| Mark Zuckerberg reportedly intervened after a Facebook employee posted a controversial defense of police in the wake of Kenosha shootings Posted: 02 Sep 2020 06:25 PM PDT  The post about "well-intentioned law enforcement officers who have been victimized by society's conformity to a lie" sparked outrage from employees.
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| Fact check: Meme accurately describes legal trouble for members of 2016 Trump campaign Posted: 02 Sep 2020 05:54 AM PDT  A viral Facebook post is accurate about legal issues facing Steve Bannon, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Michael Flynn, Roger Stone and Michael Cohen.
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| Lebanese army finds more explosive chemicals outside Beirut port after huge blast Posted: 03 Sep 2020 08:43 AM PDT  Lebanon's army said on Thursday it had found 4.35 tonnes of ammonium nitrate near the entrance to Beirut port, the site of a huge blast last month caused by a large stockpile of the same highly explosive chemical. The authorities said it was caused by about 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been stacked in unsafe conditions in a port warehouse for years. Lebanon's government quit amid public anger in a nation already brought to its knees by an economic crisis.
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| Savannah church separates from United Methodist Church in support of LGBTQ Posted: 03 Sep 2020 10:12 AM PDT  A Georgia congregation said Thursday that it has finalized its split from the United Methodist Church after the denomination's divisive vote last year to strengthen bans on same-sex marriage and ordination of LGBTQ pastors.
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| Typhoon Maysak: Ship with crew and thousands of cattle missing Posted: 03 Sep 2020 05:10 AM PDT  One sailor is rescued from a ship with 43 crew and 6,000 cattle thought sunk in the East China Sea.
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| Editor of Kenosha newspaper quits over tone-deaf coverage: ‘Today is about Jacob Blake’ Posted: 02 Sep 2020 01:25 PM PDT  An editor at The Kenosha News resigned over what he believed to be a problematic headline that mischaracterized what took place during a peaceful protest. According to the New York Times, Daniel J. Thompson, who used to be a digital editor at the paper – and has also alleged he was the only full-time Black staff member – said he took issue with a headline that not only misrepresented the article it accompanied but also sought to give a false and negative impression of a rally he personally attended. The demonstration was inspired by the shooting of Jacob Blake, who was left paralyzed by his injuries on Aug. 23.
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| Critics fear NYPD Asian hate crime task force could have unintended consequences Posted: 02 Sep 2020 07:59 AM PDT  "Law enforcement has been one of the biggest perpetrators of violence against Asian Americans and communities of color and continues to be one of the biggest perpetrators of violence," an activist said.
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| China cracks down on Inner Mongolian minority fighting for its mother tongue Posted: 03 Sep 2020 10:21 AM PDT  Teachers and students have refused to comply with a new bilingual education program in Inner Mongolia. The state is cracking down in response.
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| 'You matter to us': Delta Air Lines upgrades Black traveler harassed by white flyer Posted: 03 Sep 2020 11:33 AM PDT  Demetria Poe is applauding Delta Air Lines for "taking a stance" against racism and discrimination after she was harassed by her seatmate on a flight.
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| U.S. agency defends decision to withhold report on Russian claims about Biden's health Posted: 02 Sep 2020 12:20 PM PDT  The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday defended its decision to withhold circulation of an intelligence report warning that Russia was trying to portray Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden as mentally unstable. A draft of the report, headlined "Russia Likely to Denigrate Health of US Candidates to Influence 2020 Election," was submitted to the agency's legislative and public affairs office on July 7, according to ABC News, which first reported the matter. Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf told Fox News on Wednesday that the agency held up the memo because it lacked necessary context and was "very poorly written."
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| Facebook India grilled over hate speech, allegations of bias Posted: 02 Sep 2020 05:53 AM PDT  Facebook India executives were grilled Wednesday by members of a parliamentary committee on information technology over allegations of political bias and a role in spreading hate speech in India. The closed-door hearing followed accusations in newspaper reports that Facebook was allowing anti-Muslim hate speech on the platform and that its top policy official in India had shown favoritism toward Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party.
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| 12-year-old displaying Trump sign punched several times by woman, Colorado police say Posted: 03 Sep 2020 09:36 AM PDT  "The suspect then attempted to take the banner but was unsuccessful."
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| Trump's press secretary refuses to blame Russia for the nerve-agent attack on Putin's top opponent Posted: 03 Sep 2020 11:39 AM PDT  Other world leaders have explicitly demanded an explanation from the Russian government for Navalny's poisoning.
