theguardian--2020-07-10--WHO's Covid-19 inquiry is a shrewd move in a sea of disinformation

In the world of epidemiology it ’ s sometimes said that pandemics are lived forwards and understood backwards .
We encounter them head-on , chaotically , trying to fathom the disease in real time even while trying to mitigate its impact .
Lessons generally come later as the evidence accumulates .
What ’ s also true is public health , especially on a global scale , is rarely separable from politics .
One of the complicating factors of the recently ended outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , was the country ’ s long history of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government in Kinshasa and the affected population in the country ’ s east , which led to deep and sometimes violent distrust .
One of the most depressing subtexts of the coronavirus pandemic is how these kinds of conflicts are now being writ large as a range of actors , including western ones , have used the crisis to spread disinformation .
The past months have been marked by dodgy dossiers leaked to the media and conspiracy theories , pushed by US officials engaged in a struggle for global influence with Beijing , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up in a Chinese lab .
Other actors , including China and Russia , as an EU report made clear , have fuelled widespread online disinformation campaigns , sometimes for reasons only partly related to the pandemic .
In the midst of all this has been the World Health Organization , whose mandate is to be both canary in the coal mine as well as offering quick and timely advice and combating the outbreak .
Like other UN institutions , the WHO has a far from perfect history .
Its handling of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ criticised .
Despite attempts at reform , it is cumbersome and cautious , tied up in the constraints of the UN ’ s public health diplomacy , and ultimately limited by the willingness of its member countries to be transparent in compliance with international health regulations .
Amid the catastrophic handling of the coronavirus outbreak in the US , where infections are still peaking at record levels , the WHO ’ s emergence as a punchbag for the Trump administration has come about for several reasons , many of them palpably dishonest .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ sound the alarm out of undue deference to China have been disproved .
A new timeline has emerged , suggesting that it was in fact the WHO that first prompted China to act over mysterious new cases of pneumonia and not vice-versa .
The reality is that much of the Trump administration ’ s beef with the WHO stems from ideological issues .
If Trump ’ s America First agenda has any organising theme beyond self interest and chaos , it is , above all , a profound dislike of multilateral international institutions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which has seen agencies defunded , agreements and treaties abandoned and others threatened at the hands of Washington .
Which is why , in the week in which the US formally announced its intention to quit the WHO , the organisation ’ s announcement of the two figures who will lead its review of the pandemic and its response feels significant .
Given Trump ’ s record of denigrating female leaders , and of racist dog-whistles , it is striking that the review will be chaired by two highly regarded and independent-minded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Africa – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf , a Nobel laureate and the former president of Liberia , and Helen Clark , former prime minister of New Zealand .
With experience in both public health advocacy and the UN system ( Clark was administrator of the UN Development Programme and ran for director general of the UN ) , both have a strong track record in diplomacy and multilateral institutions , including in the developing world .
Both Johnson Sirleaf , Africa ’ s first democratically elected female president , and Clark , who sought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ acknowledged that the investigation into how the world responded to this crisis will be challenging .
Johnson Sirleaf , 81 , brings her own recent experience .
As Liberia ’ s president during the 2014 Ebola outbreak , she warned in March of other nations and institutions making the same mistakes that she made then .
She warned that “ cues were missed ” early with coronavirus and that “ time was wasted ” .
She added that “ information was hidden , minimised , and manipulated .
Trust was broken .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of those missteps in 2014 , and so did the world ’ s responders .
But we self-corrected , and we did it together.
” With the ability to select their own panel members , and an independent secretariat , the WHO director general , Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , who has assiduously avoided being drawn into a slanging match with the Trump administration , has answered on his own terms .
Instead of the narrow exercise in self-investigation and self-laceration intended by Washington , the review will examine the global response to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the whole picture , including , presumably , the large-scale failures in the US .
There is no doubt that there are still many questions to be answered about the origins of Covid-19 , about its initial spread and how both the WHO and China sounded the alarm .
However , it is also clear that preparations for a pandemic , international leadership and responses in individual countries , including the UK , have also been severely flawed .
While the WHO has been reluctant to launch a review while it was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ given these failures and the mounting threats of resurgences , it feels appropriate and necessary to launch it now rather than later .
Its findings may allow us to look back and understand where we have been .

In the world of epidemiology it’s sometimes said that pandemics are lived forwards and understood backwards.
We encounter them head-on, chaotically, trying to fathom the disease in real time even while trying to mitigate its impact. Lessons generally come later as the evidence accumulates.
What’s also true is public health, especially on a global scale, is rarely separable from politics. One of the complicating factors of the recently ended outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was the country’s long history of conflict and the toxic relationship between central government in Kinshasa and the affected population in the country’s east, which led to deep and sometimes violent distrust.
One of the most depressing subtexts of the coronavirus pandemic is how these kinds of conflicts are now being writ large as a range of actors, including western ones, have used the crisis to spread disinformation.
The past months have been marked by dodgy dossiers leaked to the media and conspiracy theories, pushed by US officials engaged in a struggle for global influence with Beijing, suggesting that the virus was deliberately cooked up in a Chinese lab.
Scientists inside a laboratory in Wuhan, China ... claims that the WHO has shown undue deference to Beijing have been disproved. Photograph: Johannes Eisele/AFP
Other actors, including China and Russia, as an EU report made clear, have fuelled widespread online disinformation campaigns, sometimes for reasons only partly related to the pandemic.
In the midst of all this has been the World Health Organization, whose mandate is to be both canary in the coal mine as well as offering quick and timely advice and combating the outbreak.
Like other UN institutions, the WHO has a far from perfect history. Its handling of the 2014 west African Ebola outbreak was rightly criticised. Despite attempts at reform, it is cumbersome and cautious, tied up in the constraints of the UN’s public health diplomacy, and ultimately limited by the willingness of its member countries to be transparent in compliance with international health regulations.
Amid the catastrophic handling of the coronavirus outbreak in the US, where infections are still peaking at record levels, the WHO’s emergence as a punchbag for the Trump administration has come about for several reasons, many of them palpably dishonest.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus meets Xi Jinping in Beijing. Photograph: Naohiko Hatta/AP
Claims that the WHO was slow to sound the alarm out of undue deference to China have been disproved. A new timeline has emerged, suggesting that it was in fact the WHO that first prompted China to act over mysterious new cases of pneumonia and not vice-versa.
The reality is that much of the Trump administration’s beef with the WHO stems from ideological issues.
If Trump’s America First agenda has any organising theme beyond self interest and chaos, it is, above all, a profound dislike of multilateral international institutions and agreements, not least the UN, which has seen agencies defunded, agreements and treaties abandoned and others threatened at the hands of Washington.
Which is why, in the week in which the US formally announced its intention to quit the WHO, the organisation’s announcement of the two figures who will lead its review of the pandemic and its response feels significant.
Given Trump’s record of denigrating female leaders, and of racist dog-whistles, it is striking that the review will be chaired by two highly regarded and independent-minded women leaders, one of them from Africa – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Nobel laureate and the former president of Liberia, and Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand.
Helen Clark (left) and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (right) will chair the review. Both have a strong track record in diplomacy and multilateral institutions. Photograph: Don Emmert/AFP
With experience in both public health advocacy and the UN system (Clark was administrator of the UN Development Programme and ran for director general of the UN), both have a strong track record in diplomacy and multilateral institutions, including in the developing world.
Both Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first democratically elected female president, and Clark, who sought the top UN job in 2016, acknowledged that the investigation into how the world responded to this crisis will be challenging.
Johnson Sirleaf, 81, brings her own recent experience. As Liberia’s president during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, she warned in March of other nations and institutions making the same mistakes that she made then.
She warned that “cues were missed” early with coronavirus and that “time was wasted”. She added that “information was hidden, minimised, and manipulated. Trust was broken.
“I know this. I made all of those missteps in 2014, and so did the world’s responders. But we self-corrected, and we did it together.”
With the ability to select their own panel members, and an independent secretariat, the WHO director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has assiduously avoided being drawn into a slanging match with the Trump administration, has answered on his own terms.
The review will examine the global response to coronavirus and the lessons to be learned. Photograph: Stéphanie Lecocq/EPA
Instead of the narrow exercise in self-investigation and self-laceration intended by Washington, the review will examine the global response to coronavirus and the lessons to be drawn from the whole picture, including, presumably, the large-scale failures in the US.
There is no doubt that there are still many questions to be answered about the origins of Covid-19, about its initial spread and how both the WHO and China sounded the alarm. However, it is also clear that preparations for a pandemic, international leadership and responses in individual countries, including the UK, have also been severely flawed.
While the WHO has been reluctant to launch a review while it was still involved in fighting the pandemic, given these failures and the mounting threats of resurgences, it feels appropriate and necessary to launch it now rather than later. Its findings may allow us to look back and understand where we have been.


theguardian--2020-07-10--Donald Trump: Joe Biden is a 'puppet of the militant left' – video

Donald Trump has claimed that ‘ nobody will be safe ’ in a Joe Biden presidency in a rhetorical escalation @ @ @ @ @ his struggling re-election campaign .
Speaking at an event in Florida , Trump called his @ @ @ @ @ puppet ’ of senator Bernie Sanders and representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Donald Trump has claimed that 'nobody will be safe' in a Joe Biden presidency in a rhetorical escalation as he seeks to reboot his struggling re-election campaign. Speaking at an event in Florida, Trump called his likely Democratic rival a 'puppet' of senator Bernie Sanders and representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez


theguardian--2020-07-11--Will Republicans ditch Trump to save the Senate as support nosedives?

