"California prepares to dock Princess cruise ship with 21 coronavirus cases" by Associated Press, March 8, 2020
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — As the U.S. death toll from the new coronavirus reached at least 21, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the mayor of Oakland sought Sunday to reassure the public that none of the passengers from a ship carrying people with the virus will be released into the public before undergoing a 14-day quarantine.
The Grand Princess carrying more than 3,500 people from 54 countries is expected to dock Monday in Oakland, in the east San Francisco Bay, and was idling off the coast Sunday as officials prepared a port site. Those needing acute medical care will come off first.
“This is a time that we must be guided by facts and not fears, and our public deserves to know what’s going on,’’ Mayor Libby Schaaf said.
Meanwhile, the number of infections in the United States climbed above 500 as testing for the virus increased.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institutes of Health’s allergy and infectious diseases chief, said Sunday that widespread closure of a city or region, as Italy has done, is “possible.”
Hunger Games.
“You don’t want to alarm people, but given the spread we see, you know anything is possible and that’s the reason why we’ve got to be prepared to take whatever action is appropriate to contain and mitigate the outbreak,” Fauci said on “Fox News Sunday.’’
U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said communities will need to start thinking about canceling large gatherings, closing schools and letting more employees work from home, as many companies have done in the Seattle, Washington, area amid an outbreak that has killed 18. Sixteen deaths have been linked to a Kirkland, Washington, nursing home.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency Sunday after the number of confirmed cases there doubled from the previous day to 14.
On the Grand Princess, Donna LaGesse and her sister-in-law Jackie Eilers had a small celebration in their cabin Saturday night after the captain announced the ship would soon dock. She said they’re maintaining a positive attitude, watching exercise videos and re-runs of “The Love Boat.’’
“We’re keeping our senses of humor. We’re laughing at the whole situation,” said LaGesse, 64, of Greenville, North Carolina. “We’re lucky because we have a room with a balcony so we can get some fresh air.”
Not me.
The Oakland port was chosen for the ship to dock because of its proximity to an airport and a military base, Newsom said. U.S. passengers will be transported to military bases in California, Texas and Georgia, where they will be tested for COVID-19 and remain under a 14-day quarantine, federal officials said.
How long until we have quarantine camps?
The 1,113-member crew will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship, which will dock elsewhere, Newsom said.
“That ship will turn around — and they are currently assessing appropriate places to bring that quarantined ship — but it will not be here in the San Francisco Bay,” he said.
The Department of State was working with the home countries of several hundred passengers to arrange their repatriation.
Canada announced it was sending a plane to collect nearly 240 Canadians on the Grand Princess. Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said those who have not shown any symptoms of the new virus will be taken to a military base in Trenton, Ontario, for a two-week quarantine.
The Grand Princess had been forbidden to dock in San Francisco amid evidence the vessel was the breeding ground for a cluster of at least 20 cases, including one death, after a previous voyage. It was held off the coast Wednesday so people with symptoms could be tested.
Grant Tarling, chief medical officer for Carnival Corporation, said it’s believed a 71-year-old Northern California man who later died of the virus was probably sick when he boarded the ship for a Feb. 11 cruise to Mexico.
The passenger visited the medical center the day before disembarking with symptoms of respiratory illness, he said. He likely infected his dining room server, who also tested positive for the virus, Tarling said, as did two people traveling with the man.
Ever see the movie Contagion because this is reading like the script.
Off the coast of Florida Sunday, the Regal Princess cruise ship was awaiting test results for the new coronavirus on two crew members, then cleared hours later to enter port, authorities said.
Another Princess ship, the Diamond Princess, was quarantined for two weeks in Yokohama, Japan, last month because of the virus. Ultimately, about 700 of the 3,700 people aboard became infected in what experts pronounced a public-health failure, with the vessel essentially becoming a floating germ factory.
Stay off the ships!
Hundreds of Americans aboard that ship were flown to military bases in California and other states for two-week quarantines. Some later were hospitalized with symptoms.
Private companies and some public venues in the U.S. have been taking safety measures in an effort to limit the virus’ spread. The largest school district in Northern California canceled classes for a week when it was discovered a family in the district was exposed to COVID-19. Elk Grove Unified has nearly 64,000 students.
Kendyl Knight learned Saturday that her prom was off while she was in a salon chair getting her makeup done.
“You can’t really be mad about it, but it is very disappointing,’’ said the 16-year-old, who went out for dinner and got photos taken with her friends anyway. She said she “may be young and naive,’’ but she is not concerned about the new virus. “Honestly the decision to cancel school seems kind of extreme,’’ Knight said.....
I wonder what college she will be attending.
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Related:
"To contain the coronavirus, Italy will limit movement across much of its northern region, including the cities of Milan and Venice. The measures, the most drastic outside of China, place significant restrictions on 16 million people in a broad area that is Italy's economic engine. After mass testing uncovered more than 7,300 infections, Italy now has registered more cases of the virus than any country but China, where the disease is in retreat. Around the globe, more events were canceled or conducted privately, from the pope's Sunday service to a Formula One car race in Bahrain to a sumo competition in Japan, where wrestlers arrived at the arena in face masks and were required to use hand sanitizer before entering. In Saudi Arabia, officials announced all schools and universities would be closed starting today, following the lead of other Gulf countries......"
