How should we interpret the 2nd Amendment? If only Antonin Scalia had not been on his high school rifle team …. A Washington Post video by Daron Taylor and Joyce Koh.
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Remember South Dakota’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally back in August, where 400,000 riders gathered without face masks or social distancing? Back then there was little COVID-19 in the Dakotas or surrounding states, but attendees brought the viral souvenir back to their Upper Midwest homes with them.
“Within weeks of the gathering, the Dakotas, along with Wyoming, Minnesota and Montana, were leading the nation in new coronavirus infections per capita. The surge was especially pronounced in North and South Dakota, where cases and hospitalization rates continued their juggernaut rise into October. Experts say they will never be able to determine how many of those cases originated at the 10-day rally, given the failure of state and local health officials to identify and monitor attendees returning home, or to trace chains of transmission after people got sick.”
“More than 330 coronavirus cases and one death were directly linked to the rally as of mid-September, according to a Washington Post survey of health departments in 23 states that provided information. But experts say that tally represents just the tip of the iceberg, since contact tracing often doesn’t capture the source of an infection, and asymptomatic spread goes unnoticed.”
–“How the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally may have spread coronavirus across the Upper Midwest,” Brittany Shammas and Lena H. Sun, Washington Post
More:
“Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was ‘superspreading event’ that cost public health $12.2 billion: analysis,” J. Edward Moreno, The Hill
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Joe Biden’s choice of Kamala Harris may not guarantee him the presidency, but it makes Maya Rudolph a shoo-in for Saturday Night Live guest slots. A Washington Post video.
More:
“Maya Rudolph created a memorable Kamala Harris impersonation on SNL, and fans desperately want her to return,” Michael Cavna Washington Post
“Maya Rudolph: the unambiguous winner of the Kamala Harris VP pick,” Oliver Milman, The Guardian
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“The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is failing to do its job properly, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by three meatpacking workers, who say the agency’s inaction has left them in danger.
The lawsuit accuses OSHA of leaving the workers in imminent danger due to what they say are hazardous working conditions at the factory where they work, run by Maid-Rite Specialty Foods in Pennsylvania, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.”
— “Meatpacking workers file lawsuit against OSHA, accusing agency of failing to keep them safe,” Eli Rosenberg, Washington Post
More:
“They Warned OSHA They Were in “Imminent Danger” at the Meat Plant. Now They’re Suing the Agency.” Bernice Yeung and Michael Grabell, ProPublica
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“If the NFL season opens as planned with training camps this summer, Washington’s team should do so under another name. Under its new name. Whatever that might be.” —
Barry Svrluga, Washington Post
More:
“Change the name of the Washington NFL team. Now.” Washington Post editorial
“The Washington football team can’t duck and run on its name ever again,” Mike Wise, Washington Post
“Daniel Snyder has a chance to change the legacy of the team he loves. He should.” John Feinstein, Washington Post
Updates:
“Does Congress have the leverage to force a name change for Washington’s football team?” Clyde McGrady, Roll Call
“Native American Leader Challenges Players on Washington’s NFL Team to Sit,” Andrew Beaujon, Washingtonian
Smugglers sawed into new sections of President Trump’s $18 billion border wall 18 times in the San Diego area during a single month last year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection records FOIA’ed by the Washington Post. Evidence suggests the smugglers used inexpensive battery-powered reciprocating saws, which you can buy at Home Depot for about $90, to saw through the new compsite steel bollard walls.
Even if workmen stop sawing though the wall, Mother Nature might knock it over during the desert monsoon season if storm gates aren’t installed and left open, which would defeat the whole absurd, costly premise of the thing.
