"State to offer free coronavirus testing for those who protested" by Matt Stout Globe Staff, June 15, 2020
That is why they let you do it. To TEST! And you fell for it, stupidos!
Governor Charlie Baker on Monday said the state will offer free COVID-19 tests this week at more than 50 pop-up sites in Massachusetts for those who have joined the recent protests or demonstrations against police brutality.
The effort, which state officials hope will draw as many as 20,000 people over Wednesday and Thursday, could help gauge for the first time locally whether the hundreds of events that have dotted the state in recent weeks helped spread the coronavirus.
Oh, I doubt it!
Only certain rallies or protest are infectious, or so it would appear!
Some 300 demonstrations across the region have drawn thousands, with people packed shoulder-to-shoulder in streets, parks, and outside the State House, with some wearing masks and others not. Spurred by the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed by a white police officer, the demonstrations have broadly condemned police brutality and systemic racism, and have fed into a burgeoning national movement seeking racial justice and equity.
So you burn down cities and destroy property?
The events have been predominately peaceful after an initial spurt of violence saw waves of looting and vandalism across downtown Boston. As demonstrations proliferated, Baker voiced support for people’s right to peacefully protest, but the Republican also preached vigilance against the virus, arguing that much remains unknown about a disease that has sickened 105,690 and killed 7,647 people statewide.
The looting and vandalism has not stopped, even if the Globe chooses to ignore it. They have an agenda-pushing movement to polish.
Related: De Blasio Tells Covid Contract Tracers Not to Ask Positive Cases If They’ve Attended BLM Protests
That does it!
What a f**king FRAUD this has been!
Thus far, the public health data Massachusetts releases each day have shown no noticeable spike in cases in recent weeks, during which many restaurants, stores, and other public places have started to reopen.. On Tuesday, the state reported 87 new cases — the lowest one-day total since March 20 — and 23 new deaths. Nearly 4,500 new individuals were tested, according to state data.
Oh, IT IS COMING and it is COMING SOON!
Baker pleaded with people to take advantage of the free testing sites — if not for themselves, for their families.
“Please, if you were at a large gathering in the last couple of weeks . . . find a testing site near you,” Baker said. “If you’re healthy and feeling fine, you should consider getting tested anyway. Preventing the spread of COVID-19 is also about protecting other people around you: moms, dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters.”
Screw the damn guilt trip, governor!
You have DESTROYED THEIR LIVELIHOODS, jerk!!
Some cities and states have either increased testing, or offered it for free, as sprawling demonstrations have combined with the ever-looming threat of the pandemic. Boston last week announced it was offering a pop-up testing site in Roxbury for protesters for two days, and Illinois officials this month said anyone, regardless of symptoms, could seek out testing at nearly a dozen state-run sites.
See: More Blacks personally know a COVID-19 fatality
I'm sure they will running to be tested.
In some places, officials say the early returns have been encouraging. In Minnesota, more than 3,300 people who participated in protests or demonstrations were tested last week at four sites, with early results showing few testing positive. In Seattle, fewer than 1 percent of the thousands tested after attending protests there were positive, officials said.
What a CROCK OF SHIT this has BECOME!
Marylou Sudders, the state’s health and human services secretary, said Massachusetts officials “are assuming and we would be thrilled” to draw 10,000 people each of the two days the testing sites are open in Massachusetts, a load that would effectively double the number of patients tested statewide most days.
To accommodate that, Sudders said the state sought to create more sites offering longer hours. A web site the state set up showed 53 sites in total Monday, stretching from Provincetown to Pittsfield.
Nearly 40 sites are operating by appointment-only, including the 29 at CVS locations where tests will be offered between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. each day. Others are taking walk-ins, including sites in Cambridge, Chelsea, and Lynn, while those in Jamaica Plain, Gardner, and Fitchburg are exclusively walk-in. Some sites will be open as late as 7 or 8 p.m.
The results will be confidential, and Baker said state officials opted for weekdays, arguing that testing data on the weekend “actually end up being less great.”
“It was very important, we didn’t want to tax the testing capacity we currently have,” Sudders said. “We were trying very hard to have early morning hours, into the evening hours.”
I do not trust her, do you?
Baker said there have been nearly 300 protests across the state where more than 100 people had gathered, a stretch that included events across Boston this past weekend. He said officials began discussing last week about “creating some mechanism” to gauge whether the disease has spread amid the demonstrations, even though many people took precautions, such as wearing face coverings.
“There was also a lot of chanting and yelling, and those, right up there with singing, is one of the things that a lot of the medical community worries about,” Baker said of factors that can trigger transmission.
Yet the positives are minimal!
For Massachusetts to offer viral testing to a focused group who self-identify as attending protests is a “smart way in getting some numbers to answer that question," said Sarah Fortune, chair of the department of immunology and infectious diseases at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
“The risk of contracting COVID in the state right now is really low. If you’re going to do focused testing on anybody, you definitely should focus it on higher risk groups,” Fortune said.
PFFFFFFFFFFFFT!
I'm glad I quit going to controlled opposition events years ago. No longer being manipulated like a tool.
The harder question to answer, she said, is whether those who have actively spoken out against racism and other systemic problems in government agencies will now submit for testing under a government-offered program.
“Has there been such an erosion of trust in government . . . that particularly this group of people will be willing to show up for testing?” she said. “I think that’s the more complicated question.”
