truthout--2020-08-13--AOC Challenges Trump on College Grades: “Loser Has to Fund the Post Office”

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ( D-New York ) responded to misogynistic insults from President Donald Trump on Thursday morning , in which the commander-in-chief disparaged her intelligence and academic record .
Trump made the comments during a Fox Business interview .
“ AOC was a poor student … this is not even a smart person , other than she ’ s got a good line of stuff , ” the president said about Ocasio-Cortez .
“ I mean , she goes out and she yaps.
” The legislator , however , who has defended herself from racist attacks in the past @ @ @ @ @ @ @ earned academic accolades , including graduating cum laude from her alma mater , Boston University .
Ocasio-Cortez noted that the president himself has been less than forthcoming when it comes to his academic record .
“ Let ’ s make a deal , Mr. President .
You release your college transcript , I ’ ll release mine , and we ’ ll see who was the better student , ” she wrote in a tweet responding to a video of his interview .
“ Loser has to fund the Post Office , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her tweet referenced comments Trump made Wednesday that caused many to speculate he was purposely hurting USPS in order to sabotage the outcome of the 2020 presidential election .
In the past , Trump has demanded to see college transcripts from politicians he abhors while at different times going so far as to threaten his former schools with legal action to prevent his academic record from becoming public .
During the 2012 presidential race between former President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney ( who is now a U.S. senator ) , Trump tried @ @ @ @ @ @ @ transcripts by promising to donate $ 5 million to charity in response .
Yet Trump also tried other methods to get Obama ’ s records released , including urging the press to publish them in what would likely have been an illegal manner .
While campaigning in 2015 and 2016 , Trump refused to release his own college transcripts .
His former lawyer , Michael Cohen , even testified to Congress that the Republican candidate had ordered him to send threatening letters and calls to his alma maters , a fact which Fordham @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump has prided himself as being a successful student , calling his academic career “ super genius stuff.
” Others , however , including former admissions officials who helped him transfer to the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania , have noted his records weren ’ t noteworthy .
“ I certainly was not struck by any sense that I ’ m sitting before a genius .
Certainly not a super genius , ” former UPenn admissions official James Nolan , who met with Trump and his father regarding the former @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in an interview with The Washington Post .

Trump has reportedly used lawyers in the past to threaten his alma mater against releasing his own college records.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) responded to misogynistic insults from President Donald Trump on Thursday morning, in which the commander-in-chief disparaged her intelligence and academic record.
Trump made the comments during a Fox Business interview. “AOC was a poor student … this is not even a smart person, other than she’s got a good line of stuff,” the president said about Ocasio-Cortez. “I mean, she goes out and she yaps.”
The legislator, however, who has defended herself from racist attacks in the past from Trump and other conservatives, has earned academic accolades, including graduating cum laude from her alma mater, Boston University.
Ocasio-Cortez noted that the president himself has been less than forthcoming when it comes to his academic record.
“Let’s make a deal, Mr. President. You release your college transcript, I’ll release mine, and we’ll see who was the better student,” she wrote in a tweet responding to a video of his interview.
“Loser has to fund the Post Office,” she added.
The last line of her tweet referenced comments Trump made Wednesday that caused many to speculate he was purposely hurting USPS in order to sabotage the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
In the past, Trump has demanded to see college transcripts from politicians he abhors while at different times going so far as to threaten his former schools with legal action to prevent his academic record from becoming public.
During the 2012 presidential race between former President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney (who is now a U.S. senator), Trump tried to entice Obama to release his college transcripts by promising to donate $5 million to charity in response. Yet Trump also tried other methods to get Obama’s records released, including urging the press to publish them in what would likely have been an illegal manner.
While campaigning in 2015 and 2016, Trump refused to release his own college transcripts. His former lawyer, Michael Cohen, even testified to Congress that the Republican candidate had ordered him to send threatening letters and calls to his alma maters, a fact which Fordham University later confirmed to be true.
Trump has prided himself as being a successful student, calling his academic career “super genius stuff.” Others, however, including former admissions officials who helped him transfer to the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, have noted his records weren’t noteworthy.
“I certainly was not struck by any sense that I’m sitting before a genius. Certainly not a super genius,” former UPenn admissions official James Nolan, who met with Trump and his father regarding the former transferring to the school, later recounted in an interview with The Washington Post.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-08-13--Billionaire-Funded Think Tanks Call for Pandemic Deregulation to Be Permanent

The reactionary right-wing juggernaut has quickly seized upon the coronavirus pandemic to accelerate its anti-government agenda .
Every citizen ’ s right to protest has been curtailed , massive amounts of industrial pollution have been deregulated and crucial rules governing Wall Street have been canceled .
Two billionaire-funded think tanks — the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and the Heritage Foundation — have issued reports saying that the pandemic justifies permanent deregulation of corporations and shrinking of government .
Heritage says , “ the pandemic has underscored the economic and opportunity costs of overregulation and the folly of looking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ robust civil society , for solutions to our most pressing problems.
” Mercatus proposes that all regulations suspended or modified during the pandemic should “ remain in suspension ” until a special commission set up by the Trump administration could “ plausibly demonstrate ” that they served a legitimate public purpose .
Marching in lockstep since mid-March , using the coronavirus as cover , the Trump administration has been working overtime to shrink and weaken government , quietly eliminating important regulations as fast as possible .
In a White House speech on July @ @ @ @ @ @ @ anti-government blitzkrieg , calling it “ the most dramatic regulatory relief campaign in American history.
” In late March , the Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) , now headed by former coal industry lobbyist Andrew Wheeler , announced it was drastically relaxing reporting requirements for toxic industrial pollution , allowing companies to monitor themselves .
The agency also said it will no longer issue fines for certain violations of monitoring and reporting requirements .
Former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy called the move “ an open license to pollute.
” Cynthia Giles , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enforcement division , said , “ It is so far beyond any reasonable response I am stunned.
” The rollback will inflict the most harm on communities of color , where toxic emitters are disproportionately clustered — as has been well known for more than 30 years .
On March 31 , the EPA gutted automobile pollution standards , which will increase U.S. global-heating emissions of carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) by more than a billion tons per year far into the future , as calculated by the Environmental Defense Fund .
Until @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had been “ the biggest single step any nation has taken to fight the climate crisis , ” according to progressive consumer protection activist and former Green Party presidential nominee Ralph Nader ’ s Center for Auto Safety .
The EPA proudly proclaimed it “ the largest deregulatory initiative of this administration.
” In mid-June , Wheeler announced that the EPA was eliminating another Obama-era regulation , which required oil , gas and pipeline companies to detect and fix leaks of methane , a powerful global-heating gas .
Methane stays in the atmosphere @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other major global-heating agent , but it does much more harm during its shorter life .
In its first 20 years in the air , methane causes more than 80 times as much heating as an equivalent amount of CO2 .
Together , the revised car pollution rule and the methane rollback cap Trump ’ s crusade to derail U.S. plans to fight climate change , which has so far included pulling the U.S. out of the global Paris climate change accord , weakening rules to curb greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired electric @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that underpins environmental regulations .
At the end of April , Trump ’ s Acting Director of the Bureau of Land Management Brian Steed , announced new plans to invite gas , oil , coal and timber companies to explore and mine hundreds of thousands of acres of federal land in the Western states , some within a half mile of national parks .
Steed is on record favoring the large-scale transfer of public lands into private hands .
The Department of Energy then announced plans to “ revitalize ” the uranium industry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mining .
Both Bears Ears National Monument in Utah and the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona have significant uranium deposits , which will be targeted .
On June 1 , Trump ’ s EPA issued a rule limiting the power of states and tribes to oppose gas , oil and coal projects within their borders .
Specifically , states and tribes are no longer allowed to consider climate impacts of fossil fuel projects .
In early June , the Trump administration proposed a new federal law prescribing up to 20 years in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” of an oil or gas pipeline or conspiring to do so .
Merely training would-be protesters in nonviolent resistance could become a crime .
Anti-pipeline activists are the front line of the U.S. movement to curb global warming .
Twelve states are now in various stages of enacting laws criminalizing pipeline protests .
The fossil fuel industry faces a declining future as solar and wind power expand , so they are racing to install new power plants and pipelines financed by Wall Street , hoping the financiers will use their political clout @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stalling solar and wind .
The American Legislative Exchange Council ( ALEC ) originally wrote the model bill on which the anti-protest laws are based .
ALEC is a shadowy , billionaire-funded group that invites industry lobbyists to write legislation , which ALEC then promotes in state legislatures .
On June 4 , Trump issued an executive order negating the basic requirement of the National Environmental Policy Act ( NEPA ) , the nation ’ s bedrock environment-protection law .
Until Trump ’ s order , the Act required thorough investigation of all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ significant federal expenditures , plus examination of all reasonable alternatives .
Now large projects can proceed without analyzing their effects on the natural world or human health .
Again , the major victims of this executive order will be Indigenous people , communities of color and low-income residents , which have historically relied on NEPA investigations to reveal disproportionate harm from toxic emissions .
That same June day , Wheeler proposed a major change in the way the EPA justifies regulations .
In the past , the agency has balanced costs vs. benefits @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In this balancing , benefits have always included co-benefits ; for example , a proposal to curb mercury emissions from a coal power plant might also reduce asthma by cutting soot emissions , so reduced asthma would be counted as a co-benefit of the mercury regulation .
Wheeler said co-benefits will still be calculated but they will no longer count in the cost-benefit balancing .
Naturally , this thumb-on-the-scale change will make it much harder – in many cases impossible – to justify pollution regulations .
Wheeler said this year ’ s proposal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but in the next three years , he hopes to apply the skewed cost-benefit technique to all decisions involving water , land and chemicals .
On June 9 , Trump eased restrictions on hunting baby bears and wolf pups on federal reserve lands in Alaska , including Denali , Katmai and Gates of the Arctic .
The new rule will likely reduce the populations of large predators , thereby increasing the numbers of caribou , moose and other game animals that sport hunters , like Donald Trump , Jr. , enjoy killing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to shoot swimming caribou from boats and shoot wolves and other animals from aircraft .
On July 15 , The New York Times listed 100 environmental regulations that the Trump administration has reversed .
But , of course , environmental regulations are not the only government protections being trashed by reactionary Republicans .
On June 26 , bank stocks jumped up as U.S. regulators voted to gut the Volcker Rule .
The Wall Street Journal said the vote handed “ Wall Street one of its biggest wins of the Trump administration.
” The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ customers by preventing banks from making certain types of speculative investments , such as venture capital and securitized loans , which contributed substantially to the 2008 financial collapse .
In addition , the regulators voted to eliminate a requirement that banks set aside a certain amount of capital to cushion against trading losses , thus freeing up tens of millions of dollars for banks to invest .
In early July , the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ) formally rescinded a plan to crack down on the payday lending industry , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , high-interest loans that can leave borrowers trapped in cycles of debt .
As The Washington Post recently put it , “ The CFPB once defended consumers .
Thanks to Trump , it now helps companies prey on them instead.
” If Democrats win the White House and the Senate on November 3 , they can easily overturn any of Trump ’ s rule changes that were finalized after June 1 .
A little-known law called the Congressional Review Act gives Congress the power to reverse any regulation finalized within 60 legislative days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , by a simple majority vote , and the vote is not subject to filibuster or any other Senate rules that could block it .
Regulations that Trump rolled back prior to June would take longer to reinstate .
Joe Biden recently said , “ We ’ re going to reverse Trump ’ s rollbacks of 100 public health and environmental rules and then forge a path to greater ambition , ” but it remains to be seen whether this will come to fruition .

