buzzfeed--2020-06-12--The CDC Broke Its Three-Month Silence To Tell You To Keep Washing Your Hands

In the first news conference given by the US public health agency since March , CDC officials on Friday asked people to keep washing their hands , staying 6 feet apart , and wearing cloth masks .
`` I know that people are eager to return to normal activities and ways of life .
However , it 's important that we remember that the situation is unprecedented and the pandemic has not ended , '' said CDC Director Robert Redfield .
At the briefing , the CDC also unveiled new guidelines both for returning to daily life , and attending @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus pandemic .
In newly released `` Deciding to Go Out '' guidelines , the agency states , `` There is no way to ensure zero risk of infection . ''
`` In the coming weeks , we could see increases in cases as states reopen , '' the CDC 's Jay Butler said , reiterating calls for safety measures during the ongoing pandemic .
He noted he owned a mask depicting `` grizzly bears and salmon '' to honor his home state of Alaska .
`` The good news is nationally we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — the number of new cases each day has been relatively plateaued over a prolonged period of time , '' Butler added .
A related online survey of adults nationwide in May found that more than 80 % of people surveyed approved of stay-at-home orders , wearing masks , and other safety measures .
Questioners on the briefing were told to keep their queries to the topic of safety measures .
The CDC has largely disappeared from public view since mid-March , giving its last press conference a day before the World Health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic .
In its place , the coronavirus task force headed by Vice President Mike Pence moved to the forefront of the Trump administration pandemic response .
Asked on the call whether political rallies planned by the Trump administration , where President Donald Trump has refused to wear a mask , posed a safety risk under their guidelines , the CDC officials deflected the questions by saying the guidelines applied to all gatherings .
Most states have moved to reopening plans following March and April shutdowns of schools , businesses , and mass @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states such as Arizona , Florida , and South Carolina , concentrated so far in particular counties , have drawn concern , with health officials fearing overwhelmed hospitals if a hotspot erupts with patients .
Butler ascribed these US increases to more widespread testing , noting that this has also helped detect asymptomatic cases missed earlier in the pandemic , as well as continuing outbreaks in nursing homes and among vulnerable populations such as the homeless .
The White House task force , which has halted its own daily press briefings in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ address the rise in cases in reopened states .
More than 2 million COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed in the US , and more than 113,000 Americans have died from the novel coronavirus since the last CDC briefing .
Worldwide , more than 7.5 million cases have been reported and upward of 400,000 people have died , with Brazil , Russia , and India following the US in deaths .

In the first news conference given by the US public health agency since March, CDC officials on Friday asked people to keep washing their hands, staying 6 feet apart, and wearing cloth masks.
"I know that people are eager to return to normal activities and ways of life. However, it's important that we remember that the situation is unprecedented and the pandemic has not ended," said CDC Director Robert Redfield.
At the briefing, the CDC also unveiled new guidelines both for returning to daily life, and attending or hosting events and gatherings amid the coronavirus pandemic. In newly released "Deciding to Go Out" guidelines, the agency states, "There is no way to ensure zero risk of infection."
"In the coming weeks, we could see increases in cases as states reopen," the CDC's Jay Butler said, reiterating calls for safety measures during the ongoing pandemic. He noted he owned a mask depicting "grizzly bears and salmon" to honor his home state of Alaska.
"The good news is nationally we have been successful in flattening the curve — the number of new cases each day has been relatively plateaued over a prolonged period of time," Butler added.
A related online survey of adults nationwide in May found that more than 80% of people surveyed approved of stay-at-home orders, wearing masks, and other safety measures.
Questioners on the briefing were told to keep their queries to the topic of safety measures. The CDC has largely disappeared from public view since mid-March, giving its last press conference a day before the World Health Organization declared the spread of COVID-19 a pandemic. In its place, the coronavirus task force headed by Vice President Mike Pence moved to the forefront of the Trump administration pandemic response.
Asked on the call whether political rallies planned by the Trump administration, where President Donald Trump has refused to wear a mask, posed a safety risk under their guidelines, the CDC officials deflected the questions by saying the guidelines applied to all gatherings.
Most states have moved to reopening plans following March and April shutdowns of schools, businesses, and mass events. Recent surges in cases in states such as Arizona, Florida, and South Carolina, concentrated so far in particular counties, have drawn concern, with health officials fearing overwhelmed hospitals if a hotspot erupts with patients.
Butler ascribed these US increases to more widespread testing, noting that this has also helped detect asymptomatic cases missed earlier in the pandemic, as well as continuing outbreaks in nursing homes and among vulnerable populations such as the homeless.
The White House task force, which has halted its own daily press briefings in the last month, has largely failed to address the rise in cases in reopened states.
More than 2 million COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed in the US, and more than 113,000 Americans have died from the novel coronavirus since the last CDC briefing. Worldwide, more than 7.5 million cases have been reported and upward of 400,000 people have died, with Brazil, Russia, and India following the US in deaths.


buzzfeed--2020-06-12--Many Police Departments Have Software That Can Identify People In Crowds

As protesters demand an end to police brutality and the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the nation , police departments around the country are using software that can track and identify people in crowds from surveillance footage — often with little to no public oversight or knowledge .
Dozens of cities around the country are using BriefCam , which sells software that allows police to comb through surveillance footage to monitor protests and enforce social distancing , and almost all of these cities have hosted protests against police brutality in the weeks since George Floyd was killed in police custody , BuzzFeed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cities using BriefCam ’ s technology — such as New Orleans and St. Paul — have been the site of extreme police violence , with officers using rubber bullets , tear gas , and batons on protesters .
Authorities in Chicago ; Boston ; Detroit ; Denver ; Doral , Florida ; Hartford , Connecticut ; and Santa Fe County , New Mexico have also used it .
Some cities said they were not using BriefCam in conjunction with the protests or the pandemic .
The St. Paul Police Department told BuzzFeed News @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to detect social distancing or face masks ” or “ for crowd detection/monitoring protests.
” The department representative did not respond when asked if there is department policy that prevents it .
BriefCam shows the line between contact tracing , policing , and surveillance can be thin — as cities can spend tens of thousands of dollars for powerful technology , with few restrictions on how police can use it .
BriefCam did not return multiple requests for comment or respond to a detailed list of questions .
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden raised @ @ @ @ @ @ @ telling BuzzFeed News , “ This product appears to offer exactly the kind of indiscriminate surveillance that makes so many Americans concerned about government use of facial recognition technology.
” `` Congress should step in and block the use of facial recognition by police in this manner until there are ironclad rules to protect against inaccurate discriminatory algorithms and misuse , '' Wyden added .
`` This company should be held responsible for any and all harm that springs from misidentifications as the company is knowingly marketing a product that can not provide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Founded in 2007 by Hebrew University researchers and now owned by camera company Canon , the Israel-based company sells a system called “ Protect & Insights ” that lets police and private companies filter hours of closed circuit television and home surveillance and create excerpts of a few relevant moments .
Protect & Insights has built-in facial recognition and license plate reader searches , and lets police create “ Watch Lists ” of faces and license plates .
The company also said its tool could filter out “ men , women , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , animals , size , color , speed , path , direction , dwell time , and more.
” This month , BriefCam launched a new “ Proximity Identification '' feature , which it marketed as a way to combat the COVID-19 pandemic .
The company claimed it could gauge the distance between individuals , detect who is wearing a mask and who is n't , and identify crowds and bottlenecks .
In a brochure , BriefCam said that these features could be combined with facial recognition to determine the identities of people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Advanced multi-camera search powerfully identifies men , women and children in video with speed and precision , ” BriefCam claims on its website .
“ Accurate face recognition can be leveraged to rapidly pinpoint people of interest using digital images extracted from the video or from external sources .
”

