Trump Says He Gave Out 1 Million Tickets To His Tulsa Rally. That Means 980,801 Fans Won’t Fit.

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Trump Says He Gave Out 1 Million Tickets To His Tulsa Rally. That Means 980,801 Fans Won’t Fit.

WASHINGTON ― What happens when 1 million people RSVP to say they are coming to a venue that only holds 19,199?

Such is the absurdist situation President Donald Trump and his campaign are boasting about as he resumes hosting political rallies on Saturday at the Bank of Oklahoma Center in Tulsa. “Almost One Million people request tickets for the Saturday Night Rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma!” Trump wrote in a statement he posted to Twitter Monday.

Later, during a White House photo opportunity, the president said an additional 40,000 would be able to watch the rally from the convention center next door on television screens. “Which would mean they would have over 900,000 people that won’t be able to go. But hopefully, they’ll be watching,” he said.

It is unclear why Trump’s campaign – which has already spent three-quarters of a billion dollars since January 2017, only to trail in the polls to Democratic challenger Joe Biden – is even holding a rally in Oklahoma, a deeply Republican state nearly completely surrounded by other Republican states.

“I don’t know why they’re having a rally there at all, to be honest,” said one Republican adviser close to the White House who spoke on condition of anonymity. “They’re fine, if you’re actually doing them in places that matter.”

If past is prologue, Trump may well get on stage Saturday and simply claim that those with tickets who could not get in because of fire marshal restrictions are waiting outside – all 981,000 of them. In reality, it is unlikely that many or even most of those who signed up for tickets on the Trump campaign’s website have any intention of making their way to Tulsa – a city with a population of 406,000 in a state of only 4 million.

In any event, the Trump campaign has long admitted that its rallies are a tool for harvesting cellphone numbers and email addresses of people who sign up to attend. Those individuals are then bombarded with emails and text messages asking for campaign donations and targeted with ads on Facebook and Instagram.

“It’s about the signing up, rather than the showing up,” the White House adviser said, adding that each Trump rally generates thousands of new names, including many people who are not even registered to vote yet. “That’s the only thing that helps organize this campaign, is a rally.”

David Axelrod, an architect of former President Barack Obama’s campaign that set the standard for data-based microtargeting, said merely gathering the names and contact information means little unless that information can be translated into persuading those people to influence their social circle to vote for Trump.

“It’s about activating them as digital organizers to get friends and family to vote, wherever they may be,” Axelrod said.

In the case of Trump, he added, there is likely an alternate rationale, as well: “It’s also about aggrandizing the president’s fragile ego and need, in this vulnerable moment, to be bathed in the love and approval he desperately craves.”

Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale has alluded to voter mobilization efforts along those lines for previous rallies. On Jan. 28, following one attended by 8,000 in Wildwood, New Jersey, Parscale bragged on Twitter that 158,632 tickets had been requested and 73,482 voters had been identified, of whom 10.4% had not voted in 2016, and 26.3% were Democrats.

“Mind boggling,” Parscale wrote, adding an emoji of a surprised face wearing what appears to be a small chef’s hat.

Other Republican consultants, though, had a different explanation of all the hype Parscale and the campaign are using to boost Saturday’s rally in Tulsa.

“You think a Ferrari buys itself?” asked John Weaver, who worked on the presidential campaigns of John McCain and John Kasich.



President Donald Trump arrives at a rally at Bojangles’ Coliseum on March 2, 2020, in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

Parscale, who became close to Trump’s adult children when he designed websites for Trump family businesses nearly a decade ago, has grown renowned for becoming wealthy off his work for both the 2016 and 2020 campaigns, despite no previous experience in politics.

Federal Election Commission filings show that Parscale’s companies were paid $93.9 million for the 2016 election, and $38.9 million for the 2020 election through the March 31 reporting period.

How much of that money wound up in Parscale’s pocket cannot be determined from FEC records, but it was enough to allow him to buy a $1.4 million waterfront home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a $400,000 boat to tie up behind it, a Ferrari, a Land Rover and a pair of $1 million condos.

Weaver ridiculed the idea that Trump was getting anything useful by staging a rally in Oklahoma, a state he won by 36 percentage points in 2016. “Do you think any of these people are undecided?” he asked. “Do they need Facebook ads aimed at them?”

