Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
July 23, 2020
(Yahoo! News) “More people are gonna die,” Rebekah Jones wrote to her mother and sisters on Facebook. It was April 26, a warm spring Sunday in Tallahassee, Fla., and she was just finishing work at the Florida Department of Health, where she was managing the state’s much-praised coronavirus dashboard, which she had also created.
“I feel sick,” the 30-year-old doctoral student continued.
The exchange marked the beginning of an exceptionally turbulent period for Jones, who was demonized by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a rogue employee while also being celebrated by his detractors as a brave truth teller willing to stand up to political power.
In a whistleblower complaint Jones filed last Thursday with the Florida Commission on Human Relations, her attorneys alleged that she was fired by the state’s Department of Health for “refusing to publish misleading health data.” .............(more)
https://news.yahoo.com/a-public-health-employee-predicted-floridas-coronavirus-catastrophe-then-she-was-fired-this-is-everything-i-was-trying-to-warn-184810565.html
A public health employee predicted Florida's coronavirus catastrophe -- then she was fired
(Yahoo! News) “More people are gonna die,” Rebekah Jones wrote to her mother and sisters on Facebook. It was April 26, a warm spring Sunday in Tallahassee, Fla., and she was just finishing work at the Florida Department of Health, where she was managing the state’s much-praised coronavirus dashboard, which she had also created.
“I feel sick,” the 30-year-old doctoral student continued.
The exchange marked the beginning of an exceptionally turbulent period for Jones, who was demonized by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a rogue employee while also being celebrated by his detractors as a brave truth teller willing to stand up to political power.
In a whistleblower complaint Jones filed last Thursday with the Florida Commission on Human Relations, her attorneys alleged that she was fired by the state’s Department of Health for “refusing to publish misleading health data.” .............(more)
https://news.yahoo.com/a-public-health-employee-predicted-floridas-coronavirus-catastrophe-then-she-was-fired-this-is-everything-i-was-trying-to-warn-184810565.html
July 22, 2020
https://m.
Teaser President Obama and Vice President Biden: A Socially Distanced Conversation
https://m.
July 22, 2020
We built and funded a federal secret-police agency, and now it's being used against us. Why are we surprised?
HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
JULY 22, 2020 12:58PM (UTC)
(Salon) It seems like only yesterday that Republicans were wringing their hands and rending their garments over federal officers attempting to arrest a large group of armed militia members who had taken over a federal building in Oregon and were refusing to leave. (The 2016 "Oregon standoff" is the subject of Anthony McCann's fascinating book "Shadowlands." ) They were led by Ammon Bundy, son of Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who triggered an earlier standoff with government forces in 2014, and they said they were planning to occupy the building at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge "for years" as a protest against the conviction of two local ranchers who had been found guilty of arson for setting fire to government land. After six weeks of negotiating with federal authorities, the protesters were finally dispersed. Some did time but Ammon Bundy and a dozen others were tried and acquitted.
From 2014 to 2016, the right wing had been up in arms about the federal jack-booted thugs who were allegedly interfering in the protests by the God-fearing, freedom-loving Bundys and their armed allies who were just standing up for their rights. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., met personally with Cliven Bundy during the earlier standoff and said the group had legitimate constitutional questions. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was all-in, calling that protest "the unfortunate and tragic culmination of the path that President Obama has set the federal government on."
Donald Trump also expressed support for Cliven Bundy, saying, "I like him, I like his spirit, his spunk and the people that are so loyal … I respect him." (Bundy supported him right back.) In fact, Trump respected the Bundy movement so much he later pardoned Dwight and Stephen Hammond, the two ranchers who had been convicted of arson. They just burned federal land and their supporters only desecrated Native American artifacts on a federal wildlife refuge. It's not like they tore down a statue or anything important.
I bring that story up now only because as we have watched the events unfold in Portland, Oregon, over the past few days — a few hours west of the Malheur refuge — with federal police in full military regalia attacking and kidnapping protesters, I'm struck by the deafening silence from all those erstwhile defenders of free speech and the right to protest. I guess in order for them to speak out, the protesters have to be carrying AR-15s. ..........(more)
https://www.salon.com/2020/07/22/defund-homeland-security-creating-a-massive-federal-police-apparatus-was-always-a-mistake/
Defund Homeland Security: Creating a massive federal police apparatus was always a mistake
Defund Homeland Security: Creating a massive federal police apparatus was always a mistakeWe built and funded a federal secret-police agency, and now it's being used against us. Why are we surprised?
HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
JULY 22, 2020 12:58PM (UTC)
(Salon) It seems like only yesterday that Republicans were wringing their hands and rending their garments over federal officers attempting to arrest a large group of armed militia members who had taken over a federal building in Oregon and were refusing to leave. (The 2016 "Oregon standoff" is the subject of Anthony McCann's fascinating book "Shadowlands." ) They were led by Ammon Bundy, son of Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who triggered an earlier standoff with government forces in 2014, and they said they were planning to occupy the building at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge "for years" as a protest against the conviction of two local ranchers who had been found guilty of arson for setting fire to government land. After six weeks of negotiating with federal authorities, the protesters were finally dispersed. Some did time but Ammon Bundy and a dozen others were tried and acquitted.
From 2014 to 2016, the right wing had been up in arms about the federal jack-booted thugs who were allegedly interfering in the protests by the God-fearing, freedom-loving Bundys and their armed allies who were just standing up for their rights. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., met personally with Cliven Bundy during the earlier standoff and said the group had legitimate constitutional questions. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was all-in, calling that protest "the unfortunate and tragic culmination of the path that President Obama has set the federal government on."
Donald Trump also expressed support for Cliven Bundy, saying, "I like him, I like his spirit, his spunk and the people that are so loyal … I respect him." (Bundy supported him right back.) In fact, Trump respected the Bundy movement so much he later pardoned Dwight and Stephen Hammond, the two ranchers who had been convicted of arson. They just burned federal land and their supporters only desecrated Native American artifacts on a federal wildlife refuge. It's not like they tore down a statue or anything important.
I bring that story up now only because as we have watched the events unfold in Portland, Oregon, over the past few days — a few hours west of the Malheur refuge — with federal police in full military regalia attacking and kidnapping protesters, I'm struck by the deafening silence from all those erstwhile defenders of free speech and the right to protest. I guess in order for them to speak out, the protesters have to be carrying AR-15s. ..........(more)
https://www.salon.com/2020/07/22/defund-homeland-security-creating-a-massive-federal-police-apparatus-was-always-a-mistake/
July 22, 2020
(Guardian UK) Out there somewhere, marked on no map but tantalisingly near, is a promised land called Normal, to which one day we can return. This is the magical geography we are taught by politicians, such as Boris Johnson with his “significant return to normality”. It is the story we tell ourselves, even if we contradict it with the very next thought.
There are practical reasons to believe that Normal is a fairyland to which we can never return. The virus has not gone away, and is likely to keep recurring in waves. But let’s focus on another question: if such a land existed, would we want to live there?
The polls consistently suggest we would not. A survey by BritainThinks a fortnight ago found that only 12% of people want life to be “exactly as it was before”. A poll at the end of June, commissioned by the nursery provider Bright Horizons, suggested that just 13% of people want to return to working as they did before the lockdown. A YouGov study in the same week revealed that only 6% of us want the same type of economy as we had before the pandemic. Another survey by the same pollsters in April showed only 9% of respondents wanted a return to “normal”. It’s rare to see such strong and consistent results on any major issue.
Of course, we would all like to leave the pandemic behind, with its devastating impacts on physical and mental health, its exacerbation of loneliness, the lack of schooling and the collapse in employment. But this doesn’t mean that we want to return to the bizarre and frightening world the government defines as normal. Ours was no land of lost content, but a place in which lethal crises were gathering long before the pandemic struck. Alongside our many political and economic dysfunctions, normality meant accelerating the strangest and deepest predicament humankind has ever confronted: the collapse of our life-support systems. ............(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/21/greener-happier-world-politicians-boris-johnson-consumerism-planet
George Monbiot: People want a greener, happier world now. But our politicians have other ideas
(Guardian UK) Out there somewhere, marked on no map but tantalisingly near, is a promised land called Normal, to which one day we can return. This is the magical geography we are taught by politicians, such as Boris Johnson with his “significant return to normality”. It is the story we tell ourselves, even if we contradict it with the very next thought.
There are practical reasons to believe that Normal is a fairyland to which we can never return. The virus has not gone away, and is likely to keep recurring in waves. But let’s focus on another question: if such a land existed, would we want to live there?