The right wing has quickly seized upon the coronavirus pandemic to accelerate its anti-government agenda under Trump.
The reactionary right-wing juggernaut has quickly seized upon the coronavirus pandemic to accelerate its anti-government agenda. Every citizen’s right to protest has been curtailed, massive amounts of industrial pollution have been deregulated and crucial rules governing Wall Street have been canceled.
Two billionaire-funded think tanks — the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and the Heritage Foundation — have issued reports saying that the pandemic justifies permanent deregulation of corporations and shrinking of government. Heritage says, “the pandemic has underscored the economic and opportunity costs of overregulation and the folly of looking to Washington, rather than to our robust civil society, for solutions to our most pressing problems.” Mercatus proposes that all regulations suspended or modified during the pandemic should “remain in suspension” until a special commission set up by the Trump administration could “plausibly demonstrate” that they served a legitimate public purpose.
Marching in lockstep since mid-March, using the coronavirus as cover, the Trump administration has been working overtime to shrink and weaken government, quietly eliminating important regulations as fast as possible. In a White House speech on July 16, the president bragged about his anti-government blitzkrieg, calling it “the most dramatic regulatory relief campaign in American history.”
In late March, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), now headed by former coal industry lobbyist Andrew Wheeler, announced it was drastically relaxing reporting requirements for toxic industrial pollution, allowing companies to monitor themselves. The agency also said it will no longer issue fines for certain violations of monitoring and reporting requirements.
Former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy called the move “an open license to pollute.” Cynthia Giles, a former head of EPA’s enforcement division, said, “It is so far beyond any reasonable response I am stunned.” The rollback will inflict the most harm on communities of color, where toxic emitters are disproportionately clustered — as has been well known for more than 30 years.
On March 31, the EPA gutted automobile pollution standards, which will increase U.S. global-heating emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) by more than a billion tons per year far into the future, as calculated by the Environmental Defense Fund. Until this rollback, U.S. automobile pollution controls had been “the biggest single step any nation has taken to fight the climate crisis,” according to progressive consumer protection activist and former Green Party presidential nominee Ralph Nader’s Center for Auto Safety. The EPA proudly proclaimed it “the largest deregulatory initiative of this administration.”
In a White House speech on July 16, the president bragged about his anti-government blitzkrieg, calling it “the most dramatic regulatory relief campaign in American history.”
In mid-June, Wheeler announced that the EPA was eliminating another Obama-era regulation, which required oil, gas and pipeline companies to detect and fix leaks of methane, a powerful global-heating gas. Methane stays in the atmosphere a shorter time than CO2, the other major global-heating agent, but it does much more harm during its shorter life. In its first 20 years in the air, methane causes more than 80 times as much heating as an equivalent amount of CO2.
Together, the revised car pollution rule and the methane rollback cap Trump’s crusade to derail U.S. plans to fight climate change, which has so far included pulling the U.S. out of the global Paris climate change accord, weakening rules to curb greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired electric plants, and undermining the basic science that underpins environmental regulations.
At the end of April, Trump’s Acting Director of the Bureau of Land Management Brian Steed, announced new plans to invite gas, oil, coal and timber companies to explore and mine hundreds of thousands of acres of federal land in the Western states, some within a half mile of national parks. Steed is on record favoring the large-scale transfer of public lands into private hands.
The Department of Energy then announced plans to “revitalize” the uranium industry by opening public lands to exploration and mining. Both Bears Ears National Monument in Utah and the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona have significant uranium deposits, which will be targeted.
Trump’s EPA issued a rule limiting the power of states and tribes to oppose gas, oil and coal projects within their borders.
On June 1, Trump’s EPA issued a rule limiting the power of states and tribes to oppose gas, oil and coal projects within their borders. Specifically, states and tribes are no longer allowed to consider climate impacts of fossil fuel projects.
In early June, the Trump administration proposed a new federal law prescribing up to 20 years in prison for anyone “inhibiting the operation” of an oil or gas pipeline or conspiring to do so. Merely training would-be protesters in nonviolent resistance could become a crime. Anti-pipeline activists are the front line of the U.S. movement to curb global warming. Twelve states are now in various stages of enacting laws criminalizing pipeline protests.
The fossil fuel industry faces a declining future as solar and wind power expand, so they are racing to install new power plants and pipelines financed by Wall Street, hoping the financiers will use their political clout to protect their fossil fuel investments by stalling solar and wind. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) originally wrote the model bill on which the anti-protest laws are based. ALEC is a shadowy, billionaire-funded group that invites industry lobbyists to write legislation, which ALEC then promotes in state legislatures.
On June 4, Trump issued an executive order negating the basic requirement of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the nation’s bedrock environment-protection law. Until Trump’s order, the Act required thorough investigation of all environmental and human health impacts of all significant federal expenditures, plus examination of all reasonable alternatives.
Merely training would-be protesters in nonviolent resistance could become a crime.
Now large projects can proceed without analyzing their effects on the natural world or human health. Again, the major victims of this executive order will be Indigenous people, communities of color and low-income residents, which have historically relied on NEPA investigations to reveal disproportionate harm from toxic emissions.
That same June day, Wheeler proposed a major change in the way the EPA justifies regulations. In the past, the agency has balanced costs vs. benefits of every new rule or regulation. In this balancing, benefits have always included co-benefits; for example, a proposal to curb mercury emissions from a coal power plant might also reduce asthma by cutting soot emissions, so reduced asthma would be counted as a co-benefit of the mercury regulation.
No more.
Wheeler said co-benefits will still be calculated but they will no longer count in the cost-benefit balancing. Naturally, this thumb-on-the-scale change will make it much harder – in many cases impossible – to justify pollution regulations. Wheeler said this year’s proposal only applies to the Clean Air Act, but in the next three years, he hopes to apply the skewed cost-benefit technique to all decisions involving water, land and chemicals.
On June 9, Trump eased restrictions on hunting baby bears and wolf pups on federal reserve lands in Alaska, including Denali, Katmai and Gates of the Arctic. The new rule will likely reduce the populations of large predators, thereby increasing the numbers of caribou, moose and other game animals that sport hunters, like Donald Trump, Jr., enjoy killing. The new rule also allows hunters to shoot swimming caribou from boats and shoot wolves and other animals from aircraft.
The new rule also allows hunters to shoot swimming caribou from boats and shoot wolves and other animals from aircraft.
On July 15, The New York Times listed 100 environmental regulations that the Trump administration has reversed. But, of course, environmental regulations are not the only government protections being trashed by reactionary Republicans.
On June 26, bank stocks jumped up as U.S. regulators voted to gut the Volcker Rule. The Wall Street Journal said the vote handed “Wall Street one of its biggest wins of the Trump administration.” The Volcker Rule was intended to protect bank customers by preventing banks from making certain types of speculative investments, such as venture capital and securitized loans, which contributed substantially to the 2008 financial collapse.
In addition, the regulators voted to eliminate a requirement that banks set aside a certain amount of capital to cushion against trading losses, thus freeing up tens of millions of dollars for banks to invest.
In early July, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) formally rescinded a plan to crack down on the payday lending industry, which annually makes $30 billion in short-term, high-interest loans that can leave borrowers trapped in cycles of debt. As The Washington Post recently put it, “The CFPB once defended consumers. Thanks to Trump, it now helps companies prey on them instead.”
If Democrats win the White House and the Senate on November 3, they can easily overturn any of Trump’s rule changes that were finalized after June 1. A little-known law called the Congressional Review Act gives Congress the power to reverse any regulation finalized within 60 legislative days of the end of a presidential term, by a simple majority vote, and the vote is not subject to filibuster or any other Senate rules that could block it. Regulations that Trump rolled back prior to June would take longer to reinstate. Joe Biden recently said, “We’re going to reverse Trump’s rollbacks of 100 public health and environmental rules and then forge a path to greater ambition,” but it remains to be seen whether this will come to fruition.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-08-13--CDC Director Warns: Mask Up or Face Possibly the Worst Fall in US Health History

