Archives for August 2020

August 28, 2020

Trump Administration, Week 189: Friday, 28 August – Thursday, 3 September 2020 (Days 1,316-1,322)

 

Passages in bold in the body of the texts below are usually my emphasis, though not always. This is an ongoing project, and I update the site frequently during the day. Because I try to stay focused on what has actually happened, I usually let the news ‘settle’ for a day or so before posting. I hope readers will peruse the articles in full for a better understanding of the issues and their context; our democracy and our future depend on citizens who can distinguish between facts and falsehoods and who are engaged in the political process.

 

For independent global news, visit Democracy Now!

 

For a newsletter about the history behind today’s politics, subscribe to Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletter, Letters from an American.

 

Friday, 28 August 2020, Day 1,316:

 

Some Global Coronavirus Updates for Friday, 28 August 2020: California Moves Toward Easing Coronavirus Restrictions on Business, The New York Times, Friday, 28 August 2020:

Many other significant developments are included in this article.

Some Business Coronavirus Updates for Friday, 28 August 2020: Britain’s Central Bank Could Cut Rates Below Zero, Chief Says, The New York Times, Friday, 28 August 2020:

  • Bank of England chief says negative rates are possible in the U.K.

  • Workers will have to pay any deferred payroll taxes by April.

  • Dow erases 2020 losses as S&P 500 gains for a 7th day.

  • Investigators found $62 million in alleged P.P.P. fraud. They say there’s more.

  • The latest: MGM and Coca-Cola to cut jobs.

Other significant developments are included in this article.

Some significant developments in the coronavirus pandemic for Friday, 28 August 2020: First presumed U.S. case of coronavirus reinfection is reported in Nevada, The Washington Post, Antonia Noori Farzan, Rick Noack, Abigail Hauslohner, Lateshia Beachum, Derek Hawkins, Hannah Denham, Miriam Berger, Hannah Knowles, and Meryl Kornfield, Friday, 28 August 2020: “A 25-year-old Reno man is the first reported coronavirus patient to be reinfected in the United States, scientists say. Unlike the world’s first presumed case of reinfection in Hong Kong, this patient developed more severe symptoms when he got sick in late May after a mild case in April, according to the newly released study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed. Scientists with the medical school at the University of Nevada at Reno and the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory used advanced testing that sequenced the genetic strains, finding they were distinct between the infections.

Here are some significant developments:
  • The Secret Service is coping with coronavirus cases in the aftermath of President Trump’s insistence on traveling and holding campaign-style events amid the pandemic.
  • Groups representing nearly every public health department called Friday for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reverse ‘haphazard’ changes the agency recently made to its public testing advice.
  • The outbreak that swept through New York City this spring left a crippling financial crisis in its wake, and local leaders warn they may have to make huge cuts to government services unless the city can close a nearly $8 billion revenue gap.
  • The Food and Drug Administration’s chief spokeswoman, who has been in the job less than two weeks, was removed from her role as of noon Friday, part of continued fallout from a White House news conference featuring inaccurate claims that convalescent plasma dramatically reduced mortality for patients with covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
  • MGM Resorts notified 18,000 furloughed workers — roughly one-fifth of its U.S. workforce — that their jobs have been cut for now, the casino giant confirmed.
  • The University of Notre Dame plans to resume in-person teaching next week after school officials determined that the threat of a wider outbreak of coronavirus cases in the campus community is receding. And the University of Virginia said it has resolved to teach undergraduates face to face after Labor Day.
  • The coronavirus death toll in the United States has surpassed 178,000, while more than 5.8 million cases have been reported.

Many other significant developments are included in this article.

Continue reading Week 189, Friday, 28 August – Thursday, 3 September 2020 (Days 1,316-1,322)

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August 28, 2020 Filed Under: Trump: A Daily Chronicle
August 21, 2020

Trump Administration, Week 188: Friday, 21 August – Thursday, 27 August 2020 (Days 1,309-1,315)

March for Police Accountability, Williamstown, MA, Friday, 21 August 2020

 

Passages in bold in the body of the texts below are usually my emphasis, though not always. This is an ongoing project, and I update the site frequently during the day. Because I try to stay focused on what has actually happened, I usually let the news ‘settle’ for a day or so before posting. I hope readers will peruse the articles in full for a better understanding of the issues and their context; our democracy and our future depend on citizens who can distinguish between facts and falsehoods and who are engaged in the political process.

 

For independent global news, visit Democracy Now!

 

For a newsletter about the history behind today’s politics, subscribe to Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletter, Letters from an American.