Hispanic supporters of Donald Trump sat around the cabinet table , lavished him with praise and promised : “ We will rebuild America with you , and we will make America great again.
” For a moment , in his self-affirming White House bubble , it seemed the US president remained master of his destiny .
But when reporters questioned him , Trump answered only one .
Then he was done .
A White House staffer bellowed forcefully at the assembled media : “ Let ’ s go !
Let ’ s go !
Keep going !
Let ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re done !
Let ’ s go !
” It was a sign of how the president has become less indulgent of unfriendly media questions than when he thought he was riding high .
Trump is in trouble .
The coronavirus has killed more than 130,000 Americans , tens of millions of people have lost their jobs and there has been a tectonic cultural shift for racial justice .
Opinion polls suggest he is the worst-placed incumbent since Jimmy Carter was hammered by Ronald Reagan in 1980 , leaving his Republican party somewhere @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s elections for the White House and Congress .
“ The mood is like probably what it felt like when you were on the Titanic , ” said Joe Walsh , a former congressman from Illinois .
“ These cowardly Republicans in the Senate and House know Trump ’ s going to get destroyed in November but they ’ re tied to him and they ’ re gon na go down with him and they have no choice , and I think they realise that.
” The sinking ship metaphor comes up again @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Guardian and other media outlets .
Biden leads Trump by 52 % to 40 % in a Guardian/Opinium Research poll conducted in late June .
Numerous other polls agree the Democrat has a double-digit lead and , crucially , put him ahead in six battleground states .
Two in three people now disapprove of Trump ’ s handling of the pandemic , according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll , with the percentage of Republicans who approve sinking from 90 % in mid-June to 78 % now .
Nothing is going right for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Oklahoma , last month was a flop with thousands of empty seats .
Another rally planned for Portsmouth , New Hampshire , on Saturday night has been postponed due to weather .
From his basement , Biden has outraised Trump in fundraising for the past two months in a row .
The president has even failed to brand his opponent with a pejorative nickname that sticks .
Amy Walter , national editor of Cook Political Report , wrote this week : “ This election is looking more like a Democratic tsunami than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we ’ ve spoken with this week think Trump is close to the point of no return .
A couple of others wondered if Trump had reached his ‘ Katrina ’ moment : a permanent loss of trust and faith of the majority of voters.
” She added : “ In talking with strategists on both sides last week , it ’ s also clear that Trump is dragging Republican congressional candidates with him as well.
” Indeed , Republicans realise they could lose everything , with the presidency and Senate following the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2018 .
The Senate is critical .
If Republicans can retain their majority , they will be able to obstruct significant parts of the Democratic agenda , just as they did for much of Barack Obama ’ s presidency .
Senators Susan Collins of Maine , Joni Ernst of Iowa , Cory Gardner of Colorado , Martha McSally of Arizona and Thom Tillis of North Carolina are all trailing in polls .
Even leading Trump loyalists Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham face stiff challenges from Democratic opponents raising huge funds in Kentucky @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who unsuccessfully challenged Trump for the 2020 Republican nomination , said : “ I can tell you , publicly and privately conversations I ’ ve had , they ’ re scared shitless , all of them , any Senate Republican on the ballot .
I mean , forget about Colorado , it ’ s done .
Arizona is done .
I think Maine is done .
Joni Ernst in Iowa is almost done .
Every race is going to be competitive .
Democrat Doug Jones has got a fighter ’ s chance of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in serious trouble and they all know it.
” It is an astonishing turnaround in less than a year as the political and business worlds have lost confidence in Trump .
A Citigroup poll of 140 fund managers last December found 70 % expected him to win re-election , but last week 62 % said they expect Biden to prevail .
That once-impenetrable Republican strongholds such as Arizona , Iowa and South Carolina are now in play is a measure of how much has changed .
Tara Setmayer , a former Republican communications @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ The people who pay attention to the numbers internally are very worried and they ’ re spending money in places that they never imagined they ’ d have to allocate resources like New Hampshire , like Georgia , like South Carolina .
“ Politics on a national level is a numbers game .
When you have to start spending money in states that were reliably red one cycle ago , you ’ re in trouble .
Clearly Trump is haemorrhaging support in areas that he needs to win again .
His margin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that he can not afford to lose anyone , so the alarms are definitely sounding within the Republican party despite Donald Trump ’ s proclamations on Twitter that he has overwhelming Republican support.
” Will Republicans finally disown Trump in an attempt to save themselves ?
Collins has refused to say how she plans to vote in November , telling the New York Times that she will not campaign against Biden , a former Senate colleague .
She is also among several senators who have said they will not attend next month ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Jacksonville , Florida .
Elaine Kamarck , a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution thinktank in Washington , argues that with every drop in the polls , the cracks in the Republican party grow bigger .
“ What generally happens in a situation like this is that people just start going their own way , ” she said .
“ They just start differentiating themselves from an unpopular president .
They start saying , ‘ I work with Democrats , ’ or ‘ I don ’ t agree with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ start signalling to the electorate that they ’ re different .
If the trends keep going as they have , the ultimate messaging will be : vote to keep the Senate Republican so we can protect against the worst policies that Joe Biden might try to enact.
” But there are more than three months until election day .
Trump ’ s base remains fervent .
His campaign argues that in this year ’ s Republican primaries he has set a record for most votes ever cast for an incumbent president .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of doom in 2016 .
Tim Miller , former communications director for Jeb Bush and ex-spokesman for the Republican National Committee , recently interviewed nine campaign consultants for Republican candidates in Senate and House races for Rolling Stone magazine .
Although the unnamed individuals expressed views such as “ Every shred of evidence points to a likely ass kicking in the fall ” , Miller writes , support for Trump remains “ steadfast ” .
“ What I found in their answers was one part Stockholm syndrome , one part survival instinct , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ may not love the president , but most share his loathing for his enemies on the left , in the media , and the apostate Never Trump Republicans with a passion that engenders an alliance with the president , if not a kinship .
Responding to the Rolling Stone article , Setmayer , host of the Honestly Speaking podcast , said : “ It was disheartening to hear that because for those of us who are on the other side of this we ’ re like , ‘ Come on !
How much @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Are you going to get off the ship or what ?
You ’ ve still got a chance here.
’ It doesn ’ t look like they ’ re going to do that .
“ They may go down with the ship because they feel as though the party faithful are so locked into Trump that they have zero chance if they separate themselves .
That ’ s the calculation.
” There was little evidence of mask-wearing or physical distancing at the White House on Thursday .
Nor , even now , does @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Trump in a last-ditch bid to hold on to the Senate .
Setmayer added : “ The shotgun marriage of the Republican party and Trump is so far gone at this point it would be virtually impossible for party leaders to outright reject him .
”

