Today's News: June 19, 2020

World News

Beijing accused of redirecting Himalayan river at center of deadly brawl

Daily Mail – China has been deploying bulldozers and diverting the course of a river near the disputed border where Chinese and Indian soldiers fought a deadly clash at 14,000 feet on Monday, satellite images suggest.
The images appear to show China bringing in pieces of machinery and damming a river in the Himalayan mountainside in the last 10 days.
The machinery was sighted on Tuesday, having not been there a week before – and Indian media suggests the Chinese troops involved in Monday’s clash might have ‘surged’ from these positions.
One US-based expert said China appeared to be ‘constructing roads in the valley and possibly damming the river’ which crosses the disputed border. Rerouting the river could frustrate Indian troops on their side of the line, where they have just built a new 200ft bridge.
Indian broadcaster NDTV said the Chinese build-up also included ‘pre-fabricated huts for accommodation’ and a Chinese ‘motorcade’ near the site of the clash.
India says 20 soldiers were killed in what it claimed was a pre-meditated attack near the Line of Actual Control, the disputed border between the world’s two most populous countries.
China blames Indian soldiers for provoking the conflict which is thought to have left around 45 Chinese soldiers dead or injured. But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took India’s side last night, offering his ‘deepest condolences to the people of India for the lives lost’.

Virus already in Italy by December: Waste water study

Medical Express – The coronavirus was present in two large Italian cities in December, more than two months before the first case was detected, a national health institute study of waste water has found.
That suggests the virus appeared in Italy around the same time it was first reported in China.
Researchers discovered genetic traces of SARS-CoV-2—as the virus is officially known—in samples of waste water collected in Milan and Turin at the end of last year, and Bologna in January, the ISS institute said in a statement seen by AFP on Friday.
Italy’s first known native case was discovered mid-February.
The results “help to understand the start of the circulation of the virus in Italy,” the ISS said.
They also “confirm the by-now consolidated international evidence” as to the strategic function of sewer samples as an early detection tool, it added.
The results feed into an effort by scientists around the world to trace the virus’s family tree.
Chinese scientists have said the virus likely emerged in a market that sold wildlife in the central city of Wuhan in December, but Beijing officials have recently suggested that it may have originated elsewhere.
And some studies and reports have suggested that the virus might have been present in China before December.

‘Sorry not enough’, Caribbean states say of British slavery apologies

Reuters – British financial institutions that benefited from slavery such as Lloyd’s of London should go further than saying sorry for their role in the Atlantic slave trade and atone for their sins by funding Caribbean development, the region’s countries said.
More than 10 million Africans were shackled into the Atlantic slave trade by European nations between the 15th and 19th centuries. Those who survived the often brutal voyage, ended up toiling on plantations in the Americas.
While the history of Europe’s scramble for African slaves has been widely known for centuries, the death of George Floyd in the United States has prompted a sweeping global reassessment of racism and the financing of the slave trade.
The Lloyd’s of London insurance market apologised on Thursday for its “shameful” role in the 18th Century Atlantic slave trade and pledged to fund opportunities for black and ethnic minority people.
But a regional alliance of Caribbean countries said that Britain’s institutions should go much further than simply apologising and give some of the wealth back to the Caribbean by funding development at the epicentre of the slave trade.

A Knock, Then Gone: Venezuela Secretly Detains Hundreds to Silence Critics

NY Times – Secret detentions, known under international law as “forced disappearances,” are playing a critical role in the Venezuelan government’s increasingly authoritarian efforts to control its population, discourage dissent and punish opponents, according to a new report by two human rights groups, provided exclusively to The New York Times.
The report, made public on Friday, documents 200 such cases in 2018 and 524 last year, a jump it attributed to increased protests as Venezuela endured successive political and economic crises, and the government’s repressive responses. It was produced by Foro Penal, a Venezuelan group that meticulously tracks the cases and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C.
Investigators documented many kidnappings in which authorities arrived in unmarked cars, presented neither identification nor warrants, confiscated cellphones and computers, and said little as they cuffed and hooded people. More than 20 percent of the victims reported being tortured while held captive.
Using international law as a guide, the groups defined forced disappearance as a detention lasting two days or more that, unlike an ordinary arrest, included state denial of any information about a person’s whereabouts.
The report adds to an already large body of evidence of human rights violations committed by President Nicolás Maduro and his allies, including widespread reports of torture and an assessment by the United Nations that Venezuelan security forces have committed thousands of extrajudicial killings.
The government did not respond to a letter seeking comment.
Forced disappearances are considered by international law to be a crime against humanity if they are proven to be systematic. The authors of the Venezuela report call the practice “one of the most serious and cruel violations of human rights” because it places victims “in a state of absolute helplessness.”

