What goes through my my mind when I read the news with my morning coffee. …Or for the Simon's Rockers in the group, this is my response journal.
Seventy-two individuals who tested positive for Covid-19 in Wisconsin recently attended a “large-gathering” before their diagnosis, according to a report.
…The information comes to light after last month hundreds of people in Wisconsin attended a mass protest at the governor’s stay-at-home order.
hmmmm
In a Twitter broadcast, he surveyed the room of maskless patrons crammed together, partying like it was 2019.
…“We’re the Wild West,” Evers told MSNBC’s Ali Velshi on Wednesday night, reacting to the state Supreme Court’s ruling and the scenes of people partying in bars all across Wisconsin. “There are no restrictions at all across the state of Wisconsin. … So at this point in time … there is nothing that’s compelling people to do anything other than having chaos here.”
…At the Iron Hog Saloon in the town of Port Washington, drinks flowed but masks and social distancing were lacking, WISN reported. The owner, Chad Arndt, said that he had put more cleaning protocols in place and that if people felt uncomfortable, they didn’t have to come.
…To one customer, Gary Bertram, it’s a simple decision. “If people want to quarantine, quarantine. If you don’t want to quarantine, don’t quarantine. Go out and do what you normally do,” he told WISN.
It isn’t that simple, of course. Public health authorities have repeatedly warned that those who choose to ignore social distancing and go about their lives may end up spreading the disease — to people who aren’t drinking at bars but just visiting a grocery store.
hmm
“I think a lot of people inappropriately have made this into a point of resistance for their own personal reasons, which I think potentially places our law enforcement, as we saw in the incidents at the Rollins Park playground, into the position of being a point of confrontation with people who have an ax to grind or a point to make,” Champlin said.
…“If we are going to go down this road at any point, we need to consider the fact that I think there’s likely going to be a legal challenge to whatever town ordinances are implemented,” Councilor Nathan Fennessy said. “Just a note of caution there.”
Councilor Rob Werner agreed.
“I’m very skeptical that we or any municipality has the ability to do this,” he said.
‘It’s going to backfire’ – Concord city councilors not keen on mandatory masks
hmmmm
So simmer down there, Andrewina Jackson
Judge’s order allows Hillstone Restaurant Group employee to wear face mask to work
Shut them down and throw their management i jial, without masks.
If Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony was looking for support from Gov. Ron DeSantis after the sheriff came under fire for killing a man with his father’s revolver at his home in Philadelphia when he was 14, he didn’t exactly get it Monday.
Instead, the governor, when questioned about the news at a press conference in Tallahassee Monday, distanced himself from his own appointee and claimed that he “didn’t even know him.”
…DeSantis said the shooting did not come up in a background check, because he was exonerated in juvenile court.
Gov. DeSantis distances from Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony amid news of killing | Miami Herald
hmmm
Calvin Munerlyn, 43, died at a Flint hospital after he was shot in the head Friday, said Michigan State Police Lt. David Kaiser.
..Munerlyn got into a verbal altercation with Sharmel Teague after telling Teague’s daughter she needed a mask, according to the prosecutor’s office. Surveillance video confirms the incident, Leyton said
…Under an executive order from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, all retail employees and customers have to wear a mask.
…Two men — identified as Bishop and Larry Teague — entered the store, according to the statement. One of them yelled at Munerlyn about disrespecting his wife, Leyton said. The other man, later identified as Bishop, then allegedly shot the security guard, the statement said.
Michigan shooting: 3 charged in Family Dollar security guard killing – CNN
What the hell is wrong with people???!
Don Shula, the NFL’s winningest coach who led the Miami Dolphins to the league’s only undefeated season, died on Monday.
…Shula won an NFL-record 347 games, including playoff games. He coached the Dolphins to the league’s only undefeated season (17-0) in 1972, culminating in a 14-7 victory over the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII.
Dolphins Hall of Fame coach Don Shula dies at 90
RIP
“The data will drive us and not a specific date,” the mayor said several times during an afternoon press conference, where she took issue with a letter published in a full-page newspaper ad the day before by four prominent businessmen that said her moves threatened the city’s economy.
…Cantrell cast her critics as out of touch with the city’s public health needs. She also suggested they were prioritizing money over people’s lives.
“To the citizens of the city of New Orleans, please know that I will and have always continued to put the health of the people first. They are the priority. And not only that…. but you can be reassured that I will not be bullied,” Cantrell said.
…Cantrell said she has been in constant contact with leaders in other parishes and said she doesn’t believe it will be safe to hold festivals in the fall since it will be hurricane season and because the coronavirus pandemic is likely to remain active then.
hmmm
COBOL systems process trillions of dollars of transactions daily for the world’s largest banks, which are clearly not strapped for the cash they’d need to make upgrades. COBOL might be deeply uncool, but it’s hardly a dead language.
…States have been starved of funding they need for running their unemployment insurance systems, money that under the 1935 Social Security Act is supposed to come from the federal government. According to a 2017 presentation by the National Association of State Workforce Agencies, the federal funding available for state unemployment insurance agencies to upgrade their technology, pay workers, and cover other administrative expenses has been falling steadily for the past 25 years, dipping roughly 30 percent below mid-1990s levels. In a survey NASWA conducted of 40 states’ workforce agencies, more than half of respondents said their administrative budget shortfalls were either “serious” or “critical.” And things haven’t gotten better in the years that followed, with Congress making further budget cuts in 2018 and 2019. Even compared with other social safety net programs, the technology used for unemployment insurance is in particularly bad shape. They have “some of the most antiquated and least versatile computer systems among public agencies,” said Indivar Dutta-Gupta, co-executive director of the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality. While states that upgrade their Medicaid websites and tech systems have their spending matched 9 to 1 by the federal government, he said, states that want to fix their unemployment insurance get no such help.*
…According to Dutta-Gupta, Congress would have preferred to raise the percentage of lost wages that insurance would replace, instead of giving everyone the same boost, but the states said it would take five months or longer to change the reimbursement percentage.
…When it comes to our broken social safety net, COBOL isn’t really the bad guy: blame Congress for underfunding the programs, and states for failing to make up the gaps.
…It appears that a functional website sometimes goes hand in hand with a state government that prioritizes the safety net: Before Congress expanded UI, Florida provided only 12 weeks of unemployment insurance, while Massachusetts provided 30 weeks, and Massachusetts’ weekly benefit amounts were roughly 40 percent higher for middle-income workers than Florida’s.
Why New Jersey’s unemployment insurance system uses COBOL.
hmmm
“As the Pentagon ordered 100,000 body bags to store the corpses of Americans killed by the Coronavirus, Governor Brian Kemp dictated that Georgia beaches must reopen, and declared any decision-makers who refused to follow these orders would face prison and/or fines,” Sessions’ statement read.
“Tybee City Council and I are devastated by the sudden directives and do not support his decisions. The health of our residents, staff and visitors are being put at risk and we will pursue legal avenues to overturn his reckless mandate.”
Tybee Island will fight Georgia governor’s ‘reckless mandate’ to reopen state’s beaches – CNN
Perhaps if we survive all of this long enough, we can charge leaders like the governor of GA with the murders they committing.
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