buzzfeed--2020-10-09--The Next Presidential Debate Has Been Canceled

The presidential debate scheduled for Oct. 15 in Miami has been canceled , although both candidates have agreed to appear for the Oct. 22 date in Nashville , officials announced Friday .
The news isn ’ t a surprise : President Donald Trump said he wouldn ’ t participate in the Oct. 15 virtual debate , which had been suggested after he contracted the coronavirus .
Trump and the Democratic nominee , Joe Biden , met for a 90-minute debate last week in Cleveland that was historically chaotic and confusing .
In the immediate aftermath , many inside and outside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more presidential debates , especially after the Commission on Presidential Debates promised a more rigid enforcement of the rules at future debates , including potentially muting microphones , which the Trump campaign objected to .
Since then , however , Trump , 74 , entered and exited the hospital ; others who joined him at that debate , including his wife and top aide Hope Hicks , tested positive for the virus ; and an array of officials , including sitting senators and senior military leaders , have too .
At 77 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strict precautions about the virus , though he has continued to travel in recent weeks despite sharing a stage with Trump .
( His campaign has said Biden has repeatedly tested negative . )
The Trump campaign lashed out at the decision Friday , and accused the commission of `` protecting '' Biden .
`` There 's no medical reason to stop the October 15 debate in Miami from proceeding as scheduled , since the President will be healthy and ready to debate , '' Tim Murtaugh , communications director for the Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` It 's time for the biased commission to stop protecting Biden and preventing voters from hearing from the two candidates for president . ''
Murtaugh also said the Trump campaign had suggested holding debates on Oct. 22 — which was scheduled originally as the third debate — and another on Oct. 29 .
`` There 's nothing that says that President Trump and Joe Biden ca n't debate together without the overlords at the commission having a say in the matter , '' the statement added .
`` We would be glad @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interference . ''
The Cleveland Clinic , which cohosted the first debate , said that candidates and campaign aides tested themselves before arrival on site .
That protocol caused outrage in the aftermath of the debate , as Trump ’ s last negative test has become a point of controversy .
People in politics and media also criticized the venue for not more strictly enforcing a mask mandate indoors ; some members of the Trump party , including his family , did not wear masks once seated .
Still , a few days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ told BuzzFeed News that there was a “ low probability ” of transmission between the candidates during the debate because of the distance between them and the air circulation generally in auditoriums .
That same expert , Jose-Luis Jimenez , a professor of chemistry at the University of Colorado at Boulder , cautioned that people who had been in smaller settings like debate prep and backstage rooms , or who had traveled on planes and been around an infected person , should get tested .
In the days following the debate , multiple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ debate prep tested positive for the virus .
Biden is scheduled to participate in an ABC News town hall on Oct. 15 , and Trump reportedly may participate in a similar event .
Kristen Welker of NBC News will serve as moderator for the Oct. 22 debate .

The presidential debate scheduled for Oct. 15 in Miami has been canceled, although both candidates have agreed to appear for the Oct. 22 date in Nashville, officials announced Friday.
The news isn’t a surprise: President Donald Trump said he wouldn’t participate in the Oct. 15 virtual debate, which had been suggested after he contracted the coronavirus.
Trump and the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, met for a 90-minute debate last week in Cleveland that was historically chaotic and confusing. In the immediate aftermath, many inside and outside media questioned whether there would be any more presidential debates, especially after the Commission on Presidential Debates promised a more rigid enforcement of the rules at future debates, including potentially muting microphones, which the Trump campaign objected to.
Since then, however, Trump, 74, entered and exited the hospital; others who joined him at that debate, including his wife and top aide Hope Hicks, tested positive for the virus; and an array of officials, including sitting senators and senior military leaders, have too.
At 77, Biden, meanwhile, has generally taken strict precautions about the virus, though he has continued to travel in recent weeks despite sharing a stage with Trump. (His campaign has said Biden has repeatedly tested negative.)
The Trump campaign lashed out at the decision Friday, and accused the commission of "protecting" Biden.
"There's no medical reason to stop the October 15 debate in Miami from proceeding as scheduled, since the President will be healthy and ready to debate," Tim Murtaugh, communications director for the Trump campaign, said in a statement. "It's time for the biased commission to stop protecting Biden and preventing voters from hearing from the two candidates for president."
Murtaugh also said the Trump campaign had suggested holding debates on Oct. 22 — which was scheduled originally as the third debate — and another on Oct. 29.
"There's nothing that says that President Trump and Joe Biden can't debate together without the overlords at the commission having a say in the matter," the statement added. "We would be glad to debate one-on-one without the commission's interference."
The Cleveland Clinic, which cohosted the first debate, said that candidates and campaign aides tested themselves before arrival on site. That protocol caused outrage in the aftermath of the debate, as Trump’s last negative test has become a point of controversy. People in politics and media also criticized the venue for not more strictly enforcing a mask mandate indoors; some members of the Trump party, including his family, did not wear masks once seated.
Still, a few days after the debate, a ventilation expert told BuzzFeed News that there was a “low probability” of transmission between the candidates during the debate because of the distance between them and the air circulation generally in auditoriums.
That same expert, Jose-Luis Jimenez, a professor of chemistry at the University of Colorado at Boulder, cautioned that people who had been in smaller settings like debate prep and backstage rooms, or who had traveled on planes and been around an infected person, should get tested. In the days following the debate, multiple people who participated in Trump’s debate prep tested positive for the virus.
Biden is scheduled to participate in an ABC News town hall on Oct. 15, and Trump reportedly may participate in a similar event.
Kristen Welker of NBC News will serve as moderator for the Oct. 22 debate.


buzzfeed--2020-10-09--Dozens Of Black Employees Said They Faced Racism At Planned Parenthood, An Internal Audit Found

Black employees at Planned Parenthood ’ s national wing feel that they have been held to a different standard than the organization ’ s white employees and that they are often expected to work more and given less leeway , an internal assessment obtained by BuzzFeed News found .
The assessment , which was commissioned by Planned Parenthood , was presented over a video meeting to Planned Parenthood Federation of America ’ s ( PPFA ) employee resource group Network of Black Associates on Wednesday .
It was based on interviews conducted over the summer with 64 current and 12 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ divisions and levels of PPFA .
A contracted group called Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance ( AORTA ) conducted and presented the assessment , which overall found that the organization ’ s Black employees feel that Planned Parenthood ’ s treatment of them internally does not line up with its social justice–driven mission .
Black employees told AORTA they regularly experienced acts of racism and anti-Blackness from their white colleagues but found that when they reported problems to human resources , there was “ no meaningful consequence or accountability for racial harm , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The employees said they had been experiencing these issues and bringing them to management ’ s attention for years , but felt that little had been done to change the problems .
“ The urgency of this moment , the urgency of the reckoning that we ’ ve all known was coming … the deep urgency of what we need to do inside of [ Planned Parenthood ] , stepping into leadership in this moment , I have never felt more urgent , and I ’ ve never actually felt more free @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Johnson , who is Black and has served as president for just over four months , said at the beginning of the meeting .
“ And I want that feeling of freedom to give us all the covers to do the work that we need to do.
” Johnson took over as acting president of Planned Parenthood in 2019 , following the dramatic dismissal of the reproductive rights giant ’ s former president , Leana Wen .
AORTA ’ s findings line up with an investigation published by BuzzFeed News in August , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at Planned Parenthood ’ s state affiliate chapters , as well as at NARAL Pro-Choice America , another major reproductive rights group .
Twenty-six sources at both organizations told BuzzFeed News at the time that they regularly faced racism at work and were belittled by their bosses , while their non-Black colleagues were not , and felt they often had nowhere to turn for help with these issues .
They also said they were unable to move up within the organization , while their white colleagues were promoted .
Each of Planned Parenthood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ independently from each other and from PPFA , the national healthcare provider and advocacy organization .
AORTA ’ s assessment pertained only to employees of PPFA , but the issues faced by Black staffers were strikingly similar to those on the affiliate level .
In response to a request for comment , PPFA provided BuzzFeed News with extensive information on its efforts to improve pay equity and transparency , including several kinds of audits and reviews analyzing pay by race and gender .
It also pointed to its recognition of staff unions in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ offices .
PPFA also referred to information provided to BuzzFeed News in August , which detailed the extensive `` diversity , equity , and inclusion '' ( DEI ) work the organization has been doing for the past few years .
This included many kinds of DEI and race equity trainings for staffers and managers , an annual “ Solidarity Conference ” for staffers of color nationwide , and one-on-one coaching and classes with AORTA , including a “ study circle on Black Feminism , ” which focuses on intersectionality .
“ Planned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is committed to confronting the organization ’ s legacy of white supremacy head on , and the cultural assessment conducted by AORTA is an important component of the comprehensive and meaningful work we are undertaking to create belonging and equity , ” Melanie Newman , Planned Parenthood ’ s head of communications and culture , wrote in an email to BuzzFeed News on Friday .
“ Leaking the cultural assessment findings is a breach of trust and of the intended safe space for Black colleagues to be seen , heard , and understood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; but abusing the trust of colleagues is harmful to the culture change work that is underway.
” The Planned Parenthood employees who spoke to BuzzFeed News this week said that they greatly appreciated Wednesday ’ s presentation ; they found it validating and satisfying to see their experiences in print and understand that they are not alone .
However , they said , the issues AORTA found have existed for years , and it ’ s hard for them to believe that this newest effort will actually create change .
“ I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surprising to you that the collective experience of Black staff at Planned Parenthood is as heavy as it is , ” Autumn Brown , an AORTA staff member who presented the findings said at the beginning of Wednesday ’ s meeting , a recording of which was obtained by BuzzFeed News .
“ What we were looking for was to understand ... what is the collective experience of being Black at Planned Parenthood ?
Because regardless of the individual facts of the individual incidences , if we have enough incidences that look like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Y.
” Around 60 people tuned into the meeting , according to employees who were on the call .
This was the first time the findings were being presented , and AORTA and Planned Parenthood are preparing abridged versions to present in larger staff meetings , as well as presentations for Planned Parenthood ’ s board and leadership .
Johnson , head of HR Dannette Hill , and George Walker , the group ’ s vice president of DEI , were present at the meeting , along with PPFA 's other Black senior @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say this has been a three-year journey .
We have been fighting for the opportunity to do this cultural assessment for years .
It was n't possible under other presidents , ” Hill said , adding that HR had asked for an assessment like AORTA 's in the past but wasn ’ t able to move forward with it until Johnson took over .
She also referenced “ the power of having Alexis here as a partner who is not just in the movement , but understanding of the importance of this work.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the top of the meeting , promised her staff that the changes would happen .
“ There was not a thing that I saw [ in the assessment ] that I was n't familiar with in my own life ... or even here at Planned Parenthood , quite frankly , ” Johnson said .
“ It really means a lot that you all opened up in this way .
I never want our pain to be either in vain or just to check a box .
”

