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solarbirdI'm going back to an older, more work-intensive format for these posts, at least for the moment. Headline block, then sections, each with article. I don't know that I'll keep it up, but for now, here it is, everything old is new again.
----- 1 -----
Exclusive: White House told federal health agency to classify coronavirus deliberations - sources
Aram Roston, Marisa Taylor
March 11, 2020
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-secrecy-exclusive-idUSKBN20Y2LM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House has ordered federal health officials to treat top-level coronavirus meetings as classified, an unusual step that has restricted information and hampered the U.S. government’s response to the contagion, according to four Trump administration officials.
The officials said that dozens of classified discussions about such topics as the scope of infections, quarantines and travel restrictions have been held since mid-January in a high-security meeting room at the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), a key player in the fight against the coronavirus.
Staffers without security clearances, including government experts, were excluded from the interagency meetings, which included video conference calls, the sources said.
“We had some very critical people who did not have security clearances who could not go,” one official said. “These should not be classified meetings. It was unnecessary.”
----- 2 -----
Trump administration isn't backing off proposed cuts to CDC budget
In early February, the White House unveiled a budget that called for deep CDC cuts. Yesterday, the administration refused to back down.
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trump-administration-isn-t-backing-proposed-cuts-cdc-budget-n1155411
March 11, 2020, 6:20 AM PDT
By Steve Benen
It was a month ago yesterday when the White House released its official budget for the coming fiscal year, to the delight of Donald Trump's political opponents. Writing for Esquire, Charles P. Pierce took a look at the latest blueprint and concluded the document deserved to be seen as "political suicide."
As we discussed at the time, it was a reasonable assessment. Trump's budget is brutal towards Americans struggling most. It proposes slashing health care investments. It eyes cuts to education and environmental safeguards. It targets the same social-insurance programs -- so called "entitlements" -- that the president swore he'd never touch.
But there was another element that Team Trump probably didn't appreciate the significance of at the time: as the coronavirus threat was just starting to come into focus in early February, the White House recommended significant cuts to investments at the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
To be sure, this president had called for deep cuts to the CDC budget before, and Congress ignored those requests. But calling for CDC cuts in the midst of a global viral outbreak seemed especially bizarre.
Stranger still, the White House apparently hasn't changed its mind. The Hill reported yesterday:
"Russ Vought, the acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, on Tuesday doubled down on proposed cuts to health services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), despite the coronavirus outbreak."
----- 3 -----
Senate GOP Blocks Emergency Paid Sick Leave Bill From Moving Forward
The legislation put forth by Democrats would guarantee 14 days of paid leave for workers affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
headshot
By Dave Jamieson
11 March 2020
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/senate-gop-blocks-emergency-paid-sick-leave-legislation-from-moving-forward_n_5e691016c5b68d61645ebff9
Democrats hoping to pass an emergency paid sick leave bill to deal with the fallout from the coronavirus were stymied by Senate Republicans on Wednesday.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) tried to speed the measure up for a vote on the Senate floor through a procedural maneuver, but an objection from Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) prevented the bill from bypassing the Republican-controlled health committee.
Murray noted that many people who don’t have paid leave through their jobs will inevitably miss work due to being sick or quarantined in the coming weeks. She argued that guaranteed paid leave was important both for public health and the good of the broader economy.
----- 4 -----
Trump administration orders immigration courts to remove coronavirus posters– then takes it back
By Monique O. Madan
March 10, 2020
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article241046076.html
Immigration court staff nationwide were ordered by the Trump administration to take down all coronavirus posters from courtrooms and waiting areas.
The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which falls under the Department of Justice, told all judges and staff members in an email Monday that all coronavirus posters, which explain in English and Spanish how to prevent catching and spreading the virus, had to be removed immediately.
----- 5 -----
Trump order expected on medical supplies amid virus outbreak
March 11, 2020
By Lisa Mascaro
The Associated Press
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/trump-order-expected-on-medical-supplies-amid-outbreak/
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is expected to announce an executive order insisting on American-made medical supplies and pharmaceuticals in response to the coronavirus outbreak, according to a person familiar with the plan, as the White House begins to come to grips with the severity of the situation.
Word about the planned announcement, from a person who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity, comes amid tumult Wednesday in the unfolding crisis. Confirmed cases in the United States are topping 1,000, fluctuations in the financial markets are continuing and Washington is straining to respond.