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| NSA surveillance exposed by Snowden ruled unlawful Posted: 03 Sep 2020 06:48 AM PDT  Whistleblower Edward Snowden tweets he feels vindicated by the ruling from the US Court of Appeals.
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| 25 more endangered children located as sex trafficking busts continue in 2 states Posted: 02 Sep 2020 09:51 AM PDT  Operations in Ohio and Indiana seek missing children who may be victims of sex trafficking.
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| Hotel deals and what's open in Las Vegas over Labor Day Posted: 02 Sep 2020 06:55 PM PDT  Resorts, casinos and restaurants are open but bars are not. Vegas still manages to draw some of its fans despite the pandemic
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| A barista at a Target Starbucks was fired for a satirical TikTok showing how to make a 'Blue Lives Matter' drink with 'bleach' Posted: 03 Sep 2020 01:41 PM PDT  A barista who made a "Blue Lives Matter" drink in a TikTok video was fired, according to Target, which housed the Starbucks store near Indianapolis.
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| The Democrats’ Dangerous Delegitimization of the Election Posted: 03 Sep 2020 12:14 PM PDT  A recent deep dive in the Washington Post's Outlook section, "What's the Worst That Could Happen?" exploring various potential outcomes of the 2020 presidential election, found that in "every scenario except a Biden landslide, our simulation ended catastrophically." According to the Post, any other outcome is destined to spark "violence" and a "constitutional crisis."Or, in other words, nice country you got there . . .Every assumption in the article, written by Rosa Brooks, a Georgetown University law professor and co-founder of the Transition Integrity Project, is awash in the conspiratorial paranoia that's infected the modern Democratic Party. It's a world where Trump officials -- played, quite implausibly, by Joe Biden partisans Michael Steele and Bill Kristol -- are "ruthless and unconstrained right out of the gate" but the genteel statesmen of Team Biden "struggled to get out of reaction mode." It is place where Republicans aren't only reflexively seditious and autocratic, but a "highly politicized" Supreme Court tries to steal the election.In their "war game" scenarios, however, it's the Democrats who refuse to accept the will of courts to adhere to the constitutionally prescribed system rather than hysteria, and it's the Democrats who wishcast the wholly imaginary "popular vote" into existence.One of the scenarios, we learn, "doesn't look that different from 2016" -- a contest in which, it must be pointed out, not one vote has been proven to be uncounted or altered. In that outcome, America is confronted with "a big popular win for Mr. Biden, and a narrow electoral defeat."In the real world, incidentally, that scenario is called a "Trump victory."In the fictional war game, however, John Podesta, playing the role of Biden, contends that his party won't let him concede the race, and instead alleges "voter suppression" -- the catch-all go-to every time a Democrat loses -- and persuades the Democratic governors of Trump-won states such as Wisconsin and Michigan to send pro-Biden electors to the Electoral College. In the meantime, California, Oregon, and Washington threaten to secede from the union if Trump takes office. The Democratic House unilaterally names Biden president. "At that point in the scenario," the New York Times' Ben Smith explains, "the nation stopped looking to the media for cues, and waited to see what the military would do."This scenario is what a real-life "coup" might resemble. It is, needless to say, utterly insane that Democrats would destroy the nation's long-standing and peaceful transition because they refuse to accept the mandated process of electing the president. All of which is to say the proactive -- and retroactive -- delegitimization of the Trump presidency has been a successful four-year project. It permeates the entire Democratic Party's information complex.First, Democrats convinced millions of Americans that a handful of inept and puerile social-media ads were enough to overturn a presidential election in the most powerful nation on earth. By 2017, a majority of Democrats believed that vote tallies had been tampered with by Russians, somehow without a trace of evidence.Since then, Democrats have been working to convince themselves there is no legitimate way in which Trump could win the election again. A large number of high-profile left-wing columnists have laid the groundwork to make this case and high-profile politicians have joined them. Hillary Clinton's advice to Biden not long ago was to not concede defeat on the night of the November 3 election no matter what happens. In January during the impeachment trial, Representative Adam Schiff said, "The President's misconduct cannot be decided at the ballot box, for we cannot be assured that the vote will be fairly won." House speaker Nancy Pelosi has noted that "Let the election decide'" is a "dangerous