesses—though the Supreme Court did make an exception for ballots cast before it acted."
"The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it will hear two consolidated cases that could eviscerate the right to be free from racial discrimination in voting. And the Court agreed to hear these cases just weeks before the Senate is likely to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the Supreme Court, giving a Republican Party that is often hostile to voting rights a 6-3 majority on the nation’s highest court."
"However, as with seemingly every other aspect of election administration this year, drop boxes have become a controversial proposal. To proponents, drop boxes are simply a more reliable delivery method given recent cutbacks at the U.S. Postal Service that have slowed down mail service. Consider states that require ballots to be received by a certain date. Voters who put their ballots in the mail within a week of that deadline are really leaving it up to chance whether the ballot will arrive in time. By contrast, any ballot deposited in a drop box by the deadline is considered to have arrived on time, providing the voter with both peace of mind and an extra few days to fill out her ballot."
"President Trump's campaign is waging a behind-the-scenes effort to threaten low-profile county officials into ignoring election rules and sowing doubt in the mail voting process… Trump's campaign launched an 'unusually aggressive' push on the local level, sending 100 county election officials in North Carolina 'threatening letters' and 'misinformation' to urge them to disregard a new rule that makes it easier for voters to fix mistakes on their mail ballots, according to the Associated Press. The warnings came after the state Board of Elections settled a lawsuit after ballots cast by Black voters in the state were disproportionately rejected."
"In the midst of the historic coronavirus pandemic, economic hardship and a reckoning over racism, this November Americans will decide who leads the nation for the next four years: President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden. Ahead of the 2020 election, FRONTLINE’s critically acclaimed series 'The Choice' returns with interwoven investigative biographies of both men, focusing on how they have responded in moments of crisis." It's two hours, but worth it.
"A video of former Vice President Joe Biden talking about a Black woman stacking shelves went viral on Monday as the Democratic candidate's critics accused him of racism on social media." With an examination of the full statement.
"Meanwhile, NASA personnel are getting a sense of how the new suit will perform on the moon by testing the design underwater in the massive Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory pool at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA uses the lab to simulate spacewalks, since engineers can mimic different levels of gravity underwater, like low Earth orbit's microgravity and the moon's one-sixth gravity."
"The final possible legal challenge to Led Zeppelin's ownership of Stairway To Heaven has been defeated." The bustle in the hedgerow is over. (Grokked from Dan)
"20th Century Studios has dropped a new trailer for Free Guy, the sci-fi comedy starring Ryan Reynolds, currently slated for a December 11 release. But in these pandemic times, all release dates are basically pencilled in until further notice—which is why Reynolds and company also released an amusing teaser in which they debate potential alternate dates for the film's release." Please don't let Ryan have been a dick in a previous life. And I so want a new Deadpool (like DP1, not so much like DP2) that this is close enough make me part with cash. And for an actor being typecast is usually not a Good Thing™, but I am so here for it. Oh, and Disney, if you're listening, give us another goddamn great Deadpool movie, more like DP1 and less shake weighty, okay? And movie studios, stop mining my childhood for songs for your marketing purposes. (Grokked from Dan)
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its coronavirus guidance Monday, acknowledging that it can sometimes spread through airborne particles that can 'linger in the air for minutes to hours' and among people who are more than 6 feet apart… The CDC cited published reports that demonstrated 'limited, uncommon circumstances where people with COVID-19 infected others who were more than 6 feet away or shortly after the COVID-19-positive person left an area.'" Ta-da! Note, that just because your circumstance of being infected could be explained by droplet, that aerosol contamination might contribute to the viral load necessary to become sick.
"Neurological symptoms are extremely common among Covid-19 patients sick enough to be hospitalized, a study published Monday finds… The symptoms range from mild to severe, and can include headaches, dizziness and altered brain function, according to the study in the journal Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology."
The Planet Money podcast with something I've been thinking about… "The Black Death was one of the worst pandemics in human history, tearing apart the social fabric of medieval Europe and inflicting a gruesome death on up to half the population… But there's another side to it that we don't usually talk about--a sort of silver lining. As the continent was being destroyed, it was also being remade. From the ashes of the Black Death rose a new world that shook up feudal hierarchies, improved the lives of medieval Europeans, and completely transformed the economy." I don't think SARS-CoV2 is deadly enough to force the changes the Plague did, but it will change us in subtle ways.
"President Donald Trump on Tuesday continued to downplay the coronavirus and suggested the United States should learn to live with the pandemic, posting to Twitter hours after returning to the White House from being hospitalized with Covid-19… In his morning tweet, the president likened the highly contagious disease that has killed nearly 210,000 Americans to the seasonal flu, reprising a misleading comparison he repeatedly invoked in the early stages of the U.S. outbreak." Covid is not like the flu (although it may become a regular disease if we keep fucking up the response to it). But the president knows (or has been told) this election is shaping up to be a referendum on his government's response to the disease.