Hispanic supporters of Donald Trump sat around the cabinet table, lavished him with praise and promised: “We will rebuild America with you, and we will make America great again.” For a moment, in his self-affirming White House bubble, it seemed the US president remained master of his destiny.
But when reporters questioned him, Trump answered only one. Then he was done. A White House staffer bellowed forcefully at the assembled media: “Let’s go! Let’s go! Keep going! Let’s go! Come on, we’re done! Let’s go!” It was a sign of how the president has become less indulgent of unfriendly media questions than when he thought he was riding high.
Trump is in trouble. The coronavirus has killed more than 130,000 Americans, tens of millions of people have lost their jobs and there has been a tectonic cultural shift for racial justice. Opinion polls suggest he is the worst-placed incumbent since Jimmy Carter was hammered by Ronald Reagan in 1980, leaving his Republican party somewhere between anxiety and panic about November’s elections for the White House and Congress.
“The mood is like probably what it felt like when you were on the Titanic,” said Joe Walsh, a former congressman from Illinois. “These cowardly Republicans in the Senate and House know Trump’s going to get destroyed in November but they’re tied to him and they’re gonna go down with him and they have no choice, and I think they realise that.”
The sinking ship metaphor comes up again and again among Republicans interviewed by the Guardian and other media outlets.
Biden leads Trump by 52% to 40% in a Guardian/Opinium Research poll conducted in late June. Numerous other polls agree the Democrat has a double-digit lead and, crucially, put him ahead in six battleground states. Two in three people now disapprove of Trump’s handling of the pandemic, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll, with the percentage of Republicans who approve sinking from 90% in mid-June to 78% now.
Nothing is going right for the president. A campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last month was a flop with thousands of empty seats. Another rally planned for Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on Saturday night has been postponed due to weather. From his basement, Biden has outraised Trump in fundraising for the past two months.
The president has even failed to brand his opponent with a pejorative nickname that sticks.
Amy Walter, national editor of Cook Political Report, wrote this week: “This election is looking more like a Democratic tsunami than simply a blue wave … Republican strategists we’ve spoken with this week think Trump is close to the point of no return. A couple of others wondered if Trump had reached his ‘Katrina’ moment: a permanent loss of trust and faith of the majority of voters.”
The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, wears a mask this week as he listens to Donald Trump, who by contrast goes uncovered. Photograph: Kevin Dietsch/EPA
She added: “In talking with strategists on both sides last week, it’s also clear that Trump is dragging Republican congressional candidates with him as well.”
Indeed, Republicans realise they could lose everything, with the presidency and Senate following the House of Representatives, which they surrendered in 2018. The Senate is critical. If Republicans can retain their majority, they will be able to obstruct significant parts of the Democratic agenda, just as they did for much of Barack Obama’s presidency.
Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Martha McSally of Arizona and Thom Tillis of North Carolina are all trailing in polls. Even leading Trump loyalists Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham face stiff challenges from Democratic opponents raising huge funds in Kentucky and South Carolina respectively.
Walsh, who unsuccessfully challenged Trump for the 2020 Republican nomination, said: “I can tell you, publicly and privately conversations I’ve had, they’re scared shitless, all of them, any Senate Republican on the ballot. I mean, forget about Colorado, it’s done. Arizona is done. I think Maine is done. Joni Ernst in Iowa is almost done. Every race is going to be competitive. Democrat Doug Jones has got a fighter’s chance of winning in Alabama. Lindsey Graham is in serious trouble and they all know it.”
It is an astonishing turnaround in less than a year as the political and business worlds have lost confidence in Trump. A Citigroup poll of 140 fund managers last December found 70% expected him to win re-election, but last week 62% said they expect Biden to prevail. That once-impenetrable Republican strongholds such as Arizona, Iowa and South Carolina are now in play is a measure of how much has changed.
Tara Setmayer, a former Republican communications director on Capitol Hill, said: “The people who pay attention to the numbers internally are very worried and they’re spending money in places that they never imagined they’d have to allocate resources like New Hampshire, like Georgia, like South Carolina.
“Politics on a national level is a numbers game. When you have to start spending money in states that were reliably red one cycle ago, you’re in trouble. Clearly Trump is haemorrhaging support in areas that he needs to win again. His margin of victory was so narrow last time that he cannot afford to lose anyone, so the alarms are definitely sounding within the Republican party despite Donald Trump’s proclamations on Twitter that he has overwhelming Republican support.”
Will Republicans finally disown Trump in an attempt to save themselves? Collins has refused to say how she plans to vote in November, telling the New York Times that she will not campaign against Biden, a former Senate colleague. She is also among several senators who have said they will not attend next month’s Republican national convention to renominate Trump in Jacksonville, Florida.
Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution thinktank in Washington, argues that with every drop in the polls, the cracks in the Republican party grow bigger. “What generally happens in a situation like this is that people just start going their own way,” she said.
“They just start differentiating themselves from an unpopular president. They start saying, ‘I work with Democrats,’ or ‘I don’t agree with everything the president says’. They start signalling to the electorate that they’re different. If the trends keep going as they have, the ultimate messaging will be: vote to keep the Senate Republican so we can protect against the worst policies that Joe Biden might try to enact.”
But there are more than three months until election day. Trump’s base remains fervent. His campaign argues that in this year’s Republican primaries he has set a record for most votes ever cast for an incumbent president. And he defied the party’s prophets of doom in 2016.
Senator Susan Collins has said she will not campaign against Joe Biden. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock
Tim Miller, former communications director for Jeb Bush and ex-spokesman for the Republican National Committee, recently interviewed nine campaign consultants for Republican candidates in Senate and House races for Rolling Stone magazine. Although the unnamed individuals expressed views such as “Every shred of evidence points to a likely ass kicking in the fall”, Miller writes, support for Trump remains “steadfast”.
“What I found in their answers was one part Stockholm syndrome, one part survival instinct,” he explains. “They all may not love the president, but most share his loathing for his enemies on the left, in the media, and the apostate Never Trump Republicans with a passion that engenders an alliance with the president, if not a kinship.
Responding to the Rolling Stone article, Setmayer, host of the Honestly Speaking podcast, said: “It was disheartening to hear that because for those of us who are on the other side of this we’re like, ‘Come on! How much more are you going to take? Are you going to get off the ship or what? You’ve still got a chance here.’ It doesn’t look like they’re going to do that.
“They may go down with the ship because they feel as though the party faithful are so locked into Trump that they have zero chance if they separate themselves. That’s the calculation.”
There was little evidence of mask-wearing or physical distancing at the White House on Thursday. Nor, even now, does McConnell seem likely to politically distance himself from Trump in a last-ditch bid to hold on to the Senate. Setmayer added: “The shotgun marriage of the Republican party and Trump is so far gone at this point it would be virtually impossible for party leaders to outright reject him.”


theguardian--2020-07-11--The states we're in: can ‘laboratories of democracy’ conquer Covid-19?

On 30 June , a bill of at least $ 765bn came due for the 50 states .
Unlike the national government , these jurisdictions can not print money or run deficits without violating their constitutions .
States rely on sales and income taxes for revenue , which along with much of the economy has collapsed under the coronavirus pandemic .
Without a big infusion of federal funds , states may have to lay off employees , take a scythe to social service programs and , who knows , maybe defund the police as well .
Federal help may not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through the Cares Act for Covid-19 relief and the House passed a successor in May , the Heroes Act , which contains $ 915bn in flexible aid .
But the Senate majority leader , Mitch McConnell , has said he opposes borrowing more , suggesting instead states be allowed to file for bankruptcy .
The New York governor , Andrew Cuomo , called that “ one of the saddest , really dumb comments of all time ” .
Citing four-year balance of payment figures between states and the national government , Cuomo pointed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that [ federal ] pot $ 116bn more than we take out .
Kentucky takes out $ 148bn more than they put in .
Senator McConnell , who ’ s getting bailed out here ?
” Cuomo is the biggest star in a constellation of governors made famous by the pandemic .
State governments are usually the neglected middle children of federalism : much of their work lacks both the drama of Washington and the fierce politics of school districts and city councils .
The hollowing out of local journalism has reduced profiles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most part midsize company towns , chosen to balance big metropolises and rural areas .
Outside their states , the names of governors are usually trivia answers .
But this year , many governors are broadcasting daily briefings while Covid-19 case and death counts are tabulated by state as well as nationally .
That ’ s because states decide testing and quarantining protocols , and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) must go through state , county and local governments to implement its directives .
It ’ s also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the role of the federal government in a pandemic , as set up by George W Bush and Barack Obama .
Absent a federal system to distribute medical supplies , governors compete to purchase them on the global market .
They make life and death decisions about the reopening of schools , businesses and recreational areas .
People protesting against Governor Gretchen Whitmer ’ s stay-at-home order in Michigan brought their guns into the state senate gallery .
Looking beyond 30 June ( and 3 November ) , more big decisions await .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ lies with the supreme court through California v Texas , to be decided in 2021 , pitting 21 state attorneys general against another 20 .
Reapportionment beckons too , with its implications for the balance of power and the shaping of policy agendas .
So it is a good moment to look at the powers of the states in the federal system , and how those powers have been wielded in a period of Republican dominance .
In the last decade , Republicans built on reapportionment and a backlash against Obama to take @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2010 Democrats held the governor ’ s mansion and legislative majorities in 27 states to 14 , with eight split .
By 2017 , Democrats held 14 and Republicans 32 , with only three states divided .
Today , the count stands at Republicans 21 , Democrats 15 and 13 divided .
The totals come to 49 because Nebraska has a unicameral legislature , elected on a non-partisan basis .
To understand the reddening of the map , it pays to go back to 1973 , when the American Legislative Executive Council ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ politics .
Alexander Hertel-Fernandez has published State Capture : How Conservative Activists , Big Businesses and Wealthy Donors Reshaped the American States – and the Nation , a detailed history of Alec ; the State Policy Network , an association of more than 60 thinktanks founded in 1986 ; and Americans for Prosperity , the grassroots action network created by Charles Koch in 2004 .
Together this “ troika ” spends $ 240m a year lobbying and campaigning at state level .
Alec attests to the virtues of coordinated advocacy .
Hertel-Fernandez characterizes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of business representatives , conservative activists and wealthy donors .
Alec writes model bills and brings them , sometimes at all-expenses paid retreats , to state legislators who lack the experience , staff and session time to generate such on their own .
Where Republicans have controlled both chambers and governorships , the bills have moved forward .
Tort reform measures were an early success .
Organizational effectiveness grew when Alec sorted itself into taskforces by industry sector .
Big tech focused on climate change ; big oil and gas dominated energy .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s low public profile , which persisted until the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012 led progressives and journalists to Alec ’ s door via its support for “ stand your ground ” laws , the Florida version of which was successfully used as a defense for Martin ’ s assailant , George Zimmerman .
Hertel-Fernandez ’ s database of model bills from 1995 to 2013 reveals that the most popular topic has been education ( charter schools , vouchers , cutbacks of teacher union powers ) , followed by medical liability @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Still , as Matt Grossman shows in his study , Red State Blues : How the Conservative Revolution Stalled in the States , there have been limits to what Republicans have accomplished .
He agrees with Hertel-Fernandez that in the 1990s the GOP became “ a full-throated national conservative party responsive to an activist base ” , united in pursuing “ smaller government , unfettered capitalism , less redistribution , traditional values , social restoration , nationalism , and safety through security in every state ” .
Reviewing state governments ’ outputs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have enacted more abortion restrictions , loosened laws on gun use and ownership and blocked liberal initiatives .
They have enlarged their political power by crushing unions and inhibiting voter registration and turnout .
These are no small things , but otherwise the GOP has not moved states right .
Republicans have not gotten far on shrinking government programs and regulations .
They have not overridden and reversed “ the build-up of decades of policy liberalism ” .
The minimum wage has risen .
Only 6 % of students are in charter schools @ @ @ @ @ @ @ More states are taking Medicaid money .
Why ?
Grossman identifies a variety of factors , notably the inertia of the status quo , boosted by the constituencies for big programs they foster .
In The Divided States of America : Why Federalism Doesn ’ t Work , Don Kettl puts these developments in historical perspective .
He traces the dynamics of federalism from its inception .
The current division of labor within the compound republic of James Madison ’ s design has the federal government setting policy directions by issuing laws and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which administrate the programs with private contractors .
It ’ s a top-down but not top-heavy iteration .
Since the late 1960s , the welfare state has been mediated and varied by state and local government actions .
For example , a federal agency , the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services , distributes one-quarter of all federal spending but has only 6,000 employees , half as many as Harvard Medical School and one-tenth that of the Mayo Clinic .
The heavy lifting and often maddening complication of US healthcare results from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s a similar deal with environmental policy , infrastructure , education and prisons .
Given their overstructured and underfunded condition , what can the states do to square their budgets and better address the pandemic ’ s havoc ?
First , a state ’ s voters can switch party control .
In Virginia , a Democratic majority elected in 2019 passed measures to protect LGBTQ residents , help undocumented migrants , improve the environment , fund roads and other transportation projects via a hike in the gas tax , and become the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Amendment , which will put it into the constitution if the courts agree .
Nevertheless , as Grossman would predict , Virginia Democrats fell short in their ambitions .
A ban on assault weapons never got a vote in the senate and failed in a house committee .
Neither chamber approved a repeal of the right-to-work law .
Campaign finance reform has seen little action .
Second , citizens can vote with their feet .
The pandemic has accelerated telework , consumption of streamed cultural products and reliance on shipped goods , making @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where costs are lower .
Taxing Amazon and Netflix at higher rates would be a timely option .
Third , and most important , Louis Brandeis ’ s adage about the states being the “ laboratories of democracy ” still carries great potential .
Kettl details the trailblazing record of California in enacting car emissions measures accepted by the automotive industry , which could not afford to forgo sales there .
He also describes the success of Wisconsin Works , a welfare program initiated by the Republican governor , Tommy Thompson , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if and when a state comes up with a workable way to wriggle out of the Covid-19 squeeze , voters , residents , industries , other states and the federal government will take note .
That ’ s the American federalist approach .
It ’ s the best shot we have .

