buzzfeed--2020-05-22--Small Businesses Owned By Women And Minorities Are Struggling To Get Federal Loans During The Corona

Small Businesses Owned By Women And Minorities Are Struggling To Get Federal Loans During The Coronavirus Pandemic

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WASHINGTON — Business at Murphy ’ s Maids was somewhat steady in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic .
Just before New York announced a stay-at-home order , calls into the 40-year-old cleaning service in Little Neck had slowed .
But loyal customers kept at least a handful of the 12- to 15-person staff working , according to Linda Broderick who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sister , Kathleen Labadie .
Broderick sought help from the Paycheck Protection Program — an initiative in Congress ’ s $ 2.2 trillion economic stimulus plan meant to help small businesses stay afloat and keep employees on the books .
Broderick spent more than two hours to complete the “ cumbersome ” application on April 8 .
More than a month later , she ’ s still waiting for the money .
“ That has been one fiasco after another , ” Broderick told BuzzFeed News .
“ First of all , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ ve been using phones and having my friends help me to get all this stuff through.
” Broderick said she kept getting error messages when she was prompted to put in tax forms that didn ’ t really apply to her business .
She resigned to just photographing and then downloading a note that said , `` We do n't have 940 and 945 [ tax forms ] .
We have 1099s.
” It went through .
Now they ’ re waiting to hear from the third bank after two others @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Broderick still has to pay the fees that come with running the business , including $ 1,000 every month for worker ’ s compensation insurance .
“ My payroll per month is 20,000 , ” she said .
“ And I do n't have $ 20,000 to pay these girls until I can get money back from my customers , ” adding , “ I mean , it ’ s like a saga . ''
Broderick ’ s is one of many small businesses that are hemorrhaging money because of the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Paycheck Protection Program was explicitly supposed to prioritize loans to help rural small businesses and those , like Broderick ’ s , that are women- and minority-owned .
Earlier this month , the Small Business Administration ’ s inspector general found it did not .
On May 8 , SBA Inspector General Mike Ware issued a report that found the agency failed to provide guidance to lenders requiring they prioritize rural , women , and minority-owned businesses , even though the coronavirus legislation passed by Congress expressly says to do so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it “ did not find any evidence ” that SBA issued that guidance to any lenders doling out the payroll protection loans .
Since Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid , Relief , and Economic Security Act ( CARES Act ) , the SBA says they ’ ve issued more than 4.3 million small businesses paycheck protection loans as of May 20 , equalling just over 13 % of the country ’ s 30 million small businesses .
And it ’ s impossible to know how many women and minority-owned businesses received loans from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrote , because the agency did not instruct lenders to collect demographic data .
Absent federal data , the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce gathered their own data , finding that only 4 % of women and minority small business owners who applied for PPP loans in the first phase received them , in a survey of 592 small businesses in the borough .
By the second phase — which SBA instituted after larger businesses exhausted the bulk of the first round of PPP funding — that number rose to 87 % .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the first round that in the second round , they were just more responsive to small businesses , ” Randy Peers , the president of Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce , told BuzzFeed News .
The SBA also implemented emergency lending facilities to assist in processing and distributing loans during the second phase ; several small business owners who spoke to BuzzFeed News said they didn ’ t get loans until the second phase began .

WASHINGTON — Business at Murphy’s Maids was somewhat steady in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
Just before New York announced a stay-at-home order, calls into the 40-year-old cleaning service in Little Neck had slowed. But loyal customers kept at least a handful of the 12- to 15-person staff working, according to Linda Broderick who runs the business with her 73-year-old twin sister, Kathleen Labadie.
On March 20, the phone stopped ringing altogether.
Broderick sought help from the Paycheck Protection Program — an initiative in Congress’s $2.2 trillion economic stimulus plan meant to help small businesses stay afloat and keep employees on the books.
Broderick spent more than two hours to complete the “cumbersome” application on April 8. More than a month later, she’s still waiting for the money.
“That has been one fiasco after another,” Broderick told BuzzFeed News. “First of all, I don’t have a computer so I’ve been using phones and having my friends help me to get all this stuff through.”
Broderick said she kept getting error messages when she was prompted to put in tax forms that didn’t really apply to her business. She resigned to just photographing and then downloading a note that said, "We don't have 940 and 945 [tax forms]. We have 1099s.” It went through.
Now they’re waiting to hear from the third bank after two others denied their application. In the meantime, Broderick still has to pay the fees that come with running the business, including $1,000 every month for worker’s compensation insurance.
“My payroll per month is 20,000,” she said. “And I don't have $20,000 to pay these girls until I can get money back from my customers,” adding, “I mean, it’s like a saga."
Broderick’s is one of many small businesses that are hemorrhaging money because of the coronavirus and seeking help from the federal government. The Paycheck Protection Program was explicitly supposed to prioritize loans to help rural small businesses and those, like Broderick’s, that are women- and minority-owned. Earlier this month, the Small Business Administration’s inspector general found it did not.
On May 8, SBA Inspector General Mike Ware issued a report that found the agency failed to provide guidance to lenders requiring they prioritize rural, women, and minority-owned businesses, even though the coronavirus legislation passed by Congress expressly says to do so. In fact, the report says it “did not find any evidence” that SBA issued that guidance to any lenders doling out the payroll protection loans.
Since Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the SBA says they’ve issued more than 4.3 million small businesses paycheck protection loans as of May 20, equalling just over 13% of the country’s 30 million small businesses. And it’s impossible to know how many women and minority-owned businesses received loans from the program, the SBA inspector general wrote, because the agency did not instruct lenders to collect demographic data.
Absent federal data, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce gathered their own data, finding that only 4% of women and minority small business owners who applied for PPP loans in the first phase received them, in a survey of 592 small businesses in the borough. By the second phase — which SBA instituted after larger businesses exhausted the bulk of the first round of PPP funding — that number rose to 87%.
“The big banks got such bad press in the first round that in the second round, they were just more responsive to small businesses,” Randy Peers, the president of Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, told BuzzFeed News.
The SBA also implemented emergency lending facilities to assist in processing and distributing loans during the second phase; several small business owners who spoke to BuzzFeed News said they didn’t get loans until the second phase began.


buzzfeed--2020-05-22--Val Demings Is On Joe Biden’s VP List. She Says She Has The “Real Life” Experience For The Job.

Rep. Val Demings , a Florida Democrat who has emerged as a contender to be Joe Biden ’ s running mate , said Friday that she believes her experience as a social worker and police chief distinguishes her from other women Biden is considering for the vice presidential nomination .
“ The position is certainly different , but I think the skills and abilities and experiences I bring to the job are so well needed right now , ” Demings told BuzzFeed News in a telephone interview .
“ We ’ re dealing with a public health crisis , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whether it ’ s public health or whether it ’ s a national disaster or whether it ’ s a terrorist attack , I dealt as a crisis manager , as a law enforcement official , with all of those things .
And so while I know there are a lot of great women who are being considered , I am honored to be one of those on the list and look forward to the road ahead.
” Biden , a former vice president , has promised to pick a woman as his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ among the “ close to a dozen ” his campaign is considering .
Demings , appearing Thursday on SiriusXM ’ s The Dean Obeidallah Show , said she was “ honored to be on the short list.
” On Friday , Demings , 63 , framed her case around what she would bring to an administration that Biden , 77 , has pitched as a bridge to a new generation of leaders .
A House member since 2017 , Demings previously had served as the police chief in Orlando .
“ I believe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with real people , real families , real issues , critical issues , crisis management — would be a valued asset to Vice President Biden , ” Demings told BuzzFeed News .
“ I started out as a social worker right out of college working with families that needed emergency services and abused children , children that were in foster care.
” “ Police work is tough , right ?
But working with broken children and broken families ?
That ’ s a job that will really break your heart .
But it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ restoring , rebuilding , and healing .
And then I became a law enforcement official with a social worker ’ s heart .
I ’ ve seen people at their best , and I ’ ve seen people at their worst.
” Demings is one of several black women Biden is considering for the VP spot , from a list that also includes Sen. Kamala Harris of California , former Georgia lawmaker and 2018 gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams , and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms .
Biden declined to acknowledge any candidate by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Breakfast Club ’ s Charlamagne tha God , who had asked if Biden would pick a black woman .
Biden is also said to be considering Sens .
Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar , who ran against him for the nomination , as well as a handful of other senators and governors .
Congressional Democrats , in particular , like Demings .
“ I ’ m not talking about what I read in a book or what I said in college , ” Demings told BuzzFeed News .
“ I ’ m @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ground .
”

