More than third of Miami U. student dorms now listed as highest coronavirus infection level

(Nothing said about staff and employees – this is idiotic and number of local school going in-person attendance.)

according to the Oct. 1 update on of Miami’s dashboard there were 33 new student cases from the previous dashboard update and a cumulative total 1,614 students testing positive for coronavirus since Aug. 17.

Source: More than third of Miami U. student dorms now listed as highest coronavirus infection level

Texas House Democratic group set a fundraising record in the first six months of 2020. It doubled that total in three months.

Democratic signage, mugs, stickers, and buttons on display at the Travis County Democratic Party office in Austin on Oct. 8, 2019.

The Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee raised $3.6 million between July 1 and Sept. 24, which is more than double the $1.6 million that the committee raised in the first six months of the year.

Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune

The Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee has raised over $3.6 million in just under three months, a massive cash infusion as the party pushes to take control of the lower chamber for the first time since 2002.

The $3.6 million haul, which came between July 1 and Sept. 24, is more than double the $1.6 million that the committee raised in the first six months of the year. That in itself was a committee record at the time, exceeding its total fundraising for the entire 2018 election cycle.

“Affordable healthcare, economic security, and a plan to deal with COVID-19 are on the ballot, and achieving those goals starts with flipping the Texas House,” the HDCC’s chairwoman, Rep. Celia Israel of Austin, said in an announcement of the committee’s latest fundraising that was first shared with The Texas Tribune. “That has been our mission from day one, and donors have responded in a big way.”

The HDCC said the $3.6 million came from 4,165 donors, 98% of whom donated online. Over three-quarters of contributions were less than $100, and roughly four out of five donations came from Texans.

Democrats are nine seats away from the majority, a major prize ahead of the 2021 redistricting process. In addition to its work to try to flip seats, the HDCC is tasked with protecting incumbents, including the 12 who flipped seats in 2018 and are now GOP targets.

Andrew Reagan, the committee’s executive director, said the money is going toward ensuring that battleground campaigns have “robustly funded paid communications,” including TV and digital ads, as well as direct mail. Some candidates are already running ads that are jointly funded by their campaigns and the HDCC.

The committee did not immediately disclose its cash-on-hand figure, but Reagan said it is “healthily in the seven figures.” Groups like the HDCC have until the end of the day Monday to report their full finances for the latest period to the Texas Ethics Commission.

The chief Republican groups defending the House majority have not announced their latest fundraising figures yet. They include the two main member-drive organizations, the Texas House Republican Caucus PAC and Leading Texas Forward.

Candidates are also subject to the Monday deadline, and Democrats expect at least some of their battleground contenders to post sizable hauls. Already one candidate — Celina Montoya, who is challenging Rep. Steve Allison, R-San Antonio — announced she raised $415,000 over the 86-day period.

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Black Man Who Spoke in Support of Police Fatally Shot by Texas Police Officer

A Black man was fatally shot by a police officer at a gas station in Wolfe City, Texas, Saturday night, and witnesses say it happened while he was attempting to intervene in a domestic situation. According to the man’s family, he was a city worker who was beloved in his community, but what makes this story even more tragic is that just months before the shooting, he spoke in support of police on social media. mauymdwcsldqgpgdtqja.jpg

A Black man was fatally shot by a police officer at a gas station in Wolfe City, Texas, Saturday night, and witnesses say it happened while he was attempting to intervene in a domestic situation. According to the man’s family, he was a city worker who was beloved in his community, but what makes this story even more…

Read more…

White House Struggles To Explain, Contain Its Own Spiraling COVID-19 Crisis

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The White House is struggling on Monday to show that it has a burgeoning public health and political crisis under control as President Trump enters his third day of aggressive and experimental treatment for the coronavirus. Trump fueled the growing alarm with a publicity stunt on Sunday evening, leaving his hospital suite to drive by boisterous supporters who gathered outside the military hospital in Bethesda, Md., where he has been hospitalized since Friday for COVID-19. His doctors have said he could be released on Monday. But they have also admitted that their public statements have been optimistic, aimed at bolstering the spirits of their patient. Inconsistencies between medical briefings and White House statements have added to confusion and concern — combined with the refusal by the White House to lay out all the facts about when and how they learned a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 Americans had entered the grounds of one of the most protected complexes in the world.

Like Humans, Crows Can “Ponder the Content of Their Own Minds”

A recent study that looked at the brain patterns of crows when performing tasks found evidence that they “know what they know and can ponder the content of their own minds”, an attribute that was previously thought to exist only in humans and some monkeys.

The birds were aware of what they subjectively perceived, flash or no flash, correctly reporting what their sensory neurons recorded, Nieder told STAT. “I think it demonstrates convincingly that crows and probably other advanced birds have sensory awareness, in the sense that they have specific subjective experiences that they can communicate,” he said. “Besides crows, this kind of neurobiological evidence for sensory consciousness only exists in humans and macaque monkeys.”

(via kottke ride home)

Tags: birds   science

‘A way to kill our economy’: Madrid starts partial virus lockdown amid political dispute

Shutter or die. There can be no business as it used to be – focus on living and reinventing work-business…

#Madrid awoke Saturday to its first day under a partial #lockdown, with police controlling travel in and out of the Spanish capital as the city and its suburbs have become Europe’s biggest hot spot in the second wave of the #coronavirus.