The White House is also considering a host of more aggressive responses to free up additional federal dollars and to address concerns that the administration’s initial response to the pandemic was insufficient.
----- 6 -----
[Republican] Senator says restaurant employees shouldn’t be required to wash their hands
By Colby Itkowitz
Politics reporter
Feb. 3, 2015
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2015/02/03/the-next-public-health-debate-hand-washing/
Once we’re done debating whether children should be vaccinated, we can move on to other pressing public health questions, such as whether eateries can force their employees to wash their hands after they use the bathroom.
At least one freshman U.S. senator thinks, “nah.” Because freedom.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), at the end of an appearance Monday at the Bipartisan Policy Center, volunteered a story about “his bias when it comes to regulatory reform.”
Tillis said he was at a Starbucks in 2010 talking to a woman about regulations and where businesses should be allowed to opt out. His coffee companion challenged him, asking whether employees there should be required to wash their hands.
“As a matter of fact I think this is one where I think I can illustrate the point,” he recalled telling her. “I don’t have any problem with Starbucks if they choose to opt out of this policy as long as they post a sign that says we don’t require our employees to wash their hands after leaving the restroom. The market will take care of that. It’s one example.” (Is requiring a sign not a regulation?)
----- 7 -----
The Extraordinary Decisions Facing Italian Doctors
There are now simply too many patients for each one of them to receive adequate care.
11 March 2020
Yascha Mounk
Contributing writer at The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/who-gets-hospital-bed/607807/
Two weeks ago, Italy had 322 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. At that point, doctors in the country’s hospitals could lavish significant attention on each stricken patient.
One week ago, Italy had 2,502 cases of the virus, which causes the disease known as COVID-19. At that point, doctors in the country’s hospitals could still perform the most lifesaving functions by artificially ventilating patients who experienced acute breathing difficulties.
Today, Italy has 10,149 cases of the coronavirus. There are now simply too many patients for each one of them to receive adequate care. Doctors and nurses are unable to tend to everybody. They lack machines to ventilate all those gasping for air.
Now the Italian College of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care (SIAARTI) has published guidelines for the criteria that doctors and nurses should follow in these extraordinary circumstances. The document begins by likening the moral choices facing Italian doctors to the forms of wartime triage that are required in the field of “catastrophe medicine.” Instead of providing intensive care to all patients who need it, its authors suggest, it is becoming necessary to follow “the most widely shared criteria regarding distributive justice and the appropriate allocation of limited health resources.”
----- 8 -----
Yascha Mounk
twitter.com/Yascha_Mounk
6:27 AM · Mar 11, 2020
[EDITOR: READ THREAD]
https://twitter.com/Yascha_Mounk/status/1237731864233807872
The Italian College of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care just published the most extraordinary medical document I’ve ever seen.
To help people from Germany to America understand what we’re about to face, I am publishing translated extracts here.
[Thread.]
----- 9 -----
Coronavirus: Could the US do what Italy has done?
BBC News
2020/3/11
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51804664
As coronavirus sweeps across the US, American officials have warned that mandatory prevention measures may be necessary to stop its spread. But is the US willing to go as far as Italy - another democracy - or even authoritarian China?
Italy has banned mass gatherings and barred from citizens travelling outside of their home region.
China has forced more than 50 million citizens to self-isolate and even threatened severe penalties, including death, for quarantine breakers.
So what measures is the US willing to take, and could coronavirus besiege an American city?
----- 10 -----
Ella
twitter.com/latentexistence
7:21 AM · Mar 10, 2020
https://twitter.com/latentexistence/status/1237382960938180608
I see we've gone from "only the vulnerable will die" to "it's good that the vulnerable will die"
(From The Telegraph https://telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/03/03/does-fed-know-something-rest-us-do-not-panicked-interest-rate/ )
[IMAGE] Screenshot reads: COVID-19 might even prove mildly beneficial in the long term by disproportionately culling elderly dependents.
----- 11 -----
Inslee orders halt on large gatherings in Seattle region, asks schools to prepare for closure, to slow coronavirus spread
By David Gutman
Seattle Times staff reporter
11 March 2020
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/inslee-orders-halt-on-large-gatherings-in-seattle-region-asks-schools-to-prepare-for-closure-to-slow-coronavirus-spread/
Gov. Jay Inslee ordered a halt Wednesday to all gatherings of more than 250 people in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, and ordered schools across the state to immediately begin contingency planning for potential closures in the next several days.
