All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[Joker]

There are many parents who can't go to work if their children at at home, so there's a major effect on the economy.

This is all it's about.

And yet, if Republicans had treated this as seriously as it is from the onset, maybe this wouldn't be an issue. Hell, they're still pretending it isn't an issue.

They're urging people to not get tested so the numbers don't go up.

The Party of Life. All Lives Matter.

[kidfresh512]

This is all it's about.

And yet, if Republicans had treated this as seriously as it is from the onset, maybe this wouldn't be an issue. Hell, they're still pretending it isn't an issue.

They're urging people to not get tested so the numbers don't go up.

The Party of Life. All Lives Matter.

That is the part I don't understand about the Trump admin/GOP approach. We all want everything open and back to normal. But even if you want to value the economic side over the health and safety of Americans. Why make social distancing, mask wearing, other CDC recommendations political? If you want the best chance at opening and staying open why are they fighting so hard and having to be shamed and forced with over run hospitals and record cases into doing the BASIC orders and mandates?

It doesn't make logical sense. I get that they are useless and have no national strategy and aren't even attempting anymore. But, they are actively fighting even the most basic protocols that would help them get what they want. Which is numbers to look better by the election so they aren't crushed by the avalanche of bodies, and exploding cases. The layoffs, the unemployment. They can't keep blaming Democrats "trying to keep the economy closed" which was always stupid and transparent. When their own red state Governors are dealing with exploding cases and record numbers daily. Having to backtrack on reopening, closing businesses all over again.

When they were warned plenty of times months ago they were opening too soon, there were no plans and they were actively fighting masks, and strict social distancing.

[The Cool Thatguy]

That is the part I don't understand about the Trump admin/GOP approach. We all want everything open and back to normal. But even if you want to value the economic side over the health and safety of Americans. Why make social distancing, mask wearing, other CDC recommendations political? If you want the best chance at opening and staying open why are they fighting so hard and having to be shamed and forced with over run hospitals and record cases into doing the BASIC orders and mandates?

It doesn't make logical sense. I get that they are useless and have no national strategy and aren't even attempting anymore. But, they are actively fighting even the most basic protocols that would help them get what they want. Which is numbers to look better by the election so they aren't crushed by the avalanche of bodies, and exploding cases. The layoffs, the unemployment. They can't keep blaming Democrats "trying to keep the economy closed" which was always stupid and transparent. When their own red state Governors are dealing with exploding cases and record numbers daily. Having to backtrack on reopening, closing businesses all over again.

When they were warned plenty of times months ago they were opening too soon, there were no plans and they were actively fighting masks, and strict social distancing.

At this point, all the GOP have left are delusions.

They hope that if we act like things are normal, things will be normal. That if we ignore the deaths, we'll get herd immunity (by killing all who wouldn't survive).

We've all 'dealt' with a problem by ignoring it and hoping that it'll go away. We're only human.

This, is that, but on a federal level starting at the president.

[Tami]

This is Trump standing on 5th Avenue and shooting himself in the foot

Trump’s attacks on mail voting are turning Republicans off absentee ballots

President Trump’s relentless attacks on the security of mail voting are driving suspicion among GOP voters toward absentee ballots — a dynamic alarming Republican strategists, who say it could undercut their own candidates, including Trump himself.

In several primaries this spring, Democratic voters have embraced mail ballots in far larger numbers than Republicans during a campaign season defined by the coronavirus pandemic. And when they urge their supporters to vote by mail, GOP campaigns around the country are hearing from more and more Republican voters who say they do not trust absentee ballots, according to multiple strategists. In one particularly vivid example, a group of Michigan voters held a public burning of their absentee ballot applications last month.

The growing Republican antagonism toward voting by mail comes even as the Trump campaign is launching a major absentee-ballot program in every competitive state, according to multiple campaign advisers — a delicate balancing act, considering what one strategist described as the president’s “imprecision” on the subject.

[Tami]

Sam Acho’s plan to convert an Austin liquor store to a food mart gets the backing of Mayor Lori Lightfoot and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

NFL linebacker Sam Acho and other local athletes have continued their mission to help Chicago’s Austin neighborhood by buying a liquor store they plan to turn into a grocery store.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and police Superintendent David Brown attended an event Tuesday at the site of the future store. The athletes raised $500,000 so they could convert the liquor store to a food mart after learning about the food desert in Austin last month.