Rep. Val Demings, a Florida Democrat who has emerged as a contender to be Joe Biden’s running mate, said Friday that she believes her experience as a social worker and police chief distinguishes her from other women Biden is considering for the vice presidential nomination.
“The position is certainly different, but I think the skills and abilities and experiences I bring to the job are so well needed right now,” Demings told BuzzFeed News in a telephone interview.
“We’re dealing with a public health crisis,” Demings added. “But we know whether it’s public health or whether it’s a national disaster or whether it’s a terrorist attack, I dealt as a crisis manager, as a law enforcement official, with all of those things. And so while I know there are a lot of great women who are being considered, I am honored to be one of those on the list and look forward to the road ahead.”
Biden, a former vice president, has promised to pick a woman as his running mate and has confirmed Demings is among the “close to a dozen” his campaign is considering. Demings, appearing Thursday on SiriusXM’s The Dean Obeidallah Show, said she was “honored to be on the short list.”
On Friday, Demings, 63, framed her case around what she would bring to an administration that Biden, 77, has pitched as a bridge to a new generation of leaders. A House member since 2017, Demings previously had served as the police chief in Orlando.
“I believe my real-life, on-the-ground experience — dealing with real people, real families, real issues, critical issues, crisis management — would be a valued asset to Vice President Biden,” Demings told BuzzFeed News. “I started out as a social worker right out of college working with families that needed emergency services and abused children, children that were in foster care.”
“Police work is tough, right? But working with broken children and broken families? That’s a job that will really break your heart. But it was all done with the goal of restoring, rebuilding, and healing. And then I became a law enforcement official with a social worker’s heart. I’ve seen people at their best, and I’ve seen people at their worst.”
Demings is one of several black women Biden is considering for the VP spot, from a list that also includes Sen. Kamala Harris of California, former Georgia lawmaker and 2018 gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams, and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Biden declined to acknowledge any candidate by name Friday during a tense interview with The Breakfast Club’s Charlamagne tha God, who had asked if Biden would pick a black woman.
Biden is also said to be considering Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, who ran against him for the nomination, as well as a handful of other senators and governors. Congressional Democrats, in particular, like Demings.
“I’m not talking about what I read in a book or what I said in college,” Demings told BuzzFeed News. “I’m talking about my real-life experiences on the ground.”


buzzfeed--2020-05-22--Joe Biden Told Charlamagne He "Ain't Black" If He's Having Trouble Deciding Whether To Vote For Him

Joe Biden Told Charlamagne He "Ain't Black" If He's Having Trouble Deciding Whether To Vote For Him Or Trump

Joe Biden ended his Friday morning interview on The Breakfast Club by telling host Charlamagne tha God , “ If you have a problem figuring out whether you ’ re for me or Trump — then you ain ’ t black !
” “ It don ’ t have nothing to do with Trump .
It has to do with the fact that I want something for my community , ” Charlamagne told Biden while the former vice president told him to look at his record on extending the Voting Rights Act and his endorsements from the NAACP .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ later Friday afternoon , Biden said the comment was `` really unfortunate '' and that he did not take black Americans ' votes for granted .
`` I should n't have been such a wise guy , '' he said .
`` No one should have to vote for any party based on their race or religion or background , '' Biden said on the call .
`` There are African Americans who think that Trump is worth voting for .
I do n't think so , I 'm prepared to put my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Club exchange came during an interview focused on Biden ’ s proposals for black Americans in his presidential campaign , with Biden frequently reminiscing about the Democratic primary .
“ Remember when they said Biden can ’ t win the primaries ?
” Biden asked .
“ I kicked everybody ’ s ass , ” Biden said before stopping himself short .
“ Excuse me , I won overwhelmingly .
I told you , when I got to South Carolina , I won every single county .
I won a larger share of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including Barack.
” Charlamagne also asked Biden why he wasn ’ t willing to apologize for the 1994 crime bill and other legislation 's effects on black Americans .
Charlamagne pointed to Hillary Clinton saying in an interview on the show during the 2016 presidential election cycle that , as he put it , Democrats had “ made a lot of mistakes ” with the 1994 bill .
“ She was wrong , ” Biden said .
“ What happened was , it wasn ’ t the crime bill .
It was the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of mandatory minimums.
” Charlamagne also asked if Biden was going to choose a black woman to be his pick for vice president .
Biden said he wasn ’ t going to acknowledge any particular person that his campaign was vetting but confirmed that they were considering “ multiple black women ” for the position .
Biden has already faced some backlash for the interview after it was posted on social media platforms on Friday morning .

Joe Biden ended his Friday morning interview on The Breakfast Club by telling host Charlamagne tha God, “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump — then you ain’t black!”
“It don’t have nothing to do with Trump. It has to do with the fact that I want something for my community,” Charlamagne told Biden while the former vice president told him to look at his record on extending the Voting Rights Act and his endorsements from the NAACP.
In a call with the US Black Chamber later Friday afternoon, Biden said the comment was "really unfortunate" and that he did not take black Americans' votes for granted. "I shouldn't have been such a wise guy," he said.
"No one should have to vote for any party based on their race or religion or background," Biden said on the call. "There are African Americans who think that Trump is worth voting for. I don't think so, I'm prepared to put my record against his."
The Breakfast Club exchange came during an interview focused on Biden’s proposals for black Americans in his presidential campaign, with Biden frequently reminiscing about the Democratic primary. “Remember when they said Biden can’t win the primaries?” Biden asked.
“I kicked everybody’s ass,” Biden said before stopping himself short. “Excuse me, I won overwhelmingly. I told you, when I got to South Carolina, I won every single county. I won a larger share of the black vote than anybody has, including Barack.”
Charlamagne also asked Biden why he wasn’t willing to apologize for the 1994 crime bill and other legislation's effects on black Americans. Charlamagne pointed to Hillary Clinton saying in an interview on the show during the 2016 presidential election cycle that, as he put it, Democrats had “made a lot of mistakes” with the 1994 bill.
“She was wrong,” Biden said. “What happened was, it wasn’t the crime bill. It was the drug legislation. It was the institution of mandatory minimums.”
Charlamagne also asked if Biden was going to choose a black woman to be his pick for vice president. Biden said he wasn’t going to acknowledge any particular person that his campaign was vetting but confirmed that they were considering “multiple black women” for the position.
Biden has already faced some backlash for the interview after it was posted on social media platforms on Friday morning.


buzzfeed--2020-05-22--Scientists Studying The Coronavirus Say Some States Are Censoring Them

Disputes over coronavirus case counts in reopening states like Georgia , Arizona , and Florida are worrying public health experts , who fear public trust in health agencies is being destroyed by moves to silence or obscure unwelcome data .
“ Ultimately this is going to kill people , ” said biostatistics professor Ruth Etzioni of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle .
“ People are going to see low numbers from these reports with manipulated numbers , go outside when they should stay in , get ill , and die.
” As those three states pushed to ease @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have each reportedly taken steps to obscure data that would have run counter to their plans , hiding or misapplying complete numbers of those who have died or become ill from COVID-19 .
The White House ’ s April guidelines to states called for a 14-day downturn in case counts before reopening , but the three states and others have proceeded before that happened .
Most public health projections see cases dipping nationwide from the effects of the past stay-at-home orders , but then climbing as May ends as people get sick from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ problems in Georgia , Arizona , and Florida come as overall US coronavirus cases counts stand at more than 1.5 million , with over 92,000 deaths .
New US case reports have declined to less than 25,000 new cases a day in May , however , down from more than 35,000 a day in late April .
More than 40 states have in the last month reopened businesses after widespread stay-at-home orders in March led to staggering US unemployment and financial losses .
Among the hard-hit states is tourism-heavy Florida , which reopened @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the state ’ s widely praised coronavirus dashboard , Rebekah Jones of the Florida Department of Public Health , reported in an email update on Friday that she had been removed from her role for `` reasons beyond my division ’ s control . ''
Jones , who had previously won praise from White House coronavirus task force leader Deborah Birx , later told a local TV station that the state had asked her to “ manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen.
” The Florida Department of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ query from BuzzFeed News over whether it had manipulated data to make reopening more attractive .
A statement sent from Helen Ferré of the office of Florida Gov .
Ron DeSantis said “ Rebekah Jones exhibited a repeated course of insubordination during her time with the Department , including her unilateral decisions to modify the Department ’ s COVID-19 dashboard without input or approval from the epidemiological team or her supervisors.
” Ferré added that Jones had until Thursday to resign or would face termination .
Jones did not respond to requests for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work address bounced back on Wednesday morning .
The Sunshine State was criticized in April for pressuring medical examiners not to release their COVID-19 death counts , then 10 % higher than official state figures .
A Tampa Bay Times report on Wednesday concluded that COVID-19 had likely led to “ hundreds ” of unreported deaths in Florida since March .
Arizona started a limited reopening plan on May 8 .
Four days earlier state officials directed Arizona State University and University of Arizona researchers modeling the projections for state coronavirus cases to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Also , we have been asked to pull back the special data sets which have been shared under this public health emergency effort , ” the order said , according to a copy obtained by BuzzFeed News .
The university models had suggested the only way to keep deaths from rising in the state was to delay reopening until the end of May , but the state officials had said they wanted to rely on federal models instead .
After the researchers said they planned to continue releasing their projections anyway , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ order .
Georgia was among the first states to reopen business , on April 27 .
The state was criticized last week for mistakes in its data just ahead of its reopening , showing that new cases in counties with the highest infection rates had been in a steady two-week decline when in fact they ’ d stayed flat .
The same errors were made three times .
Critics suggested that the mixed-up dates and incorrect case counts were part of misleading bids to suggest that fewer people were getting sick just ahead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ count data is essential for safe state reopenings , which rely on declining case numbers , accurate testing data , and hospitalization rates to proceed in states like Virginia and California , still under regional lockdowns .
A recent Georgia Tech report suggested that people staying at home rather than readily mixing after Georgia ’ s reopening would cut the peak of June and July cases in the state by 40 % .
That makes strong public messages about physical distancing and staying at home crucial during any reopenings , the report concluded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not being transparent , not being complete and accurate over the long term , they are fundamentally undermining the trust of the public , ” said George Washington University health policy professor Jeffrey Levi .
The pandemic will likely see repeated periods of calls for stronger physical distancing to blunt future outbreaks , making this particularly dangerous , he added .
“ The next time you tell them to trust your data , they won ’ t. ” The pandemic is already a tough situation for collecting accurate data , Levi noted .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ because of a lack of symptoms or poor access to tests , and reports from New York , New Jersey , and Michigan have suggested large undercounts of deaths are likely .
A healthcare company in Florida reported on Tuesday that as many as 33,000 people there were given unreliable diagnostic tests , not the first time that unreliable tests have muddied the waters for epidemiologists .
Most worrisome , the three-week lag between the onset of a COVID-19 outbreak and deaths in hospitals shooting upward makes maintaining public trust in public health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He called the allegations being raised against the state public health agencies altering data and censoring scientists `` unprecedented . ''
“ Anything short of full transparency does not serve the public good , ” American Public Health Association President Lisa Carlson told BuzzFeed News .
“ People make mistakes ; people dispute data .
What ’ s important is to get to , and to maintain , accurate , timely , and complete data — and transparency .
”