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) has a dire warning for Americans still on the fence or actively opposed to wearing a mask or facial covering , or otherwise refusing to adhere to other social distancing rules : Your choices put the country in peril .
In an interview with WebMD published this week , CDC Director Robert Redfield invoked the well-known phrase from President John F. Kennedy ’ s inauguration speech : “ Ask not what your country can do for you , ask what you can do for your country.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Redfield said in the interview .
“ For your country right now and for the war that we ’ re in against COVID , I ’ m asking you to do four simple things : Wear a mask , social distance , wash your hands and be smart about crowds.
” If those directions are followed , the situation will improve , Redfield said .
“ But if we don ’ t do that , as I said last April , this could be the worst fall from a public health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” he added .
The CDC director added that these practices must be adopted by everyone .
“ I ’ m not asking some of America to do it .
We all got to do it , ” he said , stressing that at least 95 percent of the country has to adhere to those four standards “ if it ’ s going to work for us.
” Unfortunately , President Donald Trump has continued to offer contradictory information about COVID-19 .
During a press briefing at the White House last week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disease will disappear on its own .
“ It ’ s going away .
It ’ ll go away .
Things go away .
No question in my mind that it will go away , ” he said .
In mid-July , Trump also flouted CDC guidelines on wearing masks , stating plainly that he was skeptical of their ability to stop the spread of coronavirus .
When asked during a Fox News interview if he regretted not promoting masks earlier , Trump said , “ I want people to have a certain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ believe in that , no .
And I don ’ t agree with the statement that if everybody would wear a mask , everything disappears.
” However , one study which examined mask mandates early on in the crisis from April 8 to May 15 found that they were effective in preventing hundreds of thousands of coronavirus infections .
The vast majority of Americans would be supportive of a national mask mandate .
According to a poll from July , 75 percent of respondents said they would back a mask or facial covering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only 13 percent saying they would oppose such an order .
( In light of Redfield ’ s comments , a 13 percent rate of noncompliance with a national mask mandate would be high enough to undermine the effectiveness of such a measure . )
As of Thursday morning , there have been more than 5.2 million cumulative diagnoses of coronavirus in the United States since the pandemic began in March , with 165,936 deaths attributed to the disease so far .
According to data modeling from the Institute for Health Metrics and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Washington , total deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. could reach approximately 300,000 by December 1 , although nearly a quarter of that amount ( 70,000 ) could be prevented if Americans wore masks or facial coverings in a more diligent manner .

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a dire warning for Americans still on the fence or actively opposed to wearing a mask or facial covering, or otherwise refusing to adhere to other social distancing rules: Your choices put the country in peril.
In an interview with WebMD published this week, CDC Director Robert Redfield invoked the well-known phrase from President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration speech: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
“Kind of try to paraphrase that,” Redfield said in the interview. “For your country right now and for the war that we’re in against COVID, I’m asking you to do four simple things: Wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands and be smart about crowds.”
If those directions are followed, the situation will improve, Redfield said. “But if we don’t do that, as I said last April, this could be the worst fall from a public health perspective, we’ve ever had,” he added.
The CDC director added that these practices must be adopted by everyone. “I’m not asking some of America to do it. We all got to do it,” he said, stressing that at least 95 percent of the country has to adhere to those four standards “if it’s going to work for us.”
Unfortunately, President Donald Trump has continued to offer contradictory information about COVID-19.
During a press briefing at the White House last week, Trump suggested without evidence that the disease will disappear on its own.
“It’s going away. It’ll go away. Things go away. No question in my mind that it will go away,” he said.
In mid-July, Trump also flouted CDC guidelines on wearing masks, stating plainly that he was skeptical of their ability to stop the spread of coronavirus.
When asked during a Fox News interview if he regretted not promoting masks earlier, Trump said, “I want people to have a certain freedom, and I don’t believe in that, no. And I don’t agree with the statement that if everybody would wear a mask, everything disappears.”
However, one study which examined mask mandates early on in the crisis from April 8 to May 15 found that they were effective in preventing hundreds of thousands of coronavirus infections.
The vast majority of Americans would be supportive of a national mask mandate. According to a poll from July, 75 percent of respondents said they would back a mask or facial covering order at the national level, with only 13 percent saying they would oppose such an order. (In light of Redfield’s comments, a 13 percent rate of noncompliance with a national mask mandate would be high enough to undermine the effectiveness of such a measure.)
As of Thursday morning, there have been more than 5.2 million cumulative diagnoses of coronavirus in the United States since the pandemic began in March, with 165,936 deaths attributed to the disease so far. According to data modeling from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, total deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. could reach approximately 300,000 by December 1, although nearly a quarter of that amount (70,000) could be prevented if Americans wore masks or facial coverings in a more diligent manner.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-08-13--“Kinship” Isn’t Enough — Harris Must Be Accountable to Black People

