Tuesday, August 25, 2020

And another day of Trump first, no platform, fact checks, racist dog whistles, thoughtful introspection, a warning, University disasters, lost convicted sex offenders, and non-monogamy comes to a close:

“The headlines read ‘these are the worst of times.’ I do believe it’s true.” -- Dennis DeYoung (Styx)

Deaths

US: 182,404 (+1290)

World: 823,298 (+6293)

Cases

US: 5,955,728 (+40,098)

World: 21,050,731 (+241,490)

Countdown: 70 days.

Warner says Senate Intel Committee voted 14-1 to pass Russia report. It underscores the bipartisan nature of the explosive report, which found that Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, passed sensitive polling data and campaign strategy to a Russian intelligence officer who may have been involved in the hacking of Democratic emails. -- This is getting buried, but it’s the most important thing that has come out this past week. Don’t forget it.

For the first time in its 164-year history, the GOP didn't bother to issue a new platform for 2020. The Republican Party's agenda and ethos are defined by one principle: Trump first. — The Trump Party knows voters will hate the truth of what they believe and want to accomplish. That’s why it’s better not publicly issued. 

The Platform the GOP Is Too Scared to Publish. What the Republican Party actually stands for, in 13 points. The more complicated answer is that the platform I’ve just described, like so much of the Trump-Republican program, commands support only among a minority of the American people. The platform works (to the extent it does work) by exciting enthusiastic support among Trump supporters; but stated too explicitly, it invites a backlash among the American majority. This is a platform for a party that talks to itself, not to the rest of the country. And for those purposes, it will succeed most to the extent it is communicated only implicitly, to those receptive to its message.

Fact checking the Republican National Convention, Night 1. Many of the speeches and elements focused on casting the president's pandemic response as a triumph, offering a misleading view of events. — The Trump Party just makes shit up knowing their followers won’t question their claims.

Fact check: First night of the Republican National Convention features more dishonesty than four nights of DNC.

Trump’s convention blurs official business and politics.

The father of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, says his son was left paralyzed from the waist down.

The McCloskeys Complained About “Ending Single-Family Home Zoning.” That’s a Racist Dog Whistle.

New mail sorting machine at Grand Junction USPS annex thrown out. The clerk added, “it took two months to set up and they were just about to do a test run when the postmaster general ordered us to take it out, now we’re sorting by hand. No wonder they say we’re losing money when they throw out expensive machines like that.”

Parents and teachers worried pandemic pods will widen education gap. While Eskelsen Garcia accepts that parents want to do what's best for their children, she said pods could limit the promise of equal access to a quality education to all students.

I never thought I would leave the Republican Party, but I'm voting Biden-Harris this fall. This is the first year that I watched the Democratic National Convention without a Republican lens and found myself agreeing with the issues, speakers and most of all the positive rhetoric. The Democrats spoke of love and family, showing just how personal this election is for so many. Despite the doom and gloom that surrounds us, somehow the DNC was able to showcase the best of America and convey that the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris ticket is fighting to not only restore America but to make her more equal and just for all...I recognized just how many of my views of the Democratic Party were shaped by the talking points of the GOP and just how wrong that was. Over the past four years, my eyes have been opened and my views forever changed. I have come to realize that all along, I aligned more with the moderate wing of the Democratic Party.

Eliminating payroll tax could deplete Social Security by 2023, chief actuary warns.

Nikki Haley's False RNC claim that Biden wants 'massive' tax hikes on working families. — She scared many of you, though, didn’t she? That’s the point. That’s always the Trump Party’s point.

Fauci warns against premature authorization of coronavirus vaccine. Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, told Reuters that "the one thing that you would not want to see with a vaccine is getting an EUA before you have a signal of efficacy." — I can’t believe this even has to be said, yet here we are.

CDC reverses COVID-19 guidance, says testing may not be needed after exposure. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quietly tweaked its guidance on COVID-19 testing Monday, making a change that could result in fewer people being tested and hinder contact tracing efforts. The guidance now states that healthy people who have been exposed to COVID-19 "do not necessarily need a test," as long as they don't have symptoms. That's a reversal from previous advice that clearly recommended testing for all close contacts of infected individuals, regardless of whether they had symptoms.

Responding to an outcry from medical experts, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn on Tuesday apologized for overstating the life-saving benefits of treating COVID-19 patients with convalescent plasma.

University of Alabama reports over 500 coronavirus cases since classes resumed.

Sensors, apps, police patrols: Colleges are trying to track students to contain COVID-19 cases. Students are pushing back.

New US virus cases fall as masks gain favor but testing lags.

A lockdown was imposed in Gaza after the first coronavirus cases were confirmed in the general population.

Belarus will become the first country to receive doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine being developed in Russia.

House lawmakers introduce bipartisan resolution to condemn 'dangerous' QAnon conspiracy theory.

Delta Air Lines will furlough 1,941 of its pilots in October unless it can reach a cost-cutting agreement with the employees’ labor union, the airline says.

Law enforcement has lost track of more than 25,000 convicted sex offenders and predators across the U.S., leaving their whereabouts unknown to victims and the public. Like so much else in American life, enforcement of sex offender registries across the country has been upended by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Many states with in-person monitoring and registration have had to search for alternatives. Some states have seemingly stopped enforcement altogether.

Lionel Messi wants to leave Barcelona.

The Falwell affair shows non-monogamy isn't rare — but it does challenge social norms. Monogamous marriage is still considered a bedrock of modern society, whether you're liberal or conservative. Maybe it's time to rethink that.

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.