Well, you all BROUGHT IT ON YOURSELVES with the ENDLESS LYING and AGENDA-PUSHING, and if the rioters were smart they would steer clear of your tests!
Even amid positive trends locally, there are other concerns. COVID-19 infections have been on the rise in nearly two dozen other states, according to data showing the three-day moving average of confirmed new cases, compiled by Johns Hopkins University, adding to the complicated picture of the virus’s impact.
Ah, the hosts of the Event 201 simulation that is being printed in the pre$$ every day!
Asked if he would roll back reopening if there were a spike in cases in Massachusetts, Baker emphasized that the state is relying on testing and contact tracing to control the outbreak.
“We’ve said all along that our goal here is to be cautious about the way we move forward and to use our testing and tracing program to make sort of quick adjustments to deal with hot spots or issues of significance," Baker said. “We would much prefer that strategy.”
Until the whole f**king state has been, right?!
The other strategy is one Baker has not ruled out: snapping the state back into a lockdown.
Get ready for it. You got about about another week of freedom, folks.
--more--"
Better get to the beach this weekend (just watch out for jellyfish):
"‘It was like spring break.’ A sunny weekend brings out crowds quick to abandon social distancing guidelines" by Hanna Krueger Globe Staff, June 15, 2020
On Sunday, as the number of coronavirus cases in Massachusetts hit 105,603, a diner on the outdoor patio of the Barking Crab asked a waitress why she was wearing a mask.
“It’s like, ‘Where have you been the last three months?’ ” thought Alexandra Morris, the director of operations at the seafood mainstay on the Fort Point Channel, which reopened for al fresco dining on Thursday after the pandemic forced its closure back in March.
Restaurateurs across the city, nearly crippled by a spring without dine-in revenue, have reconstructed their spaces to comply with restrictions meant to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Eager diners, itching for some sense of normalcy (and a glass of wine poured by anyone other than a household member), flocked to the scattering of open restaurants in droves, but some say that limited outdoor space and the very nature of eating and drinking make full compliance with guidelines nearly impossible and that many patrons throw caution to the wind the minute they take a seat.
Almost as if they were gone with the wind.
A mile away from the Barking Crab on West 3rd Street, the weekend masses descended upon Coppersmith, a hotspot for young day drinkers. With a rooftop patio and a massive parking lot, the South Boston restaurant boasts far more outdoor space than many city locales, but social distancing violations can occur even in the most spacious of venues if patrons choose to congregate, noted Coppersmith doorman Randall Farr.
PFFFFFFFFT!!
Go find a f**king riot, 'er, protest!
What else are the kids supposed to do?
It's not like they are working!
“People were thrilled to be back out. This city, especially in Southie, feels like it’s the law that they should be out and about,” said Farr, who stopped by the restaurant on its reopening night last Tuesday. “When you combine food, drinks, alcohol and the euphoria of no longer being in strict lockdown, it’s understandable that people might be excited and mingling.”
That will NOT LAST, for an EVEN MORE SEVER LOCKDOWN is in the works because of the SECOND WAVE and SURGE that will KILL MILLIONS!!
In the South End, at Yellow Door Taqueria, people were so hellbent on dining out on Thursday that they ate huddled under handheld umbrellas during a downpour. The weekend brought a steady three-hour wait at the restaurant, which first opened exactly 30 days before having to shut down for the pandemic. Co-owner Jarek Mountain said most diners cooperated to keep the space safe and compliant, but some fear that the joy over the newfound liberties of Phase 2 and the warm weather that has accompanied them has prompted patrons to act with reckless abandon.
Awwwww, that Hertz!
They are not "newfound liberties," either, they are our GOD-GIVEN RIGHT that are being returned to us through citizen disobedience.
“A lot of people will bring a mask because they know they are required to wear one to get in, but then they take it off the minute they sit down,” said Morris, who has worked at the Barking Crab for 11 years. “So then it’s constantly policing people to tell them to wear a mask, to not roam. It’s a bizarre thing.”
Boycott that place!
Boston public health officials did not respond directly to questions of whether worrisome lapses in physical distancing occurred over the weekend, but said that “[data] continues to move in the right direction,” but Ruth Jones, the commissioner of the Quincy Health Department, said crowds flocked to the popular Marina Bay commercial district this weekend.
Rioting and burning down cities is okay, and so are the correct kind of protests!
Jones said the health department has been telling restaurants to remind their customers to wear masks and to stay 6 feet apart from one another.
"People need reminding," she said.
(Blog editor throws hands up in futility! WTF is with these people?)
Bessie King, whose family has owned Villa Mexico Cafe for two decades (first in Woburn, but now in the Financial District), said the burden to maintain safety while reopening should fall upon the patron as well as the proprietor. King said she completed two deliveries Friday in South Boston, and each time she saw unmasked groups heading toward M Street Beach, which has been seeing crowds since May.
“It was like spring break. It was completely disheartening to see like 3 or 4 masks in total,” said King. “The public has to cooperate and get it into their heads that this is everyone’s responsibility, not just the shop owner or restaurateur or the police or the mayor. All of us have to take part.”
Boycott her business, too, f**king godamn eliti$t!!
For all the relief that comes with the reopening, restaurant owners dread the possibility of having to shut down again. In several states, officials have discussed pausing or rolling back reopening plans amid warnings that COVID-19 cases are rising.
