Statues torn down as US marks Juneteenth

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Statues torn down as US marks Juneteenth
US President Donald Trump issued a presidential message on Juneteenth in which he noted “the unimaginable injustice of slavery and the incomparable joy that must have attended emancipation”, as protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death continue to rage.
A protester wears a face mask during a Black Lives Matter protest rally. (AP)

“It is both a remembrance of a blight on our history and a celebration of our Nation’s unsurpassed ability to triumph over darkness.”

This Juneteenth, we commit, as one Nation, to live true to our highest ideals and to build always toward a freer, stronger country that values the dignity and boundless potential of all Americans.”

Mr Trump’s message follows protesters taking to the streets in Portland, Oregon, for the 22nd consecutive night, tearing down a statue of George Washington that was erected in the 1920s.
The demonstrators placed a sticker on the head of the statue that read “You are on Native land” and also spray-painted the statue’s pedestal.
President Donald Trump looks at his phone during a roundtable with governors on the reopening of America’s small businesses. (AP)

The Portland Police Bureau said today that a smaller group split from several hundred peaceful protesters late yesterday, threw hot dogs at police and cut a fence surrounding the Justice Center, which has been a flashpoint in the nightly demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd.

Another group set a fire around the Washington statue before tearing it down. No one was arrested.

The city of Little Rock has removed from a city park a statue honouring a militia unit that formed to fight for the Confederacy.

Mayor Frank Scott Jr. says the city removed the Memorial to Company A, Capital Guards statue yesterday from MacArthur Park.

Mayor Scott says the Capital Guards were “memorialised without concern for those in our community who have suffered grave injustices” and whose ancestors were “forced to provide free labour”.

The original Emancipation Proclamation on display in the Rotunda of the National Archives in Washington. (AP)

The Capital Guards statue was placed at the park in 1911 during the United Confederate Veterans Reunion.

Mayor Scott says the statue, which had been vandalised this week, will be placed in storage. The city will work with the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism to find an appropriate location for it.

American professional baseball team, the Minnesota Twins, have removed a statue of former owner Calvin Griffith at Target Field, citing racist remarks he made in 1978.

Griffith’s statue was one of several installed when the team opened its new ballpark in 2010.

The team said in a statement Friday it “cannot remain silent and continue ignoring the racist comments he made in Waseca … (that) displayed a blatant intolerance and disregard for the Black community that are the antithesis of what the Minnesota Twins stand for and value”.

Griffith moved the team to Minnesota in 1961 from Washington D.C.

In 1978, during a speech to a Waseca Lions club, he said he decided to do so “when I found out you only had 15,000 blacks here”, the Minneapolis Tribune reported at the time.

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Civil Rights Groups Ask Advertisers To Stop Buying Facebook Ads In July

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Civil Rights Groups Ask Advertisers To Stop Buying Facebook Ads In July

Several civil rights and other advocacy groups are calling on large advertisers to stop Facebook ad campaigns during July because they say the social network isn’t doing enough to curtail racist and violent content on its platform.

The groups in the “#StopHateforProfit” campaign, launched Wednesday, include Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, Sleeping Giants, Color Of Change, Free Press and Common Sense.

“It is clear that Facebook and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, are no longer simply negligent, but in fact, complacent in the spread of misinformation, despite the irreversible damage to our democracy. Such actions will upend the integrity of our elections as we head into 2020,” said NAACP CEO Derrick Johnson in a statement.

The groups say that Facebook amplifies white supremacists, allows posts that incite violence and contain political propaganda and misinformation, and doesn’t stop “bad actors using the platform to do harm.” They want to apply public pressure on Facebook to “stop generating ad revenue from hateful content, provide more support to people who are targets of racism and hate, and to increase safety for private groups on the platform.”

Facebook did not immediately return a request for comment.

The big tech companies have struggled over how to manage the floods of posts and videos that users put on their platforms every day. Facebook’s employees recently publicly criticized Zuckerberg for deciding to leave up posts by President Donald Trump that suggested police-brutality protesters in Minneapolis could be shot.

As it faces criticism for its policy of allowing politicians to post false information, including about voting, the company is launching an effort to boost U.S. voter turnout.



