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
Demovictory9
Demovictory9's Journal
Demovictory9's Journal
April 29, 2020
In March, Americans shopped at the grocery store like it was 1996
Covid-19 has Americans shopping at grocery stores like it was the 1990s. In March 2020, almost 63% of food and drink bought by US consumers was purchased at stores. This was the highest share since January 1996, according to data from the US Census.
The share of food spending at restaurants and bars (including takeout) has been slowly rising for for over half a century. In 1970, only about one quarter of US household expenditures were spent on eating out. By the beginning of 2020, that number had reached about 50%. The Great Recession slowed down the move to eating out from 2008 to 2012, but only a pandemic could truly reverse the trend.
There are two main reasons that spending on store-bought food is declining in relative importance.
One, groceries are cheap. The rise of large chain grocery stores, like Walmart, and increasingly efficient agriculture and food production technology drove food prices down (particularly for prepackaged foods). At the same time, eating out has continued to get more expensive, since labor is a much larger share of costs for restaurants than supermarkets, which is not getting any cheaper.
Two, as an increasing number of women have entered the labor force, there is no longer a member of the home expected to cook (when a member of a heterosexual couple does cook, it is more likely to be the woman). People have turned to eating out or ordering in for convenience, and the ability to spend their time on work or leisure. Currently, due to shelter-at-home orders, people both have more time to spend on cooking and may be worried about the health consequences of ordering in.
https://qz.com/1846858/americans-are-shopping-for-groceries-like-its-the-1990s/amp/
April 29, 2020
'It’s horrific': coronavirus kills nearly 70 at Massachusetts veterans' home
Deadliest known outbreak at a US long-term care facility leaves 68 veterans dead and dozens more sickened
Nearly 70 residents sickened with the coronavirus have died at a Massachusetts home for ageing veterans, as state and federal officials try to figure out what went wrong in the deadliest known outbreak at a long-term care facility in the US.
While the death toll at the state-run Holyoke Soldiers’ Home continues to climb, federal officials are investigating whether residents were denied proper medical care and the state’s top prosecutor is deciding whether to bring legal action.
“It’s horrific,” said Edward Lapointe, whose father-in-law lives at the home and had a mild case of the virus. “These guys never had a chance.”
Sixty-eight veteran residents who tested positive for the virus have died, officials said on Tuesday, and it is not known whether another person who died had Covid-19. Another 82 residents and 81 employees have tested positive.
The home’s superintendent, who has been placed on administrative leave, has defended his response and accused state officials of falsely claiming they were unaware of the scope of the problem there.
'It's horrific': coronavirus kills nearly 70 at Massachusetts veterans' home
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/28/coronavirus-massachusetts-veterans-outbreak-holyoke-soldiers-home'It’s horrific': coronavirus kills nearly 70 at Massachusetts veterans' home
Deadliest known outbreak at a US long-term care facility leaves 68 veterans dead and dozens more sickened
Nearly 70 residents sickened with the coronavirus have died at a Massachusetts home for ageing veterans, as state and federal officials try to figure out what went wrong in the deadliest known outbreak at a long-term care facility in the US.
While the death toll at the state-run Holyoke Soldiers’ Home continues to climb, federal officials are investigating whether residents were denied proper medical care and the state’s top prosecutor is deciding whether to bring legal action.
“It’s horrific,” said Edward Lapointe, whose father-in-law lives at the home and had a mild case of the virus. “These guys never had a chance.”
Sixty-eight veteran residents who tested positive for the virus have died, officials said on Tuesday, and it is not known whether another person who died had Covid-19. Another 82 residents and 81 employees have tested positive.
The home’s superintendent, who has been placed on administrative leave, has defended his response and accused state officials of falsely claiming they were unaware of the scope of the problem there.
April 28, 2020
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/28/politics/california-official-resigns-after-throwing-cat-trnd/index.html
A Northern California city planning commissioner resigned on Tuesday following a videoconference meeting in which he was seen throwing his cat and drinking what appeared to be an alcoholic beverage.
In a resignation letter sent to the city of Vallejo via email, a copy of which was provided to CNN, Chris Platzer apologized for his behavior during the meeting.
"We are all living in uncertain times and I certainly, like many of you, am adjusting to a new normalcy," he said. "I did not conduct myself in the Zoom meeting in a manner befitting of a planning commissioner and apologize for any harm I may have inflicted."
After the April 20 meeting, city officials called for Platzer to be removed from his position and the mayor asked the City Council to consider his immediate removal at its next meeting on Tuesday.