Enjoy your last weekend being open.
On Sunday, New York’s governor warned that if local officials did not crack down on blatant social distancing violations in New York City and the Hamptons, the state could be forced to suspend reopening plans in those areas.
Related:
"Up to 25 people can gather in parts of New York that have entered the third phase of reopening under a revised plan the governor announced Monday. Governor Andrew Cuomo said he relaxed the rules because of signs of a continued decline in hospitalizations and the percentage of new positive cases across the state. Cuomo’s administration reported 25 deaths of individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 in New York hospitals and nursing homes Sunday. Just over 1,600 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 Sunday, and a smaller percentage of New Yorkers have been testing positive each day in recent weeks. New York is on the “right track,” said Cuomo, who has divided the state up into 10 regions that are all in different stages of reopening. Previously, only 10 people could gather in the third phase of reopening, which western New York is set to enter Tuesday, but Cuomo again urged local governments to enforce social distancing rules as videos of socializing New Yorkers failing to wear masks in public or stay 6 feet apart from others over the weekend in New York City and elsewhere circulate on social media. “People are violating everything,” said Cuomo, who noted New York has received more than 25,000 complaints of reopening violations statewide. The governor said he “can’t use the State Police everywhere in the state” to enforce social-distancing rules, but he said restaurants and bars could lose their liquor licenses if they don’t enforce masks and distancing. Cuomo called on local governments to enforce the rules. “To local governments, I say do your job,” Cuomo said."
What a CRIMINAL JOKE that MOB$TER has become!
He's an EXTORTIONIST!
Utah and Oregon put any further reopening of their economies on hold Saturday amid a spike in coronavirus cases, and about one week after officially reopening, a number of Florida bars — in cities like Naples, St. Petersburg, and Orlando — voluntarily shut down their dining rooms again after employees tested positive for the virus.
Because we are all in this together!
What a CRIMINAL JOKE that MOB$TER has become!
He's an EXTORTIONIST!
Utah and Oregon put any further reopening of their economies on hold Saturday amid a spike in coronavirus cases, and about one week after officially reopening, a number of Florida bars — in cities like Naples, St. Petersburg, and Orlando — voluntarily shut down their dining rooms again after employees tested positive for the virus.
Because we are all in this together!
“Restaurants will not be able to survive a second closure,” said King, echoing the concerns of Morris and Mountain. “Honest to God, we cannot come back from that.”
BYE!
Massachusetts has reopened more cautiously than almost anywhere else in the country, in part because it has seen 7,624 virus-related deaths as of Monday, the third-highest state death toll to date. For the past month, key metrics have continued to trend downward, suggesting that the state is effectively battling the deadly pandemic, but with each phase of reopening comes new issues. Phase 2 safety standards for restaurants mandate tables to be more than six feet apart but make no mention of the distance between chairs. The latest phase has inspired a wave of complaints about restaurants in violation of the distancing standards on Boston’s 311 report log.
They were compiling about the riots, right?
Right?
Right?
Beyond that, Baker's strategy was a massive failure and we have no herd immunity.
“No 6 ft social distancing here,” reported one submission about a brewery. “Please address so we don't have another spike of Covid cases.”
Go crawl back into your hole, Karen!
--more--"
Related:
"Al fresco dining has returned to the North End. So have vandals. Somebody decapitated the Christopher Columbus statue last week, the latest act of vandalism carried out by people who consider Columbus a genocidal maniac. My grandmother, a native of Connemara, always insisted St. Brendan got here before Columbus and didn’t hurt anyone, but that’s another story. The Columbus statue has been frequently targeted since it went up 41 years ago....."
The article is served up by a liar; however, I would like to remind everyone that WERE IT NOT FOR COLUMBUS we would all be SOMEWHERE ELSE and there would be NO RIOTS or PROTESTS!
Of course, only men of a certain age (and race) may remember that, so the joke’s on them.
Also see:
"The state Department of Environmental Protection has failed to send federal regulators reports about the safety of watersheds in Massachusetts, according to the state auditor. The reports, required by the Clean Water Act, are meant to make public information about whether specific watersheds are polluted. “The failure to provide important information has left the public with a murky picture of water quality in the state,” said Suzanne M. Bump, the state auditor, in a statement. “While the agency has taken some steps to address these issues, I urge them to continue to implement all of our audit recommendations.” The audit found the department didn’t file the so-called Integrated List of Waters Report, as was required, between July 2017 and July 2019......"
The laws are for you, not them!
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
The Globe saved you a front-row seat for your test:
"Harvard drops standardized test requirement for 2021" by Laura Krantz and Deirdre Fernandes Globe Staff, June 15, 2020
In a pivotal decision that will likely ripple across higher education, Harvard University announced on Monday that it will not require next year’s undergraduate applicants to submit standardized test scores.
The decision comes amid fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and growing criticism that standardized test requirements unfairly penalize students of color.
A coalition of civil rights groups and education advocates intend to send a letter on Tuesday to elite colleges, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and UMass Amherst, urging them to scrap the SAT and ACT altogether.
Why not? Why not demolish another institution of life, as corrupt as it had become. At least our kids won't be having their heads filled with left-wing dogma anymore, so teach them quietly!
Harvard’s decision is temporary. The university has defended its admissions policy and its strategy to build a diverse student body in court. Last fall, a federal district court judge in Boston ruled in favor of Harvard’s race-conscious admissions policy, although opponents are looking to overturn that judgment on appeal.