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Summer Preview

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Summer Preview

Hello, it’s Emily, and welcome to Five Weeknight Dishes. As of tomorrow, summer is here. The local gems of the season aren’t, though, at least not where I am in the Northeast — no corn, no tomatoes, no blueberries, not yet. But aren’t you ready to eat them anyway? I am ready to eat them anyway, along with breezy pastas and dishes that evoke a backyard barbecue on a Saturday even if they were made in the oven on a Wednesday.

This is my favorite time of year to cook and eat, full stop. The recipes below speak of summer to me, and I’m at dearemily@nytimes.com if you have ideas or suggestions for recipes you’d like to see in the months ahead.

Here are five dishes for the week:

1. Memphis Dry-Rub Mushrooms

Today is Juneteenth, and in honor of the holiday you could make these crisp roasted mushrooms by Nicole Taylor, who adapted the barbecue rub from the chef Greg Collier. If you think ahead you could serve it with his sweet potato pikliz; if you’re working more last-minute, then Nicole said she’d serve it with cut-up cucumbers, splashed with rice vinegar and olive oil, and topped with nuts and herbs.

2. Skillet Chicken and Zucchini With Charred Scallion Salsa

The zucchini in this recipe by Colu Henry cooks in rendered chicken fat, which means that the vegetables will be tasty even if they aren’t in peak form. If you’re short on time or energy, skip making the salsa and top the dish with chopped cilantro, sliced scallions and a squeeze of lime.

View this recipe.

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3. Crispy Rice With Shrimp, Bacon and Corn

Little compares with that euphoric first bite of sweet, juicy corn on the cob. But frozen sweet corn is a good substitute when you can’t actually get that cob; it works well in recipes like this one by Genevieve Ko. Please do not skip the bacon: This is a simple dish, and you’ll need that oomph. Serve it with hot sauce.

4. Sweet and Sour Eggplant With Garlic Chips

I am always in want of fast eggplant recipes and love this one by Sue Li, who pairs the eggplant with crunchy garlic chips, a soy sauce glaze and herbs. If you can’t get into making garlic chips on a Tuesday, you could skip that and just cook minced garlic in oil, though the final dish won’t be as special. I’d serve it with rice and something green.

View this recipe.

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Donald Trump Vows To Keep Trying To End Dreamer Protections

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Donald Trump Vows To Keep Trying To End Dreamer Protections

President Donald Trump said Friday that he’d keep pushing to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals protections, putting hundreds of thousands of people at risk for deportation, after the Supreme Court blocked his past attempt. 

The justices ruled in a 5-4 decision on Thursday that Trump acted wrongly in ending DACA, an Obama-era program that allows young undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, often called Dreamers, to obtain two-year work permits and deportation protections. The way the Department of Homeland Security rescinded the program was unlawfully “arbitrary” and “capricious,” the majority opinion read. 

But the decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, left the door open for the department to try again. And Trump said he plans to capitalize on that, continuing his yearslong effort to crack down on undocumented and legal immigration. 

In a Friday morning tweet, Trump suggested that his administration would begin the process of ending DACA again ― while falsely implying that the Supreme Court had urged him to do it.

“The Supreme Court asked us to resubmit on DACA, nothing was lost or won. They ‘punted’, much like in a football game (where hopefully they would stand for our great American Flag),” Trump wrote, throwing in a jab at athletes who have staged peaceful protests over police brutality against Black people.

Trump also claimed that he is the true champion of the Dreamers ― as opposed to the Democrats who have pushed for immigration reform for years and implemented DACA in the first place. 

“I have wanted to take care of DACA recipients better than the Do Nothing Democrats, but for two years they refused to negotiate – They have abandoned DACA. Based on the decision the Dems can’t make DACA citizens. They gained nothing!” the president wrote.

While the Trump White House has offered some protections for Dreamers, it’s only been as a bargaining chip to gain the president’s actual immigration priorities: a border wall, limits to asylum and restrictions on legal immigration. 

Immigration activists, including Dreamers themselves, have argued that their protections should not come at the expense of other undocumented immigrants. Democrats have blocked the kind of deals the president envisions while advocating for legislation that would give Dreamers a pathway to citizenship. The Democratic-led House passed a bill to do so in June 2019, but the Republican-led Senate hasn’t taken it up. 

And Democrats said after the Supreme Court decision that Congress must act to protect DACA recipients, given the potential that Trump would continue to try to rescind the program. 

At any point the president could have pushed for a standalone measure to help Dreamers ― a majority of the public supports granting them legal status ― but he hasn’t. 