Among the hard-hit states is tourism-heavy Florida, which reopened on May 4. The head of the state’s widely praised coronavirus dashboard, Rebekah Jones of the Florida Department of Public Health, reported in an email update on Friday that she had been removed from her role for "reasons beyond my division’s control." Jones, who had previously won praise from White House coronavirus task force leader Deborah Birx, later told a local TV station that the state had asked her to “manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen.”
The Florida Department of Public Health did not respond to a query from BuzzFeed News over whether it had manipulated data to make reopening more attractive. A statement sent from Helen Ferré of the office of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said “Rebekah Jones exhibited a repeated course of insubordination during her time with the Department, including her unilateral decisions to modify the Department’s COVID-19 dashboard without input or approval from the epidemiological team or her supervisors.” Ferré added that Jones had until Thursday to resign or would face termination.
Jones did not respond to requests for comment. An email sent to her work address bounced back on Wednesday morning.
The Sunshine State was criticized in April for pressuring medical examiners not to release their COVID-19 death counts, then 10% higher than official state figures. A Tampa Bay Times report on Wednesday concluded that COVID-19 had likely led to “hundreds” of unreported deaths in Florida since March.
Arizona started a limited reopening plan on May 8. Four days earlier state officials directed Arizona State University and University of Arizona researchers modeling the projections for state coronavirus cases to “pause” all their work. “Also, we have been asked to pull back the special data sets which have been shared under this public health emergency effort,” the order said, according to a copy obtained by BuzzFeed News.
The university models had suggested the only way to keep deaths from rising in the state was to delay reopening until the end of May, but the state officials had said they wanted to rely on federal models instead. After the researchers said they planned to continue releasing their projections anyway, the state backed down from the pause order.
Georgia was among the first states to reopen business, on April 27. The state was criticized last week for mistakes in its data just ahead of its reopening, showing that new cases in counties with the highest infection rates had been in a steady two-week decline when in fact they’d stayed flat. The same errors were made three times. Critics suggested that the mixed-up dates and incorrect case counts were part of misleading bids to suggest that fewer people were getting sick just ahead of reopening.


buzzfeed--2020-05-23--The Coronavirus Canceled Ramadan Celebrations Around The World, So This Game Developer Re-Created Th

The Coronavirus Canceled Ramadan Celebrations Around The World, So This Game Developer Re-Created Them In “Animal Crossing”

We couldn ’ t eat the food in front of us , but we could escape reality for a moment .
A few weeks into the height of the coronavirus pandemic causing lockdowns and stay-at-home orders around the world , Rami Ismail was doing what many of us have done in the face of this historic cataclysm : He was playing Animal Crossing .
He was participating in Bunny Day ( the game ’ s version of Easter , which involves hunting hundreds of eggs just to build useless objects ) , when he had a thought : Why couldn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well ?
Animal Crossing : New Horizons has become an escapist phenomenon during the pandemic — a bright point for people to escape their dreary indoor existence and instead be a tiny villager , wandering around a deserted tropical island in the bright sun doing mundane chores and interacting with talking animals and friends who can visit over the internet .
The game sold more than 13.4 million copies in its first six weeks — after launching worldwide on March 20 , as many stay-at-home orders went into effect across the globe .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ever for the Nintendo Switch , and the console itself has sold out at numerous stores and websites , becoming almost as difficult to find as Lysol wipes or hand sanitizer during the pandemic .
Ismail is a video game developer based in Hilversum in the Netherlands and has a large Twitter following of fellow gamers and game developers .
He loves Animal Crossing , he told me , but playing it has highlighted the representation gap for Muslims in gaming — not just in the Animal Crossing franchise , but across the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ available in Arabic , he said .
“ Christianity is often treated in sort of a secular way ” in media like video games , Ismail told me , speaking over video chat from his home .
“ Bunny Day is obviously very far removed from the Christian idea of Easter , and I thought maybe you could do that with Ramadan — take the culture and community of this religious event and make it into something similar to how Christianity often gets treated.
” Games like Animal Crossing , where you can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in their own homes , have been fun ways to replace people ’ s actual social lives .
The game includes its own versions of several major holidays , including Valentine ’ s Day , St. Patrick ’ s Day , Thanksgiving , Halloween , Christmas , and , yes , Easter .
But Ismail realized that a game like Animal Crossing was unlikely to depict Ramadan .
“ I think a lot of people are just scared of touching Islam as a subject , or a thing to add to their games @ @ @ @ @ @ @ afraid of being offensive , or afraid of making people angry and causing controversy , ” Ismail continued .
“ It 's just not an interest , despite Muslims being a quarter of the human population.
” So he decided to do it himself .
“ I wanted to work a bit on the representation of Muslims in this game , ” he said .
“ But also , as Ramadan got closer , I realized that I was very lonely.
” Ismail lives alone , about 30 minutes away from his family @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the world , he hasn ’ t been able to see his parents during the outbreak due to a lockdown in his neighborhood and not wanting to spread the virus .
A huge part of Ramadan is about the community , Ismail said .
Not just getting together with family and friends for iftar meals to break fast at the end of the day , but eating with strangers and gathering with large groups to celebrate in the mosque .
He wanted to try to emulate that in a game that has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because of the community aspect .
He put out a call on Twitter , offering to host people to celebrate Ramadan on his island , and very quickly got a lot of responses from friends , internet acquaintances , and complete strangers .
There was so much interest that he had to create a sign-up tool to ensure everyone could be distributed to different meals throughout the month ( Animal Crossing only allows eight people to visit an island at one time ) .
Ismail decided to start hosting iftars and suhoors ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) on Animal Crossing .
He said so far he ’ s had 70 to 80 people visit his island for Ramadan , which began on April 23 .
Although I did not sign up through official channels , Ismail was kind enough to let me join a suhoor at 3 a.m. his time , 9 p.m. my time in New York .
All the guests called into Nintendo Voice Chat and flew our tiny villagers onto Ismail ’ s island .
He had set up a long dinner table with custom-designed blue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them .
There were candles and lanterns , and covered booths with plates of food and tea on them ( even though Animal Crossing characters can only eat fruit and bamboo shoots , there is an array of food for sale that your character can stare at ) .
This was similar to how Ismail and his friends and family often have IRL Ramadan meals in normal times , he told his guests , dining outside potluck-style , joined by some friends and family , and some strangers .
Because Ramadan lasts from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the crescent moon is the month ’ s symbol .
Animal Crossing takes place in real time : The season on your island is the season outside your window ; when it ’ s 3 p.m. on Monday in your apartment , it ’ s 3 p.m. on Monday in the game ; and the moon in the game is in the same phase as the moon in the real-life sky .
On the night I attended suhoor with Ismail , the moon was a few days from full , a few days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ above his guests as we entered one by one , placed our shoes and little in-game gifts like peaches and espresso makers on the ground , and showed off our outfits .
Most people ’ s avatars wore various head coverings , Ismail another guest wore customized thawbs , and one person came wearing a face mask , triggering someone to make a joke about Animal Crossing facing a “ Nookvirus pandemic ” ( a reference to Nook Inc. , the capitalist overlords of the game ) .
Once everyone had gathered at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ set up , we just began talking .
Those who were breaking fast on the phone shared what they were eating IRL for their early morning or late evening meal — rice and meat in one case , fruits , nuts , and peanut butter in another .
We talked about how we all knew Ismail .
One guest , Sarah Elmaleh , whose Animal Crossing character was dressed in her “ ‘ 90s singer-songwriter outfit , ” as she called it — a beanie and camo pants — is a voiceover actor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voice work for video games , and she and Ismail do an online charity event together .
Another , Aiden Strawhun , is a journalism student at the University of California Berkeley and announced halfway through the evening that it was her birthday .
Everyone made their characters clap .
The guest list of that event was unusual , Ismail told me later , in that most of the people attending were friends of his and nearly everyone was from the US .
Usually he only knows a few of the attendees personally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over the world .
“ I ’ ve had people from every continent , ” Ismail said , looking at a list of his former guests .
“ I see Baghdad here , Singapore , Mexico , Central Europe , Ireland , South Africa , Sydney , Moscow , really just all over the place.
” “ I think it ’ s honestly about 50-50 Muslim , non-Muslim , ” Ismail said of most of his Animal Crossing meals .
He said he had expected it to lean more toward non-Muslims because of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mostly gamers .
The non-Muslims who join , he said , have mostly been interested in asking questions about Ramadan , about the symbolism of the moon , and , of course , the question every Muslim gets asked each Ramadan : “ You can ’ t even drink water ?
?
” But no matter their religions , Ismail ’ s global guests have been his favorite part of the experience because one of the things he misses most about his pre-coronavirus life is the constant travel he did for work .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ traveling , ” he said .
“ I like talking to random groups of people , hearing about the weather , what they ’ re eating.
” The most interesting conversation he ’ s had in his Animal Crossing Ramadan meals so far , he told me , was with a man who lives right next to Mecca , the site in Saudi Arabia where the Prophet Muhammad and Islam itself was said to be born , and a site of pilgrimage for Muslims .
“ I have never done the pilgrimage , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such familiarity was fascinating to me , ” Ismail said .
Mecca is currently completely empty due to the lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus .
Ramadan is normally a time when it is at its most full , when thousands of people pilgrimage from across the world to do the daily prayer and circle the Kaaba , the famous cube at the center of Islam ’ s most important mosque — the Great Mosque of Mecca .
For the first time , in a picture of the empty landmark , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ floors .
“ If Muslims were the primary moviemakers in our age , a shot of Mecca empty would be in every disaster movie , ” Ismail said .
“ It ’ s a terrifying view .
You look at it and you ’ re like , That is wrong .
This should not happen.
” Because even when you ’ re on a deserted island , sitting at a table with a bunch of small people with giant heads surrounded by talking animals , the pandemic has a way of creeping into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wholesome escapism with an undertone of horror .
After we sat at the table for a few minutes or hours ( what is time ? )
, Ismail took us on a tour of his incredibly impressive island and his home .
We all oohed and ahhed at the soccer field he built and his Japanese garden .
At one point , Sarah got stuck across a small pond and we all laughed , giving her advice on how to get out .
In some ways , it felt like a normal gathering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ awkward , people coming and going based on their schedules .
But , I realized after , this was the first time since the lockdown began that I got to meet new people , that I had to introduce myself .
It was refreshing .
It was something I didn ’ t know I had missed .
Hopefully we ’ ll all get to attend events like this in person sooner rather than later , but until then , Ismail is in the midst of making some big plans for Eid al-Fitr , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weekend .
“ Eid is much harder than Ramadan — I really want to do it in Animal Crossing , and I 've been collecting gifts in case I do figure out something , ” Ismail told me in a Twitter DM about a week after I visited his island .
While iftars and suhoors are usually just a small gathering of people , Eid is a big festival full of people , more than the eight people Animal Crossing allows on an island at once .
Ismail said to solve this , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ holiday , he ’ s been thinking of trying to create a “ queuing system , ” as he put it .
Basically , designing an external website where people can sign up for a certain time slot , come to the island for 15 minutes or so , party there , and then head back out to let the next people fly in .
“ Then at the end you can maybe send people a photo souvenir or something , ” he said , adding that this would be his project for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Outside of his deserted island , Ismail said he ’ s actually made Eid plans with some real three-dimensional humans .
“ I 'll definitely meet up with my family somewhere outside , and maybe just wave at each other from our cars , ” he said .
“ It 's not great , but it 's something.
” ●

