"Baker orders schools stay closed until at least September" by James Vaznis and Bianca Vázquez Toness Globe Staff, April 21, 2020
As the coronavirus pandemic maintains a sturdy grip on Massachusetts, Governor Charlie Baker on Tuesday ordered all public and private schools to remain closed for the remainder of the academic year, dashing any hope that 12th-graders will return for graduation and assuring that all students will continue the grind of online learning for two more months.
With that, the MIAA spring sports season is effectively over.
Baker also ordered most day care centers to remain closed until the end of June. The two orders will likely have a domino effect on the state’s workforce, as many parents juggle the demands of working at home while also overseeing their children’s education.
The extended school closures mean students will now be out of school for about six months — if classes resume in September. It is believed to be the longest-ever statewide shuttering of schools in Massachusetts, eclipsing what many considered to be a record set more than four decades ago when the Blizzard of ’78 caused widespread school closures for much of February, but Baker said the extreme measure was imperative to protect the safety and well-being of the more than 1 million public and private school students statewide as well as tens of thousands of educators entrusted with their care — and those they have contact with. He noted there was no “authoritative guidance” on how to operate schools safely.
I don't think the schools will ever be in session again, and the campuses will be repurposed into COVID concentration camps.
This is it, folks.
“We believe students therefore cannot safely return to school and avoid the risk of transmitting this virus to others,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do, considering the facts on the ground associated with the COVID-19 pandemic."
Baker’s decision ends weeks of speculation about whether there would be any chance of bringing students back together before the school year ends. Schools statewide have been closed since mid-March.
In an age of social distancing, the debate was generating wide-ranging questions that many school leaders never imagined contemplating: Would students need to wear masks in school or have their temperature taken daily? Is it possible to keep students 6 feet apart in cafeterias, recess, or on school buses? Would class sizes have to be cut in half or more to maintain a 6-foot radius around each desk? Would it even be possible to keep preschoolers and kindergartners away from each other?
“We don’t have enough data right now to make these decisions we want to make,” Mayor Martin J. Walsh told WGBH News Tuesday afternoon, as he voiced support for Baker’s decision.
Baker’s decision quickly drew a collective sigh of relief from statewide education organizations and superintendents around the region, following a growing call from a number of them to keep schools closed.
“We need to take a breather and do some long-term planning,” said Thomas Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents. “We are not going to come back under normal conditions.”
What did the Rockefeller study say or call for?
Holliston Superintendent Brad Jackson said it was unfortunate that the pandemic’s course will require students to miss out on a big chunk of their education. “We’ve learned that nothing can replace the connection between students and teachers when they’re together,” he said. “As much as we’re trying with remote learning, it’s not the same.”
Thus we will get an even more dumb-down populace without critical thinking skills, and beyond that a generation fraught with emotional problems due to the unnecessary and unwarranted fear fro the ma$$ media.
For many parents, the prospect of two more months of working from home while also making sure their children remain focused on their studies and don’t slide into depression is daunting. In many cases, students are receiving extra credit for their work rather than actual grades — a move encouraged by the state in recognition that not all children can connect to the Web at home, but one that can also chip away at a student’s motivation to do the work.
Another unintended consequence of this, or an intended and expected consequence?
Can't imagine why the kids would lose motivation and become depressed.
How many prescription pharmaceuticals are they on?
Eugenia Corbo, whose two children attend the East Boston Early Education Center, said working from home has been “insanity.” Corbo, who works as an editor for an educational publisher, has had to jump off Zoom calls when her 4-year-old son threw a temper tantrum. A summer camp she booked for her daughter in August canceled due to the crisis. “It’s unsustainable,” she said.
No August vacation this year?
oh, right, phone call.
Some parents worried how the loss of in-person class time will hurt their children’s academic progress. Jerry Reilly, whose daughter will be a senior at Newton South High School in September, praised the work of teachers and administrators for continuing to educate students, but if the remote program continues, students need more time in class or they risk falling behind. “Overall, my feeling about the amount of time my daughter is spending on education is a fraction of what it would be in a classroom,” Reilly said.
Elise Person, whose 8-year-old son is a third-grader at the Burr Elementary School, said she was not surprised the governor extended the order. “Saving lives matters, and as much as it stinks to stay at home, as much as what he is missing out on . . . this is a civic duty for the well-being of the nation and the world,” Person said.