At the meeting in question, the city's planning commission met to discuss a local Costco project and the issue of physical distancing, among other topics. The meeting was recorded and is available to be viewed by the public.
When the moderator asked Platzer for comment, a cat could be heard meowing in the background.
"OK, well, I'd like to first introduce my cat," Platzer said, while lifting up the cat to the camera.
He then tossed the cat and a thud could be heard off camera.
In another moment of the meeting, Platzer, who was appointed to his seat in 2016, could be seen drinking what appeared to be a bottle of beer
After the meeting ended and everyone else had left the call, Platzer could be heard saying, "I'm going to call bull---- on you little b-----s."
California city official who threw cat and drank during video meeting resigns
California city official who threw cat and drank during video meeting resigns
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/28/politics/california-official-resigns-after-throwing-cat-trnd/index.html
A Northern California city planning commissioner resigned on Tuesday following a videoconference meeting in which he was seen throwing his cat and drinking what appeared to be an alcoholic beverage.
In a resignation letter sent to the city of Vallejo via email, a copy of which was provided to CNN, Chris Platzer apologized for his behavior during the meeting.
"We are all living in uncertain times and I certainly, like many of you, am adjusting to a new normalcy," he said. "I did not conduct myself in the Zoom meeting in a manner befitting of a planning commissioner and apologize for any harm I may have inflicted."
After the April 20 meeting, city officials called for Platzer to be removed from his position and the mayor asked the City Council to consider his immediate removal at its next meeting on Tuesday.
At the meeting in question, the city's planning commission met to discuss a local Costco project and the issue of physical distancing, among other topics. The meeting was recorded and is available to be viewed by the public.
When the moderator asked Platzer for comment, a cat could be heard meowing in the background.
"OK, well, I'd like to first introduce my cat," Platzer said, while lifting up the cat to the camera.
He then tossed the cat and a thud could be heard off camera.
In another moment of the meeting, Platzer, who was appointed to his seat in 2016, could be seen drinking what appeared to be a bottle of beer
After the meeting ended and everyone else had left the call, Platzer could be heard saying, "I'm going to call bull---- on you little b-----s."
April 28, 2020
Oil world zeroes in on Cushing, Oklahoma
Dramatic crude plunge this week put the humble storage hub in the spotlight
https://www.ft.com/content/51d2f6a5-1a71-4c1c-b022-8768fdb72519
Cushing, Oklahoma, population 7,800, has a steakhouse, a burrito restaurant and a KFC. It also has America’s most important complex of oil storage tanks.
The prospect that those monumental tanks might soon be full to the brim rocked global markets this week. The US benchmark oil price plunged below $0 for the first time in history, sparking debate and recriminations across the industry that put the humble city in the spotlight.
---------
Companies such as Plains All American Pipeline, Enbridge and Magellan Midstream Partners have invested heavily to add tanks on the north and south ends of town. Working storage capacity has increased by more than half in the past decade to 76m barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration. The added space has accommodated surging volumes of oil pouring in from shale formations and Canada.
===================
U.S. oil prices plunged nearly 25% on Monday on fears that worldwide storage will soon fill as the coronavirus pandemic continues to roil demand.
West Texas Intermediate for June delivery fell 24.56%, or $4.16, to settle at $12.78 per barrel, after earlier trading as low as $11.88. International benchmark Brent crude fell 6.76% to settle at $19.99. Each contract is coming off its eighth week of losses in nine weeks.
WTI for July delivery fell more than 14% to $18.18 while the August contract slipped more than 9% to $21.50, suggesting the Street doesn’t see a meaningful recovery in the next few months.
“The market knows that the storage problem remains and we are on a calculated path to reach tank tops in weeks,” said Bjornar Tonhaugen, head of oil markets at Rystad Energy. “Actions are needed now as the problem stopped being theoretical and far away. The storage clock is ticking for producers and we are approaching the final countdown if no further action is taken.”
WTI, the U.S. benchmark, has fallen more than Brent as traders eye the quickly filling tanks at Cushing, Oklahoma, which is the nation’s largest storage facility apart from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It’s also where the contract is priced. U.S. stockpiles rose by 15 million barrels to 518.6 million barrels for the week ending April 17, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/27/oil-news-crude-wti-brent-prices-today.html
oil prices plunge 25% as tanks in Cushing Oklahoma, nations largest storage facility, fill.
https://www.ft.com/content/51d2f6a5-1a71-4c1c-b022-8768fdb72519Oil world zeroes in on Cushing, Oklahoma
Dramatic crude plunge this week put the humble storage hub in the spotlight
https://www.ft.com/content/51d2f6a5-1a71-4c1c-b022-8768fdb72519
Cushing, Oklahoma, population 7,800, has a steakhouse, a burrito restaurant and a KFC. It also has America’s most important complex of oil storage tanks.
