Places and Things

US passes 5 million coronavirus cases As school districts across the country struggle to figure out how — or if— to safely reopen schools to teachers and students, the number of coronavirus cases in the US passed 5 million on Sunday, according to the Coronavirus Research Center at Johns Hopkins University. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/9/21360916/us-5-million-coronavirus-cases

Donald Trump trying to control the FCC is a ‘disaster,’ says Sen. Ron Wyden Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) says President Donald Trump’s recent handling of Federal Communications Commission nominations is a “disaster. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/4/21354244/ron-wyden-fcc-nomination-section-230-trump-order-vergecast-interview

Strongest Evidence Yet Shows Air Pollution Kills As California’s Camp Fire raged in 2018, soot and other pollution filled the skies. Particulate matter concentrations widely surged above 12 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3), pushing them into the Environmental Protection Agency’s “unhealthy” range. Continue Reading . . . https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strongest-evidence-yet-shows-air-pollution-kills/

Twitter disables video in Trump retweet after Linkin Park files copyright complaint Twitter confirmed that it removed a campaign video President Trump had retweeted Saturday over a copyright complaint. The Linkin Park song “In the End” was featured in the background of the video, which included images of President Trump and excerpts from his inauguration speech. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/19/21330154/twitter-disables-video-trump-retweet-linkin-park-takedown-copyright

Supreme Court votes 5-4 to let Gov. Newsom restrict attendance at religious services With a deciding vote from Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court late Friday allowed Gov. Gavin Newsom to restrict attendance at religious services in California to 25% of the capacity of a house of worship because of the coronavirus. Continue Reading . . . https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Supreme-Court-votes-5-4-to-let-Gov-Newsom-15304978.php

Twitter isn’t a government, but it’s the best one we’ve got This week, Twitter found the courage to finally deal with its most toxic user: the president of the United States. After giving one of Trump’s untrustworthy tweets a modest reality check, the president exploded in a tantrum. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/21274482/twitter-trump-censored-tweet-government-moderation

Donald Trump’s executive order is ‘plainly illegal,’ says co-author of Section 230 Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) is calling Donald Trump’s proposed executive order “plainly illegal” in a new statement on Thursday. The draft executive order would pare back platform liability protections under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a bill Wyden coauthored in 1996 with Sen. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/28/21273495/donald-trump-section-230-ron-wyden-author-bill-twitter-facebook-law-speech

Twitter labels Trump tweets as ‘potentially misleading’ for the first time On Tuesday, Twitter labeled two tweets from President Donald Trump making false statements about mail-in voting as “potentially misleading.” It’s the first time the platform has fact-checked the president. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/26/21271207/twitter-donald-trump-fact-check-mail-in-voting-coronavirus-pandemic-california

Trump predicts Covid-19 vaccine by end of year, contradicting top health officials The president also returned to promoting a malaria drug that can cause dangerous side effects. Continue Reading . . . https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/03/trump-predicts-vaccine-end-of-year-233330

Trump floats another bogus coronavirus cure — and his administration scrambles to stop people from injecting disinfectants The federal government scrambled Friday to stave off a potential wave of public health emergencies sparked by President Trump’s dangerous suggestion that injecting bleach or other household disinfectants into the body might cure people of the novel coronavirus. Continue Reading . . . https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-floats-another-bogus-coronavirus-cure--and-his-administration-scrambles-to-stop-people-from-injecting-disinfectants/2020/04/24/77759238-8644-11ea-a3eb-e9fc93160703_story.html

President Donald Trump’s new European travel restrictions have a convenient side effect: They exempt nations where three Trump-owned golf resorts are located. Trump is already under fire for visiting his properties in both countries as president, leading to U.S. from https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/12/trump-coronavirus-travel-europe-resorts-126808 https://static.politico.com/dims4/default/c88de0c/2147483647/resize/1160x%3E/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.politico.com%2F62%2F6d%2F54236e3e4de08ecf5d96ec74f97b%2F200311-turnberry-gty-773.jpg

While most of us are aware that we can mute conversations or other accounts on Twitter, it wasn’t until I saw this wonderful tweet by @nonprofWHIT that I realized you could also mute a specific word. from https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/19/21144097/twitter-mute-tweets-word-name-tag-how-to-settings-phone-desktop https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66338661/twitter.0.0.png

Julian Assange’s legal team is preparing to testify that the WikiLeaks founder was offered a pardon by President Trump in exchange for covering up the source of the DNC leaks, as first reported by The Daily Beast. from https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/19/21144074/assange-trump-pardon-extradition-trial-dana-rorbacher-russia https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66337793/1201407154.jpg.0.jpg

Trolls expressing support for President Trump called into the phone line Democrats were supposed to use for reporting precinct tallies during the Iowa caucuses, adding to the chaos Monday night as the election app failed and precinct chairs tried to phone in results instead, Bloomberg reports. from https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/6/21126588/iowa-caucus-delays-democrats-phone-hotline-buttigieg-biden-warren-trump https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66267189/1198655751.jpg.0.jpg

President Donald Trump on Friday revealed the official logo for the Space Force, the newest branch of the armed forces and part of the existing United States Air Force department, in a tweet. from https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/24/21080812/space-force-new-logo-donald-trump-reveal-design-star-trek https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66164477/space_force_logo.0.jpg

The Trump administration is set to continue its corporate friendly assault on U.S. from https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/23/biggest-loss-clean-water-protection-country-has-ever-seen-trump-guts-safeguards-us https://www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_large/public/headlines/trump_water.png?itok=PwaIj8wi

The United States government will begin collecting the DNA of detained immigrants through pilot programs this week, according to a privacy impact assessment that was published today by the Department of Homeland Security. from https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/6/21052229/ice-cbp-immigration-dna-collection-detainees-trump-administration https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66036718/1142459922.jpg.0.jpg

In a ruling published Tuesday, Judge Robert Lasnik said the deal made in July last year was “arbitrary and capricious” and thus a violation of the federal Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution. from https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/13/20962658/3d-printed-gun-download-ban-reversed-trump-administration-defense-distributed https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65690422/liberator.0.jpg

Earlier this week, a federal appeals court ruled that President Donald Trump couldn’t block his critics on Twitter. from https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/11/20688860/trump-loss-knight-institute-second-circuit-court-twitter-block-lawsuit-analysis https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/64705806/acastro_180827_1777_0004.0.jpg

One senior manager at a facility called the situation a "ticking time bomb." Migrants banged on cell windows and pressed notes against the plexiglass. from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/help-photos-show-hundreds-migrants-squashed-cells-appealing-assistance-n1025831 https://media1.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2019_27/2919351/190702-migrants-overcrowding-facility-texas-cs-201p_117a0a7bf21f29edd48e643ee7af53c3.fit-760w.jpg