"A strongly medicated President Donald Trump bolted from his VIP hospital bubble Monday, staging a bizarre White House comeback that included an irresponsible mask removal and a reckless pronouncement there is nothing to fear from Covid-19, which has already killed 210,000 Americans." The president is still contagious. And he may think his stunt of taking off his mask was bold and brave, but his grimacing and labored breathing show just how sick he is. This whole incident of the WH outbreak has been mishandled and screwed up that their only way out is to try and spin harder. "Trump's press aides are busily boosting his personality cult of a conquering strongman who beat the virus in order to show Americans there is nothing to be afraid of."
"Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who is currently awaiting coronavirus test results, coughed through a Fox News interview on Monday night in which he attacked Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for consistently wearing a mask, claiming it was a 'political statement' meant to 'scare' people."
"(The president is) being treated with dexamethasone, a powerful steroid recommended for use in severe cases of COVID-19. The drug can carry serious psychological side effects, but Conley said the president hasn't exhibited any of them. He repeatedly declined to provide specifics about the president's lung condition or the last time Mr. Trump tested negative for the virus, citing federal privacy laws."
"A white police officer has been charged with murder in connection with the shooting of a black man following a reported disturbance at a convenience store in a small east Texas town over the weekend, authorities said."
"Weaker-than-expected job growth in September sent a signal that the sharp economic recovery off the coronavirus shutdown may be hitting a wall… The Labor Department reported Friday that nonfarm payrolls increased by 661,000 in September, held back by declines in government employment and an exodus of workers from the labor force."
From Frontline, Growing up poor in America. "Their families were already struggling to make ends meet. Then came the coronavirus… Director Jezza Neumann, who made 2012’s Poor Kids, once again delves into how poverty impacts children. With the 2020 election approaching, Growing Up Poor in America follows three children and their families in the battleground state of Ohio as the COVID-19 pandemic amplifies their struggle to stay afloat. As the country also reckons with issues of race and racism, the children share their worries and hopes about their futures."
"How badly is COVID-19 hurting Americans on the cusp of retirement? Maybe worse than we thought… In an interview, economist Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor at The New School in New York City and one of the nation’s leading experts on retirement, told me that half—that’s right, half—of Americans aged 55 and up will retire in poverty or near poverty." And that's if Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid are still intact.
"Teen spending hit its lowest levels in two decades, according to a new survey, as teens spent less money on food, concerts and events during the coronavirus pandemic, and worry about the economy getting worse." Well, at least they're no longer calling them millennials.
"British Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted Tuesday that his bout of Covid-19 has not robbed him of his mojo, while outlining new spending pledges aimed at restoring the economy to a stronger position than prior to the pandemic." Oh brother.
"The European Union's top court said on Tuesday that Hungary's reform of higher education rules, which forced a university founded by George Soros to move most of its activities out of the country, was in breach of EU law."
"Eric Trump, the president's son, was deposed Monday about the Trump Organization, for which he serves as an executive… Investigators with the New York attorney general's office deposed Trump as part of an investigation into whether President Donald Trump's namesake company improperly inflated the value of certain assets to get tax benefits, according to a source familiar with the probe."
"US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is meeting his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan in Tokyo to discuss how to counter China… The 'Quad meeting' comes as all four countries seek to form a front against an increasingly assertive China." If only we hadn't fucked up our international relationships under Trump we would be in a better position.
"Protesters in Kyrgyzstan, angered by weekend elections they say were rigged, seized and ransacked the country's parliament building, briefly setting part of it on fire early Tuesday, according to local news reports."
"President Trump has once more tried to cast himself as an ally of the Christian right — this time, by nominating Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. This week, On the Media explains how the religious right goes beyond white evangelicals and the persistent allure of persecution narratives in Christianity. Plus, we examine the overlooked religious left. And, we explore how the image of Jesus as a white man was popularized in the 20th century, and why it matters."
"Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito issued a broadside against the high court's 2015 same-sex marriage decision on Monday when the court declined to hear a case brought by a former Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue a marriage license for such couples."
"The Supreme Court has handed a victory to the Republican Party by reinstating the witness requirement for South Carolina mail-in ballots. Previously, the state’s lower courts ruled that witnesses shouldn’t be needed to complete a ballot this year because they could create an unnecessary contact risk during the still-raging pandemic. However, in an order issued Monday, the high court tossed aside that ruling and largely reinstated the requirement for witnesses—though the Supreme Court did make an exception for ballots cast before it acted."
"The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it will hear two consolidated cases that could eviscerate the right to be free from racial discrimination in voting. And the Court agreed to hear these cases just weeks before the Senate is likely to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the Supreme Court, giving a Republican Party that is often hostile to voting rights a 6-3 majority on the nation’s highest court."
"However, as with seemingly every other aspect of election administration this year, drop boxes have become a controversial proposal. To proponents, drop boxes are simply a more reliable delivery method given recent cutbacks at the U.S. Postal Service that have slowed down mail service. Consider states that require ballots to be received by a certain date. Voters who put their ballots in the mail within a week of that deadline are really leaving it up to chance whether the ballot will arrive in time. By contrast, any ballot deposited in a drop box by the deadline is considered to have arrived on time, providing the voter with both peace of mind and an extra few days to fill out her ballot."