It’s unclear if BriefCam can do everything it claims. The company is not a registered vendor of facial recognition software through the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which evaluates facial recognition vendors that are operating worldwide. BriefCam representatives have also never conducted any of the University of Washington’s MegaFace tests, commonly used to assess the accuracy of facial recognition software, according to a list of vendors that downloaded a MegaFace dataset as of February 2020, obtained via public record request.
However, the company has made stunning claims about its ability to parse video footage and extract information about people captured on camera. And police departments have a large appetite for what the company claims to offer: “real-time” crime intelligence, and the ability to "react preventively and proactively” to information” and help in ”reducing the crime rate, spurring economic growth, and enabling situational awareness.”
City governments around the country have paid significant amounts of money to use BriefCam. Denver paid more than $250,000 for BriefCam licenses in 2019. Tulare County, California paid over $119,000 for BriefCam. When Springfield, Massachusetts, paid Motorola $1 million for "hardware, software and radio system upgrades" in 2018, BriefCam was part of the package. Motorola is one of BriefCam's biggest investors, although BriefCam was acquired by Canon in 2018 for a reported $90 million.
Some of the biggest police departments in the country have used BriefCam. The Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, DC, where law enforcement has unleashed some of the most severe violence on protesters in the country, paid for BriefCam in 2015. An MPD spokesperson told BuzzFeed News the department did not currently use it, but did not say when it had stopped.
A spokesperson for Arlington, Texas, which paid $76,000 for BriefCam in 2019, told BuzzFeed News that its police department only used BriefCam for criminal investigations. “We do NOT use the program for social distancing, face mask, to monitor protests, or any other reasons,” the spokesperson said. But there is a department policy that prevents these applications of the technology, according to the spokesperson.
Police departments outside the US have also used BriefCam, including the Abu Dhabi Monitoring & Control Centre, the Paris Police Prefecture, the Indonesian National Police, the Singapore Police Force, and the Royal Thai Police, according to the company. BriefCam’s technology was also used in Brazil at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and the Boston Police Department said they used it to investigate the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.
BriefCam isn’t always used or managed by a city or county’s local police department. A representative for the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department — a county that paid for BriefCam as a part of a Motorola services package in 2016 — said that the county Regional Emergency Communication Center manages BriefCam, not the sheriff’s department. But the RECC is still a law enforcement agency.
Other cities that have paid for BriefCam include Beverly Hills, California; Overland Park, Kansas; Miami Gardens, Florida, according to the company, as well as Lawrence, Kansas, in 2020; Inglewood, California, and Glendale, Arizona, in 2018; and Coral Gables, Florida in 2016.
“Our primary use of BriefCam has been reviewing large segments of recorded video to locate a suspect or find an event,” an Overland Park Police Department representative told BuzzFeed News. “If we need to review 24 hours of video to locate someone or an offense we can usually get through that in about 20 to 30 minutes with BriefCam. This is a huge time saver for the PD making us much more productive.”
San Diego; Mooresville, North Carolina; Lansing, Michigan, and West Hollywood, California, have all considered BriefCam recently, but it’s unclear if they followed through with contracts.
There are currently no federal guidelines restricting the use of video analytics, license plate reader, and facial recognition software offered by companies like BriefCam. Neema Singh Guliani a senior legislative counsel with the ACLU said that city governments often acquire these technologies without public oversight or debate.
“If something is for a public health purpose, like contact tracing, there’s no need for it to be secret,” Singh Guliani said. “The fact that there hasn’t been that proactive transparency I think is a giant red flag, and I think it raises questions about whether it will contribute to the deterioration in trust of public health efforts more broadly.”


buzzfeed--2020-06-12--Trump Thinks The Protests Will Help Him Win Like Nixon. That’s Unlikely.

George Floyd ’ s memorial was held in Minneapolis today , and all four former officers involved in his death have now been charged with crimes .
The cast of Brooklyn Nine-Nine has donated $ 100,000 to help bail out people arrested for protesting police brutality .
K-pop stans are fighting for good , yet again .
And we have the New York Times ’ Jamelle Bouie with us to discuss why the protests on the streets don ’ t mean it ’ s 1968 again — and why the comparison doesn ’ t work the way Trump wants it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tom Cotton 's very controversial op-ed . )
You can listen to today 's News O'Clock above , or also on : Or wherever else you listen to your favorite podcasts .
Lastly , if you have thoughts on Trump 's response to protests , or want to share your favorite K-pop tweet , or have anything at all that you want to tell us , feel free to send us an email : newsoclock @ buzzfeed.com !
You can either write down your brilliant opinion OR , even better , record it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ email it to us or DM us on Twitter — we ’ re @ NewsOClock .

George Floyd’s memorial was held in Minneapolis today, and all four former officers involved in his death have now been charged with crimes.
The cast of Brooklyn Nine-Nine has donated $100,000 to help bail out people arrested for protesting police brutality.
K-pop stans are fighting for good, yet again.
And we have the New York Times’ Jamelle Bouie with us to discuss why the protests on the streets don’t mean it’s 1968 again — and why the comparison doesn’t work the way Trump wants it to. (Oh, and also Tom Cotton's very controversial op-ed.)
You can listen to today's News O'Clock above, or also on:
The iHeartRadio app
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Google Podcasts
Or wherever else you listen to your favorite podcasts.
Lastly, if you have thoughts on Trump's response to protests, or want to share your favorite K-pop tweet, or have anything at all that you want to tell us, feel free to send us an email: newsoclock@buzzfeed.com! You can either write down your brilliant opinion OR, even better, record it as a voice memo. You can email it to us or DM us on Twitter — we’re @NewsOClock.


buzzfeed--2020-06-13--The CDC Broke Its Three-Month Silence To Tell You To Keep Washing Your Hands


buzzfeed--2020-06-13--Joe Biden Says He’s A “Bridge” To The Future. Younger Democrats Want To Know What Will Be On The Oth

Joe Biden Says He’s A “Bridge” To The Future. Younger Democrats Want To Know What Will Be On The Other Side.