More on the Saudis below, and as California prepares to dock the cruise ship with 21 virus cases and Massachusetts reports 15 new cases of coronavirus tied to the Biogen company meeting it is time to self-quarantine; however, don’t let coronavirus kill Chinatown’s vibe.
Elbow bumps replace handshakes; otherwise church attendance largely intact amid coronavirus
In Newton, Jewish families streamed into Temple Beth on Sunday morning for a carnival to celebrate Purim, which begins Monday night. There was face-painting, cookie-making, general merriment — and hand sanitizer galore, said Stacy Schwartz, the temple president. Temple leaders canceled an upcoming senior luncheon out of concern for the elderly, who tend to be the most vulnerable, she said. They’ve been disinfecting the temple more often and have sent e-mails to congregants with information and tips from the state, Schwartz said. Temple leaders have been following releases from the state and will make decisions based on that official information. For now, most programming will continue as scheduled. “We’re a vibrant suburban synagogue with lots of programs, and we want to be optimistically cautious,” Schwartz said.
They celebrated with an elbow bump before washing their hands (so that's where all the sanitizer went) and heading over to the Seder where all the kissing and hugging is making the pandemic worse.
Takeda, drug maker with biggest head count in Mass., tells most employees to work from home
“As a global pharmaceutical leader, our top priority during this outbreak is to do all we can to protect the health of our employees, those who work alongside them, their families and our communities, while making sure our medicines and services continue to reach patients who rely on them,” two high-ranking Takeda executives said in the e-mail early Sunday.
Seems like a simple thing to do, and the good news is their genetic detectives are on the case as they push deeper towards a cure (let's hope you don't need a personal care aide in Massachusetts).
Until then, be prepared for the hockey game to be cancelled along with the St. Patrick’s Day parade (maybe it will rain that day). Forget about any extensive travel to go mountain climbing. The highways will be blocked off and no school buses will run. Even the MBTA will be empty, and that will be a good thing for the environment.
Looks like you ladies got this back page protest in just in time:
"Protests and celebrations mark Women’s Day, despite threats" by Adam Geller Associated Press, March 8, 2020
NEW YORK — From the streets of Manila to the plazas of Santiago, Chile, people around the world marked International Women’s Day on Sunday with calls to end exploitation and increase equality, but tensions marred some celebrations, with police reportedly using tear gas to break up a demonstration by thousands of women in Turkey and security forces arresting demonstrators at a rally in Kyrgyzstan.
One of the largest demonstrations occurred in Chile, where crowds thousands flooded the streets of the capital with dancing, music, and angry demands for gender equality and an end to violence against women. “They kill us, they rape us, and nobody does anything,” some chanted.
Tens of thousands of women also marched through Paris, inveighing against the “virus of the patriarchy.” “Enough impunity!” chanted some activists, who focused on France’s unusually high rate of women killed by their husbands.
In France?
Thousands of women also marched in Madrid and other Spanish cities, despite concern over the spread of the new coronavirus. Spanish health authorities said did not put any restrictions on the march, but recommended that anyone with symptoms similar to those of the coronavirus stay home.
At a school in East London, meanwhile, the duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, joined students in listening to speeches about women labor activists, and urged both girls and boys to respect the contributions of women every day of the year.
“For young men . . . you have your mothers, sisters, girlfriends, friends in your life — protect them. Make sure they are feeling valued and safe,” she told the students, but safety was in short supply at some events to mark the day.
That was their final duty before their new life.
The detonation of explosives triggered panic at a ceremony in Bamenda, an English-speaking town in the northwest of Cameroon. Suspicions focused on separatists who had vowed to disrupt the events. No one was killed or wounded.
Police in Bishek, the capital city of Kyrgyzstan, detained about 60 people after a group of unidentified men broke up what authorities called an unauthorized rally.
In Nicaragua, where authorities have banned opposition protests since September 2018, police surrounded and blocked two groups of women at a church and human rights office who had planned to stage a demonstration.....
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They couldn't protest in Saudi Arabia because they are under house arrest:
"Saudis’ arrest of 2 princes called a warning to royal family" by Aya Batrawy Associated Press, March 8, 2020
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia’s King Salman was shown in state media Sunday in apparent good health and working, just days after the arrest of two senior princes triggered speculation about a possible coup attempt or a sudden deterioration in the king’s health.
Two people close to the royal family said Saturday that the two princes were under arrest for not supporting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has consolidated control of all major levers of power inside the kingdom with the support of his father, King Salman.
The arrests of the king’s younger and beloved brother, Prince Ahmed bin Abdelaziz, and the king’s nephew and former counterterrorism czar, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, came after what one person in Saudi Arabia with knowledge of the arrests described as an accumulation of behavior that was provocative to leadership.