“Bunny Day is obviously very far removed from the Christian idea of Easter, and I thought maybe you could do that with Ramadan — take the culture and community of this religious event and make it into something similar to how Christianity often gets treated.”
Games like Animal Crossing, where you can virtually gather with friends and family playing in their own homes, have been fun ways to replace people’s actual social lives. The game includes its own versions of several major holidays, including Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, and, yes, Easter. But Ismail realized that a game like Animal Crossing was unlikely to depict Ramadan.
“I think a lot of people are just scared of touching Islam as a subject, or a thing to add to their games. I think they’re likely afraid of being offensive, or afraid of making people angry and causing controversy,” Ismail continued. “It's just not an interest, despite Muslims being a quarter of the human population.”
So he decided to do it himself.
“I wanted to work a bit on the representation of Muslims in this game,” he said. “But also, as Ramadan got closer, I realized that I was very lonely.”
Ismail lives alone, about 30 minutes away from his family. But like many people all over the world, he hasn’t been able to see his parents during the outbreak due to a lockdown in his neighborhood and not wanting to spread the virus.
A huge part of Ramadan is about the community, Ismail said. Not just getting together with family and friends for iftar meals to break fast at the end of the day, but eating with strangers and gathering with large groups to celebrate in the mosque. He wanted to try to emulate that in a game that has been so appealing to people in quarantine precisely because of the community aspect.
He put out a call on Twitter, offering to host people to celebrate Ramadan on his island, and very quickly got a lot of responses from friends, internet acquaintances, and complete strangers. There was so much interest that he had to create a sign-up tool to ensure everyone could be distributed to different meals throughout the month (Animal Crossing only allows eight people to visit an island at one time).
Ismail decided to start hosting iftars and suhoors (the early morning meal before the sunrises) on Animal Crossing. He said so far he’s had 70 to 80 people visit his island for Ramadan, which began on April 23.
Although I did not sign up through official channels, Ismail was kind enough to let me join a suhoor at 3 a.m. his time, 9 p.m. my time in New York. All the guests called into Nintendo Voice Chat and flew our tiny villagers onto Ismail’s island.


buzzfeed--2020-05-23--Employers May Soon Get Protected From Lawsuits While Workers and Customers Are Left In The Dark On S

Employers May Soon Get Protected From Lawsuits While Workers and Customers Are Left In The Dark On Safety

BuzzFeed News has reporters around the world bringing you trustworthy stories about the impact of the coronavirus .
To help keep this news free , become a member and sign up for our newsletter , Outbreak Today .
WASHINGTON — As states reopen , nonessential workers across the country can be summoned back to work , but there are no federal coronavirus rules protecting them and their ability to sue over unsafe work conditions could soon be severely limited .
The Trump administration has not enacted any health and safety rules to govern how workplaces must keep employees safe during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal requirements to provide masks or enforce social distancing when possible .
At the same time , Congress is debating whether to pass sweeping liability reforms to shield employers from coronavirus-related lawsuits .
That combination could result in a legal landscape where employers are under no obligation to adapt to coronavirus , yet workers and customers are unable to sue for changes or if they get sick .
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has made passing a liability shield his top coronavirus priority , insisting it be included in any aid bill Congress @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mean workers couldn ’ t sue their employer over allegations that they contracted COVID-19 due to unsafe working conditions , and customers couldn ’ t sue a business they believe caused them to be infected .
Employers ranging from hospital groups to the owner of Burger King have made a hard push for legal immunity as the country reopens .
But the driving force has been the US Chamber of Commerce .
During a Thursday conference call , Chamber executives called for Congress to pass a liability shield and opposed any new health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ White House has so far avoided taking a firm oversight role .
OSHA , the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has released only guidance — nonbinding advice that is unenforceable — rather than enforceable regulations .
The White House ’ s “ Opening Up America Again ” plan punts workplace health and safety to being a state responsibility .
OSHA falls under the purview of Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia .
Scalia was formerly a corporate lawyer at the Washington office of Gibson , Dunn & Crutcher , where he specialized in overturning workplace @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Chamber and represented the group several times over the years .
In 2001 , then-president George W. Bush tried to appoint Scalia as Labor Department solicitor , but he was initially blocked in the Senate because of his perceived hostility toward worker protections .
He had led a US Chamber of Commerce legal campaign against Clinton-era workplace safety design rules , mocking the underlying science as “ quackery.
” He was later appointed through a rarely used process that circumvents the Senate .
( And , yes , he ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Antonin Scalia . )

WASHINGTON — As states reopen, nonessential workers across the country can be summoned back to work, but there are no federal coronavirus rules protecting them and their ability to sue over unsafe work conditions could soon be severely limited.
The Trump administration has not enacted any health and safety rules to govern how workplaces must keep employees safe during the coronavirus epidemic. There are no federal requirements to provide masks or enforce social distancing when possible. At the same time, Congress is debating whether to pass sweeping liability reforms to shield employers from coronavirus-related lawsuits.
That combination could result in a legal landscape where employers are under no obligation to adapt to coronavirus, yet workers and customers are unable to sue for changes or if they get sick.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has made passing a liability shield his top coronavirus priority, insisting it be included in any aid bill Congress passes next.
An immunity shield would mean workers couldn’t sue their employer over allegations that they contracted COVID-19 due to unsafe working conditions, and customers couldn’t sue a business they believe caused them to be infected.
Employers ranging from hospital groups to the owner of Burger King have made a hard push for legal immunity as the country reopens. But the driving force has been the US Chamber of Commerce.
During a Thursday conference call, Chamber executives called for Congress to pass a liability shield and opposed any new health and safety regulations on businesses.
The White House has so far avoided taking a firm oversight role. OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has released only guidance — nonbinding advice that is unenforceable — rather than enforceable regulations. The White House’s “Opening Up America Again” plan punts workplace health and safety to being a state responsibility.
OSHA falls under the purview of Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia. Scalia was formerly a corporate lawyer at the Washington office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where he specialized in overturning workplace protections. Scalia has lobbied on behalf of the Chamber and represented the group several times over the years.
In 2001, then-president George W. Bush tried to appoint Scalia as Labor Department solicitor, but he was initially blocked in the Senate because of his perceived hostility toward worker protections.
He had led a US Chamber of Commerce legal campaign against Clinton-era workplace safety design rules, mocking the underlying science as “quackery.” He was later appointed through a rarely used process that circumvents the Senate. (And, yes, he’s the son of late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.)


buzzfeed--2020-05-23--JetBlue’s Founder Helped Fund A Stanford Study That Said The Coronavirus Wasn’t That Deadly

