May 11, 2020

U.S. diplomat's wife accused of killing British teen 'Wanted Internationally'

Source: Politico

An Interpol Red Notice has been issued for the wife of a U.S. intelligence officer charged with causing the death of a teenage motorcyclist in the U.K.

According to the Independent, the parents of Harry Dunn, who was killed near a Royal Air Force base in Northamptonshire in August, were informed by British police that Anne Sacoolas is now “Wanted Internationally” and “should she leave the USA the wanted circulations should be enacted.”

Sacoolas left the U.K. shortly after the crash in which Dunn was killed and claimed diplomatic immunity. In October, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked U.S. President Donald Trump to "reconsider the U.S. position" and Dunn's parents met Donald Trump at the White House, when he offered them a meeting with Sacoolas, which they declined.

She was charged with causing death by dangerous driving in December but a month later, the U.S. rejected Britain’s request for extradition.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/11/us-diplomats-wife-accused-of-killing-british-teen-wanted-internationally-249062

May 11, 2020

For a 3rd Sunday, Worcester pastor defies state's ban on large gatherings

Source: Boston Globe

A Worcester pastor held services on Sunday in violation of a state ban on large gatherings, despite already facing warnings for two previous violations, church officials said.

A representative for the Adams Square Baptist Church confirmed Sunday that Pastor Kris Casey had held services earlier that day in the presence of more than 10 people, but declined to make a statement.

City officials said they would impose a $300 civil fine on Casey last week after the church violated a ban on gatherings of 10 or more people for the second time, holding in-person events on two consecutive Sundays.

With the third violation, Casey could face “a fine up to $500 or term of imprisonment,” according to state guidance issued with Governor Charlie Baker’s order.

Read more: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/05/11/metro/3rd-sunday-worcester-pastor-defies-states-ban-large-gatherings/

May 11, 2020

10-4: How to Reopen the Economy by Exploiting the Coronavirus's Weak Spot

New York Times

If we cannot resume economic activity without causing a resurgence of Covid-19 infections, we face a grim, unpredictable future of opening and closing schools and businesses.

We can find a way out of this dilemma by exploiting a key property of the virus: its latent period — the three-day delay on average between the time a person is infected and the time he or she can infect others.

People can work in two-week cycles, on the job for four days then, by the time they might become infectious, 10 days at home in lockdown. The strategy works even better when the population is split into two groups of households working alternating weeks.

Austrian school officials will adopt a simple version — with two groups of students attending school for five days every two weeks — starting May 18.

May 11, 2020

Colorado restaurant illegally reopens with no social distancing and hundreds of customers

Source: Washington Post

The armed bouncer appeared friendly, welcoming a local reporter inside C&C Coffee and Kitchen in Castle Rock, Colo., to take video footage of the remarkable scene unfolding inside.

In the restaurant on Sunday morning, in defiance of Gov. Jared Polis’s executive Safer at Home order, every table was nearly full, according to the footage from Colorado Community Media reporter Nick Puckett. Customers crowded around the counter waiting for their orders. The line to place them went out the door, wrapping around the side of the building.

And almost no one was wearing a face mask. Only a single person among the dozens in Puckett’s footage can be seen wearing one.

For the owners of the breakfast cafe, it was a way to both celebrate Mother’s Day and defy the governor.


Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/11/colorado-restaurant-illegal-reopening/

May 11, 2020

Trump to deliver remarks from a White House that has become a 'scary' place to work

Source: Washington Post

President Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks Monday on the role of testing in reopening the nation’s economy, as his aides scramble to contain a coronavirus outbreak within the ranks of the White House, which one senior adviser said has made it “scary to go to work.”

Trump and other administration officials are scheduled to appear in the Rose Garden late in the afternoon for what the White House is advertising as remarks from the president and a news briefing on testing.

The event comes amid intense focus on what is being done to contain the virus in the West Wing following announcements in recent days that one of Trump’s personal valets and Katie Miller, the spokeswoman for Vice President Pence, have tested positive.

“It is scary to go to work,” White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Sunday during an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “But, you know, it’s the time when people have to step up and serve their country.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/11/coronavirus-update-us/#link-C6T6JN2NIBAZVFTJ2YZYNURRTA

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But the RATINGS!...

May 11, 2020

GOP senators worry Trump, COVID-19 could cost them their majority

The Hill

Senate Republicans looking at polls showing GOP incumbents losing ground are concerned that President Trump's handling of the pandemic has put their majority in danger.

