Trump isn't secretly winking at QAnon. He's retweeting its followers.

There were 14 retweets on July 4th. And those around Trump are even more explicit. It’s giving a boost to the sprawling, Trump-centric conspiracy movement.

A man holds up a "Q" sign while waiting in line to see President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally in 2018. | Rick Loomis/Getty Images

By TINA NGUYEN

07/12/2020

On July Fourth, before President Donald Trump spoke to the nation from the White House lawn, he spoke indirectly to another community on Twitter: QAnon.

That afternoon, he retweeted 14 tweets from accounts supporting the QAnon conspiracy theory, a sprawling and ever-mutating belief that a mysterious government official who goes by “Q” is leaving online clues about a messianic Trump’s secret plan to dismantle a cadre of Washington elites engaged in everything from pedophilia to child sex trafficking.

It wasn’t the first time Trump has nodded — accidentally or not — to QAnon followers on Twitter. But Trump's QAnon-baiting has gone into overdrive in recent months. According to a Media Matters analysis, ever since the pandemic began, Trump has retweeted at least 90 posts from 49 pro-QAnon accounts, often multiple times in the same day.

Those around Trump have followed suit. Eric Trump, the president’s son, recently posted a giant “Q” on Instagram as well as the hashtag version of the community’s slogan: “Where we go one, we go all.” White House deputy communications director Dan Scavino sparked glee on Facebook when he posted a photo with Q symbology in it back in March. Over on Parler, the niche Twitter alternative and MAGA hub, Rep. Devin Nunes of California, one of Trump’s most strident congressional defenders, directed people to The Dirty Truth, a video producer who has promoted QAnon-related conspiracies in the past.

And over that July Fourth weekend, Michael Flynn, Trump’s first national security adviser, recorded a video of himself taking the QAnon loyalty pledge, a slightly altered version of the U.S. oath of office.

All this has occurred with barely any pushback from Trump or Republican leaders — or even much acknowledgment that the phenomenon exists. And the engagement has continued even as the FBI has labeled the amorphous online community a potential source of domestic terrorism after several people radicalized by QAnon have been charged with crimes, ranging from attempted kidnapping to murder, inspired by the conspiracy theory.

To Trump’s critics, the reason is simple enough: QAnon followers are some of Trump’s biggest boosters. They show up at rallies. They promote the president’s narrative online, even coming up with their own conspiracy theories to protect him. And as the president struggles in the polls amid criticism over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and response to nationwide protests over police killings, there are political benefits to engaging Trump’s most fervent fan base.

“It's easy enough for them to say OK, well, because of that, we can accept this other crazy level of behavior because those people love the president,” said Rick Wilson, a former GOP strategist and co-founder of the Trump-critical Lincoln Project. “They unequivocally support Donald Trump.”

For the uninitiated, QAnon refers to a conspiracy theory centered on the existence of a shadowy government official known simply as “Q,” who communicates with his followers through various online channels, dropping cryptic, Nostradamus-esque notes hinting at the elite’s secret machinations. QAnon alleges that the global elite, all part of a pedophile sex trafficking ring in Washington, are responsible for an amalgamate of baseless conspiracies, ranging from the murder of a Democratic National Committee staffer to widespread satanic worship and deliberately spreading the novel coronavirus.

In the QAnon mythos, Q and Trump are working toward an event called “The Storm,” the day that he finally arrests thousands of these elites and ships them to Guantanamo Bay. Occasionally, QAnon followers see various setbacks as The Storm in action; others have attempted to explain the lack of mass indictments through science fiction.

“Supposedly, I'm already in Gitmo and my clone is speaking to you right now,” Wilson said.


QAnon followers are hungriest for signs that the Trump administration is watching them — an errant hand-wave, for instance, can result in hundreds of followers insisting that Trump had drawn a “Q” to acknowledge them. But rather than leave it in the realm of “Da Vinci Code”-esque symbology, Trump’s actions, as well as his repeated insistence that the “deep state” is conspiring against him, have given them even more reason to believe in him.

And to QAnon followers, Trump’s regular retweeting of their messages indicates that he or someone on his team is acknowledging their work.

What’s more, his staffers have indicated their familiarity with QAnon content, too. Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale retweeted content from The Dirty Truth in the past. Trump personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani has retweeted posts with actual QAnon hashtags. Prominent QAnon boosters have made their way into the White House as well, such as Bill Mitchell and Michael William Lebron.

The White House did not comment. The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Over the destabilizing crises of the past several months — Covid-19, mass protests over racial injustice and a divisive conversation over removing symbols honoring Confederate leaders — QAnon’s influence in Washington has tracked upward. At least two GOP congressional candidates with histories of promoting QAnon-related claims on social media are likely headed for a seat in Congress.