Stuart Stevens, who worked on the campaigns of George W. Bush and Mitt Romney, said Parscale is merely trying to show Trump that he is doing something as his boss’s approval ratings slide from the coronavirus pandemic and anti-racism protests. 

“I think it’s Parscale trying to save his job by bragging about it,” Stevens said. “Parscale is a process guy, not a message guy. So, when threatened, he doubles down on process.”

The practice of “overselling” tickets to Trump’s rallies goes back to his 2016 run.

Among all the people with confirmations, the first who show up are admitted, until the venue fills to capacity. Trump’s most loyal fans adjusted by showing up hours or even a day or two early to make sure they would be close enough to the front of the line to get good seats. That, in turn, led to a staple of Trump campaign media coverage of interviewing supporters in lines, sometimes blocks long, waiting for the doors to open.

Handing out more tickets than there is room also gives Trump a standard line at the start of each speech about how many people cannot get in and have to remain outside ― although his claims as to how many are outside have ranged from somewhat exaggerated to downright laughable.

On Oct. 22, 2018, for example, Trump held a rally at the Toyota Center in Houston, which holds 18,300. He told his audience that there were “about 50,000 people outside.” According to the Houston police, there were about 3,000 people outside.

Rick Tyler, a GOP consultant who worked on Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s 2016 campaign, said he doesn’t understand why Trump and his people keep bragging about their rally attendance in the first place.

“Free tickets to a freak show are not hard to give away and a good time will be had by all,” Tyler noted. “But there is a reason the circus only comes to town until the crowds thin and it’s time to move on. The problem for team Trump is that his market share of voters has not expanded beyond people who love clown shows.”



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Dancing during the pandemic: Despite restrictions, music and dance retain a central role in Iranian society

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Dancing during the pandemic: Despite restrictions, music and dance retain a central role in Iranian society

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, music and dance have become increasingly common in Iran’s hospitals and on its streets. Long disallowed in public after the Islamic revolution of 1979, they have become both a source of support for Iranians during difficult times and a way of resisting the regime. While the Islamic Republic has actively tried to discourage them over the past 40 years, music and dance have a long and unique history in Iran and have retained a central role in Iranian society. Unlike people in many neighboring Muslim countries, Iranians hold on strongly to their pre-Islamic roots and traditions.  

The traditional role of music and dance

Dance in Iran in the form of plays, dramas, or religious rituals accompanied by music is thousands of years old, as a ceramic fragment featuring dancers from around 5000 BCE in the Louvre attests. Persian dance and music are as old as Persian civilization and played an important role in rituals and courtly entertainment in various Persian empires. Following the spread of Islam to Iran through the Arab-Islamic conquest of 650 CE, Iranian kings did not forbid the public from performing them, although some more traditional Muslims did view music and dance as contravening Islamic morals. 

During the Pahlavi monarchy (1920-1979) music and dance were promoted by new media sources such as radio and TV. In 1966 the Shah established the National Iranian Folklore Institute with Farah Pahlavi, the former queen of Iran, as its president and tasked it with collecting traditional folk music and dances from all of Iran’s different ethnicities. In 1969 the School of National and Traditional Dance was established in Tehran. Traditional folk music and dance became part of Iranian identity and resonated with Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s ideas of the “Great Persian Nation” and Iran’s continuity with its ancient past under King Cyrus the Great (600-530 BCE).

In the 1970s pop singers like Googoosh became very popular among young Iranians, even religious and conservative ones. During Pahlavi’s time, women could sing and dance and a number of bands performing traditional Iranian music were active. International classical music orchestras also held concerts in the country. The Shah supported musicians, especially pop singers, and traditional music and dance were often performed at national events and ceremonies, such as the Shah’s birthday. Music and dance were two popular pillars of the “Great Persian Civilization” and were given support to build national identity, along with other arts such as painting, poetry, and architecture that drew inspiration from pre-Islamic times.

The Islamic revolution

As with so much else in Iran, things changed dramatically following the Islamic revolution. On July 23, 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini banned all music from Iranian radio and television. In a radio interview, he said it was “no different from opium” and “stupefies people listening to it and makes their brain inactive and frivolous.” Ayatollah Khomeini added that music had “corrupted Iranian youth” and robbed them of their “strength and virility.” “Music which might excite youth” was forbidden, he said, “if it’s conducive to something which is not proper between the sexes, like inciting people to dance or creating some kind of feeling.” He declared, “If you want independence for your country, you must suppress music and not fear to be called old‐fashioned. Music is a betrayal of the nation and of youth.”

