26 April 20
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25 April 20
Dan McCready | Take It From Me, Voter Fraud Is Part of the GOP Playbook
Dan McCready, The New York Times
McCready writes: "By now most of us have seen the photos from the Wisconsin primary, where voters had to stand for hours in lines that wrapped around city blocks in cold, pouring rain."
Dan McCready, The New York Times
McCready writes: "By now most of us have seen the photos from the Wisconsin primary, where voters had to stand for hours in lines that wrapped around city blocks in cold, pouring rain."
EXCERPT:
To exercise what was supposed to be their most sacred democratic right, people had to risk catching the deadly coronavirus — and several did.
To avoid a repeat of the situation and hold a fair election in November, when America may still be in the middle of a pandemic, elections experts and public health officials say we must ramp up voting by mail. Voters on both sides of the aisle agree, as do Democratic and some Republican lawmakers. But mail-in voting has a loud opponent: President Trump. He’s calling for Republicans to fight it, saying it’s a recipe for fraud.
The thing is, fraud isn’t Mr. Trump’s true concern, or the Republican Party’s. I should know. Ballot fraud is extremely rare. But when a case was uncovered in my congressional race in 2018 — orchestrated by my Republican opponent’s campaign — the president and party officials looked the other way. Mr. Trump’s concern is more sinister: Alleging fraud is a cover to rig elections by suppressing Democratic votes.
Immigrant children in a detention center. (photo: Ross D. Franklin)
Judge Orders Release of Migrant Children Despite Challenges Presented by Pandemic
Dennis Romero, NBC News
Romero writes: "A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Trump administration was again violating a longstanding agreement that compels the government to release migrant children detained at the border within 20 days and ordered the minors be released."
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Dennis Romero, NBC News
Romero writes: "A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Trump administration was again violating a longstanding agreement that compels the government to release migrant children detained at the border within 20 days and ordered the minors be released."
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'Reports of strokes in the young and middle-aged are the latest twist in our evolving understanding of covid-19.' (photo: Reuters)
Young and Middle-Aged People, Barely Sick With Covid-19, Are Dying From Strokes
Ariana Eunjung Cha, The Washington Post
Cha writes: "Reports of strokes in the young and middle-aged are the latest twist in our evolving understanding of its connected disease, covid-19."
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Ariana Eunjung Cha, The Washington Post
Cha writes: "Reports of strokes in the young and middle-aged are the latest twist in our evolving understanding of its connected disease, covid-19."
READ MORE
A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads 'Rent Strike' on April 1, 2020, in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. (photo: Ted S. Warren/AP)
With Millions Unable to Pay for Housing Next Month, Organizers Plan the Largest Rent Strike in Nearly a Century
Natasha Lennard, The Intercept
Lennard writes: "At least 400 hundred families who live in buildings each containing over 1,500 rent units are coordinating building-wide rent strikes."
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Natasha Lennard, The Intercept
Lennard writes: "At least 400 hundred families who live in buildings each containing over 1,500 rent units are coordinating building-wide rent strikes."
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Many of the rallies have been inspired by a protest at the Michigan state capitol. (photo: Matthew Dae Smith/AP)
FreedomWorks Is Supporting the Anti-Shutdown Protests - and Applying for Government Funding
Jane Coaston, Vox
Coaston writes: "FreedomWorks, a conservative-leaning organization best known for its support of the Tea Party movement and its longtime opposition to government bailouts, has applied for a Small Business Administration loan through the Paycheck Protection Program, Congress's emergency response to the economic downturn."
Jane Coaston, Vox
Coaston writes: "FreedomWorks, a conservative-leaning organization best known for its support of the Tea Party movement and its longtime opposition to government bailouts, has applied for a Small Business Administration loan through the Paycheck Protection Program, Congress's emergency response to the economic downturn."
The loan is to support the group’s foundation arm.
As first reported in the New York Times, nonprofit groups are permitted to apply for SBA loans intended to prop up struggling businesses in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Those nonprofit groups include the FreedomWorks Foundation. The Times quoted FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon as saying, “I would love someone to give us free cash.”
A provision in the legislation, which socially conservative organizations recommended to Republican lawmakers, made clear that certain nonprofit groups could apply as well. The provision opened the door for taxpayer funding to subsidize well-connected organizations that are part of the political fray in an election year. And at least a few groups — on both sides of the political spectrum — decided to apply, so far with mixed results.The Congressional Progressive Caucus Center’s application for a $160,000 loan is awaiting resolution, as is FreedomWorks Foundation’s request for $300,000, according to officials at the groups.
FreedomWorks has long opposed federal bailouts, describing the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 as “unconstitutional.” In response to the passage of the Phase 3.5 bill earlier this week, FreedomWorks’ Jason Pye said, “The line has long been crossed. No more spending. Period. At this point, we should be focused on reopening the economy and getting Americans back to work.”
And as I reported earlier this week, FreedomWorks is connected to many of the anti-stay-at-home-order protests taking place across the country. For example, in Wisconsin, the main anti-shutdown group, Open Wisconsin Now, was organized by the Committee to Unleash Prosperity and by FreedomWorks.
While FreedomWorks is best known for the actions taken by the group’s political side, the FreedomWorks Foundation — aimed, according to its website, at “educat[ing] and empower[ing] Americans with the principles of individual liberty, small government, and free markets” — is eligible for an SBA loan.
