The Trump administration's further erosion of the CDC will harm global cooperation in science and public health, as it is trying to do by defunding WHO. A strong CDC is needed to respond to public health threats, both domestic and international, and to help prevent the next inevitable pandemic. Americans must put a president in the White House come January, 2021, who will understand that public health should not be guided by partisan politics.

Politico | May 15, 2020
`Manipulative, deceitful, user': Tara Reade left a trail of aggrieved acquaintances - " Over the past decade, Reade has left a trail of aggrieved acquaintances in California's Central Coast region who say they remember two things about her -- she spoke favorably about her time working for Biden, and she left them feeling duped.

"As part of an investigation into Reade's allegations against Biden -- charges that are already shaping the contours of his campaign against a president who has been accused of sexual assault and misconduct by multiple women -- POLITICO interviewed more than a dozen people, many of whom interacted with Reade through her involvement in the animal-rescue community.

"A number of those in close contact with Reade over the past 12 years, a period in which she went by the names Tara Reade, Tara McCabe or Alexandra McCabe, laid out a familiar pattern: Reade ingratiated herself, explained she was down on her luck and needed help, and eventually took advantage of their goodwill to extract money, skip rent payments or walk out on other bills."

Be careful what you wish for, because your wish just might come true.

PBS NewsHour | May 15, 2020
What 74 former Biden staffers think about Tara Reade's allegations - "Reade's attorney told the NewsHour that Reade recalls the assault happening 'in a semiprivate area like an alcove' and that it was "somewhere between the Russell (building) and/or Capitol building." He pointed out that survivors often have difficulty with specifics about trauma.

"Reade's description aligns with other staffers' recollections of Biden's short indoor route between his office and the Capitol. It is a roughly 10-minute walk that consists of one flight of stairs and one long hallway inside the Russell Building, followed by a wide tunnel through which he could walk or take an internal subway train to the Capitol.

"The layout of that route and building has not changed. A recent walk through that area showed the subway tunnel contains no out-of-view areas, like an alcove. The remaining portion of the route includes multiple stairwells as well as corridors lined with offices. It is a main thoroughfare for senators and staffers. Some former staffers told the NewsHour that if Biden did assault Reade in any of these places, it would have been a brazen attack in an area with a high risk of being seen."

PBS NewsHour reporters were quite thorough in trying to assess Tara Reade's allegations against Joe Biden over an incident that purportedly happened 27 years ago. They ultimately interviewed 74 people who worked for Mr. Biden on Capitol Hill, including 20 who worked there at the same time as Ms. Reade. Not a single one of them would or could corroborate her primary accusation that Biden is a sexual predator.

I believe many journalists wrote disparagingly about Joe Biden's denials of a sexual assault allegation simply because they didn't like him. And so, they used Tara Reade's story in their attempt to drive him from the 2020 presidential race, without ever really bothering to first examine the veracity of her claims.

It's really a shame that it's come to this. No doubt, some will now be accusing the media of victim-shaming. But in many respects, Ms. Reade brought all this scrutiny on herself, particularly after she effectively doubled down on her allegations with her horrid and rather graphic online interview with Megyn Kelly. The alleged assailant she described to the former Fox News primetime host is a an animal who's fundamentally the opposite of Joe Biden's longstanding public persona.

Picnic At Hanging Rock also Prime.

As Dr.Bright testified to Congress, the tragic policy that the universal usage of masks was unnecessary and, indeed, useless, was crafted to cover for the inadequate stockpile of masks---barely enough to supply health care workers, and no strategy to get enough for everyone.

The story conjured up for public consumption was that most masks do not have the seal and filtration to protect from inhaling the virus.  But, that is not the only way masks work.  Masks reduce aerosolized droplet transmission to others and to surfaces that others may touch.  And, too, masks protect mouths and noses from droplets of others and impede the touching of the nose and mouth.

Hong Kong, for example, started using masks from the virus get go.  Clinical observations indicate the universal masking in this densely populated city has been an important factor in reducing the gravity of the contagion.

Trump, of course, pooh poohs the use of masks.  Apparently, not manly.  Or, perhaps, the mask rubs off his orange make-up.  By degrading the idea of universal masking, Trump sets a toxic example generating a type of political culture war.  

After ordering a free trial of the stuff they billed me $179.66 so I called them and after many words they agreed to refund me the full amount.  But low and behold they only refunded half.  So after even more stronger words they agreed to refund the other half.  We'll see soon if they do.

Can anyone here explain to me how this country got here? Where did these people come from? How do they manage to get dressed on a daily basis. Why are they allowed to roam free?