position" position because Trump is already "jeopardizing the integrity of the 2020 elections.""It's worth pointing out that *almost* no one thinks Trump will actually win more votes," Chris Hayes told his followers not long ago. "I think if he wins the electoral college and loses the popular vote *again* you're looking at the worst legitimacy crisis since secession."A far bigger crisis for the United States is that liberal pundits tell their audience that the method of winning an election in the United States, one that every president in history of the country relied on, should be considered a crisis of legitimacy.What is worth pointing out as well is that the dynamics of the presidential election would be completely different if the popular vote actually existed. But candidates do not compete for the popular vote, so they can neither "win" nor "lose" it. If they did try to win the popular vote, they would cater to the largest population centers, and no one else, and elections would look very different. I'm not sure that that setup would work out for Democrats exactly as they imagine, but it doesn't matter. A popular vote undercuts federalism, one of the foundational ideas of the Founding. And that's the point.If you haven't noticed, it's working. A recent USA Today poll found that 28 percent of Biden's supporters say they aren't prepared to accept a Trump victory as "fairly won," and 19 percent of President Trump's supporters say the same about a potential Biden victory. So a significant minority of American voters don't believe the next election will be legitimate before it has even been conducted. What happens when every long line at the polls and every Facebook meme and every delayed mail-in ballot is turned into a nefarious plot by the enemy to snatch democracy from the rightful winner? It's going to be ugly, indeed. If their "war games" are to be believed, that's what Democrats are counting on.Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article stated that "almost half" of Americans doubt the legitimacy of the next election. It has been updated to more accurately reflect the poll numbers it cites.
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| Israel announces partial national lockdown after coronavirus surge Posted: 03 Sep 2020 10:59 AM PDT  Israel will impose a partial national lockdown next week to battle a coronavirus infection surge, the head of its pandemic task force said on Thursday, shouting his exasperation in an emotional television address. The health official, Ronni Gamzu, said Israel was facing a "pivotal moment" in trying to contain the spread of COVID-19, with some 3,000 new cases now reported daily in a population of nine million. Other health experts have said political in-fighting among members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government has led to a slow response to a second wave of cases after a national lockdown flattened the infection curve in May.
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| Fauci breaks with Trump on COVID-19 herd immunity: ‘That’s certainly not my approach’ Posted: 02 Sep 2020 01:29 PM PDT  "That's not a fundamental strategy that we're using."
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| China's Military Has Surpassed US in Ships, Missiles and Air Defense, DoD Report Finds Posted: 02 Sep 2020 03:38 AM PDT  China's military is already superior to the U.S. in several respects and is aiming for total dominance.
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| Nile dam row: US cuts aid to Ethiopia Posted: 03 Sep 2020 03:14 AM PDT  Ethiopia has begun filling the mega dam before reaching an agreement with Sudan and Egypt.
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| Black Lives Matter supporters disrupt Loeffler event Posted: 03 Sep 2020 01:36 PM PDT  U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler has made opposition to the demands of the Black Lives Matter movement a centerpiece of her effort to win conservative support in her campaign, and Thursday, supporters of the movement again pushed back. A former state Senate candidate and one other woman shouted down Loeffler when she made a campaign appearance with U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton in a northern Atlanta suburb. The protesters began to chant "Black lives matter!" after one of them shouted questions critical of Loeffler's description of Black Lives Matter.
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| 'You shoot at the police, expect us to shoot back': Ohio sheriff responds to protest 'lawlessness' Posted: 03 Sep 2020 03:03 PM PDT  Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said in a statement Wednesday that he won't allow individuals to harm his deputies.
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| Facebook said it removed 2 of Rep. Clay Higgins' posts for violating the company's policies against inciting violence after the congressman suggested killing armed protesters Posted: 03 Sep 2020 02:43 PM PDT  Rep. Clay Higgins wrote that he'd "drop any 10 of you where you stand" if demonstrators showed up to a Louisiana protest with guns.