Looks like a case for the Supreme Court.
A Harvard spokeswoman on Monday tied the decision to COVID-19 and the difficulty the pandemic has created for students seeking to take the standardized tests. Students who do not submit a test will not be disadvantaged, she said.
“We understand that the COVID-19 pandemic has created insurmountable challenges in scheduling tests for all students, particularly those from modest economic background, and we believe this temporary change addresses these challenges,” spokeswoman Rachael Dane in an e-mail Monday evening.
Even before the pandemic, many competitive schools had joined a growing national movement to make standardized testing an optional part of a student’s admissions package. More than half of all four-year colleges and universities in the nation no longer require SAT or ACT this fall, according to FairTest, an organization that tracks such requirements and urges schools to drop them.
“A lot of it is catalyzed by COVID-19, but the movement was out there,” said Bob Schaeffer, interim executive director of FairTest, which also signed the lawyers letter to the schools.
Yeah, COVID gave a BIG SHOVE to the NEW WORLD ORDER!
By the end of last year, 1,000 schools had made the tests optional, and another 200 have joined the movement this year, according to a master list his organization compiles. The list includes 85 percent of the top liberal arts colleges in the country, as rated by U.S. News and World Report, Schaeffer said.
Boston University and Northeastern are among the local institutions that have dropped testing requirements this spring. Boston College said Monday it, too, would drop the requirement. Most have done so on a temporary basis and plan to reinstate or reevaluate the requirement after the repercussions of the pandemic fade. Others include Amherst College, Babson College, Bentley University, Dartmouth College, Middlebury College, Tufts University, Wellesley College, Williams College, and Yale University. In all, 132 colleges in New England are now test-optional, according to FairTest.
So admittance will be based on who you know now.
Not requiring tests gives colleges more and better-qualified applicants, Schaeffer said, and makes schools more attractive to students.
“For kids, you know that you’re going to be treated as more than a score. It’s a breath of fresh air that ‘I’m going to be evaluated holistically,’” he said.
How is that going to to result in better-qualified applicants?
MIT and UMass Amherst are among the well-known schools in Massachusetts that still require standardized tests.
MIT has not changed its testing requirements but may choose to do so if an increasing number of students can’t take the standardized tests because of the pandemic, said Stuart Schmill, the dean of admissions and student financial services.
"That may come to pass, but at this point we are waiting to see how things develop in the fall, in the hope that there will be some abilities for students to take those tests," Schmill said, "but if they cannot, then we will adjust our policies and make decisions using the best information that we have in the rest of the application.”
Still, MIT stands behind the benefits of SAT and ACT test scores. These test scores are among many factors that MIT considers in admissions, Schmill has said.
“While we know these tests are not perfect, they do provide an informative and consistent measure of a student’s academic potential in a world where high school experiences vary so widely, and they allow us to admit students from across the country — and the globe — who we are confident will thrive and succeed at MIT," Schmill said in a blog post in March.
They will scan you in when you arrive on campus.
Boston College officials just recently dropped the requirement and began notifying college counselors on Monday, according to BC spokesman Jack Dunn. BC plans to reinstate testing requirements after the effects of COVID-19 subside, he said.....
When is that, two years from now?
--more--"
(below fold)
"State eases regulations for reopening camps and child-care centers" by Stephanie Ebbert Globe Staff, June 15, 2020
State officials have eased some of the guidelines for reopening child-care centers, in-home programs, and summer camps after fielding complaints that their regulations would be ruinous to small businesses and unworkable with small children.
The Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care has decided to encourage — but not mandate — the use of masks for children older then 2 and to eliminate a requirement that every child undergo a temperature check at the entrance before participating. Staff would still need to wear a mask whenever 6 feet of distancing is not possible.
The department also dropped one of the most controversial and costly requirements it had built into the new regulations: requiring an extra teacher in every preschool room, but even as they address central concerns raised by day-care operators struggling to stay afloat, state regulators are hearing contradictory concerns from workers at those facilities worried about their own health and safety.
SHUT IT DOWN THEN!
F**k your job!
Indeed, no sooner did day-care owners express relief than the workers who had petitioned the state to close the centers in the first place urged caution.
“The field is not unified in its philosophy or belief system — just like the general public is not unified,” said Amy O’Leary, director of Early Education for All, which advocates for early childhood programs and funding. She pointed to a New York Times article showing, even among epidemiologists, vast disparities in people’s comfort levels about when to return their children to camp, school, or group care.
PFFFFT!
State officials have been trying to thread that needle, heeding the concerns of business owners in a fragile industry — which is essential to restarting the rest of the economy — and the concerns of worried parents and teachers. Though Governor Charlie Baker gave camps and child-care centers the go-ahead to reopen, each must first present a plan for operating in the new landscape. The state just opened the process for submitting those plans this week.
Oh, NOW they are essential!
The department also dropped a change to the teacher ratios that would have required two preschool teachers for every classroom of 10 children. Preschool rooms typically accommodate 20 children with two teachers — and their tuition disproportionately fuels a center’s budget, compared to the more labor-intensive infant and toddler rooms.....
--more--"
You would be better off keeping the kid at home.
Ready to go on patrol?
