1250: Noodle Nation

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Thu, 11 Jun 2020 06:39

FLORRISANT, Mo. -- Merriam-Webster is revising its definition of racism after a Missouri woman's emails claimed it fell short of including the systemic oppression of certain groups of people.

Kennedy Mitchum, who lives in the St. Louis suburb Florissant, said people would argue with her about the definition of racism and she realized the problem was in the Merriam-Webster's dictionary, KMOV-TV reported.

"It's not just disliking someone because of their race," Mitchum wrote in a Facebook post. "This current fight we are in is evidence of that, lives are at stake because of the systems of oppression that go hand-in-hand with racism."

The revision comes against the backdrop of protests around the country against police brutality after the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer pinned his neck to the ground.

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary first defines racism as "a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race."

Mitchum, who recently graduated with a degree in law, politics and society, said that definition was too simple.

"So, a couple weeks ago, I said this is the last argument I'm going to have about this. I know what racism is, I've experienced it time and time and time again in a lot of different ways, so enough is enough. So, I emailed them about how I felt about it. Saying this needs to change," she said.

Peter Sokolowski, editor at large at Merriam-Webster, said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press that the dictionary's second definition is "divided to express, first, explicit institutional bias against people because of their race, and, second, a broader implicit bias that can also result in an asymmetrical power structure."

"This second definition covers the sense that Ms. Mitchum was seeking, and we will make its wording even more clear in our next release," he said. "This is the kind of continuous revision that is part of the work of keeping the dictionary up to date, based on rigorous criteria and research we employ in order to describe the language as it is actually used."

Copyright (C) 2020 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Hi Adam,

Hope order has been restored to your inbox. Quick note on the art...

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TYFYC

All the winners, below including my favorite, Mr. Bonesaw, episode 1078. 8.18% of the winning covers since February 2017.

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Thu, 11 Jun 2020 06:57

It's no longer a question as to whether President Trump will exceed 20,000 false or misleading claims by the time his current term is completed. Instead, we have to ask: Will he top 25,000?

As of May 29, his 1,226th day in office, Trump had made 19,127 false or misleading claims, according to the Fact Checker's database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement he has uttered. That's almost 16 claims a day over the course of his presidency. So far this year, he's averaging just over 22 claims a day, similar to the pace he set in 2019.

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With 235 days to go in his current term, that would leave him just short of 25,000. But we have also found that October is a dangerous month for the truth, especially if an election is nearing. In October 2018, the president tallied 1,205 claims and in October 2019, 1,159 claims. That's a pace of 40 claims a day.

Much depends, of course, on whether the president is able to return to holding campaign rallies for his most loyal supporters. At such rallies, the president runs through a list of exaggerated or false claims that easily tops 60 statements a rally. Since the coronavirus pandemic has more or less shut down the United States, the president has been unable to hold such mass events. He tried substituting a daily news conference at the White House, with the occasional interview with a friendly host, but it's not quite the same thing.

The coronavirus pandemic has spawned a whole new genre of Trump's falsehoods. The category in just a few months has reached 800 claims, with his advocacy for hydroxychloroquine as a possible cure, based on minimal and flimsy evidence, already reaching Bottomless Pinocchio status.

It takes at least 20 repeats of a Three- or Four-Pinocchio claim to merit a Bottomless Pinocchio, and there are now 39 entries.

Trump's penchant for repeating false claims is demonstrated by the fact that the Fact Checker database has recorded more than 450 instances in which he has repeated a variation of the same claim at least three times.

Trump's most repeated claim '-- 334 times '-- is that the U.S. economy today is the best in history. He began making this claim in June 2018, and it quickly became one of his favorites. He's been forced to adapt for the tough economic times, and doing so has made it even more fantastic. Whereas he used to say it was the best economy in U.S. history, he now often recalls he had achieved ''the best economy in the history of the world.''

Nope. The president once could brag about the state of the economy, but he ran into trouble when he made a play for the history books. By just about any important measure, the pre-coronavirus economy was not doing as well as it did under Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson or Bill Clinton '-- or Ulysses S. Grant. Moreover, the economy already was beginning to hit the head winds caused by Trump's trade wars, with the manufacturing sector in an apparent recession.

Trump's second-most repeated claim '-- 261 times '-- is that his border wall is being built. Congress balked at funding the concrete barrier he envisioned, so the project evolved into the replacement of smaller, older barriers with steel bollard fencing. (Only three miles of the barrier is on land that previously did not have a barrier.) The Washington Post has reported the bollard fencing is easily breached, with smugglers sawing through it, despite Trump's claims it is impossible to get past. Nevertheless, the project has diverted billions in military and counternarcotics funding to become one of the largest infrastructure projects in U.S. history, seizing private land, cutting off wildlife corridors and disrupting Native American cultural sites.

Trump has falsely said 206 times that he passed the biggest tax cut in history. Even before his tax cut was crafted, he promised it would be the biggest in U.S. history '-- bigger than President Ronald Reagan's in 1981. Reagan's tax cut amounted to 2.9 percent of the gross domestic product, and none of the proposals under consideration came close to that level. Yet Trump persisted in this fiction even when the tax cut was eventually crafted to be the equivalent of 0.9 percent of gross domestic product, making it the eighth-largest tax cut in 100 years. This continues to be an all-purpose applause line at the president's rallies.

The award-winning database website, created by graphics reporter Leslie Shapiro, has an extremely fast search engine that will quickly locate suspect statements the president has made. We encourage readers to explore it in detail.

Readers may also be interested in our new book, which will be published June 2 by Scribner: ''Donald Trump and His Assault on Truth: The President's Falsehoods, Misleading Claims and Flat-Out Lies.'' We drew on the database to compile a guide to Trump's most frequently used misstatements, biggest whoppers, and most dangerous deceptions. We examine in detail about how Trump misleads about himself and his foes, the economy, immigration, the Ukraine controversy, foreign policy, the coronavirus crisis and many other issues.

Note: The Fact Checker welcomes academic research of the Trump claims database. Recent examples include work done by Erasmus University of Rotterdam, University College London and the University of California at Santa Barbara. You can request our data files with an explanation of your research plans by contacting us at factchecker@washpost.com.

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 12:00

Serving up32 definitions for all your definition-ing needs.From the dude that brought you No Agenda Meetups, your humble admin, Sir Dude Named Daniel.

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 17:24

Summary:

WHO says asymptomatic carriers actually not that infectiousCali reports statewide decline in cases while LA County cases near 64kNY State reports 0.2% jump in new cases as NYC reopensCuomo says central NY region ready to enter 'Phase 2'India reports another record jump in new cases with ~10kPakistan hospitals running out of beds as cases pass 100kCuomo holds briefing at 1130amETFlorida reports slowdown following last week's spike in new casesNYC enters 'Phase 1' reopeningNew Zealand declared 'coronavirus free' by PMGlobal coronavirus infections near 7mil; US outbreak nears 2 mil* * *

Update (1436ET): Following a report in today's WSJ noting new data showing SARS-CoV-2 spreads more quickly in sparsely populated areas where homes are more crowded (perhaps because more extended family members live together) than densely populated but affluent areas like Manhattan and North Brooklyn, the World Health Organization has just announced another epic flip flop.

In an announcement that highlights once again how little scientists understand about the new coronavirus (as the NYT's Nick Kristoff once noted, viruses are "full of puzzles"), the WHO announced that asymptomatic carriers of the virus apparently don't infect nearly as many others as we once thought.

Early evidence indicated that the virus could spread via person-to-person contact, even if the carrier didn't have symptoms. But WHO officials now say that while asymptomatic spread is certainly possible, it's not the main route of transmission.

"From the data we have, it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual," Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO's emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, said during a Monday briefing from the WHO's Geneva headquarters. "It's very rare.''

Of course, if scientists continue to see data showing asymptomatic spread isn't a main factor in transmission, it could have dramatic implications for containment policy, including diminishing the need for social distancing, and allowing students and workers to return to the workplace in much larger numbers.

Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove

The data cited by the WHO was apparently gleaned from early contact tracing work. If it's true that asymptomatic spread isn't a major factor, than the importance of contact tracing has been vastly overstated. To be sure, more research and data are needed to ''truly answer'' the question, Van Kerkhove added.

"We have a number of reports from countries who are doing very detailed contact tracing," she said. "They're following asymptomatic cases. They're following contacts. And they're not finding secondary transmission onward. It's very rare."

Kayleigh McEnany, meanwhile, insisted that the US is heading in a "positive direction" when it comes to the coronavirus. Shortly afterward, California reported a statewide decline in new infections on Monday, though the number of new cases in LA County neared 64k, as the economic reopening has caused new cases to spike - a spike that experts who spoke to the LATimes say likely predated the anti-police brutality demonstrations.

* * *

Update (1145ET): Cuomo has released the daily coronavirus data for Monday, claiming that the number of deaths reported in the state was fewer than 100 once again, and that much of central NY state is will soon enter 'Phase 2' of the reopening plan. Cases climbed just 0.2%, compared with a 7-day average of 0.3%.

Source: NYT

With central NY ready to enter Phase 2, Cuomo also shared 15 sites around the state for protesters to get tested, while claiming that "we don't know" whether the demonstrations will cause a resurgence of new cases.

Cuomo laid out the data in a series of slides shared during his daily briefing:

Regarding his earlier ride on the 7 train (which we mentioned below), Cuomo says he wouldn't ask New Yorkers to ride the trains if he didn't feel comfortable riding them.

Finally, Cuomo warned NYers to "stay smart" after the reopening "because if you don't, you can see a spike...and that is the last thing we want to see".

"Stay smart...stay smart...look at facts around us - other states, the spike is going up, California, the numbers are going up, Florida, the numebrs are going up, Texas the numbers are going up...look at the reopening date and look at what happened after they reopened...that is the cautionary tale my friends," Cuomo said.

Ask if he expected a spike in the coming weeks, Cuomo replied "are you a cynic, my friend?" before adding that subways have been opened this entire time, and that a rebound isn't guaranteed "if we stay as smart and disciplined as we have for the past 100 days".

* * *

Update (1120ET): After crossing the 200k-case threshold over the weekend, India has reported yet another record jump in new cases on Monday as it continues to ease its restrictive lockdown conditions in preparation for it to finally expire later this monht.

Monday marked the biggest unwind of lockdown restrictions so far, as malls, restaurants, hotels and places of worship were allowed to reopen, most for the first time since March 25, when India's lockdown began.

However, the easing has been marred by a surge in infections, leading India to overtake Italy and Spain to become the fifth worst-hit nation in the pandemic, as we noted a few days back. But on Monday, nearly 10k new cases were reported, about even with the number of new cases being reported in Russia, where the outbreak continues to spread uncontrolled.

India has a total of 256,611 confirmed cases following the latest daily spike of 9,983. The country has recorded 7,135 deaths, according to India's Health Ministry, although some suspect the true number could be much higher. Domestic flights and trains were allowed to restart in May, along with manufacturing activity, which re-started soon after.

Some restrictions will remain in New Delhi and Mumbai, among India's worst-hit cities. In Delhi, local authorities have allowed private offices, restaurants and shopping complexes to reopen (though social distancing guidelines must be followed). But hotels and metro lines remain shuttered.

In Florida, Monday's reported coronavirus cases and deaths declined slightly after a week where the most positive cases yet were reported.

The update from the state Department of Health showed 966 new positive cases of the virus, bringing Fla's total to 64,904 cases to date, along with 12 new deaths, bringing the statewide total to 2,712.

In NY, Gov Cuomo will begin his daily press briefing at 1130amET, as per usual.

During the opening minutes of the briefing, Cuomo declared "we're back, baby" while reporters mocked an earlier "socially distant" subway ride for a governor whose loathing for the subway is well known.

Guess the image of riding the subway finally ''aligns with the governor's can-do persona.''https://t.co/QBHX223zwU https://t.co/6cmypI12NT

'-- Jessica Pressler (@jpressler) June 8, 2020Circling back to India's outbreak, the country isn't alone in West Asia: Across its heavily militarized border (where sectarian violence has flared again in recent days), Pakistan warns that hospitals are running out of beds to treat coronavirus patients as the number of confirmed cases passes 100,000, with ~2k deaths.

* * *

Following nearly 2 weeks of peaceful protests pockmarked by violence and looting - killings and shootings skyrocketed across NYC last week as the summer 'killing season' begins - America's biggest "hot zone" kicked off "Phase 1" of its plan to reopen its economy on Monday, exactly 100 days after the first case of the virus was confirmed.

Since the outbreak began, more than 205,000 New Yorkers who have tested positive for the virus, while another 22,000 succumbed to the virus.

Exactly 100 days since its first case of coronavirus was confirmed, New York City, which weathered extensive hardship as an epicenter of the worldwide outbreak, is set to take the first tentative steps toward reopening its doors on Monday.

According to the NYT, as many as 400,000 workers will return to construction jobs, manufacturing sites and retail stores in the city's first phase of reopening as the number of COVID-19 deaths recorded across the US continues to fall, with fewer than 1,000 deaths reported each day (remember when the NYT claimed that deaths would be north of 3,000/day by June 1?).

It's a far cry from the 'peak' of the outbreak, when 800 NYC residents were dying from the virus every day.

The city ran more than 60k tests a day over the weekend, Gov Cuomo claimed.

Tomorrow is a new day. NYC reopens. #NewYorkTough pic.twitter.com/xxz0GKv5Ol

'-- Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) June 8, 2020NYC enters Phase 1 of reopening tomorrow.New Yorkers bent the curve by being smart.

Let's keep being smart. #NYTough

'-- Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) June 7, 2020That is low enough for New York City's corps of contract tracers, who began work last week, to try to track every close interaction and, officials hope, stop a resurgence of the virus.

''You want to talk about a turnaround '-- this one, my friends, is going to go in the history books,'' Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Saturday.

Of course, it could be months before office workers return en masse, as the world waits to see how the city's public transit will handle social distancing concerns. And for many retailers in the city, the conditions in 'Phase 1' are still too restrictive. Simply reopening doesn't mean customers will return, and curbside pickup doesn't make a lot of sense for many retailers either, according to the NYT. Business groups in the city say many retailers are waiting for the next phase to venture out, when outdoor dining is allowed, office workers are permitted to return and shoppers are allowed to take their time and browse. The earliest these shops might be able to reopen would be later this month.

Some employers have developed new technological solutions to this problem. When more than 100 workers return to Newlab, a "technology hub" in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, they will be offered a device that buzzes whenever they get too close to another worker. The essential workers that have remained in the office this entire time have already been wearing the devices.

The city's army of thousands of contact tracers officially started their work last week, and will continue aiding in efforts to quash a rebound in infections. Meanwhile, city officials will be closely monitoring a suite of metrics, from emergency room admission data to new case numbers, for signs of a potentially crippling resurgence.

On the other side of the world, New Zealand lifted all social and economic restrictions except for its border controls on Monday after declaring that the small island nation is "coronavirus free", making it one of the first nations to return to normalcy after the outbreak. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she "danced for joy". Restaurants, retailers, transit and virtually everywhere else reopened without mandatory social distancing. It has been 17 days since the country recorded a new case of the virus.

"While the job is not done, there is no denying this is a milestone ... Thank you, New Zealand,'' Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a news conference, saying she had danced for joy at the news.

"We are confident we have eliminated transmission of the virus in New Zealand for now, but elimination is not a point in time, it is a sustained effort.''

Globally, the total case count topped 7 million late last night, while the number of deaths passed 400k over the weekend, as Brazil, Mexico, Russia and possibly India struggle to bring the outbreak to heel. In the US, the number of confirmed cases have surpassed 1.9 million, and the 2 million mark draws ever-nearer, with ~1.94 million as of Monday morning. At the current rate of ~20k cases a day, the US is on track to pass its next grim pandemic milestone by Thursday.

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 22:27

Published Mon, Jun 8 2020 1:05 PM EDT

Updated 3 hours ago

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Government responses should focus on detecting and isolating infected people with symptoms, the World Health Organization said.Preliminary evidence from the earliest outbreaks indicated the virus could spread even if people didn't have symptoms.But the WHO says that while asymptomatic spread can occur, it is "very rare."Coronavirus patients without symptoms aren't driving the spread of the virus, World Health Organization officials said Monday, casting doubt on concerns by some researchers that the disease could be difficult to contain due to asymptomatic infections.

Some people, particularly young and otherwise healthy individuals, who are infected by the coronavirus never develop symptoms or only develop mild symptoms. Others might not develop symptoms until days after they were actually infected.

Preliminary evidence from the earliest outbreaks indicated that the virus could spread from person-to-person contact, even if the carrier didn't have symptoms. But WHO officials now say that while asymptomatic spread can occur, it is not the main way it's being transmitted.

"From the data we have, it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual," Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO's emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, said at a news briefing from the United Nations agency's Geneva headquarters. "It's very rare."

Government responses should focus on detecting and isolating infected people with symptoms, and tracking anyone who might have come into contact with them, Van Kerkhove said. She acknowledged that some studies have indicated asymptomatic or presymptomatic spread in nursing homes and in household settings.

More research and data are needed to "truly answer" the question of whether the coronavirus can spread widely through asymptomatic carriers, Van Kerkhove added.

"We have a number of reports from countries who are doing very detailed contact tracing," she said. "They're following asymptomatic cases. They're following contacts. And they're not finding secondary transmission onward. It's very rare."

If asymptomatic spread proves to not be a main driver of coronavirus transmission, the policy implications could be tremendous. A report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published on April 1 cited the "potential for presymptomatic transmission" as a reason for the importance of social distancing.

"These findings also suggest that to control the pandemic, it might not be enough for only persons with symptoms to limit their contact with others because persons without symptoms might transmit infection," the CDC study said.

To be sure, asymptomatic and presymptomatic spread of the virus appears to still be happening, Van Kerkhove said but remains rare. That finding has important implications for how to screen for the virus and limit its spread.

"What we really want to be focused on is following the symptomatic cases," Van Kerkhove said. "If we actually followed all of the symptomatic cases, isolated those cases, followed the contacts and quarantined those contacts, we would drastically reduce" the outbreak.

Correction: An earlier headline should have said most asymptomatic coronavirus patients aren't spreading new infections. The word "most" was inadvertedly omitted.

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Thu, 11 Jun 2020 07:24

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, listens during a briefing about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Wednesday, April 8, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

OAN NewsroomUPDATED 2:45 PM PT '-- Wednesday, June 10, 2020Dr. Anthony Fauci has explained why the World Health Organization's claim asymptomatic transmission of coronavirus is ''extremely rare'' is wrong. During a recent interview, he said the WHO's claim had not been supported by data.

According to Fauci, studies have shown there is a wide range of how coronavirus can manifest itself in someone.

He went on to say many patients have experienced different symptoms with a variety of severity levels.

''There's no evidence to indicate that's the case,'' stated the doctor. ''The evidence that we have, given the percentage of people, is about 25% to 45% of the totality of infected people likely are without symptoms.''

This came after the WHO announced they had retracted their statement after these claims had been misinterpreted. Officials stressed they don't have the answer as to how many people have coronavirus without its symptoms.

MORE NEWS: Dr. Fauci Warns Protesters Coronavirus Cases Will Likely Increase When Gathering In Large Groups

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 11:48

No new COVID-19 cases from Lake of the Ozarks crowds, Missouri health director says

Crowds of people gather at Coconuts Caribbean Beach Bar & Grill in Gravois Mills, Missouri, Sunday, May 24, 2020. Several beach bars along Lake of the Ozarks were packed with party-goers during the Memorial Day weekend. Several political leaders in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas, as well as the state of Kansas' health secretary, have condemned Lake of the Ozarks revelers for failing to practice social distancing, amid fears they could return to areas hard hit by the coronavirus and spread the disease. (Shelly Yang/Kansas City Star via AP)

ST. LOUIS '-- The large crowds of people at the Lake of the Ozarks over Memorial Day weekend have not led to any more reported cases of COVID-19, Missouri's top health official health department said Wednesday.

''The answer, to our knowledge, is no,'' Dr. Randall Williams, director of the Department of Health and Senior Services, said when asked whether more cases have come from the gatherings, photos of which showed throngs of people close together without wearing masks.

Williams answered questions during a daily news briefing in Jefferson City hosted by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to address civil unrest and efforts to contain the coronavirus.

Pictures and videos of the lake crowds had prompted concern among the public and health officials.

One person, a Boone County resident, tested positive last week and likely was infectious while among the crowds. That is according to the Camden County Health Department, which has jurisdiction over much of the Lake of the Ozarks region.

Parson used the news conference to tout improvements in Missouri's testing strategy, the decreasing percentage of positive cases and big drop in the number of hospitalizations from COVID-19.

About two weeks ago, the governor announced a strategy that included testing hot spots such as meatpacking facilities and testing more people with no symptoms. The goal was to complete 7,500 tests per day. Missouri surpassed the goal and averaged 8,000 tests per day last week, Parson said. About 80 days ago, the state was scrambling to do 100 tests.

The positivity rate '-- the percentage of tests with positive results '-- is 6.5%, well below the 10% recorded recently, he said.

Community testing events were held in St. Charles, Jackson and Boone counties last week. Testing in Jefferson, Greene and Cape Girardeau counties is taking place this week.

Over the past month, Parson also said, statewide hospitalizations for COVID-19 have dropped by more than 40%.

''Our hospitals are not overwhelmed. Our positivity rate continues to decline. People are recovering, and we are moving forward,'' he said.

Hospital admissions and hospitalizations for COVID-19 continue to drop in the St. Louis area, according to data reported Wednesday by the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force.

The average number of COVID-19 patients in a hospital over the past week fell to 346 from 354, while the seven-day moving average number for new daily admissions dropped to 19 from 20. The most recent daily report shows 15 people were admitted to hospitals.

The task force compiles numbers from four leading health systems in the region: BJC HealthCare, Mercy, SSM Health and St. Luke's Hospital.

Missouri on Wednesday reported 192 additional positive cases and three additional deaths, increasing the toll to 786. Illinois, by contrast, saw 982 new cases and 97 additional deaths, bringing the number of dead to 5,621.

St. Louis County, which accounts for more than half of the COVID-19-related deaths in the state, recorded 43 new cases, for a total of 6,058, and two additional deaths.

The city of St. Louis reported one additional death from the disease. St. Charles, Franklin and Jefferson Counties reported no new deaths. In the Metro East, St. Clair County recorded two new deaths and Madison County had three.

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson on Wednesday credited declining numbers to hand washing, social distancing and the city's stay-home order that lasted eight weeks. But she also said the potential spread of the virus through recent street protests drawing hundreds together is a ''big concern'' of hers.

''We don't know what will happen to these numbers after we see the results of lots of people being together in very large groups during the demonstrations and protests. Some folks were wearing masks, some folks weren't. But certainly, folks were not social distancing,'' Krewson said. ''So we'll see '-- fingers crossed '-- let's hope that doesn't result in a big bump up.''

Dr. Alex Garza, commander of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, said congregating closely increases the probability of spreading the coronavirus. But being outdoors '-- where the virus can disperse more quickly '-- and wearing a mask decreases the risk, Garza said.

''We are still not sure how UV light (from the sun) will impact the virus,'' he said. ''But presumably it will help decrease transmission.''

Things that increase the risk include the density of crowds as well as if demonstrators are yelling and speaking loudly, he said, ''which produces greater volumes of droplets and aerosolization of the virus.''

Symptoms on average don't appear until five or six days after exposure. Some might not experience symptoms.

As far as whether hospitals are able to breathe a sigh of relief after Memorial Day gatherings, Garza said officials ''will give it a couple more days.''

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Their riverside picnic quickly turned into a strange encounter. After jumping the log, the wolf paced from side to side, slowly edging closer. ''It was almost like he was trying to push by us'' to reach the children.

Through Tuesday, the Missouri Department of Conservation received more than 3,300 survey responses to the proposal.

Aluminum smelter is one of the biggest employers in the Bootheel, but its resurrection came with a price.

The visitor, a Boone County resident, was likely infectious at the time of the visit.

'It will be funded by the federal level,' said Parson, a Republican.

Assailant may have been suffering a mental health crisis.

Until Saturday, health officials were lumping together two different types of tests.

The visitor, a Boone County resident, was likely infectious at the time of the visit.

'COVID-19 is still here, and social distancing needs to continue to prevent further spread of infections.'

Crowds of people gather at Coconuts Caribbean Beach Bar & Grill in Gravois Mills, Missouri, Sunday, May 24, 2020. Several beach bars along Lake of the Ozarks were packed with party-goers during the Memorial Day weekend. Several political leaders in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas, as well as the state of Kansas' health secretary, have condemned Lake of the Ozarks revelers for failing to practice social distancing, amid fears they could return to areas hard hit by the coronavirus and spread the disease. (Shelly Yang/Kansas City Star via AP)

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 18:55

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption A deserted Millennium bridge in central London Lockdowns have saved more than three million lives from coronavirus in Europe, a study estimates.

The team at Imperial College London said the "death toll would have been huge" without lockdown.

But they warned that only a small proportion of people had been infected and we were still only "at the beginning of the pandemic".

Another study argued global lockdowns had "saved more lives, in a shorter period of time, than ever before".

The Imperial study assessed the impact of restrictions in 11 European countries - Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK - up to the beginning of May.

By that time, around 130,000 people had died from coronavirus in those countries.

The researchers used disease modelling to predict how many deaths there would have been if lockdown had not happened. And the work comes from the same group that guided the UK's decision to go into lockdown.

They estimated 3.2 million people would have died by 4 May if not for measures such as closing businesses and telling people to stay at home.

That meant lockdown saved around 3.1 million lives, including 470,000 in the UK, 690,000 in France and 630,000 in Italy, the report in the journal Nature shows.

"Lockdown averted millions of deaths, those deaths would have been a tragedy," said Dr Seth Flaxman, from Imperial.

Their equations made several assumptions, which will affect the figures.

They assume nobody would have changed their behaviour in response to the Covid threat without a lockdown - and that hospitals would not be overwhelmed resulting in a surge in deaths, which nearly happened in some countries.

The study also does not take into account the health consequences of lockdowns that may take years to fully uncover.

Only the beginning?The model also predicted that the outbreak would be nearly over by now without lockdown, as so many people would have been infected.

More than seven in 10 people in the UK would have had Covid, leading to herd immunity and the virus no longer spreading.

Instead, the researchers estimate that up to 15 million people across Europe had been infected by the beginning of May.

The researchers say at most, 4% of the population in those countries had been infected.

"Claims this is all over can be firmly rejected. We are only at the beginning of this pandemic," said Dr Flaxman.

And it means that as lockdowns start to lift, there is the risk the virus could start to spread again.

"There is a very real risk if mobility goes back up there could be a second wave coming reasonably soon, in the next month or two," said Dr Samir Bhatt.

Meanwhile, a separate study by University of California, Berkeley, analysed the impact of lockdowns in China, South Korea, Iran, France and the US.

Their report, also in Nature, says lockdown prevented 530 million infections in those countries.

Just before lockdowns were introduced, they said cases were doubling every two days.

Dr Solomon Hsiang, one of the researchers, said coronavirus had been a "real human tragedy" but the global action to stop the spread of the virus had "saved more lives, in a shorter period of time, than ever before".

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 11:24

News Di Yin / Getty Images A nurse helps a patient in a hospital on June 8, 2020, in Beijing. (Di Yin / Getty Images)

As the world continues to learn more about the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, one thing has become crystal clear: The outbreak began long before Chinese officials warned anyone.

According to a new study, it appears that the novel coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, may have begun spreading as far back as October.

That would have been months before China warned the World Health Organization on Dec. 31.

It would also have been long before President Xi Jinping warned the public on Jan 20, according to The Associated Press.

The study, conducted by Harvard Medical School, analyzed commercial satellite imagery of Wuhan hospital parking lots as well as search queries of coronavirus symptoms to determine the start date of the virus.

TRENDING: Candace Owens Exposes George Floyd's Criminal Past, Says She Does Not Support Him as a Martyr

According to the study, the hospital traffic and search terms began to increase ''in late Summer and early Fall 2019.''

''Something was happening in October,'' Dr. John Brownstein, the Harvard Medical professor who led the research, told ABC News.

''Clearly, there was some level of social disruption taking place well before what was previously identified as the start of the novel coronavirus pandemic.''

Former acting Homeland Security Undersecretary John Cohen noted that travelers from Wuhan were likely the origin of America's coronavirus spread.

Should China be held accountable for covering up the coronavirus?

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''This study raises serious questions about whether the coronavirus was first introduced into the United States earlier than previously reported and whether measures announced in late January restricting travel from China were too little too late,'' Cohen said.

If China had been quicker to warn the rest of the world, the U.S. and other countries could have prevented the disease from spreading so widely.

That conclusion was corroborated by a study conducted by the U.K.'s University of Southampton, which determined that if China had acted sooner, coronavirus spread could have been reduced by as much as 95 percent.

Additional reports suggest that the Chinese government not only knew about the coronavirus ahead of time but also actively covered up its existence.

On April 27, White House trade adviser and China hawk Peter Navarro revealed that China had ''vacuumed up'' masks and personal protective equipment before letting the world know about the dangers of the virus.

RELATED: Trump Planning To Hold Campaign Rallies Soon for First Time Since Early March

Only a few days later, in a Department of Homeland Security report dated May 1, it was revealed that China ''intentionally concealed the severity'' of the pandemic by ''denying there were export restrictions and obfuscating and delaying provision of its trade data.''

Then, two weeks later on May 15, a Chinese official admitted that the Chinese government knowingly destroyed samples of the coronavirus, claiming it did so to ''prevent the risk to laboratory biological safety and prevent secondary disasters caused by unidentified pathogens.''

With this new Harvard study suggesting that the coronavirus may have originated back in the fall, it has become evident that China's actions may have resulted in many deaths and much suffering that could have been prevented.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

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Thu, 11 Jun 2020 07:47

J. Manfred Weichsel @ JonWeichsel

Jun 8 8/ Both of these polaroids end up in a look book and the message is that next season, dinosaurs are going to be in. So if you want to sell movie tickets, it would be a good bet to make a dinosaur movie. This was the kind of decision making that went into making Jurassic Park.

View conversation · J. Manfred Weichsel @ JonWeichsel

Jun 8 13/ These corporations didn't understand about algorithms and how social media pushes certain information to certain people. They thought that what they were seeing on social media was the same thing as what everybody else sees on social media. It is a common mistake.

View conversation · J. Manfred Weichsel @ JonWeichsel

Jun 8 16/ New York Corporate leaders are not as sophisticated as you would suspect, and by using social media to gauge what the country was thinking without understanding the mechanics of social media, they inadvertently became brainwashed by social media.

View conversation ·

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Sun, 07 Jun 2020 19:21

A major divide is developing within the community of CrossFit enthusiasts in the wake of comments made Saturday night by company CEO Greg Glassman.

In response to a tweet by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation calling racism and discrimination "public health issues," Glassman replied, "It's FLOYD-19."

The comment spurred protests from many CrossFit affiliates -- and on Sunday, Footwear News reported Reebok has chosen not to continue its affiliation with the brand.

''(I)n light of recent events, we have made the decision to end our partnership with CrossFit HQ,'' Reebok said in a statement to Footwear News. ''We will fulfill our remaining contractual obligations in 2020. We owe this to the CrossFit Games competitors, fans and the community.''

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The statement continued: ''What doesn't change is our commitment and dedication to CrossFitters and the passionate CrossFit community."

Two-time CrossFit Games women's champion Katr­n Dav­°sd"ttir publicly criticized Glassman for his remarks. And 2008 men's champ Jason Khalipa announced he would pull the affiliation for his NCFIT in northern California.

"We have been an affiliate for more than 10-years, but we can no longer continue along this path," Khalipa wrote on Instragram. "We owe it to our team, members, and the greater community to stand for something better than what we are witnessing."

Glassman followed up his comments with another tweet Sunday directed toward IMHE.

"Your failed model quarantined us and now you're going to model a solution to racism?" he said. "George Floyd's brutal murder sparked riots nationally. Quarantine alone is 'accompanied in every age and under all political regimes by an undercurrent of suspicion, distrust and riots.' Thanks!"

Later Sunday, Champlain Valley CrossFit in Vermont -- at one time the home base for four-time champ Mat Fraser -- announced Sunday it would disassociate with CrossFit and be known as Champlain Valley Community Fitness.

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 10:08

Via Newsbusters:

'...In his original column posted on Friday under the title ''I Don't Need 'Love' Texts From My White Friends,'' writer Chad Sanders grumbled: ''So please, stop sending #love. Stop sending positive vibes. Stop sending your thoughts.''

Sanders then listed ''three suggestions on more immediately impactful things to offer instead:'' The first item was money, which should be used to ''pay legal fees for black people who are unjustly arrested, imprisoned or killed or to black politicians running for office.'' Second was texts, which would go to ''your relatives and loved ones, telling them you will not be visiting them or answering phone calls until they take significant action in supporting black lives either through protest or financial contributions.''

The final suggestion was for protection, which should go to ''fellow black protesters who are at greater risk of harm during demonstrations.'' ''Yes, these actions may seem grave,'' Sanders noted. ''But you insist that you love me, and love requires sacrifice.'' ''If you're feeling the need to check on me as your black friend, don't,'' he continued. ''I'll let you know what I need. If you don't get a message from me, that's a message.''

Keep reading'...

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 23:29

Protesters march on Hiawatha Avenue while decrying the killing of George Floyd on May 26, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (SBG) '-- Growing calls for activism and political change appear to be evoking the effects of "cancel culture."

Video: Sinclair Broadcast Group

Ivanka Trump blames cancel culture for the reason her commencement speech at Wichita State University Tech was canceled. The school's president said in a statement the decision to make the change came after realizing the timing was "insensitive" following protests over the death of George Floyd.

Ivanka Trump called it "viewpoint discrimination."

However, President Donald Trump has proven to be one of the quickest people to pull support for someone when they disagree with him or their loyalty wavers, like he did to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, last week when she said she appreciated former Defense Secretary James Mattis' critique of the president's handling of protesters.

Trump tweeted he would endorse any opponent of Murkowski's as long as they have a pulse.

When the now former editorial page editor for The New York Times James Bennet resigned Sunday following widespread criticism for running an opinion piece by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. about the use of military troops in American cities, Cotton put the paper on blast.

''They totally surrendered to a woke, child mob from their own newsroom that apparently gets triggered when they're presented with any opinion contrary to their own," Cotton said on Fox News. Cancel culture appears to be evolving beyond labeling an individual as "canceled" after they do or say something offensive. Group all-or-nothing mentality is manifesting into broader political thought on both sides of the aisle with calls to dismantle entire institutions. Whether or not this thinking is productive is yet to be seen.

Many aligned with the Black Lives Matter movement have called for defunding police departments, which can mean a variety of things. These calls are widely criticized by Republicans, some of whom advocate for defunding public schools.

When it comes to cancel culture playing out online, not all the blame can be placed on people. Researchers at Michigan State University found the algorithms of social media platforms are designed to amplify outrage.

''Sometimes we end up looking like we are very divided because the algorithms are only showing things that will get extreme reactions," Anjana Susarla, a researcher of information economics at MSU said. According to Susarla's findings, these algorithms make it so a post is more likely to go viral if it evokes an intense emotion.

''That can end up reinforcing these you know, social effects," Susarla said.

Susarla points out that being "canceled" isn't always permanent. Since their respective scandals, comedians Kevin Hart and Louis C.K. have each managed to work again.

While temporary for some individuals, the effects of cancel culture may have a long term effect on our political culture.

As former President Barack Obama said in 2019, ''If all you're doing is casting stones, you're probably not gonna get that far.''

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Sun, 07 Jun 2020 19:51

Tucson creates new ordinance to deter aggressive 'First Amendment auditors'

The new city ordinance is meant to dissuade provocateurs from showing up at crime scenes with cellphones in hand, looking to create conflicts they can post online for profit.

Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star File The Tucson Police Department will no longer be forced to star in videos that cater to cop-haters.

The City Council took action last week on a distinctly 21st century problem: people showing up at crime scenes with cellphones in hand, looking to create conflicts they can post online for profit.

It's a trend seen by law enforcers around the country and around the state, the Arizona Daily Star found in a review of court records and related documentation.

The provocateurs are part of a loose network of people who call themselves ''First Amendment auditors'' and claim they're protecting the public's right to monitor government activities.

About a dozen such people are operating in Arizona, a former participant told the Star.

He said some regard themselves as ''sovereign citizens,'' an ideology linked to ''domestic terrorism,'' according to the FBI.

Tucson City Council members unanimously passed a new ordinance to curb such activity after viewing video of an extended verbal attack on a pair of TPD officers earlier this year.

The council created a new Class 2 misdemeanor punishable by a maximum $750 fine. It allows TPD to arrest those who refuse to stay outside crime scene boundaries while filming at police calls.

In the video shown to council members, a man approached two officers, one of them female, as they guarded the perimeter of a crime scene. When asked to move back, he launched an X-rated tirade, shouting the B-word, the C-word, the F-word and other obscenities for about 20 minutes as his camera rolled.

''It was horrific,'' Ward 4 council member Nikki Lee said of the footage.

''The emotional violence was pretty terrifying,'' Ward 1 council member Lane Santa Cruz agreed.

The officers kept their cool during the run-in, the footage showed.

Meanwhile, online viewers of the live stream cheered the man's outburst, and joined in by posting anti-police slurs such as ''Oink Oink'' and ''Here Piggy-Piggy,'' the Star found.

Some council members said they were shocked to learn existing laws didn't quite cover such situations.

''The behavior on that video is so egregious, I can't imagine there's not something illegal about it,'' said Ward 6 council member Steve Kozachik.

Tucson City Attorney Mike Rankin said that until now, officers had few good options to deal with such cases.

One Arizona statute makes it a crime to refuse a police order to disperse, but it only applies if a fire or a riot is underway, Rankin said.

Another only applies if a person ''uses force or threatens to use force'' during an arrest.

A third law, the criminal trespassing statute, can only be enforced by order of ''someone with lawful control of the property,'' which doesn't necessarily apply to police calls on public land, Rankin said.

Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus, who pushed for the new ordinance, said the problem is so pervasive it's becoming a distraction for officers trying to carry out their duties.

''This has been happening, in some cases, on a nightly basis,'' he told the council.

Magnus said TPD supports the public's right to film police encounters, so long as it's done from a safe distance at crime scenes that often are chaotic by nature.

Many other Arizona cities already have similar measures in place, he said.

The council will review the ordinance in a year to see if it's working as intended and whether the boundaries police are setting up are reasonable for the circumstances.

Council member Lee, the mother of a biracial child, said she wants to make sure police are sensitive to the needs of minorities who may feel compelled to film law enforcement to protect themselves from perceived discrimination.

''This is something that affects the black community and other communities in a very special way,'' Lee said.

The man who made the video that shocked council members has been arrested at least twice since 2018 over similar clashes with police in Texas and Florida, the Star found.

The Florida charge was dropped and one in Texas is winding through the courts, online records show.

The man's name is listed in court records as Baoquoc Tran Nguyen, age 36. He has his own YouTube channel called Clash with Bao, with more than 100 videos that document run-ins with Tucson police, the Unversity of Arizona Police Department and many others.

Nguyen couldn't be reached for comment for this story.

The Star tried to contact him through a former associate in Texas who said he forwarded the request for comment, but Nguyen did not respond by deadline.

The ex-associate, David Bailey, 57, of San Antonio, told the Star said he got to know Nguyen a few years back when he used to be a First Amendment auditor himself.

Bailey said Nguyen lives in a van he drives around the country in search of potential police conflicts that could make him more popular online and bring in financial rewards.

Bailey estimated about 500 Americans nationwide are involved in First Amendment auditing, a number he said is shrinking as more end up in legal trouble.

Some have turned into scammers, he said, like one who raised $9,000 online, ostensibly for legal fees, then pleaded guilty and kept the cash.

Others regard themselves as sovereign citizens not subject to courts and laws, which puts them at high risk of conflict with authorities, he said.

Bailey said he used to be a First Amendment auditor and believed he was helping to protect constitutional freedoms. He said he became disillusioned and no longer associates with Nguyen and doesn't support his profane approach to stirring up controversy.

''This shouldn't just be about clicks and fame,'' said Bailey, who admits to a personal distrust of law enforcement.

He said he's currently a plaintiff in a lawsuit against a Texas police department.

Even so, ''to harass police for laughs, I can't understand it,'' Bailey said.

''I just don't see the point.''

Contact reporter Carol Ann Alaimo at 573-4138 or calaimo@tucson.com. On Twitter: @StarHigherEd

Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter.

A woman was arrested on Tucson's north side Sunday after officers found a dead man in her apartment, officials said.

Tucson police arrested a man Friday in connection with a man found dead at Iron Horse Park near downtown Tucson earlier this month.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases across Arizona is 6,716, the Arizona Department of Health Services said Monday.

The graphic video from the Tucson Police Department shows the suspect hitting the woman with a pipe and taking pizza she'd just picked up at a Peter Piper Pizza on the city's south side.

In addition to the corrections officer, three other Pima County Sheriff's Department employees have tested positive for COVID-19.

The person who returned the statue said he'd bought it at a junk yard, not realizing it had been stolen.

Motorists are being advised to steer clear of the intersection of West Silverbell and North Cocio roads.

Dependable Auto Inc., 723 E. 22nd St., was sued by the state for consumer fraud.

Sabrina M. Arvizu was declared dead at the scene of the June 1 shooting in the 700 block of West Columbia Street, south of West Ajo Way.

The new city ordinance is meant to dissuade provocateurs from showing up at crime scenes with cellphones in hand, looking to create conflicts they can post online for profit.

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 09:58

Elmer Fudd no longer holds a rifle while hunting wascally wabbits. HBO Max has launched their new version of Looney Tunes and it shares a lot of similarities to the original. However, the gun violence is something that the studio won't do anymore, even though fans are a little angry about the situation. For now, Mr. Fudd will have to chase Bugs Bunny around with a scythe, which looks a little creepy at times.

"We're not doing guns," Peter Browngardt, executive producer of the new Looney Tunes series says. "But we can do cartoony violence - TNT, the Acme stuff. All of that was kind of grandfathered in." Thankfully, the new cartoon series will keep some of the hallmarks, but it is pretty weird to see Elmer Fudd without his trademark rifle. One has to wonder why they just didn't slap an orange tag on the barrel and rebrand it a bb gun since the scythe looks so out of place. Regardless, this is how Looney Tunes looks in 2020.

Obviously, people are angry about the 2020 version of the Looney Tunes cartoons. However, a lot of the response has been in a joking manner. "Conservatives are going to march in the streets because Elmer Fudd doesn't have a gun anymore," says one Twitter user, while another says, "Not sure what's funnier: Warner Bros taking Elmer Fudd's gun as some sort of weird empty gesture about gun violence or the people getting genuinely upset over it and saying that they're gonna unsubscribe." With that being pointed out, there are plenty of people who are genuinely upset about the whole ordeal and then there are those who are pretty frightened by the idea of Bugs Bunny dying from Elmer Fudd's new scythe.

HBO Max has 200 new Looney Tunes cartoons all featuring some of the most beloved characters in history. Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Tweety, Sylvester, Granny, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian, Pep(C) Le Pew, Speedy Gonzales, Tasmanian Devil, Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote and many other characters are all featured in the new cartoons, but just don't expect them to have guns when they go on their new adventures.