The moves mark the strongest action the state has taken to date to try to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus in the Puget Sound region, which has become the epicenter of a burgeoning national crisis.
Shortly after Inslee’s announcement, Seattle Public Schools, the state’s largest school district, announced that schools would close for a minimum of two weeks.
Flanked by the leaders of Seattle, Tacoma and Everett, and of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, Inslee said he was ordering the cancellation of large church services, sporting events, concerts, festivals and conventions.
“Today I am ordering, pursuant to my emergency powers, that certain events in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties with more than 250 people are prohibited by order of the governor,” Inslee said, at a King County government building in downtown Seattle. The three counties are “experiencing significant community transmission, significant outbreaks and they are large population centers.”
The order is in effect through the end of March, Inslee said, but it is “highly likely” it will be extended beyond that time. He said that 250 is not a “magic number” but they believed that gatherings less than that size are more manageable to keep people from being closely squeezed together.
----- 12 -----
Democratic Anger Toward Trump Higher In Washington Than Any Other Primary State So Far According to Exit Polls
By Aila Slisco On 3/10/20
https://www.newsweek.com/democratic-anger-toward-trump-higher-washington-any-other-primary-state-so-far-according-exit-1491600
Democratic voters in Washington state have the most anger towards President Donald Trump and his administration out of the six states that were voting in presidential primaries on Tuesday.
Trump provoked rage in 83 percent of voters casting ballots in Washington, according to an NBC News exit poll. A majority of voters in Missouri and Michigan also felt rage towards the administration, with 67 and 63 percent expressing hostility, respectively. Only 49 percent of Mississippi voters felt the same way, the lowest proportion reported in the states surveyed.
Exit polls from earlier primaries showed that an average of around two-thirds of Democratic voters had hostile attitudes about Trump, with around eight percent saying they had positive feelings.
----- 13 -----
Poll workers mistakenly turn away Kansas City mayor on Election Day
Shain Bergan, Abby Dodge
Posted on Mar 10, 2020
https://www.kctv5.com/politics/poll-workers-mistakenly-turn-away-kansas-city-mayor-on-election/article_8e2b2c5e-62cc-11ea-89ac-1ba48ed21669.html
KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV/AP) -- Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas was turned away from his polling location Tuesday morning because poll workers mistakenly thought he wasn't in the election database's system.
Lucas, a Democrat, made a video about the importance of voting before he headed into his normal polling location, Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, to cast his ballot shortly after 7 a.m. But he said a worker couldn't find his name in the system, even though he had cast ballots for himself at the site several times during 11 years of voting there.
...
Lucas went on say, "We will be following up. Most people don't have my privilege to come back."
----- 14 -----
In the Taliban-U.S. Agreement, Everybody Wins—Except the Women
Opinion
Sam Hill
On 3/10/20
https://www.newsweek.com/afghanistan-taliban-kabul-women-rights-1491535
On February 29 in Doha, Qatar, the U.S. signed a peace agreement with the Taliban. Each side gets what it wants most. The US gets to bring home the 12,000 US troops stationed in Afghanistan, as well as a promise from the Taliban to never again allow Afghanistan to serve as a base for terrorist attacks on America. The Taliban gets an end to the American occupation, which means they will be free to do as they wish unless the weak and unpopular Afghan government can stop them. That's very bad news for Afghan women.
We've seen this movie before. In the 1920's King Amanullah Khan tried to modernize Afghanistan—creating schools for girls, ending strict dress codes for women, and abolishing child marriage. Anti-reformers revolted in 1924 in what is called the Khost Rebellion. It was suppressed but only after 14,000 people died. The king was forced to abdicate in 1929 by a mullah, who closed all the schools within nine months and called girls studying overseas back home.
- Exclusive: White House told federal health agency to classify coronavirus deliberations - sources
- Trump administration isn't backing off proposed cuts to CDC budget
- Senate GOP Blocks Emergency Paid Sick Leave Bill From Moving Forward
- Trump administration orders immigration courts to remove coronavirus posters– then takes it back
- Trump order expected on medical supplies amid virus outbreak [WORSE THAN IT LOOKS]
- [Republican] Senator says restaurant employees shouldn’t be required to wash their hands
- The Extraordinary Decisions Facing Italian Doctors
- The Italian College of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care just published the most extraordinary medical document I’ve ever seen.