The source added that the arrests sent a message to anyone in the royal family feeling disenfranchised: Stop grumbling and toe the line, because if Prince Ahmed can be arrested, any prince can and will be. Prince Ahmed was seen as a person who royals could look to when feeling vexed with the crown prince’s grip on power, the person said.
The reports of a crackdown emerged early Friday. In the king’s first appearance since then, state media showed the 84-year-old king on Sunday standing and greeting two Saudi diplomats being sworn in as ambassadors. He was previously seen Thursday meeting with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in Riyadh.
The arrests came as a surprise, given that Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, 60, was widely known to be under close surveillance since he was shunted out of the line of succession by the king’s son in mid-2017, a person close to the royal court said.
The arrest of Prince Ahmed, 78, was also unexpected since he is the king’s full younger brother and also a senior member of the ruling Al Saud family.
Prince Ahmed, however, has long held unfavorable views of the crown prince and was one of just a few senior princes to abstain from pledging allegiance to him when the young royal sidelined more senior princes to become first in line to the throne.
Both princes had served previously in the post of interior minister, overseeing security and surveillance inside the kingdom.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the arrests, quoting unidentified sources allied with the royal court as saying the princes were plotting a palace coup that would halt the rise of the crown prince. The Journal has since reported that the sweep broadened to include dozens of Interior Ministry officials, senior army officers and others suspected of supporting a coup attempt.
The two people who talked to the Associated Press declined to characterize actions by the two princes as a coup attempt. They agreed to discuss the highly sensitive matter related to security only if granted anonymity.
There has been no official comment from Saudi authorities on the arrests.
The crown prince has succeeded in a few short years at sweeping aside any competition from royals older and more experienced than him. He has also overhauled the most powerful security bodies to report to him.
Prince Mohammed bin Nayef is well-known and liked by US intelligence officials for his counterterrorism cooperation in past years against Al Qaeda. As head of the interior ministry, he was a feared and towering figure who oversaw the long arm of the government that both prosecuted and closely monitored and jailed dissidents and critics of the kingdom.
Yeah, he helped against Al-CIA-Duh after helping to support them all these years, sure.
Prince Ahmed has been seen as critical of the crown prince, including telling protesters who were accosting him in London to ask the king and his son about the humanitarian disaster sparked by the war in Yemen. Religiously conservative, the prince also recently grumbled over the decision to close Islam’s holiest site in Mecca to stymie the spread of the new coronavirus, according to one of the people familiar with the arrests.
The arrest of the two senior princes is most likely a preemptive move to manage risks of a transition from King Salman to his son, according to an analysis by Eurasia Group. Both princes were seen as possible alternatives to Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
That's where the print copy ended.
The crown prince has succeeded in consolidating power and cementing his place as the day-to-day ruler, in part through far-reaching crackdowns on perceived critics or competitors.
The October 2018 killing of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi by agents close to the crown prince inside the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, however, damaged the prince’s reputation globally.
Who remembers him now?
Foreign investors were also rattled by an anticorruption operation overseen by the prince in late 2017 that saw top royals, officials, and senior businessmen rounded up and detained for up to several months in the luxurious Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh and forced to sign over billions of dollars in assets in exchange for their freedom in secretive agreements.
As defense minister, the crown prince has also overseen the Saudi-led war in Yemen, which has killed thousands and led to the world’s worst humanitarian disaster. The kingdom has been trying oust Iran-allied rebels from power there.
Has his reputation suffered though?
The crown prince is popular among many in Saudi Arabia for pushing through bold reforms that have transformed life in the kingdom for many, including loosening severe restrictions on women and allowing concerts to be performed and movie theaters to open.
Still, his economic transformation plans have struggled to take off. The kingdom continues to rely heavily on oil for revenue, despite efforts to diversify. Oil prices have plunged amid the disruptions caused by the new coronavirus, signalling trouble for producers like Saudi Arabia.
Then why aren't the prices at the pump dropping?
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Related:
"Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia has detained one of the most senior members of the royal family, a former crown prince, and a royal cousin for unexplained reasons, a relative and a person close to the royal family said Friday. The senior royal, Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, is a younger brother of King Salman and an uncle of the crown prince. He was for a time the great hope of family members and other critics who thought he might try to block Prince Mohammed’s ascension to the throne, but he had shown no signs of seeking to do that. The former crown prince who was arrested, Mohammed bin Nayef, is also the former interior minister and a longtime favorite of Washington. He had already effectively been under house arrest since he was removed from those roles by the current crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in 2017. It was unclear why he was detained. His younger brother, Prince Nawaf bin Nayef, was also detained. An official of the Saudi embassy in Washington declined to comment. The detentions come at a touchy moment for the kingdom and the royal family. The apparently unilateral decision of Crown Prince Mohammed to halt visits to Mecca in response to the coronavirus — a move with few if any precedents in Islamic history — has stirred grumbling. His plans to modernize the Saudi economy have shown little progress so far, and concerns about the impact of the coronavirus have slashed the price of oil, the source of the kingdom’s revenue."