Looney Tunes started back in 1930 and went through 1969, which is considered to be the golden age of American animation alongside the sister series Merrie Melodies. The cartoons are legendary and so are all of the many characters that they introduced to the world. So, it's only natural that Warner Bros. would need some new Looney Tunes cartoons for their HBO Max streaming platform, and for the most part, they all keep everything as close to the originals as possible, except for the guns and extra violence. You can check out the new cartoons on HBO Max right now. The interview with Peter Browngardt was originally conducted by the New York Times.

gonna be so much more horrifying when Elmer Fudd kills Bugs Bunny with his bare hands

'-- BUM CHILLUPS, NPR CLASS PUNDIT (@edsbs) June 7, 2020I can't believe this needs to be said, but Yosemite Sam and Elmer Fudd were never responsible gun owners anyway. pic.twitter.com/4dgJ83WVgu

'-- Dr. Jacqueline Antonovich (@jackiantonovich) June 7, 2020History Lesson! Elmer Fudd was first a camera man, messenger, and a pet owner before a hunter. He hunts but it's not his defining trait. I mean he was even a confederate soldier before he hunted wabbits soooo 👠pic.twitter.com/SRT6ZW2nvZ

'-- Marcus Aguinaga (@nonsensetreasur) June 7, 2020Apparently Elmer Fudd won't be using a gun to try and kill Bugs Bunny anymore. He's finally realized the fruitlessness of his endeavors and that Bugs is an immortal elder god

'-- Teesin (@VaultOfAss) June 7, 2020<looks straight down the barrel to check after a misfired round like Elder Fudd>

'-- Burnin' Sherman (@WDavidWork) January 20, 2020Elmer Fudd's rifle has been canceled. #ElmerFudd

'-- Cancel Culture (@YouAreCanceled_) June 7, 2020They removed Elmer Fudd's gun but also canonized that Bugs Bunny is a serial rapist because they claimed ownership of Wabbit Season. I love it.

'-- Jake (@Badawan_) June 7, 2020Switching Elmer Fudd from a gun to a scythe is actually because of communism

'-- kilm klim kiml (@the1kim) June 7, 2020Topics: Looney Tunes, HBO Max, Streaming

Writer for Movieweb since 2017. Enjoys playing Catan when not writing about superheroes and Star Wars.

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Thu, 11 Jun 2020 06:29

June 10, 2020

By Tony Perkins

Most people don't scroll through their Twitter feed thinking a few simple clicks will change their life. But for Birmingham Pastor Chris Hodges, who's been a friend of mine for years, a handful of "likes" were all it took to make the biggest church in Alabama homeless.

You can lose your lease a lot of ways -- if you fall behind on payments, abuse the property, or follow conservative media. Like most people Chris Hodges probably didn't think a quick tap of support for posts on Donald Trump or China's role in the coronavirus would amount to much of anything. Turns out, he was wrong. A local English teacher decided to catalogue Hodges's "likes" and share them with the press. Little did anyone know, it would be the beginning of the end of the church's services at two local high schools.

"I do not attend Church of the Highlands," teacher Jasmine Clisby said openly. And, she insisted, "I can't see into Pastor Chris Hodges's heart." But his support for what she considered "culturally insensitive" views is "troubling." "I would be upset if it comes off as me judging him," she said without a hint of irony. "I'm not saying he's a racist." But thanks to her smear campaign, the Birmingham Board of Education is.

On Tuesday night, members voted to abruptly terminate the church's lease -- ending a six-year relationship that brought the city almost a million dollars in revenue. Thanks to this ridiculous complaint, Parker and Woodlawn High Schools will no longer be home to a diverse congregation of 60,000. But unfortunately for the needy people of Alabama, that's just the beginning. Because of this manufactured controversy, the church's Christ Health Clinic will also be banned from operating, according to the Birmingham Housing Authority, who also decided Monday to ban volunteer workers.

"Commissioners agreed," their statement said, "that Pastor Hodges's views do not reflect those of [the Housing authority] and its residents... HABD and Campus of Hope staff will continue to work with other faith-based organizations in the community to identify resources that will replace the services that were provided." Starting immediately, the church is banned from the city's public housing communities. That means no more free COVID testing, no more free mentoring, health, or social service ministry -- all because Pastor Chris dared to do what millions of Americans do every day: engage on social media.

Even more incredibly, both councils went ahead with these mob tactics despite the pastor's sincere apologies -- which, in most people's opinion, weren't even necessary! (If supporting Donald Trump is now grounds for eviction, then America is about to have a lot of empty properties on its hands.) And yet, Pastor Hodges did the humble and gracious thing, telling his congregation -- and the community -- that he was sorry for any hurt he'd caused. He called it a mistake. He said he owned it. He pledged to never mindlessly scroll again and explained how he was trying to use his influence to heal the hurts of these difficult times.

None of that mattered to the mob, who not only ignored Pastor Chris' work in their neighborhoods but the church's standing in the minority community. At least a third of the Highlands' congregations are black and Hispanic. If anything, Hodges was respected for fighting for the disenfranchised, for preaching about healing and reconciliation. As recently as last Sunday, he called the city to mutual understanding, peace, and prayer. But in this "cancel culture," those 20 years of bridge-building don't matter to liberals bent on burning down any platform but their own.

And unfortunately for Birmingham, their intolerance doesn't just affect the Church of the Highlands. It affects thousands of hurting neighborhoods, who leaned on Church of the Highlands for help it couldn't get anywhere else. These are the same people the Left wants us to believe they care about: the children, minorities, and poor. But in the end, we know -- they'll always care about punishing Christians more. We've seen it in the adoption debate, the foster care debate, even the virus outreach. Now, to no one's surprise, they're willing to let Birmingham families suffer over a handful of "likes."

Imagine if we held everyone by that standard. If we combed through these public servants' accounts, what would we find? Political objectivity or the raging hatred and bitterness that's led to these baseless attacks? "I would love for you," Pastor Hodges urged, "to not just look at a microscopic zoom-in but look at the totality of 37 years of ministry and 19 years as a church. If you look at that, it will be abundantly clear that we value every person." Unfortunately for Birmingham and so many others, the Left cannot say the same.

Tony Perkins's Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC senior writers.

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 15:49

Sisters got an unwelcome surprise while shopping for a birthday gift for their elderly mother at a Brandywine Hundred store.

"It was rage to see something like that, that close," said Lyonni Flowers. "I wanted answers."

Flowers and her sister Lisa were stunned to find a noose, they said, hanging in Aisle 10 at Home Depot on Miller Road.

"It's like a sign, like 'we're still here, and this can still happen,'" said Lisa Flowers. "It makes me think of that rope hanging from a tree, either someone was just hanging from it, or someone was about to be hung from it."

Lisa Flowers posted a photograph of her sister holding the noose to Facebook, saying "NO IT'S NOT OK." The post has since gone viral, prompting hundreds of shares and comments.

Also on Facebook, publicly, Lisa Flowers posted:

"The nails next to this piece of ignorance is what I went to purchase...as you can see this is how close I was to this hanging piece of crap! My sister, daughter and brother were at the end of this aisle (#10) looking at a screen door that we were going to purchase as a surprise for Mom's birthday on tomorrow. Ohhh... we're still going to get the door, best believe NOT FROM HOME DEPOT! You can't tell me that no one else did not see this neatly tied, infact expertly tied NOOSE hanging in aisle 10 @ Home Depot on Miller Road in Wilmington Delaware. Sorry I'm not sorry...ignorance is taught, you just fell on the smart folks who know better! Know better enough that you (HOME DEPOT)should know WE know better! After all this is OUR neighborhood! #StayWoke!"

Lyonni Flowers also posted publicly about the incident on Facebook.

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"Yes I will continue to say that it's not okay until you witness what I've witnessed you can't speak on it to have someone say oh those knots are used for suicide those knots are used to tame animals those knots are used for Sailors but that manager did not say any of that to us yes it could have been a customer it could have been an employee but I want to know how many employees walk past that and didn't do anything if it was okay that manager would have said so so it is a big deal and i will not stop telling my facts do i blame home depot for having rope no. I blame them for not being aware. I blame them for sending and employee to handle this mater instead of himself because he thought changing a light bulb was more important."

The Flowers said they alerted a store manager, who cut the noose down with a small knife. They said that employee initially blamed the incident on a customer.

"They rolled the spool back up because it was up high. Literally, I had to [grab] and snatch it down...so they knew what they were doing,"

"It was too perfect," said Lisa Flowers.

The sisters said they left empty-handed, feeling angry and threatened by the symbol of hate, and said they'll never step foot in another Home Depot.

"You hear about it on TV and in other places, but you never expect for it to be right above your head," said Lisa Flowers.

A spokeswoman for Home Depot said they're actively investigating the incident.

"We're appalled and disturbed by this incident; we're investigating it diligently and are working with law enforcement," Margaret Smith, senior manager for corporate communications with Home Depot.

It's unclear whether there is surveillance video of the incident.

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 18:53

AP Photo/Damian DovarganesThe family of George Floyd, the black man killed while in police custody in Minneapolis on Memorial Day, has sent a letter to the globalist United Nations to ask for its help in disarming police officers in the United States of America.

The family's legal team facilitated the letter, which was sent on Wednesday, according to NBC News:

The group sent a letter on June 3 to one of the international body's working groups asking for support for the end of the provision of military equipment and military-type training for police, the teaching of deescalation techniques, independent prosecutions and autopsies for ''extrajudicial'' police killings, and more.

''When a group of people of any nation have been systemically deprived of their universal human right to life by its government for decades, it must appeal to the international community for its support and to the United Nations for its intervention,'' Floyd's family attorney Ben Crump said in a press release.

The U.N. issued a statement on May 28, three days after Floyd's death, and included the names of other black people in the U.S. who died in police custody. Michelle Bachelet, U.N. Commissioner on Human Rights, is quoted in the statement, which says, in part:

''This is the latest in a long line of killings of unarmed African Americans by U.S. police officers and members of the public,'' Bachelet said. ''I am dismayed to have to add George Floyd's name to that of Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Michael Brown and many other unarmed African Americans who have died over the years at the hands of the police '-- as well as people such as Ahmaud Arbery and Trayvon Martin who were killed by armed members of the public.''

''The US authorities must take serious action to stop such killings, and to ensure justice is done when they do occur. Procedures must change, prevention systems must be put in place, and above all police officers who resort to excessive use of force should be charged and convicted for the crimes committed.''

''The role that entrenched and pervasive racial discrimination plays in such deaths must also be fully examined, properly recognized and dealt with,'' she added.

While saying she understood the anger unleashed by Floyd's killing, Bachelet urged people in Minneapolis and elsewhere to protest peacefully.

NBC did not report on whether or not the Floyd family or its legal counsel have heard back from the U.N.

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 18:09

CrossFit founder Greg Glassman has apologized for a tweet that equated the police killing of a black man in the United States to the COVID-19 pandemic, after it drew widespread criticism and resulted in footwear brand Reebok breaking its ties with the fitness regimen.

In response to a tweet by research firm Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation that classified racism and discrimination as public health issue, Glassman, who is also the chief executive of CrossFit, had posted on Saturday, ''It's FLOYD-19.''

The tweet related to the police killing of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, in the U.S. state of Minneapolis on May 25 and was seen as insensitive.

The fallout was fast, with Adidas AG-owned Reebok ending its 10-year-old partnership with CrossFit and updating its U.S. homepage in support of the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign.

''Recently, we have been in discussions regarding a new agreement, however, in light of recent events, we have made the decision to end our partnership with CrossFit HQ,'' Reebok said in a statement on Sunday. ''We will fulfill our remaining contractual obligations in 2020.''

When Reebok tied up with CrossFit, the Adidas-owned company was struggling with falling sales and looking for a wider appeal outside its core female fans. The partnership helped the sportswear maker emerge as a personal fitness brand and return to growth in 2019.

In a statement on Twitter, Glassman said on Sunday, ''I, CrossFit HQ, and the CrossFit community will not stand for racism. I made a mistake by the words I chose yesterday. My heart is deeply saddened by the pain it has caused. It was a mistake, not racist but a mistake.''

.@CrossFitCEO: "I, CrossFit HQ, and the CrossFit community will not stand for racism. I made a mistake by the words I chose yesterday.My heart is deeply saddened by the pain it has caused. It was a mistake, not racist but a mistake.

'-- CrossFit (@CrossFit) June 8, 2020CrossFit did not respond to a request for comment on Reebok's action.

(C) Thomson Reuters 2020

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 10:30

Dr. Mike Adams, a professor of sociology and criminology, has long been a lightning rod of controversy. In 2014, we discussed his prevailing in a lawsuit that alleged discrimination due to his conservative views. Now Adams has triggered a firestorm '-- and a petition for his removal '-- after an inflammatory tweet calling North Carolina a ''slave state.'' As will come as no surprise again on this blog, I am inclined to view this as a free speech matter that should be protected. However, the university is threatening possible action against Adams.

On May 29, Adams tweeted: ''This evening I ate pizza and drank beer with six guys at a six seat table top. I almost felt like a free man who was not living in the slave state of North Carolina. Massa Cooper, let my people go!''

As we have previously discussed (with an Oregon professor and a Rutgers professor), there remains an uncertain line in what language is protected for teachers in their private lives. There were also controversies at the University of California and Boston University, where there have been criticism of such a double standard, even in the face of criminal conduct. There were also such an incident at the University of London involving Bahar Mustafa as well as one involving a University of Pennsylvania professor. Some intolerant statements against students are deemed free speech while others are deemed hate speech or the basis for university action. There is a lack of consistency or uniformity in these actions which turn on the specific groups left aggrieved by out-of-school comments. There is also a tolerance of faculty and students tearing down fliers and stopping the speech of conservatives. Indeed, even faculty who assaulted pro-life advocates was supported by faculty and lionized for her activism.

Free speech demands bright line rules to flourish. The different treatment afforded faculty creates an obviously chilling effect on free speech. Avoiding the chilling effect of potential punishment for speech is a core concern running through Supreme Court cases. For example, in 1964, the Supreme Court struck down the law screening incoming mail. A unanimous court, Justice William Douglas rejected the law as ''a limitation on the unfettered exercise of the addressee's First Amendment rights.'' It noted that such review ''is almost certain to have a deterrent effect'' on the free speech rights of Americans, particularly for ''those who have sensitive positions:''

For academics, the greatest threat to academic freedom are ill-defined standards allowing for punitive measures against professors for statements both inside and outside of school. There is no allegation against Adams for statements made to students or his conduct as a professor. It is a particular concern when the school is threatening potential action with a professor who previously demonstrated political bias against him. There is a pronounced political orthodoxy among academics, particularly in recent years. Most schools have relatively few conservatives or libertarians. If social media can be used to crackdown on professors, it would allow for arbitrary and opportunistic actions against unpopular academics.

Faculty can condemn such tweets without threatening official punitive measures.

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 12:35

Luke Easterling

Jun 6, 2020

In the wake of protests against police brutality rising up all over the country, and even across the world, the NFL joined the chorus of organizations issuing public statements about racism and social justice.

But the league's initial statement left much to be desired by the players, and they responded with a strong statement of their own, a video response put together by the league's own production team without the NFL's knowledge of their involvement.

That led to a new and improved statement from the league, a video from commissioner Roger Goodell, posted Friday evening. Among other things, Goodell addresses the league's failures in the way they responded to the players' peaceful protests against police brutality and racism in recent years, a movement spearheaded by Colin Kaepernick.

Kaepernick's peaceful protests were met with strong criticism by many back in 2016, and the backlash, both from fans and the league itself, would eventually lead to Kaepernick being out of the league after that season.

But now that the league appears to be reversing course with regards to the protests, will it open the door for Kaepernick's return to the league?

Sure, he's been out of the league for three years, but he's still just 32 years old. During that 2016 season, Kaepernick threw 16 touchdown passes to just four interceptions in 12 games, adding 468 yards and a pair of scores on the ground. His unique skill set could be a valuable addition for many teams, at the game's most important position.

If Kaepernick does make a return to the NFL, would the Tampa Bay Buccaneers be among the teams interested in signing him?

Tom Brady is obviously locked in as the team's starter for at least the next two seasons, but there's not much to be excited about behind him on Tampa Bay's depth chart.

As fate would have it, the Bucs' current backup to Brady is Blaine Gabbert, who battled with Kaepernick for the starting job with the San Francisco 49ers in 2016. Gabbert initially won the job to start the year, as Kaepernick was coming off of multiple injuries and offseason surgeries. Kaepernick outplayed Gabbert that year, but would end up opting out of his contract at the end of the season.

Behind Gabbert, the Bucs have an inexperienced veteran in long-time preseason star Ryan Griffin, in addition to undrafted rookie free agent Reid Sinnett.

Gabbert's familiarity with the offensive scheme run by Bucs head coach Bruce Arians is his strongest asset, but Kaepernick's skill set would give Tampa Bay a versatile weapon who could allow them to get creative with various play packages in certain situations.

The largest obstacle to Kaepernick finding a home with the Bucs, or anywhere in the league for that matter, might be fears of backlash from a portion of the fan base. While many fans would be thrilled at the thought of Kaepernick returning to the league and playing for their favorite team, others might not be so accommodating. When Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans had his own peaceful protest back in 2016, many Tampa Bay fans responded in strong opposition, leading to an apology from Evans just days later.

While Brady is the clear-cut starter in Tampa Bay for the foreseeable future, Kaepernick would be an intriguing addition to an already powerful Bucs offense. He would give their potent attack a weapon it doesn't currently have, and would allow Brady to take a breather every now and then.

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 15:48

Nieuws 9 juni 2020 Het Britse satirische sketch-programma Little Britain is vrijdag door streamingdiensten offline gehaald vanwege racistische stereotypen. Acteurs Matt Lucas en David Walliams spelen meermaals niet-witte personages, waarbij ook gebruik gemaakt werd van het racistische blackface. 'De tijden zijn veranderd,' laat de BBC weten in een reactie.

Onder meer iPlayer (van de BBC), BritBox en Netflix besloten Little Britain uit het aanbod te verwijderen. Eerder nog maakte Netflix bekend in gesprek te zijn met de beide acteurs om nieuwe afleveringen te maken. De streamingdienst wilde niet reageren op het offline halen van de show, maar zei wel ''momenteel niet in gesprek te zijn om de show nieuw leven in te blazen''.

De beslissing Little Britain van de streamingdiensten te verwijderen heeft tot woede geleid bij veel fans. Al in 2017 echter liet acteur Matt Lucas weten: ''Als ik terug in de tijd kon om Little Britain opnieuw te maken, zou ik geen grappen meer maken over travestieten. Ik zou geen zwarte personages spelen. Eigenlijk zou ik die show nu gewoon niet meer maken. Het zou mensen kwetsen. We maakten destijds een veel wredere vorm van komedie dan ik nu zou doen.''

Little Britain was tussen 2003 en 2007 te zien bij de BBC. Via NPO Start, het streamingplatform van de Nederlandse publieke omroep, is het programma nog wel te zien.

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 16:39

Dozens of New York Times staffers erupted in outrage at the newspaper publishing an op-ed from Republican Sen. Tom Cotton urging President Trump to call out the US military to crack down on protests that have turned violent in many parts of the country.

In the piece headlined ''Tom Cotton: Send In the Troops,'' the Arkansas lawmaker said Trump should invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 to end the looting, arson and attacks on law enforcement in the wake of George Floyd's death while in police custody in Minneapolis.

''But the rioting has nothing to do with George Floyd, whose bereaved relatives have condemned violence. On the contrary, nihilist criminals are simply out for loot and the thrill of destruction, with cadres of left-wing radicals like antifa infiltrating protest marches to exploit Floyd's death for their own anarchic purposes,'' Cotton wrote in the op-ed published Wednesday.

''These rioters, if not subdued, not only will destroy the livelihoods of law-abiding citizens but will also take more innocent lives. Many poor communities that still bear scars from past upheavals will be set back still further,'' he argued.

Nikole Hannah-Jones, who won the Pulitzer Prize in May for the Times' ''1619 Project,'' said on Twitter: ''As a black woman, as a journalist, as an American, I am deeply ashamed that we ran this.''

Charlie Warzel, who works on the newspaper's opinion staff, posted: ''i disagree with every word in that Tom Cotton op-ed and it does not reflect my values.''

Roxane Gay, an advice columnist in the Times business section, called Cotton's op-ed ''inflammatory'' and said he was ''endorsing military occupation as if the constitution didn't exist.''

''As a NYT writer I absolutely stand in opposition to that Tom Cotton 'editorial.' We are well served by robust and ideologically diverse public discourse that includes radical, liberal, and conservative voices,'' Gay said in another tweet.

The NewsGuild of New York, the union that represents many Times employees, released a statement claiming ''Cotton's Op-Ed pours gasoline on the fire'' and ''promotes hate.''

''Media organizations have a responsibility to hold power to account, not amplify voices of power without context and caution,'' it said.

James Bennet, the editorial page editor, explained his reasoning on Twitter in a thread.

''Times Opinion owes it to our readers to show them counter-arguments, particularly those made by people in a position to set policy,'' he wrote. ''We understand that many readers find Senator Cotton's argument painful, even dangerous. We believe that is one reason it requires public scrutiny and debate.''

Cotton on Thursday thanked the Times for running his op-ed but ripped staffers who said it should not have been published.

Their reaction ''exposes the hypocrisy of all these woke progressives who claim to defend liberal values but as soon as they are presented with an opinion with which they disagree, they go into meltdown, they demand censorship, they refer to words as violence, they call for firings,'' he said on Fox News.

The Times was also criticized by Democratic lawmakers for a headline about Trump's plan to deploy the military at protests, which they eventually changed.

The president threatened to invoke the 1807 law to use the country's armed forces unless the nation's governors take forceful steps to control the rallies.

''As Chaos Spreads, Trump Vows to 'End It Now,''' the headline in Tuesday's paper said.

After the outrage, it was changed to: ''Trump Threatens to Send Troops into States.''

Trump addressed the headline change in a tweet Thursday.

''The Fake Newspaper!,'' he wrote.

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 07:59

On June 10, 2020, we will #ShutDownAcademia, #ShutDownSTEM, and #Strike4BlackLives.

In the wake of the most recent murders of Black people in the US, it is clear that white and other non-Black people have to step up and do the work to eradicate anti-Black racism. As members of the global academic and STEM communities, we have an enormous ethical obligation to stop doing ''business as usual.'' No matter where we physically live, we impact and are impacted by this moment in history.

Our responsibility starts with our role in society. In academia, our thoughts and words turn into new ways of knowing. Our research papers turn into media releases, books and legislation that reinforce anti-Black narratives. In STEM, we create technologies that affect every part of our society and are routinely weaponized against Black people.

Black academic and Black STEM professionals are hurting because they exist in and are attacked by institutional and systemic racism. Black people have been tirelessly working for change, alongside their Indigenous and People of Color allies. For Black academics and STEM professionals, #ShutDownAcademia and #ShutDownSTEM is a time to prioritize their needs'-- whether that is to rest, reflect, or to act'-- without incurring additional cumulative disadvantage.

Those of us who are not Black, particularly those of us who are white, play a key role in perpetuating systemic racism. Direct actions are needed to stop this injustice. Unless you engage directly with eliminating racism, you are perpetuating it. This moment calls for profound and meaningful change. #ShutDownAcademia and #ShutDownSTEM is the time for white and non-Black People of Color (NBPOC) to not only educate themselves, but to define a detailed plan of action to carry forward. Wednesday June 10, 2020 will mark the day that we transition into a lifelong commitment of actions to eradicate anti-Black racism in academia and STEM. We join with members of Particles for Justice in calling for a #Strike4BlackLives.

To be clear: #ShutDownSTEM is aimed at the broad research community who is not directly participating in ending the global pandemic, COVID-19. If your daily activities are directly helping us end this global crisis, we send our sincerest gratitude. The rest of us, we need to get to work.

Share your detailed plans and actions with the global community using the hashtags #ShutDownSTEM and #ShutDownAcademia. Our collective efforts will lead to eradicating anti-Black racism because Black lives depend on it.

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 08:30

HBO Max pulled the Oscar-winning Civil War epic "Gone With the Wind" from its library amid heightened racial tensions following the death of George Floyd.

ScreenRant and The Wall Street Journal were the first to report that the newly launched streaming service yanked the 1939 film, which takes place at an Atlanta plantation. Critics in the modern era have criticized "Gone With the Wind" for its depiction of black people.

The film won eight Oscars including best picture and made history when Hattie McDaniel became the first black American to win an Oscar for her performance.

The decision to pull "Gone With the Wind" from the streaming service sparked some backlash on social media.

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"So when are we getting together to burn copies of To Kill A Mockingbird?" conservative commentator AG Hamilton asked.

"Hattie McDaniel was the first African-American actor to win an Oscar for her role in 'Gone With the Wind.' It's also her birthday tomorrow. Way to erase a historic black achievement in the name of social justice," Daily Caller's Greg Price reacted.

"It really is necessary to buy hard copies of things... Soon everything digital will be modified beyond recognition or canceled altogether," Washington Free Beacon executive editor Brent Scher warned.

"This is idiotic. We should learn from the past, not pretend it never existed," The Hollywood Reporter's awards columnist Scott Feinberg tweeted.

A spokesperson for HBO Max explained its decision and its plans to put the film back on the platform but with added "historical context."

"'Gone With the Wind' is a product of its time and depicts some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that have, unfortunately, been commonplace in American society," the statement said. "These racist depictions were wrong then and are wrong today, and we felt that to keep this title up without an explanation and a denouncement of those depictions would be irresponsible."

'COPS' WON'T 'RETURN' AFTER 32 SEASONS IN WAKE OF PROTESTS, NETWORK SAYS

The spokesperson continued, "These depictions are certainly counter to WarnerMedia's values, so when we return the film to HBO Max, it will return with a discussion of its historical context and a denouncement of those very depictions but will be presented as it was originally created because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. If we are to create a more just, equitable, and inclusive future, we must first acknowledge and underhand our history.

On Monday, "12 Years a Slave" Oscar-winning screenwriter John Ridley wrote an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times calling on HBO Max to remove "Gone With the Wind" from its platform.

"It is a film that, when it is not ignoring the horrors of slavery, pauses only to perpetuate some of the most painful stereotypes of people of color," Ridley argued.

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This comes as Paramount Television announced that it had canceled the long-running TV series "Cops" four days after the network pulled it from its schedule.

HBO Max also raised eyebrows when it was announced that "Looney Tunes" characters like Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam will not have any guns in the streaming service reboot.

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 09:59

''It must come down off your pages immediately.''

Medium author Matt Orfalea has written a piece published June 1st that shows a revealing look into the Josh Fox's campaign to get Planet of the Humans removed from YouTube.

In a now deleted tweet, the copyright claimant responsible for the takedown, Toby Smith, called the movie a ''baseless, shite doc built on bull-shit''. Smith later admitted he filed the copyright claim because he doesn't agree with the film's message.

On April 22nd, Fox sent emails to colleagues and public relations professionals describing the film and demanding it's removal from various platforms.

From: '‹Josh Fox'‹Date: Wed, Apr 22, 2020 at 12:41 AM

Dear friends-

I am so sorry to have to be the messenger here.

But.

This new Michael Moore movie, is, to put it politelyA GIGANTIC CROCK OF SHIT.

It is a disgusting unfactual unscientific abomination.

You must take it down ASAP.

I am so serious.

It is absolutely disgustingly horrible. Beyond it being terribly made, amateurish and inept. It has absolutely no factual basis. It encourages the most baseless kind of thinking. It also goes after heroes in our movement in gotcha type interviews for no absolutely reason.

It is TERRIBLE reporting. Cherry picking, ignorant. It is not only untrue, not factual in any way it is incredibly deceptive.

I cannot stress this enough. This film is as untruthful and deceitful as anything Donald Trump EVER did.

It must come down off of your pages immediately.

Please call me ASAP. This is terribly upsetting. I don't care what time of day or night it is, this abhorrent piece of misinformation must be rejected and disavowed immediately.

IMMEDIATELY.

'...

He sounds super serious doesn't he? Here is an email less than an hour later to the public relations professionals.

From: '‹Josh Fox'‹Date: Wed, Apr 22, 2020 at 1:05 AM

Dear activist friends and climate heroes-

I have bad news. There is a new MICHAEL MOORE produced film which just came out online which is an affront to all of our work.

The movie is a badly-made, unfactual smear peace that attacks the basic mainstays of environmentalism.

The film attacks renewable energy and climate leaders who promote renewable energy development in very unfair ways.

It is an unscientific, unwatchable sensationalistic piece of yellow journalism. Michael was just on Stephen Colbert promoting it. I think Michael Moore must have totally lost his mind to promote this.

It is called PLANET OF THE HUMANS and Moore has propped up a spiffy website to promote it.

The film needs to be roundly condemned. It is dangerous, and unfactual.

Please take a look, see what I mean and get in touch with me ASAP. A number of reputable websites are hosting this abomination and I need your support in getting them to take it down. See below.

Thanks

JoshLINK TO THE FILM: https://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/michael-moore-presents-planet-of-the-humans/

The article gives much more detail of debates and machinations behind the scenes, but also notes this rather tired tactic of the woke.

Accusations of Anti-Semitism and Eco-Fascism

''Planet of the Humans'' discusses the issue of ever increasing population growth. However, there is absolutely no mention or suggestion of population control in the film. Instead, the film's solution is to reduce consumption, not population. Nevertheless, Fox accuses the movie's ''old white guy'' filmmakers of pushing ''eco-fascism''.

Read the full article here.

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 10:26

Embattled former TV actor Jussie Smollett is now using the ongoing protests over the death of George Floyd as he continues his fight against the city of Chicago.

Smollett, who is gay and black, was charged earlier this year with multiple felony counts stemming from an alleged hate crime attack hoax he staged against himself, according to Chicago police.

The new charges were filed in February after similar charges were dropped last year.

In his defense, the actor is now linking the Floyd protests to his case by invoking a nationwide conversation about racial disparities and police misconduct.

Fox News reported that the actor filed a motion on Friday demanding documents containing information about the 2019 firing of former Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, who was involved in the investigation into Smollett's alleged hoax and was highly critical of him publicly.

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''As we see millions across the country rise up to protest and expose police misconduct, the city, by its refusal to produce the requested documents, is choosing to actively resist a citizen's lawful efforts to reveal dishonesty, directly relating to the charges against him, throughout the department, including the police superintendent who oversaw and publicly commented on the investigation of Mr. Smollett's report of a vicious hate crime and assault,'' the motion, which was obtained by Fox, read.

''Indeed, the city's opposition to the motion to compel puts the cart before the horse and largely fails to appreciate that this case remains in the discovery phase.

''Allegations are not proven facts, but the city improperly assumes that it has already proven that Mr. Smollett made false statements to the CPD,'' the Smollett filing went on.

Johnson, who himself is black, was publicly angry after Smollet claimed in 2019 that he was assaulted, draped with a noose and berated with racist and homophonic slurs by supporters of President Donald Trump.

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''I know the racial divide that exists here. I know how hard it's been for our city and our nation to come together. And I also know the disparities and I know the history,'' Johnson said of the former ''Empire'' star, according to The Associated Press.

Johnson added that Smollett ''took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career.''

''Why would anyone, especially an African-American man, use the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations?'' Johnson said. ''How could someone look at the hatred and suffering associated with that symbol and see an opportunity to manipulate that symbol to further his own public profile? How can an individual who's been embraced by the city of Chicago turn around and slap everyone in this city in the face by making these false claims?''

The AP reported that Smollett is facing six felony counts of disorderly conduct after he allegedly knowingly misled police to investigate charges which he knew were false.

According to Fox News, Smollett is also being asked to reimburse the Chicago Police Department for $130,000 over the investigation of the alleged hoax attack.

RELATED: Minneapolis City Councilwoman: Expecting Police Protection Is a 'Privilege'

The investigation ultimately cost taxpayers almost $500,000.

Johnson, who served as the Chicago Police Superintendent for three years, was fired by newly elected mayor Lori Lightfoot in December.

Commenting on Johnson's termination, Lightfoot cited ''a series of ethical lapses,'' after Johnson reportedly fell asleep in his patrol car.

Johnson had been with the department since 1988 and was fired two weeks before his retirement, NBC News reported.

Chicago's former top cop contended that Smollett hired two African brothers to assault him so that the actor could blame the attack on white Trump supporters and advance his career goals.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 14:05

Working at a beer store on St. Mark's Place, Brittany Spano, 27, has seen the Big Apple's robust social life return, albeit in an abridged form.

Drink windows selling to-go cocktails and beers have sprung up throughout the city, drawing in socially starved New Yorkers who have been in quarantine for three months. But this re-emergence has come with a stream of issues '-- mainly a steady flow of revelers freely peeing in public since most bathrooms remain closed. And now, with thousands of protesters taking to the streets each day, more people than ever are contributing to NYC's No. 1 problem by whizzing in the wild.

''Last night, my co-worker saw some guy just coming down the street and pulling down his pants [to urinate],'' Spano tells The Post. ''She was like, 'Nah, not here, man.'

''There's definitely been an uptick on this street, from what I've seen. But most people at least go in a corner or have friends cover them up,'' says Spano.

A lack of restrooms has left New Yorkers in a bind. They want to go out but then they are left holding it in. Restaurants, bars and coffee shops where New Yorkers could always find relief in the past have closed their restrooms to the public. Plus, with fears over the coronavirus still very present, many don't feel safe going into germ-infested public restrooms. And hey, peeing in public isn't even a crime anymore. In 2017, New York City introduced the Criminal Justice Reform Act, which decriminalized low-level offenses.

''My friends and I talk about [public urination] all of the time now,'' Sophia, a 23-year-old who lives in Park Slope and asked that her last name not be used, tells The Post. ''It's a big topic. Since the pandemic, I have done it myself in Prospect Park, behind a dumpster in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. All of the public restrooms like McDonald's and Starbucks are closed. If you are far away from your home, what are you supposed to do?''

The Brooklynite, who is recently unemployed, never leaves the house without tissues.

''Sometimes when I am out for a bike ride, I won't drink water because I know that I will have to go to the bathroom and there are no options. If I am going to meet a friend, I have to think about my liquid intake.''

The lack of bathrooms has come front and center during the recent Black Lives Matter protests that have swept the city. Twitter account @OpenYourLobby urged museums and theaters to make their bathrooms available, creating a spreadsheet of available toilets.

It was a handy reference for Eric Silver, a 40-year-old protester, and his wife, who found themselves in a bind after marching from Grand Army Plaza to City Hall and back to Brooklyn.

''We had been drinking a lot of water,'' Silver, a software consultant, tells The Post. ''We were about a mile from home, and we were getting a little worried. My friend knew about the spreadsheets, and we found BRIC [a media center on Fulton Street]. We hobbled over, and it was like an oasis.''

Spano says her shop's ''no bathroom'' edict hasn't stopped people from begging to use their facilities.

''People ask to use our bathroom all of the time, but we have to say no. One guy went on for 10 minutes about his weak bladder. If you have a problem, then you should probably stay in the radius of your home,'' says Spano, who lives in Williamsburg.

In nearby Tompkins Square Park, the restrooms have extended their hours to 7 p.m., but many drink windows are open until 9 p.m.

A bartender who works across from the park says people frequently ask to use the facilities, but the answer is always no. (According to the Health Department, restaurants that offer outdoor dining during Phase Two of reopening, which could occur as early as June 22, ''may offer restroom access to customers, provided that social distancing is promoted within and while waiting for restrooms.'')

One East Village bar owner, who asked to withhold his name, said he saw a handful of people peeing in the park two Sundays ago.

''I got to the park after 7 p.m. and people said the bathrooms were closed. People go out and bounce around and after four drinks, you need to go,'' says the bar owner. ''We can't let people go into our bathrooms. They're closed. This will be a problem going forward.''

Diem Boyd, who heads up the community group LES Dwellers, says while they haven't specifically fielded complaints of public urination, ''There are a lot of people drinking on the street. We suspect that there are a lot of quality-of-life issues bubbling up.''

Spano says she has recently seen a big flood of infractions, even from her fire escape in Williamsburg.

''I live right near the Williamsburg Bridge and there's a little corner that everyone seems to find perfect for peeing in public. I sit outside on my fire escape and watch it happen all the time.''

With temperatures on the rise, expect the city's oppressive summer stink to be even worse this year.

''Public urination was already an issue in New York. If this continues into the summer, the smell is going to get pretty bad,'' Spano says. ''There has to be something that can be done about it.''

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Thu, 11 Jun 2020 05:52

Poole residents say they are "livid" and will fight council plans to take down a statue of Robert Baden-Powell - the founder of the Scout movement.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council said it is planning to remove the monument temporarily for its protection on police advice.

It said it recognised that some aspects of Baden-Powell's life "are considered less worthy of commemoration".

Image: Protesters against the removal of the statue of Robert Baden-Powell on Poole Quay, DorsetBaden-Powell, a British Army officer who started Scouting in 1907, has been accused of racism and of being a Nazi sympathiser.

Locals have told Sky News they are against the statue's removal, which comes amid anti-racism Black Lives Matter protests over the death of George Floyd in the US that have sparked calls for the removal of monuments of controversial historical figures.

One Poole resident, Tommy Stranack, said: "We feel very strongly about this statue. It is here and it is in that position for a reason.

"This gentleman has helped the lives of 54 million children. His statue is here because it overlooks Brownsea Island, where the Scouts were founded.

"His history has nothing to do with the removal of this statue."

Asked if he wanted it to stay, he replied: "Absolutely."

Slaver statue pulled from harbour The 52-year-old said his son has launched a petition to save the monument, which has been in the area since 2008.

"It has had more than 5,000 signatures since last night," he said.

"We don't want that statue going anywhere. If the police can't protect it, we will. It is not coming down. Shame on the council for being weak and giving in to thuggery."

Image: The Robert Baden-Powell statue in Poole is on an activists' hit list of monuments they want to see removedHis sentiments were echoed by another Poole resident, Len Banister.

"I will fight you!," said the 79-year-old, raising his arms - a walking stick in each.

Asked if the statue should be removed, he said: "No, it should not be. I'm here, I will fight for him."

He added: "I'm absolutely livid, I'm quaking I am so livid. He did so much for so many. I've come down to get a selfie before they remove the statue."

"It's history, isn't it," said a woman stood behind him.

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Another woman suggested the council could "put a structure around it to keep it safe".

"What's the problem with that? There's no problem with that," she added.

Baden-Powell's statue is on an activists' target list of monuments they want to see removed.

A Scouts spokesperson said the organisation operates "in almost every nation on Earth, promoting tolerance and global solidarity".

They added that the movement "is resolute in its commitment to inclusion and diversity, and members continually reflect and challenge ourselves in how we live our values".

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Archived Version

Thu, 11 Jun 2020 07:23

A Chick-fil-A franchise in Stuart, Florida, was packed with patrons on Aug. 1, 2012. (Photo by Joe Kovacs)

Chick-fil-A is in the hot seat again, this time because of a viral image of an employee wearing a "Back the Blue" shirt.

But the photo was from years ago and had nothing to do with the current protests against the death of a black man in police custody.

In fact, the post was meant to promote a local athletic team.

The image:

TRENDING: Judge rules on lawsuit against Michigan governor's stay-at-home order

The Deseret News reported the image has been used as a trigger for those who claim the company is "racist."

"But the photo is actually older than you think. According to Reuters, the photo was taken in 2015 by one local Chick-fil-A restaurant that supported a football team in the area," the report said.

A company official said the photo was being taken out of context but apologized nevertheless.

Dan Cathy, Chick-fil-A's CEO, already has stated his company's position on the protests of Floyd's death.

"What I have come to understand is that they are tired of the violence, abuse and injustice. They are tired, because no amount of kneeling or marching seems to truly address what has ailed our country for generations: A controverted view of race, which is sometimes overt and sometimes subtle but always destructive," he said.

He cited the Old Testament story of Nehemiah, who "became aware of the plight of his people in Jerusalem" and as a result became "a catalyst for the renaissance in his homeland."

BizPacReview commented that "while there was a negative reaction to the shirts online from people who assumed they were supportive of law enforcement, others said there is nothing wrong with being able to identify an injustice '-- Floyd's death '-- while still acknowledging that the vast majority of police officers are good people doing a tough job to protect communities."

"Fox News contributor and former U.S. Marine bomb technician John Joey Jones said during an interview on ''Fox & Friends'' Wednesday that 'honest people can' make the distinction. 'If that young lady's dad is a cop, why couldn't she wear 'Back the Blue' every single day? Why would she have to be shamed away from doing it, or why would her employer apologize for her? That's a scenario that would be pretty reasonable. The point is, if you're the type of person that the heroic actions of police officers '... mattered to you two days ago, but for some reason don't matter to you today, then you've succumbed to a narrative that isn't true and you are the one with the problem because you don't have conviction in your life."

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Thu, 11 Jun 2020 07:51

Isaiah Love @ isaiahloveyou

11h Replying to

@MarkDice @MarkDice View conversation · O'DinaNeros @ dinaneros

11h Replying to

@isaiahloveyou @Inevitable_ET and

2 others He's a human being. I hope he is okay. I don't condone their activities, but if we lose our decency, we are no better.

View conversation · 🇺🇸 Jon The Gunfather 🇺🇸 @ BodifordJon

9h Replying to

@dinaneros @isaiahloveyou and

3 others Nah f him.

View conversation · Derick Garcia @ Bm_Clueless

9h Replying to

@isaiahloveyou @Inevitable_ET and

2 others Pity.

View conversation · Isaiah Love @ isaiahloveyou

8h Replying to

@Bm_Clueless @Inevitable_ET and

2 others "There goes your life." What an injustice to be blindsided. To think that he went into tonight believing he's doing something great, knowing in the back of his mind it's completely illegal. Its as if the devil needed blood, pulling him into the very spot he needed not to be.

View conversation · positivityport@gmail.com @ positivityport

11h Replying to

@isaiahloveyou @Inevitable_ET and

2 others That's Karma. When we destroy another (including things) we destroy the self, for we are all connected. What we do to and for another we do to and for the self. Harm or hurt, or Help and Heal--the good or bad you do comes back to you.

View conversation · Mary @ MaryMary72703

10h Replying to

@positivityport @isaiahloveyou and

3 others Yeah, that's true. Too bad the bad actors don't understand this.

View conversation · Kristin @ Kristx24

10h Replying to

@isaiahloveyou @Inevitable_ET and

2 others Ya'll I don't agree with what they did. But I also think we should remember he is someone's son, brother, friend etc. Let's lead by example. I pray he is ok. ðŸ

View conversation · monte_christo @ monte_christo20

40m Replying to

@Kristx24 @isaiahloveyou and

3 others "remember he is someone's son, brother, friend"How about no? He would laugh if something like this have happened to anyone who is not a leftie.

View conversation · Bo Phillips 🇺🇸 @ bo_phillips_

11h Replying to

@isaiahloveyou @Inevitable_ET and

2 others Rioter receives Darwin award. FIFY

View conversation ·

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 11:13

Repetition compulsion is a psychological phenomenon in which a person repeats an event or its circumstances over and over again. This includes reenacting the event or putting oneself in situations where the event is likely to happen again. This "re-living" can also take the form of dreams in which memories and feelings of what happened are repeated, and even hallucinated.

Repetition compulsion can also be used to cover the repetition of behaviour or life patterns more broadly: a "key component in Freud's understanding of mental life, 'repetition compulsion' ... describes the pattern whereby people endlessly repeat patterns of behaviour which were difficult or distressing in earlier life".[1]

Freud [ edit ] Sigmund Freud's use of the concept of "repetition compulsion" (German: Wiederholungszwang)[2] was 'articulated ... for the first time, in the article of 1914, Erinnern, Wiederholen und Durcharbeiten ("Remembering, Repeating and Working-Through")'.[2][3] Here he noted how 'the patient does not remember anything of what he has forgotten and repressed, he acts it out, without, of course, knowing that he is repeating it ... For instance, the patient does not say that he remembers that he used to be defiant and critical toward his parents' authority; instead, he behaves in that way to the doctor'.[4]

He explored the repetition compulsion further in his 1920 essay Beyond the Pleasure Principle, describing four aspects of repetitive behavior, all of which seemed odd to him from the point of view of the mind's quest for pleasure/avoidance of unpleasure.