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| Meghan and Archie to sue in UK after court hears they were 'papped' while out dog walking Posted: 03 Sep 2020 08:25 AM PDT  The Duchess of Sussex and her baby son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor are suing a photo agency which "papped" them while dog walking in Canada, as a court hears claims she "knew everything that was going on" but "carried on walking". Archie, who is one, and his mother are both listed as claimants in the case, heard for the first time at the High Court in London today and the latest in the Sussexes' battle with the tabloid press. The pictures showed the Duchess carrying Archie in a sling while walking near their temporary home on Vancouver Island, Canada, in January, smiling broadly and holding her two dogs on a lead while security walked at a distance behind her. At a remote hearing on Wednesday, the Duchess's barrister Jonathan Barnes said Meghan and her son were "papped" by a photographer for the US arm of the Splash News and Pictures Agency which then sold the images. The agency argues that the Duchess "knew everything that was going on and was a volunteer in the sense that she carried on walking when she knew she was being photographed", the court heard. The case is being brought by the Duchess in her own right, and she is listed as a "litigation friend" for Archie, a legal term meaning she is appointed to make decisions about the court case for her child.
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| Electoral college explained: how Biden faces an uphill battle in the US election Posted: 01 Sep 2020 11:30 PM PDT  Trump won the presidency in 2016 despite Clinton receiving almost 3m more votes, all because of the electoral college. How does the system work? Who elects the US president?When Americans cast their ballots for the US president, they are actually voting for a representative of that candidate's party known as an elector. There are 538 electors who then vote for the president on behalf of the people in their state.Each state is assigned a certain number of these electoral votes, based on the number of congressional districts they have, plus two additional votes representing the state's Senate seats. Washington DC is also assigned three electoral votes, despite having no voting representation in Congress. A majority of 270 of these votes is needed to win the presidency.The process of nominating electors varies by state and by party, but is generally done one of two ways. Ahead of the election, political parties either choose electors at their national conventions, or they are voted for by the party's central committee.The electoral college nearly always operates with a winner-takes-all system, in which the candidate with the highest number of votes in a state claims all of that state's electoral votes. For example, in 2016, Trump beat Clinton in Florida by a margin of just 2.2%, but that meant he claimed all 29 of Florida's crucial electoral votes.Such small margins in a handful of key swing states meant that, regardless of Clinton's national vote lead, Trump was able to clinch victory in several swing states and therefore win more electoral college votes. Biden could face the same hurdle in November, meaning he will need to focus his attention on a handful of battleground states to win the presidency.A chart showing electoral college votes by state The unequal distribution of electoral votesWhile the number of electoral votes a state is assigned somewhat reflects its population, the minimum of three votes per state means that the relative value of electoral votes varies across America.The least populous states like North and South Dakota and the smaller states of New England are overrepresented because of the required minimum of three electoral votes. Meanwhile, the states with the most people – California, Texas and Florida – are underrepresented in the electoral college. Wyoming has one electoral college vote for every 193,000 people, compared with California's rate of one electoral vote per 718,000 people. This means that each electoral vote in California represents over three times as many people as one in Wyoming. These disparities are repeated across the country.A visual of population per electoral vote by state Who does it favour?Experts have warned that, after returning two presidents that got fewer votes than their opponents since 2000, the electoral college is flawed. In 2000, Al Gore won over half a million more votes than Bush, yet Bush became president after winning Florida by just 537 votes.A chart showing recent election outcomes by popular vote and electoral college marginsProfessor George Edwards III, at Texas A&M University, said: "The electoral college violates the core tenet of democracy, that all votes count equally and allows the candidate finishing second to win the election. Why hold an election if we do not care who received the most votes?"At the moment, the electoral college favours Republicans because of the way Republican votes are distributed across the country. They are more likely to occur in states that are closely divided between the parties."Under the winner-takes-all system, the margin of victory in a state becomes irrelevant. In 2016, Clinton's substantial margins in states such as California and New York failed to earn her enough electoral votes, while close races in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Michigan took Trump over the 270 majority.A visual showing margins and electoral votes by state gained by Trump and Clinton in 2016As candidates easily win the electoral votes of their solid states, the election plays out in a handful of key battlegrounds. In 2016, Trump won six such states - Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – adding 99 electoral votes to his total. The demographics of these states differ from the national average. They are older, have more white voters without college degrees, and often have smaller non-white populations. These characteristics generally favour Republicans, and made up the base of Trump's votes in 2016.For example, 67% of non-college-educated white people voted for Trump in 2016. In all six swing states, this demographic is overrepresented by at least six percentage points more than the national average. default The alternativesSeveral alternative systems for electing the president have been proposed and grown in favour, as many seek to change or abolish the electoral college.Two states – Maine and Nebraska – already use a different method of assigning their electoral college votes. The two "Senate" votes