Monday, June 1st, 2020

Massachusetts

The COVID-19 contagion reached a peak in Massachusetts during the last two weeks in April with approximately 2,200 new infections being reported and 170 deaths on average per day.

Since then all the numbers have steadily declined to less than 500 new cases per day and less than 60 deaths per day on average.
Theoretically, at the pace at which these numbers are declining there should be very close to zero new infections and deaths by Friday, June 19th. Possibly sooner.

June 19th would be the 95th day of lockdown which started in Massachusetts on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th, 2020.

-CB

 

Clusterfuck Nation –  James Howard Kunstler – June 1st, 2020

“All the previous incidents of white cops killing blacks were just too ambiguous to seal the deal. Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri (a murky business); Tamir Rice in Cleveland (waving the BB gun that looked like a .45 automatic); Trayvon Martin (his killer George Zimmerman was not a cop and was not “white”); Eric Garner, Staten Island (black policewoman sergeant on the scene didn’t stop it); Philandro Castile, Minneapolis, (the cop was Hispanic and the vic had a gun). Even the recent February killing of jogger Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia, had some sketchy elements (did Arbery try to seize the shotgun?) — YouTube has scrubbed the video (?) — and then it took months for the two white suspects (not cops) to be arrested.

The George Floyd killing had none of those weaknesses. Plus, the video presented a pretty much universal image of oppression: a man with his knee on another man’s neck. Didn’t that say it all? You didn’t need a Bob Dylan song to explain it. The Minneapolis police dithered for four days before charging policeman Derek Chauvin with Murder 3 (unpremeditated, but with reckless disregard for human life). The three other cops on the scene who stupidly stood by doing nothing have yet to be charged. Cut it, print it, and cue the mobs.”

 

Wuhan’s Mass Testing May Have Eradicated the Coronavirus

 

The Coronavirus is Weakening in Italy

 

‘Dr. Doom’ economist Nouriel Roubini says he predicted US protests ‘months ago’

 

Trump urges governors to ‘dominate’ protesters  President Trump on Monday told a group of state governors over the phone they should use law enforcement to “dominate” protesters who are demonstrating against police brutality. After a weekend of nationwide protests, Trump urged governors to use force to take back the streets, saying they should not be “weak” with those who are gathering to demand justice for George Floyd and others who have faced systemic racism. “Most of you are weak,” he told governors, calling on them to step up police presence. “You have to dominate, if you don’t dominate you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks,” he reportedly said. Trump has publicly called protesters “anarchists,” “thugs,” and threatened to order the National Guard to begin “shooting.” Source: The Washington Post

Protests continue across U.S. amid demands to end police brutality  In major cities and small towns across the U.S., protesters gathered on Sunday to demonstrate against the death of George Floyd. Floyd, an unarmed black man, died last week in Minneapolis after a white police officer placed his knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Most of the protests were peaceful during the day, but some descended into chaos later, with businesses looted in several cities, including Philadelphia and Santa Monica, California. Across from the White House, riot police began pushing thousands of protesters back after a fire was set and began burning uncontrollably. Curfews have been imposed in Los Angeles, Denver, Atlanta, Seattle, and San Francisco, and the National Guard has activated more than 5,000 soldiers and airmen in 15 states and Washington, D.C. Source: The Associated Press

Officials warn demonstrations could result in coronavirus spike  Public officials across the country on Sunday warned that mass protests over police violence against African Americans could result in a spike in coronavirus infections. The protests in at least 75 cities have brought large crowds together, often shoulder to shoulder. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) warned that “thousands of people jammed in together in close proximity” could easily spread the virus. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) expressed the same concern. “I’m extremely concerned we are seeing mass gatherings,” she told CNN. “We’re going to see the other side of this in a couple of weeks.” As states gradually reopen their severely damaged economies, the number of infections nationwide has risen to nearly 1.8 million, with more than 104,000 deaths. Source: CNN

Obama: Protesters should make specific demands for criminal justice, police reform  Former President Barack Obama on Monday published a blog post titled “How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change.” Obama said the ongoing nationwide protests against police brutality “represent a genuine and legitimate frustration over a decades-long failure to reform police practices and the broader criminal justice system.” He condemned “the small minority of folks who’ve resorted to violence,” and also called for voters to get involved in both national, state, and local elections. “If we want to bring about real change, then the choice isn’t between protest and politics,” he wrote. “We have to do both.” Obama said protesters should organize to identify specific demands for criminal justice and police reform, to avoid mere “lip service” in response to the demonstrations. Source: Medium