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Atlanta Police Union Head: ‘It’s the Worst Day in Law Enforcement in the City of Atlanta That’s Ever Been’

Breitbart – The fallout from the Rayshard Brooks’ saga continued in Atlanta on Wednesday night on the heels of Fulton County, GA District Attorney Paul Howard’s announcement that former Atlanta Police Officer Garrett Rolfe, the suspect in Brooks’ death, was facing 11 charges.
Vince Champion, southeast regional director of the International Brotherhood of Police officers, who functions as the head of the police union for the city of Atlanta, acknowledged during an interview with Atlanta’s FOX 5 morale within the Atlanta Police Department had hit a low, which backs up a similar claim made by Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on CNN earlier.
“It’s the worst day in law enforcement in the city of Atlanta that’s ever been,” Champion said.
Champion declined to give an opinion on the incident based on the video.
“I’m not going to make an assumption based on a video that I don’t know anything about,” he added. “I’ve been a cop for 30 years. We go with the evidence leads us. Looking at videos and not knowing the whole thing, I don’t have an opinion.”
FOX 5’s Brian Hill said “multiple sources,” including social media had reflected the reports of a walkout by some police but maintained the city’s police department itself had downplayed the situation.

Trump claims some Americans wear ‘to signal disapproval of him’

CNBC – President Donald Trump said some Americans might wear face masks not as a way to prevent the spread of coronavirus but as a way to “signal disapproval of him.”
In a wide-ranging interview with The Wall Street Journal published Thursday, Trump also said a big issue he has with masks is that people fidget with them.
“They put their finger on the mask, and they take them off, and then they start touching their eyes and touching their nose and their mouth,” he told the Journal. “And then they don’t know how they caught it?”
Trump has often been seen without a mask despite recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization that people wear them as a way to slow the spread of the virus. Scientists say the virus can spread through respiratory droplets that pass when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Studies suggest the masks may serve as a helpful barrier.
The comment by Trump came as coronavirus cases have begun to rise in nearly two dozen states since Memorial Day. Public health experts fear a slow burn of infection through the summer could lead to a massive resurgence this fall alongside the seasonal flu. Trump has frequently downplayed the virus, telling the Journal the U.S. was nearing the end of the pandemic.

Trump warns that under Democrats ‘whole country will be Minneapolis’

CT Post – President Donald Trump painted a dire image of America if he loses his reelection, warning in an interview with his son that the economy would collapse, law enforcement would disappear and the “whole country will be Minneapolis.”
His threat that without him the country would look like the Midwestern city was alluding to the looting and riots that beset the city for several nights following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in police custody. He did not mention that during the day there were largely peaceful demonstrations in the city (or that there’s an entire meme about how nice Minnesotans are).
“I feel that if the Democrats get in, we are literally going to end up in a recession-slash-depression the likes of which you’ve never seen,” Trump said. “There will be tremendous negative growth, tremendous bedlam all over the place, there won’t be law and order. You’ll have a Seattle, you’ll have a Minneapolis like you’ve never seen before. The whole country will be Minneapolis.”