The writer and folklorist Zora Neal Hurston is credited with once saying “ all my skinfolk ain ’ t kinfolk.
” The phrase , now fairly common , refers to the fact that those individuals who share racial or ethnic similarities ( like skin tone ) are not necessarily united as family or comrades in a unified struggle .
Unfortunately , Black Americans continue to learn this lesson on grand political stages .
Two such examples are Justice Clarence Thomas ’ s appointment to the Supreme Court and , more recently , Ben Carson ’ s appointment as secretary of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administration .
Now , the selection of Sen. Kamala Harris as the vice-presidential nominee for the Democratic ticket raises many questions about the limits of perceiving political leaders as “ skinfolk ” and how expectations of kinship with Black communities runs counter to the possibilities of accountability .
Perhaps it was actress Maya Rudolph ’ s hilarious parody of Harris on SNL that sparked the terminology , but the notion that Harris is “ America ’ s cool aunt ” has seemed to stick around .
From this lighthearted idea , Harris ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ large , has taken on the character of “ fictive kinship.
” This term was introduced by sociologist Carol Stack in her 1974 study of Black families considered “ urban poor ” in the Midwest .
It refers to the ways that Black families often include “ other people in the networks without ties of blood or marriage who ended up serving family and parental roles.
” Harris signals this phenomenon not just because people find her endearing but because of other traits like her racial and ethnic heritage , her membership in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the historically Black Howard University .
When young Black women and girls see picturesque images of her looking regal in the United States Capitol , there is no doubt that they may feel reflected back , affirmed , and perhaps , that their dreams of becoming president are even more attainable .
While these sentiments are important , they do not take full stock of Harris as a candidate with a history and record .
From laughing about jailing parents over truancy as district attorney in California , to her denial of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s attorney general , Harris ’ s proverbial auntie status runs up against serious questions about how she sees herself representing the larger community of minoritized people .
This is what happens when candidates ’ descriptive identities are considered indicators of their political ideologies .
It ’ s a dangerous expectation to set and often leaves Black constituents without the legislative responsiveness that they deserve .
Lori Lightfoot is a prime example of how perception of kinship can sometimes contribute to an evasion of accountability .
In April 2019 , Lightfoot ran @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wherein two Black women were competing for the mayoral seat in one of the most historically segregated cities in the country .
For many Black Chicagoans , the Preckwinkle vs. Lightfoot contest was awe-inspiring , particularly for older people who remembered Chicago ’ s years under both the first and second Mayors Daley .
But Lightfoot ’ s queerness and Blackness have not been sufficient in buoying her amidst her commitments to patriarchal notions of criminal justice and social order .
Nor have they offset her reliance on age-old tactics of surveillance and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Chicago .
Even now , young Black Americans in Chicago have been staging overt actions in protest of yet another police-perpetrated shooting .
These actions have been staged to hold Lightfoot accountable to the very communities who have been organizing and struggling for justice in Chicago for generations .
In response to the vice-presidential pick , many people have been focused on the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election , asking repeatedly if young Black Americans will turn out to vote for a Biden-Harris ticket .
And , while I believe the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Yes , reluctantly , ” the inquiry which I remain unsure about is whether or not a Vice President Kamala Harris will be accountable to the communities who have been demanding accountability from political leaders on the left for decades .
Melissa Harris-Perry writes about fictive kinship in her 2011 book , Sister Citizen .
In a talk on the book , she discussed how Bill Clinton and Barack Obama both performed kinship with Blackness .
She also encouraged that fictive kinship “ be meaningfully used as a demand for real engagement with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the community.
” Essentially , we can not allow Harris to simply rely on the role of “ cool aunt ” as a veneer for a moderate political career that does little to disrupt the status quo of white supremacy , anti-Blackness , anti-immigrant sentiment , sexism and transphobia .
Harris should be pressured to use her connections to minoritized folx to enact lasting social change in the United States .
Black , Brown , queer , trans , disabled , poor , undocumented and under-insured Americans require political leadership that not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ understands and advocates on behalf of the policies that sustain their lives .

The writer and folklorist Zora Neal Hurston is credited with once saying “all my skinfolk ain’t kinfolk.” The phrase, now fairly common, refers to the fact that those individuals who share racial or ethnic similarities (like skin tone) are not necessarily united as family or comrades in a unified struggle. Unfortunately, Black Americans continue to learn this lesson on grand political stages. Two such examples are Justice Clarence Thomas’s appointment to the Supreme Court and, more recently, Ben Carson’s appointment as secretary of Housing and Urban Development under the Trump administration.
Now, the selection of Sen. Kamala Harris as the vice-presidential nominee for the Democratic ticket raises many questions about the limits of perceiving political leaders as “skinfolk” and how expectations of kinship with Black communities runs counter to the possibilities of accountability.
Kamala Harris: Our “Fictive Aunt”
Perhaps it was actress Maya Rudolph’s hilarious parody of Harris on SNL that sparked the terminology, but the notion that Harris is “America’s cool aunt” has seemed to stick around. From this lighthearted idea, Harris’s relationship to Black communities, writ large, has taken on the character of “fictive kinship.” This term was introduced by sociologist Carol Stack in her 1974 study of Black families considered “urban poor” in the Midwest. It refers to the ways that Black families often include “other people in the networks without ties of blood or marriage who ended up serving family and parental roles.”
Harris signals this phenomenon not just because people find her endearing but because of other traits like her racial and ethnic heritage, her membership in the oldest Black sorority and her attendance at the historically Black Howard University. When young Black women and girls see picturesque images of her looking regal in the United States Capitol, there is no doubt that they may feel reflected back, affirmed, and perhaps, that their dreams of becoming president are even more attainable.
While these sentiments are important, they do not take full stock of Harris as a candidate with a history and record. From laughing about jailing parents over truancy as district attorney in California, to her denial of gender-affirming surgeries for trans prisoners while California’s attorney general, Harris’s proverbial auntie status runs up against serious questions about how she sees herself representing the larger community of minoritized people. This is what happens when candidates’ descriptive identities are considered indicators of their political ideologies. It’s a dangerous expectation to set and often leaves Black constituents without the legislative responsiveness that they deserve.
Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Youth Protest
Lori Lightfoot is a prime example of how perception of kinship can sometimes contribute to an evasion of accountability. In April 2019, Lightfoot ran against Toni Preckwinkle in a historic race wherein two Black women were competing for the mayoral seat in one of the most historically segregated cities in the country. For many Black Chicagoans, the Preckwinkle vs. Lightfoot contest was awe-inspiring, particularly for older people who remembered Chicago’s years under both the first and second Mayors Daley.
But Lightfoot’s queerness and Blackness have not been sufficient in buoying her amidst her commitments to patriarchal notions of criminal justice and social order. Nor have they offset her reliance on age-old tactics of surveillance and policing that overwhelmingly affect young Black Americans in Chicago. Even now, young Black Americans in Chicago have been staging overt actions in protest of yet another police-perpetrated shooting. These actions have been staged to hold Lightfoot accountable to the very communities who have been organizing and struggling for justice in Chicago for generations.
Holding Harris Accountable
In response to the vice-presidential pick, many people have been focused on the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election, asking repeatedly if young Black Americans will turn out to vote for a Biden-Harris ticket. And, while I believe the answer to that question is, “Yes, reluctantly,” the inquiry which I remain unsure about is whether or not a Vice President Kamala Harris will be accountable to the communities who have been demanding accountability from political leaders on the left for decades.
Black, Brown, queer, trans, disabled, poor, undocumented and under-insured Americans require political leadership that not only looks like them but also keenly understands and advocates on behalf of the policies that sustain their lives.
Melissa Harris-Perry writes about fictive kinship in her 2011 book, Sister Citizen. In a talk on the book, she discussed how Bill Clinton and Barack Obama both performed kinship with Blackness. She also encouraged that fictive kinship “be meaningfully used as a demand for real engagement with the most economically and politically salient gains for the community.” Essentially, we cannot allow Harris to simply rely on the role of “cool aunt” as a veneer for a moderate political career that does little to disrupt the status quo of white supremacy, anti-Blackness, anti-immigrant sentiment, sexism and transphobia. Harris should be pressured to use her connections to minoritized folx to enact lasting social change in the United States.
Black, Brown, queer, trans, disabled, poor, undocumented and under-insured Americans require political leadership that not only looks like them but also keenly understands and advocates on behalf of the policies that sustain their lives.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-08-13--As Politicians Play With Our Lives, It’s Hard to Imagine a Future Beyond COVID