"Despite praise, ‘community policing’ in Boston does not work for everyone, experts say; The approach has long been praised by police in Boston and elsewhere as evidence of a commitment to excellence" by Dugan Arnett and Milton J. Valencia Globe Staff, June 15, 2020
For years, city leaders and police commissioners have described it as the guiding principle of Boston’s approach to law enforcement — a seemingly simple two-word catch phrase that describes a progressive new approach: community policing.
As he announced an independent review of the Boston Police Department’s use-of-force guidelines last week, Mayor Martin J. Walsh once again touted the city’s community policing model, rattling off programs with names like “Coffee with a Cop” and “Shop with a Cop,” but as calls for police reform have reverberated across the nation in recent weeks, the once-innovative buzzword has come under growing criticism.
Some deride it as a gimmick, or little more than a bumper-sticker slogan. Experts say that evidence of its effectiveness remains ambiguous, and as dozens of recent protests throughout the city have shown, the current system — despite the praise of city officials — is not working for everyone.....
What does work for everyone in this world?
Answer: Nothing.
--more--"
Related:
Data show Boston police stop Black people most often
Maybe they are committing most of the crimes, huh?
Is Beacon Hill serious about police reform?
The mayor of Somerville has his doubts, and he says "the way the rules and laws are set up by the Commonwealth make it very difficult to ensure transparency and accountability."
The mayor of Somerville has his doubts, and he says "the way the rules and laws are set up by the Commonwealth make it very difficult to ensure transparency and accountability."
Stuck at the intersection of Black and blue
Nicole A. Simmonds-Jordan is a Black woman married to a Black Special Agent and her brother is a hero in the police community, and she will always be Black first even as society has demanded that I choose a side.
For my part, I refuse to take a side because I am a HUMAN BEING above all else. A critical-thinking INDIVIDUAL who is does not want to SELF-IDENTIFY with a GROUP!
Nicole A. Simmonds-Jordan is a Black woman married to a Black Special Agent and her brother is a hero in the police community, and she will always be Black first even as society has demanded that I choose a side.
For my part, I refuse to take a side because I am a HUMAN BEING above all else. A critical-thinking INDIVIDUAL who is does not want to SELF-IDENTIFY with a GROUP!
Also see:
Newton mayor calls for civilian review of police after officers, with gun drawn, stop Black resident
03wenewton - Ruthanne Schwartz Fuller (Handout)
I'm sure she is a wonderful lady; however, she looks so out-of-touch and completely deranged!
R.I. attorney general seeks to prosecute more police misconduct cases
It's a political opportunity to grandstand!
MBTA extends Keolis contract through at least 2025
They are just getting back up to speed.
SJC orders judges to specify what they mean when they continue cases without a finding
This?
"Two Nigerian nationals living in Massachusetts have been arrested for allegedly defrauding Americans through online scams during the coronavirus pandemic, in some cases collecting unemployment insurance in the name of others, federal prosecutors said Monday. The US Attorney’s office for Massachusetts said Monday that Nosayamen Iyalekhue, 33, and Esogie Osawaru, 27, had been charged with wire fraud. After opening accounts with false foreign passports, Iyalekhue and Osawaru then allegedly used various schemes to convince victims to send money to those accounts before quickly withdrawing the money, often repeating the scam "multiple times during a single day,” according to the complaint. The men, who were living in Massachusetts, were arrested Friday in Providence, according to the office of United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. They were detained after appearing in court, officials said. A complaint filed in court last week alleges that at least 11 different victims wired more than $400,000 to the men over three years. Prosecutors claim Iyalekhue used his former position as a TD Bank teller to access accounts using other names, such as “Jude Ekanem” and “Milk Anthony.” Though Iyalekhue lost his job with TD Bank after security officials became aware that he was improperly accessing accounts in July 2019, the men continued the scams using accounts opened at several banks around the state, prosecutors said in the complaint.
No offense, but why was he not prosecuted then?
Because he is black?
A TD Bank spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment. Jane Peachy, a public defender assigned to represent Iyalekhue, declined to comment on the specific allegations. She said the court document filed by prosecutors contain "no suggestion that my client was the one actually contacting the purported victims.” A lawyer representing Osawaru could not immediately be reached. Some of the schemes involved online romances, and Lelling’s office said the men also wrongly collected unemployment insurance meant to help people who lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Osawaru allegedly cashed a $10,710 check from an unemployment insurance company in the name of a Washington resident on May 19. The victim told investigators he had not applied for unemployment benefits and did not know Osawaru, according to the complaint filed in court. Another person from Wyandotte, Michigan sent more than $82,000 to accounts owned by Iyalekhue and Osawaru between October 2018 and March 2019 after forming an online relationship with a man who claimed he lived on an oil rig, according to the court document. Iyalekhue was previously arrested by Dedham police on Feb. 24 after an employee at an Eastern Bank branch in the city alerted police as Iyalekhue attempted to withdraw money, according to the complaint. Prosecutors allege that the money came from an elderly woman in Scurry, Texas who believed she was helping a man pay for customs fees. Both men face up to 20 years in prison if convicted, along with as much as three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to to $250,000 or twice any amount they are found to have taken from victims. The Better Business Bureau, along with state and federal authorities, has received numerous reports of scams meant to take advantage of the confusion caused by the novel coronavirus. Some people have received calls or texts about phony stimulus checks. Others have been scammed into buying COVID-19 remedies and at-home test kits that are not proven to treat or test for the virus. The most common scams involve online orders that never arrive. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has encouraged consumers to be wary when making purchases, and to file complaints about regulation violations like price gouging."