On 30 June, a bill of at least $765bn came due for the 50 states. Unlike the national government, these jurisdictions cannot print money or run deficits without violating their constitutions. States rely on sales and income taxes for revenue, which along with much of the economy has collapsed under the coronavirus pandemic. Without a big infusion of federal funds, states may have to lay off employees, take a scythe to social service programs and, who knows, maybe defund the police as well.
Federal help may not arrive soon. States received $150bn through the Cares Act for Covid-19 relief and the House passed a successor in May, the Heroes Act, which contains $915bn in flexible aid. But the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, has said he opposes borrowing more, suggesting instead states be allowed to file for bankruptcy.
The New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, called that “one of the saddest, really dumb comments of all time”. Citing four-year balance of payment figures between states and the national government, Cuomo pointed out that his taxpayers “put into that [federal] pot $116bn more than we take out. Kentucky takes out $148bn more than they put in. Senator McConnell, who’s getting bailed out here?”
Cuomo is the biggest star in a constellation of governors made famous by the pandemic. State governments are usually the neglected middle children of federalism: much of their work lacks both the drama of Washington and the fierce politics of school districts and city councils. The hollowing out of local journalism has reduced profiles further. Capital cities are for the most part midsize company towns, chosen to balance big metropolises and rural areas. Outside their states, the names of governors are usually trivia answers.
But this year, many governors are broadcasting daily briefings while Covid-19 case and death counts are tabulated by state as well as nationally. That’s because states decide testing and quarantining protocols, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) must go through state, county and local governments to implement its directives. It’s also because the current administration has essentially abdicated the role of the federal government in a pandemic, as set up by George W Bush and Barack Obama.
Absent a federal system to distribute medical supplies, governors compete to purchase them on the global market. They make life and death decisions about the reopening of schools, businesses and recreational areas. People protesting against Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home order in Michigan brought their guns into the state senate gallery.
Looking beyond 30 June (and 3 November), more big decisions await. The fate of the Affordable Care Act lies with the supreme court through California v Texas, to be decided in 2021, pitting 21 state attorneys general against another 20. Reapportionment beckons too, with its implications for the balance of power and the shaping of policy agendas.
So it is a good moment to look at the powers of the states in the federal system, and how those powers have been wielded in a period of Republican dominance.
In the last decade, Republicans built on reapportionment and a backlash against Obama to take control of many state governments. In 2010 Democrats held the governor’s mansion and legislative majorities in 27 states to 14, with eight split. By 2017, Democrats held 14 and Republicans 32, with only three states divided. Today, the count stands at Republicans 21, Democrats 15 and 13 divided. The totals come to 49 because Nebraska has a unicameral legislature, elected on a non-partisan basis.
To understand the reddening of the map, it pays to go back to 1973, when the American Legislative Executive Council (Alec) began devoting attention to state politics. Alexander Hertel-Fernandez has published State Capture: How Conservative Activists, Big Businesses and Wealthy Donors Reshaped the American States – and the Nation, a detailed history of Alec; the State Policy Network, an association of more than 60 thinktanks founded in 1986; and Americans for Prosperity, the grassroots action network created by Charles Koch in 2004. Together this “troika” spends $240m a year lobbying and campaigning at state level.
Protesters demand the Los Angeles Times not be sold to the Koch Brothers, Beverly Hills, California, in 2013. Photograph: Joe Klamar/AFP via Getty Images
Alec attests to the virtues of coordinated advocacy. Hertel-Fernandez characterizes it as an uneasy yet stable coalition of business representatives, conservative activists and wealthy donors. Alec writes model bills and brings them, sometimes at all-expenses paid retreats, to state legislators who lack the experience, staff and session time to generate such on their own. Where Republicans have controlled both chambers and governorships, the bills have moved forward.
Tort reform measures were an early success. Organizational effectiveness grew when Alec sorted itself into taskforces by industry sector. Big tech focused on climate change; big oil and gas dominated energy. Another source of power lay in Alec’s low public profile, which persisted until the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012 led progressives and journalists to Alec’s door via its support for “stand your ground” laws, the Florida version of which was successfully used as a defense for Martin’s assailant, George Zimmerman.
Hertel-Fernandez’s database of model bills from 1995 to 2013 reveals that the most popular topic has been education (charter schools, vouchers, cutbacks of teacher union powers), followed by medical liability. Those are big state budget items.
Still, as Matt Grossman shows in his study, Red State Blues: How the Conservative Revolution Stalled in the States, there have been limits to what Republicans have accomplished. He agrees with Hertel-Fernandez that in the 1990s the GOP became “a full-throated national conservative party responsive to an activist base”, united in pursuing “smaller government, unfettered capitalism, less redistribution, traditional values, social restoration, nationalism, and safety through security in every state”. Reviewing state governments’ outputs and impacts, he finds that Republicans have enacted more abortion restrictions, loosened laws on gun use and ownership and blocked liberal initiatives. They have enlarged their political power by crushing unions and inhibiting voter registration and turnout.
These are no small things, but otherwise the GOP has not moved states right. Republicans have not gotten far on shrinking government programs and regulations. They have not overridden and reversed “the build-up of decades of policy liberalism”. The minimum wage has risen. Only 6% of students are in charter schools and very few receive education vouchers. More states are taking Medicaid money.
Why? Grossman identifies a variety of factors, notably the inertia of the status quo, boosted by the constituencies for big programs they foster.
In The Divided States of America: Why Federalism Doesn’t Work, Don Kettl puts these developments in historical perspective. He traces the dynamics of federalism from its inception. The current division of labor within the compound republic of James Madison’s design has the federal government setting policy directions by issuing laws and regulations and dispensing money to the states, which administrate the programs with private contractors. It’s a top-down but not top-heavy iteration. Since the late 1960s, the welfare state has been mediated and varied by state and local government actions.
For example, a federal agency, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, distributes one-quarter of all federal spending but has only 6,000 employees, half as many as Harvard Medical School and one-tenth that of the Mayo Clinic. The heavy lifting and often maddening complication of US healthcare results from the processing of CMS dollars. It’s a similar deal with environmental policy, infrastructure, education and prisons.
Given their overstructured and underfunded condition, what can the states do to square their budgets and better address the pandemic’s havoc?
First, a state’s voters can switch party control. In Virginia, a Democratic majority elected in 2019 passed measures to protect LGBTQ residents, help undocumented migrants, improve the environment, fund roads and other transportation projects via a hike in the gas tax, and become the 38th state of ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, which will put it into the constitution if the courts agree.
A pro-gun protester, holding an automatic rifle, waves a flag outside the Virginia state capitol in Richmond, in January. Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images
Nevertheless, as Grossman would predict, Virginia Democrats fell short in their ambitions. A ban on assault weapons never got a vote in the senate and failed in a house committee. Neither chamber approved a repeal of the right-to-work law. Campaign finance reform has seen little action.
Second, citizens can vote with their feet. The pandemic has accelerated telework, consumption of streamed cultural products and reliance on shipped goods, making it more palatable for people to live where costs are lower. Taxing Amazon and Netflix at higher rates would be a timely option.
Third, and most important, Louis Brandeis’s adage about the states being the “laboratories of democracy” still carries great potential. Kettl details the trailblazing record of California in enacting car emissions measures accepted by the automotive industry, which could not afford to forgo sales there. He also describes the success of Wisconsin Works, a welfare program initiated by the Republican governor, Tommy Thompson, and adopted throughout the country.
Thus, if and when a state comes up with a workable way to wriggle out of the Covid-19 squeeze, voters, residents, industries, other states and the federal government will take note. That’s the American federalist approach. It’s the best shot we have.