 

Friday, 21 August 2020, Day 1,309:

 

Some Global Coronavirus Updates for Friday, 21 August 2020: Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.) Suggests Some Child-Care Centers Can Reopen Safely, The New York Times, Friday, 21 August 2020:

Many other significant developments are included in this article.

Some Business Coronavirus Updates for Friday, 21 August 2020: With Lobster Deal, U.S. and E.U. Trade Talks Advance, The New York Times, Friday, 21 August 2020:

  • Theater chains announce moviegoing standards for the pandemic.

  • Facebook’s chief marketing officer plans to depart.

  • Amazon’s consumer boss Jeff Wilke will step down in 2021.

  • Turkey’s gas field discovery is good news for its economy — if it can produce.

  • U.S. stocks end record-breaking week with another small gain.

Other significant developments are included in this article.

Some significant developments in the coronavirus pandemic for Friday, 21 August 2020: More than 171,000 people have died from coronavirus in the U.S., The Washington Post, Lateshia Beachum, Derek Hawkins, Kim Bellware, Siobhán O’Grady, Hamza Shaban, Meryl Kornfield, and Paulina Firozi, Friday, 21 August 2020: “As Europe experiences a resurgence of coronavirus cases that appears to be driven primarily by young people, health authorities worry that crowded house parties could become super-spreader events for thousands of returning college students. On Thursday, Purdue University suspended 36 people who attended an off-campus party, officials at Syracuse University warned that a massive gathering ‘may have done damage enough to shut down campus,’ and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill switched to online learning amid an eruption of infections.

Here are some significant developments:
  • Vice President Pence said he ‘couldn’t be more proud’ of President Trump’s leadership during the coronavirus pandemic, and said during a ‘Good Morning America’ appearance that if Democratic nominee Joe Biden had been in charge, the losses — 171,000 dead and counting under the current administration — would have been worse.
  • Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told lawmakers Friday that ensuring the safe and timely delivery of election mail was his ‘sacred duty,’ disputing accusations his controversial cost-cutting agenda was politically motivated even as he reiterated his intention to execute it after the November election.
  • Californians are facing duel crises now, as wildfires, still raging largely out of control across a large swath of the state, force tens of thousands of people from their homes during a similarly uncontrolled pandemic.
  • The holiday shopping season is poised to begin earlier than ever — as soon as October — as retailers look to offset the disruptions the coronavirus pandemic has wrought on delivery times, in-person shopping and consumer spending power.
  • The Standard & Poor’s 500 index finished a trailblazing week by setting another record high, placing an exclamation point on a stunning turnaround in the face of an ongoing public health crisis.
  • At least 41 schools in Berlin have reported coronavirus cases among students or staff, less than two weeks after classes there fully resumed Aug. 10, officials confirmed to the Berliner Zeitung newspaper on Thursday.

Many other significant developments are included in this article.

Continue reading Week 188, Friday, 21 August – Thursday, 27 August 2020 (Days 1,309-1,315)

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August 21, 2020 Filed Under: Trump: A Daily Chronicle
August 14, 2020

Trump Administration, Week 187: Friday, 14 August – Thursday, 20 August 2020 (Days 1,302-1,308)

 

Passages in bold in the body of the texts below are usually my emphasis, though not always. This is an ongoing project, and I update the site frequently during the day. Because I try to stay focused on what has actually happened, I usually let the news ‘settle’ for a day or so before posting. I hope readers will peruse the articles in full for a better understanding of the issues and their context; our democracy and our future depend on citizens who can distinguish between facts and falsehoods and who are engaged in the political process.

 

For independent global news, visit Democracy Now!

 

For a newsletter about the history behind today’s politics, subscribe to Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletter, Letters from an American.

 

Friday, 14 August 2020, Day 1,302:

 

Some Global Coronavirus Updates for Friday, 14 August 2020: Firm Helping Run U.S. Coronavirus Database Refuses Senators’ Questions. People who recover from the virus have a three-month window of safety, C.D.C. guidance shows. The U.S. Postal Service warned several states that it may not be able to meet deadlines for delivering last-minute mail-in ballots. The New York Times, Friday, 14 August 2020:

Many other significant developments are included in this article.

Some Business Coronavirus Updates for Friday, 14 August 2020: Some Colleges Are Charging Students Coronavirus Testing Fees, The New York Times, Friday, 14 August 2020:

  • Some college students are being asked to share the costs of coronavirus testing.
  • Interest in a virtual entrepreneurship program for girls surges in the pandemic.
  • U.S. retail sales rose 1.2 percent in July.
  • Stock markets waver after retail data shows slower growth.
  • The Latest: Rent the Runway will not reopen its stores.