- Coronavirus: Could the US do what Italy has done?
- Inslee orders halt on large gatherings in Seattle region, asks schools to prepare for closure, to slow coronavirus spread
- Democratic Anger Toward Trump Higher In Washington Than Any Other Primary State So Far According to Exit Polls
- Poll workers mistakenly turn away Kansas City mayor on Election Day
- In the Taliban-U.S. Agreement, Everybody Wins—Except the Women
----- 1 -----
Exclusive: White House told federal health agency to classify coronavirus deliberations - sources
Aram Roston, Marisa Taylor
March 11, 2020
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-secrecy-exclusive-idUSKBN20Y2LM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House has ordered federal health officials to treat top-level coronavirus meetings as classified, an unusual step that has restricted information and hampered the U.S. government’s response to the contagion, according to four Trump administration officials.
The officials said that dozens of classified discussions about such topics as the scope of infections, quarantines and travel restrictions have been held since mid-January in a high-security meeting room at the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), a key player in the fight against the coronavirus.
Staffers without security clearances, including government experts, were excluded from the interagency meetings, which included video conference calls, the sources said.
“We had some very critical people who did not have security clearances who could not go,” one official said. “These should not be classified meetings. It was unnecessary.”
----- 2 -----
Trump administration isn't backing off proposed cuts to CDC budget
In early February, the White House unveiled a budget that called for deep CDC cuts. Yesterday, the administration refused to back down.
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trump-administration-isn-t-backing-proposed-cuts-cdc-budget-n1155411
March 11, 2020, 6:20 AM PDT
By Steve Benen
It was a month ago yesterday when the White House released its official budget for the coming fiscal year, to the delight of Donald Trump's political opponents. Writing for Esquire, Charles P. Pierce took a look at the latest blueprint and concluded the document deserved to be seen as "political suicide."
As we discussed at the time, it was a reasonable assessment. Trump's budget is brutal towards Americans struggling most. It proposes slashing health care investments. It eyes cuts to education and environmental safeguards. It targets the same social-insurance programs -- so called "entitlements" -- that the president swore he'd never touch.
But there was another element that Team Trump probably didn't appreciate the significance of at the time: as the coronavirus threat was just starting to come into focus in early February, the White House recommended significant cuts to investments at the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
To be sure, this president had called for deep cuts to the CDC budget before, and Congress ignored those requests. But calling for CDC cuts in the midst of a global viral outbreak seemed especially bizarre.
Stranger still, the White House apparently hasn't changed its mind. The Hill reported yesterday:
"Russ Vought, the acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, on Tuesday doubled down on proposed cuts to health services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), despite the coronavirus outbreak."
----- 3 -----
Senate GOP Blocks Emergency Paid Sick Leave Bill From Moving Forward
The legislation put forth by Democrats would guarantee 14 days of paid leave for workers affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
headshot
By Dave Jamieson
11 March 2020
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/senate-gop-blocks-emergency-paid-sick-leave-legislation-from-moving-forward_n_5e691016c5b68d61645ebff9
Democrats hoping to pass an emergency paid sick leave bill to deal with the fallout from the coronavirus were stymied by Senate Republicans on Wednesday.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) tried to speed the measure up for a vote on the Senate floor through a procedural maneuver, but an objection from Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) prevented the bill from bypassing the Republican-controlled health committee.
Murray noted that many people who don’t have paid leave through their jobs will inevitably miss work due to being sick or quarantined in the coming weeks. She argued that guaranteed paid leave was important both for public health and the good of the broader economy.
----- 4 -----
Trump administration orders immigration courts to remove coronavirus posters– then takes it back
By Monique O. Madan
March 10, 2020
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article241046076.html
Immigration court staff nationwide were ordered by the Trump administration to take down all coronavirus posters from courtrooms and waiting areas.
The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which falls under the Department of Justice, told all judges and staff members in an email Monday that all coronavirus posters, which explain in English and Spanish how to prevent catching and spreading the virus, had to be removed immediately.