theguardian--2020-07-11--Roger Stone: Trump proves his love for 'law and order' doesn't apply to friends | Analysis

The law and order president has decided that a convicted criminal should not go to prison .
It may be mere coincidence that Roger Stone is an old friend and fellow resident of Florida with a shared crush on Richard Nixon .
It may also be mere coincidence that Donald Trump made the announcement on a Friday night , a graveyard shift that has become his favorite for firing inspectors general and others who get in his way .
Stone was convicted by a jury last November of obstructing a congressional investigation , lying under oath to Congress and tampering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to protect Trump .
The 67-year-old was scheduled to report by Tuesday to a federal prison in Jesup , Georgia , to begin serving a sentence of three years and four months .
Three and a half years into his presidency , Trump ’ s intervention was spectacularly unsurprising .
He did not grant Stone a full pardon that would have erased his criminal record , which might perhaps have been too incendiary in an election year .
Even so , it was one of Trump ’ s most savage attacks yet on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ commutes the prison sentence of Roger Stone while the officers that killed Breonna Taylor are still free , ” tweeted Senator Kamala Harris of California , referring to an African American medical worker killed in Louisville , Kentucky , earlier this year .
“ The two systems of justice in this country must end.
” Jeffrey Toobin , the chief legal analyst for CNN , added on the network : “ This is the most corrupt and cronyistic act in perhaps all of recent history .
Nixon at the height of Watergate never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the people involved in Watergate .
He thought he could never get away with it.
” Personal and political forces worked in favour of Stone , whose cause was reportedly championed by the Fox News host Tucker Carlson .
The self-proclaimed “ dirty trickster ” and dapper dresser , who has Nixon ’ s face tattooed on his back , has been pals with Trump since the 1980s , his longest-serving political adviser .
Both men are mavericks who relish riling liberals .
Stone was involved in the 2016 election campaign and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Howard Fineman , an NBC News analyst , Stone said of Trump earlier on Friday : “ He knows I was under enormous pressure to turn on him .
It would have eased my situation considerably .
But I didn ’ t. ” The implication being that Stone could have revealed damaging information about the president if he chose .
Sparing Stone also fits Trump ’ s “ Obamagate ” narrative that the special counsel Robert Mueller ’ s investigation , which documented Russian interference in the 2016 election to boost Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Stone was convicted for lying to the House intelligence committee about his attempts to contact WikiLeaks , the website that released damaging emails about Trump ’ s 2016 election rival Hillary Clinton .
He was one of several Trump associates charged with crimes in the investigation .
In a statement on Friday , the White House said Stone was a “ victim of the Russia Hoax that the Left and its allies in the media perpetuated for years in an attempt to undermine the Trump Presidency ” .
It added : “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump Campaign , or the Trump Administration , with Russia .
Such collusion was never anything other than a fantasy of partisans unable to accept the result of the 2016 election.
” Mueller ’ s investigation did find a total of 272 contacts between Trump ’ s campaign team and Russia-linked operatives , including at least 38 meetings .
More broadly , Trump , often frustrated by Congress or the constitution , has embraced the pardon power like a medieval monarch .
Among the beneficiaries have been the conservative commentator Dinesh D ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the former White House aide Lewis “ Scooter ” Libby , the former New York City police commissioner Bernie Kerik , the financier Michael Milken and the newspaper publisher Conrad Black , who had written a laudatory book about the president .
Trump even commuted the prison sentence of the Democratic former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich , who had been a contestant on Trump ’ s TV show Celebrity Apprentice .
Meanwhile the US attorney general , William Barr , is seeking to dismiss charges against Trump ’ s former national security adviser @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the FBI but is seen by Trump as another Mueller martyr .
Even as he demands arrest and jail for protesters who topple statues , the president is straining the justice system to breaking point with his selective application of executive clemency .
But what if he starts prosecuting perceived enemies , too ?
Don ’ t expect Barr to stand in his way .

The law and order president has decided that a convicted criminal should not go to prison.
It may be mere coincidence that Roger Stone is an old friend and fellow resident of Florida with a shared crush on Richard Nixon.
It may also be mere coincidence that Donald Trump made the announcement on a Friday night, a graveyard shift that has become his favorite for firing inspectors general and others who get in his way.
Stone was convicted by a jury last November of obstructing a congressional investigation, lying under oath to Congress and tampering with a witness. He did so to protect Trump. The 67-year-old was scheduled to report by Tuesday to a federal prison in Jesup, Georgia, to begin serving a sentence of three years and four months.
Three and a half years into his presidency, Trump’s intervention was spectacularly unsurprising. He did not grant Stone a full pardon that would have erased his criminal record, which might perhaps have been too incendiary in an election year. Even so, it was one of Trump’s most savage attacks yet on the rule of law.
“Trump commutes the prison sentence of Roger Stone while the officers that killed Breonna Taylor are still free,” tweeted Senator Kamala Harris of California, referring to an African American medical worker killed in Louisville, Kentucky, earlier this year. “The two systems of justice in this country must end.”
Jeffrey Toobin, the chief legal analyst for CNN, added on the network: “This is the most corrupt and cronyistic act in perhaps all of recent history. Nixon at the height of Watergate never pardoned or commuted the sentences of any of the people involved in Watergate. He thought he could never get away with it.”
Personal and political forces worked in favour of Stone, whose cause was reportedly championed by the Fox News host Tucker Carlson. The self-proclaimed “dirty trickster” and dapper dresser, who has Nixon’s face tattooed on his back, has been pals with Trump since the 1980s, his longest-serving political adviser. Both men are mavericks who relish riling liberals. Stone was involved in the 2016 election campaign and refused to flip in court.
According to Howard Fineman, an NBC News analyst, Stone said of Trump earlier on Friday: “He knows I was under enormous pressure to turn on him. It would have eased my situation considerably. But I didn’t.” The implication being that Stone could have revealed damaging information about the president if he chose.
Sparing Stone also fits Trump’s “Obamagate” narrative that the special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which documented Russian interference in the 2016 election to boost Trump’s candidacy, was a hoax.
Roger Stone in Washington. Photograph: Shawn Thew/EPA
Stone was convicted for lying to the House intelligence committee about his attempts to contact WikiLeaks, the website that released damaging emails about Trump’s 2016 election rival Hillary Clinton. He was one of several Trump associates charged with crimes in the investigation.
In a statement on Friday, the White House said Stone was a “victim of the Russia Hoax that the Left and its allies in the media perpetuated for years in an attempt to undermine the Trump Presidency”.
It added: “There was never any collusion between the Trump Campaign, or the Trump Administration, with Russia. Such collusion was never anything other than a fantasy of partisans unable to accept the result of the 2016 election.”
Mueller’s investigation did find a total of 272 contacts between Trump’s campaign team and Russia-linked operatives, including at least 38 meetings.
More broadly, Trump, often frustrated by Congress or the constitution, has embraced the pardon power like a medieval monarch. Among the beneficiaries have been the conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza, the ex-Arizona-county-sheriff Joe Arpaio, the former White House aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the former New York City police commissioner Bernie Kerik, the financier Michael Milken and the newspaper publisher Conrad Black, who had written a laudatory book about the president.
Trump even commuted the prison sentence of the Democratic former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who had been a contestant on Trump’s TV show Celebrity Apprentice. Meanwhile the US attorney general, William Barr, is seeking to dismiss charges against Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who admitted lying to the FBI but is seen by Trump as another Mueller martyr.
Even as he demands arrest and jail for protesters who topple statues, the president is straining the justice system to breaking point with his selective application of executive clemency. But what if he starts prosecuting perceived enemies, too? Don’t expect Barr to stand in his way.


theguardian--2020-07-11--Nikki Haley has gotten where she is by embracing oppression, not fighting it | Arwa Mahdawi