go to the state-wide popular vote winner, but the remaining district votes are awarded to the winner of that district. However, implementing this congressional district method across the country could result in greater bias than the current system. The popular vote winner could still lose the election, and the distribution of voters would still strongly favour Republicans. The National Popular Vote Compact (NPVC) is another option, in which each state would award all of its electoral college votes in line with the national popular vote. If enough states signed up to this agreement to reach the 270 majority, the candidate who gained the most votes nationwide would always win the presidency. However, the NPVC has more practical issues. Professor Norman Williams, from Willamette University, questioned how a nationwide recount would be carried out under the NPVC, and said that partisanship highlighted its major flaws. Only Democratic states are currently signed up, but support could simply switch in the future if a Republican candidate faces winning the popular vote but not the presidency.The NPVC is a solution that would elect the president with the most votes without the difficulty of abolishing the electoral college that is enshrined in the constitution. In 1787, the Founding Fathers could not decide on the best system to elect the president. Some delegates opposed a straight nomination by Congress, while others wanted to limit the influence of a potentially uninformed public and the power a populist candidate could have with a direct popular vote. The resulting electoral college, with electors acting as intermediaries for their states, is their compromise. This system also invoked a clause known as the three-fifths compromise between northern and southern delegates, as they debated how slavery would affect a state's representation. Their agreement was that three-fifths of enslaved individuals (who could not vote) would count towards a state's population, awarding a disproportionate amount of power in the electoral college to the southern states. While the 13th amendment which abolished slavery in effect removed the three-fifths clause, the impacts of an unbalanced electoral college with unequal representation remain. The current system is still vulnerable to distorted outcomes through actions such as gerrymandering. This practice involves precisely redrawing the borders of districts to concentrate support in favour of a party. The result being abnormally shaped districts that disenfranchise certain groups of voters.Today, an amendment that would replace the college with a direct national popular vote is seen by many as the fairest electoral system.According to Professor Edwards III, "There is only one appropriate way to elect the president: add up all the votes and declare the candidate receiving the most votes the winner."default
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| Health officials warn U.S. is not ready to roll out COVID-19 vaccine Posted: 02 Sep 2020 01:50 PM PDT  While one or more vaccine could be available toward the end of this year or early next, the path to delivering vaccines to 330 million people remains unclear for the local health officials expected to carry out the work.
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| Duped by Russia, freelancers ensnared in disinformation campaign by promise of easy money Posted: 02 Sep 2020 12:58 PM PDT  When freelance journalist Laura Walters submitted a 1,000 word article about Chinese political influence in New Zealand to her new editors at non-profit media outlet Peace Data, the response was emphatic. "I'd like to express our deep gratitude for your work," wrote Peace Data communications manager Alice Schultz in a June 15 email seen by Reuters. "It's hard to believe how totalitarian countries like China (or Russia) are finding their ways to meddle even in the strongest democracies around the globe."
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| Cuomo Claims Trump ‘Better Have an Army’ if He Comes to NYC after White House Looks Into Cutting Funding to ‘Anarchist’ Cities Posted: 03 Sep 2020 06:30 AM PDT  New York Governor Andrew Cuomo warned Wednesday that President Trump had "better have an army" to ensure his safety if he visits New York City following reports that Trump is weighing pulling federal funding from "anarchist jurisdictions" including New York.Trump released a memo on Wednesday ordering all federal agencies to provide evaluations to the White House Office of Management and Budget outlining which federal funds could be rerouted from "lawless" cities that "permitted violence and the destruction of property to persist and have refused to undertake reasonable measures." The president singled out New York in particular and also mentioned Washington, D.C., Seattle, and Portland as potential targets of the move to withhold funding."It's cheap, it's political, it's gratuitous, and it's illegal," Cuomo said at an emergency press briefing called to address Trump's order."He can't have enough bodyguards to walk through New York City," the Democratic governor said. "Forget bodyguards. He better have an army if he thinks he's going to walk down the street in New York. New Yorkers don't want to have anything to do with him." After riots broke out following the police custody death of George Floyd in May, New York City's murder rate shot up 59 percent in July compared to last year, and shootings spiked 177 percent. Meanwhile, the City Council agreed in July to cut $1 billion from the NYPD budget."To ensure that Federal funds are neither unduly wasted nor spent in a manner that directly violates our Government's promise to protect life, liberty, and property, it is imperative that the Federal Government review the use of Federal funds by jurisdictions that permit anarchy, violence, and destruction in America's cities," Trump's memo states."In light of this unconscionable rise in violence, I have offered to provide Federal law enforcement assistance, but both Mayor de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo have rejected my offer," Trump says in the memo.New York City receives about $7 billion a year in federal funding."From the point of view of New York City, [Trump] has been the worst president," Cuomo said. "President Ford said drop dead. President Trump has been actively trying to kill New York City ever since he was elected."A senior advisor to Cuomo afterwards clarified the governor's threatening remarks, saying that what Cuomo mean is that Trump is "persona non grata after everything he did to his now abandoned home town."
