buzzfeed--2020-11-13--A Judge Found Republicans' Claims Of Vote Fraud In Detroit "Incorrect And Not Credible"

A protester holds a sign that says `` Count Every Vote '' outside of the Detroit Department of Elections Central Counting Board of Voting absentee ballot counting center at the TCF Center on Nov. 4 in Detroit .
WASHINGTON — A Michigan judge on Friday handed another setback to efforts by Republicans and President Donald Trump to stop states from officially declaring President-elect Joe Biden as the winner , rejecting a GOP effort to force a manual inspection of absentee ballots in Wayne County , which includes Detroit .
Chief Judge Timothy Kenny of the 3rd Judicial Circuit Court in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ observers who filed affidavits “ paint a picture of sinister fraudulent activities ” that either lacked specifics or were “ decidedly contradicted ” by information from city officials .
The Republican observers who sued were election challengers , a type of poll watcher in Michigan who is specially appointed by political parties and interest groups .
They had asked the judge to order an independent audit of absentee ballots in Wayne County and to stop the state from certifying election results in the meantime .
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Kenny noted that Detroit election officials had invited qualified election challengers and political parties to do a walk-through of the absentee ballot counting process before the election , but none of the challengers who filed affidavits attended , and they lacked a “ full understanding ” of that process .
If they had gone , he wrote , the questions and concerns they raised in court filings might have been answered .
“ No formal challenges were filed .
However , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the process and the City of Detroit , ” Kenny wrote .
“ Plaintiffs ’ interpretation of events is incorrect and not credible.
” The lawsuit is one of a flood of cases filed since Election Day by Trump ’ s campaign and Republican poll watchers , voters , and state officials trying to stop , or at least delay , the formal certification of vote tallies in states that put Biden over the 270 electoral votes he needed to win the presidency .
Trump ’ s campaign wasn ’ t directly involved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ referenced it in a separate lawsuit they ’ re pursuing in federal court in Michigan also seeking to stop the state ’ s certification of results .
Kenny ’ s ruling wasn ’ t the only setback for Trump and Republicans on Friday .
A judge in Philadelphia rejected five separate appeals that the Trump campaign had raised to more than 8,000 absentee ballots that were missing certain pieces of information on a declaration that voters had to fill out , sign , and return with their ballot , such as the voter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ judge in Montgomery County , Pennsylvania , also ruled against the campaign in a challenge to nearly 600 ballots that were missing the voter 's address on the declaration .
In Arizona , lawyers for Trump ’ s campaign filed a brief notice that effectively gave up a challenge to “ overvotes ” in Maricopa County — ballots where too many candidates appear to be selected in a given race — after the Arizona secretary of state declared in a filing that Biden was too far ahead for that legal challenge to change @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than 900 ballots in Maricopa County , ultimately only 191 concerned alleged overvotes in the presidential race .
Biden has a lead of more than 10,000 votes in the state , according to Decision Desk HQ .
Judges across the country have been skeptical or outright dismissive of allegations raised by Trump ’ s campaign and Republicans of widespread voter fraud after examining the evidence in court .
In the few cases where Trump has won a favorable order , those court decisions haven ’ t made a significant dent in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ projected winner .
In Pennsylvania , a court earlier this week agreed with Trump ’ s campaign that the secretary of state was wrong to extend a deadline for voters whose absentee ballots arrived after Nov. 3 to prove their identity ; the court barred the state from counting absentee ballots if the voter failed to provide identification by the original Nov. 9 deadline .
It wasn ’ t immediately clear how many votes that would affect , but the secretary of state ’ s office has said that approximately 10,000 ballots total @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is leading the state by 60,000 votes , according to Decision Desk HQ .
Trump and Republicans ’ legal efforts are focused on Pennsylvania , where they ’ ve filed challenges to specific caches of ballots and are also seeking to stop the state from certifying results ; there are a handful of cases also pending in Michigan and Arizona .
The only case pending before the US Supreme Court so far involves the validity of the 10,000 absentee ballots that arrived after polls closed on Election Day in Pennsylvania , which have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In the latest case decided on Friday in Wayne County , Republican challengers filed affidavits claiming to have witnessed a range of fraudulent activity at the TCF Center , a convention center in Detroit where absentee ballots were counted .
The day after the election , dozens of Trump supporters had tried to push their way into the convention center to stop the ongoing ballot count .
Kenny concluded that those affidavits either failed to present enough specific information to back up the claims or fell apart altogether in the face of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vote-counting process had worked in practice .
The judge described one affidavit from a Republican challenger as “ rife with speculation and guess-work about sinister motives.
” The challenger ’ s claims included that he ’ d heard that trucks with out-of-state license plates delivered ballots to the counting site and that he ’ d only observed votes cast for Biden .
The judge credited an election official , Christopher Thomas , who explained that Wayne County had rented a truck to transport ballots ; the judge wrote there was no reason “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the city using a rental truck with out-of-state license plates.
” As for the number of votes the challenger reported observing for Biden , the judge wrote that was “ not surprising ” given that Biden had , in fact , received more votes than Trump in Michigan .
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Kenny wrote that one woman raised “ serious ” allegations that election workers in Detroit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that she was instructed to not check voter identifications , but found she failed to offer details to back up those claims .
The judge noted that the woman didn ’ t say that she ’ d tried to alert a supervisor about the alleged fraud at the time , and “ only came forward after the unofficial results of the voting indicated former Vice President Biden was the winner in the state of Michigan.
” Another Republican challenger claimed he couldn ’ t properly observe the vote-counting process because of COVID-19 restrictions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ away and was refused reentry after leaving to get food because he was a Republican .
The judge wrote there was evidence that both Republican and Democratic challengers were denied access because the room had reached maximum occupancy and that a large video monitor had been set up so that challengers could see ballots being processed even if they were physically distant .
Kenny noted that this challenger also hadn ’ t filed a complaint at the time , which the judge wrote he would have expected given that the challenger was an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forward to complain after the unofficial vote results indicated his candidate had lost , ” the judge wrote .
A lawyer for the challengers did not immediately return a request for comment .

WASHINGTON — A Michigan judge on Friday handed another setback to efforts by Republicans and President Donald Trump to stop states from officially declaring President-elect Joe Biden as the winner, rejecting a GOP effort to force a manual inspection of absentee ballots in Wayne County, which includes Detroit.
Chief Judge Timothy Kenny of the 3rd Judicial Circuit Court in Wayne County wrote that the Republican poll observers who filed affidavits “paint a picture of sinister fraudulent activities” that either lacked specifics or were “decidedly contradicted” by information from city officials.
The Republican observers who sued were election challengers, a type of poll watcher in Michigan who is specially appointed by political parties and interest groups. They had asked the judge to order an independent audit of absentee ballots in Wayne County and to stop the state from certifying election results in the meantime.
BuzzFeed News has journalists around the US bringing you trustworthy stories on the 2020 elections. To help keep this news free, become a member.
Kenny noted that Detroit election officials had invited qualified election challengers and political parties to do a walk-through of the absentee ballot counting process before the election, but none of the challengers who filed affidavits attended, and they lacked a “full understanding” of that process. If they had gone, he wrote, the questions and concerns they raised in court filings might have been answered.
“No formal challenges were filed. However, sinister, fraudulent motives were ascribed to the process and the City of Detroit,” Kenny wrote. “Plaintiffs’ interpretation of events is incorrect and not credible.”
The lawsuit is one of a flood of cases filed since Election Day by Trump’s campaign and Republican poll watchers, voters, and state officials trying to stop, or at least delay, the formal certification of vote tallies in states that put Biden over the 270 electoral votes he needed to win the presidency. Trump’s campaign wasn’t directly involved in the case decided Friday, but referenced it in a separate lawsuit they’re pursuing in federal court in Michigan also seeking to stop the state’s certification of results.
Kenny’s ruling wasn’t the only setback for Trump and Republicans on Friday. A judge in Philadelphia rejected five separate appeals that the Trump campaign had raised to more than 8,000 absentee ballots that were missing certain pieces of information on a declaration that voters had to fill out, sign, and return with their ballot, such as the voter's address or the date. A judge in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, also ruled against the campaign in a challenge to nearly 600 ballots that were missing the voter's address on the declaration.
In Arizona, lawyers for Trump’s campaign filed a brief notice that effectively gave up a challenge to “overvotes” in Maricopa County — ballots where too many candidates appear to be selected in a given race — after the Arizona secretary of state declared in a filing that Biden was too far ahead for that legal challenge to change the outcome. Although the campaign challenged more than 900 ballots in Maricopa County, ultimately only 191 concerned alleged overvotes in the presidential race. Biden has a lead of more than 10,000 votes in the state, according to Decision Desk HQ.
Judges across the country have been skeptical or outright dismissive of allegations raised by Trump’s campaign and Republicans of widespread voter fraud after examining the evidence in court. In the few cases where Trump has won a favorable order, those court decisions haven’t made a significant dent in the results in states where Biden is the projected winner.
In Pennsylvania, a court earlier this week agreed with Trump’s campaign that the secretary of state was wrong to extend a deadline for voters whose absentee ballots arrived after Nov. 3 to prove their identity; the court barred the state from counting absentee ballots if the voter failed to provide identification by the original Nov. 9 deadline. It wasn’t immediately clear how many votes that would affect, but the secretary of state’s office has said that approximately 10,000 ballots total arrived after Nov. 3, and Biden is leading the state by 60,000 votes, according to Decision Desk HQ.
Trump and Republicans’ legal efforts are focused on Pennsylvania, where they’ve filed challenges to specific caches of ballots and are also seeking to stop the state from certifying results; there are a handful of cases also pending in Michigan and Arizona. The only case pending before the US Supreme Court so far involves the validity of the 10,000 absentee ballots that arrived after polls closed on Election Day in Pennsylvania, which have not yet been included in the count.
In the latest case decided on Friday in Wayne County, Republican challengers filed affidavits claiming to have witnessed a range of fraudulent activity at the TCF Center, a convention center in Detroit where absentee ballots were counted. The day after the election, dozens of Trump supporters had tried to push their way into the convention center to stop the ongoing ballot count. Kenny concluded that those affidavits either failed to present enough specific information to back up the claims or fell apart altogether in the face of explanations from election officials about how the vote-counting process had worked in practice.
The judge described one affidavit from a Republican challenger as “rife with speculation and guess-work about sinister motives.” The challenger’s claims included that he’d heard that trucks with out-of-state license plates delivered ballots to the counting site and that he’d only observed votes cast for Biden.
The judge credited an election official, Christopher Thomas, who explained that Wayne County had rented a truck to transport ballots; the judge wrote there was no reason “to attribute any evil activity by virtue of the city using a rental truck with out-of-state license plates.” As for the number of votes the challenger reported observing for Biden, the judge wrote that was “not surprising” given that Biden had, in fact, received more votes than Trump in Michigan.
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Kenny wrote that one woman raised “serious” allegations that election workers in Detroit coached voters to choose Democratic candidates and that she was instructed to not check voter identifications, but found she failed to offer details to back up those claims. The judge noted that the woman didn’t say that she’d tried to alert a supervisor about the alleged fraud at the time, and “only came forward after the unofficial results of the voting indicated former Vice President Biden was the winner in the state of Michigan.”
Another Republican challenger claimed he couldn’t properly observe the vote-counting process because of COVID-19 restrictions that kept him at least 6 feet away and was refused reentry after leaving to get food because he was a Republican. The judge wrote there was evidence that both Republican and Democratic challengers were denied access because the room had reached maximum occupancy and that a large video monitor had been set up so that challengers could see ballots being processed even if they were physically distant.
Kenny noted that this challenger also hadn’t filed a complaint at the time, which the judge wrote he would have expected given that the challenger was an attorney. The challenger “only came forward to complain after the unofficial vote results indicated his candidate had lost,” the judge wrote.
A lawyer for the challengers did not immediately return a request for comment.