The idea came about last month when Acho recruited several local pro athletes to meet with Chicago children and police officers to discuss the country’s protests against racism. Part of the day, held in conjunction with By the Hand Kids Club, included a bus tour of Austin when a local teenager asked that they see the day as more than a field trip.

The conversations with the kids moved the athletes to try to create change in the neighborhood.

[TriggerWarning]

I'm going to be curious about the enforcement of the law, as there are two competing interests. We want to encourage people to report actual problems, and discourage them from wasting the time of police officers/ escalating situations unnecessarily. There are also going to be some grey areas (drunk & disorderly conduct, etc.) where reasonable people can disagree about whether something is a real emergency.

The name of the act is fantastic.

Its going to backfire majorly. What people don't realize is that people call 911 all the time about people just existing regardless of race. Its just that you only hear about it when there is a racism angle.

For instance, just a sampling of calls I've gone on and in each one of these the "suspects" were white or unknown race:

- "There is a strange car parked in front of my house and no one has gotten out." I'm worried they are casing my house and going to break in." This one happens constantly. The most recent one I went on was a white girl who had pulled over to take an important cell phone call as she didn't have bluetooth and its illegal to talk on the cell phone while driving.

- "Someone knocked at my door and I'm too scared to go see who it is." This call happens CONSTANTLY. They don't even know that its anything bad at the door, they literally feel like they have to call 911 because they got an unexpected knock at the door.

- "There are two people breaking into my neighbors house and I think the neighbors are on vacation." The people were in fact the homeowners adult daughter and husband and they "broke in" with a key and were there to feed the cats while the parents were on vacation.

I could go on but the fact is that daily every cop goes on these kinds of bullshit calls where there is no crime and some busy body exaggerates facts or makes up facts about what is happening. Most of the time it has nothing to do with race, its just someone being a Karen, someone being mentally ill (the paranoid ones who can't even peek out their window to see who is at the door), or people being cautious.

Lets take the example I gave of the adult daughter there to feed the cats. What if she had been black? Is she a victim under this new law? Or do you want your neighbors looking out for your house while your gone? What if they had actually in fact been burglars? Most happen in the daytime and many go in through the front door as this is actually less suspicious. Many are not going to be as obvious as Central Park Karen who on video was making up stuff about the guy birdwatching.

[mathew101281]

This is Trump standing on 5th Avenue and shooting himself in the foot

Trump’s attacks on mail voting are turning Republicans off absentee ballots

What will happen when large segments refuse to take the vaccine when it’s available?

[shooshoomanjoe]

Its going to backfire majorly. What people don't realize is that people call 911 all the time about people just existing regardless of race. Its just that you only hear about it when there is a racism angle.

For instance, just a sampling of calls I've gone on and in each one of these the "suspects" were white or unknown race:

- "There is a strange car parked in front of my house and no one has gotten out." I'm worried they are casing my house and going to break in." This one happens constantly. The most recent one I went on was a white girl who had pulled over to take an important cell phone call as she didn't have bluetooth and its illegal to talk on the cell phone while driving.

- "Someone knocked at my door and I'm too scared to go see who it is." This call happens CONSTANTLY. They don't even know that its anything bad at the door, they literally feel like they have to call 911 because they got an unexpected knock at the door.

- "There are two people breaking into my neighbors house and I think the neighbors are on vacation." The people were in fact the homeowners adult daughter and husband and they "broke in" with a key and were there to feed the cats while the parents were on vacation.

I could go on but the fact is that daily every cop goes on these kinds of bullshit calls where there is no crime and some busy body exaggerates facts or makes up facts about what is happening. Most of the time it has nothing to do with race, its just someone being a Karen, someone being mentally ill (the paranoid ones who can't even peek out their window to see who is at the door), or people being cautious.

Lets take the example I gave of the adult daughter there to feed the cats. What if she had been black? Is she a victim under this new law? Or do you want your neighbors looking out for your house while your gone? What if they had actually in fact been burglars? Most happen in the daytime and many go in through the front door as this is actually less suspicious. Many are not going to be as obvious as Central Park Karen who on video was making up stuff about the guy birdwatching.