Black employees at Planned Parenthood’s national wing feel that they have been held to a different standard than the organization’s white employees and that they are often expected to work more and given less leeway, an internal assessment obtained by BuzzFeed News found.
The assessment, which was commissioned by Planned Parenthood, was presented over a video meeting to Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s (PPFA) employee resource group Network of Black Associates on Wednesday. It was based on interviews conducted over the summer with 64 current and 12 former Black Planned Parenthood employees in all divisions and levels of PPFA. A contracted group called Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance (AORTA) conducted and presented the assessment, which overall found that the organization’s Black employees feel that Planned Parenthood’s treatment of them internally does not line up with its social justice–driven mission.
Black employees told AORTA they regularly experienced acts of racism and anti-Blackness from their white colleagues but found that when they reported problems to human resources, there was “no meaningful consequence or accountability for racial harm,” a slide in the presentation read. The employees said they had been experiencing these issues and bringing them to management’s attention for years, but felt that little had been done to change the problems.
“The urgency of this moment, the urgency of the reckoning that we’ve all known was coming … the deep urgency of what we need to do inside of [Planned Parenthood], stepping into leadership in this moment, I have never felt more urgent, and I’ve never actually felt more free,” Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson, who is Black and has served as president for just over four months, said at the beginning of the meeting. “And I want that feeling of freedom to give us all the covers to do the work that we need to do.”
Johnson took over as acting president of Planned Parenthood in 2019, following the dramatic dismissal of the reproductive rights giant’s former president, Leana Wen.
AORTA’s findings line up with an investigation published by BuzzFeed News in August, which detailed allegations of racism and discrimination at Planned Parenthood’s state affiliate chapters, as well as at NARAL Pro-Choice America, another major reproductive rights group. Twenty-six sources at both organizations told BuzzFeed News at the time that they regularly faced racism at work and were belittled by their bosses, while their non-Black colleagues were not, and felt they often had nowhere to turn for help with these issues. They also said they were unable to move up within the organization, while their white colleagues were promoted.
Each of Planned Parenthood’s 49 state affiliates is run independently from each other and from PPFA, the national healthcare provider and advocacy organization. AORTA’s assessment pertained only to employees of PPFA, but the issues faced by Black staffers were strikingly similar to those on the affiliate level.
In response to a request for comment, PPFA provided BuzzFeed News with extensive information on its efforts to improve pay equity and transparency, including several kinds of audits and reviews analyzing pay by race and gender. It also pointed to its recognition of staff unions in their Washington, DC, and Miami offices. PPFA also referred to information provided to BuzzFeed News in August, which detailed the extensive "diversity, equity, and inclusion" (DEI) work the organization has been doing for the past few years. This included many kinds of DEI and race equity trainings for staffers and managers, an annual “Solidarity Conference” for staffers of color nationwide, and one-on-one coaching and classes with AORTA, including a “study circle on Black Feminism,” which focuses on intersectionality.
“Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s leadership is committed to confronting the organization’s legacy of white supremacy head on, and the cultural assessment conducted by AORTA is an important component of the comprehensive and meaningful work we are undertaking to create belonging and equity,” Melanie Newman, Planned Parenthood’s head of communications and culture, wrote in an email to BuzzFeed News on Friday. “Leaking the cultural assessment findings is a breach of trust and of the intended safe space for Black colleagues to be seen, heard, and understood. Holding leadership accountable publicly is welcome; but abusing the trust of colleagues is harmful to the culture change work that is underway.”
The Planned Parenthood employees who spoke to BuzzFeed News this week said that they greatly appreciated Wednesday’s presentation; they found it validating and satisfying to see their experiences in print and understand that they are not alone. However, they said, the issues AORTA found have existed for years, and it’s hard for them to believe that this newest effort will actually create change.
“I imagine that little of it will be surprising to you that the collective experience of Black staff at Planned Parenthood is as heavy as it is,” Autumn Brown, an AORTA staff member who presented the findings said at the beginning of Wednesday’s meeting, a recording of which was obtained by BuzzFeed News. “What we were looking for was to understand ... what is the collective experience of being Black at Planned Parenthood? Because regardless of the individual facts of the individual incidences, if we have enough incidences that look like X, we know that that means Y.”
Around 60 people tuned into the meeting, according to employees who were on the call. This was the first time the findings were being presented, and AORTA and Planned Parenthood are preparing abridged versions to present in larger staff meetings, as well as presentations for Planned Parenthood’s board and leadership. Johnson, head of HR Dannette Hill, and George Walker, the group’s vice president of DEI, were present at the meeting, along with PPFA's other Black senior leaders.
“I first want to say this has been a three-year journey. We have been fighting for the opportunity to do this cultural assessment for years. It wasn't possible under other presidents,” Hill said, adding that HR had asked for an assessment like AORTA's in the past but wasn’t able to move forward with it until Johnson took over. She also referenced “the power of having Alexis here as a partner who is not just in the movement, but understanding of the importance of this work.”
Johnson, who spoke only at the top of the meeting, promised her staff that the changes would happen.
“There was not a thing that I saw [in the assessment] that I wasn't familiar with in my own life ... or even here at Planned Parenthood, quite frankly,” Johnson said. “It really means a lot that you all opened up in this way. I never want our pain to be either in vain or just to check a box.”


buzzfeed--2020-10-09--How The Supreme Court Could Overturn Roe v. Wade

This is a really confusing time .
BuzzFeed News is working to answer some of your burning questions leading up to the election .
Have a question you want answered ?
Email addy.baird @ buzzfeed.com WASHINGTON — Last month , during an appearance on Fox News , President Donald Trump said that it is “ certainly possible ” that his new Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett will be part of a decision that could restrict or overturn abortion rights in the United States .
“ We ’ ll have to see how that all works out , but I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Maybe they do it in a different way .
Maybe they ’ d give it back to the states .
You just don ’ t know what ’ s going to happen , ” Trump said .
Trump has consistently said that justices he appoints to the Supreme Court will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade , the 1973 decision that made abortion legal in the United States .
In 2016 , he said that if he appointed enough justices , overturning Roe “ will happen , automatically in my opinion.
” If @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Court justice , as she likely will be , it ’ s certainly possible the court could overturn the landmark ruling .
But the national right to abortion will not “ automatically ” go away .
With Barrett on the court , Republicans will have appointed six of the nine current justices .
While they don ’ t always vote together , those justices could rule in an abortion-related case to restrict access to the procedure or overturn Roe entirely .
There are , according to Planned Parenthood , 17 abortion cases currently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Court .
The cases include a litany of different state restrictions on abortion , including a Texas law that would require burial or cremation of fetal tissue , an Indiana law that requires people under 18 to get the written consent of a parent in order to get an abortion , and state bans on abortion after 20 weeks , 15 weeks , and even 6 weeks of pregnancy , before many women even know they ’ re pregnant .
Should any one of the cases make its way to the Supreme Court @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is no national right to abortion and overturn Roe .
But if Roe is overturned , abortion won ’ t just be illegal nationwide .
It would then be up to individual states to decide whether to outlaw abortion .
In places like California and New York , where the state legislature last year passed a bill expanding abortion rights in the state , abortion will remain legal and accessible .
But according to the Guttmacher Institute , a pro–abortion rights organization , nearly two dozen states have laws on the books that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is overturned .
Ten states have “ trigger laws ” that would ban all or almost all abortions if Roe was reversed , and another nine states have abortion restrictions currently blocked by the courts that could take effect without Roe .
Without Roe , abortion rights would be a national patchwork , and states with stronger abortion rights laws would likely see an influx of out-of-state visitors seeking an abortion .
What many experts believe is likelier than a total reversal of Roe , though , is that the Supreme Court will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at abortion rights .
That ’ s because perhaps the most important guiding principle for the Supreme Court is “ stare decisis , ” which just means respecting the precedent set by earlier Supreme Court decisions .
Upholding abortion restrictions but not overturning Roe itself could mean that hundreds of thousands of people in the US don ’ t have access to abortion , despite the fact that it ’ s technically still legal .
Already , many people are not able to access or afford the procedure , especially in states where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go into effect .
As of last year , six states had just one abortion clinic , and the government bans the use of federal funds for abortions ( under what ’ s known as the Hyde Amendment ) , which means people covered by Medicaid , government-funded health insurance , have no health coverage for the procedure except in rare circumstances .