----- 5 -----
Trump order expected on medical supplies amid virus outbreak
March 11, 2020
By Lisa Mascaro
The Associated Press
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/trump-order-expected-on-medical-supplies-amid-outbreak/
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is expected to announce an executive order insisting on American-made medical supplies and pharmaceuticals in response to the coronavirus outbreak, according to a person familiar with the plan, as the White House begins to come to grips with the severity of the situation.
Word about the planned announcement, from a person who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity, comes amid tumult Wednesday in the unfolding crisis. Confirmed cases in the United States are topping 1,000, fluctuations in the financial markets are continuing and Washington is straining to respond.
The White House is also considering a host of more aggressive responses to free up additional federal dollars and to address concerns that the administration’s initial response to the pandemic was insufficient.
----- 6 -----
[Republican] Senator says restaurant employees shouldn’t be required to wash their hands
By Colby Itkowitz
Politics reporter
Feb. 3, 2015
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2015/02/03/the-next-public-health-debate-hand-washing/
Once we’re done debating whether children should be vaccinated, we can move on to other pressing public health questions, such as whether eateries can force their employees to wash their hands after they use the bathroom.
At least one freshman U.S. senator thinks, “nah.” Because freedom.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), at the end of an appearance Monday at the Bipartisan Policy Center, volunteered a story about “his bias when it comes to regulatory reform.”
Tillis said he was at a Starbucks in 2010 talking to a woman about regulations and where businesses should be allowed to opt out. His coffee companion challenged him, asking whether employees there should be required to wash their hands.
“As a matter of fact I think this is one where I think I can illustrate the point,” he recalled telling her. “I don’t have any problem with Starbucks if they choose to opt out of this policy as long as they post a sign that says we don’t require our employees to wash their hands after leaving the restroom. The market will take care of that. It’s one example.” (Is requiring a sign not a regulation?)
----- 7 -----
The Extraordinary Decisions Facing Italian Doctors
There are now simply too many patients for each one of them to receive adequate care.
11 March 2020
Yascha Mounk
Contributing writer at The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/who-gets-hospital-bed/607807/
Two weeks ago, Italy had 322 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. At that point, doctors in the country’s hospitals could lavish significant attention on each stricken patient.
One week ago, Italy had 2,502 cases of the virus, which causes the disease known as COVID-19. At that point, doctors in the country’s hospitals could still perform the most lifesaving functions by artificially ventilating patients who experienced acute breathing difficulties.
Today, Italy has 10,149 cases of the coronavirus. There are now simply too many patients for each one of them to receive adequate care. Doctors and nurses are unable to tend to everybody. They lack machines to ventilate all those gasping for air.
Now the Italian College of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care (SIAARTI) has published guidelines for the criteria that doctors and nurses should follow in these extraordinary circumstances. The document begins by likening the moral choices facing Italian doctors to the forms of wartime triage that are required in the field of “catastrophe medicine.” Instead of providing intensive care to all patients who need it, its authors suggest, it is becoming necessary to follow “the most widely shared criteria regarding distributive justice and the appropriate allocation of limited health resources.”
----- 8 -----
Yascha Mounk
twitter.com/Yascha_Mounk
6:27 AM · Mar 11, 2020
[EDITOR: READ THREAD]
https://twitter.com/Yascha_Mounk/status/1237731864233807872
The Italian College of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care just published the most extraordinary medical document I’ve ever seen.
To help people from Germany to America understand what we’re about to face, I am publishing translated extracts here.
[Thread.]
----- 9 -----
Coronavirus: Could the US do what Italy has done?
BBC News
2020/3/11
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51804664
As coronavirus sweeps across the US, American officials have warned that mandatory prevention measures may be necessary to stop its spread. But is the US willing to go as far as Italy - another democracy - or even authoritarian China?
Italy has banned mass gatherings and barred from citizens travelling outside of their home region.
China has forced more than 50 million citizens to self-isolate and even threatened severe penalties, including death, for quarantine breakers.
So what measures is the US willing to take, and could coronavirus besiege an American city?
----- 10 -----
Ella
twitter.com/latentexistence
7:21 AM · Mar 10, 2020
https://twitter.com/latentexistence/status/1237382960938180608
I see we've gone from "only the vulnerable will die" to "it's good that the vulnerable will die"
(From The Telegraph https://telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/03/03/does-fed-know-something-rest-us-do-not-panicked-interest-rate/ )
[IMAGE] Screenshot reads: COVID-19 might even prove mildly beneficial in the long term by disproportionately culling elderly dependents.
