Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Wednesday, September 09, 2020

Spanish lifeguard with COVID-19 goes surfing, gets arrested for not quarantining

Surf’s up – and time’s up — for this coronavirus-infected lifeguard who was caught swimming in Spain when she was supposed to be in quarantine, according to a report.

The woman, who works at La Concha beach in the northern city of San Sebastián, decided to go surfing at Zurriola beach Monday despite being diagnosed with the deadly bug, El Pais reported.

Authorities were reportedly tipped off to her escapade by her own colleagues who knew she was supposed to be in isolation, according to the news outlet.

Other lifeguards approached the woman in a boat and told her to return to shore, but she ignored them and continued to surf for another hour, the report said.

Footage that went viral show several officers from the Basque regional police force – some dressed in hazmat suits – going to arrest the woman, whose name has not been reported, but she tried to flee from them.

More

Food Delivery Driver Shot In Head, Robbed In North Baltimore; Suspects Sought

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A food delivery driver is one of the latest victims of gun violence in Baltimore.

Police said a man was likely set up when he was shot and robbed while delivering food in north Baltimore overnight Monday.

At around 12:25 a.m., patrol officers responded to the 600 block of Chestnut Hill Avenue where they found a 39-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Police gave medical aid until medics responded to the scene and took the man to the hospital.

He is currently listed in critical but stable condition.

Due to the victim’s injuries, homicide detectives were notified.

More

Eric Trump is done with the NFL after Cowboys get ‘green light’ to protest

“America’s Team” taking a knee during the national anthem means “America’s Sport” is officially dead to President Trump’s son Eric.

Eric Trump tweeted Tuesday that he was done with the NFL in a tweet responding to the Dallas Cowboys being given the “green light” — according to defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford — by owner Jerry Jones to peacefully protest prior to games this season.

“Football is officially dead — so much for ‘America’s sport.’ Goodbye NFL… I’m gone,” Eric Trump tweeted.

More

TRUMP'S BOAT PARADE WAS OFF THE CHAIN!

Peter Strzok says Steele dossier led FBI on 'wild goose chase'

Former FBI agent Peter Strzok, ousted from his position after the discovery of text messages containing anti-Trump comments, admitted a dossier on collusion between the president's campaign and Russia during the 2016 election contained information that led officials on a "wild goose chase."

Strzok told The Atlantic magazine that the dossier, written by former British spy Christopher Steele – one of the agency's key informants in the Russia probe – "was very typical of information that the FBI often receives."

"It comes from several sources, including some suspect sources. Some of it is bull----, and some of it is rumor, and some of it is disinformation," Strzok said. "From our perspective, some of it was a distraction."

The dossier was later discredited, but not before it was used to obtain a surveillance warrant on former Trump aide Carter Page, in which FBI officials asserted that Page was an "agent" of Russia.

Black woman to lead Louisville police in wake of Breonna Taylor killing

A Black woman will serve as the interim chief of the Louisville Metro Police Department – becoming the first to hold the position – as protests rock the city following the death of Breonna Taylor during a raid.

Yvette Gentry was appointed to the post by Mayor Greg Fischer on Monday. She succeeds Interim Chief Robert Schroeder, who is retiring after less than three months in the position.

Longtime Chief Steve Conrad was fired earlier this year after the mayor revealed officers didn't have body cameras turned on during a fatal police shooting of the owner of a popular West End eatery.

The department has faced intense scrutiny after officers carrying out a no-knock search warrant during a narcotics investigation fired over 20 rounds into Taylor's home. She was struck eight times and killed.

Her death is under investigation by the FBI and Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. Authorities have said the officers fired back after Taylor's boyfriend started shooting at them.

More

NBA Icons Ignore Facts, Stats, and Data on 'Systemic Police Brutality'

Reacting to the shooting of a black man by a white Kenosha, Wisconsin, cop, a tearful Doc Rivers, the black NBA Los Angeles Clippers coach, held a post-game press conference. Rivers said:

All you hear is Donald Trump and all of them talking about fear. We’re the ones getting killed. We’re the ones getting shot. We’re the ones that were denied to live in certain communities. We’ve been hung. We’ve been shot. And all you do is keep hearing about fear. It’s amazing why we keep loving this country, and this country does not love us back. It’s really so sad. Like, I should just be a coach. And I’m so often reminded of my color. … It’s just really sad. We got to do better. But we got to demand better.