During the presidency of “reformist” Mohammed Khatami (1997-2005), there was a slight easing of official policy, with some traditional music permitted to be performed publicly, but women still weren’t allowed to sing in public. Despite the restrictions, however, Iranian youth began to play their own music and dance to local bands that were part of a burgeoning underground music scene.

In 2005, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad banned Western music from state radio and TV stations. “Blocking indecent and Western music from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting is required,” according to a statement from the Supreme Cultural Revolutionary Council.

Growing pushback from society

Despite all of the regime’s efforts to prevent it, music and dance became increasingly popular among young Iranians, and this has presented a huge challenge for the Islamic Republic. In 2014, three unveiled Iranian women and three men were sentenced to suspended jail terms and to be flogged for dancing to U.S. singer Pharrell Williams’ song “Happy.” The six young Iranians, all under the age of 25, were arrested for posting a YouTube video of themselves dancing on Tehran rooftops — exactly what Ayatollah Khomeini had hoped to prevent.

On July 9, 2018, Iranian state television broadcast apologies by several women who were briefly detained for posting videos of themselves dancing on their popular Instagram accounts, according to Human Rights Watch. Under Iranian law the definition of what constitutes acts against morality is vague, and the Islamic Republic has long censored art, music, and other forms of cultural expression, as well as prosecuted hundreds of people for such acts.  

The impact of COVID

As one of the early epicenters for COVID-19, Iran has been especially hard hit by the virus, with more than 190,000 officially confirmed cases and over 9,000 deaths. Following the outbreak of the pandemic, medical doctors in Iran argued that music and dance could help strengthen the body’s immune system as well as lift the spirits and lessen the fear and anxiety among hospital patients and personnel. In an interview one nurse told a national TV journalist that she smiled at patients and sometimes danced in order to help them get better. Medical staff began to sing and dance together — doctors and nurses, men and women in public — recording videos of themselves and sharing them with the world.

Medical doctors are widely respected and trusted in Iranian society, and as a result they were able to get the regime’s unofficial permission to allow music and dancing among hospital employees. Millions of Iranians shared videos of singing and dancing nurses and doctors at several hospitals in Iran on YouTube, Instagram, and Telegram.

The videos went all around the world and there was no reaction from the regime. On the contrary, in several provinces governors supported the playing of music and performance of group dances with both doctors and nurses. In some cities officials even supported live folk music and group dance in the gardens of hospitals or outside their front doors.

The failure of cultural engineering

The Islamic Republic’s 40-year-long effort to reshape society in line with Ayatollah Khomeini’s ideas could not prevent the Iranian people from expressing themselves through music and dance in spite of the threat of being arrested or imprisoned. Music and dance cannot be removed from Iranian life; even if they are banned, the population will always have access to outside sources, like the music produced by the large Iranian diaspora.

In today’s Iran, music and dance remain as popular as ever and have become a way of resisting the regime’s policies, as well as celebrating traditional Persian culture. As the COVID-19 pandemic has made clear, they are also providing Iranians with much-needed support during a difficult time, strengthening their physical immunity and mental well-being. By weakening the moral, political, and religious justifications for the regime’s restrictions, the public resurgence of music and dance may even help to inspire other Iranians to challenge the boundaries as well.

 

Fariba Parsa has a PhD in social science with focus on Iranian politics and has conducted research at Harvard University, University of Maryland, and George Mason University. She is the founder and president of Women’s E-Learning in Leadership (WELL) and works at Yorktown Systems Group as a Farsi instructor.

Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

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Conviction in the Philippines Reveals Facebook’s Dangers

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Conviction in the Philippines Reveals Facebook’s Dangers

This article is part of the On Tech newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it weekdays.

Mark Zuckerberg likes to say that Facebook does more good than harm in the world. But Facebook’s effect on the world is multifaceted and complicated, and the good can’t simply make us forget the bad.

