#“leader mike” requires honest mike again

[teambyler]

Mike, Will, and the Only Lie They've Kept

As early as the first episode, the show makes clear that Mike and Will are the only friends who NEVER lie to each other. “Friends don’t lie.” In the first few minutes, Will tells Mike the truth about rolling a 7. In s2, Will is completely open with Mike about his visions, and Mike makes clear in words and deeds how much Will means to him:

Dustin and Lucas lied to Mike about the roll being a 7. El lied to the group, screwed with the compass, and led them away from the gate. Dustin hid Dart from the group. The series establishes that Will and Mike are the most honest characters in the party. Will usually only feels he can open up to Mike. Mike, meanwhile, more than anyone values honesty, and it's key to his leader role in the party. He enforces the party code, and he never lies on important things among them.

So isn't it strange that he starts lying to El in s3, and his entire arc in s4 is his difficulty “being honest” with El to say he loves her? Isn't that strange? And isn't it strange in s4 that Will is dropping truth bombs to Mike and El, telling them to stop lying and to be open about their feelings, but then to his BEST FRIEND, he lies for the first time about the painting?

Isn't that a lie that will come to light between these closest of friends? And isn't Mike lying about something, too, by not hugging his BEST FRIEND after months apart?

These two are honest with each other in a way they aren't with anyone else. Aren't they nurturing their ONLY LIE to each other?

And hasn't the show used s4 to reestablish that they ARE best friends again, who "don't lie" to each other?

Isn’t everything pointing toward Byler at this point?

-teambyler

[mrslackles]

what do you think are gg's biggest flaws?

Ooh, Anon! It’s like you’re in my head. 

I’m busy making a video (that will probably never see the light of day) about this --  my distance from the show has really helped with some super objective clarity -- so I’ll use my notes from that to help me answer. 

I’ll preface this by saying what I was most shocked by after putting down all the points was that Rio isn’t even mentioned until really far down??

Anyway, let's get into it.

These are Good Girls' greatest flaws in my opinion (and relative to season 1 -- while I think it had its flaws too, the list is far smaller and I think that's a separate post)

1. It didn't stick to its guns

What set this show apart from others in the 'Everyday person does crime (poorly)' genre was its comedic lightness, strong friendship element, relatability and emphasis on girl power.

a) By season 2, the lightness was already slowly disappearing to make way for season 3's darkness. (Quite literally; this show said sunlight scenes for WHO.) It also stopped being as fun. Remember how it genuinely used to be fun? I mean let's not forget The Best Scene Ever where Ruby shoots Big Mike by accident and we all laughed our asses off. (Compare and contrast to a similar-in-tone-and-context scene -- or even the whole episode -- like Boomer popping up behind them as Rio's package in season 3.) I think season 3 had some great lines and laughs, but in general, the fun element was completely missing for me.

b) As was the friendship. We already know Annie and Ruby basically became Beth's backup dancers in season 2, but at least then they still seemed to have some type of agency. In season 3, they rarely question Beth's (truly questionable) decisions, don't talk to her about shit like why she's still with her horrible husband and have very few true friendship moments as they did in season 1.

c) Which made it less relatable, but what also contributed was the major plot holes (it's less easy to relate when you're constantly having to remind yourself to suspend your disbelief). And, to be honest, their stupid actions. Just the most common-sense things weren't followed, like not taking your children to a crack den or not putting a hit out on a gang leader. It's frustrating watching a TV show -- where characters are supposed to learn things, have arcs and improve over time -- and feeling like you have more logical sense than all the main characters in every scene. (WHO would think a hitman was going to use a sniper rifle on people in broad daylight on the side of the road???)

d) You don't have to look any further than the title or the stans who shout "THE SHOW IS ABOUT THE GIRLS" -- or, hell, the first 10 seconds of the show where Sara is literally talking about the glass ceiling -- to know that the main characters being women is very important to the show. If not formally feminist, it was at least supposed to be empowering or feel like "girl power" (a term I hate, but we won't get into that now).

And I think it did it pretty well in season 1 -- it actually played on my favourite theme of the show, which is the world's perception of these women being what ultimately allows them to get away with so much. (Rife with opportunities for commentary about white privilege, but also a genius way to upend patriarchal beliefs.) But more and more it seemed like the show was asking you to accept empowerment as simply "these things are being done by women, yay".

And, well.

2. Its marketing

I'll keep this one short because I think we all know how messed up this situation is. Basically they're selling a show (every week!) that they're not making while ignoring all feedback on every social media platform. Which brings us to...

3. The marriage of Death

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times -- Beth's character development starts with getting rid of Dean. Her growth is stunted by him on multiple fronts and it's frustrating to viewers since she's constantly put forth as the main character. Not to mention how the audience, separately from Beth, was originally conditioned to see Dean as the scum of the earth (think of scenes like him crashing his car because he was perving on a woman jogging) so keeping them together is really... a choice. To actively root for this marriage (which seems like what the show wants, at least for the protracted moment) means either thinking Dean is a great person (which, as I said, we've only seen the opposite of) or believing he's all Beth deserves. Which leads me to...

4. Beth's (socio)path(y)

Is sociopath a 'good' word? Probably not. Have I seen dozens upon dozens of posts talking about whether Beth is one? Yes. And I see it from a huge variety of people -- from viewers who just binged the show last weekend to those who've been watching for years, the question keeps coming up. And I entirely blame the writing of the show that, by the way, I don't believe is deliberately creating Beth to get this reaction. I think she's written (and, to an extent, acted) in a way that is much too aloof and I'm not convinced it's meant to come off as cold and unfeeling as it does. Everything else leads me to believe that the audience is supposed to root for Beth, but it's just so difficult.

Beth does a lot of messed up shit that requires dialogue to sympathise with her and the inner workings of her mind, but in the later seasons Beth rarely gets to express herself verbally. And every time she does get to speak about her emotions, the dialogue is a pick-your-own-adventure between "She's in so much denial", "This person feels no emotions" and "I'll go find an analysis/fic later to explain this" (scenes like "Nothing" or "I was just bored"). Compare and contrast with some of the great scenes in season 1 where she emotes, like her paralysing shock after they first rob the store or admitting she enjoys crime, or (one of my favourites!) the one in the park where she's mimicking the other mothers beside her.

5. Brio

I said in the beginning that I was shocked Rio doesn't get mentioned until this point and that's because I've always felt like he was an integral part of the show. When people say the show is about the girls, they're truncating -- the show is about the girls getting into crime. That crime is represented by Rio over and over again -- they never bring in another criminal at his level (which is another one of its flaws, but that's also a different post); Rio is it.

And though I stand by Rio's importance, the truth is that Brio isn't as essential to the show, by which I mean that if all of the above were done well, it wouldn't be as sorely missed. In lieu of riveting plot, a fun friendship, character development and empowerment, most viewers have glommed onto Brio like a lifeboat (or ship, heh).

Unfortunately it's also what the show has most stubbornly refused to develop significantly.

It's honestly a toss-up for why I feel Brio is a flaw: is the flaw that they got together? That they never got together well enough? That the writing keeps bringing in these 'chemistry-filled' scenes that are ultimately filled with air?

I don't know. Maybe all of them; maybe just one, depending on the day.

6. Its criticism falls flat without intersectionality

This is a big one because Good Girls is *trying* to do something very clever. As mentioned previously, my favourite theme of the show is how the women's apparent innocence/vulnerability in the eyes of society is their biggest strength. The show plays with this and other interesting themes with varying levels of success, but ultimately they all fall a little flat when they don't feel intersectional.

When Ruby gets sidelined. When Turner, who sees and all but calls out by name Beth's privilege, is portrayed as the villain. When Rio is told he's gonna "pop a cap" in his young child's "ass". When the racist grandma becomes a sympathetic character whom we must later grieve. (And she really didn't have to be racist, now that I think about it? It was just that one line for laughs and that was it.) When, despite the real-world implications, Dean can loudly announce in a store that he's buying a gun to kill someone with and the show just glides past it. When Ruby has to grovel for forgiveness from Beth for trying to protect her husband and family from the system, with no acknowledgement from Beth about how their realities are different. When Rhea gets booted off the show as soon as she's done serving Beth's plot. When Rio gets treated like a prostitute for absolutely no reason. (Oh, and is accused of raping Beth and is literally spoken of as an animal and starts only existing in zero dim lighting as a one-dimensional stereotype... the list goes on.)

7. PR/The actors

I'll risk my life here to sprinkle this in because I do think it's a massive problem. The Manny/Christina of it all is just the tip of the iceberg (although wtf Good Girls? There's nothing you could do to get these two into an interview together??). The main actors do the bare minimum to promote the show and it's weird. I also think it's the height of unprofessionalism to keep characters on the show against the wishes of the majority of the audience just because you enjoy their actors (Boomer confirmed; Dean highly suspected). While, on the flip side of the coin, limiting a character's screentime because you aren't best buddies with them. Having less and less Rio when he's such a fan favourite is dumb; as is not including him in any series marketing material. It feels personal and that isn't how a TV show should be run.

8. The entire hair and wardrobe department needs a stern talking-to

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Hi this may not be new to everyone but I was recently introduced to the concept of questioning God. I was raised with the idea that you do not question Them bc who do we think we are to question God, and to question Them is to lack faith. I'm still trying to wrap my head round this new idea so sorry if this sounds really silly and naive but why would we want to question God? And is questioning God=lack of faith? Sorry if this was messily worded

Hey there, anon! When you’ve been raised never to question God, the idea of questioning them can be kind of scary -- but hopefully you will find it to be freeing and empowering and enriching, too! 

Now, I think most Christians would ascribe to some sort of “who are we to question God?” type mindset, as you name. I think I probably do, insofar as that means I tend to understand God as omniscient; I do believe that God’s answers and God’s will are Right and Just, are Correct, and that I don’t really have any hope of “proving God wrong.” But even so, it’s not a failure of faith to question anyway! As this post will assert, questioning is a healthy and powerful part of faith. 

For in questioning God, in going on a journey of reflection and asking God what the heck is up, I will learn and grow -- I will discover what God’s will truly is, and just why it is Right and Just. And I will grow deeper in relationship with God on the way. 

___________

(Before expounding on all of that, I want to add that there may well be some Christians who do believe that God might could be proven wrong -- or at least that God is open to learning and changing God’s mind! Diversity of faith and interpretation is valuable and worthy of respect. 

After all, there are stories in scripture where God changes Hir mind -- Xe is convinced by Abraham not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if even just 10 righteous people live there; and by Moses to spare the people of Israel. 

And then there is one of my favorite stories from the life of Jesus, i.e. God Incarnate, where he seems to get schooled by a Canaanite or Syrophoenician woman. I’ve got a sermon on this very story and what it might mean about God’s relationship with us as one open to give-and-take, growth and change! 

If I’m not mistaken, a faith that makes room for the possibility of God changing God’s mind is more similar to most Jewish persons’ beliefs about God than a “God is always right. period.” type mentality. Anyway, back to the main point of this post!)

___________

Questioning God does not = a lack of faith. After all, countless faithful figures in scripture asked questions of God, from Moses to Habakkuk, from the psalmist to Jesus himself. See this post for examples!

In fact, many say that questioning God is actually evidence of a deep and vibrant faith. (Again, this idea is a Big Deal for our Jewish neighbors.) 

If you dare to question, if you spend time and energy pondering hard topics and you engage with God as you do so, that’s a sign that you care. That you want to know what is true about God, what is true about God’s will for us. You’re not willing to swallow lies or submit to easy answers. That’s powerful faith. As Rachel Held Evans puts it in her book Inspired,

“If I’ve learned anything from thirty-five years of doubt and belief, it’s that faith is not passive intellectual assent to a set of propositions. It’s a rough-and-tumble, no-holds-barred, all-night-long struggle, and sometimes you have to demand your blessing rather than wait around for it.”

___________

Now, saying all this stuff about faith probably requires a redefining of faith. If you’ve grown up being told that faith is as simple as believing in God, as not doubting God’s existence or God’s will, all of this stuff about faith being a struggle or a conversation with God or any of that doesn’t make much sense. So here are some quotes + places you can go to explore new meanings of just what faith is:

“The opposite of faith is not doubt, it’s certainty -- because what need do the certain have for faith?” - Science Mike, The Liturgists. 

"The opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty is missing the point entirely. Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns." - Anne Lamott, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith

It can also be helpful to understand faith not as an achievement, but as a gift -- not something we earn, but are given freely. See this post. 

The idea of faith being a journey with ups and downs, and doubt not being faith’s enemy but a healthy part of it, can be explored in this posts + the posts linked in that one.

I find Barbara Brown Taylor’s discussions of a full solar faith vs. a lunar faith in her book Learning to Walk in the Dark very helpful when discussing a relationship with God that allows us to bring Her all our questions and doubts and messy emotions. I described her idea of the perils of a full-solar faith in which we cannot question God and must act happy & thankful all the time in this older post.

____________

Okay. Let’s get to the part of asking questions of God that excites me the most -- using our questions as a way to enrich our relationships with God!

God longs for real, mutual relationships with us -- and that can’t happen if we are unquestioningly obedient, right? A relationship cannot be one-sided; it cannot be unbalanced; it must involve a willingness on both sides to hear the other out. It must allow for vulnerability, for confusion, for communication. 

In asking questions of God, we can grow in relationship with Them. And we will be following in a long tradition of good and faithful people who have done the same! 

Here’s a quote on how sharing our questions and frustrations with God can actually deepen our relationship with them:

"My favorite Quaker example of this willingness to confront God is a story told by a woman who was so frustrated with her life she began berating God. For nearly an hour, she told God how pissed off she was with Him. Finally, her anger subsided and she heard a “still, small voice” whisper to her: “Finally, we can have an honest relationship.”"

- Anthony Manousos

And another quote about how letting God in on our anger or frustration towards Them is an important part of being honest and connecting with Them:

“Is it ever acceptable to be angry at God? I would suggest that it is not only acceptable, it may be one of the hallmarks of a truly religious person. It puts honesty ahead of flattery.” - Harold S. Kushner

_____________

An additional reason we would want to question God is because sometimes, what we are really questioning is whether a certain thing we have been told is actually of God is or not. Often, when we question God what we’re really questioning is the ideas of God that have been fed to us by other human beings. 

For instance, if we have been told that the Bible holds nothing but God’s direct word and will, and then find passages that seem to promote harmful things like genocide or slavery, it is right and good and human to question whether such things are actually promoted by God! 

“Accepting the Bible’s war stories without objection threatened to erase my humanity. ‘We don’t become more spiritual by becoming less human,’ Eugene Peterson said. How could I love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength while disengaging those very faculties every time I read the Bible?” - Rachel Held Evans, Inspired

Or if we’ve been told that LGBT relationships are not God’s will, but then we see such relationships bearing good fruit while the repression of an LGBT identity bears bad fruit, it’s sensible and good to question what God’s will in this matter really is.

"If same-sex relationships are really sinful, then why do they so often produce good fruit—loving families, open homes, self-sacrifice, commitment, faithfulness, joy? And if conservative Christians are really right in their response to same-sex relationships, then why does that response often produce bad fruit—secrets, shame, depression, loneliness, broken families, and fear?" - Rachel Held Evans

For more on this element of questioning God that is more about questioning scripture or certain church teachings / leaders, see my “Framework for Interpreting Scripture” page on my website. 

_________

I’ll close by commending to you my #wrestling God tag. There you will see many examples of faithful people asking God questions, bringing their difficult emotions and their doubts to God, and even getting snarky with God! For instance, a post with verses expressing anger or confusion towards God.

Finally, if you dive into what it means to ask questions of God, things might get overwhelming for a while -- some people find that taking these steps causes them to feel like everything they thought they know about God has changed. If that happens to you, I’ve got a post that aims to guide you through some steps to getting to know God again. 

Best of luck to you, anon, as you continue your faith journey! Please let me know if you have any more questions as you go! 

[phroyd]

WASHINGTON — President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. prepared on Sunday to start building his administration, even as Republican leaders and scores of party lawmakers refrained from acknowledging his victory out of apparent deference to President Trump, who continued to refuse to concede.

With Mr. Biden out of the public eye as he received congratulations from leaders around the world, his team turned its attention to a transition that will swing into action on Monday, with the launch of a coronavirus task force and swift moves to begin assembling his team.

But more than 24 hours after his election had been declared, the vast majority of Republicans declined to offer the customary statements of good will for the victor that have been standard after American presidential contests, as Mr. Trump defied the results and vowed to forge ahead with long-shot lawsuits to try to overturn them.

While some prominent Republican figures, including the party’s only living former president, George W. Bush, called Mr. Biden to wish him well, most elected officials stayed silent in the face of Mr. Trump’s baseless claims that the election was stolen from him.

Mr. Biden did not respond to Mr. Trump’s attacks on the result, but he also was not waiting for a concession. On Sunday, he unveiled his official transition website as he prepared a series of executive actions for his first day in the Oval Office — including rejoining the Paris climate accord, moving aggressively to confront the coronavirus pandemic and restoring labor organizing rights for government workers — aimed at unwinding Mr. Trump’s domestic agenda and repairing the United States’ image in the world.

But Republicans’ silence suggested that even in defeat, Mr. Trump maintained a powerful grip on his party and its elected leaders, who have spent four years tightly embracing him or quietly working to avoid offending him or his loyal base. For many prominent Republicans, the president’s reluctance to accept the election results created a dilemma, making even the most cursory expression of support for Mr. Biden seem like a conspicuous break with Mr. Trump.

Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri was the most senior Republican to suggest that Mr. Trump had most likely lost and cast doubt on his allegations of a stolen election, but he stopped short of referring to Mr. Biden as the president-elect in an exceedingly careful television interview.

“It’s time for the president’s lawyers to present the facts, and it’s time for those facts to speak for themselves,” Mr. Blunt, the chairman of the Rules Committee, said on ABC’s “This Week.” “It seems unlikely that any changes could be big enough to make a difference, but this is a close election, and we need to acknowledge that.”

“I look forward,” Mr. Blunt added, “to the president dealing with this however he needs to deal with it.”

At the White House, there was little indication that Mr. Trump was dealing with it at all. As he played a second consecutive day of golf at his private club outside Washington, the president recirculated a groundless claim by Newt Gingrich, the former Republican speaker of the House, who told Fox News, “I think that it is a corrupt, stolen election.”

Privately, the president’s advisers, several of whom have quietly been candid with Mr. Trump that the chances of success in any challenge to the election outcome were not high, had concluded they had little option other than to allow the president to keep fighting until he was ready to bow to the reality of his loss.

On Friday, a large group of them met with the president in the Oval Office to discuss the way forward, giving him a brutally honest assessment of his likelihood of prevailing. After another meeting at Mr. Trump’s campaign headquarters on Saturday, where political aides again laid out the small chances of changing the outcome of the race, Jared Kushner, the president’s senior adviser and son-in-law, asked the group to go to the White House to outline it for Mr. Trump, according to people briefed on the meeting.

Campaign officials continued to discuss their legal strategy for challenging the election results on Sunday and named Representative Doug Collins of Georgia, who lost his bid for a Senate seat on Tuesday, to lead their recount effort in the state.

On his first full day as president-elect, Mr. Biden kept a low profile, emerging publicly only to attend Mass, as he does most Sundays. Afterward, he visited the cemetery where his son Beau; his first wife, Neilia; and their daughter, Naomi, are buried. In a sign of one specific stylistic change coming to the White House, he also stayed quiet in another way: Aside from circulating a video posted by his presidential transition, he had not sent a single tweet by Sunday evening.

Leaders around the world sent their congratulations to Mr. Biden, underscoring the international community’s acceptance of the results, even by those who had cultivated close personal ties with Mr. Trump, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Boris Johnson of Britain. A few refrained, including the leaders of Russia and China, Vladimir V. Putin and Xi Jinping.