"Oil markets tumbled more than 30 percent after the disintegration of the OPEC+ alliance triggered an all-out price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia that’s likely to have sweeping political and economic consequences. Brent futures suffered the second-largest decline on record in the opening seconds of trading in Asia, behind only the plunge during the Gulf War in 1991. As the global oil benchmark plummeted to as low as $31.02 a barrel, Goldman Sachs warned prices could drop to near $20 a barrel. A cataclysmic collapse would resonate through the industry and hit the budgets of oil-dependent nations from Iraq to Nigeria and could reshape politics, eroding the influence of countries like Saudi Arabia, and the fight against climate change may suffer a setback as fossil fuels become more affordable. “It’s unbelievable, the market was overwhelmed by a wave of selling at the open,” said Andy Lipow, president of the Houston energy consultancy Lipow Oil Associates. Hammered by withering demand due to the coronavirus, the oil market is sinking into chaos on the prospect of a supply free-for-all. Saudi Arabia slashed its official prices by the most in at least 20 years and signaled to buyers it would ramp up output — an unambiguous declaration of intent to flood the market with crude. Russia said its companies were free to pump as much as they could. Brent for May settlement tumbled as much as $14.25 a barrel to $31.02 on the London ICE Futures Europe Exchange. West Texas Intermediate crude slumped 21 percent to $32.48 after sliding as much as 27 percent."
It looks like the alliance has ended.
Also see:
"The economy in Massachusetts continued to show strength in the first months of 2020. In February, the state pulled in $1.53 billion in tax revenue — 4.7 percent more than had been estimated and $115 million or 8.1 percent more than actually collected in February 2019. So far this fiscal year through February, revenue collections have totaled nearly $18.43 billion. That’s $909 million or 5.2 percent more than in the same fiscal year-to-date period in 2019, and $176 million or 1 percent more than the estimate at this point in the current fiscal year, which began July 1. Acting Department of Revenue Commissioner Kevin Brown said most major categories performed as expected in February. He credited the above-benchmark performance for the month largely on the estate tax. “With approximately 60% of revenue collections in the door for Fiscal Year 2020, we continue to see overall steady, moderate growth above both prior year and benchmark on a fiscal year-to-date basis,’’ Brown said in a written statement."
It's not like they haven't lied to us before and they are already talking budgets cuts.
So what are they working on under the golden dome?
"Massachusetts lawmakers and advocates are planning to gather at the State House to push a ban body-size discrimination. The bill is sponsored by Democratic Senator Becca Rausch of Needham and Democratic Representative Tram Nguyen of Andover. On Tuesday, Rausch and Tram plan to join advocates and eating disorder experts to talk about the hidden impact of weight discrimination in employment, health care, and education. The bill aims to make discrimination on the basis of height and weight illegal. It would add to the state’s anti-discrimination laws the words “height or weight, unless for the purposes of compliance with any established state, federal, or industry safety standard” along with other factors including race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation. The House version has more than a dozen cosponsors, Democratic and Republican."
All getting phat, huh?
Time for a blow:
From police stops to marijuana executives
What do you mean there is a stop and frisk in Bo$ton?
Is that even legal?
Time to get back on the campaign trail:
"Despite virus risk, 2020 hopefuls keep up campaigns for now" by Hope Yen and and Will Weissert Associated Press, March 8, 2020
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — As the coronavirus hits more states, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said Sunday his campaign is gauging when it may become necessary to cancel the large campaign rallies that public health specialists say could be breeding grounds to spread the potentially deadly illness.
“Obviously what is most important to us is to protect the health of the American people,” Sanders said as he appeared in a series of TV interviews. “And what I will tell you, we are talking to public health officials all over this country.”
“This is an issue that every organization, every candidate has got to deal with,” he said.
Really?
As if he wasn't being sabotaged enough by the DNC, now this.
Federal health authorities have been advising older people and those with medical conditions, in particular, to avoid crowded spaces, prompting the cancellation of music and arts festivals and other events around the country. On Sunday, Surgeon General Jerome Adams noted that the average age of death for people from the coronavirus is 80, while for those needing medical attention, it is 60, but that so far hasn’t led President Trump or his two remaining major Democratic rivals, Sanders and Joe Biden, to cut back on big campaign events. Each man is in his 70s.
Sanders said “in the best of all possible worlds” the three candidates should probably limit their travel and avoid crowds, “but right now, we’re running as hard as we can.” Sanders planned a meeting Monday in Detroit with public health specialists and others to discuss the outbreak.
I'm surprised that they haven't blamed Russia yet.
Trump on Saturday said he wasn’t worried about the coronavirus getting closer to the White House after the first case in the nation’s capital was confirmed over the weekend. Officials also said an attendee of a recent political conference where Trump himself had spoken also tested positive for the virus.
They mean the AIPAC conference, right?
“No, I’m not concerned at all. No, I’m not. We’ve done a great job,’’ Trump said.
I'm sure the president has already been tested.
The Trump campaign said Sunday it is “proceeding as normal” amid the outbreak, though it has yet to announce the president’s next rally.
Acknowledging Trump’s busy public schedule, Adams said for many Americans “life can’t stop” and that ultimately the goal was to minimize risk the best as possible.