You think it is a fire $ale:
Fire causes $100,000 in damage to Dorchester youth center
The building was vacant at the time and no one was injured, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Boston police identify man, 28, fatally shot Saturday in Dorchester
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
American Paul Whelan convicted of spying by Russia, gets 16 years in prison
Speculation is rife about a possible prisoner exchange after a trial which has been largely behind closed doors, as Whelan, who also has Canadian, Irish, and British citizenship, was the corporate security director at BorgWarner, a Michigan-based automotive parts supplier, at the time of his arrest. He received a bad-conduct discharge from the Marines in 2008, according to military records.
He SURE LOOKS like a SPY!
Family members decry police killing of Rayshard Brooks, call for reform
I saw the video of the arrest. The cops were sedate and treating him with respect. When they tried to cuff the drunk, he flipped out. I feel sorry for the widow, I truly do; however, people are responsible for the actions -- or used to be.
I saw the video of the arrest. The cops were sedate and treating him with respect. When they tried to cuff the drunk, he flipped out. I feel sorry for the widow, I truly do; however, people are responsible for the actions -- or used to be.
"A niece of President Trump will divulge a series of “harrowing and salacious” stories about him in an upcoming book, according to a published report. It would be the first time that the president could be forced to grapple with damaging revelations by a member of his own family. The niece, Mary Trump, will release the book, “Too Much and Never Enough,” on Aug. 11, less than three weeks before Trump accepts the Republican nomination for a second term, the Daily Beast reported on Sunday. The report said that in the book, Mary Trump, 55, will say she was a primary source for The New York Times’s coverage of Trump’s finances and provided the newspaper with confidential tax documents. A spokeswoman for the Times declined to comment on Sunday. Three journalists from the Times received the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting last year for their work providing an unprecedented look at the Trump family’s finances and contradicting Trump’s image of a self-made billionaire. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the report. Mary Trump is the daughter of Fred Trump Jr., the president’s older brother, who died in 1981. She has mostly kept out of the public eye, except for a family feud over the will of Fred Trump Sr., who died in 1999. Simon & Schuster, the reported publisher, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. This is not the first time someone close to the president has written a book that has been problematic for him. Several books have pulled back the curtain on the Trump White House and have risen to the top of best-seller lists, including the 2018 books “Fear” by Bob Woodward, which was also published by Simon & Schuster, and “Fire and Fury” by Michael Wolff."
Who remembers those books now? Anyone other than the pre$$?
From the other articles I read online, the gist of her book is the father and brother berated Fred, Jr., leading to his alcoholism and eventual death. It's a sad story.
From the other articles I read online, the gist of her book is the father and brother berated Fred, Jr., leading to his alcoholism and eventual death. It's a sad story.
Trump ally takes over crisis-ridden Postal Service as top Senate Democrat demands inquiry on hiring
The end game is privatization of the best thing government ever did.
The end game is privatization of the best thing government ever did.
"Japan’s Defense Ministry said Monday that it has decided to stop unpopular plans to deploy two costly land-based US missile defense systems aimed at bolstering the country’s capability against threats from North Korea. Defense Minister Taro Kono told reporters that he decided to stop the deployment process of the Aegis Ashore systems after it was found that the safety of one of the two planned host communities could not be ensured without a hardware redesign that would be too time consuming and costly. The plan to deploy the two missile defense systems already had faced a series of setbacks, including questions about the selection of one of the sites, repeated cost estimate hikes that climbed to $4.1 billion for their 30-year operation and maintenance, and safety concerns that led to local opposition. Critics have also said that the systems were to intercept long-range North Korean missiles from hitting Guam or Hawaii rather than for Japan’s self-defense, possibly interfering with the country’s war-renouncing constitution....."
They are going to be absolutely no help against China.
"A Black Lives Matter banner was removed from the facade of the US Embassy in Seoul on Monday, two days after it was unfurled in a show of solidarity with the antiracism movement. The banner and a smaller rainbow flag put up for gay pride month were replaced with a ‘‘We will not forget’’ banner, marking the 70th anniversary of the Korean War. An embassy spokesman said US Ambassador Harry Harris, a retired Navy admiral, ordered it taken down to avoid the ‘‘misperception’’ that taxpayer dollars were used to support an organization. ‘‘The Ambassador decided to put the Black Lives Banner up to communicate a message of solidarity with Americans concerned with racism, especially racial violence against African Americans,’’ the spokesman said. ‘‘He wanted to highlight the enduring American values of racial equality, freedom of speech, and the right to peacefully protest, ‘‘however, the Ambassador’s intent was not to support or encourage donations to any specific organization. To avoid the misperception that American taxpayer dollars were spent to benefit such organizations, he directed that the banner be removed.’’ Bloomberg News reported that the banner was removed after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Trump expressed their disapproval upon seeing news coverage of the two-story-tall banner hanging behind the main flagpole displaying the US flag."
Pledge allegiance to the flag, whatever flag they offer.....
They are going to be absolutely no help against China.