More states mandate masks

Reuters – California, North Carolina and a string of U.S. cities mandated or urged mandatory mask use on Thursday to get a grip on spiraling coronavirus cases as at least six states set daily records.
Putting aside concerns about individual rights and political unpopularity, U.S. governors and mayors said they were turning to compulsory face coverings to stop the virus running out of control as economies reopened.
On a day when Florida posted 3,207 new cases, its second daily record in a week, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings ordered obligatory mask use, telling residents of Orlando and other cities it would help them avoid a second shutdown.
California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered mask use in most places as the state for the second day in a row registered over 4,000 new cases.
As Arizona posted another daily case record, the Democratic mayors of Tucson and Phoenix respectively ordered and prepared to vote on mandatory face coverings after Republican Governor Doug Ducey bowed to pressure and let cities set mask rules.
“This piece of protection may even save your life,” North Carolina Democratic Governor Roy Cooper told reporters, adding that he was considering statewide obligatory mask use on a day when statewide COVID-19 hospitalizations set a new high.
A month after many governors reopened their economies, a growing number are adopting U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance that masks are essential to prevent community spread.
Resistance to face masks took on a partisan edge after President Donald Trump opposed them, telling the Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Thursday that some people wear them to show opposition to him.
But with businesses ranging from Las Vegas casinos to hardware chains requiring their use, masks are becoming commonplace in the United States.

Florida Keys now requiring face masks until June 2021!

Orlando Sentinel – Visitors to the Florida Keys will need to bring along face masks or face a $500 civil fine.
In a Wednesday vote, the Monroe County Commission shifted from an earlier stance on face coverings, and now requires everyone including employees and customers to wear face coverings in any establishment.
The city of Key West already had this stricter ruling in place, but unincorporated parts of the Keys had relaxed such requirements, following the guidelines set forth by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ statewide Phase 2 of his reopening plan that began on June 5.
The ordinance also allows other city governments in the Keys to opt out of the ordinance.

Cuomo Considers 14-Day Quarantine For Travelers From Florida

WCBS – Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he is considering requiring a 14-day quarantine for people arriving in New York from Florida as the Sunshine State sees an uptick in COVID-19 infections.
According to data released Thursday, the Florida Department of Health reported 85,926 coronavirus cases statewide — a jump of 3,207 cases from the previous day. It was the largest single-day increase since the pandemic began, shattering the previous record of 2,783 new cases recorded Tuesday.

George Washington statue pulled down in Portland

The Sun – A GEORGE Washington statue has been toppled, and an American flag set ablaze by Black Lives Matter protesters.
Photos and video on social media show the defaced figure pulled down in Portland, Oregon, while surrounded by up to 40 people.
Fox12 in Oregon reported that demonstrators are continuing to protest in the wake of George Floyd’s death, while calling for police reform and racial justice.
Drew Reeves, Fox12 reporter, tweeted: “People have torn down a statue of George Washington at 57th and Sandy in NE Portland.”
Overnight on Thursday, the 40-strong group tore down the statue on the lawn of the German American Society in Northeast Portland.
Portland Police said they were kept busy after being called to multiple demonstrations held through to the early morning hours of June 19.
It said that several hundred demonstrators assembled at Jefferson High School to hold a “peaceful” hour-long rally.

Vandalism is POP now: Popular Mechanics under fire for science-friendly advice on ‘how to topple statues’

NaturalNews – The hit science magazine Popular Mechanics has sparked backlash online after embracing the violent side of the ongoing protests in the US, giving step-by-step instructions on how to safely raze monuments to historical figures.
Eager to commit an act of vandalism but have little experience and want to make sure you don’t accidentally hurt your co-conspirators in the process? Rest reassured, Popular Mechanics is here to lend a helping hand and a piece of expert advice.
In its article published on Monday, the science magazine provided elaborate step-by-step guidelines on how to “bring that sucker down without anyone getting hurt.” Rallying behind the rampant destruction of historical monuments across the US amid allegations that they celebrate a legacy of racism, the magazine said that it asked “scientists for the best, safest ways to bring it to the ground without anyone getting hurt – except, of course, for the inanimate racist who’s been dead for a century anyway.”
Penned by James Stout, the article goes on to describe the two “best” methods of dismantling a statue – “the physical approach” and “the chemical approach” – in great detail, giving nothing short of literal instructions on how to destroy a monument, including the precise number of people needed to pull down “your average statue.”
While ongoing protests against police brutality sparked by the killing of George Floyd remain a number-one topic, reliably bringing in coveted clicks, many readers were not impressed with the magazine’s foray into politics.
While some praised the publication for its “edgy, stunning and brave” piece on how to (properly) damage public property, the positive feedback was drowned out by comments scolding the magazine for “politicizing science.”