buzzfeed--2020-11-14--Native American Voters In Arizona Showed Up In Force For Biden As COVID-19 Ravaged Tribal Nations

“ This is us saying : COVID-19 is a monster that has come into our communities and devastated our people , but we ’ re still going to show up , ” one citizen of the Navajo Nation told BuzzFeed News .
This has been a catastrophic year for the Navajo Nation .
The coronavirus pandemic has spread like wildfire through the sprawling reservation , infecting thousands and killing hundreds .
Still , Diné , the Navajo people , voted in huge numbers this election , and largely in favor of Joe Biden , helping turn Arizona , a longtime @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Allie Young , a 30-year-old activist and citizen of the Navajo Nation , it 's been emotional to watch her community vote in force despite these challenges .
“ I feel the only word that comes to mind is proud , ” she told BuzzFeed News .
“ Thinking about the pandemic and how we ’ ve been impacted because of the decisions from our elected officials — it feels like we put our foot down and we ’ re saying , ‘ We ’ re gon na be involved in these conversations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sure that we have a seat at the table and that we ’ re represented.
’ ” Young , who cofounded Protect the Sacred , a Navajo youth advocacy group , had worked hard to get out the vote in her community .
In the weeks leading up to Election Day , she organized several “ Ride to the Polls ” events to encourage her fellow Diné to go to polling stations on horseback and vote .
She was heartened to see dozens of riders join her voting campaign ; she was even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an election that would determine the future of the country in the midst of a pandemic that has ravaged not just her family — her uncle had COVID-19 , and several extended family members have died from the virus — but also her people .
“ This is us saying : COVID-19 is a monster that has come into our communities and devastated our people — but we ’ re still going to show up , and it ’ s not going to get the best of us , ” she said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 270,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 6,200 deaths to date .
And Navajo Nation , the biggest Native American reservation in the US , which spans three states — although the majority of its land sits within Arizona ’ s borders — has seen more than 12,000 COVID-19 cases and 596 deaths .
Despite the tribal government imposing some of the country ’ s strictest safety precautions , the Navajo Nation had a higher infection rate per capita than any state in the US in May , including New York , which at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic .
Doctors Without Borders , an international organization that sends medical aid to parts of the world stricken by war , famine , and natural disasters , even dispatched a team to the Navajo Nation to help with the crisis .
Now , six months later , the reservation is entering its second wave of the pandemic .
Navajo health officials are preparing for “ uncontrolled community spread ” of the virus , Navajo President Jonathan Nez and the Navajo Health Department ’ s Jill Jim told local news outlet KOAT on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whole has been hit especially hard by the virus .
Served by a chronically underfunded Indian Health Service , a federal agency within the Department of Health and Human Services , tribal governments had to fight to obtain sorely needed COVID-19 funding relief that the Trump administration delayed distributing .
In July , six tribal nations had higher case rates per capita than any US state , according to the UCLA American Indian Studies Center .
The virus is especially deadly among older people , a factor that has been particularly destructive considering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of their cultural knowledge and traditions .
Many Native American reservations occupy vast , rural swaths of land , and residents often lack access to basic resources like clean water , internet , or reliable transportation .
One in three Native Americans live in poverty , and voter turnout among Indigenous voters has historically been lower than that of other racial or ethnic groups , partly due to the burden of casting a ballot .
“ If you ’ re Native [ on a reservation ] , you got ta drive 40 miles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there , and hopefully it will reach the secretary of state on time , ” said O.J .
Semans , an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota and the cofounder of the Native voter advocacy group Four Directions .
People of color across the country have long been disenfranchised at the ballot box , but those issues are “ magnified in Indian Country because of the distance , the poverty , the transportation , the roads , ” he told BuzzFeed News .
Considering the long-standing barriers that Native @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and the added safety fears due to the pandemic , seeing them turn out , especially in Arizona , is nothing short of remarkable , Semans said .
“ I ’ m really happy with the turnout based upon the inconveniences that Natives had to face in order to participate , ” he said .
Even before Election Day , Arizona was inching toward a milestone : By Oct. 30 , the last day of early voting in the state , election officials had received 2.3 million ballots .
When Decision Desk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than 3.3 million votes had been processed — a record number for the state , according to the Arizona secretary of state ’ s election data .
The turnout numbers in Arizona were reflected across the country ; both Biden and Trump have received more popular votes than any other candidate in history ; the president-elect is about 5 million votes ahead of the current president , and his lead is expected to widen as more are tallied .
The number of votes processed so far in the three counties where the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden has won by a larger margin than Hillary Clinton did in 2016 : He holds a commanding majority of the vote in Apache ( more than half of the county is Navajo Nation ) and Coconino counties , though Navajo County , where there is a big Mormon population , went to Trump .
( The Hopi tribe is also in Apache and Navajo counties . )
It ’ s not just the Navajo Nation , either .
Native Americans are spread out in reservations across Arizona , as well as in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that they have overwhelmingly voted for Biden .
According to an ABC15 map of the election results by precinct , tribal communities have made up a formidable base of support for Biden in the state .
A majority of the blue spots on the map , besides metropolitan areas like Phoenix and Tucson , are where tribal nations are located : Navajo Nation and the Hopi in the northeast , White Mountain Apache and San Carlos Apache tribes in the east , the Pascua Yaqui Tribe outside Tucson , Tohono O'odham Nation ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ desecrated and blew up to make way for the president ’ s border wall ) to the south , Yuma County ’ s Cocopah Indian Tribe and Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe in the southwest , the Hualapai Tribe in the northwest , and the Colorado River Indian Tribes in the west .
Semans also pointed out that the sizable Native American population in Maricopa County — 2.8 % of its residents identify as Indigenous , according to census numbers — where Trump has performed better with mail ballots there ( though not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has in other states .
“ We have a lot of urban Indians in Maricopa County , ” Semans said , pointing to the Indian Health Service office in Phoenix , which oversees programs in Arizona , Nevada , and Utah .
The Native vote , including in the Navajo Nation , is not a monolith ; even the Navajo government leaders openly supported different candidates — its president , Jonathan Nez , endorsed Biden , and its vice president , Myron Lizer , endorsed Trump at the Republican National Convention .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ left despite Democratic candidates historically having ignored and failed Native American voters to their detriment .
“ I can tell you that for being the most left out by the Democratic Party , there has been no race more loyal to the Democratic Party , ” Semans said .
“ Throughout Indian Country , they ’ ve always been Democratic strongholds but completely ignored.
” A lot has been made of Arizona flipping blue in this election .
A crucial battleground state , Arizona has long remained just out of reach for Democratic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ votes .
President Bill Clinton was the last Democratic candidate who won the state during his reelection bid in 1996 .
`` The Grand Canyon State '' has since been a reliable stronghold for Republican presidential candidates , including Trump , who beat Hillary Clinton by a 3.5 % margin in 2016 .
But the state has seen a significant demographic shift in the past few decades , and the population in its cities and surrounding suburban areas has ballooned .
Arizona ’ s Latino population has more than doubled , according to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years , grassroots Latino groups , spurred by an opposition to Trump , have built a massive organizing effort to turn out the vote for Biden this year .
Latino voters have been widely and deservedly credited for flipping Arizona blue .
But Native American voters in Arizona , which has 22 tribes and the country ’ s third-highest population of Indigenous people , have also been acknowledged for their role in handing Biden the state .
Young , who is planning a victory horseback ride next week in honor of Biden winning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Native American voters recognized more by the media and the public than in the past week since the election ended .
“ The way that people are thanking Native people [ and ] the Navajo Nation , which for me is more personal and hits close .
It is my home , ” she said about voters who lifted Biden to victory in Arizona .
“ It is emotional for me and my people .
We ’ re always invisible in this country , in our own homelands .
So it feels really @ @ @ @ @ @ @ She also wants people to change their notions of who Arizonans are and what they look like — and understand that it ’ s not just a state where conservative white people go to retire .
“ Arizona is filled with so many diverse communities , ” she said .
“ People think Arizona is filled with retired , white conservatives .
We ’ re gon na prove them wrong .
We ‘ re gon na reclaim how we show up to the polls , and we ’ re gon na reclaim Arizona @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ●

