We Can Either Fight This Thing, Or Starve: Texas Bars Open Illegally As Part Of Freedom Fest – CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

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TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) A Fort Worth bar was one of more than 800 that opened illegally this weekend as part of a nationwide protest called Freedom Fest.

This isnt the first time the Rail Club Live in Fort Worth has defied Governor Greg Abbotts shutdown order either. The bar opened on July Fourth, too.

Abbott ordered bars to close for the second time during the pandemic in effort to slow a surge in COVID-19 cases across the state.

Our businesses are doomed, said co-owner Chris Polone. Like I said before, we have nothing to lose. We can either fight this thing, Or we can starve ourselves out.

Polones license was suspended earlier this month. But any repercussions, are worth it, according to him.

Im responsible for 15 employees ability to feed their children and thats big, thats a huge burden, and I dont see any other way to do it than to do this, he said.

Earlier in the month, he told CBS 11 News thathis decision to open is not to spit on everyones face or the government, but because of a double standard he believes is in place due to restaurants and other businesses being allowed to stay open.

Rail Club Live doesnt sell food.

Polone said he lost more than $15,000 the weekend after he had to close.

Some of my competitors are allowed to stay open because they sell food, he said during a Facebook Live. Literally the only difference between us and them is you cant order a burger with your beer at my bar.

Agents with the Texas Alcoholic and Beverage Commission visited the Rail Club over the weekend and didnt shut it down.

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We Can Either Fight This Thing, Or Starve: Texas Bars Open Illegally As Part Of Freedom Fest - CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

Risk aversion in Special Operations: When aid workers have more freedom in a combat zone – SOFREP

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Who has more freedom of movement in a combat zone: a highly trained and well-resourced Special Operations fighter, or an untrained volunteer working for a cash-strapped religious non-governmental organization (NGO)?

In the authors opinion and experience, the answer is the NGO worker and by a long shot. The reason for this predominantly boils down to organizational culture, resources, and risk tolerance. Is this a perfect basis for comparison? Definitely not. But it certainly provides differences to be identified and appreciated for the purposes of healthy discussion.

Life is certainly full of risks, many of which we automatically accept, cannot change, and do not even consciously consider. Doing so would be debilitating, counter-productive, and would not lead us in the path of a peaceful and meaningful life. But what happens when an organization loses sight of this and trends towards risk aversion? What if risk tolerance is so low that it precludes operational success? What is the relationship between risk management and acceptable war costs?

Risk management is the bane of all staff officers and the primary mechanism by which the military attempts to identify and assess risk. Risk management is not a new concept and was born from the well-intentioned desire to minimize risk to the mission and the force.

Military operations and special operations, in particular are inherently dangerous. Static line and free-fall parachuting, live-fire weapons training, advanced driving courses, and many other activities come with generous helpings of inherent risk. Indeed, recently, a MARSOC Raider was tragically killed during an airborne operation at the Army Airborne School at Fort Benning. (The incident is currently under investigation.)

Risk increases once the environment transitions from a controlled training one to the real world. For the men and women undertaking both conventional and special operations, these risks are calculated and mitigated as much as possible through extensive training, experience, rehearsals, and planning.

Naturally, the desire to mitigate risk to ones self and comrades is completely well-founded. At the individual level, a lot of risk management occurs automatically and is reinforced by our natural instincts to survive and escape danger. Organizations adopted this natural ability and codified it in the form of formalized risk assessments, policies, and procedures to be undertaken prior to any activity, whether in training or on a real-world mission.

It is the authors opinion that policy and some measure of structure for risk management are incredibly valuable. They help standardize risk management and offer a framework that can be replicated across a diverse range of complex operations. However, we must distinguish between risk management and mitigation. It is not possible to remove or control risk. The best one can do is attempt to identify and mitigate it, and then continue with the mission.

Depending on our definition of success, we can obtain a sense of successful risk mitigation strategies simply by comparing the number of isolated personnel incidents between aid workers and military members in hazardous regions (particularly among French aid workers, it seems). There is clearly some benefit to robust risk management policy as executed by the military compared to the almost haphazard approach of NGOs.

So why and how does an untrained, cash-strapped NGO volunteer have more freedom of movement in a combat zone?

We recently had the opportunity to speak with an aid worker who volunteered with a religious NGO in Iraq for a period of several months almost the same amount of time as a typical Task Force deployment. When swapping stories of familiar areas, sights visited, and experiences with the various cultures, the amount of freedom and mobility the aid worker experienced was remarkable.

One of the most surprising observations was the aid workers mobility given his appearance. We shared common ethnicity, appearance, and language skill. This man was easily identifiable as a Westerner. However, it did not impact his mobility whatsoever. The aid worker traveled alone across the country with zero support, communication plans, contingency plans, or weapons. And he did just fine, never experiencing a single incident that threatened his safety and well-being. Nobody seemed to care who he was or what he was doing, and if anyone did ask, it was primarily out of curiosity.

The authors initial observation? By operating as a true singleton, one becomes so obscure and low profile that the demand for such exhaustive organizational risk management measures appears to change (within reason).

Is a low profile a guarantee of safety and security for sensitive military operations? Of course not. But anecdotally, the stark contrast between the two cultures (NGO and military) as they pertain to freedom of maneuver (aka mobility) and relative effectiveness, present a compelling contrast that needs to be examined further.

Lets take a look at some vignettes.

When overseas, checkpoints are normally unpleasant. It can be difficult to assess under whose control they are and what actions will be taken if a team comes across one. What should be a routine check for papers and payment of a checkpoint management fund fee could quickly escalate to extensive questioning, detention, and an international incident. Therefore, checkpoints are generally avoided.

That aid worker, however, frequently traveled alone through a number of Arab, Kurdish, and other checkpoints with impunity, oftentimes interacting with forces such as the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Front (PMF) militias. They gave him no trouble whatsoever, even though he was a Westerner (this is borderline astounding given general Iranian animosity and malign influence, especially given tensions last year).

More often than not, the aid worker was not asked to furnish any documents (i.e. a visa), despite traveling through diverse regions under the control of militia or others. He barely spoke the language, was not armed, did not have a quick reaction force on standby. Yet, he could still come and go as he pleased.

In the military, missions generally only gain approval after extensive staffing (oftentimes spanning weeks or, more realistically, months-long) planning, rehearsal, numerous CONOPs, decision briefs, progress updates, white papers, and other such bureaucratic operational mission planning requirements.

While the author did not wish to ruin pleasant conversation with a discussion of such laborious bureaucratic processes, we can only surmise that NGO operations do not require such extensive feats of coordination, pre-briefing, read-aheads, or staff churn. Or so wed like to think.

Whereas military operations are normally staged from highly defended and built-up forward operating bases or other locations, the aid worker lived alone, unprotected, in the middle of a small town outside Mosul. He frequently moved in taxis or rented vehicles across the region, only speaking a little of the local language. He relied on the goodwill and relationships of locals and used his local connections to help guarantee his personal security, safety, and welfare all of which he built and maintained himself.

Most remarkably, the aid worker successfully accomplished this despite living and working in Iraq at a time of great uncertainty following the U.S. targeted killing of former Iranian Quds Force commander, Qasem Soleimani.

The benefits of assessing the aid workers mobility in Iraq are most useful when attempting to replicate his general placement and access to a large geographical area that is inhabited by a number of diverse populations. Such environments are something Special Operations attempt to replicate when conducting sensitive activities.

Without highlighting any of the operational details that make sensitive Special Operations successful, the anecdotal contrast with the mobility experienced by the aid worker remains noteworthy. Certainly, there is an extensive and well-exercised framework in place that provides a reasonable amount of risk mitigation during special operations. Processes ensure redundancy, security, safety, structure, and support.

This generally applies to all aspects of mission planning and execution. What such military operations lack in relative agility and mobility they arguably compensate for with robustness. Need a quick reaction force? One call away. Miss your communications window? Theres a variant time and explicit plan in place for what to do next. About to be overrun? Fire mission is incoming.

This is not to say that NGOs lack such risk mitigation capacity. All organizations stand to benefit from risk management and generally seek to mitigate risk in a manner that better enables their operations.

But are Special Operations becoming victims of their own meticulous planning and mission execution? Has risk management transformed into risk aversion as commanders tolerance for risk decreases with the rise of no-fail expectations? Have we been culturally conditioned to expect zero casualties, exposure, or adverse impacts to our mission and force? At what point do we shoot ourselves in the foot with exhaustive mission planning and approval processes that limit our ability to operate in a capacity similar to the aid worker, i.e. autonomous, alone, and unafraid?

Thanks for listening.

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Freedom of the Press | Columnists | islandernews.com – Islander News.com

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If youve read my columns this month, youll be expecting my third of four July Freedom columns. However, you arent likely expecting the topic of Freedom of the Press from a spirituality columnist.

These days, Freedom of the Press feels more like a free-for-all. Anyone with a twitter account and smartphone can claim theyve uncovered the real facts -- a phrase as redundant as burning fire.

Perhaps youve even wondered, How do I know that Chaplain Norris is telling the truth?

Its a question that was asked of me 15 years ago by the editor of a small biweekly newspaper in Elk Grove, Calif.

He called to clarify a discrepancy he saw in my column about a premature baby.

You say he in one paragraph and she in another. Which is it?

It doesnt matter. Say whatever you like, I said. As a chaplain, Id interchanged the pronoun to protect the privacy of the family.

A long exhale informed me he was about to tell me exactly what he thought.

If youre going to change the facts in any way, he cautioned, then you need to disclose your intentions. He was clear that he wouldnt tolerate any irregularities in his paper.

This journalistic experience from 2005 may have you wondering how one finds a trustworthy news source in 2020. Below, I have paraphrased some helpful suggestions from Michael Lewis article Fake News? 8 Ways to Determine If a News Story Is Reliable.

1. What are the writers credentials? A good journalist goes to journalism school or some equivalent and finds employment by a trusted news outlet. (In my case, I have a BA in Journalism, an MFA in Writing, and am currently enrolled in a masters program in journalism.)

2. Is the story reported by only one source? The source you read may be the first to report a story, but it shouldnt be the only one. When it comes to a straight news story, I find that CNN and FOX should sound nearly alike.

3. Read past the headlines. Fun fact editors write headlines, not reporters. Often, the negative emails I get come from folks whove interpreted my column based solely on the headline.

4. Use fact checkers to confirm content on social media. Google Scholar will take you right to the source, but easier sites include http://www.snopes.com, Fact Checker, PolitiFact, and FactCheck. None of these are without some bias. My journalism instructors always required two substantiating sources and good notes that back up my quotes.

5. Is it fact or opinion? You shouldnt detect an opinion in a hard news story, but opinion pieces should still be supported by facts. While my columns are factual, you should consider most to be inspirational opinion.

6. How old is the information? A video posted to Twitter last week was Dr. Fauci saying masks are a waste of time. This was expired advice, but it was portrayed to be valid. When I Google information, I often use the tool tab that allows me to sort by date.

7. Avoid the extreme. Truth is found in the middle. If you tune your ears to the far right by listening to Infowars or you are a Patribotics kinda person, then youve likely stopped reading me by now. Hopefully, most of you are unfamiliar with either of these conspiracy theory sites.

These extreme sources are easily identified by their overuse of the term Lying Press. Labeling the press as fake or liars doesnt make it so. Hitler did the same thing when he popularized the phrase 'lgenpresse to attack the media unsupportive of the Nazi Party.

I take personal offense at the term. I know many journalists. Most are quiet, deliberate people who keep their nose to the grindstone in search of the facts. Their standards are high in their use of each word and their terms are precise. No one among us is unbiased, but I can attest that most journalists I know are factual.