There were signs that Mr. Trump would come under increasing pressure to accept the election results. The nonpartisan Center for Presidential Transition, a nonprofit that assists in transfers of power between administrations, called on his team to “immediately begin the postelection transition process.”

“While there will be legal disputes requiring adjudication, the outcome is sufficiently clear that the transition process must now begin,” members of the group’s advisory board — including Mike Leavitt, the former Republican governor of Utah, and Josh Bolten, the White House chief of staff under Mr. Bush — wrote in a letter reported earlier by Politico.

“This was a hard-fought campaign, but history is replete with examples of presidents who emerged from such campaigns to graciously assist their successors,” they wrote.

Mr. Bush extended his congratulations to Mr. Biden in a statement issued after the two men spoke on Sunday.

“Though we have political differences, I know Joe Biden to be a good man, who has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country,” Mr. Bush said in a statement.

And a former member of Mr. Trump’s cabinet, Gary Cohn, also acknowledged Mr. Biden’s victory, tweeting his “congrats” to “President-elect @joebiden and Vice President-elect @kamalaharris.”

“With over 145M votes cast,” he continued, “both campaigns should be applauded for getting an unprecedented number of citizens engaged in the democratic process.”

The silence from most other leading Republicans cut both ways for the president. While it allowed Mr. Trump to continue the fiction that he had not lost, it also left him to battle against the election results without the full, vocal support of his party behind him.

Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, has declined to say anything since Friday, before the election results were known, when he released a generic statement encouraging officials to “count all the votes.” No member of his leadership team has either, apart from Mr. Blunt’s carefully worded statements on Sunday.

In a brief interview later Sunday, Mr. Blunt said a public vetting of the Trump campaign’s claims of fraud could help reassure voters on both sides of the election’s legitimacy.

“I think it is best for both the president and Biden to have as much information out as is possible,” he said.

At the same time, just two Republican senators — Mitt Romney of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — and a handful of House members had acknowledged Mr. Biden’s win by Sunday evening, while others were trying to cast doubt on the results.

“Every legal challenge should be heard,” said Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the House minority leader. “Then and only then will America decide who won the race.”

Speaking on Fox News, Mr. McCarthy questioned why news media outlets had called the presidential race for Mr. Biden, who was leading by tens of thousands of votes in key battleground states, before learning the final results of contests in competitive House districts — many of those in deep-blue California and New York — where thousands of mail-in ballots remain uncounted.

“Why would you call the presidential race first?” he asked.

News outlets call races after analyzing returns and concluding the outcome is certain, and the results in the congressional races in which ballots are still being tabulated — all but a handful of them in states that Mr. Biden easily won — have no bearing on the presidential race.

Still, some Republicans were grasping for evidence of wrongdoing. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina urged Mr. Trump to refuse to concede and fight on. He acknowledged, though, that a claim he circulated over the weekend that a postal worker was said to have overheard talk of what he believed was corruption taking place at a facility in Erie, Pa., remained unverified.

“Do not accept the media’s declaration of Biden,” Mr. Graham, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said on Fox News on Sunday morning. He called the election “contested” and urged: “Do not concede, Mr. President. Fight hard.”

Those comments reflected the advice of some of Mr. Trump’s top advisers, chiefly Rudolph W. Giuliani, his personal lawyer, who were urging him on Sunday to continue to fight the results.

A remarkably small number of Republicans called for the country to move on and acknowledged Mr. Biden’s victory. Among them were three governors of blue states — Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Larry Hogan of Maryland and Phil Scott of Vermont — and fewer than a dozen House Republicans.

They included the centrist Representatives Tom Reed of New York and Fred Upton of Michigan; Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who has been an outspoken critic of Mr. Trump; and four lawmakers who will not be returning to Congress next year: Representatives Paul Mitchell of Michigan, Will Hurd of Texas and Francis Rooney of Florida, who are retiring, and Representative Denver Riggleman of Virginia, who lost his primary this year.

Representative Don Young of Alaska, whose race remains undecided after a re-election bid that was more difficult than expected, said he wished “the president-elect well in what will no doubt be the most challenging chapter of his political career.”

“It is time to put the election behind us, and come together to work for a better tomorrow for our nation,” Mr. Young said in a statement.

On “Fox News Sunday,” Mr. Romney provided a contrast to many of his Republican colleagues. He said that he believed it was “appropriate” for Mr. Trump to pursue recounts and legal challenges in certain battleground states, but cautioned against widespread condemnations of the American system of elections.

“It’s important for the cause of democracy and freedom that we don’t allege fraud and theft and so forth, unless there’s very clear evidence of that,” Mr. Romney said. “To date, that evidence has not been produced.”

Mr. Romney noted that he had had a legal team ready to challenge the results of the 2012 election when he was the Republican nominee, but decided not to go forward once he saw such efforts would be futile.

“At some point, truth, freedom and democracy have to ascend,” he said, “and you step aside.”

Phroyd

[paulmederos]

Truth About Travel Pricing

We all should be surprised at those quotations in the journey article from the TimesOnline.co.uk (Oct 2008) from Stephen Bleach:

A further quote by the managing director of this line, Mike Rodwell:

Still another surprise. On Precisely the Same notebook page because this Superb post were Google Advertisements offering:

Accompanied by:

Along with yet another:

The traveling operators supporting those adverts must think that the flying public is innocent or maybe dumb however they'd not utilize them should they failed to do the job.

Additionally, these Google advertisements were conducted contrary to an incredibly negative, but honest post about deceptive advertisements for cruises.

The traveling public has been treated with disdain by traveling operators and advertisements businesses, not by railway lines and airlines however by all kinds of travel providers. What might be misleading and untrue advertisements compared to a airline advertisements their own hires in headlines that yell out:

One-way to Smithville" IN LARGE PRINT, and : And incidentally, have fuel surcharges been lower ?

Not only rail costs and Air Fares but additionally contemplate resort pricing that often needs much evaluation as to the discounts that are offered:

Next in line for pricing questions could be the packaged holiday market. How many of these are sold at the brochure price? Or, as with the above cruise line, are packaged tour operators simply following the lead of others?

Not only is the public being mislead by questionable advertising and pricing practices but once captured by a cruise line, airline or packaged resort operator they can be open to additional gouging whilst onboard the ship, aircraft or resort.

Apart from the onboard costs of alcoholic drinks which should be at duty-free prices (i.e. cheaper than onshore). Extras, such as shore excursions can also be more expensive when purchased onboard rather than ashore or even pre-departure using the internet. Similarly with resorts that have onsite booking agencies for off-resort activities. The prices are often cheaper when purchased directly from the operators or again at pre-departure directly over the internet. Airlines however, who are charging for all sorts of basic amenities from blankets, pillows, soft drinks and soon even water may not be free, have a more captive audience (the movie, ConAir comes to mind) and will continue to be the most reviled part of the travel experience.

There is hope for the future but so far only in Europe. In 2009 new rules for advertising standards will come into effect offering more protection for travellers. We must hope that these new rules will eventually spread to the rest of the world with further improvements to protect consumers worldwide.

In the travel industry. Where has the originality and creativity gone? Where are the leaders? Where has "lead, follow or get out of my way" gone? Just the followers understand.

Still another component of traveling insurance is when consumers wish to deal with their own travel arrangements directly with the operators of hotels, lodges, tours and transport. The prices should reflect how these services and products have been purchased directly from the foundation and maybe not at the retail point. To put it differently, decrease the purchase price by the commission which will have already been paid into a broker, retailer or broker and grant the traveller an immediate reservation reduction. This activity might encourage greater travelers to generate their very own direct reservations, resulting in more firm and a competitive advantage for your own operator.

Obviously, the conventional distribution stations need to be shielded as much consumers require assistance and assistance so when yet not every one wants or has the world wide web.

Traveling providers usually do not ordinarily reveal various prices in their own web sites since this may result in prospective customers seeking information at the retail level and also booking directly with the operator to find a discount. It's unjust for retailers to reduce their commissions whenever they've completed services to their travel-trade customers.

Consumers alternatively, whenever they don't require qualified advice or booking solutions, if are able to move directly to the origin and find an immediate reservation reduction.

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[ezairick]

Unpopular opinions about NCIS

When NCIS first began, I loved the show. It had interesting characters and cases, and there was more focus on the interaction of the characters than with the other relatively new show, CSI. This didn’t mean I was blind to problems with the show, but they were relatively minor compared to the show just a few seasons later. The small problems became big problems and though the show can still be entertaining, though I must admit that I haven’t watched any of the newer episodes after Tony left, so can’t speak to anything after that.

The cases themselves changed. For the first two seasons, while they certainly dealt with terrorism, the cases of the first two season were mainly crimes committed by ordinary people because of grief, love, envy, money, stupidity and so on. However, ever since Ziva joined the team, it felt like every case was about terrorism. I know that is not entirely true, but it seemed like every episode started with a bomb going off, and then instead of an interesting episode of guessing who could have done the murder, and why, now you instead wondered which terrorist group was going to get mentioned this time, and for what ideology. And honestly, it got boring real fast.

Which brings me to the characters of the show.

Gibbs is probably the most iconic character on the show, but let’s be honest, if NCIS was real he would have been fired years ago. Comparing Gibbs of season 1 and 2 to the rest of the show, it is easy to see that Gibbs was changed, and not just because of the amnesia. He was always a bastard but in the first two seasons, he had more principles, he didn’t break the law, he certainly bent it but he didn’t break it, and he didn’t commit crimes or let others get away with it. The whole plot surrounding his Shannon and Kelly, and murdering the guy who killed them, was not thought up, before the change in the management, which happened between season 2 and 3.

There are many issues with Gibbs, some of which were there from the start. There is his behaviour towards his team. No one should be allowed to head slap a colleague, besides being abusive it shows disrespect. And I feel this is part of the reason that Kate, McGee, and Ziva did not take DiNozzo seriously. Another reason for this is that Gibbs set DiNozzo up for fail. Because he created a flat structure, McGee and Ziva saw themselves equal to DiNozzo in terms of rank, even though he was the Senior Field Agent. And as the SFA he was supposed to be in charge when Gibbs wasn’t there but because Gibbs didn’t respect the position, and treated all three as if they were of equal rank, DiNozzo was often undermined by the others, and therefore incapable of doing part of his job.

Though Gibbs took pride in being a bastard, he should never have been allowed to run his team, like that, nor should he have been allowed to keep them at work for so many hours as he did. After all agents who haven’t slept nor eaten are far more likely to commit serious mistakes. Another difference between the first two seasons and later is that in the first two seasons we often see Gibbs, helping with the collection of evidence, sketching, and taking photos, but now he just mainly stand around asking, Ducky for a time of death, and drink coffee.

Further, just why is it Gibbs is treated like a god at NCIS? The directors of NCIS, except for Tom Morrow, who kept Gibbs at his proper place as the team leader of MCRT, though if truly proper place he should just have fired him, Jenny and Vance seem to treat Gibbs as if he can do nothing wrong, even when he is causing more problems. Gibbs completely run over them and acts like he is the director of NCIS and everything must go his way, and what is worse the directors let him. He is constantly given access to things he should not, and make decisions way above his pay grade. He is treated more like a co-director than anything else. And this is the same guy, who killed the man who killed his family, way to start your law enforcement career, who helped Mike Franks smuggle in immigrants, again not necessarily bad but he works for a law enforcement agency, allowed Mike Franks to not only get away with assaulting his agent, DiNozzo, but also allowed him to get away with murder, seriously the only way you can tell Gibbs is supposed to be the good guy, is that he has a badge.

Gibbs also constantly live by the rule – Do as I say not as I do – and as seen requiem it nearly let to the death of himself and a civilian, but he didn’t seem to have learned anything from that.

The team might have the highest closing rates, because of Gibbs, but it will naturally also have the lowest conviction rates of any teams at NCIS. I know we don’t get to see the aftermath of a case after Gibbs have gotten his confession, but if we did it would be of a flustered prosecutor, trying to convince the jury that the guy at trial is a bad guy, because Gibbs said he is. And that would be what the prosecutor had to work with, when trying to get a conviction. Gibbs often don’t have the time to get a warrant, even seems to think he is above such things, but that means that everything they find in the houses or other privately owned places they enter without warrants Is inadmissible in court and so is everything else found based on those finds. And the same applies with McGee’s and Abby’s hacking. Further the confession can be tossed because of Gibbs threatening behaviour in the interrogation room.

Gibbs is mostly known for being a bastard and seems to take pride in it, but how can he be such a role model, and why don’t the show realise that there is something wrong with having a team leader, who treats his team with disrespect, especially DiNozzo, who has serious issues with control, as in throwing tantrums when not the person in control of things, a person who is willing to actively sabotage other people’s cases just so he can close his case, and a person who seems incapable of handling any form of competition, and always have to be the best, in his own definition of the word.

For Tony DiNozzo I would like to give a huge shout out to Michael Weatherly, who managed to make Tony a comprehensive and cohesive character despite his character either being a complete moron only there as the comic relief, or an extremely competent investigator, lightyears ahead of the others, depending on who wrote the script for that week, so props to that. Tony is my favourite character on the show, but that doesn’t mean I don’t understand when people see him as annoying. He can be. He is constantly going through people’s things, and he wants to know everything he can about them and what they are doing. He also plays various pranks on his team mates, however he is not abusing nor bullying the others. Those descriptions fit Abby, Ziva, and McGee better.

Starting in season 3 DiNozzo has been dumbed down to, I suspect, make the other characters look that much more impressive. Despite this DiNozzo is still the best at investigating, also when you look at their educations. Phys. Ed. Isn’t just about sports, they are also required to know anatomy and psychology, add to that his many years in law enforcement as a detective. On the other hand, Ziva and McGee, who both had a few seasons where they seemed to think that they are so much better than DiNozzo, and were more suited to be the SFA, are actually less prepared to be investigators. McGee is a better fit for the Cyber Crime Unit as that is all his education qualifies him for, and though Ziva was trained by the Mossad, they are not an investigation agency, they do espionage. That is like saying because I ride horses, and horses are often on grass fields, I must be exceptional at golf, because it also takes place on grass. Besides as a liaison officer assigned to NCIS she would never have been made SFA, nor should she ever have been allowed on the team. I sort of like Ziva, but every time I start really liking her, the writers pulled a new stunt, that just worked against her. And unlike McGee and Abby we didn’t have those seasons and episodes to help us like her more.

I talked before about how Abby, McGee, and Ziva were bullies without explaining how. Now as before I stated that DiNozzo could be annoying and I can certainly see that and understand how that can be frustrating having to work with him, but DiNozzo has never questioned the qualifications of his fellow colleagues, which those three have done repeatedly, or said that the only reason they had the position they had was because of how long they had been there and not because they were qualified and competent, nor has he ever considered them incompetent and incapable of doing their jobs, Abby and her training stickers amongst general statements made by the others. He has never second guessed them in front of witnesses or argued with them about his work in front of other colleagues or witnesses. He has never pulled a gun on them and threatened to shoot them, and he has never ever left them without backup and then treated that significant breach in trust as a joke. If I had to choose I would rather work with someone who could be annoying than work with people who routinely questioned my ability to do my job and my position on the team.

I actually like Bishop, it took a while to settle her character, but she is not as antagonistic as Ziva and Kate, which makes for a nice change, and she seems to respect the chain of command. The show has settled down some between Tony, McGee, Ellie, as there aren’t as much in fighting and backstabbing as there was before with Ziva, and to some respect Kate, on the team. It’s nice that the team can be seen more like friends instead of colleagues who hate each other. 

Ziva and McGee broke the fundamental rule of law enforcement, you don’t leave your partner without backup, which they did in the episode Dead Air, and for the rest of the episode it was treated like the greatest joke ever, after all, leaving your partner unable to call for help should he need it, when looking for a terrorist who has already killed three people and are saying that more are to come, is just do damn funny. I will say I have read some fanfiction dealing with this episode, and though for the most part I like them, one thing that puzzles me about it, is that the authors of these stories often put the majority of the blame on Ziva and then redeem McGee. I think the reason for that is that as I stated before that we have episodes of naïve baby McGee who listened to Tony to fall back on, while Ziva started out as the sister of Ari, who killed Kate, and a short time later, was the new colleague who thought it a good idea to invite every person of the extended team except Tony, and then the woman who refused to give vital information to Tony, and instead decided that she would only tell Gibbs about Rivkin, and then as the grieving woman who pulled a gun on Tony, to the woman who paid Tony back for saving her from Somalia by leaving him without backup. Unless you’re a Ziva or Tiva fan it is easy to see why she gets the punishment while McGee who is just as guilty is given redemption.

Which brings me to the bane of NCIS: Tiva. I get it, both Tony and Ziva are played by attractive people, and the writers certainly ended up pushing it down our throats. Or at least for us who don’t like Tiva. Normally I get that people have different tastes and therefore ship different pairings, and I am fine with that. I am not the shipping police, but let’s be honest when it comes to Tiva, it’s just plain wrong. If Ziva was played by someone not attractive or it was Tony who had pulled all that shit on Ziva instead of the other way around, people would have been busy shouting about the obvious abusive relationship, but it is not so and instead the relationship seem to be a fan favourite.

I have never understood that and especially after Dead Air. How can you possible justify a loving and respectful relationship between them when Ziva was very much willing to let Tony die, when she left him without backup. How can there be a relationship between them, a good healthy and respectful relationship, when it is obvious from just watching a few episodes that Ziva does not in any way respect Tony nor respect his position on the team? If you are unable to respect your partner at work, then how can you possibly respect them at home? And why would they even be together? Why would Ziva be with Tony when she doesn’t respect Tony at work, and routinely disrespect him and questions his competence and orders? And why would Tony like someone who doesn’t respect him, has pulled a gun on him, have actually shot him, although by mistake, and someone who left him without backup and then laughed about it?

There are many more things that are bugging me about NCIS, but this is the end of this rant. Sorry for the ramblings.

[theophenes]

The one where Mike talks about Wrestling, because writing plots for other people’s characters is easier.

fOkay, so I’ll be the first to admit that it’s been a while since I’ve actually seen more than friggin’ clips, but there are two things that have recently been trending, that have stuck in my brain:

John Cena wants and Undertaker match, despite the fact that Taker is getting too damn old for this shit.

And the current tag team champions are Bray Wyatt (basically some sort of yokel cult leader with a rocking chair who convinces everyone under him to rock beards) and Matt Hardy (Equally crazy, regularly changes personality by walking into a lake, pretty certain he thinks he’s some sort of God or something)

The reality is that Taker, as much as he is the original god-damned icon, and one of the longest standing people in this business, the reality is that he needs to retie. And frankly, he deserves to retire in fucking style. No amateur shit. No small-time stuff. Nah, he needs to o to hell in a balze of glory. Frankly, this would take msot of a year to set up, but it’d be good. 

It starts simply enough. We get a few of the usual promos leading up to Halloween, through September and October. Weird jump cuts, random shots of Taker shoveling dirt, dragging the coffin, et cetera, the usual stuff. All hype, no clear knowledge.

Mean while, the tag team belt goes up in August, and is lost to, crap, I dunno, Brand new day in a 3v3 (Not like they couldn’t get a third for this, we’ll say Wray brings back Randy Orton under the Freebirds precedent). Anyhow. Hardy blames Wray for bringing in “The Serpent, whose energy corrupted our team” and Wray “Questions the convictions of a broken man.” By mid october, they’re regularly not helping each other in tag matches. Wray decides to put Matt’s convictions to godhood to the test, pushing him to fight the symbol of his failing resolve: A tag-team of Jeff Hardy and Daniel Bryant, doing the team high-flyer bullshit that makes and audience roar. This becomes a feature event at the end of september. It goes badly. Wray manages a win, but he has to go dirty to do it, forcing Matt to snap between his personae to save Jeff from a near-fatal blow at the last minute. Bryant gets to be angry about a bunch of things, and looks good while the audience watches him get a dramatic fake injury.