This has been a catastrophic year for the Navajo Nation. The coronavirus pandemic has spread like wildfire through the sprawling reservation, infecting thousands and killing hundreds. Still, Diné, the Navajo people, voted in huge numbers this election, and largely in favor of Joe Biden, helping turn Arizona, a longtime deep red state, blue.
For Allie Young, a 30-year-old activist and citizen of the Navajo Nation, it's been emotional to watch her community vote in force despite these challenges.
“I feel the only word that comes to mind is proud,” she told BuzzFeed News. “Thinking about the pandemic and how we’ve been impacted because of the decisions from our elected officials — it feels like we put our foot down and we’re saying, ‘We’re gonna be involved in these conversations; we’re going to make sure that we have a seat at the table and that we’re represented.’”
Young, who cofounded Protect the Sacred, a Navajo youth advocacy group, had worked hard to get out the vote in her community. In the weeks leading up to Election Day, she organized several “Ride to the Polls” events to encourage her fellow Diné to go to polling stations on horseback and vote. She was heartened to see dozens of riders join her voting campaign; she was even more appreciative that they were participating in an election that would determine the future of the country in the midst of a pandemic that has ravaged not just her family — her uncle had COVID-19, and several extended family members have died from the virus — but also her people.
“This is us saying: COVID-19 is a monster that has come into our communities and devastated our people — but we’re still going to show up, and it’s not going to get the best of us,” she said.
Across Arizona, there have been nearly 270,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 6,200 deaths to date. And Navajo Nation, the biggest Native American reservation in the US, which spans three states — although the majority of its land sits within Arizona’s borders — has seen more than 12,000 COVID-19 cases and 596 deaths.
Despite the tribal government imposing some of the country’s strictest safety precautions, the Navajo Nation had a higher infection rate per capita than any state in the US in May, including New York, which at the time was the epicenter of the pandemic. Doctors Without Borders, an international organization that sends medical aid to parts of the world stricken by war, famine, and natural disasters, even dispatched a team to the Navajo Nation to help with the crisis.
Now, six months later, the reservation is entering its second wave of the pandemic. Navajo health officials are preparing for “uncontrolled community spread” of the virus, Navajo President Jonathan Nez and the Navajo Health Department’s Jill Jim told local news outlet KOAT on election week.
Indian Country as a whole has been hit especially hard by the virus. Served by a chronically underfunded Indian Health Service, a federal agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, tribal governments had to fight to obtain sorely needed COVID-19 funding relief that the Trump administration delayed distributing.
In July, six tribal nations had higher case rates per capita than any US state, according to the UCLA American Indian Studies Center. The virus is especially deadly among older people, a factor that has been particularly destructive considering the role of Native elders as protectors of their cultural knowledge and traditions.


buzzfeed--2020-11-14--The President Tweeted Something Bad Again

President Donald Trump , who lost his reelection bid last week , has spent his time since then firing high-ranking officials , playing golf , and lying about Dominion , a company that provides hardware and software for ballot counting .
Driven by false reporting from the far-right news organization One America News Network , the narrative spun a swiftly corrected mistake into a mirage of widespread voter fraud .
At its heart was an error in Antrim County , Michigan , which authorities announced on Facebook on Nov. 4 .
Software was not updated properly , it was fixed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Results will become Official once the independent board of canvassers verify results starting tomorrow , ” the post said .
BuzzFeed News has journalists around the US bringing you trustworthy stories on the 2020 elections .
To help keep this news free , become a member .
The current president 's supporters missed the incident until Laura Cox , chair of the Michigan Republican Party , held a press conference on Nov. 6 , during which she inaccurately implied that other machines made by Dominion would make the same error .
Following @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of state published a statement about what had happened .
“ The erroneous reporting of unofficial results from Antrim County was a result of accidental error on the part of the Antrim County Clerk , ” it said .
“ The equipment and software did not malfunction and all ballots were properly tabulated .
However , the clerk accidentally did not update the software used to collect voting machine data and report unofficial results.
” The statement also laid out the steps that officials took to correct the error .

President Donald Trump, who lost his reelection bid last week, has spent his time since then firing high-ranking officials, playing golf, and lying about Dominion, a company that provides hardware and software for ballot counting. Driven by false reporting from the far-right news organization One America News Network, the narrative spun a swiftly corrected mistake into a mirage of widespread voter fraud.
At its heart was an error in Antrim County, Michigan, which authorities announced on Facebook on Nov. 4. Software was not updated properly, it was fixed, and the ballots were recounted.
“Results will become Official once the independent board of canvassers verify results starting tomorrow,” the post said.
BuzzFeed News has journalists around the US bringing you trustworthy stories on the 2020 elections. To help keep this news free, become a member.
The current president's supporters missed the incident until Laura Cox, chair of the Michigan Republican Party, held a press conference on Nov. 6, during which she inaccurately implied that other machines made by Dominion would make the same error.
Following the press conference, the Michigan secretary of state published a statement about what had happened.
“The erroneous reporting of unofficial results from Antrim County was a result of accidental error on the part of the Antrim County Clerk,” it said. “The equipment and software did not malfunction and all ballots were properly tabulated. However, the clerk accidentally did not update the software used to collect voting machine data and report unofficial results.”
The statement also laid out the steps that officials took to correct the error.


buzzfeed--2020-11-13--Mike Pompeo Loves To Preach About Peaceful Transitions Of Power — When It’s Happening In Other Count

Mike Pompeo Loves To Preach About Peaceful Transitions Of Power — When It’s Happening In Other Countries

“ The world is watching what ’ s taking place .
We ’ re going to count all the votes , ” he added , in what appeared to be a reference to President Donald Trump ’ s baseless voter fraud claims .
“ There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration , ” Pompeo said with a smirk from the State Department podium , where , since being appointed in April 2018 , he has praised foreign leaders who have gracefully accepted election defeats and condemned those who have not .
But on Tuesday , Pompeo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ own country ’ s presidential vote and suggested President-elect Joe Biden ’ s victory could be reversed through the courts , despite elections officials representing both Democrats and Republicans in nearly all states saying there has been zero evidence of voter fraud or other irregularities found .
Just Monday , the United States ’ top diplomat praised Myanmar for conducting free and fair elections , saying they “ mark an important step in the country ’ s democratic transition.
” In October alone , he or a State Department spokesperson delivered similar pro-democracy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Seychelles .
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has on dozens of occasions delivered public comments urging free and fair elections and peaceful transitions of power in countries around the world .
.
@ SecPompeo : `` There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration . ''
Full video here : https : //t.co/6Rou91HQxv In the week since Election Day , Trump has refused to concede and has pushed bogus claims of fraud to cast doubt on Biden ’ s victory .
He has also reportedly ordered staff not to comply @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and briefings typically offered by the outgoing administration to the incoming one ’ s transition team .
The remarks from Pompeo , one of Trump ’ s most loyal cronies , sparked immediate criticism from former and current US diplomats , some of whom said his words undermined efforts to promote democracy abroad and opened a door for foreign adversaries to criticize American hypocrisy .
“ This is incredibly reckless , dangerous , and damaging to US security , ” tweeted Samantha Power , the former US ambassador to the United Nations under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a European post told BuzzFeed News on the condition of anonymity , for fear of retribution , that Pompeo ’ s remarks traveled instantly through the ranks of foreign service officers whom the diplomat described as being “ furious.
” The diplomat suggested their jobs would be made harder and their words would carry less weight after Pompeo ’ s comments .
“ It ’ s a sideshow in a sense , but yet another degraded norm that could be a problem in the future [ for the US ] , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a silver lining , the US diplomat added , it is that “ I don ’ t think any of our interlocutors take almost anything from this administration seriously anymore.
” If you have a news tip , we ’ d like to hear from you .
Reach out to us via one of our tip line channels .
Pompeo ’ s suggestion that the US election was yet to be decided came as global leaders sent congratulatory messages to Biden , whose 279 electoral votes , even with Georgia and Arizona yet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to call the race in his favor .
It also came as the secretary prepared what could be his last big foreign trip before Biden takes office Jan. 20 .
Beginning Friday , Pompeo will visit France , Turkey , Georgia , Israel , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , and the United Arab Emirates .
A big question after his comments is how will he be greeted by officials in those nations .
An EU diplomat from a country that has already congratulated Biden on his election victory told BuzzFeed News , on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not authorized to speak to reporters , that the mood when Pompeo visits will likely be `` tense . ''
“ We will keep up appearances , of course … but we will be glad when he leaves , ” the diplomat said , referring both to Pompeo departing from their country and his post .