A Stanford whistleblower complaint alleges that the controversial John Ioannidis study failed to disclose important financial ties and ignored scientists ’ concerns that their antibody test was inaccurate .
A highly influential coronavirus antibody study was funded in part by David Neeleman , the JetBlue Airways founder and a vocal proponent of the idea that the pandemic isn ’ t deadly enough to justify continued lockdowns .
That ’ s according to a complaint from an anonymous whistleblower , filed with Stanford University last week and obtained by BuzzFeed News , about the study conducted by the famous scientist John @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dozens of emails , including exchanges with the airline executive while the study was being conducted .
The study — released as a non-peer-reviewed paper , or preprint , on April 17 — made headlines around the world with a dramatic finding : Based on antibodies in thousands of Silicon Valley residents ’ blood samples , the number of coronavirus infections was up to 85 times higher than believed .
This true infection count was so high that it would drive down the virus ’ s local fatality rate to 0.12 % –0.2 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ death rate for the flu .
Almost immediately , the study became a flashpoint in the increasingly politicized debate over whether and how to reopen the economy .
Although many scientists assailed its methods , leading the authors to post a revision nearly two weeks later , it was trumpeted by conservative media to support a growing theory : that fears of the coronavirus are overblown .
“ Most of the population has minimal risk , in the range of dying while you ’ re driving from home to work and back , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ show Life , Liberty & Levin , a few days after the study ’ s release .
But Ioannidis and his coauthors did not disclose that the study was funded in part by Neeleman .
“ Concern that the authors were affected by a severe conflict of interest is unavoidable , ” states the complaint , which was submitted to Stanford ’ s research compliance office by an anonymous whistleblower involved with the research .
And emails cited within the complaint also suggest that the study ’ s authors disregarded warnings raised by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the accuracy of the antibody test used .
The pair of scientists ultimately refused to put their names on the study because , they told the lead researchers , they could not stand by the test results .
The complaint suggests that Neeleman “ potentially used financial incentives to secure cooperation from ” one of these scientists , who told colleagues by email that she was “ alarmed ” by aspects of the antibody test ’ s performance .
If you have information about coronavirus testing you think we should know , you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ buzzfeed.com or stephaniemlee @ protonmail.com .
Asked if Neeleman donated to the study , Ioannidis said he was “ not personally aware ” he did .
“ David Neeleman has a particular perspective and some ideas and some thoughts , ” he told BuzzFeed News .
“ I don ’ t know exactly who were the people who funded the study eventually .
But whoever they were , none of them really told us it should be designed in a given way or done in a given way or find a particular type @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of result.
” Ioannidis added that he did not know how much the study cost , but the funding came from an anonymized pool of financial gifts given to Stanford ’ s Office of Development : “ This form of funding is the most unconflicted type of funding process to do research .
It secures perfect intellectual and scientific independence of the study.
” But according to Neeleman , the authors did know he ’ d given money to fund the study .
Neeleman confirmed that he made a $ 5,000 donation to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and that he was in communication with them while they were conducting their research .
He denied , however , that he influenced their process or results in any way , saying they had “ tremendous integrity , ” and said that he was not shown the results prior to release .
He also rejected the accusation that he put financial pressure on the researcher who expressed misgivings about the test .
“ The whistleblower jumped to a false conclusion that is not provable , because it never happened , ” Neeleman said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Period.
” Another coauthor , Eran Bendavid , also said no donors had any influence on the research process .
“ We had many funders with their own interests , ” Bendavid said by email .
“ We have been in touch with many people , some of whom may or may not have funded our study ( I do not have access to that ) .
That does not mean that they influence our study.
” On whether Neeleman ’ s contributions were a potential conflict of interest that should have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that “ everybody has an interest , ” including the federal National Institutes of Health .
He added , “ What if I told you we had supporters of Hillary Clinton funding the study ?
What difference would that make ?
” In response to a detailed set of questions about the whistleblower complaint , Stanford Medicine spokesperson Julie Greicius said : “ Stanford Medicine is aware of serious concerns related to the Santa Clara County seroprevalence study .
The integrity of Stanford Medicine ’ s research is core to our mission .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they are taken extremely seriously .
This matter is being reviewed by the appropriate oversight mechanisms at Stanford.
” As one of the world ’ s most-cited researchers and a “ godfather to the science reform crowd , ” Ioannidis helped elevate the study to national news .
In a landmark 2005 paper titled “ Why Most Published Research Findings Are False , ” he called out the factors that incentivize shoddy scientific work , from personal bias to tenure systems that reward quantity over quality .
In doing so , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ science .
The whistleblower complaint alleges , however , that the coronavirus study was rife with some of the pitfalls Ioannidis has famously lambasted , from a sloppy statistical analysis to an apparent conflict of interest .
In the COVID-19 era , as science and politics become increasingly intertwined , the Stanford study is perhaps the highest-profile instance of a hotly contested scientific finding fueling arguments for policies with life-and-death stakes .
II .
“ I have come to know them personally.
” The pandemic ’ s global death toll is staggering , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also inflicting an economic toll unseen since the Great Depression , sending historic numbers of people out of work and putting millions of companies at risk of permanently shutting down .
How to solve these interlocking crises , without jeopardizing one or the other , is now a fiercely partisan debate .
One especially hard-hit sector is the airline industry , which stands to lose $ 314 billion this year as would-be travelers hunker down at home for the indefinite future .
Neeleman is feeling the hit .
On top of starting JetBlue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Brazilian Airlines , cofounded WestJet of Canada and Morris Air , and holds a major stake in TAP Air Portugal .
On April 7 , he vented in an op-ed for the Daily Wire , the right-wing news website helmed by political commentator Ben Shapiro .
“ Since the outbreak , I have spent all my days and a lot of my nights trying to find a solution to save as many as possible of the 40,000 jobs I am responsible for and do what I can to help avoid an economic catastrophe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
His “ search for a solution , ” he continued , had led him to “ three amazing and dedicated professors and scientists from Stanford University School of Medicine with impeccable credentials ” : Jay Bhattacharya , Eran Bendavid , and John Ioannidis .
“ I have come to know them personally , ” Neeleman added .
Days prior to the op-ed , those scientists had overseen their massive antibody , or serological , survey in Santa Clara County .
On April 3 and 4 in sunny Northern California , more than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at two parks and a church and stuck out their fingers to be pricked .
If their blood turned out to have antibodies to the virus , that could indicate they ’ d recovered from an infection .
Many participants had learned about the test from Facebook .
Others had received an email from Bhattacharya ’ s wife , falsely claiming that an “ FDA approved ” test would definitively reveal if they could “ return to work without fear , ” as BuzzFeed News has reported .
The Stanford team wouldn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But in his Daily Wire op-ed 10 days beforehand , Neeleman spelled out what the scientists thought antibody testing would show : “ Drs .
Ioannidis , Bhattacharya and Bendavid believe that the actual number of cases is very likely off by an order of magnitude of 10 , or maybe even many times more.
” This was important , Neeleman explained , because if the actual number of infections was “ 3 million , 10 million or more , ” it would be “ a game changer ” : the fatality @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the percentage based on deaths as a fraction of confirmed cases.
” It was no secret that the scientists shared Neeleman ’ s belief , even before they conducted their study .
In op-eds of their own — Ioannidis in Stat on March 17 and Bhattacharya and Bendavid in the Wall Street Journal a week later — all three argued that the death rate was likely drastically lower than believed .
It is almost certain that the infection fatality rate — the number of deaths divided by total cases , both diagnosed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reported .
Of the 1.3 million diagnosed coronavirus cases in the US , about 6 % have died .
But deaths are likely undercounted .
And experts stress that , because of severe delays in diagnostic testing and the unknown number of asymptomatic and mild cases , the number of people who have already been infected is also much higher than we know .
But the Stanford study authors did not just hypothesize , and then calculate , fatality estimates that are on the lower end .
Some of them also declared that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than the flu .
In a video announcing the study ’ s results , Ioannidis told viewers that the virus has an “ infection fatality rate that is in the same ballpark as seasonal influenza.
” On May 1 , he told Wired , “ Based on what we ’ re seeing now , the fatality of the virus is more or less the same as influenza , about 0.1 percent .
Most of the earlier data was completely bogus.
” The high estimate infections were “ great news , ” wrote coauthor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wall Street Journal , hours after the study was posted , because “ the true infection fatality rate is somewhere in the range of 0.12 % to 0.2 % — far closer to seasonal influenza than to the original , case-based estimates.
” But so far , the coronavirus appears to be much more lethal than the flu .
According to a preliminary analysis of more than a dozen recent studies , including Stanford ’ s , the infection fatality rate worldwide ranges from 0.49 % to 1.01 % .
That would be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ flu ’ s death rate from confirmed cases , at about 0.1 % .
( And the flu ’ s infection fatality rate is likely even lower , given the unknown number of people who don ’ t report having it . )
“ It ’ s not a fair comparison , ” said Natalie Dean , a biostatistician at the University of Florida .
Given other factors — from the lack of any immunity to the coronavirus to the existence of a flu vaccine — there are far more people at risk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and dying from COVID-19 than the flu .
“ Way more people are likely to be infected here , so way more people are likely to die , ” she added .
“ That ’ s a huge difference.
” The whistleblower complaint alleges that Neeleman “ sought out the study authors for their congruent policy views ” on the pandemic and funded their work .
The complaint is based on a series of screenshotted emails — some timestamped around early April , others with truncated dates and email addresses — and does @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Neeleman ’ s funding .
Screenshots of two such emails came into the complainant ’ s possession by April 11 , the complaint states .
One undated screenshot shows the email addresses of Bogan , the investor and coauthor , and of David Neeleman .
In another , undated message , “ Andrew ” expressed gratitude to “ David ” : “ Thanks again for your willingness to help me and my friends in Silicon Valley support this groundbreaking and timely research work financially.
” The email adds , “ I think we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to better informing public health and policy leadership ’ s decision making across the nation.
” Neeleman confirmed receiving the email .
Bogan did not respond to a request for comment .
The Stanford researchers and the airline executive have not concealed having a personal connection to each other .
On April 12 , the entrepreneur appeared with two of them — Bhattacharya and Bogan — on the Fox News show The Next Revolution , whose host laid out a strategy to end the economic shutdown and introduced his guests as “ the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to his elderly parents , Neeleman said , “ We need to figure out a way to protect them but also to get people back to work in a more safely manner.
” The same day , Neeleman tweeted “ a science based plan using data to reopen a [ sic ] economy with a bang as is the desire of President Trump.
” The basis for the plan : antibody tests that “ confirmed that the infection is closer to that if [ sic ] the seasonal flu than than the numbers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Drs Bhattacharya and Eran Bendavid from Stanford University just finished there [ sic ] study of 3,000 residents Santa Clara County , ” and “ the results will be published this week.
” But behind the scenes in early April , the researchers were running into obstacles getting their results into the world , according to the complaint .
They had asked Taia Wang , an infectious disease expert at Stanford , to validate the accuracy of their antibody test .
And from her perspective , they were in a rush .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ tests the FDA allowed into the US this spring — was distributed by Premier Biotech of Minnesota and made by Hangzhou Biotest Biotech of China , which had provided internal data about its accuracy .
But that data needed to be independently validated before the Stanford study could be completed .
Bendavid , an associate professor of medicine , started calling and emailing Wang on March 29 , as she would later note in an email chain that mushroomed to more than 15 Stanford researchers leading or involved with the study .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this request , ” she wrote , in a mid-April email attached to the complaint .
In a separate thread of screenshotted emails , which came into the complainant ’ s possession by mid- to late April , the lead scientists and Neeleman appear to discuss Wang ’ s efforts to check the test .
One email , without a visible timestamp or sender that was sent to Bogan ’ s and Neeleman ’ s addresses , read : “ David , I think you should write Taia a note and tell her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she validates this kit.
” Bendavid confirmed that he put Neeleman and Wang in touch .
And Neeleman did write to her .
“ First and absolutely most importantly , we have to establish without any doubt , the efficacy of these tests , ” he wrote .
“ I am frustrated by what appears to be the lack of urgency.
” Neeleman acknowledged that “ the Santa Clara test has been in the works for weeks , ” then expressed interest in doing a future antibody study in New York .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he thought would make a bigger media splash .
“ Unfortunately PR impact and the ability to raise large amounts of money quickly will not be the same if you announce 1 % of Santa Clara County tested positive for the antibodies versus 30 % of New Yorkers which would be huge news , ” he wrote .
Finally , Neeleman dangled the prospect of funding her to conduct that future test .
“ If you are willing to do a 5,000 test in New York , just tell me the cost and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” he wrote , signing off with his cellphone number .
“ Time is of the essence.
” ( In a screenshotted email included in the complaint , Neeleman appears to share his note to Wang with the lead researchers . )
