SunSeeker
SunSeeker's JournalTrump administration pushing to block new money for testing, tracing, and CDC in upcoming coronaviru
Source: Washington Post
The Trump administration is trying to block billions of dollars for states to conduct testing and contact tracing in the upcoming coronavirus relief bill, people involved in the talks said Saturday.
The administration is also trying to block billions of dollars that GOP senators want to allocate for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and billions more for the Pentagon and State Department to address the pandemic at home and abroad, the people said.
The administration’s posture has angered some GOP senators, the officials said, and some lawmakers are trying to push back and ensure that the money stays in the bill. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal confidential deliberations, cautioned that the talks were fluid and the numbers were in flux.
The negotiations center around a bill Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnnell (R-Ky.) is preparing to unveil this coming week as part of the negotiations with Democrats on what will likely be the last major coronavirus relief bill before the November election.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/07/18/white-house-testing-budget-cdc-coronavirus/?hpid=hp_hp-banner-main_bailouthill-310pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans
"I said to my people, 'Slow the testing down please,' " https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/22/politics/donald-trump-testing-slow-down-response/index.html
Sweden's prime minister orders an inquiry into the failure of the country's no-lockdown coronavirus
Source: Business Insider
Sweden's prime minister has ordered an inquiry into the country's decision not to impose a coronavirus lockdown after the country suffered thousands more deaths than its closest neighbours.
"We have thousands of dead," Swedish prime minister Stefan Lofven said at a press conference on Wednesday, while admitting that the country's handling had exposed Sweden's "shortcomings," The Times of London reported.
"Now the question is how Sweden should change, not if."
Unlike most other European countries, including its closest neighbours, Sweden did not implement strict, wholesale lockdown measures in response to the pandemic. Instead, the country has largely allowed businesses and hospitality to remain open and students to attend school.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-opens-inquiry-into-coronavirus-strategy-of-no-lockdown-2020-7?r=US&IR=T
Please raise your hand if you predicted this.
✋
Devin Nunes is having a cow over his Democratic opponent.
Looks like Phil knows how to bust his chops. 
https://twitter.com/PhilArballo2020/status/1276019496822509568
Black Lives Matter protests haven't led to COVID-19 spikes. It may be due to people staying home.
Source: NBC News
There is no evidence yet that the wave of Black Lives Matter protests across the U.S. sparked COVID-19 outbreaks in the more than three weeks since they began, according to a study published Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Rather, as the protests went on, people who were not participating increasingly stayed at home, possibly counteracting any effects the large gatherings may have had on the spread of the virus, the researchers concluded.
The paper, which was posted online and is not yet peer reviewed, looked at data from 315 cities across the country. Of those, 281 cities had protests and 34 did not.In
...
New York City, health officials have not seen a recent spike in emergency room visits or hospitalizations, according to a statement from Dr. Oxiris Barbot, the city’s health commissioner. Still, she added: "Staying inside is the safest way to prevent the spread of COVID-19. If you do go out, our message is to wear face coverings; be diligent about washing hands; and certainly, when at all possible, maintain 6 feet of distance from your fellow New Yorkers.”
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/black-lives-matter-protests-haven-t-led-covid-19-spikes-n1232045
The vast majority of protestors did in fact wear masks, which probably helped keep the numbers down, unlike my maskless Republican neighbors here in Orange County, CA, which is seeing a huge spike in Covid-19 cases despite little if any BLM protests in the county. Compare that to New York, which had large protests yet no spike.
Best Biden ad ever--starring Lindsey Graham!
https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1272239081444040705Atlanta Police Officer who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks has been terminated
The Atlanta Police Officer who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks has been terminated, Atlanta Police spokesman Carlos Campos tells CNN.
A second Atlanta police officer involved in the Rayshard Brooks case has been placed on administrative duty.
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/george-floyd-protests-06-13-20/index.html
EEEEUUUWWW
Trump pulls back a young woman towards him on stage and forces her to kiss him:
https://twitter.com/vjheath/status/1271869319257812992
Buffalo Cop Loses Job And Pension After She Intervenes With Fellow Officer Choking A Suspect
This is a story from 2014, that shows what happens to cops who intervene:In Buffalo, New York a former police officer is fighting for her pension after being fired from the city's police department for interfering with another officer she claims was abusing an arrested suspect. Cariol Horne was fired from the force in 2006 and charged with obstructing another cop during an arrest over a domestic dispute, ABC 7 reported last week.
Horne claims that fellow Buffalo officer Gregory Kwiatkowski was abusing a suspect who had already been placed under arrest in handcuffs. "He was handcuffed in the front and he was sideways and being punched in the face by Gregory Kwiatkowski," explained Horne. Horne said she intervened when she saw Kwiatowski begin to choke the man. "I'm like, 'Greg! You're choking him,' because I thought whatever happened in the house he was still upset about so when he didn't stop choking him I just grabbed his arm from around Neal Mack's neck," said Horne.
ABC reported that Kwiatkowski then turned and punched Horne in the face. She said she needed the bridge of her nose replaced after the blow. The obstruction charge against Horne stated that she "jump[ed] on officer Kwiatkowski's back and/or [struck] him with her hands." However, in his own testimony, Kwiatkowski said, "she never got on top of me."
...
Meanwhile, ABC noted that Kwiatkowski later was forced into retirement following two separate incidents, one in which he punched another officer while off duty, another in which he choked a fellow officer while on the clock. In May of this year, he was indicted, along with two other officers, on charges of federal civil rights violations towards black teen suspects.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qvaqa3/buffalo-cop-loses-job-and-pension-after-she-intervenes-with-fellow-officer-choking-a-suspect?fbclid=IwAR3Ik-paTlQlkDCbIupajaYr67j9eecKza4LuxvnBolka6UOiz82r3HgpJs
She never got her job back or her pension. Lawmakers are now looking into it, hopefully she'll get her pension for her 19 years of service. https://buffalonews.com/2020/06/09/buffalo-lawmakers-reexamine-police-use-of-force-policy-cariol-hornes-pension/
'S**thole' Countries Have Handled The Coronavirus Better Than The United States
The United States, Italy, Spain, France and the United Kingdom contain just 7.5% of the world’s population — and two-thirds of its coronavirus death toll.
...
Last month, the World Bank reported that developing countries make up 85% of the global population but account for just 21% of COVID-19 deaths. In late May, the entire region of West Africa — which has a greater population than the United States — had recorded just 654 COVID-19 deaths, a figure some Western countries were racking up every day.
...
In January, while Trump was assuring Americans that the few known cases would soon fall to zero, Senegal was closing its borders, initiating contact tracing and committing to provide a hospital bed to every COVID-19 patient. In February, as Western European leaders allowed the virus to spread at mass gatherings, Mongolia canceled its national lunar new year celebrations and set up a task force with more than 800 staff members.
And in March, as the United States distributed meager social benefits and bailed out corporations, the Cook Islands, a small country with incomes roughly on par with Sri Lanka, devised a welfare package worth 11% of its gross domestic product that included cash payments to older adults and a three-month waiver of electricity bills for every household.
https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5edaa785c5b6dc3de7b94546
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