In the week since Election Day, Trump has refused to concede and has pushed bogus claims of fraud to cast doubt on Biden’s victory. He has also reportedly ordered staff not to comply with Biden’s requests for resources and briefings typically offered by the outgoing administration to the incoming one’s transition team.
The remarks from Pompeo, one of Trump’s most loyal cronies, sparked immediate criticism from former and current US diplomats, some of whom said his words undermined efforts to promote democracy abroad and opened a door for foreign adversaries to criticize American hypocrisy.
“This is incredibly reckless, dangerous, and damaging to US security,” tweeted Samantha Power, the former US ambassador to the United Nations under Barack Obama.
A current US diplomat in a European post told BuzzFeed News on the condition of anonymity, for fear of retribution, that Pompeo’s remarks traveled instantly through the ranks of foreign service officers whom the diplomat described as being “furious.”
The diplomat suggested their jobs would be made harder and their words would carry less weight after Pompeo’s comments.
“It’s a sideshow in a sense, but yet another degraded norm that could be a problem in the future [for the US],” said the diplomat.
If there is a silver lining, the US diplomat added, it is that “I don’t think any of our interlocutors take almost anything from this administration seriously anymore.”
If you have a news tip, we’d like to hear from you. Reach out to us via one of our tip line channels.
Pompeo’s suggestion that the US election was yet to be decided came as global leaders sent congratulatory messages to Biden, whose 279 electoral votes, even with Georgia and Arizona yet to determine a winner, were enough to call the race in his favor.
It also came as the secretary prepared what could be his last big foreign trip before Biden takes office Jan. 20. Beginning Friday, Pompeo will visit France, Turkey, Georgia, Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
A big question after his comments is how will he be greeted by officials in those nations.
An EU diplomat from a country that has already congratulated Biden on his election victory told BuzzFeed News, on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to reporters, that the mood when Pompeo visits will likely be "tense."
“We will keep up appearances, of course … but we will be glad when he leaves,” the diplomat said, referring both to Pompeo departing from their country and his post.


buzzfeed--2020-11-14--These 17 Masturbation Questions Will Reveal How "Normal" Your Habits Are

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Masturbation is a totally normal and healthy part of life. While there's no right or wrong way to do it, it's common to wonder how your own sexual wellness preferences compare to everyone else's. Below are 17 polls that will reveal how similar or different your own interests and techniques are from everyone else's. Enjoy.


buzzfeed--2020-11-14--14 Experiences From People Who Actually Have OnlyFans Accounts

It can be a nice side hustle and a great way to connect .
`` I started an account a @ @ @ @ @ upside down .
I have about 1,500 vids and 3,000 selfies on my phone because @ @ @ @ @ figured I already had content ; I just wasn ’ t making money on it @ @ @ @ @ account like a side hustle .
`` Since I have premade content , I just @ @ @ @ @ picture post per day .
I never intended to 'make money , ' and take @ @ @ @ @ I ’ ve built a healthy recurring fan base that allows me to treat myself @ @ @ @ @ that we wouldn ’ t normally get ourselves .
I also really enjoy interacting with @ @ @ @ @ more direct line to me personally .
I find that most folks are just seeking @ @ @ @ @ attractive .
I don ’ t necessarily make 'porn , ' so I think that @ @ @ @ @ as something within reach . ''

5. It can be a nice side hustle and a great way to connect.
"I started an account a month before the world turned upside down. I have about 1,500 vids and 3,000 selfies on my phone because I like selfies. I figured I already had content; I just wasn’t making money on it. So I approached the account like a side hustle.
"Since I have premade content, I just schedule one video and one picture post per day. I never intended to 'make money,' and take whatever comes as gravy. I’ve built a healthy recurring fan base that allows me to treat myself and my husband to things that we wouldn’t normally get ourselves. I also really enjoy interacting with the fans who have a more direct line to me personally. I find that most folks are just seeking connection with someone they find attractive. I don’t necessarily make 'porn,' so I think that fans can appreciate my content as something within reach."
—cigarsmokinalpha


buzzfeed--2020-11-14--24 Things People Wish They'd Learned About Sex A Whole Lot Sooner

`` Sex can be so amazing when both parties are respected and taken into account .
Sex can also be @ @ @ @ @ or disrespected .
Sex can be incredibly empowering and it can be the complete opposite @ @ @ @ @ and mind .
There 's no 'right way ' to have sex .
You 're @ @ @ @ @ something you do n't want to try , you 're not 'easy ' or ' @ @ @ @ @ 're experimental . ''

8. "Orgasms do not equal love or even consent."
"Sometimes, our nerves just respond, and it means absolutely nothing besides having functioning nerves. So no, that orgasm in itself is not a sign that the person who you had it with is The Right One For You. Nor is it a sign that you actually wanted it, after all, even if you said no, and it doesn't negate your no."
—ista


buzzfeed--2020-11-14--A Woman Has Blown Up On TikTok After Openly Talking About Women's Hair Loss

`` I started my TikTok and Instagram account to ensure no other woman feels alone in their hair loss .
@ @ @ @ @ community of strong hair loss warriors on my page !
They encourage me daily , @ @ @ @ @ Every person , at some point in their life , struggles with self-confidence .
It @ @ @ @ @ .
You aren ’ t alone in your hair loss .
Take baby steps towards @ @ @ @ @ will help you feel beautiful . ''

"I started my TikTok and Instagram account to ensure no other woman feels alone in their hair loss. I’ve loved the community of strong hair loss warriors on my page! They encourage me daily," Jennifer stated. "Every person, at some point in their life, struggles with self-confidence. It’s not just you. You aren’t alone in your hair loss. Take baby steps towards self-acceptance. Make whatever choice will help you feel beautiful."


buzzfeed--2020-11-14--Is It Safe To Get Together With Loved Ones This Thanksgiving? We Asked 7 Experts.