The first was the way 'dreams occurring in traumatic neuroses have the characteristic of repeatedly bringing the patient back into the situation of his accident' rather than, for example, 'show[ing] the patient pictures from his healthy past'.[5]

The second came from children's play. Freud reported observing a child throw his favorite toy from his crib, become upset at the loss, then reel the toy back in, only to repeat this action.[6] Freud theorized that the child was attempting to master the sensation of loss 'in allowing his mother to go away without protesting', but asked in puzzlement 'How then does his repetition of this distressing experience as a game fit in with the pleasure principle?'.[7]

The third was the way (noted in 1914) that the patient, exploring in therapy a repressed past, 'is obliged to repeat the repressed material as a contemporary experience instead of ... remembering it as something belonging to the past ... the compulsion to repeat the events of his childhood in the transference evidently disregards the pleasure principle in every way'.[8]

The fourth was the so-called "destiny neurosis", manifested in 'the life-histories of men and women ... [as] an essential character-trait which remains always the same and which is compelled to find expression in a repetition of the same experience'.[9]

All such activities appeared to Freud to contradict the organism's search for pleasure, and therefore 'to justify the hypothesis of a compulsion to repeat'--something that seems more primitive, more elementary, more instinctual than the pleasure principle which it over-rides':[10] 'a daemonic current/trait',[11][12] 'a daemonic character',[11][13][14] a 'daemonic compulsion',[11][13] likely alluding to the Latin motto errare humanum est, perseverare autem diabolicum ("to err is human, to persist [in committing such errors] is of the devil"). Following this line of thought, he would come to stress that "an instinct is an urge inherent in organic life to restore an earlier state of things"[15] (an explanation that some scholars have labeled as "metaphysical biology"),[16] so to arrive eventually at his concept of the death drive.

Along the way, however, Freud had in addition considered a variety of more purely psychological explanations for the phenomena of the repetition compulsion which he had observed. Traumatic repetitions could be seen as the result of an attempt to retrospectively "master" the original trauma, a child's play as an attempt to turn passivity into activity: 'At the outset he was in a passive situation ... but by repeating it, unpleasurable though it was, as a game, he took on an active part'.[7]

At the same time, the repetition of unpleasant experiences in analysis could be considered 'unpleasure for one system [the ego] and simultaneously satisfaction for the other [the id].[17] In the second edition of 1921, he extended the point, stating explicitly that transference repetitions 'are of course the activities of instincts intended to lead to satisfaction; but no lesson has been learnt from the old experience of these activities having led only to unpleasure'.[14]

Five years later, in Inhibition, Symptom and Anxiety, he would quietly revise his earlier definition'--'There is no need to be discouraged by these emendations ... so long as they enrich rather than invalidate our earlier views''--in his new formula on 'the power of the compulsion to repeat'--the attraction exerted by the unconscious prototypes upon the repressed instinctual process'.[18]

Later psychoanalytic developments [ edit ] It was in the later, psychological form that the concept of the repetition compulsion passed into the psychoanalytic mainstream. Otto Fenichel in his "second generation" compendium The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis stressed two main kinds of neurotic repetition.

On the one hand, there were 'Repetitions of traumatic events for the purpose of achieving a belated mastery ... seen first and most clearly in children's games',[19] although the 'same pattern occurs in the repetitive dreams and symptoms of traumatic neurotics and in many similar little actions of normal persons who ... repeat upsetting experiences a number of times before these experiences are mastered.[20] Such traumatic repetitions could themselves appear in active or passive forms. In a passive form, one chooses his or her most familiar experiences consistently as a means to deal with problems of the past, believing that new experiences will be more painful than their present situation or too new and untested to imagine. In the active, participatory form, a person actively engages in behavior that mimics an earlier stressor, either deliberately or unconsciously, so that in particular events that are terrifying in childhood become sources of attraction in adulthood. For instance, a person who was spanked as a child may incorporate this into their adult sexual practices; or a victim of sexual abuse may attempt to seduce another person of authority in his or her life (such as their boss or therapist): an attempt at mastery of their feelings and experience, in the sense that they unconsciously want to go through the same situation but that it not result negatively as it did in the past.[21]

On the other hand, there were 'Repetitions due to the tendency of the repressed to find an outlet'.[22] Here the drive of the repressed impulse to find gratification brought with it a renewal of the original defence: 'the anxiety that first brought about the repression is mobilized again and creates, together with the repetition of the impulse, a repetition of the anti-instinctual measures'.[22] Fenichel considered that 'Neurotic repetitions of this kind contain no metaphysical element', and 'even the repetition of the most painful failure of the Oedipus complex in the transference during a psychoanalytic cure is not "beyond the pleasure principle"'.[22]

Later writers would take very similar views. Eric Berne saw as central to his work 'the repetition compulsion which drives men to their doom, the power of death, according to Freud ... [who] places it in some mysterious biological sphere, when after all it is only the voice of seduction'[23]'--the seduction of the repressed and unconscious id.

Erik Erikson saw the destiny neurosis'--the way 'that some people make the same mistakes over and over''--in the same light: 'the individual unconsciously arranges for variations of an original theme which he has not learned either to overcome or to live with'.[24] Ego psychology would subsequently take for granted 'how rigidly determined our lives are'--how predictable and repetitive ... the same mistake over and over again'.[25]

Object relations theory, stressing the way 'the transference is a live relationship ... in the here-and-now of the analysis, repeating the way that the patient has used his objects from early in life' considered that 'this newer conception reveals a purpose ... [in] the repetition compulsion':[26] thus 'unconscious hope may be found in repetition compulsion, when unresolved conflicts continue to generate attempts at solutions which do not really work ... [until] a genuine solution is found'.[27]

Later formulations [ edit ] By the close of the twentieth century, the psychoanalytic view of repetition compulsion had come into increasing dialogue with a variety of other discourses, ranging from attachment theory through brief psychodynamic therapy to cognitive behavioural therapy.

Attachment theory saw early developmental experiences leading to 'schemas or mental representations of relationship ... [which] become organized, encoded experiential and cognitive data ... that led to self-confirmation'.[28]

The Core Conflictual Relationship Theme'--'core wishes that the individual has in relation to others''--was seen in brief psychodynamic therapy as linked to the way in 'a repetition compulsion, the client will behave in ways that engender particular responses from others that conform with previous experiences in interpersonal relationships'.[29]

In 'psychological schemas' described in social psychology or cognitive-behavioural psychology ... 'an enduring symbolic framework that organizes constellations of thought, feeling, memory, and expectation about self and others" (Knapp 1991: 94)',[30] further parallels may be seen to the role of early unconscious fixations in fueling the repetition compulsion.

See also [ edit ] Psychical inertiaSigmund Freud § Life and death drivesReferences [ edit ] ^ Jan Clark and Jim Crawley, Transference and Projection: Mirrors to the self. (Buckingham 2002). p. 38. ^ a b Laplanche, Jean; Pontalis, Jean-Bertrand (2018) [1973]. "Compulsion to Repeat (Repetition Compulsion)". The Language of Psychoanalysis. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-92124-7. ISBN 0-4299212-41. ^ Lacan, Jacques (2018) [1977]. Miller, Jacques-Alain (ed.). The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psycho-Analysis. Translated from the 1973 French original by Alan Sheridan. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-429-90659-6. ISBN 0-42990659-5. ^ Freud, quoted in Janet Malcolm, Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession (London 1988). p. 28. ^ Sigmund Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle in On Metapsychology (Middlesex 1987). pp. 282-3. ^ Clark, Robert (October 24, 2005). "Repetition Compulsion". The Literary Encyclopedia . Retrieved March 15, 2020 . ^ a b Freud, Beyond. p. 285. ^ Freud, Beyond. pp. 288, 308. ^ Freud, Beyond. p. 293. ^ Freud, Beyond. p. 294. ^ a b c Beyond the Pleasure Principle. London: Penguin Books. 2003. ISBN 978-0-141-93166-1. ISBN 0-14193166-3. ^ Beyond the Pleasure Principle (C. J. M. Hubback, trans., 1922), chapter III. Retrieved 2016-03-26. ^ a b Beyond the Pleasure Principle (C. J. M. Hubback, trans., 1922), chapter V. Retrieved 2016-03-26. ^ a b Freud, Beyond. p. 292. ^ Freud, Beyond. p. 308. ^ Schuster, Aaron (2016). The Trouble with Pleasure. Deleuze and Psychoanalysis. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-262-52859-7. ISBN 0-26252859-2. ^ Freud, Beyond. p. 290. ^ Sigmund Freud, On Psychopathology (Middlesex 1987). p. 319. ^ Otto Fenichel, The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis (London 1946). p. 542. ^ Fenichel, Neurosis. p. 543. ^ "Roberta Satow - Psychoanalyst". Archived from the original on 17 January 2010 . Retrieved 6 July 2010 . ^ a b c Fenichel, Neurosis. p. 542. ^ Eric Berne, What Do You Say after You Say Hello? (London 1975). p. 276. ^ Erik H. Erikson, Childhood and Society (Middlesex 1973). p. 209. ^ "Aaron Green" in Janet Malcolm, Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession (London 1988). p. 55. ^ R. Appignanesi ed., Introducing Melanie Klein (Cambridge 2006). pp. 149, 176. ^ Patrick Casement, Further Learning from the Patient (London 1997). p. 118. ^ Grant, Jan; Crawley, Jim (2002). Transference and Projection. New York City: McGraw-Hill Education. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-335-20314-7. ISBN 0-33523164-0. ^ Grant, Jan; Crawley, Jim (2002). p. 59. ^ Grant, Jan; Crawley, Jim (2002). p. 5. Further reading [ edit ] Russell, P. L. (2006). "Trauma, Repetition, and Affect". Contemp. Psychoanal., 42:601-620.Herman, J. (1997). Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror, Basic Books.Edward Bibring (1943). "The Conception of the Repetition Compulsion". The Psychoanalytic Quarterly. 12 (4): 486''519. doi:10.1080/21674086.1943.11925548. External links [ edit ] Franz Alexander, The corrective emotional experience (1946)

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 10:19

Via Washington Examiner:

Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik said 600 police officers were considering leaving the force amid protests in response to the death of George Floyd.

Kerik and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani joined Judge Jeanine Pirro on her Fox News show over the weekend to discuss police brutality and racism within police departments.

Pirro asked, ''How many police officers are in the hospital right now that the mainstream media is not talking about?''

Kerik noted that hundreds of NYPD officers had been injured during the protests and added nearly double that number were considering leaving the police force.

''You have some in the hospital. But there were over 300, 300 injuries. And the thing that scares me, judge, I'm hearing close to 600 cops have either put in their papers, or they're talking to the department about resigning or retiring, like this is insane,'' he said.

New York City experienced some of the most violent protests in the wake of Floyd's death. Floyd, an unarmed black man, died in police custody on Memorial Day when officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, was filmed kneeling on Floyd's neck during an arrest.

Officers in New York were repeatedly attacked during protests, some of which became riots, including one who was struck by a hit-and-run driver, one who was beaten in the Bronx, and one who was ''nearly killed'' when a brick was thrown at him.

Giuliani has repeatedly called for Mayor Bill de Blasio to resign over his handling of the riots.

Keep reading'...

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 10:11

Major cities, governments, and people around the world are donating millions to BLM - the group had a rep do an AMA today and refused to answer ANY questions of where that money was going - why? Because BLM is just a money laundering scheme.

For example, we have Los Angeles donating $150-250M dollars to Black Lives Matter.

How does one do that?

Why they go to blacklivesmatter.com and click donate...where does that take us? Why we end up at Act Blue..

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_blm_homepage_2019

What is ActBlue:

ActBlue is a nonprofit technology organization established in June 2004 that enables Democrats, progressive groups, and nonprofits to raise money on the Internet by providing them with online fundraising software.

Source? https://actblue.com

Re-designation of Contributions

In the event that a campaign or committee (a) fails for 60 days to cash a check from ActBlue which includes your contribution (after ActBlue makes repeated attempts to work with the campaign to ensure all checks are cashed), or (b) affirmatively refuses a contribution earmarked through ActBlue, your contribution will be re-designated as a contribution to ActBlue. Contributions to social welfare organizations which are similarly not cashed or are affirmatively refused will be kept by ActBlue and used generally to support its social welfare activities.

Contributions to charitable organization which are not cashed or affirmatively refused will got to ActBlue Charities.

Source: The Horse's Mouth

This is how you get illegal campaign funding from overseas buying televisions ads this fall. I bolded the portion that applies to BLM - they are not a charity nor a campaign, and THIS is why she won't answer where the money is going to be used, because they will actively reject most of it so it can be re-designated to whatever political agiprop ActBlue wants to spend it on for November.

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 16:06

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Democratic lawmakers take a knee to observe a moment of silence on Capitol Hill for George Floyd and other victims of police brutality June 8, 2020 (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski)

Washington (AFP) - Democratic lawmakers knelt in silent tribute to George Floyd in the US Congress on Monday before unveiling a package of sweeping police reforms in response to the killing of African Americans by law enforcement.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer were joined by some two dozen lawmakers in Emancipation Hall -- named in honor of the slaves who helped erect the US Capitol in the 18th century.

They knelt for eight minutes and 46 seconds to mark the length of time a white police officer pinned his knee on the neck of the 46-year-old Floyd, whose May 25 death in Minneapolis unleashed protests against racial injustice across America.

The Democrats said their bill aimed to create "meaningful, structural change that safeguards every Americans' right to safety and equal justice."

The legislation seeks to "end police brutality, hold police accountable (and) improve transparency in policing," a statement said.

Pelosi, who like other kneeling lawmakers was draped in a colorful Kente cloth scarf that pays homage to black Americans' African heritage, spoke afterward of the "martyrdom of George Floyd" and the grief over black men and women killed at the hands of police.

"This movement of national anguish is being transformed into a movement of national action," she said.

Related Video: Tear Gas

The Justice and Policing Act, introduced in both chambers of Congress, would make it easier to prosecute officers for abuse and rethink how they are recruited and trained.

Its chance of passage in the Senate, where Republicans hold the majority, is highly uncertain.

Donald Trump, who is running for re-election in November, has cast himself as the law-and-order president and accuses Joe Biden, his Democratic rival for the White House, of seeking to defund police forces.

"The Radical Left Democrats want to Defund and Abandon our Police. Sorry, I want LAW & ORDER!" he tweeted on Monday.

The former vice president has not made any public statements supporting the defunding of law enforcement.

His campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement that Biden "supports the urgent need for reform" including funding community policing programs that improve relationships between officers and residents and help avert unjustifiable deaths.

Biden, who has said he believes the nation is at "an inflection point" given the magnitude of the protests, was traveling Monday to Houston to meet Floyd's family.

- 'We hear you' -

The policing legislation, introduced by Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass and two black senators, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, would ban the use of choke holds and mandate the use of dashboard cameras and body cameras for federal officers.

It mandates broad training reforms and would establish a misconduct registry to prevent fired officers moving to another jurisdiction without any accountability.

"A profession where you have the power to kill should be a profession that requires highly trained officers who are accountable to the public," Bass told reporters.

Lawmakers expressed solidarity with the countless Americans who have taken to the streets in protest against police brutality and racial injustice.

"Black lives matter. The protests we've seen in recent days are an expression of rage and one of despair," House Democrat Steny Hoyer said.

"Today Democrats in the House and Senate are saying: 'We see you, we hear you, we are acting.'"

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 17:36

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 21:31

In 2013, the community organizers Opal Tometi, Patrisse Cullors, and Alicia Garza started the Black Lives Matter movement. What began as a hashtag in response to Trayvon Martin's death became a nationwide phenomenon, with protests in response to the killings of African-Americans and chapters across the country. Now, after the death of George Floyd, at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, and a week of nationwide protests to an extent unseen in a half century, Black Lives Matter is once again the biggest story in the country.

On Tuesday afternoon, I spoke by phone with Tometi, who advises a number of black-led organizations and previously served as the executive director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration. During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed what it would mean to defund police departments, how the coronavirus pandemic has shaped the American response to the protests, and what's next for Black Lives Matter.

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How are these protests different from what came before, and why do you think they are different from what came before?

While we see that a lot of anger and outrage and frustration was sparked by the barbaric murder of George Floyd, it's also clear to me that we have been sitting in our homes, navigating the pandemic, dealing with loved ones being sick, dealing with a great deal of fear and concern about what the day and the future will hold. We have millions of people who have lost their jobs and filed for unemployment and are living paycheck to paycheck and hand to mouth, and I believe they are just thoroughly fed up and thoroughly beside themselves with grief and concern and despair because the government does not seem to have a plan of action that is dignified and comprehensive and seeks to address the core concerns that the average American has.

And so my belief and my view of these protests is that they are different because they are marked by a period that has been deeply personal to millions of Americans and residents of the United States, and that has them more tender or sensitive to what is going on. People who would normally have been at work now have time to go to a protest or a rally, and have time to think about why they have been struggling so much, and they are thinking, This actually isn't right and I want to make time, and I have the ability to make time now and make my concerns heard. So I think it is markedly differently in terms of the volume of demands we are hearing. People are absolutely lifting up names like Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, but I think they are very clearly in the streets for themselves and their family members because they don't know who is next, and they are also concerned about the economic realities that they are faced with.

It's interesting that your answer focussed so little on criminal justice specifically. Is it just that the criminal-justice issues have been going on forever and so these additional things were needed, or is there something different about the way society is reacting to criminal-justice outrages in 2020?

I absolutely think people are concerned with police brutality. Let me make that absolutely clear. We have been fighting and advocating to stop a war on black lives. And that is how we see it'--this is a war on black life. And people understand that this system is filled with all sorts of inequality and injustice, and that implicit bias and just outright racism is embedded in the way that policing is done in this nation'--and when you think about it historically, it was founded as a slave patrol. The evolution of policing was rooted in that. People recognize that. So their frustration is absolutely about the policing and the criminal-justice system writ large and the racial dimensions of it, and its lethal impact on our communities.

But I would say that there is something about the economic conditions in addition to the lethal force we are seeing every day that makes this moment feel different, where people are making different kinds of demands. We do a lot of work with the Movement for Black Lives and a number of organizations and individuals and different leaders who are part of that formation, and we have been calling for the defunding of police, a moratorium on rent, a moratorium on mortgages and utilities. We need to not have people's utilities shut off'--their light, their water, and just basic needs that people have.

So our demands are also reflective of the fact that when we started Black Lives Matter, it wasn't solely about police brutality and extrajudicial killing. That was a spark point, but it was very intentional for us to talk about the way that black lives are cut short all across the board. You can talk about the quality of our life in terms of housing and education and health-care systems and the pandemic and what we are seeing there. So for us it has been more comprehensive than just the criminal-justice system and policing. It's bigger than that.

Is it important that a specific agenda is heard from protesters, or is that the job of other people?

A specific agenda like?

People showing up at protests with signs listing specific reforms.

You know, I think it is important that we have those types of things, but I also believe that what we are witnessing now is the opening up of imaginations, where people are beginning to think more expansively about what the solutions could be. We have our solutions. We want the rights of protesters to be respected. We want a divestment from the police and an investment in black communities. We are demanding immediate relief for our communities. We want community control. We want an end to this war against black people. So we are clear in our demands, and we have demands for each city, so each city has its own unique demands, especially cities that are very active in these protests right now. You will see that local organizers have been working on the ground for years, and have already had their own reports and series of policies, and so what we are looking to do is amplify those.

I have seen African-American activists say two things about the protests becoming more violent'--and in this case I don't mean the violence from the police. The first is that talking about this is a distraction from what really matters, and the other is that it is bad and takes attention away from the peaceful majority. How do you feel about that conversation?

I think that conversation is complicated, and, generally speaking, I just don't equate the loss of life and the loss of property. I can't even hold those two in the same regard, and I think for far too long we have seen that happen. We have had these conversations where we are conflating very different realities and operating from different value systems. So, for me, that's how I view it, and a lot of my colleagues and peers as well as mentors have similar views. We are really focussed on how to get our demands out and stay focussed on the main thing, which is people, and we want to value our love of people over property.

I asked because I wanted you to lay out what defunding police would look like in practice. Additionally, I was wondering if you think that demand is a harder sell if things appear to people to be out of control.

Their budgets are overly bloated. And we can see this in many ways, but I think the most symbolic ways'--and not even symbolic, it's material'--are that we see they are militarized and we see all the equipment they have been able to lay out overnight or in hours. So we know they have a vast amount of resources.

Early on, when we first started Black Lives Matter, about a year or two into its creation, I worked with some amazing comrades in New York, and we worked on this campaign called ''Safety Beyond Policing.'' The New York City government was saying that it was going to allocate a hundred million dollars for a thousand new police officers. And here I am, a B.L.M. co-founder, on the heels of the murder of Eric Garner, thinking to myself, How are these people going to unleash even more police officers in our communities, when clearly we are seeing that enough is enough? This overpolicing of largely poor communities, which are largely people of color because poverty is racialized in this country, means that we are the ones interacting with law enforcement more. And with all this racial bias, of course, we see this brutality and these murders.

And so we started this campaign for community members to really be involved in the conversation about how to keep ourselves safe without an overreliance on law enforcement. And what we concluded is that we need social workers. We need these resources to go to our social workers and educators. We need it to go to our schools. We would love to have mental-health professionals when we have certain crises in our communities. We would like to not have a charge when we jump the turnstile because we don't have money for a subway ticket, and jobs programs for our youth during the summer. People were very creative, and they knew exactly what they needed. It was very easy for people to come to these conclusions as to what safety could look like.

And so I say all this to say that, yes, a defunding of police looks like an investment in the community, and I think it is perfectly fine, and we have seen it before and we just need a lot more of it. And I think it is a slap in the face when local governments see what is happening with their police precincts and beyond and still say, ''We are going to allocate even more money for this thing that is clearly not working.'' If you had a job and were messing up this badly and it had a lethal outcome, you would be fired. It doesn't make sense that we continue on this.

Don't give my boss any ideas.

You're good.

Should the role for Black Lives Matter be any different now from what it was when it began?

So in 2013, and even 2014, we began more as a platform and a space to develop community and share analysis. In 2013, George Zimmerman is acquitted for the murder of Trayvon Martin. Alicia writes a Facebook post. I reached out to her. I didn't know Patrisse at the time, but she puts a hashtag on it. I buy the domain name. And we start to use this hashtag as our umbrella language, and we share it with other community organizers in our network. And then 2014 happens, when Michael Brown is murdered. We are reeling and shocked and seeing how different people in Ferguson are met with a militarized police force, and that gets us going again and we do a Black Lives Matter Freedom Ride. So hundreds of us are on the ground and from that point we develop a network, because people are like, Hey, Fergusons are everywhere, and we don't want to just go back home and act like this was a one-off act of solidarity. We want to do something. And that was essentially the beginning of our network.

And it has always been somewhat decentralized. We have tried various structures, but we have always said the power goes on in the local chapter because they know what is going on, and they are the ones familiar with the terrain. Our chapters are the ones leading. We have had some come and go. I am getting e-mails where people are trying to set up chapters again, so there is always momentum, and ebbs and flows, and there is especially momentum when there is a tragedy like the ones we have witnessed in recent times. People want to create a chapter and rise up.

But it is largely still the same, I will say that. There are chapters across the country, many of them are operational and do their own fund-raising, and make their demands, and then, of course, they are in communication with one another, and that is the other beautiful thing. We end up seeing that there are commonalities and trends in what is going on with different police forces or other issues. So some chapters are more focussed in the education system. Some are more focussed on working with sex workers who are abused. So different chapters might take on different issues, but there is this throughline of valuing black life and understanding that we are not a monolith but being radically inclusive in terms of chapter makeup.

If we are in a once-in-a-century calamity that will overwhelmingly affect African-Americans, and I am talking about the coronavirus, what might that mean for the movement going forward?

Let me just take a beat and think how I want to answer that, because I think it is what is weighing on all of us right now. Honestly, I think we have to be seemingly ambitious with our demands. But they are not really ambitious. They are really just basic. What I articulated earlier is really just the baseline of what we know we need, not just what we know we want. We need the harm to stop in our communities. We need the damage to be repaired. We need to be able to have the opportunity to have a life of dignity, and the possibility to thrive. We need all of those things. So from the divestment from policing, to the investment in our communities, these all feel like very core and baseline demands. So we are going to push those.

But what we have been doing in the interim'--even before these large protests and rallies'--is a lot of mutual-aid work. The organization I used to lead, Black Alliance For Just Immigration'--I was the director there for about ten years, and worked with black immigrants and refugees and African-Americans as well'--the new director is amazing and has been doing a lot of work in utilizing a mutual-aid model of collecting resources, be it money or food or different skills embedded in the community, so people can show up for one other and the concerns and need we have. And we are going to continue seeing that. I think that is one of the most effective and empowering ways for us to resist in this moment, and really practice our own sense of responsibility. But we do need government response. We have already seen massive unemployment and we will see more. So we need comprehensive responses to the pandemic, that are about both health and economics.

How concerned are you about health issues at the protests?

Concern about the pandemic is high, but people are also very clear that you can sit at home and also be affected by this illness, or you can go out and fight for a chance to live a life full of dignity, and they are willing to risk it. I think we have to sit with the profundity of this moment, and what it really means for people to say, ''You know what, we are in this health crisis yet I cannot stay in my house. There is too much at stake. I am going to make an informed decision, and I am going out against all odds because it is worth it and the status quo is intolerable.'' I am really amazed and so moved by the thousands if not millions of courageous people who have made the decision to go to the streets. I am so in awe of them. They are so brave, and those are the people our country has needed for so long.

You can always wear a mask.

And you can always wear a mask. And people are doing it. [Laughs.] And people are doing their best to be safe at these rallies and marches. I have seen a lot of that and am grateful for it.

One thing I just want to underscore is that the world is watching us. We see these rallies in solidarity emerging all across the globe, and I have friends texting me with their images in France and the Netherlands and Costa Rica, and people are showing me that they are showing up in solidarity. People are really trying to show up in this moment for black people, but I think they are also doing it because they have been mad for a minute, almost like this pandemic was a pause, and they were able to think about what would justice look like, and what is actually going on, and they have been able to reflect on what is going on. I think they have been not O.K. for so many years, and they are finally saying, ''Hey, we are going to take it to the streets and say we are going to show up in solidarity with you.''

I also think people are looking at the United States and think that we weren't able to have a comprehensive plan to deal with the pandemic. They are watching how over a hundred thousand people have died so far, and they are also seeing the racial dimensions of it. Almost a third of the people dying have been black, and we are only thirteen per cent of the population. So much of this is inconceivable but it is staring us right in the face. So I think there is a lot of pressure that is mounting in this moment, and I just hope that our government chooses to do the right thing. I think this is just the beginning.

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 11:00

Skip to contentBig Tech programming racial wokeness into Siri, Google AssistantApple and Google have programmed their trademark voice assistants to respond to questions about the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as to scold those who ask them about 'all lives matter.'

Business Insider reports that tech companies across the board are training their voice assistants to respond to questions on the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.

On Sunday, sports blogger David Gardner tweeted a video showing his Google Home smart speaker responding to the question ''Do black lives matter?''

In response, Google's voice assistant parroted the party line: ''Black Lives Matter. Black people deserve the same freedoms afforded to everyone in this country, and recognizing the injustice they face is the first step towards fixing it.''

When Gardner then asked ''Do all lives matter?'' the Google Home responded: ''Saying 'Black Lives Matter' doesn't mean that all lives don't. It means black lives are at risk in ways others are not.''

Business Insider reports that Apple's Siri gave a similar response.

However, as seen in this video, when asked ''Do white lives matter?'' Siri becomes confused and is unable to give a response.

I know y'all already ask Siri do black lives matter'.... but have y'all asked her do white lives matter? Lmfaoooo pic.twitter.com/B0G2GuRTym

'-- kri (@kristaboricua) June 7, 2020

The pre-recordings come in the wake of a deluge of statements from the heads of major tech companies.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, announced a series of initiatives in support of the black community.

Apple CEO Tim Cook published an open letter on racism on June 4, after being criticized for staying silent during the protest.

Throughout the BLM protests, after years of stating that words are violence, a new rallying cry, 'silence is violence,' is being used against those who fail to make overt comments in support of BLM.

On Friday, Alex Ohanian, founder and former CEO of Reddit, stepped down from the Reddit board, asking to be replaced by a person of color.

Finally, on Sunday, Jeff Bezos of Amazon shared an email from a disillusioned customer against the Black Lives Matter banner on the Amazon website.

Watch Tucker Carlson call out major corporations for funding nationwide Black Lives Matter protests that have turned into violent riots.

Be sure to get your improved boost of zinc and pregnenolone today with The Real Red Pill Plus now at 60% off!

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 09:11

Photo: Alexander Krivitskiy/UnsplashI compiled a list of some annoying, creepy, inconsiderate, insulting, and/or disrespectful things some White people do which stresses me and other Black people out. I understand many of these things on my list aren't necessarily intentional, but the intent of the actions don't matter. The perception does. Your intentions can injure.

Practice doing no harm.

Say Not All White People. I know. I know. We're not blaming all White people when we say White people.. I'm not talking about all White people, just the White people who do the uncomfortable and embarrassing stuff on this list and those who continue to believe they aren't racist. But since you must come here to defend White people, Please read this first before you continue Take a day or two to meditate on it, then come back to read this list.

Hijacking movements. I'm not even going there. Yes, I am. The Civil Rights Movement protected Blacks, but was hijacked by White women who dragged in everything they cared about to ensure they protected it. Now, everything is centered on White women. Everything. Black Lives Matter was to address Black lives mattering. Ya'll took that and created All Lives Matter because God forbid we try to bring attention to ourselves, diverting attention from White people. #MeToo was for Black girls being sexually abused. You took that from us and made it about White women. Can we have something, please?

White people, please stop this and even if you don't do it, it is your job to stop your collective group from doing this. Every song or cry doesn't have to be White centered. You don't need a movement. You should move over and give others the space to protest. Look, listen, act. Don't co-opt or outright steal a movement and they pretend it's yours. Pirates do that stuff.

Locking the doors when Black people walk by your cars. You don't have to say a word. The locks locking as we pass by your vehicles tell us exactly how you feel about us. I'm trying to go into the store and get my salad stuff for dinner. I'm not thinking about entering your car. Our minds aren't on you, your car, or whatever you believe is valuable. Decenter yourselves please and stop being afraid of people already. Most Black people's parents have taught them early on there's a very high price to pay if a White person accuses you of something. We aren't trying to ruin our lives.

Clutching your purses when I walk by. No matter how broke I am or how empty my bank account is, I never, EVER think of robbing you. You don't have to clutch anything when I pass.

Not moving on the sidewalk. I know you see me right. They made normal sidewalks for two people to walk on, in two different directions, at the same time. Why do you all feel I need to move for you, especially women? If you're walking with your little White friend, how about one of you kindly move to the back or front and not inconvenience the person walking in the correct direction? I notice you White ladies I'm talking about never move, and you never think of moving. You stay in your place expecting the Black person to move out of your way. I see you flexing your White girl card from 1760.

Blocking aisles in stores. I know see me trying to get by, yet you stand in the aisles and read your packages or text on your phone exercising all your White privilege. It makes you look like a racist. At the very least your parents raised a spoiled brat who has grown up to become a very inconsiderate adult. Move over, please. You gotta share this world with us. I know your parents probably told you it was yours and you can do anything you want. Well, you can't!

Not moving when I say excuse me. Not sure what that's about, but if excuse me isn't enough to make you move, I don't know what else to do. Guess you're waiting on me to bump you as I pass by so you can call the cops and say I assaulted you. What in the hell? If you'd stop ignoring us, being irritated by us, or acting like we don't exist maybe you'd hear our excuse me's and would move accordingly. It happens too often to be just a coincidence. You're taught you don't have to move while, we're taught good manners to avoid your wrath. Could you all please work on being more self-aware and more aware of our efforts to move politely throughout the world? We'd appreciate.

Act like our saviors on the interweb. I know you're used to saving us. Many of you have been taught early White people need to correct us non-White people because we are genetically inferior. We have our own minds; we have our own thoughts, and we see your actions and behaviors differently. Some of us don't see you all as saviors, we see you as problems and major obstacles to progress upward mobility, and equality. Your savior views aren't the right views, just White views.

White people will flip out on us in a heartbeat, like as soon as we call them out for their racism or centering Whiteness. It's always shocking. Always hurtful, but always expected. I'm shocked when a White person doesn't get angry and/or flip out. It shows us you're matured in your anti-racism walk.

Closing doors in my face. It doesn't matter if you hurry and up so the door can close in my face. I'm STILL coming into that space behind you. Your racist little microaggressions don't go unnoticed. It signals you don't respect me and you are not conscious of my being because I'm not White. We get the picture.

Show their children anything non-White is bad/strange. I see how your kids act when you haven't exposed them to ''different'' people enough. They act like they've seen a ghost when I get close to them. Heavens forbid if I speak or smile. Your kids act like I'm getting ready to kidnap them or like my Black may rub off. They act just the way you taught them to. Your kids look at me and other Black folks in fear like we're aliens. Visit places of color and interact with people from different ethnic groups to become true global citizens.

Don't listen, can't hear either. Self explanatory. You don't listen to anyone except White people, even if they are wrong, because you only respect the voices and views of White people. When non-White people try to tell you how we feel, just be quiet and listen. If you're a decent parent, would you slap your kid, watch him/her cry, tell them to shut up, then not want to hear why the kid was angry about what you did to them later on sometime? You can't beat people down and oppress them, then expect them to be silent.

Rewrite history. Some White people never see what Black people see, and they always have a different version of our national history, especially how this nation has treated non-White people.

Talk to us disrespectfully online. Can't tell you how tired I am of White women and men calling me crazy, reinterpreting my words, creating new definitions for the dictionaries their own people created, and talking to me and other Black people in ways we aren't taught to speak to other adults. Our parents teach us at an early age not to speak to White people any kind of way because we'd be beaten, killed, or imprisoned. That physical power dynamic you once held has evolved into cyber-bullying Black people online. It's another way you show how little respect you have for others and how much privilege you posses. Some of you White men are extremely condescending, and we know you do it intentionally to intimidate and bully.

Put money over humanity. Many White people choose their money over humanity. You'll get on television and boldly share you will support anyone who will help you get richer, even if that person is for killing your Black or Brown neighbors and co-workers. It's hard to unsee how quickly White folks will stab a Black in the back for the potential of growing $5,000 in imaginary money in a 401K, then turn around and tell us they believe in equal rights and fairness. That's cognitive dissonance buddy. America's obsessions with wealth is bringing us down. You can't consume or retire your way out of this mess.

Ask me to trust you. You consistently ask me to trust you and your leadership choices when you know they don't care about me or my issues. Every time we Black folks trust White people to do the right thing for us when they have power or are in positions of trust, they find a way to benefit from that position for personal or collective gain. White people often benefit from our suffering caused by inequality, and they seem unfazed about it. It's hard to trust with the history we have together and the lack of effort to stop doing the things that create distrust. There are some good, trustworthy White people in the world. You need to stop being bullied and shamed by the bad people. Speak up.

Strongly suggest who we should vote for. We used to vote to make you happy, but we're learning our interests are really different from your. Some of you vote in ways that harm us directly and indirectly. You all even vote to hurt yourselves as long as someone you dislike is hurt in the process. Again, how can we trust your decisions if you all just bark orders without taking into consideration what we need? Inequality makes us see things differently. When we start seeing you make sacrifices instead of calculated risks politically and financially, perhaps we will begin to feel better about your decision-making.

Forget my name. Funny how you can remember the pretty White girl's name and face, but me, not so much. Love that. I just love that. We either all look alike or you've been conditioned by your sanitized environments to believe if it's a Black face, it's not important. We remember you, but for different reasons. Sometimes it's for our own protection or because we must rely on you. I used to go to church with White folks Sunday who would hug me on Sunday and walk right past me in Walmart afterwards like they didn't know me. If having relationships with Black people matters to you, remembering our faces and names would really help.

Asking me for help when I'm trying to shopping. I am not the help. Before you open your mouths to ask me where something is in the store, look at my clothes, look at the purse on my arm, look to see I don't have store frocks on my butt for goodness sake. Go look around or go find someone who looks like they actually belong to the store instead of assuming every Brown face works to serve you. I see White people do it all the time.

Sometimes I really wonder what's on your mind when ya'll do that old antebellum mess. I know you may feel it's not a big deal, but there is a history behind your actions. Ask yourselves why you stop to ask the Black or Brown people first.

Whitesplain. Please stop. I know what I think. I know how to speak. I know what I want to say. I know how I feel. Don't tell me how to do any of these things and please don't challenge me if I don't see eye to eye with you. It's okay for us to disagree, and we know that's very hard for many White people to accept. Sometimes you should just move on instead of injecting yourselves into Black conversations if you can't add value. We don't need you to come redirecting traffic to recenter everything on you. Besides, you make people not want to engage which encourages ignorance. It also silences minorities who would love to talk too. I love healthy dialogue. I like disagreement. I dislike how some of you speak to me, your tone, and your need to micromanage our words and thoughts.

Backstabbing and ignoring me in the workplace. I have never worked on a job where White women haven't stabbed me in my back, stole my ideas, sabotaged my nonprofit, or undermined me when I was a supervisor. Never. Women are the biggest workplace bullies because their indirect shenanigans go unseen or tolerated as women just being women. White women you're the icing on the bully cake too often.

Too many of you think you don't have to answer to Black women or respect us, and you'd rather tear us down than to help a sister out. I also hate when I suggest something and it's ignored by a group of White people, but when White Bob or White Jane suggests the same thing, you all hear it and think it's a wonderful idea. It shows you don't listen to or hear Black people in your White spaces. Backstabbing in the workplace creates inequality and division. It's evil too. Just stop please.

Suspect and harass us. I'm riding on the elevator and here comes Elevator Ellen telling another White women on the elevator she needed to be careful. Ain't I a woman? We can hardly do anything or go anywhere without being suspected of something. You've been trained to gaze us differently. Please retrain yourselves.

Ignore the diversity and inclusions initiatives you create. Nothing pisses me off more than White people creating workplace and program initiatives to bring more diversity and inclusion, then you all undermine your own diversity and inclusion efforts by engaging in tokenism and allowing White people to be overtly racist without being checked. Diversity does not address equality/inequality in pay or hiring. We're tired of your performative diversity and inclusion efforts. It's not improving the pay gap. Either you're for equality or not. Intentionally sprinkling Black and Brown people around the office isn't doing anything to achieve equality. It's just making a white space a little dingy.

Engage in tokenism in television and entertainment. If I had a dollar for every time, I watched a television show with a truckload of White people and only one little Black or Brown person, I'd be rich. Tokenism is the equivalent of the diversity and inclusion illusion. While you're busy being colorblind, I can see your lack of color inclusion in your lives. When I see tokenism in action on my television or hear it on my radio, I know immediately who wrote the script for it. Period. One in a sea of White is not diversity. It's tokenism.

Appropriate our culture. Many of you hate our Black and Brown skins, but you love our words, our slang, music, food, and styles. Nothing burns me up more than seeing your children disrespecting and fearing us saying we're bad, but you'll allow the to wear the same clothes, hats, and shoes we wear, the way we wear them. I'm saddened by your kids using Black slang from our music, and yet you teach them we are inferior, you teach the to disrespect culture. You teach them it's okay to cross the line to look like they hang around Black kids but they don't really have to. Funny how we're bad for you until we're good for you.

Get scared if too many Black people are in any space you're in. You should see your faces. Watching your unnecessary angst is hilarious. They way you hold on to your kids, and all the extra stuff you do to prepare to come to our spaces is too much. If you came around more often, you wouldn't be so afraid. We're not afraid when we must venture into your spaces even though you guys do a lot to keep intimidate the hell out of us when we're there. Go get some therapy. Attend anti-racism trainings. Go to Black spaces. Get some Black friends and go sit in their homes. Read White anti-racism authors like Robin DiAngelo, Tim Wise, or the Southern Poverty Law Center's Teaching Tolerance. Face your fears, don't hide from them.

Not speak when I live in your neighborhood. I know many of you hate to see us move in to your little neighborhoods still in 2020 because you've been taught we make your community's value go down. Who came up with that bullshit? I wave like a good neighbor, and ya'll be acting like I'm not there. How Un-State Farm of you. As long as you all are hoarding up all the tax money from property taxes and determining which communities get the best stuff, we are coming. So move over, smile, and wave or learn how to share resources so we all have the same things.

The list of White people things is much longer than this. I just have to stop because people have short-attention spans and a limited amount of time to spend reading. If you made it this far, I'm sure you're pissed. If you are, that's nice. Remember that feelings the next time you see one of us sharing spaces with you.

If you have things to add to this list, regardless of your race or role, please do. Let's talk it out. Equality starts with the small things, like changing your mindset so that it's easier to behave differently. Actions speak louder than words.

And for those of you who may read this and need to defend and/or dismiss these behaviors as rude White people just being rude White people, please kindly read my accompanying piece below ''The Privilege of Being An Asshole Without Consequences.'' Many people of color don't get the privilege of being an asshole. Please understand your privileges, examine your behavior, and if necessary, act accordingly. It's a matter of public health.

https://medium.com/marleyisms/privilege-of-being-an-asshole-without-consequences-398fa5523182

Marley

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 10:32

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption These children are lining up in Brixton, south London, to see Queen Mary open Lambeth Town Hall in 1938 "We have existed in Britain and been pioneers, inventors, icons. And then colonialism happened, and that has shaped the experiences of black people - but that is not all we are."

These are the words of Lavinya Stennett, founder of The Black Curriculum, an organisation which teaches black British history in schools - and is campaigning for Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to make it compulsory.

The death of George Floyd in America has inspired thousands of people in Britain to demand justice, marching through the streets of our biggest cities.

Black Lives Matter protesters here insist that the UK "is not innocent". But some commentators have questioned whether racism exists in Britain, and to what extent.

George The Poet, who was questioned about this on Newsnight, believes a lack of education about black British history - and the British Empire - plays a part in racism in the UK and our discussions about it.

The transatlantic slave trade and the US civil rights movement are largely the only black history taught in UK schools, normally in October when we celebrate Black History Month.

"lf you're omitting different histories and narratives, you're saying that these people aren't part of this country, this nation, this heritage - or they're not important enough to be taught as common knowledge," says Melody Triumph, policy specialist at The Black Curriculum.

These are just a few episodes of black British history we weren't taught in school.

1. The Ivory Bangle Lady Image copyright University of Reading Image caption Research from the University of Reading in 2010 showed a British-Roman woman in York, whose remains were found in 1901, had African ancestry Some might think the first black people in Britain arrived from Britain's colonies - the countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Asia that Britain ruled over, in some cases for centuries - after World War 2.

But that's not true, says Lavinya from The Black Curriculum.

"We know that black people were in Britain since Roman times - and there's specific examples."

The Ivory Bangle Lady is the name given to remains discovered in York in 1901 which are now on display in the York Museum. Archaeological analysis reveals that although she was born in Roman Britain, she's likely to be of North African descent.

The remains have been dated to the second half of the 4th Century.

She was found with jet and elephant ivory bracelets, earrings, pendants, beads, a blue glass jug and a glass mirror. In other words, she wasn't poor.

"It puts into question assumptions that black people have never been aspirationally wealthy or had any kind of wealth," Lavinya says.

2. Henry VIII's black trumpeter Image caption John Blanke can be seen on a roll from the 1500s at the National Archives During the Tudor period there were hundreds of black migrants living in England. For those of us a bit rusty on our Tudor dates, we're talking about the 1500s.

John Blanke, an African trumpeter, was one of them. His face can be seen inscribed into a 60ft long roll depicting the prestigious Westminster Tournament of 1511 - an elaborate party which Henry VIII put on to celebrate the birth of a son.

There's even a letter from John Blanke to Henry VIII asking for a pay rise.

"He petitioned for 8p a day. I don't know what the conversion is today, but that showed he knew his worth," Lavinya says.

3. Britain's first black Queen? Image copyright Royal Collection Trust Image caption Portrait of Queen Charlotte by Johan Joseph Zoffany She was a princess from Germany who became a British Queen after marrying King George III - and many historians believe Queen Charlotte had African ancestry.

They married in 1761 and Charlotte was the mother of two British monarchs - George IV and William IV.

It's been argued that despite coming from Germany, Queen Charlotte was descended from a black branch of the Portuguese royal family.

King Afonso III of Portugal conquered the city of Faro from the Moors - Muslims from North Africa who lived in modern-day Spain and Portugal during the Middle Ages - in the 13th Century. Afonso was thought to have had three children with the city governor's daughter.

One of their sons, Martim Afonso Chichorro, is also said to have married into a family with black ethnicity. He and his wife, Ines Lourenco de Sousa de Valadares, founded the Portuguese house of Sousa-Chichorro, which had many descendants, including Queen Charlotte.

Queen Charlotte's great granddaughter? Queen Victoria.