The polls consistently suggest we would not. A survey by BritainThinks a fortnight ago found that only 12% of people want life to be “exactly as it was before”. A poll at the end of June, commissioned by the nursery provider Bright Horizons, suggested that just 13% of people want to return to working as they did before the lockdown. A YouGov study in the same week revealed that only 6% of us want the same type of economy as we had before the pandemic. Another survey by the same pollsters in April showed only 9% of respondents wanted a return to “normal”. It’s rare to see such strong and consistent results on any major issue.
Of course, we would all like to leave the pandemic behind, with its devastating impacts on physical and mental health, its exacerbation of loneliness, the lack of schooling and the collapse in employment. But this doesn’t mean that we want to return to the bizarre and frightening world the government defines as normal. Ours was no land of lost content, but a place in which lethal crises were gathering long before the pandemic struck. Alongside our many political and economic dysfunctions, normality meant accelerating the strangest and deepest predicament humankind has ever confronted: the collapse of our life-support systems. ............(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/21/greener-happier-world-politicians-boris-johnson-consumerism-planet
July 22, 2020
‘The sleepers are waking up’: hope for Democrats in city that backed Trump
President Trump’s re-election plan had relied on bringing jobs back to cities like Erie, Pennsylvania, which has had its hopes of economic resurgence rocked by the pandemic
Jessica Goodheart
Wed 22 Jul 2020 03.00 EDT
(Guardian UK) Hopes had been high in the US lakeside city of Erie that this was going to be its “year to shine”, with millions of dollars of investment and the mayor unveiling a plan for new “family-sustaining jobs”.
In January, the city’s mayor unveiled a plan to develop new apartments and office buildings in the Bayfront area of the city, Pennsylvania’s third-largest, which sits on the south of Lake Erie and is home to about 100,000 people and a major port.
Then, in late March, “commerce came to a crashing halt,” the editorial board of GoErie, the local paper of record, lamented, as the county was placed under a stay-at-home order due to the pandemic.
More bad news would follow. In late April, the local Wabtec plant permanently laid off 300 frontline workers who make locomotives, saying national rail traffic was down 10%. By mid-May the unemployment rate was about 13%, up from 3.6% the prior year. .............(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/22/erie-pennsylvania-democrats-trump-supporters-election
'The sleepers are waking up': hope for Democrats in city that backed Trump
‘The sleepers are waking up’: hope for Democrats in city that backed Trump
President Trump’s re-election plan had relied on bringing jobs back to cities like Erie, Pennsylvania, which has had its hopes of economic resurgence rocked by the pandemic
Jessica Goodheart
Wed 22 Jul 2020 03.00 EDT
(Guardian UK) Hopes had been high in the US lakeside city of Erie that this was going to be its “year to shine”, with millions of dollars of investment and the mayor unveiling a plan for new “family-sustaining jobs”.
In January, the city’s mayor unveiled a plan to develop new apartments and office buildings in the Bayfront area of the city, Pennsylvania’s third-largest, which sits on the south of Lake Erie and is home to about 100,000 people and a major port.
Then, in late March, “commerce came to a crashing halt,” the editorial board of GoErie, the local paper of record, lamented, as the county was placed under a stay-at-home order due to the pandemic.
More bad news would follow. In late April, the local Wabtec plant permanently laid off 300 frontline workers who make locomotives, saying national rail traffic was down 10%. By mid-May the unemployment rate was about 13%, up from 3.6% the prior year. .............(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/22/erie-pennsylvania-democrats-trump-supporters-election
July 21, 2020
(Guardian UK) Donald Trump has vowed to send federal officers to several American cities led by Democrats in what critics say is an attempt to play the “law and order” card to boost his bid for re-election.
The president’s threat came after a federal crackdown on anti-racism protests in Portland, Oregon, that involved unmarked cars and unidentified forces in camouflage.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, Trump identified New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore and Oakland as places in need of federal agents, describing those cities’ mayors as “liberal Democrats”.
.....(snip).....
Struggling against Biden in the opinion polls, Trump has leaned into a dark and divisive theme reminiscent of his fellow Republican Richard Nixon in 1968. “I am your president of law and order,” he declared in the White House Rose Garden on 1 June, shortly before park police and national guard troops fired teargas and chased peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square so he could stage a photo op outside a historic church.