"President Trump's campaign is waging a behind-the-scenes effort to threaten low-profile county officials into ignoring election rules and sowing doubt in the mail voting process… Trump's campaign launched an 'unusually aggressive' push on the local level, sending 100 county election officials in North Carolina 'threatening letters' and 'misinformation' to urge them to disregard a new rule that makes it easier for voters to fix mistakes on their mail ballots, according to the Associated Press. The warnings came after the state Board of Elections settled a lawsuit after ballots cast by Black voters in the state were disproportionately rejected."
"In the midst of the historic coronavirus pandemic, economic hardship and a reckoning over racism, this November Americans will decide who leads the nation for the next four years: President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden. Ahead of the 2020 election, FRONTLINE’s critically acclaimed series 'The Choice' returns with interwoven investigative biographies of both men, focusing on how they have responded in moments of crisis." It's two hours, but worth it.
"A video of former Vice President Joe Biden talking about a Black woman stacking shelves went viral on Monday as the Democratic candidate's critics accused him of racism on social media." With an examination of the full statement.
Monday, October 5, 2020
Linkee-poo Monday Oct 5
"Tropical Storm Delta formed Monday morning and is expected to make landfall in Louisiana, forecasters said… The current track from the National Hurricane Center has Delta making landfall Friday as a Category 2 hurricane in southeast Louisiana, but the track has an average error of 160 to 200 miles this far out."
"Hill said the safety panel was apprehensive about the lack of "end-to-end" testing of the software and hardware used during these missions, from launch through landing. Such comprehensive testing ensures that the flight software is compatible across different vehicles and in a number of different environments, including the turbulence of launch and maneuvers in space."
"Growing coronavirus outbreaks across the American West and Midwest have started to take an alarming turn as some states report growing Covid-19 hospitalizations and a shrinking supply of beds for patients." COVID comes to the heartland.
"Paris and its surrounding suburbs have been put on 'maximum alert' Monday as coronavirus cases surge in the city… Bars in the French capital will close on Tuesday as part of a new package of restrictions designed to stop the spread of the virus but restaurants will be allowed to stay open, with 'reinforced precautions,' according to France 24."
"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday progress is being made on the government's next coronavirus relief package, and told executives in the US airline industry to hold off on job cuts."
"The cases were reviewed by five gynecologists — four of them board-certified and all with medical school affiliations — who found that Dr. Amin consistently overstated the size or risks associated with cysts or masses attached to his patients’ reproductive organs. Small or benign cysts do not typically call for surgical intervention, where large or otherwise troubling ones sometimes do, the experts said… The doctors stressed that in some cases the medical files might not have been complete and that additional information could potentially shift their analyses. But they noted that Dr. Amin seemed to consistently recommend surgical intervention, even when it did not seem medically necessary at the time and nonsurgical treatment options were available." That's malpractice. And how it was done violates consent.
"Less than a week after the far-right group the Proud Boys were mentioned at the presidential debate, the group's name is being taken over on Twitter by gay men." Can I just say that I love out-of-the-closet George Takei?
"Shares in the company that owns the Regal, Cineworld and Picturehouse movie theaters fell as much as 58% after it said it will temporarily close the venues because the postponement of the latest James Bond film left it with few blockbusters to attract customers during the pandemic."
"Pope Francis says the coronavirus pandemic has proven that the 'magic theories' of market capitalism have failed and that the world needs a new type of politics that promotes dialogue and solidarity and rejects war at all costs."
"The U.S. Supreme Court opens a new court term Monday, while across the street at the Capitol, Republicans are seeking to jam through, before the Nov. 3 election, President Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the court… It's a race to the political finish line made more difficult by the fact that at least two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Utah Republican Mike Lee and North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis, have tested positive for the coronavirus and, on Saturday, McConnell said the committee will start the hearing as scheduled on Oct. 12."
I didn't get a harrumph outa that guy. "Two political appointees at the federal agency that oversees the Voice of America recently investigated one of its most prominent journalists to make the case he was biased against President Trump… NPR has learned the appointees compiled an extensive report deemed "confidential" on VOA White House bureau chief Steve Herman, claiming that in his reporting and tweets that Herman had been unfair to Trump and had broken the broadcaster's standards and social media policies."
"On Sunday evening Sen. Lindsey Graham, like many Republicans in Washington, was simultaneously monitoring three political crises, all of which were made worse by the spread of coronavirus infections through the upper echelons of the Republican Party… First there was the president… Then there was the Supreme Court. The virus has forced six Republican senators — three who have tested positive for covid — into quarantine for at least two weeks. Two of them, Thom Tillis and Mike Lee, are on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Graham chairs." Karma is a bitch.
"Amid the constant political chaos of 2020, there have been a few consistencies. One of them has been a growing Democratic advantage in this fall’s congressional races, particularly the Senate… For Democrats, the potential for pickups is growing and affecting some places where a tight general election race is not a normal occurrence. From the Mountain West to the South, the list of competitive Senate races for the GOP looks different this year."
"He’s the GOP’s one line of defense between a hospitalized commander-in-chief and a President Nancy Pelosi, and he’s about to depart Washington on a four-day campaign swing in the middle of his boss’s health crisis… Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Utah on Monday as he plays the Trump campaign’s lead act for the foreseeable future — the highest-profile surrogate for the president’s reelection at a time when both men can least afford another setback following Donald Trump’s Covid-19 diagnosis."
"Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris are expected to take the debate stage Wednesday night against an extraordinary backdrop that has raised the stakes of an event that for decades has been a routine, inconsequential fixture of presidential elections." This is what's known as the media ginning up the stakes and trying to create fire from smoke.
"At frequent intervals on Tuesday night, the natural human reaction—lower the sound, wince and look away—took over, and the first presidential debate of the 2020 general election became nearly unwatchable… Those who did persist in watching were rewarded, in a perverse way: They witnessed history in the making. The proceeding was an epic spectacle, a new low in presidential politics, a new high watermark in national shame."
"The White House, however, has relied largely on the screening of all staff and visitors of the White House for the virus with a rapid turnaround test. Trump and other administration officials have used frequent testing as a justification for why the president and his officials often don’t need to wear masks or socially distance." Turns out they weren't so special.
"Donald Trump drew immediate rebuke from doctors on Sunday afternoon for an 'insane' surprise drive-by visit to supporters outside the Walter Reed military medical center, where the president is being treated for an infection of Covid-19… At least two other people, probably Secret Service agents, wearing respirators and eye protection, were seen on video in the vehicle accompanying Trump, who was also masked, during the short drive."
"First lady Melania Trump has no plans to leave the White House while she convalesces at the Executive Residence after contracting Covid-19, an official confirmed to CNN on Monday… The decision marks a stark contrast with her husband, President Donald Trump, who also tested positive for coronavirus. On Sunday, the President left Walter Reed Medical Center for a motorcade drive-by past a few dozen supporters outside the hospital, potentially risking exposure to his Secret Service agents." Well, she didn't immediately follow him to DC either.
"Hill said the safety panel was apprehensive about the lack of "end-to-end" testing of the software and hardware used during these missions, from launch through landing. Such comprehensive testing ensures that the flight software is compatible across different vehicles and in a number of different environments, including the turbulence of launch and maneuvers in space."
"Growing coronavirus outbreaks across the American West and Midwest have started to take an alarming turn as some states report growing Covid-19 hospitalizations and a shrinking supply of beds for patients." COVID comes to the heartland.
"Paris and its surrounding suburbs have been put on 'maximum alert' Monday as coronavirus cases surge in the city… Bars in the French capital will close on Tuesday as part of a new package of restrictions designed to stop the spread of the virus but restaurants will be allowed to stay open, with 'reinforced precautions,' according to France 24."
"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday progress is being made on the government's next coronavirus relief package, and told executives in the US airline industry to hold off on job cuts."
"The cases were reviewed by five gynecologists — four of them board-certified and all with medical school affiliations — who found that Dr. Amin consistently overstated the size or risks associated with cysts or masses attached to his patients’ reproductive organs. Small or benign cysts do not typically call for surgical intervention, where large or otherwise troubling ones sometimes do, the experts said… The doctors stressed that in some cases the medical files might not have been complete and that additional information could potentially shift their analyses. But they noted that Dr. Amin seemed to consistently recommend surgical intervention, even when it did not seem medically necessary at the time and nonsurgical treatment options were available." That's malpractice. And how it was done violates consent.
"Less than a week after the far-right group the Proud Boys were mentioned at the presidential debate, the group's name is being taken over on Twitter by gay men." Can I just say that I love out-of-the-closet George Takei?
"Shares in the company that owns the Regal, Cineworld and Picturehouse movie theaters fell as much as 58% after it said it will temporarily close the venues because the postponement of the latest James Bond film left it with few blockbusters to attract customers during the pandemic."
"Pope Francis says the coronavirus pandemic has proven that the 'magic theories' of market capitalism have failed and that the world needs a new type of politics that promotes dialogue and solidarity and rejects war at all costs."
"The U.S. Supreme Court opens a new court term Monday, while across the street at the Capitol, Republicans are seeking to jam through, before the Nov. 3 election, President Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the court… It's a race to the political finish line made more difficult by the fact that at least two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Utah Republican Mike Lee and North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis, have tested positive for the coronavirus and, on Saturday, McConnell said the committee will start the hearing as scheduled on Oct. 12."
I didn't get a harrumph outa that guy. "Two political appointees at the federal agency that oversees the Voice of America recently investigated one of its most prominent journalists to make the case he was biased against President Trump… NPR has learned the appointees compiled an extensive report deemed "confidential" on VOA White House bureau chief Steve Herman, claiming that in his reporting and tweets that Herman had been unfair to Trump and had broken the broadcaster's standards and social media policies."
"On Sunday evening Sen. Lindsey Graham, like many Republicans in Washington, was simultaneously monitoring three political crises, all of which were made worse by the spread of coronavirus infections through the upper echelons of the Republican Party… First there was the president… Then there was the Supreme Court. The virus has forced six Republican senators — three who have tested positive for covid — into quarantine for at least two weeks. Two of them, Thom Tillis and Mike Lee, are on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Graham chairs." Karma is a bitch.
"Amid the constant political chaos of 2020, there have been a few consistencies. One of them has been a growing Democratic advantage in this fall’s congressional races, particularly the Senate… For Democrats, the potential for pickups is growing and affecting some places where a tight general election race is not a normal occurrence. From the Mountain West to the South, the list of competitive Senate races for the GOP looks different this year."