“But speaking of being at risk, the president, he sleeps less than I do, and he’s healthier than what I am,” he said. “And so that’s the other reason that this messaging is hard, because there are 70-year-olds who run marathons and are healthier than some 30-year-olds.”
“If people are going to go out there, we want them to be extra cautious; we want them to wash their hands frequently,” Adams said.
The US death toll from the virus has climbed to at least 21, with all but a handful of victims in Washington state. The number of infections swelled above 500, scattered across the United States.
Still, concerns about the spreading virus haven’t stopped thousands from thronging campaign rallies in recent days.
At a Trump rally last week in Charlotte, N.C., the virus threat didn’t deter enthusiastic fans who shared buckets of chicken fingers in the stands and dunked their hands into shared vats of popcorn while they awaited the president’s arrival.
Sanders drew more than 7,000 to a convention hall in downtown Detroit on Friday night.
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Just thinking that maybe the vote should be cancelled?
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
NEXT DAY UPDATES:
"A manipulated video featuring Joe Biden and spread by President Trump over the weekend has ratcheted up an online war that has put Twitter and Facebook in the middle of a debate over political speech. The campaigns have fought for months over misinformation targeting Biden, and the latest salvo has taken on greater import with his surge in the Democratic primaries. In response to such misinformation, the tech platforms have written new and diverging rules on political speech. The video came from a stump speech by Biden on Saturday in Kansas City, Mo., where he appeared to struggle through a sentence and with halting words said, “We can only reelect Donald Trump,” but the rest of Biden’s sentence was selectively edited out. In full, Biden was stressing the need for Democrats to unite against Trump. After users flagged the video to Twitter on Sunday, the company said it had determined the video violated its rules against synthetic and manipulated video and labeled the video as manipulated content. It was the first time Twitter had applied a policy announced in February against fake and misleading videos. Facebook, however, did not remove or flag the video as misinformation, angering the Biden campaign. Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment......"
It bothers me that the media is not only willfully ignoring his dementia, it's helping to hide it (that last clip is downright creepy).
What's worse is candidates in the party know yet are endorsing him anyway:
"Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, endorsed Joe Biden for president Monday, adding to what has become a nearly complete consolidation of support from Biden’s former top rivals to push him to the Democratic nomination. Booker’s endorsement comes one day after Senator Kamala Harris of California endorsed Biden, and the two senators will appear with him at a rally in Detroit on Monday night. Booker will also campaign alongside Biden in Flint, Mich., earlier in the day and attend a fund-raiser with him. The event in Michigan, which holds its delegate-heavy primary Tuesday, will be yet another public show of moderate Democratic support for the former vice president on the eve of a major vote in the presidential race. Biden also picked up two major endorsements, as two national gun control advocacy groups — Everytown for Gun Safety and the Brady Campaign — announced their support."
Related: Black women voters have helped fuel Joe Biden’s resurgence
They are Joe's political booster cables and the end for Sanders.
"Country can’t withstand another Trump term, Pelosi tells Northeastern women’s summit" by Stephanie Ebbert Globe Staff, March 9, 2020
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told a Boston audience Monday that America could not withstand a second term under President Trump, and that the Constitution, the American dream, and the environment are under siege.
“This election is a very important election. In my view, civilization as we know it is at stake,” said Pelosi, a California Democrat.
The over-the-top hyperbole doesn't speak well for her state of mind, either, and we may not even make it there with the coronavirus running rampant.
“Our country is a great country. It can withstand one term of the current occupant of the White House. It cannot withstand two," she said.
I don't know, we have withstood some pretty bad two-term presidencies.
“Just look at his policies and his lack of respect for the office which he holds and what that means for our country,” she said. “I say to my Republican friends — and I do have them — ‘Take back your party. This is not who you are.’ The Grand Old Party has done so many great things for our country.”
Yeah, the Democrats were/are the party of slavery, and as far as I know he hasn't started any more wars like the last guy. Hasn't ended any, but hasn't started any new ones yet (that's for term two. I'm starting to believe the American people should make all presidents one-term presidencies to keep them on their toes and out of wars).
With past Republican presidents, like both Bushes, she said: “You disagreed on issues, but you believed in governance. You believed in America. This present administration . . . they don’t believe in science, and they don’t believe in governance. They don’t know and they don’t want to know so they don’t have to do anything about it.”
I just want to puke. She is the one who said she knew Bush was lying about WMD but didn't call him out on it, and was one of the Gang of Eight that knew about torture. Yet here she is excusing that damn blood-soaked war criminal. Disgusting.
Pelosi faulted the president’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, which caused a historic drop on the stock market Monday. She noted that Trump had in 2018 eliminated the White House officials tasked with directing a national response to a pandemic and had more recently cut $700 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s budget.
“This is a very dangerous situation for our country when it comes to public health in the near term,” Pelosi said.
Hmmmm!
Last week, Congress passed an $8.3 billion emergency spending bill to combat the coronavirus, fund vaccine research and development, and support lab testing and infection control. That was about four times more than the president’s proposal, which would have relied on shifting funds already dedicated to fighting Ebola; however, Trump did sign the measure into law, she noted.