First week of October, Cena gets a match against Seamus, makes a big monologue (he loves making fun of that guy, seems like a good warm-up) and the match goes on, but is interrupted by Kane, in the classic demon mask (You didn’t think Kane wouldn't get to be the last big Taker story, did you?). He bombs Seamus, causing Cena to lose by DQ. He then grabs a mic. “You demanded my brother’s head at Wrestlemania,” he begins, growling in his usual ominous routine. “You demanded the dead man. You claim to rise above the hate. To be beyond it. Above it. You are not above death, Cena. Death takes all. Death...consumes us. Empowers us. In order to defeat Taker, in order to earn it, you must first fight the true Demon. Slay the demon, and you shall have your match with death!”

Dramatic? Over the top? Damn straight. Bray Wyatt, lacking a tag team partner, gos back into singles matches. He gets into some okay fights, but cuts promos going back to creepy shit, occasionally cut by taker. Everyone knows the match. Bane and Cena doing a cage match. Bryatt, meanwhile, seems crazier than usual. Mumblings about prophecies. About angels and devils. Claiming that the only way to defeat the false gods is to slay a Demon, and taunt death. Everyone thinks he’s talking about Cena. He’s not.

In a few weeks, we get our pay-per-view. A cage match between Bane and Cena. No interruptions. But before it, a new match. Daniel Bryant versus Finn Balor Tables. Bryant decides to wear his cape, Fina goes out in his more normal get-up (the classic paint was nixed because fighting Marvel and Disney over the Venom resemblance seemed like a bad play a month after the movie). Bray Wyatt, shows up, interfering on Bryant’s behalf, although Bryant clearly doesn’t want the help. Ominous masked figures, doing the weird cult thing, grab Balor after the count, running with the body. Wray knocks down the security trying to stop him, and just grins at Bryant. Cena fights Bane, and wins in the rather boring way he usually does.

In November, he gets another promo, where he explains/sermonizes that the demon’s blood was strong enough, after being tested by the dragon. However, it required a cleasning, holy power to draw its true strength out.

After a series of escalating matches where Bryant ends up defeating multiple former members of the Wyatt family, and removing their “brain-washing” by kicking their ass in the ring, Bray and Daniel get a PPV feud going. Bray “summons” his demon Finn in a new look during the match after the lights flicker, and then they fight. The new “Demon of Wyatt” runs amok, and then the match ends.

The new, Wyatt-endorsed “Evil Finn” persona shows up, with perfectly normal Finn doing perfectly normal face stuff, and demon Finn doing weird heel stuff. They never acknowledge each other’s actions or bouts.

 In January, we get more Taker promo’s. Two weeks in, at Raw, Cena has a match, and it ends with the ring going dark. Taker emerges. He grabs the mic. “You have defeated my brother, and we are good to our word. At wrestlemania, we will fight.”

Cena hesitates. “We?“

Taker grins. “Soon, you will learn.”

Bray gets more ambitious, deciding to tag-team with Demon Finn for the tag championship. They win, but again, the stage darkens. Kane emerges, saying there can only be one demon. Only one monster. Bray agrees, and says the mosnter will fight on Raw, in February. However, each demon msut offer their flesh, to prove who is mightier. Bray spends time as Demon Finn’s “manager/handler” in the interim, while Kane occasionally shows up and power bombs somebody to prove his point. They get their fight. However, Kane, being a crafty, weird half-demon, decides to make it a tag-team event. “A demon should bring his sorcerer,” he declares, and who else comes out to confront Wyatt? Jeff hardy, wearing some bizarre, hell-fire outfit, chanting sorcerous lines. Hardy and Wray brawl. Finn and Kane fight. They lose the title, as demon-king Hardy distract Wray, causign him to lose “control” over Finn.

However, Wray has another dirty trick up his sleeve. The same masked cultists that kidnapped Balor appear, and take the weakened Kane and Hardy, overwhelming them with numbers, dragging them away, one of them helping a now-titleless Wray limp out of the arena, leaving the title in the air (this gives management a chance to use a 2v2v2 tag-team event to decide who should get the belt at a big pay-per-view or foreign show).

 Another week passes, and another. We get a new promo segment. In it, we have video of Bray holding the mask of Kane, and the hair of Hardy. He rambles on, about having stolen the mantles of the great demon and the false prophet, and now only needing death’s own head for his collection. He claims to have stripped them of their falsehoods, leaving them to rot.

A new, clean Kane that resembles the corporate look, no mask, no growl, and a weirdly sedate Hardy appear on stage for a few weeks. Jeff and Matt go back to being a tag team again, while the “new” Kane takes some time off for now. 

It’s almost March, we’re near to Wrestlemania, and people are talking. Where is Kane. Is Bray going to debut his plan at Wrestlemania? Why haven’t we heard from Taker all month?

Three weeks before the big night, answers come. Taker appears, alone, monologueing. Cena interrupts the monologue half-way through, because Cena never lets anyone else talk. Cena goes on about how he’ll take on the Undertaker, how he’ll fight and win, because that is what he does. Cena demands his match at Wrestlemania, and gloats about how he defeated Kane--and the lights darken, silently.

When the lights go back on, We see the ring surround by masked figures, the Wyat family’s strange enforcers we see Bray standing there, looking at the other too, smiling. He speaks about he too, has defeated the demon, and throws Kane’s mask at Takers feet, spitting on it for good measure. “You desire vengeance, dead man?”

Taker holds up two fingers. “Two coffins, then.”

Bray smiles. “I’ll bring one for you, your brother wasn’t using it.”

Wrestlemania. Half a year of build-up. Cena enters first, with his usual fanfare. He charges in heroically. He waves to the crowd.

The next entry is Taker, complete with the old entrance. The druids, cloaked and hidden, not seen for years, bring in the coffin.A brief montage of the dead man shows up, but he arrives at the ring confident. Angry. Ready.

Wyatt arrives, flanked by his cult. his champion, Finn, is pushing a different coffin, cast in what looks like iron. It seems to smoke. Finn is wearing what looks like a remodeled version of Kane’s face mask. It looks more like an Alice Cooper video, to be honest.

The match begins, Cena and Wyatt both charging for Undertaker. Taker holds up well--he still has the skills, but it’s two on one, both eager to put taker in the coffin. And then, right when it looks like Bray has the pin, Cena on the floor in pain, the gray coffin opens, and out comes Kane, charging over the ropes at Bray. Finn attempts to stop him, but gets knock to the floor. Kane alternates between fighting Bray and punching Taker, because if anyone is going to end Taker, it’s Kane, damnit.

This four-way clusterfuck lasts for over half and hour. Pins, chokeslams, stunners, lariats, the damn works. After an eternity of fighting, Cena and Kane manage to toss wray into the wooden coffin--and it breaks in two. He returns the favor, whipping Kane into the “stone coffin,” which shatters. Cena gets chucked through the Spanish announcers table, because it should never survive. Taker gets pinned by Wray. Cena pins Kane. They face each other. Wray, making a show over the fallen Taker, performs the Last Ride on Cena. Cean kicks out, attempts and STF on Wray. Wray has no choice but to prove himself as the Dead Man’s successor, forcing him to imitate the Tombstone piledriver.

After the bell is called, the four men slowly walk out of the Arena, happy to Retire the Phenom with a true potent successor. Bray, as tribute, starts wearing the dramatic leather from time to time. Finn occasionally uses the Kane mask during a PPV entrance. And both of these men get to retire to the hall of fame in style, knowing their legacies, of the undead cult-leader and his twisted demon-spawn brother, are celebrated and honored by some damn talented wrestlers in this generation.

[bigparadisearbiter]

Trump remains silent as massive cyber hack

When President Donald Trump convened his Cabinet at the White House Wednesday as Washington absorbed news of a massive data breach, the heads of most agencies relevant to the intrusion — including the Department of Defense, the State Department, the Justice Department, the director of national intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency — were absent.

After the meeting, Trump said nothing about the attack, which went undetected by his administration’s intelligence agencies for months. As those agencies now mobilize to assess the damage — which the government said Thursday could be more widespread than initially thought, posing a “grave risk to the federal government” — the President himself remains silent on the matter, preoccupied instead with his election loss and his invented claims of widespread voter fraud.

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The massive data breach, revealed in the final weeks of Trump’s administration, amounts to a dramatic coda for a presidency clouded by questions of deference to Russia and unsuccessful attempts to warm relations with its President, Vladimir Putin. Just as he has largely ignored the latest surge in coronavirus cases, Trump appears to have all but abdicated responsibility in his final weeks in office.

The White House has not listed an intelligence briefing on the President’s daily schedule since early October, though officials say he is regularly briefed on intelligence even when a formal briefing doesn’t appear on his calendar and a senior White House official told CNN that Trump was briefed on the hack by his top intelligence officials on Thursday.

Biden briefings

Members of President-elect Joe Biden’s staff were also briefed by officials on the massive intrusion, an official from the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said. Biden himself has also been given details in his daily classified briefing, which has been listed on his public schedule each day this week.

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“Our adversaries should know that, as President, I will not stand idly by in the face of cyber assaults on our nation,” Biden said in a statement on Thursday, making no specific mention of Trump or his administration, but also not naming Russia as the culprit.

The wide-ranging and extraordinary intrusion by suspected Russian hackers of US government systems has launched a technical soul-searching mission among the government’s leading cyber officials and outside experts over how this months-long, ongoing cyber campaign managed to go undetected for so long.

It wasn’t until Wednesday night that the US government formally acknowledged that the ongoing cyber campaign was still active. The revelation comes at a particularly fraught time during a divisive presidential transition and after an election that had been, by all accounts, free of foreign interference.

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It’s unclear when, if at all, Trump may have been briefed on the latest hack. Nor is it clear how engaged Trump has been in responding. He has left all public responses to members of his Cabinet and administration. And despite a healthy pace of tweets about the election results and his false claims of voter fraud, he has not issued any message about the hack.

Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican who has been a frequent Trump critic, said Thursday it was “stunning” Trump had not responded yet.

“I think the White House needs to say something aggressive about what happened,” Romney said. “This is almost as if you had a Russian bomber flying undetected over the country, including over the nation.”

Trump’s national security adviser Robert O’Brien did cut short a trip to Europe to return to Washington for urgent meetings on the hack earlier this week, and the White House has convened daily discussions with national security agencies related to the intrusion, according to people familiar with the matter.

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The House and Senate Intelligence Committees were briefed on the issue Wednesday, but lawmakers have since made clear that there are still more questions than answers.

“(The) dirty fact is most entities don’t know they’ve been hacked,” Rep. Mike Quigley, a Democrat from Illinois who serves on the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN Thursday.

Senate Republicans on Thursday said they didn’t see an issue in Trump’s silence while his administration works to get to the bottom of the matter.

“There’s still information gathering occurring, so I’d caution anyone reaching conclusions or making pronouncements until all that is in,” said Senate Intelligence Chairman Marco Rubio. “I think there’s a lot that still needs to be learned about it. I would caution anyone from speaking out too much about something when there’s still a lot of facts being gathered.

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‘A very big deal’

Sen. Josh Hawley, who sits on Senate Armed Services, says he hasn’t been briefed on the hack. “I’m fine with what they said publicly,” he said of the administration. “It’s a very big deal. And we certainly need to learn more … I’m really concerned about it.”

Asked if Trump should address this publicly, Hawley said: “I think the most important thing is to get report out and let us know the extent of the breach is. They may be trying to figure that out.”

While Trump has not said anything about the attack, his former homeland security adviser Tom Bossert urged the President in an op-ed to formally attribute responsibility and, if Russia is confirmed behind it, “make it clear to Vladimir Putin that these actions are unacceptable.”

https://aldeliana.medium.com/trump-remains-silent-as-massive-cyber-hack-poses-grave-risk-to-government-a6c45713b8c5

https://www.guest-articles.com/news/trump-remains-silent-as-massive-cyber-hack-18-12-2020

Trump is also threatening to veto the National Defense Authorization Act over a provision requiring renaming of military bases named for Confederate leaders and because he wants a provision added to reform liability laws for social media companies like Twitter. The defense policy bill includes provisions that would help the US government address cyber threats.

“We have provisions in the bill that he needs in case the hacking, the cyber threats that are out there,” Senate Armed Services Chairman Jim Inhofe said of Trump and the NDAA, which he has shepherded. But Inhofe, who has been briefed on the hack, said he wouldn’t criticize Trump for failing to speak out.

Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat on the panel, also hasn’t been briefed yet but said he is trying to set one up for himself for Friday.

“I think he should, but frankly I don’t think he will,” Kaine said when asked if Trump should address it forcefully. “I don’t think we will probably get a straight answer about the depths of this and what we need to do counter it until the new administration is in place.”

As the contours of the data breach are still coming into view, the incident underscores how little Trump’s efforts to court Putin have done to improve relations with Moscow over the past four years. Even as he frustrated his own advisers by delaying punitive measures and attempting to befriend his Russian counterpart, Trump ends his term confronted with one Russia’s most brazen attempts to date at infiltrating American systems.

That is much like how Trump began his presidency, when American intelligence agencies assessed Russia had worked to influence the 2016 presidential election on Trump’s behalf. The President’s unwillingness to confront Russia on that front, or issue any warnings to Putin to not do interfere again, have fueled the impression among his critics that he is soft on Putin.

A tweet Trump issued in 2017, following his first meeting with Putin on the sidelines of a G7 meeting in Hamburg, has now come to exemplify the naiveté with which many in Congress and even inside the administration say Trump approached Russia.

“Putin & I discussed forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded,” he wrote then, an idea that was mocked at the time and never came to fruition.

While Putin was one of the last world leaders to recognize Biden as the victor of the US election, he did finally acknowledge the President-elect’s win this week, saying in a message he was “ready for contacts and interactions with you.”

“We need an honest reset in terms of relationships between the United States and Russia,” Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Illinois, said on Wednesday. “We can’t be buddies with Vladimir Putin and have him at the same time making this kind of cyber attack on America. This is virtually a declaration of war by Russia on the United States, and we should take it that seriously.”

Silence

It wasn’t only election meddling that failed to draw condemnation from the President; he did not raise with Putin the issue of Russia placing bounties on US soldiers in Afghanistan when he spoke to him over the summer — another issue that Trump claimed was never contained in his intelligence briefings, even though officials said it was included a written briefing from February.

After multiple US troops were injured in Syria after what the Pentagon described as “deliberately provocative and aggressive behavior” by Russian forces, Trump did not respond. And in October, even after the EU and United Kingdom sanctioned six top Russian officials close to Putin for the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Trump did not.

In his book published after leaving the White House on poor terms with Trump, former national security adviser John Bolton wrote the President privately complained about sanctions and other punitive measures imposed on Russia.

Bolton listed a bevy of administration actions against Russia, saying Trump “touted these as major achievements, but almost all of them occasioned opposition, or at least extended grumbling and complaining, from Trump himself.”

Perpetually frustrated by what he called the “Russia hoax,” Trump has accused his opponents of trying to stymie good relations with Moscow as they sought to investigate links between his campaign and Russian election interference.

So annoyed has Trump become at mention of Russian misdeeds that, in the past, he has resisted intelligence warnings about Russia, leading members of his national security ream — including those who delivered the President’s Daily Brief — to brief him less often on Russia-related threats to the US, multiple former Trump administration officials have told CNN.

When his oral intelligence briefing included information related to Russia’s malign activities against the United States, Trump often questioned the intelligence itself.

[plusorminuscongress]

New story in Politics from Time: The Speech Joe Biden Waited His Whole Life to Give

Joe Biden gave the biggest speech of his life to a near-empty room, his words hanging in the air against a backdrop of hermetic silence. There was nothing fancy or newfangled about it: a graybeard politician in a suit and tie, flags and a curtain behind him, standing at a lectern, telling you how he saw the choice ahead.

“Give people light,” he said, quoting the late civil rights leader Ella Baker. “Those are words for our time.” As president, he vowed, he would “be an ally of the light,” and a President for the whole of the country.

The bar had been set absurdly low for Biden, whose opponent’s campaign—the official reelection effort of the incumbent 45th president of the United States—has for months been openly calling the 77-year-old former Vice President senile and mentally deficient. In fact, the whole four-day non-convention that culminated in Biden’s speech had been testament to the moment on which his candidacy was borne, a moment so much bigger than the man. All parties, or at least all sensible ones, strive to project the image of a big tent, but few can boast the range that President Donald Trump has pushed under one canopy, from Bernie Sanders to Colin Powell to the pop star Billie Eilish and a plate of Rhode Island calamari.

Over the course of the surreal proceedings, Biden popped up from time to time—getting to know regular people like health care workers and union members via video call —but it was hard to shake the impression that he was almost irrelevant, the figurehead for a movement brought together by dire circumstance. One after another, speakers paid tribute to him, always in the same terms: a decent man, honest, compassionate, a regular guy but more so. On the convention’s final night, the candidates he’d defeated in the primary lined up alongside a historian, a 95-year-old World War II veteran, some senators, Mike Bloomberg, a kid who, like Biden, has a stutter, an athlete, an actress and his own granddaughters to recommend him for the job that he’d aspired to his whole life.

And then, finally, it was Biden’s job to close the deal. It was a short convention speech, as these things go. The camera panned slowly in as he delivered it, without cutting away. He talked about who we are, the soul of the nation. The pandemic and how bad things are right now. “A president who takes no responsibility, refuses to lead, blames others, cozies up to dictators, and fans the flames of hate and division,” he said, never calling out Trump by name. Democrats feel like they overdid it with that stuff four years ago, and we know how that turned out. The desperation this time around is palpable.

All through the convention, Democrats pushed the crazy idea that this whole fractious country could answer to a single leader, that we could have a nation where things actually get better. In Trump’s worldview, that’s all phony, naive crap you’d be nuts to fall for. When the President’s own kids were little—the first three kids, with Ivana—he would kiss them and push them out the door of the penthouse apartment in Trump Tower every morning while saying, “Don’t do drugs, and don’t trust anyone.”

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And yet, at the Democratic Convention, America was told over and over that right and truth could prevail over brute force and lies, that Congress was capable of passing laws that helped people, that the virus could pass into history and people start hugging and shaking hands again, not just because they could but because they liked each other. That votes could matter. Like most slick Hollywood productions, it required a suspension of disbelief.

Biden used to go to the floor of the Senate and recite the Irish poets, one of those charming quirks senators once had when they, too, were humans like us, instead of Potemkin people engineered by consultant machines. The boy with a stutter, a beautiful, brave 13-year-old named Brayden, talked about how he and Biden had talked about Yeats. Biden’s a softie like that, obviously. But by the end of speech he got mad, talking about the fascists and the soul of the nation and George Floyd and John Lewis and whatever happened to liberty and justice. As he listed all the outrages of the moment, the old man’s anger and confusion felt more fitting than not.

The convention shot broadly and, in the end, said little. You can make people feel good or you can have a specific message, but you can’t do both. It papered over the party’s deep divisions, the collision that awaits between its cosmopolitan and working-class bases, not to mention all those newly converted Republicans. “I have always believed you can define America in one word: Possibilities,” Biden said, a line so vapid on paper it could be one of Jack Handey’s Deep Thoughts.

Maybe he isn’t what he once was, but he can still say this kind of thing like he means it. And in that sense, if the purpose of a political convention is to bring together the believers and give them one shot at showing their best argument to the nation, the Democrats pulled it off. Good politicians talk about results, not proposals, and Biden talked about jobs and health care and Social Security. He paid tribute to the “American story” of his half-Jamaican, half-Indian, HBCU-attending, liberal, tough-on-crime female running mate, Kamala Harris. At the end, he quoted the contemporary Irish poet Seamus Heaney—“the longed-for tidal wave/ Of justice”—and when he finished the screen dissolved into a disorienting field of Zoom-like squares of people clapping, all in different places.

