Monthly Archives: May 2020

Apple Stores To Require Temperature Check To Enter

The Washington Post reports: Apple’s retail stores are known for crowded areas of display devices ready for experimenting and the ability to make a purchase without needing to line up at a cash register. But as the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant reopens about 100 of its retail stores globally, the customer experience is bound to feel different. Apple will be …

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Trump Threatens To Withdraw US Membership In WHO

Axios reports: President Trump tweeted a letter Monday night threatening to permanently cut off the World Health Organization’s U.S. funding, accusing the WHO of “repeated missteps” during the pandemic and demanding it “demonstrate independence from China.” What he’s saying: If the WHO “does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze …

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Florida Health Official: I Just Got Fired For Refusing To Fake COVID Data To “Drum Up Support” For Opening

Florida Today reports: Late last Friday, the architect and manager of Florida’s COVID-19 dashboard — praised by White House officials for its accessibility — announced that she had been removed from her post, causing outcry from independent researchers now worried about government censorship. The site was created by a team of Florida Department of Health data scientists and public health …

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Albania Becomes Latest Country To Ban Ex-Gay Torture

Agence France-Presse reports: Albania’s psychologists have banned so-called “conversion therapy”, which tries to change the sexual orientation of young LGBT people, a move hailed on Saturday by the country’s rights groups. The decision by Albania’s order of psychologists on Friday is “significantly important for LGBTI adolescents”, the gay rights association Pink Embassy said in a statement. All registered therapists in …

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LGBT Group To Host Utah GOP Gubernatorial Debate

Ben Winslow reports at Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate: The Republican candidates seeking to lead one of the reddest states in the nation have all agreed to appear in a forum on LGBTQ issues. Equality Utah, a political advocacy organization for LGBTQ rights, will host the GOP candidates for governor in an online forum on Friday, FOX 13 confirmed. Thomas …

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Trump Won’t Unveil Obama’s Official WH Portrait

NBC News reports: It’s been a White House tradition for decades: a first-term president hosts his immediate predecessor in the East Room for a ceremony to unveil the portrait of the former president that will hang in the halls of the White House for posterity. Yet this modern ritual won’t be taking place between Obama and President Donald Trump, according …

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Trump Rages Against “Asshole” Fox Host Neil Cavuto

Politico reports: President Donald Trump on Monday night issued a flurry of angry messages against Fox News’ Neil Cavuto — and the network itself — after the host criticized the president for saying he’d been taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure against coronavirus. Cavuto said: “If you are taking this as a preventative treatment to ward off the virus, or …

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Pelosi Worries For “Morbidly Obese” Trump’s Health

Yahoo News reports: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it’s “not a good idea” for a “morbidly obese” President Donald Trump to be taking the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a preventative treatment for COVID-19 — especially given his age and weight group. “He’s our president and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

Broadway.com reports: This virtual performance is filled to the brim with favorites from the Hairspray family. We spy Hairspray Tony winners Marissa Jaret Winokur and Harvey Fierstein, original Broadway cast members Laura Bell Bundy, Kerry Butler, Matthew Morrison and Jackie Hoffman, Hairspray film star Nikki Blonsky, Hairspray Live! stars Maddie Baillio, Kristin Chenoweth and Ephraim Sykes and so many more. …

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County Official: Don’t Touch A Stranger’s Balls [VIDEO]

Mashable reports: Ahead of tennis courts reopening in parts of Long Island, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran emphasized the importance of only handling your own balls. If you and another player are from another household, she explained during a press conference last week, you can touch each others’ balls, but players should otherwise take every precaution to avoid coming in …

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Texas Gov Gives Green Light To Bars, Sports, Day Care

The Austin Statesman reports: Gov. Greg Abbott Monday unveiled his plans for an accelerated return to a semblance of normal life Monday, immediately reopening child care centers, Scouting and other youth clubs, as well as massage, tattoo, piercing and other personal services, with a limited reopening of bars, bingo halls and bowling alleys Friday, when restaurants will be allowed to …

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WHO Agrees To Probe Into Global COVID Response

The Associated Press reports: The World Health Organization bowed to calls Monday from most of its member states to launch an independent probe into how it managed the international response to the coronavirus, which has been clouded by finger-pointing between the U.S. and China over a pandemic that has killed over 300,000 people and leveled the global economy. The “comprehensive …

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Pompeo: I Never Knew Fired IG Was Investigating Me

The Washington Post reports: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed Monday that he asked President Trump to fire the State Department inspector general because his work was “undermining” the department’s mission, but he declined to describe any specific concerns. In a telephone interview, Pompeo said the decision was not an act of political retaliation, because he did not know beforehand …

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Actor Ken “Eddie Haskell” Osmond Dies At Age 76

Variety reports: Ken Osmond, best known for his role as the troublemaker Eddie Haskell on the television comedy “Leave It to Beaver,” died on Monday morning. He was 76. Sources tell Variety Osmond died at his Los Angeles home surrounded by family members. The cause of death is unknown. Osmond portrayed Haskell as sycophantic to grownups while making fun of …

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Trump’s Vaccine Czar To Divest $10M In Vaccine Stock

The Hill reports: The former drug company executive leading the Trump administration’s coronavirus vaccine initiative said he will divest all his shares in Moderna, one of the initiative’s leading candidates. At the time of his appointment to lead “Operation Warp Speed,” the shares were worth about $10 million. The announcement comes as Moderna’s stock soared almost 20 percent on Monday, …

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Rubio To Replace Burr As Senate Intel Committee Chair

Axios reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Monday that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) will serve as the acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee while a federal investigation into Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) is ongoing. The backdrop: Last week, the FBI seized Burr’s phone as part of an investigation into stock trades he made shortly before the coronavirus …

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Trump Claims He’s Taking Malaria Drug As Preventive

The Independent reports: Donald Trump revealed Monday he is taking hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug he has pushed for weeks as a treatment for coronavirus — even though he has tested negative and federal health agencies have warned of serious negative side effects “I take it,” he told reporters. “All I can tell you is, so far, I feel okay. It …

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California Governor Eases County Reopening Criteria

The Sacramento Bee reports: California is changing its criteria for counties that want to reopen faster than the rest of the state. Counties will have to demonstrate that their hospitalization rates are stable and their rate of positive cases are low. The new criteria represent a move away from the previous rules, which among other standards required that counties have …

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RNC Chair: We Won’t Be Holding A Virtual Convention

The Associated Press reports: Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Monday that the party “will not be holding a virtual convention,” pledging that the presidential nominating convention in late August will be conducted at least partly in-person. “It’s quite a ways away, and there’s ample time for us to adjust, if necessary,” McDaniel said. But later, in response to …

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Smartphone Data Suggests Protesters Spread COVID

The Guardian reports: Cellphone location data suggests that demonstrators at anti-lockdown protests – some of which have been connected with Covid-19 cases – are often traveling hundreds of miles to events, returning to all parts of their states, and even crossing into neighboring ones. The data, provided to the Guardian by the progressive campaign group the Committee to Protect Medicare, …

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