Yeah, they just doled out $8.3 BILLION and she is complaining about $700 million in cuts. No credit at all for signing the pos, either. Screw her!
Pelosi also assured her listeners that a woman will be elected president and shrugged off a question about whether the first female president could be a Republican. “That’s OK,” she said.
She declined to endorse a candidate for the Democratic nomination but noted she supports women candidates whenever she can.
“Women have to support women, if that’s really what the goal is,” she said. “But not to undermine women by saying, ‘I’m for you even though I don’t think you would do the best job.’ There’s a balance here. Clearly, any of our candidates could be a great president of the United States — without question, infinitely better."
I want the BEST PERSON NO MATTER WHAT GENDER, period!
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Related:
"The former Federal Reserve governor who led Wells Fargo’s board as the bank tried to reform itself has stepped down, bowing to pressure from Washington over the company’s stumbling efforts to fix deceptive consumer practices that brought it billions in fines. The chairwoman, Elizabeth A. Duke, stepped down from her post Sunday....."
See what happens when you let women run things?
Also see: Juul Labs sought to court state AGs as teen vaping surged
That's a real shot to the chest and with all the election security issues you can just smell the fraud.
Maybe we could just have co-presidents, one from each party.
While you are watching that you are not watching this:
"Jury in CIA leaks case fails to reach a verdict on most serious charges" by Shayna Jacobs and Shane Harris Washington Post, March 9, 2020
NEW YORK — A jury in New York failed to reach a verdict Monday on whether a former CIA employee gave government hacking tools to WikiLeaks, in what officials had called the biggest leak of classified information in the intelligence agency’s history.
Jurors, who had begun their deliberations last week, told Judge Paul Crotty that they were ‘‘extremely deadlocked’’ on many of the charges. Joshua Schulte, 31, had been accused of disclosing the hacking tools and also disclosing information to a reporter at The Washington Post while in jail awaiting trial.
The jury did find Schulte guilty on two counts of making false statements to investigators and contempt of court, but the failure to reach a unanimous agreement on the most serious charges of disclosing classified information was a significant blow to the government’s case.
It's a way of getting it dismissed with as little information out as possible, and is likely the outcome the government wanted. This is all kangaroo court, show trial stuff.
In a trial that lasted more than a month, prosecutors portrayed Schulte, 31, as a disgruntled employee bent on vengeance after his bosses failed to take his side in a dispute with a CIA co-worker.
So that would make him leak classified hacking and spying tools?
The partial verdict came three years after WikiLeaks posted thousands of files revealing secret hacking tools that the CIA used to penetrate smartphones and televisions, and other household electronics. The hacking library, which the organization dubbed Vault 7, alerted US adversaries to how the CIA spied and could enable them to turn the hacking tools back on the United States, prosecutors argued at trial.
That has all been forgotten by now, right?
The leak drew comparisons to an earlier disclosure by National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, but officials have said that Schulte’s actions caused even more damage to secret intelligence operations. Whereas Snowden mostly revealed details about NSA programs and capabilities, Schulte disclosed how the CIA actually conducts cyber espionage, information that was both more revealing and potentially more dangerous to have in the open, current and former intelligence officials have said.
And you wonder why I greet skeptically any pre$$ regarding hacking by Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, etc, etc?
‘‘These leaks were devastating to national security,’’ Assistant US Attorney Matthew Laroche told jurors during his closing argument last week. ‘‘The CIA’s cyber tools were gone in an instant. Intelligence gathering operations around the world stopped immediately.’’
Prosecutors walked jurors through a detailed theory about how Schulte allegedly gained access to the CIA’s networks, stole the material and then tried to cover his tracks.
Not a conspiracy?
Schulte was a suspect almost from the moment WikiLeaks published the CIA’s secrets. Within days, investigators traced the hacking tools back to the CIA unit where Schulte had worked, known as the Engineering Development Group. Schulte left the CIA in 2016 to take a job in New York City.
Investigators concluded that a breach of the group’s internal network, where the tools were stored, probably occurred while Schulte was still employed there. On March 13, 2017, less than a week after the publication, FBI agents searched Schulte’s apartment and found a computer server and several external drives, as well as notebooks and handwritten notes, court filings show.
The case took an unexpected turn in August, when Schulte was arrested after investigators found evidence of child pornography on his computer, including more than 10,000 photos and videos, prosecutors alleged. Schulte will be tried separately on those charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
OMFG, they tried to frame him, and that's where my print copy ended it!
Schulte was not arrested but was interviewed by FBI agents and denied that he had leaked the CIA materials. Jurors also heard testimony from CIA officers who worked with Schulte. The judge took extraordinary measures to protect their identities, allowing them to appear using pseudonyms and limiting media coverage of their testimony.
Looks like Soviet courts, doesn't it?
Schulte remained in jail in Manhattan for months while the government continued to investigate the Vault 7 leaks. In June 2018, Schulte was finally charged under the Espionage Act.
Schulte’s defense attorneys argued that the government never knew with certainty that Schulte was the individual who gave the hacking tools to WikiLeaks.