Sign up for the Week in Patriarchy , a newsletter on feminism and sexism sent every Saturday .
Ivanka Trump has got some competition .
The first daughter reportedly has grand plans to become the first female president of the United States – however , she may find that Nikki Haley beats her to it .
Trump ’ s former UN ambassador seems to be positioning herself to be the face of the post-Trump Republican party , and there are rumours she is considering a 2024 presidential run .
A President Haley would , in some respects , be ground-breaking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first female Potus , she ’ d be the first Indian-American .
Haley ’ s parents immigrated to a small working-class town in South Carolina from Punjab , India ; they were the first Sikh family the town had ever seen .
They went on to build a multimillion-dollar company and Haley ( who was born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa ) , grew up to become the first Indian American and first female governor of South Carolina before joining the Trump administration .
In many ways her story is the American dream .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ an American nightmare .
Like many on the right , Haley loves to decry “ identity politics ” .
However , she ’ s spent her entire career playing politics with her identity – cynically weaponizing her status as a “ woman of colour ” to excuse and enable systemic racism .
“ I would not have been elected governor of South Carolina if our state was a racially intolerant place , ” she said in a 2015 Press Club speech , for example .
“ And I would not have won the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intolerant party.
” And , no doubt , she wouldn ’ t still be supporting Trump if he were a racially intolerant man .
Haley is far from the only female politician of colour to dabble in this sort of identity politics .
Britain ’ s Priti Patel is another odious example .
The hawkish home secretary , who is the most senior woman in Boris Johnson ’ s cabinet , was recently asked by a black politician if she could understand why people in Britain were protesting against structural racism .
Her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and say she ’ d suffered racist abuse as a child .
“ When it comes to racism , sexism , tolerance or social justice , I will not take lectures from the other side of the House , ” she pompously proclaimed .
In response , a number of non-white Labour MPs wrote to Patel accusing of her using her own “ heritage and experiences of racism to gaslight the very real racism faced by black people and communities across the UK ” .
Patel then continued to play the victim , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ silenced by “ @ UKLabour MPs who continue to dismiss the contributions of those who don ’ t conform to their view of how ethnic minorities should behave ” .
Isn ’ t it funny how the people with the biggest platforms and the most power are constantly complaining that they ’ re being silenced ?
Women like Haley and Patel are integral to the smooth functioning of patriarchy and white supremacy : their personal successes are held up as “ proof ” that systemic oppression doesn ’ t exist .
Their individual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of institutional racism and misogyny .
After all , how could deporting vulnerable people or creating a hostile environment for immigrants be racist if it ’ s a brown woman doing it ?
Let me be clear : I am not diminishing the very real achievements of these women .
In many ways I admire them .
It takes a lot of hard work to rid yourself of even the tiniest shred of decency and achieve Haley-Patel levels of moral bankruptcy .
Haley may or may not become the first female president , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ role model .
If you just embrace systems of oppression , instead of fighting them , you too might go far in politics .
Lean in ladies !
Why women are choosing to be childfree More and more people are choosing not to have kids – the Guardian ran a thought-provoking series on the reasons why .
Some people don ’ t have enough money to reproduce .
Others are worried about the climate or simply cherish their freedom .
Woman alleges she was fired because her kids disrupted her work calls Like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Diego has been working at home because of the pandemic .
She ’ s also had to juggle looking after her two young kids who could occasionally be overheard on business calls .
This , she says , got her fired – and now she ’ s suing .
Rios ’ s experience is one small part of a much bigger problem : the social and economic effects of pandemics tend to hit women the hardest .
The US supreme court is allowing some employers to refuse birth control coverage On Wednesday the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administration rule that expanded the pool of employers able to decline contraceptive coverage for their employees if they have religious or moral objections .
This could deprive up to 125,000 women of contraceptive coverage .
Transgender people don ’ t want a fight – they just want equal rights Do read this thoughtful column by Eleanor Morgan on how the word “ woman ” isn ’ t being erased by the existence of trans people , who simply want dignity and equal rights .
A wooden sculpture of Melania Trump was set on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really care , do you ?
The CW series Batwoman has cast black , bisexual actress Javicia Leslie to play the superhero .
Last month the country group Lady Antebellum changed its name to Lady A to avoid slavery connotations .
Alas , there was a slight problem : Anita White , a black female artist , had been performing as Lady A for 20 years .
So now the country band is suing her .
This is not exactly how you go about proving you are anti-racist .
Mary Kay Letourneau , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dies at 58 In 1996 the 34-year-old teacher began a sexual relationship with her 13-year-old student , Vili Fualaau .
Letourneau was jailed for seven and a half years for child rape and married Fualaau on her release .
The relationship fascinated the media and Letourneau ’ s behaviour was often excused or rationalized ; rape was rebranded as a “ tryst ” .
Society can ’ t seem to get its head around the idea that women can be sexual predators .
Joy Reid will become the host of a new nightly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just a few black women to anchor a major American evening news program .
Japan has reopened its theme parks , but screaming on rollercoasters has been banned ( to stop the ride becoming a ’ rona-coaster . )
A PSA advises thrill-seekers to “ Please scream inside your heart.
” Truly a motto for 2020 .

Sign up for the Week in Patriarchy, a newsletter on feminism and sexism sent every Saturday.
Nikki Haley’s insidious identity politics
Ivanka Trump has got some competition. The first daughter reportedly has grand plans to become the first female president of the United States – however, she may find that Nikki Haley beats her to it. Trump’s former UN ambassador seems to be positioning herself to be the face of the post-Trump Republican party, and there are rumours she is considering a 2024 presidential run.
A President Haley would, in some respects, be ground-breaking: she wouldn’t just be the first female Potus, she’d be the first Indian-American. Haley’s parents immigrated to a small working-class town in South Carolina from Punjab, India; they were the first Sikh family the town had ever seen. They went on to build a multimillion-dollar company and Haley (who was born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa), grew up to become the first Indian American and first female governor of South Carolina before joining the Trump administration. In many ways her story is the American dream. Her presidency, however, would be an American nightmare.
Like many on the right, Haley loves to decry “identity politics”. However, she’s spent her entire career playing politics with her identity – cynically weaponizing her status as a “woman of colour” to excuse and enable systemic racism. “I would not have been elected governor of South Carolina if our state was a racially intolerant place,” she said in a 2015 Press Club speech, for example. “And I would not have won the Republican primary if we were a racially intolerant party.” And, no doubt, she wouldn’t still be supporting Trump if he were a racially intolerant man.
Haley is far from the only female politician of colour to dabble in this sort of identity politics. Britain’s Priti Patel is another odious example. The hawkish home secretary, who is the most senior woman in Boris Johnson’s cabinet, was recently asked by a black politician if she could understand why people in Britain were protesting against structural racism. Her response was to fly into a rage and say she’d suffered racist abuse as a child. “When it comes to racism, sexism, tolerance or social justice, I will not take lectures from the other side of the House,” she pompously proclaimed. In response, a number of non-white Labour MPs wrote to Patel accusing of her using her own “heritage and experiences of racism to gaslight the very real racism faced by black people and communities across the UK”.
Patel then continued to play the victim, tweeting that she wouldn’t be silenced by “@UKLabour MPs who continue to dismiss the contributions of those who don’t conform to their view of how ethnic minorities should behave”. Isn’t it funny how the people with the biggest platforms and the most power are constantly complaining that they’re being silenced?
Women like Haley and Patel are integral to the smooth functioning of patriarchy and white supremacy: their personal successes are held up as “proof” that systemic oppression doesn’t exist. Their individual experiences are used to shut down criticisms of institutional racism and misogyny. After all, how could deporting vulnerable people or creating a hostile environment for immigrants be racist if it’s a brown woman doing it?
Let me be clear: I am not diminishing the very real achievements of these women. In many ways I admire them. It takes a lot of hard work to rid yourself of even the tiniest shred of decency and achieve Haley-Patel levels of moral bankruptcy. Haley may or may not become the first female president, but she’s already an inspiring role model. If you just embrace systems of oppression, instead of fighting them, you too might go far in politics. Lean in, ladies!
Why women are choosing to be childfree
More and more people are choosing not to have kids – the Guardian ran a thought-provoking series on the reasons why. Some people don’t have enough money to reproduce. Others are worried about the climate or simply cherish their freedom.
Woman alleges she was fired because her kids disrupted her work calls
Like many people, Drisana Rios of San Diego has been working at home because of the pandemic. She’s also had to juggle looking after her two young kids who could occasionally be overheard on business calls. This, she says, got her fired – and now she’s suing. Rios’s experience is one small part of a much bigger problem: the social and economic effects of pandemics tend to hit women the hardest.
The US supreme court is allowing some employers to refuse birth control coverage
On Wednesday the court ruled 7-2 to uphold a Trump administration rule that expanded the pool of employers able to decline contraceptive coverage for their employees if they have religious or moral objections. This could deprive up to 125,000 women of contraceptive coverage.
Transgender people don’t want a fight – they just want equal rights
Do read this thoughtful column by Eleanor Morgan on how the word “woman” isn’t being erased by the existence of trans people, who simply want dignity and equal rights.
A wooden sculpture of Melania Trump was set on fire in Slovenia
I don’t really care, do you?
We’re getting a black bisexual Batwoman
The CW series Batwoman has cast black, bisexual actress Javicia Leslie to play the superhero.
Lady Antebellum is suing a black singer
Last month the country group Lady Antebellum changed its name to Lady A to avoid slavery connotations. Alas, there was a slight problem: Anita White, a black female artist, had been performing as Lady A for 20 years. So now the country band is suing her. This is not exactly how you go about proving you are anti-racist.
Mary Kay Letourneau, teacher who raped and married student, dies at 58
In 1996 the 34-year-old teacher began a sexual relationship with her 13-year-old student, Vili Fualaau. Letourneau was jailed for seven and a half years for child rape and married Fualaau on her release. The relationship fascinated the media and Letourneau’s behaviour was often excused or rationalized; rape was rebranded as a “tryst”. Society can’t seem to get its head around the idea that women can be sexual predators.
Joy Reid will become the host of a new nightly show on MSNBC
She is one of just a few black women to anchor a major American evening news program.
‘Please scream inside your heart’
Japan has reopened its theme parks, but screaming on rollercoasters has been banned (to stop the ride becoming a ’rona-coaster.) A PSA advises thrill-seekers to “Please scream inside your heart.” Truly a motto for 2020.


theguardian--2020-07-11--Donald Trump wears mask in public for first time – as it happened

