Here in the US, we’re not used to needing to cover half of our faces in public, but if you look at the other side of the world, it’s a different story. In parts of Asia, wearing a mask in response to the coronavirus pandemic was a totally easy and normal adjustment. Rebecca Kanthor is a reporter based in Shanghai who has lived in China for the past 17 years, and she tells us why the culture behind masks developed so differently there, and the doctor who started it all. Plus, we look at the manufacturers who pivoted to make products that are in short supply because of the pandemic.
A switch to a mail-only election would require counties to print and mail millions of ballots to voters, with only two months remaining before Election Day, said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, one of the groups pushing back against the idea.
“Jumping to an entire vote-by-mail system in New York state is setting up our elections for failure,” Lerner said.
“We’re hopeful that in a few years we’ll be able to transition to a vote-by-mail model, but right now in the middle of a pandemic New Yorkers do not need to be experimenting with a complete overhaul of our elections against the advice of all experts,” Lerner said.
Common Cause, a disabled rights group and a Chinese-American group in New York said a 100% vote-by-mail system would take away accessible options for people with disabilities, including those who require ballots in large print or braille, or voters who need language assistance.
I like the idea of a vote by mail option but I think polling places should remain an option too fir voters.
On Wednesday afternoon, hundreds of people swarmed the streets surrounding the Capitol for what they're calling "Operation Gridlock," to protest the continued closures across New York, saying they want to get back to work.
The number of people forced out of work during the coronavirus lockdown continues to soar to historic highs. Another 4.4 million people claimed unemployment benefits last week around the country, the Labor Department said.
That brings the total of jobless claims in just five weeks to more than 26 million people. That's more than all the jobs added created in the past 10 years since the Great Recession.
Still the pace of job losses is slowing. About 5.2 million filed during the week that ended April 11 and last week was the third consecutive week of declines.
For much of its devoted fanbase, Birds Aren’t Real is a respite from America’s political divide—a joke so preposterous both conservatives and liberals can laugh at it. But for a few followers, this movement is no more unbelievable than QAnon, a right-wing conspiracy theory turned marketing ploy that holds that someone with high-level government clearance is planting coded tips in the news. Therein lies the genius of Birds Aren’t Real: It’s a digital breadcrumb trail that leads to a website that leads to a shop full of ready-to-buy merchandise.
The creative muscle behind the avian-inspired conspiracy (and thinly disguised marketing scheme) is 20-year-old Peter McIndoe, an English and philosophy major at the University of Memphis in Tennessee. McIndoe first went live with Birds Aren’t Real in January 2017 at his city’s Women’s March. A video from the event shows McIndoe with a crudely drawn sign, heckling protesters with lines like, “Birds are a myth; they’re an illusion; they’re a lie. Wake up America! Wake up!” The idea of selling Birds Aren’t Real goods, he says, came after the stunt gained traction over Instagram.
Noe get the taje of the Audubon society, eho thinks birds are real. Which theu probably are but the internet is a fun place to explore.
Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.