4. 'Hidden in plain sight' Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media caption Many streets in Glasgow city centre are named after slave-owning plantation owners.Queen Charlotte, whether she had African ancestry or not, joined the Royal Family in the century when Britain started slave-trading - which made it vastly wealthy.

"A lot of the time, we start with black history in London - it's London-centric. But a lot of Glasgow's wealth actually comes from the tobacco, the sugar, the cotton that was created and sustained by enslaved people in Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados," Lavinya says.

Many of Glasgow's prominent city centre streets are named after 18th Century slave owners who made fortunes from plantations.

"You're told that black people were slaves, but you're not told the fruits of their labour are actually the streets we walk on."

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media caption A new play, written and performed by Paterson Joseph, tells the story of Britain's first black voter.Lavinya says teaching slavery is important but you need to "contextualise it".

"Talk about who gained from it, the people not only in the colonies but also here in the UK."

That also means teaching about the "black people in Scotland who were part of the abolition of the slave trade".

"All you hear about is William Wilberforce" - a British politician who campaigned to abolish slavery - Lavinya says.

5. WW1 and the race riots that followed Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media caption David Matthews tells the story of his great-uncle who fought in World War One.When we talk about Caribbean migration into England we often think about the Windrush generation, who arrived in Britain between 1948 and 1971.

"But black people were actually brought over from Jamaica to fight in World War One," says Lavinya. Her great-uncle came to England at the age of 17 to help the war effort, settling in London afterwards.

But she says her uncle was "one of the lucky ones"- because he wasn't sent back after the war.

When soldiers returned to the UK after WW1 there was a jobs shortage and a lack of opportunities.

"White people made the link that they were not getting jobs because of the black people" - and violence towards black communities followed.

They're known as the 1919 race riots in Glasgow, Liverpool, Cardiff and other seaports across Britain, during which three people were killed and hundreds injured.

Image copyright Writing on the Wall Image caption Charles Wotten, a black serviceman, was killed in the race riots But there were economic consequences too. Many black serviceman and workers found themselves without jobs after a "colour bar" was introduced in many industries, with white workers, often backed by unions, refusing to work alongside black people.

Lots of black men were sent back to the countries they had lived in before the war.

Poverty and a lack of jobs were a big factor in the riots, but according to researcher Jamie Baker, there was also a fear that black men and white women were starting families.

"It fits into the hyper-sexualisation of black men. White men felt threatened because they felt that black men were taking their women," Lavinya says.

6. The Bristol bus boycott Image copyright Bristol Evening post Image caption A newspaper cutting shows students marching in Bristol in protest against a "colour bar" on the buses After WW2 black people from the Caribbean and Africa, and people from India, were asked to come to Britain to help rebuild the country.

They were put to work in the NHS and other public sector roles, like driving buses.

But in Bristol the Omnibus Company, run by the council, refused to employ black and Asian drivers, which eventually led to a boycott of buses across the whole city.

"But it wasn't as easy as that," Lavinya says. At the time it was not illegal to discriminate based on race - the first Race Relations Act was passed in 1965, but didn't include legislation about employment or housing until 1968.

Paul Stephenson, Roy Hackett and Guy Bailey were the brains behind the boycott and Paul drew inspiration from the bus boycott in the US, started when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white passenger when the bus was at capacity, for what they did in Bristol.

Image caption Guy Bailey, Roy Hackett and Paul Stephenson with a 1960s-era Bristol bus Hackett organised blockades and sit-down protests to prevent buses getting through the city centre.

"White women taking their kids to school or going to work would ask us what it was about," he told the BBC. "Later they came and joined us."

Students showed support too and it was backed by the local MP Tony Benn as well as Harold Wilson, who became Labour leader a year later.

On the same day Martin Luther King Jr delivered his famous "I have a dream" speech after marching on Washington DC - 28 August 1963 - pressure had built enough over the summer that the Bristol Omnibus Company announced a change in policy.

By mid-September Bristol had its first non-white bus conductor - Raghbir Singh, an Indian-born Sikh who'd lived in Bristol since 1959 - and further black and Asian crews followed.

Paul Stephenson, Guy Bailey and Roy Hackett all received OBEs for their action.

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 10:42

Source: Joseph Keller/iMore

What you need to knowApple has updated Siri to bring context to "All Lives Matter".The voice assistant will prompt users to visit the Black Lives Matter website when hearing the phrase.Apple has also updated Apple Maps to show support for the movement.Apple has been showing its support to the Black Lives Matter movement in a number of ways over the last few weeks, and a few new ones have popped up today.

At the beginning of the month, CEO Tim Cook penned a letter that talks about how Apple "must do more" to support the fight against racism in the country. The letter, which was originally released internally to employees, now sits at the top of Apple's website.

Earlier today, it was reported that Apple Maps has updated its map of Washington D.C. to correctly show Black Lives Matter Plaza, a portion of 16th Street which was renamed by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. The map has also been photographed again to show the street art, which simply says "Black Lives Matter" in huge yellow lettering. The street, and the art, run towards the White House.

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It has also been discovered that Apple is supporting the Black Lives Matter movement with Siri. Reported by AppleInsider, if users say "All Lives Matter" to Siri, the voice assistant will now caution you that it and the Black Lives Matter movement are different and prompt you to visit the Black Lives Matter website.

If you say "All Lives Matter" to Siri, she will respond with the following message:

"'All Lives Matter' is often used in response to the phrase 'Black Lives Matter', but it does not represent the same concerns. To learn more about the Black Lives Matter human rights movement, visit BlackLivesMatter.com."

We tried the phrase and, sure enough, got the prompt. Apple has not said if this update to Siri is live for all iPhone users, but it would be safe to assume that, if it is not yet, it will be very quick.

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Thu, 11 Jun 2020 06:56

Democrats love photo ops. That can be said about all politicians, but Democrats in particular are keen to get involved in symbolism and fanfare whenever possible. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is a master of producing photogenic moments for the press to fawn over, but her latest attempt to virtue signal in response to George Floyd's murder appears to include a major misstep that would be comical if it weren't so sad.

The Kente cloth stoles she and her fellow Democrats wore during their eight-minute kneeling ceremony (socially distanced, of course) have an ironic history as it pertains to this moment. In modern times, they are considered to be a sign of affluence as the colorful woven scarves are often more expensive than their normal counterparts. Most are prints which are more affordable, but the woven scarves the Democrats chose to wore weren't cheap. But it's in their historical significance that we see the real faux pas manifest

These scarves were traditionally worn by the wealthy land-owners and dignitaries of the Ashanti (or Asante) tribes of what is now known as Ghana. They were made of silk, making them not only rare but also symbolic of wealth. More importantly, they were adorned by those who were involved in the pervasive slave trade the wealthy of the Ashanti tribe embraced.

You read that right. The elite in the Ashanti tribe who wore these stoles throughout history were slave owners and even slave traders. They were a scourge throughout the reason, taking people from tribes they would conquer and selling them as slaves. According to Wikipedia:

The Ashanti live in Ashanti specifically in Ashanti capital Kumasi metropolis and due to the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, a known diaspora of Ashanti exists in the Caribbean, particularly in Jamaica. Slaves captured by the Ashantis and sold to the British and the Dutch along the coasts were sent to the West Indies, particularly Jamaica, Barbados, Netherlands Antilles, British Virgin Islands. the Bahamas etc. Ashanti are known to be very opposed to both the Fante and the British people, as the Ashanti only traded with the Dutch in times of their ascension to becoming a hegemony of most of the area of present-day Ghana.

Democrats went to war for the sake of preserving slavery. Opposition to the Civil Rights Movement was mostly from Democrats. Their history of embracing domination over Black people is well document and apparently continues today.

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Thu, 11 Jun 2020 07:02

In Amsterdam is woensdag voor de tweede keer in tien dagen tijd gedemonstreerd tegen racisme. Met dit tweede protest wilden de betogers laten zien dat ze w(C)l "krachtig en gedisciplineerd" kunnen protesteren op 1,5 meter afstand van elkaar. En de betoging vond niet toevallig in de Amsterdamse wijk de Bijlmer plaats.

Tijdens de demonstratie op de Dam op 1 juni, waarbij veel meer mensen aanwezig waren dan vooraf werden verwacht, kon de anderhalvemeterregel niet worden gehandhaafd. Dat leidde tot felle kritiek op de demonstranten, de gemeente en burgemeester Femke Halsema.

Oorspronkelijk zou de Black Lives Matter-demonstratie van woensdag op het Anton de Komplein in het Amsterdamse stadsdeel Zuidoost plaatsvinden. Daar was plek voor drieduizend demonstranten, maar vanwege de verwachte drukte werd de betoging een paar dagen van tevoren verplaatst naar het Nelson Mandelapark om de hoek.

Om meer orde en overzicht te kunnen houden, werden maandag al achttienduizend stippen op 1,5 meter van elkaar op het grote veld in het park aangebracht, zodat demonstranten zich konden houden aan de coronamaatregelen. Uiteindelijk waren er volgens de gemeente op het hoogtepunt zo'n 11.500 mensen aanwezig in het park.

Stippen op 1,5 meter afstand in het Nelson Mandelapark. (Foto: Lauren Heeremans)

Ook liepen er mannen en vrouwen in oranje hesjes rond: het zelfbenoemde 'sfeerbeheer'. Zij wezen mensen erop voldoende afstand te houden en deelden op een gegeven moment ook mondkapjes uit.

"Ik was ook op het protest op de Dam, maar dit voelt een stuk fijner", vertelt de Amsterdamse Justine*. "Doordat er nu goed afstand bewaard kon worden, zal er tenminste eerder geluisterd worden naar onze boodschap."

De demonstranten knielen en zijn twee minuten stil voor zwarte slachtoffers van politiegeweld. (Foto: Lauren Heeremans)

Bijlmer: een wijk van zwart verzetDat de grootste Black Lives Matter-demonstratie van Nederland uitgerekend in stadsdeel Zuidoost en specifiek in de Bijlmer plaatsvond, was een bewuste keuze van de organisatie. In Zuidoost wonen relatief veel Nederlanders met een Surinaamse, Antilliaanse of Afrikaanse achtergrond. En elk jaar staan de inwoners van de wijk tijdens Keti Koti op 1 juli stil bij de afschaffing van de slavernij.

"Dit is een wijk met een lange geschiedenis van zwart verzet. Die strijd willen we voortzetten", aldus Mitchell Esajas, de host van de demonstratie, tegen AT5.

Het protest was dan ook een initiatief van de bewoners van de Bijlmer. "Zo willen we laten zien hoe mensen van verschillende achtergronden hier in harmonie met elkaar kunnen leven", aldus Esajas op het podium.

De protestborden zijn aan het einde van de demonstratie tegen het podium gezet. (Foto: Lauren Heeremans)

Organisatie en burgemeester tevredenNet als tijdens eerdere protesten spraken activisten en artiesten zich uit tegen racisme en politiegeweld, waaronder dood van de Amerikaan George Floyd. De organisatie zegt achteraf blij te zijn met de opkomst en de afstand die tijdens het protest werd gehouden.

Ook een woordvoerder van burgemeester Halsema laat in een reactie aan NU.nl weten dat tevreden wordt teruggeblikt op de demonstratie. "Er was voldoende ruimte om afstand te houden."

Dit weekend worden nog meer Black Lives Matter-protesten georganiseerd, onder meer in Leeuwarden en Leiden.

* Justine is niet de echte naam van de ge¯nterviewde. We hebben op haar verzoek een andere naam gebruikt. Haar echte naam is bekend bij de redactie.

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 18:02

By Emma DubnerSaturday May 30, 2020 at 3:00 AM May 30, 2020 at 6:55 AM

I am a registered nurse. I work at the Cape Regency Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Centerville, along with many other highly trained dedicated health professionals. I cannot sit quietly while my community newspaper chooses to print slanted articles about the dire situation we are in.

One recent evening began with multiple residents falling ill to this insidious virus. If you think this doesn't make us sad and frustrated ... I'm not sure what kind of a health and welfare reporter you are. Many of our staff have been with these patients for years and have a true loving relationship with them. Your front-page article May 9, "Legislators unsuccessfully seek extended help for Cape Regency," was devastating to many of us.

When many of the staff members became sick, the rest of us continued to work. I had been working an 18-hour shift when I read your article. I had this moment to drink water, because wearing an N95 mask for 18 hours is really difficult ... also Tyvec suits, face shields and gowns, all of which have been extremely difficult to find. Many of us are providing our own personal protective equipment that we purchased from local hardware stores since we can't locate it elsewhere.

As if the morale of the already struggling staff wasn't fragile enough, this article was like a punch in the gut to me. I have never worked so hard and given so much of myself. Our certified nursing assistants are being asked to work even harder, and risking their health for other people's loved ones, just like I am.

I took this job because I am a resident of Barnstable and I serve my community.

I find it very interesting how we praise some in our community and disregard others. Is it strictly politics?

It seems it has always been that nursing homes and assisted-living facilities rarely are seen as places to be praised. I am not saying the system hasn't created problems that have lent themselves to these types of facilities never getting the same praise as hospitals. But it seems like the reporter chose to write an inflammatory story during an already tenuous time just to be inflammatory.

I am so disappointed that she didn't choose to write an article that could have banded the community together to help this situation. Even a call for more personal protective equipment to be sent, since the article was quick to talk about the field house closing. Where did all of their equipment and person protective equipment go?

We are just as vital to the health system as any other institution.

Shame on you for not protecting us at Cape Regency as we attempt to protect those who can't protect themselves.

This pandemic has the opportunity to bring out the best in humanity if we allowed to.

I have self-isolated from my family in order to work with COVID-19 patients on the sub-acute floor. I have not been able to be in the house with my children in more than 3½ weeks. I do this because I am a nurse and I answer the call to help others.

Has anyone taken the time to talk to the hard-working staff regarding all of this? I will tell you that the EMTs and nurse that the Massachusetts National Guard sent to us actually gave us a lot of praise for the amount of organization we have done. We all had mutual respect for each other.

There are so many problems in every system and institution, and yet rather than spotlight the broken elements, why couldn't you find a way to spark the ingenuity we need to solve these problems? Maybe someone has an iPad lying around their house they would like to donate to us, so we can connect residents with their families.

During difficult times people like Clara Barton created the Red Cross; perhaps with a little support from our community one of the many talented nurses here could create a system to aid those in need.

But giving the spotlight to those who offer no hope will never create good. I will choose to create good. I hope in the future your newspaper chooses the same.

Like Mr. Rogers said, ''When you see scary things, look for the helpers, you will always find people who are helping.''

Emma Dubner, a registered nurse, lives in Marstons Mills.

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Thu, 11 Jun 2020 06:16

When the administrator of the Saugus Rehab and Nursing Center in Saugus, Massachusetts, heard that a new Medicare website reported her facility had 794 confirmed cases of COVID-19 -- the second highest in the country -- and 281 cases among staff, she gasped.

"Oh my God. Where are they getting those numbers from?" said Josephine Ajayi. "That doesn't make any sense."

Those weren't the numbers that her facility reported to the CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network, under new rules from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), she said.

Ajayi said her 80-bed facility actually reported 45 residents have tested positive and five residents died, although the CMS website showed no Saugus deaths. About 19 staff members tested positive for the virus, and most have returned to work, she said.

Officials at skilled nursing facilities around the country said Monday they were shocked to see their data reported inaccurately -- wildly so in some cases, as at the Saugus home -- on the new CMS public website launched Thursday. The numbers are scaring families, harming their reputations, and in some cases are physically impossible, given the number of beds or staff in their facilities, they said.

CMS approved an interim final rule May 1 requiring more than 15,000 nursing homes receiving Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement to report COVID data by May 31, and weekly going forward.

The data fill 56 columns detailing COVID-19 infected residents, staff, testing, and equipment, going back to at least May 1. As of Thursday, CMS said 88% of the nursing homes in the country had reported. Going forward after a grace period ended June 7, they risk fines of $1,000 and up for every week they fail to update their data.

But in many cases, nursing home officials said their data were somehow scrambled, either because nursing home personnel reported in the wrong columns, or the numbers were loaded incorrectly somewhere between the CDC and CMS.

For example, Southern Pointe Living Center in Colbert, Oklahoma, with 95 beds, was reported to have had 339 residents die of COVID-19, yet no confirmed or suspected cases.

"We have not lost anyone nor have we had a [COVID-19] case in the building," said a woman identifying herself as an assistant at Southern Pointe but who declined to give her full name. The day after CMS released the data, on Friday, she said someone from the CDC called the facility to ask if their numbers were correct as reported, "and we told them no."

She added, "I don't know how that happened but that is an error on their end." As of Tuesday morning, the posted data had not been corrected.

"Insanely wrong"

MedPage Today first learned of the inaccuracies shortly after publishing an article Friday on the new public database. In that article was a list (since removed) of "outliers" -- those with the highest numbers of cases and deaths among residents and staff -- that included Dellridge Health and Rehabilitation Center in Paramus, New Jersey. The CMS data indicated it had the most COVID-19 deaths of any nursing home in the country at 753.

That number is "insanely wrong," Jonathan Mechaly, Dellridge's marketing director, wrote in a frantic email. "We are a 90-bed center and have had less than 20 deaths!! How do you report such inaccurate numbers?"

After a download of the data, a quick sort of the columns easily reveals extreme totals in various categories. But no one called those nursing homes before the data were released to doublecheck, for example, when 100-bed Smith Village in Chicago was shown to have 1,105 confirmed COVID-19 cases among residents and 955 confirmed COVID-19 cases among staff, the most in the country.

"We apparently misread the instructions, which were not very clear," Yahaira Ramirez, Smith Village's director of clinical operations told MedPage Today. The facility has had only 38 positive cases among residents and 14 deaths, and among staff, 37 positive or suspected cases but no deaths, she said. But instead of showing up as a total, those numbers somehow appeared as if there were additional cases every day in May. No one caught the error.

It would have been helpful if someone from either agency had at least checked on the highest outliers before publishing, Ramirez said. "We've been trying to abide by a lot of the guidelines (from) CMS and CDC, but it's been challenging. You talk to different people and you get a different answer. Unfortunately, I'm not surprised that they haven't reached out."

Asked why there appeared to be so many errors in the data, a CMS spokesman emailed this response:

"As with any new reporting program, there can be data submission errors in the beginning. In an effort to be transparent, CMS made the data collected by the CDC public as quickly as possible balancing transparency and speed against the potential of initial data errors."

"CMS is advising nursing homes when their submitted data has not passed certain quality checks so they can review the CDC submission instructions and their data submission for accuracy. As CMS continues to analyze the data going forward we expect fewer errors as nursing home staff get used to these requirements and CMS has more time to quality check the data."

Asked why CMS, at the very least, did not contact the highest outliers, for whom such large numbers of COVID-19 cases or deaths were highly unlikely because of their size, the spokesman did not respond.

It's also true that CMS Administrator Seema Verma, in announcing the database's launch, told reporters on a phone call that it would probably include inaccurate data.

Destroying family trust

Paula Sanders, an attorney in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who represents some 200 skilled nursing facilities, said many of her clients "can't figure out where these numbers are coming from" and have been "frustrated" in trying to get them corrected since Thursday.

"This has destroyed the trust between the facilities and the families, because they've been reporting and telling the families, these are our numbers," Sanders said. "Then these numbers come out and don't make any sense at all. Unfortunately, some families are going to believe the government over the facilities."

Sanders, who is on the legal committees of two nursing home advocacy groups, the American Health Care Association and LeadingAge, said within the two federal agencies, "there was such a rush to get these numbers out that there was no quality control. You'd think the government would say, 'yes, we want to absolutely make sure the data we're providing is correct, because the reputation [is in jeopardy] for the facilities if we're wrong.'"

"But they weren't doing that. The amount of time these facilities have spent away from patient care trying to respond to questions from reporters or family over meaningless numbers...it's a shame. It's just a shame."

Adding to the confusion, Sanders said, was the CMS rulemaking process regarding reporting requirements and directions, which seemed to change even after facilities started submitting.

Sometimes the fault was admittedly that of the facilities. The CMS website showed that 92-bed Robison Jewish Health Center in Portland, Oregon, had eight staff members die of COVID-19. In fact, they had no deaths. Administrator Krista Mattox said the problem was their own data entry error, "but it caused ripples through our Oregon state licensing office."

It would have been nice if either agency had sent an email notification showing how their data would show up, but that didn't happen.

Karl Steinberg, MD, president-elect for the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, said it's "highly improbable that nursing homes would make such mistakes in their data, for example, making the numbers of deaths higher than they actually were."

He added that the whole effort to publicize COVID-19 cases in nursing homes is wrong-headed and counterproductive. "Seema Verma has pretty much said we're going to slam these facilities, bring the hammer down hard. But to conflate quality of care in a facility with the number of cases is horrific" especially since in some parts of the country, nursing homes were required by their state governments to accept COVID-19 patients.

"I think they're just trying to scapegoat and lay blame on the facilities," said Steinberg, medical director of a San Diego area hospice. "Certainly some could have done better, but in a lot of cases they were like sitting ducks."

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 09:59

By Denise Coffeydcoffey@capecodonline.comSunday Jun 7, 2020 at 7:03 PM Jun 7, 2020 at 7:03 PM

State public health officials on Sunday reported 879 new confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 statewide over the course of the weekend, as well as an additional 82 deaths related to the virus.

Six new confirmed or probable cases of the virus were confirmed in Barnstable County by state health officials since Saturday. No new cases were reported for Dukes and Nantucket counties.

There were no new deaths reported Sunday in Barnstable, Dukes or Nantucket counties related to COVID-19.

The Baker administration rated three of the six key metrics it is following amid reopening '-- COVID-19 positive test rate, total COVID-19 hospitalizations, and testing capacity '-- as trending in a positive direction. The other three '-- total deaths from COVID-19, health care system readiness and contact tracing capabilities '-- were rated as being "in progress."

The good news comes as the state heads into the the second phase of reopening, which begins Monday. Indicators in the coming weeks will determine when the second half of Phase 2, which includes indoor dining, can begin.

State officials reported that 78,108 of the 97,964 confirmed COVID-19 patients in Massachusetts have recovered from the virus.

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 19:18

This is a grave time in American history. Both the public health and economic problems of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were foreseeable. But even more predictable is the racial tension gripping the United States in the wake of the brutal killing of George Floyd. It is easy to think that the problem is isolated to individual racists in the community and in the government, and that the scientific enterprise is immune to racism. Scientific inquiry produces knowledge, and that ultimately leads to justice, right?

Not so fast. The U.S. scientific enterprise is predominantly white, as are the U.S. institutions that Science's authors are affiliated with. The evidence of systemic racism in science permeates this nation. Why are so few Science authors from historically black colleges and universities? Why are the scientific areas studied more frequently by people of color continuously underfunded by the government? Why do students who are people of color have to remind society that they are almost never taught by someone who looks like them? Why has the United States failed to update its ways of teaching science when data show that people of color learn better with more inclusive methods? If there had been more diversity in science, would we have the painful legacy of the Tuskegee syphilis study and the shameful nonrecognition of Henrietta Lacks's contribution to science?

Dr. Lisa White, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and chair of the American Geophysical Union's Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee, pointed out recently that environmental racism wouldn't be such a problem if there were a more diverse science professoriate. For example, only 4% of tenured and tenure track faculty in the top 100 geoscience departments in the United States are people of color.

Not surprisingly, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. described this problem in 1963 in his Letter from Birmingham Jail:

''First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: 'I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action'; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a 'more convenient season.'''

The reckoning Dr. King calls for has not happened in the intervening 57 years. The failure of the white moderates to heed the call of the Birmingham Jail is just as integral to today's systemic racism as the racist actions of some law enforcement. It's not just abusive police that need to be reminded that Black Lives Matter.

It is time for the scientific establishment to confront this reality and to admit its role in perpetuating it. The first step is for science and scientists to say out loud that they have benefited from, and failed to acknowledge, white supremacy. And then science and scientists finally need to listen to, and make space for, people of color to lead laboratories that publish great science and produce influential scientists, run institutions and their scientific units, and propel Science and other journals to promote structurally underfunded scientists and areas of science.

Someone I turn to for wisdom and leadership on this issue is Dr. Valerie Sheares Ashby, the Dean of the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences at Duke University. As an African-American female, she claims that she is leading today only because a few people decided to let her into this exclusive club'--something she says hardly ever happens. ''How much creativity are we leaving on the table,'' she asks, ''because science repeatedly fails to come to terms with our narrowly defined processes and our limited ways of determining success?''

As in the past, the scientific community is expressing anguish, outrage, and renewed commitment to promote equity and inclusion. But when the protests wind down and disappear from the headlines, science will be at a familiar fork in the road. Let's have the courage to take the right path this time.

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 08:06

De nieuwe spoedwet die de bestaande noodverordeningen moet vervangen, laat via een getrapt systeem het kabinet, veiligheidsregio's en gemeenten regels opleggen tegen de verspreiding van het coronavirus. Raadsleden en advocaten reageren afwijzend op de nieuwste noodgreep.

Het voorstel voor de spoedwet legt een wettelijke basis onder de coronamaatregelen. Dat is nodig met het oog op de beperking van grondrechten. Via de noodverordeningen die nu gelden, mogen deze inbreuken niet te lang duren, zoals deskundigen aanstipten. De nieuwe coronawet zou in juli in werking moeten treden en blijft in beginsel een jaar van kracht.

Anderhalve meter in coronawetDe belangrijkste regel die nu al geldt, de verplichte anderhalve meter afstand in het openbaar, krijgt voor de duur van de wet een officile wettelijke status. Doel is, in de woorden van het kabinet, 'een wettelijke verbodsnorm te regelen die ertoe strekt te kunnen handhaven in gevallen waarin personen zich ophouden tot anderen zonder de veilige afstand te bewaren'.

'Ophouden' wil daarbij zeggen 'dat men gedurende enige tijd bij elkaar verkeert terwijl er feitelijk gelegenheid is om afstand van elkaar te nemen'. Uitgezonderd blijven in deze omschrijving 'louter passeren en het per abuis in nabijheid van elkaar geraken waarna onmiddellijk weer afstand wordt genomen'.

Controle nog steeds achterafDeze algemene regel geldt voor heel Nederland, en kan worden uitgebreid met groepsverboden. Het kabinet schrijft op hoofdlijnen voor op welke plekken '' denk aan de horeca of sportscholen '' groepen beperkt moeten blijven. Zowel de anderhalvemeterregel als de groepsverboden kunnen vervolgens 'flexibel' wijzigen via ministerile regelingen. Het parlement krijgt die wijzigingen achteraf toegestuurd, wat 'democratische legitimatie' zou verschaffen, maar feitelijk hetzelfde is als nu.

Zoals landelijk het kabinet eerst aan zet is, krijgt lokaal de burgemeester de bal toegespeeld. 'Het wetsvoorstel kent de burgemeester diverse bevoegdheden toe. Het gaat daarbij om de bevoegdheden met betrekking tot het verlenen van ontheffingen, aanwijzingen en bevelen alsmede bestuursrechtelijke handhavingsbevoegdheden.' Het lokale gezag kan het beste de situatie ter plaatse beoordelen, is het idee.

(tekst gaat hieronder verder)

Aanvullend laat het kabinet 'de regelgevende bevoegdheid van de gemeenteraad onverlet, waarbij te denken valt aan de inrichting van wegen of de openingstijden van de horeca'. Gemeenten waren al vroeg in het huidige crisisbeleid op een zijspoor beland, doordat de betreffende bevoegdheden naar de voorzitters van de 25 veiligheidsregio's gingen.

Lokale ruimte begrensdMaar de lokale speelruimte blijft ook onder de spoedwet begrensd. Zo is er al een oplossing indien het gemeentebestuur 'niet de juiste beslissing neemt of handeling verricht' in de ogen van het kabinet, of als het te veel treuzelt. Den Haag of de veiligheidsregio kan de zaken dan alsnog overnemen.

Gemeenten moeten zich bij hun nieuwe vrijheid nadrukkelijk beperken tot het eigen grondgebied met het stellen van coronaregels. Zodra een maatregel 'ernstige vrees doet ontstaan dat een bovenlokaal effect zal optreden', kan het lokale bestuur desgewenst opzij worden geschoven.

Raadsleden afwijzendDe Nederlandse Vereniging voor Raadsleden vindt dit allemaal veel te mager en wijst het voorstel daarom van de hand. 'Wij stellen vast dat het '' helaas '' in de tijdelijke wet voorlopig ontbreekt aan de lokale borging van de democratische legitimatie, democratische betrokkenheid van de lokale democratie en aan medeverantwoordelijkheid van de gemeenteraad voor draagvlak in de lokale samenleving.'

Gekozen volksvertegenwoordigers '' ""k het parlement en provinciale staten '' moeten vooraf een stem krijgen, aldus de raadsleden. Bovendien plaatsen ze vraagtekens bij de juridische opzet. Concreet is de wet vooral een uitbreiding van de Wet publieke gezondheid. De vereniging vindt de Wet veiligheidsregio's meer geschikt, omdat daarin het 'primaat van gemeenten' zou gelden.

Advocaten: niet normaalNaast de raadsleden reageerde de Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten al in het openbaar op de conceptwet. Ook daar is de toon kritisch. 'Het wetsvoorstel maakt het mogelijk vergaande beperkingen van grondrechten en vrijheden voor een onbepaalde periode normaal te maken. Dergelijke ingrijpende beperkingen van bewegings- en vergadervrijheden zijn niet normaal, en behoren dat ook niet te zijn in een democratische samenleving.'

Volgens de advocaten zou daarom de huidige werkwijze met de noodverordeningen de voorkeur verdienen. Maar die aanpak is nu net 'juridisch wankel, zo niet onhoudbaar', aldus de raadsleden. Dat heeft onder meer de huidige coronaboetes in diskrediet gebracht. Deze boetes moeten, inclusief strafblad, deel gaan uitmaken van het 'nieuwe normaal'.

Meer punten uit de nieuwe coronawet

De huidige structuur van noodverordeningen op basis van ministerile aanwijzing blijft in gebruik. Wel komen er voor de bestaande verordeningen andere in de plaats zodra de coronawet in werking treedt. De Wet publieke gezondheid blijft tevens de basis: hierin komt precies te staan welke grondrechten op welke manier kunnen worden beperkt. Dit is een vereiste om inbreuk op grondrechten op langere termijn te kunnen toestaan.Slechts enkele categorien blijven net als nu uitgezonderd van het gebod om afstand te bewaren, zoals beroepen in de zorg. Gewone burgers mogen alleen dichter bij elkaar komen als ze een 'gezamenlijke huishouding' voeren. Intiemer samenzijn met 'vreemden' is dus nog een tijd taboe als het aan het kabinet ligt '' in ieder geval in het openbaar.Handhaving 'achter de voordeur' is vanwege de privacy een gevoelig punt, dat de Raad van State bijvoorbeeld afwijst. De regering wil er 'terughoudend' mee omgaan, maar houdt vast aan de mogelijkheid 'coronafeestjes' in huis te beindigen.De burgemeester krijgt daartoe een nieuwe bevoegdheid om de woning binnen te gaan met als doel andere personen dan de bewoners te verwijderen. De rechtvaardiging hiervoor wordt gezocht in een ander grondrecht: het recht op volksgezondheid.Ook de basis voor nieuwe corona-apps wordt gelegd in het voorstel. Het gebruik hiervan kan alleen vrijwillig plaatsvinden. Vanwege de privacy mogen gegevens niet te herleiden zijn tot locaties of personen. Gebruikers kunnen desondanks een seintje ontvangen als ze in de buurt waren van een coronapatint. Met een 'vangnetbepaling' houdt het kabinet de mogelijkheid om snel noodzakelijke maatregelen door te voeren, ook als die niet zijn voorzien in de nieuwe wet.

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Archived Version

Wed, 10 Jun 2020 14:05

Working at a beer store on St. Mark's Place, Brittany Spano, 27, has seen the Big Apple's robust social life return, albeit in an abridged form.

Drink windows selling to-go cocktails and beers have sprung up throughout the city, drawing in socially starved New Yorkers who have been in quarantine for three months. But this re-emergence has come with a stream of issues '-- mainly a steady flow of revelers freely peeing in public since most bathrooms remain closed. And now, with thousands of protesters taking to the streets each day, more people than ever are contributing to NYC's No. 1 problem by whizzing in the wild.

''Last night, my co-worker saw some guy just coming down the street and pulling down his pants [to urinate],'' Spano tells The Post. ''She was like, 'Nah, not here, man.'

''There's definitely been an uptick on this street, from what I've seen. But most people at least go in a corner or have friends cover them up,'' says Spano.

A lack of restrooms has left New Yorkers in a bind. They want to go out but then they are left holding it in. Restaurants, bars and coffee shops where New Yorkers could always find relief in the past have closed their restrooms to the public. Plus, with fears over the coronavirus still very present, many don't feel safe going into germ-infested public restrooms. And hey, peeing in public isn't even a crime anymore. In 2017, New York City introduced the Criminal Justice Reform Act, which decriminalized low-level offenses.

''My friends and I talk about [public urination] all of the time now,'' Sophia, a 23-year-old who lives in Park Slope and asked that her last name not be used, tells The Post. ''It's a big topic. Since the pandemic, I have done it myself in Prospect Park, behind a dumpster in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. All of the public restrooms like McDonald's and Starbucks are closed. If you are far away from your home, what are you supposed to do?''

The Brooklynite, who is recently unemployed, never leaves the house without tissues.

''Sometimes when I am out for a bike ride, I won't drink water because I know that I will have to go to the bathroom and there are no options. If I am going to meet a friend, I have to think about my liquid intake.''

The lack of bathrooms has come front and center during the recent Black Lives Matter protests that have swept the city. Twitter account @OpenYourLobby urged museums and theaters to make their bathrooms available, creating a spreadsheet of available toilets.

It was a handy reference for Eric Silver, a 40-year-old protester, and his wife, who found themselves in a bind after marching from Grand Army Plaza to City Hall and back to Brooklyn.

''We had been drinking a lot of water,'' Silver, a software consultant, tells The Post. ''We were about a mile from home, and we were getting a little worried. My friend knew about the spreadsheets, and we found BRIC [a media center on Fulton Street]. We hobbled over, and it was like an oasis.''

Spano says her shop's ''no bathroom'' edict hasn't stopped people from begging to use their facilities.

''People ask to use our bathroom all of the time, but we have to say no. One guy went on for 10 minutes about his weak bladder. If you have a problem, then you should probably stay in the radius of your home,'' says Spano, who lives in Williamsburg.

In nearby Tompkins Square Park, the restrooms have extended their hours to 7 p.m., but many drink windows are open until 9 p.m.

A bartender who works across from the park says people frequently ask to use the facilities, but the answer is always no. (According to the Health Department, restaurants that offer outdoor dining during Phase Two of reopening, which could occur as early as June 22, ''may offer restroom access to customers, provided that social distancing is promoted within and while waiting for restrooms.'')

One East Village bar owner, who asked to withhold his name, said he saw a handful of people peeing in the park two Sundays ago.

''I got to the park after 7 p.m. and people said the bathrooms were closed. People go out and bounce around and after four drinks, you need to go,'' says the bar owner. ''We can't let people go into our bathrooms. They're closed. This will be a problem going forward.''

Diem Boyd, who heads up the community group LES Dwellers, says while they haven't specifically fielded complaints of public urination, ''There are a lot of people drinking on the street. We suspect that there are a lot of quality-of-life issues bubbling up.''

Spano says she has recently seen a big flood of infractions, even from her fire escape in Williamsburg.

''I live right near the Williamsburg Bridge and there's a little corner that everyone seems to find perfect for peeing in public. I sit outside on my fire escape and watch it happen all the time.''

With temperatures on the rise, expect the city's oppressive summer stink to be even worse this year.

''Public urination was already an issue in New York. If this continues into the summer, the smell is going to get pretty bad,'' Spano says. ''There has to be something that can be done about it.''

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Archived Version

Thu, 11 Jun 2020 07:21

Are you done yet?

Probably not.

Who is Christine Grady?

Why.... she works at the NIH. She's a medical type - well, sort of. She's got a BS in nursing, and went on to get a PhD in philosophy from Georgetown.

Notice that she's claimed, on the NIH site, to be a "Doctor." That's an intentionally misleading claim. She does not have a doctorate in medicine. She's a nurse, from a medical perspective. There's an argument that anyone with a PhD is a "Doctor" but when you say "doctor" in the context of medicine you're not talking about holding a PhD in philosophy . Don't get me wrong -- nursing is a great profession and nurses have a decent amount of medical knowledge, obviously -- but they're not doctors.

She serves as the chief in charge of "bioethics." In other words, the person who gets to make decisions on exceptions to the FDA rules when it comes to things like drugs and vaccines, along with other exceptions to the normal, allegedly-transparent process that is supposed to take place before drugs and other things get into the American marketplace.

If you read her NIH page you will also find something quite-curious. There's no mention of her personal life. That, standing alone, is not uncommon among professional listings. After all, one's personal life isn't really connected to professional credentials and achievements -- most of the time.

But in this case, the omission appears to be rather intentional.

You see, according to reports, which are now circulating around social media, she's Anthony Fauci's wife.

Who is the director of NIAID, a division of the NIH.

Who was appointed to said position in 1984.

Approximately one year before he married the person who now gets to make exceptions to the rules and transparency, who works for the same government agency that he works for, and from which position in said government he "advises" people, including now President Trump, on the path "forward" where and when such transparency and required scientific proof can be exempted.

Gee, why do I hear echoes of Vader with his hand out talking about "father and son", except this time it's "husband and wife"?

Exactly how much attention has this received in the media and Congress again and exactly how did all that happen?

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Archived Version

Thu, 11 Jun 2020 07:21

Nurse-bioethicist and researcher

Christine Grady is an American nurse and bioethicist who serves as the head of the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center.[1]

Early life and education [ edit ] Grady was born and raised in Livingston, New Jersey.[2] Her father, John H. Grady Jr., was a Yale University graduate and United States Navy veteran who served as the Mayor of Livingston. Her mother, Barbara, was an assistant dean at Seton Hall Law School.[3]

Grady graduated from Livingston High School, after which she earned a BS in nursing and biology from Georgetown University in 1974, a Master of Science in Nursing from Boston College in 1978, and a PhD in philosophy and bioethics from Georgetown University in 1993.[4]

Career [ edit ] Grady has worked in nursing, clinical research, and clinical care, with a specialization in HIV.[1] She was a Commissioner on the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues from 2010 and 2017.[1]

Grady is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, a senior fellow at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, and a fellow of The Hastings Center and American Academy of Nursing.[1] She received the National Institutes of Health CEO Award in 2017 and the Director's Award from the same organization in 2015 and 2017.

Personal life [ edit ] Grady is married to Anthony Fauci, an American immunologist and head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health.[5][6] They have three daughters.[5]

References [ edit ] ^ a b c d "Meet our doctors: Christine Grady, MSN, PhD". National Institutes of Health Clinical Center . Retrieved March 13, 2020 . ^ NJ.com, Jeremy Schneider | NJ Advance Media For (April 3, 2020). "Another reason to love Dr. Fauci: His wife is from New Jersey". nj . Retrieved April 16, 2020 . ^ "Obituary: John H. Grady Jr.", The Star-Ledger newspaper, June 2, 2013. Accessed via legacy,com April 14, 2020. ^ Schneider, Jeremy, "Another reason to love Dr. Fauci: His wife is from New Jersey", nj.com, April 3, 2020 ^ a b Ungar DNS (Summer 2002). "Features". Holy Cross Magazine. College of the Holy Cross. 36 (3). ^ Kintisch E (April 8, 2010). "White House bioethicists named". Science magazine . Retrieved March 20, 2020 . Further reading [ edit ] Schaub E (June 28, 2013). "Member Spotlight: Christine Grady". The blog of the 2009''2017 Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. Georgetown University. "In their own words: Christine Grady, R.N., Ph.D". NIH. January 30, 1997. "Transcript: Interview with Dr. Christine Grady". NIH. January 30, 1997. External links [ edit ] Appearances on C-SPAN

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Archived Version

Tue, 09 Jun 2020 09:29

By Callum Keown

Published: Jun 5, 2020 11:03 am ET

British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has begun manufacturing Oxford University's experimental coronavirus vaccine.

British drugmaker AstraZeneca has started manufacturing the University of Oxford's potential coronavirus vaccine ahead of trial results and has doubled its capacity to two billion doses.

Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said the company wasn't going to wait for clinical results, which it expected to have in August, and had begun manufacturing the experimental vaccine.

The pharmaceutical giant UK:AZN +0.73% which has already agreed to provide the U.K. and the U.S. with doses, said it has secured agreements to supply the vaccine to low and middle-income countries through health organizations, including two backed by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

Human trials began in Oxford at the end of April and scientists hope to have some indication over whether the vaccine works by July. The vaccine could be available for people in the U.K. by September if the trial proves successful, while 300 million doses would be available in the U.S., with the first being delivered in October.

Read: AstraZeneca made a bet on Moderna in 2013. Here's what it's worth now

Soriot said on Friday manufacturing of the potential vaccine had already started as ''we have to have it ready to be used by the time we have the results.''

''We are actually starting to manufacture right now, we are not going to wait until we get the clinical results. That's the financial risk that is taken and it is going to be shared with organizations we are partnering with,'' he told BBC World News.

Soriot added that the company expected to have clinical results by August. ''Our present assumption is that we will have the data by the end of the summer, by August, so in September we should know whether we have an effective vaccine or not,'' he told BBC radio.

AstraZeneca said on Thursday it had increased manufacturing capacity to two billion doses of the vaccine, including to low and middle-income countries through a number of agreements.

It has struck a $750 million agreement with two health organizations backed by Gates and his wife Melinda '-- the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Gavi, the vaccine alliance '-- to provide and distribute 300 million doses fairly across the world.

AstraZeneca has also agreed to supply the Serum Institute of India with 1 billion doses for low and middle-income countries, with a commitment to provide 400 million before the end of 2020.

The FTSE 100 company struck a partnership with Oxford University at the end of April to develop, manufacture and distribute the university's experimental vaccine '-- if it works.

The U.K. is set to be given first access to the potential vaccine, as the British government said 30 million doses could be made available as early as September, as part of an agreement for 100 million doses. At the end of last month, AstraZeneca said it had received more than $1 billion in U.S. funding to accelerate the development of the experimental vaccine '-- an agreement that includes America getting 300 million doses. The deal between the company and the U.S. Biomedical Research and Development Authority also includes a Phase 3 clinical trial in the U.S. this summer with 30,000 volunteers.

The U.S. has also supported vaccine efforts by Moderna MRNA -1.95% France's Sanofi FR:SAN -0.21% and Johnson & Johnson JNJ +1.29% as part of the Trump administration's ''Operation Warp Speed'' initiative.

The British drugmaker also has a 7.7% stake in Massachusetts-based biotech company Moderna, whose own experimental vaccine has been said to have had encouraging early results.

See original version of this story

Hey Adam,

Wanted to give a personal account of the struggles in the UK lockdown.

My husband has been waiting to get a major heart surgery to fix the ticking timebomb in his chest. Naturally this has been delayed indefinitely because of Wuhan Flu, but he's still "on the list" he's been on for over a year.

He was instructed to get a dental check before the surgery to make sure there's no infections. All dentists in Cornwall are not accepting new patients.

So no surgery on his enlarged, regurgitating heart and valve defects. No dentist.

My teeth are deteriorating and I cannot get a dentist either.

I received a letter from my doctor today stating that I cannot see ADHD specialists because they are not accepting new patients. What the fuck does mental health have to do with Covid???? On top of THAT, government literature in the UK has stressed that mental health services will still be available. Fucking bullshit.

The cherry on top is our appointment with the surgeon at the beginning of the pandemic. One doctor wouldn't shake our hands, which was okay. The other doctor, an Indian, who did a blood draw on my husband, did NOT wear gloves while inserting and removing the needle from his arm. I was livid.

Funny though, I noticed most NHS doctor deaths from Covid were Indian. Not to be a racist, but color me unsurprised.

On June 15th, apparently the lockdown eases up for real. Our local High Street will be closed on June 15th for a couple weeks; the closure signs says "STREET CLOSED FOR SHOPPING." No businesses are open and nobody has any money. But please, citizens, spend what little you have left by standing in line in the rain outside due to store quantity limits.