There have always been cranks in the country. On the left and right. But holy cr@p. This is kookery and quackery cubed.

"Under the name Alexandra McCabe, Tara Reade has for years testified for the prosecution as an expert in domestic violence cases. But a number of California defense attorneys are considering challenging the convictions of their clients amid questions about whether Reade misrepresented her credentials under oath," Politico reports.

"Reade, the former Joe Biden staffer who recently accused him of sexually assaulting her in 1993, stated she had an undergraduate degree that her college says she never earned and appears to have exaggerated her role in Biden's office."

"Six cases involving Reade's testimony are already under review."

"The government's motion improperly seeks to make this Court complicit in the Executive Branch's inexplicable about-face in the Flynn prosecution, by asking this Court to issue an order certifying that dismissal is in the 'public interest.' In addition, the government seeks to nullify this Court's determination formally accepting Mr. Flynn's guilty plea. The motion, in effect, seeks to reduce this Article III Court to a subordinate of the Article II Department of Justice, treating the federal judiciary as though it were an agency located on the Executive Branch organization chart headed by the President.

[...]

"But the flipside of the proposition that there is no judicial power to direct the Executive Branch to initiate a prosecution (or, for that matter, to direct the Legislative Branch to legislate) is that there is no political power, legislative or executive, to oversee or direct the Judicial Branch in its final disposition of a fully prosecuted case.  The Department of Justice may recommend a sentence, but it cannot impose one itself.  Nor can it prevent this Court from imposing a lawful sentence on Michael Flynn.  And just as this Court may reject a plea agreement proposed by a prosecutor, it has the authority - and arguably the duty, given the circumstances of this case and the separation of powers - to deny the government's motion to dismiss.

[...]

"Even if the government had a proper purpose for seeking dismissal of the Flynn prosecution, the government's motion comes far too late in the day.  The case already has been fully prosecuted.  Neither the government nor Mr. Flynn can point to any case in which the Executive Branch has moved to dismiss a prosecution after a guilty plea has been secured (let alone two guilty pleas) and a sentencing proceeding has already been commenced.  The absence of precedent is telling; it confirms the constitutional defect in the government's motion." (Emphasis is mine.)

"You know, it's a massive job to give this vaccine. Our military is now being mobilized so at the end of the year we're going to be able to give it to a lot of people very, very rapidly."

Channel 2′s Tony Thomas obtained text messages sent by a Glynn County police officer to Larry English, who owned the construction site where Arbery appeared on surveillance video before he was shot and killed.

The texts instructed English, who lives two hours away from the property, to call Gregory McMichael if any issues came up with people caught trespassing.

"Greg is retired law enforcement and also a retired investigator from the DA's office," was the message Officer Robert Rash texted to English on Dec. 20, 2019. Rush also included McMichael's phone number and conveyed the message that McMichael "said please call him day or night when you get action on your camera."

But beginning on page 1,066 of the HEROES Act, and continuing through page 1,091, you'll find the exact language used in the SAFE Banking Act that passed on the House floor in September. In other words, as the HEROES Act is written now, its passage would free up banks to provide financial services to pot stocks without the fear of federal prosecution or monetary penalties, as well as make pot businesses eligible for COVID-19 financial relief.

The Innocence Files Docuseries on Netflix about several people wrongfully convicted was fascinating.  Maybe someday there will be an episode about Wayne Williams (convicted of two Atlanta murders).  I don't know if he was wrongfully convicted but it didn't look like he received a fair trial.

Trailer] Wild-Looking South Korean Monster Movie `Monstrum' Comes to Shudder This Week

Starts tonight

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JUST IN - 2 sources confirm to me that State Dept IG Linick was also investigating use of emergency declaration last year to sell arms to Saudis over objections of Congress

"Attorney General William Barr said that he did not expect the prosecutor he handpicked to review the 2016 FBI investigation into President Trump's campaign would investigate former president Barack Obama or former vice president Joe Biden -- an assertion that is likely to dismay Trump and his conservative allies," the Washington Post reports.

Moderna Therapeutics' potential coronavirus vaccine showed promise in its first round of human trials, fueling executives' hopes that it could be ready this year.

The former pharma executive tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the federal government's hunt for a COVID-19 vaccine has more than $10 million in stock options in one of the companies receiving federal funding.

On Thursday, KVUE reported that William "Roddie" Bryan Jr., the man who allegedly filmed the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, has been arrested on charges of felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.

Bryan has been booked into the Glynn County Jail, according to the report. Authorities have not yet released any additional details on the matter.

Tough break