"He’s the GOP’s one line of defense between a hospitalized commander-in-chief and a President Nancy Pelosi, and he’s about to depart Washington on a four-day campaign swing in the middle of his boss’s health crisis… Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Utah on Monday as he plays the Trump campaign’s lead act for the foreseeable future — the highest-profile surrogate for the president’s reelection at a time when both men can least afford another setback following Donald Trump’s Covid-19 diagnosis."
"Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris are expected to take the debate stage Wednesday night against an extraordinary backdrop that has raised the stakes of an event that for decades has been a routine, inconsequential fixture of presidential elections." This is what's known as the media ginning up the stakes and trying to create fire from smoke.
"At frequent intervals on Tuesday night, the natural human reaction—lower the sound, wince and look away—took over, and the first presidential debate of the 2020 general election became nearly unwatchable… Those who did persist in watching were rewarded, in a perverse way: They witnessed history in the making. The proceeding was an epic spectacle, a new low in presidential politics, a new high watermark in national shame."
"The White House, however, has relied largely on the screening of all staff and visitors of the White House for the virus with a rapid turnaround test. Trump and other administration officials have used frequent testing as a justification for why the president and his officials often don’t need to wear masks or socially distance." Turns out they weren't so special.
"Donald Trump drew immediate rebuke from doctors on Sunday afternoon for an 'insane' surprise drive-by visit to supporters outside the Walter Reed military medical center, where the president is being treated for an infection of Covid-19… At least two other people, probably Secret Service agents, wearing respirators and eye protection, were seen on video in the vehicle accompanying Trump, who was also masked, during the short drive."
"First lady Melania Trump has no plans to leave the White House while she convalesces at the Executive Residence after contracting Covid-19, an official confirmed to CNN on Monday… The decision marks a stark contrast with her husband, President Donald Trump, who also tested positive for coronavirus. On Sunday, the President left Walter Reed Medical Center for a motorcade drive-by past a few dozen supporters outside the hospital, potentially risking exposure to his Secret Service agents." Well, she didn't immediately follow him to DC either.
Sunday, October 4, 2020
Linkee-poo Weekend Oct 4
not complete, but I'm still crunched for time. Just a general note, "over abundance of caution" is not something that gets you admitted to the hospital, it's not a valid reason.
"After a break in activity, the Atlantic Hurricane 2020 Season is once again very busy. There are three tropical waves and Tropical Storm Gamma in the Atlantic Basin. T.S.Gamma's only local impact will be an increase in swells in the Gulf of Mexico, raising our chances for rip currents and higher seas."
"Only three US states are reporting a decline in new Covid-19 cases compared to last week… As of Saturday night, new cases were down in Texas, Missouri and South Carolina, while 21 states reported a rise in cases and a little more than half held steady compared with the week before."
"British Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended his handling of the coronavirus pandemic on Sunday despite weeks of rising infections, but warned that the country faced a 'bumpy' winter ahead."
"Vice President Pence in March reportedly ordered the director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to use its emergency powers to close the U.S. borders, despite top scientists saying there was no evidence that doing so would reduce the spread of COVID-19."
"The Trump administration has not yet repaid the United States Postal Service more than six months after the agency sent out COVID-19 guidelines on postcards prominently featuring the president’s name… USA TODAY reported earlier this year the total cost of printing and mailing the postcards was $28 million, with a total printing cost of $4.6 million, and the Trump administration was negotiating the reimbursement with the Postal Service for the cost." What you get when you run a government like a business… heinous fuckery.
"The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 7.9% in September, from 8.4% in August, a big drop that in normal times would be welcome news for a presidential incumbent seeking reelection in just over a month." Except that it was below 4% when he took office.
"The U.S. Roman Catholic Church used a special and unprecedented exemption from federal rules to amass at least $1.4 billion in taxpayer-backed coronavirus aid, with many millions going to dioceses that have paid huge settlements or sought bankruptcy protection because of clergy sexual abuse cover-ups." Tax the churches.
"US silence on Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict reflects international disengagement."
"Marine One was idling on the South Lawn Friday as President Donald Trump's advisers were inside the White House making a last-minute push to get him to board the helicopter… The President, who had recently tested positive for coronavirus, was reluctant to go to the hospital, multiple sources familiar with what happened later told CNN. Though Trump had developed symptoms and was now on experimental drugs, he didn't want to be 'hospitalized,' he said." 'Cause hospitals are for losers, and the president has all the good genes.
"White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows revealed that President Donald Trump’s condition on Friday was far worse than officials had made public, saying doctors recommended the president go to the hospital after seeing he had a fever and his blood oxygen level dropped rapidly." Duh.
"Donors who attended President Donald Trump’s big fundraiser in Bedminster, New Jersey on Thursday are reacting with alarm to news that the president has contracted the novel coronavirus… One person with direct knowledge of the event tells CNBC that 'the donors have been texting and calling' and are 'freaking out' about the situation." It's all fun and games until the Red Death shows up to Prospero's party.
"At least 11 positive coronavirus tests can be traced to members of the media or organizers of this week's presidential debate in Cleveland, city and clinic officials said Friday." The debate is becoming a super spreader event.