Fucking hell. And FUCK THE NHS

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Archived Version

Wed, 10 Jun 2020 08:15

Patients face a two-year wait for elective surgery even if there is no second spike in coronavirus cases, a study has found.

The NHS will see a huge backlog of 650,000 operations by September after the pandemic forced them to be cancelled, Birmingham University research shows.

The scientists discovered it will cost the health service £4billion due to surgeons - who get paid in blocks of work - having to put in more hours.

Non-urgent surgeries were postponed for three months from April as hospitals adapted for an influx of Covid patients.

It led to completed operations that were 'non urgent' plummeting by a staggering 72 per cent.

The NHS will see a huge backlog of 650,000 operations by September after the pandemic forced them to be cancelled, Birmingham University research shows (file photo)

Research fellow Dr Dmitri Nepogodiev (pictured) led the research with senior lecturer in surgery Mr Aneel Bhangu

The Birmingham University team studied the impact of the virus over the last three months on the delay for surgeries.

They found if there is a second wave in the coronavirus epidemic in Britain, the backlog will surge and delays will be extended.

Research fellow Dr Dmitri Nepogodiev, who led the research with senior lecturer in surgery Mr Aneel Bhangu, told the Express: 'We're worried patients' conditions may deteriorate, worsening their quality of life as they wait for rescheduled surgery.

'In some cases, for example cancer, delayed surgeries may lead to a number of unnecessary deaths.

'We are concerned that the delays will mean that some patients' tumours will become inoperable.'

He said when services resume it will take longer than he expected to slash the operating list due to the need to deep clean equipment.

The backlog will take two years to clear if there is no second wave, he said, but added it was the right decision to cancel standard operations from April.

Estimates produced by experts at Public Health England and Cambridge University suggested the R-rate is above the danger level of one in the North West and South West

Dr Nepogodiev called for specified Covid and non-Covid hospitals or to use private facilities for surgery that is not coronavirus related.

The need to deep clean operating equipment between surgeries means the rate of people being treated will be reduced compared to before the pandemic.

And some hospitals are preparing for a second wave of infections by keeping large areas clear.

The Birmingham University report predicted hospitals will be working at about 80 per cent until September.

It said there was a three-part phased return to surgeries, with the cancelling of operations until this month being phase one and causing a 516,462-patient backlog.

The second phase, which will last until September, will more elective surgery but will add a further 141,271 people to the waiting list.

The final stage will see surgery rate rocket to more than 15 per cent than normal levels to try to stem the backlog.

An NHS England spokesman said: 'As the NHS responded to the once-in-acentury pandemic, hospitals had to treat more than 95,000 people for Covid-19.

'Now that the NHS has managed the first wave of this virus, there is clearly an important job to do to help people whose routine elective operation was postponed, which will involve permanent increases in staffing and bed capacity, as well as an ongoing partnership with independent providers.'

Last month the CovidSurg Collaborative at Birmingham University predicted there would be 28million cancelled surgeries due to Covid-19.

The study, published in the British Journal of Surgery found there were 2.4million cancellations each week due to the disruption.

The huge financial strain facing the NHS comes after it was revealed private hospitals taken over by the health care giant at a cost of hundreds of millions of pounds to the taxpayer remain almost completely empty.

More than 8,000 private beds in England were bought up by ministers in March at an estimated cost of £2.4million a day, in anticipation hospitals would be overwhelmed.

The beds have been under public control for nearly 11 weeks, thought to have cost the taxpayer at least a staggering 150million already, with the figure rising every day.

But the health service's intensive care wards were not overrun during the peak of the pandemic and the majority of the private beds went unused.

Private hospitals are now meant to be operating as 'Covid-free hubs' to get back up and running for vulnerable people, including cancer patients.

But a senior consultant said last week 'very few' of these patients were being referred to the private hospitals, leaving them almost completely empty.

It has meant 'tens of thousands' of cancer patients - who need urgent treatment to boost their survival rates - are missing out on vital treatment every month.

Private hospitals taken over by NHS at a cost of hundreds of millions of pounds to fight the coronavirus pandemic are 'sinfully empty', claim medics. Pictured: The ICU wards at the hastily built Nightingale Hospital have barely been used throughout the crisis

The 8,000 beds are said to be costing the NHS £2.4million per day, according to the Mirror. They have been under public control since March 21, which was 10 weeks and 5 days, or simply 75 days, ago.

Rough estimates suggest taxpayers have already forked out £180million for the beds.

Karol Sikora, a consultant oncologist and professor of medicine at the University of Buckingham Medical School, told MailOnline: 'Once it became clear the private beds would not be needed for Covid patients, the idea was to use private hospitals as Covid-free zones. But that has only partly materialised.

'Because the NHS is not doing surgeries, thousands of cancers are going undiagnosed. Surgery is needed in some cases to diagnose someone with the disease and get them started on their treatment.

Professor Karol Sikora (pictured) is consultant oncologist and professor of medicine, University of Buckingham Medical School

'Because the patients are not being diagnosed, they are not coming through the system.

'We know there should be 30,000 new cancer patients every month - but this month there have been less than 5,000 that have come for treatment.

'It's not that there are less people with cancer, it's that they are not being diagnosed because of a bottleneck in the NHS.

'The whole thing has set us back a year, no other country has struggled this much to open healthcare back up. I don't know what's behind the bottleneck, maybe it's a staffing issue.'

Senior clinicians at private hospitals claim hundreds of the country's best doctors have been left 'twiddling their thumbs' during the outbreak '' putting people's health at risk from other illnesses and postponed operations.

It has left private patients with no option but to join huge NHS waiting lists triggered by the pandemic.

Nigel Edwards, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust think-tank, said hospitals have only been able to carry out around '15 to 20 per cent' of surgeries, meaning up to 1.3million patients are missing out every month.

In one case, a 78-year-old woman with breast cancer was denied surgery at a private clinic by the local NHS manager even though the hospital was empty, according to The Times. The patient was instead referred back to the NHS.

Cancer Research says almost 2.5million patients have missed out on vital cancer tests and treatment due to shocking backlogs during the crisis.

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Archived Version

Thu, 11 Jun 2020 06:51

Five months into this pandemic and it is clear that the UK will end up with one of the worst death tolls from coronavirus.

Figures released by the Office of National Statistics this week put the official toll above 50,000, but look at the excess death figures and we know it will be even higher.

Tens of thousands of families mourning the loss of loved ones and millions more fearful for their livelihoods as the economic crisis begins to hit, it is a heavy burden for any leader to bear.

But the prime minister is not yet ready to carry the weight of the inevitable inquiry into what happened and why, as the acute health emergency appears to recede.

Mr Johnson is trying to keep his eyes firmly on the road ahead, refusing to look in the rear mirror as he tries to steer the country out of the lockdown and to a new normal.

OECD warns of economic damage to UKYet on Wednesday he was forced to reflect after Professor Neil Ferguson, a former key scientific adviser to the government whose pandemic modelling was instrumental in bringing about the lockdown, told MPs at a select committee hearing that the death toll could have been reduced "by at least a half" if the UK had gone into lockdown a week earlier.

Some 25,000 lives or more could have been saved.

Professor Ferguson: Earlier lockdown would have saved lives Professor Ferguson's remarks were an admission of his own culpability as much as the prime minister's for his role in failing to realise just how fast the disease was spreading in March.

But it made for difficult terrain for the prime minister who doesn't want to be drawn into this discussion right now.

When I asked Mr Johnson what he might have done differently, he told me that "frankly a lot of these questions are premature".

Johnson: Now is not the time to cast judgement When I asked him whether, given what we know now, he regretted not locking the UK down earlier, the PM was quick to point out that he had followed scientific guidance.

"We made the decisions at the time on the guidance of SAGE, including Professor Ferguson, that we thought were right for this country. The questions that are posed are still unanswered."

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Refusing to express regret, all through this epidemic Mr Johnson has insisted he and his ministers have been guided by scientific advice.

But what if the science seemed right at the time but wrong in hindsight? It seems that the scientists -- Professor Ferguson at the select committee hearing and Professor Whitty at the daily briefing -- find it easier to revise opinions or even admit mistakes in light of changing evidence.

Whitty says testing could have been betterIt is perhaps easier for scientists to be frank. They are the ones who advise, it is the prime minister who ultimately has to decide.

He might have followed their advice, but he knows ultimately the responsibility for all the decisions on managing this pandemic, for better or worse, lies with him.

This is a point his cabinet are driving home as they implore the PM to go against the scientific advice and relax the two metre distancing rule in order to help get kids back to school and the hospitality sector back to work.

The PM must know too that the threat from this disease has not passed and lessons must be learned.

Not ready to reflect publicly, but if he is going to get the rest of this right, Mr Johnson will need to acknowledge and understand what went wrong. It matters not just for policy decisions but for public faith too.

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Archived Version

Wed, 10 Jun 2020 07:07

On May 5, Germany's constitutional court ruled that parts of the European Central Bank's bond buying operations to avert a mounting economic depression were illegal. In the wake of that decision, many new proposals have surfaced. First, the European Central Bank (ECB) added a further '‚¬600 billion to its earlier announced pandemic emergency purchase program (PEPP) to support Europe's rapidly faltering economy. This brings the total bond buying up to '‚¬1.35 trillion. Additionally, a '‚¬500 billion ''Next Generation'' recovery fund was introduced by the governments of France and Germany, a figure that was later increased to '‚¬750 billion by European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen.

The numbers behind these programs sound impressive, but taken in aggregate, the proposals simply tweak the legal and fiscal status quo. The ECB proposals blithely ignore the problematic legal issues raised by the May 5 German constitutional court decision. And the Next Generation fund, although on the surface not suffering the same legal deficiencies as the ECB's actions, is insufficiently large to yank the EU out of its COVID-19 depression, which will require trillions of euros to compensate for the lost economic output, not billions. Almost daily, the continent is experiencing record collapses in economic output'--even powerhouses like Germany, as well as the periphery nations of the south. The problem is that at this stage, the EU can ill afford any more baby steps if it wants the European Union to survive as a workable political construct, or the euro to survive as a viable currency.

The Franco-German proposal in particular has been described as ''Europe's Hamiltonian moment,'' which is about as accurate a characterization as comparing the dabbling of a five-year-old finger painter with the works of Claude Monet. Both activities might be crudely characterized as ''painting,'' but that's about as far as the comparison goes. The original ''Hamiltonian moment'' was a ''historic constitutional compromise forged by the first U.S. Treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson'' in 1790. The parties accepted the concept of debt mutualization by agreeing that the newly constituted federal Treasury would assume all the existing debt ''incurred by the U.S. states during the War of Independence.'' In exchange for the acquiescence of the Virginians, Jefferson and Madison, Hamilton agreed to move the nation's permanent capital from the north to Washington, D.C. Until that compromise was reached, Congress had been at a political impasse.

Breaking the logjam ''made possible the passage of the Residence and Funding (Assumption) Acts in July and August 1790'' that allowed the state debts to be federalized. But the compromise did not create a new Treasury or governing structure. That spadework had already been done. The Constitutional Convention gathered in 1787, and the delegates' handiwork in the form of a new constitution was ratified in 1789. This laid the foundations for a true fiscal transfer union as it gave the national government substantially greater fiscal powers than had existed under the old Articles of Confederation.

By contrast, the Treaty on European Union (aka the Maastricht Treaty) is a framework that more closely approximates America's discarded Articles of Confederation. Much like the former American colonies, under the Maastricht Treaty, fiscal powers largely remain the provenance of the state governments; minimal centralized taxation and spending powers exist for the EU as a whole. The European Commission (which will manage the recovery fund) still needs unanimous approval from the EU member states to carry out its functions under the new proposals. And the composition of grants relative to loans is still yet to be determined. Four of the smaller member state governments in the north'--Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark'--have all indicated a preference for the funding to be allocated in the form of loans, rather than outright grants. But piling debt on top of existing heavily debt-laden southern countries such as Italy or Spain effectively diminishes any tangible benefits these countries stand to receive, as the bulk of their fiscal efforts will be devoted toward debt repayment, as opposed to economic reconstruction. This has been effectively another lever of power of the EU's northern states over the southern ones, as well as a huge growth constraint.

The Next Generation fund would empower the EC to borrow on its account, which has led the proposal's supporters, notably global investment research firm Gavekal's Anatole Kaletsky, to claim that it creates a new class of eurobonds, and therefore, ''might be remembered as the moment when Europe became a genuine political federation.'' A closer look at the details tells a different tale. As Sony Kapoor, managing director of the think tank Re-Define, points out: ''The European Commission already has '‚¬52 billion of bonds outstanding.'' In other words, it's not a new class of bonds, just a bigger amount. Kapoor also rightly notes that:

''the recovery fund does not'... make provisions for a permanent increase in the EU's meager budget or give the Commission the ability to raise its own funds. Nor will existing debt be subsumed into a fiscal union as Hamilton did. Not even the responsibility for the new debt being created will be shared jointly among all EU countries, as the now-abandoned initiative for 'coronabonds' proposed.''

In other words, there is no mutualization, no new fiscal treasury, but rather a temporary augmentation of the EC's existing budget and, even then, one that is not big enough to engender economic recovery. The proposal envisages raising the European Commission's budget to 2 percent of EU gross national income, hardly sufficient given that Italy, Spain and France are all likely to sustain double-digit contractions in GDP this year. And the proposal would be hardly an exercise in nation building, as all of the countries will be battling each other for the few scraps available on the table.

Unlike the latest ECB announcement, the Next Generation proposal at least has the virtue of being structured with a view toward avoiding potential future legal challenges, precisely because it does not mutualize existing national debts. And the fact that it has Germany's backing is not insignificant. J¶rg Kukies, Germany's deputy finance minister (and one of the architects of the initiative), explicitly acknowledged that true European sovereignty could not evolve ''as long as fiscal union remains incomplete.'' But the fact remains that this particular structure does not really advance that cause (even Kukies himself acknowledges that the Next Generation fund does not mutualize national debts). The new initiative likely passes legal muster but at a cost of failed economic effectiveness.

In regard to the ECB, the central bank's proposed increase to its previously announced PEPP program ignores the fact that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has yet to deal with the problematic issues raised by the May 5 constitutional court ruling in Germany. Absent clarification from the ECJ, the central bank's ability to carry on its bond buying activities is therefore constrained. The implications of that judgment are simply being ignored, even though, in the words of Deutsche Bank's former chief economist Thomas Mayer:

''The ECB has no legal or democratic mandate for what it is doing, and it is giving the false impression that there is a free lunch. We are heading for a constitutional crisis in the European Union and there are no means for diffusing it. The euro is simply not viable and the next couple of years are going to determine whether it all breaks apart. The markets don't understand what is happening.''

The markets might soon wake up, however, given that the Bundesbank (which purchases German government bonds on behalf of the ECB) will be prohibited from taking part in bond buying operations from August onward unless the ECB can meet the German constitutional court's objections.

Perhaps the ECB assumes that by August the issue will be resolved by the European Court of Justice. However, the questions raised by the German court will almost certainly be pursued in future challenges, if for no other reason than there are other legitimate grounds to challenge the activities of the ECB.

The recent German court decision contested the ECB's sovereign bond buying operations on the basis that they breached the treaty's proportionality principle (i.e., the ECB's actions were not commensurate with its stated monetary policy objectives), as opposed to making the argument that the central bank's actions violated its ''no bailout'' clause. On the face of it, however, the latter is an even stronger basis on which to challenge the ECB's actions. It is hard to look at the ECB's bond buying activities under any objective basis and suggest that they do not violate the ''no bailout'' provisions of the Maastricht Treaty, because in the absence of the ECB's purchases, these countries would certainly go bust.

Herein lies the paradox: In economic terms, as the sole issuer of the currency, the ECB is the only entity keeping the single-currency member states solvent. However, as Wolfgang Munchau has highlighted, ''the monetary union owes its survival to successful rule-bending. It was a masterpiece of legal engineering in the last crisis to set fire to a no-bailout clause in European treaties, and then create a bailout umbrella on its ashes.'' Calling these actions daily liquidity management or reserve maintenance procedures does not disguise their underlying illegality.

At some point down the line, a direct legal challenge will be framed in these terms, whether from Germany or some other member state. In the meantime, the legal ambiguity of the ECB's status restricts its ability ''to respond to a crisis with appropriate size and timeliness,'' as Kapoor concludes. That is a huge problem, given the ECB's unique currency-issuing function and its effectiveness hitherto in staving off mass insolvency and a likely evaporation of the euro.

Ultimately, what is required is a proposal that operates in accord with existing EU institutional arrangements, and which also are consistent with the recent German court ruling. Per capita distributions to the various nation-states via ECB would fulfill this requirement, as this activity is aligned with existing treaty provisions and, most importantly, is consistent with the proportionality principle.

Why? As I have argued before:

''[Germany's] fundamentally strong position vis a vis other member states wouldn't change, much as per capita distributions from Washington don't fundamentally alter the relative economic positions of California versus, say, Arkansas. The distributions would effectively amount to swaps of national debt for reserves, which in turn would immediately adjust national government debt ratios downward (because as an accounting matter, reserves are not counted as national debt). This goal would be to dramatically ease credit tensions and thereby foster normal functioning of the credit markets for the national government debt issues. The governments in turn could use this newfound fiscal relief to pursue fiscal packages that revive their domestic economies (as opposed to using the mechanism for covert bank bailouts).''

The EU's Big Need

What is required is a bit of creativity and real statesmanship to ensure that policy is not perpetually subject to irrational austerity constraints, or endless court challenges because of monetary improvisations that mask illegal activities. Per capita distributions from the ECB may not sound as groundbreaking as a ''Hamiltonian moment,'' but that's the whole point: they are consistent with pre-existing Maastricht Treaty provisions, and they don't ride roughshod over them. Hence, they avoid time-consuming legal wrangles that would constitute the equivalent of fiddling while Rome (or Berlin, Madrid, Paris) burns. These ECB-led per capita distributions provide the sole possible, reasonable and prudent basis to save the euro, as well as laying a more realistic foundation for a viable fiscal transfer union.

The sooner this is realized by Europe's main policymakers, the better, because if the courts do ultimately decide to pull the plug on the ECB's current activities, there will be no safety net left.

Marshall Auerback is a market analyst and commentator.

This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 17:22

June 04, 2020 | Judicial WatchScientific fisticuffs are flying over hydroxychloroquine (HC), the anti-malaria drug enthusiastically promoted by President Trump in the war against the coronavirus. The president'--backed by an array of global reports, anecdotal evidence, and outside advisers'--thinks HC could be an effective preventative, a weapon for frontline medical personnel, and helpful when administered in the early stage of the virus. On May 18, Trump doubled down and made it personal, announcing that he himself had been taking HC. Trump's critics are aghast at this exercise of the presidential bully pulpit, warning that HC has serious side effects and possibly zero effectiveness in fighting the virus.

But the president has had an impact. Medical studies are moving at warp speed. Yesterday, the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine published a University of Minnesota study that concluded HC did not work as a preventative for the disease. The study, with more than 800 participants, ''had an unusual design,'' noted NPR in a report on the findings.

''It was all web-based,'' a leader of the project told NPR. ''People would go to our website if they were interested in enrolling.''

To qualify for the study, NPR reported, ''people had to be within a few days of their encounter with a Covid-19 patient and not have any symptoms of the disease themselves. 'Encounters' meant being within six feet of a sick person for more than ten minutes while wearing neither a face mask nor an eye shield, or while wearing a face mask but no face shield. The volunteers received either a five-day supply of hydroxychloroquine, or a placebo.'' The study concluded that HC was not effective in preventing healthy people from getting the disease. Read more about it here.

Meanwhile, an influential study published May 22 in another high-profile medical journal, The Lancet, has come under fire. The study, based on a more than 90,000 patient records from a little-known hospital data company, concluded that patients taking HC were more likely to develop abnormal heart rhythms and more likely to die.

The reaction to the Lancet report was swift. Trump was denounced. France, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the World Health Organization put holds on clinical trials investigating HC.

But questions soon emerged about the Lancet report. How much was known about Surgisphere, the hospital data-base company behind the study?

Within a week, more than 100 scientists published an open letter to the Lancet raising questions about Surgisphere's methods and the integrity of its data. Yesterday, the WHO reversed course on HC and resumed clinical studies.

Read more about the Lancet controversy here.

Is something rotten at Surgisphere? Read about it here.

Judicial Watch readers have questions of their own about the Lancet study.

''I really hate to go down this path,'' writes one emergency responder, requesting anonymity due to concerns about career repercussions, ''but we know damn well this whole thing has been sucked into the blender of U.S. politics. This study almost seems written by design to play into that.''

This reader notes that the Lancet report indicates that patients in the study already were ''very, very sick,'' because only the very sick in the past months have been admitted to U.S. hospitals. ''So'... the patient is already fragile'' and has ''classically negative co-morbidities and contra-indications for use.'' The patient is then given a heavy dose of drugs, which ''by design, are toxic. Fragile + over-dosed toxin = bad outcome.'' And what do the authors of the study do? ''Blame the drug.''

Epidemiologist Andrew Bostom writes us to say that there are two ''truly enormous'' HC-related studies getting underway, but won't be completed until year's end. Meanwhile, Dr. Bostom suggests, the Trump approach to HC is appropriate and compassionate.

''Above all, do no harm,'' Dr. Bostom writes. ''Both chloroquine (CQ) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), given short-term, are safe and effective for malaria prophylaxis and treatment (ongoing, barring areas of parasite resistance). HCQ, in particular, is also remarkably safe for chronic treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus ('Lupus') and other rheumatic ('inflammatory') diseases. Accordingly, it was completely appropriate to try them as compassionate-use drugs to treat even late-stage Covid-19'.... The fact that such patients might begin to experience 'toxicities' when they are severely ill with Covid-19, often with multi-organ system failure grossly impairing the ability to metabolize HCQ or CQ normally'--or many other drugs for that matter'--is hardly a revelation!''

Hastily published studies, Dr. Bostom suggests, leave us groping in the dark. It's a situation, he says, ''made uniquely worse by the anti-Trump Left, including the 'academic' Left, with their vicious politicization of what should have been a purely investigative clinical-science issue.''

***

Micah Morrison is chief investigative reporter for Judicial Watch. Follow him on Twitter @micah_morrison. Tips: [email protected]

Investigative Bulletin is published by Judicial Watch. Reprints and media inquiries: [email protected]

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Archived Version

Wed, 10 Jun 2020 08:20

The debate about whether the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine is an effective treatment for COVID-19 continues, as a Chinese trial1 ,2 ,3 ,4 comparing clinical outcomes of those treated with the drug and those receiving standard of care alone reports ''disappointing'' results.

Hydroxychloroquine Trial Reports Disappointing ResultsSeventy-five COVID-19 patients at 16 Chinese treatment centers received 1,200 milligrams of hydroxychloroquine in addition to standard of care for the first three days of treatment, followed by a maintenance dose of 800 mg per day for two weeks in mild to moderate cases and three weeks for severe cases. Another 75 patients received standard of care only.

The primary endpoint was a 28-day negative conversion rate of SARS-CoV-2 (viral load reduction). Secondary endpoints included improvement rate of clinical symptoms and the normalization of C-reactive protein and blood lymphocyte count within 28 days.

According to the authors, the hydroxychloroquine group only had a 28-day negative conversion rate of 85.4% compared to the control group's rate of 81.3%. No difference in the alleviation of symptoms was observed between the two groups.

Adverse events were also higher in the hydroxychloroquine group (30%) compared to controls (8.8%). You can find a listing of the adverse events in Table 2 of the study.5 The most common adverse event, at 10%, was diarrhea. That said, the authors point out that:6

''A significant efficacy of HCQ [hydroxychloroquine] on alleviating symptoms was observed when the confounding effects of anti-viral agents were removed in the post-hoc analysis (Hazard ratio, 8.83, 95%CI, 1.09 to 71.3).

This was further supported by a significantly greater reduction of CRP (6.986 in SOC [standard of care] plus HCQ versus 2.723 in SOC, milligram/liter, P=0.045) conferred by the addition of HCQ, which also led to more rapid recovery of lymphopenia, albeit no statistical significance.

Conclusions: The administration of HCQ did not result in a higher negative conversion rate but more alleviation of clinical symptoms than SOC alone in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 without receiving antiviral treatment, possibly through anti-inflammatory effects. Adverse events were significantly increased in HCQ recipients but no apparently increase of serious adverse events.''

Limitations of This StudyA few things are worthy to note about this study. Aside from its small size, the patients received a far higher dose of hydroxychloroquine than typically used in the U.S. '-- 1,200 milligrams for the first three days, followed 800 mg per day for two to three weeks, compared to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's suggested dosage of 800 mg on Day 1, followed by 400 mg per day for four to seven days, depending on severity.7

Secondly, most patients had mild disease with little hypoxemia, and thirdly, treatment was administered quite late, on average 16 to 17 days after the onset of disease. Commenting on the findings, Josh Fargas, associate professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Vermont writes:8

''Much of the pathogenesis of critical illness seems to result from dysregulated inflammation, rather than direct viral cytopathic effect. This raises a question of whether any antiviral treatment will be beneficial for late-presenting patients with severe illness.

Of course, it is possible that earlier use of hydroxychloroquine could be beneficial (e.g., perhaps at the first signs of illness on an out-patient basis). This is under investigation and additional data is likely to be forthcoming soon. Even if this does work in the outpatient clinic, it would probably have little impact on the management of these patients within the intensive care unit.''

This Study Failed to Use ZincPerhaps most importantly, however, is the absence of zinc, which Fargas does not mention. We now know that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine act as zinc ionophores,9 ,10 meaning they shuttle zinc into your cells, and zinc appears to be a ''magic ingredient'' required to prevent viral infection.11

If given early, zinc along with a zinc ionophore should, at least theoretically, help lower the viral load and prevent the immune system from becoming overloaded. Without zinc, hydroxychloroquine may be more or less useless.

So, in my view, I doubt this study is worth placing too much stock in, seeing how it did not administer supplemental zinc. As noted in the preprint paper, ''Does Zinc Supplementation Enhance the Clinical Efficacy of Chloroquine / Hydroxychloroquine to Win Todays Battle Against COVID-19?'' published April 8, 2020:12

''Besides direct antiviral effects, CQ/HCQ [chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine] specifically target extracellular zinc to intracellular lysosomes where it interferes with RNA-dependent RNA polymerase activity and coronavirus replication.

As zinc deficiency frequently occurs in elderly patients and in those with cardiovascular disease, chronic pulmonary disease, or diabetes, we hypothesize that CQ/HCQ plus zinc supplementation may be more effective in reducing COVID-19 morbidity and mortality than CQ or HCQ in monotherapy. Therefore, CQ/HCQ in combination with zinc should be considered as additional study arm for COVID-19 clinical trials.''

Chloroquine Trial Stopped Due to Side EffectsIn related news, a Brazilian chloroquine trial13 ,14 stopped the high-dose arm of the study early due to patients developing ventricular tachychardia, a dangerous heart rhythm problem. As reported by Live Science:15

''The Brazilian researchers planned to enroll 440 people in their study to test whether chloroquine is a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19. Participants took either a 'high dose' of the drug (600 milligrams twice daily for 10 days) or a 'low dose' (450 mg for five days, with a double dose only on the first day) '...

However, after enrolling just 81 patients, the researchers saw some concerning signs. Within a few days of starting the treatment, more patients in the high dose group experienced heart rhythm problems than did those in the low dose group. And two patients in the high dose group developed a fast, abnormal heart rate known as ventricular tachychardia before they died.''

As explained in my previous article, ''Antimalarial Medications: A COVID-19 Treatment Option?'' chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have been shown to be effective in the lab against the SARS coronavirus that appeared in 2003.16 ,17 ,18 Laboratory testing also suggests chloroquine is effective in cell cultures against COVID-19 when combined with an antiviral drug, remdesivir.19

However, chloroquine (Aralen) appears to be a more hazardous choice than hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil), which is a derivative of chloroquine.20 Both use the same pathway, but hydroxychloroquine is thought to be about 40% less toxic21 and, overall, has a safer side effect profile.22 ,23

Quercetin '-- A Safer Alternative to Hydroxychloroquine?Considering the risks of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, and the evidence suggesting the reason these drugs work for COVID-19 is because they act as zinc ionophores, it's worth questioning whether other more natural zinc ionophores can be used.

One prime example would be quercetin, which is a naturally occurring zinc ionophore.24 As reported by the Green Stars Project,25 ''Researchers from Oak Ridge National Lab used the world's most powerful supercomputer, SUMMIT, to look for small molecules that might inhibit the COVID-19 spike protein from interacting with human cells and, interestingly, quercetin is fifth on that list.''26

Quercetin is one of only three natural products found to inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. The only natural product found to be slightly more effective is luteolin, a polyphenol found in radicchio, green peppers, serrano and green hot chili peppers, chicory, celery and many other foods.27

Quercetin is another flavonols compound found in a variety of foods, including apples, Brassica vegetables, capers, onions, tea and tomatoes, just to name a few. It's also contained in medicinal products such as Ginko biloba, St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) and elderberry (Sambucus canadensis).

Research has already demonstrated that quercetin is a powerful immune booster and broad-spectrum antiviral. As noted in a 2016 study28 in the journal Nutrients, quercetin's mechanisms of action include the inhibition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) production in macrophages.

TNF-α is a cytokine involved in systemic inflammation, secreted by activated macrophages, a type of immune cell that digests foreign substances, microbes and other harmful or damaged components. Quercetin also inhibits the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and histamine by modulating calcium influx into the cell.29

According to this paper, quercetin also stabilizes mast cells and has ''a direct regulatory effect on basic functional properties of immune cells,'' which allows it to inhibit ''a huge panoply of molecular targets in the micromolar concentration range, either by down-regulating or suppressing many inflammatory pathways and functions.''30

Another 2016 study31 concluded it helps modulate the NLRP3 inflammasome, an immune system component involved in the uncontrolled release of pro-inflammatory cytokines that occurs during a cytokine storm.

In vitro studies32 ,33 ,34 have shown quercetin exerts antiviral activity against SARS-CoV, and preliminary findings35 suggest quercetin can inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 main protease as well. You can get even more details about the anti-inflammatory and antiviral powers of quercetin in ''Quercetin Lowers Your Risk for Viral Illnesses.''

Quercetin Being Studied for Its Use Against COVID-19The good news is researchers are in fact planning to study the use of quercetin against COVID-19.36 As reported by Maclean's,37 Canadian researchers Michel Chr(C)tien and Majambu Mbikay began investigating quercetin in the aftermath of the SARS epidemic that broke out across 26 countries in 2003.

They discovered a derivative of quercetin provided broad-spectrum protection against a wide range of viruses, including SARS.38 ,39 The Ebola outbreak in 2014 offered another chance to investigate quercetin's antiviral powers and, here too, they found it effectively prevented infection in mice, ''even when administered only minutes before infection.''

So, when the COVID-19 outbreak was announced in Wuhan City, China, in late December 2019, Chr(C)tien contacted colleagues in China with an offer to help. In February 2020, Chr(C)tien and his team received an official invitation to begin clinical trials. According to Maclean's:40

''The Canadian and Chinese scientists would collaborate on the trials, which would include about 1,000 test patients. Chr(C)tien and Mbikay plan to join colleagues from the non-profit International Consortium of Antivirals '-- which Chr(C)tien co-founded with Jeremy Carver in 2004 as a response to the SARS epidemic '-- in manning a 24/7 communications centre as soon as clinical trials go ahead.

The U.S.-based Food and Drug Administration has already approved quercetin as safe for human consumption, which means the researchers can skip testing on animals. If the treatment works, it'll be readily available '... Chr(C)tien's team says their treatment would cost only $2 a day.''

Dosage Recommendations for Quercetin and ZincWhile the COVID-19 pandemic is in full swing '-- and for any future influenza season '-- supplementing with quercetin and zinc may be a good idea for many, in order to boost your immune system's innate ability to ward off infectious illness. As for dosage, here are some basic recommendations:

' Quercetin '-- According to research from Appalachian State University in North Carolina, taking 500 mg to 1,000 mg of quercetin per day for 12 weeks results in ''large but highly variable increases in plasma quercetin '... unrelated to demographic or lifestyle factors.''41

' Zinc (and copper) '-- When it comes to zinc, remember that more is not necessarily better. In fact, it can backfire. When taking zinc, you also need to be mindful of maintaining a healthy zinc-to-copper ratio. As noted by Chris Masterjohn, who has a Ph.D. in nutritional sciences,42 in an article43 and series of Twitter posts:44

''In one study, 300mg/day of zinc as two divided doses of 150 mg zinc sulfate decreased important markers of immune function, such as the ability of immune cells known as polymorphonuclear leukocytes to migrate toward and consume bacteria.

The most concerning effect in the context of COVID-19 is that it lowered the lymphocyte stimulation index 3 fold. This is a measure of the ability of T cells to increase their numbers in response to a perceived threat. The reason this is so concerning in the context of COVID-19 is that poor outcomes are associated with low lymphocytes '...

The negative effect on lymphocyte proliferation found with 300 mg/day and the apparent safety in this regard of 150 mg/d suggests that the potential for hurting the immune system may begin somewhere between 150-300 mg/d '...

It is quite possible that the harmful effect of 300 mg/d zinc on the lymphocyte stimulation index is mediated mostly or completely by induction of copper deficiency '...

The negative effect of zinc on copper status has been shown with as little as 60 mg/d zinc. This intake lowers the activity of superoxide dismutase, an enzyme important to antioxidant defense and immune function that depends both on zinc and copper '...

A study done with relatively low intakes of zinc suggested that acceptable ratios of zinc to copper range from 2:1 to 15:1 in favor of zinc. Copper appears safe to consume up to a maximum of 10 mg/d.

Notably, the maximum amount of zinc one could consume while staying in the acceptable range of zinc-to-copper ratios and also staying within the upper limit for copper is 150 mg/d.''

How Much Zinc Do You Need?Masterjohn goes into even greater detail in his zinc article, discussing maximum absorption rates and much more.45 In summary, he recommends taking 7 mg to 15 mg of zinc four times a day, ideally on an empty stomach, or with a phytate-free food.

The recommended dietary allowance in the U.S is 11 mg for adult men and 8 mg for adult women, with slightly higher doses recommended for pregnant and breastfeeding women,46 so we're not talking about taking significantly higher dosages.

Additionally, you can take one zinc acetate lozenge per day, which will provide you with an additional 18 mg of zinc. If you're exposed to the virus, take one additional lozenge after the exposure.

Masterjohn stresses that you'll want to keep your total zinc intake below 150 mg per day to avoid negative effects on your immune system. He also recommends getting at least 1 mg of copper from food and supplements for every 15 mg of zinc you take.

Keep in mind that there are many food sources of zinc, so a supplement may not be necessary. I eat about three-fourths of a pound of ground bison or lamb a day, which has 20 mg of zinc. I personally don't take any zinc supplement other than what I get from my food, which is likely in an optimal form to maximize absorption.

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 08:24

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, June 9, 2020

by William B. Grant, PhD(OMNS June 9, 2020) The evidence that higher vitamin D status is causally linked to lower risk of COVID-19 incidence, severity, and death continues to increase. This brief report outlines what has been learned through early June 2020 and provides links to some of the key references.

It should be noted that acceptance of the role of vitamin D supplementation will probably not be achieved before reports are published that demonstrate randomized controlled trials of vitamin D supplementation significantly reduced COVID-19 incidence or death. Several RCTs and observational studies regarding vitamin D supplementation and COVID-19 incidence and outcomes are either in the planning stage or in progress. The obvious groups to study are those at highest risk: dark-skinned people living at high latitudes, people in nursing homes or health care facilities; prisoners; factory workers such as in meat-packing facilities in the U.S.; health care workers. A major problem is that the powers that be see vitamin D as a threat to income and profit, so use the Disinformation Playbook to suppress positive information on vitamin D.[1]

In a review published in early April, it was proposed that vitamin D supplementation could reduce the risk of COVID-19. Two mechanisms were identified: 1, reduced survival and replication of viruses through vitamin D-stimulated release of cathelicidin and defensins, and 2, reduced risk of the cytokine storm by reducing production of pro-inflammatory cytokines.[2]

Reference was also made to the finding that vitamin D supplementation reduces risk of acute respiratory tract infections as demonstrated by randomized controlled trials.[3] It was recommended that vitamin D supplementation be aimed at increasing serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels to 40-60 ng/ml (100-150 nmol/l), which would require daily doses up to 4000 to 5000 IU/d vitamin D3. Magnesium should also be supplemented, perhaps 400 mg/d, since the conversion of vitamin D to different metabolites requires the presence of magnesium. This recommendation was based on findings in observational studies such as one conducted by Grassrootshealth.net on influenza-like illness.[4]

More recently, it was suggested that for those who have not been supplementing with vitamin D that they start supplementing with a large bolus dose of vitamin D of several hundred thousand IU within one-to-two weeks. The rationale is that without the bolus the body would otherwise take several months to achieve the optimum level.[5] It was also suggested that while vitamin D supplementation could stop COVID-19 from developing at the beginning of symptoms, it probably would not be very useful after lung and organ damage occurs in the acute stage. Most recently, evidence was outlined to show that vitamin D deficiency could explain much of the reason for higher case and mortality rates for Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) residents in England.[6]

References1. Grant WB. (2018) Vitamin D acceptance delayed by Big Pharma following the Disinformation Playbook. Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, Oct. 1, 2018. http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v14n22.shtml

2. Grant WB, Lahore H, McDonnell SL, et al. (2020) Evidence that vitamin D supplementation could reduce risk of influenza and COVID-19 infections and deaths. Nutrients April 2, 2020, 12, 988. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/4/988

3. Martineau AR, Jolliffe DA, Greenberg L, et al. (2017) Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections: systematic review and meta-analysis of individual participant data. BMJ. 356:i6583. https://www.bmj.com/content/356/bmj.i6583

4. Grant WB, Lahore H, McDonnell SL, et al., (2020) Vitamin D Supplementation Could Prevent and Treat Influenza, Coronavirus, and Pneumonia Infections" Nutrients preprint, March 14, 2020 https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202003.0235/v1

5. Grant WB, Baggerly CA, Lahore H. (2020) Response to Comments Regarding "Evidence that Vitamin D Supplementation Could Reduce Risk of Influenza and COVID-19 Infections and Deaths". Nutrients June 1, 2020, 12(6), 1620. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/6/1620

6. Grant WB, Boucher BJ. (2020) Vitamin D deficiency due to skin pigmentation and diet may explain much of the higher rates of COVID-19 among BAME in England. BMJ comments, June 6, 2020. https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1548/rr-22

Here are annotated links to related publications and preprints

"Of the 212 cases of COVID-19, majority had ordinary clinical outcome. Mean serum 25(OH)D level was 23.8 ng/ml. Serum 25(OH)D level was lowest in critical cases, but highest in mild cases. Serum 25(OH)D levels were statistically significant among clinical outcomes."Alipio, MM. (2020) Vitamin D Supplementation Could Possibly Improve Clinical Outcomes of Patients Infected with Coronavirus-2019 (COVID-2019); April 9, 2020. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3571484

"A lot of COVID-19 infected patients develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which may lead to multiple organ damage. These symptoms are associated with a cytokine storm syndrome. The aim of this letter is to note the 5 crucial points that vitamin D could have protective and therapeutic effects against COVID-19. For that reason, COVID-19 infection-induced multiple organ damage might be prevented by vitamin D."Aygun H. (2020) Vitamin D can prevent COVID-19 infection-induced multiple organ damage.Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 2020 May 25:1-4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32451597

"Timely implementation of vitamin D supplementation programmes worldwide is critical; initial priority should be given to those who are at the highest risk, including the elderly, immobile, homebound, BAME and healthcare professionals. Population-wide vitamin D sufficiency could prevent seasonal respiratory epidemics, decrease our dependence on pharmaceutical solutions, reduce hospitalisations, and thus greatly lower healthcare costs while significantly increasing quality of life." Davies G, Garami AR, Byers J. (2020) Evidence Supports a Causal Model for Vitamin D in COVID-19 Outcomes. 1 May, updated 3 June, 2020. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.01.20087965v2.full.pdf

"We retrospectively investigated the 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations in plasma obtained from a cohort of patients from Switzerland. In this cohort, significantly lower 25(OH)D levels (p = 0.004) were found in PCR-positive for SARS-CoV-2 (median value 11.1 ng/mL) patients compared with negative patients (24.6 ng/mL)."D'Avolio A, Avataneo V, Manca A, et al. (2020) 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentrations Are Lower in Patients with Positive PCR for SARS-CoV-2. Nutrients. 2020 May 9;12(5):E1359. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32397511

"COVID-19 patients showed lower median 25(OH)D (18.6 ng/mL, IQR 12.6-25.3, versus 21.5 ng/mL, IQR 13.9-30.8; P=0.0016) and higher vitamin D deficiency rates (58.6% versus 45.2%, P=0.0005). Surprisingly, this difference was restricted to male COVID-19 patients who had markedly higher deficiency rates than male controls (67.0% versus 49.2%, P=0.0006) that increased with advancing radiological stage and were not confounded vitamin D-impacted comorbidities."De Smet D, De Smet K, Herroelen P, et al. (2020) (2020) Vitamin D deficiency as risk factor for severe COVID-19: a convergence of two pandemics, May 5, 2020. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.01.20079376v2

"The RAS, which includes ACE and ACE2, is a complex network that has a major role in various biological functions 31. Chronic vitamin D deficiency may induce RAS activation lung fibrosis through activation of the RAS 35; therefore, increasing evidence indicates that 1,25(OH)2D3 may also be a negative endocrine regulator of the RAS. Inducing the expression of renin, ACE, Ang II and AT1R, and inhibiting ACE2 expression could result in acute lung injury. Vitamin D inhibits renin, ACE and Ang II expression, and induces ACE2 levels in ALI."Ghavideldarestani M, Honardoost M, Khamseh ME. (2020) Role of Vitamin D in Pathogenesis and Severity of COVID-19 Infection https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202004.0355/v1

"We performed a retrospective study in two tertiary medical centers in South Asia. The medical records of COVID19 patients were reviewed and a total of 176 subjects included were the elderly whose age is at least 60 years, We reported that majority of the subjects had 25(OH)D level below 30 ng/ml, most of them were male, had diabetes, and were classified as severe. Most of the male and female subjects had 25(OH)D level below 30 ng/ml."Glicio, EJ.(2020) Vitamin D Level of Mild and Severe Elderly Cases of COVID-19: A Preliminary Report (May 5, 2020). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3593258

Several recent publications and preprints report multi-country studies based of COVID-19 case or death rates with respect to country mean 25(OH)D concentration. One concern regarding such studies is that the 25(OH)D concentrations used are probably not related to those most likely to develop COVID-19 at the time of incidence. However, a more serious problem is that life expectancy has a much stronger correlation (direct) than does 25(OH)D as discussed in this preprint. I have confirmed their findings using more recent COVID-19 case and death rate data.Kumar V, Srivastaa A. (2020) Spurious Correlation? A review of the relationship between Vitamin D and Covid-19 infection and mortality. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.25.20110338v1.full.pdf

This article presents retrospective results for 780 patients in Indonesia. Compared to 25(OH)D >30 ng/ml, 25(OH)D between 20 and 30 ng/ml had an odds ratio for death of 7.6 (PRaharusun, P, Priambada S, Budiart C, Agung E, Budi C. (2020) Patterns of COVID-19 Mortality and Vitamin D: An Indonesian Study (April 26, revised 6 May, 2020). SSRN. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3585561

JoAnn E. Manson, MD, DrPH, (2020) Does Vitamin D Protect Against COVID-19? MEDSCAPE, May 11, 2020The recommended dietary allowance of vitamin D is 600-800 IU/daily, but during this period,| a multivitamin or supplement containing 1000-2000 IU/daily of vitamin D would be reasonable.https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/930152

Other resources on vitamin D and COVID-19https://www.grassrootshealth.net/https://vitamindwiki.com/

(Dr. William Grant is director of the Sunlight, Nutrition, and Health Research Center http://www.sunarc.org wbgrant@infionline.net)

Nutritional Medicine is Orthomolecular MedicineOrthomolecular medicine uses safe, effective nutritional therapy to fight illness. For more information: http://www.orthomolecular.org

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Archived Version

Wed, 10 Jun 2020 08:20

On May 22, 2020, The Lancet published ''Hydroxychloroquine or Chloroquine With or Without A Macrolide For Treatment of COVID-19: a Multinational Registry Analysis''. The study was described as an observational study purportedly involving more than 96,000 hospitalized Covid-19 patients in 671 hospitals across six continents.