"A Black Lives Matter banner was removed from the facade of the US Embassy in Seoul on Monday, two days after it was unfurled in a show of solidarity with the antiracism movement. The banner and a smaller rainbow flag put up for gay pride month were replaced with a ‘‘We will not forget’’ banner, marking the 70th anniversary of the Korean War. An embassy spokesman said US Ambassador Harry Harris, a retired Navy admiral, ordered it taken down to avoid the ‘‘misperception’’ that taxpayer dollars were used to support an organization. ‘‘The Ambassador decided to put the Black Lives Banner up to communicate a message of solidarity with Americans concerned with racism, especially racial violence against African Americans,’’ the spokesman said. ‘‘He wanted to highlight the enduring American values of racial equality, freedom of speech, and the right to peacefully protest, ‘‘however, the Ambassador’s intent was not to support or encourage donations to any specific organization. To avoid the misperception that American taxpayer dollars were spent to benefit such organizations, he directed that the banner be removed.’’ Bloomberg News reported that the banner was removed after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Trump expressed their disapproval upon seeing news coverage of the two-story-tall banner hanging behind the main flagpole displaying the US flag."
Pledge allegiance to the flag, whatever flag they offer.....
"British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday that he will establish a commission to look at what more can be done to fight racial inequality in the United Kingdom, a move that came after two weeks of protests spurred by the death of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in hundreds of demonstrations across the UK since Floyd was killed on May 25, demanding that Britain confront its own history of imperialism and racial inequality. Johnson has repeatedly been accused over the years of making racist or offensive statements for which he has declined to apologize. He has called Papua New Guineans cannibals, used a derogatory term to refer to members of the Commonwealth, and compared Muslim women who wear face-covering veils to “letter boxes.” Johnson said the new body would investigate “the discrimination that unquestionably exists” in society, and would look at areas including education, health, and criminal justice. Soccer hooligans and far-right activists gathered near the Churchill statue on Saturday under the guise of guarding historic monuments. Antiracism protesters called off a planned march to avoid conflicts with them, leaving hundreds of largely white, male demonstrators to hurl objects and fight with police....."
He is reacting to a problem that didn't even happen in his own country!
"It is the photograph that has captured a hopeful, valiant, precise moment in a divided Britain — a powerfully built Black Lives Matter protester, a personal trainer and a grandfather, hoisting an injured far-right demonstrator onto his shoulder to rescue him from a violent scrum near Waterloo Bridge. From Saturday’s melee in central London emerged Patrick Hutchinson, a black Briton, hailed as savior, carrying a white man, with shaved head and cut-off jeans, onto his shoulders in a firefighter’s lift. The British tabloids, even the right-wing ones, called Hutchinson a ‘‘hero,’’ and accolades from politicians and ordinary folk poured forth on social media. In an interview with Britain’s Channel 4, Hutchinson said he arrived at the scene to see the man he rescued on the ground, under attack by counterprotesters. Hutchinson and his mates formed a cordon around the man. ‘‘If the other three police officers that were standing around when George Floyd was murdered had thought about intervening, and stopping their colleague from doing what he was doing, like what we did, George Floyd would be alive today still,’’ Hutchinson said."
If citizens had intervened and not just recording it on the cellphone, he would also be alive.
He is reacting to a problem that didn't even happen in his own country!
"It is the photograph that has captured a hopeful, valiant, precise moment in a divided Britain — a powerfully built Black Lives Matter protester, a personal trainer and a grandfather, hoisting an injured far-right demonstrator onto his shoulder to rescue him from a violent scrum near Waterloo Bridge. From Saturday’s melee in central London emerged Patrick Hutchinson, a black Briton, hailed as savior, carrying a white man, with shaved head and cut-off jeans, onto his shoulders in a firefighter’s lift. The British tabloids, even the right-wing ones, called Hutchinson a ‘‘hero,’’ and accolades from politicians and ordinary folk poured forth on social media. In an interview with Britain’s Channel 4, Hutchinson said he arrived at the scene to see the man he rescued on the ground, under attack by counterprotesters. Hutchinson and his mates formed a cordon around the man. ‘‘If the other three police officers that were standing around when George Floyd was murdered had thought about intervening, and stopping their colleague from doing what he was doing, like what we did, George Floyd would be alive today still,’’ Hutchinson said."
If citizens had intervened and not just recording it on the cellphone, he would also be alive.
"For many in England, it was a day of much-needed retail therapy. Long lines stretched down streets in England on Monday as shops selling items considered as nonessential during the coronavirus pandemic, such as sneakers and toys, welcomed customers for the first time since the UK was put into lockdown in late March. Starved of the retail experience for the best part of three months, the keenest of shoppers rushed to make up for lost time, to pick up a bargain, browse, or just have a chat. Most appeared to abide by the rules of the “new normal.” “You don’t realize how much you miss physical shopping until you actually come into the shop. It’s great,’’ said Pamela Crystal, 46. ‘‘It’s nice to see people, talk to salespeople. It feels like we’re normal again.” Monday’s reopening of shops only applies to England. Scotland, and Wales are taking a more tentative approach to the easing of the coronavirus restrictions. The new shopping experience is anything but normal, though. Shops are limiting numbers and are providing hand sanitizers as well as creating one-way traffic systems inside. Plastic screens protect workers from shoppers at payment counters and some shops won’t accept cash. At the Apple store on Regent Street in central London, staff checked customers’ temperatures and insisted upon face coverings...."
Let Carl Vernon show you the “New Normal” in England, readers.
After a quick trip across the Channel:
"Paris is rediscovering itself, as its cafes and restaurants reopen for the first time since the fast-spreading coronavirus forced them to close their doors March 14. The surprise permission to reopen came from France’s president, in a televised address to the nation Sunday night....."