And last, Ill put my chaplain hat back on to tell you this:

A liar is someone who is being intentionally misleading for personal gain. If they dont meet that criteria, then I would prefer to grant them grace.

But, hey, thats only this chaplains opinion.

Sources

Read more at http://www.thechaplain.net. Email: comment@thechaplain.net. Voicemail (843) 608-9715. Twitter @chaplain.

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In Pictures: Activists around the world stage Fridays for Freedom protests in solidarity with Hong Kong pro-democracy movement – Hong Kong Free Press

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Human rights activists around the world have been protesting in front of Chinese embassies in solidarity with Hong Kongs pro-democracy movement over recent Fridays. The string of protests are part of a weekly Fridays for Freedom campaign, which aims to coordinate international support for the citys democratic movement.

Organised by NOW!, an NGO which advocates for global democracy, the initiative was joined by participants from six continents. Demonstrators hailed from cities such as Brussels, Barcelona, Milan, Montreal, Turin, San Francisco, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, London, Helsinki, Glasgow, Edinburgh, San Jos, Kampala, Manchester, Buenos Aires, Melbourne, and Toronto.

Protesters gathered with placards demanding freedom for Hong Kong. Some displayed flags with slogans now banned in the city under the new national security law.

Other protesters held yellow umbrellas, a symbol of the 2014 Umbrella Movement which saw hundreds of thousands occupy the citys streets in support of universal suffrage.

We are witnessing one of the darkest periods of history unfolding: millions of people are losing their rights and freedoms, and the world is standing down. As governments are bowing to Chinas economic muscles, people of the world need to stand in solidarity with Hongkongers and demand better from world leaders, NOW!s co-executive directors said in a statement.

Thats why we are incredibly proud of the brave activists, who in all corners of the globe are standing up to ensure that world leaders protect Hong Kong and democracy!

One group from Sweden also protested against the treatment of the Uighur community in Xinjiang, China. Video footage which remerged on social media recently showed shackled, blindfolded and shaven members of the Uighur ethnic group being lead onto trains in northwestern China.

The international protests coincide with increasing pressure from Western governments over Hong Kongs national security law, enacted by Beijing in June.

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump ended Hong Kongs special trading status and signed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, empowering the US to impose sanctions on officials involved in the passing of the law. Meanwhile, the UK, Australia and Canada have all suspended their extradition treaties with Hong Kong as a response to the legislation, which could see suspects face trial in the mainland.

On June 30, Beijing enacted laws to prevent, stop and punish behaviours in Hong Kong that it deems a threat to national security. The legislation was inserted into the citys mini-constitution, bypassing the local legislature, in order to criminalise subversion, secession, foreign interference and terrorism.

The move which gives police sweeping new powers alarmed democrats, civil society groups and trade partners, as such laws have been used broadly to silence and punish dissidents in China.

Hong Kong government officials have said that the new law is crucial to safeguard against the sometimes violent protests which have the city since last June.

In the few weeks since the laws passing, democracy books have been pulled from the citys public libraries, the slogan liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our time has been banned, and students have been forbidden from partaking in any political activities at school.

According to organisers, the Fridays for Freedom campaign has attracted 700,000 followers online. The initiative forms part of a wider campaign, Waves of Freedom, which aims to create an international coalition to implement measures to safeguard Hong Kongs remaining freedoms and advocate for democracy for the city. The next protest will take place this Friday.

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In Pictures: Activists around the world stage Fridays for Freedom protests in solidarity with Hong Kong pro-democracy movement - Hong Kong Free Press

Juvenile lifer gets second chance at freedom 30 years later – WXII The Triad

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Juvenile lifer gets second chance at freedom 30 years later

Michael Lehman was sentenced to life at 14, freed at 44

Updated: 11:59 AM EDT Jul 24, 2020

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should someone be held accountable for the rest of their lives for crimes they committed as a minor? According to the Supreme Court, some may not have to anymore. Very few can point to the exact moment that changed the course of their life. But Michael Lehmann can. It was the night of June 18th 1988. Michael, then only 14 years old, met up with two boys he knew from his York Pennsylvania group home. Michael Duane, Morning Wake and Miguel Yoder went to see a known drug dealer from the area, Cornell Mitchell. He befriended the boys just a few days before. Together, the group devised a plan to rob a counselor at the home who they thought was too harsh and to rule oriented. They wanted to retaliate against Kwame A. BT's way of managing the group home. Michael would testify in court that he agreed to the plan because the others had threatened to kill him if he didn't go along with it and he didn't want to be seen as a wimp. He offered to act as a lookout and helped the group get inside Undetected explained that I had the window open. Hey, Where you going? In there. One of the home while we're all for our night and then a little big night, Wayne. Morning. Way. Get Miguel. You were gonna go downstairs with him. They appear. And as he waited, Michael said he heard a struggle and left his lookout post to see what was happening. The others wouldn't let him in quantities room. I went back upstairs down the hallway and I realized that they weren't just robbing and they were killing me. Kwamie was stabbed 21 times. After the attack, the group drove to the neighboring town of Harrisburg, where they dumped their knives and bloody clothes, then use the stolen money to buy bus tickets back to York. Police arrested all four of them. The following day, I realized I could have got out of it. But be any of that, I could've done anything. I pray to God. At his trial, Michael testified in his own defense. He thought that because he was just the lookout, he could set the record straight. But the jury didn't see it that way. Michael was found guilty of robbery, conspiracy and murder. At 15 years old, he was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. Just everything Shut down. Well, yes, I was there. Yes, Look out. Yes, I told something. And yes, I help them evidence, but I didn't kill anyone. Michael was sent to prison to live out the rest of his days. That is, until the Supreme Court decision changed everything. In 2012 the Supreme Court ruled that a mandatory life sentence without parole should not apply to people convicted of murder as juvenile's in 2016 they decided that ruling should apply retroactively, meaning any juvenile convicted before 2012 should be given a chance of parole. At 45 years old, Michael was released in 2018. I held out for I. Pennsylvania has the highest number of juvenile lifers, with a total of 523. 200 have been released so far. States rehabilitation program for juvenile lifers helps them acclimated to life after prison. The program offers things like virtual reality sessions in prison to show them where they'll be living and support groups once they're released. They are not the juveniles that they were when they committed a crime, and because of that, we believe where I believe that they deserve a second. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, the re offending rate of juvenile lifers is substantially lower than in the general prison population, where in Pennsylvania, about 60% of all parolees get rearrested within a few years of release. There's always a concern with any population that you deal with. We monitor all of our juvenile lifers closely until we feel comfortable enough where the juvenile lifer in question is actually proven that he's going to be successful. There are those, however, who aren't just hopeful about the program, like the state's lead voice for crime victims. Gen Storm. At some point, the cameras will go away. Some of the immediate resource is will go away. And are these people equipped to succeed? And I don't think we're gonna know that for 35 years. The Supreme Court's ruling wasn't welcome news for Sherry McMichael and Melissa Vaquero, whose brother, Steven Turner, was 11 years old when he was brutally murdered by their 16 year old neighbor. Because of the Supreme Court decision, their brother's killer will now be eligible for parole. You never get over it. You never, ever get over it. The pain is just a deep, the sorrows Justus deep and it just never goes away. I promised my mother on her deathbed that we would make sure that this man never got out of jail. Sherry and Melissa say they don't believe all juvenile lifers should be denied parole. They just want some discretion used in how convicted murderers air getting released. The pair are fighting to keep Stevens killer in prison. They're certainly going to be some unjust punishments. I've seen some of them. There's also going to be some that the key needs to be thrown away, and there's a reason why they gave them no parole. Our case, I feel, is one of them for Michael Lehmann. He thinks back on the night that changed his life often, but all he could do is move forward. When I got out of prison, I stepped out the front door. I took a breath and I started a new chapter in my life. I can't change anything. All I can do is try to be the best person I can be. In the year after his release, Michael secured full time employment, a driver's license and even found love. While it hasn't all been smooth sailing, Michael is grateful. And in those moments where it becomes too much, he has a place to go and reset. My vision was narrowed by fences and razor wire for so long to just have this view of just this expanses, you know, it's easy toe. Just take that deep breath and just let things go. We spoke with WGCL reporter Matt Barkero, who spent over a year with Michael, his story and many other juvenile lifers whose lives changed completely because of this court ruling. A lot of the juvenile lifers that we talked with compared their released being an infant where here they are has grown adults, but they're experiencing all these things for the first time. Something as simple as cell phones is also a really big hurdle for them, because those were things that when they were kids back in the eighties, some of the seventies, somewhere in jail, like sixties, never saw before I put myself in their shoes was something that I went to explore. Many juvie lifers described the guilt they feel with their release. Can you elaborate on this deal? I can't speak to all of them. But in the ones that we talked with, they do feel that they will never forget what they did. And Michael Lehmann doesn't want to forget. She thinks that keeping this burden with him, it's it's who he is, and it will help him continue on life. The guilt that they feel is here. They are getting their lives back. Essentially, they get to go home. They get to be with their loved ones, but they know the back of their head. Their victims families don't get that second chance. It was really important for Michael, aiming to explain what juvenile lifers are, what their experience really is because they're getting free. This story was a big endeavor. Was there any part of your experience working on it? That was particularly surprising. The biggest surprise for me in talking with these juvenile lifers was learning that freedom was not a celebration, and I just assumed that someone who's been in jail for 30 40 50 years on the day that they're released, you know, they're gonna walk out of the prison and just like the sun would be shining. And they're gonna just celebrate with their family, and it's going to be this big happy occasion. But we met many juvenile lifers who their release day was nothing like that. They just don't know how to take those first couple of steps. They're also leaving behind all of their friends. Think about it. You grow up in jail, your cell mates and the guys and girls on your on your block. I mean, those are the people that you have shared your whole life with. And now here you are being free and you're leaving everything you know. Back in jail, however, the families of victims reacted to these re sentence sings. So Kwamie Beaty's family is a good example of many families of victims of juvenile lifers. They were never expecting their loved ones killer to be free. They thought that this chapter in their lives was gonna be put to bed. And here we are 30 years later, and the possibility that their loved ones killer it's not gonna be living in their community again was something that they don't think is right. Some are trying to fight that, and Stephen Turner's family is still very concerned that John Waters is not a changed man, and if he is free that he could kill again. How did the local community react after W G. A. L special aired, a lot of viewers reached out to us and told us that they feel conflicted about this issue going into it. Maybe they did not believe that these juvenile lifers should ever have been released. But in seeing Michael, Story has one example, but also some of the others. They were able to put themselves in the shoes of these juvenile lifers and realize that maybe it was a mistake, a horrible mistake, but a mistake nonetheless, when they were 14 15 16 years old. And maybe you can redeem yourself. Maybe you can go through that process of prison and come out a better person.

Juvenile lifer gets second chance at freedom 30 years later

Michael Lehman was sentenced to life at 14, freed at 44

Updated: 11:59 AM EDT Jul 24, 2020

In June 1988, Michael Lehman was the lookout for a crime in York, Pennsylvania. A crime that left Kwame Beatty, a 23-year-old youth counselor, dead. Four men who lived at the group home where Kwame Beatty worked were arrested for his murder, including Lehman. After he was convicted, Lehman was sentenced to life in prison. He was just 14-years-old.He fully expected to live out the rest of his life behind bars, until a 2012 Supreme Court ruling found that mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole were unconstitutional for juvenile offenders. Nationwide, these so-called "juvie lifers" had their cases re-examined. Pennsylvania, alone, had over 500. Michael Lehman was one of them. And in 2018, he was released.So much of todays news emanates from New York, Washington or Los Angeles, but what we know is that amazing, authentic and genuine stories are being told around the country every day. Each week "Dispatches from the Middle," which originally aired on Facebook Watch, takes a deep dive into one powerful local news story and gets a behind-the-broadcast look at how it came together.For stories like this and more, follow "Dispatches from the Middle" on Facebook Watch and subscribe to Stitch on YouTube.Read More: Project CommUNITY - Juvenile Lifers: The Long Road to Redemption

In June 1988, Michael Lehman was the lookout for a crime in York, Pennsylvania. A crime that left Kwame Beatty, a 23-year-old youth counselor, dead.