Update: On June 4th Two Huge Covid-19 Studies Are Retracted After Scientists Sound Alarms Both studies were led by a professor at Harvard '-- ''one of the stars in the filed''. Both studies relied on a huge international database of patient medical records owned by the lead co-author. Mainstream media carefully avoid asking the following, overriding Question, lest the magnitude of science fraud is laid bare:

How did these studies that were apparently designed to falsify the effects of a widely used drug, pass peer review in the world's premier medical science journals '' The Lancet as well as The New England Journal of Medicine?Undisclosed is the fact that the two lead co-authors both have significant, relevant financial conflicts of interest that more than likely biased the reported findings.

Mandeep Mehra, MD

The unvalidated database belongs to Surgisphere Corporation whose founder and CEO, is Dr. Sapan Desai, who is a lead co-author of the study. Dr. Desai has refused to disclose the data '' for independent confirmatory review. In fact, he refuses to identify the participating hospitals, or even the countries.

Dr. Mandeep Mehra, the lead co-author is a director at Brigham & Women's Hospital, which is credited with funding the study. Dr. Mehra and The Lancet failed to disclose that Brigham Hospital has a partnership with Gilead and is currently conducting TWO trials testing Remdesivir, the prime competitor of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19, the focus of the study.Richard Horton, Editor-in-Chief, The Lancet

The Lancet report claimed that COVID-19 ''patients treated with hydroxychloroquine (with or without a macrolide) were at increased risk of de-novo ventricular arrhythmia and ''a greater hazard for in-hospital death.'' Such an alarming finding from an inaccessible dataset should have raised concerns for the editor of the Lancet, about the integrity of the study and the accuracy of the claimed findings. In fact, within days of the Lancet publication, concerns about that dataset were raised on social media, on PubPeer, the post-publication discussion website, and in newspapers.

Within days of publication, Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) declared on CNN ''The scientific data is really quite evident now about the lack of efficacy.'' A media blitz against hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) created panic: clinical trials aimed at testing hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 were suspended by International public health institutions including the World Health Organization the UK government regulatory agency and the French government.

The chief scientist at the WHO, Soumya Swaminathan, stated that although the Lancet data weren't from a randomized controlled trial, the data were compelling because they ''came from multiple registries and quite a large number of patients, 96,000 patients.''

Knowledgeable scientists and experienced clinicians around the world were skeptical

The alarming findings and serious negative impact of the Lancet report led numerous scientists around the globe to scrutinize the report in detail. That scrutiny by legitimate, independent scientists has led to many serious questions about the integrity of the study, the authenticity of the data, and the validity of the methods the authors used.

An Open Letter posted online, is addressed to the authors of the report: Mandeep R Mehra, MD, Sapan S Desai, MD, Frank Ruschitzka, MD, Amit N Patel, MD, and to the editor, Dr. Richard Horton. The letter was signed by more than 200 prominent scientists across the world, including 17 from institutions in Africa.

The scientists question the evidence for claimed serious risks posed from the use of hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 patients. Among the concerns raised by the scientists are the following:

A range of gross deviations from standard research and clinical practices, such as: patients were prescribed inexplicably high daily doses of hydroxychloroquine ''far higher than the FDA-recommended doses.There was no ethics review.The number of patients reportedly from Australia far exceeded the number of patients in the Australian government database;.Gross misrepresentation of the numbers of deaths in Australia.''Both the number of cases and deaths [the claimed 40% deaths in Africa], and the details provide seem unlikely.''Refusal to identify the hospitals that contributed patient data.The ratios of patients who received chloroquine (49 %) to those who received hydroxychloroquine (50% ) are implausible; in Australia chloroquine is not available without special government authorization.The Guardian reported on May 28th that it could not confirm that UK's health agencies had even provided data for the study.

On May 29th The New York Times reported that 100 scientists and clinicians raised serious questions about the validity of the The Lancet report findings. It reported that on May 29th Dr. Mehra issued the following statement: ''We leveraged the data available through Surgisphere to provide observational guidance to inform the care of hospitalized Covid-19 patients'' [Perhaps someone can translate what ''leveraged the data'' means '....? The Times understated the number of scientists who signed the open letter; it is closer to 220]

Dr. James Watson

Dr. James Watson, senior scientist at the MORU-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit in Thailand doubts that any research organization could have obtained such detailed massive records for so many people in Africa that quickly. Based on healthcare workers' descriptions of medical record-keeping, at many hospitals in Africa, he indicated: ''I just find it very hard to believe.'' Dr. Watson contributed concerns regarding the African data to the Open Letter. He had to suspend a just-launched trial of HCQ to comply with UK regulators following the Lancet report.

Dr. Anthonyh Etyang

Dr. Anthony Etyang, a consultant physician and clinical epidemiologist with the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kenya, who is also a signatory to the Open Letter, wrote to The Scientist expressing his doubts about the numbers of African patients in the Surgisphere dataset, noting that even private hospitals on the continent have poor medical records.

Rather than investigating the serious issues raised about the integrity of the report, The Lancet editor posted the authors' claimed to ''correction'' of the numbers of patients in Asia and Australia on a page designated ''Department of Error'' '' whatever that means!

The nature and number of the serious ''discrepancies'' that have emerged following the Lancet publication of the Surgisphere ''study,'' lead one to suspect out-and-out FRAUD.Catherine Offord

Disputed Hydroxychloroquine Study Brings Scrutiny to Surgisphere, an investigative report by Catherine Offord in The SCIENTIST, May 30, 2020, looked deeper than others and uncovered background information about Dr. Desai and the changes in Surgisphere's product line and his marketing methods. In 2008, Surgisphere was the publisher of medical textbooks that ran afoul when physicians complained about falsified rave reviews. In 2010, Surgisphere became a high impact, online medical journal, whose website boasts that it ''accrued over 50,000 subscribers spanning almost every country around the world'... with almost one million page views per month.'' The Journal of Surgical Radiology had a three-year run; its last issue was published in January 2013.

The Scientist reports that Dr. Desai is named in three medical malpractice lawsuits that were filed during the second half of 2019.

Additional disturbing facts about Surgisphere have been uncovered by a team of investigative reporters '-- Melissa Davey, Stephanie Kirchgaessner, and Sarah Boseley '' for The Guardian.

''Surgisphere, the company that provided the database for studies published by two of the world's leading medical journals '' The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine '' based on Surgisphere data. The studies were co-authored the hydroxychloroquine studies.

''Surgisphere's employees have little or no data or scientific background. An employee listed as a science editor appears to be a science fiction author and fantasy artist. Another employee listed as a marketing executive is an adult model and events hostess'... until Monday, the ''get in touch'' link on Surgisphere's homepage redirected to a WordPress template for a cryptocurrency website, raising questions about how hospitals could easily contact the company to join its database.''

The fiasco of the publication of essentially fraudulent reports in the journals with the greatest impact on both clinical treatment and public health policies, reveals how thoroughly corrupted so-called peer review has become because it lacks external, independent review by scientists who have NO STAKE in the study outcome. It was only after the reports by The Scientist and The Guardian, that the editors of The NEJM and The Lancet were compelled to issue an: ''Expression of concern.'' This fiasco demonstrates why intelligent people seek alternative sources for reliable information.

The website, Science Defies Politics exposes numerous scientifically invalid studies that were essentially ''hit jobs'' against the use of hydroxychloroquine.

WHY are very powerful corporate-government stakeholders so intent on killing a drug with a 70 year track record? Because the drug works against the pandemic; it is readily available, and costs very little. Therefore, it poses a financial threat to both pharma companies and their partners in government and academia, those who are intent on profiting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

As uncovered by Science Defies Politics: 16 of the panel members selected by NIH to formulate the official COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines '' including two of the three co-chairs '' were paid by Gilead. They issued guidelines that raised fear, uncertainty, and doubt about the use of HCQ combined with AZ, while raising no fear, doubt, or uncertainty about using Gilead's unproven, unapproved, drug remdesivir; a drug that has shown mediocre performance in clinical trials. Seven of the NIH panelists failed to disclose their financial ties to Gilead. They are listed here.

The medical scientific literature is infested with financially motivated, shoddy, studies aimed at promoting products and, when a life-saving, non-patentable product, proves effective, scientists are hired to author study reports that are designed to tarnish scientists' reputations, and to proclaim findings that refute legitimate findings. In this case, studies designed to ''debunk'' the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine against COVID-19.

Examples of countries and physicians who have witnessed the effectiveness of the HCQ '' Az combination as a treatment for covid-19, are viewed by corporate-government collaborating partners as posing a major threat to their marketing agendas.

For example, Senegal and India are putting their hopes in hydroxychloroquine, marketed by Sanofi, under the trade name Plaquenil. A Sanofi spokesperson stated: ''We are providing the drug to hospitals and doctors to enable them to carry out clinical trials to determine whether hydroxychloroquine is effective or not, but not to treat Covid-19.''

On May 23rd the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) issued expanded revised guidelines for use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for COVID-19:

''The Joint Monitoring Group and the NTF have recommended prophylactic use of HCQ in asymptomatic frontline workers, such as surveillance workers deployed in containment zones and paramilitary/police personnel involved in Covid-19 related activities, asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory confirmed cases and all asymptomatic healthcare workers involved in containment and treatment of Covid-19 and working in non-Covid hospitals/non-Covid areas of Covid hospitals/blocks.''.

Didier Raoult, MD, PhD '-- ''a Science Star'' '-- as the NYT described him in a recent profile, who has identified 500 novel species of human-borne bacteria; a scientist known all over the world as the discoverer of the first giant virus, a discovery that earned him the Grand Prix, one of France's most prestigious awards.

Didier Raoult, MD, PhD

Dr. Raoult is the founder and director of the research hospital, the Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire M(C)diterran(C)e Infection (IHU). He is a professor on the faculty of Medicine of Ais-Marseille University, and since 2008, he has been the director of the Infectious and Tropical Emergent Diseases Research Unit), which employs more than 200 people and runs a hospital with 3,700 patients. He has more than 2,300 indexed publications and was classified among the ten leading French researchers by the journal Nature. Dr. Raoult has a reputation for bluster but also for creativity that others lack. As the Times noted, ''He looks where no one else cares to, with methods no one else is using, and [he] finds things.''

Since publishing favorable reports about a treatment combination of two cheap, widely prescribed medicines: hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin, as a treatment of choice against Covid-19, Dr. Raoult has become the subject of intense demonization by the corporate-influenced medical establishment, the media, and the who resort to this tactic whenever they lack evidence or legitimate grounds to support public health policies that cause people harm. Their fallback tactic is to demonize every doctor who challenges them and refuses to adhere to their financially '' driven prescribing decrees.

Dr. Raoult's latest scientific report about HCQ, Early Diagnosis and Management of COVID-19 Patients: A Real-Life Cohort study of 3,737 Patients, Marseille, France was posted on May 27, 2020,

It is a retrospective study report of the clinical management of 3,737 patients, including 3,054 (81.7%) treated with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin (HCQ-AZ) for at least three days and 683 (18.3%) patients treated with other methods. Outcomes were death, transfer to the intensive care unit (ICU), '‰¥ 10 days of hospitalization and viral shedding.

''Treatment with HCQ-AZ was associated with a decreased risk of transfer to the ICU or death (HR 0.19 0.12-0.29), decreased risk of hospitalization '‰¥10 days (odds ratios 95% CI 0.37 0.26-0.51) and shorter duration of viral shedding (time to negative PCR: HR 1.27 1.16-1.39). QTc prolongation (>60 ms) was observed in 25 patients (0.67%) leading to the cessation of treatment in 3 cases. No cases of torsade de pointe or sudden death were observed.

ConclusionEarly diagnosis, early isolation and early treatment with at least 3 days of HCQ-AZ result in a significantly better clinical outcome and contagiosity in patients with COVID-19 than other treatments.''

In France, doctors who have followed the research of Dr. Raoult, and have themselves witnessed the effectiveness of the HCQ-AZ combination, are suing the government. They demand the right to treat their patients with these drugs before easing of the lockdown. They seek to prevent complications and deaths from a second wave of Covid-19.

Violaine Guerin, MD

Dr. Violaine Gu(C)rin, an endocrinologist who conducted a trial on 100 doctors infected with COVID-19, and their families, reported her study findings that demonstrated the effectiveness of prescribing HCQ combined with azithromycin at the first sign of symptoms. The drugs substantially reduced the viral load of Covid-19:''Taking hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin on the outset of flu symptoms can prevent Covid-19 from getting worse. We can treat people now before they end up on a ventilator.'' Her findings replicated those Dr. Didier Raoult.

Dr. Gu(C)rin recommends prescribing hydroxychloroquine for health workers infected by the coronavirus, which is outside of its approved uses. Health unions in France warned that almost 12,000 health care professionals out of 550,000 '' roughly a quarter of the country's health force '' were sick with Covid-19. Dr. Gu(C)rin recommends its use on compassionate grounds, stating:

''From the very beginning, doctors have been calling for the right to self-prescribe because they are the ones on the frontline of the coronavirus battle. We cannot waste time when we can treat Covid-19 now, as long as this is done in the early stages of the virus and patients are screened for pre-existing medical conditions.''

Soon after this favorable study was published, the Minister of Health Olivier Veran in bald political arm twisting fashion, asked the highest health authority to review its authorization for the use of HCQ to treat Covid, suggesting further restriction.

French Health Minister Olivier Veran

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Archived Version

Thu, 11 Jun 2020 06:46

Before you rush to the store or add the supplements to your online checkout cart to combat COVID-19, it's important to know if you are vitamin D deficient.

Although vitamin D is called a vitamin, it's actually more of a hormone. When ultraviolet rays from sunlight strike your skin, the rays trigger vitamin D synthesis. You can build up your vitamin D levels through certain foods and supplements.

Genetics and age can play a big role in how much vitamin D you have:

Black people and others with darker skin pigmentation tend to have more melanin, which reduces the body's ability to produce vitamin D.Older people's thinning skin is less efficient at absorbing vitamin D, and those who spend more time indoors have less time under the sun's ultraviolet rays.If you are worried that you are at risk of vitamin D deficiency, ask your physician to check your blood work.

Vitamin D helps your immune system fight infectionsIt's been known for years that vitamin D is essential for maintaining healthy bones and teeth. Without it, bones can become thin, brittle or misshapen.

Vitamin D also plays an important role in helping immune systems function. Low levels can lead to autoimmunity '' when the immune system attacks healthy cells '' and increase the chance of infection.

The immune system is like an army that prevents invaders, such as viruses and bacteria, from taking over the homeland '' your body. It is composed of the innate and adaptive immune systems.

Let's say a virus is present in a patient's lungs, specifically in the air sacs (alveoli), which can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

The first line of defense is the innate immune system: It comes into play immediately or within hours of antigen detection. Antigens are proteins on the surfaces of bacteria, fungi and viruses that the body doesn't recognize as its own.

Natural killer cells and macrophages, along with other immune cells, recognize, engulf and destroy pathogens. The main purpose of these cells is to prevent the spread and movement of harmful substances throughout the body. They are akin to soldiers shooting indiscriminately all over the enemy's camp.

Although the exact role of vitamin D in the immune system is not fully understood, studies have shown it may influence both innate and adaptive immune systems.

When the innate immune system is activated, its cells turn certain genes on to become more efficient at killing pathogens. Vitamin D binds to these cells and enhances this transformation, helping the innate immune system kill viruses.

The innate immune system and vitamin DIf the pathogen manages to dodge the innate immune system, adaptive immunity kicks in.

The second line of defense is the adaptive immune system: It relies on B cells and T cells to carry out its tasks. These cells produce billions of antibodies. Antibodies recognize antigens and bind to them. They are like high-ranking officers that conduct specific missions targeting only certain enemies. Antibodies make future responses against a specific antigen more efficient.

''The problem with infections such as COVID-19, is that most of us are believed to be naive to the infection. So we don't have memory B cells ready, which means that adaptive immunity, even though it might be super powerful, can't recognize the pathogen,'' says Vadim Backman, professor of biomedical engineering at Northwestern University.

Cells of the adaptive immune system produce cytokines. These small proteins attract more immune cells and trigger inflammation. Sometimes, cytokines become too abundant and create a cytokine storm '' when immune cells spread beyond infected body parts and attack healthy tissue.

''The way our immune system responds to the virus may be a big part of this puzzle,'' Backman says. ''What does seem to be critical is acute respiratory distress syndrome.'' ARDS is caused by an overreaction of the immune system ''called a cytokine storm, which seems to be induced by the adaptive immune system,'' Backman says.

Backman says Vitamin D binds to the cells of the adaptive immune system and turns some genes on while switching others off. This causes cells to produce fewer cytokines, reducing inflammation and the possibility of cytokine storm.

The adaptive immune system and vitamin DHow ARDS kills COVID-19 patientsWhen activated immune cells surge into the lungs as a result of a cytokine storm, the lungs can become inflamed. Fluid from the smallest blood vessels leaks into the tiny air sacs, resulting in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The fluid prevents the lungs from filling with enough oxygen, so less reaches the bloodstream, causing organs to fail.

Many COVID-19-infected patients develop ARDS. Researchers in China examined risk factors for 191 coronavirus patients who died while being treated in two hospitals in Wuhan. The study showed 50 of the 54 patients who died had developed ARDS; only nine of the 137 survivors developed ARDS.

A study in 2015 showed that patients with ARDS and those at risk of developing it had vitamin D deficiency. Researchers demonstrated that vitamin D can reduce damage to capillaries that connect the alveoli to larger blood vessels that may prevent ARDS. In another study, Vitamin D was shown to have a protective effect on the lungs.

What is ARDS? Another mystery of COVID-19 is why fewer children are seriously affected.

"Mortality and complications keep going up and up and up as age increases," Backman says. ''Young children don't have mature adaptive immunity. They primarily rely on the antibodies that they have from their mother.

"There are always exceptions, but most children don't tend to overactivate their adaptive immune system. They don't develop cytokine storms because they just don't have the mechanisms,'' Backman says.

Possible link between vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19The research is in the early stages. According to a preprint study Backman co-wrote, countries with low average vitamin D blood levels in the population had higher numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths. A study from the U.K. looked at the nearly 450 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and did not find a link between vitamin D concentrations and risk of COVID-19 infection.

In a paper published in the British Medical Journal, 21 experts from the U.K., Ireland and the USA concludes that although vitamin D is ''essential for good health'' and may bolster the immune system, it can be dangerous in high doses.

Worldwide, about 1 billion people have inadequate levels of vitamin D in their blood, and insufficiency affects almost 50% of the population. Most commonly, low levels of vitamin D are caused by insufficient exposure to sunlight.

Underlying conditions combined with vitamin D deficiency could put people of color at riskIn Louisiana, African Americans account for more than 50% of COVID-19 deaths despite representing only 32% of the population.

African Americans are at greater risk for vitamin D deficiency because they have higher presence of melanin. Melanin reduces the body's ability to produce vitamin D. People from South Asian backgrounds also may not get enough vitamin D from sunlight in the summer.

Studies also have shown that African American adults have higher rates of hypertension, which is associated with more severe cases of COVID-19.

"Vitamin D may simply correlate with some factor x, which for all we know has not been identified yet," Backman says. "And that's factor x which causes or prevents complications."

Vitamin D deficiency can be caused by obesity. A body mass index greater than 30 is associated with lower vitamin D levels. The skin's ability to make vitamin D decreases with age. People who are homebound or rarely outside may have low levels of vitamin D as a result of not being able to get sun exposure.

If your levels are within normal ranges, here are some foods that will help with maintaining daily recommended value.

Simple diet changes can increase your vitamin D levelsHow much vitamin D you need depends on many factors, including age, race, latitude, season, sun exposure, clothing and more. The U.K.'s National Health Service recommends consuming 400 international units (10 micrograms) of vitamin D daily for adults.

"Let's say I knew that I'm vitamin D deficient," Backman says. "It's something that is important for health. There are no benefits of vitamin D deficiency. So it's really guilt-free, risk-free to expose yourself to the sun for 20 minutes, get supplementation, get your levels within the normal level."

Foods that contain vitamin DAccording to the NHS, people shouldn't take more than 4000 IUs (100 mcg) of vitamin D a day as it could be harmful. Children under 10 shouldn't have more than 2000 IUs (50 mcg) a day.

Taking too many vitamin D supplements over a long period of time can cause too much calcium to build up in the body '' potentially weakening bones and damaging kidneys and heart.

Vitamins to boost the immune systemNutritionists say sticking to a healthy diet that includes a variety of nutrient-rich foods can boost the immune system.

"A healthy diet means eating food that is as close to its natural form is possible," says Tamara Ward, a specialist in oncology nutrition at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center. "I don't say just eat real food. Because to a lot of folks, a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese is real because you can touch it, but it is highly processed. That little packet of flavoring isn't real food."

Other nutrients along with vitamin D aid the immune system. Consuming foods high in vitamin C, such as grapefruits and oranges, may increase white blood cell production '' key to fighting infection.

Adding carrots, spinach or kale to your diet might be a good idea. They contain beta-carotene that converts into vitamin A '' an anti-inflammation vitamin that enhances immune function.

Vitamin B-6 is essential in the formation of healthy red blood cells and is present in chicken, turkey and bananas. Garlic contains compounds that stimulate certain immune cells and help regulate the immune system. Vitamin E and zinc are beneficial for fighting off diseases.

Ward recommends foods containing probiotics, such as yogurt:

"Once your gut is functioning really well, then that helps your gut to absorb all of the other nutrients that are in these foods, like zinc, vitamin B-6, vitamin D, the beta carotene," she says.

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Archived Version

Mon, 08 Jun 2020 15:09

Image copyright PA Media Image caption Serco is one of the companies hiring, training and operating 15,000 contact tracers for the UK government Outsourcing firm Serco has apologised after accidentally sharing the email addresses of almost 300 contact tracers.

The company is training staff to trace cases of Covid-19 for the UK government.

It made the error when it emailed new trainees to tell them about training.

Serco said it had apologised and would review its processes "to make sure that this does not happen again".

Contact tracing is a system used to slow the spread of infectious diseases like coronavirus. It is already being used in other countries including Singapore and Germany.

In the UK, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said 21,000 contact tracers have been hired, some of whom are healthcare professionals.

They will gather contacts from Covid-19 patients and trace those people by phone or email to slow the spread of the disease in the community.

Serco is one of the companies hiring, training and operating the 15,000 contact tracers who do not have clinical training.

But the mistake may leave the firm in breach of data protection rules. It is understood that at least one member of staff has raised the issue with the Information Commissioner.

The error did not involve patients' data but will be unhelpful for a contact tracing project that is set to ask many thousands of people who have fallen ill to share the details of their friends and acquaintances.

Serco wrote the email to tell new trainees not to contact its help desk looking for training details.

But the staff member who sent it put their email addresses in the CC section of the email, rather than the blind CC section - revealing them to every recipient.

When the Home Office made a similar error last year it referred itself to the Information Commissioner, but Serco is not intending to do this.

A Serco spokesman told the Today Programme: "An email was sent to new recruits who had given us their permission to use their personal email addresses.

"In error, email addresses were visible to other recipients. We have apologised and reviewed our processes to make sure that this does not happen again."

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 10:47

Google Maps launched new features related to COVID-19 updates.

Angela Lang/CNET Google Maps on Monday rolled out several new features for Android and iOS to keep travelers and commuters up to date on how COVID-19 might impact their trip. That includes information like travel restrictions and how crowded public transportation might be. TechCrunch earlier reported the news.

Transit alerts from local agencies will now show up in Maps to keep people informed about government mandates related to public transportation, such as whether services are unavailable or if masks are required. The alerts are now available in the US, UK, India, Mexico, France, Thailand, Spain, Netherlands, Columbia, Brazil, Argentia, Austria and Belgium. More countries will be added soon.

For more like thisSubscribe to the CNET Now newsletter for our editors' picks for the most important stories of the day.

Google will also let users know if their trip involves a COVID-19 checkpoint, such as when crossing international borders. This feature is launching with the US, Canada and Mexico.

Alerts will also pop up when users plan a trip to a COVID-19 testing center or medical facility. Data from local, state and federal governments will be pulled for these alerts to ensure people are aware of guidelines. This feature will initially be available for medical facilities in the US, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia and Israel. Testing center alerts will also be available in the US. Google is working to add more countries.

Additionally, Google is building upon a feature it rolled out last year that predicts how crowded a train, subway or bus will be . Now, when viewing transit directions, users can scroll down to find crowdedness predictions and add their own observations. Users will also see data on when a transit station is historically more or less crowded, or can opt to view live data by pulling up a station in Google Maps. This feature is rolling out over the next several weeks. Information is pulled from aggregated and anonymized data from users who opt in to Google Location History.

In February, Google Maps added insights such as how hot a route may be and if security is typically onboard . The company has now rolled out these features globally. It also added more accessibility information including where there are wheelchair accessible doors, seating and stop buttons.

Now playing: Watch this: Microsoft aids Johns Hopkins University with COVID-19...

7:06

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 18:54

George W. Bush's spokesman said Monday that The New York Times report that the former president won't support President Trump Donald John TrumpProsecutors allege Avenatti may have violated terms of prison release Bolton plans to publish White House memoir in late June: report The sad spectacle of Trump's enablers MORE 's reelection was ''completely made up.''

Spokesman Freddy Ford told The Texas Tribune that the Times's report , which cited people familiar with Bush's thinking, was false, but that Bush will avoid speaking publicly on his 2020 presidential vote.

"This is completely made up," Ford said. "He is retired from presidential politics and has not indicated how he will vote."

The Times report also said Bush's brother, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), who was one of Trump's 2016 primary rivals, is unsure of how he will vote in the upcoming presidential election.

Ford had told the Times that the former president would not get involved in the elections and would only speak out on policy issues like he did last week when he said during massive protests against police brutality the U.S. must ''examine our tragic failures.''

Both Bush brothers, as well as their parents, former President George H.W. Bush and first lady Barbara Bush, said in 2016 that they weren't voting for Trump.

Trump had endorsed Jeb Bush's son George P. Bush in his reelection for Texas Land Commissioner in 2018. George P. Bush did not endorse his father's 2016 presidential run before the former Florida governor dropped out of the race.

The Saturday Times article reported that several Republican leaders are struggling with whether to endorse Trump's second term or throw their support behind presumptive Democratic nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden.

Sen. Mitt Romney Willard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyRomney marches with George Floyd protesters in DC Bush, Romney won't support Trump reelection: NYT Trump fires back at Colin Powell for saying he'd vote for Biden MORE (Utah), the 2012 GOP presidential nominee and one of Trump's chief Republican critics, told The Atlantic in February he would not be supporting the president's reelection.

Cindy McCain, the widow of former Sen. John McCain John Sidney McCainThe sad spectacle of Trump's enablers Bush, Romney won't support Trump reelection: NYT Powell 'cannot in any way support' Trump, will vote for Biden MORE (R-Ariz.) is likely to back Biden, although it's unclear how public she will make her decision, according to the Times.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell Colin Luther PowellBush, Romney won't support Trump reelection: NYT Condoleezza Rice: Trump should 'speak in the language of unity, the language of empathy' Sunday shows - Powell 'can not in any way support' Trump, will vote for Biden MORE , who served under Bush, announced on CNN's ''State of the Union'' on Sunday that he was backing Biden.

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 10:04

Introduced: Sponsor: Rep. Chip Roy [R-TX21]

This bill was referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor which will consider it before sending it to the House floor for consideration.

1 cosponsor is on that committee.

Govtrack.us Summary

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Thu, 11 Jun 2020 08:45

Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, joins Andrea Mitchell to discuss the path forward for change as her committee holds a hearing on racial profiling and police brutality in the wake of George Floyd's death and nationwide protests. June 10, 2020

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 18:58

ðŸ' Dave ðŸ' @ Dave2000David

Jun 6 Replying to

@FunnyAlfGarnett Can we have him instead of Piers Morgan👍

View conversation · badgerboi @ WesLeaver

Jun 7 Replying to

@Dave2000David @FunnyAlfGarnett Instead of Boris Johnson

View conversation · Simon Gog @ SimonMi53066291

Jun 6 Replying to

@FunnyAlfGarnett Absolutely brilliant, but tragic that it's so close to reality.

View conversation · A.G.W. @ agw1437

Jun 7 Replying to

@SimonMi53066291 @FunnyAlfGarnett It is .. in London at any rate .. but thankfully outside the M25 there is a greater degree of normality. I wish we could cut a circle round London and moor it somewhere in the North Sea. Close enough but not too close.

View conversation · Huggy Bear @ Iainmackay8

Jun 6 Replying to

@FunnyAlfGarnett Outstanding rant ðŸ‚

View conversation · ðŸ´ó §ó ó "ó £ó ´ó  CitizenTammy #763 @ citizen_tammy

Jun 7 Replying to

@Iainmackay8 @FunnyAlfGarnett PoFace says that's how he feels about society! Me too!

View conversation · Gav Cook @ cook_gav

Jun 6 Replying to

@FunnyAlfGarnett @JoannaGarty ðŸ‚ðŸ‚ðŸ‚ðŸ‚ðŸ‚🂠that's cheered me right up

View conversation · Jo-Anna Garty @ JoannaGarty

Jun 6 Replying to

@cook_gav @FunnyAlfGarnett Me too

View conversation · Shugmonster @ Shugmonster2

Jun 7 Replying to

@FunnyAlfGarnett Brilliant and hits the nail on the head in many areas! Majority of people are fed up with the tosh we are constantly fed by left and MSM! Turning people into mindless virtue signaling sheep who think their lives are so terribly difficult- get a grip!

View conversation · Bob Arctor #NotMovingOn @ MikeBatt01

Jun 8 Replying to

@Shugmonster2 @FunnyAlfGarnett The right is at this too, every single tv advert.

View conversation ·

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 14:09

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 14:05

Legal eagle Alan Dershowitz talked about removing Confederate statues in an interview on Tuesday's

FOX & Friends:

DERSHOWITZ: Of course there's a danger of going too far. There's a danger removing Washington and Jefferson and other of our founding fathers who themselves owned slaves. Look, we have to use this as an educational moment. We have to take some of the statues that were put up more recently, for example, during the Civil Rights Movement and perhaps move them to museums where they can be used to teach young students about how statues are intended sometimes for bad purposes, to glorify negatives and to hold back positive developments.But the idea of willy-nilly going through and doing what Stalin did: just erasing history and re-writing it to serve current purposes, does pose a danger, and it poses a danger of educational malpractice, of missing opportunities to educate people, and of going too far.(via

Breitbart Video)

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 10:24

While all Americans can agree that the death of George Floyd was tragic and that police officers who abuse their power should face consequences for their actions, some on the far left have embraced the idea of throwing the baby out with the bathwater by ''defunding the police.''

In Los Angeles, America's second-largest city, Mayor Eric Garcetti has proposed cutting up to $150 million from the police department's $1.8 billion budget.

This proposal did not sit well with Sgt. Jerretta Sandoz, vice president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League.

Sandoz, an African-American, blasted LA City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez on Friday for threatening to cut the police budget and furloughing city officials while ''finding the money to give $250 million to Black Lives Matter.''

Video posted of LAPD officers outraged over proposed cuts following protests addressing LA City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez. ''Now you're cutting from their families and they put everything on the line? We are going to fight'... At the ballot box.'' @CBSLA @CBSNews pic.twitter.com/9YXcMCd3Hd

'-- JASMINE VIEL (@jasmineviel) June 5, 2020

TRENDING: Rioter Douses Police Officer, Sets Him on Fire as Unrest Spreads Across Globe

Sandoz, surrounded by officers from the Valley Bureau, received a round of applause from her fellow men and women in blue as she slammed Rodriguez.

''You bow down to Black Lives Matter,'' she said. ''These police officers that are out here protecting this city, they're protecting it from being on fire. If it wasn't for them, this city would be burnt down right now.''

After explaining that Black Lives Matter protesters had thrown bottles at police officers, ''cracking their skulls,'' Sandoz expressed dismay that ''you guys are listening to them'' while forgetting about the ''citizens that are law-abiding.''

Do you think cities that defund the police should lose federal funding?

97% (1082 Votes)

3% (39 Votes)

According to Sandoz, all those citizens want ''is these officers to protect them.''

Sandoz definitely has a point. It is law-abiding citizens, especially those in minority communities, who will suffer the most from ''defunding the police,'' either in full or in part.

Unfortunately, the situation in Los Angeles is not unique.

In Minneapolis, where George Floyd died while in police custody, City Council President Lisa Bender has enthusiastically spoken out in favor of defunding her city's police force.

Yes. We are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department and replace it with a transformative new model of public safety. https://t.co/FCfjoPy64k

'-- Lisa Bender (@lisabendermpls) June 4, 2020

RELATED: Sen. McConnell Exposes Democrats for 'Double Standard' in Banning Gatherings

When asked by CNN's Alisyn Camerota who she would have to call if, ''in the middle of the night, my home is broken into,'' Bender gave an extremely pathetic and ignorant response:

''Yes, I mean, I hear that loud and clear from a lot of my neighbors. And I know '-- and myself, too, and I know that that comes from a place of privilege. Because for those of us for whom the system is working, I think we need to step back and imagine what it would feel like to already live in that reality where calling the police may mean more harm is done.''

It is clear that Bender did not think about the consequences of defunding the police at all. Then again, neither did eight of her 13 colleagues who say they share her desire to ''dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department.''

According to the left, all police officers are bad and racist and only people of ''privilege'' would ever need police protection.

Fortunately, most Americans disagree with that point of view. According to a recent YouGov poll, just 16 percent of Americans support defunding the police.

The Black Lives Matter narrative about the police in America is wrong and misguided. In Los Angeles, racial minorities comprised 64.6 percent of the force in 2013.

In other words, the idea of police as a white supremacist organization committed to terrorizing African-Americans does not hold up under scrutiny.

Do not expect the facts to get in the way of the far-left agenda to defund the police in America, which will move full steam ahead regardless of the negative externalities that will ensue for the ''law-abiding'' citizens that Sgt. Jerretta Sandoz talked about.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 10:15

4 Shares

ZIP |June 9, 2020 2:03 pm

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 10:14

Last time I checked the Virgin Islands are not a state.

19 Shares

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 10:08

LOL!

HOSTIN: ''Well, I don't '-- I think he's not only owed an apology, Whoopi. I think he's owed his job. I think he's owed back pay. And I think he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. I think what's fascinating about it is when you listen to Roger Goodell's mea culpa he mentions everything. He says we were wrong. We should have listened. Athletes in the league are now allowed to take a knee. We support peaceful protests. He mentions every single thing except the very name of the man who started the protest, you know who's started this this peaceful protest. Taking the knee has become the symbol of these protests. We see it just all over our country. We see it actually internationally now. And I think it's shameful that people were allowed to co-opt that movement and make it about the flag and make it something that it was never about.''

ZIP |June 9, 2020 3:02 pm

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 10:07

So dumb.

15 Shares

ZIP |June 9, 2020 5:01 pm

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 09:21

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 09:20

Posted: Tue 5:44 PM, Jun 09, 2020 &nbsp|&nbsp

Updated: Tue 7:20 PM, Jun 09, 2020

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB)-- "Watch what you put on social media," a piece of advice many of us have heard and many have ignored.

For one prospective University of Florida student, it's the one thing that got in the way of her dream of being a Florida Gator.

It all started when Disney Actress Skai Jackson tweeted about prospective UF student Liberty Woodley.

She posted screenshots of Woodley's past racist Instagram post, which gained traction online.

In the vulgar post, Woodley admits to being racist, going so far as to say she wanted to punch two black girls.

"What message does it send to black students, why would they want to apply here if they think that this is the kind of student that holds UF values, that this is the kind of student that they can expect to be there with me, or be in a group project with or be in a student organization with, UF Senator Zachery Utt said. "It's chilling."

UF Spokesperson Steve Orlando said, "What I can tell you is that there is a prospective student who posted some racist comments on social media, and the prospective student will no longer be coming to the uf community.''

"Though Orlando won't confirm that statement was about Liberty Woodley, he says she is no longer a prospective student at UF"

Utt introduced a bill demanding action from the university.

"We didn't have time to wait for the university to do something on their own we had the power invested in our student body constitution to label heinous offenses as crimes against the student body and we needed to take that upon ourselves to make sure justice is served,'' he said.

But, does the university even have the authority to reject someone over them exercising their right to free speech?

First Amendment Expert Clay Calvert said, "The first amendment gives you the right to speak freely but the first amendment does not give you the right of admission to the University of Florida."

He says it all comes down to academic freedom.

"An institution has the right to choose the students to whom it teaches and of course it cannot choose them based off of things like racial disparity or something like that, but it has the ability to choose the students that it wants to teach," he said.

So, Woodley will not become a Florida Gator.

The university says they are looking into multiple cases of current and prospective students who have posted racist remarks online.

I reached out to Woodley and her father and never received a response.

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1:44 PM ET Tim McManus ESPN Staff Writer

New Orleans Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins said the efforts by commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL to support players fighting for social justice have fallen short because they have yet to properly address their handling of Colin Kaepernick.

"I still don't think [the NFL has] gotten it right. Until they apologize, specifically, to Colin Kaepernick, or assign him to a team, I don't think that they will end up on the right side of history," Jenkins, who is the co-founder of the Players Coalition, said Tuesday in an appearance on "CBS This Morning."

"At the end of the day, they've listened to their players, they've donated money, they've created an Inspire Change platform; they've tried to do things up to this point. But it's been one player in particular that they have ignored and not acknowledged, and that's Colin Kaepernick."

Goodell said in a video released Friday that the NFL "condemn[s] racism and the systematic oppression of black people" and that the league was "wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier, and encourage[s] all players to speak out and peacefully protest. We, the National Football League, believe that black lives matter."

Goodell's statement was in response to a video featuring more than a dozen star players, including Pro Bowl quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson, requesting that the NFL step up its support. Kaepernick was not mentioned by name in the video, but the players asked the league to "admit wrong in silencing our players from peacefully protesting."

"That's the only thing people want to hear," Jenkins said of the NFL's silence on Kaepernick. "If it's not going to correct that or acknowledge that, then everything else doesn't need to be said."

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, speaking to reporters on a conference call Tuesday, said Kaepernick deserves an opportunity to be on a roster.

"As far as Colin being back in the league, I think he should have every opportunity to," Ryan said. "He created awareness for a situation that, it's taking some time, but people are becoming more active in terms of their response to it. So I think from that standpoint, his protest is being heard at this point. It might have taken too long, but I think he should have every opportunity to have a job and to have a spot in this league."

Kaepernick was the first NFL player to kneel during the national anthem in 2016 to bring attention to social injustices following the shooting deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling by police officers on consecutive days that July.

Kaepernick has not worked in the NFL since that 2016 season. He settled a collusion case with the NFL in 2019.

ESPN's Vaughn McClure contributed to this report.

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 08:35

Local COVID-19 tracking and safe contact tracing. Do your part. Learn more.

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 08:28

As the country entered its third week of widespread mass protests for the death of George Floyd, the liberal media were trying to gaslight the American people on what was to blame for spikes in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. Tuesday saw ABC's World News Tonight and NBC Nightly News insist that states reopening their economies were to blame, and not the protests attracting thousands upon thousands of people.

''Troubling new signs tonight about coronavirus in some areas that reopened early. Hospitalizations are way up. A more serious indicator than the number of cases,'' declared NBC anchor Lester Holt. He was echoed by correspondent Gadi Schwartz at the top of the report. ''Tonight, a dramatic rise in coronavirus hospitalizations in some states among the first to reopen,'' Schwartz said.

Schwartz went on to huff that ''Texas [was] seeing a record-breaking number of hospitalizations, even as the governor moves to open bars, restaurants, and amusement parks to 50 percent capacity.'' He then admitted that Georgia, the first state to reopen was not seeing any spike.

His intellectually dishonest suggestion came after Today co-anchor Hoda Kotb had pointed out the double standard of who was having social distancing regulations forced upon them. ''For two weeks, protesters have hit the streets to fight for racial equality. But at the same time, some businesses, beaches, and churches have remained closed,'' she said as an on-screen headline read: ''Protesters Flood Streets as Businesses Remain Shut Down.''

But that didn't stop Schwartz from dubiously asserting: ''But none of those latest numbers take into consideration what effect large crowds and protests around the country are going to have on the spread of the virus.''

What made his statement dubious was the fact that we knew coronavirus patients started showing symptoms as early as a few days after transmission, with nearly all showing symptoms in 10 days. The George Floyd protests were into their third week.

Over on ABC, Matt Gutman reported that ''21 states'' were ''registering a rise in COVID...And 14 states, including Arizona, have seen their highest seven-day average growth since the pandemic began.'' He blamed it on ''The governor here lifting that stay at home order on May 15th. People gathering in large groups again at bars and restaurants.''

This was a continuation of Gutman's line of complaint from Tuesday's Good Morning America, where he chided President Trump for planning to hold a rally. After the network heaped praise on the protests for a large portion of the show, Gutman told chief anchor George Stephanopoulos: ''And the cases are spiking because of a near-complete reopening.''

Both Gutman and Schwartz included soundbites of indignant doctors decrying efforts to return people to normal lives. ''We probably knew what would happen by reopening too early on May 15 '... This may not be a spike; this may be a new normal until we get a vaccine,'' one doctor told Schwartz.

And yet, many health care professionals were cheering on the protests, and claiming the benefit outweighed the risk. Apparently, families making enough to feed their kids wasn't a significant enough benefit to re-open.

The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:

ABC's World News TonightJune 9, 20206:45:13 p.m. Eastern

DAVID MUIR: We're going to turn next to real concern in this country tonight, with what authorities are now seeing involving the coronavirus. 21 states with cases on the rise today, and Arizona tonight, for example, health department officials there are now telling hospitals to activate their emergency plans.

And tonight here, an important clarification after the World Health Organization confused so many all over the world. So, can you spread the virus if you're asymptomatic? Here's Matt Gutman on that tonight.

[Cuts to video]

MATT GUTMAN: Tonight, Arizona's health department urging hospitals to activate their emergency plans. More than 5,000 new cases since June 1st. And now hospitals saying they're maxing out on ICU beds.

DR. SAM DURRANI: We need to really be socially responsible when we go outside, socially distance. You know, I think there's evidence that we're not doing that.

GUTMAN: 21 states and Puerto Rico registering a rise in COVID. And 14 states, including Arizona, have seen their highest seven-day average growth since the pandemic began. The governor here lifting that stay at home order on May 15th. People gathering in large groups again at bars and restaurants.

DURRANI: You know, right now we're fine. But if we continue at a rate like this, we're facing a significant chance that we're going to have to shut down the state again.

GUTMAN: FEMA saying community transmission is the highest driver of growth in nearly two-thirds of the hot spots in 31 states. Scott Felix is a 25-year-old who says he got sick after camping during Memorial Day. He spiked a 104 fever and tested positive for COVID.

SCOTT FELIX: A lot of people that I've talked to and said that they felt like they may have already had the coronavirus. [Transition] It would be safe to go outside. I would say don't assume that.

[Cuts back to live]

GUTMAN: And David, the World Health Organization is now walking back that surprising claim, saying that asymptomatic people can and do spread the virus, but they admit they don't know exactly how that happens. David?

MUIR: Very important, again, asymptomatic people can still spread the virus. And Matt, we thank you for that

NBC Nightly NewsJune 9, 20207:16:53 p.m. Eastern

LESTER HOLT: Troubling new signs tonight about coronavirus in some areas that reopened early. Hospitalizations are way up. A more serious indicator than the number of cases. And today, Dr. Anthony Fauci called COVID-19 his worst nightmare saying it's not over yet. We get more from NBC's Gadi Schwartz.