“ I think the real key to it is to radically upend your notions of a typical life experience — not just because he ’ s the former vice president , but because of what a young person is facing today.
” The idea of Joe Biden for president requires squaring his past with the future .
The Senate votes that aged poorly , the eulogies that would be unthinkable if he delivered them in 2020 , the fact he ’ ll be 78 years old on inauguration day — all of these tie into tensions that hampered him at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now that Biden is the presumptive nominee , they are a reminder that the problems of the present could well outlive him .
So it mattered in early March when Biden shared a stage with Michigan Gov .
Gretchen Whitmer and Sens .
Cory Booker and Kamala Harris and told a Detroit crowd that the trio of Generation X-ers represented the future .
“ I view myself as a bridge , ” Biden said , “ not as anything else.
” It was a moment of self-awareness for a candidate who said he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ torch ” when a millennial rival prevailed on him to pass it during a debate the previous summer .
After a half-century in public life , Biden was now claiming a responsibility to elevate new voices and to empower new leaders .
In doing so , he created more questions than he answered .
Biden sees himself as a transitional figure .
But as a transition to what ?
Which leaders , with what ideas ?
Does his view of a bridge mean those who practice similarly moderate politics but of a different @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a transformational gateway into the ideas of the young left ?
When Biden talks about the next generation , does he mean Cabinet roles for younger leaders , or trying to appeal to younger voters ?
Does he mean a vice president ?
He has promised to pick a woman , and Harris , 55 , and Whitmer , 48 , are among those being considered .
He also has signaled that he ’ s approaching the choice like Barack Obama did before selecting Biden to be his running mate in 2008 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ then , no one saw him on the other side of the generational bridge that Obama , a young Baby Boomer , seemed to represent at the time .
The COVID-19 pandemic and the recent nationwide protests that serve as a demand to address systemic racism give these questions about the direction of Biden ’ s potential presidency — its aims and possibilities — even more urgency and weight .
Interviews with more than a dozen Democratic officeholders and activists , most of them under 40 and many of them leaders of color @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hopes but no overarching consensus .
( Most spoke with BuzzFeed News in the days before the death late last month of George Floyd , an unarmed Black man whose neck was crushed under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer . )
To some , Biden ’ s eight years under Obama , and the fact that he ’ s not President Donald Trump , who has exacerbated racial tensions , are a sturdy foundation — the promise of a return to moral and dignified leadership , if not the “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ offered during the primaries .
“ He ’ s a good man , ” Randall Woodfin , the 39-year-old mayor of Birmingham , Alabama , who endorsed Biden before the first caucuses and primaries , told BuzzFeed News .
“ I think he can rightset some of the things that have happened.
” To others , being Not Trump is not enough .
“ If that ’ s really what he is , a bridge , then he really needs to be setting the groundwork , so whoever comes next can get these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said Sarah Audelo , 36 , who served as Hillary Clinton ’ s millennial vote director in 2016 and is now the executive director of the progressive voter mobilization group Alliance for Youth Action .
“ Not being Trump should be a low threshold for us.
” As the pandemic has continued and especially since Floyd ’ s death , Biden has shown an interest in being more .
In a nationally televised speech last week , he spoke of leading the next generation to reverse systemic racism .
He has begun pondering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agenda .
And he ’ s been using words like “ revolutionary , ” an unsubtle flare that invoked the message of Sen. Bernie Sanders , a dispatched rival with a devoted following among young liberal voters .
“ I don ’ t think Biden ’ s age has to necessarily be the limitation on him being a transformational leader , but it ’ s going to be up to the decisions he makes and those directing him make , ” said Chokwe Lumumba , the 37-year-old mayor of Jackson , Mississippi , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s primary .
“ We can ’ t play it safe and assume the energy around Donald Trump will go away.
” During a New York fundraiser one year ago this month , Biden boasted of his working relationships with two segregationist senators .
Ten days later , at the first Democratic debate in Miami , Kamala Harris turned Biden ’ s fond memory into a two-fisted attack that included Biden ’ s opposition to federally mandated busing as a means to integrate schools in the 1970s .
“ I do not believe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground , ” Harris , who is Black and was 8-years-old when Biden was first elected to the Senate , told her then-rival .
“ But I also believe — and it ’ s personal — it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country .
It was not only that , but you also worked with them to oppose busing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bused to school every day .
And that little girl was me.
” Biden fumbled his way through a response before cutting himself off mid-thought : “ Anyway , my time is up.
” The exchange was a flashpoint of the summer and for a while seemed like a deep , perhaps insurmountable , difference between Biden and Harris .
The Democrats have since become allies — she is considered a strong contender for the vice presidential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Biden ’ s record endures .
The crises of Biden ’ s own generation revolved around the civil unrest , racism , and political assassinations of the 1960s , the Vietnam War , and Watergate .
The crises of the last 20 years have landed harshly and urgently on today ’ s youth : 9/11 , two wars , the 2008 financial collapse , rampant gun violence and school shootings , the unanswered threat of climate change , the deteriorating relationship between police and communities of color , and now a pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a matter of months .
And the young leaders now are even antsier than Biden was then .
Elizabeth Brown , 36 , is a member of the city council in Columbus , Ohio , a rising Democratic star in the state , and a second-generation public official .
( Her father , Sen. Sherrod Brown , briefly entertained a run for president last year . )
“ I think the real key to it , ” she said , “ is to radically upend your notions of a typical life experience @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the former vice president , but because of what a young person is facing today.
” Biden ’ s campaign is trying to activate younger voters through the recently launched League 46 , an organization of students , young professionals , and young officeholders supporting him .
The initiative has prompted some snickers , from its baseball metaphors and imagery — baseball is not a sport that ’ s particularly popular among millennials or Gen Z-ers — to the cohorts involved .
“ Every time I think about League 46 , I just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the youth voting activist .
“ It ’ s so frustrating .
It makes me worry they are only surrounding themselves with people from those groups.
” Pete Buttigieg , the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend , Indiana , is among those who have participated in League 46 events .
In his own presidential bid , Buttigieg proved himself to be one of the party ’ s most talented fundraisers and a thoughtful observer of political history .
He saw his candidacy in the mold of Jimmy Carter and Obama — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And when Buttigieg endorsed Biden in March , barely 24 hours after deciding to end his campaign , he quickly earned the highest praise Biden could offer .
“ I don ’ t think I ’ ve ever done this before , but he reminds me of my son , Beau , ” Biden , with Buttigieg at his side , told a crowd gathered that night at a fried chicken restaurant in Dallas .
“ If Pete had been around another six years , I wouldn ’ t be standing here , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ d be endorsing Pete.
” Biden ’ s comparison of Buttigieg to his elder son — a former Delaware attorney general and heir to the Biden torch before he died of brain cancer in 2015 — was “ extremely touching , of course … knowing how Beau ’ s memory is present in everything that he does and in his campaign , ” Buttigieg said in an interview .
The moment also reflected how Biden ’ s vision of the future is often rooted around people more than policies , a vision more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Buttigieg promised generational change while often reflecting on past political eras and wrestling with his own place on the ideological spectrum .
His moderate positions on several policy issues aligned him more closely with Biden than with Sanders or Warren .
( Despite his youth , Buttigieg also polled better among older voters . )
He believes Biden , given the crises of today , could have a mandate for more progressive action .
“ Moments of extreme pain or extreme inequality have often led to a progressive period , certainly the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last time we saw this level of inequality , and in some ways the ‘ 60s , which is the last time we saw this level of upheaval , ” Buttigieg said .
“ One friend described what we ’ re going through as a country as the universe sort of punishing us for ever telling our parents we envied them living in the ‘ 60s and all the excitement from that period , ” he added .
“ The truth is those moments of upheaval , you know we look back on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ awful in many ways .
I think that ’ s what we ’ re seeing now.
” Millennial and Gen Z voters , born between 1981 and 1999 , were more partial to Sanders , 78 , and Warren , 70 , not because they were from a younger generation , but in part because they responded to a younger generation ’ s calls for free college and health care and an aggressive approach to climate change .
“ ‘ Big Structural Change ’ is probably pretty nerdy , ” said Brown , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s campaign slogan when asked what she hopes to see from Biden .
“ But I have to tell you , that makes my heart sing.
” Biden hasn ’ t gone quite so far , at least not yet .
Since March , though , he has tiptoed to the left on college affordability , an issue that resonated with Sanders and Warren backers .
First , he reversed his long opposition to a Warren plan that would forgive student loan debt for people in bankruptcy .
And after becoming the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ relieving undergraduate student loan debt for those making less than $ 125,000 a year if they attended a public college or university , or a school that primarily serves people of color .
He also has endorsed tuition-free college for families with annual incomes up to $ 125,000 .
“ To me , if you really want to build that bridge , you do it around three or four issues that animate the people who expect to be living through them over the next 50 to 60 years , ” said PG Sittenfeld @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cincinnati who initially supported Warren and listed climate change , college affordability , criminal justice reform , and gun violence as the most pressing issues facing his generation .
After Sanders dropped out and quickly endorsed Biden , the former rivals created “ unity task forces ” in several policy areas .
One cross-generational alliance features Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , the 30-year-old Sanders acolyte pushing for a Green New Deal , and John Kerry , the 76-year-old former secretary of state , as co-chairs of the climate committee .
It ’ s a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and insider — and a sign that Biden is willing to outsource policymaking in a way that draws from different experiences and pleases rival party factions .
What this leads to or results in is another question entirely .
If there ’ s an ideological impasse , or a disagreement that breaks down along generational lines , does Biden try to split the difference and call it a compromise ?
Will these task forces lead to anything at all ?
Several young Democrats said they have been encouraged by Biden ’ s outreach @ @ @ @ @ @ @ representative in Pennsylvania and early Biden supporter and surrogate , cited an authenticity factor — and Biden ’ s well-documented ability to emote .
“ I say all the time that Joe Biden ’ s superpower is to empathize , ” Kenyatta said .
“ What all communities are looking for , in particular younger communities , is for someone who actually gives a fuck about them.
” Jason Kander , 39 , the former Missouri secretary of state who lost a US Senate bid in 2016 , said he found Biden humble @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ What I think is laudable , and what I think is going to connect with millennials , is he hasn ’ t been afraid to say when he doesn ’ t know something , and that ’ s a big contrast with Trump , ” said Jason Kander , 39 , the former Missouri secretary of state who lost a US Senate bid in 2016 .
“ Vice President Biden is a white man in his 70s and he doesn ’ t pretend , therefore , that he understands the experiences @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Buttigieg understands the tension among progressive factions in the party .
“ We have been pinned between two kinds of incomplete models for where we want America to go , ” he said .
“ One is looking across the Atlantic to European social democracy and wanting the outcomes that many Europeans enjoy to exist for Americans , too , but I think we see why it won ’ t be the same here .
And then the other model is to look at the past , look to the New Deal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and see how much of that can be recovered .
But neither of those is totally going to meet the moment here .
We need something that ’ s uniquely American , and we need something that ’ s uniquely 2020.
” Of Biden ’ s vice presidential prospects , only Rep. Val Demings of Florida agreed to be interviewed for this story and discuss what a bridge to the future means to her .
Demings , 63 , borrowed a line from Rep. James Clyburn , 79 , a Biden ally in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ VP search .
“ It ’ s about making this country ’ s greatness accessible to everyone , ” she said .
“ It ’ s about not leaving 99 % of the people out , certainly not leaving our youth out .
I think there ’ s only one person who wants to be president who believes that.
” “ We need to include young people in big decisions , ” Demings added .
“ We need to hang out with them , learn from them , listen to them.
” Hanging @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , though .
“ What you will find from a younger generation of leadership is they do n't want to only be in the car , they want to take a leg of the drive , ” said Lumumba , the Jackson mayor .
“ They want to hold the wheel.
” And yet , Biden might not need young voters to beat Trump .
He ’ s not doing much worse than Clinton did with them in 2016 , though Clinton of course lost the Electoral College .
But he doesn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Z-ers who believe in the policies advanced by Sanders and Warren .
“ We ’ ve got to make sure that this crisis does n't rob them of the opportunities that they 've been working so damn hard for , ” he said during a virtual fundraiser in late April .
This month , during a League 46 virtual town hall with young voters hosted by the actor Don Cheadle , who is 55 , Biden tied the recent crises together and talked of turning anguish into purpose .
A moment later , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Your generation , ” Biden said , “ has gotten a real kick in the teeth.
” ●