----- 11 -----
Inslee orders halt on large gatherings in Seattle region, asks schools to prepare for closure, to slow coronavirus spread
By David Gutman
Seattle Times staff reporter
11 March 2020
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/inslee-orders-halt-on-large-gatherings-in-seattle-region-asks-schools-to-prepare-for-closure-to-slow-coronavirus-spread/
Gov. Jay Inslee ordered a halt Wednesday to all gatherings of more than 250 people in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, and ordered schools across the state to immediately begin contingency planning for potential closures in the next several days.
The moves mark the strongest action the state has taken to date to try to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus in the Puget Sound region, which has become the epicenter of a burgeoning national crisis.
Shortly after Inslee’s announcement, Seattle Public Schools, the state’s largest school district, announced that schools would close for a minimum of two weeks.
Flanked by the leaders of Seattle, Tacoma and Everett, and of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, Inslee said he was ordering the cancellation of large church services, sporting events, concerts, festivals and conventions.
“Today I am ordering, pursuant to my emergency powers, that certain events in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties with more than 250 people are prohibited by order of the governor,” Inslee said, at a King County government building in downtown Seattle. The three counties are “experiencing significant community transmission, significant outbreaks and they are large population centers.”
The order is in effect through the end of March, Inslee said, but it is “highly likely” it will be extended beyond that time. He said that 250 is not a “magic number” but they believed that gatherings less than that size are more manageable to keep people from being closely squeezed together.
----- 12 -----
Democratic Anger Toward Trump Higher In Washington Than Any Other Primary State So Far According to Exit Polls
By Aila Slisco On 3/10/20
https://www.newsweek.com/democratic-anger-toward-trump-higher-washington-any-other-primary-state-so-far-according-exit-1491600
Democratic voters in Washington state have the most anger towards President Donald Trump and his administration out of the six states that were voting in presidential primaries on Tuesday.
Trump provoked rage in 83 percent of voters casting ballots in Washington, according to an NBC News exit poll. A majority of voters in Missouri and Michigan also felt rage towards the administration, with 67 and 63 percent expressing hostility, respectively. Only 49 percent of Mississippi voters felt the same way, the lowest proportion reported in the states surveyed.
Exit polls from earlier primaries showed that an average of around two-thirds of Democratic voters had hostile attitudes about Trump, with around eight percent saying they had positive feelings.
----- 13 -----
Poll workers mistakenly turn away Kansas City mayor on Election Day
Shain Bergan, Abby Dodge
Posted on Mar 10, 2020
https://www.kctv5.com/politics/poll-workers-mistakenly-turn-away-kansas-city-mayor-on-election/article_8e2b2c5e-62cc-11ea-89ac-1ba48ed21669.html
KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV/AP) -- Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas was turned away from his polling location Tuesday morning because poll workers mistakenly thought he wasn't in the election database's system.
Lucas, a Democrat, made a video about the importance of voting before he headed into his normal polling location, Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, to cast his ballot shortly after 7 a.m. But he said a worker couldn't find his name in the system, even though he had cast ballots for himself at the site several times during 11 years of voting there.
...
Lucas went on say, "We will be following up. Most people don't have my privilege to come back."
----- 14 -----
In the Taliban-U.S. Agreement, Everybody Wins—Except the Women
Opinion
Sam Hill
On 3/10/20
https://www.newsweek.com/afghanistan-taliban-kabul-women-rights-1491535
On February 29 in Doha, Qatar, the U.S. signed a peace agreement with the Taliban. Each side gets what it wants most. The US gets to bring home the 12,000 US troops stationed in Afghanistan, as well as a promise from the Taliban to never again allow Afghanistan to serve as a base for terrorist attacks on America. The Taliban gets an end to the American occupation, which means they will be free to do as they wish unless the weak and unpopular Afghan government can stop them. That's very bad news for Afghan women.
We've seen this movie before. In the 1920's King Amanullah Khan tried to modernize Afghanistan—creating schools for girls, ending strict dress codes for women, and abolishing child marriage. Anti-reformers revolted in 1924 in what is called the Khost Rebellion. It was suppressed but only after 14,000 people died. The king was forced to abdicate in 1929 by a mullah, who closed all the schools within nine months and called girls studying overseas back home.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-12 04:08 am (UTC)