Four men who lived at the group home where Kwame Beatty worked were arrested for his murder, including Lehman. After he was convicted, Lehman was sentenced to life in prison. He was just 14-years-old.

He fully expected to live out the rest of his life behind bars, until a 2012 Supreme Court ruling found that mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole were unconstitutional for juvenile offenders. Nationwide, these so-called "juvie lifers" had their cases re-examined. Pennsylvania, alone, had over 500. Michael Lehman was one of them. And in 2018, he was released.

So much of todays news emanates from New York, Washington or Los Angeles, but what we know is that amazing, authentic and genuine stories are being told around the country every day. Each week "Dispatches from the Middle," which originally aired on Facebook Watch, takes a deep dive into one powerful local news story and gets a behind-the-broadcast look at how it came together.

For stories like this and more, follow "Dispatches from the Middle" on Facebook Watch and subscribe to Stitch on YouTube.

Read More: Project CommUNITY - Juvenile Lifers: The Long Road to Redemption

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Juvenile lifer gets second chance at freedom 30 years later - WXII The Triad

PBS Streams Award-Winning Freedom Riders Documentary To Honor Memory Of Rep. John Lewis And Rev. C. T. Vivian – Forbes

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In honor of the recent passing of two of the original Freedom Riders, longtime Georgia Congressman JohnLewisand the Reverend C.T. Vivian, the PBS history series American Experience is streaming Stanley Nelsons documentary, Freedom Riders, on PBS.org and the PBS Video App.

Hundreds of marchers hold hands as they cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on Sunday, ... [+] March 7, 2004. It is the 39th anniversary of the civil rights march across the bridge when state troopers used tear gas and billy clubs against activists marching. Front row from left: U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala., Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. C.T. Vivian. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

The winner of three Primetime Emmy Awards and first broadcast in 2011,Freedom Riders tells the powerful, harrowing and ultimately inspirational story of six months that transformed America. From May until November 1961, over 400 Black and white Americans risked their lives and many endured imprisonment and savage beatings by traveling together on buses and trains as they journeyed through the Deep South.

Deliberately violating Jim Crow laws in order to test and challenge a segregated interstate travel system, the Freedom Riders met with bitter racism and mob violence along the way, sorely testing their belief in nonviolent activism. The filmfeatures testimony from government officials, journalists who witnessed the rides firsthand, and the Riders themselves, includingLewisand Vivian, who recount their experiences.

During the making ofFreedom RidersI had the honor and the pleasure to get to know and interview JohnLewisand C. T. Vivian, said Nelson. They were true heroes who put their liveson the line to create positive change in the world. The lives of so many, including mine, were forever altered by their heroism. It is important for all of us in this moment to take up their legacy and push for real systemic change. May they rest In peace and power.

We are proud to make this powerful film by Stanley Nelson available for free streaming to the American public, said American Experienceacting executive producer Susan Bellows. As we mourn these two civil rights pioneers, we hope the story of their courage, determination and grace will continue to inspire us all.

A spokeswoman for the series said Freedom Riders would stream for three years and might also be rebroadcast on television at a later date.

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PBS Streams Award-Winning Freedom Riders Documentary To Honor Memory Of Rep. John Lewis And Rev. C. T. Vivian - Forbes

In Pennsylvania, fight against wearing masks involves some key Republicans, and liberty – York Daily Record

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The Centers for Disease Control report face masks can help people from spreading coronavirus to others. Here are the do's and don'ts. Wochit

Sometimes the conversation focuses on effectiveness and folks who cannot wear a mask because of a medical condition. But largely it's about personal freedom of choice.

Before former Vice President Joe Biden delivered his most recent speech in Pennsylvania, a message was aired over the speakers.

Please keep your masks on the entire time, which is now mandated by the state of Pennsylvania and the governor."

The group of roughly 50 people complied and also practiced social distancing at McGregor Industries, a metal working plant near Scranton.

Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, was also wearing a mask at the Dunmore factory on July 9.

Campaign stops: Biden, Trump make new push to win voters in battleground Pennsylvania

That same day, President Donald Trump sent his top surrogate, Vice President Mike Pence, to Pennsylvania.

When Air Force Two landed at the Lancaster Airport in Lititz, Pencewas wearing a mask. Hewas greeted by other Republican leaders, such as Congressman Lloyd Smucker, who were also wearing masks.

But most of the people in the crowd of Trump and Pence supporters were not wearing masks or standing at least 6 feet apart.

The president, who was in Washington, D.C., that day, had rarely worn a mask at that point.That changed two days later when he visited Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and wore a mask while visiting patients.

President Donald Trump wears a face mask as he visits Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., July 11, 2020.(Photo: Patrick Semansky, AP)

And it changed even more that Monday night when he posted a photo of himself wearing a mask.

"We are United in our effort to defeat the Invisible China Virus, and many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can't socially distance," Trump tweeted on Monday. "There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favorite President!"

The president seems to be changing his stance on masks, but it remains to be seen if Republicans in Pennsylvania will follow his lead.

50 lives: These Pennsylvanians share a similar tragedy, losing their lives to COVID-19

Some top-ranking Republicans in the state have been wearing masks for months, even if they haven't agreed with safety mandates from Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat from York County. That includes U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican from the Lehigh Valley who has been advocating for masks since March, and the new Pennsylvania House Speaker Bryan Cutler, a Republican from Lancaster County.

But former Speaker Mike Turzai, a Republican from Allegheny County, and dozens of other Republicans in the Legislature have been fighting the mask mandate.

Customers with and without masks intersect at the exit of a home improvement store near York, Pa.(Photo: Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record)

Rep. Russ Diamond, a Republican from Lebanon County, takes credit for starting the mask debate in Pennsylvania.

"I kind of pioneered not wearing a mask," he said.

Diamond said he was the first state Republican lawmaker to publicly show that's he's not wearing a mask.

He has a few problems with wearing masks: They create suspicion that everyone has COVID-19;he thinks they're ineffective;and he thinks they're unfair to people with certain medical conditions.

"We're creating a society where we're all isolated from one another, and we assume everyone is dangerous and carrying a disease," Diamond said. "We're turning it into: Everyone is guilty until they're proven innocent."

Also, despite what numerous scientists and doctors say, he doesn't believemasks work.

Opposition: Lebanon County revolts against Gov. Wolf as no other county in Pennsylvania has done

'Mask shaming': Lebanon Rep. Russ Diamond boasts on social media about not wearing face mask while shopping

He said science seemed to agree with him when the virus was first spreading across the U.S. and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised against masks.

That changed three months ago when the CDC recommended masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

But Diamond hasn't changed his mind.

Rep. Russ Diamond (R-Lebanon) speaks during the protest in Harrisburg on Monday, saying "we cannot allow the cure to be worse than the disease."(Photo: Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record)

"Reusable masks are problematic," he said. "They can get damp and collect bacteria if they're not properly cleaned. If you want to properly wear a mask, get a disposable mask. Too many people fiddle with them and end up touching their face more."

He said another reason he doesn't wear a mask is because he's supporting his fiancee, who has a medical condition that prevents her from wearing a mask. He said wearing a mask triggers her seizures; she recently had a severe seizure while wearing a mask to pick up her medical cannabis.

Wolf's mandate includes medical provisions, but most merchants don't allow customers inside their businesses without a mask, Diamond said.

"If we're going to exclude unmasked people with medical conditions from businesses, then let's knock out wheelchair ramps, too," he said.

More mandates possible: 'We know the virus has not gone away'

Diamond believes the solution - better than a mask mandate from the governor - is forsymptomatic people to quarantine, and asymptomatic people "don't really need to."

Pennsylvania's recent wave of positive COVID-19 cases can be traced to more than just asymptomatic carriers of the disease, according to state health officials.

Diamond, who said he "hates close talkers" and always maintains "5 feet of personal space to begin with," does support social distancing, vigorous hand washing and sanitizing, and washing and changing clothes when coming home from public spaces.

But he does not support masks, and he disagrees with state education guidelines that will require masks in school this fall.

"Teachers have enough to do. Now, they have to be the mask police, too?" Diamond said.

Diamond thinks a happy medium is: "If you want to wear a mask, fine. I won't say anything bad about you. I choose not to wear one. Please don't say anything bad about me. I'm not going to force myself into your personal space."

Masked shoppers exit and enter Target in West Manchester Township while a sign warns them at the entrance that masks are mandatory in accordance with Pennsylvania state orders.(Photo: Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record)

Republicans launched a political battle with Wolf over business shutdowns, saying it was a threat to livelihoods and personal freedoms.

Now, they're saying similar things about masks.

For some Republicans, the mask fight isn't about medicine. It's about mandates.

State Rep. Ryan Warner, a Republican from Fayette County, talked about liberty and freedom in a July 1 video on his Facebook page.

He said he agrees with wearing masks in many situations, but he doesn't think Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levinehas a right to tell people to wear masks because she's not an elected official. Levine was appointed by Wolf.

"The decisions from the governor are unilateral, authoritarian decisions. It is not how we do things," Warner said.

Like Warner, Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, a Republican from Centre County, said he doesn't dispute wearing a mask.

"What we're disputing is by using his emergency powers, this governor is dictating it to people," Corman said to the Associated Press. "We live in a free society. People can make decisions for themselves."

Gov. Tom Wolf confirms the first presumptive positive cases of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Pennsylvania during a news conference March 6, 2020.(Photo: Commonwealth Media Services)

The state House and Senate recently voted to strip the governor's emergencypowers and give Pennsylvanians more of a say in how they want to be governed in times of crisis, including if they want to wear masks.

The Legislature previously tried to end the governor'semergency declaration without his consent, but a state Supreme Court ruling ended that effort.

Recently, the Legislature voted to change the state constitution and end the emergency declaration, and Wolf vetoed that plan.

We believe the power of our commonwealth truly rests with the people," said House Speaker Bryan Cutler, a Republican from Lancaster. "Pennsylvania is not a dictatorship, and the voters should ultimately decide."

He said the legislative branch has tried to work with the governor and asked to join a bipartisan task force to manage the crisis.

The governor turned us down, deciding instead to go it alone for months on end," Cutler said.

Pennsylvania Democrats, Republicans and health officials who advocate for masks point out that they are not new in the commonwealth.

They have been used here for more than a centuryin surgeries, dentistry and other medicalsettings, industrial operations, veterinary care and more.

These uses have been met without protest, and masks have been trusted to do what they were designed to do provide a reliable barrier against contamination.

In the simplest terms, they are designed to keep people from getting sick.

Mask supporters say they are a needed tool in the currentpublic health crisis just like they were used to curtail deaths in the 1918 flu pandemic and shouldn't be used as political weapons.

"When we should be fighting this virus, we are fighting about masks," said Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who said he wears a mask every time he goes into public spaces.

He pointed out that it's not just Democratic governors who want state residents to wear masks.

"The governors of Alabama and Texas, and governors in very red states, are pleading for masks," Fetterman said. "They realize it's not a political statement. It's a tool until we get a vaccine."

Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman walks from the Senate chamber after he was sworn into office on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019, at the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)(Photo: Matt Rourke, AP)

When Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a mask mandate last week, she said she knew the order would be hard to enforce.