Notably, the Republican Party has not addressed those claims. Lauren Boebert, a restaurateur who won an upset victory over a five-term GOP incumbent in Colorado’s 3rd District, garnered the National Republican Congressional Committee’s endorsement, despite previously saying that she had “hope” that QAnon was “real”. She has declined to disavow that statement.

And when several House Republicans withdrew their endorsements of QAnon supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene, who beat her nearest primary opponent in Georgia's heavily Republican 14th congressional race by over 20 points and is headed towards a runoff, they cited her racist attacks on Muslims and Black activists, as well as her anti-Semitic remarks — but not her belief that QAnon is a real person. Other Trump defenders in the House GOP caucus, like Jim Jordan of Ohio and Andy Biggs of Arizona, did not pull their endorsements after her racist comments surfaced.

Travis View, a researcher who tracks conspiracy theories and hosts the QAnon Anonymous podcast, called their approach a “middle way” in the conservative world, navigating the gray zone between Q debunkers in Trump’s orbit, like Sebastian Gorka, and Q acolytes like comedian Roseanne Barr, who has tweeted her belief that Trump was breaking up child sex trafficking rings.

“They've done absolutely nothing to discourage QAnon followers from believing as they do,” said View — a position that only stokes the community’s fervor more. “I mean, QAnon is premised on the idea that there is a secret plan to save the world, so they take the silence more as part of that secrecy.”

Then again, going on the offensive against Q might not do much. Gorka, a former White House official and Trump loyalist, himself became the target of QAnon attacks after he called the community “garbage” in 2019. Q followers started posting his home address and claiming, without evidence, that he had engaged in various crimes. Even top conspiracy figures like Alex Jones of Infowars, who claims QAnon is actually a deep state disinformation plot to mislead Trump voters, are not safe from the QAnon community’s wrath.

“The whole community is volatile,” said Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters for America, who has tracked QAnon since its beginning in 2017. “They expect not just loyalty, but they have expectations in terms of behavior that are extraordinarily suspect and susceptible to feeling like they're being betrayed — or alternatively, feeling like there’s some shadowy puppet master rigging things.



A Trump supporter holding a QAnon flag visits Mount Rushmore National Monument on July 1. | Scott Olson/Getty Images
Denials, too, won’t be enough to shake QAnon followers. View brought up Flynn’s recent oblique oath to Q, in which Flynn declared “where we go one, we go all.” Flynn’s lawyer Sidney Powell insisted after that her client was making a reference to John F. Kennedy’s yacht, not courting QAnon.

“This is such incredible bullshit, but even though she's attempting to distance herself from it in these public statements to the media, QAnon followers, they won't take that as an explicit denial,” Carusone said. “They'll think that this is just part of the game.”

View admitted that the GOP’s “strategic silence” was an unexpected development.

“I always thought that it would be possible for QAnon to reach a boiling point, where it becomes so prominent and gain such influence and get promoted by people in high level of power or people who are slated to reach a high level of power, that it would demand a response from other high-level Republicans,” he said.

But ultimately, the only person who needs to stoke the QAnon community, other than whoever is controlling the Q account, is Trump himself.

“If Trump feels like these people support him 100 percent, he’s gonna protect them and that’s it,” Wilson said.

HHS testing chief: 'We do expect deaths to go up'
EN PASSANT / JUST IN PASSING

BLAND INDIFFERENCE

“This is not out of control, but it requires a lot of effort."
IT IS OUTTA CONTROL

Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Brett Giroir wears a blue mask at a House Select Subcommittee hearing. | (Kevin Lamarque/Pool via AP)


By DAVID LIM

07/12/2020

HHS testing czar Brett Giroir implored Americans to wear masks in public Sunday and said “everything should be on the table” when asked if more stringent lockdowns might be needed in southern states where the coronavirus cases are shattering record after record.

“For this to work, we have to have like 90 percent of people wearing a mask in public in the hot spot areas,” Giroir said on ABC’s “This Week.” “If we don't have that, we will not get control of the virus.”

He maintained the U.S. has enough tests to track the virus's spread despite reports of long wait times at testing sites and increasing turnaround times at commercial laboratories like Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp. More than 823,000 coronavirus tests were performed on Friday, according to the COVID Tracking Project

Still, he acknowledged that "we need to decrease the time to turn around those results," during an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press." He reiterated that the U.S. is on track to boost testing capacity by the millions in early fall as schools and businesses try to reopen.

“This is not out of control, but it requires a lot of effort and everybody is going to have to do their part,” Giroir said, one day after President Donald Trump wore a mask in public for the first time when he visited wounded veterans at Walter Reed medical center.

More than 66,000 U.S. coronavirus cases were confirmed on Friday, the highest single-day number recorded to date. Nearly 135,000 people in the U.S. have died of the virus, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker. The southern U.S. — including South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas and Arizona — are particularly hard hit right now, though numerous states are seeing caseloads rise.

“I would predict in the next couple of weeks, we're going to get over a million people [tested per day], particularly with pooling,” Giroir said on ABC. Pooling would combine samples from multiple people and if the pool tests positive, each individual would then receive a follow up test.