What Trump has done for Dreamers is to refer to them derisively, tweeting in November that some “are far from ‘angels.’ Some are very tough, hardened criminals.” And he’s long attempted to end DACA, which would put 650,000 recipients out of the legal workforce and at risk of deportation. 

It’s unclear how quickly Trump could rescind DACA if he does try again. The court ruled his past attempt violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The Department of Homeland Security could try again, but that effort would surely be challenged in the courts, too.

The threat, however, remains: Ending protections for and potentially deporting Dreamers is a priority for the president. 

In a separate opinion concurring with the majority on Thursday, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the majority opinion was too dismissive of arguments that Trump’s past statements about Latino immigrants showed the decision to end DACA was motivated by discrimination.

“I would not so readily dismiss the allegation that an executive decision disproportionately harms the same racial group that the President branded as less desirable mere months earlier,” Sotomayor wrote.



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Bubble suits and distance-friendly hats: Covid-19 fashion steps up

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Bubble suits and distance-friendly hats: Covid-19 fashion steps up

With face masks quickly becoming part of everyday style, a wave of new designs are feeding into the vogue for social-distancing fashion. This week as part of the Central Saint Martins graduate show, Harry Styles-approved designer Harris Reed presented a roundabout-wide hat and crinoline skirt, while as part of last week’s digital London fashion week, Westminster student San Kim showcased Protective Garments for Coronavirus made from M&S and Poundland bags.

Other recent ideas for social distancing clothing range from bubble suits for commuters to massive European size 75 shoes. As their designer, Grigore Lup, told Reuters: “If two people wearing these shoes were facing each other, there would be almost one-and-a-half metres between them.”

There are also homemade efforts. Instagram account WhatIsNewYork has been cataloguing instances of social distancing outfits in the city, from wire structures to plastic bubbles. In one cafe in Germany guests were asked to wear “pool noodle hats” in order to maintain distance. The hats mirrored those worn by some children returning to school in China.

Supersized silhouettes might have found an unfortunate new relevance in the age of the pandemic but, from the giant straw Jacquemus hats that “won” 2018 to the frou-frou dresses of Molly Goddard, they have been appearing on catwalks for the last few years.



Harris Reed roundabout-wide hat and crinoline skirt. Photograph: PR

As part of the spring/summer collections, Balenciaga led the charge, championing dresses wide enough to register on radars; Thom Browne’s skirt hoops featured alongside panniers; while at Puppets and Puppets dresses came with bulbous bottom-halves. For autumn/winter brands such as Marc Jacobs and Maison Margiela, where designs riffed on beekeeper outfits, as well as Moncler’s voluminous Richard Quinn collection, all presented space-filling designs.

But clothes as distancing tool, whether for disease prevention or otherwise, are not new. “Clothing has long served as a useful way to mitigate close contact and unnecessary exposure,” wrote historian Einav Rabinovistch-Fox recently.

While Victorian-era crinoline skirts were, she added, “used to create a barrier between the genders in social settings”, they “probably inadvertently helped mitigate the dangers of the era’s smallpox and cholera outbreaks.”





Plague doctor, 17th Century.



Plague doctor, 17th Century. Photograph: Science History Images/Alamy Stock Photo

Clothing to help ward off disease is not without historical precedent. In the 17th century, for instance, doctors wore beaked masks when examining plague patients, the noses stuffed with herbs as well as viper flesh powder and honey.

While XL silhouettes have been big on catwalks, is it likely that, with social distancing in mind, something similar may filter down into everyday clothes?

“I do think that in the immediate future social practice around clothing will change,” says milliner Veronica Toppino, who has recently designed architectural Structure hats, as wearable art rather than ready-to-wear. “It is already changing if we think about the cloth-mask.” But while she thinks projects like hers make us “reflect on fashion as a tool to investigate new ideas”, she doesn’t expect people to be wearing them anytime soon.

“It will be interesting to see,” says the fashion historian Alison Matthews David. “It’s hard to say now because everything is moving so quickly but it does become appealing in a new way, the idea that you could use, in a non-verbal, physical way, a ‘keep your distance’ approach.”



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Experts flag unprecedented lung disease crisis threat

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Experts flag unprecedented lung disease crisis threat

National strategy needed to deal with massive burden of respiratory disease, expert group warns

Leading respiratory experts from the Irish Thoracic Society (ITS) have today warned of the impact of Covid-19 on lung health in Ireland.