WASHINGTON — Last month, during an appearance on Fox News, President Donald Trump said that it is “certainly possible” that his new Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett will be part of a decision that could restrict or overturn abortion rights in the United States.
“We’ll have to see how that all works out, but I think it will work out. … Maybe they do it in a different way. Maybe they’d give it back to the states. You just don’t know what’s going to happen,” Trump said.
Trump has consistently said that justices he appoints to the Supreme Court will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that made abortion legal in the United States. In 2016, he said that if he appointed enough justices, overturning Roe “will happen, automatically in my opinion.”
If Barrett becomes Trump’s third Supreme Court justice, as she likely will be, it’s certainly possible the court could overturn the landmark ruling. But the national right to abortion will not “automatically” go away.
With Barrett on the court, Republicans will have appointed six of the nine current justices. While they don’t always vote together, those justices could rule in an abortion-related case to restrict access to the procedure or overturn Roe entirely.
There are, according to Planned Parenthood, 17 abortion cases currently just one step away from the Supreme Court. The cases include a litany of different state restrictions on abortion, including a Texas law that would require burial or cremation of fetal tissue, an Indiana law that requires people under 18 to get the written consent of a parent in order to get an abortion, and state bans on abortion after 20 weeks, 15 weeks, and even 6 weeks of pregnancy, before many women even know they’re pregnant. Should any one of the cases make its way to the Supreme Court, the justices could rule that there is no national right to abortion and overturn Roe.
But if Roe is overturned, abortion won’t just be illegal nationwide. It would then be up to individual states to decide whether to outlaw abortion. In places like California and New York, where the state legislature last year passed a bill expanding abortion rights in the state, abortion will remain legal and accessible.
But according to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro–abortion rights organization, nearly two dozen states have laws on the books that could restrict abortion almost immediately after Roe is overturned. Ten states have “trigger laws” that would ban all or almost all abortions if Roe was reversed, and another nine states have abortion restrictions currently blocked by the courts that could take effect without Roe. Without Roe, abortion rights would be a national patchwork, and states with stronger abortion rights laws would likely see an influx of out-of-state visitors seeking an abortion.
What many experts believe is likelier than a total reversal of Roe, though, is that the Supreme Court will continue to uphold laws that chip away at abortion rights. That’s because perhaps the most important guiding principle for the Supreme Court is “stare decisis,” which just means respecting the precedent set by earlier Supreme Court decisions. Upholding abortion restrictions but not overturning Roe itself could mean that hundreds of thousands of people in the US don’t have access to abortion, despite the fact that it’s technically still legal.
Already, many people are not able to access or afford the procedure, especially in states where tight restrictions have already been allowed to go into effect. As of last year, six states had just one abortion clinic, and the government bans the use of federal funds for abortions (under what’s known as the Hyde Amendment), which means people covered by Medicaid, government-funded health insurance, have no health coverage for the procedure except in rare circumstances.


buzzfeed--2020-10-09--These Scientists Have A Controversial Plan For “Herd Immunity” — And The White House Is Listening

For months , a small group of scientists has pushed policies that mainstream health experts say would cause many more COVID-19 deaths .
They just got their biggest audience yet .
Kulldorff said they discussed their proposal with Azar and Atlas for under an hour .
But he insisted that he and his colleagues were not pushing a herd immunity “ strategy.
” “ No matter what strategy is used , we will reach herd immunity sooner or later , just as an airplane will reach the ground one way or another , ” Kulldorff said by email .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of death [ s ] until we reach herd immunity , and that is what the Great Barrington Declaration is about.
” Ravina Kullar , an infectious disease epidemiologist and a spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America , vehemently disagreed with the scientists ’ vision .
“ Based on simple math and past experiences and outbreaks , and emerging evidence from this ongoing pandemic , this claim is quite honestly a fantasy , ” she said .
The letter calls for nursing homes to have frequent testing and staffers with “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ living at home to have supplies delivered .
But it is light on specifics , saying that “ a comprehensive and detailed list of measures , including approaches to multi-generational households , can be implemented , and is well within the scope and capability of public health professionals.
” This language doesn ’ t come anywhere near acknowledging how challenging it would be to implement such a plan , outside experts say .
Isolating people who have preexisting conditions that make them especially susceptible to the virus would mean isolating nearly half the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who have the relatively highest risk of death , would mean isolating an overlapping group of tens of millions .
Only about 13 % of Americans over the age of 64 were in a nursing home or other senior living setting in 2015 , meaning the vast majority are embedded in communities .
About 64 million Americans lived in multigenerational households as of 2016 .
What the Great Barrington Declaration also does not acknowledge is that young , healthy adults who get infected can spread the virus to middle-aged and older Americans , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Young people themselves may die of COVID-19 at much lower rates than older people , but a not insignificant portion get sick enough to become hospitalized , straining the healthcare system that much more .
And “ long-haulers , ” many of them young and formerly healthy , can for months experience debilitating effects that are not yet understood .
“ They ’ re not going to be able to age-target , ” Gonsalves said .
“ They ’ re not going to be able to protect these hundreds of millions of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a vaccine is highly impractical for other reasons , too .
For one , scientists are not sure how long immunity lasts , and there have been a handful of reported cases of reinfection .
And the CDC director recently estimated that as many as 90 % of Americans remain susceptible to the virus .
Even in New York , one of the hardest-hit places in the country and therefore among the closest to herd immunity , the virus has infected only about 20 % of the population .
Purposely letting the virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ millions .
More would continue to get infected and die even once herd immunity was reached , scientists say .
“ Depending on natural infections to control the outbreak could lead to months , if not years , of a cycle where cases subside and then they surge , ” said Ravina Kullar of the Infectious Diseases Society of America .
“ That is not the solution to this pandemic.
” Asked about these and other criticisms , Kulldorff said he was open to a “ proper scientific debate ” with anyone who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ return multiple requests for comment .
Spokespeople for Stanford and Oxford did not comment on the Great Barrington Declaration other than to say that the institutions supported their faculty members ’ academic freedom .
Harvard did not return a request for comment .
The US is caught in a “ patchwork pandemic ” — a whack-a-mole game where outbreaks have jumped from region to region where restrictions were either never put into place or were prematurely scaled back .
The lack of national coordination of public health measures like masking , contact tracing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cycle , Gonsalves said .
“ We could be like countries in Asia and countries in Europe and other places that have buffered the effects of the pandemic while doing real frontline public health to keep rates down , and we haven ’ t done it , ” he said .
“ And we made a national choice to do that.
” As the pandemic worsens and the election nears , the White House has increasingly peddled the idea that the virus can be vanquished through natural immunity .
Or , as Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Sept. 15 , “ herd mentality.
” At the event , he proclaimed that the US was “ rounding the corner ” on the pandemic .
The interviewer pointed out that Anthony Fauci , the nation ’ s top infectious diseases expert , disagreed .
“ Well , I mean , but a lot of people do agree with me , ” the president replied .
“ You look at Scott Atlas , you look at some of the other doctors that are highly ... from Stanford .
Look at some of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ later , a reporter asked Atlas about the CDC director ’ s recent assertion that most Americans are still susceptible to infections .
Atlas said that the director had “ misstated ” the situation , and cited Kulldorff , Bhattacharya , Ioannidis , and Gupta .
“ These are people who know the latest data on the immunology and what ’ s happening , and I just recited it to you , ” he said .
On Sept. 24 , Bhattacharya and Kulldorff joined a livestreamed discussion with Florida ’ s governor .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stanford , a Nobel laureate who has incorrectly predicted that the virus was about to run its course in multiple countries — vouched for the governor ’ s efforts to reopen schools and the economy .
“ At this point , we know that the benefits of a lockdown are small , ” Bhattacharya said .
“ All they do is push cases off into the future ; it doesn ’ t actually prevent the disease from happening .
And the costs are absolutely catastrophic , enormous.
” The next day , at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Florida college campuses , DeSantis announced that the state was lifting all restrictions on restaurants and businesses .
“ Dr .
Scott Atlas and Dr. Bhattacharya are truth tellers in a sea of government misinformation , ” Sen. Rand Paul , a Kentucky Republican , tweeted on Sept. 28 .
Yet despite receiving national attention for his ideas , Bhattacharya has repeatedly claimed he is being silenced .
“ I ’ ve been really concerned about censorship in science around this epidemic , ” he said on a podcast last month .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I think that has been one of the things I ’ ve regretted throughout this entire crisis , ” he said , “ is this attempt to suppress scientific discussion because some ideas are too dangerous to even discuss.
” Who was suppressing him , he didn ’ t say .
The video was posted Oct. 5 , the day of his meeting with the Trump administration .
●

