January 9, 2022

"The President couldn't be clearer--schools in this country should remain open."

Leana Wen, M.D.
@DrLeanaWen Public health professor
@GWPublicHealth Emergency physician. Contributing columnist @WashingtonPost @CNN medical analyst.

https://twitter.com/DrLeanaWen/status/1478777087444111364
Education Secretary Cardona says schools should stay open







Biden: Schools should stay open despite omicron wave

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/588237-biden-schools-should-stay-open


President Biden on Tuesday reiterated his belief that schools in the United States should remain physically open despite the wave of coronavirus cases driven largely by the omicron variant. Biden noted during remarks at the White House that his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan included billions of dollars to help support school reopenings during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We have no reason to think at this point that omicron is worse for children than previous variants. We know that our kids can be safe when in school by the way. That’s why I believe schools should remain open. They have what they need,” Biden said before a briefing with his COVID-19 response team.

Biden said that $130 billion from the coronavirus relief law passed in March went toward reopening schools and an additional $10 billion was allotted for COVID-19 testing in schools. “That money went out to the states and the states and the school districts have spent this money well, many of them, but unfortunately some of them haven’t,” Biden said. “So, I encourage the states and school districts to use the funding that you still have to protect your children and keep the schools open.”

Biden’s remarks were consistent with his past statements that schools should remain open. The White House has touted the progress on school reopenings in Biden’s first year, distributing a memo to Democrats at the end of last year noting that 99 percent of schools were open compared with 46 percent when Biden took office.

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January 9, 2022

NHS doctor tells Health Secretary he won't get jabbed

What an absolute bellend.

He needs to get the sack.

January 9, 2022

A rural Washington school board race shows how far-right extremists are shifting to local power

The establishment candidate thought she was a shoo-in, but she hadn’t contended with the home-schooling, anti-masking member of the far-right Three Percent movement.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/01/08/far-right-school-boards/



EATONVILLE, Wash. — On the morning she met her opponent for coffee, Sarah Cole walked in with a front-runner’s confidence. To Cole, the school board seat in this rural red district about an hour outside Seattle was all but hers. Educators and community leaders had endorsed her. She had name recognition from years in the Parent Teacher Association. And, besides, she was running against Ashley Sova, a home-schooling, anti-masking member of the far-right Three Percent movement. “I kind of thought I had it in the bag,” Cole recalled.

Their coffee date that October day, as recounted by both women, was an exercise in gritted-teeth civility. Cole asked about the Three Percent logo tattooed on Sova’s neck in red, white and blue bullets. Sova tried to corner Cole on critical race theory. At the end, they took a photo and promised to work together no matter who was elected, each privately expecting Cole to win.

In December, however, it was Sova who was sworn in, the second Three Percenter on the five-person Eatonville School Board. Three Percenter ideology, part of the self-styled militia movement, promotes conspiratorial views about government overreach and imagines “patriotic” Americans revolting against perceived violations of the Constitution.

Presented as “defending liberty,” extremism analysts say, those far-right views are spreading in conservative places like Eatonville, where the school board race spiralled into a fight over mask mandates and how race is taught in school. Cole lost by more than 200 votes. “The race was basically sabotaged by the national narrative,” Cole said. She sounded incredulous that parents felt best represented by a Three Percenter whose kids aren’t even in public school: “I don’t even know how to explain it except to say, in the face of the facts, they still chose to run with fears.”

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January 9, 2022

Politico Playbook Issues Correction for Botched Sotomayor Sighting

https://www.thedailybeast.com/politico-playbook-issues-correction-after-botched-justice-sonia-sotomayor-sighting-at-le-diplomate

Politico’s Playbook newsletter issued a correction on Saturday morning after misidentifying Democratic leader Chuck Schumer’s wife, Iris Weinshall, as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

The publication claimed that the case of mistaken identity was sparked by a photo sent in by a tipster allegedly taken at the hip D.C. eatery Le Diplomate on Friday night. In Politico’s report, they claimed Sotomayor, after not appearing for oral arguments Friday at the Supreme Court over coronavirus concerns, was dining with Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “Our tipster got it wrong, but we should have double-checked,” the correction reads.