Tulsa imposes curfew to prevent violent protesting

SF Gate – Tulsa has announced a curfew for Friday and Saturday nights, restricting people from a large area surrounding the arena where President Donald Trump will hold his first campaign rally in months.
An executive order signed by Mayor G.T. Bynum, D, says the curfew, which begins at 10 p.m. and lifts at 6 a.m. both nights, is intended to quell potential overnight violence as thousands intend to pour into the city to protest the president’s visit.
The police informed Bynum that “individuals from organized groups who have been involved in destructive and violent behavior in other states are planning to travel to the City of Tulsa for purposes of causing unrest in and around the rally,” the order reads.
People who refuse to leave the area risk arrest, the Tulsa Police Department warned on Twitter.
“This is an unprecedented event for the City of Tulsa and has hundreds of moving parts, we are asking for everyone’s help in making this a safe event for all citizens,” the department tweeted.

Air Force Investigates Military Planes That Monitored Protesters

Documents showed that a unit from the 188th Wing of the Arkansas Air National Guard was deployed to monitor protests in Minneapolis.
Star Tribune – The Air Force inspector general is investigating whether the military improperly used a little-known reconnaissance plane to monitor protests in Washington and Minneapolis this month, the Air Force said on Thursday.
The inquiry was apparently prompted by lawmakers who expressed concerns to Pentagon officials that the use of military surveillance airplanes may have violated the civil liberties of the mostly peaceful protesters demonstrating against the police killings of black Americans.
“Following discussions with the secretary of defense about shared concerns, the secretary of the Air Force is conducting an investigation into the use of Air National Guard RC-26 aircraft to support civil authorities during recent protest activity in U.S. cities,” said Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, the chief Air Force spokesman.
The deployment of more than 5,000 National Guard members to the nation’s capital, and thousands more to cities across the country to help quell the civil unrest, has cast a harsh spotlight on the National Guard’s response to the protests.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper last week ordered a review of the National Guard’s response, and the new Air Force inquiry is expected to shed light on how and why the secretive RC-26 and some supporting ground units were deployed.
On the morning of June 2, hours after National Guard helicopters harassed crowds of protesters in Washington, National Guard officials informed their commanders that the West Virginia Air National Guard had sent an RC-26B to help observe the protests with “FMV capabilities” — or full-motion video — according to a message seen by the New York Times.
According to one military official familiar with the situation, senior National Guard leaders in Washington could watch the footage recorded from the aircraft on their cellphones in real time.

Treasure chest worth $1M found hidden in the Rocky Mountains after a decade of searching

MSN – A treasure chest reportedly full of gold, jewelry and other valuables worth $1 million has been found in the Rocky Mountains, according to the man who hid it there more than a decade ago.
Art dealer and author Forrest Fenn confirmed that “the search is over” in an announcement made on his website Sunday. Fenn said he didn’t know the person who claimed the treasure, but the poem in his book led him to its hiding spot.
“It was under a canopy of stars in the lush, forested vegetation of the Rocky Mountains and had not moved from the spot where I hid it more than 10 years ago,” Fenn said. “I congratulate the thousands of people who participated in the search and hope they will continue to be drawn by the promise of other discoveries.”
he 89-year-old told the Santa Fe New Mexican that the treasure was found a few days ago by a man from “back East” who did not want to be named. Fenn said the discovery was confirmed with a photograph.
Fenn inspired thousands of treasure hunters when he announced years ago that he had hidden the chest somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. The treasure was said to be located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and many deciphered clues from Fenn’s writing, including a 24-line poem published in his 2010 autobiography “The Thrill of the Chase.”

SEC issues ultimatum to Mississippi over state flag that features Confederate symbol

The Oxford Eagle – The Southeastern Conference has entered into the hotly-contested debate surrounding Mississippi’s state flag, and provided an ultimatum of sorts on Thursday.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey issued a statement regarding the Mississippi state flag, which is the only flag in the United States to still feature the Confederate flag symbol. Sankey urged state leaders to change it or allow Mississippi’s student-athletes to suffer the penalty.
“It is past time for change to be made to the flag of the State of Mississippi,” Sankey said. “Our students deserve an opportunity to learn and compete in environments that are inclusive and welcoming to all. In the event there is no change, there will be consideration of precluding Southeastern Conference championship events from being conducted in the State of Mississippi until the flag is changed.”