The Society has called for urgent action to avert unprecedented rates of excess illness and death from lung disease.

According to the Society, additional resources for the diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care of people with respiratory conditions were crucial to prevent a lung disease crisis.

The respiratory experts on the Society’s Covid-19 sub-group had expressed disappointment that the ‘Programme for Government – Our Shared Future’ did not include a targeted response to the burden on respiratory healthcare services amidst fears that lung health was set to become one of the biggest casualties of Covid-19.

Dr Aidan O’Brien, President of the ITS, envisaged a greatly increased demand on respiratory services in the wake of Covid-19. Not only that, but the level of resources currently available was going to be severely curtailed because of restrictions imposed by the ongoing presence of Covid-19 in the society.

He underlined to Irish Medical Times, the massive burden Ireland already faced with existing respiratory disease and added that while strategies were in place for cardiac disease and cancer, there was need for a national strategy for respiratory disease.

In this country between 400,000 and 500,000 people were affected by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); 300,000 to 400,000 suffered from asthma with 10 per cent of the population affected by other conditions, such as sleep disorders.

Previous data on Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) had shown that up to 60 per cent of patients appear to have had ongoing respiratory problems, when assessed three months later. “We expect we may be seeing similar numbers with the Covid-19 crisis, which is continuing. It may be an ongoing burden, not to mention the present burden of already incurred cases,” said Dr O’Brien.

“Added to all this, we have all the people who have existing lung disease, and new disease which is occurring that is not being dealt with, because these patients have all been doing the right thing, staying at home, but to the detriment of their lung disease.”

He said that Covid-19 affected many organs, but the lung had been the primary organ of injury with acute lung disease, and lung presentations, and a long-term potential impact.

It was too early to determine the predominant impact to the lung, but many Covid-19 patients had been suffering acute pneumonia. Anecdotally, there were reports of persistent breathlessness weeks and months later in young healthy people, managed in the community.

He commended the Health Service Executive, and the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, for all the good work they had done to deal with the crisis and Covid-19 to avoid the massive surges seen in other countries.

The Society is pressing for several urgent measures: increased numbers of respiratory specialists; investment and adaptation of infrastructure with availability of isolation rooms, and negative pressure rooms and adequate space. It is also seeking continued development and application of technology and innovation to provide virtual solutions for clinical management, monitoring and self-care of patients.

In addition, rapid implementation of the most recent ITS guidelines in all hospitals was urged.

The Society welcomed accelerated implementation of the Sláintecare Strategy, as set out in the Programme for Government, but called for this to encompass a targeted response to the specific challenges of respiratory healthcare through a range of measures.

The ITS Covid-19 sub-group’s members include: Dr Marcus Butler and Prof Tim McDonnell, both of St Vincent’s University Hospital, Prof Sean Gaine and Prof Karen Redmond both of the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Prof JJ Gilmartin and Dr Michael O’Mahony both of Galway University Hospital, Dr Marcus Kennedy of Cork University Hospital, and Prof Eddie Moloney of Tallaght University Hospital.

Other members are Prof Ross Morgan of Beaumont Hospital; Prof Shane O’Neill, Emeritus Professor of Clinical Medicine Beaumont Hospital, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland; and Dr Mark Rogan of Waterford University Hospital.

Emma Flood, Midland Regional Hospital Mullingar (Respiratory Physiology); Siobhan Healy, Cork University Hospital (Physiotherapy); and Paula Ryan, University Hospital Limerick (Advance Nurse Practitioner, Respiratory), complete the sub-group.

Valerie.ryan@imt.ie

ENDS

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Copper Won’t Save You From Coronavirus

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Copper Won’t Save You From Coronavirus

“If 40 percent of your proteins don’t work, you don’t work,” Dr. Johnson said. Copper may even be capable of jamming up proteins that typically run metal-free by simply glomming onto their surfaces.

Even our own immune systems appear to exploit copper’s protective perks. Some evidence suggests that immune cells like macrophages — which gobble up and destroy bacteria, viruses and other microbes — may be capable of engulfing and sequestering germs in an acidic “ball of death” chamber that’s then spiked with lethal doses of copper, Dr. Johnson said. “Our bodies have been using this for warfare” long before copper masks hit the market, he added.