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A Student Dies, and a Campus Gets Serious About Coronavirus – The New York Times

Since last Monday, when a sophomore at his school died from suspected Covid-19 complications, Chase Sturgis says he has been thinking about his own bout with the coronavirus — and his own mortality.

Mr. Sturgis, 21, had been avoiding socializing over the summer, but as students at his school, Appalachian State University, began returning to campus in August, he yielded to temptation. “We went out to a bar,” he said. Within days he felt ill, and then tested positive for coronavirus: “To this day I have no sense of taste or smell.”

But even more unnerving is the “really, honestly scary” realization that he and the student who died, 19-year-old Chad Dorrill, were sick at about the same time, with similar symptoms and no known pre-existing conditions. “He died a week or two after he got the virus,” Mr. Sturgis said. “It has been about two weeks for me.”

Israel’s Coronavirus Lockdown Fuels Protests, Violence and Confusion

Last month, the country became the first to reimpose nationwide measures. But the decision has led to chaotic scenes and criticism of how its fragile coalition is handling the crisis.

Last month, the country became the first to reimpose nationwide measures. But the decision has led to chaotic scenes and criticism of how its fragile coalition is handling the crisis.

Corona restrictions in place for ‘at least a year’, health official says

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Johan Carlson of the Public Health Agency.

Lyssna: Corona restrictions in place for ‘at least a year’, health official says

Sweden should count on having coronavirus restrictions in place for at least another year, the nation’s top health official said on Sunday as the number of infections here continue to grow.

Public Health Agency director general Johan Carlsson said told Swedish Television that local restrictions might be necessary if an area experiences an outbreak.

That could include measures like keeping people out of public transportation and shops unless they are buying food.

Press play to hear more.

Radio Sweden
english@sverigesradio.se

Guest Voz: Why are Republicans Scrambling to Suppress the Latino Vote?

By Dr. Edward T. Rincón

LatinaLista

 

It is indeed puzzling to witness Republicans scrambling to suppress the Latino vote for the November election. Governor Gregg Abbott’s recent order to limit the number of ballot drop-off locations for mail-in ballots to only one location in each Texas county, an action that has initiated lawsuits charging Latino voter suppression from the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the Texas chapter of the League of Women Voters, and two individuals.

In addition to creating more difficulty for Latino voters, Governor Abbott’s action creates higher barriers for persons with disabilities and those 65 years and older who are concerned for their personal safety and the additional distance that they will need to travel to a single location.

Other recent actions initiated by Republicans to limit voter participation include the numerous false allegations of fraud associated with mail-in ballots, significant reductions in the capabilities of the U.S. Post Office to process mail-in ballots, and not allowing Texas voters to use COVID-19 exposure as a basis for requesting a mail-in ballot.

The irony is not lost here – why are Republicans in such a frenzy to further limit Latino voter participation given their historically low voter turnout rates in past presidential elections?

According to Pew Research, Latino voter turnout rates were 48.0 percent in 2012; 27.0 percent in 2014; 47.6 percent in 2016; and 40.4 percent in 2018. No cause for worry, right?

Rather than encourage Latino voter turnout, however, Republicans like Gov. Abbott are experiencing a re-awakening of their strategy due to several recent trends:

  • Highly populated areas like Harris County expect a surge of mail-in ballots, especially from Democratic precincts that include many Latinos and Blacks;
  • The number of mail-in ballots that have been requested from Democratic-leaning precincts are dramatically out-numbering the Republican precincts;
  • Most recent polls confirm that two-thirds of Latino registered voters would support Biden while Trump captures only one-third of the vote, a trend that is consistent across the battleground states;
  • Bloomberg is investing millions to support Democratic candidates;
  • According to Pew Research, 32 million Latinos are projected to be eligible to vote this November and represent 13.3 percent of all eligible voters in the U.S.

Governor Abbott’s action especially wreaks of hypocrisy. During the last gubernatorial election, the governor’s televised campaign included a Hispanic family member in a pitch to capture the support of Texas Latinos. While the Latino vote may have been candy to Governor Abbott in the past, perhaps the governor’s current sentiments about Latino voters is best captured in B.B. King’s song “The Thrill is Gone.”

With the exception of LULAC, it is particularly troublesome to observe the relative silence among Latino business and civic organizations that have publicly challenged the legality and morality of these Latino voter suppression tactics. Rather than bury one’s head in the sand, these voices need to be loud and constant in the days remaining to the November election.

In my opinion, the available evidence regarding the increasing number of Latino eligible voters, registration rates, and polling results suggests that Latinos are energized to vote in the November election and that Republicans may pay a heavy price for their deliberate tactics to suppress the Latino vote.

(Editor’s Note: This blog post was originally published on The Culture of Research™ blog)

Dr. Edward T. Rincón, Ph.D., is president of Dallas-based Rincón & Associates LLC and is a research psychologist. In his new book, “The Culture of Research, Insights from a 45-year practice in the design and execution of multicultural research,” Rincón identifies methodological problems in high-stakes studies that include multicultural persons and offers practical solutions.    

This growing disconnect between the research industry and the U.S. multicultural population is a key factor in the declining survey response rates and misleading conclusions related to programs and policies that impact the quality of life for multicultural populations.  ~ Dr. Edward T. Rincón