On Monday, as President Donald Trump was urging the world not to fear the virus he was newly infected with, top health officials of his were meeting with a trio of scientists pushing the same belief.
Their highly controversial recommendation to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and coronavirus task force adviser Scott Atlas: Only “vulnerable” people should be protected from the virus. It should be allowed to spread among everyone else until they achieve “herd” immunity, a tipping point at which the virus fizzles out because enough people are immune.
According to many health experts who weren’t in the room, this is a dangerous proposal to unleash on a population that, by and large, is still susceptible to infection. Aiming for herd immunity would needlessly sicken and kill countless people on top of the more than 210,000 Americans who have already died. It’s also impractical: Many scientists agree that it would be enormously difficult to reach herd immunity without an effective and widely used vaccine.
Nevertheless, the three epidemiologists — Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University, Martin Kulldorff of Harvard University, and Sunetra Gupta of Oxford University — have been broadcasting their ideas far and wide. Now they’re finding a warm reception at the highest levels of decision-making in the US.
The same day as their meeting with Azar and Atlas, they laid out their argument for what they dubbed “focused protection” in an open letter on a website newly registered to a libertarian think tank, the American Institute for Economic Research. And they touted the plan on Laura Ingraham’s Fox News show.
“Those who are not vulnerable should immediately be allowed to resume life as normal,” read the letter, called the Great Barrington Declaration, which by Friday had been signed by an additional 5,900-plus self-identified “medical and public health scientists,” though at least dozens of those names appear to be fake. The letter called for bringing back in-person teaching, reopening restaurants and businesses, and resuming large gatherings like concerts and sport events, citing “grave concerns about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies.”
For months, some of the letter’s authors and a small contingent of other scientists, who also believe that the coronavirus is not deadly enough to justify lockdowns, have been writing op-eds and talking to policymakers across the country. As early as March, a group of them, including Bhattacharya, tried to meet with Trump to warn him against lockdown policies that had not yet even started in most of the US.
At this week’s meeting in Washington, DC, Azar appeared to like what he had heard, as first reported by the Hill. “We heard strong reinforcement of the Trump Administration’s strategy of aggressively protecting the vulnerable while opening schools and the workplace,” he wrote on Twitter.
Also there was Atlas, a Stanford neuroradiologist whose speciality is not infectious diseases or epidemiology. He was the scientists’ “point of contact” for the meeting, according to Politico.
“I do not advocate any ‘strategy’ of achieving herd immunity and have never advised the president to pursue that,” Atlas told BuzzFeed News by email. “To say that was a strategy even suggested at our meeting would be a gross misinterpretation.” He has repeatedly advocated for allowing the virus to spread among healthy people in order to achieve widespread immunity.
“All of my policy recommendations are directly backed by the science, and they are in line with what many of the world's top infectious disease scientists advise,” he wrote, referencing a group of scientists that included Bhattacharya, Kulldorff, and Gupta.
But Gregg Gonsalves, an epidemiologist who specializes in infectious diseases at Yale School of Public Health, said the scientists’ proposal is not out of place with what Trump and his administration are already doing to undermine government scientists, cast doubt on masks and other public health interventions, and generally fail to control a pandemic that has infected more than 7 million Americans.
“It isn’t that they’re reorienting their strategy toward herd immunity — it’s been that all along,” Gonsalves told BuzzFeed News, calling the Great Barrington Declaration “slightly grotesque” and “shocking.” “It goes really, really far in terms of reopening all the institutions that we’ve been trying to manage outbreaks in,” he said. “They go way out on a limb.”


buzzfeed--2020-10-09--No, The Man Pictured With Charlie Kirk Isn’t A Whitmer Kidnapping Suspect

On Oct. 8 , hours after the authorities announced the arrest of 13 men in an alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov .
Gretchen Whitmer , a photo purporting to be one of the suspects went viral .
The image showed a short-haired white man with a 5 o ’ clock shadow giving a thumbs-up next to Turning Point USA ’ s Charlie Kirk , a leading voice for young Trump supporters .
“ BINGO , ” the caption said .
Although it didn ’ t directly say that the man was one of the suspects , people on Twitter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Holy crap , ” one man quote-tweeted to his 100,000 followers .
“ One was a speaker who opened the republican national convention for Trump .
The other just got arrested for ploting terrorism and to kidnap the governor of Michigan.
” The statement was false , but it was enough to start a rumor widely amplified on Reddit , Facebook , and Twitter .
It even fooled a Washington Post reporter , who retweeted it to his half a million followers .
Tens of thousands of people saw the falsehood before the @ @ @ @

On Oct. 8, hours after the authorities announced the arrest of 13 men in an alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a photo purporting to be one of the suspects went viral.
The image showed a short-haired white man with a 5 o’clock shadow giving a thumbs-up next to Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk, a leading voice for young Trump supporters. “BINGO,” the caption said.
Although it didn’t directly say that the man was one of the suspects, people on Twitter quickly misconstrued it as such.
“Holy crap,” one man quote-tweeted to his 100,000 followers. “One was a speaker who opened the republican national convention for Trump. The other just got arrested for ploting terrorism and to kidnap the governor of Michigan.”
The statement was false, but it was enough to start a rumor widely amplified on Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter. It even fooled a Washington Post reporter, who retweeted it to his half a million followers. Tens of thousands of people saw the falsehood before the day was out.


buzzfeed--2020-10-09--Pelosi Announced A Bill To Determine If A President Is Still Fit For Office Following Trump’s COVID

Pelosi Announced A Bill To Determine If A President Is Still Fit For Office Following Trump’s COVID Diagnosis

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a new bill Friday that would create a commission to evaluate the mental and physical health of a president and determine whether they should be removed from office under the 25th Amendment .
The announcement comes just one week after President Donald Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19 , but Pelosi said Friday that the bill is not directed at Trump .
“ He will face the judgment on the voters , but he shows the need for us to create a process for future presidents , ” she said .
The 25th Amendment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presidential succession should the president die or resign .
The amendment ’ s fourth section , which has never been used , allows the vice president and the cabinet to declare that the president is “ unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office ” and remove him from office .
The issue could then go to Congress where two-thirds of both the House and the Senate would need to vote in favor of removal and transfer of power to the vice president .
The legislation Pelosi introduced Friday , along @ @ @ @ @ @ @ create a 16-person team of both medical professionals and former executive branch officials , like former presidents and vice presidents , to assess the president ’ s health and fitness for office .
Pelosi would not say whether Trump should be removed under the 25th Amendment , saying , “ That ’ s not for us to decide.
” But Pelosi did say Friday that Trump is “ under medication ” and that “ any of us who is under medication of that seriousness is in an altered state.
” Trump ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a steroid typically recommended for severe cases of COVID-19 , and this week Dr. Anthony Fauci , a member of the White House 's coronavirus task force , said on MSNBC that the medication makes people “ very energetic.
” Trump ’ s doctors said Thursday evening he had “ completed his course of therapy for COVID-19 , ” though it was unclear if he is still taking the steroid .
Raskin , a constitutional scholar , said Trump ’ s diagnosis has “ focused everybody ’ s mind on the need for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 25th Amendment that Congress set up its own body.
” “ And I think again in the age of COVID-19 , where a lot of government actors who have been afflicted by it , we need to act , ” he added .
The House is not in session until after Election Day , meaning Trump may have lost the presidency by the time the legislation even gets a vote , and it ’ s almost certain to die in the Republican-controlled Senate .
( The new Congress will not be seated until @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Thursday , Pelosi teased that the bill would be released Friday , saying , “ Tomorrow .
Come here tomorrow .
We ’ re going to be talking about the 25th Amendment.
” Trump was quick to call out the speaker on Twitter ahead of the official bill unveiling , writing , “ Crazy Nancy is the one who should be under observation .
They don ’ t call her Crazy for nothing !
” On Friday , Trump tweeted , baselessly , that Pelosi was “ looking at the 25th Amendment in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Harris .
The Dems want that to happen fast because Sleepy Joe is out of it !
!
!
” According to USA Today , Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wrote off moving forward with the bill almost immediately and said Friday at a campaign stop that Pelosi ’ s suggestion that Trump was in an altered state and unfit to serve was “ absurd.
” “ Absolutely absurd , '' he said .
`` Right here in this last three weeks before the election , I think those kinds of wild comments @ @ @ @ @ @