Centers for Disease Control ( CDC ) Director Robert Redfield gave an interview to WebMD this week .
If people don ’ t take COVID-19 precautions seriously , if they refuse to wear masks and practice social distancing , Redfield flatly stated the nation could be on the verge of confronting “ the worst fall , from a public health perspective , we ’ ve ever had.
” I haven ’ t told my little girl she won ’ t be going back to school-at-school this year .
It ’ s going to crush her , so I intend to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of this wretched summer there are left before I give her the news .
“ Daddy School ” in reality isn ’ t the hot ticket it sounded like to her in March , but there were 55,910 new COVID infections and 1,499 COVID deaths reported just yesterday .
Must have been Wednesday .
See , sweetie , there ’ s a state called Georgia whose governor believes this ridiculous president hung the moon and stars .
Trump wants all you kids back in school despite the astonishing danger because he fears being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election in November .
The Georgia governor got on board and shoved children into ill-prepared schools , other governors did the same , and now , just days later , thousands of students across the South are infected with COVID .
That ’ s probably going to be the story for the whole country soon , sweetie , especially in states with governors who listened to Trump about reopening schools .
I ’ m not going to let that happen to you .
You ’ re so proud of being a second-grader now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proud of you for the way you have held your head up throughout this bleak passage , the way you have been my strength and your mother ’ s strength… but you ’ re going to have to be a second-grader here at home until this nightmare finds its end .
I ’ m so sorry .
Please don ’ t cry , my dearest , oh please don ’ t cry .
Must be every day , now .
I feel broken .
There isn ’ t a better word for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fury and utter futility swarming within .
I look at the photographs from the bike rally at Sturgis and tremble in rage .
I watch this president brazenly refuse to fund that U.S .
Postal Service because he fears losing if people are able to vote safely in November , and I want to eat my teeth , or his .
Every day , every hour , there is a new outrage that would have stopped the world four years ago .
Sometimes it leaves me gasping .
“ It didn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ too huge a thought to hold in mind for very long ; if I think on that simple sentence for any length of time , my hands start to shake and the veins start to show in my forehead .
That wrath will have to wait , I tell myself in soothing tones .
That wrath will have its day .
I ’ m one of the damned lucky ones , too .
Healthy as your average middle-aged horse , so far .
My friends have gotten infected here and there , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or another .
I have been to no Zoom funerals yet , which , in this moment , makes me blessed .
That ’ s a hell of a shabby hook to hang your emotional hat on , though .
It could be worse is almost always the truth , but these days , that “ worse ” is a yawning chasm .
Down there is where you or someone ( s ) you love dies choking and alone in a room with machines beeping the dwindling metronome of dissolution , entropy , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ misplaced sneeze away , in the grocery aisle maybe , or in line for prescriptions at the pharmacy , or in the doctor ’ s waiting room .
The places you have to go are the places that can get you killed now .
When I go food shopping , I think of blackjack ; every time I walk through the door , I am saying “ Hit me ” to the COVID dealer .
I ’ ve been standing pat at 16 for months , but on a long enough timeline the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The future is a storm cloud that has devoured the horizon , all gray and bruised purple .
For the first time in my life , there often seems to be no future , not really .
The sense that there is little to hope for or look forward to but the end of this thing , and not dying before that end comes , can be staggering .
The future is keeping my little girl and my family as safe as I can within reach of my arm .
The future is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to hold it together , remembering that I am one of the lucky ones .
This is luck , now .
When the future returns — and it will — I intend to turn my little girl loose like a hard-charging colt upon a hopefully wiser world .
She will appreciate it more than I ever did because of this experience , and so will I .
When the future returns , wrath will have its say and its day .
Until then , it must be Thursday , because all I see @ @ @

There is nothing to look forward to but the end of this thing and not dying before that end comes.
Honey, I know, I know, I know
Times are changing
It’s time we all reach out for something new
That means you, too…
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director Robert Redfield gave an interview to WebMD this week. If people don’t take COVID-19 precautions seriously, if they refuse to wear masks and practice social distancing, Redfield flatly stated the nation could be on the verge of confronting “the worst fall, from a public health perspective, we’ve ever had.”
Must be Thursday.
I haven’t told my little girl she won’t be going back to school-at-school this year. It’s going to crush her, so I intend to wring whatever meager droplets of happy out of this wretched summer there are left before I give her the news. “Daddy School” in reality isn’t the hot ticket it sounded like to her in March, but there were 55,910 new COVID infections and 1,499 COVID deaths reported just yesterday.
Must have been Wednesday.
See, sweetie, there’s a state called Georgia whose governor believes this ridiculous president hung the moon and stars. Trump wants all you kids back in school despite the astonishing danger because he fears being indicted next February if he loses the election in November. The Georgia governor got on board and shoved children into ill-prepared schools, other governors did the same, and now, just days later, thousands of students across the South are infected with COVID.
That’s probably going to be the story for the whole country soon, sweetie, especially in states with governors who listened to Trump about reopening schools. I’m not going to let that happen to you.
You’re so proud of being a second-grader now, and I’m so very proud of you for the way you have held your head up throughout this bleak passage, the way you have been my strength and your mother’s strength… but you’re going to have to be a second-grader here at home until this nightmare finds its end. I’m so sorry. Please don’t cry, my dearest, oh please don’t cry.
Must be every day, now.
I feel broken. There isn’t a better word for the nigh-overwhelming weight of sorrow, fear, fury and utter futility swarming within. I look at the photographs from the bike rally at Sturgis and tremble in rage. I watch this president brazenly refuse to fund the U.S. Postal Service because he fears losing if people are able to vote safely in November, and I want to eat my teeth, or his.
I feel broken. There isn’t a better word for the nigh-overwhelming weight of sorrow, fear, fury and utter futility swarming within.
Every day, every hour, there is a new outrage that would have stopped the world four years ago. Sometimes it leaves me gasping. “It didn’t have to be this way” is too huge a thought to hold in mind for very long; if I think on that simple sentence for any length of time, my hands start to shake and the veins start to show in my forehead. That wrath will have to wait, I tell myself in soothing tones. That wrath will have its day.
I’m one of the damned lucky ones, too. Healthy as your average middle-aged horse, so far. My friends have gotten infected here and there, but they have all recovered to one degree or another. I have been to no Zoom funerals yet, which, in this moment, makes me blessed.
That’s a hell of a shabby hook to hang your emotional hat on, though. It could be worse is almost always the truth, but these days, that “worse” is a yawning chasm. Down there is where you or someone(s) you love dies choking and alone in a room with machines beeping the dwindling metronome of dissolution, entropy, barren infinity.
Down there is one misplaced sneeze away, in the grocery aisle maybe, or in line for prescriptions at the pharmacy, or in the doctor’s waiting room. The places you have to go are the places that can get you killed now.
When I go food shopping, I think of blackjack; every time I walk through the door, I am saying “Hit me” to the COVID dealer. I’ve been standing pat at 16 for months, but on a long enough timeline the dealer will turn a big card.
The future is a storm cloud that has devoured the horizon, all gray and bruised purple. For the first time in my life, there often seems to be no future, not really. The sense that there is little to hope for or look forward to but the end of this thing, and not dying before that end comes, can be staggering.
The future is keeping my little girl and my family as safe as I can within reach of my arm. The future is today, and what I can do to hold it together, remembering that I am one of the lucky ones. This is luck, now.
When the future returns — and it will — I intend to turn my daughter loose like a hard-charging colt upon a hopefully wiser world. She will appreciate it more than I ever did because of this experience, and so will I.
When the future returns, wrath will have its say and its day.
Until then, it must be Thursday, because all I see is darkness.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-08-13--In First Address as VP Candidate, Harris Slams Trump’s Handling of Pandemic