Without Facebook or a digital hangout like it, we might never have seen the bystander video of George Floyd pinned under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, undermining the official account of Floyd’s death. Facebook gives everyone — even a 17-year-old — a printing press. Yes, that is often very good.

But on the flip side I think about the Philippines, where Facebook has been weaponized by powerful people to vilify and harass their enemies, and where the social network has contributed to a poisoned atmosphere in which even basic facts are in doubt. It is in poorer countries without strong democratic institutions where the good but also the harm of Facebook has been magnified.

Facebook has acknowledged that is has been slow to act in some countries and has more work to do to stop harmful abuses of its hangouts. But Zuckerberg’s mathematical equation — the good outweighs the bad — is too simplistic.

Every time I think something positive about Facebook, I also hold in my mind the profound damage the company has done — and that too should be an indelible part of Zuckerberg’s legacy.

I am grappling with this again now because on Monday a court in Manila convicted a prominent journalist in the Philippines, Maria Ressa, and a former colleague of cyber libel.

Ressa and her defenders have said the legal case was an effort to silence news publications like Rappler, which she co-founded, that have been critical of President Rodrigo Duterte and his war on drugs that has left thousands of people dead and disappeared.

Davey Alba, my New York Times colleague, wrote a must-read article two years ago about the ways that Duterte and his allies employed Facebook to build a large base of supporters, smear opponents like Ressa and spread hoaxes.

Davey explained to me that Facebook gave Duterte the means to disseminate his message quickly and broadly. And the company’s computer-rigged system that is programmed to circulate the most engaging (and often divisive) material lined up perfectly with the fear, outrage and anger that fueled Duterte’s political campaign and then his presidency.

There were violent world leaders before Facebook, but as in other countries, the social network and an authoritarian were a match.

Ressa used Facebook to build an audience for her fledgling news organization. But she and other Rappler staff were also targeted on Facebook, and the news outlet devoted its time and resources to combat false information there. As an official Facebook partner, Rappler was tasked by Facebook to protect the Philippines from the worst of Facebook.

Alone, the Philippines shows the worst side of Facebook. But this is not an isolated case.

In Myanmar, Sri Lanka and beyond, there’s a repeated pattern of Facebook’s system rewarding the most outrageous or fear-mongering messages with more distribution, to grave consequence. And Facebook fails to address warnings about the abuses happening under its nose.

Yes, we want and need to bear witness to police brutality videos. But we shouldn’t accept a genocide in Myanmar or the targeting of a journalist in the Philippines in exchange for it.

Members of Congress have been trying to get Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, to testify in an ongoing investigation into whether big technology companies wield their power fairly. Amazon’s lawyer said on Monday that Bezos was willing to appear at a House hearing alongside other C.E.O.s. (You’ll notice that is hardly an unqualified yes.)

Bezos is rarely in a position like this, facing questions that he is compelled to answer. I’ll be watching eagerly, if it happens. But I can already tell you that it will be frustrating and pointless.

What I’ve learned from congressional fact-finding sessions like this is that they are theater on both sides.

Too often, our elected officials use these moments to grandstand or catch executives in a lie, and corporate leaders — just as powerful but unelected by the public — say things that might be technically true but not all that revealing.

Both lawmakers and tech companies share the blame here.

There’s a false idea inside tech companies that members of Congress are too old or clueless to understand how tech companies work. But in one of the hearings last year of the House panel investigating competition in technology, both Republican and Democratic lawmakers asked important, probing questions. It was the executives from Facebook, Apple, Google and Amazon who mostly dodged those questions.

I’m not a congressional expert, but I wonder if the format of these legislative accountability sessions needs some tweaks. One critic of tech companies has suggested having congressional staff members tape interviews with witnesses so there would be no time limits and less inclination to show off. A Washington veteran suggested to me that investigative hearings need to happen more frequently because there is a cumulative impact.

The power of big tech companies is an important matter of public policy. We should hold both our elected officials and the big companies we rely on accountable for what they do. The hearings as they exist now are unlikely to do this.

  • Speaking of investigations into big tech power … : European regulators are questioning whether Apple abuses its power by setting onerous terms for app makers who want to reach iPhone and iPad users, my colleague Adam Satariano writes. The regulators are also opening a separate investigation to see whether Apple is blocking alternatives to Apple Pay on the company’s devices.