[Cuts to video]

GADI SCHWARTZ: Tonight, a dramatic rise in coronavirus hospitalizations in some states among the first to reopen. In Arizona, the state urging hospitals to keep emergency plans activated, after seeing COVID-19 cases more than double. Health officials now saying eight out of ten hospital beds are being used and warping they could hit full hospital capacity in a matter of weeks.

DR. MATTHEW HEINZ: We probably knew what would happen by reopening too early on May 15. [inaudible] '... and here we are. This may not be a spike; this may be a new normal until we get a vaccine.

SCHWARTZ: Texas seeing a record-breaking number of hospitalizations, even as the governor moves to open bars, restaurants, and amusement parks to 50 percent capacity. While in Georgia, the first state to reopen in April, is seeing cases, hospitalizations, and the number of deaths from COVID-19 on the decline.

But none of those latest numbers take into consideration what effect large crowds and protests around the country are going to have on the spread of the virus.

Today, at the World Health Organization, a top health official walking back a statement made yesterday that it's very rare for people without symptoms to spread the disease.

MARIA VAN KERKHOVE: I think that's misunderstanding to state that asymptomatic transmission globally is very rare.

SCHWARTZ: While the data varies, one study estimates as much as 44 percent of new cases were transmitted by people not yet showing symptoms.

DR. ASHISH JHA: This message from WHO, I think, was just a bit of a disaster, because it caused so much confusion. The bottom line is this -- there are lots of people with infections who have no symptoms who are spreading the virus and getting other people infected.

SCHWARTZ: Today, Dr. Anthony Fauci telling a panel the pandemic that's devastated the world in four months is only just beginning. Gadi Schwartz, NBC News.

NewsBusters Reader,

The media are hard at work weaving a web of confusion, misinformation, and conspiracy surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

At MRC's NewsBusters, we cut through the hypocrisy and expose the media's bias, bringing the truth to the American people'--but without you, our efforts can only go so far.

The media is using whatever crisis it can to swing the upcoming election'--they have an agenda and the truth is not part of it.

This is why NewsBusters, a program of the MRC, exists. To take on the liberal media, expose their toxic bias, and stop them in their tracks. We are part of the only organization purely dedicated to this critical mission and we need your help to fuel this fight.

Donate today to help NewsBusters continue to document and expose liberal media bias. $25 a month goes a long way in the fight for a free and fair media.

And now, thanks to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, you can make up to a $300 gift to the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization of your choice and use it as a tax deduction on your 2020 taxes, even if you take the standard deduction on your returns.

- The NewsBusters Team

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 08:26

Univision never passes on an opportunity to promote its broader political agenda, which includes gun control. This latest attempt, though, backfired very badly.

Watch as a local Houston representative for Moms Demand Action, a Bloomberg-backed gun control group, tells Univision's correspondent that they were required to attend George Floyd's funeral on live television:

FRANCISCO COBOS, UNIVISION CORRESPONDENT: Some organizations have also come by, such as this organization made up of mothers who have been fighting guns for years and that, on occasion, are also in solidarity with the (Floyd) family. Let's talk to one of them. For what reason did you decide to come to George Floyd's funeral?

ANNA CARPENTER, MOMS DEMAND: In fact, we were required (to attend). We were asked to come here in order to show solidarity with the family, and that is our purpose in attending today.

This particular gaffe served as a reminder that there are always opportunists lurking about, and seeking opportunities to exploit a national tragedy in furtherance of their own political agenda. Moms Demand's representative deserved some measure of credit for her honesty in saying that the local group was required to attend. Shame on Univision, however, for leveraging George Floyd's funeral into a shameless promotion of gun control. The agenda could've waited a couple of hours.

MRC Latino Reader,

The media are hard at work weaving a web of confusion, misinformation, and conspiracy surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

We here at MRC Latino cut through the leftist propaganda and expose the media's bias, bringing the truth to the American people'--but without you, our efforts can only go so far.

In both English and Spanish, the media is determined to take down President Trump. They don't care what they say to make it happen. They have an agenda and the truth is not part of it.

This is why MRC Latino, a program of the MRC exists. To take on the U.S. Spanish-language media's liberal bias and disinformation and stop them in their tracks. We are part of the only organization purely dedicated to this critical mission and we need your help to fuel this fight.

Donate today to help MRC Latino continue to document and expose media bias. $25 a month goes a long way in the fight for a free and fair media that targets Hispanic Americans.

And now, thanks to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, you can make up to a $300 gift to the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization of your choice and use it as a tax deduction on your 2020 taxes, even if you take the standard deduction on your returns.

- The MRC Latino Team

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 08:24

Something went wrong, but don't fret '-- let's give it another shot.

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 08:21

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 08:13

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) ''

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday that New York City will paint ''Black Lives Matter'' on prominent streets in all five boroughs.

The message will be painted first on a street near City Hall, and then other locations in other boroughs in the days to come, the mayor said.

''A proposal put on the table was to name streets in each borough and to paint the words on the streets of this city. In each borough, at a crucial location,'' de Blasio said. ''What will be clear in the street name and on the streets of our city is that message that now our city must fully, fully, deeply feel '' and this nation must as well '' that Black Lives Matter.''

Web Extra: See the mayor's 6/9 presentation slides (.pdf)

The move comes after the mayor of Washington D.C. had ''Black Lives Matter'' painted on a street in huge letters near the White House.

WATCH: Mayor Bill de Blasio Gives Daily Update

The mayor again said the move to take money from the NYPD and apply it to youth initiatives will be finalized in the coming weeks.

De Blasio said that he supports four bills being considered by the City Council: A ban on chokeholds, a bill affirming people's right to record their interactions with the NYPD, a bill ensuring badge numbers are visible on police officers, and a bill to ensure early intervention on officers who need more training or monitoring.

De Blasio also announced the early expansion of his NYC Care initiative, providing health care to all residents of New York City.

The program, which was initially rolled out in the Bronx, and has since expanded to Brooklyn and Staten Island, and will now expand to Queens and Manhattan four months ahead of schedule.

The city will hire 26 providers to ensure NYC Care recipients will receive a new primary care appointment in two weeks, according to the mayor.

During his briefing on Tuesday, the mayor said his Task Force on Racial Inclusion and Equity, co-chaired by his wife Chirlane McCray, has returned with new initiatives regarding mental health care.

McCray said the city would be ''turbocharging'' the mental health support system of NYC Care, with a goal of reaching 10,000 New Yorkers in the city's hardest hit areas by December.

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Wed, 10 Jun 2020 08:09

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 18:41

Linda Samosn @ LSamosn

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@DavidMilley22 mouth? it's from the horse's other end

View conversation · Jody A Donohue '­¸'­¸'­¸ 🇨ðŸ‡...🐸 @ Jojo197040

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@DavidMilley22 Omg this thread is exciting! I had no idea so many were waking. My American patriots have kept me going, waiting for most people here In Canada to catch up. ðŸðŸ‚ðŸŒ

View conversation · 🇨ðŸ‡... David Q Milley 🇨ðŸ‡... @ DavidMilley22

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@Jojo197040 #WWG1WGA_WORLDWIDE View conversation · Randy Grover @ bioactive

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@DavidMilley22 Just googled population control measures. WHOOPS!! I think he slipped up again...

google.com/search?q=popul'... View conversation · DJ Groyper🷠@ DJGroyper

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@bioactive @DavidMilley22 Spread it

youtu.be/p8nnrJFJ_24 View conversation · Yukon PPC @ PpcYukon

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@DavidMilley22 Don't disrespect horses David.

View conversation · CanadiaNational @ NationalCanadia

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@DavidMilley22 Right up there with "diversity is a form of entropy".

View conversation · Yail Bloor @ Bloor_Yail

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@DavidMilley22 @Mr_Clean0007 Freudian slip?

View conversation · HighHeeledMom @ HighHeeledMom

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@DavidMilley22 Omg. How many more years of him??? ðŸ(C)

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 18:23

If NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is truly sorry for failing to listen to NFL players protesting racism, he can prove it by opening the door for ostracized free agent Colin Kaepernick to return to the league, the Reverend Al Sharpton said Tuesday at George Floyd's memorial service in Houston.

'The head of the NFL said, "Yeah, maybe we was wrong; football players, maybe they did have the right to peacefully protest,"' Sharpton said of Goodell's recent mea culpa in which he admitted he should have encouraged the protesting players over the last three years. 'Well, don't apologize. Give Colin Kaepernick a job back!'

The debate over NFL players kneeling in protest during the national anthem has only intensified since Floyd, a black man, died May 25 in Minneapolis after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. His death has spurred global protests against police brutality and racial injustice, which Kaepernick protested by kneeling during the national anthem beginning in August of 2016.

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If NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is truly sorry for failing to listen to NFL players protesting racism, he can prove it by opening the door for ostracized free agent Colin Kaepernick to return to the league, Reverend Al Sharpton said Tuesday at George Floyd's memorial service

On Friday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (right) released a video saying, in part, 'We, the National Football League, were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier.' However, he did so without mentioning the man who started the protests, Colin Kaepernick (left)

Kaepernick, 32, has not played since the end of the 2016 season, and he eventually settled a collusion case with the NFL last spring. Last fall, Kaepernick took part in a workout that was organized in part by the league, but the sides disagreed on several aspects of the workout, leading to a late change of location and lower attendance by scouts.

He has reportedly been training in hopes of an NFL return.

'Don't come with some empty apology,' Sharpton continued, referring to the NFL. 'Take a man's livelihood. Strip a man down of his talents. And four years later, when the whole world is marching, all of a sudden you go and do a FaceTime, talk about you sorry.

Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police has sparked outrage around the world

'Minimizing the value of our lives. You sorry? Then repay the damage you did to the career you stood down - because when Colin took a knee, he took it for for the families in this building. And we don't want an apology. We want him repaired.'

On Friday, Goodell released a video saying, in part, 'We, the National Football League, were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier.'

Goodell also encouraged all players to 'speak out and peacefully protest.'

That came in response to a video with more than a dozen star players -- including reigning Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes and Pro Bowlers Saquon Barkley and Deshaun Watson -- asking the league to admit it was wrong for 'silencing our players from peacefully protesting.' That video was reportedly produced with the help of a rogue NFL employee, who worked with New Orleans Saints wideout Michael Thomas.

Reaction to Goodell's video has been mixed.

New Orleans Saints safety and Players Coalition co-founder Malcolm Jenkins said the NFL's support of players fighting social injustice will not be enough if the league doesn't address the Kaepernick issue.

'I still don't think they've gotten it right,' Jenkins said Tuesday in an appearance on 'CBS This Morning.' 'Until they apologize specifically to Colin Kaepernick, or sign him to a team, I don't think that they will end up on the right side of history.

'At the end of the day, they've listened to their players, they've donated money, they've created an Inspire Change platform. They've tried to do things up unto this point. But it's been one player in particular that they have ignored and have not acknowledged, and that's Colin Kaepernick.'

.'.. That's the only thing people want to hear. If it's not going to correct that or acknowledge that, then everything else doesn't need to be said.'

Asked about Kaepernick during a video conference with reporters Tuesday, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said the free agent 'should have every opportunity' to be back in the league.

'He created awareness for a situation that, it's taking some time, but people are becoming more active in terms of their response to it,' Ryan said. 'So I think from that standpoint, his protest is being heard at this point. It might have taken too long, but I think he should have every opportunity to have a job and to have a spot in this league.'

A man protests outside of the training facility where the Colin Kaepernick private NFL workout was being held on November 16, 2019 in Flowery Branch, Georgia

A man waits outside of the training facility where the Colin Kaepernick private NFL workout was being held on November 16, 2019 in Flowery Branch, Georgia

In a piece published by TIME on Tuesday, Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller referenced Goodell's statement, saying the stance is 'great' as long as owners follow through.

'While it's great that the NFL made an official statement in support of Black Lives Matter and the right to peaceful protest, it will ultimately be up to the team owners to put league policy into action and walk the walk,' Miller wrote.

The debate over whether Kaepernick belongs in the league has been a constant theme over the last few years as many NFL teams have struggled to find competent quarterbacks.

Kaepernick did lead the 49ers to three consecutive NFC Championship games and one Super Bowl, and his career 88.9 quarterback rating is superior to the marks of several quarterbacks who started over the last three seasons.

New Orleans Saints safety and Players Coalition co-founder Malcolm Jenkins (center) said the NFL's support of players fighting social injustice will not be enough if the league doesn't address the Kaepernick issue

Recently All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins told GQ that he got mad in 2018 when the Houston Texans needed a quarterback but did not reach out to Kaepernick.

'Yeah, I was upset,' said Hopkins, now a member of the Arizona Cardinals who played for Houston in 2018. 'Everybody needed to give Kaep a look. He can help a team win. I've seen a lot of quarterbacks that's not as good as Kaep, but teams don't want the heat behind them.'

Over his six-year NFL career, Kaepernick completed 59.8 percent of his passes for 12,271 yards, 72 touchdowns and just 30 interceptions. He also ran for 2,300 yards and 13 touchdowns, gaining 6.1 yards per carry.

Previously both Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said they feel as though Kaepernick is good enough to be playing in the NFL, and Rogers went so far as to tell ESPN that he believes the former University of Nevada star remains a free agent because of the protests.

However, Kaepernick won only 11 of 35 starts from 2014 to 2016, and had lost his starting job by the end of the 2016 campaign in San Francisco.

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 16:47

Log in Sign up TheSharpEdge @ TheSharpEdge1 I'm sorry, Chicago. You're screwed. This is your Mayor.SOUND ON: Must listen leaked audio (language warning)

pic.twitter.com/100bO09dLC 8:21 AM - 9 Jun 2020 Twitter by: TheSharpEdge @TheSharpEdge1 TrumpLady-TN '­'­'­ @ wglady

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@TheSharpEdge1 @C_3C_3 @LoriLightfoot @LoriLightfoot YOU should be charged with being complicit in any MURDER OR ASSAULT commitment in Chicago. Plain and simple 🤬

View conversation · TheArmyforTrump.com @ Conservative4T1

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@wglady @Nancy_NotPelosi and

3 others Committed...(darned autocorrect!) I wholeheartedly agree!

View conversation · Attas 🌐 @ AdvHntr

4h Replying to

@Cherharris7 @TheSharpEdge1 Nothing is wrong with that! But the people at the top of those bureaucratic food chains are all black. Kinda makes it hard to whine about "systemic racism" when the "system" is run by black people.

View conversation · @cb3 #Flu Szn ðŸ... ðŸ­'£¸ @ Cee_Bee_3

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@AdvHntr @Cherharris7 @TheSharpEdge1 Preach brother. This country is being torn apart rn b/c of political manipulation by Liberals at every turn. And it's amazing that a party who constantly divides and puts every little thing into a racial lens, is the same party who has their bootheels on Minorities.

View conversation · BoumtjeBoumtje '­¸'­¸'­¸ @ BoumtjeBoumtje

1h Replying to

@TheSharpEdge1 @DA_Memes1 Holy $#!t''Mayor Lightfoot'' ... whew buddy is that ever ironic👇

@DA_Memes1pic.twitter.com/kgFQv0FiOi View conversation · KC TacoBowl Covfefe👠🇺🇸 @ 1Kimsey

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@TheSharpEdge1 @threadreaderapp @threadreaderapp please unroll

View conversation · Thread Reader App @ threadreaderapp

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@1Kimsey @TheSharpEdge1 Namaste, please find the unroll here:

@TheSharpEdge1: I'm sorry, Chicago. You're screwed. This is your Mayor. SOUND ON: Must listen leaked audio (language'...

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1270375'... See you soon. 🤖

View conversation · Nita Phillips @ 4truth2017

3h Replying to

@silverkait @AdvHntr @TheSharpEdge1 Exactly! Cities with white Democrat mayors are in just as much danger.

View conversation · Hatz @ hatrat

2h Replying to

@4truth2017 @silverkait and

2 others Yet they qll@keep@saying ''get out and vote'' with the underlying message of vote Democrat.

#idiots!

#Democrats are what started and continue this mess!

#KAG2020 View conversation · Shannon Alexander @ Dogtrainer30

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 16:44

Log in Sign up Breaking911 @ Breaking911 NY Police Union Boss Mike O'Meara: ''Stop treating us like animals and thugs, and start treating us with some respect! '-- We've been vilified. It's disgusting.''''Our legislators abandoned us. The press is vilifying us. It's disgusting."

pic.twitter.com/snJBH6i3Lz 12:41 PM - 9 Jun 2020 Twitter by: August Takala @AugustTakala Chaz Halloran @ Schnazychazy

2h Replying to

@Breaking911 Nah after seeing buffalo PD and how they treat people, I'd say they did it to themselves

View conversation · dan mccrory @ danmccrory6

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@Schnazychazy @Breaking911 No one said they are perfect. They are also humans. There are good and bad cops but the vast majority are good. Don't be a punk.

View conversation · Alice @ themodalice

2h Replying to

@Breaking911 God Bless our courageous men and women in blue. Shame on the left for being the party of chaos, lawlessness and destruction.

View conversation · MJNY @ Elgianne

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@themodalice @Breaking911 Except when it comes to the Democrats PERSONAL safety. Then they want the police.

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@Breaking911 Facts

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@Breaking911 Blue Lives Matter

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@CeoReplies @Breaking911 Blahhhh.

pic.twitter.com/IiSqXxsUhb View conversation · LeoArt 🇺🇸 🇨🇺 @ LeoRezArt

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@Breaking911 he aint wrong

View conversation · JðŸ…🏽''‚¸ðŸ'¯on a thousandðŸ…🏽''‚¸ @ redz001DC

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@LeoRezArt @Breaking911 Oh you one of those PR people !!! Your ancestors!!!

pic.twitter.com/hS1Q8yzqZs View conversation · BuffaloGruden @ Buffalo_Gruden

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@Breaking911 Walk off the job and show the politicians and media what it looks like when law enforcement is not there...

View conversation · RaiderFanOnXanax @ Ih8peoplemostly

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@Buffalo_Gruden @Breaking911 Retire/Early Retirement. Show everyone what a lawless city looks like and make them pay for the pleasure of it.

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 16:35

(CNN) Kennedy Mitchum wasn't expecting much when she emailed Merriam-Webster last month, but she wanted to let the dictionary publisher know that she thought its definition of the word racism was inadequate.

So she was surprised when an editor responded and even more surprised that the company agreed to update the entry.

Mitchum has gotten into a lot conversations about racism and injustice where people have pointed to the dictionary to prove that they're not racist. It's happened a lot more lately as the world reacts to the death of George Floyd while in the custody of four Minneapolis police officers.

The 22-year-old Mitchum recently graduated from Drake University and lives in Florissant, Missouri, just a few miles away from Ferguson, where protests over the 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown helped solidify the Black Lives Matter movement.

"I kept having to tell them that definition is not representative of what is actually happening in the world," she told CNN. "The way that racism occurs in real life is not just prejudice it's the systemic racism that is happening for a lot of black Americans."

Merriam-Webster's first definition of racism is "a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race."

Mitchum said many people she's talked to use that to dismiss her concerns about racism and overlook broader issues of racial inequality because they don't personally feel that way about people of color.

Mitchum said she sent her email on a Thursday night and got a reply from editor Alex Chambers the next morning.

After a few emails, Chambers agreed that the entry should be updated and said a new definition is being drafted.

"This revision would not have been made without your persistence in contacting us about this problem," Chambers said in the email, which was provided to CNN. "We sincerely thank you for repeatedly writing in and apologize for the harm and offense we have caused in failing to address this issue sooner."

Peter Sokolowski, an editor at large at Merriam-Webster, told CNN that their entry also defines racism as "a doctrine or political program based on the assumption of racism and designed to execute its principles" and "a political or social system founded on racism," which would cover systematic racism and oppression.

"I think we can express this more clearly to bring the idea of an asymmetrical power structure into the language of this definition, but it's there," Sokolowski said.

He said that dictionary definitions have traditionally been short, because they had to fit so many words into their print editions. That's no longer the case since so many people use the dictionary online.

Sokolowski said they update the dictionary two or three times a year to keep it as up-to-date as possible. He said the new language will probably be ready for the next update.

"The mission for [Noah] Webster himself, you know, back in his first dictionary in 1806, was to essentially present the current active vocabulary of American English and that's still our mission today," Sokolowski said.

Mitchum said she hopes the vocabulary change helps people have more productive conversations about race. She said she appreciated them taking her concerns seriously and talking through the issue.

"I was super happy because I really felt like that was a step in a good direction for a lot of positive change for a lot of different positive conversations that can really help change the world and helps change how people view things," she said.

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 16:19

Tony Plohetski USA TODAY NETWORKTuesday Jun 9, 2020 at 9:36 AM

Javier Ambler was driving home from a friendly poker game in the early hours of March 28, 2019, when a Williamson County sheriff's deputy noticed that he failed to dim the headlights of his SUV to oncoming traffic.

Twenty-eight minutes later, the black father of two sons lay dying on a north Austin street after deputies held him down and used Tasers on him four times while a crew from A&E's reality show ''Live PD'' filmed.

Ambler, a 40-year-old former postal worker, repeatedly pleaded for mercy, telling deputies he had congestive heart failure and couldn't breathe. He cried, ''Save me,'' before deputies deployed a final shock.

His death never made headlines.

Now, after months of questioning and requests for information from the Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV, police have recently released documents and video that shed light on that fatal night at a time when the nation confronts decades of injustice against minorities by law enforcement. The Austin American-Statesman is part of the USA TODAY Network.

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Protests have roiled the country since the Memorial Day death of George Floyd, a black man pinned under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer for nearly nine minutes as he lost consciousness and never regained it.

Communities throughout central Texas have called for police reforms and transparency amid the racial unrest and the recent death of Michael Ramos, an unarmed black Hispanic man killed by Austin police. The details of Ambler's deadly encounter with Williamson County deputies, which came to light only because of ongoing media pressure, bring intensified focus on the need for accountability among law enforcement agencies.

Ambler's death also renews scrutiny on a suburban agency that has been under fire for more than a year, largely because of its relationship with the reality TV show.

Critics of Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody, a lottery-made millionaire, say he has chosen cable show stardom over public safety. They also worry that the presence of TV cameras leads deputies to forsake prudent policing for dramatic television.

The deputies' decisions to chase and repeatedly use their Tasers on a man who simply failed to dim his lights prompts questions about the agency's practice of pursuing drivers for minor crimes.

''It is of very serious concern to any of us who are in law enforcement that the decision to engage in that chase was driven by more of a need to provide entertainment than to keep Williamson County citizens safe,'' said Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore.

Some 15 months after Ambler's death, Moore's civil rights division is still investigating the incident. After questioning from an American-Statesman reporter, she said her office plans to present the case to a grand jury.

Investigators say Chody and ''Live PD'' producers have repeatedly stonewalled their efforts to obtain evidence or interviews with the officers involved.

Chody said Monday that because of the ongoing criminal investigation into what happened, he is unable to comment on Ambler's death.

Ambler's parents still have few answers about their son's death. Until last week, they knew only that he died in police custody. Reporters informed them he was chased after a minor traffic violation.

''He's dead. How?'' Ambler's mother, Maritza, sobbed in a recent interview. ''I can't have any closure because I need to know.''

She said she has been plagued by nightmares that her son met the same tragic fate as Floyd.

''I woke up, and I wasn't able to see,'' Maritza Ambler said. ''But he came to me and he wanted to tell me. He wanted to show me what happened to him."

What happened that night

As Deputy J.J. Johnson, who is regularly featured on ''Live PD,'' patrolled the quiet suburban roads just north of Austin last March, a film crew rode along with him.

When Ambler passed with his brights on at 1:23 a.m., the deputy turned his car around and flipped on the flashing lights.

Ambler didn't stop. Johnson gave chase.

For the next 22 minutes, the two vehicles sped across highways and onto neighborhood streets. As he drove, Johnson narrated for the TV crew, telling them what he thought was going on in Ambler's mind.

As they crossed into Travis County, Austin officers were instructed not to get involved in the pursuit because they are allowed only to chase dangerous criminals.

Ambler smashed his Honda Pilot into stationary objects four times before crashing a final time near East St. Johns and Bethune avenues, just east of Interstate 35 north of downtown Austin at 1:45 a.m.

Johnson, who had no backup at the time, drew his gun and ordered Ambler to get out of his car, raise his hands and get on the ground. Ambler, a 400-pound former football player, got out and showed his hands. Johnson, who is black and about half Ambler's size, holstered his gun and pulled out his Taser.

''Get down!'' Johnson repeated several times.

When Ambler appeared to turn toward his car door, Johnson used his Taser, according to an internal investigative report the Statesman obtained under the Texas Public Information Act. Ambler fell on one knee, rolled onto his back and stomach and acted as though he was trying to stand.

''You'll get it again,'' Johnson shouted.

Backup Deputy Zachary Camden, who is white and was also accompanied by a ''Live PD'' crew, arrived and shoved his Taser into Ambler's upper back ''in a drive-stun motion.''

As the struggle continued, deputies used a Taser on Ambler a third time, though the report said it was unclear which man deployed his weapon.

An Austin police officer arrived on the scene as the deputies struggled to put handcuffs on Ambler. Body camera video from that officer captured the final minutes of Ambler's life.

Deputies yell at Ambler to lay on his stomach and put his hands behind his back. One presses a Taser into his upper back.

''I have congestive heart failure,'' Ambler says. ''I have congestive heart failure. I can't breathe.''

As the deputies scream orders, Ambler, between gasps, tells them he's trying to follow their commands. Another four times he tells the deputies he can't breathe.

''I am not resisting,'' Ambler cries. ''Sir, I can't breathe. '... Please. '... Please.''

The deputies, who are on top of Ambler, continue yelling at him to put his arms behind his back.

''Save me,'' Ambler cries.

''Do what we're asking you to do!'' a deputy yells.

''I can't,'' Ambler says, the last words the video captures from him just before one of the deputies deploys his Taser a fourth and final time at 1:47 a.m.

Ambler's hands go limp, and the deputies place handcuffs around his wrists.

Moments later, they realized he was unconscious and his pulse had stopped.

Deputies performed CPR for four minutes until medics arrived.

Medics and doctors at Dell Seton Medical Center worked for 50 minutes to keep Ambler alive. He was pronounced dead at 2:37 a.m.

By sunrise, a swarm of officers, including Chody, were at the scene. Chody posted on Twitter at 5:12 a.m.: ''At the conclusion of a vehicle pursuit involving WCSO and APD, (an) in custody death occurred. Both agencies are conducting a parallel investigation. This is an active investigation, therefore, no other information is available at this time.''

A death-in-custody report filed with the Texas attorney general's office '-- a procedure required anytime a person dies in police custody '-- said Ambler did not attempt to, nor did he assault deputies, and he did not verbally threaten others nor attempt to get control of any officers' weapons.

The most serious charge he would have faced was evading arrest, a low-level felony with a maximum of 10 years in prison, the report said.

Protocols that Chody put in place Feb. 28, 2020, say a car chase is justified only when a deputy believes a person has committed a crime ''for which there is an immediate need for apprehension.'' The department's pursuit policy from last year was not immediately available.

Williamson County Sheriff's Department internal affairs investigators concluded in a report that deputies did nothing wrong and had not violated the agency's pursuit or use-of-force policies.

There is no indication in the report that the deputies faced any action against them or were forced to take time off because of the incident.

Ambler's death was ruled a homicide, according to the report made to the state attorney general's office, which noted that the homicide could have been ''justifiable.'' An autopsy showed Ambler died of congestive heart failure and hypertensive cardiovascular disease associated with morbid obesity ''in combination with forcible restraint.''

'I just lost it'

Ambler, the oldest of two children and son of a retired Army veteran and hospital scheduling clerk, grew up on military installations before the family settled outside Fort Hood, Texas, in 1991.

He had a strict upbringing, and his parents said he appreciated authority.

"Just be respectful,'' Javier Ambler Sr. said he taught his son. '' 'Yes, sir. No, sir.' And just be professional. Be respectful."

The elder Ambler said he never had extensive conversations with his son '-- he called him his ''foxhole buddy'' '-- about what to do if he was stopped by police. In more recent years, his mother said, she often warned her son about interactions with law enforcement.

"I would mention it to him, just to remind him, he is a minority,'' Maritza Ambler said. ''You have that against you, your color."

Javier Ambler was a defensive end at Ellison High School in Killeen and got a football scholarship to Blinn College before enrolling at Prairie View A&M University.

After leaving college, his parents said, he worked for UPS and then was recruited to join the United States Postal Service as a rural route carrier. After the Postal Service began downsizing a couple of years ago, Ambler, who was living in Pflugerville, got a job working with two property management companies in Austin, making sure apartments were ready for new tenants.

He also enjoyed cooking and would prepare and sell Latin dishes or fried chicken and macaroni and cheese at various venues in the Austin area.

"He had friends, black, white, no matter '-- all different nationalities, all kinds of race, because that is the kind of person he was,'' his mother said.

He spent as much time as he could with his sons, a 15-year-old who now lives in Killeen with Ambler's parents and a 4-year-old living with his mother in the Austin area. The Amblers said their son coached his older son's community football league and took his sons to University of Texas football games.

The morning after his death, police arrived at Ambler's parents' home in Killeen. The officers were brief, saying only that their son had died in police custody.

"I said, 'How am I going to tell his mom,''' Javier Ambler said. ''I broke down. I fell. How am I going to tell his mom?"

Maritza Ambler said she was at her desk at the hospital when she got a call instructing her to rush home.

Police cars were parked outside when she arrived, and a couple of officers rushed her inside as neighbors watched from their front porches.

''I said, 'What happened?' And I just lost it,'' she said.

''Dads should not have to bury their sons,'' Javier Ambler said.

Troubling questions

Because the chase ended in Austin, the Austin Police Department Special Investigations Unit is investigating with Moore's Civil Rights Unit.

The Statesman began looking into the case in February after investigators said they were troubled about what they were learning and frustrated that they felt stymied by Williamson County's failure to cooperate.

But it is unclear how aggressively investigators acted with the information they did have, including what steps they took to obtain video from ''Live PD'' and how quickly they took them. Moore said she is troubled that the show so far has produced no video.

Reporters submitted requests Feb. 27 to the Williamson County sheriff's office for records relating to the internal investigation into Ambler's death. The agency refused to release any materials.

On May 18, the Texas attorney general's office ordered Chody's office to release some documents, and the department made public a three-page internal investigative report and the statement of a deputy who arrived at the scene at the conclusion of the chase.

In the past 10 days, reporters submitted a request under the Texas Public Information Act to the Austin Police Department for videos in the case and appealed to Moore and police Chief Brian Manley to release them.

In a highly unusual step, they did so Saturday night, making public body camera footage from an Austin police officer who arrived at the scene as the encounter was happening.

Moore said she will take the case to a grand jury that she will convene to also hear the case of Ramos, who was unarmed when he was shot and killed April 24 by an Austin police officer.

Moore said that because of the coronavirus pandemic, grand juries have been unable to meet for months and that state court administrators have said they may not do so again until August. Moore said she will seek permission this week to convene the grand jury before August.

Reality show at center of case

Investigators say they are disturbed about what happened to Ambler and how the Williamson sheriff's officials have responded to his death.

They are troubled that deputies went to such extraordinary lengths to capture Ambler for a minor offense. They also have grave concerns about the consequences of having ''Live PD'' camera crews at the scene.

''Live PD'' did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.

In the past three years, more than half of the nearly 100 pursuits initiated by Williamson County deputies were for traffic violations, according to department records.

Chody said Monday that he does not believe the department's current, more restrictive, pursuit policy was in place during the chase that led to Ambler's death.

He said in his more than three years in office, he has tried to move past what he said was a tradition of ''chase until the wheels fall off'' and encourage deputies to end chases. He said he has also bolstered oversight of pursuits.

Law enforcement agencies nationally have scaled back on high-speed pursuits. The International Association of Chiefs of Police recommends chases only when ''the suspect, if allowed to flee, would present a danger to human life or cause serious injury.''

None of the reports so far made public about the incident indicate there would have been any reason to believe Ambler was a dangerous criminal.

Ambler had been convicted previously in Texas for two minor crimes, once in 2001 for misdemeanor marijuana possession and in 2004 for driving with an invalid license.

Yale University psychology professor John Dovidio said it is neither uncommon nor unreasonable for a person of color who encounters police to run from them, even if they have not committed a crime, because of America's long history of violence between minorities and law enforcement officers.

''Blacks tend to see police as occupiers, as oppressors, as people who have mistreated them in the past,'' Dovidio said. ''This is not just being paranoid; there's enough historical evidence to make that credible.''

The case also adds fuel to a year-long fight between Chody and Williamson County commissioners about his department's participation in ''Live PD.'' Chody has said the show offers viewers a first-hand experience of policing, has raised the profile of his agency and is a valuable recruiting tool.

But Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick has said he's concerned that ''Live PD'' refuses to provide prosecutors with video footage it collects while on patrol with deputies.

''It is getting very difficult for my prosecutors to uphold their statutory and Constitutional obligations to disclose evidence when prosecuting sheriff's department cases," Dick said.

Days after Dick raised those concerns in 2019, Williamson County commissioners ended a contract with the show.

In March of this year, however, filming resumed when Chody signed his own agreement with producers, prompting commissioners to issue a ''cease and desist'' order to the sheriff's office.

Chody refused to comply, and in May, the county sued him.

''Sheriff Chody can perform the core duties of sheriff without the live TV show,'' the lawsuit said. ''But he doesn't want to. Instead, Sheriff Chody seeks social media and TV exposure like a moth to a light bulb '' and he's flown out of his job description to get back on TV."

In the year since their son's death, Ambler's father says he has struggled with depression and anxiety.

His mother has had to retire, too distracted to perform the job she loved at a Bell County hospital. She wears a locket infused with some of her son's ashes and has devoted a wall in their home to memories of him. On holidays, the Amblers keep a place setting at the family table with a picture of their son, who always delivered blessings.

Until March 2019, the Amblers lived a quiet and unassuming life. Now, they say they are on a quest for answers. And for justice for their son.

They are also begging law enforcement to take a critical look at itself. Without reform, they fear for the safety of the next generation of minorities, especially their grandsons, Ambler's father said.

''This has got to stop.''

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Archived Version

Tue, 09 Jun 2020 12:41

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Archived Version

Tue, 09 Jun 2020 12:37

A group of NFL players released a powerful video this week calling on the sports league to support black players, call out racism and admit ''wrong in silencing our players from peacefully protesting'' amid the death of George Floyd.

''It's been 10 days since George Floyd was brutally murdered. How many times do we need to ask you to listen to your players? What will it take? For one of us to be murdered by police brutality? What if I was George Floyd?'' the group of players said together in a video released Thursday.

''Š pic.twitter.com/ltJwmjVVMW

'-- Saquon Barkley (@saquon) June 5, 2020Football stars taking part included the Super Bowl MVP, Patrick Mahomes, as well as Odell Beckham Jr., DeAndre Hopkins, Tyrann Mathieu, Ezekiel Elliott and Saquon Barkley.

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas, who criticized his teammate Drew Brees this week after the star quarterback criticized those kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial justice, was also in the video.

''I am George Floyd. I am Breonna Taylor. I am Ahmaud Arbery. I am Eric Garner. I am Laquan McDonald. I am Tamir Rice. I am Trayvon Martin. I am Walter Scott. I am Michael Brown Jr. I am Samuel Dubose. I am Frank Smart. I am Phillip White. I am Jordan Baker,'' the group said.

''We will not be silenced. We assert our right to peacefully protest. It shouldn't take this long to admit. So, on behalf of the National Football League, this is what we, the players, would like to hear you state: We, the National Football League condemn racism and the systematic oppression of black people. We, the National Football League admit wrong in silencing our players from peacefully protesting. We, the National Football League believe black lives matter.''

The video comes as protests have broken out across the country over the death of Floyd, an unarmed black man who died last week after a former Minneapolis officer was seen in bystander video kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest.

The Brees comments underscored the controversy in the league surrounding former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who sued the NFL after no team would hire him following protests in which he knelt during the national anthem.

Kaepernick has since become both a leader and a symbol of the movement for racial justice in the country.

The NFL also saw controversy this week when Vic Fangio, the head coach of the Denver Broncos, said that he does not "see racism at all in the NFL. I don't see discrimination in the NFL."

Fangio apologized Wednesday for his comments, saying, "While I have never personally experienced those terrible things first-hand during my 33 years in the NFL, I understand many players, coaches and staff have different perspectives."

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 12:14

NEW YORK (AP) '-- NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league was wrong for not listening to players fighting for racial equality and encouraged them to peacefully protest.

One day after 2018 NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes and several of his peers released a video demanding the league condemn racism, Goodell made his strongest statement on the issues many players passionately support.

George Floyd's death has ignited nationwide protests over racial injustice and police brutality, issues former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began speaking out against in 2016 when he started taking a knee during the national anthem.

''It has been a difficult time for our country. In particular, black people in our country,'' Goodell said in a video released Friday. ''First, my condolences to the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and all the families who have endured police brutality. We, the National Football League, condemn racism and the systematic oppression of black people. We, the National Football League, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest. We, the National Football League, believe Black Lives Matter. I personally protest with you and want to be part of the much needed change in this country.

''Without black players, there would be no National Football League. And the protests around the country are emblematic of the centuries of silence, inequality and oppression of black players, coaches, fans and staff. We are listening. I am listening, and I will be reaching out to players who have raised their voices and others on how we can improve and go forward for a better and more united NFL family.''

___

More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 12:02

Colin Kaepernick was a second-round draft pick in 2011. The next year he led the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl. By 2016, he had begun kneeling on the sideline at games during the national anthem to protest social injustice and police brutality.

Soon after, he was gone from the NFL, and he has not played since. Here's a timeline of Kaepernick's pro football and post-NFL days since he first kneeled during ''The Star-Spangled Banner.''

Aug. 26, 2016: During the anthem before a Packers-49ers preseason game, Kaepernick sits on the San Francisco bench. Kaepernick says he sat because the country ''oppresses black people and people of color.'' His action does not attract immediate national attention. He mentions that he had earlier not stood for the anthem.

Aug. 27, 2016: Kaepernick's sitdown begins drawing headlines. Some condemn him for dishonoring the flag and country. Others applaud his motives. The NFL says players are encouraged but not required to stand for the anthem.

Aug. 30, 2016: Former NFL player and ex-Green Beret Nate Boyer suggests to Kaepernick to kneel rather than sit during the anthem.

Sept. 1, 2016: Kaepernick kneels before a road game against the Chargers and says he will donate $1 million to organizations supporting his aims.

Sept. 5, 2016: President Barack Obama defends Kaepernick's protest, saying it is his constitutional right.

Sept. 7, 2016: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says he ''doesn't necessarily agree with what (Kaepernick) is doing,'' but supports players who seek changes in society.

Sept. 11, 2016: On the first full day of the regular season, several players kneel during the anthem.

Sept. 12, 2016: Kaepernick and safety Eric Reid kneel before the 49ers' home game against the Rams. Kaepernick is rehabbing a knee injury and doesn't play.

Sept. 27, 2016: After criticism from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Kaepernick responds: ''He always says make America great again. Well, America has never been great for people of color. That's something that needs to be addressed. Let's make America great for the first time.''

Oct. 16, 2016: Kaepernick returns as 49ers starter in a 45-16 loss at Buffalo and remains the starter the rest of the season.

Jan. 1, 2017: Kaepernick plays his final NFL game, a 25-23 loss to Seattle.

March 3, 2017: His stint with the 49ers, who planned to cut him, ends as Kaepernick opts out of his contract.

Aug. 25, 2017: Although several teams have shown moderate interest in Kaepernick, he gets no contract offers. Supporters say team owners are blackballing him, and a group rallies outside NFL headquarters in Manhattan.

Sept. 10, 2017: Without Kaepernick in the league, players still kneel during the anthem.

Sept. 26, 2017: Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones locks arms and kneels with his players before the anthem but stand while it's played.

Oct. 15, 2017: Kaepernick files a grievance against NFL team owners, citing collusion to keep him out of the league.

Dec. 31, 2017: NFL season ends with Kaepernick unemployed.

April 18, 2018: As part of their collusion claim, Kaepernick and his representatives depose Goodell and a variety of NFL owners and executives, including Jones.

May 23, 2018: NFL owners approve a rule banning kneeling during the anthem. Players have the option to stay in the locker room. President Trump applauds the rule. NFL owners soon retract the rule because of its divisiveness.

Sept. 3, 2018: As the regular season approaches without Kaepernick again, Nike makes the quarterback the focal point of its sports advertising campaign. ''Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything. #JustDoIt.'' There are calls for boycotting Nike as well as praise for the apparel company.

Sept. 9, 2018: A second straight season begins with Kaepernick not on a roster, but with some players still kneeling during the anthem.

Sept. 26, 2018: Reid, a free agent, finally finds a team, the Carolina Panthers, and is congratulated on social media by Kaepernick.

Dec. 30, 2018: The regular season ends. Kaepernick remains without an NFL offer.

Feb. 15, 2019: The NFL reaches settlements with Kaepernick and Reid on collusion grievances. Monetary figures are not disclosed.

Aug. 8, 2019: Eyeing an NFL job, Kaepernick sends social media message to teams that includes a video of him working out.

Sept. 8, 2019: The third consecutive full opening day of an NFL season without Kaepernick.

Nov. 18, 2019: Finally, a workout with NFL teams, but chaos ensues. Kaepernick moves the session in Atlanta, contending the league was not transparent in how it would be run, who would attend and who would be liable for potential injuries. A limited number of teams make it to the workout. Says Kaepernick: ''We all know why. I came out there and showed it today in front of everybody. Stop running from the truth. Stop running from the people.''

Dec. 29, 2019: The season ends with Kaepernick unsigned.

Feb. 13, 2020: Kaepernick announces he will write a memoir, though he still wants to play football.

May 29, 2020: Sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer in Minneapolis pressed a knee into his neck for nearly nine minutes, Kaepernick offers support to nationwide protesters. ''We have the right to fight back! Rest in power George Floyd.''

May 30, 2020: The NFL's statement on Floyd's death and the ensuing protests mentions Kaepernick's demonstrations during the anthem.

June 4, 2020: Many of Kaepernick's supporters within the league release a video urging the NFL to denounce racism and further promote social justice.

June 5, 2020: In a video, Goodell apologizes to players for not listening to them earlier. He encourages them to protest peacefully and denounces racism. He says the league will be part of ''how we can improve and go forward for a better and more united NFL family.''

June 5, 2020: Trump reiterates his criticism of Kaepernick after New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees apologizes for comments about protesters' goals: The president says on Twitter the player ''should not have taken back his original stance on honoring our magnificent American Flag. OLD GLORY is to be revered, cherished, and flown high... We should be standing up straight and tall, ideally with a salute, or a hand on heart. There are other things you can protest, but not our Great American Flag - NO KNEELING!''

AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi and Sports Writer Ben Nuckols contributed.

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 11:26

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser renamed a section of a street in front of the White House ''Black Lives Matter Plaza'' on Friday as protests engulf the city in response to George Floyd's death.

''The section of 16th street in front of the White House is now officially 'Black Lives Matter Plaza,''' the Democratic mayor tweeted Friday morning along with a video of the new street sign being hung.

The section of 16th street in front of the White House is now officially ''Black Lives Matter Plaza''. pic.twitter.com/bbJgAYE35b

'-- Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) June 5, 2020

Artists with a Department of Public Works project called MuralsDC teamed up with volunteers to paint ''Black Lives Matter'' in yellow letters on the road leading up to the White House, NPR reported.

TRENDING: Candace Owens Exposes George Floyd's Criminal Past, Says She Does Not Support Him as a Martyr

#BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/OQg6977n5r

'-- Muriel Bowser (@MurielBowser) June 5, 2020

''There was a dispute this week about whose street this is,'' Bowser's chief of staff, John Falcicchio, tweeted.

''Mayor Bowser wanted to make it abundantly clear that this is DC's street and to honor demonstrators who peacefully protesting on Monday evening.''

Do you think this will create more tension in the country?

98% (443 Votes)

2% (8 Votes)

During a media conference on Friday, Bowser explained the reasoning behind renaming the street.

''There are people who are craving to be heard and to be seen, and to have their humanity recognized, and we had the opportunity to send that message loud and clear on a very important street in our city,'' Bowser said.