AMY GOODMAN : Former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris appeared together for the first time as running mates on a historic Democratic Party ticket Wednesday afternoon in a local high school gym in Wilmington , Delaware .
They walked in together wearing masks to the Curtis Mayfield song “ Move On Up.
” Biden introduced his newly announced running mate to a small group of socially distanced reporters .
JOE BIDEN : I have no doubt that I picked the right person to join me as the next vice president of the United States of America .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
… And this morning , all across the nation , little girls woke up , especially little Black and Brown girls , who so often feel overlooked and undervalued in their communities , but today — today — just maybe , they ’ re seeing themselves for the first time in a new way : as the stuff of president and vice presidents .
AMY GOODMAN : Former Vice President Joe Biden then turned the floor over to Senator Kamala Harris , the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ major party presidential ticket .
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS : My mother and father , they came from opposite sides of the world to arrive in America , one from India and the other from Jamaica , in search of a world-class education .
But what brought them together was the civil rights movement of the 1960s .
And that ’ s how they met , as students in the streets of Oakland marching and shouting for this thing called justice , in a struggle that continues today .
And I was part of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to protests strapped tightly in my stroller .
And my mother , Shyamala , raised my sister Maya and me to believe that it was up to us and to every generation of Americans to keep on marching .
She ’ d tell us , “ Don ’ t sit around and complain about things .
Do something.
” So I did something .
I devoted my life to making real the words carved in the United States Supreme Court : “ equal justice under law.
” … The case against Donald Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Just look where they ’ ve gotten us : more than 16 million out of work ; millions of kids who can not go back to school ; a crisis of poverty , of homelessness , afflicting Black , Brown and Indigenous people the most ; a crisis of hunger , afflicting one in five mothers , who have children that are hungry ; and , tragically , more than 165,000 lives that have been cut short , many with loved ones who never got the chance to say goodbye .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way .
Six years ago , in fact , we had a different health crisis .
It was called Ebola .
And we all remember that pandemic .
But you know what happened then ?
Barack Obama and Joe Biden did their job .
Only two people in the United States died .
Two .
That is what ’ s called leadership .
But compare that to the moment we find ourselves in now .
When other countries are following the science , Trump pushed miracle cures he saw on Fox News .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he said the virus would just , poof , go away , quote , “ like a miracle.
” So , when other countries opened back up for business , what did we do ?
We had to shut down again .
This virus has impacted almost every country , but there ’ s a reason it has hit America worse than any other advanced nation .
It ’ s because of Trump ’ s failure to take it seriously from the start , his refusal to get testing up and running @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wearing masks , his delusional belief that he knows better than the experts .
All of that is reason , and the reason that an American dies of COVID-19 every 80 seconds .
It ’ s why countless businesses have had to shut their doors for good .
It ’ s why there is complete chaos over when and how to reopen our schools .
Mothers and fathers are confused and uncertain and angry about child care and the safety of their kids at school , whether they ’ ll be in danger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if they don ’ t .
Trump is also the reason millions of Americans are now unemployed .
He inherited the longest economic expansion in history from Barack Obama and Joe Biden .
And then , like everything else he inherited , he ran it straight into the ground .
Because of Trump ’ s failures of leadership , our economy has taken one of the biggest hits out of all the major industrialized nations , with an unemployment rate that has tripled as of today .
This is what happens when we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t up for the job .
Our country ends up in tatters .
And so does our reputation around the world .
… I ’ ll admit , over the past four years , there have been moments when I have truly worried about our future .
But whenever I think that there is a reason for doubt , whenever I ’ ve had my own doubts , I think of you , the American people — the doctors and nurses and frontline workers , who are risking your lives to save others @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in grocery stores , in factories , in farms , working there , putting your own safety on the line to help us get through this pandemic ; the women and students taking to the streets in unprecedented numbers ; the DREAMers and immigrants , who know that families belong together ; the LGBTQ Americans , who know that love is love ; people of every age and color and creed who are finally declaring , in one voice , that , yes , Black lives matter .
All across this country , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ growing up hearing the cries for justice and the chants of hope , on which I was raised , some strapped into strollers of their own .
And trust me , it ’ s a song you ’ ll never forget .
So , to everyone keeping up the fight , you are doing something .
You are doing something great .
You are the heroes of our time .
And you are the reason I know we are going to bring our country closer to realizing its great promise .

AMY GOODMAN: Former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris appeared together for the first time as running mates on a historic Democratic Party ticket Wednesday afternoon in a local high school gym in Wilmington, Delaware. They walked in together wearing masks to the Curtis Mayfield song “Move On Up.” Biden introduced his newly announced running mate to a small group of socially distanced reporters.
JOE BIDEN: I have no doubt that I picked the right person to join me as the next vice president of the United States of America. And that’s Senator Kamala Harris. … And this morning, all across the nation, little girls woke up, especially little Black and Brown girls, who so often feel overlooked and undervalued in their communities, but today — today — just maybe, they’re seeing themselves for the first time in a new way: as the stuff of president and vice presidents.
AMY GOODMAN: Former Vice President Joe Biden then turned the floor over to Senator Kamala Harris, the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, and the first woman of color on a major party presidential ticket.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS: My mother and father, they came from opposite sides of the world to arrive in America, one from India and the other from Jamaica, in search of a world-class education. But what brought them together was the civil rights movement of the 1960s. And that’s how they met, as students in the streets of Oakland marching and shouting for this thing called justice, in a struggle that continues today. And I was part of it. My parents would bring me to protests strapped tightly in my stroller. And my mother, Shyamala, raised my sister Maya and me to believe that it was up to us and to every generation of Americans to keep on marching. She’d tell us, “Don’t sit around and complain about things. Do something.” So I did something. I devoted my life to making real the words carved in the United States Supreme Court: “equal justice under law.” …
The case against Donald Trump and Mike Pence is open and shut. Just look where they’ve gotten us: more than 16 million out of work; millions of kids who cannot go back to school; a crisis of poverty, of homelessness, afflicting Black, Brown and Indigenous people the most; a crisis of hunger, afflicting one in five mothers, who have children that are hungry; and, tragically, more than 165,000 lives that have been cut short, many with loved ones who never got the chance to say goodbye.
It didn’t have to be this way. Six years ago, in fact, we had a different health crisis. It was called Ebola. And we all remember that pandemic. But you know what happened then? Barack Obama and Joe Biden did their job. Only two people in the United States died. Two. That is what’s called leadership.
But compare that to the moment we find ourselves in now. When other countries are following the science, Trump pushed miracle cures he saw on Fox News. While other countries were flattening the curve, he said the virus would just, poof, go away, quote, “like a miracle.”
So, when other countries opened back up for business, what did we do? We had to shut down again. This virus has impacted almost every country, but there’s a reason it has hit America worse than any other advanced nation. It’s because of Trump’s failure to take it seriously from the start, his refusal to get testing up and running, his flip-flopping on social distancing and wearing masks, his delusional belief that he knows better than the experts. All of that is reason, and the reason that an American dies of COVID-19 every 80 seconds. It’s why countless businesses have had to shut their doors for good.
It’s why there is complete chaos over when and how to reopen our schools. Mothers and fathers are confused and uncertain and angry about child care and the safety of their kids at school, whether they’ll be in danger if they go, or fall behind if they don’t.
Trump is also the reason millions of Americans are now unemployed. He inherited the longest economic expansion in history from Barack Obama and Joe Biden. And then, like everything else he inherited, he ran it straight into the ground. Because of Trump’s failures of leadership, our economy has taken one of the biggest hits out of all the major industrialized nations, with an unemployment rate that has tripled as of today.
This is what happens when we elect a guy who just isn’t up for the job. Our country ends up in tatters. And so does our reputation around the world. …
I’ll admit, over the past four years, there have been moments when I have truly worried about our future. But whenever I think that there is a reason for doubt, whenever I’ve had my own doubts, I think of you, the American people — the doctors and nurses and frontline workers, who are risking your lives to save others; the truck drivers and the workers in grocery stores, in factories, in farms, working there, putting your own safety on the line to help us get through this pandemic; the women and students taking to the streets in unprecedented numbers; the DREAMers and immigrants, who know that families belong together; the LGBTQ Americans, who know that love is love; people of every age and color and creed who are finally declaring, in one voice, that, yes, Black lives matter.
All across this country, a whole new generation of children is growing up hearing the cries for justice and the chants of hope, on which I was raised, some strapped into strollers of their own. And trust me, it’s a song you’ll never forget.
So, to everyone keeping up the fight, you are doing something. You are doing something great. You are the heroes of our time. And you are the reason I know we are going to bring our country closer to realizing its great promise.


truthout--2020-08-13--Trump Campaign Appears to Be Hiding Massive Facebook Spending — But Why?