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a new bill Friday that would create a commission to evaluate the mental and physical health of a president and determine whether they should be removed from office under the 25th Amendment.
The announcement comes just one week after President Donald Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19, but Pelosi said Friday that the bill is not directed at Trump. “He will face the judgment on the voters, but he shows the need for us to create a process for future presidents,” she said.
The 25th Amendment was ratified in 1967 and deals with presidential succession should the president die or resign. The amendment’s fourth section, which has never been used, allows the vice president and the cabinet to declare that the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” and remove him from office. The issue could then go to Congress where two-thirds of both the House and the Senate would need to vote in favor of removal and transfer of power to the vice president.
The legislation Pelosi introduced Friday, along with Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, would create a 16-person team of both medical professionals and former executive branch officials, like former presidents and vice presidents, to assess the president’s health and fitness for office.
Pelosi would not say whether Trump should be removed under the 25th Amendment, saying, “That’s not for us to decide.”
But Pelosi did say Friday that Trump is “under medication” and that “any of us who is under medication of that seriousness is in an altered state.”
Trump’s physicians had put him on dexamethasone, a steroid typically recommended for severe cases of COVID-19, and this week Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House's coronavirus task force, said on MSNBC that the medication makes people “very energetic.” Trump’s doctors said Thursday evening he had “completed his course of therapy for COVID-19,” though it was unclear if he is still taking the steroid.
Raskin, a constitutional scholar, said Trump’s diagnosis has “focused everybody’s mind on the need for following through on this suggestion in the 25th Amendment that Congress set up its own body.”
“And I think again in the age of COVID-19, where a lot of government actors who have been afflicted by it, we need to act,” he added.
The House is not in session until after Election Day, meaning Trump may have lost the presidency by the time the legislation even gets a vote, and it’s almost certain to die in the Republican-controlled Senate. (The new Congress will not be seated until January.)
At a press conference Thursday, Pelosi teased that the bill would be released Friday, saying, “Tomorrow. Come here tomorrow. We’re going to be talking about the 25th Amendment.”
Trump was quick to call out the speaker on Twitter ahead of the official bill unveiling, writing, “Crazy Nancy is the one who should be under observation. They don’t call her Crazy for nothing!”
On Friday, Trump tweeted, baselessly, that Pelosi was “looking at the 25th Amendment in order to replace Joe Biden with Kamala Harris. The Dems want that to happen fast because Sleepy Joe is out of it!!!”
According to USA Today, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wrote off moving forward with the bill almost immediately and said Friday at a campaign stop that Pelosi’s suggestion that Trump was in an altered state and unfit to serve was “absurd.”
“Absolutely absurd," he said. "Right here in this last three weeks before the election, I think those kinds of wild comments should be largely discounted."


buzzfeed--2020-10-09--A Judge Won't Reopen Voter Registration In Florida After The Website Crashed But Said The State "Fai

A Judge Won't Reopen Voter Registration In Florida After The Website Crashed But Said The State "Failed Its Citizens"

WASHINGTON — A federal judge wo n't reopen voter registration in Florida after the state 's website crashed on the final day , but he used his order on Friday to eviscerate state officials for how they had handled the situation .
`` This case is about how a state failed its citizens , '' US District Judge Mark Walker wrote .
Hours before registration was set to end in Florida at midnight on Oct. 5 , the website crashed .
Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee blamed `` unprecedented '' traffic , saying they recorded 1.1 million access requests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ noon the next day , Lee announced that they had extended the deadline to 7 p.m. Voting rights groups immediately sued in federal court to reopen registration in Florida , a major battleground in this year 's presidential election .
Walker on Friday denied the request for an injunction to extend the registration period , writing that Florida 's lawyers had convinced him that the state 's handling of the election was already so problematic that it could n't handle more uncertainty .
He cited affidavits that the state filed in court that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ elections staff , incomplete voter rolls , and election-day mayhem . ''
`` This is an incredibly close call , but Florida ’ s interest in preventing chaos in its already precarious — and perennially chaotic — election outweighs the substantial burden imposed on the right to vote , '' the judge wrote .
He criticized the state for only giving residents until 7 p.m. on Oct. 6 , instead of midnight , to register once the website was back online , writing that Floridians were expected not only to become aware of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on it , during daytime hours when they were likely busy with work , school , and family .
`` In this case , potential voters attempted to perform their civic duty , to exercise their fundamental right , only to be thwarted , once again , by a state that seemingly is never prepared for an election , '' Walker wrote .
`` To these potential voters , the state ’ s answer for its own failures can only be characterized as 'so sad , too bad . '
''

WASHINGTON — A federal judge won't reopen voter registration in Florida after the state's website crashed on the final day, but he used his order on Friday to eviscerate state officials for how they had handled the situation.
"This case is about how a state failed its citizens," US District Judge Mark Walker wrote.
Hours before registration was set to end in Florida at midnight on Oct. 5, the website crashed. Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee blamed "unprecedented" traffic, saying they recorded 1.1 million access requests per hour that night. Shortly after noon the next day, Lee announced that they had extended the deadline to 7 p.m. Voting rights groups immediately sued in federal court to reopen registration in Florida, a major battleground in this year's presidential election.
Walker on Friday denied the request for an injunction to extend the registration period, writing that Florida's lawyers had convinced him that the state's handling of the election was already so problematic that it couldn't handle more uncertainty. He cited affidavits that the state filed in court that "paint a disturbing picture of overworked elections staff, incomplete voter rolls, and election-day mayhem."
"This is an incredibly close call, but Florida’s interest in preventing chaos in its already precarious — and perennially chaotic — election outweighs the substantial burden imposed on the right to vote," the judge wrote.
He criticized the state for only giving residents until 7 p.m. on Oct. 6, instead of midnight, to register once the website was back online, writing that Floridians were expected not only to become aware of the extension, but also to act on it, during daytime hours when they were likely busy with work, school, and family.
"In this case, potential voters attempted to perform their civic duty, to exercise their fundamental right, only to be thwarted, once again, by a state that seemingly is never prepared for an election," Walker wrote. "To these potential voters, the state’s answer for its own failures can only be characterized as 'so sad, too bad.'"


buzzfeed--2020-10-09--Kamala Harris's Response To Pence's Interruptions During The Debate Is A New Meme

Sen. Kamala Harris on Wednesday got a lot of attention online for how she reacted to repeated interruptions by her @ @ @ @ @ Mike Pence .
In between all the policy talk , many viewers had one big @ @ @ @ @ when Pence interrupted her is a whole mood .

Sen. Kamala Harris on Wednesday got a lot of attention online for how she reacted to repeated interruptions by her debate opponent, Vice President Mike Pence.
In between all the policy talk, many viewers had one big takeaway: Harris's reaction when Pence interrupted her is a whole mood.


buzzfeed--2020-10-09--9 Small But Effective Things You Can Do To Impact The Election This Year (Besides Vote)

Ok , so you may not be able to literally knock on doors during a pandemic , but you can @ @ @ @ @ n't live in and make a real impact ( here 's a quick guide on @ @ @ @ @ by Googling phone banking initiatives for your candidate of choice ( Knock for Democracy is @ @ @ @ @ , for example ) .
Then , join in to have direct , one-to-one conversations @ @ @ @ @ .

Regardless of your party or top political priorities, one thing everyone can agree on is the fact that our system is in need of repair. RepresentUs is one of the main groups trying to put a stop to the gerrymandering and lobbyism that negatively affect our democracy. You can volunteer to work on their Anti-Corruption Act campaigns and make a difference on a local (and eventually, national) level.


buzzfeed--2020-10-10--Dax Shepard Opened Up About Being Back In AA And The Lesson He's Teaching His Daughters From It

`` For the last eight weeks , maybe , I do n't really know , I 'm on them all @ @ @ @ @ to be on them at some dosage because I have a prescription , '' he @ @ @ @ @ I 'm also augmenting that .
And then all the prescriptions run out , and @ @ @ @ @ 30 mil Oxys that I 've bought . ''

"For the last eight weeks, maybe, I don't really know, I'm on them all day. I'm allowed to be on them at some dosage because I have a prescription," he explained. "And then I'm also augmenting that. And then all the prescriptions run out, and I'm now just taking 30 mil Oxys that I've bought."


buzzfeed--2020-10-10--14 People Shared Photos Of Their Bodies After Giving Birth, And It's The Definition Of Beauty And St

14 People Shared Photos Of Their Bodies After Giving Birth, And It's The Definition Of Beauty And Strength

`` Moms , we seriously need to give ourselves more credit ... and grace !
Snapping back is awesome , @ @ @ @ @ body to take its time and heal how it wants to for as long as @ @ @ @ @ ’ s no deadline .
In the meantime , be proud of all it has @ @ @ @ @ human , then birthing that human , then nourishing and sustaining the life of that @ @ @ @ @ is so taboo to talk about , but I DARE you to change the narrative @ @ @ @ @ rock that FUPA/those stretch marks/that loose skin with pride .
I know I will !
@ @ @ @ @ got time to be sucking in all day !
🥴😩🤣 '' You can follow Troy @ @ @ @