We asked coronavirus experts about their plans for the holidays during the pandemic : “ Whatever you do , whoever you invite to sit around the table , you ’ re also inviting the virus.
” As the holiday season arrives , Americans are contemplating Thanksgiving recipes and putting together gift lists at one of the worst points so far during the coronavirus pandemic .
More people in the US are now in the hospital with COVID-19 than ever before as the country climbs over 10 million recorded cases during its third wave .
Unlike previous surges , nearly every @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been particularly dreadful ; since the start of the month , the number of new cases being recorded each day has doubled as more and more people infect one another .
The number of people dying every day is rising too .
But despite the fact that almost a quarter of a million Americans have died of COVID-19 , fatigue has set in among many .
More people are hosting social gatherings in their homes with people they don ’ t live with , or who are outside of their “ quarantine bubble @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In many parts of the country , people have rejected guidance to wear masks .
The holidays will likely be no different .
“ We know we ’ re going to get cases after Thanksgiving , ” Amesh Adalja , infectious diseases physician and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security , told BuzzFeed News .
“ It ’ s just a question of trying to keep them as minimal as possible.
” After Canadians gathered for their Thanksgiving meals on Oct. 12 , there was a sharp rise in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country in the subsequent two weeks ( the typical incubation period for the virus is between 5 to 14 days ) .
`` Many of the cases that we are seeing now are the result of spread over Thanksgiving when families gathered together , '' said Deena Hinshaw , the chief medical officer for the province of Alberta in an Oct. 22 update .
Part of the problem is the weather .
While the summer heat allowed people to gather more safely outside in parks or at beaches , the colder temperatures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there is a higher risk of breathing in the virus via tiny water droplets called aerosols that linger in the air .
On Nov. 10 , the CDC issued updated guidance on Thanksgiving , suggesting that people consider alternatives to celebrate the holiday .
If people do choose to gather , the health agency said , they should wear masks , limit their number of guests , take precautions with how they prepare and eat food together , open windows , and celebrate outside if possible .
“ Travel increases your chance of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ CDC guidance said .
Anthony Fauci , the nation 's top infectious disease expert , said this week he recognized Thanksgiving was an important holiday for many people , but that Americans need to weigh the risk of unwittingly killing someone they love , especially if there are elderly or immunocompromised people in their families .
“ Make your own decision , ” he told MSNBC .
“ What kind of risk are you willing to take ? ''
BuzzFeed News interviewed seven experts about their plans for the holiday season .
All @ @ @ @ @ @ @ either postponing Thanksgiving dinner or keeping it to an extremely small event with people in their bubble .
“ I consider this holiday season to be a sacrifice and an investment in future holidays with the people that I love , ” said Angela Rasmussen , a virologist and research scientist at the Center for Infection and Immunity at the Columbia University School of Public Health .
If you are planning to try to see family on Thanksgiving , experts say you should have started to quarantine on Nov. 12 , giving your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re entering their big dinner virus-free .
For everyone else , the experts told BuzzFeed News that avoiding a crowded party this year means it will be more likely you can safely attend one next year .
“ Particularly with the [ Pfizer ] vaccine news , we ’ re probably trying to look to get through another six to eight months and then it ’ s highly likely the next Thanksgiving will be fine , ” said Robert Wachter , chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really need to weigh the benefits of doing these things against the small but real possibility that you ’ ll get sick , and depending on your age and comorbidities , the small possibility that you could die from it.
” Here ’ s what the experts said they ’ re planning this holiday season : Are you traveling for the holidays ?
If so , how ?
By plane or car ?
WACHTER : No and no .
I think it ’ s a scary time and enough of my family is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ve decided to hunker down , but the chances of catching COVID from a single flight is low .
The best estimate is about 1 in 5,000 , but that varies depending on the probability of people sitting near you having the virus — so as there ’ s more of a surge nationally , that probability goes up .
GEORGES C. BENJAMIN , executive director of the American Public Health Association : We ’ re not traveling ; we ’ re going to stay home for Thanksgiving , for sure .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ locally — my daughter and her husband , who have been living in our bubble — might join us .
We ’ re all figuring out how we can maintain our bubble .
We ’ re linked and isolated separately .
My wife helps with her kids ’ homeschooling .
Otherwise we ’ re all working from home and the kids are doing homeschooling .
AARON GLATT , doctor at New York ’ s Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital and a spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America ( IDSA ) : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work in a hospital essentially full-time so I don ’ t have the luxury , but I would love to travel .
The traveling part isn ’ t a real danger .
If you ’ re going to an area that ’ s a high-incident area , that ’ s a concern .
Travel itself is fine .
Traveling by car poses minimal risk if the people you travel with are all your family .
If you stop at a hotel and it ’ s sensibly cleaned and you ’ re not eating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re masking and distancing , I don ’ t think it ’ s a problem .
Probably planes are nowhere near as risky as we originally thought , and if you ’ re masked and distanced and it ’ s a relatively short flight , you ’ re probably fine .
GERARDO CHOWELL , professor of epidemiology at Georgia State University ’ s School of Public Health : We are not going anywhere , at least for Thanksgiving , and I don ’ t think for Christmas yet .
I think we will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Thanksgiving I have a brother who lives in New York and he ’ s planning to visit .
So the plan is that he will get a PCR test the day prior or so before traveling to be sure that he is negative .
He has been very careful and he 's observing very strict social distancing there so we think it ’ s going to be OK.
He ’ s going to fly .
I think flying is pretty safe if you wear a mask throughout the flight .
It looks like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Nope .
We are celebrating the holidays at home this year .
ADALJA : I ’ m not traveling .
I don ’ t have family other than my parents and they live in the same area that I do .
So I don ’ t usually travel .
MAIA MAJUMDER , computational epidemiologist at Boston Children ’ s Hospital and Harvard Medical School : My husband and I are not traveling for the holidays ; instead , we will be spending Thanksgiving this year with my parents and my mother-in-law .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of your immediate household ?
If so , how many and under what circumstances ( e.g.
, eating outside ) ?
MAJUMDER : My parents and my mother-in-law live nearby and in their own single-family residences ; they also all work from home or are retired and can afford grocery deliveries , which makes their risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 minimal on a day-to-day basis .
Nevertheless , all five of us will also be adhering to a strict two week quarantine ahead of Thanksgiving ( i.e.
, no one in the household leaves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the household enters ) to make sure that we 're as safe as possible when we meet .
I would advise anyone who wants to meet with loved ones outside of their household to do the same – and I would also advise folks to be as selective as possible in restricting the number of individuals they 'll be gathering with .
ADALJA : I usually do meet family and friends , but these are people I ’ ve already mixed with .
It ’ ll probably be indoors because I live in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ warm this time of year .
But they ’ re not new people being introduced .
They ’ re people I ’ ve already interacted with .
There ’ s obviously some risk and it ’ s about what each individual ’ s risk tolerance is .
I want to keep it to people I generally mix with and I have some idea of what their COVID risk might be .
I think as an infectious disease expert my risk calculation is probably better than the average person though .
RASMUSSEN : No @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Washington , where I am now , it ’ s not possible to eat outdoors comfortably , so we won ’ t be going to my parents ’ house ( normally a 45-minute drive from our place in Seattle ) as we usually do .
Our kids are going to be with us , but because their time is divided between our house and their mother ’ s , we are not getting together with my extended family as well .
CHOWELL : It ’ s not clear .
We are going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at home .
We have some neighbors around here and we meet on the porch outside .
For the election , we went out and had a glass of champagne with some neighbors around here but it was all outside .
We don ’ t do inside at all .
For my brother , we will probably try to spend time outside .
The fact that he has been in a social bubble in New York and he has been very careful gives me a lot of confidence , plus the fact he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : It ’ s much smarter if you want to do these things outdoors in parts of the country where that ’ s feasible .
In New York City at the moment there ’ s a very mild weather spell so you can actually do that right now .
So a lot depends on what the weather looks like .
BENJAMIN : We won ’ t be eating outside unless we can and the weather permits .
As I said , we ’ re trying to be like the NBA .
We ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and try to protect ourselves .
I understand there 's no such thing as zero risk , but I ’ m doing all the things I ’ ve been telling other people to do .
WACHTER : If it ’ s beautiful maybe we will eat outside … My younger son and my older son were thinking of going to a large Thanksgiving event in New Jersey with my ex-wife and probably 10–15 people and I vetoed it .
I know they 're adults but I basically said that ’ s a bad @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them to eat outside in late November in New Jersey , which struck me as slightly unrealistic .
There were going to be 10 to 15 people coming from across the country and I felt like that was unsafe .
How many people do you expect to eat Thanksgiving dinner with ?
WACHTER : Our plans will be to eat with my wife , myself , my younger son , and my daughter .
That has been our pod .
My son lives below us and has been completely safe and my daughter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been going to work but she ’ s been tested regularly .
We ’ ll eat inside at a reasonably large table and stay 6 feet apart .
RASMUSSEN : Four : me , my husband , and our kids .
We will be having snacks and cocktails with my parents and brother ’ s family remotely over Zoom .
BENJAMIN : I think there ’ s seven of us [ in our pod ] , if we do it .
[ My daughter ’ s ] whole family and me and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recommendation is to monitor the presence of disease in the community , and right now my community of Maryland is having a raging outbreak again .
Our numbers are going up and the positive rate needs to be 5 or less , and I check it every day .
And if I have concerns about the disease prevalence going up , we will have a Zoom dinner .
GLATT : I think that we have concerns about eating Thanksgiving dinner in a small room with a lot of people who aren ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re planning on Thanksgiving and getting together with another family member , I ’ d recommend being very careful two weeks before .
Getting together with one family is a lot lower risk than with multiple families .
I wouldn ’ t get together with people that aren ’ t careful .
CHOWELL : Indoors , it ’ ll be your close family members and people you trust that have been following strict social distancing guidelines .
And I highly recommend testing a day or two prior to the meeting and having @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arrives to your place .
If they can stay in a hotel that may help , but it also increases the likelihood they ’ re mixing with other people .
It ’ s probably safer for them to stay in your basement or something like that and make sure they tested negative through a PCR test , not an antigen RAPID test , which is not as reliable .
ADALJA : Five to six is probably the best size .
You want to keep things as small as possible .
MAJUMDER : Because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 surge right now around the country , the safest option is to restrict festivities to individual households .
However , I also think we need to acknowledge that some members of our population ( like our elders ) need regular in-person interaction for their well-being more so than others and have already gone nine months or longer without that kind of interaction .
Furthermore , not all individuals carry the same risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 ; having honest conversations about this with our loved ones about their transmission risk profiles will be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's for this reason that my husband and I are only spending Thanksgiving with our ( lower transmission risk ) parents this year – even though our ( higher transmission risk ) cousins and siblings live just minutes away from us .
We often have more than 50 people over for Thanksgiving – but because risk is additive , every additional person makes the get-together less safe for everybody else .
That 's why we 've cut our number down to just five total this year and have chosen to only include those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ together .
We 'll miss the rest of our family , but everyone understands the circumstances and is willing to make the sacrifice now so that we can all eventually be together again .
What would you say to those considering attending an in-person religious service for Christmas or Hanukkah ?
RASMUSSEN : I strongly suggest not attending an in-person religious service .
Religious services often involve singing and prolonged close contact with others indoors in non-ventilated environments and present a substantial transmission risk .
I know this is really a tough ask @ @ @ @ @ @ @ components that require in-person attendance , such as Catholics who wish to receive the sacrament of the eucharist ( Communion ) .
If people do attend in-person religious services , they should be sure to wear a mask diligently throughout the service unless it absolutely must come off , and places of worship should ensure that attendees are able to distance .
Singing and especially choirs should also be avoided .
ADALJA : These types of events we know have been linked to spread .
I would think if you ’ re going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there ’ s going to be singing , I ’ d be very careful because we know the virus has spread rapidly pretty far in those settings .
I think in a church setting we know that singing poses a particular risk and hopefully churches are cognizant of that .
GLATT : I think indoor services are fine assuming everyone is masked and distanced .
I pray every day three times a day .
If people are following the rules , it ’ s OK. CHOWELL : That ’ s a tricky one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been reported have occurred within churches and religious services , so I highly encourage to actually attend those services at a distance through online .
Many churches are doing this , they are running services online , and I think that would be the safer way to go — particularly now with the prevalence levels in the country .
It ’ s a much higher risk now to catch COVID in enclosed places .
BENJAMIN : I think that large group services and things like that are a challenge .
My advice would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them remotely .
The challenge we ’ re having right now is we ’ re having a resurgence of the disease .
So let ’ s not make things worse .
In many communities we ’ re starting to shut down selected activities again .
They 've just this week reduced the occupancy rates that are allowed in restaurants again here .
WACHTER : The question is going to be if everyone is masked and if they are far enough apart .
Otherwise , they are the elements of superspreader events .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s not on my list of important things to do , but if it were important for someone I ’ d try very hard to ensure everyone is wearing a mask and staying 6 feet apart and the crowd is minimal .
If not , this would be a year to forgo it .
What are some things people could do to try to minimize risk over the holidays ?
Or things they should keep in mind ?
WACHTER : A lot of it depends on the state of the virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really no parts of the country that are not getting worse , and the general ground rules now are clear : Inside is bad , large groups are bad , being without masks is bad , singing is worse than talking , no ventilation is bad .
I went to visit my parents in Florida three months ago because I was pretty confident my 90-year-old father would not survive another year and I wanted to see him alive .
As I was getting on the plane , I was asking myself , if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , will I feel bad ?
Will it have been worth it ?
For me , it was a reasonable decision .
So in weighing the importance , it ’ s really worth asking yourself that .
BENJAMIN : I think that people need to have as much situational awareness about what ’ s going on about the disease in their community .
I think they need to be thoughtful about traveling outside their homes and if they do so , do so safely .
Yes , you can get in a car @ @ @ @ @ @ @ large gatherings are gon na be out for most of us over the holidays .
You ’ re gon na have to figure out how to be thoughtful about your protective habits before you go , so that may very well mean self-quarantine as a family before you see each other and if you ’ re sick at all don ’ t go .
Any symptoms — chronic fatigue , cough , muscle aches , anything like that — you should not be around others .
If you have any doubt , get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thing is to do things distanced .
If you ’ re distanced , it ’ s definitely better .
Obviously , if it ’ s indoors , then you definitely should be masked .
If you can wear a jacket and be outside , do that .
When you have indoor things with people without masks , you really have to be distanced .
CHOWELL : I would advise to use an air purifier with a UV light .
That ’ s also something that has been recommended by environmental health researchers .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a UV light or two in the area where you 'll be spending most of the time with your visitor , and also try to ventilate the rooms as much as possible .
I think that can mitigate the concentration of potential viral particles .
I think that ’ s going to be the new normal .
ADALJA : Whatever you do , whoever you invite to sit around the table , you ’ re also inviting the virus .
That ’ s a time when people let their guard down .
So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hand-washing and maybe sitting people 6 feet apart .
Think about who you ’ re inviting .
If you can be outdoors or open the windows , do that .
RASMUSSEN : The safest way to minimize risk is to not gather in groups outside your household/quarantine pod .
I know this is incredibly difficult to ask , given that many have not seen their loved ones for months and we are all suffering from pandemic fatigue .
However , I ’ d ask people to keep in mind that there was a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Canada , which Canadian public health officials are attributing to holiday gatherings in people ’ s homes .
I ’ d also ask people to consider that it is not their risk to assume alone : increased cases within families can lead to further spread in the community .
I unambiguously do not recommend people having holiday gatherings with extended friends and family , and urge them to consider that any kind of get together outside of one ’ s household or quarantine bubble is dangerous .
If people do get together , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they invite and be vigilant about masks , distancing , ventilation , and hand hygiene .
If possible , they should eat outdoors .
But I reiterate that people should not host holiday gatherings at all .