The publication never reached out to Schumer’s office. “I did not hear from them prior to publication,” Justin Goodman, Schumer’s top comms aide, told The Daily Beast. Reached for comment, Politico spokesperson Brad Dayspring declined to respond on the record. The Daily Beast was subsequently and accidentally added to a group chat in which he texted two colleagues, “I emailed Mike [Zapler] and Matt [Kaminski] [to] discuss.” Eugene Daniels, who wrote the item, declined to comment through a spokesperson. In a third version of their correction late Saturday, Politico added, “Politico standards require we verify this information...the editor who received the tip failed to do so in this case.”

The Daily Beast reported in late November that Politico’s marquee product has been embedded in turmoil. Late on Saturday evening, readers of Politico’s newsletter made The Daily Beast aware that a subsequent email noting the corrections was not sent. In response, a Politico spokesperson told The Daily Beast: “It will be addressed in tomorrow’s newsletter.”

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https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1479977934018560001

January 9, 2022

Lord Ahmed of Rotherham: Former peer guilty of child sex offences

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-59607283



A former Labour peer has been found guilty of sexual offences against two children in the 1970s. Lord Ahmed of Rotherham was convicted of a serious sexual assault against a boy and the attempted rape of a young girl. Sheffield Crown Court heard the repeated sexual abuse happened in Rotherham when he was a teenager. The 64-year-old, who appeared under his real name of Nazir Ahmed, had denied the charges.

During trial, prosecutor Tom Little QC told the court Lord Ahmed had attempted to rape the girl in the early 1970s, when the defendant was aged 16 or 17 but she was much younger. The attack on the boy, who was aged under 11 at the time, also happened during the same period. Mr Little said Lord Ahmed claimed the allegations were a "malicious fiction" but a phone recording of a 2016 conversation between the two victims showed they were not "made-up or concocted". The woman's call was prompted by an email from the male victim saying: "I have evidence against that paedophile," the jury previously heard.

Lord Ahmed was charged along with his two older brothers, Mohammed Farouq, 71, and Mohammed Tariq, 65, but both were deemed unfit to stand trial. Both had faced charges of indecent assault against the same boy abused by Lord Ahmed. Though the men did not face a criminal trial, jurors concluded that they did commit the alleged acts after hearing evidence in the case. Lord Ahmed, who was convicted following a retrial, resigned from the House of Lords in November 2020 after a conduct committee report concluded he had sexually and emotionally exploited a vulnerable woman who sought his help. The inquiry into his behaviour followed a BBC Newsnight investigation.

The report made him the first peer to be recommended for expulsion but he resigned before this could be implemented. Rosemary Ainslie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service's special crime division, said: "By these verdicts the jury has clearly decided that no matter the delay between the offences and the trial, and the defences raised, they could be sure that the accounts of the victims were credible and true. "One of these defendants held a position of power, influence and responsibility for some time in the House of Lords but this case clearly illustrates that where there is sufficient evidence, even in challenging cases, the CPS will bring a prosecution, put evidence before a jury and see rightful convictions."

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January 9, 2022

Novak Djokovic pictured hugging children at public event one day after positive Covid test

NOVAK DJOKOVIC is battling to be allowed into Australia ahead of the year's first Grand Slam.

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/tennis/1546997/novak-djokovic-australian-open-latest-renata-voracova-tennis-news



Novak Djokovic was pictured maskless at a public event one day after his supposed positive Covid test in December.

The world No 1 one was also seen hugging children at his tennis centre in Dorcol, Serbia a day after his lawyers claimed he had been infected with Covid.