I hope the know the Heimlich maneuver.
After a quick trip across the Channel:
"Paris is rediscovering itself, as its cafes and restaurants reopen for the first time since the fast-spreading coronavirus forced them to close their doors March 14. The surprise permission to reopen came from France’s president, in a televised address to the nation Sunday night....."
I hope the know the Heimlich maneuver.
"Less than a week after France banned police chokeholds, the government responded to growing officer discontent by announcing it would test stun guns for wider use, adding to the ranks of European law enforcement agencies that have recently adopted the weapons that many in the United States equate with excess police violence. For Johny Louise, it felt as though the 22 seconds of Taser pulses that led to his son’s death counted for nothing. “They need more death so that one day they understand, but it will be more pointless deaths and sufferings for families,” Louise said. Gendarmes in Orléans responding to a drunken brawl tried to arrest his son, Loïc. One of the officers, Noham Cardoso, fired his Taser for the first time, hitting Loïc Louise in the chest with the twin darts and jolting him for a full 17 seconds, rather than the usual 5-second cycle, then hitting him again less than a minute later with another 5 seconds, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press. Loïc Louis, who was black, passed out and was later pronounced dead at the hospital. Cardoso was charged last year with involuntary homicide in the Nov. 3, 2013, death. He has said Loïc Louise was aggressive and appeared ready to attack. The officer’s lawyer, Ludovic de Villèle, can’t fathom why France would replace an immobilization technique with a weapon. He said it would make more sense to invent another technique to replace the banned chokehold. “It’s a bad sign to say, ‘You can’t strangle, but here are Tasers for you to use,’” de Villèle said."
They backtracked on the chokeholds after protests, and this next item will make you gag (page A5 lower right quadrant):
They backtracked on the chokeholds after protests, and this next item will make you gag (page A5 lower right quadrant):
Unbelievably, it's for the Bo$ton $peakers $eries, which are thought-provoking evenings of diverse opinions and world perspectives, and how about that wonderful genocidal fella with the nice smile on the far left there? He's appearing in October when everything will be back to "normal."
"The Food and Drug Administration said Monday that it was revoking emergency authorization of two malaria drugs to treat COVID-19, saying that they are “unlikely to be effective.” The drugs, hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, were heavily promoted by President Trump after a handful of small, poorly controlled studies suggested that they could work in treating the disease. Trump said he took hydroxychloroquine after he had been exposed to two people who tested positive for the coronavirus. The agency said that after reviewing some data, it had determined that the drugs, particularly hydroxychloroquine, did not demonstrate potential benefits that outweighed their risks. Earlier this spring, the FDA had also issued a warning that the drugs could cause dangerous heart arrhythmias in COVID patients. In March, the FDA authorized stockpiles of the drugs, which had been donated by pharmaceutical companies, to be used in hospitals to treat patients with the virus, but in a letter Monday revoking the authorization, the agency said that further studies have shown that the two drugs were unlikely to be effective in stopping the virus, and that national treatment guidelines don’t recommend using them outside of clinical trials. According to the letter, written by Denise M. Hinton, the FDA’s chief scientist, the request to revoke the authorization came from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, the unit of the Department of Health and Human Services that had initially asked for the authorization. In April, the head of that unit, Dr. Rick Bright, said he was removed from his post after he pushed for rigorous vetting of hydroxychloroquine, even as Trump and his allies were enthusiastically promoting the drug, but interest in hydroxychloroquine has waned in recent weeks as further studies showed that the drug did not appear to be effective in treating or preventing COVID-19. Earlier this month, a study of 821 people who had been exposed to patients infected with the virus showed that the drug did not prevent infection. In May, an article in the Lancet about another study concluded that hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine did not help patients and may have harmed them — but that study was later retracted after the authors could not verify the database of medical records on which the article was based. Several trials of hydroxychloroquine are still underway, including additional studies of whether it can be used to prevent coronavirus infection. The World Health Organization resumed a study of the drug after briefly halting it in the wake of the Lancet article, and it is still being embraced elsewhere, including in Brazil, which is battling an explosive outbreak....."
"People have been amping up their use of cleansers and disinfectants in their homes to guard against the novel coronavirus, but 39 percent of US adults are doing so in risky ways, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 20 percent say they have washed fruits and vegetables with bleach or used household cleansers or disinfectants on their hands. Other reported risky practices included misting the body with a household cleaning or disinfectant spray and drinking or gargling with bleach solutions, soapy water, or other cleaning and disinfectant solutions. Based on survey data from a panel of 502 adults, determined to be a representative sampling of the US population, the CDC says that people who used at least one of these unsafe practices were more than twice as likely to have a subsequent health issue — irritation of the nose, sinuses, skin, or eyes, nausea, or an upset stomach, dizziness, headaches, or breathing problems — than were those who did none of these things, 39 percent versus 16 percent."
God, I feel filthy after reading anything contains the CDC.
God, I feel filthy after reading anything contains the CDC.
What didn't make the Globe:
Saudi Airstrike Kills 13 Civilians in Yemen
I only knew about it because Fox reported it on crawl this morning about 2 a.m.
Saudi Airstrike Kills 13 Civilians in Yemen
I only knew about it because Fox reported it on crawl this morning about 2 a.m.