As the holiday season arrives, Americans are contemplating Thanksgiving recipes and putting together gift lists at one of the worst points so far during the coronavirus pandemic.
More people in the US are now in the hospital with COVID-19 than ever before as the country climbs over 10 million recorded cases during its third wave. Unlike previous surges, nearly every state is getting hit. November has been particularly dreadful; since the start of the month, the number of new cases being recorded each day has doubled as more and more people infect one another. The number of people dying every day is rising too.
But despite the fact that almost a quarter of a million Americans have died of COVID-19, fatigue has set in among many. More people are hosting social gatherings in their homes with people they don’t live with, or who are outside of their “quarantine bubble,” leading to more infections. In many parts of the country, people have rejected guidance to wear masks.
The holidays will likely be no different.
“We know we’re going to get cases after Thanksgiving,” Amesh Adalja, infectious diseases physician and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told BuzzFeed News. “It’s just a question of trying to keep them as minimal as possible.”
After Canadians gathered for their Thanksgiving meals on Oct. 12, there was a sharp rise in the number of already climbing cases in the country in the subsequent two weeks (the typical incubation period for the virus is between 5 to 14 days). "Many of the cases that we are seeing now are the result of spread over Thanksgiving when families gathered together," said Deena Hinshaw, the chief medical officer for the province of Alberta in an Oct. 22 update.
Part of the problem is the weather. While the summer heat allowed people to gather more safely outside in parks or at beaches, the colder temperatures will push more Americans inside, where there is a higher risk of breathing in the virus via tiny water droplets called aerosols that linger in the air.
On Nov. 10, the CDC issued updated guidance on Thanksgiving, suggesting that people consider alternatives to celebrate the holiday. If people do choose to gather, the health agency said, they should wear masks, limit their number of guests, take precautions with how they prepare and eat food together, open windows, and celebrate outside if possible. “Travel increases your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19,” the CDC guidance said.
Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said this week he recognized Thanksgiving was an important holiday for many people, but that Americans need to weigh the risk of unwittingly killing someone they love, especially if there are elderly or immunocompromised people in their families. “Make your own decision,” he told MSNBC. “What kind of risk are you willing to take?"
BuzzFeed News interviewed seven experts about their plans for the holiday season. All said they were taking extra precautions and either postponing Thanksgiving dinner or keeping it to an extremely small event with people in their bubble.
“I consider this holiday season to be a sacrifice and an investment in future holidays with the people that I love,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist and research scientist at the Center for Infection and Immunity at the Columbia University School of Public Health.
If you are planning to try to see family on Thanksgiving, experts say you should have started to quarantine on Nov. 12, giving your bubble two weeks to know that they’re entering their big dinner virus-free.
For everyone else, the experts told BuzzFeed News that avoiding a crowded party this year means it will be more likely you can safely attend one next year.
“Particularly with the [Pfizer] vaccine news, we’re probably trying to look to get through another six to eight months and then it’s highly likely the next Thanksgiving will be fine,” said Robert Wachter, chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. “So you really need to weigh the benefits of doing these things against the small but real possibility that you’ll get sick, and depending on your age and comorbidities, the small possibility that you could die from it.”
Here’s what the experts said they’re planning this holiday season:
Are you traveling for the holidays? If so, how? By plane or car?


buzzfeed--2020-11-14--If You Can't Identify 9/12 Of These Types Of Birth Control, I'm Sending You Back To Sex Ed.

If You Ca n't Identify 9/12 Of These Types Of Birth Control , I 'm Sending You Back To Sex @ @ @ @ @ take some rubbers .

BuzzFeed Bring Me
Obsessed with travel? Discover unique things to do, places to eat, and sights to see in the best destinations around the world with Bring Me!


buzzfeed--2020-11-15--24 Things People Wish They'd Learned About Sex A Whole Lot Sooner


buzzfeed--2020-11-15--A Woman Has Blown Up On TikTok After Openly Talking About Women's Hair Loss


buzzfeed--2020-11-14--Joe Biden Has Won Georgia. He’s The First Democrat To Win The State In Decades.

Joe Biden has become the first Democrat to win Georgia since 1992 , pulling together a diverse coalition of young voters , suburban voters , and voters of color who together represent the state ’ s rapidly changing demographics .
The close win in Georgia came just about a week after Biden won enough states to win the presidential race and become president-elect .
He has 306 electoral votes to 232 for President Donald Trump , the same margin Trump won by in 2016 .
The race is close enough in Georgia to allow for a hand recount , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Biden is large enough that it is very unlikely for his victory to be reversed .
In Georgia and throughout the South and Southwest , Democrats have been working for years to translate the states ’ diversifying electorates into a new path to 270 votes in the Electoral College .
The win in Georgia is the culmination of years of groundwork to get as many of the state ’ s new voters to the polls as possible .
But the battle for Georgia was hard fought and Biden ’ s victory narrow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as votes from rural Georgia poured in .
But Biden pulled into the lead after a wave of absentee ballots from Atlanta and its suburbs were added to the tally .
Still , Georgia will have two Senate runoff elections in January .
Those contests will decide which party has control of the chamber .
Biden ’ s breakthrough victory came despite what voting rights advocates saw as a long and focused effort by state Republicans to suppress votes .
“ We 're talking about voter ID laws , ” said Nsé @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New Georgia Project , which says it registered half a million new Black voters across Georgia between 2014 ane 2019 .
“ We 're talking about the purging of almost 2 million voters under our then–secretary of state , now-governor Brian Kemp 's watch .
We 're talking about the closing of almost 10 % of our polling locations .
We 're talking about extraordinary [ hours-long ] lines in the polls .
We 're talking about a signature-match program that ’ s allowing the state to invalidate your entire ballot .
… @ @ @ @ @ @ @ very sophisticated and effective voter suppression scheme.
” Georgia has been at the forefront of conversations about access to the ballot and voter suppression since the 2018 gubernatorial election , which pitted Stacey Abrams , a staunch voting rights advocate , against Kemp , who was then the secretary of state .
Kemp ’ s office had put forth many of the changes that his opponent argued limited the power of voters of color .
Abrams lost that race by less than 2 percentage points .
In the wake of her narrow defeat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fair Fight Action that has been challenging the state over voting restrictions .
Georgia voters were faced with problems again this year as people faced hours-long lines at the polls and lawyers filed nearly two dozen lawsuits over Georgia ’ s election procedures .
“ Every year after the Republicans took over the legislature in 2004 , there was a new or multiple new pieces of legislation to make it more difficult to vote , ” Vincent Fort , a former Democratic state senator who represented parts of Atlanta , told BuzzFeed News @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are losing the demographic game .
They know that the only way they can win , because they 're not going to try to diversify their party , is to suppress votes.
” Even with all the accusations of voter suppression , Georgia ’ s voter rolls looked a lot different heading into the 2020 election than they did in 2016 .
The percentage of registered voters who are white fell from 62 % to 59 % in the last four years , and nearly a third of voters of the state ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ old .
For her part , Ufot is already looking beyond this election .
“ These demographic shifts are real , ” she said .
“ By 2025 , white people are going to be a minority in this state .
And what we have to start asking ourselves is , what does that mean for our politics ?
What does that mean for our public policy ?
”