''And it is that message, and that message is to the American people, that black lives matter, black humanity matters, and we as a city raise that up as part of our values as a city.''

Despite her goals, the official D.C. chapter of the Black Lives Matter Global Network suggested in a tweet that it wasn't enough.

''This is a performative distraction from real policy changes,'' the group tweeted. ''Bowser has consistently been on the wrong side of BLMDC history. This is to appease white liberals while ignoring our demands.''

RELATED: Man Shows Up to Protest in Blackface, Walks Away in Handcuffs

This is a performative distraction from real policy changes. Bowser has consistently been on the wrong side of BLMDC history. This is to appease white liberals while ignoring our demands. Black Lives Matter means defund the police. @emilymbadger say it with us https://t.co/w0ekwSG1ip

'-- BlackLivesMatter DC (@DMVBlackLives) June 5, 2020

Bowser responded to this statement during her media conference Friday, according to NPR.

''Black Lives Matter is a very critical of police; they're critical of me,'' she said.

''But that doesn't mean that I don't see them and support the things that will make our community safe, and that we don't all have a larger responsibility in the nation's capital to send that very clear message to our nation.''

President Donald Trump also criticized Bowser on Friday, calling her ''grossly incompetent.''

He tweeted: ''@MayorBowser is grossly incompetent, and in no way qualified to be running an important city like Washington, D.C.''

.@MayorBowser is grossly incompetent, and in no way qualified to be running an important city like Washington, D.C. If the great men and women of the National Guard didn't step forward, she would have looked no better than her counterpart Mayor in Minneapolis!

'-- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2020

''If the great men and women of the National Guard didn't step forward, she would have looked no better than her counterpart Mayor in Minneapolis!''

Trump and Bowser have recently clashed over the presence of the National Guard in response to the protests that have swept the nation.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 11:26

Uber is giving black-owned businesses a competitive advantage over everyone else, according to a new policy unveiled last week by its CEO.

In a statement posted on Twitter, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced that Uber Eats will promote black-owned restaurants and that it will not charge delivery fees from those restaurants ''for the remainder of the year.''

The app will initially take anyone who opens it to a list of black-owned restaurants, Yahoo News wrote in explaining how the new policy will work.

The statement said that next up will be ''discounted rides to black-owned small businesses, who have been hit hard by COVID-19'' from Uber. The statement did not provide details.

https://t.co/j2HXSHT2wX pic.twitter.com/3NlmgZeYa5

'-- Uber (@Uber) June 5, 2020

TRENDING: Candace Owens Exposes George Floyd's Criminal Past, Says She Does Not Support Him as a Martyr

Lest anyone forget the reason for the policy, Khosrowshahi wrote that Uber identifies with those in the streets protesting after the death of George Floyd, the Minnesota man who died in police custody on May 25.

''I wish that the lives of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and countless others weren't so violently cut short,'' she wrote.

Arbery was killed in a Brunswick, Georgia, shooting on Feb. 23 for which three white men have been arrested. Taylor was killed March 13 in Louisville, Kentucky, by police during a search of her apartment. Police have said they were shot at before they opened fire, according to The Washington Post.

Do you think Uber is setting itself up for a court challenge with this policy?

97% (76 Votes)

3% (2 Votes)

''I wish that institutional racism, and the police violence it gives rise to, didn't cause their deaths,'' Khosrowshahi wrote.

Khosrowshahi wrote that ''Black Americans often don't feel safe to move freely in many places around our country.''

The new Uber Eats app will be available in major cities in the U.S. and Canada.

The action was controversial.

Why this discrimination based on color of skin?

'-- Mama Africa (@Vicky_291989) June 4, 2020

RELATED: Kayleigh McEnany, WH Slap Down AOC's 'Racist' Attack on Press Secretary

I'm pretty sure this is illegal

Imagine doing this for white owned businesses

Hypocritical racist billion dollar companies virtue signaling through racism is incredibly insensitive

+ you're violating discrimination laws in many states

Absolute bad move

'-- ELIJAH (@ElijahSchaffer) June 6, 2020

I've always eaten where I wanted, never once did it cross my mind to eat somewhere because the owner was white, black, asian, or any other background! I'm not starting now.We are all Americans, I'm not choosing one race over another, Enough with the virtue signaling!

'-- John Quinn🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JohnQui52641772) June 5, 2020

The effort to support black-owned businesses responds to customer requests, the company said, according to The Daily Mail.

Uber did not ask for racial data when eating places registered. Its employees compiled the list of black-owned restaurants using publicly available sources and through local organizations and business associations.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 11:25

Amid calls from protesters demanding the New York City yank funding from the New York Police Department, Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday said the city is going to do just that.

''This morning we committed to move resources from the NYPD to youth and social services as part of our City's budget. Our young people need to be reached, not policed. We can do this AND keep our city safe,'' de Blasio tweeted.

This morning we committed to move resources from the NYPD to youth and social services as part of our City's budget.

Our young people need to be reached, not policed.

We can do this AND keep our city safe.

'-- Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) June 7, 2020

The changes have been recommended by mayoral task force on racial inclusion. That panel is co-chaired by Chirlane McCray, de Blasio's spouse, according to WCBS.

TRENDING: Candace Owens Exposes George Floyd's Criminal Past, Says She Does Not Support Him as a Martyr

''This is a beginning. I want it to be abundantly clear to all New Yorkers. These are first steps to what will be 18 months of making intense change in this city. The work of this task force is crucial,'' de Blasio said. ''This is a transformative moment.''

Some disagreed with the mayor.

New York's Mayor DeBlasio has committed that he will begin the process of defunding the NYPD.

There's no good way for this to end.

'-- Lauren Boebert for Congress (R-CO3) (@laurenboebert) June 7, 2020

He is literally trying to destroy the City.

'-- Brian C. Martin (@AustinTx4Life) June 7, 2020

Meanwhile, Fox News host Sean Hannity tweeted a reference to a story from The New York Times about New York City's population decline.

''More than 400,000 Residents Flee NYC Due to Virus, Taxes, Protests, Shutdown,'' Hannity tweeted.

More than 400,000 Residents Flee NYC Due to Virus, Taxes, Protests, Shutdown https://t.co/cg99A513jw

'-- Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) June 7, 2020

DeBlasio said pulling money out of the police budget is part of ''deeper reforms'' to address ''profound disparities'' in New York City.

RELATED: Manhattan DA Announces Blanket Policy of Dropping Charges Against Protesters

''Our young people need to be reached, not policed,'' he said.

Dollar figures were not released, nor was it clear who would be getting a windfall at the expense of the NYPD. DeBlasio said ''details will be worked out in the budget process in the weeks ahead,'' according to the New York Post.

Do you think this will hurt New York City in the long run?

99% (1955 Votes)

1% (15 Votes)

Street vendor enforcement will ''no longer be the responsibility of the NYPD,'' the mayor said, and has been given to an agency he did not name.

''The vendor and administrative enforcement will be moved out of the NYPD, so that code violations will not require an officer whose presence could escalate an encounter,'' McCray said. ''We are moving forward. We are not waiting for anything or anyone. No one '' I say no one '-- wants to go back to the way things were before.''

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson had earlier called for NYPD to get less money.

''Given the scale of the financial crisis we face and the urgent need for the city to transform our criminal justice system, we know the budget will include meaningful cuts to the NYPD budget. I am working with my colleagues to determine how we can reduce the budget and reallocate those dollars to instead invest in our communities. But this is not just about budget cuts. We also need structural change and transformational reform in the police department, while investing in communities as much as possible during this unprecedented budget crunch,'' he said.

DeBlasio also called for greater public accountability in terms of police discipline.

''Let's make 50-A as we knew it a thing of the past, so we can have transparency in the disciplinary process to give the public confidence,'' de Blasio said, referring to the law that shields details of disciplinary procedures from the public.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 11:10

They don't care about black lives.

White Thugs attack African American officer #Austin #Texas #blm They are calling themselves #protesters for #blacklivesmatter pic.twitter.com/Blpv8WoqxM

'-- Jada (@jada_479) June 4, 2020

79 Shares

Nickarama |June 6, 2020 3:15 pm

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 11:06

It's the kind of thing that builds American faith in law enforcement.

And the timing was perfect.

A Georgia state trooper on hand for a recent Black Lives Matter protest is lighting up social media, thanks to an answer he gave to a demonstrator who apparently demanded he take a knee as a sign of respect for the protesters' cause.

''I was supposed to be out of town this weekend with my wife,'' the trooper, identified by The Daily Caller as O'Neal Saddler, told the protester.

''I took off today, this weekend, but I'm out here just to make sure y'all are safe. Don't go there with respect, OK?

TRENDING: Candace Owens Exposes George Floyd's Criminal Past, Says She Does Not Support Him as a Martyr

''I have much respect, but I only kneel for one person, and that's God.''

This is Georgia State Trooper O'Neal Saddler.

He was asked to kneel today, and this was his response.

God Bless him! ðŸðŸ>> pic.twitter.com/DZOGg6qnFn

'-- Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) June 7, 2020

The video was reportedly shot in Hartwell, Georgia, about 90 miles northeast of Atlanta. It was posted Sunday to a photography studio's Facebook page, then shared on Twitter by Ryan Fournier, national chairman of Students for Trump.

Is this a message the Black Lives Matter protesters need to hear?

99% (4791 Votes)

1% (34 Votes)

The precise time it was taken is a little unclear, since there was a Black Lives Matter protest in Hartwell on Friday, as documented by The Hartwell Sun, the local weekly. There was no protest on Sunday, residents contacted by phone Monday said.

Regardless, what was crystal clear was the message the trooper was sending.

Obviously, he's an organization man '-- no one can last long in a quasi-military institution like a state police force without understanding the necessity for discipline and following orders. But when it comes to the ultimate form of obeisance '-- the act of kneeling '-- that's reserved for the one ultimate power.

And social media users cheered:

This is the kind of officer we need nation wide, much to respect this man.

'-- Evan 🇺🇸 (@Darefuhl) June 7, 2020

RELATED: After Proving Themselves Incapable of Policing at City Level, Dems Move To Remake Entire Nation's Law Enforcement

God bless that state Trooper and his family. That's an American I am very proud of him.

'-- Dory O'Toole (@commodory) June 7, 2020

This is a true hero!

'-- chris forte (@cdr613) June 7, 2020

That's the best answer ever.

'-- Kelly Sr (@ChopnWoodUGA) June 7, 2020

Of course, there were a few liberal knuckleheads ready to jump in with irrelevant jibes (there was at least one mocking comparison to President Donald Trump's visit to St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., for instance).

But the overwhelming majority of comments were approving '-- and grateful.

At a time when Americans are being assaulted daily with lies about the nation's supposedly ''racist'' police forces based on the actions of the tiniest sliver of their membership, and watching as liberal politicians attack the men and women who actually protect law and order, a statement of quiet dignity and faith like the one out of Georgia carries weight.

In the over-inflated, and clearly manipulated reactions to the death of George Floyd in Minnesota on May 25, protesters across the country have screamed for police to kneel with them as a gesture of conciliation, as Fox News has reported. (Bizarrely, even that peaceful move is drawing heat from progressives now, according to ABC News.)

But one state trooper, with a respectful demeanor and gentle logic that only added strength to his words, gave the answer that every law enforcement officer '-- and every American '-- should take to heart.

For free Americans, kneeling is reserved for one power only '-- and that's not the rabble of Black Lives Matter movement.

CORRECTION, June 8, 2020: This article originally misstated the location of Hartwell, Georgia, in relation to Atlanta. Hartwell is northeast of Atlanta.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 10:49

Yamiche Alcindor @ Yamiche

21h SOME NEEDED CONTEXT: Activists calling for defunding the police are not always calling for dismantling departments.In many cases, it means redirecting funds from police departments to other parts of society that help people like housing, education, and communities.

View details ·

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 10:30

Coronavirus patients without symptoms aren't driving the spread of the virus, World Health Organization officials said Monday, casting doubt on concerns by some researchers that the disease could be difficult to contain due to asymptomatic infections.

Some people, particularly young and otherwise healthy individuals, who are infected by the coronavirus never develop symptoms or only develop mild symptoms. Others might not develop symptoms until days after they were actually infected.

Preliminary evidence from the earliest outbreaks indicated that the virus could spread from person-to-person contact, even if the carrier didn't have symptoms. But WHO officials now say that while asymptomatic spread can occur, it is not the main way it's being transmitted.

"From the data we have, it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual," Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO's emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, said at a news briefing from the United Nations agency's Geneva headquarters. "It's very rare."

Read more: WHO walks back comments on asymptomatic coronavirus spread, says much is still unknown

Government responses should focus on detecting and isolating infected people with symptoms, and tracking anyone who might have come into contact with them, Van Kerkhove said. She acknowledged that some studies have indicated asymptomatic or presymptomatic spread in nursing homes and in household settings.

More research and data are needed to "truly answer" the question of whether the coronavirus can spread widely through asymptomatic carriers, Van Kerkhove added.

"We have a number of reports from countries who are doing very detailed contact tracing," she said. "They're following asymptomatic cases. They're following contacts. And they're not finding secondary transmission onward. It's very rare."

If asymptomatic spread proves to not be a main driver of coronavirus transmission, the policy implications could be tremendous. A report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published on April 1 cited the "potential for presymptomatic transmission" as a reason for the importance of social distancing.

"These findings also suggest that to control the pandemic, it might not be enough for only persons with symptoms to limit their contact with others because persons without symptoms might transmit infection," the CDC study said.

To be sure, asymptomatic and presymptomatic spread of the virus appears to still be happening, Van Kerkhove said but remains rare. That finding has important implications for how to screen for the virus and limit its spread.

"What we really want to be focused on is following the symptomatic cases," Van Kerkhove said. "If we actually followed all of the symptomatic cases, isolated those cases, followed the contacts and quarantined those contacts, we would drastically reduce" the outbreak.

Correction: An earlier headline should have said most asymptomatic coronavirus patients aren't spreading new infections. The word "most" was inadvertently omitted.

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 09:44

One black business owner is urging the beauty industry to take their support of the Black Lives Matter movement seriously.

In response to the outpouring of love and donations from beauty brands over the past week, Uoma Beauty CEO Sharon Chuter launched the "Pull Up or Shut Up" campaign, which urges brands to share the number of black employees they have working in their companies.

In an introductory Instagram post for the 72-hour campaign, Chuter warned brands that they need to do more than simply issue a public statement condemning racism.

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"Whereas we understand and appreciate the support, be conscious that to piggy back off a trending hashtag when you have been and continue to be a part of the problem is once again appropriating and exploiting the black community. So we ask all brands who have released a statement of support, to publicly release within the next 72hrs the number of black employees they have in their organisations at corporate level. We also need to know the number of black people you have in leadership roles," she wrote.

Chuter shared several statistics about the number of black people employed in white-collar professions (8%) and revealed that only 3.2% of black people are in executive or senior management level roles. As part of the campaign, she urged consumers to stop buying from their favorite brands until they take part in the challenge.

In the spirit of total transparency, Chuter shared a look at her own company's demographics, revealing that 58% of employees are black and 75% are female.

The 72-hour campaign launched last Wednesday and a plethora of brands have risen to the challenge so far, including Ulta Beauty, who shared that 18% of their board members, 13% of their leadership team and 6% of their associates are black.

Sephora, who recently partnered with the National Black Justice Coalition, followed suit and announced that 14% of their employees and 6% of their leadership team are black.

L'Oréal USA, which owns a number of popular brands, also participated and acknowledged that they still have work to do when it comes to creating a diverse workforce.

"This difficult moment has re-affirmed our dedication to a path that we have been on for years to ensure that we are a truly inclusive company that represents the diversity of the consumers we serve. In a post earlier this week, we announced changes to our organization which will support our Diversity & Inclusion strategy. We will continue to advance and adapt this strategy with passion, purpose and urgency. We can, we must and we will do better. Transparency in conversations like this one are an important step," the brand wrote.

Other brands that stepped up to the challenge include Glossier, Bliss, Tarte, Revlon, Beauty Blender, e.l.f. and many more. Several celebrity-owned businesses, including Drew Barrymore's Flower Beauty, Jessica Alba's Honest Beauty, and Kylie Jenner's Kylie Cosmetics have also disclosed information about representation in their companies.

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 09:31

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 09:09

In their latest absurd showing of "solidarity" with the Black Lives Matter movement, Nancy Pelosi and a host of Democratic lawmakers took a knee and - get this - donned traditional African garb during a press briefing where they unveiled their new 'police reform' bill that the White House has already said has no chance of passing.

The Justice in Policing Act of 2020, which Pelosi stressed was drawn up by the Congressional Black Caucus, calls for the introduction of a handful of measures aimed at stomping out police brutality and holding rogue officers accountable. Though the full text of the bill has yet to be revealed (despite promises to release it on Monday) Pelosi claimed it will end officers' immunity from civil lawsuits, create a federal database of police misconduct, deny funding for departments that allow certain tactics like chokeholds, require body cameras for all officers in the field, and adopt racial bias training, while restricting "weapons transfers".

Additionally, the bill would require officers who use force against civilians to fill out detailed reports (the dreaded paperwork), and lower the bar for prosecuting officers who break the law.

Pelosi & Co capped off their performance by kneeling in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the amount of time Floyd was on the ground in police custody.

Congressional Democrats take a knee as they observe a nearly nine minute moment of silence for George Floyd at Emancipation Hall at the U.S. Capitol. https://t.co/JnqDlzMFDq pic.twitter.com/8CBdgtLUjz

'-- ABC News (@ABC) June 8, 2020Almost immediately after the ceremony finished, Republican commentators demanded to see its full text, while hammering the venerable Democrat for her Kente-cloth outfit and tone-deaf virtue-signaling theatrics that turned the dial up to "11" on the tone-deaf scale. Meanwhile, Democratic nominee Joe Biden just publicly broke with BLM's demands to "abolish the police."

I've just read three separate write-ups about the Pelosi's police bill today without a single line describing what it does. All include Schumer's insistence that it pass immediately.

'-- Josh Holmes (@HolmesJosh) June 8, 2020The virtue signaling is off the charts... pic.twitter.com/HO8LWnqQoA

'-- DeAnna Lorraine 🇺🇸 (@DeAnna4Congress) June 8, 2020On the other side of the aisle, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (is planning to determine "what if anything is appropriate" for Congress to do to address the issue of systemic police misconduct.

However, as with so many grandstanding virtue-signaling efforts have in the past, this stunt backfired as 'black Twitter' erupted

Author Obianuju Ekeocha posted a video demanding Democrats stop "virtue signalling" by wearing African cloth in the Capitol.

"Excuse me, Democrats," she continued.

"Don't treat Africans like we're children. These fabrics and these colorful things that we have within our culture and tradition, they all mean something to us. I know you look at us and you say, 'Oh, Africans are so cute in all of your colorful dresses.' Well, some of those dresses and patterns and colors and fabrics actually do mean something to us."

Ekeocha went on to ask why Democrats were using the cloth for their "own show of non-racism."

I had to say something about the American politicians shameless and ignorantly using the Kente fabric as a prop in their virtue signaling.*I'm usually more mild mannered than this so please forgive me, I'm upset. pic.twitter.com/aZMjgsHujS

'-- Obianuju Ekeocha (@obianuju) June 8, 2020Charlie Kirk wondered, how come, when normal people wear tribal outfits, it's "cultural appropriation", but when Democrats do it as a cynical political ploy, it's somehow noble.

How is it not "cultural appropriation" for Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, & Jerrold Nadler to show up to the Capitol wearing West African "Kente Cloth"Can you imagine if a Republican showed up in this for a publicity stunt?

ðŸ¤--

'-- Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) June 8, 2020Meanwhile, as another user pointed out, the kente cloth Pelosi is wearing was probably made in China.

hey everyone, ghana never weaved the kente cloth. we don't even know what that is. speaker pelosi got that from china.

'-- Rockyatu Otoo (@ghanagirlgoes) June 8, 2020Black Democrats also slammed Pelosi over the 'insensitive' stunt.

I am not sure what's funnier, those ridiculous politicians wearing kente cloth or Cory Booker smartly opting out of that absurd performance.

'-- roxane gay (@rgay) June 8, 2020The WaPo editor who asked twitter users to venmo her money for all the hard work she's doing to expose systemic racism also clapped back.

*blinks*Nancy Pelosi in kente.

I really need the guidance of my Ghanian ancestors because chale..... https://t.co/DQXSxymt3x

'-- Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) June 8, 2020As did several other black journalists.

If there was every a time for Ghana to enforce their intellectual property copyright of protection over kente + adinkra textiles the time is NOW cuz................ pic.twitter.com/FlNW3uj1Ff

'-- Shelby Ivey Christie (@bronze_bombSHEL) June 8, 2020How is this not cultural appropriation? 🂠pic.twitter.com/2tU3O3wuLU

'-- Hotep Jesus (@HotepJesus) June 8, 2020I admit that I did not have congressional delegations draped in Kente cloth on my bingo card.

'-- Ida B. Wells's Burner Account (@goldietaylor) June 8, 2020Why is this so wrong? An anonymous twitter account offers a hint.

This systemic racism will never end unless the DEMONRATS STOP talking & treating BLACK PEOPLE like CHILDREN.They'll continue to hate white people until the Dems & leftist media start talking about crime & gangs in real terms Instead of pretending it isn't prevalent among their

'-- Bill Allen (@wdabill) June 8, 2020The transparent, virtue-signaling stunt is a staple of the Pelosi playbook...

If anyone can't understand why Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and them dressed up like they're trying to sneak into Wakanda is disrespectful and appropriative you have a great deal to learn. https://t.co/DGsKHCZNQT

'-- Frederick Joseph (@FredTJoseph) June 8, 2020Remember those pens?

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 09:08

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Tue, 09 Jun 2020 08:09

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 22:39

Log in Sign up CNN @ CNN Minneapolis Council President Lisa Bender says that when she talks about a "police-free" future, it is a goal that is "aspirational.""I'm willing to stand with community members who are asking us to think of that as the goal."

pic.twitter.com/rTCfHcksus 6:46 PM - 8 Jun 2020 Twitter by: CNN @CNN Abortion, The Other White Meat v2.0 @ johnnyBReverse1

2h Replying to

@CNN I just want to curl up with a good book and a tall glass of hydroxychloroquine and put all this police nonsense behind me

View conversation · Dave @ OCDLifeCA

2h Replying to

@CNN Any chance we can ask for a politician-free future? I mean, you know, as long as we're wishing...

View conversation · Reinhard AND PROUD WHITE @ Reinhar52500692

2h Replying to

@CNN A What ???? A Police free world ??? Lady ..... YOU ARE CRAZY !!!! Not in a 1000 years. !!!!!!!!

View conversation · GMC @ GayleCostner

2h Replying to

@CNN We need our police officers! Clean house, yes, but do not turn your back on all of the good men and women who have dedicated their lives to the selfless service of their communities!

View conversation · Aaron @ DC4Life1288

2h Replying to

@CNN LMFAO

View conversation · TC @ tmc211run

2h Replying to

@CNN Is she on drugs? No really?

View conversation · Scott @ That1Scott

2h Replying to

@CNN Good luck!

View conversation · Eva Poole @ epoole551

2h Replying to

@CNN That sounds so scary, I'm sorry! ðŸ

View conversation · Metal Maniac @ medrare67

2h Replying to

@CNN Soon your city will be like Tombstone or Dodge City. You'll need this guy then. Good luck Minneapolis.

pic.twitter.com/zyi5KxjKK9 View conversation · Maldus Alver @ FmrMarinealver

24m Replying to

@medrare67 @CNN fun fact: He was Pro-gun control

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 22:29

Replying to

@TheRightMelissa The left wanted to divide our country with the desperate act of looting and rioting, but I have a feeling that we will become more united, understanding and stronger, together because of it.

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 22:28

A chaotic scene in Chicago on Saturday, May 30, 2020. (Hugo Balta / WTTW News)

As unrest swept the city Sunday, aldermen pleaded with Mayor Lori Lightfoot to help them protect their communities from roving bands of criminals clashing with police and looting businesses.

WTTW News obtained a recording of an online conference call held by the mayor's office to brief all 50 aldermen on the city's response to the unrest touched off by the death of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police.

Warning: The following audio file contains profanity. Audience discretion is advised.

While one alderman wept, others grew angry with the mayor, demanding to know what her strategy was to stop the violence that began in earnest late Saturday.

The call provides a snapshot into the city's response as of midday on Sunday to the most widespread and damaging unrest since the uprising after the murder of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the police riots after the Democratic National Convention in 1968.

The recording begins with Ald. Michelle Harris (8th Ward) wondering how she could convince businesses like Walmart and CVS to rebuild on the South Side after the destruction.

''It's like, what are we going to have left in our community?'' Harris asks her colleagues before answering herself. ''Nothing.''

The Chicago City Council's Black Caucus criticized Lightfoot's decision to use 375 members of the Illinois National Guard to block off the Loop and the central business district starting Sunday morning, making business corridors on the South and West sides an ''easy target'' for looters and criminals because they ''did not have the same level of protection.''

An ATM in the Loop is destroyed and windows are smashed on Saturday, May 30, 2020. (Hugo Balta / WTTW News)

Lightfoot dismissed that criticism as ''illogical and not true'' on Wednesday.

Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd Ward) said she felt helpless to protect older residents, who she said were struggling to buy food and get prescription medicine.

''I've worked really hard over the last seven years and now I feel like I am five feet back,'' Dowell said.

''I feel like I am at ground zero,'' Harris responded. ''My major business district is shattered. Why would Walmart or CVS come back to our communities?''

Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) said her West Side ward was like ''the wild, wild west out there.''

Nearly five minutes into the call, Lightfoot speaks for the first time, saying she had been trying to speak for five minutes.

Lightfoot begins by defending her response to the unrest, telling the aldermen that criticism that she protected downtown at the expense of the West and South sides ''offends me deeply, personally, in part because it is simply not so.''

''We've been working our a-- off,'' Lightfoot said. ''It is all over the city.''

Lightfoot said it took three hours for officers to clear the area near Madison Street and Pulaski Road, and even after officers ''gassed [the crowd] with pepper spray twice, they didn't give a s--t.''

Lightfoot said officers were in ''armed combat'' with those intent on committing crimes on the West Side only making progress after bringing in ''heavy equipment and stronger pepper spray.''

Lightfoot said a crowd of 30-40 people gathered outside a clothing store near 111th Street and Michigan Avenue as a ''dude with a sledgehammer'' broke into the store to allow it to be looted.

''I don't know about you, but I haven't seen s--t like this before, not in Chicago,'' Lightfoot said.

A scene from Chicago protests on Saturday, May 30, 2020 over the killing of George Floyd. (Hugo Balta / WTTW News)

Lightfoot vowed to launch a ''Herculean effort'' to convince businesses to rebuild and reopen.

Lightfoot said she had no choice but to shut down the CTA after reports buses were being ''commandeered'' by ''anarchists.''

Dowell asked Lightfoot to use the National Guard to protect grocery stores and pharmacies, but the mayor said ''they are not a magic tool, they are the military.''

In other cities, National Guard troops have made things worse, ''not better,'' Lightfoot said.

Ald. Derrick Curtis (18th) said he had called 911 to report looting, and got no answer. Rich Guidice, the director of the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, acknowledged that the system was overwhelmed.

''There are no easy answers here,'' Lightfoot said.

Organized groups of criminals were responsible for the majority of looting in Chicago, prompting nearly 65,000 calls to the city's emergency operations center, Lightfoot said

Ald. Susan Sadlowski-Garza (10th Ward) broke down while pleading with Lightfoot for help.

''My ward is a s--t show,'' Sadlowski-Garza said, adding that cop cars and banks were burned. ''They are shooting at the police.''

Sadlowski-Garza began to cry as she said the unrest began about 11 a.m. Sunday, when a group of 40 people broke into a marijuana dispensary, but had nothing to do with a protest.

''I have never seen the likes of this,'' Sadlowski-Garza said. ''I'm scared.''

Crews start boarding up the 3 Smokin Sisters Tobacco Shop on 71st Street in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood. Shop owners emptied the store of inventory following looting on Sunday, May 31, 2020. (@paschutz / Twitter)

Sadlowski-Garza wept as she told Lightfoot new businesses had been destroyed, while other shops were being protected by owners with shotguns.

''This is a massive, massive problem,'' Lightfoot said. ''People are just f-----g lawless right now.''

Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th Ward) demanded that Lightfoot develop a plan to stabilize Chicago's neighborhoods for five days, calling his Southwest Side ward ''a virtual war zone'' where gang members armed with AK-47's were threatening to shoot black people.

The call came to a screeching halt when Lightfoot declined to address the substance of Lopez's remarks, and Lopez demanded that she respond.

Lightfoot told Lopez he was ''100% full of s--t.''

''Well, f--k you then,'' Lopez responded.

''I understand you want to preen,'' Lightfoot told Lopez.

As aldermen objected, Lopez continued to speak.

''Mayor you need to check your f-----g attitude,'' Lopez said.

That profane exchange was first reported by the Sun-Times.

Later in the call, Lightfoot told Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) she spent a significant amount of time on Sunday morning dealing with a group of protesters outside her Logan Square home.

''Following your lead, alderman,'' Lightfoot said, moving on to the next question without addressing Sigcho-Lopez's comments.

Sigcho-Lopez led a protest outside Lightfoot's home on May 14 to stop a planned demolition of a portion of the Crawford Power Plant in Little Village.

A business is boarded up in Chicago's Chatham neighborhood on the city's South Side on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, following unrest over the killing of George Floyd. (WTTW News)

Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11th Ward) told Lightfoot he was worried that the looters would attack homes where many people have guns and concealed carry weapons.

Ald. Ed Burke (14th Ward) said he was concerned that residents would take matters into their own hands and become vigilantes.

''This is far worse than it was in 1968,'' said Burke, who was elected to the City Council in 1969.

Ald. Mike Rodriguez (22nd Ward) told the mayor that Little Village residents banded together to protect businesses along 26th Street, the largest shopping district outside the Loop.

''I'm talking about all segments of our community, including some on this call would prefer to be incarcerated,'' Rodriguez said. ''I think there are people of all stripes coming together, and I pray that holds tonight.''

That exchange prompted Lopez to charge that Lightfoot knew that gangs were part of efforts to protect neighborhoods, and that Rodriguez was working with them.

Lightfoot called that charge ''ridiculous.''

Rodriguez told WTTW News on Wednesday that some of those who were protecting the neighborhood targeted people ''who were perceived to be outsiders'' based on their race.

That was ''unfortunate and unacceptable,'' Rodriguez said, adding that he began working to address those issues immediately.

The unrest and violence had mostly subsided by Tuesday night before reaching residential areas of the city.

Lightfoot ended the call with one last request of aldermen: ''Pray for us all.''

Follow us on Twitter: @HeatherCherone / @paschutz

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 22:20

Brady Henderson ESPN 7:11 PM ET 4 Minute Read

Carlos Hyde encourages NFL to bring back KaepernickCarlos Hyde suggests that the NFL should figure out how to get Colin Kaepernick back into the league.New Seattle Seahawks running back Carlos Hyde believes that an NFL team signing Colin Kaepernick would show that the league is serious about doing its part to improve issues of racial inequality.

Kaepernick and Hyde were teammates with the San Francisco 49ers in 2016, when the quarterback began protesting racial injustice and police brutality against black people by not standing during the national anthem.

"I think the NFL can start by signing Kap back," Hyde said in his first comments to reporters since signing a one-year, $2.75 million deal with Seattle last month. "I think if they sign Kap back, that'll show that they're really trying to move in a different direction. Because Kap was making a statement four years ago about what's going on in today's world and the NFL didn't bother to listen to him then, so I think they should start by doing that. After that, I'm not really sure what the NFL can do."

Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a video statement last week that the NFL condemns "racism and the systematic oppression of black people" while also admitting that the league was "wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier" on such matters.

Goodell's words reiterated the stances that more than a dozen NFL players urged the league to take in a video of their own.

"Things definitely need to change, so I agree 100% what they were saying," Hyde said of the players' video.

Hyde and Kaepernick, 32, were teammates from 2014 to 2016. He said he supported Kaepernick's "peaceful protest" in 2016, but at the time was more worried about football. The 49ers went 2-14 that season.

"I was all for it," Hyde said. "I understand the message he was putting out. I understood because I came from Cincinnati, Ohio. Lincoln Heights in Cincinnati, it's not the best area, and I would see that -- police brutality, pretty much everybody in the neighborhood is struggling, you see violence, drugs, all that. There's just no opportunity there."

Hyde moved to Naples, Florida, to live with his grandmother when he was 14.

"So I was able to get away from all that and pretty much start my life over," he said. "But everybody is not fortunate; they don't have grandparents that live in other places. So with that, I was all for what Kap was saying, his message. I was for it, still for it. But I just remember that we wasn't a good team, and I wasn't happy about that part because I wanted to win and I was tired of losing. So I was more worried about how we could win. I wasn't really paying too much attention to what Kap had going on."

Hyde said he hasn't taken part in on-field protests and doesn't plan on doing so going forward, "but if it's something that the team wants to do and our team decides that as a team we are going to protest together, then I'm with the team at all times."

He expressed skepticism about how much change the NFL can effect.

"The racism in this world is deep-rooted ..." he said. "I don't think the NFL is going to change anything, but personally I really don't know. I just know they can sign Kap."

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 22:18

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Voice Of Reason @ Cjay_Anthony

9h Replying to

@obianuju Thank you sis. Thank you for standing up to the defence of the great culture of our neighbours, Ghana. But our jollof is still superior though

View conversation · Obianuju Ekeocha @ obianuju

9h Replying to

@Cjay_Anthony Don't even go there! Our Nigerian jollof is the best. Since when did you people even start cooking jollof? Smh!

View conversation · ChiTown Conservative aka red wine goddess 🍷🍷 @ gingertealkp

8h Replying to

@obianuju 👍🏾Well said. I applaud you for speaking out. Personally, I don't wear it either because I know it has cultural significance for different African peoples & different regions. The Democrats don't respect black Americans. So of course they wouldn't think to respect black Africans.

View conversation · ChiTown Conservative aka red wine goddess 🍷🍷 @ gingertealkp

8h Replying to

@obianuju @relevantradio By the way, you're doing amazing work for

#ProLife@relevantradio. Thank you for your voice! ðŸðŸ¾ðŸ‡>>ðŸ‡...

View conversation · LetFreedomRing '''¸ðŸ‡ºðŸ‡¸ðŸš‚ðŸ'¨ðŸ'¨ @ MariaMe42546452

7h Replying to

@obianuju This lady gets it'¼¸It's a show of virtue by the Democrats, I call it their latest dog and pony show'¼¸ðŸ¤®

pic.twitter.com/fgNsRRYjfZ View conversation · Sil ê'(C)ðŸ´ó §ó ó ·ó ¬ó "ó ðŸ‡¬ðŸ‡§ @ silll888

6h Replying to

@MariaMe42546452 @obianuju pic.twitter.com/TFsM20gLm2 View conversation · Karli Q '­¸'­¸'­¸ @ KarluskaP

9h Replying to

@obianuju pic.twitter.com/suaZlvmkoZ View conversation · Covfefe_Confetti '­¸'­¸'­¸ @ CovfefeConfetti

8h Replying to

@KarluskaP @obianuju Our President can't hold the Bible, historically a large part of American culture, without the left accusing him of using it as a prop. Yet [they] practice cultural appropriation without even knowing the fabric's origins. Shameful hypocrisy on the left!

View conversation · Ed Preston @ edpreston

8h Replying to

@obianuju @RoxxxyGurL If George Floyd were Mexican I suppose they'd be wearing sombreros.

View conversation · noosphere @ voltairage

7h Replying to

@edpreston @obianuju @RoxxxyGurL If he were Mexican, the media won't run the articles because the media won't get their beloved riots out of it. Riots = more money

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 19:17

Lana Del Rey has confirmed that her upcoming new studio album will be called 'Chemtrails Over The Country Club'.

The singer made the announcement during a video post she shared on Instagram yesterday (May 25) in which she responded to the recent criticism she received over another post that saw Del Rey hit back at claims that her music ''glamorises abuse.''

In yesterday's video, Del Rey announced that her 'Norman Fucking Rockwell!' follow-up '-- which previously had the title 'White Hot Forever' '-- will now be released on September 5 under the title 'Chemtrails Over The Country Club'.

''I'm grateful that my muse is still here and that I have, over the last three years, been blessed to have the insight and ability to channel two books' worth of beautiful poems,'' Del Rey told her fans in the video, which you can see above at the 4:18 mark.

''And I think my new record, 'Chemtrails Over The Country Club', is special as well.''

Del Rey followed up that post with a new video to accompany her spoken-word piece 'Patent Leather Do-Over', which is taken from her upcoming poetry collection behind the iron gates '' insights from an institution.

Last month the artwork for another book of Del Rey's poetry, titled Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass, was shared. The collection will be accompanied by a spoken-word album featuring production by Jack Antonoff.

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 19:09

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 18:04

Update (1435ET): White House spox Kaleigh McEnany confirmed Monday that the Democrats police reform bill is a "non-starter".

DEMOCRATS IMMUNITY CHANGE PROPOSAL IS A NON-STARTER: MCENANYMCENANY: TRUMP `APPALLED' BY DEFUND THE POLICE MOVEMENTNot exactly a shock.

* * *

As the push for abolishing police departments intensifies, Democrats, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, just unveiled the "sweeping" police reform bill that they've been talking about all weekend.

The "Justice in Policing Act of 2020" would ban chokeholds, establish a national database to track police misconduct and prohibit certain no-knock warrants, among a long list of other reforms.

Per WaPo, the bill would also change federal law so that victims of excessive force or other violations only need prove that officers "recklessly" deprived them of their rights to sue them in civil court. This limiting of "qualified immunity" has been cited as police unions as a major misstep that would dissuade recruits from becoming officers.

The Supreme Court first introduced qualified immunity doctrine in 1967 initially to help protect cops from frivolous lawsuits and financial liability in cases where they acted in good faith. Starting around 2005, courts increasingly applied the doctrine to cases involving the use of excessive or deadly force by police, prompting widespread criticism from progressive lawyers and the ACLU.

If passed, the bill would also expand DoJ powers to investigate and prosecute police misconduct, a capability that has been "undermined by the Trump administration," the document said. It would grant subpoena power to the department's Civil Rights Division to conduct "pattern and practice" investigations, and grant subpoena power to states attorneys offices to do the same.

Before unveiling the details of the legislation, Congressional Dems knelt for 8 minutes, 46 seconds, the amount of time George Floyd - whose killing 2 weeks ago by police revived the push for police "reform" - was on the ground before he was killed due to an officer knee to his neck.

House and Senate Democrats kneel in silence in Emancipation Hall for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in remembrance of George Floyd https://t.co/RwRF3r3dVK pic.twitter.com/clQwQEBgxk

'-- CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) June 8, 2020The bill will also make lynching a hate crime, Pelosi said.

House Democrats unveil legislation to address police, racial issues following George Floyd's death https://t.co/SgytuWhWeT pic.twitter.com/JPVZV2Iwfz

'-- Reuters (@Reuters) June 8, 2020The full bill is expected to be released later on Monday. The House Judiciary will hold its first hearing on the issue of police reform on Wednesday.

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Sun, 07 Jun 2020 19:53

Minneapolis' left-leaning City Council members on Sunday announced a veto-proof push to disband the Minneapolis police department, ramping up a major conflict inside the city following the death of George Floyd while in police custody.

Many activists have been pushing at least for their cities to defund local police departments, a move many other analysts considered unrealistic. The measure has been the main focus for many people protesting against police brutality.

Supporters of the move told Fox News, ''We recognize that we don't have all the answers about what a police-free future looks like, but our community does. We're committing to engaging with every willing community member in the city of Minneapolis over the next year to identify what safety looks like for you.''

The city council members spoke at a protest at Powderhorn Park, a neighborhood in Minneapolis. The number of supporters in attendance represented a veto-proof majority to push the measure through, Fox 9 reported.

KARE listed Council President Lisa Bender, VP Andrea Jenkins and Councilmembers Alondra Cano, Jeremiah Ellison, Steve Fletcher, Phillipe Cunningham, Cam Gordon and Jeremy Schroeder as attending the event, most of whom took turns to address the gathered crowd. Ellison is the son of state Attorney General Keith Ellison. Most members of the city council belonged to the Minnesota Democratic''Farmer''Labor Party.

''Our commitment is to end our city's toxic relationship with the Minneapolis Police Department,'' Bender said. ''It is clear that our system of policing is not keeping our communities safe. Our efforts at incremental reform have failed, period.''

However, Ellison more clearly stated the intent of those gathered.

''This council is going to dismantle the police department,'' Ellison reportedly said. ''If you don't stay in this fight I fear that this council or another will just glue it back together.''

The Minneapolis Police Department did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment. NYPD Detectives President Paul DiGiacomo said earlier Sunday that defunding any police departments would be a ''recipe for disaster.''

Mayor Jacob Frey was booed out of a protest Saturday after the Democrat refused to commit to defunding the police himself.

The event was livestreamed on Facebook and Twitter, but technical issues marred the streams.

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Comments from members of the activist group Black Visions compared the police system to that of slavery, saying, ''When abolitionists fought for the end of slavery, a lot of white people said it was impossible. But, there were visionaries who knew it was possible; it was worth it. We are here to make history today; to rebuild our city on a different foundation.''

At the end of the rally, the crowd gathered at Powderhorn Park began a chant of ''Defund, MPD.''

Fox News' Matt Finn and Joshua Nelson contributed to this report.

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On a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience with Krystal & Saagar (#1485) '-- Joe & Krystal talked about who are the ''Bad Guys''?

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As protests show no signs of halting more than a week after George Floyd's death, Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors says only ''radical shifts'' can stop law enforcement violence.

While she understands the desire to hold individual officers accountable for their actions, Cullors says the demand to defund law enforcement and reinvest the money in black communities is what can achieve justice for black Americans.

''The demand of defunding law enforcement becomes a central demand in how we actually get real accountability and justice,'' she says, ''because it means we are reducing the ability of law enforcement to have resources that harm our communities.''

Many viral videos from protests display police officers kneeling in solidarity and marching with protesters.

Cullors says she doesn't take the ''disingenuous'' act of police officers taking a knee seriously. She recalls that taking a knee to call attention to how law enforcement violence impacts black people lead to the end of Colin Kaepernick's career in the NFL.

''[Police officers] taking a knee is not stopping the deaths of our community members,'' she says. ''We need transformation. These things don't happen through police taking a knee at protests and then right after they take a knee, getting up and tear-gassing us and rubber bulleting us and beating us with batons.''

Interview HighlightsOn what would constitute justice for this moment

''For a lot of people, they want accountability for what these officers have done. Some people are asking for prosecuting law enforcement. I think that's a fine demand and that's not a demand rooted in us being able to change this system, it's holding an individual accountable for their actions. An individual that is tied to an institution that has caused a lot of destruction. I get that demand.

''But I do think that the demand of defunding law enforcement becomes a central demand ... And, with that demand, it's not just about taking away money from the police, it's about reinvesting those dollars into black communities. Communities that have been deeply divested from, communities that, some have never felt the impact of having true resources. And so we have to reconsider what we're resourcing. I've been saying we have an economy of punishment over an economy of care.''

On the argument for restructuring police funding to help the communities they serve, rather than defunding law enforcement

''It's not possible for the entity of law enforcement to be a compassionate, caring governmental agency in black communities. That's not the training, that's not the institution. We have spent the last seven years asking for training, asking for body cameras. The body cameras have done nothing more than show us what's happened over and over again. The training has done nothing but show us that law enforcement and the culture of law enforcement is incapable of changing.

''And so what we're asking for is a reinvestment in how we understand what's needed in our communities. Why is law enforcement the first responders for a mental health crisis? Why are they the first responders for domestic violence issues? Why are they the first responders for homelessness? And so those are the first places we can look into. Let alone, let's talk about law enforcement's ability to surveil the community and how much money they're given in surveillance dollars every single year. We have allowed, the public has allowed, for us to have militarized police forces in our communities and we have to stop it.''

Chris Bentley produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Kathleen McKenna. Allison Hagan adapted it for the web.