Biden became a Senator at 29, a too-big-for-his-britches guy from a teeny state, and so many bad things happened to him since that you have to think if he becomes President, the White House will get hit by lightning. He loved being a senator, being the Vice President, being a leader of men. His whole career—more than that, his whole ideology, his whole political framework—was premised on an unquenchable belief in the overriding power of speaking from the heart.

That was, obviously, problematic. Over and over—in 1988, in 2008—he was proven wrong. People wanted something more substantive, more original than that. But even if you believe Joe Biden only ever wanted power and glory, you have to admit he never stopped trying. And now 2020 hinges on whether, after so many years, he’s finally right.

Then the speech ended, and Biden and his wife walked outside to see the fireworks go off. They stood there, in their masks, outside the empty arena in Wilmington, Del., watching the fireworks.

By Molly Ball on August 21, 2020 at 11:04AM

[nicepicsworld]

More than 1 million COVID-19 cases worldwide

  1:04 AM

Bus driver who railed against coughing passenger dies from COVID-19

 A Detroit bus driver who had expressed anger on Facebook about a coughing passenger has died from COVID-19, officials said Thursday. Jason Hargrove felt ill about four days after posting a passionate video on social media on March 21. He died Wednesday, said Glenn Tolbert, the head of the drivers union. Hargrove posted a profanity-laced video complaining about a woman he said repeatedly coughed while on his bus. The coronavirus can spread through coughs. The woman wasn't in the video.  Hargrove said drivers are "public workers doing our job, trying to make a honest living, take care of our families." "For you to get on the bus ... and cough several times without covering up your mouth and you know (we're) in the middle of a pandemic - that lets me know that some folks don't care," Hargrove said. "At some point in time, we've got to draw the line and say enough is enough. I feel violated." On March 17, the city eliminated fares, promised more cleaning and told bus riders to enter and exit from the rear door only. The changes occurred after drivers refused to work that day to protest conditions. Mayor Mike Duggan said "everybody in America" should watch Hargrove's video.  -- The Associated Press   12:06 AM

Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine ordered released from prison four months early due to coronavirus concerns

Daniel Hernandez, also known as the rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine, was ordered released from prison four months early amid concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. In the decision, U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer cited Hernandez's asthma and the greater risk he would face behind bars.  "In light of the heightened medical risk presented to Mr. Hernandez by the COVID-19 pandemic, there are extraordinary and compelling reasons to reduce Mr. Hernandez's sentence in the manner requested — to wit, releasing Mr. Hernandez from custody and requiring him to serve his first four months of supervised release in home confinement, on specified conditions," Engelmayer wrote.  Hernandez was originally sentenced to two years in prison for his ties with the street gang Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods. He could have been sentenced for decades for his crimes, but he reduced his sentence by becoming a star witness for the prosecution.  "We are very happy that the Court allowed my client, Daniel Hernandez, to serve the remainder of his sentence at home," Hernandez's lawyer Lance Lazzaro said in a statement. "Considering today's challenging circumstances as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic, inmates are especially vulnerable to contracting the virus. The Court showed great compassion today and my client is very grateful."    9:05 PM

Trump says states need to "work out" competing bids for medical equipment for themselves

President Trump on Thursday said states need to work out competing bids for medical equipment among themselves, and continued to blame states for failing to stockpile medical equipment like ventilators. Governors are sounding the alarm that they are bidding against themselves, as well as the federal government, for much-needed medical equipment and supplies.  "Well they have that, and they have to work that out," Mr. Trump said, when asked about what should be done when states are fighting over orders of medical equipment.  Mr. Trump said states "should have been building their stockpiles," adding that the federal government is a "backup."  "We're a backup, we're not an ordering clerk, we're a backup, and we've done an unbelievable job," Mr. Trump said.  Read more here.   8:37 PM

2 cruise ships with sick passengers dock in Florida

Two cruise ships carrying passengers stricken with coronavirus have docked in Florida on Thursday. It ends a nightmarish odyssey for some of the passengers, but for others aboard the journey is far from over. After nearly a month at sea, the Zaandam's grueling voyage ended in Port Everglades. Passenger Val Myntti couldn't wait for it to be over. "We are on pins and needles and we are so excited about it," Myntii told CBS News. The Rotterdam, which took passengers with no symptoms from the Zaandam, arrived, too. There were a combined 2,300 people on both ships. At one point, the Zaandam reported 200 sick passengers, nine who tested positive for the virus and four deaths. Read more here. Cruise ships carrying passengers with coronavirus dock in Florida   8:16 PM

Child donates vital medical gear to Virginia hospital

Zohaib Begg comes from a long line of doctors and nurses now working to save coronavirus patients. When his aunt told him her hospital was low on headgear, the 7-year-old got an idea. He went to hotels by his Virginia home to ask for their shower caps. He left with caps, gloves and face masks. Watch more of the story below: Child donates vital medical gear to hospital in Virginia   7:59 PM / April 2, 2020

National parks open during outbreak cause fears

Even as the public is shut out of local parks across the country, many national parks remain open with crowded trails and little social distancing. Some former park employees and outside groups are demanding a shut down of the entire National Park System. Dustin Stone, who worked at Klondike Gold Rush Park in Alaska, said he quit his job in protest.  "I wound up walking out of my job," Stone said. "I had been in contact with peers at parks in the lower 48 that were telling me horror stories about their parks being overloaded with visitors." Watch more of the story below: National parks open during outbreak causes fears   7:52 PM / April 2, 2020

Trump says he's "looking to see" if he can stop states from releasing prisoners

President Trump said Thursday that he disapproves of states freeing "serious criminals" to reduce congestion in prisons during the coronavirus pandemic, and that he's "looking to see" if he has the right to stop them. "Some people are getting out that are very serious criminals, in some states, and I don't like that. I don't like it." Mr. Trump said at the daily Coronavirus Task Force briefing. "But it's a city or state thing in certain cases, as you know." "We don't like it, the people don't like it, and we're looking to see if I have the right to stop it in some cases," Mr. Trump added.      7:43 PM / April 2, 2020

18% of uniformed NYPD workforce out sick

The New York City Police Department announced that 6,498 members, or 18% of its uniformed workforce, called in sick on Thursday. The department added that 1,354 uniformed members and 169 civilian employees have tested positive for the virus.  The department also announced the death of school safety agent Roniece Watson, who died from complications due to the virus on Monday.    7:22 PM / April 2, 2020

Wisconsin won't move next week's primary

A federal judge ruled against postponing Wisconsin's April 7 election but is providing voters an additional six days to turn in absentee ballots. In his ruling, Judge William Conley again criticized Wisconsin leaders for not stepping up to delay the election but said it wasn't within his purview to do so. "The only role of a federal district court is to take steps that help avoid the impingement on citizens' rights to exercise their voting franchise as protected by the United States Constitution and federal statutes," Conley wrote. "That is what the court attempts to do in this opinion and the order below, understanding that a consequence of these measures may be to further the public health crisis in this State. Unfortunately, that is beyond the power of this court to control." Thursday was supposed to be the final day to request absentee ballots, but Conley is giving Wisconsin voters until Friday at 6 p.m. ET to place those requests. The deadline to turn in the ballots has been extended to 5:00 p.m. ET on April 13. As of Thursday morning, more than 1.1 million absentee ballots have been requested, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC). Read more here.   7:10 PM / April 2, 2020

Jeff Bezos donates $100 million to U.S. food banks

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is donating $100 million to food banks across the U.S. so they can feed needy Americans as the novel coronavirus cripples the economy.  "Even in ordinary times, food insecurity in American households is an important problem, and unfortunately COVID-19 is amplifying that stress significantly," Bezos said on Instagram Thursday. "Millions of Americans are turning to food banks during this time." The donation will go to Feeding America, a Chicago-based network of more than 200 food banks that feed 46 million people. Forbes ranked Feeding America the second-largest U.S. charity by revenue. The nonprofit generated $2.9 billion in revenue in 2019, most of which went toward sending food to pantries, according to a 2019 financial report.  Read more here.   7:10 PM / April 2, 2020

Bodies pile up on streets in Ecuador as coronavirus spreads

The novel coronavirus has ravaged the coastal Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil, which has struggled to cope with the number of corpses as hospitals, morgues and funeral parlors have been overwhelmed. Some social media videos show unattended bodies lying on the street with nowhere else to go. The outbreak in Ecuador has sickened at least 3,100 people, according to John Hopkins' latest data map. The epicenter in the country is in Guayaquil, where residents have criticized the government's response. Because of the strict quarantine measures taken to restrict the spread of COVID-19, people have been limited in what they can do for loved ones or neighbors who die at home. Some, such as Guayaquil resident Stalin Briones, have been sharing disturbing photos or videos to get attention about what's going on.  Read more here.   6:17 PM / April 2, 2020

Navy removes captain who raised alarm about virus on aircraft carrier

The captain of an aircraft carrier hit by the coronavirus was relieved of his command by the Navy on Thursday for going outside the chain of command and circulating a memo pleading for help from Washington, one which quickly became public. Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly said he relieved Captain Brett Crozier of command of the USS Theodore Roosevelt after losing confidence in his ability to lead under the stress of dealing with the viral outbreak. "Command is a sacred trust that must be continually earned," Modly said at a news conference at the Pentagon. "As I learned more about the events of the past week onboard the Teddy Roosevelt ... I could reach no other conclusion than Captain Crozier had allowed the complexity of his challenge with the COVID breakout on the ship to overwhelm his ability to act professionally when acting professionally was what was needed most at the time." Read more here. Captain Brett Crozier conducts a remembrance ceremony for the 2011 Sendai earthquake and tsunami victims on March 11, 2016. U.S. Navy / MC3 Cody Hendrix   5:52 PM / April 2, 2020

Americans with direct deposit on file with the IRS will get checks within 2 weeks, Mnuchin says

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that Americans with direct deposit on file with the IRS will get their economic relief payments within the next 14 days.  "Within two weeks, the first payments will be direct deposit into taxpayers' accounts," Mnuchin said.  Mnuchin added that the government will be putting up a "web portal" to collect information from Americans who don't currently have their direct deposit information on file.  "It is a very large priority, the president has made clear, we want to get this money quickly into your hands."   5:46 PM / April 2, 2020

NYC mayor Bill de Blasio urges residents to wear facemasks

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday urged residents to wear facemasks but cautioned that wearing one isn't a substitution for other prevention measures. "We're advising New Yorkers to wear a face covering when you go outside and near other people," de Blasio said at a news conference. "It can be a scarf. It can be something you create at home. It can be a bandana." NYC mayor urges sick New Yorkers to stay off subways during coronavirus outbreak   5:36 PM / April 2, 2020

231 inmates and 223 staffers test positive in NYC jails

As of Thursday morning, 231 inmates and 223 staff members have tested positive for coronavirus in New York City jails, according to the city's Department of Corrections. Those inmates and staffers have been asked to self-quarantine. "The health and well-being of our personnel and people in custody is our top priority," the department said in a statement.    5:29 PM / April 2, 2020

President Trump tests negative for coronavirus

President Trump has again tested negative for coronavirus, according to a memorandum released by his physician on Thursday.  Dr. Sean Conley wrote that Mr. Trump was tested with one of the new rapid point-of-care tests and that his negative result came back in 15 minutes. "He is healthy and without symptoms," Dr. Conley wrote.    5:15 PM / April 2, 2020

Another BOP inmate dies of coronavirus

The Bureau of Prisons announced Thursday that another inmate has died from the coronavirus, bringing the total number of inmates who have died of the virus in federal prison to four.  All of the deaths have occurred in Louisiana's FCI Oakdale. But in a Thursday statement, the bureau announced the death of a patient from Ohio's FCI Elkton who may have had the virus, too.   The bureau identified the latest Oakdale patient as David Townsend, a 66-year-old who was incarcerated on a meth and marijuana conviction. Townsend, who had preexisting conditions, went into respiratory failure on Saturday before he was taken to the hospital, the bureau said. The Elkton patient was identified as Woodrow Taylor, a 53-year-old who was incarcerated on a cocaine conviction. Taylor, who also suffered from preexisting conditions, was brought to the hospital earlier in the week and died before his coronavirus test results came back, the bureau said.    4:34 PM / April 2, 2020

Ohio extends stay-at-home order

On Thursday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced that his state's stay-at-home order has been extended until May 1, 2020. "We understand that this is tough — it is very difficult. But, I would not be making these decisions if it wasn't a matter of life and death," DeWine said in a statement. "We have to keep this monster down. It's not dead — it's very much alive."  A health professional walks out of a drive-through coronavirus testing site at the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio, on March 17, 2020. Getty   3:50 PM / April 2, 2020

Oprah Winfrey donates $10 million to relief efforts

Oprah Winfrey has joined the growing list of celebrities who are making personal contributions to aid in the fight against the coronavirus. "I am donating $10 million overall to help Americans during this pandemic in cities across the country and in areas where I grew up," Winfrey announced Thursday. Her generous commitment includes a $1 million donation to America's Food Fund, who are working with Feeding America and celebrity chef José Andrés' World Central Kitchen. I believe that America’s Food Fund will be a powerful way to make a difference for our neighbors in need and am committing $1 million to this fund to support those facing food insecurity. — Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) April 2, 2020 Read more here.   3:30 PM / April 2, 2020

Amazon says all warehouse workers will have face masks by next week

Amazon says it will provide face masks to all its warehouse workers globally by early next week and broaden its use of temperature checks as it tries to slow the spread of coronavirus amid its vast logistics workforce. The announcement comes 10 days after CEO Jeff Bezos acknowledged the company was having trouble filling orders for masks amid a widespread shortage of protective equipment. After workers in several warehouses across the U.S. complained of not having sufficient protective equipment and shared reports of colleagues coming to work sick, the bottleneck appears to have cleared. "The millions of masks we ordered weeks ago are now arriving, and we're distributing them to our teams as quickly as possible. Masks will be available as soon as today in some locations and in all locations by early next week," Dave Clark, Amazon's senior vice president of worldwide operations, said on a company blog on Thursday.  Read more here.   2:52 PM / April 2, 2020

French president says he will loosen lockdown restrictions on people with autism

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday, World Autism Awareness Day, that he will loosen lockdown restrictions on people with autism and on families with autistic children. "I can imagine your worry at this time, the emotions you must be feeling," he said in a televised address. Macron noted the nationwide lockdown marked a sudden end to the routines that many autistic people rely on by restricting movement and access to family members, friends and schools. Under the lockdown, people are only allowed to leave home for essentials such as grocery shopping and medical visits, and for one exercise period of just one hour a day, within a radius of one kilometer from their home. "For some of you, staying home is hard, and can cause you anguish," Macron said, as he announced that people with autism will be allowed to go out for longer periods and more often, and will be able to travel farther than 1 kilometer in order to go to places they find comforting. The president of Sésame Autisme, an association of parents of people with autism, welcomed the move.   It is expected the new guidelines will go into effect in the coming days.   2:34 PM / April 2, 2020

Pelosi announces new House committee to oversee coronavirus response

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced her intention to create a bipartisan House committee to oversee the federal response to the coronavirus crisis, led by Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, the majority whip. Pelosi told reporters during her weekly press conference Thursday that the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis would oversee the dispersal of funds from the $2.2 trillion relief bill signed by President Trump last week, and "ensure the taxpayers dollars are being wisely and efficiently spent." "The panel will root out waste, fraud and abuse. It will protect against price-gouging, profiteering and political favoritism," Pelosi told reporters, adding that the panel will wield subpoena power. "We need transparency and accountability." Read more here.   2:30 PM / April 2, 2020

6-week-old baby's death linked to coronavirus, believed to be one of the youngest fatalities

A 6-week-old baby who tested positive for the coronavirus died last week in Connecticut. Governor Ned Lamont confirmed the death on Wednesday, and said that it is likely one of the youngest deaths from the disease "anywhere."  "It is with heartbreaking sadness today that we can confirm the first pediatric fatality in Connecticut linked to ," Lamont wrote on Twitter. "A 6-week-old newborn from the Hartford area was brought unresponsive to a hospital late last week and could not be revived. Testing confirmed last night that the newborn was COVID-19 positive. This is absolutely heartbreaking. We believe this is one of the youngest lives lost anywhere due to complications relating to COVID-19." Read more here.   1:55 PM / April 2, 2020

New Jersey cases top 25,000

More than 25,000 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in New Jersey, officials announced Thursday.  "We've lost another 182 New Jerseyans to #COVID19, bringing our total to 537 deaths," Governor Phil Murphy tweeted. "537 reasons to stay home and do your part to #FlattenTheCurve." As of 1:00 PM, #COVID19 statewide stats: • Positive Tests: 25,590 • Deaths: 537 For updates: https://t.co/JW1q8awGh7 pic.twitter.com/CrbCLMtWo9 — Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) April 2, 2020   1:42 PM / April 2, 2020

More than 1,000 people in the U.S. died of coronavirus in a single day

More than 1,000 people in the U.S. died from coronavirus in a 24-hour period, making Wednesday the deadliest day of the pandemic in America so far. Wednesday marked the first time the U.S. reported more than 1,000 deaths from the virus in a single day, according to data from Johns Hopkins University — a dramatic increase in the daily death toll.  Read more here.   1:20 PM / April 2, 2020

Louisiana reports spike in confirmed cases

Louisiana's health department has reported an additional 2,726 COVID-19 cases, which raises the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 9,150. "While extremely upsetting, this increase in COVID-19 cases appears to be less a sign of new exponential growth and more a sign of a logjam from commercial labs," Governor John Bel Edwards said in a statement Thursday.  He said officials believe the disease is spreading "in every parish in Louisiana."   "The situation remains concerning, but every Louisianan has the power to change the path we are on," he said. "Think of your neighbors, and please stay at home."     1:12 PM / April 2, 2020

Democratic National Convention postponed until August

The Democratic National Convention has been postponed to August, the party announced Thursday. The move comes after nearly four dozen party officials told CBS News that Democratic leaders should either scale back, postpone or rethink the convention. Former Vice President Joe Biden, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, also said Tuesday it was "hard to envision" the event moving forward as planned. The convention was slated to kick off July 13 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and end July 16, but is now expected to begin the week of August 17. The event, which brings together thousands of Democrats from around the country, will still take place in Milwaukee. Read more here.   12:43 PM / April 2, 2020

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo on his battle with coronavirus: "It's gonna be a long slog"

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, who has tested positive for the coronavirus, said Thursday that he's "doing pretty well, all things considered." "This is very tough. I get it now," he said, joining his brother, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, via video during a press conference. He said he had a fever as he spoke to the governor from his basement, where he is self-isolating while battling the virus, and that he has had hallucinations, including seeing his late father. "It's gonna be a long slog," he said. "Now that I know the fight that I'm in for, I'm more comfortable." He also said he can't imagine having to fight it alone. "We're in a real fight and we really do have to remember our connections to each other because otherwise there would be no way through," he said. Governor Andrew Cuomo and brother Chris talk coronavirus   12:33 PM / April 2, 2020

New York has enough ventilators in stockpile for about 6 days, governor says

New York state has 2,200 ventilators in its stockpile, enough for about six days at the "current burn rate," Governor Andrew Cuomo said Thursday. He said the state is still looking to acquire more ventilators.  "The burn rate of ventilators is troubling, and six days of ventilators in the stockpile is troubling," he said, but added, "we have all these extra measures that I believe if push comes to shove will put us in fairly good shape." He said the measures include transporting ventilators from hospitals that don't need them at the moment to others that do, using anesthesia machines as ventilators, and splitting one ventilator between two patients.  "I don't want to say yet I'm confident, and it depends on how many we need, but I can say with confidence we have researched every possibility, every idea. Every measure you can possibly take to find ventilators, this state has done. That I can promise you." Governor Cuomo: Ventilator stockpile may last 6 more days   11:47 AM / April 2, 2020