The FDA has not yet granted authorization to any coronavirus diagnostic for sample pooling, and health experts and laboratories argue that the method should only be used in areas where there aren't big outbreaks, and that relatively small numbers of samples should be pooled.

Giroir said the administration is “very concerned about the rise in cases” despite the U.S. being better equipped now to diagnose and treat coronavirus patients than in April.

"On the testing side, we have good early signals now," Giroir said on "Meet the Press." "We know that an increase in positivity heralds the rest down the line. An increase in positivity will mean an increase in infections about a week later, which'll mean emergency room hospitalization and, unfortunately, deaths."

While positivity — the percent of tests returning positive — is beginning to drop, hospitalizations will likely keep climbing for some time. About 63,000 coronavirus patients are currently in hospitals, according to Giroir.

“We do expect deaths to go up,” Giroir said on "This Week." “If you have more cases, more hospitalizations we do expect to see that over the next two to three weeks before this turns around.”

In the fall, tens of millions of coronavirus tests will be needed per month to prepare for the possibility the virus will be worse, according to Giroir. Practicing social distancing, hand-washing, and mask-wearing are all critical preventative steps for the public.

California teachers fight back against pressure to reopen schools

The standoff in the nation’s largest state underscores the difficult road ahead for governors and local leaders.

By MACKENZIE MAYS

07/11/2020

SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom insists schools need to make their best attempt to open this fall, warning of the educational and social-emotional impacts of keeping kids out of the classroom.

He’s ordered a mountain of masks and other protective gear for schools to encourage safety amid a rash of new coronavirus outbreaks that have forced him to reinstate stay-at-home orders and shutter bars and restaurants that had barely reopened.


But the California Teachers Association, one of the largest and most powerful unions in the country, says it’s still worried. The union is insisting on prolonging distance learning instead of forcing its army of more than 300,000 educators back into schools.

“We hope we don’t have to go there, but if it comes to it, we do retain the right to refuse to work under unsafe conditions,” said David Fisher, president of the Sacramento City Teachers Association. “The virus is raging, and the circumstances that we were thinking we might be dealing with in September only a few weeks ago seem to be changing by the day. It just is looking increasingly unlikely that we will be able to teach in person at any level when schools first open.”

As President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on states to get kids back in the classroom — his education department going as far as threatening to cut aid to schools that don’t reopen — the standoff in the nation’s largest state underscores the difficult road ahead for governors and local leaders. Many are conflicted about what to do, citing the unknowns surrounding how children can spread the disease and the impact of a country without schools on the economy. But even for those who are finding a way to move toward reopening, like Newsom, one big question rises to the top: What will happen if teachers refuse?

Dozens of California teachers said in interviews they do not feel safe returning to classrooms any time soon and are trying to wrap their heads around Newsom’s messaging about stay-at-home orders and taking the virus seriously while also pushing schools to open as soon as possible. While Newsom has mandated masks statewide, K-12 students are not required to wear face coverings in schools — even as he calls school safety during the pandemic “nonnegotiable.“

Amy Sepulveda, a teacher in Fresno, lives with her 80-year-old grandmother and her father, who works at Avenal State Prison — the site of one of the state’s largest coronavirus outbreaks. She worries about both bringing the virus home and bringing it into her school. “Teachers and students are being treated as sacrificial, disposable human beings,” Sepulveda said.

About half of the state’s counties have been placed on a coronavirus watchlist in recent weeks due to an uptick in cases, putting 80 percent of California’s population on alert. Hospitalizations are rapidly increasing, with the state recording its highest single-day coronavirus death toll in recent days. There have been more than 6,800 coronavirus deaths in the state since February, according to the California Department of Public Health.

"So, we are told it’s not safe to be indoors around others except your immediate family even with a mask, and yet it’s somehow OK to be in an indoor classroom with AC and poor ventilation and kids with no masks?" said Richard Coleman, a San Diego area teacher.

Newsom, a Democrat who was praised for being among the first to shut down as Covid-19 cases began to climb in March, has proposed a hybrid approach to schooling that could include students alternating between physical and online learning. He dismissed Trump’s school funding threats, saying in a news conference, “I’m not worried about the latest tweets.”

But the governor, a father of four, has made it clear that in-person instruction is preferred. School districts in California “shall offer in-person instruction to the greatest extent possible,” according to new pandemic learning requirements outlined last month in state budget language. In April, Newsom even suggested that schools start in July to make up for the learning loss caused by Covid-19 shutdowns — a proposal quickly rebuffed by the state’s teachers unions.

“We put together statutory language in our budget that incentivizes the kind of learning that we think is more advantageous, which is in-person learning,” Newsom said at a news conference Wednesday, adding that flexibility will be allowed where there are safety concerns.