I think it is a civic duty to speak out against the lies of the pre$$ and government and call out the fraud!
State officials also announced on Tuesday that they would be updating remote learning guidelines in an effort to ramp up academic offerings at home.
“We want to minimize learning loss as much as possible,” said Jeffrey C. Riley, the state’s commissioner of elementary and secondary education, during the governor’s press conference. “I hope everyone will continue to work with their students to do the best they can on remote learning.”
They are NEVER COMING back to CLASSES, or at least not until Bill Gates and his ma$ters allow them.
Closing schools and shifting to remote learning is one of two historic moves in education brought about by the pandemic. Employers across the state are bracing themselves for the likelihood that worker productivity will continue to take a hit as many parents balance their daily workloads with overseeing their children’s education.
“We’re not going to force anybody to come back in,” said Jo Deal, chief human resource officer at Boston-based tech firm LogMeIn, who is working from home with two school-aged children.
Merrie Najimy, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, which had been urging Baker to keep schools closed, said the governor made the right call.
“It was a necessary decision to protect the health of our communities across the state,” Najimy said in a statement, noting the state and districts need to assess how well or not remote learning is working. “We also need to work together to figure out how to provide extra support for high-need students."
Burlington Superintendent Eric Conti said he worried about the stamina of teachers, many of whom have their own children or are contending with illness at home. When students do return to brick and mortar schools, teachers will have to spend time transitioning them back into school, said Conti, adding “their worlds have changed and we’ll have to spend time reassuring them."
That is f***ing disgusting and gross.
As usual, their job is to indoctrinate and inculcate the kids, not teach them.
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Related:
"Baker orders Mass. schools to stay closed through end of academic year, daycares closed until June 29 Baker also said state officials are making plans for expanding remote learning opportunities for students, and he said the state education department would also prepare for summer learning “to ensure a strong start for all students in the fall.” In other developments at Baker’s State House briefing on the coronavirus: - Baker, a moderate Republican, said he disagreed with Republican President Donald Trump’s plan to suspend all immigration to the United States due to the coronavirus. Baker said, "I am opposed to the order. It doesn’t make any sense and I don’t think it makes us any safer.” Baker noted that hospitals are seeing a decrease in visits from people for heart disease, cancer treatments, and kidney dialysis, and urged people to seek care if they need it. He urged people to “please use the system,” saying that state officials had worked hard to make sure that there would be room for both coronavirus patients and patients who need help for other serious conditions. Baker said he knew cooped-up residents are eager to know whether things will return to normal soon. In the meantime, he said, “People need to dig deep and stay put. ... We will come out the other side of it stronger than ever.”
Kids are booing that one, and he's such a shill at this point.
Also see:
"There will be no fidgeting at the National Spelling Bee microphone, no banter with pronouncer Jacques Bailly, no pointed questions about definitions or languages of origin, no dreaded bell that signals a misspelled word. This year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee was canceled Tuesday, the latest beloved public event to be scrapped because of the coronavirus pandemic. The bee will return next year, Scripps said, but that’s little comfort to the eighth-graders who are missing out on their last shot at the national stage. “My heart goes out to every one of those kids affected. As a former speller, all I can say is I can only imagine, and my heart breaks for them,” said Paige Kimble, the bee’s longtime executive director and the 1981 champion....."
They have also delayed the Fulbright program amid coronavirus while the former UCLA soccer coach to plead guilty in college admissions scandal and faces prison and a $200,000 fine. He should have waited like Loughlin or gotten a better lawyer.
What you need to know about the school closings
At least the late buses are now no longer a problem.
Problem is, you kids don't have any $pending money:
"Massachusetts, New York, and other states hard hit by the coronavirus came up short in the first round of federal rescue money for small businesses, while states with far fewer cases such as Nebraska and North Dakota got proportionally more money. According to an analysis of the $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program by Moody’s Analytics, firms in the Plains states pulled in a larger share of the government-backed loans than firms in more densely populated coastal states....."
I don't know why anyone would buy in to what Moody's says, but the $ky’s the limit!
White House, congressional leaders reach aid deal, but there are already signs that the $310 billion set aside for the program still might not be enough to meet surging demand for the loans.
Trump’s D.C. hotel is asking for a break on its lease
See: Table For One
This guy will pick up the check.
One-third of tech CEOs continue hiring amid pandemic
Many tech executives are already planning for a brighter future, jobble, jobble, jobble!