The prospect that those monumental tanks might soon be full to the brim rocked global markets this week. The US benchmark oil price plunged below $0 for the first time in history, sparking debate and recriminations across the industry that put the humble city in the spotlight.
---------
Companies such as Plains All American Pipeline, Enbridge and Magellan Midstream Partners have invested heavily to add tanks on the north and south ends of town. Working storage capacity has increased by more than half in the past decade to 76m barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration. The added space has accommodated surging volumes of oil pouring in from shale formations and Canada.
===================
U.S. oil prices plunged nearly 25% on Monday on fears that worldwide storage will soon fill as the coronavirus pandemic continues to roil demand.
West Texas Intermediate for June delivery fell 24.56%, or $4.16, to settle at $12.78 per barrel, after earlier trading as low as $11.88. International benchmark Brent crude fell 6.76% to settle at $19.99. Each contract is coming off its eighth week of losses in nine weeks.
WTI for July delivery fell more than 14% to $18.18 while the August contract slipped more than 9% to $21.50, suggesting the Street doesn’t see a meaningful recovery in the next few months.
“The market knows that the storage problem remains and we are on a calculated path to reach tank tops in weeks,” said Bjornar Tonhaugen, head of oil markets at Rystad Energy. “Actions are needed now as the problem stopped being theoretical and far away. The storage clock is ticking for producers and we are approaching the final countdown if no further action is taken.”
WTI, the U.S. benchmark, has fallen more than Brent as traders eye the quickly filling tanks at Cushing, Oklahoma, which is the nation’s largest storage facility apart from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It’s also where the contract is priced. U.S. stockpiles rose by 15 million barrels to 518.6 million barrels for the week ending April 17, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/27/oil-news-crude-wti-brent-prices-today.html
April 28, 2020
https://twitter.com/i/events/1254824771021410307
260,000 words, full of self-praise, from Trump on the coronavirus
Three journalists from The New York Times reviewed more than 260,000 words spoken by President Trump during the pandemic. Here’s what we learned.
The self-regard, the credit-taking, the audacious rewriting of recent history to cast himself as the hero of the pandemic rather than the president who was slow to respond: Such have been the defining features of Mr. Trump’s use of the bully pulpit during the coronavirus outbreak.
The New York Times
@nytimes
·
8h
The New York Times analyzed every word President Trump has spoken at his White House briefings and other presidential remarks on the coronavirus — more than 260,000 words — from March 9 through mid-April.
Here are 6 things we learned.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/26/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-briefings-analyzed.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes
260,000 words, full of self-praise, from Trump on the coronavirus
https://twitter.com/i/events/1254824771021410307
260,000 words, full of self-praise, from Trump on the coronavirus
Three journalists from The New York Times reviewed more than 260,000 words spoken by President Trump during the pandemic. Here’s what we learned.
The self-regard, the credit-taking, the audacious rewriting of recent history to cast himself as the hero of the pandemic rather than the president who was slow to respond: Such have been the defining features of Mr. Trump’s use of the bully pulpit during the coronavirus outbreak.
The New York Times
@nytimes
·
8h
The New York Times analyzed every word President Trump has spoken at his White House briefings and other presidential remarks on the coronavirus — more than 260,000 words — from March 9 through mid-April.
Here are 6 things we learned.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/26/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-briefings-analyzed.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes
April 28, 2020
Trump gives the finger again. No doubt about it. you see the gears turning in his twisted mind
https://twitter.com/DemocracyInn/status/1254939898907328513
April 28, 2020
CNN's Jake Tapper and Dana Bash are both stunned by President Trump's retweet that suggests that his rivals are inflating coronavirus death rates to hurt his re-election chances.
Tapper stunned by 'indecent and obscene' Trump retweet Published Apr 27, 2020 at 5:01 pm
https://www.wdel.com/news/national/tapper-stunned-by-indecent-and-obscene-trump-retweet/video_ec071bde-69d5-56e0-bbca-e66d474c9a19.htmlCNN's Jake Tapper and Dana Bash are both stunned by President Trump's retweet that suggests that his rivals are inflating coronavirus death rates to hurt his re-election chances.