They pointed out that other CIA employees had access to the network from which the hacking tools were allegedly stolen. Schulte’s team also claimed that the CIA’s computer security was weak.
This guy is starting to resemble Bruce Ivins, isn't he?
‘‘The bottom line is this . . . because the system was insecure, because the system was poorly monitored, the government cannot know, and it certainly cannot prove to you which of the many people with access to this information committed this crime, when they committed it, or how they did it,’’ Sabrina Shroff, Schulte’s lead defense attorney, said in her closing argument to jurors. Shroff raised the possibility that another CIA employee who worked with Schulte, who was identified in court only by the pseudonym ‘‘Michael,’’ was also a plausible suspect.
Like Hillary's emails.
Shroff had argued that the CIA was embarrassed because officials didn’t realize the hacking tools had been stolen until they appeared on WikiLeaks. She also said that Schulte was an easy scapegoat because of his turbulent history with the agency
‘‘He was also a pain in the ass to everyone at the CIA,’’ Shroff had told jurors at the first day of the trial. ‘‘Being a difficult employee does not make you a criminal.’’
While Schulte awaited trial, he racked up more charges. Prosecutors accused him of using a contraband cellphone to disseminate classified information to the press and using social media to claim that the FBI was framing him for the Vault 7 leaks.....
--more--"
Related:
"A software engineer on trial in the largest leak of classified information in CIA history was “prepared to do anything” to betray the agency, federal prosecutors said Monday as a defense attorney argued the man had been scapegoated for a breach that exposed secret cyberweapons and spying techniques. A Manhattan jury heard conflicting portrayals of Joshua Schulte, a former CIA coder accused of sending the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks a large portion of the agency’s computer hacking arsenal — tools the agency had used to conduct espionage operations overseas. Schulte left a trail of evidence despite attempting to erase his digital fingerprints, Assistant US Attorney Matthew Laroche said in closing arguments. Schulte became disgruntled, he said, and took meticulous steps to plan and cover up the 2016 theft. “He was the only one who had the motive, the means, and the opportunity to steal the information,’’ Laroche said. ‘‘He was prepared to do anything to get back at the CIA.”
Whose fingerprints would those be?
"They had the weighty mission of creating the hacking tools used by the C.I.A. to spy on foreign governments and terrorists. If that job description conjures Hollywood images of serious officers in dark suits huddling over clandestine operations, a different picture emerged during a federal trial in Manhattan this month. The work culture described by C.I.A. officers on the witness stand more closely resembled comedies like “The Office” or “Silicon Valley” than spy thrillers like “Jack Ryan.” From their cubicles, the programmers sent prank emails, taunted colleagues about their physical appearance and shot each other with Nerf guns and rubber bands, according to trial testimony......"
Ah, the life of a coder!!
Must be why he was disgruntled, huh? Everybody goofing off!
Related:
"A software engineer on trial in the largest leak of classified information in CIA history was “prepared to do anything” to betray the agency, federal prosecutors said Monday as a defense attorney argued the man had been scapegoated for a breach that exposed secret cyberweapons and spying techniques. A Manhattan jury heard conflicting portrayals of Joshua Schulte, a former CIA coder accused of sending the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks a large portion of the agency’s computer hacking arsenal — tools the agency had used to conduct espionage operations overseas. Schulte left a trail of evidence despite attempting to erase his digital fingerprints, Assistant US Attorney Matthew Laroche said in closing arguments. Schulte became disgruntled, he said, and took meticulous steps to plan and cover up the 2016 theft. “He was the only one who had the motive, the means, and the opportunity to steal the information,’’ Laroche said. ‘‘He was prepared to do anything to get back at the CIA.”
Whose fingerprints would those be?
"They had the weighty mission of creating the hacking tools used by the C.I.A. to spy on foreign governments and terrorists. If that job description conjures Hollywood images of serious officers in dark suits huddling over clandestine operations, a different picture emerged during a federal trial in Manhattan this month. The work culture described by C.I.A. officers on the witness stand more closely resembled comedies like “The Office” or “Silicon Valley” than spy thrillers like “Jack Ryan.” From their cubicles, the programmers sent prank emails, taunted colleagues about their physical appearance and shot each other with Nerf guns and rubber bands, according to trial testimony......"
Ah, the life of a coder!!
Must be why he was disgruntled, huh? Everybody goofing off!
Also see:
School officials criticized after 7-year-old handcuffed
Police jail woman who paid bail with marijuana-scented cash
Norfolk DA rules police justified in fatal shooting of man with replica gun in Brookline
They mistakenly shot the valet and covered it up.
Campbell subpoenas Police Department for stop-and-frisk data
Police have not released the data since 2017.
"Two women arraigned on civil rights charges for alleged attack on Hispanic mother, daughter in East Boston" by Travis Andersen Globe Staff, March 9, 2020
Two women were arraigned Monday on civil rights violations for an alleged attack on a Hispanic woman and her daughter in East Boston on Feb. 15, an altercation in which the suspects allegedly told the pair to “speak English” and “go back to your [expletive] country,” records show.