Joe Biden has become the first Democrat to win Georgia since 1992, pulling together a diverse coalition of young voters, suburban voters, and voters of color who together represent the state’s rapidly changing demographics.
The close win in Georgia came just about a week after Biden won enough states to win the presidential race and become president-elect. He has 306 electoral votes to 232 for President Donald Trump, the same margin Trump won by in 2016.
The race is close enough in Georgia to allow for a hand recount, which is now underway. But the margin for Biden is large enough that it is very unlikely for his victory to be reversed.
In Georgia and throughout the South and Southwest, Democrats have been working for years to translate the states’ diversifying electorates into a new path to 270 votes in the Electoral College. The win in Georgia is the culmination of years of groundwork to get as many of the state’s new voters to the polls as possible.
But the battle for Georgia was hard fought and Biden’s victory narrow. Early results had Trump far ahead, as votes from rural Georgia poured in. But Biden pulled into the lead after a wave of absentee ballots from Atlanta and its suburbs were added to the tally. Still, Georgia will have two Senate runoff elections in January. Those contests will decide which party has control of the chamber.
Biden’s breakthrough victory came despite what voting rights advocates saw as a long and focused effort by state Republicans to suppress votes.
“We're talking about voter ID laws,” said Nsé Ufot, the executive director of the New Georgia Project, which says it registered half a million new Black voters across Georgia between 2014 and 2019. “We're talking about the purging of almost 2 million voters under our then–secretary of state, now-governor Brian Kemp's watch. We're talking about the closing of almost 10% of our polling locations. We're talking about extraordinary [hourslong] lines in the polls. We're talking about a signature-match program that’s allowing the state to invalidate your entire ballot. … Collectively, these things make up a very sophisticated and effective voter suppression scheme.”
Georgia has been at the forefront of conversations about access to the ballot and voter suppression since the 2018 gubernatorial election, which pitted Stacey Abrams, a staunch voting rights advocate, against Kemp, who was then the secretary of state. Kemp’s office had put forth many of the changes that his opponent argued limited the power of voters of color. Abrams lost that race by less than 2 percentage points. In the wake of her narrow defeat, she launched the voting rights organization Fair Fight Action that has been challenging the state over voting restrictions. Georgia voters were faced with problems again this year as people faced hourslong lines at the polls and lawyers filed nearly two dozen lawsuits over Georgia’s election procedures.
“Every year after the Republicans took over the legislature in 2004, there was a new or multiple new pieces of legislation to make it more difficult to vote,” Vincent Fort, a former Democratic state senator who represented parts of Atlanta, told BuzzFeed News. “The bottom line is Republicans are losing the demographic game. They know that the only way they can win, because they're not going to try to diversify their party, is to suppress votes.”
Even with all the accusations of voter suppression, Georgia’s voter rolls looked a lot different heading into the 2020 election than they did in 2016. The percentage of registered voters who are white fell from 62% to 59% in the last four years, and nearly a third of voters of the state’s voters are now under 35 years old.
For her part, Ufot is already looking beyond this election.
“These demographic shifts are real,” she said. “By 2025, white people are going to be a minority in this state. And what we have to start asking ourselves is, what does that mean for our politics? What does that mean for our public policy?”


buzzfeed--2020-11-14--A Judge Found Republicans' Claims Of Vote Fraud In Detroit "Incorrect And Not Credible"


buzzfeed--2020-11-15--16 Tips For Anal Sex That Everyone Should Know

Never put any body parts or toys in the vagina right after they were in the anus .
`` You @ @ @ @ @ infections that way .
If you really want to be able to switch quickly , @ @ @ @ @ partner , partners , or dildo before anal , and then take off the condom @ @ @ @ @ vagina ( if you do n't need a condom for that part , of course @ @ @ @ @ a condom for both , take the time to switch . ''

13. Never put any body parts or toys in the vagina right after they were in the anus.
"You can get all sorts of infections that way. If you really want to be able to switch quickly, put a condom on the partner, partners, or dildo before anal, and then take off the condom quickly to switch to the vagina (if you don't need a condom for that part, of course). If you need a condom for both, take the time to switch."
—u/donaisabelle


buzzfeed--2020-11-15--These 17 Masturbation Questions Will Reveal How "Normal" Your Habits Are


buzzfeed--2020-11-15--18 Tumblr Posts About Intrusive Thoughts That Made Me Feel Seen As Someone With OCD

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is a mental condition characterized by distressing , recurring thoughts ( obsessions ) and the need to perform @ @ @ @ @ .
These posts are n't necessarily representative of everyone 's experiences with OCD , nor @ @ @ @ @ but hopefully they CAN make you feel a little less alone .

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is a mental condition characterized by distressing, recurring thoughts (obsessions) and the need to perform repetitive behaviors (compulsions). These posts aren't necessarily representative of everyone's experiences with OCD, nor can they diagnose you, but hopefully they CAN make you feel a little less alone.


buzzfeed--2020-11-17--The First Coronavirus Vaccines Are Looking Very Effective. Here’s What That Means For You.