  • Can a computer be your friend? Cade Metz, a New York Times tech reporter, has a nuanced look at virtual digital assistants that some people now turn to for companionship or to vent about their problems. Some researchers said leaning on chatbots prevents people from dealing with complex human relationships, but many psychologists and users say these digital helpers provide fulfilling emotional support.

  • What. Is. Going. On. In an alarming display of corporate vigilantism, six eBay employees were charged with harassing a Massachusetts couple who wrote an e-commerce newsletter by sending them boxes of live cockroaches, a Halloween mask of a bloody pig’s face and other disturbing material. My colleague Natasha Singer writes that none of the employees now work at eBay.

No one loves carrots this much. (I recommend watching with the sound on for the full effect of webbed feet on pavement.)

We want to hear from you. Tell us what you think of this newsletter and what else you’d like us to explore. You can reach us at ontech@nytimes.com.

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Outbreaks of violence at Paris health care workers’ protest

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Outbreaks of violence at Paris health care workers’ protest

Protesters clash with police in Paris | Alain Jocard/AFP via Getty Images

Videos posted online show fire and vandalism as radical protesters clash with police.

Doctors, nurses and other health care workers took to the streets in France on Tuesday to demand improvements to the health sector as the country moves past the worst of the coronavirus epidemic.

The protesters numbered “several thousand” in Paris, where violence broke out as radical groups clashed with police, according to local press.

Up to 220 rallies were planned up and down the country.

“No more applause, time for rallies,” was one of the slogans, referencing the lockdown habit of clapping for health care workers to pay tribute to their hard work.

“We don’t want a medal or a small bonus on the sly, we want a salary commensurate with what our jobs bring to society,” one protester near the southern city of Montpellier told Le Monde.

In Paris, footage shared on social media showed black bloc activists shoving an overturned car down the road and police responding with tear gas close to Place des Invalides. Another video showed a fire at the same rally.

“The health care workers are not responsible for the actions committed on the Place des Invalides,” one doctor told broadcaster BFM TV, adding that there were people who “wanted to manipulate the demonstration.”

The police said 34 people had been arrested as of late afternoon, denouncing “hooligans that have nothing to do with health workers.”

One footage allegedly showed a nurse being pinned down by the police and later taken into custody. Rough handling of protesters by the police has recently sparked outrage in the country, leading the government to mull over changes to police methods.

Earlier it had been announced that a rally was to take place in front of the ministry of health, not far from Place des Invalides, and that it was to be attended by trade union leaders, among them Philippe Martinez of the leading CGT union.

Martinez had given an interview on television earlier on Tuesday, saying that enough time had been wasted assessing problems in the health care sector.

“The problem of staff shortages, the problem of recognition of diplomas and qualifications, bed closures, these are not new. We need answers and it’s dragging on,” he said.

“We consider money that is put into a hospital not an expense, it is an investment. We’re not in the private sector.”



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Give young people fair chance to truly be the future of our nation

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Give young people fair chance to truly be the future of our nation

  • Disclaimer: Nokwanda Ncwane’s views do not reflect the official position of TSA.

According to South African History Online, between 3 000 and 10 000 pupils were mobilised by the South African Students Movement’s Action Committee, which was supported by the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM), to partake in a peaceful protest march against the compulsory use of Afrikaans alongside English as a medium of instruction on 16 June 1976.

The march was meant to culminate at a rally in Orlando Stadium, but the pupils were met by heavily armed police who fired teargas and later live ammunition.

Youth absent from key strategic positions

We often hear that young people are the future of a nation. However, exactly 44 years later, South African youth is nowhere to be seen in key strategic positions in the country.  

If we look at the current sixth administration, the majority age of members of parliament are 55 and above — and the same goes for political party leaders. How could it be that the National Development Plan and Agenda 2063 are being championed by people who might not even be alive when in 2063?

In my opinion, it seems as if young people are only considered important when it’s election time and do not receive the necessary grooming for them to step into leadership positions themselves.

Poverty, inequality still painful reality

The youth of 1976 fought for quality education. Black schools lacked qualified teachers, facilities and resources. While the access to education has improved since 1994, data indicates that  education levels remain low. 

The University of Cape Town (UCT), together with the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit conducted research on the state of the youth’s well-being in South Africa in 2018.