"Amy Coney Barrett will be grilled during her Supreme Court confirmation hearings. But four Republican senators may have the most on the line… The upcoming hearings could give Sens. Thom Tillis, Joni Ernst, John Cornyn and Lindsey Graham a chance to garner national attention in the midst of their competitive races — providing them a significant platform while they are pulled off the campaign trail for official Senate business."
"In response to the Biden campaign’s decision to pull negative TV ads while President Trump is hospitalized, spokesperson Tim Murtaugh told CNN that the Trump campaign will not make a similar move." There's no upside for them.
"A senior adviser to President Donald Trump's reelection campaign claimed that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden uses face masks as a 'prop,' two days after the President was hospitalized after contracting the coronavirus." See that guy following guidelines, not spreading disease, being responsible, yeah, he's the real problem here.
"In Graham’s own opening statement, he observed that 'this is a big-choice election between me and Mr. Harrison: capitalism versus socialism, conservative judges versus liberal judges, law and order versus chaos.' This apocalyptic vision was everywhere. Responding to a question about whether teachers and students should be asked to return to an in-person, five-day school week without rapid COVID-19 testing available, Graham ended with a warning about how Democrats would pass Medicare for All and stack the Supreme Court. After fleshing out his position on enhanced unemployment benefits, Graham warned, again, that Democrats would pack the Supreme Court and eliminate the Electoral College. Graham said the worst thing that could happen to Myrtle Beach’s economy is a Democratic administration and Congress that would tax and regulate it." And there's the conservative election messaging in a fractal nutshell. It is a call to authoritarianism.
"A senior campaign adviser to President Donald Trump accused 'Fox News Sunday' host Chris Wallace of not being a neutral moderator during last week's presidential debate… 'He had to debate not just Joe Biden, but you as well. You were not a neutral moderator then,' said Steve Cortes, a senior adviser for the Trump campaign, on Sunday." In authoritarian regimes, eventually everyone is on the outs.
"After a break in activity, the Atlantic Hurricane 2020 Season is once again very busy. There are three tropical waves and Tropical Storm Gamma in the Atlantic Basin. T.S.Gamma's only local impact will be an increase in swells in the Gulf of Mexico, raising our chances for rip currents and higher seas."
"Only three US states are reporting a decline in new Covid-19 cases compared to last week… As of Saturday night, new cases were down in Texas, Missouri and South Carolina, while 21 states reported a rise in cases and a little more than half held steady compared with the week before."
"British Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended his handling of the coronavirus pandemic on Sunday despite weeks of rising infections, but warned that the country faced a 'bumpy' winter ahead."
"Vice President Pence in March reportedly ordered the director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to use its emergency powers to close the U.S. borders, despite top scientists saying there was no evidence that doing so would reduce the spread of COVID-19."
"The Trump administration has not yet repaid the United States Postal Service more than six months after the agency sent out COVID-19 guidelines on postcards prominently featuring the president’s name… USA TODAY reported earlier this year the total cost of printing and mailing the postcards was $28 million, with a total printing cost of $4.6 million, and the Trump administration was negotiating the reimbursement with the Postal Service for the cost." What you get when you run a government like a business… heinous fuckery.
"The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 7.9% in September, from 8.4% in August, a big drop that in normal times would be welcome news for a presidential incumbent seeking reelection in just over a month." Except that it was below 4% when he took office.
"The U.S. Roman Catholic Church used a special and unprecedented exemption from federal rules to amass at least $1.4 billion in taxpayer-backed coronavirus aid, with many millions going to dioceses that have paid huge settlements or sought bankruptcy protection because of clergy sexual abuse cover-ups." Tax the churches.
"US silence on Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict reflects international disengagement."
"Marine One was idling on the South Lawn Friday as President Donald Trump's advisers were inside the White House making a last-minute push to get him to board the helicopter… The President, who had recently tested positive for coronavirus, was reluctant to go to the hospital, multiple sources familiar with what happened later told CNN. Though Trump had developed symptoms and was now on experimental drugs, he didn't want to be 'hospitalized,' he said." 'Cause hospitals are for losers, and the president has all the good genes.
"White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows revealed that President Donald Trump’s condition on Friday was far worse than officials had made public, saying doctors recommended the president go to the hospital after seeing he had a fever and his blood oxygen level dropped rapidly." Duh.
"Donors who attended President Donald Trump’s big fundraiser in Bedminster, New Jersey on Thursday are reacting with alarm to news that the president has contracted the novel coronavirus… One person with direct knowledge of the event tells CNBC that 'the donors have been texting and calling' and are 'freaking out' about the situation." It's all fun and games until the Red Death shows up to Prospero's party.
"At least 11 positive coronavirus tests can be traced to members of the media or organizers of this week's presidential debate in Cleveland, city and clinic officials said Friday." The debate is becoming a super spreader event.
"Amy Coney Barrett will be grilled during her Supreme Court confirmation hearings. But four Republican senators may have the most on the line… The upcoming hearings could give Sens. Thom Tillis, Joni Ernst, John Cornyn and Lindsey Graham a chance to garner national attention in the midst of their competitive races — providing them a significant platform while they are pulled off the campaign trail for official Senate business."