Death toll in New York rises to 2,373

The death toll in New York state from the coronavirus is now 2,373, up from 1,941 a day earlier, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Thursday. More than 92,000 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the state – more than half of them in New York City.    11:41 AM / April 2, 2020

Speaker of Iran's parliament becomes highest-ranking official with confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis

Iran's parliament says speaker Ali Larijani has tested positive for the new coronavirus and is in quarantine. Larijani is the highest-ranking official within Iran's government to test positive for the virus and the COVID-19 illness it causes. Parliament announced Larijani's illness on Thursday on its website, saying he was receiving treatment in quarantine. In this file photo, Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani, speaks with media, during a press conference, in Tehran, Iran, on Monday, September 19, 2011. AP Iran has one of the world's worst outbreaks of the virus with more than 50,000 cases confirmed by the government and more than 3,100 deaths. Many inside and outside of Iran believe those officially confirmed figures are considerably lower than the true toll, however. — CBS/AP   11:34 AM / April 2, 2020

Pentagon confirms it's working to provide 100,000 body bags to FEMA

The Defense Department is working to provide 100,000 body bags to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a Pentagon spokesman confirmed Thursday. FEMA requested the body bags from the Pentagon's Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). Lieutenant Colonel Mike Andrews, a Defense Department spokesman, said the department and the DLA "have a longstanding arrangement with FEMA to procure key commodities from DLA's industrial partners during crisis response operations." "DLA is currently responding to FEMA's prudent planning efforts for 100,000 pouches to address mortuary contingencies on behalf of state health agencies," he said in a statement.  Read more here.   11:11 AM / April 2, 2020

Putin extends Russia's business shutdown until April 30 as coronavirus cases mount

President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday that the Russian government was extending the nationwide shutdown of non-essential businesses until April 30 to try to slow the spread of the new coronavirus in the country. The move came as Russian officials reported a surge in COVID-19 cases, with 771 more people testing positive over the last day, bringing the country's total up to 3,548. "We have not passed the peak of the epidemic in the world and in our country yet," Putin said in a televised address, urging the vast majority of Russians to stay home. He said that the measures had already bought more time in the fight against the virus. Dozens of the country's regions, including capital Moscow and the surrounding area, have also imposed lockdowns this week, ordering residents to remain in their homes for all but essential outings. A woman rides in a largely empty metro train in Moscow, Russia, after the city authorities announced a partial lockdown ordering residents to stay at home to prevent the spread of coronavirus on March 30, 2020. Reuters Moscow authorities have threatened to impose fines of between about $51 and $6,300 on residents and businesses found to be violating the stay-at-home orders. -Alexandra Odynova   10:40 AM / April 2, 2020

Iranian students try to deliver coronavirus "aid" packages to "unprivileged American people"

A hard-line organization of Iranian college students says it has attempted to deliver "humanitarian aid" including coronavirus test kits, disinfectants, face masks and gloves to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, ostensibly to be delivered to the U.S. The group's leader said the aid was to help the "unprivileged American people" fight one of the world's deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks. The Student Basij is the youth division of the pro-regime Basij militia. Video on Iranian state media showed the student group trying to deliver what appeared to be two truckloads of the purported supplies to the Swiss Embassy, which represents U.S. interests in Iran. The embassy refused to receive the packages, but has not said why. Video broadcast by Iran's state-run IRIB news network shows a truck purportedly carrying "humanitarian health aid" supplies intended for the U.S. to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran. The embassy, which represents U.S. interests in Iran, refused to accept the April 2, 2020 delivery, but would not say why.  Still from video on IRIBnews.ir Relations between Washington and Tehran have been strained for months, and Iranian leaders have blasted the Trump administration for harsh economic sanctions they claim are hindering their response to the country's own COVID-19 outbreak. American officials - and some Iranians - suspect Iran has hidden the extent of the outbreak in the Islamic Republic and exaggerated its capacity to fight it. Amid shortages of personal protective equipment like masks and gloves for American medics, the U.S. has sought supplies from abroad - including from another international rival, China. -Seyed Bathaei   10:01 AM / April 2, 2020

Human impact on the environment may make pandemics more likely, experts warn

About two-thirds of all infectious diseases in humans have their origins in animals. Scientists say the ability of a virus to mutate and adapt from animals to the human system is very rare, but the expansion of the human footprint is making that rare event much more likely.  For most people, up until the novel coronavirus took over the headlines, the possibility of a new disease emerging out of nowhere and spreading around the world at a breakneck pace seemed like something out of a science fiction movie. But some members of the scientific community have been sounding the alarm for decades, warning that it was not a matter of if, but when another pandemic would threaten humanity.  Read more here.   9:19 AM / April 2, 2020

Bill Gates calls for nationwide social isolation policy to slow coronavirus spread

Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has been warning about the threat of a global pandemic since 2015. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $100 million to fighting the new coronavirus.  On Thursday, Gates spoke to "CBS This Morning" co-host Anthony Mason in a wide-ranging conversation in which he called for a nationwide social isolation policy to slow the spread of the COVID-19 disease and for the federal government to "set the priorities" on testing.   Click here to read a portion of the interview.   9:13 AM / April 2, 2020

After Zoom calls hacked with racial slurs and pornography, CEO admits "mistake"

Hackers target Zoom videoconference calls amid coronavirus pandemic The FBI is warning about reports of people intruding on Zoom calls with pornographic or hate images. The popular app said its number of users has ballooned from about 10 million to hundreds of millions with people isolated at home under coronavirus precautions.  But, attackers have discovered Zoom, too, as one Long Island mother found out earlier this month. Michelle, who asked that her last name not be used because she fears more online attacks, said her 14-year-old daughter was online in an "Ask the Rabbi" class for her private girls' Modern Orthodox high school when some boys "Zoom-bombed" it. "First, the screens were completely black and they were saying all these anti-Semitic things, cursing them out, saying you f***ing Jews, et cetera," Michelle told CBS News Consumer Investigative Reporter Anna Werner. "And then one boy suddenly stripped and was naked." Click here to read the full story.   8:43 AM / April 2, 2020

Record 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment last week

April opened with millions of people out of work and stock markets slumping after the White House this week acknowledged that the coronavirus could kill hundreds of thousands of Americans. It's a preview of the carnage to come. Some 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, the Department of Labor said Thursday, double the number of applications last week and 10 times the previous weekly record set in 1982. As many as 20 million people could be out of work this summer, according to separate estimates from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute and Bank of America. "We haven't, in my lifetime, my parents' lifetime, seen this. This is truly unprecedented," said Bill Rodgers, a fellow at The Century Foundation, a think tank. Over 6 million people file for unemployment as coronavirus crisis deepens   8:27 AM / April 2, 2020

New England Patriots plane flying medical masks to Boston from China

The New England Patriots plane is flying much-needed coronavirus crisis medical supplies to Boston from China, CBS Boston reports. A Patriots spokesperson told the station the team's Boeing 767 went to Shenzhen, China Wednesday to pick up 1.2 million N95 masks. According to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the deal, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker struck an agreement two weeks ago to acquire the critically needed masks from a "collection of Chinese manufacturers," but he had no way to get them back to Massachusetts. So he turned to Patriots president Jonathan Kraft — a longtime friend of President Trump — for help. Owner Robert Kraft also got involved, as did the State Department.   8:02 AM / April 2, 2020

150 bodies removed from homes in Ecuador as COVID-19 crisis strains public resources

Ecuador said Wednesday the bodies of 150 people were retrieved from homes in the port city of Guayaquil after the coronavirus crisis put a strain on resources. A joint military and police task force created to deal with the emergency removed the bodies in the past three days, government spokesman Jorge Wated said. Authorities have not confirmed how many COVID-19 victims were among the 150 dead. As of Thursday morning there were still fewer than 100 confirmed coronavirus deaths in Ecuador, and about 2,750 cases. Authorities had registered 537 deaths and 20,081 cases across Latin America by Wednesday afternoon.   — CBS/AFP    7:49 AM / April 2, 2020

Engineer intentionally derailed train near Navy hospital ship in LA for virus response, feds say

A train engineer intentionally drove a speeding locomotive off a track at the Port of Los Angeles because he was suspicious about the presence of a Navy hospital ship docked there to help during the coronavirus crisis, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.  The locomotive crashed through a series of barriers and fences before coming to rest about 250 yards from the U.S. Navy Hospital Ship Mercy on Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a release.  Nobody was hurt. Eduardo Moreno, 44, was charged with one count of train wrecking, prosecutors said.  — CBS/AP Feds: Man intentionally derailed train near hospital ship   7:40 AM / April 2, 2020

Dr. Anthony Fauci to receive additional security following threats

Federal officials are ramping up security for Dr. Anthony Fauci after threats were made against him, multiple officials from the Department of Justice confirmed to CBS News. The increase in security came at the request of the Health and Human Services Inspector General (HHS IG), the officials said. The Department of Health and Human Services requested that U.S. Marshals deputize a group of agents in the office of the HHS IG to handle the doctor's protection, and the request was approved by the Department of Justice, according to the officials. The officials did not expand on the nature of the threats, or provide detail on the extent of physical protection Dr. Fauci will receive. Dr. Anthony Fauci discusses the latest in the fight against coronavirus Dr. Fauci, who is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is one of the most prominent and respected voices in the nation's fight against the coronavirus pandemic, and appears regularly at the White House's daily Coronavirus Task Force briefings. Although he has occasionally stepped in to correct or dial back claims President Trump has made about the nation's effort to stop the virus, Dr. Fauci has emphasized that he and Trump are working together well. Asked Thursday on "CBS This Morning" about the threats and pressure he is under, Dr. Fauci told co-host Gayle King: "It's my job. This is the life I've chosen, and I'm doing it. I mean, obviously there's a lot of pressure. I would be foolish to deny that. But that's what I do. I've been through crises like this before. Dating back, you know, 37 years from the very beginning of the HIV epidemic. It's a job to do, and we've just got to do it."       7:24 AM / April 2, 2020

CBS News Poll: Half of Americans expect coronavirus outbreak to get worse over next month

Americans are bracing for a difficult April.  Fifty-one percent say they expect the coronavirus outbreak to get worse in the next month; another 21% expect it to continue as it is now and 28% say they think things will get better in the coming weeks. A solid majority of Americans, 77%, say they don't believe doctors and nurses have the supplies they'll need. Marks for President Trump's handling of the outbreak remain mixed and have not dramatically changed from last week, with 51% saying he's doing a good job — down two points since last week — and 49% a bad one. Click here to read more from this CBS News Poll.   7:03 AM / April 2, 2020

LA mayor urges city's residents to wear masks when not home in bid to curb virus spread

The mayor of Los Angeles has urged 4 million residents to wear masks to combat the spread of the new coronavirus when they walk out in public, even as state health officials shy away from requiring the measure.  Homemade cloth masks, or even a "tucked-in bandanna," will help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the nation's second-largest city and remind people to practice safe social distancing, Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday as he donned a black cloth mask to make his point. "I know this looks surreal," Garcetti said. "We're going to have to get used to seeing each other like this. ... This will be the look." But he urged people not to use medical-grade masks, such as N95 or surgical masks, which are in short supply and needed for health care workers and first responders. Health officials clarify guidelines on wearing face masks — CBS/AP   6:59 AM / April 2, 2020

Spain sees record 950 coronavirus deaths in a single day

Spain saw a new record in virus-related fatalities Thursday, with 950 deaths in 24 hours. The total number of deaths in Spain was 10,003 on Thursday. New coronavirus infections rose by nearly 8% overnight to 110,238, placing Spain on par with Italy, the country that has seen Europe's worst outbreak to date. Health authorities have been saying the pace of new cases confirmed daily in Spain was dropping from an average of 20% up to March 25, to less than 12% after that date, more than 10 days after Spaniards were ordered to stay at home.  The government has acknowledged that the real number of new infections could be much higher because Spain only has the capacity to process between 15,000 and 20,000 tests per day.  — CBS/AP   6:53 AM / April 2, 2020

Social Security recipients will automatically get stimulus checks, Treasury says in reversal

The Treasury Department said late Wednesday that Americans on Social Security will not be required to file a "simple tax return" to receive a stimulus check from the U.S. government. The announcement reversed an earlier statement from the Internal Revenue Service that participants in the federal retirement program would need to file such a return to get the funds.  The IRS directive would have impacted about 15 million people, including millions of seniors on Social Security, who aren't required to file tax returns, according to Chuck Marr, senior director of federal tax policy for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Seniors who rely on Social Security for their sole source of income don't have to file tax returns.    6:38 AM / April 2, 2020

China insists U.S. "lying" and shifting blame with accusations of COVID-19 cover-up

The Chinese government is hitting back at U.S. officials and lawmakers accusing it of suppressing and hiding information about the coronavirus outbreak. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Thursday that "the words and actions of individual American politicians are really despicable and immoral" and that they should focus their energies on what they can do to protect their citizens and save as many lives as they can. "We have said many times that to stigmatize, blame and shift responsibility to others cannot make up for the lost time," she said. "Continued lying will only waste more time and cause more loss of life." American lawmakers and officials have publicly accused China of a cover-up of the seriousness of the initial outbreak that allowed it to spread more widely, and U.S. officials have told CBS News the American intelligence community believes China has been under-reporting both the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the country.  Aircraft from China with medical supplies arrives in New York City Hua insisted that China has released the relevant information in a timely manner every day.  "We understand the current plight of the U.S. and the pressure facing some American officials," she said.  — CBS/AP   6:18 AM / April 2, 2020

Concern mounts in India as first COVID-19 death reported in Asia's biggest slum

A 56-year-old man living in Mumbai's Dharavi slum, the largest slum in Asia, has died of COVID-19. The victim had no travel history and owned a garment shop in the impoverished area, one of India's most densely populated with about 1 million people crammed into only about two square miles. The authorities have quarantined the man's family and sealed the building in which he lived, which consists of about 300 apartments in a redeveloped part of the slum, according to Indian news agencies.  Authorities were working to trace and test everyone who had come into contact with the victim for COVID-19 on Thursday.  Health workers prepare to shift a man suspected of coronavirus to a hospital at Shahu Nagar in Dharavi, one of Asia's largest slums, during a lockdown to slow the spreading of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Mumbai, India, April 2, 2020. Reuters The death has raised concern among Indian authorities as the number of confirmed coronavirus infections in the country continues to rise. There are more than 2,000 cases and 58 deaths from the disease in India so far.  Maharashtra state, where the Mumbai slum is located, has been the hardest-hit with more than 300 cases. India is currently under a 21-day lockdown that began on March 25. All non-essential business and transport has been banned.   -Arshad R. Zargar   5:53 AM / April 2, 2020

New York City hospitals now too swamped to try to resuscitate many cardiac arrest patients

Paramedics in New York City have been given temporary new guidelines instructing them not to bring any "adult non-traumatic or blunt traumatic cardiac arrest" patient to a city emergency room unless their heart can be restarted in the field, because hospitals are too overwhelmed with coronavirus cases. EMS workers should now only bring such cases — virtually any adult whose heart has stopped for any reason — to a hospital if there is "a direct order from a medical control physician," or the ambulance crew itself is facing "an imminent physical danger" at the scene.  The dire directive was issued by the Regional Emergency Medical Services Council of New York City on Tuesday. Previously, ambulance crews would have delivered such patients to emergency rooms for further resuscitation efforts. CBS New York confirmed the story, first reported by the New York Post, and CBS News has obtained a copy of the advisory sent to EMS workers. Medical workers handle a patient at Mount Sinai Hospital amid the coronavirus epidemic in New York City, April 1, 2020. Spencer Platt/Getty New York City is the epicenter of the U.S. COVID-19 epidemic with at least 1,374 of the total 5,137 deaths in the country as of Thursday morning, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.   The Tuesday advisory took effect immediately, telling EMS crews that, "in the event a resuscitation is terminated, and the body is in public view, the body can be left in the custody of NYPD.    5:26 AM / April 2, 2020

North Korea insists it's coronavirus-free

North Korea remains totally free of the coronavirus, a senior health official in Pyongyang insisted Thursday, despite mounting skepticism overseas as confirmed global cases near one million. The already isolated, nuclear-armed North quickly shut its borders in January after COVID-19 was first detected in neighboring China, and imposed strict containment measures. Pak Myong Su, director of the anti-epidemic department of the North's Central Emergency Anti-epidemic Headquarters, insisted the efforts had been completely successful. "Not one single person has been infected with the novel coronavirus in our country so far," Pak told AFP. Nearly every other country has reported coronavirus cases. Experts have said the North is particularly vulnerable to the disease because of its weak medical system, and defectors have accused Pyongyang of covering up an outbreak. — AFP   5:25 AM / April 2, 2020

Ellis Marsalis Jr., famed jazz family's patriarch, dead at 85 of COVID-19 complications

One of the sons of New Orleans jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis Jr. says the patriarch of the New Orleans clan that includes famed musician sons Wynton and Branford has died after battling pneumonia brought on by COVID-19. The jazz patriarch was 85. Ellis Marsalis III said Wednesday his father had been hospitalized while battling the new coronavirus.  The elder Marsalis opted to stay in New Orleans most of his career, gaining attention when his sons became famous and brought him the spotlight. Four of his six sons are musicians: Wynton, the trumpeter, is America's most prominent jazz spokesman as artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York. — The Associated Press   5:24 AM / April 2, 2020

New York City paramedic documents "battlefield triage"

Health care workers are on the frontline of the pandemic. At Jackson South Medical Center, near Miami, staffers started their shift Wednesday with a group prayer, asking for guidance and protection. In New York City, more than a thousand paramedics and firefighters have tested positive for the coronavirus. FDNY paramedic Megan Pfeiffer shared a video diary of what she calls "battlefield triage" on the frontlines in Queens. "There's a lot of hospitals that are running low on oxygen tanks and only have the big ones. They are sharing ventilators. We have never seen anything like this before," Pfeiffer says. Watch more in the video below: New York City paramedic documents "battlefield triage" during coronavirus outbreak Read the full article

[helencweekestx]

Top 8 Tips for Marketing in 2020

Top 8 Tips for Marketing in 2020

December 23, 2019

Online marketing

The start of a new year is always a great time to consider your marketing, but it is especially important as we start a new decade. Here are eight tips to make sure you are getting the most benefits from your digital marketing.

Create Your Online Strategy

You may set new goals for the next year and the next decade. Do not forget to set goals for your internet marketing. Setting goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely will help you know if you are moving in the right direction. Then, put them in order of importance, so you know which steps you need to master first. After you get started, you will see a snowball effect as all your hard work moves your company’s sales in the right direction.

Optimize for Maps

Especially if your business relies on foot traffic, it is essential that you optimize for Google Maps. Start by claiming your Google My Business account if you have not already. Then, write or optimize your company’s description to incorporate words that real people use when searching for your business. This can be a great place to add in brand names you carry. Then, encourage your customer base to leave reviews. Add great quality photos to your account. Write short informative articles and post them directly to your account. Interact with your customers by thanking those who left you a good review and suggesting ways that you will work with those that are not happy with your services. While you are at it, claim other review sites as well and that your data matches across all of them.

Use Natural Link Building Schemes

You also need to check the links on your website to make sure they are all working properly and that they do not point to sites filled with spam. Remove any broken links and find sites to replace them. Always make sure you are linking directly to the content that you want your viewers to see. Create a hierarchy within your own site so you are building up your most important pages by linking to them when appropriate. Once you get your own links in order, use a tool to find opportunities where others may want to link to your content. Shoot the webmaster a line suggesting it. They may use it and also come back to you for more links.

Utilize Paid Search

When the internet was new, there was no such thing as a paid link, but that is not the case today and paid search advertising will become even more important in the future as Google and others continue to cut down on the number of links appearing on the first search engine result page. Even as we enter the new decade, paid links usually hold the top position on many search terms. Look for pay-per-click advertising to become an even more effective way to reach segmented customer bases as Google and others use artificial intelligence to become even more talented at delivering these ads at exactly the moment that customers are ready to make a buying decision.