A long-expected upturn in US coronavirus deaths has begun , driven by fatalities in states in the south and west , where cases have been surging calamitously , according to data on the pandemic .
The number of deaths per day from the virus had been falling in May and June and even remained down as states like Florida and Texas saw explosions in cases and hospitalizations and reported daily US infections broke records several times in recent days , the Associated Press reports .
Scientists warned it wouldn ’ t last .
A coronavirus death , when it occurs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ person is first infected .
And experts predicted states that saw increases in cases and hospitalizations would , at some point , see deaths rise too .
Now that ’ s happening .
“ It ’ s consistently picking up .
And it ’ s picking up at the time you ’ d expect it to , ” said William Hanage , a Harvard University infectious diseases researcher .
According to an Associated Press analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University , the seven-day rolling average for daily reported deaths in the US @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to 664 on July 10 , though still well below the heights hit in April .
Daily reported deaths increased in 27 states over that time period , but the majority of those states are averaging under 15 new deaths per day .
A smaller group of states has been driving the nationwide increase in deaths .
California is averaging 91 reported deaths per day while Texas is close behind with 66 , but Florida , Arizona , Illinois , New Jersey and South Carolina also saw sizable rises .
New Jersey ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ partially attributable to its less frequent reporting of probable deaths .
The impact has already been felt by families who lost kin and by the health care workers who tried to save them .
Rublas Ruiz , a Miami intensive care unit nurse , recently broke down in tears during a birthday dinner with his wife and daughter .
He said he was overcome by the number of patients who have died in his care .
“ I counted like 10 patients in less than four days in our ICU and then I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many , ” said the 41-year-old nurse at Kendall Regional Medical Center who lost another patient Monday .
The virus has killed more than 134,000 people in the US and more than a half-million worldwide , according to Johns Hopkins University , one of the most reliable trackers of the pandemic , though the true numbers are believed to be higher because a lack of official reporting of deaths or misclassification of cause of death by authorities .