The Trump campaign has spent tens of millions of dollars on Facebook ads , but has not reported any of that spending to the Federal Election Commission , records show .
Along with a number of affiliated committees , the campaign appears to be funneling payments to Facebook through shell companies .
Official committees affiliated with presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden have also apparently used shell companies to foot Facebook ads , but those committees have reported a much larger proportion of their spending .
The end result is that the public , and the government , can ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what .
The scheme also hides the final destination of funds — including how much might be siphoned off in commissions , kickbacks and other hidden distributions .
This is particularly relevant after reports that the in 2016 the Trump campaign paid $ 94 million to a company owned by Brad Parscale , at the time director of the campaign ’ s digital operations .
The discrepancies emerge in a comparison of public data from Facebook ’ s advertising library and government data made available through the FEC website .
Facebook data includes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who officially sponsors and pays for ads , but FEC data often does not reflect the same purchases by the same groups .
For instance , public data from Facebook lists the Trump campaign as the ultimate sponsor of more than $ 20 million in ads on the official Donald Trump page since May 2018 .
However , the campaign did not report any Facebook payments to the FEC in that time .
The same data attributes an additional $ 35 million worth of Trump ads to the Trump Make America Great Again @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fundraising vehicle shared between the campaign and the Republican National Committee .
In that same timeframe , however , TMAGA told the government that it paid Facebook about $ 5,800 in total .
All told , official Trump committees have spent more than $ 61 million on Facebook page ads since May 2018 .
Almost none of that appears in government records .
Biden Victory Fund , a joint committee shared between the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee , has filed $ 765,000 in Facebook “ digital advertising ” payments with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 6.3 million to Biden Victory .
( FEC filings now available only cover the period ending June 30 . )
The RNC itself shows a reverse pattern : The party told the government that it paid Facebook $ 5.5 million for “ list acquisition ” last fall , per FEC data .
Those were purchases “ related to ” targeted ads , according to an RNC spokesperson .
But Facebook data shows that the party only spent about $ 2.9 million on ads in the last two years .
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 2.6 million for list acquisition was spent on the social media platform .
A Facebook spokesperson did not respond to multiple requests for comment .
Alhough it ’ s difficult to discern why committees began hiding specific spending through shell companies , the shift appears fairly recent : Campaigns regularly reported Facebook purchases throughout the 2016 cycle .
The amount of money that the Trump campaign has recently shielded is staggering — at least $ 170 million , according to a criminal complaint filed last month by the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Brendan Fischer , Director of the CLC Federal Reform Program , told Salon at the time .
The complaint lays out a scheme where a campaign reports payments to those firms , which then pay other vendors .
As a result , the final destinations for that money — and its final purposes — are hidden from the FEC .
And because the campaigns use multiple shell companies , it ’ s impossible to trace payments backward from Facebook data .
Last week Salon ’ s reporting identified a third firm — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the firms named in the CLC complaint , has no visible internet footprint .
Its owners and affiliates appear to be untraceable through public records .
Since February of this year , the RNC has paid that firm at least $ 5.3 million , according to FEC filings , most of it for list acquisition .
No other political campaign or committee has reported any payments to the company .
Digital Consulting Group LLC was founded in Delaware on Jan. 15 , 2020 , just one month before the RNC made its first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to FEC records .
Additionally , federal filings show that the RNC paid Digital Consulting Group nearly $ 1 million for “ list acquisition ” on June 17 , 2020 — the day that the Trump campaign ran a series of controversial advertisements designed to solicit contact information , which were widely criticized for using “ Nazi-style ” imagery .
The shell game makes it difficult to trace just who created and purchased those ads .
The RNC would not say whether Digital Consulting Group was affiliated with the Trump campaign or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ told Salon that “ in August , the RNC announced that we would not be using Parscale Strategy for digital media buys.
” That statement was unprompted , as Salon had not inquired about Parscale .
“ It is not terribly uncommon for campaigns to not report direct payments to Facebook or Google , ” Fischer told Salon in an email .
“ Usually , what ’ s happening is that the campaign is reporting payments to a digital consulting firm , and the firm creates the ads and also pays the platform @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s the kind of situation where the FEC has said that sub-vendor reporting is not required.
” “ With the Trump campaign , the Facebook payments are probably buried under a few layers : the campaign is reporting payments to American Made , and American Made is then paying the digital firm , and the digital firm is then paying Facebook and Google , ” he added .
Fischer said , however , that he could not explain the situation with Digital Consulting Group .

The Trump campaign has spent tens of millions of dollars on Facebook ads, but has not reported any of that spending to the Federal Election Commission, records show.
Along with a number of affiliated committees, the campaign appears to be funneling payments to Facebook through shell companies. Official committees affiliated with presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden have also apparently used shell companies to foot Facebook ads, but those committees have reported a much larger proportion of their spending.
The end result is that the public, and the government, can’t tell for sure who is paying for what. The scheme also hides the final destination of funds — including how much might be siphoned off in commissions, kickbacks and other hidden distributions. This is particularly relevant after reports that the in 2016 the Trump campaign paid $94 million to a company owned by Brad Parscale, at the time director of the campaign’s digital operations.
The discrepancies emerge in a comparison of public data from Facebook’s advertising library and government data made available through the FEC website. Facebook data includes the FEC-mandated “disclaimers” that reveal who officially sponsors and pays for ads, but FEC data often does not reflect the same purchases by the same groups.
For instance, public data from Facebook lists the Trump campaign as the ultimate sponsor of more than $20 million in ads on the official Donald Trump page since May 2018. However, the campaign did not report any Facebook payments to the FEC in that time.
The same data attributes an additional $35 million worth of Trump ads to the Trump Make America Great Again (TMAGA) committee, a joint fundraising vehicle shared between the campaign and the Republican National Committee. In that same timeframe, however, TMAGA told the government that it paid Facebook about $5,800 in total.
All told, official Trump committees have spent more than $61 million on Facebook page ads since May 2018. Almost none of that appears in government records.
Biden Victory Fund, a joint committee shared between the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee, has filed $765,000 in Facebook “digital advertising” payments with the FEC, but Facebook data attributes $6.3 million to Biden Victory. (FEC filings now available only cover the period ending June 30.)
The RNC itself shows a reverse pattern: The party told the government that it paid Facebook $5.5 million for “list acquisition” last fall, per FEC data. Those were purchases “related to” targeted ads, according to an RNC spokesperson. But Facebook data shows that the party only spent about $2.9 million on ads in the last two years.
It’s unclear how the RNC’s leftover $2.6 million for list acquisition was spent on the social media platform.
A Facebook spokesperson did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Alhough it’s difficult to discern why committees began hiding specific spending through shell companies, the shift appears fairly recent: Campaigns regularly reported Facebook purchases throughout the 2016 cycle.
The amount of money that the Trump campaign has recently shielded is staggering — at least $170 million, according to a criminal complaint filed last month by the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center.
“This scheme is illegal,” Brendan Fischer, Director of the CLC Federal Reform Program, told Salon at the time.
The complaint lays out a scheme where a campaign reports payments to those firms, which then pay other vendors. As a result, the final destinations for that money — and its final purposes — are hidden from the FEC. And because the campaigns use multiple shell companies, it’s impossible to trace payments backward from Facebook data.
Last week Salon’s reporting identified a third firm — Digital Consulting Group — which, unlike the firms named in the CLC complaint, has no visible internet footprint. Its owners and affiliates appear to be untraceable through public records.
Since February of this year, the RNC has paid that firm at least $5.3 million, according to FEC filings, most of it for list acquisition. No other political campaign or committee has reported any payments to the company.
Digital Consulting Group LLC was founded in Delaware on Jan. 15, 2020, just one month before the RNC made its first payment of nearly $2 million, according to FEC records.
Additionally, federal filings show that the RNC paid Digital Consulting Group nearly $1 million for “list acquisition” on June 17, 2020 — the day that the Trump campaign ran a series of controversial advertisements designed to solicit contact information, which were widely criticized for using “Nazi-style” imagery. The shell game makes it difficult to trace just who created and purchased those ads.
The RNC would not say whether Digital Consulting Group was affiliated with the Trump campaign or the Republican Party, but an official told Salon that “in August, the RNC announced that we would not be using Parscale Strategy for digital media buys.” That statement was unprompted, as Salon had not inquired about Parscale.
“It is not terribly uncommon for campaigns to not report direct payments to Facebook or Google,” Fischer told Salon in an email. “Usually, what’s happening is that the campaign is reporting payments to a digital consulting firm, and the firm creates the ads and also pays the platform as part of their contract. That’s the kind of situation where the FEC has said that sub-vendor reporting is not required.”
“With the Trump campaign, the Facebook payments are probably buried under a few layers: the campaign is reporting payments to American Made, and American Made is then paying the digital firm, and the digital firm is then paying Facebook and Google,” he added.
Fischer said, however, that he could not explain the situation with Digital Consulting Group.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
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truthout--2020-08-13--Trump Declares USPS Can’t Handle Mail-In Voting Because He’s Blocking Funding