Reached by BuzzFeed News , Wang declined to comment on most of the emails or her testing .
But she said she did not ask Bendavid for the email introduction .
Neeleman ’ s message about providing funding for her to do a test in New York “ really upset me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she spoke to him once by phone afterward .
“ He expressed interest in doing some studies in New York , and I told him I thought it was a good idea , but I ’ m not doing that , ” she recalled .
“ My lab is not a contract lab .
That ’ s not what we do.
” She added , “ I did not request funding or receive any funding for anything related to this.
” For his part , Neeleman said he was just trying to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it was going.
” He said he recalled asking her “ ‘ Do you need money ?
’ ” to which he said she responded , “ ‘ No , I have plenty of money.
’ ” “ She had the tests all done by the time I talked to her , ” he added .
“ It was just a nice conversation , I didn ’ t pressure her or anything.
” Neeleman told BuzzFeed News he was interested in New York because he sees value in conducting antibody tests in places @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ That ’ s why I didn ’ t want them to do Santa Clara , ” he said .
“ If they had just done the New York study first , there wouldn ’ t be so much scrutiny.
” Bendavid said his intent was to possibly “ provide additional support at a time of great stress ” for Wang , not to financially pressure her , since Wang had mentioned that she was tight on lab space and staff .
He said he was not frustrated with the pace at which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that his team had thanked her over multiple emails .
“ I fully understood her constraints and her considerations , ” he said .
Wang ’ s experiments on the test left her “ alarmed , ” as she would soon recount on the email thread to the group of Stanford faculty .
In her retelling , she had told Bendavid by phone that the test entirely missed a certain class of antibodies in some samples .
She also told him , she informed the group , that she thought the test “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ antibody ” levels that are more representative of people with mild or asymptomatic infections .
Regardless , the paper ended up including Wang ’ s data .
In a section that describes the test ’ s accuracy rates , the preprint states that out of 30 samples from virus-free people , the test correctly produced negative results for all of them .
But out of 37 samples from known COVID-19 patients , the test correctly detected antibodies in only 27 of them ( erroneously identified as 25 in the first preprint ) .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ faculty , Wang was clear : She did not want her name on the paper and did not trust the test .
“ I declined authorship on any manuscript because , based on our testing , I do not believe that the [ Premier Biotech ] kit is a robust readout for the presence [ receptor-binding domain ] antibodies , ” she wrote .
Wang fired off this email on the morning of April 12 — five days before the results were released to the world .
IV .
“ I would feel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s message was part of an email chain that began bouncing into Stanford faculty ’ s inboxes on the eve of Easter weekend .
Not long before , President Trump had publicly declared that Easter would be a sure deadline to open up the country .
Instead , the US surpassed Italy that weekend to become the country with the most coronavirus deaths in the world .
On the thread were the scientists helming the study — Bhattacharya , Bendavid , and Ioannidis — and a host of other researchers involved .
One @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pathologist who would also try to verify the Premier test ’ s accuracy .
According to emails in the whistleblower complaint , he , too , ended up arguing that the test was unreliable .
It ’ s unclear why or how Boyd came to try validating the test , since Wang had already done so .
But in an email sent just before 1 p.m. on Friday , April 10 , Bendavid outlined several possible ways that Boyd ’ s lab could go about the task .
Bendavid mentioned that he was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rate of false positives .
If the test generated more false positives than the scientists were expecting , the results would throw off their infection estimates and affect what they could tell people about their antibody status , he wrote .
Coronavirus antibody tests have big limitations .
Scientists don ’ t know whether , or for how long , antibodies confer immunity against the new virus , for example .
And false positives — incorrect reports that someone has antibodies to the virus — might give people the unfounded confidence to stop @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contract and spread the disease .
There is also a greater risk of an individual positive test result being incorrect when a disease is on the rarer side in a community , which may be the case with COVID-19 in some places .
Even if a test generates a very low percentage of false positives , its ability to provide people with accurate results is hampered if a pathogen is present in the world at about the same rate .
In the Stanford study , participants had been told they would hear back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ few days to a week , three site volunteers told BuzzFeed News .
Boyd worried about the risk of false positives giving participants incorrect information .
“ We are concerned about the specificity of the Premier Biotech devices that were donated for your study , ” he responded on the night of the 10th , referring to the rate at which the test generated false positives .
Anyone with a positive test result , he recommended , should be invited back to provide a new sample to be run on a different kind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ELISA , considered the gold standard in clinical lab testing .
“ If a participant were to have a false impression that they have protective antibodies , and change their behavior as a result , ” Boyd wrote , “ I would feel that we were responsible.
” He proposed that he would try to verify the test ’ s accuracy rates by running ELISA tests on various kinds of samples , including a subset of the blood drawn at the pop-ups , which would take until the end of that Sunday , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into a back-and-forth .
Bendavid voiced concern about the blood samples being a week old and frozen .
And he came out in defense of the test ’ s false-positive rate , saying that preexisting data indicated “ good specificity.
” He did not commit to contacting and retesting participants , citing , among other factors , restrictions laid out in the study ’ s Stanford-approved protocol .
“ You have identified , using a kit of uncertain provenance that was given to you , that you did not verify in any substantial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our community that you were prepared to tell had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and had raised antibodies against this serious viral pathogen , ” he wrote , shortly after noon on Saturday .
“ With the same untested device , you have given ~3,200 members of our community the impression that if they don ’ t hear from you , they have no antibodies to SARS-CoV-2.
” Bendavid seemed “ resistant to the idea ” that people with positive results should be contacted and retested , Boyd continued : “ Is this because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so ?
” Furthermore , he noted , Wang had told him that she did not think her experiments “ validated or verified the accuracy of the Premier Biotech kits at all.
” The professor urged Bendavid ’ s team to prioritize giving people “ the most accurate information possible , even if that delays reporting the results of the study for weeks or months.
” He concluded , “ I hope you will not continue to exert yourself in finding ways to disregard that fundamental responsibility.
” The following week , Boyd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tests to reassess the samples of community members who had come up positive for antibodies on the Premier test , he had ended up getting positive results for a little over half of them .
“ The kits did not perform as badly as I had feared they might , ” Boyd informed the Stanford faculty thread at 1:34 a.m. on the 14th , “ but I am concerned that they do not perform well enough to report results back to patients if there are better options available.
” Unbeknownst to Boyd , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the whistleblower complaint , the researchers did not wait to hear what Boyd thought .
The afternoon before , they had gone ahead and submitted their paper to MedRxiv , the preprint website where it would appear online several days later .
“ This pre-print submission occurred after the first attempt at validating the study ’ s LFA antibody test was called into question , but before the results of a second validation were known , ” the complaint alleges .
Bendavid said the authors made a decision based on all the feedback @ @ @ @ @ @ @ experts across disciplines , including Boyd and Wang .
Ioannidis also pointed out that it was a preprint , not a published study , and therefore subject to further revisions .
And Bendavid defended what the study authors told participants about how to interpret their results .
According to him , the study ’ s Facebook ad warned , “ The study is designed to guide public health in our county , not personal health status , ” while a handout to all participants , and a script read to people who tested @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be inaccurate .
He declined to provide a copy of these materials .
The preprint went online on April 17 .
It quickly blew up on social media , driven by popular right-leaning commentators and with hashtags like # ReopenAmerica , # EndTheLockdown , and # BackToWork .
Before and after the study went live , the researchers made the rounds in the media , from the BBC and CNN to right-leaning outlets .
On Tucker Carlson ’ s show on April 14 , Bhattacharya said the infection fatality rate is “ likely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ estimates ” and “ much likely much closer to the death rate you see to the flu per case.
” On April 15 , Bogan called in to chat with the conservative radio host John Fredericks .
A week later , Ioannidis Skyped in to Laura Ingraham ’ s show .
The whistleblower complaint made note of the authors ’ media appearances , observing that they “ coordinated the online publication of a non-peer-reviewed pre-print with multiple press appearances ” and “ continued to promote the results of this and subsequent studies despite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ statisticians.
” Indeed , scientists immediately attacked the high-profile study ’ s recruitment of participants and data analysis , with one calling it a textbook example of “ how NOT to do statistics ” and another saying he was “ alarmed at their sloppy behavior.
” One major cause for alarm was that the authors were overly confident in their test ’ s false-positive rate .
On the 21st , in response to the criticisms , Ioannidis told the New York Times : “ It ’ s not perfect , but it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ On the Stanford email thread , meanwhile , he and others were showering Boyd with praise for all his behind-the-scenes work .
“ No words can be good enough to thank you , ” Ioannidis wrote on the 20th .
“ I want to make sure that the quality of the data is as good as it can be.
” In response , Boyd was hardly as warm .
He made clear that none of the data he ’ d generated was allowed to see the light of day .
“ When the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ participants are returned to them tomorrow , ” Boyd wrote , close to midnight on the 20th , “ I will be happy to end my involvement in this situation without any ties , acknowledged or unacknowledged , to current , revised , or future contemplated preprints , publications or other public presentations of results from the Premier Biotech test kits.
” Boyd did not return requests for comment .
After the first preprint got pummeled by criticism , the Stanford team publicly stated that they would revise the study to address the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the way peer review should work in science , ” Bhattacharya told BuzzFeed News , days after the first study was released .
( Bhattacharya did not respond to requests for comment for this story . )
On April 30 , a second preprint toned down the researchers ’ conclusions , included more detail about their process and analysis , and addressed at length many of the critiques they had received .
The first version had stated an estimated range of between 48,000 and 81,000 infected people in Santa Clara County by early @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than the number of confirmed cases .
But the revision gave a much wider range of between 25,000 and 91,000 , or 26 to 95 times more than the number of confirmed cases .
That change reflected a greater degree of uncertainty in their results .
Accordingly , a sentence that read “ the infection is much more widespread than indicated by the number of confirmed cases ” was changed to say that it “ may be much more widespread ” ( emphasis added ) .
The estimated infection fatality rate was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at least some critics , these updates appeared to be improvements .
But the whistleblower complaint raises questions about other claims in the new study that have not been addressed .
In an email cited by the complaint , Boyd reported retesting 47 positive samples from the Santa Clara County residents .
But the second preprint , like the first , reports there were 50 positive samples .
Bendavid said they had pictures and records of all 50 , and deferred questions about the other three to Boyd .
The revised manuscript also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ test that was based on many more blood samples .
Before , their specificity calculation was based on a total of 401 samples ; in the new version , it is based on an additional 2,923 samples .
The authors did not explain where all the new sample data had come from .
But the complaint cites an internal draft with language stating that the vast majority were “ data obtained by personal communication with laboratory director of Hangzhou Biotest , ” the Chinese manufacturer .
This data was not originally provided by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ This raises concerns that the data could be biased , intentionally or not , providing an unrealistically favorable view of the test , ” the complaint states , claiming that the additional data “ presents the test as 7.5 times more precise than all other validation data available.
” Bendavid said that claim , to the best of his knowledge , was false , and that the researchers had analyzed all of the data themselves .
And the preprint does not name any of what it said were its “ many individual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ funders had no role in the design and conduct of the study , nor in the decision to prepare and submit the manuscript for publication.
” All in all , the complaint raises even more questions about a study that has already come under fire .
And while the university investigates , states have started easing stay-at-home orders .
Dr. Anthony Fauci , the nation ’ s top infectious disease expert , told Congress this week that ending lockdowns now threatens to spark new waves of infections and deaths and set back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than 30 states have reopened businesses or started limited reopening .
It ’ s unclear how much the Stanford study has informed decisions to reopen the US .
But in a Senate testimony last week , Ioannidis reiterated his stance that , while “ shelter-in-place and lockdown orders were justified initially , ” continuing them long-term could have drastic consequences on other aspects of health and the economy .
Moving forward , he said , the nation should protect at-risk groups , but “ reassure most citizens — those of younger ages without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at very low risk.
” That same week , Neeleman declared on Twitter , “ When this is all over Dr Ioannidis will [ sic ] vindicated even though he is much maligned now.
” Ioannidis was recently asked point-blank about his study ’ s policy implications by the science news site Undark .
While denying that the study made any explicit recommendations , Ioannidis also said it supports the hypothesis he has put forth all along : “ this is a very common infection , and very often it is asymptomatic , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” His views , he insisted , were driven by data , not politics .
“ I ’ m just a scientist , ” he said .
●