Since then he has repeatedly – and falsely – accused Biden of planning to “defund the police” and effectively surrender cities and suburbs to violent criminals. The conservative Fox News network, meanwhile, has been giving emphasis to coverage of inner-city violence rather the coronavirus pandemic. .................(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/20/donald-trump-us-cities-federal-agents-officers
Trump's vow to send federal officers to US cities is election ploy, critics say
(Guardian UK) Donald Trump has vowed to send federal officers to several American cities led by Democrats in what critics say is an attempt to play the “law and order” card to boost his bid for re-election.
The president’s threat came after a federal crackdown on anti-racism protests in Portland, Oregon, that involved unmarked cars and unidentified forces in camouflage.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, Trump identified New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore and Oakland as places in need of federal agents, describing those cities’ mayors as “liberal Democrats”.
.....(snip).....
Struggling against Biden in the opinion polls, Trump has leaned into a dark and divisive theme reminiscent of his fellow Republican Richard Nixon in 1968. “I am your president of law and order,” he declared in the White House Rose Garden on 1 June, shortly before park police and national guard troops fired teargas and chased peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square so he could stage a photo op outside a historic church.
Since then he has repeatedly – and falsely – accused Biden of planning to “defund the police” and effectively surrender cities and suburbs to violent criminals. The conservative Fox News network, meanwhile, has been giving emphasis to coverage of inner-city violence rather the coronavirus pandemic. .................(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/20/donald-trump-us-cities-federal-agents-officers
July 20, 2020
(Chicago Sun Times) President Donald Trump and his administration hinted Sunday that federal agents may be deployed to Chicago as soon as this week to crack down on protests and gun violence in a military-style response similar to Portland, Oregon.
If Trump sends a Portland-style action to Chicago, it would represent a dramatic escalation between Trump and Mayor Lori Lightfoot regarding how to deal with the city’s ongoing battles against gun violence and demonstrations against racial injustice and police brutality.
In a Sunday Twitter post, Trump said, “The Radical Left Democrats, who totally control Biden, will destroy our Country as we know it. Unimaginably bad things would happen to America. Look at Portland, where the pols are just fine with 50 days of anarchy. We sent in help. Look at New York, Chicago, Philadelphia. NO!” ...............(more)
https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2020/7/19/21330653/trump-may-deploy-federal-agents-to-chicago-this-week-portland-style-response-an-option?
Portland.....just a dress rehearsal?
Trump may deploy federal agents to Chicago this week: is Portland-style response an option?(Chicago Sun Times) President Donald Trump and his administration hinted Sunday that federal agents may be deployed to Chicago as soon as this week to crack down on protests and gun violence in a military-style response similar to Portland, Oregon.
If Trump sends a Portland-style action to Chicago, it would represent a dramatic escalation between Trump and Mayor Lori Lightfoot regarding how to deal with the city’s ongoing battles against gun violence and demonstrations against racial injustice and police brutality.
In a Sunday Twitter post, Trump said, “The Radical Left Democrats, who totally control Biden, will destroy our Country as we know it. Unimaginably bad things would happen to America. Look at Portland, where the pols are just fine with 50 days of anarchy. We sent in help. Look at New York, Chicago, Philadelphia. NO!” ...............(more)
https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2020/7/19/21330653/trump-may-deploy-federal-agents-to-chicago-this-week-portland-style-response-an-option?
July 20, 2020
(BBC) Buffets - from the humblest hotel breakfasts to the grandest casino banquets - are struggling to stay afloat as new health restrictions come into place and wary diners eschew the self-serve dining tradition.
As many buffets go out of business across the US, others are innovating and trying desperately to keep the business model relevant and appetising.
What is the problem?
Susan Yin, the owner of Jack's Fresh in downtown Washington DC, tells BBC News that her average sales have dropped nearly 90% after they re-opened two months ago following a two month closure.
Jack's Fresh, which specialises in Asian food and American sandwiches, is currently making around $500 (£398) per day, down from an average of $3,500 before the pandemic, she says.
"No people work in this area," says Mrs Yin, referring to the commuters that have mostly been working from home since March. "It's still very quiet." ...........(more)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53410931
Coronavirus: The slow death of the American all-you-can-eat buffet
(BBC) Buffets - from the humblest hotel breakfasts to the grandest casino banquets - are struggling to stay afloat as new health restrictions come into place and wary diners eschew the self-serve dining tradition.