President Donald Trump proclaimed Wednesday that the U.S .
Postal Service doesn ’ t have the capacity to handle an unprecedented increase in mail-in ballots because it lacks funds that his administration is blocking , remarks that were immediately viewed as an open admission of election sabotage by a president who has previously called USPS “ a joke.
” During his daily Covid-19 briefing Wednesday evening , Trump dismissed Democratic congressional leaders ’ demands for $ 3.5 billion in election assistance for states and $ 25 billion for USPS as “ ridiculous ” and vowed to continue blocking the funds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ ample capacity ” to meet election needs , postal workers have warned that without emergency funding , the agency could struggle to deliver mail-in ballots on time in November .
“ Therefore , they don ’ t have the money to do the universal mail-in voting .
So therefore , they can ’ t do it , ” said the president , who repeated his false claim that mail-in voting is highly susceptible to fraud .
“ How are they going to do it if they don ’ t have the money @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s comments came shortly after an attempt to revive coronavirus relief talks quickly fell apart Wednesday due to disputes over the size of the legislative package and specific items , including emergency Postal Service funding .
In talks over the CARES Act in March , Trump threatened to veto the sweeping relief legislation if it included a $ 13 billion direct grant to USPS that lawmakers originally agreed to provide .
The bill ultimately included a $ 10 billion loan — to which Trump ’ s Treasury Department attached conditions that critics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to USPS operations .
“ Trump just comes out and says it : He is blocking money to keep the Postal Service afloat in an attempt to cast the election as fraudulent , ” Washington Post reporter Jacob Bogage tweeted in response to the president ’ s briefing Wednesday .
Stephen Wolf of Daily Kos Elections said “ Trump is stripping the U.S .
Postal Service for parts both to thwart mail voting that threatens his re-election and so his cronies can profiteer off of it as the GOP has long wanted to.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ standard , ” tweeted Hans Kristensen , director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists .
“ The president of the United States is actively trying to sabotage the election.
” Ahead of the president ’ s briefing , the entire Senate Democratic caucus sent a letter slamming Postmaster General Louis DeJoy — a major Republican donor to Trump — for “ considering changes that would increase costs for states at a time when millions of Americans are relying on voting by mail to exercise their right to vote.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the last several weeks , the Postal Service sent letters to state election officials that indicate that the Postal Service will not automatically treat all election mail as First Class , ” the senators wrote .
“ If any changes are made to longstanding practices of moving election mail just months ahead of the 2020 general election , it will cause further delays to election mail that will disenfranchise voters and put significant financial pressure on election jurisdictions.
” During his press conference Wednesday , Trump praised DeJoy — a former logistics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ USPS competitors — as “ a great person ” and “ a great businessman.
” Joining their Senate colleagues in raising alarm about DeJoy ’ s policy changes at USPS , more than 170 House Democrats sent a letter condemning the Postmaster General ’ s “ reductions of overtime availability , restrictions on extra mail transportation trips , testing of new mail sorting and delivery policies at hundreds of Post Offices , and…reduction of the number and use of processing equipment at mail processing plants.
” “ During the once-in-a-century health and economic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s smooth functioning is a matter of life-or-death , and is critical for protecting lives , livelihoods and the life of our American Democracy , ” the lawmakers wrote .
“ The House is seriously concerned that you are implementing policies that accelerate the crisis at the Postal Service , including directing Post Offices to no longer treat all election mail as First Class .
”

Postal workers have warned that without emergency funding, the agency could struggle to deliver mail-in ballots on time.
President Donald Trump proclaimed Wednesday that the U.S. Postal Service doesn’t have the capacity to handle an unprecedented increase in mail-in ballots because it lacks funds that his administration is blocking, remarks that were immediately viewed as an open admission of election sabotage by a president who has previously called USPS “a joke.”
During his daily Covid-19 briefing Wednesday evening, Trump dismissed Democratic congressional leaders’ demands for $3.5 billion in election assistance for states and $25 billion for USPS as “ridiculous” and vowed to continue blocking the funds. While USPS leadership insists it has “ample capacity” to meet election needs, postal workers have warned that without emergency funding, the agency could struggle to deliver mail-in ballots on time in November.
“Therefore, they don’t have the money to do the universal mail-in voting. So therefore, they can’t do it,” said the president, who repeated his false claim that mail-in voting is highly susceptible to fraud. “How are they going to do it if they don’t have the money to do it?”
The president’s comments came shortly after an attempt to revive coronavirus relief talks quickly fell apart Wednesday due to disputes over the size of the legislative package and specific items, including emergency Postal Service funding.
In talks over the CARES Act in March, Trump threatened to veto the sweeping relief legislation if it included a $13 billion direct grant to USPS that lawmakers originally agreed to provide. The bill ultimately included a $10 billion loan — to which Trump’s Treasury Department attached conditions that critics warned will give the administration unprecedented access to USPS operations.
“Trump just comes out and says it: He is blocking money to keep the Postal Service afloat in an attempt to cast the election as fraudulent,” Washington Post reporter Jacob Bogage tweeted in response to the president’s briefing Wednesday.
Stephen Wolf of Daily Kos Elections said “Trump is stripping the U.S. Postal Service for parts both to thwart mail voting that threatens his re-election and so his cronies can profiteer off of it as the GOP has long wanted to.”
Watch Trump’s remarks:
“This is crazy by any standard,” tweeted Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists. “The president of the United States is actively trying to sabotage the election.”
Ahead of the president’s briefing, the entire Senate Democratic caucus sent a letter slamming Postmaster General Louis DeJoy — a major Republican donor to Trump — for “considering changes that would increase costs for states at a time when millions of Americans are relying on voting by mail to exercise their right to vote.”
“We have received reports that in the last several weeks, the Postal Service sent letters to state election officials that indicate that the Postal Service will not automatically treat all election mail as First Class,” the senators wrote. “If any changes are made to longstanding practices of moving election mail just months ahead of the 2020 general election, it will cause further delays to election mail that will disenfranchise voters and put significant financial pressure on election jurisdictions.”
During his press conference Wednesday, Trump praised DeJoy — a former logistics executive with tens of millions invested in USPS competitors — as “a great person” and “a great businessman.”
Joining their Senate colleagues in raising alarm about DeJoy’s policy changes at USPS, more than 170 House Democrats sent a letter condemning the Postmaster General’s “reductions of overtime availability, restrictions on extra mail transportation trips, testing of new mail sorting and delivery policies at hundreds of Post Offices, and…reduction of the number and use of processing equipment at mail processing plants.”
“During the once-in-a-century health and economic crisis of COVID-19, the Postal Service’s smooth functioning is a matter of life-or-death, and is critical for protecting lives, livelihoods and the life of our American Democracy,” the lawmakers wrote. “The House is seriously concerned that you are implementing policies that accelerate the crisis at the Postal Service, including directing Post Offices to no longer treat all election mail as First Class.”
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.