“We’re the ones getting killed”? “We’re the ones getting shot”? “And all you do is keep hearing about fear”?

NBA superstar LeBron James made a similar comment:

More

MSNBC host didn’t bother to ask Nancy Pelosi about salon controversy during one-on-one interview

An MSNBC host didn’t bother to ask about the controversy surrounding House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to a San Franciso hair salon ‒ in violation of state and local ordinances amid the coronavirus pandemic ‒ when the Democratic leader joined the liberal network on Sunday.

Maria Teresa Kumar filled in for Joy Reid on MSNBC’s “AM Joy” when she gave Pelosi a pass “with a softball interview exclusively focused on attacking President Trump,” according to Media Research Center analyst Kristine Marsh.

“Amazingly, Kumar gave the Democrat leader a 14-minute interview and not ONE question about Pelosi hypocritically violating her own city’s coronavirus guidelines to visit a salon and get her hair done indoors at the end of August, maskless,” Marsh wrote.

Here Are 31 Times the Media Justified or Explained Away Rioting and Looting After George Floyd’s Death

Dozens of news outlets published content that either justified or explained away rioting and looting in the initial weeks of unrest following the police custody death of George Floyd in late May, a Daily Caller News Foundation review found.

While President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden have both condemned rioting and looting, major news outlets such as CNN and MSNBC have appeared to downplay the unrest that has gripped American cities in the months following Floyd’s death, in one instance describing a scene as “mostly peaceful” as fires raged in the background.

But as the violence broke out in American cities in late May and June, dozens of news outlets provided a platform for commentators, professors, and activists who not only acknowledged that rioting and looting were taking place, but sought to either justify the violence as a valid protesting technique or as a form of righteous rebellion against an unjust system.

Here are 31 articles, opinion pieces, interviews, and news segments published in the media in the first three weeks following Floyd’s death that pushed narratives that either justified or explained away the rioting and looting as it started to break out in American cities.

More

San Francisco keeps city-owned gyms open with private gyms still barred from reopening

San Francisco gym owners are outraged after learning that gyms in government buildings for police officers and city employees have been open despite the coronavirus pandemic.
San Francisco is not expected to allow private gyms to reopen for indoor workouts until the end of September, according to NBC Bay Area.

"It's shocking, it's infuriating," Danielle Rabkin, owner of Crossfit Golden Gate, told NBC Bay Area.

"It just demonstrates that there seems to be some kind of a double standard between what city employees are allowed to do and what the residents of San Francisco are allowed to do," Dave Karraker, owner of MX3 Fitness, told NBC Bay Area.

Appeals Court Says Transgender Students May Use Restroom of Choice

A federal court decided last week that schools can’t ban students from using the restroom that matches their desired gender identity, in what BuzzFeed News called “a significant legal win for transgender rights.”

The 2-1 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit comes five years after Gavin Grimm sued the Gloucester County School Board for refusing to allow Grimm, then a high school student, to use the boys’ bathroom despite being a biological female.

Judge Henry Floyd, an Obama nominee, wrote the majority decision for Gavin Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, and it’s practically a transgender manifesto.

“At the heart of this appeal is whether equal protection and Title IX can protect transgender students from school bathroom policies that prohibit them from affirming their gender. We join a growing consensus of courts in holding that the answer is resoundingly yes,” Floyd wrote.

More

“White Lives Matter” painted on a rock at Kent State U. It’s being considered a “direct threat” to black students.

As part of their legacy of protest and student dissent, a large boulder known as “the front campus rock” has been “historically” available to students as a surface to paint messages on.

It is, as one might imagine, an ugly concatenation of discordant hues and symbols, all lacking any semblance of artistic coordination. Regardless, this boulder and the graffiti that covers it, are a matter of pride to Kent U students.

That is, until someone painted the “hurtful” statement “WHITE LIVES MATTER” on the rock on August 28. The White Lives Matter slogan (WLM) was painted over an obnoxious demand associated with the Marxist group Black Lives Matter (BLM). The demand is “Say their names.”

The University's President has now set up an "anti-racism" task force.

How American Civil Society Depends on Marriage, Family

American civil society is facing a serious domestic threat: Marriage is decliningand family stability with it.

Between 1962 and 2019, the percentage of women ages 15 to 44 who were married fell by nearly 30%, according to a recent report from the Social Capital Project of the congressional Joint Economic Committee Republicans.