CBO: Coronavirus could cost U.S. $16 trillion in economic growth this decade  The Congressional Budget Office on Monday reported that it has altered its economic growth predictions for the next decade in response to the coronavirus pandemic’s effect on the economy. If trends continue, the estimate for the level of nominal GDP in the second quarter of 2020 is now 14.2 percent lower than it was in January. Things improve slightly after that — the difference in the January and May estimates is 9.4 percent for the end of 2020 and 2.2 percent by the end of 2030 — but the cumulative nominal economic output over the next decade is nearly $15.7 trillion less than the agency had pegged in January. Adjusted for inflation, that figure comes in at 7.9 trillion. Top Democrats said the report showed a need for additional legislation to stimulate the economy.  Source: Fox News

 

 

 

Monday, June 1st, 2020

The number of worldwide cases of COVID-19 surpasses six million. The United States remains the global epicenter, accounting for approximately 29% of all reported and confirmed cases in the world. (CNN)

Brazil reports a record 33,274 new cases of COVID-19 and 956 more deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 498,440 and 28,834 deaths, the fourth highest in the world. (Reuters)

Many major cities around the United States implement curfews meant to prevent a second night of riots, including Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Rochester, Salt Lake City, and Seattle. (NBC News)

The media was the target of violence and harassment at least 50 times on Friday and Saturday. (The Guardian)

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft successfully docks with the International Space Station (ISS) with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Douglas Hurley joining the existing crew aboard the space station. (CNN)

Researchers announce a 2.5cm millipede fossil discovered on the island of Kerrera, in the Scottish Inner Hebrides, is the world’s oldest-known land animal, which lived 425 million years ago in the Silurian period. (Reuters)

The End 

 

Sunday,  May 31st, 2020

Supreme Court rejects church’s challenge to California’s religious services restrictions  In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court on Friday rejected a California church’s challenge to the state’s limits on attendance for religious services during the coronavirus pandemic. For now, California can enforce the rules as a public health measure. The court was split on ideological lines with Chief Justice John Roberts, who often serves as the swing vote, siding with the liberal faction. In the ruling, Roberts wrote that “the precise question when restrictions” should be lifted during the pandemic “is a dynamic and fact-intensive matter subject to reasonable disagreement” and the “Constitution principally entrusts ‘the safety and the health of the people ‘ to the politically accountable officials of the states.” Source:  The Los Angeles Times

Merkel turns down Trump’s G-7 invitation  German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday turned down President Trump’s invitation to attend the Group of Seven summit in person because of concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. The White House has said the summit will go forward in late June in Washington, D.C., rather than at Camp David as previously planned. “As of today, considering the overall pandemic situation, [Merkel] cannot agree to her personal participation,” German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told Politico. The chancellor will reportedly continue to monitor the coronavirus situation, however. Trump and Merkel haven’t always seen eye to eye, and the leaders reportedly had heated disagreements over NATO, China, and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline during a phone call last week, though it’s unclear if that conversation had any bearing on Merkel’s decision about the summit. Source: Politico

Russian President Vladimir Putin announces the adoption of a new package of measures to support the Russian economy and citizens in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. This payment does not cancel but supplements the previously introduce support measures. Additionally, Putin proposed to establish a monthly payment of 5 thousand rubles for families with children under three years of age. (RT)

Kellie Chauvin, wife of former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin, who has been charged with murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd, files for divorce. (The West Australian)

A Federal Protective Service officer is killed and another injured in an overnight drive-by shooting outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland, California, amid protests over the death of George Floyd five days prior. (NBC News)

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti implements an 8:00 PM curfew meant to prevent a second night of riots. (KTLA)

Protests against police brutality escalate nationwide  Protesters gathered in several cities across the U.S. on Friday night to demonstrate against police brutality and institutional racism. Protests in Brooklyn, New York; Atlanta, Georgia; San Jose, California; Washington, D.C.; and Minneapolis, Minnesota, started peacefully, with attendees demanding justice in the case of George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis after a police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes on Monday. Some protesters clashed with police — in Brooklyn, where a heavy police presence awaited protesters, officers reportedly used tear gas on crowds, meanwhile in Atlanta, a police car was reportedly set on fire. In San Jose, protesters blocked freeway traffic; and in D.C., the White House was briefly on lockdown as demonstrators arrived in the area. Source: CNN