What to do when the bills keep coming but you’re out of work and can’t pay them
The Globe's Fine Print says contact your lender!
May God help you:
"Louisiana authorities arrested a pastor on an assault charge on Tuesday after he admitted that he drove his church bus toward a man who has been protesting his decision to hold mass gatherings in defiance of public health orders during the pandemic. Tony Spell, the pastor of Life Tabernacle Church, was taken to the East Baton Rouge Parish prison, where about 70 of his parishioners, dressed in their Sunday best, arrived in church buses to show support. Men in jackets and ties, women in dresses, and children, some in matching suits, gathered in a parking lot across the street. They stood close to each other, praying and singing hymns while guards, some wearing protective masks, watched. At least one shouted defiantly at Trey Bennett, the protester Spell is accused of assaulting. Bennett also showed up at the jail, carrying his protest sign. It said “Close this church” on one side and “Danger: coronavirus incubator” on the other. “Our church will never close, you get that?” the man yelled. Bennett has kept up a one-man demonstration in front of the church near the capital of Baton Rouge since Easter Sunday, when he noticed hundreds of parishioners still attending services in defiance of the state’s stay-at-home mandate....."
Oh, another holier-than-thou busybody!
Reelection politics explains Trump’s strange stance
Better test him:
"The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday said it had granted emergency approval to the first in-home test for the coronavirus, a nasal swab kit that will be sold by LabCorp. The agency said that LabCorp had submitted data showing the home test is as safe and accurate as a sample collection at a doctor’s office, hospital, or other testing site. “With this action, there is now a convenient and reliable option for patient sample collection from the comfort and safety of their home,” Dr. Stephen M. Hahn, the FDA commissioner, said in a statement. Patients will swab their own nose using a testing kit sent by the company and will mail it in an insulated package back to the company. The test, called the Pixel, will be available to consumers in most states, with a doctor’s order, the agency said. LabCorp said that it would first make the tests available to health care workers and emergency workers who may have been exposed to COVID-19 or be symptomatic, and that it would be making the self-collection kits available to consumers “in the coming weeks.” The company also noted that because the tests are done by consumers in their own home, it would cut down on the demand for masks and other protective equipment that is usually needed to collect testing specimens. The company said the test will cost $119. Consumers will have to pay out of pocket for the test, a company spokesman said, and see whether their insurer will reimburse them. As the virus spread in the United States, several companies rushed unauthorized home kits to the market, even though the FDA had said it had not evaluated whether they worked properly."
I'm not paying to $tuff that up my own nose and cause my sinus cavity damage so they can have a f***ing DNA sample, and why do I have to reimburse in$urance agencies when they might not reimburse me?
Where does LabCorp and the government think we are going to get $119 to $pare on that?
Maybe they expect us to lea$e it?
"Oil prices extend slide a day after US crude fell below zero; Dow plunges 631 points" by Thomas Heath Washington Post, April 21, 2020
WASHINGTON — A crash in oil prices unleashed by the coronavirus lockdown hammered stocks globally on Tuesday and opened another battlefront for economies already exhausted by the pandemic.
A world oil oversupply sent US crude prices so low Monday that sellers holding oil contracts paid buyers up to $30 per barrel to take the oil off their hands. The oil collapse went international Tuesday, collapsing futures prices for global benchmark Brent crude to a fraction of the $50 or so needed for a producer to make money. The single-digit prices for US crude are a sign oil markets and the world economy may not stabilize for months.
‘‘The supply-and-demand balance for oil is so out of whack that global demand cannot grow fast enough and suppliers can’t cut supply quickly enough to put things back in order,’’ said Frank Verrastro of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. ‘‘There is so much oil sloshing around the world and so few people using it that there is no remedy. Even President’s Trump tool box looks bare.’’
That is very interesting (his "tool box") analysis from the CSIS, for it was not that long ago that the deal Trump cut was being hailed as a great breakthrough.
Of course, I found out the next day that he did it under duress so as to $ave the bigge$t U$ $hale companies from going broke, and as you can see the deal fell to $hit as soon as the handshake was pumped.
Stocks plunged Tuesday for the second day in a row, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling 631 points. European and Asian markets also were in decline as uncertainty gripped investors. IBM, Apple, Intel, and Microsoft were among the big drags on the Dow. All 11 S&P 500 sectors were negative.