A highly influential coronavirus antibody study was funded in part by David Neeleman, the JetBlue Airways founder and a vocal proponent of the idea that the pandemic isn’t deadly enough to justify continued lockdowns.
That’s according to a complaint from an anonymous whistleblower, filed with Stanford University last week and obtained by BuzzFeed News, about the study conducted by the famous scientist John Ioannidis and others. The complaint cites dozens of emails, including exchanges with the airline executive while the study was being conducted.
The study — released as a non-peer-reviewed paper, or preprint, on April 17 — made headlines around the world with a dramatic finding: Based on antibodies in thousands of Silicon Valley residents’ blood samples, the number of coronavirus infections was up to 85 times higher than believed. This true infection count was so high that it would drive down the virus’s local fatality rate to 0.12%–0.2% — far closer to the known death rate for the flu.
Almost immediately, the study became a flashpoint in the increasingly politicized debate over whether and how to reopen the economy. Although many scientists assailed its methods, leading the authors to post a revision nearly two weeks later, it was trumpeted by conservative media to support a growing theory: that fears of the coronavirus are overblown.
“Most of the population has minimal risk, in the range of dying while you’re driving from home to work and back,” Ioannidis said on the Fox News show Life, Liberty & Levin, a few days after the study’s release.
But Ioannidis and his coauthors did not disclose that the study was funded in part by Neeleman. “Concern that the authors were affected by a severe conflict of interest is unavoidable,” states the complaint, which was submitted to Stanford’s research compliance office by an anonymous whistleblower involved with the research.
And emails cited within the complaint also suggest that the study’s authors disregarded warnings raised by two Stanford professors who tried to verify the accuracy of the antibody test used. The pair of scientists ultimately refused to put their names on the study because, they told the lead researchers, they could not stand by the test results. The complaint suggests that Neeleman “potentially used financial incentives to secure cooperation from” one of these scientists, who told colleagues by email that she was “alarmed” by aspects of the antibody test’s performance.
If you have information about coronavirus testing you think we should know, you can reach this author at stephanie.lee@buzzfeed.com or stephaniemlee@protonmail.com.
Asked if Neeleman donated to the study, Ioannidis said he was “not personally aware” he did. “David Neeleman has a particular perspective and some ideas and some thoughts,” he told BuzzFeed News. “I don’t know exactly who were the people who funded the study eventually. But whoever they were, none of them really told us it should be designed in a given way or done in a given way or find a particular type of result or report a particular type of result.”
Ioannidis added that he did not know how much the study cost, but the funding came from an anonymized pool of financial gifts given to Stanford’s Office of Development: “This form of funding is the most unconflicted type of funding process to do research. It secures perfect intellectual and scientific independence of the study.”
But according to Neeleman, the authors did know he’d given money to fund the study. Neeleman confirmed that he made a $5,000 donation to Stanford to be given to these researchers and that he was in communication with them while they were conducting their research. He denied, however, that he influenced their process or results in any way, saying they had “tremendous integrity,” and said that he was not shown the results prior to release. He also rejected the accusation that he put financial pressure on the researcher who expressed misgivings about the test.
“The whistleblower jumped to a false conclusion that is not provable, because it never happened,” Neeleman said. “There is no there there. Period.”
Another coauthor, Eran Bendavid, also said no donors had any influence on the research process. “We had many funders with their own interests,” Bendavid said by email. “We have been in touch with many people, some of whom may or may not have funded our study (I do not have access to that). That does not mean that they influence our study.”
On whether Neeleman’s contributions were a potential conflict of interest that should have been disclosed, Bendavid told BuzzFeed News that “everybody has an interest,” including the federal National Institutes of Health. He added, “What if I told you we had supporters of Hillary Clinton funding the study? What difference would that make?”
In response to a detailed set of questions about the whistleblower complaint, Stanford Medicine spokesperson Julie Greicius said: “Stanford Medicine is aware of serious concerns related to the Santa Clara County seroprevalence study. The integrity of Stanford Medicine’s research is core to our mission. When we receive concerns such as this, they are taken extremely seriously. This matter is being reviewed by the appropriate oversight mechanisms at Stanford.”
As one of the world’s most-cited researchers and a “godfather to the science reform crowd,” Ioannidis helped elevate the study to national news. In a landmark 2005 paper titled “Why Most Published Research Findings Are False,” he called out the factors that incentivize shoddy scientific work, from personal bias to tenure systems that reward quantity over quality. In doing so, he spurred a movement to root out bad science.
The whistleblower complaint alleges, however, that the coronavirus study was rife with some of the pitfalls Ioannidis has famously lambasted, from a sloppy statistical analysis to an apparent conflict of interest. In the COVID-19 era, as science and politics become increasingly intertwined, the Stanford study is perhaps the highest-profile instance of a hotly contested scientific finding fueling arguments for policies with life-and-death stakes.