Focus on Website Design

There are at least three factors that have been buzz words during the last part of the 1990s, and they are not going anywhere soon. You need to have your security certificate in place so that your website displays as a https. You also need to consider your mobile speed. Too many bells and whistles can slow down your website sending your customers to your competitor’s site. You also need to ensure that your website is responsive. After your website is secure, mobile-friendly and responsive, then concentrate on the use of whitespace to help focus users attention. Employ a navigation system on every page so that users can easily get where they want to be on your site. Users should never have to click more than twice to get to the most important elements on your page. Viewers will scan your page even faster in the future, so create ways for them to easily find what they are looking for on your site.

Personalize Emails

You need to be segmenting your email subscribers and only sending them emails that are most pertinent to them. Think about the type of content that they are most likely to want to see and forward to others. Video emails may be a popular option during the next decade. Each email should have a definite purpose and the viewer should know exactly how you want them to follow up. Your headline should be catchy, but be careful of using humor because of sensitivities. You will probably only want to send one email per week.

Content is King

Content is, continues and will always be king. Your content must be the best, connect with your target audience and represent your brand’s voice. It must capture attention through its thoroughness. Think of your customer as being on a journey, and you are their leader each step of the way. Therefore, you need to get them prepared to make the journey by showing them their pain point. Then, educate them about solutions. Follow up with expert help on making the right decision and how to get the product that they need. Finally, provide them with multiple ways to get help when needed and ask for a positive review at the moment they are most likely to be happiest with your company.

Professionalism

Customers will expect you to act like a professional each step of the way. That is difficult when you have so many things on your plate. Google, Bing and others are likely to throw unexpected curves into marketing, such as Hummingbird, Panda and Medic have in the past. Therefore, you need to work with a professional in digital marketing who is watching for these trends and staying ahead of them.

Are you ready to take your marketing to the next step? Contact us today as we are here waiting to assist you now and throughout the coming decade.

Kyle Busch

With over 15 years of marketing experience I have helped over 1,000 businesses amplify their customer base. I have spent the man hours to make sure every one of my clients have had a positive experience. I take the time to sit and get to know every company I work with on a personal level. I started this company to put qualified leads in front of the companies who are looking for them. The Website Marketing Company headquarters in Orlando, FL. 32803 services clients across the country.

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Taylor Lakes

18:27 19 Feb 18

The seo rankings we have been receiving have been amazing switching companies to you has already paid off. The old adage of you get what you pay for is absolutely true! Roi is up and the changes you suggested have paid off. Thanks. I'll be recommending

Mike Moon

01:21 15 Mar 17

Perfect Job . I love the site that they built as well as their input as far as SEO goes. Not only that, I asked for the site and it was complete within a week. AMAZING!!!

Stephanie Lennon

23:28 08 May 17

really nice service, made me a nice looking, easy to use, user friendly website for my travel blogs. really enjoy the style they used. thank you!

Edgar Rellis

22:29 19 Jun 18

Your marketing has been amazing. Thanks for elevating us!

Jonathan Weber

01:35 15 Jul 18

Thank you for improving our SEO. You were upfront (which is more than i can say from our last agency) and honest. Thank you for pointing out the mistakes our last agency made using tactics frowned upon by Google and getting us back on the right track. 7 months with you guys has been better than the last year and a half with 2 other agencies.

Love Ruth

05:01 05 Oct 18

I am glad i found you sooner rather than later our PPC spend was out of control and yall helped me increase sales while decreasing spend. I knew something wasn't right and yall quickly turned it around. I'm not going to try and do the "marketing" stuff on my own anymore.

Thomas A. Dahl

15:12 09 Oct 18

Thank you to Kyle and his team for their hard work and dedication. Kyle literally spent the first 3 months being my main point of contact and he is the CEO! With a large budget like we spend its nice to know the owner of the company is available to take my calls and meet with me. He was in the office everyday we dropped in and our new account manager Ryan is just as good! The positive ROI has been amazing and i can't wait to bring my new start up on board from the begining when it launches in December of 2018.

Stanley Taylor

05:43 13 Oct 18

Very pleased with the work. WMC has kept in constant communication with me about any changes, and although marketing requires a lot of patience, they have been putting 110% into their work with exceptional professionalism.This makes me feel like I am part of the family. Shout out to Kyle and Jess for making things happen. Jess is phenomenal.

Jose Miguel De La Cruz

18:40 25 Oct 18

Top notch customer service and very knowledgeable when it comes to PPC marketing. Austin is our PPC account manager and he is always available to take my call. Our business has tripled sales over the last 5 months. I highley reccomend you contact them the consultation was free and they are very laid back and not some huge 500+ employee agency that never has time for you.

Steven Elmore

19:55 25 Oct 18

Website marketing company has done a great job managing our social media accounts. They provide us with the content to review ahead of time and explain in easy to understand terms on why they post and when they post. We have seen our social media presence jump 300% this month

Alice North

05:25 07 Nov 18

Social media is what we came for and we have not been disappointed! Jessica has been great and keeps us informed on trends and makes great content

Amanda Spence

08:10 11 Nov 18

We needed an Orlando marketing agency that could meet the daily needs of our company and we have met our match made in heaven. Website Marketing Company has not only done what we hired them to do but they have exceeded our expectations. Friendly staff and its right down the road from our Orlando office which makes it convenient.

Elisha Love

13:32 02 Jan 19

We went through 4 "marketing agencies" before we finally had results with Website Marketing Company. All agencies are not created equal and we learned you get what you pay for. Other agencies locked us into a contract and charged extra fees we were not aware of before signing up. All of that is a thing of the past now with y'all. You were upfront and honest, no extra fees, no contracts and i feel at home. Prompt replies to my emails and a detailed breakdown in easy to understand language.

Alison Wilson

09:56 03 Jan 19

Our business has significantly improved due to the marketing strategy that you implemented. We even had a last minute change that needed to be made and we were able to call our account manager Austin on Christmas and he had the changes implemented the same same day! Thats customer service and can't wait wait for 2019.

Chapman C.

08:29 04 Jan 19

This company was originally helping us with our SEO and website improvements, but they have now progressed into assisting us with our social media presence. I was completely oblivious to how effective social media can be for leveraging new customers. Over the past few months, they have been very successful in attracting and influencing new customers and building our organic presence. I’ve learned a lot about the right and wrong ways to improve our business thanks to Mike and the marketing team. Thank you for your honesty, transparency, and guidance! I look forward to a continued and prosperous partnership between the both of us. Best Regards,Angel

Angel Turner

19:22 17 Jan 19

They have catapulted my maid cleaning business to new heights! Excellent customer service, response times, and professionalism from everyone on the staff. Whenever I’ve had a question about something, it has been answered promptly and transparently. I feel like I’m in good hands with this company. I would recommend them wholeheartedly if you’re running a local business! Cheers to SUCCESS!

Isabella Ramirez

02:24 24 Jan 19

I have a very busy schedule. Therefore, I do not like to spend my free time hassling my marketing company for updates regarding work I’m paying for. I had that issue with a few other marketing companies before finally migrating over to this company. They are organized and it shows because my status report at the end of the month is always detailed and pinpoints exactly what kind of results were achieved during that specific month. So far, they haven’t missed a month. My SEO has drastically improved and I’m looking forward to running more campaigns as they continue to prove they are capable. Special thanks to Austin and Peter for being consistent and personable to do business with.

Ryan Jefferson

01:48 24 Jan 19

If you’re looking to explode your rankings, this is the right company for the job. I own a dog sitting business and I’m partnered with corporate partners like Rover, but despite that, I knew my business could be improved even more. I handle my own social media marketing, so I really only needed this company for Google ranking purposes. They skyrocketed me to the number 5 position in my niche and city in just 2 weeks. I was probably on the 3rd or 4th page before that, so they really worked their magic. What’s crazy to me is, this is JUST the beginning of what my business’s rankings are capable of!

Davon Phoenix

20:51 24 Jan 19

Jess made us feel right at home with the way she handles social media marketing. She explains things well and gets results which at the end of the day is all that matters. We highly reccommend her for social media!

Melendez Mary

09:39 30 Jan 19

Great Orlando marketing agency. Quick to do a marketing analysis on our company and send over the proposal. No contracts which is awesome. didn't try and oversell us services we didn’t want.

Mark Bilodeau

04:37 21 Feb 19

Best investment i have made in my company was going with this marketing agency. Jess has been super helpful and Pete is great with websites.

Jan Spencer

15:23 14 Mar 19

Shyanne is my account manager and she has been doing a good job answering my questions and keeping me in the loop about our social media management. I will be recommending to other business owners i know.

Dean Dietrich

15:58 18 Mar 19

Walked into your office and the huge wall mural you guys made yourself caught my eye. I could see the creativity instantly and thats why I went with you for our logo design. Quick turn around time and just what we wanted

Rebecca Diaz

15:29 25 Mar 19

Peter has been great in the whole design process of our new website. Keeps us up to date and lets us take peaks at the progress when we drop by. Cant wait to see the end result!!

Lydia Turner

14:56 26 Mar 19

No sleezy salesman here. Your presentation was solid and there was no pressure to sign. i like that there are no contracts which is hard to find in a marketing agency now a days. 1 year in and i wouldn’t give you guys up for the world

Thomas Arnold

13:32 07 Apr 19

Website Marketing has done a great job helping our local orlando business gain traction. They handle our social media accounts and our Google ads. They have improved our ROI and continue to bring us an incredible amount of leads. There communication is key and they are easy to get ahold of and their Orlando office is really nice. We feel at home, Thank you.

Josef Yanez

16:52 18 May 19

Highly recommended!! Jess and Austin are amazing account managers and have been working with our company for over 3 years. They must not have a high employee turn over rate because we have been able to talk to them for the past 3 years and that speaks volumes to their knowledge of not only our business but the marketing agency as well. I am looking forward to continued success and sorry it took us 3 years to get to writing this review.

Jenise Fehribach

15:14 20 May 19

Jess made us feel comfortable with the way she handles social media marketing. She explains things well and gets results which at the end of the day is all that matters. We will recommend her for social media!

Hunt Daron

15:33 05 Jun 19

You guys are doing a great job on our Ecommerce marketing! Thank you for helping out a local Orlando business achieve success

kitty keychain

16:48 25 Jun 19

Great marketing results for my roofing company. Easy to get a hold of and no hidden fees

Anabel Carpenter

14:33 12 Mar 19

Finding a trustworthy marketing company is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. When you find one, it's a phenomenal feeling. That's how I've been feeling for the past 3 months now, as I watch my newly optimized website rake in the traffic! Flawlessly executed by them!

Simon Jenner

15:05 24 Jul 19

My new website looks great. Much better than the one I tried to build for my own business. Thank you for taking over!

Palmud Rich

18:54 24 Jul 19

Made a switch to this web design company and haven't looked back since. They do quality tier work and I'd endorse them for this marketing service.

Richard Barrett

18:34 25 Jul 19

Having a website that generates leads consistently is vital to the heartbeat of any business. Thank you for helping me achieve this finally after so many wasted months of trying to do it myself.

Helena Joseph

06:51 26 Jul 19

Don't worry about spending money for a pro to build you a professional website. You will quickly make that money back if it's done correctly!

Richard Contraisee

17:15 27 Jul 19

Great experience! Would recommend them for web design.

Rolesaau Pollard

02:39 30 Jul 19

Amazed with my new website! Launched in less than 2 weeks and runs incredibly fast!!

Rizuwan Ahmad

18:34 29 Jul 19

I remember that I ordered a new Website for my business and they just finished my work in couple of week. I will never forget how their Brilliance made my website best. They are recommendable just because of their Outstanding Skills and trustworthy Management.

Ridam Reha

20:38 01 Aug 19

No one can deny the fact that they are best in market for SEO/SMM. In my Opinion, They are Mind-Blowing.

Peter Handscomb

15:46 02 Aug 19

My experience of working with them is Remarkable. I won't forget the brilliant website they built for me in several days. Thanks Guys!

Hazel Keich

18:00 05 Aug 19

I loved them the way they serve their customers. I always like them as they are brilliant in building E-Commerce Websites.

Sinfonia Futon

15:58 09 Aug 19

I would like to thank WMC for explaining and breaking down what we needed done to start bringing in leads. We ultimatly ended up going with Pay Per Click and the return on investment has been fantastic.

J Davis

15:08 09 Oct 19

We were looking for a marketing agency in Orlando that we could visit and have sit down meetings with who could really get us some SEO results and well we found it!! Our website has already made it on the front page of Google and we are already getting organic sales. So awesome in 3 months to have these kind of results.

Charles Hance

05:17 10 Oct 19

Really top notch marketing agency. We had given up hope on PPC trying to do it ourselves and we quickly realized when set up and run properly the ROI was huge!

Robbie Johnson

14:16 23 Oct 19

Really top notch marketing agency. We had given up hope on PPC trying to do it ourselves and we quickly realized when set up and run properly the ROI was huge!

Robbie Johnson

14:16 23 Oct 19

I would like to thank WMC for explaining and breaking down what we needed done to start bringing in leads. We ultimatly ended up going with Pay Per Click and the return on investment has been fantastic.

J Davis

15:09 09 Oct 19

Kyle at website marketing set us up with call tracking and grooming leads for our salon. We not only hear the phone ringing more but you can go back and listen to the calls which helps us with training and let’s us know what calls were from his leads. Our appointment books are filled!

Jeff Lauzon

15:02 29 Oct 19

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The post Top 8 Tips for Marketing in 2020 appeared first on Website Marketing Company.

source https://www.websitemarketing.co/top-8-tips-for-marketing-in-2020/ from Website Marketing Company https://websitemarketingco.blogspot.com/2019/12/top-8-tips-for-marketing-in-2020.html

[junker-town]

Monty Williams deserves Coach of the Year consideration for saving the Suns

Head coach Monty Williams is giving the Suns a leader they’ve always been missing.

The Suns finally found the type of coach they’ve always been missing.

The Phoenix Suns had a claim to being the most dysfunctional franchise in the NBA when they hired Monty Williams in May. Williams would be the Suns’ fourth head coach in three years, coming to a team that hadn’t won more than 25 games in five years and hadn’t made the playoffs in 10. This was the organization that put live goats in the general manager’s office, and couldn’t even pull off a grocery store autograph signing without controversy.

Paired with newly installed full-time GM James Jones, the Suns took on a noble goal: to no longer be one of the worst teams in the NBA. To do this, Phoenix signed sure-handed veterans like Ricky Rubio, beefed up the front court with Dario Saric and Aron Baynes, and used draft picks on experienced college players Cameron Johnson and Ty Jerome.

Phoenix didn’t need a head coach to make them great. They needed a coach to make them competent. That is exactly what Williams has been able to do. To watch him do it with this franchise might even make him Coach of the Year.

The Suns are 11-12 to start the season and are holding down the final playoff seed in the Western Conference. They’ve done it despite losing cornerstone center Deandre Ayton to a suspension for banned substances after only one game. They’ve done it despite a recent bite from the injury bug. They’ve done it with a roster that is still the youngest in the NBA, with an average age of 24 years old.

Throughout his career, Williams has always been a great teacher and an excellent communicator who demands the respect of everyone around him. Never has that been more apparent than what he’s doing in Phoenix this season.

Williams has overhauled the Suns’ scheme

The Suns finished with the NBA’s No. 28 offense and No. 29 defense last season. The year before that, Phoenix was dead last in both categories. Right now, the Suns are No. 6 in offense and No. 18 on defense. That type of improvement feels like it would require a miracle worker, but Phoenix has done it by simplifying their schemes and professionalizing all the places they were sloppy and ill-prepared before.

Williams is running what he calls the ‘0.5 Second Offense’. Essentially: every player that gets the ball has a mandate to shoot, pass, or drive from the moment they touch it. By eliminating long periods of isolation-based offense and ball watching, the Suns have overhauled their shot profile and modernized their approach.

The Suns lead the NBA in shot quality right now, per PBP Stats. Over 72 percent of their field goal attempts come at the rim or behind the three-point line. Last year, that number was 63 percent. The Suns are also leading the league in assist percentage and assist to turnover ratio by a mile a year after being No. 17 in the former and No. 28 in the latter. This is Williams’ system at work.

Devin Booker is shooting over 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from three for the first time in his career. Adding a veteran point guard like Rubio has been massively beneficial, but this is also an instance of a star buying into a coach’s scheme and seeing results like never before. It isn’t just Booker’s who’s benefitting from an offense based on making quick decisions. It’s the entire roster.

4. Is It Scheme? Again, another elbow action where Mikal knows he's part of the offense and has a read to make. The defender goes the wrong way & Mikal lets it fly. Yes, the wind up/hitch shows itself again. pic.twitter.com/ckQt4gOXuh

— Seven Seconds Or Less Podcast (@7SOLpod) December 7, 2019

The Suns’ defensive improvement is even more startling. Williams has preached packing the paint on defense and denying drives to the basket. The Suns are cranking up the ball pressure this year to try to wear teams down before they can get off a good look. While Phoenix is fouling — No. 27 in opposing free throw attempts — only six teams have allowed fewer three-point attempts.

Read Mike Prada on how Williams’ simple schemes are impacting Phoenix on both ends of the ball. For as impressive as Williams’ X’s and O’s acumen has been, it’s his leadership that has been Phoenix’s real catalyst.

Williams is giving the Suns the leader they’ve always missed

Williams has long had massive respect around the basketball world. He became the youngest head coach in the league at 38 years old when he was hired by the Hornets ahead of the 2010-2011 season and immediately took the team to the playoffs. Williams had to endure the Chris Paul trade the next season and a year of bottoming out for Anthony Davis, but those around the game continued to admire his work during New Orleans’ rebuild.

Williams was asked to be an assistant for USA Basketball during the team’s run to the 2016 Olympics, where he built relationships with the best players in the world. Kevin Durant, who Williams would later coach as an assistant on the Thunder, is one of his biggest fans:

“He knows how to talk to people, for one,” Durant said of Williams. “He knows how to communicate, and he’s honest. That’s lacking in our world in general. It’s just truth.”

Williams’ message is clearly resonating with the young Suns. Booker has had nothing but praise for his new coach from the very beginning the season. This is what he told Marc Spears of the Undefeated in early Nov.

“You can feel the vibe here. It’s different,” Booker said. “Our team is in a different state than we have been in the previous years. I don’t want to get ahead of myself. … But the culture around, you can feel it. You can feel it in the air. It started with Monty.

“His voice travels. I’ve been in situations before where things coaches say are kind of discussed amongst players. But with Monty, it’s not like that. We all believe in him. He believes in us at the same time. It’s really contagious.”

It isn’t just stars who respect Williams; his influence trickles down the bottom of the roster, too. When Williams replaced veteran Tyler Johnson in the rotation earlier this year, he pulled him aside before the game and let him know the change. While Johnson was disappointed, he told The Athletic that he valued his coach being up front about it.

“I appreciated just that moment,” Johnson told The Athletic. “Because even though we are all adults, sometimes when things come as a surprise like that, then you can get a little more frustrated. But there was good communication, and I can accept that.”

Suns players have noted all year how Williams is “real” — treating them like adults while expecting accountability. The vibe around the team has been a night and day change from the last few years. They believe in what Williams is preaching, because they’ve seen the results.

Williams has been one of the NBA’s best coaching hires

Williams spent time as an assistant in Oklahoma City and Philadelphia after being let go by New Orleans in 2015. He endured a horrific personal tragedy in that time, when his wife was killed in a car accident by a speeding driver who had meth in her system. That type of devastation could sink any man, but Williams handled it with as much grace as possible.