"In response to the Biden campaign’s decision to pull negative TV ads while President Trump is hospitalized, spokesperson Tim Murtaugh told CNN that the Trump campaign will not make a similar move." There's no upside for them.
"A senior adviser to President Donald Trump's reelection campaign claimed that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden uses face masks as a 'prop,' two days after the President was hospitalized after contracting the coronavirus." See that guy following guidelines, not spreading disease, being responsible, yeah, he's the real problem here.
"In Graham’s own opening statement, he observed that 'this is a big-choice election between me and Mr. Harrison: capitalism versus socialism, conservative judges versus liberal judges, law and order versus chaos.' This apocalyptic vision was everywhere. Responding to a question about whether teachers and students should be asked to return to an in-person, five-day school week without rapid COVID-19 testing available, Graham ended with a warning about how Democrats would pass Medicare for All and stack the Supreme Court. After fleshing out his position on enhanced unemployment benefits, Graham warned, again, that Democrats would pack the Supreme Court and eliminate the Electoral College. Graham said the worst thing that could happen to Myrtle Beach’s economy is a Democratic administration and Congress that would tax and regulate it." And there's the conservative election messaging in a fractal nutshell. It is a call to authoritarianism.
"A senior campaign adviser to President Donald Trump accused 'Fox News Sunday' host Chris Wallace of not being a neutral moderator during last week's presidential debate… 'He had to debate not just Joe Biden, but you as well. You were not a neutral moderator then,' said Steve Cortes, a senior adviser for the Trump campaign, on Sunday." In authoritarian regimes, eventually everyone is on the outs.
Friday, October 2, 2020
Linkee-poo Friday October 2
"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."
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."
Thursday, October 1, 2020
Linkee-poo Thursday October 1
Sorry, busy morning, so only a few.
"At the first presidential debate of the 2020 general election, President Donald Trump tried to reassure viewers about his Covid-19 response by promising that he’s ready to distribute a vaccine: 'We have the military all set up. Logistically, they’re all set up. We have our military that delivers soldiers, and they can do 200,000 a day. They’re going to be delivering the vaccine.'… In reality, this would be a paltry amount of vaccine distribution. At a rate of 200,000 vaccinations a day, it’d take more than 1,650 days — nearly five years — to vaccinate the entire country. If everyone needs two doses, which could be the case with the first generation of vaccines, it would take more than nine years." Large numbers, man, they're tough. Also, no word if the vaccine makers could supply at that rate.
"Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said Wednesday that his company's coronavirus vaccine won't be ready for widespread public distribution until spring of next year, according to a report. The drugmaker also won't seek emergency authorization for the vaccine for frontline medical workers and other at-risk individuals until November 25 at the earliest, he told the Financial Times."
"Colby College students stick out here in this New England town. They’re young, often wearing the school's blue and white, and almost always in a mask, even when common sense or personal convenience would suggest alternative options." Funny how they have lower incidences of COVID.
"They caught the coronavirus months ago and survived it, but they are still stuck at home, gasping for breath. They are no longer contagious, but some feel so ill that they can barely walk around the block, and others grow dizzy trying to cook dinner. Month after month, they rush to the hospital with new symptoms, pleading with doctors for answers."
How goes Brexit? "The European Union has launched legal proceedings against the UK after it failed to withdraw legislation that would breach the Brexit deal both sides signed last year and break international law."
"Republican leaders took steps Wednesday to protect their vulnerable senators ahead of an unusual vote that will put them on the record about whether they support the Trump administration's push to have the Supreme Court strike down the Affordable Care Act and its protections for people with pre-existing conditions." Wow, Democrats actually using the tools of the minority to press the issue.
"Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Wednesday said Democrats and Republicans have agreed that a second round of stimulus checks will be included in the next coronavirus relief bill."
"Portland Police have arrested a far-right protester and member of the Proud Boys who pointed a gun at antifascist protesters on Aug. 22 in downtown Portland."
"Amy Coney Barrett has been praised for her topflight legal mind, even by those who disagree with her. At 48 years old, she is poised to help shape the court for a generation or more… But that’s not all her elevation to the high court has the potential to accomplish. Barrett’s expected confirmation should serve as a catalyst for rethinking the most powerful social movement in the past half century: feminism." Okay, let me call bullshit right there. Barrett does not represent a "new view", she is Phyllis Schlafly in modern dress, and Phyllis was anti-feminism. To call Barrett the "new feminist" is like calling Pope Lucius III the "new Vatican II".
"A tiny religious organization tied to Amy Coney Barrett, Donald Trump’s supreme court nominee, sought to erase all mentions and photos of her from its website before she meets with lawmakers and faces questions at her Senate confirmation hearings."
"The Vatican has denied US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo an audience with Pope Francis… The Holy See said the Pontiff does not receive politicians during an election period." I'm sure that's been a long standing rule and not a "Hey, no thanks" response.
"'Based on the Court's review of the unredacted version of the Mueller Report, the Court concludes that the Department has failed to satisfy its burden to demonstrate that the withheld material is protected by the deliberative process privilege,' Judge Walton wrote in his Wednesday ruling." Rhut rho.
