August 4, 2020

The Daily Social Distancing Show: Tina Knowles-Lawson & Leigh Chapman - Ensuring Safe Elections

Tina Knowles-Lawson and Leigh Chapman discuss their work with The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights to secure safe and accessible voting in the upcoming election.


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August 4, 2020

Fact Checking Pres. Trump Press Conference - LIVE - NowThis

Watch for the fact-checker to chime in...



HAPPENING NOW—TRUMP FACT-CHECK: About 2,000 Americans died from COVID-19 over the weekend as Pres. Trump golfed both days. He started today boasting on Twitter about his poll numbers and crowd size. Earlier today news broke that the Manhattan DA may be investigating Trump and the Trump Organization for 'alleged back and insurance fraud,' citing reports of ‘extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization.’ Trump is facing the press now, and we're fact-checking live.

August 3, 2020

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) - U.S. History

John Oliver takes a look at how the history of race in America is taught in schools, how we can make those teachings more accurate, and why it’s in everyone's best interest to understand the most realistic version of the past.

August 3, 2020

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary: GOP Relief Bill Is 'Grossly Inadequate' - MSNBC

Jack Lew, former U.S. Treasury Secretary and Chief of Staff, says the idea that people are choosing not to work because of unemployment benefits is “ludicrous.”

August 3, 2020

Tim Kaine On VP Vetting: 'Everything You've Ever Said And Done Is Under Intense Scrutiny' - MSNBC

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, 2016 Vice Presidential nominee, says Biden will be weighing his “governing chemistry” with VP contenders.

August 3, 2020

The Daily Show: Sports in the Time of Coronavirus

How are the major sports leagues handling coronavirus? We investigate.

August 2, 2020

Voter Suppression Still Occurs, 55 years After Voting Rights Act - The Last Word - MSNBC

Congressman John Lewis said you must use your vote "because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it." Voter ID laws, fewer polling sites, the coronavirus - and now cuts to the US Postal Service - are threatening the right to vote in America. Aired on 7/31/2020.

August 2, 2020

60-plus days of tear gas leaves lingering questions about environmental impacts

Public agencies are trying to answer a question on the minds of many, including a U.S. congressman and Oregon lawmakers: What will all that tear gas mean for trees, water and wildlife?

For much of the past 60 days, downtown Portland has been enveloped by clouds of tear gas used by federal and local police to disperse protesters and discourage people from gathering.

Recent public accounts describe a strong chemical odor lingering in Lownsdale Square hours after police release gas. Others have seen what appears to be tear gas residue sticking to the dirt and dust when they’ve made daylight returns to the area. And they’ve experienced the return of itchiness in their eyes and scratchiness in their throats from the previous night’s protests.

Some are worried about what the chemicals will do to the environment long after downtown protests end.

“Because of how they are cleaning the streets and when they come through with the trucks and they wash the street and brush it, where does all that water run? Into the sewer system. Where does that sewer system run to? I’m guessing into the [Willamette] River,” said a woman who identified herself as Vita. She was in the area early Thursday. She said she is a medical assistant who has been helping tend to protesters’s medical needs.

“All those chemicals, if it’s a daily occurrence for a long period of time, yeah, it can definitely hurt,” she said.

When asked about what all these chemicals are doing to the environment, state and city agencies say there’s nowhere to look to for answers, because no other U.S. city has ever been subjected to such a sustained barrage of tear gas.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services are working together to gather more information and research about what the potential environmental impacts of chronic tear gas deployment may be.


Much more: https://www.opb.org/article/2020/07/31/tear-gas-environmental-impact-portland/

August 2, 2020

Trump Signs Executive Order Banning Month of November

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Donald Trump stirred controversy on Friday by signing an executive order that would ban the month of November.

While legal scholars protested that he did not have the right to reduce the number of months in a year from twelve to eleven, Trump argued that “the Constitution doesn’t say anything about how many months you have to have.”

“All of those smart guys like Jefferson and Madison, those beauties, this is something they didn’t think of,” he said. “I got them on the months.”

Trump said that eliminating November from the calendar was “long overdue,” calling it “a rigged month.”

“November is a hoax,” he said. “Some people say it may not even be a real month.”

Responding to a reporter’s question about the future of Thanksgiving, Trump said that “nobody will miss it.”

“Just ask anyone in this country,” he said. “Nobody has anything to be thankful for.”


Short article, no more at link: https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/trump-signs-executive-order-banning-month-of-november

August 2, 2020

The Daily Social Distancing Show: What The Hell Happened This Week? Week of 7/27/2020

Trump suggests delaying the election, secret police roam the streets of Portland, and Sen. Tom Cotton calls slavery a “necessary evil.”