Teachers say that even a hybrid model puts people at risk, though. For schools that do choose to mandate strict protocols, teachers question their ability to enforce them, especially with younger children.

The California Teachers Association on Wednesday called for more school funding while the state grapples with budget cuts, and says districts do not have enough personal protective equipment, room to provide physical distancing or adequate ventilation and cleaning supplies to reopen. Teachers are also leery of a lack of data about childhood transmission of the virus and returning before there is a vaccine.

“We should be clear-eyed about this reality,” the union’s president, E. Toby Boyd, said in a statement. “How can we physically reopen schools with lower thresholds of safety than we currently have for restaurants or hair salons?”

And there’s no doubt that the union has power. CTA successfully negotiated a state budget deal last month that avoided deep education cuts initially proposed by Newsom and prevents school districts from laying off teachers and other staff.

“At the end of the day, teachers deciding not to go back will prevail. You can't force them,” said longtime education lobbyist Kevin Gordon. “It’s not a fight that school superintendents want to referee. What we really need is leadership from the state. They need to respond to the teachers and deal with this statewide instead of letting there be a shouting match at the local level.”

While Newsom has made it clear he wants schools open, and has offered up various guidelines for how districts can do that, he’s ultimately leaving it up to local leaders to decide how to teach kids this fall. Los Angeles County health authorities advised schools to continue learning from home, citing a surge in cases.

On Friday, the American Academy of Pediatrics, which had once urged school districts to reopen without delay, softened that stance, calling on public health agencies to be in charge of those decisions and saying science, not politics, should lead the way.

While local control is usually cherished among school leaders, especially in diverse California where a one-size-fits-all approach to anything is nearly impossible, parents and teachers alike have called on the state for clearer mandates on when and how to open schools.

Oakland Unified announced on Friday that it will begin its school year, slated to start August 10, completely online and slowly phase into blended learning. United Teachers Los Angeles, the union representing the country’s second-largest school district, made a similar demand.

“There is not enough time for the district to put together the detailed rigorous plans that must be in place to physically reopen our sites,” UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz said during a news conference Friday. “California is not there yet, not even close.”

Bill Nye posted a TikTok showing how a face mask — and not a knit scarf — can slow the spread of the coronavirus
Darcy Schild Jul 11, 2020,

Bill Nye showed how a homemade face mask is a more protective face covering than a knit scarf. Bill Nye/TikTok

Bill Nye the Science Guy says that wearing a face mask "is literally a matter of life or death."

Using a candle and three different types of face coverings, Nye showed on TikTok how face masks block the movement of air.

Nye said that wearing a face mask "blocks the movement of air" and prevents "particles from getting into the air and then into your respiratory system."

Nye wore a homemade cloth face mask and an N95 respirator mask and was unable to blow out the candle in front of him, but wearing a knit scarf over his mouth, the flame blew out — demonstrating his point.

Bill Nye the Science Guy turned to TikTok to visually demonstrate the power of wearing a face mask in public.
@billnye
##WearAMask ##LearnOnTikTok ##TikTokPartner♬ original sound - billnye

"Why do people in the scientific community want you to wear a face mask when you're out in public? Please, consider the following," Nye said.

Face masks, Nye explained, "prevent particles from getting into the air and then into your respiratory system."

"Blocking the movement of air is an old trick," Nye continued.

The beloved science TV personality first held a knitted scarf over his mouth and attempted to blow out a lit candle in front of him.

He explained that while the scarf blocks the movement of air around his neck and helps keep him warm, it only partially blocks the movement of air when he holds it to his mouth and exhales.

Next, Nye covered his mouth with what he described as a homemade face mask, constructed with two layers of cloth and a pipe cleaner to fit the bridge of one's nose. He then audibly exhaled and attempted to blow out the candle in front of him, to no avail — demonstrating the ability of the homemade face covering to act as a barrier.

"It blocks the movement of air very effectively," Nye said. "If you're wearing one of these, you're protecting yourself and those around you."


Nye followed up by posting an additional TikTok, where he demonstrated how an N95 respirator mask also effectively blocks particles of air.

"These are made to block particles in the medical environment and when you're out mowing the lawn," Nye said.

@billnye
##WearAMask ##LearnOnTikTok ##TikTokPartner♬ original sound - billnye

Nye concluded the video by urging viewers to wear face coverings not only to protect themselves, but also to protect people around them.

"The reason we want you to wear a mask is to protect you, sure," Nye said. "But the main reason why we want you to wear a mask is to protect me, from you, and the particles from your respiratory system, from getting into my respiratory system.

"Everybody, this is literally a matter of life or death," Nye continued. "So when you're out in public, please, wear a mask."

Nye's videos have since circulated beyond TikTok, and his message was shared by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Twitter, who wrote: "Listen to Bill Nye."
—Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) July 9, 2020

TikTok has become an increasingly popular platform for scientists, doctors, and other health experts to debunk and share information about COVID-19

Health and science experts have taken to the video-sharing app to spread vital information and debunk myths about wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) and tips for making face coverings more comfortable to wear.

