Senor Insomne
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'It's like night and day': Trudeau's and Trump's Covid-19 responses fuel wildly different outcomes
Leyland Cecco in Toronto
Thu 9 Jul 2020 05.15 EDT
Last modified on Thu 9 Jul 2020 16.00 EDT
Donald Trump marked the Fourth of July with an apocalyptic speech at Mount Rushmore in which he stoked partisan grievance and deployed racist dog whistles, ignoring calls for unity as coronavirus cases surge.
Three days earlier, Justin Trudeau chose a more low-key location to celebrate Canada’s own national holiday. The prime minister and his family were photographed harvesting vegetables at an Ottawa food bank farm. Unlike Trump and most of his supporters, they all wore face-masks as they sorted through bundles of broccoli.
The appearances by the two image-conscious leaders were emblematic of two wildly different leadership styles during the pandemic, which have helped one country slow the virus – and plunged the other into its worst health crisis in recent history.
As the US blew past 3 million infections on Wednesday, Trudeau expressed cautious optimism that Canada had stabilized the outbreak, and took a rare public jab at the Trump administration’s efforts during the pandemic.
“We were able to control the virus better than many of our allies, particularly including our neighbour,” Trudeau said.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/09/canada-coronavirus-us-justin-trudeau-donald-trump
Yes, I'm a fan of Trudeau. I suspect I may not be alone here.
Thomas Friedman, NYT: Biden Should Not Debate Trump Unless
First, Biden should declare that he will take part in a debate only if Trump releases his tax returns for 2016 through 2018. Biden has already done so, and they are on his website. Trump must, too. No more gifting Trump something he can attack while hiding his own questionable finances.
And second, Biden should insist that a real-time fact-checking team approved by both candidates be hired by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates — and that 10 minutes before the scheduled conclusion of the debate this team report on any misleading statements, phony numbers or outright lies either candidate had uttered. That way no one in that massive television audience can go away easily misled.
Debates always have ground rules. Why can’t telling the truth and equal transparency on taxes be conditions for this one?
Yes, the fact that we have to make truth-telling an explicit condition is an incredibly sad statement about our time; normally such things are unspoken and understood. But if the past teaches us anything, Trump might very well lie and mislead for the entire debate, forcing Biden to have to spend a majority of his time correcting Trump before making his own points.
That is not a good way for Biden to reintroduce himself to the American people. And, let’s not kid ourselves, these debates will be his reintroduction to most Americans, who have neither seen nor heard from him for months if not years.
He should not go into such a high-stakes moment ceding any advantages to Trump. Trump is badly trailing in the polls, and he needs these debates much more than Biden does to win over undecided voters. So Biden needs to make Trump pay for them in the currency of transparency and fact-checking — universal principles that will level the playing field for him and illuminate and enrich the debates for all citizens.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/07/opinion/biden-trump-debate.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
Whatever your opinion of Friedman, the fact is that he sometimes really nails it.
Facebook takes down accounts and pages of Trump ally Roger Stone
Source: Reuters
JULY 8, 2020 / 4:38 PM / UPDATED 34 MINUTES AGO
(Reuters) - Facebook Inc (FB.O) on Wednesday removed 50 personal and professional pages connected to U.S. President Donald Trump's longtime adviser Roger Stone, who is due to report to prison next week.
The social media platform said Stone and his associates, including a prominent supporter of the right-wing Proud Boys group in Stone's home state of Florida, had used fake accounts and followers to promote Stone's books and posts.
Facebook moved against Stone on the same day it took down accounts tied to employees of the family of Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro and two other networks connected to domestic political operations in Ecuador and Ukraine.
Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook's head of cybersecurity policy, said the removals were meant to show that artificially inflating engagement for political impact would be stopped, no matter how well connected the practitioners.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-disinformation-usa/facebook-takes-down-accounts-and-pages-of-trump-ally-roger-stone-idUSKBN2492YK
Posted in atonement for my earlier LBN duplicate.
Trump threatens to cut federal aid if schools don't reopen
Source: Associated Press
By COLLIN BINKLEY
5 minutes ago
Determined to reopen America’s schools despite coronavirus worries, President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to hold back federal money if school districts don’t bring their students back in the fall. He complained that his own public health officials’ safety guidelines are impractical and too expensive.
Shortly afterward, Vice President Mike Pence announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would be issuing new guidance next week “that will give all new tools to our schools.” The advice will keep students safe, he said, but “the president said today we just don’t want the guidance to be too tough. ”
Despite Trump’s increased his pressure on state and local officials, New York City announced that most of its students would return to classrooms only two or three days a week and would learn online in between. “Most schools will not be able to have all their kids in school at the same time,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Read more: https://apnews.com/93fb781c01777eaf5ce86ddc86ce7a11
You just know Trump was the kid that took his marbles and went home whenever the game wasn't going his way.
How To Pretend Systemic Racism Doesn't Exist
This was uploaded yesterday. I suggest bookmarking for later. I myself have already done so.
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