As many buffets go out of business across the US, others are innovating and trying desperately to keep the business model relevant and appetising.
What is the problem?
Susan Yin, the owner of Jack's Fresh in downtown Washington DC, tells BBC News that her average sales have dropped nearly 90% after they re-opened two months ago following a two month closure.
Jack's Fresh, which specialises in Asian food and American sandwiches, is currently making around $500 (£398) per day, down from an average of $3,500 before the pandemic, she says.
"No people work in this area," says Mrs Yin, referring to the commuters that have mostly been working from home since March. "It's still very quiet." ...........(more)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53410931
July 20, 2020
(Bloomberg) Florida’s Covid-19 outbreak is “totally out of control,” according to a Democratic representative, and the mayor of Los Angeles said his city is “on the brink” of new restrictions, comments that suggest the country’s months of trade-offs between the health of the community and the economy are far from over.
Speaking Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Donna Shalala called for a lockdown of the third most-populous state and dismissed talk about reopening schools as “ridiculous.”
“It’s terrible,” said Shalala, whose South Florida district sits within Miami-Dade County, one of the hardest-hit parts of the state.
On the Pacific coast, Mayor Eric Garcetti said he’s considering another stay-at-home order for Los Angeles but emphasized that the city still had room in its hospitals and had been testing aggressively. Schools won’t hold in-person classes until the city records at least 14 consecutive days of case decline and is removed from the state’s watch list, Garcetti told CNN’s “State of the Union.” ............(more)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-19/florida-virus-out-of-control-lockdown-needed-ex-hhs-chief?srnd=premium
Florida Virus 'Out of Control,' Los Angeles Is on the Brink
(Bloomberg) Florida’s Covid-19 outbreak is “totally out of control,” according to a Democratic representative, and the mayor of Los Angeles said his city is “on the brink” of new restrictions, comments that suggest the country’s months of trade-offs between the health of the community and the economy are far from over.
Speaking Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Donna Shalala called for a lockdown of the third most-populous state and dismissed talk about reopening schools as “ridiculous.”
“It’s terrible,” said Shalala, whose South Florida district sits within Miami-Dade County, one of the hardest-hit parts of the state.
On the Pacific coast, Mayor Eric Garcetti said he’s considering another stay-at-home order for Los Angeles but emphasized that the city still had room in its hospitals and had been testing aggressively. Schools won’t hold in-person classes until the city records at least 14 consecutive days of case decline and is removed from the state’s watch list, Garcetti told CNN’s “State of the Union.” ............(more)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-19/florida-virus-out-of-control-lockdown-needed-ex-hhs-chief?srnd=premium
July 20, 2020
(HuffPost) Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, insisted to the Trump administration that the coronavirus pandemic would soon slow down, comparing the U.S. to Italy and its experience with the virus, The New York Times revealed in a damning report published Saturday.
Birx believed that the U.S. would see a peak in cases, followed by a slow and lasting decline, just as Italy has seen, the Times reported.
Her optimistic take on models assessing the virus apparently encouraged President Donald Trump to put pressure on states to relax regulations meant to slow the spread of the virus in mid-April, the Times reported.
The paper interviewed more than two dozen administration officials and reviewed emails and documents to uncover how the White House handled its response to the spread of COVID-19. .........(more)
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/deborah-birx-trump-admin-coronavirus-fading_n_5f0f5f8ec5b643a58ebcaefb?
Dr. Deborah Birx Told The White House That Coronavirus Surge Was Fading: Report
(HuffPost) Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, insisted to the Trump administration that the coronavirus pandemic would soon slow down, comparing the U.S. to Italy and its experience with the virus, The New York Times revealed in a damning report published Saturday.
Birx believed that the U.S. would see a peak in cases, followed by a slow and lasting decline, just as Italy has seen, the Times reported.
Her optimistic take on models assessing the virus apparently encouraged President Donald Trump to put pressure on states to relax regulations meant to slow the spread of the virus in mid-April, the Times reported.
The paper interviewed more than two dozen administration officials and reviewed emails and documents to uncover how the White House handled its response to the spread of COVID-19. .........(more)
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/deborah-birx-trump-admin-coronavirus-fading_n_5f0f5f8ec5b643a58ebcaefb?
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit, MI
Member since: Fri Oct 29, 2004, 12:18 AM
Number of posts: 77,080