April 28, 2020
WASHINGTON -- U.S. intelligence agencies issued warnings about the novel coronavirus in more than a dozen classified briefings prepared for President Donald Trump in January and February, months during which he continued to play down the threat, according to current and former U.S. officials.
The repeated warnings were conveyed in issues of the President's Daily Brief, a sensitive report that is produced before dawn each day and designed to call the president's attention to the most significant global developments and security threats.
For weeks, the PDB - as the report is known - traced the virus's spread around the globe, made clear that China was suppressing information about the contagion's transmissibility and lethal toll, and raised the prospect of dire political and economic consequences.
But the alarms appear to have failed to register with the president, who routinely skips reading the PDB and has at times shown little patience even for the oral summary he now takes two or three times per week, according to the officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss classified material.
the warnings about coronavirus were in those daily reports Trump would not read
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/President-s-intelligence-briefing-book-repeatedly-15229783.phpWASHINGTON -- U.S. intelligence agencies issued warnings about the novel coronavirus in more than a dozen classified briefings prepared for President Donald Trump in January and February, months during which he continued to play down the threat, according to current and former U.S. officials.
The repeated warnings were conveyed in issues of the President's Daily Brief, a sensitive report that is produced before dawn each day and designed to call the president's attention to the most significant global developments and security threats.
For weeks, the PDB - as the report is known - traced the virus's spread around the globe, made clear that China was suppressing information about the contagion's transmissibility and lethal toll, and raised the prospect of dire political and economic consequences.
But the alarms appear to have failed to register with the president, who routinely skips reading the PDB and has at times shown little patience even for the oral summary he now takes two or three times per week, according to the officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss classified material.
April 27, 2020
When Lucas was just a kitten, he fell in love with a stuffed leopard about his same size. Four years later, Lucas has grown, but he’s never grown out of loving his favorite toy.
“He's had this toy for probably four years, and it ripped because of wear and tear,” Alana said. “My grandma moved in with us last year, and really loves Lucas. [She] saw that his favorite toy was ripped, so she sewed it back together for him.”
Lucas was entranced by the needle and thread moving through his toy and sat patiently as Grandma performed surgery on his friend.
Cat Waits Patiently As Grandma Mends His Favorite Toy
https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB132RTU.img?h=400&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f
Cat Waits Patiently As Grandma Mends His Favorite Toy
https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/cat-waits-patiently-as-grandma-mends-his-favorite-toy/ar-BB132Yz8When Lucas was just a kitten, he fell in love with a stuffed leopard about his same size. Four years later, Lucas has grown, but he’s never grown out of loving his favorite toy.
“He's had this toy for probably four years, and it ripped because of wear and tear,” Alana said. “My grandma moved in with us last year, and really loves Lucas. [She] saw that his favorite toy was ripped, so she sewed it back together for him.”
Lucas was entranced by the needle and thread moving through his toy and sat patiently as Grandma performed surgery on his friend.
Cat Waits Patiently As Grandma Mends His Favorite Toy
https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB132RTU.img?h=400&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f
April 27, 2020
I was being sarcastic again! Trump uses same defense for his disinfectant debacle to insist his bungled 'Noble' prize tweets were actually attacks on journalists' morals after 'phony' NY Times hamburger story
President Trump called himself the 'hardest working president in history' as he sent out a flurry of tweets protesting a New York Times story
-----
Trump accused the Times of lying about 'his schedule and eating habits' and said he was working around the clock
He also said the Times journalists should give their 'Noble' prize back, confusing it with the Pulitzer, which they won, and spelling Nobel wrong
In a follow-up tweet four hours later, the president claimed his use of the word 'noble' instead of 'Nobel' was him being sarcastic to get his point across
I was being sarcastic again! Trump uses same defense for "Noble" tweet
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8258973/Trump-goes-rant-against-New-York-Times.htmlI was being sarcastic again! Trump uses same defense for his disinfectant debacle to insist his bungled 'Noble' prize tweets were actually attacks on journalists' morals after 'phony' NY Times hamburger story
President Trump called himself the 'hardest working president in history' as he sent out a flurry of tweets protesting a New York Times story
-----
Trump accused the Times of lying about 'his schedule and eating habits' and said he was working around the clock
He also said the Times journalists should give their 'Noble' prize back, confusing it with the Pulitzer, which they won, and spelling Nobel wrong
In a follow-up tweet four hours later, the president claimed his use of the word 'noble' instead of 'Nobel' was him being sarcastic to get his point across
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleHometown: California
Member since: Tue Feb 27, 2018, 10:32 PM
Number of posts: 32,454