‘‘The collapse in oil drives home the stark drop in economic activity around the world due to this virus,’’ said John Kilduff of Again Capital. ‘‘That puts a fine point on what we are staring down here.’’
Analysts said nearly 40 million Saudi Arabian barrels are on their way to US shores, adding to the tens of millions already in storage here. That delivery ‘‘is probably going to be the final dagger in the heart of the US shale oil industry,’’ said Kilduff, adding that the Saudis need to cut production immediately.
Then why not tell them to TURN AROUND and TAKE IT BACK HOME?
I thought $audi was Trump's friend?
The oil surplus is so pervasive that producers are storing the vital commodity in giant tanker ships that are roaming the oceans, looking for places to unload. An estimated 10 percent of the world’s oil tankers are currently being used for oil storage, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Let's hope they don't spring a leak!
WTF?!!!!
Why not go back to port so Iran can be blamed for blowing some up?
President Trump said the administration would move swiftly to shore up the industry.
‘‘We will never let the great US Oil & Gas Industry down,’’ he said in a Twitter post. ‘‘I have instructed the Secretary of Energy and Secretary of the Treasury to formulate a plan which will make funds available so that these very important companies and jobs will be secured long into the future!’’
$crew him!
The oil crisis arrived as US companies already are dealing with one of the most challenging environments in their history. Companies have begun a critical earnings season that will test how employers are weathering the economic lockdown and what their outlook is for the remainder of the year.
Stocks had entered Monday riding a two-week bounce on optimism over reports of promising scientific advances against the coronavirus and on gradual movements by national and state governments to begin easing lockdowns.
The S&P 500 jumped 15 percent in the two-week span.
The stock advances began to evaporate as Monday’s oil sell-off spread around the globe. Sellers holding contracts were paying would-be buyers to take the oil off their hands, an unprecedented move that rippled through global oil and currency markets. With many businesses shuttered by public health orders and travel almost totally scrapped due to the coronavirus outbreak, crude oil inventories far outpace demand and have overwhelmed storage capacity.
I read that and I say shut it down even tighter.
Destroy them once and for all, right?
Yeah, right.
Who would that hurt, who would it benefit?
Tuesday’s drop saw a big pullback in technology. Microsoft, Amazon, Google parent Alphabet, Facebook, and Netflix went negative. Most of those companies have been favorites during the past several weeks. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
Not only that, he dumped $3.4 billion in stock before the collapse, almost as if he knew the controlled demolition was coming.
Not only that, he is breaking strikes at his warehouses and firing people as he collaborates with Big Brother and buys up the forests in the Northeast.
Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, said Tuesday’s stock sell-off was partly due to the dive in oil prices and partly due to profit-taking by some investors who saw opportunity after the two-week run-up in stocks. ‘‘It’s unnerving to see negative oil prices, and let’s not forget the market has had a heck of a rally in recent weeks,’’ Yardeni said. ‘‘There is going to be some profit-taking by people who are seeing this as an opportunity to sell.’’
They wouldn't be $hort-$elling, would they?
In the oil market, May contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude were about to expire, forcing holders of the contracts to unload their oil at a loss. June WTI contracts, which account for future oil deliveries, were faring a bit better, selling at around $16, but that’s far below the break-even mark for companies and most oil-producing countries.
Most producers need an oil price at least in the $50 to $60 range, per barrel, which allows them to make a profit. Oil prices have collapsed this year, with WTI dropping more than 100 percent, based on Monday’s market.
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If only we could drink it:
"White House readies push to slash regulations as major part of its coronavirus economic recovery plan" by Jeff Steinand Robert Costa Washington Post, April 21, 2020
Senior White House and Trump administration officials are planning to launch a sweeping effort in the coming days to repeal or suspend federal regulations affecting businesses, with the expected executive action seen by advisers as a way to boost an economy facing its worst shock in generations, two people familiar with the internal planning said.
Like with the debt, they will worry about the environment later!
The White House National Economic Council and its director, Larry Kudlow, are working closely on the plan with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and other officials at the Treasury Department. The Council of Economic Advisers and incoming White House chief of staff Mark Meadows are also involved, as is White House counsel Pat Cipollone and Office of Management and Budget acting director Russell Vought.
The people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to frankly discuss a matter that had not been publicly announced, stressed that planning was ongoing and details were subject to change.
The timing for the launch of the regulatory rollback is unclear, but some White House officials want the effort to begin by the end of April or in early May as part of President Trump’s push to ‘‘reopen’’ the economy.