The Serb's lawyers are reportedly planning to use the test in question to validate his medical exemption, which was originally thought would allow him into Australia and compete at this month's Australian Open.

Djokovic is still being held in a Melbourne detention centre after his visa was cancelled upon arrival into the country. The 34-year-old has vocally opposed being jabbed and has refused to reveal his vaccination status in the past.

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January 8, 2022

WaPo: Manchin's $1.8 trillion spending offer appears no longer to be on the table

The West Virginia Democrat, who has consulted Mitt Romney and Trump’s former economic adviser, had backed climate and education spending, but talks are now on ice

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/01/08/manchin-white-house-talks/


Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) on Jan. 4 said he has not spoken with the White House about the Build Back Better Act since he stated his opposition in December. (The Washington Post)

The week before Christmas, Sen. Joe Manchin III sent the White House a $1.8 trillion counteroffer to President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda that included substantial funds for climate, health-care and education initiatives.

About four weeks later, the West Virginia Democrat has made clear that he does not currently support advancing even that offer following a breakdown in negotiations between Manchin and the White House right before Christmas, three people with knowledge of the matter said.

Manchin said publicly this week that he was no longer involved in talks with the White House over the economic package. Privately, he has also made clear that he is not interested in approving legislation resembling Biden’s Build Back Better package and that Democrats should fundamentally rethink their approach. Senior Democrats say they do not believe Manchin would support his offer even if the White House tried adopting it in full — at least not at the moment — following the fallout in mid-December. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Negotiations deteriorated quickly in December after a White House news release named Manchin as the obstacle to passing the legislation. Manchin then surprised the administration by criticizing the bill on Fox News, after which the White House released a blistering statement calling his credibility into question. Manchin, who has drawn protesters’ ire because of his opposition to the legislation, later said the decision to name him in the news release imperiled the safety of his family.

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January 8, 2022

GOP Sen. Ron Johnson to seek reelection despite blowback over scientifically questionable claims

Johnson suggested it was blasphemous to use vaccines when God has given humans perfectly capable immune systems

https://www.salon.com/2022/01/08/sen-ron-johnson-to-seek-reelection-despite-blowback-over-scientifically-questionable-claims_partner/



Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is reportedly going to seek a third term in office despite having low favorability ratings after months of scientifically illiterate comments about vaccines. According to WISN 12 News' Matt Smith, a Republican source claims that Johnson "will seek re-election and is expected to make his official announcement in the coming days."

https://twitter.com/mattsmith_news/status/1479524758626656263
A poll conducted by Marquette University Law School this past November showed that Johnson has just a 36 percent favorability rating among Wisconsin voters, which is significantly lower than both President Joe Biden and incumbent Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

Although Johnson has always had a reputation as a conservative Republican, in recent months he has been going more and more into the realm of conspiracy theories and has also cast doubt upon the safety of COVID-19 vaccines.

Just this week, for example, Johnson suggested it was blasphemous to rely upon vaccines to combat COVID-19 when God has given humans perfectly capable immune systems. "Why do we think that we can create something better than God in terms of combatting disease?" the senator said. "There are certain things we have to do, but we have just made so many assumptions, and it's all pointed toward everybody getting a vaccine."

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January 8, 2022

James K. Galbraith - America's Democratic Future

Notwithstanding the lasting shock of the January 6, 2021, attack of the US Capitol, the Democratic Party can take comfort in the broader demographic trends. Not only was the 2020 presidential election an administrative triumph; record-high turnout showed that the real problem has always been barriers to voting.

https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/america-electoral-map-turning-democratic-by-james-k-galbraith-2022-01

AUSTIN – With the anniversary of the January 6 riot now over, let’s focus on the big picture. The great anomaly of the 2020 US presidential election was that Joe Biden won the national popular vote by seven million votes, yet came within 43,000 (in three close states) of losing the Electoral College, and thus the election. In California alone, Biden had five million more votes than he needed, and in New York, another two million. So far this century, only Barack Obama has won decisive victories in both the popular vote and the Electoral College. In 2000 and 2016, the popular-vote winner lost the election. In 2004, the result turned on a single state: Ohio. This anomaly is not only persistent but constitutional, which makes it practically unsolvable.