The idea of Joe Biden for president requires squaring his past with the future.
The Senate votes that aged poorly, the eulogies that would be unthinkable if he delivered them in 2020, the fact he’ll be 78 years old on inauguration day — all of these tie into tensions that hampered him at points during the Democratic primaries. And now that Biden is the presumptive nominee, they are a reminder that the problems of the present could well outlive him.
So it mattered in early March when Biden shared a stage with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris and told a Detroit crowd that the trio of Generation X-ers represented the future. “I view myself as a bridge,” Biden said, “not as anything else.”
It was a moment of self-awareness for a candidate who said he was “still holding on to that torch” when a millennial rival prevailed on him to pass it during a debate the previous summer. After a half-century in public life, Biden was now claiming a responsibility to elevate new voices and to empower new leaders. In doing so, he created more questions than he answered.
Biden sees himself as a transitional figure. But as a transition to what? Which leaders, with what ideas? Does his view of a bridge mean those who practice similarly moderate politics but of a different generation, or would his presidency be a transformational gateway into the ideas of the young left?
When Biden talks about the next generation, does he mean Cabinet roles for younger leaders, or trying to appeal to younger voters? Does he mean a vice president? He has promised to pick a woman, and Harris, 55, and Whitmer, 48, are among those being considered. He also has signaled that he’s approaching the choice like Barack Obama did before selecting Biden to be his running mate in 2008. But given Biden’s age even then, no one saw him on the other side of the generational bridge that Obama, a young Baby Boomer, seemed to represent at the time.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the recent nationwide protests that serve as a demand to address systemic racism give these questions about the direction of Biden’s potential presidency — its aims and possibilities — even more urgency and weight. Interviews with more than a dozen Democratic officeholders and activists, most of them under 40 and many of them leaders of color, yielded a range of expectations and hopes but no overarching consensus. (Most spoke with BuzzFeed News in the days before the death late last month of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man whose neck was crushed under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer.)
To some, Biden’s eight years under Obama, and the fact that he’s not President Donald Trump, who has exacerbated racial tensions, are a sturdy foundation — the promise of a return to moral and dignified leadership, if not the “Big Structural Change” Sen. Elizabeth Warren offered during the primaries. “He’s a good man,” Randall Woodfin, the 39-year-old mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, who endorsed Biden before the first caucuses and primaries, told BuzzFeed News. “I think he can rightset some of the things that have happened.”
To others, being Not Trump is not enough. “If that’s really what he is, a bridge, then he really needs to be setting the groundwork, so whoever comes next can get these policies over the finish line,” said Sarah Audelo, 36, who served as Hillary Clinton’s millennial vote director in 2016 and is now the executive director of the progressive voter mobilization group Alliance for Youth Action. “Not being Trump should be a low threshold for us.”
As the pandemic has continued and especially since Floyd’s death, Biden has shown an interest in being more. In a nationally televised speech last week, he spoke of leading the next generation to reverse systemic racism. He has begun pondering aloud the need for a more aggressive agenda. And he’s been using words like “revolutionary,” an unsubtle flare that invoked the message of Sen. Bernie Sanders, a dispatched rival with a devoted following among young liberal voters.
“I don’t think Biden’s age has to necessarily be the limitation on him being a transformational leader, but it’s going to be up to the decisions he makes and those directing him make,” said Chokwe Lumumba, the 37-year-old mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, who endorsed Sanders before his state’s primary. “We can’t play it safe and assume the energy around Donald Trump will go away.”


buzzfeed--2020-06-14--Joe Biden Says He’s A “Bridge” To The Future. Younger Democrats Want To Know What Will Be On The Oth


buzzfeed--2020-06-15--Trump Is Taking Away Transgender Healthcare Protections Created Under Obamacare

The Trump administration further stripped away protections for the LGBTQ community Friday by allowing health providers to deny service to transgender people .
The Department of Health and Human Services ’ final rule would narrow the scope of the ACA ’ s Section 1557 , which bans discrimination based on race , color , national origin , sex , age , and disability in health programs that receive federal funding .
In 2016 the Obama administration tried to extend protection to trans people by changing the definition of discrimination by sex to include “ one ’ s internal sense of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up in the courts .
The Trump administration ’ s new rule removes gender identity as a form of sex discrimination .
This means HHS will not punish healthcare providers or insurance companies that discriminate against patients simply for being transgender — nor will the agency have any regulation saying that sort of discrimination is illegal .
The regulation , first proposed as a draft rule in May 2019 , limits the way discrimination “ on the basis of sex ” is defined in healthcare settings .
The new rule also provides a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to provide abortion services because of their religious beliefs .
Under the 2016 rule , such exemptions would be considered on a case-by-case basis where religious beliefs were weighed against other factors .
An analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that this change means people in need of abortion services could be denied , delayed , or discouraged from seeking necessary care , placing them at risk of serious or life-threatening harm in emergency cases where a person has limited access to healthcare providers .
NARAL Pro-Choice America released a statement calling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ move to strip LGBTQ people of protection from healthcare discrimination .
“ This rule will hurt Americans and fall hardest on people who already face barriers to accessing healthcare , ” the group said .
“ The cruelty of this administration knows no bounds.
” Although the new regulation reflects the administration 's opinion about the scope of antidiscrimination law , specifically concerning sex , it does not prevent a victim from suing in court .
Transgender plaintiffs have prevailed in numerous recent sex discrimination lawsuits involving education and workplaces .
When the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to challenge the final rule in federal court — so lawsuits now appear likely .
Since Trump ’ s first months in office , his administration has taken dozens of regulatory steps and court actions to legalize discrimination against LGBTQ people and limit reproductive rights — including arguing that stores can turn away customers for being gay even when state laws prohibit it .
Often , the administration has invoked the notion of “ religious freedom ” to advance these aims , contending moral objections trump federal nondiscrimination protections and allow people to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its latest regulation , HHS is asserting that bans on sex discrimination should be interpreted narrowly , which the Justice Department is also arguing in cases about employment currently before the Supreme Court .
When Congress passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010 , lawmakers included Section 1557 to establish nondiscrimination protections in healthcare services and insurance by referring to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and other civil rights laws — but it left the specifics up to future rule-making .
HHS under then-president Barack Obama fleshed out those details @ @ @ @ @ @ @ IX ’ s ban on sex discrimination included discrimination on the basis of gender identity and termination of pregnancy .
The rule essentially prevented medical workers , insurers , or organizations from discriminating against transgender patients for any services — including transition-related care — and against women who have had or are seeking abortions in some circumstances .
A federal judge had blocked the Obama-era regulation at the end of 2016 , and shortly after Trump took office , his administration announced plans to rewrite it .
Pertaining to abortion care , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health insurer or organization provided the same types of procedures for both abortions and nonabortion services .
For example , a procedure called “ dilation and evacuation ” is used both in miscarriage care and abortion care .
If a Catholic hospital provided this service for miscarriages , for example , it would also have to provide it for abortions .
The rule affected the vast majority of healthcare workers because it applied to any hospitals , doctors , or clinics that accept federal reimbursement or remunerations , like Medicare or Medicaid payments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ participate in the health insurance market .
A group of states led by Texas , joined by several organizations , sued the Obama administration in a remote Texas district with only one presiding judge , who blocked the rule , so it never took effect .
After Trump took office , HHS indicated that it would reverse the regulation in order to make the lawsuit moot .
The dispute is at the heart of a much larger national debate over what “ sex ” means : sex as identified by birth , gender @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conservatives have insisted that if lawmakers intended for sex discrimination laws to address transgender people , they would have written such language explicitly into the bills , as they did in the Violence Against Women Act .
“ When Congress prohibited sex discrimination , it did so according to the plain meaning of the term , and we are making our regulations conform , ” Roger Severino , director of HHS 's Office for Civil Rights , said in a statement in May 2019 about the draft rule .
HHS added in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ returning to the government ’ s longstanding interpretation of ‘ sex ’ under the ordinary meaning of the word Congress used.
” But several courts have found that federal bans on “ discrimination because of sex ” cover bias over sexual orientation and gender identity as forms of illegal sex discrimination .
For instance , several federal courts have ruled that trans people endured bias because their gender identities differed from their sex at birth , or they didn ’ t conform to gender stereotypes for someone of their birth sex .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ definition of “ biological sex ” in March 2019 when the Defense Department released a policy banning most transgender people from the military .
The policy defined “ biological sex ” as a “ person 's biological status as male or based on chromosomes , gonads , hormones , and genitals . ''