It’s hard to imagine another coach connecting with Suns players both on and off the court the way he has. Williams didn’t have superstars to lean on like Frank Vogel. He hasn’t had a championship organization to work with like Nick Nurse in Toronto or Erik Spoelstra in Miami. Instead, he’s taken one of the league’s most comically incompetent franchises and made them a team that demands to be taken seriously.

Perhaps the Suns will eventually fall short of their playoff dreams in a tight Western Conference race for the final two seeds, but the progress Williams has made will serve the Suns well for a long time. He has been the perfect coach at the perfect time. Wins are coming, but his influence extends so far beyond even that.

[jrgsportsbuzz]

BUCKS VS RAPTORS EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS PREVIEW

The Milwaukee Bucks’ magical season continues into the Eastern Conference Finals. Milwaukee is one step away from the NBA Finals for the first time since 2001, which was the last time the Bucks won a playoff series before the first-round victory over the Detroit Pistons this season.

The team continued its roll from that series into last round’s bout with the Boston Celtics. Boston shocked Milwaukee in the series opener with a 22-point victory at Fiserv Forum to take the 1-0 lead. Former Celtic great Paul Pierce, now an ESPN analyst, famously said “I don’t know where Milwaukee goes from here,” and “I think it’s over,” after that game.

It certainly was over after that, but for the Celtics. The Bucks went on to victory, to answer Pierce’s concern. Milwaukee proceeded to win the next four games, including Games 3 and 4 in Boston. The Bucks won both home games by 20+ points (Games 2 and 5).

Milwaukee now hosts the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals (ECF) for the right to play on the league’s biggest stage. Toronto advanced after a seven-game series against the Philadelphia 76ers in which star forward Kawhi Leonard’s fadeaway mid-range jumper bounced on the rim three times before dropping for the game-winning basket in a 92-90 Game 7 victory.

The Bucks have looked dominant so far in dispatching Detroit and Boston. However, the Raptors battled Milwaukee for home court advantage in the playoffs before falling two games short of the Bucks’ NBA-best 60-22 record. Here is a position-by-position breakdown of the series.

PG: Eric Bledsoe (MIL) vs. Kyle Lowry (TOR)

Bledsoe has had consistency issues throughout the playoffs and his shot has been nearly nonexistent, but he has been a valuable player during this postseason. He has exhibited his ability to drive to the hoop and score in contact. In addition, he has found other ways to help the Bucks when his offensive game has been off, as it was for most of the series against the Celtics. He had two key blocks in Game 4, demonstrating his athleticism along with his hustle, the latter of which has been on display throughout much of the playoffs. Milwaukee will have a great chance of emerging from the series vs. the Raptors if Bledsoe can continue his high-energy play and rediscover his shot.

Lowry has been very inconsistent throughout the playoffs, but is one of the league’s better point guards when he’s on his game. He always plays well during the regular season, but has been known to disappear during the postseason. That has often reflected on Toronto as a whole, but with Leonard in the fold, the Raptors have remained a tough out. Lowry has become a much better distributor in the later stages of his career and can be a go-to player when his shot is falling. He is a late bloomer, as he did not become an All-Star caliber floor general until his late-20s/early 30s. His best years have been in Toronto and he has been a fixture at the position during a successful time period for the Raptors.

Both Bledsoe and Lowry have tendencies to be on one game, off the next. However, both of them are extremely valuable to their respective squads. Bledsoe plays with more energy, is quicker and better on the glass, but Lowry’s game as a point guard is somewhat more refined, as he is a better shooter and passer. Both player’s ball-handling skills are about equal. Difficult to pick an edge here, but Lowry wins by a little bit. Edge: Raptors

SG: Malcolm Brogdon (MIL) vs. Danny Green (TOR)

Brogdon could be the Bucks smartest player and is one of their most efficient. He can score from anywhere and almost never forces the issue on offense. In addition, he plays solid man-to-man defense and is deceptively quick, which allows him to jump into passing lanes and get on-ball steals from time to time. His absence was felt by Milwaukee despite the team’s continued success. He returned for Game 5 against the Celtics and looked a bit rusty to start, but seemed more comfortable with each minute he played. Now that he is healthy again, he will likely retake his place in the starting lineup and become the valuable player he was before his injury.

Green came over with Leonard in the trade with the San Antonio Spurs for star wing DeMar DeRozan and center Jakob Poeltl. Green has been a role player throughout much of his career as a sharpshooter. He was a starter on the 2014 NBA Championship Spurs team with Leonard and has hit some key playoff shots during his career. He has mostly been a 3-and-D player during his career.

Brogdon is a heady player who is a perfect third or fourth scoring option. He was a second-round draft steal in 2016 and has found his way into the Bucks lineup due to his smarts and underrated talent. Green is dangerous when he’s hot from three, but is not very impactful outside of that. Edge: Bucks

SF: Khris Middleton (MIL) vs. Kawhi Leonard (TOR)

Middleton had a couple rough shooting games against Boston and was not as effective as he was last year vs. the Celtics, but he still was an impactful player during the series. He was his normal smooth offensive self and was one of a myriad of players who kept Boston off balance. His matchup against the Raptors will require him to be at his best, but he has often stepped up in situations such as these. However, he hasn’t been tested on a stage this big. It will be interesting to see if he can fulfill his role as star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo’s sidekick during the ECF.

Leonard is one of the superstars in today’s game. He has been regarded as the best ‘two-way player’ in the league, as he is one of the best on both ends of the floor. He consistently ranks among the league leaders in steals and in almost impenetrable when he’s guarding man-to-man. In addition, he can score from anywhere on the court, has an incredible amount of athleticism and a flair for the dramatic and his versatility allows him to thrive in any offensive system. He was not that excited about playing in Toronto after his malcontent in San Antonio, but to say he has made the most of his time with the Raptors could be an understatement. He was unstoppable against the 76ers and his composure in clutch situations came in handy, especially in the deciding game. He not only hit the aforementioned game-winner, but he took over the game down the stretch. Finally, Leonard has playoff pedigree, as he won the NBA Finals MVP award in 2014 for the Spurs when he was still an up-and-coming player. He has used the momentum from those playoffs and his tireless work ethic to become one of the faces of the league today.

Middleton can be a dangerous offensive player and has the ability to take over games from time to time. However, Leonard is a dominant force who can single-handedly carry a team and he lives for big moments. If he is the player he was against Philadelphia, the Bucks are in for a tough series. Edge: Raptors

PF: Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) vs. Pascal Siakam (TOR)

Giannis is the Bucks’ superstar and, like Leonard, is one of the premier players in the NBA. He has steadily improved every season and is now basically unstoppable due to his length and ever-evolving offensive game. He cannot be contained in transition and runs the floor better than almost any player his size in the league. Anytime he has the ball in his hands, he is a threat to produce a highlight reel play, whether it’s a thunderous dunk or a contorted layup that has rarely been seen from players in the past. In addition, his humble nature has allowed him to become one of the most well-liked players in the league while helping him maintain the work ethic he’s needed to go from a raw, thin rookie in 2013 to the amazing talent he is today. In 2019, he has taken on the leadership role on one of the best teams in franchise history and has finally been able to make his mark deep in the postseason.

Siakam has grown a lot for the Raptors during his first three seasons and has made his biggest jump in 2018-19. He has become a potent threat from 3-point range for a power forward and has become an efficient offensive player. He supplanted veteran forward Serge Ibaka in the starting lineup and has teamed with Leonard and midseason trade acquisition center Marc Gasol to create one of the league’s best frontcourts. Siakam and Lowry each have an argument for being the Raptors’ second-best offensive threat behind Leonard.

Giannis is a freak of nature, hence his nickname The Greek Freak, and is looking to lead the best Bucks team in recent memory to an NBA title. Siakam is quickly becoming a solid player in the league and may even be a star in time, but he is nowhere near the player Antetokounmpo is now. Edge: Bucks

C: Brook Lopez (MIL) vs. Marc Gasol (TOR)

Lopez was a great signing for the Bucks, as he became a perimeter threat in first-year coach Mike Budenholzer’s system. However, that has not translated into the playoffs. His shot has been off against both Detroit and Boston and he has not been as effective as the Bucks may have hoped for during the postseason. He has been solid on defense, as he averaged 3.5 blocks against the Pistons and, while his block numbers were down against the Celtics, his presence forced them to settle for many outside shots, especially in the last four games. However, the Bucks could become an even bigger threat to win it all if he regains his offensive form.

Gasol is past his prime, but is still an effective center who can be dominant at times. He is a 7-1 tower who provides an intimidating defensive presence down low. He, like Lopez, also can step outside and shoot on offense, which keeps defenses honest and opens the lanes for slashers like Leonard and Siakam. His numbers and playing time have decreased since being traded to Toronto near the trade deadline after spending the first 10-plus years of his career with the Memphis Grizzlies, which is largely because of the deeper frontcourt he has around him. He is also an effective passing center, averaging nearly three assists per game. Defensively, he uses his length well, averaging over a steal per game.

Both centers in this series use their length well defensively and can be perimeter threats on offense. Neither one of them is counted upon to shoulder a large scoring load and are role players for their respective teams. There really is no advantage here. Edge: Even

BENCH: George Hill, Pat Connaughton, Nikola Mirotic, Ersan Ilyasova, Sterling Brown, D.J. Wilson, Tim Frazier, Tony Snell (MIL) vs. Serge Ibaka, Fred VanVleet, Norman Powell, Jeremy Lin, Jodie Meeks, Malcolm Miller, Eric Moreland, Patrick McCaw (TOR)

Hill was easily the Bucks’ most valuable bench player against the Celtics and could even be argued for as their second or third best overall player in the last two games of that series. His veteran presence and underrated quickness and athleticism has been invaluable throughout the playoffs. Connaughton is a jumping jack hustle player who has grabbed double-digit rebounds in a few games during the postseason despite his 6-5 height. His jumper, occasional highlight plays and energy have made him the perfect spark plug off the Bucks’ bench. Mirotic has regained his form in the playoffs after coming back from injury following the regular season. His jumper has returned and he has been a solid presence on the glass while starting in place of Brogdon. Ilyasova has taken on a role similar to that of Mirotic, but he hasn’t been as impactful on offense. Many of his contributions are not visible on the stat sheet, but, like the rest of the Milwaukee reserves, his energy has served the team well during the first two rounds. Brown’s versatility has helped the Bucks get through playing without Brogdon, but he has lost much of his playing time because of the increased level of play by more experienced players. Wilson, Frazier and Snell will likely only see inconsequential minutes.

The Raptors struggle with depth and play their starters most of the game except for Ibaka, who often gets as much, if not more, playing time than Gasol. Ibaka began his career with the Oklahoma City Thunder as a shot-blocking specialist, but he has diversified his offensive game since then. He is a step slower at this stage of his career, but is still a physical defensive presence who can knock down perimeter shots. VanVleet is a steady hand at point guard and has filled in fairly well during Lowry’s occasional struggles, but his production is somewhat meager. Powell is an energy wing who plays well on defense, but, like VanVleet, does not provide much offense. Lin, Meeks, Miller, Moreland and McCaw have rarely seen playing time throughout the playoffs, and that likely won’t change against the East’s top regular season team.

The Bucks’ bench and Giannis’ superlative play are the two main reasons the Bucks have gotten to the ECF without much resistance. Hill and Connaughton have played as well as any starters would and the rest of the significant reserves have been solid too. Toronto relies extremely heavily on their starting lineup, as their bench does not offer much beyond Ibaka. Edge: Bucks

COACH: Mike Budenholzer (MIL) vs. Nick Nurse (TOR)

Budenholzer ushered in a new offensive system that made the Bucks one of the most efficient and prolific offensive units in the NBA. He inherited a talented group led by a superstar and molded it into the league’s best regular season team. He is the likely NBA Coach of the Year (COY) who is looking to finish off his outstanding first season with Milwaukee with a championship.

Nurse continued the Raptors’ success from previous coach Dwane Casey, who was controversially fired last season despite winning COY honors. He has overseen Siakam’s breakthrough and has maintained the success from the last few seasons despite the new alpha dog in Leonard. Toronto’s identity has not changed much despite the coaching change, as the Raptors remain a defense-oriented team that plays a half-court-based offense.

Budenholzer has turned a talented but somewhat disorganized group into a cohesive, dangerous bunch in his first year. Nurse has done a solid job in his first season, but has largely continued the success from the previous regime Edge: Bucks

FINAL ANALYSIS

The Bucks are in the midst of their deepest playoff run since 2001, when they lost a controversial ECF in seven games to star guard Allen Iverson and the 76ers. Milwaukee is looking to make its first NBA Finals appearance since 1974, when they lost in seven games to the Celtics (Bucks were a Western Conference team until the 1980-81 season). Antetokounmpo is an amazing talent and his supporting cast has proven they can provide enough punch to keep teams from focusing too much attention on him. Toronto has a superstar of its own in Leonard, who is capable of matching Giannis’ production, especially in the scoring column. The difference in this series will likely be the surrounding players, and guys like Middleton, Bledsoe, Brogdon, Hill and Connaughton should provide enough to help the Bucks take advantage of the home court and earn a chance to play for the NBA’s biggest prize. Milwaukee has been dominant except for one game, and its momentum and depth advantage over the Raptors allows that run to continue. PREDICTION: Bucks in 5

[duaneodavila]

Some Thoughts On Vendor Selection For Legal Ops Pros

If you work in legal operations, sooner or later you’re going to need to interact with a vendor. In many instances, preparing for discovery also means selecting vendors. Whether you are in-house or at a law firm, it will become necessary to engage a service provider or consultant to provide or supplement resources for some aspect of or even an entire project.

This week we consider some of the factors that should go into vendor selection.

First Things First

First, let’s talk about costs. This is crucial because many people think cost is such a critical factor, and make no mistake, it is important. But experience shows that it has never been the most important factor.

The truth is that vendor cost is rarely determinative of whether a project moves forward. If the work really needs to be done, costs usually don’t prevent it from happening.

It’s important to recognize, too, that costs are driven by many variables, including volume, resources, and tools required, and the time it may take to complete a project. Good project leaders can in some instances control these variables, but for the most part, the price tag generally does not sideline a discovery project. Each case turns on its own facts and circumstances and, like anything else, when it comes to service providers most stakeholders understand that you get what you pay for. Make sure you survey the vendors and you have competitive pricing.

Stakeholders are always going to be concerned about the cost of discovery and every effort should be made to control the costs, but there are criteria more important than cost.

Safeguard Your Selection

Before engaging any vendor, consider having a few safeguards in place. First, the parties should sign a confidentiality and nondisclosure agreement before performing any services. This protects the confidentiality of client information.

Second, a conflict check should be performed to ensure that the vendor is not currently engaged in work that is adverse to you or the client.

Third, engagements and the scope and nature of the work to be performed should always be reduced to writing in a statement of work or other form of contract.

Critical Factors to Consider

When engaging vendors, it is important to focus on the needs of the case and the client. Now, again, each case is unique, but some of the most important considerations are:

Capacity. Is the vendor staffed with a sufficient number of trained and experienced project management, technical, and support personnel and does it have the infrastructure, hardware and software needed to support project needs?

Security. Does the vendor have acceptable security protocols and processes in place? This includes not only physical security, but also the integrity and security of client information, both at rest and in transit.

Quality: Are there standardized processes in place to check, validate, and measure the quality of their services and all deliverables?

Stability: Can the vendor demonstrate a continuity of service and personnel and a degree of financial security?

One of the most important considerations when choosing a vendor is service. Unfortunately, this is also one of the most difficult to verify prior to a project. The idea here is to look for a consistent commitment to responsiveness, good, clear and honest communication, experienced project leadership, and problem solving.

And lastly, remember that sales people are generally not project managers. Sales reps may have general knowledge, but most are not in the trenches doing the work and they should not be relied upon to discuss project specifics and deliverables. Instead, the sales representatives should hand the project off to a project leader who will manage the necessary tasks and processes to complete the project.

Conclusion

Vendor selection is a necessary component of discovery projects for legal operations professionals today. Of course, sometimes things go wrong on projects. The ability to adjust to change, fix mistakes, and build a solid partnership are some of the hallmarks of a quality service provider. Consider some of the guidelines above and not only will the vendor selection process will be a little easier, but your project outcomes will be more successful.

Mike Quartararo

Mike Quartararo is the managing director of eDPM Advisory Services, a consulting firm providing e-discovery, project management and legal technology advisory and training services to the legal industry. He is also the author of the 2016 book Project Management in Electronic Discovery. Mike has many years of experience delivering e-discovery, project management, and legal technology solutions to law firms and Fortune 500 corporations across the globe and is widely considered an expert on project management, e-discovery and legal matter management. You can reach him via email at mquartararo@edpmadvisory.com. Follow him on twitter @edpmadvisory.

Some Thoughts On Vendor Selection For Legal Ops Pros republished via Above the Law

[justsomeantifas]

Here’s your dose of “What the Fuck Is Going On” News (3/1/2017 Edition)

Trump gave his first address to Congress yesterday night (2/28). Despite the media praising Trump's speech and the majority of viewers approving of the speech (76% of viewers approved of the speech, 82% found it “presidential.”) it was riddled with false and/or misleading claims, and statements that go against his actual policies and plans. The full transcript and video can be found here. I’m not going to highlight every inaccuracy here because I’d be doing that all day but if you’d like to fact-check his speech for yourself here are some links: 

Donald Trump’s Actual Policies Contradict His Joint Session Speech

Fact-checking Donald Trump's address to Congress

A running transcript, with analysis, on Trump’s first speech to a joint session of Congress.