"I always prefer personal responsibility over a government mandate, and yet I also know with all my heart that the numbers and the data over past few weeks are definitely trending in the wrong direction, she said.

At the time, Alabama had more than 58,000 positive cases and hospital intensive care units were overwhelmed.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last week defended his mask mandate in a video message.

"Now, I know that many of all you are frustrated. Soam I," he said. "I know that many of you do not like the mask requirement. I dont either. It is the last thing that I wanted to do. Actually the next to the last. The last thing that any of us want is to lock Texas back down again.Each day the facts get worse. If we don't slow this disease quickly, our hospitals will get overrun, and I fear it will even inflict some of the people that I'm talking to right now."

Republican governors in Arkansas, Maryland, North Carolina and Ohio offered similar messages.

And former Republican governors in Pennsylvania say they support Wolf's mandate.

Tom Ridge(Photo: File)

All Pennsylvanians should heed the Wolf Administrations directives to wear a mask when out of the home, former Gov. Tom Ridge said in a statement. Like all Pennsylvanians, Gov. Wolf and Secretary Levine are hoping to avoid the COVID-19 spikes impacting other states so that we can get our economy back up and running as soon as possible. Wearing a mask is a simple, selfless act all of us should support.

His successor echoed that.

"Wearing your mask amounts to saying lets beat the virus now, not later when it might be too late,"former Gov. Mark Schweiker said in a statement.

About 100,000 Pennsylvanians have tested positive for COVID-19, and more than 7,000 have died. More than 4,800, or 68 percent,of those deaths have been in nursing homes.

While many Pennsylvanians have been able to go outside and experience some kind of summer, even if it's a masked one, tens of thousands of nursing home patients are still living in isolation because of the continued spread of infection.

Levinesaid the coronavirus typically enters nursing homes through workers who are asymptomatic carriers of the disease. It's imperative that those workers and the people they come into contact with in public are wearing masks, she said.

As the health secretaryalways says, "Your mask protects me, and my mask protects you."

The nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci and the CDC say masks protect everyone.

That includes the growing number of Pennsylvanians in their 20s who are getting and spreading the disease.

Pollster and political analyst Terry Madonna, who usually refrains from taking a side in political issues is taking a side in the mask debate.

"I am very, very supportive of wearing a mask in public," Madonna said. "I understand the cons in the issue. I understand the argument. But this is temporary, and it involves life and death. Wearing masks in public seems reasonable to me."

Candy Woodall is a reporter for the USA Today Network. She can be reached at 717-480-1783 or on Twitter at @candynotcandace.

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In Pennsylvania, fight against wearing masks involves some key Republicans, and liberty - York Daily Record

This Is How The End Of Freedom Starts, According To New Political Ad 07/21/2020 – MediaPost Communications

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It sounds like a movie trailer for a political thriller, complete with baritone narrator and heart-pounding music like the kind you expect from a Jason Bourne film.

This ishow it starts, the narrator intones. A president out of control as polls forecast his downfall.

In a small city far from the Beltway, shadowy men, no badges, noidentification, deputized by a rogue attorney general snatch so-called enemies of the state off the streets.

Oh wait, Ive seen this movie before, still living it in fact. Thatsmall city is Portland, Oregon, where federal agents were let loose to smack around peaceful protesters.

The trailer is the latest political ad from The Lincoln Project. It goes on to recount in some detail the thuggery that went on in Portland, noting that your town couldbe next, because Trump doesnt believe in the right of peaceful protest -- or most things related to a democracy, for that matter.

This is How it Starts, is the adstitle and refrain. It refers to how the end of freedom starts unless people go to the polls in November and vote Trump out.

I wish Bidens people would start making ads thiscompelling.

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This Is How The End Of Freedom Starts, According To New Political Ad 07/21/2020 - MediaPost Communications

People Called Us Tesla Biased For Years. Perhaps We Just Analyzed The Story Decently? – CleanTechnica

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Cars

Published on July 26th, 2020 | by Zachary Shahan

July 26th, 2020 by Zachary Shahan

I have no intention here to rub anything in the faces of people who were wrong about Tesla [TSLA]. Frankly, Im sure there were plenty of good, honest people who were just on the wrong side of a complicated analysis. I have known some of them. Disruptive transitions are disruptive because they can be sort of hard to see coming, or the inertia of human thought is just so strong that our mind blocks out whats obvious. Either way, the point is that you can be smart, thoughtful, and genuine but still have a faulty analysis about a disruptive technology and a disruptive company.

Weve been criticized by some parties for years for being Tesla fans or biased or simply irrational. There is no doubt we make mistakes. We make mistakes every day. You cant be in this industry full time and not make a lot of mistakes. This is not scientific research in which you perform a regression analysis and come to rigorous scientific conclusions on everything before you publish about it. Nonetheless, the mistakes are no less humbling and sometimes horribly embarrassing. It happens, and we own up to mistakes when we make them even if it is painful.

Regarding Tesla, though, I think there was actually such an anti-Tesla bias permeating the industry the auto industry, Wall Street, broader journalism, and beyond that any site that reported a consistently positive story on Tesla was written off by many as an illogical and biased fan site. At this point in time, though, I think its time for a bit of a reckoning, and while I dont want to boast (boasting sucks), I think its high time to reframe the view of the media landscape. We took a ton of unwarranted, illogical, biased heat for reporting the actual story of Tesla. Looking back several years, people who have been critical of our analyses and media outlets that have been highly skeptical or biased against Tesla should recognize:

Perhaps we just analyzed the Tesla situation and the Tesla story well, much better than many others.

We didnt write in large volume about some of the other EV efforts, such as clear compliance cars (electric cars built only to comply with regulations), and we didnt always have the prettiest take on certain startups or products because they simply were not as notable or compelling on a comprehensive level. We didnt see others on a path to disrupting the auto industry like Tesla was because, when we analyzed things, they didnt have the clear foundation or potential to do so.

Of course, we have also written thousands of articles on non-Tesla electric vehicles and the companies creating them. Its not like we didnt cover others as well. We are specifically not a Tesla fan site. However, no one is yet to rise to the level of Tesla when it comes to an individual electric vehicle product or the comprehensive e-mobility ecosystem it offers. We could see that years ago, as Tesla rolled out Supercharger after Supercharger, built Gigafactory 1 in Nevada, and then built Giga Shanghai more recently. Many others were overly skeptical of Tesla and its plans, but assuming they were right, we got put into a not fair and balanced category. People who didnt come to the same conclusions as we did saw us as overly optimistic on this young company. Thats fine. Have a different opinion and follow and support the sites that you think offer the best analysis. But, at some point, when reality plays out, recognize analyses were what they were more accurate or less accurate. Continuing down a path just because its the one you were on is wrong if you started out on the wrong path.

If Tesla is doing something that we think is leading in a bad direction, we report on it. Sometimes our writers even report on a new story from vastly different points of view, because we do not have one monolithic opinion here at CleanTechnica. However, we also dont avoid saying when something looks like it is going to be successful and highly popular. We do not shun making bold conclusions and sharing them. We do not hide behind a pretend to not have a human brain when reporting on the news ethos. We try to use our brains to understand the topics we are covering and then try to report both the news and our analyses of the news.

Over time, Im sure many people have come to the conclusion that CleanTechnica is a Tesla site, not an unbiased news and analysis site. Looking at things from the point of view of what has played out in reality, though, I hope some of those people will come up with the same humility we have to muster when we make mistakes and will recognize that what may have seemed like biased reporting to many a few years ago has turned out to be realistic, accurate reporting and analysis.

As for the future: no guarantees. We may screw up the story. But we have a few dozen people on our team who strive in a way that is above and beyond the norm to try to understand what is happening in cleantech and share insights on that. They do more than we can adequately reward them in financial compensation. If they offer a strong opinion on a technology or a topic, consider that it may well have come from an enormous amount of research and hours or years of thought. Also reflect on this: is it a good or bad thing if a news site is full of writers who have opinions on the things they write about?

We are dramatically far from perfect. We fail every day. But we try really freakin hard to do a good job. In the case of Tesla, it appears from the companys clear success to date, that seeing through the fear and negative hype was more accurate, realistic, and professional than hiding behind fake objectivity ad fashionable skepticism.

But thats just my biased take on things. If Tesla goes bankrupt in a year, I will take a deep breath and come out publicly to acknowledge that we did a horrible job reporting on the story and should reconsider our approach to our work. (If only media outlets that seem to have screwed up the Tesla story for so long would do the same.)

Side note: If you find this valuable and youd like to see us create more in-depth analyses and more voluminous news coverage, please do consider a monthly contribution of $3 or $5 or $10. Weve got to be worth more than a cup of coffee a month, right?

Tags: Tesla

Zachary Shahan is tryin' to help society help itself one word at a time. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director, chief editor, and CEO. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, and Curaao.Zach has long-term investments in Tesla [TSLA] after years of covering solar and EVs, he simply has a lot of faith in this company and feels like it is a good cleantech company to invest in. But he does not offer (explicitly or implicitly) investment advice of any sort on Tesla or any other company.

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People Called Us Tesla Biased For Years. Perhaps We Just Analyzed The Story Decently? - CleanTechnica

Texas Matters: Pandemic Politics And The Tesla Effect On Texas – Texas Public Radio

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Texas is losing in the fight against COVID-19. The refusal of Republican state leaders to mandate face masks and put in place a serious lockdown has given the coronavirus a clear path to burn through the states population. COVID-19 is infecting communities, filling up hospitals and leaving so many dead that many bodies are being stored in refrigerated trucks.

Meanwhile the state has been urging schools to reopen which public health experts agree will only make the situation much worse.

Its impossible to have a disaster of this magnitude occur and not have the people in power, who ignored the warning signs, pay a political penalty. But what will that look like?

For insight Harvey Kronberg, founder of the Quorum Report, explains how has the pandemic changed politics in Texas.

This week billionaire Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors, announced that they will be building their Cyberturck Gigafactory in Austin. This sounds great, but what is a gigafactory and what is a cybertruck? But more importantly, the question we need to be asking is what is the future of transportation? Many authorities in the auto industry predict that the next time you buy a brand new car, its likely going to be electric.

Zac Cataldo is the co-host of the Youtube channel "Now You Know" which produces "Tesla Time News." He answers the question: why did Elon Musk pick Austin?

David Martin Davies can be reached at DMDavies@TPR.org and on Twitter at @DavidMartinDavi.

TPR was founded by and is supported by our community. If you value our commitment to the highest standards of responsible journalism and are able to do so, please consider making yourgift of support today.

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Texas Matters: Pandemic Politics And The Tesla Effect On Texas - Texas Public Radio

Charting Tesla, Apple, and Netflix. – TheStreet

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Some of the most widely traded stocks in the market just happen to have incredible charts this week. Let's get right into it.

APPLE (AAPL)

Lots of questions about Apple as earnings are just a few days away. Despite Apple's recent pullback, the stock remains within a bull channel. As long as Apple stays within that channel, the bullish trend is intact.

If you've been waiting for a pullback to buy Apple, now could be the time. The stock's relative strength index, or RSI, is no longer giving an overbought reading. Instead, Apple's RSI is near 50, indicating a neutral reading.

TESLA (TSLA):

Friday's pullback should have been anticipated, due to the candlestick pattern that preceded it. That pattern, known as bearish engulfing, signaled that a pullback was about to occur. The large red candle actually engulfs several candles, shaded in yellow.

Like Apple, Tesla's RSI is no longer in overbought territory.

What's the most important thing to understand about Tesla's chart? Look at the stock's 20 day moving average, in black. Since the beginning of May, Tesla has bounced from that indicator repeatedly (arrows). When Tesla dropped sharply on Friday, where did the stock find support? You guessed it, right on the 20 day moving average. This week, it's crucial to see if Tesla can hold that line.