The Trump administration further stripped away protections for the LGBTQ community Friday by allowing health providers to deny service to transgender people.
The Department of Health and Human Services’ final rule would narrow the scope of the ACA’s Section 1557, which bans discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, and disability in health programs that receive federal funding.
In 2016 the Obama administration tried to extend protection to trans people by changing the definition of discrimination by sex to include “one’s internal sense of gender.” That rule has been tied up in the courts.
The Trump administration’s new rule removes gender identity as a form of sex discrimination. This means HHS will not punish healthcare providers or insurance companies that discriminate against patients simply for being transgender — nor will the agency have any regulation saying that sort of discrimination is illegal.
The regulation, first proposed as a draft rule in May 2019, limits the way discrimination “on the basis of sex” is defined in healthcare settings.
The new rule also provides a blanket exemption to health providers who refuse to provide abortion services because of their religious beliefs.
Under the 2016 rule, such exemptions would be considered on a case-by-case basis where religious beliefs were weighed against other factors. An analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that this change means people in need of abortion services could be denied, delayed, or discouraged from seeking necessary care, placing them at risk of serious or life-threatening harm in emergency cases where a person has limited access to healthcare providers.
NARAL Pro-Choice America released a statement calling the rule change an “unconscionable” move to strip LGBTQ people of protection from healthcare discrimination.
“This rule will hurt Americans and fall hardest on people who already face barriers to accessing healthcare,” the group said. “The cruelty of this administration knows no bounds.”
Although the new regulation reflects the administration's opinion about the scope of antidiscrimination law, specifically concerning sex, it does not prevent a victim from suing in court. Transgender plaintiffs have prevailed in numerous recent sex discrimination lawsuits involving education and workplaces.
When the draft rule was released, critics vowed to challenge the final rule in federal court — so lawsuits now appear likely.
Since Trump’s first months in office, his administration has taken dozens of regulatory steps and court actions to legalize discrimination against LGBTQ people and limit reproductive rights — including arguing that stores can turn away customers for being gay even when state laws prohibit it. Often, the administration has invoked the notion of “religious freedom” to advance these aims, contending moral objections trump federal nondiscrimination protections and allow people to circumvent state civil rights laws.
In its latest regulation, HHS is asserting that bans on sex discrimination should be interpreted narrowly, which the Justice Department is also arguing in cases about employment currently before the Supreme Court.
When Congress passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, lawmakers included Section 1557 to establish nondiscrimination protections in healthcare services and insurance by referring to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and other civil rights laws — but it left the specifics up to future rule-making. HHS under then-president Barack Obama fleshed out those details in a 2016 regulation that asserted Title IX’s ban on sex discrimination included discrimination on the basis of gender identity and termination of pregnancy.
The rule essentially prevented medical workers, insurers, or organizations from discriminating against transgender patients for any services — including transition-related care — and against women who have had or are seeking abortions in some circumstances.
A federal judge had blocked the Obama-era regulation at the end of 2016, and shortly after Trump took office, his administration announced plans to rewrite it.
Pertaining to abortion care, the 2016 nondiscrimination clause applied only when a health insurer or organization provided the same types of procedures for both abortions and nonabortion services. For example, a procedure called “dilation and evacuation” is used both in miscarriage care and abortion care. If a Catholic hospital provided this service for miscarriages, for example, it would also have to provide it for abortions.
The rule affected the vast majority of healthcare workers because it applied to any hospitals, doctors, or clinics that accept federal reimbursement or remunerations, like Medicare or Medicaid payments. It also affected insurance companies that participate in the health insurance market.
A group of states led by Texas, joined by several organizations, sued the Obama administration in a remote Texas district with only one presiding judge, who blocked the rule, so it never took effect. After Trump took office, HHS indicated that it would reverse the regulation in order to make the lawsuit moot.
The dispute is at the heart of a much larger national debate over what “sex” means: sex as identified by birth, gender identity, or other factors.
Many conservatives have insisted that if lawmakers intended for sex discrimination laws to address transgender people, they would have written such language explicitly into the bills, as they did in the Violence Against Women Act.
“When Congress prohibited sex discrimination, it did so according to the plain meaning of the term, and we are making our regulations conform,” Roger Severino, director of HHS's Office for Civil Rights, said in a statement in May 2019 about the draft rule. HHS added in a fact sheet that the rule is “returning to the government’s longstanding interpretation of ‘sex’ under the ordinary meaning of the word Congress used.”
But several courts have found that federal bans on “discrimination because of sex” cover bias over sexual orientation and gender identity as forms of illegal sex discrimination. For instance, several federal courts have ruled that trans people endured bias because their gender identities differed from their sex at birth, or they didn’t conform to gender stereotypes for someone of their birth sex.
The Trump administration, however, narrowed its definition of “biological sex” in March 2019 when the Defense Department released a policy banning most transgender people from the military. The policy defined “biological sex” as a “person's biological status as male or based on chromosomes, gonads, hormones, and genitals."
Additional reporting by Ema O’Connor.


buzzfeed--2020-06-14--I’m Skeptical Of All These White People Resigning

From Bon Appétit to CrossFit , top editors and executives are being called out for racism .
But the Black Lives Matter movement is about much more than white-collar accountability .
Credit for what has happened in the past week goes first and foremost to the organizers of the sprawling , decentralized protest movement .
It is abundantly clear that these protests have yielded concrete results and changed public opinion .
But it is hard , as a Black person and a journalist , not to be deeply , deeply skeptical of these recent mea culpas from powerful people , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enact any meaningful change .
Already , I ’ m wondering who will actually do the hard work of revamping these companies .
To quote another skeptic : “ all the horrible white women [ and men ] stepping down from their horrible companies so they don ’ t have to responsible for the anti-racist overhaul and they can go on being rich and rely on the networks they already had ... boring !
” The Black Lives Matter movement has always been holistic .
Early on , as Keeanga Yamahtta-Taylor writes in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black Liberation , organizers of the movement recognized that they could not just be advocating for the end of police brutality — that the ailments plaguing Black life in the US are much more varied and must be toppled systematically .
Hence their focus on initiatives like the fight for increasing minimum wage .
But already the changes that this later iteration of Black Lives Matter have been advocating for have become obscured .
The emphasis on the systemic nature of racism has inadvertently fostered a lot of navel-gazing quasi confession and fixation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ workspaces that are already wildly inequitable for a whole host of reasons .
The vigor of the first two weeks of riots and protests ( still ongoing ) , as the writer Tobi Haslett noted , has been overshadowed by people in their hermetically sealed white-collar jobs railing about racism in their workplaces .
This is not to say that the racism shouldn ’ t be railed against .
It ’ s a reckoning that ’ s long overdue .
But we have been here before .
There have been discussions — countless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in book publishing , in the corporate world , in film and TV for literal decades .
As the writer Kaitlyn Greenidge pointed out in her recent review of Raven Leilani ’ s forthcoming novel Luster , the publishing industry has sporadic love affairs with Black authors before forgetting all about them , usually when there ’ s an economic downturn .
The Cooperative Children ’ s Book Center has been tracking the diversity of the publishing industry since 1984 and the number of Black authors publishing children ’ s books is still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which started in 2015 , got a lot of steam and press coverage , but only one nonwhite person , Cynthia Erivo , was nominated in an acting category at the 2020 Academy Awards .
Each time corporate leadership , middle management , and the heads of power offer the same refrain : an all right , we ’ ll do better that results in temporary change before a return back to stasis .
But there is also danger in suggesting — as many of these conversations around racism in the workplace @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ black faces in high places ” and paying them handsomely for it is a panacea to the all-consuming perniciousness of white supremacy .
As my colleague Shannon Keating notes , there is the substantial risk that these acts amount to hollow gestures : a few token hires who are placed into the same system , forced to do all the hard work of undoing years of systemic harm , and eventually burn out and leave the industry altogether , thoroughly disillusioned .
Already we are seeing the cracks in these companies ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is banning police use of its facial recognition technology for exactly one year .
( Will racism be over by then ?
And how about giving their employees working through the pandemic hazard pay ? )
Starbucks recently declared that Black lives matter , but won ’ t even let its employees wear any paraphernalia displaying this fact .
What about a justice that is more radical , more forward-looking , one that does not perpetuate existing power structures with a slightly browner tinge ?
There ’ s a conversation happening in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this upending could look like .
The Poetry Foundation , the most well-funded organization solely devoted to poetry , was recently called out by a group of more than 1,000 poets for its weak statement of support for the Black Lives Matter movement .
“ For years , your constituents have been calling on the Foundation to redistribute more of its enormous resources to marginalized artists , to make concrete commitments to and change-making efforts in your local community and beyond , ” they wrote in an open letter .
“ We find @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bare minimum.
” A number of those poets were recipients of a Ruth Lilly Fellowship , which gives out $ 28,000 grants , a life-changing amount of money in a low-paying field .
These fellows include some well-known contemporary writers like Danez Smith , Franny Choi , José Olivarez , and Justin Phillip Reed .
Many of these poets know each other and are part of a broader community of critically acclaimed , racially diverse , social media–savvy poets , some of whom emerged from the spoken word scene .
In their letter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the foundation to resign and for the organization to direct more of its endowment toward anti-racist efforts in Chicago , the city where it ’ s based .
But one former Ruth Lilly fellow , poet Phillip B. Williams , did not sign this letter .
Instead he wrote an open letter of his own : “ For years white writers had been getting away with giving each other prizes or having someone in power bestow their entire cohort with grant after prize after fellowship , ” he writes .
“ Hardly anyone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not allow for writers once left out of this patronage to for once be included ?
Were n't we just as talented ?
But the problem lies in the desire to replicate or at least the unwillingness to stop said replication of divisive and intrinsically anti-Black-queer-POC practice of pretending entitlement is reparations and that our hoarding power and resources is the same as power being given to all.
” Pretending entitlement is reparations .
And that our hoarding power and resources is the same as power being given to all .
Such damning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rhetoric around “ diversity and inclusion , ” yet another phrase that has become bleached of all meaning , just replicates existing power structures — structures that contribute to a scarcity model of value , that suggest that people ’ s worth is tied to arbitrary numbers .
Some people in media have been tweeting their salaries in the interest of transparency , and the lucky few people of color who have been compensated handsomely declare they ’ re worth every dollar .
I want to cheer for them , but I also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worth that amount ?
Why should a grocery store clerk or certified nursing assistant earn so much less than someone who writes or edits articles for a living ?
Williams ’ letter made ripples across the poetry community .
Danez Smith responded beautifully in turn on Twitter : “ I ’ m walking , sitting , and listening these days .
My city is getting rid of the police , we are rebuilding from the fires .
My other city , the city of poetry , is in need some of rebuilding and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ learning , and walking with you all .
I love you .
I ’ m ready.
” In some ways , it feels fitting that the poetry community is already doing this work .
Poetry is a genre that lends itself to ideas that seem intangible .
There ’ s so much about our current society that remains rooted in a limited understanding of where we can go from here , a paucity of imagination .
So many people still can ’ t conceive of literally defunding the police or of a society @ @ @ @ @ @ @ capitalism .
These past two weeks have prompted me to do my own reckoning in terms of my relation to power structures .
The “ plug in a few more Blacks ” model yields limited results , as Obama ’ s presidency , under which the Black Lives Matter movement emerged , showed us .
The ideal result from this reckoning is one that imagines radically new futures , new models , new hope .
That ’ s the only way forward .
●