Bryan Armen Graham (now), Joanna Walters and Tom Lutz (earlier)  in New York

11 Jul 2020 22.58 BST In first, Trump wears face mask for Walter Reed visit Donald Trump was wearing a black mask as he walked down the entryway of Walter Reed medical center accompanied by hospital staff, marking the first time he has been seen wearing a protective face covering in public. The president did not stop to take questions from the White House pool before turning down a hallway. His meeting with injured troops and staff is closed to the press. The only other time Trump was spotted wearing a mask was behind the scenes during a tour of a Ford plant in Michigan back in May. Donald Trump, center, wearing a mask as he walks down the hallway during his visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP “I think when you’re in a hospital, especially in that particular setting where you’re talking to a lot of soldiers and people that in some cases just got off the operating tables, I think it’s a great thing to wear a mask,” Trump said before boarding Marine One en route to the hospital. “I’ve never been against masks, but I do believe they have a time and a place.”
Updated at 23.06 BST
11 Jul 2020 22.47 BST The gradual return of sports to American life continued on Saturday when the National Hot Rod Association resumed its season after a 138-day hiatus in front of an expected crowd of 3,000 to 4,000 at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. Fans were not allowed at Friday’s practice session but returned in a limited capacity for qualifying. NHRA president Glen Cromwell said ticket sales were capped at about 10 to 15% of normal capacity, the AP reported. They also are expected to attend Sunday’s finals. Most fans wore face coverings on a hot, sun-drenched day, complying with county guidelines, and observed social distancing in the stands, pits and at concession areas.
Heatwaves fill the air as NHRA funny car driver Alexis DeJoria races down track during testing for the Lucas Oil Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway. Photograph: Mark J Rebilas/USA Today Sports
11 Jul 2020 22.40 BST Donald Trump spoke with reporters for three minutes after emerging from the South Portico of the White House shortly after 5pm to depart for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Asked whether he will wear a face mask in an environment with medically vulnerable troops, the US president said: “I love masks in the appropriate locations.” Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One for a short trip to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Photograph: Pablo Martínez Monsiváis/AP Trump then addressed his commutation of longtime friend Roger Stone’s prison sentence, likening the treatment of the notorious Republican fixer to that of Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos. He declined to answer whether he would consider pardoning Flynn and Papadopoulos. “I’m happy with what I did,” Trump said. “Roger Stone was treated horribly. He was treated very unfairly.” The president ended by saying prosecutors should take a look at Andrew McCabe, James Comey, Joe Biden and Barack Obama before walking away from the gathered pool to board Marine One, which took off from the South Lawn at 5.14pm en route to the Bethesda hospital.
11 Jul 2020 22.14 BST Infections in Texas rose by 10,351 on Saturday to 250,462 in total, the highest single-day increase in the state since the pandemic started. Current hospitalizations in the state rose by 81 to a record high of 10,083 on Saturday, the state’s health department said.
The New York Times reported earlier that in the popular beachfront vacation spot of Corpus Christi hardly any new infections were recorded in early June, before out-of-towners brought the virus back. Now the city of 325,000 has one of the fastest-growing outbreaks in Texas. Local residents protested closed beaches on Fourth of July in Galveston, Texas. Photograph: Adrees Latif/Reuters
11 Jul 2020 22.10 BST The spike in coronavirus cases in the Las Vegas area contributed to the National Hockey League choosing two Canadian cities to complete its season, Reuters reports.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly on Saturday called the rise a “concern” to the league. He adds that it was “one of the reasons” they chose to put games in Toronto and Edmonton instead of Vegas, which had long been considered a front-runner. Each city will host 12 teams, sequestering players in so-called bubbles that encompass arenas, hotels and select restaurants. Fans will not attend the games. Alberta premier Jason Kenney said hosting games could generate C$60 million ($44.16 million) in economic activity. “That alone is not going to turn around our economy, but it’s a great shot in the arm,” he said. Alberta’s unemployment rate was the second-highest in Canada in June as a crash in oil prices this spring forced energy companies to lay off workers and some businesses remained closed due to the pandemic. The province’s chief medical officer has reassured the public that arriving hockey players will not accelerate the spread of the virus if they abide by certain conditions, which include daily testing and restricted movement. Sports are returning to America before we've earned them | Bryan Armen Graham Read more
11 Jul 2020 21.42 BST An Arizona woman has laid the blame for her father’s death from coronavirus at the feet of the state’s Republican governor, Doug Ducey, in a searing obituary published this week in the Arizona Republic. Mark Urquiza, a Mexican-American manufacturing worker from Phoenix, died on 30 June after a three-week battle with Covid-19 – and his daughter, Kristin, minced no words in her remembrance. Powerful obituary in today’s AZ Republic. Regular people are starting to boil over pic.twitter.com/fNdL1bCDh2 — Bill Scheel (@billyscheel) July 9, 2020 “His death is due to the carelessness of the politicians who continue to jeopardize the health of brown bodies through a clear lack of leadership, refusal to acknowledge the severity of this crisis, and inability and unwillingness to give clear and decisive direction on how to minimize risk,” she wrote. Hospital caseloads have surged since Arizona became one of the hotspots for the coronavirus after Ducey relaxed stay-home orders and other restrictions in May. Arizona’s health officials reported an additional 69 deaths from the coronavirus outbreak on Saturday, brining the overall number of confirmed dead to more than 2,150. The state added 3,038 confirmed cases in the last day, raising the overall count to 119,930. Arizona also set a record with 3,485 patients hospitalized for Covid-19 as of Friday.
11 Jul 2020 21.19 BST Fox News has addressed the resignation of one of Tucker Carlson’s top writers, who was revealed to have been posting racist and sexist comments online under a pseudonym. A CNN investigation discovered Blake Neff regularly posted offensive language under the name “CharlesXII” on an online forum called AutoAdmit. Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and president Jay Wallace decried Neff’s “abhorrent conduct” in an internal memo sent to all employees on Saturday: Dear colleagues, Yesterday we learned that now former employee Blake Neff, a writer on Tucker Carlson Tonight, made horrendous and deeply offensive racist, sexist and homophobic comments under a pseudonym on the forum AutoAdmit. We want to make abundantly clear that FOX News Media strongly condemns this horrific racist, misogynistic and homophobic behavior. Neff’s abhorrent conduct on this forum was never divulged to the show or the network until Friday, at which point we swiftly accepted his resignation. Make no mistake, actions such as his cannot and will not be tolerated at any time in any part of our work force. Tucker will be addressing this on his show on Monday night. Thank you, Suzanne & Jay Carlson has called Neff a “wonderful writer” and in an interview with Dartmouth’s alumni magazine, Neff said: “Anything [Carlson is] reading off the teleprompter, the first draft was written by me.”
11 Jul 2020 20.49 BST Donald Trump returned to the White House from today’s golf course visit at 2.52pm and is due to depart for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda at 5 today. The otherwise routine photo opportunity is noteworthy because it’s expected to the first time the US president is officially seen wearing a face mask in public. “I’m going to Walter Reed to see some of our great soldiers who have been injured. Badly injured. And also see some of our Covid workers, people who have done such a great job,” Trump said on Friday. “And I expect to be wearing a mask when I go into Walter Reed. You’re in a hospital so I think it’s a very appropriate thing.” The only other time Trump was spotted wearing a mask was behind the scenes during a May tour of the Ford Rawsonville Components Plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
For months Trump has resisted wearing a protective face covering in an effort to project an image of strength and virility, though in recent weeks he’s expressed a more favorable view of what’s been stressed by public health experts as a critical preventative measure in the fight to contain the coronavirus pandemic. “I’m all for masks,” Trump told Fox Business Network earlier this month. “If I were in a tight situation with people I would absolutely” wear a mask, he added.
11 Jul 2020 20.18 BST The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, has said during a press conference on the Covid-19 crisis that 427 additional cases of the drug Remdesivir had been delivered to Florida’s hospitals. He said the drug was unlikely to make a difference for severely ill patients, but was likely to help many patients “as they come in” while only mildly ill with Covid-19. Ron DeSantis gives an update on the state’s response to the pandemic. Photograph: Joe Burbank/AP The rate of coronavirus infections among care staff in the state stood at 2.4% after 70,000 tests, DeSantis said, a number he described as “very, very low”.
The governor added that 12 “Covid-only” nursing home facilities had been created across Florida, and that the state was working on expanding the number of beds in these units from 750. DeSantis advised “vulnerable” people in high-risk groups to continue to avoid contact with others, and warned that socializing indoors with other households would increase transmission. DeSantis emphasised the need for children to attend school again, and said online tuition could not be a substitute for in-person attendance, adding that he believes the negative impact of non-attendance outweighs the risk of transmission among pupils.
Updated at 21.21 BST
11 Jul 2020 20.03 BST A commission at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has voted in favor of a recommendation to rename four campus buildings that currently have ties to slaveholders or white supremacists. According to the Associated Press: The recommendation from the Commission on History, Race & A Way Forward on Friday will go to school’s chancellor, who can then decide to forward it to the Board of Trustees, the Charlotte Observer reported. The board, scheduled to meet Thursday, is expected to discuss a policy to change the names of facilities on campus. The four buildings at issue are named after men who “used their positions to impose and maintain violent systems of racial subjugation,” said history professor Jim Leloudis, who co-chairs the commission. The recommendation comes after the university last month lifted a moratorium that had been in place since 2015 preventing the school from removing names on campus buildings that may be associated with slavery, segregation and white supremacy. The newspaper reported the Daniels Building is named after former newspaper publisher and lifelong white supremacist Josephus Daniels, while Carr Building holds the name of Ku Klux Klan supporter Julian S. Carr. Carr gave a racist speech during the dedication of the Confederate statue on campus known as “Silent Sam,” which was torn down by protesters in 2018. Police stand guard after the confederate statue known as ‘Silent Sam’ was toppled by protesters on campus at the University of North Carolina in 2018. Photograph: Gerry Broome/AP
11 Jul 2020 19.41 BST Donald Trump’s presidential motorcade departed Trump National Golf Club at 2.10pm, according to a pool report. The White House has yet to provide any information on the president’s activities, but NBC News cameras captured the president on the course. Today’s pool reporter notes a mix of about 20 supporters and protesters gathered outside the entrance to the golf club to greet the motorcade: The scene was quite spirited while pool waited for the president to depart. One supporter was particularly animated, repeatedly clapping and chanting “keep America great” and “four more years.” Protesters at one point chanted “136,000 dead, bounties on our soldiers’ heads.” There were a few new signs added to the mix. One read “I beg your pardon I want you out of the Rose Garden.” Another banner said “Putin’s Apprentice.” One sign said “130K deaths.” A Jeep drove by with an American flag and a Trump 2020 flag. It made several loops up and down the road outside the property, slowing down each time it passed. Law enforcement walked over just before the motorcade left to ask the demonstrators to back up from the road slightly. The group complied without issue. Today’s trip marked Trump’s 260th visit to a golf course since taking office, according to the website trumpgolfcount.com. Demonstrators hold signs on Saturday outside Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. Photograph: Chris Kleponis/EPA
11 Jul 2020 19.08 BST Afternoon summary US politics-related news has been dominated so far today by the coronavirus surge continuing and worsening in southern and western hotspots, with another record of daily new cases set yesterday in the US. There will be much more news as the day continues. Donald Trump has postponed the rally he was going to hold tonight in New Hampshire. But once he gets off the golf course, he is later going to the Walter Read military hospital, which is not very far from the White House, to visit health workers and veterans. So far today: Coronavirus cases and now deaths are rising in Florida , where the president visited yesterday and went to several locations but barely spoke about the public health crisis.
, where the president visited yesterday and went to several locations but about the public health crisis. Arizona ’s stock of adult intensive care unit beds across the state are now 90% occupied, up from 89% the day before, as hospitals fill.
’s stock of adult intensive care unit beds across the state are now 90% occupied, up from 89% the day before, as hospitals fill. After falling consistently in recent weeks, deaths from coronavirus in the US are starting to rise again .
in recent weeks, deaths from coronavirus in the US are starting to . Donald Trump went to his golf course in Virginia, where he was greeted outside by some supporters and some protesters.
went to his in Virginia, where he was greeted outside by some supporters and some protesters. There has been some pointed outrage against Donald Trump’s announcement last night that he’s commuting the upcoming jail term of Republican operative Roger Stone . Senior Democrats raged, one senior Republican joined in.
against Donald Trump’s announcement last night that he’s commuting the upcoming jail term of . Senior raged, one senior joined in. One of Fox News star Tucker Carlson’s leading writers, Blake Neff, has resigned after prejudiced writings of his emerged into the sunlight.
Updated at 19.09 BST
11 Jul 2020 18.40 BST Record deaths in Florida Masked while protesting. Joe Biden supporters in Little Havana, Miami, demonstrate against Donald Trump’s visit to south Florida yesterday, when he barely mentioned coronavirus despite record cases and deaths in the state and the situation there worsening. Photograph: Cristobal Herrera-Ulashkevich/EPA Florida has set a one-week record of nearly 500 confirmed coronavirus deaths. The state health department reported 96 new deaths today, bringing the total for the week to 496 or an average of nearly 71 per day. A record 120 deaths were reported on Thursday, The Associated Press reports. Three weeks ago, Florida’s weekly average for deaths stood at 30 per day. The state on Saturday confirmed 9,960 new coronavirus cases and 421 addition hospitalizations. Since March 1, when the first Florida infections were recorded, the state has reported 254,511 confirmed cases and 4,301 deaths. The previous weekly record average of 60 deaths per day was set May 8. Throughout May and into June, the state reopened much of its economy with some restrictions. Testing has increased, but the percentage of people testing positive has risen. A month ago, fewer than 5% of tests came up positive on a daily average. Over the past week, the daily average exceeded 19%.
11 Jul 2020 17.54 BST Arizona hospitals, intensive care units, filling up Rapid case increases and hospitalizations have made Arizona one of the worst hot spots in the nation for Covid-19. The disease is widespread in the state, and health officials caution people to stay home unless necessary to leave - and to wear masks in public, the Arizona Republic newspaper reported today. Arizona Republican Senator Martha McSally wears a mask depicting the Arizona state flag on Capitol Hill in May. Photograph: Getty Images Arizona adult intensive care unit beds in use by all patients rose to 90% yesterday compared with 89% the previous day, the state health department reported today, via Reuters. During the past three weeks, the number of coronavirus cases iin Arizona jumped by 150% and tests increased by just 71%, the Republic reported, adding: Arizona reported another 3,028 Covid-19 cases on Saturday and hospital metrics remained high two days after Governor Doug Ducey urged Arizonans to stay home but shied away from major policy changes.
Identified cases rose to 119,930 and known deaths total 2,151, according to the daily report by the Arizona Department of Health Services. The state does not report the number of recovered cases, though it does report hospital discharges. Hospitalizations, ICU beds and ventilators in use by suspected and confirmed Covid-19 patients hit new records on Friday, according to hospital data reported to the state. Emergency room visits dropped after reaching a record of 2,008 on Tuesday. Saturday’s dashboard shows 88% of current inpatient beds and 90% of ICU beds were in use, which includes people being treated for Covid-19 and other patients. Most people who get the disease are not hospitalized.
11 Jul 2020 17.28 BST US coronavirus deaths on the rise again A long-expected upturn in US coronavirus deaths has begun, driven by fatalities in states in the south and west, where cases have been surging calamitously, according to data on the pandemic. The number of deaths per day from the virus had been falling in May and June and even remained down as states like Florida and Texas saw explosions in cases and hospitalizations and reported daily US infections broke records several times in recent days, the Associated Press reports. Scientists warned it wouldn’t last. A coronavirus death, when it occurs, typically comes several weeks after a person is first infected. And experts predicted states that saw increases in cases and hospitalizations would, at some point, see deaths rise too. Now that’s happening. “It’s consistently picking up. And it’s picking up at the time you’d expect it to,” said William Hanage, a Harvard University infectious diseases researcher. According to an Associated Press analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University, the seven-day rolling average for daily reported deaths in the US has increased from 578 two weeks ago to 664 on July 10, though still well below the heights hit in April. Daily reported deaths increased in 27 states over that time period, but the majority of those states are averaging under 15 new deaths per day. A smaller group of states has been driving the nationwide increase in deaths. California is averaging 91 reported deaths per day while Texas is close behind with 66, but Florida, Arizona, Illinois, New Jersey and South Carolina also saw sizable rises. New Jersey’s recent jump is thought to be partially attributable to its less frequent reporting of probable deaths. The impact has already been felt by families who lost kin and by the health care workers who tried to save them. Rublas Ruiz, a Miami intensive care unit nurse, recently broke down in tears during a birthday dinner with his wife and daughter. He said he was overcome by the number of patients who have died in his care. “I counted like 10 patients in less than four days in our ICU and then I stopped doing that because there were so many,” said the 41-year-old nurse at Kendall Regional Medical Center who lost another patient Monday. The virus has killed more than 134,000 people in the US and more than a half-million worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University, one of the most reliable trackers of the pandemic, though the true numbers are believed to be higher because a lack of official reporting of deaths or misclassification of cause of death by authorities.