NETFLIX (NFLX)

Netflix formed a bearish candlestick pattern earlier this month, called a dark cloud cover. Netflix has been moving lower ever since, and is headed toward its 50 day moving average. That moving average has supported the stock a half dozen times over the past four months. Like Apple and Tesla, Netflix currently has a neutral RSI reading.

Tesla and Netflix have already reported earnings, Apple is scheduled for July 30th after the closing bell.

Got a question or a request? Hit me up in the comments section.

Ed Ponsi is the managing director of Barchetta Capital Management, and is the author of three books for publisher Wiley Finance. A dynamic public speaker, Ed has made appearances around the world, in such diverse locations as Singapore, Dubai, London, and New York. For more information about Ed and his work, click here.

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Charting Tesla, Apple, and Netflix. - TheStreet

‘Radioactive’ and ‘Tesla’ celebrate science through the lens of its pioneers – CNN

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Neither film is especially memorable, which is too bad, squandering Rosamund Pike as Marie Curie and Ethan Hawke, very intense and brooding as Nikola Tesla.

The overlapping themes, however, feature notable echoes of our current anti-science impulses -- in response to everything from coronavirus to vaccines to climate change -- in a way that gives these movies additional heft. They stream into homes (itself a relatively modern marvel) at a time when scientists find themselves pleading with segments of the public to heed their advice regarding the worst pandemic in a century.

The parallels between the two films, their protagonists and present-day politics go beyond that, beginning with the fact that both of these historical figures were immigrants -- Curie having left Poland for Paris, Tesla coming from what is now Croatia.

Curie, who discovered radioactivity working alongside her husband Pierre (Sam Riley), is shown struggling to get her ideas recognized and earn the requisite backing to pursue them. That continued after his death, when, among other things, she campaigned to introduce X-ray machines to World War I battlefields.

Tesla, too, must seek support for his innovations regarding electrical power from the likes of financier J.P. Morgan and Thomas Edison -- an inventor as well, but also a more astute businessman -- the latter played by Kyle MacLachlan.

Each movie contains sequences in which the protagonist must go begging for resources, championing breakthroughs that the existing establishment didn't fully grasp.

Both films also utilize the device of offering glimpses of the future that their respective subject's innovations made possible, such as Curie paving the way for the atomic bomb.

"Tesla" even more aggressively incorporates documentary-style techniques and weird anachronisms into the drama. His story is essentially narrated by Morgan's daughter, Anne (Eve Hewson), in a way that gives the movie a decidedly off-kilter spin. At one point, Hawke even sings a few bars of the 1980s song "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," recorded decades after Tesla's death.

Finally, both Curie and Tesla conspicuously chafed against the authority and social conventions of their era, paying a price for that personally and professionally. They're presented as being difficult personalities who didn't suffer fools particularly well, with Tesla balking when he's asked, "Is your brilliance a blessing or a curse?"

In "Radioactive," Curie dismisses being a woman as representing a major impediment to her endeavors, despite an actual photo in the closing credits that shows her as the lone female amid an assemblage of men.

Another shared theme hinges on the notion that an element of madness -- or at least, eccentricity and risk-taking -- goes hand in hand with genius. As Morgan tells Tesla, before writing him a big check, "I believe in the recklessness of great men."

Despite all the marvels introduced during the past 120 years, "Tesla" and "Radioactive" deliver what feels like an unexpectedly timely message -- namely, that great minds need to be heard and cultivated. It's hardly a sign of progress that many in our society, far from heeding that, have chosen to wear resistance to science and expertise as a badge of honor.

Like their protagonists, give the filmmakers credit for some creative risks. Even so, it's a shame that neither film lives up to the greatness of its subject.

"Radioactive" premieres July 24 on Amazon. "Tesla" will be available on demand on Aug. 21.

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'Radioactive' and 'Tesla' celebrate science through the lens of its pioneers - CNN

Why Tesla Belongs in the Dow Jones Industrials – Motley Fool

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Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) inspires both loyal fans and devout haters, but the stock's success is indisputable. Since its IPO 10 years ago, it has delivered amazing returns to its early shareholders. It's also built up an impressive company with a growing customer base, an expanding addressable market, and lofty aspirations.

Now that Tesla has achieved profitability, it's now just a matter of time before it gets an invitation to join the S&P 500 Index (SNPINDEX:^SPX). However, while admission to that club is based largely on objective criteria, the same isn't true for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES:^DJI). As crazy as it might seem, there's an increasingly compelling case for Tesla to join that elite band of 30 companies. Dow. Here are some of the best reasons why.

Image source: Tesla.

As its name suggests, the Dow was initially focused on industrial companies, and for over a century, the auto industry had representation in the average. That started with the admission of the American Car and Foundry Company in 1901, and at various times, companies like Studebaker, Nash Motors, and Chrysler were members of the Dow.

The longest-tenured car company in the Dow was General Motors (NYSE:GM), which had uninterrupted membership from 1925 to 2009. However, its bankruptcy following the financial crisis led to its removal. Since then, the Dow has gone more than a decade without representation from the auto industry.

Many investors note that Tesla's potential goes well beyond its vehicle manufacturing. For now, though, Tesla is squarely focused on cars and trucks. That makes it an industrial stock, and getting it into the Dow would make the average more industrial once again.

There's no market cap requirement for admission to the Dow, as the managers of the index generally seek companies that are representative of the broader economy rather than simply picking the biggest businesses available. However, Tesla's market cap has flirted with $300 billion recently, and that establishes the automaker as a leader in its field.

If Tesla were in the Dow, it would rank among the 10 companies with the largest market caps. It's also nearly nine times more valuable than the Dow stock with the lowest market cap, and it would have a nearly $100 billion margin of safety just to keep it out of the bottom half. Even those who argue that a correction for Tesla stock is long overdue have to admit that the company's size currently warrants giving it consideration for the industrial index.

Just about the only reason why Tesla shouldn't be in the Dow right now is that the average uses a price-weighted methodology in calculating its level. Because its share price has climbed well into four-digit territory, Tesla would have a much larger weighting in the Dow than any other stock.

However, there's precedent for companies with high share prices taking steps that eventually eased their path into the Dow. In the mid-2010s, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock climbed into the high-triple digits, which would've kept the iPhone giant out of the Dow. So Apple did a 7-for-1 stock split that brought its share price down to a much more manageable level.

A similar 7-for-1 split would put Tesla's stock in the $200 to $250 range based on recent prices. That would give it a substantial weighting in the average, but not an overwhelming one. If Tesla did a 10-for-1 stock split instead, it would find itself squarely in the middle of the index's pack in terms of share price.

Objectively, there are compelling reasons why Tesla deserves a spot in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Practically, though, the move seems unlikely. The Dow represents old-school Wall Street in a way that CEO Elon Musk would likely reject out of hand.

It's possible that eventually, Tesla could still get an invitation. But it's much more likely that Dow investors will have to go without an auto stock in the index for a while longer.

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Why Tesla Belongs in the Dow Jones Industrials - Motley Fool

Tesla: An Opportunity To Buy The Dip – Seeking Alpha

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Tesla's Q2 Report: Sell The News

With the hype surrounding Tesla's (NASDAQ:TSLA) second quarter earnings release, it seemed hard to see the stock racing any higher. Going into the report, retail, sell-side, and buy-side expectations seemed calibrated around a GAAP profit, and inclusion into the S&P 500. Anything other than this would have been disastrous for the stock. This was reflected in options pricing going into earnings. The implied move in the stock was among the highest of companies reporting earnings, standing at ~15% in either direction. If you think about it, with all the hype and increased expectations surrounding the report, a blowout of astronomical proportions would've been required to get that 15% move to the upside. Combined with the insane run-up and being technically overbought, a bit of a pullback was overdue.

While S&P 500 index inclusion is not a direct fundamental catalyst right now, it could be a catalyst for the stock (in the short-term) and for the fundamentals of the business (in the long-term). What do I mean by this?

Well, considering that Tesla reported a GAAP profit of $0.50/share in the Q2 report, the company has become eligible for S&P 500 index inclusion. This inclusion will increase institutional ownership of the stock. When the company is plugged into the S&P 500, index funds and mutual funds will be forced to enter a position in Tesla. A lot of these funds are buy-and-hold investors, not traders. Thus, a large portion of Tesla's float will be bought up by massive institutional holders. Because these managers hardly alter their positions, a large portion of the float will not be traded as frequently. This will likely lead to decreased volatility, which would lower Tesla's cost of capital. Though Tesla is firmly cash flow positive, and already has $8.6 billion in cash, one final massive capital raise could allow them too supercharge (no pun intended) their expansion plans. Think about it, Tesla is still set to expand Fremont factory, the Nevada Gigafactory, Gigafactory Shanghai, Gigafactory Texas, and Gigafactory Berlin. The last of those two factories will be the largest of Tesla's factories. The creation of these plants, and the ramp to full capacity production would be benefited immensely by a large capital raise.

By being included into the S&P 500 index, not only will Tesla gain a prestige by being an S&P 500 component, certain investors will likely be forced to buy Tesla stock in order to get exposure to the S&P 500 index as a whole. Increased buying pressure from large institutional investors will likely lead to higher stock in the short-term, and a less volatile one in the long-term. Lower volatility leads to a lower cost of capital, making large scale equity-based (or convertible) capital raises easier to pull off.

To be clear, at the beginning of 2018, I was a bear on Tesla stock. In my view, anybody who compared Tesla to Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) or Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) was insane. But now, with Tesla's execution on their fundamentals, my mind has been changed. I believe Tesla combines certain attributes of both Amazon and Apple. I don't say this lightly.

Tesla is very reminiscent of Apple in one key respect:

Battery electric vehicles are the new disruptive technology, as smartphones were the new disruptive technology. That being said, smartphones were around in before Apple entered the market. The same is true with BEVs. When Apple unveiled the iPhone, they disrupted the smartphone market. When Tesla launched a practical, attractive, and functional BEV, they disrupted the market. Both companies are on the cutting-edge of innovation (or at least Tesla is nowadays as Apple's innovation slows). Tesla leads in battery chemistry in both efficiency and cost, which helps reduce the COGS (cost of goods sold) and increase the range (i.e. the functionality) of the product. Tesla's blend of functionality with style is something every other "competing" automaker has failed to do. In this was, Teslas are disruptive technologies.

Second of all, Tesla has a strong brand. Think about it. Do people say they intend on buying an electric car, or do they plan on buying a Tesla? The latter right? Even the bears admit Tesla fans are devoted to the company, with a lot of bears believing Tesla is a cult. Tesla's brand is second to none, other than maybe Apple itself. A brand as strong as Tesla's, while an intangible asset, is an asset nonetheless.

Third, Tesla's products are simple, yet sleek. The same can be said about Apple's products, the iPhone in particular. One example of this is Tesla's interior. Try comparing the interior of a mostly buttonless Model 3, versus the complex overcrowded interior of a traditional luxury vehicle. Sometimes, simplicity is best, as we have seen with Apple.

With regards to Tesla's comparison with Amazon, the similarities are a little fewer and further between. The biggest one is scale: grow big fast. Amazon's multi-decade focus on reinvesting profits into scaling the business model has paid off in a huge way. Amazon famously expanded from a digital bookstore to a digital empire. Amazon's business has been a capital intense business, as has Tesla's. CEO Elon Musk confirmed on the last earnings call that the company will be barely profitable while they pass on profits to the customer (likely through price cuts and whatnot) to scale up market share. This is a very similar strategy to Amazon's in terms of reinvesting profits to grow market presence. The other thing that Tesla does (and will continue to do), is reduce prices on their vehicles. While bears continue to misinterpret this as a lack of demand for their product, it is quite the opposite. As Tesla becomes more efficient at producing vehicles, they find internal cost savings. "Normal" companies would use this opportunity to expand their margin profile and improve profitability. Tesla uses this opportunity to lower pricing, passing on the margin to consumers. This lower pricing leads to increased demand, improving Tesla's market share dynamics. We have seen AWS (Amazon's cloud division) employ a similar strategy in growing its customer base and revenue. The parallels are striking.