Heads are rolling, quite literally. Brass bodies are being dragged through the streets and dumped into the ocean; meanwhile, many of their real-life counterparts have been demoted from their treasured places atop of mastheads, fashion companies, and Bravo reality TV shows.
We are in the midst of a great racial reckoning.
The past week alone has seen a dizzying number of high-profile white people in positions of power resign or be fired. On Sunday, June 7, New York Times editorial page editor James Bennet, who oversaw the paper’s Opinion section, announced his resignation after signing off on an op-ed written by Sen. Tom Cotton, which called for the military to be dispatched to forcefully suppress protests against racism and police brutality across the country and which Bennet has since admitted to not having read before it was published.
Monday night, Bon Appétit editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport announced his resignation after food writer Tammie Teclemariam tweeted a 2013 photo of him evincing Puerto Rican stereotypes. Condé Nast Entertainment vice president Matt Duckor, who oversaw video for Bon Appétit and other lifestyle brands, has now followed him out the door. A damning Business Insider report on how Bon Appétit has treated its few nonwhite employees prompted a public apology posted to the magazine’s website on Wednesday. On Tuesday, CrossFit CEO Greg Glassman resigned, after audio leaked of him telling employees on a private Zoom call that he didn’t think George Floyd was worth mourning for, in addition to perpetuating other conspiracy theories about Floyd’s death. (And after he tweeted in response to a public health organization’s tweet that racism was a public health matter: “It’s FLOYD-19.”)
The editors of Variety, Refinery29, and Man Repeller have also stepped down for reasons relating to lack of diversity at their publications and toxic racist behavior toward their employees. The founder of the “sustainable” fashion company Reformation issued an apology for being racist. Audrey Gelman, the founder of the women’s working space The Wing, announced that she would be stepping down. Bravo fired two stars of Vanderpump Rules for calling the police on a Black coworker for no reason and two new cast members for recently surfaced racist tweets.
Across the country, cities previously hostile to taking down Confederate statues are considering passing resolutions to do so. Authors have been revealing what they got paid for their book deals, highlighting the disparities between the amounts Black authors received and what was given to their non-Black counterparts. Cops (cops!) and Live PD have been canceled, while HBO Max announced that it would be temporarily pulling Gone With the Wind from its streaming services while it prepared a note with additional context about the film’s white supremacist roots.
And my own employer, along with tech companies Twitter and Square, just announced that Juneteenth is going to be an official company holiday for the first time.
What to make of all of this? As Lauren Michele Jackson put it, “Race is happening” — and the speed with which this racial reckoning is bringing about visible changes across a wide spectrum of industries and organizations, after so many years of stubborn inaction, is almost disorienting. This moment has echoes of those first heady days of the #MeToo movement, back in 2017, when it seemed as if every week news of a high-profile man who had allegedly sexually harassed or assaulted someone was coming to light, and occasionally forcing resignations and even criminal charges. Those weeks felt oddly giddy with the exhilaration and naive hope that maybe, finally (finally!) justice was being meted out to longtime abusers of power.


buzzfeed--2020-06-16--Their States Denied Them Protections As LGBTQ Workers. But Thanks To Six Justices, "Life Is A Little

Their States Denied Them Protections As LGBTQ Workers. But Thanks To Six Justices, "Life Is A Little Better Today."