They found that after 26 years of democracy, the struggle for a better life, poverty and inequality remains a reality for many young people in our country.

Lockdown learning highlights gap

This became more evident when the nationwide lockdown was instated on 27 March. Marginalised and underprivileged pupils and students had to rely mostly on radio lessons to catch up while others were privy to online classes and virtual meetings.

The delay in the commencement of physical academic activities further proved the socioeconomic gap. Most schools didn’t open because they lacked basic resources, such as running water and proper sanitation. 

High youth unemployment rate

South Africa is one of the countries in the world with a high youth unemployment rate, currently at 29%. The UCT-led research also found that the official unemployed rate for youth aged 15 to 24 was 52% in 2011 and increased to 64% in 2018.

There are many cases where young South Africans have been fighting for opportunities and representation in the upper deciles of the economy and key strategic positions in or country.

The youth is able, they just need opportunities. 



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Bookstores Are Struggling. Is a New E-Commerce Site the Answer?

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Bookstores Are Struggling. Is a New E-Commerce Site the Answer?

Mr. Hunter had the idea for Bookshop nearly a decade ago, when he was working as the editor in chief of Electric Literature, a nonprofit digital publisher. He had watched with alarm as independent bookstores struggled to adapt to the rise of online retail. But he found little support for the proposal. “The people I spoke to didn’t really think it had a chance, so I didn’t pursue it,” he said.

Then, in early 2018, Mr. Hunter, who is now the publisher of the independent press Catapult and the website Lit Hub, met with representatives of the American Booksellers Association. The trade group asked Mr. Hunter for suggestions on how to improve IndieBound, its e-commerce site for independent stores. Instead, he proposed building something from scratch — a site that would offer seamless online shopping for book buyers who want to support local bookstores. Shoppers can select a particular store to buy from, or they can buy straight from Bookshop.

Orders are fulfilled through Ingram, a large book distributor, and mailed directly to customers, so stores don’t have to have the books in stock or process inventory. Bookstores get 30 percent of the list price — less than they would typically make from a direct sale — but don’t have to pay for inventory or shipping.

Bookshop doesn’t profit from the sales that go through particular stores. Instead, it makes money through its direct sales and from affiliate sales, when media organizations, book clubs and social media sites feature links to Bookshop in book reviews or other coverage. The site now has more than 8,000 affiliates, including The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, BuzzFeed and New York magazine. IndieBound, which runs a similar affiliate sales program, is merging its operation with Bookshop’s. (For books that are sold directly by Bookshop, or through media affiliates, 10 percent of the list price goes into a profit pool that gets distributed to independent bookstores; so far, the site has funneled about a million dollars into the pool.)

The launch nearly coincided with the pandemic, which has devastated brick-and-mortar bookstores. In April, bookstore sales plummeted to $219 million, a decline of more than 65 percent from April 2019, according to figures released Tuesday by the Commerce Department. In the first four months of this year, bookstore sales fell by 23 percent compared to the same period in 2019.

  • Updated June 16, 2020

    • What is pandemic paid leave?

      The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who don’t typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the country’s largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave.

    • Does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 happen?

      So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement.

    • What’s the risk of catching coronavirus from a surface?

      Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.

    • How does blood type influence coronavirus?

      A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.

    • How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?

      The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.

    • Will protests set off a second viral wave of coronavirus?

      Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission.

    • My state is reopening. Is it safe to go out?

      States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’t being told to stay at home, it’s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.

    • What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

      Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.

    • How can I protect myself while flying?

      If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

    • Should I wear a mask?

      The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.

    • What should I do if I feel sick?

      If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

Some stores are barely scraping by. Lisa Neuheisel, the owner of the Sequel Bookshop in Kearney, Neb., closed her store to customers on March 22 and didn’t have a way for them to shop online. She created a page for her store on Bookshop after she saw another bookseller’s Facebook post linking to the site. Bookshop accounted for roughly half her sales in April and May, while the rest were curbside pickup, she said. “The sales have been a lifeline for us,” she said.

Credit…via Danielle Mullen

Danielle Mullen, the owner of Semicolon, a year-old bookstore in Chicago, also joined Bookshop in mid-March. During April and May, Bookshop accounted for around 70 percent of the store’s roughly 1,800 orders. “It meant we could stay in business, and that’s all we’re trying to do,” she said.