The number of children born outside of wedlock grew from just 5% in 1960 to 40% in 2019.

“Stable two-parent families in a community are some of the most powerful predictors of the health of the American Dream for poor kids,” W. Bradford Wilcox, a University of Virginia sociology professor and senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies, told The Daily Signal in an email.

More

Al Sharpton: Defunding police is something ‘a latte liberal' may like, but ‘proper policing’ is necessary

MSNBC’s Al Sharpton said Tuesday that defunding the NYPD is something “a latte liberal' may support, but “people living on the ground need proper policing.”

“Morning Joe” namesake Joe Scarborough asked Sharpton about the crime in his native New York City, which has seen a surge in shootings during the coronavirus pandemic.

Scarborough brought up the “defund the police” movement – which demonstrators have been calling for across the country, since the death of George Floyd in police custody in late May – noting that some feel it would largely impact minorities and people in already unsafe neighborhoods.

“We need to re-imagine how we do policing, but ... to take all policing off is something a latte liberal may go for as they sit around the Hamptons discussing this as an academic problem. But people living on the ground need proper policing,” Sharpton said.

Study: America Hit By Roughly 550 Violent Demonstrations In Three Months

Data gathered in a Thursday study suggested that the U.S. experienced nearly 550 violent demonstrations since May 26, the day after the death of George Floyd.

The vast majority of U.S. states have experienced riots in the past three months with Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Mississippi, West Virginia, Hawaii and Alaska being the only ones unscathed by violence, according to data gathered by The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).

There were a total of 7,750 Black Lives Matter-linked demonstrations in the U.S. in 2,440 locations across all 50 states, according to ACLED’s data.

Ninety-three percent of these demonstrations were peaceful, but that indicated that approximately 543 events were violent, according to ACLED’s statistics.

More

Liberty tells staff to refrain from interacting with Falwell

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) — Staff members at Liberty University have been instructed to refrain from interacting with the school’s ousted president Jerry Falwell Jr.

The News & Advance reported Friday the university’s general counsel, David Corry, wrote in an email to staff Thursday that Falwell had made “uncomfortable” calls to some employees after resigning last week. Corry told employees they cannot give Falwell information about the school or do any favors for him while on the job because the interactions could create the perception that he is helping manage the school.

Falwell’s departure came after revelations of his wife’s extramarital affair roiled the school founded by his father.

Fraternal Order of Police unanimously votes to endorse Pres. Trump

WASHINGTON D.C. (WJW) — The Fraternal Order of Police has unanimously voted to endorsePresident Donald Trump for reelection.

National President Patrick Yoes shared the announcement on Friday.

“Look at what the national discourse has focused on for the last six months. President Trump has shown time after time that he supports our law enforcement officers and understands the issues our members face every day,” said Yoes. “The FOP is proud to endorse a candidate who calls for law and order across our nation. He has the full and enthusiastic support of the FOP.”

He said the FOP considered both 2020 presidential candidates’ records along with responses they received from the campaigns in their questionnaire. That information was then shared with the more than 355,000 members of the FOP.

More

CDC announces Students may be kept overnight as Ohio setup Covid-19 FEMA Camps

The onslaught of tyranny continues.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning parents that their children may be kept from their parents overnight due to COVID-19 concerns, as states set up COVID-19 shelters where infected individuals could be forcibly quarantined.

“Tell school administrators about any extra supplies your child may need to safely make it through a night away from home,” the CDC wrote to parents in their advisory. “Bring extra medicines, special foods, or supplies your child would need if separated overnight.

“Complete a backpack card and tuck one in your child’s backpack and your wallet,” they added.

More

Two arrested in Portland after Trump supporters, Proud Boys clash with far-left demonstrators



At least two people were arrested Monday after Trump supporters traveling from the Portland suburbs clashed with far-left counter-protesters outside the Oregon State Capitol.

Ty Parker, 53, of Durango, Colo., was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor assault and first-degree intimidation. Trenton Wolfskill, 37, of Eugene, Ore., was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor assault, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported, citing an Oregon State Police spokesperson. Both have since been released.

Videos posted on social media showed several dozen people wearing military fatigues, pro-Trump T-shirts and bearing clothing and flags labeled with the names of the far-right groups Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys, gathered on the steps of the Oregon State Capitol building in Salem, Ore. Several in the group later rushed toward a slightly smaller group of counter-protesters.

