August 1, 2020

Alexander Vindman: Coming forward ended my career. I still believe doing what's right matters.

Washington Post

After 21 years, six months and 10 days of active military service, I am now a civilian. I made the difficult decision to retire because a campaign of bullying, intimidation and retaliation by President Trump and his allies forever limited the progression of my military career.

This experience has been painful, but I am not alone in this ignominious fate. The circumstances of my departure might have been more public, yet they are little different from those of dozens of other lifelong public servants who have left this administration with their integrity intact but their careers irreparably harmed.

A year ago, having served the nation in uniform in positions of critical importance, I was on the cusp of a career-topping promotion to colonel. A year ago, unknown to me, my concerns over the president’s conduct and the president’s efforts to undermine the very foundations of our democracy were precipitating tremors that would ultimately shake loose the facade of good governance and publicly expose the corruption of the Trump administration.

At no point in my career or life have I felt our nation’s values under greater threat and in more peril than at this moment. Our national government during the past few years has been more reminiscent of the authoritarian regime my family fled more than 40 years ago than the country I have devoted my life to serving.

August 1, 2020

"Trump's advisers scrambled to assemble a scaled-down political event..."

CNN

August 1, 2020

Trump's defiant campaign amid pandemic ramps up ground game, as Biden looks for another way

Source: ABC News

President Donald Trump is on the ropes -- down in the polls, facing scathing criticism of his handling of the coronavirus crisis and a shakeup of his campaign staff, all less than 100 days until Election Day.

Also largely gone are the seemingly endless string of massive rallies that buoyed his candidacy in 2016 and propelled him from outsider to front-runner.

But the Trump team sees an opening, plowing forward with front-line campaigning in key states as Joe Biden appears content to stay on the sidelines and hold small press events.

...snip...

The Trump approach couldn't be more different. Last weekend alone, as part of the Trump campaign's "100 Days Out Weekend," the Trump team held at least 70 events ranging from veteran outreach to voter registration drives from Mohave County, Arizona, to Madison, Maine, according to the Republican Party's public schedule.





Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-defiant-campaign-amid-pandemic-ramps-ground-game/story?id=72081863

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https://twitter.com/ManhartLogan/status/1287122760750243847

August 1, 2020

Coronavirus creates election worker shortage ahead of November

Source: Politico

First it was toilet paper. Then it was cleaning supplies. Now, a new coronavirus-era shortage is threatening the November election: Poll workers.

Recruiting volunteers to check in voters, supply ballots and deal with issues has never been easy for election administrators. But in interviews and public statements, more than a dozen election administrators and voting advocates warned that slow poll worker recruitment could be a major vulnerability for the 2020 election.

Election officials across the country are seeing early shortages and scrambling to recruit a new generation of poll workers for Election Day, looking to maintain a volunteer force that has relied heavily on senior citizens in the past — the cohort most vulnerable to the coronavirus. Poll workers are responsible for everything from making sure voters get the right ballots to helping people with issues as they vote, and shortages could add confusion, long lines and delays to an Election Day process that has already been upended by the pandemic.

“We need 39,870 people for Election Day and early voting, and we don’t have anywhere near that. We have 13,021 vacant positions, [about] 32 percent statewide,” said David Garreis, the president of the Maryland Association of Election Officials. “The hardest thing that we have to do in any election is to recruit election judges. And in this year, it's impossible.”

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/31/coronavirus-election-worker-shortage-389831

August 1, 2020

One of the first ships to resume cruising is having a COVID outbreak

Source: The Points Guy

On second thought, maybe it was too soon.

One of the first cruise ships in the world to resume sailing since the coronavirus-caused worldwide halt to cruising in March is experiencing an outbreak of the illness that has already sent people to the hospital.

Norwegian expedition cruise company Hurtigruten late Friday said four crew members from the 535-passenger Roald Amundsen were admitted to the University Hospital of North Norway in Tromsø, Norway, earlier in the day after the vessel docked in the city.

...snip...

The entire ship has now been placed in isolation, and all remaining crew — around 160 people — are being tested for COVID-19. The line also is tracking down 177 passengers who left the ship early Friday to alert them to the outbreak.



Read more: https://thepointsguy.com/news/covid-outbreak-hurtigruten-norway/