Fact-checking President Trump’s address to Congress

AP fact check: Trump’s first address to Congress

Fact checking President Trump’s first address to Congress

According to Pennsylvania Attorney General, Josh Shapiro, Trump insinuated that the recent attacks on Jewish community centers and cemeteries are false flag incidents. “He just said, ‘Sometimes it’s the reverse, to make people—or to make others—look bad’ and he used the word ‘reverse’ I would say two or three times in his comments,” said Shapiro. This claim wouldn't be the first time that Trump has said these comments, a few weeks ago he said the same thing when asked about anti-Semitic incidents. “And some of it — can I be honest with you? And this [anti-Semitic hate crimes] has to do with racism and horrible things that are put up. Some of it written by our opponents. You do know that. Do you understand that,” he told a reporter. (source) (source)

Trump was expected to sign a revised travel ban executive order today (3/1) however the White House has decided to delay the order again. According to a White House official, they are holding off amid the positive coverage that Trump's Congressional speech is receiving. "We want the [executive order] to have its own 'moment,' said the White House official. According to VP Mike Pence the new ban will come out in a few days. (source) 

In other news regarding the upcoming revised travel ban, Iraq will no longer be listed as one of the barred countries. This decision comes after pressure from the Pentagon and State Department who told the White House to reconsider given Iraq's involvement in fighting ISIS. Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen will still be included and the ban is set to last 90 days. (source)

White House deputy assistant (and former Breitbart editor) Sebastian Gorka gave an interview on NPR on Wednesday where he refused to answer whether Trump and the administration views Islam as a religion. Gorka and his wife, who also worked for Breitbart, are noted Islamophobes and this is his second time refusing to answer the question. (source)

Attorney General Jeff Sessions made more comments about his plans to enforce federal marijuana laws. “States can pass whatever laws they choose but I’m not sure we’re going to be a better, healthier nation if we have marijuana being sold at every corner grocery store,” he said. This comes a day after his comments that marijuana use causes people to become violent. (source)

The Justice Department is adding to this marijuana crackdown even more by issuing a warning to Nevada’s Moapa Paiute Tribe who will be hosting the High Times Cannabis Cup this weekend outside Las Vegas. Federal attorney, Daniel Bogden, wrote to remind the tribe that Nevada may permit recreational use of marijuana, federal law does not - signaling a threat of interference. (source)

An Arizona bill that would have let the state government charge protesters the same way it charges terrorists will not get a hearing in the state House anymore. Civil rights groups and activists voiced their concerns over the bill and the public outcry led to it being dropped completely. The bill had already passed through the state's Senate where it was approved by politicians voting the party lines. (source)

White House officials have determined that President Donald Trump’s adviser Kellyanne Conway will not face disciplinary action for promoting Ivanka Trump's fashion line on Fox News. Conway's comments were a federal ethics violation but White House officials defended her comments by saying that she “made the statement in question in a light, off-hand manner while attempting to stand up for a person she believed had been unfairly treated and did so without nefarious motive or intent to benefit personally.” (source)

The Senate voted to advance Ben Carson's nomination to be the secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The vote tally was 62-37, and the final vote on his nomination will likely take place tomorrow. The Senate also confirmed Rep. Ryan Zinke to be Trump’s secretary of Interior.  (source) (source)

The White House is considering delegating more authority to the Pentagon to greenlight anti-terrorist operations. Trump wants defense secretary Jim Mattis to have a freer hand to launch time-sensitive missions quickly, where he would no longer have to go through the approval process by the president. This comes a day after Trump attempted to deflect the botched Yemen raid off him and pin it on the generals telling Fox News "they lost Ryan [the Navy SEAL who died in the operation]." (source)

Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are planning to push legislation this year to change the federal ethanol mandate and make pipeline approvals easier. Committee leaders said that the ethanol and pipeline policies are among the their biggest priorities. (source)

The Supreme Court ruled against Virginia republican's who targeted Black communities via gerrymandering. Virginia State Legislature drew new lines for 12 state legislative districts after the 2010 census and the court rules the districts were unconstitutional due to racial gerrymandering. (source)

House republicans voted to end a federal rule that required employers to keep better records of workplace injuries and illnesses. It now heads to the republican controlled Senate where it's expected to pass and then move to Trump for signing. (source)

Trump has started pulling pending nominees from various federal commissions, causing some concern that the administration is attempting to replace nominees with those who are sympathetic to Trump and his policies. These commissions are supposed to have no more than three members from the majority party to assure bipartisan cooperation. However, there is now concern that Trump is attempting to get around this by using conservative-leaning Independents to get around the technicality. (source)

The White House is set to cut about a quarter of the Environmental Protection Agency’s funding which will eliminate 20% of EPA employees. This comes after Trump announced that funding for certain programs will be cut to focus on defense. Other programs that are set to be cut are those aimed at low-income people, minorities, and indigenous groups. (source)

Trump's promise to use existing funds for the construction of the border wall had hit a financial roadblock, according to an official document seen by Reuters. It shows that the Department of Homeland Security has only identified $20 million that can be redirected to the funding of the wall, a huge way away from the estimated $21.6 billion needed. (source)

And now your daily reminder that: Flint, Michigan still doesn’t have clean water. Standing Rock still needs your support. The American infrastructure report card still averages poorly with the rating of a “D+” On 2/26 another Jewish cemetery was attacked in an act of anti-Semitic vandalism, here is their donations page.

[shirlleycoyle]

How the Pandemic Changed Antarctica

This is part of a special series, We’re Reemerging. What Does the World Look Like Now?, which considers in real time how we cope while living through a historic time. It’s also in the latest VICE magazine. Subscribe here. 

Matt Williams arrived in Antarctica on January 15, 2020, to lead Australia’s Mawson research station on the east side of the continent. Two months later, he watched as Australia entered its first coronavirus lockdown. But as events were canceled and businesses closed, Williams’s life on the other side of the world didn’t really change. He continued working, befriended a penguin he named Smudge, hung out at the station’s outdoor bar, celebrated Pride, and even took a plunge into Antarctic waters.

His is the story of many Antarctic residents over the past year and a half. When most of the world began shutting down in March 2020, only Antarctica was (at that point) spared from the coronavirus pandemic. Amid the snow-covered mountains, vast plateaus, and icy beaches, scientists and research station workers found themselves shielded from the deadly virus, only witnessing the vigorous hand-washing, sudden isolation, and symptoms of COVID-19 family and friends endured via stories told from thousands of miles away.

At stations on the continent, residents hunkered down for a winter together—without social distance. Moving to Antarctica these days doesn’t just entail packing up your parka and mentally preparing for the subzero temperatures. After intensive quarantines and coronavirus testing, it offers what many people around the world might call a luxury: Freedom from pandemic-related restrictions.

While Antarctic residents have sheltered away from the pandemic in an isolation of their own making, they have managed more safe socialization with their fellow residents than most people around the world experienced this year. Still, the very continent they live on has continued to struggle under the weight of diplomatic pressures and environmental concerns. Tensions over Antarctic fishing rights, funding, construction work, and more have intensified as international meetings have been canceled or moved online—making the continent’s already fragile, and complex, governance system all the more delicate. “The pandemic in general reinforced, but accelerated, preexisting trends,” said Alan Hemmings, a professor at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.

The incongruous struggles Antarctica has faced over the past year are reflected in the return of Antarctic researchers to a pandemic-stricken home. “Adaptation back this time has been very different, and a few weeks into my return, my head is still in learning and reaction mode,” said Williams, who returned to Tasmania on April 13 of this year. “We left one world and have come back to another.”

Williams with emperor penguins

Antoinette Traub, a supply technician with the United States’ National Science Foundation, arrived on the continent in December 2020, and will stay at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station until at least November 2021. A few months after she had arrived, Antarctica’s winter set in; temperatures had begun to drop to below minus 50 Celsius, and the continent was shrouded in winter darkness. Few flights go in or out from March to October each year. “The last flight [from Amundsen] was in February,” she said, “and we will not see any new faces—nor receive fresh fruits like apples and oranges—until November.”

Lack of sunlight aside, Traub and her colleagues keep busy. Residents meet in the gym daily for a morning stretch, the station’s chefs keep everyone well fed (fresh doughnuts or bagels are prepared daily, and a week’s dinner menu in April read “Monday: Chicken Piccata; Tuesday: Salmon and Taco Bowls; Wednesday: Gyros; Thursday: Pho and Egg Foo Young; Friday: Swedish Meatballs; and Saturday: BBQ Ribs”), and movie marathons abound. “We currently have three ongoing movie marathons on station,” said Traub. “All the Stanley Kubrick, David Fincher, and Marvel Cinematic Universe films in their respective order. We’re currently watching 2001: A Space Odyssey, Zodiac, and Thor.” One day a week, Traub volunteers at the station’s hydroponic greenhouse.

Traub also has a TikTok account that boasts over a million followers. “My parents kept asking for updates, [so] I thought the best way to show them was over social media,” she said. “I had no idea it would blow up the way it has.” The TikToks show Traub’s daily life in Antarctica, one that is wildly distant to most of her viewers; she takes walks amid glaciers, does fun science experiments, and works. When she was at the U.S.’s McMurdo Station, Traub hung out with penguins. Her day-to-day assignments vary; sometimes she organizes the station’s waste to send back to the U.S. (no trash can stay on the continent), and other days she audits station inventory and brings supplies to different departments.

Traub’s colleague Katharine Smith, another supply technician, has been in Antarctica since September. This is Smith’s third time living on the continent, and while she’s enjoying the relative freedom compared with the months of lockdown she experienced prior, she said it’s also been disconcerting to watch the pandemic impact Antarctica’s around 100 stations. “With precautions taken to prevent COVID from getting to the continent, the population at all stations remained extremely low and construction was put on hold,” said Smith. “This year I believe McMurdo only had about 400 people at most [out of a capacity of over a thousand], and [Amundsen-Scott Station] only reached 61 rather than topping out at 150.” This makes the vital scientific research conducted on these stations all the more difficult. The smaller number of staff has impacted the science too, said Martin Wolf, an astro-particle physicist from Germany who is currently working at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station studying neutrino particles. Instead, programs and activities “have been mainly rescheduled to the coming years after the pandemic.”

Antoinette Traub and Katharine Smith

Even so, Smith has made the most of her time. “I launched weather balloons, drove a Delta truck, viewed the transit of Mercury through a telescope, flew to the South Pole in the cockpit of an LC-130, saw penguins and newborn seals,” Smith said. “It’s easy to start taking things for granted here since you are so immersed in it 24/7.” But, at the same time, she added, “I have been in this protected COVID-free bubble for almost eight months now. Life here feels normal to me.”

“To be honest, I might need to cut my social calendar back a little to get more solo recharge time,” said Erin Heard, the U.S. winter manager at McMurdo Station who has been in Antarctica, or on the way to the continent, for most of the pandemic.

Residents on other stations have felt similarly. “A lot of people said to us that we really did pick the best year to be away, in the most isolated place on the planet. And in a way that is true,” said Williams, the Australian station leader. “We did not, until resupply and our first human contact 16 months later, have to socially distance, limit use of gyms, avoid social occasions or limit shared meals and travel. Whatever that actually looks like on Antarctic stations is vastly different from anything you can imagine at home—but we still lived a life we expected and planned for, to some degree. We also did not live in real fear of our own personal health—we knew we were isolated enough to not get COVID.”

The outdoor ice bar

Mike Brian, a station leader at Britain’s Rothera Research Station in Antarctica, was there when the pandemic began, and went back to the UK in May 2020. He returned to Antarctica a few months later, and only recently went home again; he has colleagues that just left Antarctica after being away for the majority of the pandemic thus far. “They weren’t that far from missing it completely,” said Brian. “By the time they got back in, the vaccine had been developed and was available.”

Rothera residents had similar daily routines to their U.S. counterparts; after the workday, according to Brian, they watched movies, worked out, and took coastal walks. They also celebrated: “We had a ceilidh [kaylee]… a traditional Scottish dance, and it requires contact dancing.” In general, Brian said, “we were able to sit next to each other and enjoy each other’s company in a very relaxed fashion. It felt like that was a huge privilege, compared to the rest of the world.”

Despite their relative freedom, it’s been hard for Antarctic residents to spend this year away from their communities and home countries. Traub’s grandfather died from the virus in April 2020. “His was one of the first recorded thousand deaths in California, so it hit my family very hard,” she said. Traub graduated from college a few months later, and had to move back in with her parents when she lost a part-time job at a local brewery before leaving for Antarctica. Her brother has been on the front lines of the pandemic as a first responder, and her parents tested positive in December.

“With the pandemic, political atmosphere, protests, and natural disasters, at times it felt like the rest of the world was falling apart,” said Heard. “I felt far more distant than normal, almost like I was on another planet.”

While the pandemic didn’t interfere with most of Williams’ team’s experience on the continent, Australian station residents also watched their families suffer from afar. “We had to be relatively helpless onlookers as our loved ones struggled to cope with their new reality and the unknowns related to the pandemic,” said Williams. “We could offer moral support, but in reality we had no context, no sense of the realities, and didn’t have to live the day-to-day in a pandemic world. This weighed heavily on us and on our loved ones.”

“You really have to lean on your ‘ice family’ down here for support because there is nothing you can do about it—you’re stuck,” Smith said.

“It’s very, very difficult to be lonely in Antarctica. And, yes we’re isolated from the rest of the world, but we’re part of a community that’s very tight, and everybody knows everybody else,” added Brian.

Stations all over the continent also have strict procedures for visitors or new employees. For U.S. stations, Traub received three COVID tests, and spent a month in quarantine on her way to the continent, staying in a New Zealand government-managed facility along the way. Upon arrival at McMurdo Station, everyone had a daily temperature and wellness check for the first week. Then, freedom. “In my experience, the United States Antarctic Program and its participants have taken COVID precautions way more seriously than people and places back home,” said Smith. “Even after all the isolation we go through to get here, a flight arriving on station during the summer would trigger a ‘condition yellow,’ meaning assigned meal groups, mask wearing, limited capacities, canceled events, and social distancing. Everyone here abides by the rules and doesn’t argue about having to wear a mask.” These stringent policies have worked: None of the American research stations in Antarctica have had any COVID-19 cases. “Sometimes it feels like I’m getting the better end of the deal by being here instead of back in the States,” Traub added.

The Australian Antarctic Program has required similar checkpoints and quarantines. They also canceled intracontinental flights between stations, and mapped out their emergency responses should a crisis arise. “It was a mammoth, but essential, effort,” said Williams.

Mawson station under the Aurora Australis

Though human activity has slowed in Antarctica over the last year, the continent itself has continued to change. Last year, the continent broke its warmest temperature ever recorded, at 65 degrees. The ice has continued to melt: This April, scientists warned that the Thwaites Glacier, the widest glacier on the planet, which is currently about the size of Great Britain, is at risk of collapse. New research has found that the melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet would impact the entire world, raising sea levels by three feet.

A warming planet was not the only external pressure on Antarctica this past year; diplomatic posturing and resource grabs have continued to threaten the continent as well. In terms of the pandemic’s physical impact, the coronavirus did eventually make it to Antarctica: Chile’s General Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme research station reported dozens of cases in December 2020, marking the virus’s spread to all continents. Australia is currently moving forward with plans to build an airport runway in East Antarctica that scientists say will increase human impact on the continent by 40 percent. As the pandemic was silently spreading in January 2020, a New Zealand Navy aircraft spotted a Russian ship fishing in a protected area in Antarctica; the controversy has lasted over a year as Russia has denied the claim.

This isn’t the first time Russia’s resource extraction in Antarctica has drawn consternation, however, and this illegal fishing occurred at a time of intense scrutiny for the industry: Fishing in Antarctic waters is one of the sharpest points of contention on the continent. At the intersection of diplomacy and conservation, some countries have accused China and Russia of exploiting continental resources for economic gain, or even taking advantage of the lack of oversight from this past year. China is currently building the world’s largest krill-fishing boat and has recently blocked a proposal to restrict fishing in Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier region, even though krill fishing is detrimental to the continent’s ecosystem. Russia hopes to double its revenue from seafood exports in part by producing and selling canned krill from Antarctica. Some academics have warned that fishing may be a preview of the future of rights to mining, which is currently prohibited by the Antarctic Treaty.

Antarctica is unique in that it is governed by a treaty system, which is run collectively by 29 countries known as “consultative parties.” Almost every decision made on the continent and in the surrounding waters requires a consensus. So, each year, these countries get together at various weeklong conferences to discuss, debate, negotiate, and hammer out settlements regarding issues like fishing, governance, environmental protections, ongoing and new projects, and more. The pandemic threw a wrench in this tradition, and has since left various proposals and projects in limbo, as research stations have halted visits to one another and international meetings have been postponed or held virtually.

In many ways, virtual diplomacy is discordant with the continent’s traditional governing style. Face-to-face contact can be really important when coming to an agreement on divisive topics, said Klaus Dodds, a geopolitics professor at Royal Holloway, University of London: “It’s easier to be obstructive in online environments… because you don’t have to look the person in the eye down the corridor, or go to a reception and be confronted about why you’re being so awkward.” At in-person meetings, Dodds said, “a lot of diplomacy unsurprisingly is about the corridor talk,” from smoke breaks to random encounters.

Different participants in continental stewardship—the scientists and Antarctic workers, academics, and international leaders—have also become increasingly separate from one another over the past year. “What you have seen in the Antarctic over the last decade is an increasing kind of siloization of relationships,” said Hemmings. “The pandemic shutdown resonates throughout the system, not just the formal points of engagement at diplomatic meetings, but all the processes beforehand, [like] the capacity to pick up domestic thinking from your science community.”

Kevin Hughes, a vice chair of the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP), is helping plan CEP’s annual meeting this June, the first one in over a year. Originally scheduled to be in Paris, the meeting was recently moved online. There will be a lot to cover, as Hughes said that many of the environmental proposals and studies have been delayed “because the logistical difficulties were insurmountable.”

In October, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which oversees fishing, boating, and marine protection in the Southern Ocean, held their annual conference virtually. Though it was a feat that the meeting even occurred, some attendees were dissatisfied with the limited agenda and the lack of movement on certain issues such as climate change and marine protected areas. The online meeting, said Birgit Njåstad, the head chair of the CEP, was “not a discussion-friendly environment.” This had real-life impacts. Multiple proposed environmentally protected areas in Antarctica were ready to be reviewed and approved last year by CCAMLR, a part of the Antarctic treaty system, but partially because of the pandemic, protection has been stalled.

Still, the CEP planners recognize that in-person meetings wouldn’t solve everything. And at their upcoming meeting, in addition to the logistical difficulties, like broadband connection, translation issues, and competing time zones, Hughes is prepared to be disappointed with the amount that they get done. “I think we just appreciate that we’re going to have to take a hit on this, and the real hope is that we can meet in Germany, in 2022, in an in-person meeting to really just crack on with a lot of the work.”

The actual Antarctic research has been strained as well. In light of the pandemic, countries like the UK and the United States scaled back their Antarctic programs and research. “The scale of the Antarctic activities are not going to be quite as much as they would normally be,” added Hughes. While the U.S. and UK lead research on the Thwaites Glacier, which maps climate change’s impact on both the melting ice and the planet, Hughes said that the collaboration during the pandemic “has basically come to a halt.”

“What we really did was sort of a maintenance season,” said Brian, who is on the UK side of the ice sheet work. “We were able to do the minimum that we needed to do there, but there’s no doubt about it that scientific program[s] will have taken a hit.”

And the Antarctic community itself is struggling: Daniela Liggett, an associate professor at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, sent a survey to more than 400 Antarctic researchers late last year asking about the consequences of the pandemic on their work, family, and mental health. Overall, like others around the world, researchers expressed that their productivity decreased and their anxiety increased. But in her forthcoming paper for the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, Liggett found that early-career researchers, and specifically women, have been the most adversely affected, with some already looking to leave the field altogether. “Early-career researchers just didn’t seem to see prospects and research in the future and then getting a job and completing their degree,” said Liggett. Soon enough, “we might be experiencing a bottleneck of people retiring, but not enough young researchers filling in, following the footsteps, because of COVID, and because of funding cuts.”

Now, as parts of the world have slowly begun to vaccinate citizens and lift restrictions, station workers who are still on the continent are feeling that separation. “It’s a piece of history I am missing out on: The slow progress of the world opening up,” said Traub. “Seeing restaurants reopen, catching up with friends and family I haven’t seen in person in months… But at the same time, I know it will be there for me when I come home at the end of 2021. And though it’s a pivotal moment in history, it’s still a stressful one—a feeling I’m skipping out on altogether.” One of the first things on Traub’s list when she gets home: getting vaccinated. “It’s been heartwarming to see the numbers of American adults taking the vaccine,” she said. “I’m hopeful that when I come home things will be somewhat normal.”

“Normal” for Antarctica—meaning pre-pandemic activity—is still a ways away. In the summer season before the pandemic, more than 74,000 tourists traveled to Antarctica. During the 2020 and 2021 seasons, only a handful have visited. It’s still unclear whether this “year-off” for the pandemic will really have any positive environmental effect on the continent, Hughes said, as the land is slow to recover. To researchers and scholars that study it, diplomats that govern it, and the land itself, a post-pandemic Antarctica looks hazy. “The question really is, given that online diplomacy is likely to continue again for this year,” asked Dodds, “what are the Antarctic Treaty parties thinking about in terms of innovation, to try and improve upon the experience of last year?”

Williams, who returned to a low case count in Australia, is experiencing the pandemic, and residuals of the pandemic, for the first time. “At the tail end of our expeditions, when things were finally ready for us to come home, we had to go from zero to one hundred in a blink of an eye. We basically had to come back to a world completely changed, and on edge. Social distancing, masks, processes while shopping, limitations on movement, government tracking of our movement, social expectations on contact and intimacy.”

Some of Brian’s colleagues were even reluctant to leave the continent. “You can’t hide from the rest of the world, but people weren’t relishing going back to the COVID world,” added Brian. “It was striking to come back.”

“I can genuinely say I felt almost like an alien arriving on a new planet,” said Williams.

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How the Pandemic Changed Antarctica syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/