"Mr. O’Keefe and his group, Project Veritas, appear to have made an abrupt decision to release the video sooner than planned after The New York Times published a sweeping investigation of President Trump’s taxes, the researchers said. They also noted that the timing and metadata of a Twitter post in which Mr. Trump’s son shared the video suggested that he might have known about it in advance." But her emails…
A little fact checking on the president's taxes… "Experts say Trump tax report shows aggressive tax avoidance, unusually persistent losses."
"President Donald Trump's failure yet again to unequivocally condemn White supremacy Wednesday -- to clear up a chilling moment from his debate clash with Democratic nominee Joe Biden -- shows how he may find it impossible to reboot for their next crucial contest… Asked about not repudiating the Proud Boys, a far-right group, during the debate, Trump said: 'I don't know who the Proud Boys are. I mean, you'll have to give me a definition, because I really don't know who they are.'" Funny, considering I don't believe Chris Wallace said "Proud Boys", but Trump did.
"At the first presidential debate of the 2020 general election, President Donald Trump tried to reassure viewers about his Covid-19 response by promising that he’s ready to distribute a vaccine: 'We have the military all set up. Logistically, they’re all set up. We have our military that delivers soldiers, and they can do 200,000 a day. They’re going to be delivering the vaccine.'… In reality, this would be a paltry amount of vaccine distribution. At a rate of 200,000 vaccinations a day, it’d take more than 1,650 days — nearly five years — to vaccinate the entire country. If everyone needs two doses, which could be the case with the first generation of vaccines, it would take more than nine years." Large numbers, man, they're tough. Also, no word if the vaccine makers could supply at that rate.
"Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said Wednesday that his company's coronavirus vaccine won't be ready for widespread public distribution until spring of next year, according to a report. The drugmaker also won't seek emergency authorization for the vaccine for frontline medical workers and other at-risk individuals until November 25 at the earliest, he told the Financial Times."
"Colby College students stick out here in this New England town. They’re young, often wearing the school's blue and white, and almost always in a mask, even when common sense or personal convenience would suggest alternative options." Funny how they have lower incidences of COVID.
"They caught the coronavirus months ago and survived it, but they are still stuck at home, gasping for breath. They are no longer contagious, but some feel so ill that they can barely walk around the block, and others grow dizzy trying to cook dinner. Month after month, they rush to the hospital with new symptoms, pleading with doctors for answers."
How goes Brexit? "The European Union has launched legal proceedings against the UK after it failed to withdraw legislation that would breach the Brexit deal both sides signed last year and break international law."
"Republican leaders took steps Wednesday to protect their vulnerable senators ahead of an unusual vote that will put them on the record about whether they support the Trump administration's push to have the Supreme Court strike down the Affordable Care Act and its protections for people with pre-existing conditions." Wow, Democrats actually using the tools of the minority to press the issue.
"Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Wednesday said Democrats and Republicans have agreed that a second round of stimulus checks will be included in the next coronavirus relief bill."
"Portland Police have arrested a far-right protester and member of the Proud Boys who pointed a gun at antifascist protesters on Aug. 22 in downtown Portland."
"Amy Coney Barrett has been praised for her topflight legal mind, even by those who disagree with her. At 48 years old, she is poised to help shape the court for a generation or more… But that’s not all her elevation to the high court has the potential to accomplish. Barrett’s expected confirmation should serve as a catalyst for rethinking the most powerful social movement in the past half century: feminism." Okay, let me call bullshit right there. Barrett does not represent a "new view", she is Phyllis Schlafly in modern dress, and Phyllis was anti-feminism. To call Barrett the "new feminist" is like calling Pope Lucius III the "new Vatican II".
"A tiny religious organization tied to Amy Coney Barrett, Donald Trump’s supreme court nominee, sought to erase all mentions and photos of her from its website before she meets with lawmakers and faces questions at her Senate confirmation hearings."
"The Vatican has denied US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo an audience with Pope Francis… The Holy See said the Pontiff does not receive politicians during an election period." I'm sure that's been a long standing rule and not a "Hey, no thanks" response.
"'Based on the Court's review of the unredacted version of the Mueller Report, the Court concludes that the Department has failed to satisfy its burden to demonstrate that the withheld material is protected by the deliberative process privilege,' Judge Walton wrote in his Wednesday ruling." Rhut rho.
"Mr. O’Keefe and his group, Project Veritas, appear to have made an abrupt decision to release the video sooner than planned after The New York Times published a sweeping investigation of President Trump’s taxes, the researchers said. They also noted that the timing and metadata of a Twitter post in which Mr. Trump’s son shared the video suggested that he might have known about it in advance." But her emails…
A little fact checking on the president's taxes… "Experts say Trump tax report shows aggressive tax avoidance, unusually persistent losses."
"President Donald Trump's failure yet again to unequivocally condemn White supremacy Wednesday -- to clear up a chilling moment from his debate clash with Democratic nominee Joe Biden -- shows how he may find it impossible to reboot for their next crucial contest… Asked about not repudiating the Proud Boys, a far-right group, during the debate, Trump said: 'I don't know who the Proud Boys are. I mean, you'll have to give me a definition, because I really don't know who they are.'" Funny, considering I don't believe Chris Wallace said "Proud Boys", but Trump did.
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