8.
"Here I am seven days postpartum with my son. I struggled with the new reality that he wasn’t in my belly. Even though I had him in my arms, I still found myself rubbing my belly, expecting to feel his strong kicks or his little butt nestled in my ribs. For the first time in nine months, my body was 'mine' again — and I wasn’t sure I was ready for that. Every day I became more grateful for the soft mom belly that was his cushion as we nursed, and for my sore, painful, and swollen boobs that fed him endlessly. He’s now 15 months old, and I’m still amazed at what my body was able to do and how different every inch of me is to this day."


buzzfeed--2020-10-10--The Next Presidential Debate Has Been Canceled


buzzfeed--2020-10-10--How The Supreme Court Could Overturn Roe v. Wade


buzzfeed--2020-10-10--No, The Man Pictured With Charlie Kirk Isn’t A Whitmer Kidnapping Suspect


buzzfeed--2020-10-10--No, That Trump Video Isn’t Green-Screened

Trump is actually standing outside the White House in his latest video .
On Thursday , President Donald Trump tweeted a video of himself in front of the White House , talking about a variety of topics from the military to how the experimental antibody cocktail he received is a cure for COVID-19 .
The video appears to have been shot in front of the White House , but it also looks unnatural in a way that inspired some to claim it was filmed in front of a green screen .
But that ’ s not the case .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ standing outside on his own , the White House told BuzzFeed News .
Green screen truthers pointed to the way that the trees behind him moved as evidence of some sort of Weekend at Bernie 's shenanigans .
Instead of smooth , natural movement , the leaves of the trees appear to briefly stop on occasion as though they were part of a video loop .
Suspicious !
But video experts told BuzzFeed News that while the trees behind Trump might appear to be part of a video loop , they probably are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of digital forensics , image analysis , and human perception at UC Berkeley , agreed , telling BuzzFeed News the video does appear to include compression artifacts .
“ Most compression standards employ ‘ predicted ’ frames that use the content and motion from previous frames to encode the data on subsequent frames , ” Farid explained .
“ This saves quite a bit of file/transfer size because not all of the data has to be encoded .
At the same time , these predicted frames tend to be of lower quality because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such , most compression standards interlace the predicted frames with higher-quality non-predicted frames .
This creates occasional perceptual ‘ skips ’ as frames of varying quality are displayed.
” This is why the trees behind Trump might appear to some to be part of a video loop .
Farid and Williams both noted that the crisp shadows in the video appear to be consistent with the movement of the sun .
Reached for comment , a spokesperson for the White House told BuzzFeed News that the video was indeed filmed on the South @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to October 2020 , where even the simplest of things — trees blowing in the wind , a hiccup , a walk to a helicopter — raise questions .

Hany Farid, a professor of digital forensics, image analysis, and human perception at UC Berkeley, agreed, telling BuzzFeed News the video does appear to include compression artifacts.
“Most compression standards employ ‘predicted’ frames that use the content and motion from previous frames to encode the data on subsequent frames,” Farid explained. “This saves quite a bit of file/transfer size because not all of the data has to be encoded. At the same time, these predicted frames tend to be of lower quality because the prediction is not perfect. As such, most compression standards interlace the predicted frames with higher-quality non-predicted frames. This creates occasional perceptual ‘skips’ as frames of varying quality are displayed.”
This is why the trees behind Trump might appear to some to be part of a video loop. Farid and Williams both noted that the crisp shadows in the video appear to be consistent with the movement of the sun.
Reached for comment, a spokesperson for the White House told BuzzFeed News that the video was indeed filmed on the South Lawn of the White House.
Welcome to October 2020, where even the simplest of things — trees blowing in the wind, a hiccup, a walk to a helicopter — raise questions.


buzzfeed--2020-10-10--Kamala Harris's Response To Pence's Interruptions During The Debate Is A New Meme


buzzfeed--2020-10-10--Demi Lovato Said She Finally Has "The Boobs She Wanted" After Resolving To Eat Whatever She Wants

`` If I was in my hotel room at night , [ my management team ] would take the phone @ @ @ @ @ so that I could n't call room service .
Or if there was fruit in @ @ @ @ @ it out because that 's extra sugar .
Like , we 're not talking about @ @ @ @ @ and stuff like that .
It 's like , it was fruit . ''

"If I was in my hotel room at night, [my management team] would take the phone out of the hotel room so that I couldn't call room service. Or if there was fruit in my room, they would take it out because that's extra sugar. Like, we're not talking about brownies and cookies and candies and stuff like that. It's like, it was fruit."


buzzfeed--2020-10-11--This Woman With Dyslexia Challenged People On TikTok To Read Like Her And It's Eye Opening

BuzzFeed also spoke to Lindsay , who said that whenever she posts about her dyslexia , her DMs get flooded @ @ @ @ @ she gives them hope .
`` It was clear to me that they feel how @ @ @ @ @ used to think there was no way I could be successful because I can ’ @ @ @ @ @ feel that it is important that I help them , and others , understand how @ @ @ @ @ dyslexic in our school system .
I want to shed light on how resilient and @ @ @ @ @ , '' she explained .

BuzzFeed also spoke to Lindsay, who said that whenever she posts about her dyslexia, her DMs get flooded with people telling her that she gives them hope. "It was clear to me that they feel how I used to — I used to think there was no way I could be successful because I can’t even spell. I feel that it is important that I help them, and others, understand how hard it is to be dyslexic in our school system. I want to shed light on how resilient and successful people with dyslexia are," she explained.


buzzfeed--2020-10-10--Is There MAGA Without Donald Trump? His Family Is Finding Out.

The Trump campaign has launched Operation MAGA in Florida , while the president recovers from COVID-19 .
It doesn ’ t quite have the same feel .
TAMPA , Florida — The president ’ s coronavirus infection has brought the early arrival of a question vital to the future of the Republican Party : Can the MAGA movement exist without Donald Trump ?
The answer for the party is : Maybe .
At least if the president ’ s family is involved .
With Trump confined to the White House this past week after becoming sick with COVID-19 , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ smaller vignettes , including one held with his eldest son in a tow truck yard .
The event was just one of a half-dozen as the campaign tries to regain its foothold in Florida , which polling shows is a tight race with Joe Biden in the lead .
Trump ’ s campaign is being explicit about the state ’ s importance for the president ’ s reelection chances : Trump announced he ’ ll make his first campaign stop since contracting COVID-19 in Sanford , Florida on Monday .
In the president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump , Vice President Mike Pence , Karen Pence , and surrogates are making appearances across Florida over the next three days .
The president ’ s eldest son , Donald Trump Jr. , is going all out in the state with his father ailing , including with a particularly on-brand bus tour featuring celebrities from the world of ultimate fighting .
The Trump campaign announced “ Operation MAGA ” while the president was being treated at Walter Reed Hospital .
It ’ s a new trail strategy meant to push the campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lineup looks different .
It ’ s filled with made-for-TV characters all hoping to turn the president ’ s polling around , with speeches peppered with cliches about the need for Republicans to “ hold the line just like the 300 did , '' referring to the Spartans made popular by a 2006 Zack Snyder movie .
Even the venues are different , as evidenced by the 20 by 36 ft. American and “ thin blue line ” flags that met attendees who filed into the tow truck yard in Tampa to see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and see the president ’ s son would be excellent for me , ” John Amato who attended the event told BuzzFeed News .
“ I mean , I ’ m a big supporter of the president , wholeheartedly , and just hope and pray he can pull it through this year.
” Since the fallout from the June rally in Tulsa — an event where the campaign shirked local social distancing guidelines by holding an indoor event for thousands of people — the campaign ’ s rallies have mostly moved outdoors .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ this week was the moment when Air Force One creeks into an airport hangar while eager supporters try to capture the moment the president deplanes to the song “ God Bless the U.S.A. ” Instead , Trump Jr. climbed a few wooden steps Thursday night onto a flatbed meant to act as the stage for the evening .
Rather than Air Force One — a government plane the president has been using as a backdrop for his rallies during the pandemic — Trump Jr. stood in front of a large red and white @ @ @ @ @ @ @ floated side-by-side with a Trump 2020 sign .
Trump Jr. ’ s walk-out song ?
Ted Nugent ’ s “ Stranglehold.
” And the tune began seconds after his girlfriend and former Fox News personality Kim Guilfoyle repeated her now-famous rally cry : “ The best is yet to come.
” Trump Jr. mostly denounced Trump ’ s presidential opponent Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden .
One attendee described it as “ kind of a comic relief.
” And then there were the attacks on Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Harris called Biden a racist .
In between all of it , the president ’ s son assailed the media while enlisting Rogan O ’ Handley , a MAGA social media influencer who goes by @ DC_Draino and who also spoke at the rally , to chime in .
There was little mention of the coronavirus , except to say Florida Gov .
Ron DeSantis , a close family ally , has “ done a significantly better job ” than the country ’ s other governors , even though Florida has the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I don ’ t personally like him , ” Randy Walters told BuzzFeed News of Trump Jr. before he spoke .
“ I like his sister — she ’ s got brains .
He and his brother are just like angry birds.
” Others weren ’ t as offended by Trump Jr. ’ s showboat persona .
“ I thought it was entertaining , ” Wade Williams told BuzzFeed News .
“ I thought it was comical .
I also thought he brought all the facts.
” Trump Jr. made several @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nearly 40 minutes .
Members of the Trump family have always sold their father as part of a package deal .
Last month at an indoor event in Georgia , Eric Trump spoke about his father making the crucial decision to run for office .
“ I remember that like it was yesterday , ” he began .
“ He goes , you know kids , you know , let 's do this .
I ’ m going to give this thing a chance , let 's do it .
Let ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we 've ever done , we ’ ve done as a family .
Whether it was business , whether it was a little crazy show called ‘ The Apprentice.
’ ” Ahead of the Republican National Convention , where all of the Trump children had key primetime speaking slots , Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York told BuzzFeed News he wasn ’ t surprised by how visible they were through the program .
`` I would have been much more surprised if that was n't happening , '' said Zeldin .
`` The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in his immediate family , especially his children .
They are very active and passionate and have a lot to say in their own right . ''
Priri Shukla , who travels the country for Trump events , had planned to see Trump before the campaign canceled several events after he ’ d contracted the coronavirus .
In Tampa Thursday , she said she was “ heartbroken ” when she learned the president tested positive for COVID-19 .
“ I was so looking forward to seeing him in Sanford and then I got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19… the first lady , ” Shukla said .
Most people just came to support the president by way of his surrogates .
There was big support for law enforcement .
About 60 pro-police bikers showed up , many of them wearing all black with a t-shirt that read “ BLUE THUNDER , BACK THE BLUE.
” “ The only reason we ’ re here and behind Trump is he ’ s behind law enforcement , ” said Eric Harris , president of the Blue Thunder Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club .
“ And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seem to be standing up for them.
” For Josephine Sullivan-Smith , it was important to hear what ’ s ahead for the next four years and she ’ s “ praying ” for Trump “ to get better.
” “ I understand the situation being what it is , ” she said .
“ I mean , it would have been nice , ” she added .
“ I would love to see the president , ” said Bailey Phillips of Tampa .
“ Yeah , I ’ m disappointed but I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end of the night , supporters , most of them maskless , swarmed Trump Jr. for selfies .
Smiling , the president ’ s son obliged , also maskless .