It was estimated last year that half of all LGBTQ Americans lived in states where they had no legal protections from workplace discrimination .
Not any more .
She tossed and turned for hours , knowing it was possible that a court ruling could come out in the morning that could change not only her life , but the lives of so many people like her .
She woke up , took a long shower to calm her nerves , and then checked her phone .
It was blowing up with messages that all said the same thing : Across @ @ @ @ @ @ @ illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ people in the workplace .
“ I was just shaking uncontrollably and crying , ” Mosby , 52 , told BuzzFeed News .
“ I had to kind of pull myself together from that because it was just sheer joy.
” Monday ’ s Supreme Court decision marks one of the greatest civil rights victories in the history of the LGBTQ community .
In a sweeping 6–3 vote , the top US court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , a federal law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` sex , ” also applied to discrimination against LGBTQ people .
In an instant , the monumental decision secured worker rights for people like Mosby , a transgender woman in Georgia , who live in conservative states where such protections did not yet exist .
“ I ’ ve got a queer kid as well , and she ’ s with me , and we were both having a great cry-fest , ” Mosby said .
“ This is going to mean a lot , for my kid as well , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Mosby previously worked as the fire chief in Byron , Georgia , a position she held for over a decade .
When she came out to her colleagues as transgender in 2018 , she said she began experiencing workplace discrimination , including misgendering , being called anti-trans slurs , and being reprimanded for wearing a skirt , according to court filings .
In June 2019 , she was fired .
Officials blamed her dismissal on poor performance , but Mosby said she does not believe that ’ s the real reason .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ filed a lawsuit against her city , alleging discrimination based on her gender identity .
Now , with discrimination against LGBTQ people being made illegal nationwide , Mosby said she feels newfound confidence that she will win her case .
“ It gave me an immediate sense of validation and put me on a little more sure footing for my outlook for the future , especially with my case going forward , ” she said .
“ It makes me extremely optimistic now that we will win.
” Some 21 states already had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sexual orientation and gender identity , according to an analysis last year from the think tank Movement Advancement Project , but Monday ’ s ruling has made it the law of the land .
Prior to the decision , roughly half of the more than 8 million LGBTQ people in the US lived in states without explicit protections if they experienced discrimination at work .
In the wake of the decision , Raquel Willis — one of the founders of the Transgender Law Center 's Black Trans Circles , a program aimed at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Midwest — paid tribute on Twitter to one of the plaintiffs who died prior to Monday 's decision and recalled once being afraid to come out in the workplace .
`` At my first job , I was stealth out of survival .
I was n't out as trans because I was afraid of being fired , '' Willis wrote .
`` Today 's # SCOTUS ruling will encourage so many more folks to move beyond that fear .
We honor you , Mrs. Aimee Stephens , for your fight .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
Stacy Bailey , an elementary school art teacher in Texas , settled a discrimination lawsuit in February against her school district after it suspended her in 2017 for showing students a photo of her wife , Julie Vazquez .
For Bailey , Monday ’ s ruling was a moment of both celebration and reflection .
“ My wife ran towards me , we hugged and jumped and she started crying , ” said the 34-year-old teacher .
“ It was a very dramatic scene in the Bailey-Vazquez household.
” They immediately @ @ @ @ @ @ @ balcony .
“ It really brought me to my knees , ” she said , “ and to tears to think maybe people really aren ’ t going to have to deal with this much longer and maybe other gay teachers like me are not going to have to go through the trauma and the battle that I had to go through.
” Bailey donated her payout from the settlement to Dallas Resource Center Youth First , a Texas charity for young LGBTQ people , but she lost her beloved job at an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ local high school .
“ Unfortunately , I will feel the pain of what happened to me for the rest of my life , ” Bailey said .
“ Nothing can undo what happened to me because of discrimination.
” “ [ The court ’ s decision ] was just overwhelming for someone like me , whose life has been completely turned upside down and faced a lot of trauma because of discrimination in the workplace , ” said Bailey .
Jasmine Beach-Ferrara , the executive director of the Campaign for Southern Equality @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rights and protections for LGBTQ Southerners , told BuzzFeed News that a Supreme Court ruling , rather than state-by-state laws , creates protections for LGBTQ workers “ in a universal way , rather than a patchwork sort of blanket that we ’ ve been dealing with.
” “ The South is home to more than 5 million LGBT folks , and most people have lacked the basic protections around workplace discrimination , ” Beach-Ferrara said .
“ It ’ s a tremendous and historic day , and another significant step forward in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ law for LGBTQ people.
” Beach-Ferrara said that as recently as this past weekend , she ’ d received an email from someone experiencing this form of workplace discrimination .
“ [ This decision ] means that people will be protected from being fired because of who they are or who they love , ” she said .
“ What this ruling means is that in every single town , in every state across the South , people will now have those protections in place.
” But Bailey , the Texas teacher , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opinions will change as easily .
She called on school districts , states , and governments to continue to push for antidiscrimination policies that line up with the Supreme Court ruling .
“ I do want people like me to be very aware that just because a federal ruling has passed , ” said Bailey , “ it does not erase the decades of prejudice that surround us , especially in Texas , especially in rural or small communities.
” Cierra , a 23-year-old bisexual woman in Missouri , told BuzzFeed News she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her former workplace , an ice rink in St. Louis .
( Cierra asked that her last name not be used because she is not currently out to her whole family . )
“ This decision that came out today is so important because , while I don ’ t always tell the people I work with my sexual identity , I have been in a room with my former boss and he made homophobic statements but I was too scared to say anything , ” she said .
“ I just remember @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over , I just wanted to get out of this situation and not have him know that this made me feel uncomfortable.
” With Monday ’ s SCOTUS ruling , Cierra said she feels a sense of relief that she does not ever have to put up with such treatment .
“ If another employee or boss makes a comment , ” she said , “ I can take a stand [ and ] calmly inform them , but know that I can come back to work the next day and not lose @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most important thing to get across now is that we , in the community , have a little more freedom than yesterday , ” Cierra said .
“ And while we still don ’ t have the same rights as a straight person , life is a little better today.
” Bailey agreed , comparing the historic decision to the joy she felt in marriage equality becoming law , which she said allowed her to say the word “ wife ” in any public situation .
“ That word came with power and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does something similar to us , ” she said .
“ We ’ re going to be able to walk into our workplace with our head up .
We are allowed to be ourselves .
”

Rachel Mosby could barely sleep Sunday night.
She tossed and turned for hours, knowing it was possible that a court ruling could come out in the morning that could change not only her life, but the lives of so many people like her. She woke up, took a long shower to calm her nerves, and then checked her phone. It was blowing up with messages that all said the same thing: Across the United States, it was now illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ people in the workplace.
“I was just shaking uncontrollably and crying,” Mosby, 52, told BuzzFeed News. “I had to kind of pull myself together from that because it was just sheer joy.”
Monday’s Supreme Court decision marks one of the greatest civil rights victories in the history of the LGBTQ community. In a sweeping 6–3 vote, the top US court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal law prohibiting discrimination in the workplace based on "sex,” also applied to discrimination against LGBTQ people.
In an instant, the monumental decision secured worker rights for people like Mosby, a transgender woman in Georgia, who live in conservative states where such protections did not yet exist.
“I’ve got a queer kid as well, and she’s with me, and we were both having a great cry-fest,” Mosby said. “This is going to mean a lot, for my kid as well, and for the generations that come behind this.”
Mosby previously worked as the fire chief in Byron, Georgia, a position she held for over a decade. When she came out to her colleagues as transgender in 2018, she said she began experiencing workplace discrimination, including misgendering, being called anti-trans slurs, and being reprimanded for wearing a skirt, according to court filings.
In June 2019, she was fired. Officials blamed her dismissal on poor performance, but Mosby said she does not believe that’s the real reason. Just over a month ago, she filed a lawsuit against her city, alleging discrimination based on her gender identity.
Now, with discrimination against LGBTQ people being made illegal nationwide, Mosby said she feels newfound confidence that she will win her case. “It gave me an immediate sense of validation and put me on a little more sure footing for my outlook for the future, especially with my case going forward,” she said. “It makes me extremely optimistic now that we will win.”


buzzfeed--2020-06-15--Justices Won't Review Legal Protections For Police Officers. Justice Thomas Feels Differently.

WASHINGTON — The US Supreme Court announced Monday that a majority of the justices once again voted against revisiting qualified immunity , the legal doctrine that protects police against being sued for excessive force and civil rights violations .
Justice Clarence Thomas was the exception , writing separately in a short dissent that he was ready to take on the issue , which has gotten fresh attention after the recent deaths of George Floyd , Breonna Taylor , and other Black men and women during encounters with law enforcement .
No other justice joined him , however .
Under a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 1980s , law enforcement officers — and other government actors — who are sued over actions they take on the job can claim immunity if they didn ’ t violate “ clearly established ” laws or constitutional rights that a “ reasonable ” person would be aware of at the time .
In practice , the qualified immunity defense has meant that even in cases where judges found that what a police officer did was unconstitutional or unlawful , cases were thrown out because that violation wasn ’ t “ clearly established.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the doctrine and letting police face civil lawsuits as a critical tool for holding law enforcement accountable for abuses of power .
They note that state and local governments often end up paying judgments in cases where police lose .
Police groups argue officers need freedom to respond to dangerous and fast-moving situations without worrying about a lawsuit later .
The Supreme Court on Monday denied petitions in seven cases where lower courts had dismissed claims against law enforcement officers who claimed qualified immunity .
They included cases where officers were accused of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who had surrendered ; of shooting a 10-year-old child who was lying on the ground while the officer was aiming for a dog ; and deploying tear gas inside a house after the officers had permission to enter .
The court also declined to hear an eighth case where a lower court ruled that officers who shot a 17-year-old boy was not entitled to immunity .
According to the lower court decision , the boy was armed and holding a gun to his head , and he was shot without warning , causing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the sides were flipped in that case , with the officers asking the justices to step in , it also involved a broad request that the court revisit how qualified immunity is applied in cases against law enforcement .
The court earlier this year denied other petitions in qualified immunity cases , including one that involved officers accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and rare coins when they executed a search warrant .
Monday ’ s orders mean the issue remains in limbo before the Supreme Court , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the meantime .
Rep. Justin Amash , a member of the Libertarian Party , and Rep. Ayanna Pressley , a Democrat , this month introduced a bill to end qualified immunity .
There are still two qualified immunity cases that the court could agree to hear during its next term , which starts in October .
In Cooper v. Flaig , Norman Cooper , a 33-year-old Black man , died after two police officers used a Taser on him nine times , according to court filings .
Cooper was under the influence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mental health crisis , ” according to his family ’ s lawyers , but they said he was unarmed and “ never attempted to make physical contact with anyone.
” A district judge denied immunity to the officers , but the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit reversed that decision .
The other case , Davis v. Ermold , is about a lawsuit against Kim Davis , the former county clerk in Kentucky who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples ; the doctrine of qualified immunity can broadly protect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being sued .
In Davis ’ case , she had asked the Supreme Court to step in after a lower court denied her immunity against a civil rights lawsuit .
Jay Schweikert , a policy analyst at the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute , told BuzzFeed News in an email that he didn ’ t think it was likely the justices would use either of those cases to take up qualified immunity , however .
Schweikert is an opponent of qualified immunity who has been involved in urging the Supreme Court to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ court removed the Cooper and Davis cases from the list of petitions the justices considered the last time they met on June 11 , and he said it ’ s unlikely Thomas would have written a dissent if the court was getting ready to announce it would take up the issue .
“ This is , to put it bluntly , a shocking dereliction of duty , ” Schweikert wrote , responding to the court ’ s announcement .
“ As Cato has argued for years , qualified immunity is an atextual , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officials from liability , even when they break the law .
The doctrine not only denies justice to victims whose rights have been violated but also exacerbates our crisis of confidence in law enforcement.
” Thomas wrote that qualified immunity , as federal courts apply it now , “ appears to stray ” from the text of the Civil Rights Act of 1871 , the law that gave individuals the right to sue government actors for violating their constitutional rights .
The law doesn ’ t mention immunity , Thomas wrote , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in effect , the Supreme Court didn ’ t find that state actors were entitled to immunity if they ’ d acted in “ good faith.
” Thomas wrote that there “ may be no justification for a one-size-fits-all , subjective immunity based on good faith , ” and that he had “ strong doubts ” about the current state of qualified immunity .
“ Given the importance of this question , I would grant the petition , ” he wrote .