These are all different from the "I'm white and I'm afraid of the black person I'm harassing" calls that Karens keep making.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

That is the part I don't understand about the Trump admin/GOP approach. We all want everything open and back to normal. But even if you want to value the economic side over the health and safety of Americans. Why make social distancing, mask wearing, other CDC recommendations political? If you want the best chance at opening and staying open why are they fighting so hard and having to be shamed and forced with over run hospitals and record cases into doing the BASIC orders and mandates?

It doesn't make logical sense. I get that they are useless and have no national strategy and aren't even attempting anymore. But, they are actively fighting even the most basic protocols that would help them get what they want. Which is numbers to look better by the election so they aren't crushed by the avalanche of bodies, and exploding cases. The layoffs, the unemployment. They can't keep blaming Democrats "trying to keep the economy closed" which was always stupid and transparent. When their own red state Governors are dealing with exploding cases and record numbers daily. Having to backtrack on reopening, closing businesses all over again.

When they were warned plenty of times months ago they were opening too soon, there were no plans and they were actively fighting masks, and strict social distancing.

Because the GOP was following Trump's lead when he intentionally slow walked the government's initial response to the virus because he feared it would negatively affect his reelection chances, then called it a hoax created by Democrats. Even something as simple as wearing a mask was turned into a mess because Trump steadfastly refused to wear one (the cynic in me suspects that's because he worried that the orange **** he slathers on his face would rub off on one). The GOP and right wingers looked at what Trump had done and decided his way was the right way, even though it was the wrong way in every sense of the word, and that's why things are so screwed up today.

[Tami]

WBE, this twitter post Gov Murphy responded to makes me think Doherty could be a good addition to your queue.

Screenshot_2020-07-08 (1) Governor Phil Murphy on Twitter STOP PLAYING POLITICS WITH PEOPLE’S LI.jpg

Doherty: Murphy’s Mask Mandate Represents a Clear and Present Danger to New Jersey

[skyvolt2000]

Benjy Sarlin of MSNBC (a former high school classmate of mine, incidentally) wrote about how the question of when schools reopen may be the most important policy question right now. There are many parents who can't go to work if their children at at home, so there's a major effect on the economy. There is also the downside of kids losing more access to in-person instruction after schools have been closed for months.

So what were those parents doing all the OTHER months when schools were closed???

FYI to everybody-Trump can toss out that threat but for most school districts that federal funding boils down to at least 10% of a school district's budget.

Those fedearl programs include free lunch, some special education aides, bilingual programs and a few other programs.

Also it's not his place to decide on a school district opening-that falls to the state level.

While a school district like Allen ISD could careless about federal funding as it doesn't that much. Some schools in Chicago it would be an issues at some schools.

Trump can threaten and strongarm reluctant governors to reopen schools all he wants, but if teachers refuse to return, especially since there's no coherent strategy to address coronavirus concerns, and parents are scared to death of sending their kids into what figures to be brick and mortar petri dishes, then those threats will be blatantly empty, just like schools figure to be.

Excluding Texas-Teachers can strike and stay home.

Also social distancing can not be done at a large school.

Dallas Skyline has 6000 kids. Let that sink in.

I went to an ART school-dance, visual arts, music and theater can't do social distancing.

A lot of classes are not just sitting at a desk. The school I work at now-those kids cook, run a restaurant, do dry cleaning, learn about child care, build stuff and visit/ go to work in retail or hotels.

And school districts like mine are MIGRATE where kids move around.

[PaulBullion]

What will happen when large segments refuse to take the vaccine when it’s available?

Then whoever programs those anti-vaccine, anti-mask bots on social media gets what he wants. It's biological warfare by a foreign power and lots and lots of useful idiots.

[Ragged Maw]

What will happen when large segments refuse to take the vaccine when it’s available?

..........Less of a line for you and me to wait in, then.

[MiddleMan]

What will happen when large segments refuse to take the vaccine when it’s available?

I know there is going to be a LARGE chunk of minority communities who will refuse to take it

and not surprising as the medical profession tends to inadvertently harm minority communities

[InformationGeek]

Ooooooooooh, WBE! Shame Zeldin's update was a bit ago, because he tweeted again.

Great news for terrorists worldwide. The @JoeBiden platform just released doesn’t say a word about them. It’s not mentioned ONCE.

Another odd one missing => Russia.

After years of Russia, Russia, Russia, it doesn’t even get mentioned once in Biden’s 110 page platform.��