TAMPA, Florida — The president’s coronavirus infection has brought the early arrival of a question vital to the future of the Republican Party: Can the MAGA movement exist without Donald Trump?
The answer for the party is: Maybe. At least if the president’s family is involved.
With Trump confined to the White House this past week after becoming sick with COVID-19, the mega MAGA rallies have been reduced to smaller vignettes, including one held with his eldest son in a tow truck yard.
The event was just one of a half-dozen as the campaign tries to regain its foothold in Florida, which polling shows is a tight race with Joe Biden in the lead. Trump’s campaign is being explicit about the state’s importance for the president’s reelection chances: Trump announced he’ll make his first campaign stop since contracting COVID-19 in Sanford, Florida, on Monday.
In the president’s absence, however, Eric Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Karen Pence, and surrogates are making appearances across Florida over the next three days. The president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is going all out in the state with his father ailing, including with a particularly on-brand bus tour featuring celebrities from the world of ultimate fighting.
The Trump campaign announced “Operation MAGA” while the president was being treated at Walter Reed Hospital. It’s a new trail strategy meant to push the campaign forward while the president recovers. The lineup looks different. It’s filled with made-for-TV characters all hoping to turn the president’s polling around, with speeches peppered with clichés about the need for Republicans to “hold the line just like the 300 did," referring to the Spartans made popular by a 2006 Zack Snyder movie. Even the venues are different, as evidenced by the 20-by-36-foot American and “thin blue line” flags that met attendees who filed into the tow truck yard in Tampa to see Donald Trump Jr.
“Just to come and see the president’s son would be excellent for me,” John Amato who attended the event told BuzzFeed News. “I mean, I’m a big supporter of the president, wholeheartedly, and just hope and pray he can pull it through this year.”


buzzfeed--2020-10-10--Cory Booker Is Trying To Keep Up With The News

And so this Wednesday , the back-to-back Zoom marathon-slash-maelstrom that is a typical day inside the senator ’ s house , a multi-family home in Newark ’ s South Ward that he now shares with his girlfriend , the actor and activist Rosario Dawson , began in the dark , before dawn , around 5:50 a.m .
He got out of bed , padded to his office , opened his computer , and started recording videos .
There are always videos to do — a backlog of ‘ thank you ’ messages and pre-recorded clips for different groups ( the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee ) whose events he can ’ t attend .
When Booker ’ s digital director woke up sometime before 7 a.m. , there were 15 videos in his inbox .
Next : “ text messages and emails , which have piled up considerably.
” Next : reading for the Supreme Court hearings set to begin this month .
By then , Dawson was awake .
The couple had about 20 minutes together in the kitchen .
She made something to eat while Booker , a proponent of intermittent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ threw in coffee , pure cacao oil , and organic vegan ghee — his own “ bulletproof coffee , ” an energy-boosting keto-influencer favorite .
“ Breakfast was basically sitting at the table with my cell phone — which is a bad thing to do for a relationship , ” Booker said in an interview later that day .
This may be true , but could anyone blame him ?
Like most of the country , Booker wasn ’ t even up last Friday when Trump , around 1 a.m. , tweeted that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ positive for COVID-19 , setting off a week of chaos and confusion .
Keeping track of the days since that moment , even from the safe remove of a kitchen table , has been a bewildering exercise , with big , unbelievable developments unfolding with rapid speed in small , incremental updates , flitting casually across a screen .
You open Twitter , scroll , then swipe away .
You see the president , newly tanned , talking about China and Regeneron-for-all and how “ perfect ” he feels .
By the time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presidential debate will be held virtually , Donald Trump has already pulled out , and Joe Biden is planning his own televised town hall in its place .
There is a vague sense at all times that , somewhere , someone new has tested positive for the coronavirus .
Perhaps you , too , are experiencing a form of “ insomnia or something.
” Twenty-three days from the election , it is an insane time to be a human in America .
It is another kind of bizarre insanity to be experiencing the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deliberative body in Washington , where at least three Republican senators have contracted COVID-19 while the Majority Leader Mitch McConnell continues to plow ahead with a Supreme Court nomination .
“ I am literally jumping from Zoom to Zoom , to conference call , to SCOTUS prep — I mean , this is a very intense , compressed time for me , ” Booker said .
Usually , he would be surfing Twitter or checking push alerts from the New York Times .
Now Booker ’ s chief of staff , Matt Klapper @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or between meetings “ to let me know , ‘ Hey , this colleague of yours has COVID , ’ ” so that in his next Zoom , “ people aren ’ t telling me the news , ” he said .
“ It is almost comical.
” Booker , a hyperactive former mayor of Newark who is up for reelection this year in the Senate , is living a particular kind of insanity — some of it self-imposed , some not .
He is running at the top of the ticket in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ competitive House races he is “ really committed to helping.
” He is a surrogate for Senate candidates around the country and has dedicated “ chunks ” of his day to virtual events for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris .
In the Senate , he is preparing “ a week of really intense hearings ” for the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett .
He is finding co-sponsors for new bills via text message .
He is checking on friends who have contracted COVID , such as former New Jersey governor Chris Christie @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Booker from the hospital .
“ There 's been a lot of false rumors out there circulating , ” he said .
“ He is fighting through [ that ] as well.
” At the same time , Booker ’ s own campaign is negotiating the terms of a possible debate with his GOP opponent , Rik Mehta , a Trump-styled Republican who , as it turns out , was a guest at the famous Bedminster fundraiser that the president attended hours before announcing he had tested positive for the virus .
( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has never once uttered Mehta ’ s name aloud during his Senate reelection bid , is “ ignoring ” him .
“ I do n't even know who Rick Mehta is , ” the state ’ s Democratic governor , Phil Murphy recently said . )
Also at the same time , Booker just moved in with his significant other .
This is a first for the 51-year-old .
The couple has been dating since 2018 but spent most of the pandemic on separate coasts — Dawson helping take care of her father @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work from Newark .
In late August , with her dad in tow , Dawson loaded an RV with boxes and house plants , and drove the 29-foot-long , 13-foot-tall bus across the country .
She resettled her father in New York City and moved into Booker ’ s home on Longworth Street — a simple house , three stories of yellow-brown brick .
Booker has only ever shared it with the 24-hour security detail assigned to him while he served as mayor of the city — with Newark officers occupying the second @ @ @ @ @ @ @ third .
“ This is the first time in my life I 've really lived with somebody — and obviously Rosario and I are enjoying and adjusting to that , right ?
” he said now .
Whatever “ adjustment ” period might normally take place during such life events has , in this household , been somewhat tabled until Election Day : “ I think we both realize that this is a ‘ batten-down-the-hatches , ’ ‘ get-to-Nov.-3 ’ kinda thing.
” Booker ’ s description of remote work , where days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arbitrary divisions between work and life , takes on its own frenetic pace : mornings with Dawson are short , rare , bursts together in the kitchen table ; evenings are “ crashing with Rosario ” ; small blocks of time in his daily schedule are reserved for “ PERSONAL TIME.
” Dawson , a hard-line progressive who backed Bernie Sanders until the bitter end of the Democratic primary in 2016 before supporting Booker in his own presidential bid last year , is busy with her own Zoom calls .
“ She 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of us needed silence , so I 'm in my office , trying to talk more quietly than I normally do on my Zoom , and she 's in the other room recording a long PSA for Iowa congressional candidate J.D .
Sholten , in Spanish .
It 's happened multiple times , where we both just need quiet because we 're both doing reams of work .
So I think we ’ re both bonding in that.
” She ’ s unpacked her clothes and immediate belongings .
But elsewhere in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be opened .
“ We already know we 're not gon na get to it until after the election , ” he said .
Meetings and calls began again after breakfast : a conference call with reporters for the Biden campaign ahead of Harris ’ s debate against Vice President Mike Pence ; fundraising “ call time ” ; a Supreme Court prep call ; more pre-recorded videos .
“ In some ways , the unique circumstances of this year have enabled Sen. Booker to do more events for more candidates , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ single day in August where he did a virtual tour of the country , joining six Democratic candidates for events in states ranging from Virginia , to Pennsylvania , Colorado , and Nevada .
From Booker , this is not a surprising approach .
His tendency is to meet an intense moment by redoubling his own intensity , which can overwhelm his staff and occasionally overcomplicate any given situation .
As mayor , he worked from City Hall during the day and shadowed police patrols through the night .
As senator , after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some of the stories he told on the campaign trail , he wrote a memoir in part to excavate his own life , collecting “ recorded testimony ” from various “ sources ” to corroborate his biography .