Hundreds of Minnesota National Guard are deployed in Minneapolis to enforce a night curfew, after Mayor Jacob Frey declared a state of local emergency amid civil unrest, but rioting and arson fires continue. (Star Tribune)

In Detroit, police use tear gas to disperse a crowd of protesters and make several arrests, including one person who drove their car at a police officer. A man killed near the protest may be an unrelated targeted murder. (Detroit Free Press)

In Houston, at least 137 people are arrested, eight police officers are hospitalized, and 16 police vehicles are vandalized in a riot. (KHOU)

Several other protests against police brutality and systemic racism take place in large cities across the United States, some of which included arson, vandalism, and looting. (CNN)

The End 

Saturday,  May 30th, 2020

Former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin, who was recorded on video kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for several minutes and eventually causing his death, is taken into custody by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and charged with third-degree murder and second degree manslaughter. (KSTP)

Hundreds of Minnesota National Guard officers are deployed in Minneapolis–Saint Paul to enforce a night curfew, after Mayor Jacob Frey declared a state of local emergency amid civil unrest. (Star Tribune)

Protesters vandalize the CNN Center in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, while several Atlanta Police Department vehicles are attacked and set on fire as protests spread. Seven people are reportedly arrested. (Newsweek)

Several other mostly peaceful protests against police brutality and systemic racism take place in large cities across the United States. (CNN)

U.S. President Donald Trump says he is terminating the country’s relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO) over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the WHO has become a “puppet of China” and that American funding will be redirected to “other global public health needs”. (Reuters)

Protests against police brutality escalate nationwide  Protesters gathered in several cities across the U.S. on Friday night to demonstrate against police brutality and institutional racism. Protests in Brooklyn, New York; Atlanta, Georgia; San Jose, California; Washington, D.C.; and Minneapolis, Minnesota, started peacefully, with attendees demanding justice in the case of George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis after a police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes on Monday. Some protesters clashed with police — in Brooklyn, where a heavy police presence awaited protesters, officers reportedly used tear gas on crowds, meanwhile in Atlanta, a police car was reportedly set on fire. In San Jose, protesters blocked freeway traffic; and in D.C., the White House was briefly on lockdown as demonstrators arrived in the area. The National Guard sought to enforce a curfew in Minneapolis. Source: CNN

Twitter labels Trump tweets about looting and shooting as ‘glorifying violence’  President Trump tweeted Friday that he “can’t stand back” and watch as protests in Minneapolis against the police killing of George Floyd bleed into looting and arson. Trump threatened to send in the National Guard, which Gov. Tim Walz (D) had activated Thursday, adding: “These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. … Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!” Twitter added a warning to that second tweet stating it “violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence,” but left it up because “it may be in the public’s interest for the tweet to remain accessible.” The official White House Twitter account later quoted and posted the tweet. Trump signed an executive order on Thursday “challenging the liability protections that have served as a bedrock for unfettered speech on the internet,” The Associated Press writes. The move comes after Twitter labeled two of Trump’s tweets on mail-in ballots as misleading. Source:  Axios

Consumer spending dropped record 13.6 percent in April  On Friday, the government reported that consumer spending in April plunged 13.6 percent from the month prior, which Bloomberg says is “the sharpest drop in Commerce Department records back to 1959.” Meanwhile, the personal savings rate, which describes the amount of a person’s disposable income that they are putting into savings, hit 33 percent in April, “by far the highest since the department started tracking in the 1960’s, and [surpassing the] consumer savings during the Global Financial Crisis,” CNBC reports. The high personal savings rate, combined with the extremely low consumer spending, reflects Americans’ jitters about spending money during the pandemic. Personal income, meanwhile, rose 10.5 percent in April, a record boost due to the federal stimulus payments and unemployment benefits, while economists had expected a decrease of 2.1 percent. Source: Bloomberg

A Minneapolis Police Department station is abandoned by police after being overran by protesters and is then looted and set on fire. An MPD spokesman confirmed the Third Precinct building had been evacuated “in the interest of the safety of our personnel”. (Politico)

The End