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| 5 things to know about Japan's World War II surrender Posted: 01 Sep 2020 08:11 PM PDT  Wednesday is the anniversary of the formal Sept. 2, 1945, surrender of Japan to the United States, when documents were signed officially ending years of bloody fighting in a ceremony aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. A: An abbreviation for Victory over Japan Day, marked by the United States and its allies in the war and by the Asian victims of Japan who won their liberation from years of atrocities and oppression. Others, including the United States, mark the day on Sept. 2, while the Philippines, China and Russia observe Sept. 3.
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| Her neighbors called for help. When cops showed up, they attacked a domestic abuse victim. Posted: 03 Sep 2020 06:18 PM PDT  Without provocation, Texas deputies slammed a domestic violence victim to the ground and threatened to Tase her. Afterward, they blamed her.
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| Toronto crash: Passengers ignored safety commands, report finds Posted: 03 Sep 2020 08:50 AM PDT  A report reveals how passengers ignored safety advice after a plane collided with a fuel tanker.
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| Airlines are selling in-flight meals for people who aren't flying but really miss eating on a plane Posted: 02 Sep 2020 04:43 AM PDT  Airlines have begun selling in-flight meals and other surplus airline goodies to grounded passengers as the pandemic continues to hammer the industry.
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| Kenosha shooting suspect Kyle Rittenhouse has become a potent symbol for the right, and experts say Trump's refusal to disavow him makes things worse Posted: 03 Sep 2020 06:56 AM PDT  President Donald Trump suggested the shooter was "trying to get away" from people attacking him when he opened fire, while others, too, defended him.
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| The Navy sent him to prison for smuggling explosives. A ‘wanted’ poster for him was sent to the Keys Posted: 03 Sep 2020 05:41 PM PDT  A U.S. Navy sailor on the lam for almost 15 years after escaping military prison in Washington state where he was beginning a three-year sentence for trying to smuggle explosives into the country could be in South Florida, officials say.
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| North Korean troops, vehicles seen preparing for huge parade, U.S. think-tank says Posted: 01 Sep 2020 07:14 PM PDT |
| Shots fired, and 2 Black Florida men worry about justice Posted: 02 Sep 2020 02:58 PM PDT  Minutes after pulling into a Florida strip mall parking lot, gunshots rang out in the darkness. Charles McMillon told his 10-year-old son and another passenger to take cover. McMillon, who is Black, said a white couple approached with guns in their hands.
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| It Doesn’t Matter Who Is Pushing for Masks, This GOP Governor’s Answer Is No Posted: 02 Sep 2020 01:13 AM PDT  Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt hasn't been willing to order masks statewide in his conservative stronghold no matter who's come calling. He hasn't been willing to take further steps requiring face coverings as a public health measure even as local mayors have hoped to see more action from the governor. When the head of a House subcommittee charged with monitoring COVID response scolded him for his approach, he didn't budge. Even after some Republican governors relented and ordered facial coverings as the coronavirus ravaged their states, Stitt hasn't moved. Not even reports from the White House Coronavirus Task Force that have recommended in recent weeks that the state implement a mask requirement has changed his mind. "I'm not going to mandate something statewide," Stitt said during a press conference Tuesday, saying the decision should be left to the local level. "Every community is different." That lack of follow-through from the governor has disappointed some elected officials in the state as they try to contain the coronavirus through a patchwork of local mask requirements. As of Monday, 17 cities and towns had mask ordinances according to the Oklahoma State Medical Association. "It really is much less effective than if the governor would take action,"said John Browne, the Democratic mayor of McAlester, Oklahoma. "Because I can have a mask requirement in my town and the town next door not have it. So you're not getting the benefit that you would get if everyone were following the same rules." The push for a statewide mask order has continued as documents from the White House Coronavirus Task Force have shown the state's coronavirus situation at an alarming level. In the most recent report published online and dated Aug. 23, the task force said the state had the "12th highest rate in the nation," for new cases out of 100,00 population as well as the "8th highest rate in the nation," when it came to positive COVID-19 tests. "With the continued geographic expansion of COVID-19 spread, a mask mandate needs to be implemented statewide (in counties with greater than 20 cases) to decrease community transmission," the report says. "Bars must be closed and indoor dining