According to its 2018 990, the FreedomWorks Foundation had roughly $1.1 million in total assets at the end of 2018. Brandon, the FreedomWorks president, told me the group chose to apply for the loan because “it’s responsible to explore all options.”
“We had to cancel our annual fundraiser because of the shutdowns, and that is [a] big blow to our fundraising,” Brandon said over text message. “My quote [in the New York Times] was out of context and I was being sarcastic since we will not get that opportunity for our fundraiser until next year.”
He reiterated that only the Foundation would receive PPP support and said, “I think it’s responsible to explore all options. We have no idea how long these shutdowns will last. We’re in a good position now with reserve funds, but I have no idea what the world looks like in six months if the lockdowns continue.”
I asked him if he saw any contradiction between FreedomWorks’ previous opposition to government bailouts and their decision to apply for and take an SBA loan. He said, “No,” adding, “It’s like when your land gets taken, you get compensation. It’s a takings issue. The moral hazard is when you get bailed out for negligent behavior.”
Members of the socialist organization Partito d'Azione, April 25, 1945. (photo: @MaazaMengiste/Twitter)
Italy Remembers the Day of Liberation From Nazi Occupation
teleSUR
Excerpt: "Italy celebrates today the 75th anniversary of the liberation of fascism in 1945 amid a pandemic that has left 25,969 dead in the country until Saturday morning."
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teleSUR
Excerpt: "Italy celebrates today the 75th anniversary of the liberation of fascism in 1945 amid a pandemic that has left 25,969 dead in the country until Saturday morning."
READ MORE
Pollution from a factory. (photo: Science Focus)
Coronavirus Detected on Particles of Air Pollution
Damian Carrington, Guardian UK
Carrington writes: "Coronavirus has been detected on particles of air pollution by scientists investigating whether this could enable it to be carried over longer distances and increase the number of people infected."
Damian Carrington, Guardian UK
Carrington writes: "Coronavirus has been detected on particles of air pollution by scientists investigating whether this could enable it to be carried over longer distances and increase the number of people infected."
The work is preliminary and it is not yet known if the virus remains viable on pollution particles and in sufficient quantity to cause disease.
The Italian scientists used standard techniques to collect outdoor air pollution samples at one urban and one industrial site in Bergamo province and identified a gene highly specific to Covid-19 in multiple samples. The detection was confirmed by blind testing at an independent laboratory.
Leonardo Setti at the University of Bologna in Italy, who led the work, said it was important to investigate if the virus could be carried more widely by air pollution.
“I am a scientist and I am worried when I don’t know,” he said. “If we know, we can find a solution. But if we don’t know, we can only suffer the consequences.”
Two other research groups have suggested air pollution particles could help coronavirus travel further in the air.
A statistical analysis by Setti’s team suggests higher levels of particle pollution could explain higher rates of infection in parts of northern Italy before a lockdown was imposed, an idea supported by another preliminary analysis. The region is one of the most polluted in Europe.
Neither of the studies by Setti’s team have been peer-reviewed and therefore have not been endorsed by independent scientists. But experts agree their proposal is plausible and requires investigation.
Previous studies have shown that air pollution particles do harbour microbes and that pollution is likely to have carried the viruses causing bird flu, measles and foot-and-mouth disease over considerable distances.
The potential role of air pollution particles is linked to the broader question of how the coronavirus is transmitted. Large virus-laden droplets from infected people’s coughs and sneezes fall to the ground within a metre or two. But much smaller droplets, less than 5 microns in diameter, can remain in the air for minutes to hours and travel further.
Experts are not sure whether these tiny airborne droplets can cause coronavirus infections, though they know the 2003 Sars coronavirus was spread in the air and that the new virus can remain viable for hours in tiny droplets.
But researchers say the importance of potential airborne transmission, and the possible boosting role of pollution particles, mean it must not be ruled out without evidence.
Prof Jonathan Reid at Bristol University in the UK is researching airborne transmission of coronavirus. “It is perhaps not surprising that while suspended in air, the small droplets could combine with background urban particles and be carried around.”
He said the virus had been detected in tiny droplets collected indoors in China.
Setti said tiny droplets between 0.1 and 1 micron may travel further when coalesced with pollution particles up to 10 microns than on their own. This is because the combined particle is larger and less dense than the droplet and can remain buoyed by the air for longer.
“The pollution particle is like a micro-airplane and the passengers are the droplets,” said Sett. Reid is more cautious: “I think the very small change in the size of the [combined] particles is unlikely to play much of a role.”
Prof Frank Kelly at Imperial College London said the idea of pollution particles carrying the virus further afield was an interesting one. “It is possible, but I would like to see this work repeated by two or three groups.”
Another expert, Prof John Sodeau at University College Cork, in the Republic of Ireland, said: “The work seems plausible. But that is the bottom line at the moment, and plausible [particle] interactions are not always biologically viable and may have no effect in the atmosphere.” He said the normal course of scientific research might take two or three years to confirm such findings.
Other research has indicated correlations between increased Covid-19 deaths and higher levels of air pollution before the pandemic. Long-term exposure to dirty air is known to damage lung health, which could make people more vulnerable to Covid-19.
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