Too late. Never should have clo$ed it.
White House officials have been exploring a range of measures aimed at generating economic growth after shutdowns meant to contain the novel coronavirus caused more than 22 million Americans to lose their jobs in a span of four weeks. Public health experts have warned against prematurely reopening the economy and argued that it could lead to new outbreaks and cause thousands of additional deaths.
Is that what their wild inaccurate models are telling them?
Time to stop listening to those lying monsters.
Trump has discussed pushing a payroll tax cut, an infrastructure package, and more aid for states and cities in the next negotiations with Congress, but it’s unclear how those talks will play out on Capitol Hill. By contrast, the regulatory rollback being drafted by White House officials is designed to be accomplished without congressional approval.
Still, the Trump initiative will probably be fiercely criticized by congressional Democrats and other economic experts. ‘‘This sounds exactly like the type of opportunistic political move that absolutely should not be attempted right now,’’ said Jared Bernstein, a former adviser to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. ‘‘Correlations between regulations and economic activity are far shakier than they assume, and I don’t believe this idea will help at all.’’
There is an impartial source for you.
Related: "Joe Biden and the Democratic Party could raise almost $1 million every single day between now and November, and he would still barely catch up to what President Trump and the Republican Party had in the bank at the start of April — let alone what Trump will have by Election Day. New fund-raising figures released late Monday show the depth of the financial hole in which Biden finds himself at the start of the general election campaign....."
I'm supposed to be worried about Joe Biden's money problems and the di$gu$ting amount of money that goes into legaliZed bribery?
The White House rollback push comes as numerous influential conservative groups present the administration with recommendations for reviving the economy. On Monday, the Heritage Foundation’s National Coronavirus Recovery Commission released a 15-page report with numerous steps for the administration to take, including a repeal of business regulations at the state and federal level. One recommendation, which a White House official confirmed is under consideration, is having the president call on all federal agencies to not enforce regulations against small businesses.
The Heritage report also calls for making permanent temporary rules issued by the Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, and Environmental Protection Agency in response to coronavirus. A similar measure is also under consideration by the White House.
‘‘A presidential call for a wide-scale policy of nonenforcement would send a very strong signal to businesses that the government is not going to come down hard on them as they try to get back up and running,’’ the Heritage plan states.
So the Heritage Foundation is in charge of the reopen while the American Enterpri$e In$titute helps pha$e it in with the pre$$?
Trump repeatedly touts his administration’s record of repealing business regulations and has characterized doing so as one of his central economic accomplishments. ‘‘We’ve cut regulations more than any administration in history, and that’s in two and a half years,’’ Trump said at a White House event in the fall.....
He has grown tiresome at this point, but at least football will be back this fall.
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Related:
On page A5 is an ad for the Bo$ton $peakers $eries, which are thought-provoking evenings of diverse opinions and world perspectives:
How about that wonderful fella with the nice smile on the far left there?
He's appearing in October when everything will be back to normal.
Also see:
At least seven in Wisconsin contract virus during voting
Democrats in Congress are also pushing to get more funding for the elections into the next stimulus plan as the Mass. secretary of state is cautiously crafting a vote-by-mail package:
"More than 100 postal workers in Mass. and R.I. have contracted the coronavirus; one has died" by Emily Sweeney Globe Staff, April 21, 2020
More than 100 Postal Service employees in Massachusetts and Rhode Island have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and one of them died after contracting the disease, a union official said.
The number of postal employees who have tested positive for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus has “been increasing exponentially," according to John Flattery, president of the Central Massachusetts Area chapter Local 4553 of the American Postal Workers Union.
Another damn model?
As of Monday, 105 Postal Service employees who work in the agency’s district that includes facilities in Greater Boston, Cape Cod, and Rhode Island, had tested positive for COVID-19, he said.
One employee, John D. Della Paolera Jr., died after contracting the virus. Della Paolera lived in Andover and worked as a Postal Service truck driver in Boston, according to his wife, Joan Della Paolera. After he became ill he was taken by ambulance to Lawrence General Hospital, where he died April 6 at the age of 55. “He was on a ventilator from the day he got there,” she said Tuesday.
In less than two weeks, the number of positive cases among postal workers across the country has nearly tripled. On April 8, Postal Service spokesman Steve Doherty said 427 out of approximately 630,000 postal workers had tested positive for COVID-19; by April 20, the number had gone up to 1,219. Doherty declined to discuss the number of local workers hit by the virus.