Cory Booker couldn’t sleep. “Insomnia or something,” an aide explained.
And so this Wednesday, the back-to-back Zoom marathon-slash-maelstrom that is a typical day inside the senator’s house, a multifamily home in Newark’s Central Ward that he now shares with his girlfriend, the actor and activist Rosario Dawson, began in the dark, before dawn, around 5:50 a.m. He got out of bed, padded to his office, opened his computer, and started recording videos.
There are always videos to do — a backlog of thank-you messages and prerecorded clips for different groups (the Jack and Jill South Jersey chapter, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee) whose events he can’t attend. When Booker’s digital director woke up sometime before 7 a.m., there were 15 videos in his inbox. Next: “text messages and emails, which have piled up considerably.” Next: reading for the Supreme Court hearings set to begin this month.
By then, Dawson was awake. The couple had about 20 minutes together in the kitchen. She made something to eat while Booker, a proponent of intermittent fasting, took out the blender and threw in coffee, pure cacao oil, and organic vegan ghee — his own “bulletproof coffee,” an energy-boosting keto-influencer favorite.
“Breakfast was basically sitting at the table with my cellphone — which is a bad thing to do for a relationship,” Booker said in an interview later that day.
This may be true, but could anyone blame him?
Like most of the country, Booker wasn’t even up last Friday when Trump, around 1 a.m., tweeted that he and the first lady had tested positive for COVID-19, setting off a week of chaos and confusion.
Keeping track of the days since that moment, even from the safe remove of a kitchen table, has been a bewildering exercise, with big, unbelievable developments unfolding with rapid speed in small, incremental updates, flitting casually across a screen. You open Twitter, scroll, then swipe away. You see the president, newly tanned, talking about China and Regeneron-for-all and how “perfect” he feels. By the time you learn that next week’s presidential debate will be held virtually, Donald Trump has already pulled out, and Joe Biden is planning his own televised town hall in its place. There is a vague sense at all times that, somewhere, someone new has tested positive for the coronavirus.
Perhaps you, too, are experiencing a form of “insomnia or something.” Twenty-three days from the election, it is an insane time to be a human in America. It is another kind of bizarre insanity to be experiencing the spiral of government from inside its main deliberative body in Washington, where at least three Republican senators have contracted COVID-19 while the Majority Leader Mitch McConnell continues to plow ahead with a Supreme Court nomination.
“I am literally jumping from Zoom to Zoom, to conference call, to SCOTUS prep — I mean, this is a very intense, compressed time for me,” Booker said. Usually, he would be surfing Twitter or checking push alerts from the New York Times. Now Booker’s chief of staff, Matt Klapper, has had to interrupt him during or between meetings “to let me know, ‘Hey, this colleague of yours has COVID,’” so that in his next Zoom, “people aren’t telling me the news,” he said. “It is almost comical.”
Booker, a hyperactive former mayor of Newark who is up for reelection this year in the Senate, is living a particular kind of insanity — some of it self-imposed, some not. He is running at the top of the ticket in New Jersey, where there are five competitive House races he is “really committed to helping.” He is a surrogate for Senate candidates around the country and has dedicated “chunks” of his day to virtual events for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. In the Senate, he is preparing “a week of really intense hearings” for the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett. He is finding co-sponsors for new bills via text message. He is checking on friends who have contracted COVID, such as former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who has kept in touch with Booker from the hospital. “There's been a lot of false rumors out there circulating,” he said. “He is fighting through [that] as well.”
At the same time, Booker’s own campaign is negotiating the terms of a possible debate with his GOP opponent, Rik Mehta, a Trump-styled Republican who, as it turns out, was a guest at the famous Bedminster fundraiser that the president attended hours before announcing he had tested positive for the virus. (Mehta has claimed that Booker, who has never once uttered Mehta’s name aloud during his Senate reelection bid, is “ignoring” him. “I don't even know who Rick Mehta is,” the state’s Democratic governor, Phil Murphy, recently said.)
Also at the same time, Booker just moved in with his significant other.
This is a first for the 51-year-old. The couple has been dating since 2018 but spent most of the pandemic on separate coasts — Dawson helping take care of her father in Los Angeles, Booker doing Senate work from Newark. In late August, with her dad in tow, Dawson loaded an RV with boxes and house plants, and drove the 29-foot-long, 13-foot-tall bus across the country. She resettled her father in New York City and moved into Booker’s home in the Central Ward — a simple house, three stories of yellow-brown brick. Booker has only ever shared it with the 24-hour security detail assigned to him while he served as mayor of the city — with Newark officers occupying the second floor, and Booker living on the third.
“This is the first time in my life I've really lived with somebody — and obviously Rosario and I are enjoying and adjusting to that, right?” he said now.
Whatever “adjustment” period might normally take place during such life events has, in this household, been somewhat tabled until Election Day: “I think we both realize that this is a ‘batten-down-the-hatches,’ ‘get-to-Nov.-3’ kinda thing.”
Booker’s description of remote work, where days can seem both endless and compressed into arbitrary divisions between work and life, takes on its own frenetic pace: mornings with Dawson are short, rare, bursts together in the kitchen table; evenings are “crashing with Rosario”; small blocks of time in his daily schedule are reserved for “PERSONAL TIME.”
Dawson, a hardline progressive who backed Bernie Sanders until the bitter end of the Democratic primary in 2016 before supporting Booker in his own presidential bid last year, is busy with her own Zoom calls. “She's in the bedroom recording, but both of us needed silence, so I'm in my office, trying to talk more quietly than I normally do on my Zoom, and she's in the other room recording a long PSA for Iowa congressional candidate J.D. Sholten, in Spanish. It's happened multiple times, where we both just need quiet because we're both doing reams of work. So I think we’re both bonding in that.”
She’s unpacked her clothes and immediate belongings. But elsewhere in the house, there are still boxes waiting to be opened.
“We already know we're not gonna get to it until after the election,” he said.
Meetings and calls began again after breakfast: a conference call with reporters for the Biden campaign ahead of Harris’s debate against Vice President Mike Pence; fundraising “call time”; a Supreme Court prep call; more prerecorded videos. “In some ways, the unique circumstances of this year have enabled Sen. Booker to do more events for more candidates,” an aide said, citing a single day in August where he did a virtual tour of the country, joining six Democratic candidates for events in states ranging from Virginia to Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Nevada.
From Booker, this is not a surprising approach. His tendency is to meet an intense moment by redoubling his own intensity, which can overwhelm his staff and occasionally overcomplicate any given situation. As mayor, he worked from City Hall during the day and shadowed police patrols through the night. As senator, after reporters and critics questioned the veracity of some of the stories he told on the campaign trail, he wrote a memoir in part to excavate his own life, collecting “recorded testimony” from various “sources” to corroborate his biography.