More:
“Smugglers sawed into Trump’s border wall 18 times in one month in San Diego area, records show,” Nick Miroff, Washington Post
Related:
“Long-term maintenance for Trump’s border wall could cost billions, but government isn’t saying, Nick Miroff, Washington Post
“Trump administration awards $569M border wall contract despite calls to spend more on the coronavirus fight,” Kim Slowey, Construction Dive
Updates:
“Trump order to paint border wall black could drive up cost $500 million or more,” Nick Miroff and Josh Dawsey, Washington Post
“Ups and downs: Trump’s $27m-a-mile border wall being scaled with $5 ladders,” Luke O’Neil, The Guardian
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“As President Trump approaches his 1,000th day in office Wednesday, he has significantly stepped up his pace of spouting exaggerated numbers, unwarranted boasts and outright falsehoods.
As of Oct. 9, his 993rd day in office, he had made 13,435 false or misleading claims ….”
— “President Trump has made 13,435 false or misleading claims over 993 days,” Glenn Kessler, Salvador Rizzo, and Meg Kelly, Washington Post
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“President Trump’s proclivity for spouting exaggerated numbers, unwarranted boasts and outright falsehoods has continued at a remarkable pace. As of Aug. 5, his 928th day in office, he had made 12,019 false or misleading claims, according to the Fact Checker’s database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement the president has uttered.”
— “President Trump has made 12,019 false or misleading claims over 928 days,” Glenn Kessler, Salvador Rizzo and Meg Kelly, Washington Post
Updates:
“‘I don’t think this president has lied’: Trump aide denies he’s ever misled the public,” Timothy Bella, Washington Post
“Trump spokeswoman: ‘I don’t think the president has lied,'” Justin Wise, The Hill
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Nobody won last Friday’s Mega Millions lottery, so this week’s grand prize has grown to $1.6 billion dollars. That’s Billion, with a “B.” On Saturday, nobody won the Powerball lottery, so this week’s prize will be $620 million. These events are hardly surprising since both of these multi-state, government-sponsored gambling cartels recently tweaked the odds to produce such results.
Since the Mega Millions formula change, players now pick five numbers from 1 to 70 and a Mega number of 1 to 25. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350. The odds of winning the Powerball lottery are currently 1 in 292,201,338. The odds of being killed by a falling vending machine: 1 in 12,000,000.
Why did the lotteries ramp up the odds? If more people lose, the lottery prizes grow larger. When prizes grow, more people buy lottery tickets. When prizes are “only” $100 million, many lottery ticket buyers are the poor and desperate, but when prizes are huge, even wealthy people buy lottery tickets.When more people buy lottery tickets, the bigger the corporate profits for Mega Millions and Powerball. But selling more lottery tickets increases state school district budgets, right?
No. education budgets stay about the same. States merely use lottery profits to replace funding they previously got from other sources.
More:
“How Much Do Americans Spend on the Lottery?” Mike Brown, lendedu
“Per capita lottery spending has doubled since 1995,” Christopher Ingraham, Washington Post
“Why all lotteries are based on a lie,” Allison Schrager, Quartz
“Powerball Windfall? Schools Don’t Always Benefit From Lottery Sales,” Elizabeth Chuck, NBC News
“How ’80s excess fueled today’s Mega Millions mania,” Jonathan D. Cohen, Washington Post
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The Washington Post won a 2018 Pulitzer Prize for its investigative reporting of Roy Moore’s courtship of underage girls. Mr. Moore, failed senate candidate, defrocked judge and gun-slinging, theocratic, racist homophobe, calls that reporting “lies and slander” in a fundraising email he sent out to raise money for his legal defense in a defamation lawsuit filed by one of his accusers.
“They spread slanderous lies and made numerous false accusations. They attacked my character. They dragged my reputation through the mud. They even attacked my wife and family. But instead of being held accountable in a court of law, the Washington Post just won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for their lies and slander against me and my family. Meanwhile, I’m being sued for standing up and defending myself and my family from ruthless lies and attacks. And it’s exactly why you and I must stand strong in our legal fight against the forces of evil.”
Hey, y’all. Pulitzer. That some kinda Jewish name?
More:
“Roy Moore fundraising off Pulitzers won for stories about him, cites ‘forces of evil,'” Leada Gore, AL.com
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