Nevertheless, the 2020 election was a triumph for democracy. Turnout, as a proportion of eligible voters, was higher than in any election since 1900 (when the franchise was limited to males, almost all white). The COVID-19 pandemic forced local election administrators to innovate, and they did so with expanded voting by mail, early-voting days, 24-hour voting, and drive-in voting. More than 100 million ballots were cast before Election Day. In the end, Donald Trump’s final count was 11 million higher than it was in 2016, and Biden’s exceeded Hillary Clinton’s 2016 total by 15 million.



Low turnout in America is usually blamed on voter apathy, but 2020 proved that the real problem has always been barriers to voting. In previous elections, polling places were scarce, the ballots long and complex, and the whole process a slow one, with queues often stretching for hours. Many people lack the time, the patience, or the physical stamina to wait. The system also discouraged any change in voting patterns, because local election boards allocated machines and poll workers according to past turnout. So there were never enough machines for new voters whenever turnout surged, anywhere at all, for any reason. The 2020 election was thus a great unintended experiment in blowing up the barriers to voting – and it worked.

Those now crying fraud cite the vast increase in turnout as evidence. In fact, the growth in turnout in so-called swing states was no greater than in states where the outcome was not in question. One exception was Arizona, where turnout grew by 30%. But once you adjust for Arizona’s rapid population growth, the proportionate increase is similar to California, where turnout fraud would have been pointless. In any event, the Arizona vote was administered by Republican officials. Nor do the vote counts look suspicious. Votes are recorded and reported by county, and not merely at the state level. Any tampering with vote counts would have had to happen in specific counties. And because the 2020 election had a close precedent in 2016, strange changes in county voting patterns should be easy to spot.

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January 8, 2022

The economy is feeling the effects of the fading baby boom

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/01/07/economy-is-feeling-effects-fading-baby-boom/

https://archive.fo/gySAX



The good news from the jobs report released on Friday morning was that the unemployment rate dropped to 3.9 percent. As you may know, this is measured with a different survey than the one that tallies how many workers are employed, meaning that, at times, there can be a disconnection between the two figures. That was the case on Friday: Economists predicted that more jobs would be added, meaning that the numbers were lower than expected, but the decline in the unemployment rate was good news.

But there’s an important caveat to that unemployment rate number. It is calculated by figuring out how many of those who are working or looking for work don’t have jobs. But that means that if more people simply drop out of the labor force — that is, they aren’t looking for work — the unemployment rate can go down even without more people getting jobs.

A simple example is useful. Imagine 100 people, 80 of whom are working and 10 of whom are looking for work. The other 10 aren’t in the labor force. For this group, the unemployment rate is 11.1 percent — 10 out of the 90 people in the labor force aren’t working. Now imagine that five of those who are working and five of those who were looking drop out of the labor force, say, through retirement. Now there are five people unemployed out of 80 people in the labor force, so the unemployment rate drops to 6.3 percent, even though the number of people working has gone down from 90 to 85 of 100.



That’s not exactly what’s happening here. The labor force participation rate (the percentage of a population that’s working or looking for work) remained the same from November to December. But the participation rate in December was 1.5 percentage points lower than February 2020, meaning that there are fewer people in the labor pool and, therefore, meaning that the same number of unemployed people would lead to a lower unemployment rate. As you might expect, participation rates vary depending on age. Older Americans are more likely to have retired, so a lower percentage of that group is in the labor force at any given time. In recent years, the participation rate among those 55 and over has been fairly flat as the rate among those aged 25 to 54 has increased. (The graph below uses figures for January of each year, meaning that the value for 2020 excludes the effects of the pandemic.)



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