The two biggest criticisms of Trump that GOP lawmakers express privately are that his administration took too long to deploy coronavirus tests and that the president’s statements and demeanor have been too cavalier or flippant.

The biggest headwind Republicans face this fall is the faltering national economy, which now has a 14.7 unemployment rate, according to a Friday report by the Labor Department.

While Republican senators acknowledge that Trump’s popular support is tough to poll, some are concerned about surveys showing his approval rating below that of all 50 governors and other world leaders.

Compounding their anxiety are recent polls showing Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), a once-safe incumbent, now trailing his Democratic opponent, Gov. Steve Bullock, and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who was also seen as cruising to reelection, in a dead heat with Democrat Theresa Greenfield.

May 11, 2020

Joe Biden Sucks at Digital Media. So What?

Politico

If Donald Trump’s digital media operation is, as his campaign manager Brad Parscale described it this week, a “Death Star,” the consensus seems to be that Joe Biden’s digital presence more closely resembles Jar Jar Binks.

Trump has 80 million Twitter followers; Biden has 5 million. Trump’s Facebook page has 27.5 million likes; Biden’s has less than than 2 million. “From mid-March to mid-April,” Karl Rove noted in his Wall Street Journal column this week, “Mr. Trump had seven times the social-media interactions, 620 million to Mr. Biden’s 87 million.” Biden’s live-streamed events, such as his first “virtual rally” on Thursday, are often hampered by technical glitches. It’s bad enough that David Axelrod and David Plouffe, Barack Obama’s former campaign gurus, took to the New York Times to vent that Biden must “transform a campaign that lagged behind many of his Democratic competitors during the primary in its use of digital media.” To put it succinctly, as a New York Times headline declared last month, “Biden Is Losing The Internet.”

Maybe he is. So what?

Biden won the presidential primary with an analog campaign while being outmatched online by his rivals’ much more sophisticated efforts. That should not be dismissed as a fluke event.

Political operatives and journalists have a tendency to size up campaigns based on the size of their campaign apparatuses. Bernie Sanders’ primary campaign looked indestructible because his digital footprint was so enormous, he could generate a huge crowd almost anywhere he went. Mike Bloomberg seemed unstoppable because he had hired thousands of field staff, stuffed mailboxes and flooded the airwaves. Now Trump looms large because of his massive war chest and his campaign’s digital savvy, and Biden’s campaign has responded in recent days by hiring several prominent digital strategists from the campaigns of former rivals Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Beto O’Rourke.

But piles of money and social media engagements don’t matter if your fundamental argument falls flat.

May 11, 2020

Alexander to remotely chair coronavirus hearing after staffer tests positive for virus

Source: Politico

Senate health committee Chair Lamar Alexander will remotely lead a hearing on the coronavirus this week from Tennessee after a member of his staff tested positive for the virus.

Alexander chose not to travel back to D.C. this week after discussing the situation with the Senate’s attending physician. The senator tested negative for the coronavirus on Thursday afternoon and is not exhibiting any symptoms.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing Tuesday on the government's response to the coronavirus will feature four administration witnesses, all of whom will testify by videoconference, according to Alexander chief of staff David Cleary.

FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, CDC Director Robert Redfield and top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci announced last week they would self-isolate after being potentially exposed to the virus. HHS testing czar Brett Giroir will also remotely testify. Katie Miller, a spokesperson for Vice President Mike Pence, and a valet for President Donald Trump tested positive for the virus last week.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/10/alexander-coronavirus-hearing-staffer-positive-248512

May 11, 2020

Kamala emerges as early Biden VP favorite as sting of debate attack fades

Politico

Kamala Harris was written off as a possible vice presidential pick for Joe Biden last year after a cutting debate performance where she seemed to suggest he was racially insensitive.

Now, Harris is not only in top contention, but Biden aides, surrogates and major donors see her as the best fit at the onset of the process — at least on paper — to join him atop the Democratic ticket.

Biden’s campaign has formally started vetting a group of prospects that includes roughly a dozen women. But in interviews, more than two dozen Democrats, including advisers, allies and donors aligned with Biden, returned to Harris as an early frontrunner. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the favorite among progressives, was also seen as rising above the pack.

Biden and his family were stung by the June debate exchange over his record on school busing. The attack was particularly hurtful because of Harris’ bond with Biden’s late son Beau, also a one-time state attorney general.

May 11, 2020

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go...

https://twitter.com/profplotch/status/1259806794156838912