For example, in April, Dr. Karan Raj, a UK National Health Service doctor, made a trending TikTok that showed how latex gloves can facilitate (not prevent) the spread of germs if they're not worn correctly.

@dr.karanr
Spread knowledge not the virus! ##staysafe ##socialdistancing ##quarantine ##ppe ##doctorsoftiktok ##edutokhealth ##gloves♬ original sound - dr.karanr

Recently, Canadian dentist Dr. Olivia Cui shared a hack for making a loose-fitting, surgical face mask fit better, and her TikTok has been viewed more than 3 million times.
@oliviacuidmd
Highly requested 60s version of my viral mask hack ##fyp ##doctorsoftiktok ##masktutorial ##covid19 ##viral ##maskhack ##learnontiktok

South Africa's 9 million smokers were faced with cold turkey when the government banned cigarette sales in March as a coronavirus measure. Now Big Tobacco is fighting back.

Will Martin

Nopphon_1987/Shutterstock

Tobacco lobbyists are taking South Africa's government to court this week over a controversial ban on the sale of cigarettes implemented as part of its strategy for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

South Africa banned the sale of cigarettes in March as the coronavirus' spread intensified, in one of the most extreme public health measures introduced anywhere around the world in the pandemic.

A tobacco black market now thrives in South Africa as smokers find ways around the ban.

A lobby group called the Fair-trade Independent Tobacco Association (FITA) has already taken the government to court once to challenge the ban.

It lost that case, but will now bring an appeal to the High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday.

Tobacco lobbyists are taking South Africa's government to court this week over a controversial ban on the sale of cigarettes implemented as part of its strategy for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

South Africa, Africa's second-largest economy, has effectively banned smoking by making the sale of tobacco illegal in one of the most drastic public health measures introduced anywhere around the world during the pandemic.

The unprecedented ban has been in place since March. It has already been subject to a legal challenge from the tobacco industry, with a lobby group called the Fair-trade Independent Tobacco Association (FITA) bringing proceedings against the South African government over the ban.

That challenge was rejected, but it will now be subject to an appeal from FITA on Wednesday July 15.

FITA, which has spearheaded anti-tobacco ban efforts in South Africa during the pandemic, is contending that cigarettes and other tobacco products are essential items, a point of view with which the South African government disagrees.

The lobbyists argue that their case against banning cigarette sales has been strengthened by plans to allow restaurants, casinos, and cinemas to reopen as South Africa gradually eases out of one of the strictest coronavirus lockdowns in the world.

"It makes no sense," said Sinenhlanhla Mnguni, FITA's chairman, told the Associated Press (AP) earlier in July.

South Africa's government had also banned the sale of alcohol but has since eased that restriction, which according to an AP report, has led to an increase in "drunken brawls and traffic accidents, putting added strain on hospitals as they deal with the virus."

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Reuters

FITA is also arguing that by banning the legal sale of cigarettes, the South African government is encouraging a black market trade, and putting thousands of jobs at risk.

"The simple truth is that the current situation cannot be endured for much longer by the various role-players along the tobacco industry value chain without severe consequences for all," FITA said in a statement in April.

"Allowing the current situation to continue indefinitely will in all likelihood lead to job losses," it added.

According to numerous reports, the ban has led to a huge spike in the trade of illegal, often counterfeit tobacco products, as South Africa's 9 million smokers have been forced to innovate to get their nicotine fix.

AP also quoted analysts who said that cigarettes had become the most sought after illicit drug in South Africa, more profitable than cocaine and heroin.

In May, the BBC spoke to Michelle, who said she now buys cigarettes via an underground WhatsApp group.

"[The ban] allows all underground sellers and places that were already cheating on taxes to flourish," Hana Ross, an economist at the University of Cape Town, told the Financial Times earlier in July.

Nor is the ban encouraged smokers to quit. A survey of more than 12,000 smokers by the University of Cape Town found that 90% of them bought cigarettes illegally during lockdown, AP reported.

Alongside FITA's legal challenge, British American Tobacco — which owns brands including Dunhill, Lucky Strike, and Pall Mall — is also bringing court proceedings against the South African government. That case will not be heard until Augu

Tyson Foods is ramping up development of robots that can cut meat in response to coronavirus outbreaks in meatpacking plants

Bethany Biron
Jul 11, 2020,

A man shops for meat during the pandemic. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Tyson Foods is accelerating development of robotic technology that will assist with meat processing following a series of coronavirus outbreaks at meatpacking facilities around the US. 

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been a total of 16,233 coronavirus cases in meat processing facilities across 23 states. 

Tyson has already invested $500 million in robotics since 2017, but CEO Noel White told the Wall Street Journal the company plans to ramp up these efforts in response to the pandemic. 