More than 30 postal employees around the country have died from the virus, according to Fredric V. Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers. “Our members have been truly heroic during this pandemic,” he said in a statement on the union’s website.
Flattery said the Postal Service has taken steps to protect workers. He said new cleaning procedures and social distancing policies have been put in place, “cough shields” have been installed at post offices to protect clerks, and employees are being provided masks, gloves, and sanitizer.
“Everything is being wiped down constantly,” Flattery said.
Mike Rakes, the Postal Service district manager for Greater Boston, said in a letter to the editor of the Globe earlier this month that for deliveries requiring a signature, mail carriers will knock rather than touch doorbells, and they’ll ask the resident to confirm their name rather than having them sign anything. Then they will leave the package in a spot where the resident can easily retrieve it.
They should pick up packages for mailing the same way and shut down all the post offices.
Flattery credited the agency with taking the necessary precautions to make sure employees are safe on the job. Of course, the uptick in positive cases of COVID-19 remains a concern.
“Everyone is a little on edge,” Flattery said. “I imagine people who work in grocery stores are feeling the same way."
I wouldn't worry about it; you will all be out of jobs soon.
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Can you imagine who might tamper with those ballots?
"The Senate Intelligence Committee has unanimously endorsed the US intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia conducted a sweeping and unprecedented campaign to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. The heavily-redacted report, based on a three-year investigation, builds on a committee finding nearly two years ago that the January 2017 intelligence community assessment (ICA) on Russia was sound. The spy agencies also found that Russia sought to shake faith in American democracy, denigrate then-candidate Hillary Clinton and boost her rival Donald Trump. The report, while not unexpected, is nonetheless a milestone — the first extensive bipartisan congressional affirmation of the intelligence agencies’ conclusion, which continues to be at odds with President Trump’s oft-stated doubts about Russia’s role in the 2016 race....."
The Deep $tate must have held a gun to their head (remember when they spied on them?), and what has John Durham been up to anyway?
That report ever coming out?
"The committee also reviewed the debate over whether to include material from a series of reports compiled by a former British intelligence officer, Christopher Steele, that had been shared with the FBI. The so-called Steele dossier has been discredited in part, and Republican allies of the president have portrayed Steele’s reporting as a politically motivated effort to undermine Trump. Then-FBI assistant director for the Counterintelligence Division, E.W. ‘‘Bill’’ Priestap, told the committee the bureau ‘‘didn’t want to stand behind’’ the Steele report, but because then-President Barack Obama had directed the agencies to include all information on Russian interference in the 2016 election, the bureau felt it ‘‘would have had a major problem’’ if it had not been cited in some way. ‘‘The committee found no reason to dispute the intelligence community’s conclusions,’’ chairman Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina, said in a statement. One of the ICA’s most important conclusions ‘‘was that Russia’s aggressive interference efforts should be considered ‘the new normal,’ ” Burr said. ‘‘That warning has been borne out by the events of the last three years, as Russia and its imitators increasingly use information warfare to sow societal chaos and discord. With the 2020 presidential election approaching, it’s more important than ever that we remain vigilant against the threat of interference from hostile foreign actors.’’ The committee said the CIA, National Security Agency, and FBI — coordinated by the director of national intelligence — presented a ‘‘coherent and well-constructed’’ case for their assessment, supported by intelligence from human and electronic sources....."
That is not exactly an affirmation, and the flog that bull$hit story again and again does the pre$$ no good.
Time to go on vacation:
"Pandemic is dealing European tourism ‘staggering’ blow" by Raf Casert Associated Press, April 21, 2020
HALLE, Belgium — The European Union says its vaunted tourist industry is facing “staggering” figures of decline because of the coronavirus crisis and the bloc’s internal market commissioner wants the sector to be first in line when it comes to recovery funds.
Thierry Breton mentioned figures that the tourism economy could slump up to 70 percent and will be among the last to recover as the 27-nation bloc is facing perhaps the toughest challenge since its inception.
Across Europe, desolation illustrates the tourism crisis. Europe is hardly alone in facing hardship — but the unprecedented scenes since World War II are hitting anything from multinational airlines to family-owned hotels.....
The continent is in rubble?
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Maybe they need a new chief technology officer who will buy the world a Coke.