(source)

As of right now, short interest in Tesla's stock stands at ~7.5% of the outstanding stock. As the stock sprints higher, the value of these short positions balloons, leading too a likely short squeeze. We have seen this play out over the last few months. The problem is, shorts continue to move the goalposts on the stock, something that I (ironically enough) claimed the bulls were doing when I was bearish myself. The argument has evolved:

One by one, Tesla has dismantled the bear case surrounding the stock, and the bears don't like it. So, rather than admitting they made the wrong call on the stock, they move the goalposts on it. Tesla's practice of just executing on their business model has done significant damage to the Tesla bears. Eventually, as Tesla continues to show profitability, bears will make the argument (the only valid one they have in my view) that Tesla's valuation is stretched. The problem is, the compare Tesla to an automaker rather than Amazon. As I have already talked about, Tesla has multiple striking parallels with the Amazon business model. Traditional analysis of Amazon versus other brick-and-mortar retailers would yield a far lower stock price than what Amazon trades at currently. The bears need to understand, Tesla is a disruptive force in the market that cannot be competed with, at least not yet. In addition, Tesla has other growth vertical in both energy and autonomy. Trying to value the stock on earnings, when management explicitly says they have no intention on earning more than the bare minimum, is not wise. Revenue is a better metric.

The clock is ticking on bears and disbelievers in the Tesla story. The company is executing, they are going to be admitted into the S&P 500, their business parallels big tech companies like Apple and Amazon, and bears continually move the goalposts. At a time when Tesla is called one of the greatest bubbles in the market, I would consider it the exact opposite. The recent dip in the stock is an opportunity to buy.

Disclosure: I am/we are long TSLA. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Additional disclosure: This is not financial advice. I am not a financial advisor. Please do your own due diligence before initiating a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

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Tesla: An Opportunity To Buy The Dip - Seeking Alpha

Coronavirus Live Updates: Moderna and N.I.H. Begin Vaccine Trial – The New York Times

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A test of a late-stage vaccine will enroll people at 89 sites around the United States.

One of the first large studies of safety and effectiveness of a coronavirus vaccine in the United States began on Monday morning, according to the National Institutes of Health and the biotech company Moderna, which collaborated to develop the vaccine.

The study, a Phase 3 clinical trial, is to enroll 30,000 healthy people at about 89 sites around the country. Half will receive two shots of the vaccine, 28 days apart, and half will receive two shots of a saltwater placebo. Neither the volunteers nor the medical staff giving the injections will know who is getting the real vaccine.

Researchers will then monitor the subjects, looking for side effects and waiting to see if significantly fewer vaccinated people get Covid-19, indicating that the vaccine works. The main goal is to determine whether the vaccine can prevent the illness. The study will also try to find out if it can prevent severe Covid-19 and death; if it can prevent infection entirely, based on lab tests; and if just one shot can prevent the illness.

Earlier tests of the vaccine showed that it stimulated a strong immune response, with minor and transient side effects like sore arms, fatigue, achiness and fever. But exactly what type of immune response is needed to prevent the illness is not known, so Phase 3 studies are essential to determine whether a vaccine really works.

In a statement, Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the N.I.H., said, Having a safe and effective vaccine distributed by the end of 2020 is a stretch goal, but its the right goal for the American people. He said that despite the unprecedented speed in bringing this experimental vaccine to human testing, the most stringent safety measures were being maintained.

Moderna said in a statement that it would be able to deliver about 500 million doses per year, and possibly up to a billion doses per year, starting in 2021. The company says it will not sell the vaccine at cost, but for profit.

The vaccine uses a synthetic version of genetic material from part of the coronavirus, encased in tiny particles made of fat that help it get into human cells. The genetic material, called messenger RNA or mRNA, then prompts the cells to churn out a tiny piece of the virus, which the immune system sees as foreign, and learns to recognize. If the person is later exposed to the real virus, the immune system will attack.

Messenger RNA has not produced any approved vaccines, but other companies have also invested in the approach because of its potential to produce vaccine quickly. The government announced last week that it had made a $1.95 billion deal to buy 100 million doses of an mRNA vaccine made by Pfizer, in partnership with a German company, BioNTech. That vaccine is also expected to begin Phase 3 trials this month, and the government will buy it only if the trial proves it safe and effective. Curevac and Sanofi are also working on mRNA vaccines.

Moderna said on Sunday that it would receive up to $472 million in additional funding from the federal government to help pay for the late-stage clinical trial. Hundreds of vaccines are being tested for the coronavirus, and 27 are in human trials. The federal government has been promising billions of dollars to companies to quickly develop and manufacture vaccines as part of Operation Warp Speed. In addition to Pfizer and Moderna, Novavax has entered a $1.6 billion deal. Other companies that have received significant federal money include AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. The total value of Modernas award is now $955 million, the company said.

With Kentucky officials set to announce stricter measures on Monday to contain the coronavirus, a top federal health official suggested that the leaders of nearby states should take a hard look at doing the same.

On a visit to Kentucky on Sunday, Dr. Deborah L. Birx, the Trump administrations coronavirus response coordinator, said several states in the region should reinstate bar closures and restrictions on public gatherings to quell the rise of infections.

We do believe that there are states that do need to close their bars, to decrease indoor gatherings to less than 10 and to decrease social gatherings to less than 10 to really make it possible to control the pandemic before it gets worse, Dr. Birx said at a news conference.

Several states in the South and Midwest are facing the prospect of shutting down parts of their economy again to try to stem the virus, which the Trump administration and many governors have increasingly been forced to recognize as unrelenting. As some states turn to new restrictions to try to stem the spread, Larry Kudlow, the presidents economic adviser, said Sunday on CNN that the administration would lengthen the eviction moratorium which was set to expire at the end of July.

Florida has surpassed New York, an early epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, in the number of cases, and four states have set single-day records for infections: Louisiana, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Alaska.

On her visit to Kentucky, Dr. Birx cited as worrisome not just that state but also Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia. She said the federal health authorities were concerned about the percentage of people who were testing positive for the virus, as well as the total number of cases.

Dr. Birx appeared with Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, a Democrat, who said that the state would announce new guidelines on Monday to address the rise in cases.

I want you to know that the White House and Kentucky state government are in complete agreement that the escalation of cases is going to require us to take some new steps, Mr. Beshear said.

In Florida, cases have surged this month. Over the past week, there have been an average of about 10,500 cases per day, an increase of about 19 percent from the average two weeks earlier, according to a New York Times database. There have been at least 5,853 deaths in Florida since the beginning of the pandemic.

And despite increased testing capacity across the nation, there is a consensus among federal state and local officials that test results are taking too long.

The federal government said Sunday that it would pay the testing company Hologic up to $7.6 million to expand the number of tests its machines can run by two million a month. The expanded capacity wont be available until next January.

Testing is considered crucial to understanding and slowing the spread of the virus. When turnaround times extend beyond several days, it can render the information useless, since those tested may have spread the virus to other people by the time their results are back.

Top Trump administration officials proposed on Sunday potentially short-circuiting free-ranging stimulus talks with Democrats to rush through a much narrower bill prioritizing an extension of federal unemployment benefits that are set to expire this week for millions of Americans.

Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, said he would now like to see lawmakers act this week to extend and alter the unemployment program, give tax credits to businesses to help ease reopening costs and grant employers new liability protections while setting aside a long list of other objectives, including Democrats priorities.

Perhaps we put that forward, get that passed, as we can negotiate on the rest of the bill in the weeks to come, Mr. Meadows said on ABCs This Week.

The proposal, echoed by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in his own Sunday morning interview, was a last-ditch effort by Republicans to prevent the program from lapsing as signs mounted that the nations economy was once again weakening amid a resurgence of coronavirus cases.

With Democrats already on record in opposition to a piecemeal approach, a narrow fix is almost certainly dead on arrival. Republicans know that, suggesting their Sunday proposal may in part be a negotiating tactic laying the groundwork to blame the opposition party when the funds ultimately expire.

Democrats passed their own $3 trillion proposal which also includes money to bail out states and cities, fully fund the $600 additional federal jobless benefit and infuse billions more into the nations health care system in May and view the time pinch now as a problem of Republicans making that only gives them more leverage in shaping a final bill.

Weve been anxious to negotiate for two months and 10 days, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday on the CBS program Face the Nation. She said Congress could not leave town for its annual August recess until a deal was

As Hurricane Hanna began to slam the coast of Texas coast over the weekend, some Texans were forced to balance one threat against another. To avoid possible injury or death in the storm, they had to risk infection from the coronavirus.

In ordinary times, if a big storm is approaching, city officials will ask people in seaside and flood-prone areas to evacuate and seek shelter with relatives or in emergency shelters places where people share bathrooms and tight quarters.

But fear of contagion has thrown old protocols out the window.

When I saw that the hurricane was headed our way, I thought, We have enough problems, said the mayor of Corpus Christi, Joe McComb.

Hanna has not displaced many people, as hurricanes go, and that made things a little easier. The relatively low-stakes storm allowed officials to assess how to help people evacuate safely while diminishing the spread of the virus.

But some still faced tough decisions, among them Bartt Howe, a 49-year-old Texan whose boat was his refuge from the pandemic.

Battling diabetes and H.I.V., he knew that catching the virus could kill him, so he had been living alone on the docked boat for three months.

I had managed to stay safe all this time, but the storm kicked me out of my boat, Mr. Howe said. Now here I am, back on land, on borrowed time.

Heres what else is happening with the coronavirus response in the United States:

Everyone who is evacuated will be required to go isolation for 14 days, and their health will be closely monitored, officials said Monday.

The strain of the virus found in Danang is different from five strains detected earlier in the county and spreads more rapidly than the others, they said.

Dozens of flights have been added, but the evacuation is expected to take at least four days. The evacuees are mostly local tourists; Vietnam remains closed to incoming foreign tourists.

Health officials began expanded screening and testing in Danang, a popular tourist destination, after a 57-year-old man tested positive for the fourth time on Saturday, the government said. The infections of three additional people on Sunday, including a 61-year-old man requiring a ventilator, prompted the evacuation. Officials said it was unclear whether all four patients had the same source of infection.

Vietnam said late Monday that it had found an additional 11 cases linked to a Danang hospital, Reuters reported.

Vietnam has been among the worlds most successful countries in containing the virus. It closed down international borders early in the crisis, called for widespread use of masks, and rapidly began strict quarantine and contact-tracing measures. There have been 420 cases and no deaths, according to a New York Times database.

But the case of the 57-year-old-man, who had not traveled outside Danang and rarely left home in the previous month, alarmed Vietnams residents, who are being asked to wear masks again after becoming more lax in recent months.

Several countries that had the virus under control have had to sharpen their response after a sudden uptick in cases. In June, China reimposed restrictions in Beijing after a flare-up ended a 56-day run of no locally transmitted cases. Officials in Australia locked down much of Melbourne in early July after restrictions had been eased for months. But Japan has shied away from new restrictions even as cases broke records last week.

In other news from around the world:

Often criticized for a slow response to the coronavirus, the government in Britain moved quickly this weekend to impose a 14-day quarantine on anyone arriving from Spain, after a spike in coronavirus cases there. The rapid move brought disarray to thousands of Britons, blindsiding those already traveling and embarrassing Britains transportation secretary, Grant Shapps, who is responsible for aviation policy but learned of the quarantine while on vacation. In Spain.