SOMEHOW I DON'T THINK THIS IS WHAT TYSON'S HAD IN MIND
In the not-so-distant future, robots may be cutting and processing packaged meat for Americans.

Tyson Foods is reportedly accelerating development of robotic technology designed to handle processes like deboning the 39 million chickens that go through the company's plants each week, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

While the project has been in the works for several years, the meatpacking company increased urgency around the effort in the wake of a rash of coronavirus outbreaks across its facilities starting in May. Tyson, as well as competitors like Smithfield Foods, quickly became hot spots for spreading the virus, sickening workers and prompting temporary closures that led to national meat shortages.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been a total of 16,233 coronavirus cases in meat processing facilities across 23 states in the US. As of July 10, these illnesses have contributed to 86 deaths, the CDC findings show.

"Meat and poultry processing facilities face distinctive challenges in the control of infectious diseases, including COVID-19," the CDC report states. "COVID-19 outbreaks among meat and poultry processing facility workers can rapidly affect large numbers of persons."

Tyson Foods CEO Noel White told the Wall Street Journal that the company has already invested $500 million in robotics since 2017, and has plans to ramp up the project amid the coronavirus. Tyson currently has a dedicated facility on its Springdale, Arkansas headquarters where engineers and scientists are testing and developing meat processing robots.

Tyson is not the only meat behemoth turning its sites to robotics. Competitors like JBC and Pilgrim's Pride have also working on developing similar automated robotic technology in recent years. "They are much closer to what the person can do than seven years ago," JBS CEO Andre Nogueira told the Wall Street Journal.

While automated robots could reduce exposure to the coronavirus and help prevent employees from working in close proximity, some have concerns that they could take the place of human jobs in an economy that has left 21 million Americans unemployed. Further, many of these workers are already earning comparatively low wages to other individuals in similarly hazardous lines of work, at an average of $15.92 an hour. Construction workers, for example, earn an average of $28.51 an hour, according to the US Labor Department.

SEE ALSO: At least 4,500 Tyson workers have caught COVID-19, with 18 deaths. The meat giant still doesn't offer paid sick leave, as the industry blames workers for outbreaks.

Thousands of US pediatricians warn against reopening schools for in-person learning after Trump's push against CDC guidelines

AS A CUSTODIAL CONSULTANT I AGREE, I AM CONCERNED ABOUT SKELETON CLEANING CREWS IN SCHOOLS AFTER YEARS OF CUTTING TO THE BONE AND CONTRACTING OUT. SINCE DISINFECTION IS A TWO STEP PROCESS AND CAN BE LONGER IN DURATION FROM FIVE TO TWENTY MINUTES WET DWELLING TIME ON A SURFACE.

SANITIZATION SHOULD BE DONE (A ONE STEP PROCESS)WHERE A DISINFECTANT IS APPLIED OR SPRAYED ON A SURFACE SUCH AS A LUNCHROOM OR GYM OR EVEN A CLASSROOM NOT IN USE.

SCHOOLS REQUIRE AT LEAST TWO FULL TIME WORKERS AND ONE PART TIME WORKER WHICH NONE OF OUR SMALLER SCHOOLS UNDER 100,000 SQ FEET IN EPSB NOR EDM CATHOLIC 

Ellen Cranley
Jul 11, 2020,

Instructor Chablis Torres (C) reads to children in a pre-school class, wearing masks and at desks spaced apart as per coronavirus guidelines during summer school sessions at Happy Day School in Monterey Park, California on July 9, 2020. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

The country's top association of pediatricians urged lawmakers and community leaders to carefully weigh the challenges that lie ahead for school reopening plans this upcoming academic year.

A statement released Friday by the American Academy of Pediatrics signaled a turn by the group away from the aggressive reopening plans held by President Donald Trump's administration.

"A one-size-fits-all approach is not appropriate for return to school decisions," the letter read in an apparent pivot from a statement that last month said decision-makers should aim to have "students physically present in school" for the upcoming year.

Last week, Trump clashed with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over its guidelines for schools reopening.

The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a new warning for lawmakers and community leaders looking to reopen schools that they must follow "science" and "evidence, not politics."

The group — along with educators and superintendents — wrote in an open letter posted Friday that though "children learn best when physically present in the classroom," public agencies "must pursue re-opening in a way that is safe for all students, teachers, and staff."

The letter was cosigned by the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, and AASA, the School Superintendents Association.

"A one-size-fits-all approach is not appropriate for return to school decisions," the letter read in an apparent pivot from its emphasizing in a statement late last month that decision-makers should aim to have "students physically present in school" for the upcoming year.

The group's apparent support for pushing for classes to resume with students in classrooms lines up with President Donald Trump's aggressive sidelining of "very tough" guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for schools reopening, even threatening on Twitter to "cut off funding" for school districts that don't reopen soon.

In addition to the group's previous messaging matching the administration's, AAP President Dr. Sally Goza was present at the White House's "Summit on Safely Reopening America's Schools" on July 7.