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Trump signs executive order on policing mid mounting pressure over lethal incidents

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Trump signs executive order on policing mid mounting pressure over lethal incidents

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed an executive order on policing Tuesday amid increasing pressure and nationwide protests over the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and other African Americans at the hands of law enforcement officers.

Trump said at the signing in the Rose Garden that he had just met with the families of several recent victims of lethal police violence, adding, “All Americans mourn by your side. Your loved ones will not have died in vain.”

“I could never imagine your pain or the depth of your anguish, but I can promise to fight for justice for all of our people,” Trump said.

Trump said that order will use grants to help departments meet certification standards on the use of force, create a national database on excessive force complaints, and encourage the involvement of mental health professionals when responding to nonviolent cases, like addiction, homelessness and mental illness.

The president also said the order would prioritize grants to police departments to certify they meet certain standards, and those standards would include a ban on chokeholds except with an officer’s life is at risk.

The goal of the executive order is to take action without restricting the ability of police to do their jobs, a White House official said, claiming that Democrats are going too far with proposals that “would render police departments ineffective.”

Trump, who has struggled to provide a political or policy response in the weeks since Floyd’s death, did not address concerns raised by police reform advocates about racism in policing.

The White House official described Tuesday’s executive order as a “starting point,” telling NBC News that it was “as far as we can go at the executive level” and expressing skepticism that Congress would be able to act.

Attorney General William Bar, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and civil rights attorney S. Lee Merritt, who represents a number of Black families who’ve had loved ones die in encounters with police, also joined Trump in the Rose Garden.

“I am committed to working with Congress on additional measures,” Trump said Tuesday. “Hopefully they will all get together and come up with a solution that goes even beyond what we’re signing today.”

Democrats unveiled a sweeping policing overhaul bill earlier this month that would ban chokeholds like the kind that led to the death of Floyd and no-knock warrants, as was used before Taylor’s fatal shooting.

Senate Republicans, too, have been working on their own plan separate from the White House efforts, which Trump said could go “hand-in-hand” with his executive order.

Last week Senate Majority Leader McConnell tapped South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott — the only Black Republican in the Senate — to lead efforts on a police reform bill, but Republican leadership is expected to wait until after the July 4 recess to act on the measure.

Image: Lauren EganLauren Egan

Lauren Egan is a reporter for NBC News based in Washington.

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NYPD Finds ‘No Criminality’ After Cop Union Alleged Shake Shack Poisoned Officers

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NYPD Finds ‘No Criminality’ After Cop Union Alleged Shake Shack Poisoned Officers

An investigation into claims that three New York City Police officers may have been intentionally poisoned while dining at a Shake Shack restaurant in lower Manhattan has found that “no criminality” occurred, police said Tuesday.

The officers were dining at the restaurant Monday evening when ”they discovered that a toxic substance, believed to be bleach, had been placed in their beverages,” the city’s police union said, later adding that they had been “apparently poisoned.”

The incident, however, may have the result of cleaning solution not being properly removed from a shake machine, CBS New York reported, citing unidentified sources.

The officers, who had been assigned to assist with ongoing protests, were taken to a hospital for treatment and released, authorities said. 

A “thorough investigation” into the incident was carried out, Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison said in a brief statement on Twitter, and “no criminality by Shake Shack’s employees” was found.

Hours earlier, the city’s police union sent a notice to its officers warning them to be on alert due to the incident, insisting: “We cannot afford to let our guard down for even a moment.”

“When New York City police officers cannot even take meal without coming under attack, it is clear that (the) environment in which we work has deteriorated to a critical level,” the union said.

In an updated statement Tuesday, the union said it is “relieved that, based on current evidence, that there was no intentional attack on New York City police officers in this case.” The incident remains under investigation, the statement said.

The city’s police force, like many throughout the nation, has been in the spotlight amid ongoing nationwide police brutality protests in the wake of last month’s death of George Floyd at the hands of officers in Minneapolis. In the early days of the recent protests in New York City, some NYPD officers violently cracked down on largely peaceful demonstrations, beating people with batons and using pepper spray on others.

“Trust is critical to effective policing,” New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said Monday while announcing the suspension of one of his officers for macing a group of bystanders during one of the protests. “Trust takes a long time to earn, and it is very easy to lose. We will continue to work relentlessly to earn and keep that trust, because without community partnership, we cannot effectively do our jobs.”