Officials in Hong Kong, which reported a record 145 new cases on Monday and has had more than 100 new cases for six days in a row, said on Monday that they would shut down all dine-in restaurant service, limit public gatherings to two people and require masks in public at all times. Hong Kong is coping with its worst outbreak yet after having the virus largely under control from mid-April to July.

The government of Morocco locked down eight cities on Sunday before the Eid al-Adha holiday. People are prohibited from leaving or entering Berrechid, Casablanca, Fez, Marrakesh, Meknes, Settat, Tangier and Tetouan, except under specific conditions. The lockdown is open-ended. The decision comes after a week of rising coronavirus cases in the North African kingdom and is aimed at containing the virus during a holiday when Moroccans travel across the country to visit family. Over the weekend, the authorities also tightened the control of the mask mandate and fined and even arrested people who didnt wear their masks outside of their homes. Morocco has had 20,278 cases and 313 deaths from the virus.

The health minister of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, Dr. Jesus Grajeda, died nearly two weeks after being hospitalized with Covid-19, Reuters reported. Announcing the death on Sunday on Facebook, Chihuahuas governor, Javier Corral, expressed profound sadness.

The coronavirus pandemic has been surging across Zambia, with the government announcing a record number of cases. Last week, the authorities also said that 15 lawmakers and 11 members of staff had tested positive for the coronavirus.

One of those is the lawmaker Princess Kasune Zulu, 44, prominently known for being the first Zambian legislator to declare that she had H.I.V. Elected in 2016, she has worked with global organizations and traveled the world talking about living with H.I.V. and advocating on behalf of others with it. Ms. Zulu announced that she had tested positive for coronavirus on Facebook, saying she was going into quarantine.

Covid-19 is moving rapidly and so many lives at stake, she wrote on Facebook, urging Zambians to stay at home, wear masks and avoid gatherings, including church. Lets do our part so that God can do his, she said. As of Sunday, Zambias ministry of health had reported cumulative 4,481 cases and 139 deaths.

The latest count of new coronavirus cases was jarring: Some 1,500 virus cases were identified three consecutive days last week in Illinois, and fears of a resurgence in the state even led the mayor of Chicago to shut down bars all over town on Friday.

But at the same moment, there were other, hopeful data points that seemed to tell a different story entirely. Deaths from the virus statewide are one-tenth what they were at their peak in May. And the positivity rate of new coronavirus tests in Illinois is about half that of neighboring states.

There are so many numbers flying around, said Dr. Allison Arwady, the commissioner of the Chicago health department. Its hard for people to know whats the most important thing to follow.

Six months since the first cases were detected in the United States, more people have been infected by far than in any other country, and the daily rundown of national numbers on Friday was a reminder of a mounting emergency: more than 73,500 new cases, 1,100 deaths and 939,838 tests, as well as 59,670 people currently hospitalized for the virus.

Americans now have access to an expanding set of data to help them interpret the coronavirus pandemic. Sophisticated data-gathering operations by newspapers, research universities and volunteers have sprung up in response to the pandemic, monitoring and collecting coronavirus metrics around the clock.

Everybodys tracking this virus in a way that theyve never done with any other infectious disease, said Dr. Amesh A. Adalja, a physician and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security who has treated coronavirus patients. For some people, its helped them understand what is happening. For other people, its been misinterpreted and not very helpful.

After North Korea on Sunday accused a man of secretly crossing into the country from South Korea and bringing the coronavirus with him, Seoul went in search of any defectors in the South who were missing.

By Monday, South Korean officials had zeroed in on a 24-year-old man, identified only by his family name, Kim, who in 2017 swam across the western inter-Korea border to defect to the South. On July 19, he swam back across the border into Kaesong in the North, they said.

It was not immediately clear why the defector had crossed. The South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that the man had been wanted by the South Korean police for questioning after a rape accusation.

North Korea said on Sunday that the North Korean man was suspected to have been infected with the vicious virus and could be the countrys first virus case. And the reverse defection prompted the Norths leader, Kim Jong-un, to order a total lockdown of Kaesong, a border city of 300,000, and declare a maximum national emergency.

Until Sunday, North Korea had repeatedly said that it had no Covid-19 cases. The claim was questioned by outside experts.

South Korea officials could not say whether the man might have carried the coronavirus across the border.

Nearly 3,000 small businesses in New York City have closed for good in the past four months, blaming falling revenue, vanished tourism and ballooning debt, especially for overdue rent.

Before the pandemic, Record Mart was a fixture of the Times Square subway station for more than 60 years, known for carrying vinyl recordings of Latin and jazz music.

Lou Moskowitz left his job in real estate in 2006 to work full time at the shop, which was owned by his father. Sales at independent record stores were on the decline nationwide, and many were shutting down throughout New York. Mr. Moskowitzs friends questioned his move.

After his father died in 2012, Mr. Moskowitz took over the business. For years, Record Mart survived by selling electronics and headphones and drawing in passers-by to explore its extensive vinyl collection. The shop was not thriving, but revenue trickled in.

Then coronavirus cases and hospitalizations rose in New York, and more than 90 percent of the citys subway ridership disappeared. That was the final nail in the coffin, Mr. Moskowitz said. He weighed the shops future for two months before closing it permanently in June.

Restaurants, barbershops and small shops have closed across the city, and for some New Yorkers, the near-weekly closures of neighborhood mainstays have ushered in a type of mourning.

Its been this long, drawn-out loss, and its a lot to take in emotionally, said Jeremiah Moss, the author of Vanishing New York: How a Great City Lost Its Soul, a book about gentrification.

Mr. Moss said he recently rode by a Manhattan theater and suddenly began wondering if it, too, would disappear soon. And then I pushed it aside, he said, because its just too much right now. Its overwhelming.

Reporting was contributed by Stephen Castle, Emily Cochrane, Nicholas Fandos, Julie Bosman, Troy Closson, Denise Grady, Choe Sang-Hun, Tiffany May, Raphael Minder, Richard C. Paddock, Edgar Sandoval, Eileen Sullivan, Neil Vigdor and Daniel Victor.

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Coronavirus Live Updates: Moderna and N.I.H. Begin Vaccine Trial - The New York Times

July 26 update: The latest on coronavirus and Maine – Bangor Daily News

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The BDN is making the most crucial coverage of the coronavirus pandemic and its economic impact in Maine free for all readers. Click here for all coronavirus stories. You can join others committed to safeguarding this vital public service by purchasing a subscription or donating directly to the newsroom.

Another 25 cases of the new coronavirus have been reported in Maine, health officials said Sunday.

Sundays count brings the total coronavirus cases reported in Maine to 3,814. Of those, 3,408 had been confirmed positive, while 406 were classified as probable cases, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

No new deaths were reported Sunday, leaving the statewide death toll at 119.

Heres a roundup of the latest news on the coronavirus and its impact in Maine:

A renowned Portland restaurant that has drawn praise from both Bon Appetit magazine and the James Beard Foundation announced Friday that it is closing permanently due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The owners of Drifters Wife, Orenda and Peter Hale, posted a message on the restaurants Facebook page saying that the decision was difficult. Bill Trotter, BDN

But whether colleges should be testing every student and whether theres capacity for it is a subject of debate. Some colleges plan to test students only if they show symptoms or come into close contact with someone who has tested positive. But some researchers say that approach could quickly cause outbreaks caused by students who dont show symptoms. Collin Binkley, The Associated Press

[Jordan Benissans] seasonal restaurant, Me Lon Togo, in Searsport was so successful in its first two summers that he opened a year-round location in Waterville last June. Business was off to a great start there until March, when Benissan had to close his doors like most restaurants in Maine because of the pandemic. Lauren Abbate, BDN

For one of the first times since March, Sharon Romanow of Belfast settled in this week for a treatment with her longtime acupuncturist, Rhonda Feiman. Abigail Curtis, BDN

As the number of new virus cases have surged in a slew of states, particularly Florida, Texas, California and Arizona, national chains like Walmart, Target and most recently McDonalds are issuing mask mandates as health officials repeatedly advise that covering your nose and mouth can be one of the most effective ways to reduce infections itself a reversal of earlier messaging at the beginning of the pandemic, Anne DInnocenzio, The Associated Press

From Maine to California, boat dealers are reporting unprecedented sales that began in the spring in warm-weather states before picking up steam in other parts of the country, like Maine and Minnesota. Marinas and boat repair shops are swamped by the wave of interest. There also are waiting lists for slips for boats. David Sharp, The Associated Press

As of Sunday afternoon, the coronavirus has sickened 4,212,057 people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as caused 146,732 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

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July 26 update: The latest on coronavirus and Maine - Bangor Daily News

Coronavirus in Texas: You Do the Right Things, and Still You Get It – The New York Times

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They are amazing nerds, Ms. Roman, 38, said of her parents.

Sheryl Roberts, 65, understood the perils of the pandemic she had diabetes, asthma and heart disease, which could put her at higher risk. Her husband had chronic lung disease and a stent to open a blocked coronary artery.

We have been so careful, so very careful, and stayed away from people, Ms. Roberts said. Her husband began working from home in the spring when Washington State, New York and then other areas around the country were hit hard. Mr. Roberts occasionally made a supermarket run during senior hour; the couples only big, hot date in recent months, Ms. Roberts said, was to view wildflowers from their car.

Their younger daughter was diligent as well. But then she came back from work sneezing one day in mid-June and thought it was allergies. Soon she had a cough, fever, headaches and diarrhea, and lost her senses of taste and smell, telltale symptoms of the coronavirus.

She told me, I dont know whats going on, Mom, but I wore a mask, I wore gloves, I washed my hands, Ms. Roberts said. You do the right things, and still you get it.

Elaine Roberts, who tested positive for the coronavirus, did not become seriously ill. But for her parents, it would be much worse.

Mr. Roberts and his wife started sneezing, then coughing, just like their daughter, and developed fevers and severe body aches. Then he got awfully sick, awfully quickly, Sheryl Roberts recalled. He became confused on June 22. Alarmed, she tested his oxygen level. It was low, and she called her older daughter to take him to an emergency care center, the second visit in two days.

Before he left, his wife asked him to make a promise.

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Coronavirus in Texas: You Do the Right Things, and Still You Get It - The New York Times

Coronavirus daily news updates, July 26: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the world – Seattle Times

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Editors note:This is a live account of COVID-19 updates from Sunday, July 26 as the day unfolded. It is no longer being updated. Clickhereto see all the most recent news about the pandemic, andclick hereto find additional resources.

A half year of pandemic purgatory has left Washington workers and businesses struggling, and schools in limbo. Total case numbers in the state have risen to 51,849, with deaths at 1,494, as of Friday night, with significant racial and geographic disparities. Testing remains insufficient and the future is hard to predict.

Throughout Sunday, on this page, well post Seattle Times journalists updates on the outbreak and its effects on the Seattle area, the Pacific Northwest and the world. Updates from Saturday can be found here, and all our coronavirus coverage can be found here.

The State Department of Health reported 786 new COVID-19 cases in Washington as of Saturday night, and seven additional deaths.

The latest numbers, released Sunday, bring the total count to 52,635 cases with 1,501 deaths. That means 2.9% of people who have been diagnosed with the virus in Washington have died.

This week, Washington state is at a turning point where the outbreak could explode, as in Florida, or might flatten so that hospitals avoid becoming overwhelmed. Read our special Sunday report that explains why "there's no certain end in sight," and some deadly inequities. Hispanic residents account for 43% of cases while only 13% of the state population.

There have been 15,673 more tests reported for the coronavirus in Washington, according to DOH, of which 5% came back positive.