The defendants, Jenny Leigh Ennamorati and Stephanie M. Armstrong, both 25, were released on personal recognizance after their arraignment in East Boston Municipal Court, according to legal filings. Not guilty pleas were entered on their behalf. The defendants are both white.
No capital W -- meaning the Globe views whites as subhuman, unlike Blacks or Jews.
Stephanie M. Armstrong (left) and Jenny Leigh Ennamorati were charged with civil rights violation with injury and assault and battery (Aram Boghosian for The Boston Globe)
Skanks!
According to a police report, officers arrived at Maverick Square at 8:45 p.m. and spoke with all concerned parties. Police described the suspects as white women who “admitted that they had been drinking and acting belligerent.”
And you wonder why I am a strict prohibitionist?
Armstrong and Ennamorati acknowledged getting into a scuffle with Vasquez and her daughter, but said they were the victims. They said they heard Vasquez and her daughter laughing and speaking Spanish and believed the pair were “making fun of them,” the report says.
The women told police they “engaged in a verbal argument,” then one of the Vasquezes punched one of them in the face. One of the women said she “defended herself by fighting back,” according to the report.
The Vasquezes told police they were attacked without provocation by the women while speaking in Spanish and believed the women thought they were making fun of them. One of the Vasquezes had a large scratch on her cheek and a laceration on her right thumb from being bitten during the struggle, according to the report.
Two witnesses told police the women attacked the Vasquezes. One described being punched in the face three times while trying to separate the two pairs of women.
In a statement last month announcing the charges, Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins said the mother and daughter were the victims of a racially motivated attack.
They were targeted, Rollins said, because “they were laughing and speaking in Spanish. … Hate and intolerance do not belong in Suffolk County. The sense of right and privilege that these defendants must have felt to say these words of hate and racism, and then physically attack a mother and her daughter for laughing and speaking Spanish, it’s outrageous and reprehensible.”
They should have stolen something instead.
Both defendants are due back in court April 28 for a probable cause hearing, according to court records.....
They just blew their stack is all.
--more--"
Also see: Driver in Fla. crash that killed 4 from Whitman cited for careless driving, jailed for visa violation
The fact that he is an illegal immigrant must be why the Globe placed that story on page B4.
Police jail woman who paid bail with marijuana-scented cash
Norfolk DA rules police justified in fatal shooting of man with replica gun in Brookline
They mistakenly shot the valet and covered it up.
Campbell subpoenas Police Department for stop-and-frisk data
Police have not released the data since 2017.
"Two women arraigned on civil rights charges for alleged attack on Hispanic mother, daughter in East Boston" by Travis Andersen Globe Staff, March 9, 2020
Two women were arraigned Monday on civil rights violations for an alleged attack on a Hispanic woman and her daughter in East Boston on Feb. 15, an altercation in which the suspects allegedly told the pair to “speak English” and “go back to your [expletive] country,” records show.
The defendants, Jenny Leigh Ennamorati and Stephanie M. Armstrong, both 25, were released on personal recognizance after their arraignment in East Boston Municipal Court, according to legal filings. Not guilty pleas were entered on their behalf. The defendants are both white.
No capital W -- meaning the Globe views whites as subhuman, unlike Blacks or Jews.
Stephanie M. Armstrong (left) and Jenny Leigh Ennamorati were charged with civil rights violation with injury and assault and battery (Aram Boghosian for The Boston Globe)
Skanks!
According to a police report, officers arrived at Maverick Square at 8:45 p.m. and spoke with all concerned parties. Police described the suspects as white women who “admitted that they had been drinking and acting belligerent.”
And you wonder why I am a strict prohibitionist?
Armstrong and Ennamorati acknowledged getting into a scuffle with Vasquez and her daughter, but said they were the victims. They said they heard Vasquez and her daughter laughing and speaking Spanish and believed the pair were “making fun of them,” the report says.
The women told police they “engaged in a verbal argument,” then one of the Vasquezes punched one of them in the face. One of the women said she “defended herself by fighting back,” according to the report.
The Vasquezes told police they were attacked without provocation by the women while speaking in Spanish and believed the women thought they were making fun of them. One of the Vasquezes had a large scratch on her cheek and a laceration on her right thumb from being bitten during the struggle, according to the report.
Two witnesses told police the women attacked the Vasquezes. One described being punched in the face three times while trying to separate the two pairs of women.
In a statement last month announcing the charges, Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins said the mother and daughter were the victims of a racially motivated attack.
They were targeted, Rollins said, because “they were laughing and speaking in Spanish. … Hate and intolerance do not belong in Suffolk County. The sense of right and privilege that these defendants must have felt to say these words of hate and racism, and then physically attack a mother and her daughter for laughing and speaking Spanish, it’s outrageous and reprehensible.”
They should have stolen something instead.
Both defendants are due back in court April 28 for a probable cause hearing, according to court records.....
They just blew their stack is all.
--more--"
Also see: Driver in Fla. crash that killed 4 from Whitman cited for careless driving, jailed for visa violation
The fact that he is an illegal immigrant must be why the Globe placed that story on page B4.