WASHINGTON — The US Supreme Court announced Monday that a majority of the justices once again voted against revisiting qualified immunity, the legal doctrine that protects police against being sued for excessive force and civil rights violations.
Justice Clarence Thomas was the exception, writing separately in a short dissent that he was ready to take on the issue, which has gotten fresh attention after the recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black men and women during encounters with law enforcement. No other justice joined him, however.
Under a series of Supreme Court decisions starting in the 1980s, law enforcement officers — and other government actors — who are sued over actions they take on the job can claim immunity if they didn’t violate “clearly established” laws or constitutional rights that a “reasonable” person would be aware of at the time.
In practice, the qualified immunity defense has meant that even in cases where judges found that what a police officer did was unconstitutional or unlawful, cases were thrown out because that violation wasn’t “clearly established.”
Opponents of qualified immunity see abolishing the doctrine and letting police face civil lawsuits as a critical tool for holding law enforcement accountable for abuses of power. They note that state and local governments often end up paying judgments in cases where police lose. Police groups argue officers need freedom to respond to dangerous and fast-moving situations without worrying about a lawsuit later.
The Supreme Court on Monday denied petitions in seven cases where lower courts had dismissed claims against law enforcement officers who claimed qualified immunity. They included cases where officers were accused of releasing a police dog on a suspect who had surrendered; of shooting a 10-year-old child who was lying on the ground while the officer was aiming for a dog; and deploying tear gas inside a house after the officers had permission to enter.
The court also declined to hear an eighth case where a lower court ruled that officers who shot a 17-year-old boy was not entitled to immunity. According to the lower court decision, the boy was armed and holding a gun to his head, and he was shot without warning, causing him to fire on himself. Although the sides were flipped in that case, with the officers asking the justices to step in, it also involved a broad request that the court revisit how qualified immunity is applied in cases against law enforcement.
The court earlier this year denied other petitions in qualified immunity cases, including one that involved officers accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and rare coins when they executed a search warrant.
Monday’s orders mean the issue remains in limbo before the Supreme Court, but members of Congress are considering legislative fixes in the meantime. Rep. Justin Amash, a member of the Libertarian Party, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a Democrat, this month introduced a bill to end qualified immunity.
There are still two qualified immunity cases that the court could agree to hear during its next term, which starts in October.
In Cooper v. Flaig, Norman Cooper, a 33-year-old Black man, died after two police officers used a Taser on him nine times, according to court filings. Cooper was under the influence of drugs and experiencing an “acute mental health crisis,” according to his family’s lawyers, but they said he was unarmed and “never attempted to make physical contact with anyone.”
A district judge denied immunity to the officers, but the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit reversed that decision.
The other case, Davis v. Ermold, is about a lawsuit against Kim Davis, the former county clerk in Kentucky who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples; the doctrine of qualified immunity can broadly protect public employees, including police, from being sued. In Davis’ case, she had asked the Supreme Court to step in after a lower court denied her immunity against a civil rights lawsuit.
Jay Schweikert, a policy analyst at the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute, told BuzzFeed News in an email that he didn’t think it was likely the justices would use either of those cases to take up qualified immunity, however.
Schweikert is an opponent of qualified immunity who has been involved in urging the Supreme Court to abolish it. He noted that the court removed the Cooper and Davis cases from the list of petitions the justices considered the last time they met on June 11, and he said it’s unlikely Thomas would have written a dissent if the court was getting ready to announce it would take up the issue.
“This is, to put it bluntly, a shocking dereliction of duty,” Schweikert wrote, responding to the court’s announcement. “As Cato has argued for years, qualified immunity is an atextual, ahistorical judicial invention, which shields public officials from liability, even when they break the law. The doctrine not only denies justice to victims whose rights have been violated but also exacerbates our crisis of confidence in law enforcement.”
Thomas wrote that qualified immunity, as federal courts apply it now, “appears to stray” from the text of the Civil Rights Act of 1871, the law that gave individuals the right to sue government actors for violating their constitutional rights.
The law doesn’t mention immunity, Thomas wrote, and for the first 100 years it was in effect, the Supreme Court didn’t find that state actors were entitled to immunity if they’d acted in “good faith.”
Thomas wrote that there “may be no justification for a one-size-fits-all, subjective immunity based on good faith,” and that he had “strong doubts” about the current state of qualified immunity.
“Given the importance of this question, I would grant the petition,” he wrote.


buzzfeed--2020-06-15--The FDA Just Pulled Chloroquine And Hydroxychloroquine As Coronavirus Treatments

The revocation of the `` Emergency Use Authorization '' does not affect long-approved uses of the drugs to treat malaria , lupus , arthritis , or related diseases , the agency noted .
`` FDA has determined that [ chloroquine ] and [ hydroxychloroquine ] are unlikely to be effective in treating COVID-19 , '' an agency announcement said .
In addition to not helping treat the disease , the drugs were linked to `` serious cardiac adverse events and other serious side effects . ''
The US Food and Drug Administration on Monday revoked its March emergency authorization of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump as treatments for the novel coronavirus .
HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN , taken together , have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine .
The FDA has moved mountains - Thank You !
Hopefully they will BOTH ( H works better with A , International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents ) ... ..
In mid-March , Trump had vigorously endorsed the drugs as treatments for the coronavirus , following reports from China of its use in treatment regimens and a small French study , now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drug and an antibiotic .
( The French study was a major basis for the FDA authorizing use of the drug on March 28 , BuzzFeed News later determined through a public records release . )
In April , however , the FDA issued a warning about use of the drugs outside hospitals to treat coronavirus , noting that it could cause potentially fatal heart risks .
A recent high-profile study that connected the drug to a higher risk of death was later retracted by its authors over concerns about its data , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emerged that seem to conclusively show the drugs only offer risks that override any benefits to patients .
Several other studies have previously reached similar conclusions about the drug 's lack of efficacy and its potential risks to patients .
COVID-19 patients taking the drug can continue to do so in a hospital setting , the revocation noted , with their doctor 's approval .
The request to pull back the authorization came from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority , part of the Department of Health and Human Services , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's approval in late March .
Former BARDA chief Rick Bright has stated in a whistleblower complaint that the March request came under pressure from the White House following Trump endorsing the drug .

In mid-March, Trump had vigorously endorsed the drugs as treatments for the coronavirus, following reports from China of its use in treatment regimens and a small French study, now widely criticized, reporting success with one drug and an antibiotic. (The French study was a major basis for the FDA authorizing use of the drug on March 28, BuzzFeed News later determined through a public records release.)
In April, however, the FDA issued a warning about use of the drugs outside hospitals to treat coronavirus, noting that it could cause potentially fatal heart risks.
A recent high-profile study that connected the drug to a higher risk of death was later retracted by its authors over concerns about its data, but a series of reports in June emerged that seem to conclusively show the drugs only offer risks that override any benefits to patients. Several other studies have previously reached similar conclusions about the drug's lack of efficacy and its potential risks to patients.
COVID-19 patients taking the drug can continue to do so in a hospital setting, the revocation noted, with their doctor's approval.
The request to pull back the authorization came from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, which submitted the original request for the drug's approval in late March. Former BARDA chief Rick Bright has stated in a whistleblower complaint that the March request came under pressure from the White House following Trump endorsing the drug.