The CDC's current guidelines for reopening schools include added measures like more space between students' desks, barriers between sinks in bathrooms, and shutting down common spaces. Education officials from districts across the country have aired concerns that most schools don't have the funding or resources to comply with the guidelines.

"We are very much going to put pressure on governors and everybody else to open the schools, to get them open," Trump said at a briefing earlier this week. "It's very important for our country, it's very important for the well being of the student and the parents."

The letter said the US "response to COVID-19 has laid bare inequities and consequences for children that must be addressed," and the group then called on Congress to divert funding to schools that are struggling to secure the necessary resources to reopen safely.

"Reopening schools in a way that maximizes safety, learning, and the well-being of children, teachers, and staff will clearly require substantial new investments in our schools and campuses," the letter read. "We call on Congress and the administration to provide the federal resources needed to ensure that inadequate funding does not stand in the way of safely educating and caring for children in our schools."

Plans for reopening in school districts across the US are still largely unclear as officials have weighed the possibilities of different approaches including in-person, remote learning, and a hybrid approach of both that would bring students into classrooms in limited numbers.

The FDA just updated its list of hand sanitizers you should avoid to include products that contain the deadly chemical methanol
Bethany Biron
Jul 11, 2020,

Rachel Askinasi/Insider

The Food and Drug Administration updated its list of hand sanitizer containing the dangerous chemical methanol, adding five formulas made in Mexico and bringing the total to 59 products. 

According to the FDA, methanol has been reported to cause blindness, hospitalization, and even death when absorbed through the skin or ingested. 

"Methanol is not an acceptable active ingredient for hand sanitizer and must not be used due to its toxic effects," the FDA wrote in a report on its website. "FDA's investigation of methanol in certain hand sanitizers is ongoing

The Food and Drug Administration updated its growing list of hand sanitizers to avoid on Friday, adding five products based in Mexico that contain the dangerous chemical methanol.

The list now includes a total of 59 products that have been recalled after further investigation found that they claimed to use ethanol — also known as ethyl alcohol, a common hand sanitizer ingredient — but instead were using methanol, a toxic ingredient used in antifreeze and fuel. According to the FDA, methanol has been reported to cause blindness, hospitalization, and even death when absorbed through the skin or ingested.

"Methanol is not an acceptable active ingredient for hand sanitizers and must not be used due to its toxic effects," the FDA wrote in a report on its website. "FDA's investigation of methanol in certain hand sanitizers is ongoing. The agency will provide additional information as it becomes available."

The FDA warns that consumers who have been exposed to methanol seek immediate treatment for potential reversal of toxic effects" and recommends that to prioritize washing their hands for 20 seconds using soap and water. When using hand sanitizer, the FDA says to adhere to CDC guidelines that call for alcohol-based formulas that contain at least 60% ethanol.

SEE ALSO: Every hand sanitizer the FDA has flagged as dangerous and potentially deadly

Attorneys for Breonna Taylor's family allege that police targeted her residence as part of a Louisville gentrification plan

Ellen Cranley

People walk past a mural reading "Justice for Breonna" on a Prince Street storefront, on June 19, 2020. Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

Attorneys for the family of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician who was killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky, alleged in a new filing that officers were operating under information from an aggressive gentrification campaign in targeting Taylor's residence. 

Three Louisville Metro Police Department officers entered the apartment in the early hours of March 13 with a "no-knock warrant," before Taylor was shot eight times.
The warrant was connected to a suspect who did not live at Taylor's apartment, and no drugs were found at the residence. 

"While there is no doubt that gentrification of west Louisville neighborhoods could be a very good thing, the methods employed to do so have been unlawful and unconscionable," attorneys said in the complaint.

Attorneys for the family of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician who was killed by police at her home in Louisville, Kentucky, is alleging that officers were acting as part of a larger gentrification plan that targeted residents in the area.

In a criminal complaint filed in Jefferson Circuit Court last week published by Louisville CBS affiliate WLKY, the lawyers for Taylor's family alleged that a plan to revamp the city's Russell neighborhood was responsible for "radical political and police conduct" that resulted in Taylor's death during a narcotics raid.

Three Louisville Metro Police Department officers — Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove — entered the apartment in the early hours of March 13 with a "no-knock warrant," Insider previously reported. The warrant was connected to a suspect who did not live at Taylor's apartment, and no drugs were found at the residence. Taylor's family later filed a wrongful-death lawsuit.

A complaint filed late last month by attorneys representing Taylor's family said that Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired one round in self-defense while officers raided the apartment and Taylor "was shot at least eight times by the officers' gunfire and died as a result," even though she "had posed no threat to the officers and did nothing to deserve to die at their hands."

In the newest filing, attorneys allege Louisville Metro Police operating in the same area as at least eight homes the city bought and demolished with plans for "a high investment, high dollar real estate deal" resulting in a development that is slated to include "modern, futuristic-looking homes, a cafe, an amphitheater, a state-of-the-art fitness center and more."