More

Marylanders Affected By Pandemic Can Now Apply For Eviction Prevention Grants

Marylanders can now begin applying for eviction prevention partnership grants.

Gov. Larry Hogan announced Wednesday the application period for $16 million in grants is now open.

Residents will have to demonstrate they’ve lost their job or their work hours have been reduced because of the pandemic.

Applications are due October 2.

Maryland’s moratorium on evictions remains in place during the state of emergency.

American flags hung after 9/11 are getting taken down from New Jersey overpasses, local official says

Local officials in New Jersey are criticizing the state’s turnpike authority for allegedly taking down American flags that were hung along overpasses in the wake of the attacks on Sept. 11 to honor veterans and those who died defending the country, according to authorities and reports.

Michael Slininger, president of the police union representing Robbinsville Township, near Trenton, said the group had just paid to replace the more than 12 flags that had been either “missing or tattered” from the overpasses along the New Jersey Turnpike and Interstate 195 – which they had done “to continue the tradition of honoring our veterans and those lost in service for our country.”

“American flags have been flown on overpasses throughout the state and throughout the nation since 9/11,” Slininger wrote Monday on a post to the Robbinsville Township Police Benevolent Association’s Facebook page. “Now, as we approach the anniversary of that horrific day, we are extremely disappointed to announce that the NJ Turnpike Authority saw fit to remove all flags on overpasses covering the N.J.T.P. last week, replacing them with signs citing … a code which is meant to apply to advertisement material or improper road signage.”
The New Jersey Turnpike Authority told News 12 New Jersey it’s had a “longstanding policy” that prohibited “the display of any flags, signs or banners by private parties on Turnpike Authority property.”



More

Portsmouth city manager resigns amid controversy over Confederate monument protest charges

Portsmouth City Manager Dr. Lydia Pettis Patton has resigned. She was appointed in 2015 and was the city's first female city manager.

Dr. Lydia Pettis Patton sent a letter to city leaders on Tuesday notifying them of her resignation. It's unclear at this time why Pettis Patton chose to step down from her post. She was set to retire at the end of this year.

The city has been embroiled in social unrest after Portsmouth Police Chief Angela Greene announced that felony arrest warrants were taken out against a number of high-profile individuals, including state Senator Louise Lucas, leaders of the Portsmouth NAACP branch and several public defenders.

The Mayor placed Police Chief Greene on administrative leave last Friday, which sparked outcry from city residences and leaders from surrounding areas.

Battleground States may see unprecedented amount of absentee Ballot reject

Up to three times as many voters in battleground states could have their votes discarded compared to 2016 if states reject absentee ballots at the same rate as the 2020 primaries, The Associated Press reported.

Millions of voters plan to vote by mail amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and postal delays have been reported across the country, according to AP. Rejection rates could be even more pronounced in urban areas where ballot rejection rates have been higher throughout the 2020 cycle.

“It is the number one thing that keeps me up at night – the idea that voters will do everything they can to ensure their ballot is returned on time and the system will fail them,” Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

More

How to fix the most annoying things about masks

As mask mandates become more common, millions of people are adapting to a new normal. And sometimes they're finding masks to be a bit annoying and uncomfortable.

Consumer Reports says that a few easy adjustments can ensure a safe and comfortable mask-wearing experience for everyone.

Wearing masks is essential to slowing the spread of COVID-19. But that doesn’t mean you have to put up with the annoyances that come from wearing them, such as fogged-up glasses, ear irritation, and even acne.

If you wear glasses or sunglasses that are constantly fogging up, a mask with a wire sewn in at the top is your best bet. Pinch the top of your mask so that it fits the shape of your nose. Next, tighten the sides for a snug fit.

You can also apply an anti-fogging solution to your lens, try wearing your glasses on top of your mask. Next, are you suffering from “mask acne?” When you wear a mask for a long period of time you sweat, which causes bacteria to build up. That can cause acne. Make sure your face and mask are clean before heading out. If you’re still breaking out, a topical over-the-counter acne cream that contains benzoyl peroxide can help.

If your ears feel irritated from wearing a mask, it’s because the elastic ear loops are causing friction. Rub some petroleum jelly behind your ears. You can also switch to a tie-back mask instead of one with elastic ear loops. You’re not supposed to touch your mask once you put it on. But if it keeps slipping, you should tighten it until it feels a little harder to breathe. You should notice your mask moving in and out as you breathe.