`` The vaccines that we are talking about and the vaccines to come are really the light at the end of the tunnel , ” said Anthony Fauci .
Delighting public health experts , a second candidate coronavirus vaccine reported very effective test results on Monday , resetting expectations for when the deadly COVID-19 pandemic may end .
`` The vaccines that we are talking about and vaccines to come are really the light at the end of the tunnel , ” said Anthony Fauci , chief of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases , during a Monday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pharmaceutical company Moderna .
“ It is help that I ’ ve said is on the way.
” The promising new results from Moderna suggested that its vaccine is 94.5 % effective at preventing COVID-19 , coming just one week after the drug company Pfizer reported better than 90 % effectiveness in its early data .
Both firms say they will request emergency authorization from the FDA within weeks , kicking off a long-anticipated start of the campaign to vaccinate the United States .
But how soon will a coronavirus vaccine be available @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Here ’ s what you need to know about the two leading vaccine candidates : What do we know so far about how well these vaccines work ?
So far , we have good news .
Both vaccines require two shots — spaced three weeks apart for Pfizer ’ s and four weeks apart for Moderna ’ s .
To measure how effective a vaccine may be , both trials measure the difference in infection rates between participants who got vaccinated and those who received placebo shots .
Moderna said that among its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with COVID-19 so far .
90 of those cases were in the placebo group , while 5 had received the vaccine , leading to a 94.5 % reduced risk of infection .
Among the COVID-19 cases , 11 people had severe illness .
All of those individuals were in the placebo group , suggesting that the vaccine is effective at blocking the worst disease symptoms .
Pfizer said that among its 43,500 study participants , 94 had been diagnosed with COVID-19 .
The company said on Monday , Nov. 9 that the difference @ @ @ @ @ @ @ greater than 90 % effectiveness for the vaccine .
The drug company did not release its breakdown of COVID-19 cases between the placebo and vaccinated groups , and it also did not release any information on the severity of symptoms in those who got sick .
These early analyses of the vaccine data were both determined by independent data review boards .
Neither company has yet released its data in full .
Scientists said the findings were tremendously encouraging — and even surprising .
The FDA set 50 % effectiveness as its bar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in its summer guidelines for vaccine makers , and Fauci had previously said he had hoped for 70 % to 75 % effectiveness .
“ I said I would be satisfied with a 70 % to 75 % efficacy .
Something like a 95 % was aspirational , ” Fauci said at the Monday briefing .
“ Well , our aspirations have been met , and that is very good news.
” `` It ’ s remarkable actually , '' said Paul Offit , a vaccine expert at Children ’ s Hospital of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vaccine advisory committee .
What do we know about how safe these vaccines are ?
The best data on vaccine safety , so far , comes from smaller trials of hundreds of people conducted this summer , which found minor side effects , including sore arms , fatigue , and slight fevers , at a rate similar to that of other vaccinations .
Because the great majority of severe side effects from vaccines come in the first two months after someone gets the shots , the FDA is requiring that companies collect two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ participants in their trials before they ask the agency to authorize their wider distribution .
Moderna and Pfizer both said they expected to have that data available within weeks .
Typically , the FDA prefers to have two years of follow-up safety data before licensing a vaccine for wider use , but that would take too long in the midst of a deadly pandemic .
Nevertheless , Moderna , Pfizer , and other vaccine makers have said they will follow people in their trials for signs of side effects even after the FDA @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I think we can be pretty confident they ’ re safe , ” said Barry Bloom of Harvard ’ s T.H .
Chan School of Public Health at a Monday briefing .
How soon will I be able to get a vaccine ?
With the favorable results , Fauci and other experts have suggested that mass vaccination in the US can start around April .
In public meetings , the CDC has outlined a three-phase vaccination campaign that starts after the FDA grants vaccine makers emergency authorization and the CDC ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for each .
The plan for every state and jurisdiction varies , but all of them will first give shots to healthcare workers , about 20 million people nationwide .
Tremendously vulnerable , doctors , nurses , and other medical workers keep hospitals from collapsing in the face of surging caseloads .
More than 215,000 healthcare workers in the US have been diagnosed with COVID-19 .
“ If we don ’ t protect the healthcare workers at every level … we ’ re not going to have a healthcare system , ” said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ receiving shots in December .
The first six weeks of the rollout will see small but increasing numbers of doses aimed at these essential personnel , the CDC ’ s Amanda Cohn said at an Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting in October .
Moderna said it has nearly 20 million vaccine doses ready to ship in the US by the end of 2020 and will produce up to 1 billion doses worldwide in 2021 .
Pfizer projected that it will manufacture 50 million vaccine doses in 2020 and as many as 1.3 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worldwide .
Many states also prioritize older people , essential workers , and people with illnesses , such as diabetes and heart disease , that put them at a higher risk of dying .
Nursing homes are a particular focus , where more than 65,000 people have died from COVID-19 .
These vulnerable populations make up more than 80 million people , nearly a quarter of the total US population .
The next phases will prioritize other older adults , young adults , and then the general public over the course of 2021 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fauci has stated that could come as early as April next year .
How long will the vaccine protect people from COVID-19 ?
We don ’ t know .
Researchers are still following participants from the earlier safety trials to see if their levels of antibodies and other cells that fight the coronavirus drop precipitously or remain steady , which would suggest that the vaccine could protect you for a longer period of time .
However , time has to pass to measure this .
The coronavirus has only been spreading among humans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the vaccine trials have only been underway for months .
“ We do not know at this point what the durability of protection will be , and that ’ s the reason why we have long-term follow-ups , ” Fauci said on Monday .
One yardstick for a long-term protective effect from the vaccines will be comparing vaccine-induced immune responses to those seen in patients who have recovered from COVID-19 , Bloom said .
If vaccinated people retain more of an immune response than recovered patients , that would point to long-term immunity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will need to have a yearly coronavirus vaccine , just like the flu shot .
How will these vaccines get distributed across the country ?
There are at least three big challenges with distributing the vaccines : The first is the need to manage the “ cold chain ” requirements that keep vaccines below freezing temperatures for long-term storage .
The second is the money to have states distribute the vaccine , now held up in Congress in a larger disagreement over a second federal coronavirus aid package for businesses and people who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hardest roadblock is “ vaccine hesitancy ” where polls suggest that only about half the US population is now willing to get the vaccine , down from three-quarters in the spring , according to surveys from the Pew Research Center .
The Pfizer vaccine requires long-term storage at -94 degrees and will need to be distributed in boxes lined with dry ice containing thousands of doses .
Rural hospitals have already said they can ’ t afford the freezers needed to store the vaccine , which may be better suited for large medical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals panel last week , Angela Watson , UPS ’ s vice president of global healthcare sales , said the delivery company was readying its own dry ice production , in anticipation of keeping such ultra-cold vaccines viable .
The Moderna data takes some pressure off distribution , however .
The biotech firm announced on Monday morning that its vaccine candidate can stay in a refrigerator for a month and in a standard freezer at -4 degrees for six months .
That makes the vaccine easy to use @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clinics , where most shots are now given , and eases distribution in rural states .
If temperature conditions aren ’ t exactly right , vaccine “ spoilage ” is a real worry , experts at the supply chain meeting said , with perhaps half of all flu vaccines exceeding their “ use by ” dates .
( The CDC , which oversees flu vaccine distribution in the US , told BuzzFeed News it could not confirm that number . )
How many other vaccine candidates are there ?
Worldwide , 12 vaccines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ frontrunners , including Moderna 's , sponsored by the federally funded Operation Warp Speed , which is paying for manufacturing plants ahead of the vaccine proving effective .
Pfizer has a $ 1.95 billion advance purchase agreement with OWS to distribute the vaccine in the US but hasn ’ t accepted development money from the US government .
The next two OWS vaccines expected to report results are from Janssen Pharmaceuticals and the University of Oxford ’ s partnership with AstraZeneca .
Both of those trials had been briefly halted to investigate whether @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vaccines , resuming after public health agencies investigated and determined that the vaccines likely played no role .
The Janssen vaccine might be the most intriguing because it is a single-shot vaccine , unlike the other frontrunners , cutting down the need for tracking recipients and having them return in time to receive their second shot .
How are the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines different from the rest ?
No .
An emergency use authorization may come from the FDA as soon as next month , but people will still have to wear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ frequently washing their hands to quell the spread of the coronavirus throughout 2021 .
Importantly , this also applies to people who have been vaccinated — because no vaccine is 100 % effective , Bloom noted .
” If all the vaccines get up to 90 % effective , that ’ s terrific , but we will still need around 700 million doses for everyone , ” he said , noting that the vaccines require two doses each .
Estimates vary on how much of the population needs to either get vaccinated or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ throughout the population , also known as herd immunity .
One frequently used estimate suggests that 60 % of people will need some form of immune protection — which would total 192 million people in the US alone .
And that ignores the wider spread of the virus worldwide , with a global population of 7.8 billion needing vaccination in order to prevent cases from spurring outbreaks in unvaccinated pockets of the population through travel .
Though the measles vaccine offers a lifetime of protection , outbreaks have occurred in recent years as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the population .
On Monday , Fauci cautioned that the good vaccine news should help motivate people to stay vigilant with social distancing throughout the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays .
“ We are now still in a critical and dangerous time , ” said Adm. Brett Giroir of the Department of Health and Human Services at a COVID-19 briefing on Monday .
“ We need to double down on protective measures .
And if we do , we can save thousands of lives .
”

Delighting public health experts, a second candidate coronavirus vaccine reported very effective test results on Monday, resetting expectations for when the deadly COVID-19 pandemic may end.
"The vaccines that we are talking about and vaccines to come are really the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Anthony Fauci, chief of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, during a Monday briefing on the vaccine made by the pharmaceutical company Moderna. “It is help that I’ve said is on the way.”
The promising new results from Moderna suggested that its vaccine is 94.5% effective at preventing COVID-19, coming just one week after the drug company Pfizer reported better than 90% effectiveness in its early data. Both firms say they will request emergency authorization from the FDA within weeks, kicking off a long-anticipated start of the campaign to vaccinate the United States.
But how soon will a coronavirus vaccine be available for you and your loved ones? Here’s what you need to know about the two leading vaccine candidates:
What do we know so far about how well these vaccines work?
So far, we have good news.
Both vaccines require two shots — spaced three weeks apart for Pfizer’s and four weeks apart for Moderna’s. To measure how effective a vaccine may be, both trials measure the difference in infection rates between participants who got vaccinated and those who received placebo shots.
Moderna said that among its 30,000 participants, 95 people were diagnosed with COVID-19 so far. Ninety of those cases were in the placebo group, while 5 had received the vaccine, leading to a 94.5% reduced risk of infection. Among the COVID-19 cases, 11 people had severe illness. All of those individuals were in the placebo group, suggesting that the vaccine is effective at blocking the worst disease symptoms.
Pfizer said that among its 43,500 study participants, 94 had been diagnosed with COVID-19. The company said on Monday, Nov. 9 that the difference between the two groups pointed to a greater than 90% effectiveness for the vaccine. The drug company did not release its breakdown of COVID-19 cases between the placebo and vaccinated groups, and it also did not release any information on the severity of symptoms in those who got sick.
These early analyses of the vaccine data were both determined by independent data review boards. Neither company has yet released its data in full.
Scientists said the findings were tremendously encouraging — and even surprising. The FDA set 50% effectiveness as its bar for allowing the use of the vaccines in its summer guidelines for vaccine makers, and Fauci had previously said he had hoped for 70% to 75% effectiveness.
“I said I would be satisfied with a 70% to 75% efficacy. Something like a 95% was aspirational,” Fauci said at the Monday briefing. “Well, our aspirations have been met, and that is very good news.”
"It’s remarkable actually," said Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who sits on the FDA vaccine advisory committee.


buzzfeed--2020-11-17--This Eye-Opening Text From A COVID Doctor Is Going Viral After June Diane Raphael Posted It On Twitt

This Eye-Opening Text From A COVID Doctor Is Going Viral After June Diane Raphael Posted It On Twitter

`` Tomorrow will be my 10th day working straight , '' the doctor , identified only as Kate , wrote @ @ @ @ @ We are completely surging .
I am carrying more and sicker patients than ever in @ @ @ @ @ at least half of them to die but probably not for 1-3 weeks ( which @ @ @ @ @ the hospital ) . ''

"Tomorrow will be my 10th day working straight," the doctor, identified only as Kate, wrote in her text. "We are completely surging. I am carrying more and sicker patients than ever in my career...I expect at least half of them to die but probably not for 1-3 weeks (which they will spend alone in the hospital)."


buzzfeed--2020-11-16--People Are Revealing The Tips, Tricks, And Habits They Turn To When They're Feeling Overwhelmed

`` I build these fantasies in my head over time — generally based on a book , TV show , @ @ @ @ @ into lately — and then when I 'm feeling anxious , I add details to @ @ @ @ @ it started when I was a teenager and was into American Idol .
I created @ @ @ @ @ sort of me but better looking , with a really good voice , and with @ @ @ @ @ .
Over time , I would imagine different parts of the journey : where did @ @ @ @ @ I wear , what song did I sing , what did each judge say to @ @ @ @ @ I get tired of one of these storylines that I 've built out for myself @ @ @ @ @ to a new one .
Maybe next time I 'll get 'discovered ' by a @ @ @ @ @ in the lead of one of my favorite movies . ''

10.
Use the 5-4-3-2-1 technique . First, focus on five things you can see around you, then four things you can feel. Next, name three things you can hear, and notice two things you can smell. Finally, focus on one thing you can taste (or think about a taste you enjoy).


buzzfeed--2020-11-16--Elon Musk Says He "Most Likely" Has COVID-19

@ erujabidi Am getting wildly different results from different labs , but most likely I have a moderate case of @ @ @ @ @ that of a minor cold , which is no surprise , since a coronavirus is @ @ @ @ @

@erujabidi Am getting wildly different results from different labs, but most likely I have a moderate case of covid. My symptoms are that of a minor cold, which is no surprise, since a coronavirus is a type of cold.