The state's most populous county, King County has seen the highest numbers, reaching 14,417 diagnoses and 644 deaths, as of Saturday. Yakima County, which has been a hot spot, has had 9,629 cases and 194 deaths. In Okanogan County, another farming area where cases are spiking, there have been 605 confirmed cases and 2 deaths.

The data is as of 11:59 p.m. Saturday.

Heidi Groover, Mike Lindblom

Vancouver, B.C. - After crowds at a drum circle filled a Stanley Park beach this week, an artist installed a sign of their health officer, as a reminder to socially distance.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, who projects logic and calm in her daily COVID-19 briefings, is known affectionately as "Aunt Bonnie." Yet she scowls on a stencil by a Vancouver mural artist, who told CBC News it was "a gentle reminder that although we might be over COVID, it's not over us."

British Columbia has waged a relatively strong struggle against coronavirus, though it now faces an uptick. Health authorities reported 27 new cases Friday, with three people currently under intensive hospital care. They count 3,419 cumulative cases and 119 deaths, compared to 51,849 cases and 1,494 deaths in Washington state.

Read the report by CBC here.

Mike Lindblom

Public health experts say masking is essential for the U.S. to climb out of the COVID-19 pandemic. The outbreak has spread to more than 4.1 million and killed more than 145,000 in the country, crippled the economy and thrown the upcoming school year into chaos.

But broad skepticism of masks remains, largely along party lines, with polls showing that Republicans are less likely to wear masks than Democrats or independent voters.

One skeptic, Texan Don Caple, thinks masks are a "communistic move" by the government, but will still sell you one for $10. Read more.

Los Angeles Times

Two weeks after Disney World started opening theme parks for the first time since closing in March because of COVID-19, Disney World's future and that of central Florida's tourism-reliant economy are uncertain. It's unclear when and if tourists will return.

More than 75 million visitors came to Orlando in 2018, mostly due to its reputation as a theme park mecca, which also includes Universal Orlando and SeaWorld Orlando. But the coronavirus has upended Orlandos status as the most visited place in the U.S.

In the week that Disney Worlds Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom started welcoming back visitors, occupancy of hotel rooms in the Orlando area was down more than 60% from the previous year, a much deeper drop than the state as a whole, according to STR, which tracks hotel data.

Less than half of Disney Worlds 43,000 unionized workers have been recalled to their old jobs, contributing to two Orlando-area counties having the states highest unemployment rates last month.

Will visitors ever come back?

Associated Press

A tiny Italian island braced for the rapid spread of the coronavirus after several visitors had fallen ill with COVID-19.

But days passed and none of Giglios islanders developed any COVID-19 symptoms even though the conditions seemed favorable for the disease to spread like wildfire.

The Gigliesi, as the residents are known, socialize in the steep alleys near the port or on the granite steps that serve as narrow streets in the hilltop Castle neighborhood, with densely packed homes built against the remnants of a fortress erected centuries ago to protect against pirates.

A cancer researcher stuck on the island decided to try to find out why the virus wasn't spreading on the island. Read more about what she found.

Associated Press

Turmoil is universal in the wake of the pandemic, but the despair is particularly pronounced in the Middle East, where wave after wave of war, displacement and disease have left a generation feeling bitter and hopeless.

While in the West, many who have become unemployed believe they will eventually get their jobs back or somehow recover from the recession, the pandemic in some Arab countries was the final blow to economies now on the cusp of complete collapse.

The strains are also made harder because, in the Arab world, lives for young adults tend to be more scripted than for their counterparts in the West. Cultural expectations put more pressure on males to earn enough so they can move out, marry and provide for families.

For many young people, seeing economies crumble the way that they are and seeing their prospects vanish before their eyes its undoubtedly going to be taking a huge toll on mental health and well-being, said Tariq Haq, a Beirut-based senior employment specialist with the U.N. labor agency.

Read the full story here.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday assailed Republican disarray over a new pandemic relief package as the White House suggested a narrower effort might be necessary, at least for now.

The California Democrat panned the Trump administrations desire to trim an expiring temporary federal unemployment benefit from $600 weekly to about 70% of pre-pandemic wages. The reason we had $600 was its simplicity, she said from the Capitol.

The administrations chief negotiators White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were returning to the Capitol later Sunday to put what Meadows described as final touches on a $1 trillion relief bill Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is likely to bring forward Monday.

Both Mnuchin and Meadows said narrower legislation might need to be passed first to ensure that enhanced unemployment benefits dont run out for millions of Americans. Pelosi has said she opposes approving a relief package in piecemeal fashion.

Read more about the negotiations here.

Associated Press

The global coronavirus pandemic has magnified the stakes in races for the Washington state House and Senate.

When they return as scheduled in January, state lawmakers will likely face excruciating decisions on taxes and spending to balance an $8.8 billion projected state budget shortfall through 2023. The new class of legislators will also consider policing reforms in light of the protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd.

They must also grapple with Washingtons persistent preexisting problems, such as homelessness and housing affordability, and continuing to rebuild the states struggling mental-health care system.

All 98 House seats are up for election, along with 26 Senate seats. Ballots started going out two weeks ago.

See how key races are playing out.

Joseph O'Sullivan

Six months since the first person in Washington the first person in the nation tested positive for the novel coronavirus, health officials are saying werein an explosive situation.

Our health care system isnt being overwhelmed. But we have not suppressed the virus. Experts say we may be where Florida currently one of the hardest-hit states with infections was several weeks ago. Poised to see all the charts and curves go the wrong way, but not too late to stop them.

In Washington, more people are diagnosed each day than ever, partly because more people can get a test but also because the virus continues spreading.

The pandemic has cast a spotlight on the deadly inequities in our state, as COVID-19 has disproportionately sickened Hispanic people, who account for 43% of cases but just 13% of the population.

Schools, businesses, hospitalizations: Heres whats going well in Washington state, whats not, and what might come next.

Seattle Times staff

People whove been laid off or furloughed from their jobs now have significantly more time to decide whether to hang on to their employer-sponsored health insurance, according to a recent federal rule.

Under the federal law known as COBRA, people who lose job-based coverage because of a layoff or a reduction in hours generally have 60 days to decide whether to continue health insurance. But under the new rule, that clock doesnt start ticking until the end of the COVID-19 outbreak period, which started March 1 and continues for 60 days after the COVID-19 national emergency ends. That end date hasnt been determined yet.

By extending the time frame to sign up for COBRA coverage, people have at least 120 days to decide whether they want to elect COBRA, and possibly longer depending on when they lost their jobs.

Some health policy experts question the usefulness of the change, given how expensive COBRA coverage can be for consumers, and how limited its reach: It isnt an option for people who are uninsured or self-employed or who work for small companies.

In Washington state, residents may find more affordable plans through the Washington Health Benefit Exchange.

For ideological reasons, this administration cant do anything to expand on the Affordable Care Acts safety net, said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown Universitys Center on Health Insurance Reforms. So theyre using these other vehicles. But its really a fig leaf. It doesnt do much to actually help people.

Read the full story here.

Kaiser Health News

It's been a week of retreat for President Donald Trump as he backs down from long-held positions related to the pandemic after polls showed they didn't align with public attitudes or, in at least one case, his Republican allies.

Federal public health officials have released a new strategy that vows to improve data collection and take steps to address stark inequalities in how the disease is affecting Americans.

Baseball is back, with masked players and stands full of empty seats or cardboard cutouts. See photos from around the league, and catch up with the Mariners.

Washington's restaurants have largely been left to self-police if employees get COVID-19. Restaurateurs say direction from state and county health officials has been spotty. And now, with new rules limiting indoor dining to "members of the same household," they've again been left to figure out how to enforce ever-evolving safety policies.

Around the world:

Seattle Times staff & news services

Excerpt from:

Coronavirus daily news updates, July 26: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the world - Seattle Times

Larry Hogan On The Parallels Of Fighting Cancer And Maryland’s Coronavirus Outbreak – NPR

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Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan arrives for a coronavirus briefing in front of the Maryland State House on April 17. Hogan's book Still Standing is out Tuesday. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan arrives for a coronavirus briefing in front of the Maryland State House on April 17. Hogan's book Still Standing is out Tuesday.

Larry Hogan defeated non-Hodgkin's lymphoma five years ago, a fight that he says has colored many of his decisions as the Republican governor of Maryland, from criticizing President Trump to navigating the coronavirus pandemic.

"It changed me as a person and the way I look at life and what's important. And maybe that's one of the reasons I'm not afraid to stand up and say what I think," Hogan told NPR's All Things Considered. "Cancer is pretty scary. Nothing else really is going to scare me away from anything."

Maryland is currently experiencing an uptick in COVID-19 cases and has seen more than 83,000 cases and 3,300 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the state's database. And cases are increasing. On Saturday, the state had 1,288 new cases, the largest single-day increase since May 19, according to The Baltimore Sun.

"I do have a lot of empathy for people going through those kinds of things," Hogan said, adding that while his experience governing during the pandemic has differed greatly from his personal experience fighting cancer, there are parallels between the two. "It perhaps made me more intensely focused on trying to protect the health of everybody. It probably didn't just impact my decisions on the coronavirus, but probably everything I do as a governor."

Hogan recently had his five-year checkup and he remains cancer-free. "When the pandemic's over, I can go back and hug some people," he said.

But he still has to deal with a climbing health crisis in his state. Despite the increase in cases, Hogan said Tuesday that he will not change the state's reopening plan now, but added that he would consider doing so in the future if rates of deaths, new infections and hospitalizations continue to rise, The Washington Post reported.

"But as soon as we start to see numbers that don't look good, it's going to cause us to take whatever actions that are necessary," he said on C-SPAN on Tuesday. "My goal is to try to keep the economy safely open, because the economic crisis is nearly as bad as or just as bad as the health crisis."

Hogan dives into the pandemic, his cancer diagnosis, the protests for racial justice that flooded his state following the death of Freddie Gray in police custody and working in politics in 2020 in his book Still Standing: Surviving Cancer, Riots, a Global Pandemic, and the Toxic Politics that Divide America out Tuesday.

Gemma Watters and Tinbete Ermyas edited and produced the audio version of this story.

Read more from the original source:

Larry Hogan On The Parallels Of Fighting Cancer And Maryland's Coronavirus Outbreak - NPR

Tennessee Coronavirus: Another big jump in cases to 93,936, up by 3,140 – WATE 6 On Your Side

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Sevier County schools to discuss reopening Monday

Pelosi: GOP in 'disarray' over COVID rescue bill

Positive COVID-19 case at Alcoa Middle School

McEnany: Schools, teachers considered 'essential'

Biden: Trump won't do 'hard work' to open schools

Knoxville Chamber releases June COVID-19 economic impact survey

Nashville doctor: Reopening schools too quickly may be dangerous

Pandemic impacting girls' soccer season

Regal pushes back reopening date again

Hamblen Co. Schools pushes back start date by more than a month

Knoxville Mayor Indya Kinncanon: 'We have to take action as a community against the spread of COVID-19'

Knox County Health Department briefing on coronavirus on Friday, July 24, 2020

Coronavirus in Tennessee: Hamblen County Schools delay start of semester to September

Trump says some schools may need to delay opening

AMC Theatres postpones reopening again as summer blockbusters are delayed due to coronavirus

'Face It. Masks Fight COVID-10' campaign

New projections on hospital capacity discussed by Knox Co. Board of Health

Fauci: US needs to 'regroup' amid virus surge

Food City: Mask mandate for customers to begin July 23

NCAA lays out plan for playing but warns of surging pandemic

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Tennessee Coronavirus: Another big jump in cases to 93,936, up by 3,140 - WATE 6 On Your Side