Monday, October 26, 2020

And another dark day in America, where most Americans are not truly represented in their government, comes to a close. Mourn tonight. Get up fresh and ready to continue the fight tomorrow.

“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” -- Elie Wiesel

Deaths

US: 231,045 (+535)

World: 1,164,515 (+5506)

Cases

US: 8,962,783 (+73,604)

World: 43,776,586 (+449,412)

Countdown: 8 days.

Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed by a slim 52-48 vote. The 48 senators who voted against Barrett represent 13.5 million more people than the 52 senators who voted for her. — Our system is flawed. 

“Amy Coney Barrett was nominated by an impeached president who lost the popular vote by 3 million, and was just confirmed by GOP senators representing 11 million fewer Americans than their Democratic colleagues — after Obama's pick couldn't even get a vote. Never forget that.” -- Robert Reich

“This is the fastest Supreme Court nomination in 45 years — rammed through by the same senators who gave their constituents a one-time $1,200 check during an ongoing economic catastrophe. They care only about power. Never about people.” -- Robert Reich

Editorial: More than 62 million Americans have already voted. I’m proud to be one of them. Have you voted, yet? Vote now. Don’t delay.

Americans worried about Election Day violence and chaos are buying guns and toilet paper.

Election Stress Getting To You? 4 Ways To Keep Calm.

During a second term, little could stop President Donald Trump from remaking the world in his image — and other countries from radically downgrading their relationships with America. “Many US allies will give up on the US ever returning to anything resembling its pre-Trump foreign policy,” Kyle Haynes, a US foreign policy expert at Purdue University, told me. “The most important foreign policy decisions taken in a second term won’t be taken by the Trump administration,” agreed Kori Schake of the American Enterprise Institute. “They’ll be taken by US allies looking for substitutes to reliable American leadership.” That means the world Trump inherited would be nearly unrecognizable from the one he’d bequeath to his eventual successor — and that’s exactly how the president wants it.

Republicans closely resemble autocratic parties in Hungary and Turkey - study. The Republican party has become dramatically more illiberal in the past two decades and now more closely resembles ruling parties in autocratic societies than its former centre-right equivalents in Europe, according to a new international study. In a significant shift since 2000, the GOP has taken to demonising and encouraging violence against its opponents, adopting attitudes and tactics comparable to ruling nationalist parties in Hungary, India, Poland and Turkey. -- We all lose when you vote Republican.

Lesley Stahl: Giant health care book in Trump interview had 'no comprehensive health care plan'.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is being investigated for potentially violating a law that forbids federal employees from engaging in political activity while on duty over his RNC speech from Jerusalem.

The US had more daily Covid-19 cases in the past week than ever before. And no, it's not just due to more testing. The seven-day average of daily new cases reached an all-time high of 68,767 on Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The previous record of 67,293 was set July 22.

After the pandemic was declared in March, White House staffers got on the phone to CDC headquarters in Atlanta demanding web administrator credentials to independently edit the website, the former official said. According to the former official, the CDC ultimately denied access, but officials have since then been consistently overruled as they push agency guidance through the Washington approval process...”I'll never forget the shrill voice screaming at me, 'My job is to protect the president from pissing off his constituency.’”— WTF?

An El Paso judge says he was "left with no choice" but to issue a 2-week mandatory nightly curfew for residents. The county has seen a 300% increase in hospitalizations in the last 3 weeks.

Group sees 14% increase in child Covid-19 cases with close to 800,000 US kids infected.

France hits new record of daily COVID-19 cases: "We have lost control of the epidemic".

Rand Paul suggests restaurants should hire coronavirus survivors as servers during pandemic. -- Rand Paul is what we affectionately call, a moron. Yes, I censored myself.

To Jared Kushner, Black Americans' grappling with inequality, racism is 'complaining'. -- Because he’s a racist.

'No child should be away from their mom': Trump policies make it nearly impossible for refugees to come to US.

Southern California wildfires explode, forcing more than 60,000 to evacuate.

Power cuts and evacuations ordered across California as wildfire threats flare anew.

Bioplastic just as toxic as traditional plastic, study finds.

Toy companies are cutting back on plastic to reduce waste.

Moon has more water than previously thought, scientists say.

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

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