Economy & Business

World’s ultra-wealthy go for gold amid stimulus bonanza

Reuters – As stock markets roar back from the coronavirus-led rout, advisers to the world’s wealthy are urging them to hold more gold, questioning the strength of the rally and the long-term impact of global central banks’ cash splurge.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, most private banks recommended their clients hold none or just a tiny amount of gold.
Now some are channelling up to 10% of their clients’ portfolios into the yellow metal as the massive central bank stimulus reduces bond yields – making non-yielding gold more attractive – and raises the risk of inflation that would devalue other assets and currencies.
While gold prices have already risen 14% since the start of the year to $1,730 an ounce, many private bankers bet that gold – a hedge for both inflation and deflation – has further to run.
“Our view is that the weight of monetary supply, expansion, is going to ultimately be debasing to the dollar, and the Fed commitments, which (are) anchoring real rates, make the case for gold pretty sturdy,” said Lisa Shalett, Chief Investment Officer, Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley (MS.N).
Nine private banks spoken to by Reuters, which collectively oversee around $6 trillion in assets for the world’s ultra-rich, said they had advised clients to increase their allocation to gold. Of them, four provided forecasts and all saw prices ending the year higher than they are now.

Casinos RECLOSING in Arizona

AZ Central – As of 2 a.m. Thursday, Gila River Hotels & Casinos shuttered all three of its properties for two weeks amid a recent rise in COVID-19 cases in Arizona.
Leaders at Gila River Hotels & Casinos declined The Arizona Republic’s repeated requests to confirm the number of employees who have tested positive for COVID-19, saying that they will not disclose the information to “protect the privacy” of their workers.
The Gila River Indian Community operates Lone Butte and Wild Horse Pass casinos near Chandler and Vee Quiva casino near Laveen.
The announcement comes a week after a security guard at Lone Butte Casino died of complications related to COVID-19, according to his family.
This is the second closure for the casinos. Like other tribal casinos across Arizona, Gila River’s three casinos shut down because of COVID-19 in mid-March. The Gila River casinos initially reopened May 15, the same day Gov. Doug Ducey lifted Arizona’s stay-at-home order.

These companies are changing their branding due to racial stereotypes

Q13Fox – growing list of well-known brands are taking a stance against racist stereotypes.
Aunt Jemima, Cream of Wheat and Uncle Ben’s are joining other prominent companies across the country to change or evolve their brands to eliminate racially stereotyped branding.
The decisions come in the wake of renewed national discussion about race and marketing stereotypes following the death of George Floyd during an encounter with Minneapolis police on May 25.
AUNT JEMIMA:
The longtime American breakfast staple syrup, Aunt Jemima, will be changing its name and image.
Quaker Oats owner PepsiCo announced that the brand’s name would be changed and that the image of Aunt Jemima would be removed from all packaging.
Quaker announced the change in a statement. “We are starting by removing the image and changing the name,” Kristin Kroepfl, vice president and chief marketing officer of Quaker Foods North America, wrote. “We will continue the conversation by gathering diverse perspectives from both our organization and the Black community to further evolve the brand and make it one everyone can be proud to have in their pantry.”
The brand features a black woman named Aunt Jemima, which was inspired by the mammy stereotype popular in minstrel shows in the late 1800s.
UNCLE BEN’S:
Hours after Aunt Jemima announced its branding change, Uncle Ben’s rice announced that it would be following suit.
Mars Inc., the entity that owns Uncle Ben’s, released a statement that read, in part, “As a global brand, we know we have a responsibility to take a stand in helping to put an end to racial bias and injustices. As we listen to the voices of consumers, especially in the Black community, and to the voices of our Associates worldwide, we recognize that now is the right time to evolve the Uncle Ben’s brand, including its visual brand identity, which we will do.”
MRS. BUTTERWORTH’S:
Mrs. Butterworth’s is also undergoing a brand and packaging review after rebranding announcements by Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben’s.
Conagra Brands, which owns the Mrs. Butterworth’s line of syrups, announced Wednesday that it will begin a “complete brand and packaging review” of their products.
In a statement to Fox News, the brand said, “We stand in solidarity with our Black and Brown communities and we can see that our packaging may be interpreted in a way that is wholly inconsistent with our values,” the company said.
CREAM OF WHEAT:
B&G Foods released a statement and announced that Cream of Wheat would be “initiating an immediate review of the Cream of Wheat brand packaging.”
LAND O’LAKES:
Earlier this year, Land O’Lakes announced that it would no longer use the Native American woman on its packages of dairy products.
The image had been on the company’s label for nearly 100 years since it was founded in Minnesota in 1921.
GEECHIE BOY MILL:
Geechie Boy Mill, a family-owned operation in South Carolina that makes locally-grown and milled white grits, said it is “listening and reviewing our overall branding,” though no decisions have been made.
Geechie is a dialect spoken mainly by the descendants of African-American slaves who settled on the Ogeechee river in Georgia, according to Merriam-Webster.com.