But it remains to be seen which of these scenarios will play out with the coronavirus, and to what extent. Dr. Johnson is one of several scientists currently on the case, tinkering with copper to suss out exactly how it exerts its apparently potent effects on this dangerous germ.

[Like the Science Times page on Facebook. | Sign up for the Science Times newsletter.]

What works well in the lab, however, won’t necessarily pass muster in the real world. Both Dr. Johnson and Dr. Djoko have held off on recommending copper-infused accessories, including face coverings and masks, to their friends, family and colleagues as a way to reduce transmission. (Overingesting copper is also a bad idea, and probably wouldn’t do much to boost immunity, Dr. Johnson said. And Dr. Djoko isn’t keen on the idea of sticking copper wands up your nose.)

Loosefitting face coverings, like cloth or surgical masks, aren’t air tight and don’t make the wearer impervious to infection. But if the wearer is infected, masks can do a great deal to protect others from virus-laden droplets spewed by coughs, sneezes and speech. A 2010 study found that the metal-laced accessories could curb the amount of active influenza virus lingering on contaminated masks. (The analysis was conducted by Cupron Scientific, one of several companies now selling copper-lined face coverings.)

If copper face coverings also curtail the coronavirus, that could come in handy for people who mishandle their masks, said Linsey Marr, an aerosol scientist at Virginia Tech. A hefty dose of copper could diminish the chances of viable virus making it into the eyes, nose or mouth via a wayward hand that’s touched the front of a mask.

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Anushka Sharma roped in by Ministry of Ayush to promote yoga

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Anushka Sharma roped in by Ministry of Ayush to promote yoga

Image Source : INSTAGRAM/ANUSHKA SHARMA

Anushka Sharma is all set for the release of her upcoming production “Bulbbul” on Netflix.

The Ministry of Ayush has roped in Bollywood actress-producer Anushka Sharma to promote yoga among the masses ahead of International Yoga Day on June 21. “Let’s all practice yoga for a better and calm tomorrow. Take part in the #MyLifeMyYoga video blogging contest. And send in your entries now. Last day to submit is 21st June 2020. #mygovindia #pibindia @AnushkaSharma,” tweeted the Ministry of Ayush on Friday evening.

They also shared a video where the actress, a yoga enthusiast, talks of the benefits of yoga.

“Yoga is the law and it tells us about how to moderate leading our lives. Yoga does not bind us, it liberates us. So, that we can look upon all the creatures of this world with the feeling of love and peace. So, in order to spread the message of peace and love let us begin by practicing yoga on 21 June, International Yoga Day,” said Anushka.

On the work front, Anushka Sharma is all set for the release of her upcoming production “Bulbbul” a period horror film on Netflix. Written and directed by Anvita Dutt, “Bulbbul” stars Tripti Dimri, Avinash Tiwary, Rahul Bose, Paoli Dam and Parambrata Chatterjee in key roles.

Fight against Coronavirus: Full coverage



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Pushing 39, taking a year off – is the end of Roger Federer’s career nigh?

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Pushing 39, taking a year off – is the end of Roger Federer’s career nigh?

And so it begins. The prattle about how all good — in this case, great — things must come to an end; the talk of slow decay and the colossal void that will be left behind; the dawning of the realisation that even he, the great Roger Federer, a specimen belonging to some empyrean space only he has ever roamed, may finally have to confront his own sporting mortality.

There comes a time in every elite athlete’s life when the body starts to feel like a bit of a wreck, unable to obey the mind and meet the standards it had once set for itself. The bones creak and the …





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Louisville Officer Who Shot Breonna Taylor Is Being Fired

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Louisville Officer Who Shot Breonna Taylor Is Being Fired

One of the Louisville Metro Police officers who killed Breonna Taylor is being fired, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said Friday. It has been more than three months since police shot and killed the 26-year-old Black woman after entering her home through a “no-knock” warrant during an investigation that was unrelated to her.

The police chief “is initiating termination procedures against Officer Brett Hankison,” Fischer announced.

“Unfortunately, due to a provision in state law that I would very much like to see changed, both the chief and I are precluded from talking about what brought us to this moment or even the timing of this decision,” Fischer said.

Hankison and the two other officers involved in Taylor’s death had been on administrative leave since March, pending an investigation into the shooting.

Taylor’s death, along with several other recent incidents of police brutality against Black people, including a white Minneapolis police officer killing George Floyd by kneeling on his neck, have sparked massive protests and reckonings around the country in recent weeks.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.



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