According to the filing, the department developed a specialized squad, called Place-Based Investigations, formed to "to address systemically violent locations and complement LMPD's existing focused-deterrence strategy." But after time, the squad "deliberately misled" narcotics officers to target a remaining residence on Elliott Avenue in west Louisville.

"While there is no doubt that gentrification of west Louisville neighborhoods could be a very good thing, the methods employed to do so have been unlawful and unconscionable," the attorneys alleged in the complaint.

Instead of the squad taking aim at ongoing violence, "the reality was that The Occupants were not anywhere close to Louisville's versions of Pablo Escobar or Scarface," the complaint said.

"They were not violent criminals," the complaint added. "They were simply a setback to a large real estate development deal and thus the issue needed to be cleaned up."

Local authorities and nonprofit groups in Louisville who are involved with community development plans dismissed the filing.

Paul Stillwell, also known as Rev. Bo Stillwell, the founder of Keeping it Real, a nonprofit working with the city since 2016 to lead community engagement efforts on Elliott Avenue, told The Louisville Courier-Journal that the attorneys had described "a false narrative."

The Courier-Journal also reported that the renderings of buildings included in the complaint by the attorneys to illustrate the upmarket neighborhood they claimed was in the works were produced by four University of Kentucky students for a first-year College of Design graduate class.

A spokeswoman for Mayor Greg Fischer told the outlet that any notion that the city would force homeowners or renters to move from the area in question is "without foundation or supporting facts."

Taylor, whose 27th birthday would have been on June 5, has become a symbol for ongoing demands for legal action against Mattingly, Hankison, and Cosgrove, in addition to racial justice for Black Americans.

Attorneys Sam Aguiar and Lonita Baker did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Read more:

Calls to 'arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor' have been turned into an online meme that some say has gone too far

Breonna Taylor's family claims in a new court filing that she did not receive medical attention for up to 6 minutes after being shot

Celebrities demand justice for Breonna Taylor on her 27th birthday

The photographer behind the stunning 'Bagheera' black panther images explained how he spent years in the forest to get the sublime shots

Sanchita Dash and Ruqayyah Moynihan,
Business Insider India

Saya, the melanistic leopard who has found his way into the Kabini forest. Shaaz Jung

Photographs of a rare black panther living in the Kabini forest, in India's Nagarhole National Park, went viral this week.
Many compared the panther to Bagheera from The Jungle Book.
Business Insider spoke to Shaaz Jung, the wildlife photographer who caught the photos on how he managed to capture the rare images.
For Jung, this was once in a lifetime opportunity — he's spent the last five years capturing the black panther.

Photographs of a majestic black panther roaming in the Kabini forest in Karnataka in southern India have gone viral.

The man behind the camera, Shaaz Jung,⁠ spent 12 hours a day for five long years tracking Saya, a melanistic leopard who found his way into the Kabini forest.

After a Twitter account, Earth, shared Jung's images, hundreds of thousands of people across the globe liked and retweeted the stunning photos.
—Earth (@earth) July 4, 2020

The 31-year-old wildlife filmmaker and photographers dedicated his life to capturing the photos.


For the last few years, Jung has spent seven days a week in the forest, arriving at 6 am, and staying until darkness fell at 6.30 pm. "I would consider myself very lucky if I saw him twice a week, and a lot of times, it would be just fleeting glimpses," he said.

But Jung knew that this was once in a lifetime opportunity.

Black panthers usually inhabit evergreen forests, where the thick canopy of trees doesn't let the sun into the undergrowth - but Saya is found in the deciduous forest of Kabini.

"When people see these pictures, they think there are several leopards, but actually there's just one black panther where we are — one melanistic leopard in the dense forest of Nagarhole," explained Jung, who also owns a wildlife safari lodge in Nagarhole National Park.


"It was like finding a needle in a haystack," he said.

For two-three years straight, Jung went into the jungle at 6am, staying there until 6.30pm, seven days in a week. Shaaz Jung

Jung comes from a family of wildlife enthusiasts. As an economics graduate, he was headed for a career in the corporate world, until he came to the forest when he was 20, with his parents who are wildlife conservationists.

He is the ambassador for Nikon India and recently worked as the director of photography for a National Geographic film on the rare black panther.

The forest is one of the few places in the world that's home to not just leopards and the black panther, but tigers, elephants, bears, and more.


"This is truly the real Jungle Book," he said. "He is not just surviving; he's thriving."

Black panthers are usually found in evergreen forests. Shaaz Jung

"The result is the first portfolio of a melanistic leopard where we have him hunting, courting, fighting ... everything," said Jung. "My aim was to go deeper and understand how he's surviving in a forest where he doesn't belong."Read the original article on Business Insider India. Copyright 2020. Follow Business Insider India on Twitter.