Science & Technology

Inside the NBA’s plan to use smart technology and big data to keep players safe from coronavirus

CNBC – As the NBA heads to Disney World in Orlando, Florida, the league is making available a host of technological bells and whistles to both players and staff.
According to the NBA’s health and safety memo for the restart of the season, which was obtained by CNBC, residents will receive a “smart” ring, a Disney MagicBand, individual pulse oximeter and a smart thermometer to help monitor and reduce the spread of the coronavirus. The league is also investigating the implementation of a wearable alarm to help players and staff adhere to social distancing.
Here’s a breakdown of the key health and safety protocols the NBA plans to adopt when players head to Orlando later this month in preparation for the restarted season.
The NBA’s Disney plan includes 22 teams traveling to Orlando to play games in what is being described as “a bubble,” at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex. Players that decide to participate will be subject to extensive testing, quarantines from their families and strict rules pertaining to social behavior. The league memo, which is more than 100 pages long, outlines its plan to keep players safe and the tools it will be utilizing in order to do so.
“I think we are going to be able to pull this off,” Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday. “We are doing everything possible to keep people safe and I think it will work.”

DOJ Announces Proposals To Strip Section 230 Immunity From Big Tech

Infowars – The Department of Justice announced a set of proposals to remove legal protections enjoyed by Big Tech that allows them to behave as both a platform and a publisher.
The department said in a statement Wednesday that its proposals would update Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 to include accountability for antitrust violations made by tech companies against users.
“When it comes to issues of public safety, the government is the one who must act on behalf of society at large. Law enforcement cannot delegate our obligations to protect the safety of the American people purely to the judgment of profit-seeking private firms. We must shape the incentives for companies to create a safer environment, which is what Section 230 was originally intended to do,” said Attorney General William Barr in a statement.
“Taken together, these reforms will ensure that Section 230 immunity incentivizes online platforms to be responsible actors. These reforms are targeted at platforms to make certain they are appropriately addressing illegal and exploitive content while continuing to preserve a vibrant, open, and competitive internet.”
“These twin objectives of giving online platforms the freedom to grow and innovate while encouraging them to moderate content responsibly were the core objectives of Section 230 at the outset. The Department’s proposal aims to realize these objectives more fully and clearly in order for Section 230 to better serve the interests of the American people,” he concluded.
Four key areas are identified in the DOJ’s review of Big Tech reform:

Incentivizing Online Platforms to Address Illicit Content
Clarifying Federal Government Enforcement Capabilities
Promoting Competition
Promoting Open Discourse and Greater Transparency

Barr had said in an interview last week that companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Google were “clearly engaging in censorship” and that measures would be taken to address it.
“I think there are — clearly these, these entities are now engaged in censorship,” Barr told Fox News. “And they originally held themselves out as open forums where people, where the third parties could come and express their views and they built up a tremendous network of eyeballs.”
“They had a lot of market power based on that presentation,” the attorney general added. “And now they are acting much more like publishers because they’re censoring particular viewpoints and putting their own content in there to to diminish the impact of various people’s views.”
DOJ’s announcement comes on the heels of Google collaborating with NBC News to demonetize The Federalist over its comments section on Tuesday.