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IHC rejects petition seeking reopening of private schools

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IHC rejects petition seeking reopening of private schools

ISLAMABAD             -        The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Monday rejected a petition seeking reopening of private schools which are closed due to coronavirus pandemic across the country.

A single bench of IHC comprising Chief Justice of IHC Justice AtharMinallah conducted hearing of the petition seeking reopening of private schools.

During the hearing, petitioner’s lawyer, in his arguments, adopted that people’s jobs related to private schools were in jeopardy due to continuous closure of schools. He lamented over the government’s decision of issuance of directions for the closure of schools and contended that the policy was violating the basic rights of the public.

At this, the IHC Chief Justice remarked that the coronavirus is a challenge for the entire country. He asked from the petitioner’s lawyer that why do you want to reopen schools? He added that this is the work of the executive, not of the courts and the court cannot interfere in the work of the executive.

Justice Athar said that this is the job of the government to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. He further said that they have even opened the courts keeping in view the government’s policy. The IHC judge added that currently, the number one priority of the government was to save people’s lives. He also remarked that even developed countries have not reopened their schools. The lawyer argued by saying that the government did not do anything for the private school teachers.

The IHC Chief Justice said that in this connection, they can lodge a complaint with the relevant government authority.

Later, the court dismissed the petition after the petitioner requested the court to withdraw it. The federal government has shut down schools across the country since May 7 to curb the spread of the disease. It was earlier decided that the institutions will remain shut till July 15.



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Chromated Arsenicals (CCA) | US EPA

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Chromated Arsenicals (CCA) | US EPA

Chromated arsenicals, which includes chromated copper arsenate (CCA), is a group of pesticides containing chromium, copper, and/or arsenic that protect wood against termites, fungi and other pests that can degrade or threaten the integrity of wood products. Chromated arsenicals-treated wood is used to produce commercial wood shake, shingles, permanent foundation support beams and other wood products permitted by approved labeling. EPA is currently reevaluating all chromated arsenicals as part of the Registration Review program (see Docket Number EPA-HQ-OPP-2015-0349 at https://www.regulations.gov).

Basic Information

  • Chromated arsenicals has been used as a wood preservative pesticide since the 1940s.
  • Chromated arsenicals pesticides are applied using specialized high-pressure equipment in wood treatment facilities by certified pesticide applicators only.
  • Prior to 2004, wood treated with chromated arsenicals was used in residential structures such as decks and playsets.
    • In December 2003, chromated arsenicals manufacturers voluntarily discontinued manufacturing chromated arsenicals-treated wood products for homeowner uses.
    • However, EPA has not banned chromated arsenicals and does not require the removal of existing structures made with wood treated with chromated arsenicals or the surrounding soil.
    • If you have an older deck or other structure made with chromated arsenicals-treated wood, applying a penetrating protective coating (such as oil- or water-based stains) on a regular basis may reduce the leaching of chemicals.
  • Alternatives to chromated arsenicals-treated wood include the following:
    • Wood treated with other preservatives approved by EPA;
    • Wood-alternative and composite materials; and
    • Species of wood that are resistant to pests.

Disposing of Items Treated with Chromated Arsenicals Safely

  • Although chromated arsenicals pesticide products are not available to homeowners, individuals may encounter wood treated with chromated arsenicals in a residential setting (e.g., existing treated structures).
    • Reuse of chromated arsenicals-treated wood is not subject to regulation by EPA under pesticide laws. 
    • If homeowners need to dispose of chromated arsenicals-treated wood, it can usually be disposed of by ordinary trash collection (i.e., as municipal solid waste)
    • However, state and local governments may have specific guidance or instructions for disposing of treated wood, so please check with your state or local waste management program.
    • Wood treated with chromated arsenicals should not be reused in products such as mulch.
    • Do not burn CCA or other preservative-treated wood in a residential setting to avoid possible inhalation of toxic chemicals in the smoke and ash.
    • Wear goggles and a dust mask when sawing wood treated with chromated arsenicals, and wash your hands after handling.
  • The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is the federal law that creates the framework for the proper management and disposal of hazardous and nonhazardous solid waste.

Additional Information

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