Some significant developments in the coronavirus pandemic for Friday, 14 August 2020: Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says people who recover from covid-19 don’t need to be retested for three months, The Washington Post, Miriam Berger, Lateshia Beachum, Kim Bellware, Hamza Shaban, Meryl Kornfield, and Hannah Knowles, Friday, 14 August 2020: “In recently updated guidance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that people who have recovered from the coronavirus do not need to quarantine or seek testing for three months after they have recuperated. The new recommendation, last updated Aug. 3, cautions that those who were previously infected should still socially distance and wear masks but says they don’t need to quarantine or be tested unless they develop symptoms.

Here are some significant developments:
  • Federal health officials are asking four states and one city — California, Florida, Minnesota, North Dakota and Philadelphia — to draft plans for how they would distribute a coronavirus vaccine when limited doses become available, possibly as early as this fall, officials said.
  • Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) offered rare Republican criticism of the Trump administration’s coronavirus response Friday, saying the federal government dismissed the virus’s threat and failed to take charge.
  • Nearly 41 percent of U.S. adults reported struggling with mental health or substance abuse, a new CDC survey revealed.
  • Cruise ships, early incubators of the coronavirus, are preparing to return to sea in the Mediterranean.
  • Coronavirus cases are surging in nursing homes again.
  • President Trump said he opposes both election aid for states and an emergency bailout for the U.S. Postal Service because he wants to limit how many Americans can vote by mail in November.
  • Several European countries, including Greece and Spain, enacted new restrictions in an effort to contain outbreaks without having to revert to major shutdowns.

Many other significant developments are included in this article.

Continue reading Week 187, Friday, 14 August – Thursday, 20 August 2020 (Days 1,302-1,308)

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August 14, 2020 Filed Under: Trump administration/Republican House and Senate/Supreme Court, Trump: A Daily Chronicle
August 7, 2020

Trump Administration, Week 186: Friday, 7 August – Thursday, 13 August 2020 (Days 1,295-1,301)

 

Passages in bold in the body of the texts below are usually my emphasis, though not always. This is an ongoing project, and I update the site frequently during the day. Because I try to stay focused on what has actually happened, I usually let the news ‘settle’ for a day or so before posting. I hope readers will peruse the articles in full for a better understanding of the issues and their context; our democracy and our future depend on citizens who can distinguish between facts and falsehoods and who are engaged in the political process.

 

For independent global news, visit Democracy Now!

 

For a newsletter about the history behind today’s politics, subscribe to Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletter, Letters from an American.

 

Friday, 7 August 2020, Day 1,295:

 

Some Global Coronavirus Updates for Friday, 7 August 2020: Trump Vows to Issue Executive Orders if Coronavirus Relief Talks Collapse, The New York Times, Friday, 7 August 2020:

Many other significant developments are included in this article.

Some Business Coronavirus Updates for Friday, 7 August 2020: U.S. Added 1.8 Million Jobs in July, The New York Times, Friday, 7 August 2020:

  • U.S. employers added 1.8 million jobs in July despite a coronavirus surge.
  • Wealthy families are throwing a lifeline to distressed businesses.
  • Canada outlines its response to the new U.S. aluminum tariff.
  • An expert on economic calamities sees ‘very, very dangerous territory.’
  • Wall Street is held back by China tensions and gridlock in Washington.

Some significant developments in the coronavirus pandemic on Friday, 7 August 2020: Coronavirus relief package talks stall; Trump might use executive actions to bypass Congress, The Washington Post, Brittany Shammas, Lateshia Beachum, Siobhán O’Grady, Kim Bellware, Hamza Shaban, Marisa Iati, and Meryl Kornfield, Thursday, 7 August 2020: “Talks regarding a coronavius relief package collapsed on Capitol Hill on Friday, and White House officials said they will recommend that President Trump move ahead without Congress to try and address unemployment benefits, eviction rules, and student loan relief. ‘The president would like us to make a deal, but unfortunately we did not make any progress today,’ Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said after he and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). ‘At this point we are going to recommend to the president that over the weekend we move forward with some executive actions,’ Mnuchin said.

Here are some significant developments:

Many other significant developments are included in this article.

Continue reading Week 186, Friday, 7 August – Thursday, 13 August 2020 (Days 1,295-1,301)

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August 7, 2020 Filed Under: Trump administration/Republican House and Senate/Supreme Court, Trump: A Daily Chronicle, Uncategorized