must be restricted in yellow and red zone counties and metro areas." In earlier reports dating back to Aug. 2 the task force had also recommended statewide mask action, saying bluntly in the Aug. 16 report "mask mandate needs to be implemented statewide to decrease community transmission." Those reports, which the state began posting online late last month, were only made public by the state after Stitt caved to outcry from officials, according to The Oklahoman. "We're a very red state and you have the Trump administration and the White House task force that are recommending that we have a mask mandate, so I don't understand it politically," said Dr. Dale Bratzler, the chief COVID officer for the University of Oklahoma who supports a statewide mask order. "I don't think there's any good political reason not to have a mandate. I just don't get it." An email seeking comment for this story from Stitt's office was not returned this week. Oklahoma was also highlighted as a place of concern by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis on Monday. In a scathing statement paired with the weeks of state by state reports from the White House Coronavirus Task Force, House Majority Whip James Clyburn, the head of the select subcommittee, said "the President and his enablers kept these alarming reports private while publicly downplaying the threat to millions of Americans." The committee's press release went on to note that from June 23 on Oklahoma was among 14 states in a dangerous "red zone," category that avoided ordering masks across their respective states. "When people are giving you guidance and you're not following it, what kind of message are you sending to your residents?" said Breea Clark, a Democrat serving as the mayor of Norman where a mask requirement is in place, told The Daily Beast. "You know, I'm asking people to wear masks, but if the governor can't follow guidance from the White House, why would my residents follow guidance from their mayor?" Stitt's approach has been problematic at times throughout the pandemic. In mid-March, the governor was called out for posting a photo with his family at a busy restaurant even as the coronavirus was in the early stages of causing problems in the United States. By late April and early May, he was at the forefront of Republican governors rushing to begin reopening from the pandemic. And in June, despite well-founded fears about the president holding an indoor rally, he enthusiastically embraced President Donald Trump campaigning in his state. By July, the governor announced he had tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the first governor in the nation to publicly announce a positive test. On Tuesday, Stitt donned a mask while he wasn't speaking at the press conference, and urged people to "wash your hands, watch your distance and wear a mask." Some in Oklahoma, like Bixby mayor Brian Guthrie didn't take issue with Stitt's lack of action on a statewide mask order, with the Republican saying "I can stand behind him on his decision," because of how the virus is impacting parts of the state differently. And the mayor of Midwest City, where an indoor mask order is in place locally, said he could see both sides of the situation facing the governor. "I just don't know to be honest with you, I just don't know," Republican Matt Dukes said when asked if he wanted to see a statewide mask order. "I'm not trying to dodge the question, I just don't really know how much more effective it would be than doing it at a local jurisdictional level." Mask mandates, though initially resisted by Republican governors, have become more widely accepted throughout the summer. States led by conservative governors like Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi eventually conceded to statewide mask orders as the virus situations in their states grew more concerning. But even after the president publicly came around on wearing a mask in public, that messaging has become more difficult for GOP officials following the largely maskless crowd that Trump invited to the lawn of the White House for his GOP nomination speech last week. As a part of their investigation into the guidance Oklahoma received from the Trump administration, Clyburn wrote to Stitt on July 29 that the governor "appears to be following the contradictory public messaging coming from the Administration." In subsequent letters to Clyburn, Stitt defended his approach emphasizing in one "we believe strongly in providing local municipalities with data that enable them to make the right decisions for their residents." But that deference to localities is leading to clear concern for some cities who have taken the extra step of a mask requirement, even as many others haven't. "The communities that are trying to be safe and protect its citizens is having an extra difficult time doing that because of the lack of participation of other cities and towns," Anadarko mayor Kyle Eastwood said. Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| China rails against 'discriminatory' India app ban Posted: 03 Sep 2020 02:19 AM PDT  China on Thursday decried a fresh ban by India on scores of Chinese apps -- including the hit game PUBG -- as a bitter border showdown seeped out into the tech sphere.
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