Health

People would be crushed by second wave, psychologists say

Washington Examiner – A second wave of the coronavirus would harm the country’s mental health after people built up hope during the reopening of the country, psychologists say.
“I think a second wave would be devastating for a lot of people,” Dr. Crystal Park, professor of psychology at the University of Connecticut, told the Washington Examiner. “There is a sense that we have been through a really terrible, traumatic time, and we are now in a phase of reopening and recovery.”
People started to put some of the stress of COVID-19 behind them, so a second wave would “provoke a whole new and perhaps deeper sense of fear and uncertainty,” Park said. “We would be feeling like we are retraumatized and likely more distressed and hopeless than the first time around.”
In the middle of the first wave, over 45% of Americans said the stress of the coronavirus had negatively impacted their mental health, according to a poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
“Feelings of isolation, loneliness, anxiety, depression, and substance abuse have all been on the rise,” said Dr. Jamie Aten, founder and executive director of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute, a faith-based, academic disaster research center. “It’s also important to recognize that the increased mental health stress, coupled with the fact that many have largely stayed home, has also led to a possible increase in not just relational problems but even interpersonal and domestic abuse.”
Three months of quarantine would cause intimate partner violence to increase by 20% worldwide, according to a study done by the United Nations Population Fund. This would worsen during a second wave of the coronavirus, Aten said.
“We are going to see mental health struggles increase, especially if there is a second wave,” he said. “It is most probable that another and even bigger wave of emotional problems will follow,” Aten said.

7 Surprising Health Benefits of Walking

If your gym is still closed, don’t sweat it. Experts say that the simple and affordable act of walking can reap huge benefits. Harvard Medical School experts said that walking has been scientifically shown to reduce certain forms of cancer, fight obesity, and ease joint pain. Walking also boosts immune function, which is excellent news during the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s the closest thing we have to a wonder drug,” said Dr. Thomas Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Here are seven ways walking can improve your health:

It counteracts fat genes. Harvard researchers studied 32 obesity-promoting genes in over 12,000 people to find out how these genes affected actual weight. The researchers found that the effects of the genes were slashed in half when people walked an hour daily.
It lowers your risk of cardiovascular disease. According to the American Heart Association, walking at a lively pace for 150 minutes a week improves blood pressure and lowers blood cholesterol levels.
It increases longevity. The AHA estimates that for every hour of brisk walking, life expectancy for some people may increase by two hours.
It eases anxiety and depression. A large Australian study showed that moderate-intensity exercise such as walking improved the quality of life for middle-aged women. One in 10 U.S. adults suffers from depression, according to the CDC, and women are 70% more likely to be depressed at some point in their lives than men.
It reduces the risk of developing breast cancer. An American Cancer Society study found that women who walked seven or more hours weekly had a 14% lower risk of developing breast cancer than those who walked three hours or less.
It eases joint pain. The Arthritis Foundation says that walking actually supports your joints by infusing them with oxygen and other nutrients. “If you don’t walk, joints are deprived of life-giving fluid, which can speed deterioration,” says the organization.
It boosts the immune system. According to Harvard Health, a study of over 1,000 men and women found that those who walked at least 20 minutes a day, five days a week, had 43% fewer sick days than those who exercised once a week or less. And if they did get sick, their illness was less severe.

Pandemic Affecting Mental Health of Pregnant Women, New Moms

Newsmax – The coronavirus pandemic is adding to the mood issues that many pregnant women and new moms experience, according to a new study.
One in 7 women experience anxiety or depression immediately before or after giving birth — and researchers say the pandemic has made it even worse.
“The social and physical isolation measures that are critically needed to reduce the spread of the virus are taking a toll on the physical and mental health of many of us,” said study co-author Margie Davenport, an associate professor of kinesiology, sport and recreation at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.
The study included 900 women — 520 who were pregnant and 380 who’d given birth in the past year. They were asked about their depression and anxiety before and during the pandemic and its accompanying isolation.
Before the pandemic, 29% had moderate to high anxiety and 15% reported symptoms of depression. During the pandemic, those rates increased to 72% and 41%, respectively.
The women were also asked about their exercise habits. Researchers wanted to know if lack of access to gyms during the pandemic and reduced physical activity were taking a toll, because exercise can help ease depression.
Sixty-four percent of women said they were getting less physical activity now, while 15% were doing more and 21% had no change in activity. Women who were getting at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity each week had significantly lower symptoms of depression and anxiety, the study found.
The findings were recently published in the journal Frontiers in Global Women’s Health.