buzzfeed--2020-05-27--Twitter Fact-Checked A Trump Tweet For The First Time

Trump posted the same message to his Facebook page and it remains up as of Tuesday night , without a fact-check .
A Facebook spokesperson told BuzzFeed News , “ We believe that people should be able to have a robust debate about the electoral process , which is why we have crafted our policies to focus on misrepresentations that would interfere with the vote.
” '' There is NO WAY ( ZERO ! )
that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent .
Mail boxes will be robbed , ballots will be forged & even illegally printed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of California is sending Ballots to millions of people , anyone living in the state , no matter who they are or how they got there , will get one , '' Trump tweeted .
`` That will be followed up with professionals telling all of these people , many of whom have never even thought of voting before , how , and for whom , to vote .
This will be a Rigged Election .
No way ! ''
Trump has used the platform to spread rumors , insult opponents , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the edge of what the platform will allow to stand but not crossing it — until now .
Trump addressed the fact check in a tweet Tuesday night , writing , `` ... .Twitter is completely stifling FREE SPEECH , and I , as President , will not allow it to happen ! ''
For the first time , Twitter applied its label for misleading tweets from world leaders to a tweet President Donald Trump sent on Tuesday .
Below the tweets , Twitter added a label saying , `` Get the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clicking the link , people saw the following message : `` Trump makes unsubstantiated claim that mail-in ballots will lead to voter fraud . ''
A spokesperson for Twitter told BuzzFeed News that Trump 's tweets contained potentially misleading information about voting processes and were labeled to provide additional context around mail-in ballots .
`` This decision is in line with the approach we shared earlier this month , '' the spokesperson said .
A Twitter source told BuzzFeed News that an internal team made the decision , rather than relying on a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a standalone dedicated fact-checking team within the company .
Trump 's claim that California 's vote-by-mail balloting would lead to voter fraud are not supported by experts in the American electoral system .
`` There is no evidence to support Trump 's wild allegations , '' Jason McDaniel , professor of political science at San Francisco State , told BuzzFeed News .
`` Voter fraud almost never occurs , and all the evidence we have suggests that elections with vote by mail are very secure .
However , research shows that Republicans worry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump 's reckless allegations are designed to inflame those fears , and to further erode American 's trust in the electoral process .
I am glad to see news media and organizations like Twitter push back against Trump 's falsehoods . ''
Nevertheless the Trump campaign , in a statement Tuesday night , attacked Twitter 's decision .
Campaign manager Brad Parscale said , `` We always knew that Silicon Valley would pull out all the stops to obstruct and interfere with President Trump getting his message through to voters .
Partnering with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ checkers ’ is only a smoke screen Twitter is using to try to lend their obvious political tactics some false credibility . ''
Myrna Pérez , director of the Brennan Center 's Voting Rights and Elections Program , told BuzzFeed News that any way to get good and accurate information to voters is important .
`` Saturating the communications with the truth is a conventional and expected and tested way to combating misinformation , '' she said .
Pérez said that every credible study that has examined voter fraud has concluded that it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state in the country has some kind of way to safely and securely vote by mail .
`` I think [ claiming voter fraud ] is part of a playbook and it 's the way [ Trump 's campaign ] responds to increasing access to the electorate , '' she said .
`` I think most Americans are n't buying it . ''
While Trump 's tweet on Tuesday is the first time one of the president 's posts has been fact-checked by the platform , Twitter put a “ manipulated media ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vice president Joe Biden that Trump retweeted in March .
Amid the coronavirus outbreak , Twitter has become more aggressive about combating misinformation .
At the end of March , Twitter deleted two tweets by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro because they contained false or misleading information about COVID-19 , the disease caused by the novel coronavirus .
The platform also cited its COVID-19 content policy to delete a tweet from Rudy Giuliani , Trump 's lawyer , which quoted Talking Points USA ’ s Charlie Kirk and claimed the use of hydroxychloroquine was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 .
It also temporarily locked the account of the right-wing news site Federalist and deleted one of its tweets that promoted “ controlled voluntary infection '' of COVID-19 .
But compared to those moves , fact-checking one of the president 's tweets will have huge ramifications on the platform .
`` It ’ s already evident that Twitter is not big fan of working with fact-checkers , but I ’ m pretty sure this will be a milestone in their future reassessment of their policy ( or the lack of ) , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Baybars Örsek tweeted on Tuesday .
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Tuesday night reiterated Trump 's misleading claims about mail-in voter fraud in a Twitter thread .
None of the tweets in McEnany 's thread carry the fact-checking warning .

Below the tweets, Twitter added a label saying, "Get the facts about mail-in ballots." Upon clicking the link, people see the following message: "Trump makes unsubstantiated claim that mail-in ballots will lead to voter fraud."
A spokesperson for Twitter told BuzzFeed News that Trump's tweets contained potentially misleading information about voting processes and were labeled to provide additional context around mail-in ballots.
"This decision is in line with the approach we shared earlier this month," the spokesperson said.
A Twitter source told BuzzFeed News that an internal team made the decision, rather than relying on a third party, but that there is not a standalone dedicated fact-checking team within the company.
Trump's claim that California's vote-by-mail balloting would lead to voter fraud are not supported by experts in the American electoral system. "There is no evidence to support Trump's wild allegations," Jason McDaniel, professor of political science at San Francisco State University, told BuzzFeed News. "Voter fraud almost never occurs, and all the evidence we have suggests that elections with vote by mail are very secure. However, research shows that Republicans worry more about voter fraud than Democrats. Trump's reckless allegations are designed to inflame those fears, and to further erode American's trust in the electoral process. I am glad to see news media and organizations like Twitter push back against Trump's falsehoods."
Some experts applauded Twitter's move, but hoped that the company would go further in the future. “I think it is really good that Twitter did this," David Rand, a professor at MIT, told BuzzFeed News. "It's essential for them to fact-check as many tweets as possible, and in particular to fact-check tweets from very influential accounts like Trump. Otherwise, a lack of warning on Trump tweets may be seen by many as an indication that the tweets have actually been verified.”
Nevertheless, the Trump campaign, in a statement Tuesday night, attacked Twitter's decision. Campaign manager Brad Parscale said, "We always knew that Silicon Valley would pull out all the stops to obstruct and interfere with President Trump getting his message through to voters. Partnering with the biased fake news media ‘fact checkers’ is only a smoke screen Twitter is using to try to lend their obvious political tactics some false credibility."
Myrna Pérez, director of the Brennan Center's Voting Rights and Elections Program, told BuzzFeed News that any way to get good and accurate information to voters is important. "Saturating the communications with the truth is a conventional and expected and tested way to combating misinformation," she said.
Pérez said that every credible study that has examined voter fraud has concluded that it is extraordinarily rare. She said every state in the country has some kind of way to safely and securely vote by mail.
"I think [claiming voter fraud] is part of a playbook and it's the way [Trump's campaign] responds to increasing access to the electorate," she said. "I think most Americans aren't buying it."
While Trump's tweet on Tuesday is the first time one of the president's posts has been fact-checked by the platform, Twitter put a “manipulated media” label on an edited video of former vice president Joe Biden that Trump retweeted in March.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, Twitter has become more aggressive about combating misinformation. At the end of March, Twitter deleted two tweets by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro because they contained false or misleading information about COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The platform also cited its COVID-19 content policy to delete a tweet from Rudy Giuliani, Trump's lawyer, which quoted Talking Points USA’s Charlie Kirk and claimed the use of hydroxychloroquine was “100% effective” in treating COVID-19. It also temporarily locked the account of the right-wing news site Federalist and deleted one of its tweets that promoted “controlled voluntary infection" of COVID-19.
But compared to those moves, fact-checking one of the president's tweets will have huge ramifications on the platform.
"It’s already evident that Twitter is not big fan of working with fact-checkers, but I’m pretty sure this will be a milestone in their future reassessment of their policy (or the lack of)," Director of the International Fact-Checking Network Baybars Örsek tweeted on Tuesday.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Tuesday night reiterated Trump's misleading claims about mail-in voter fraud in a Twitter thread. None of the tweets in McEnany's thread carry the fact-checking warning.