If you’re having trouble being understood while you’re wearing a mask, CR says it’s not really a matter of speaking louder. Just make sure you’re speaking slowly and clearly, and ask other mask wearers to do the same. Follow these tips so you can keep others safe as well as yourself and stay comfortable at the same time.

The Left’s Dangerous Delegitimization of the Election

A recent article in The Washington Post’s Outlook section, “What’s the Worst That Could Happen?”—which explores various potential outcomes of the 2020 presidential election—found that in “every scenario except a [Joe] Biden landslide, our simulation ended catastrophically.” According to the Post, any other outcome is destined to spark “violence” and a “constitutional crisis.”

Or, in other words, nice country you got there…

Every assumption in the article, written by Rosa Brooks, a Georgetown University law professor and co-founder of the Transition Integrity Project, is awash in the conspiratorial paranoia. It’s a world where Trump officials are “ruthless and unconstrained right out of the gate” but the genteel statesmen of Team Biden “struggled to get out of reaction mode.”

It is a place where Republicans aren’t only reflexively seditious and autocratic, but where a “highly politicized” Supreme Court tries to steal the election.

More

Redskins traces remain as team goes about scrubbing past

LANDOVER — The American Indian logo at midfield is gone. So are the giant burgundy letters that once spelled out “REDSKINS” across each end zone. The banner proclaiming the stadium the “Home of the Redskins” has been taken down.

A lot has changed at FedEx Field. But look closely and it’s not hard to find remnants of the past. Deleting decades of history, it turns out, isn’t easy.

More than a month has passed since the Washington Football Team, under mounting pressure from its corporate partners, abandoned a name that, though revered by longtime fans, had become a target for activists.

More

Facebook paying some users to stop using website ahead of election as part of study

Facebook is paying some users to deactivate their accounts up to six weeks before the 2020 presidential election,

The effort is part of a new research project Facebook announced in an Aug. 31 blog post to "better understand the impact of Facebook and Instagram on key political attitudes and behaviors during the U.S. 2020 elections."

"We'd like to know how much you'd need to be paid in for deactivating your Instagram account...in late September for either [one] week or [six] weeks," an Instagram notice to users reads in a screenshot Dwoskin posted to Twitter. "To participate, you must be willing to deactivate your account for both time periods and not use Instagram during that time."

More

CDC Reports: 26.3% Less “All Deaths” in 2020 than 2018 – Gobbledygook Coronavirus Math

Dr. Jonathan Temte, associate dean for public health and community engagement at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health in addressing the argument that numbers showing the prevalence of COVID-19 are overstated, Temte said that’s wrong.

Really? Let’s fact check this – be patient, read carefully, and take the time to walk through the data slowly.

According to Temte, an actual death count doesn’t exist, in part because of statutes such as Wisconsin’s that only require providers to report pediatric deaths from influenza. It’s voluntary to report flu deaths from adults. Additionally, Wisconsin does not require influenza testing to be reported. “Influenza ascertainment has always been nebulous,” he said. ‘In the best circumstances, we can assess what happens within a clinical population.” Temte has been part of a clinic-based surveillance program run out of five family medicine clinics in Dane County over the past 11 years.

Temte pointed to a graphic from the CDC that comes out weekly and reports the percentage of deaths in the U.S. due to pneumonia, influenza, and now COVID-19. During the 2009-10 influenza season, 8.1% of people who died had either influenza or pneumonia. Another bad influenza year in 2017-18 saw this pneumonia – and flu-related deaths peak at 10%. But the week ending April 11 this year hit a record23.5% of deaths by COVID-19, influenza or pneumonia compared to the total number of deaths.

Temte said each week, the CDC reports the percentage of deaths in the U.S. due to pneumonia, influenza, and now COVID-19. During the 2009-10 influenza season, 8.1% of people who died had either influenza or pneumonia. During 2017-18 those pneumonia- and flu-related deaths peaked at 10%.

First off, Temte assertion of the 23.5% is wrong, it should be 18.84%. Ok, perhaps we are being a stickler for details but accuracy is important. The point is that this number is a cherry-picked weekly number. When looking at the “to date” percentages it is 3.87%. Well within the norms of prior years.I have pre-downloaded and sorted the spreadsheet (see tab 2020-WorkSheet) here – but please feel free to do this exercise yourself. Note that the data could have changed since Temte made his assertions. For the year 2020 according to Temte citation (CDC data) the “All Deaths” rate through May 2, 2020, was 787,181.

More