It should be obvious that now more than ever we need the work of skilled, honest journalists to help us navigate through the unending news cycles that churn unabated through a world in crisis.
I mean, when the guy holding the "football" -- the nuclear button -- for the president tests positive for Covid-19, we clearly are all in trouble.
Not to mention that most Covid patients exhibit long-term cognitive issues after recovery.
In this context, it's vitally important that all journalists maintain our essential standards and ethics when reporting the news. Some readers may recall that I initially refused to identify Kellyanne Conway's teenaged daughter when her social media posts caused a stir several months back.
All I was doing was respecting the privacy of the family, plus all of us who are parents know that teenagers can do some pretty reckless things. It seems to be part of their job description.
Well, Claudia Conway continues to make waves, and now her TikTok posts have achieved wide distribution through mainstream media, it seems pointless for me to ignore the fact that her privacy is no longer feasible, even if I would desire that to be the case.
Thus one of the headlines below.
Probably the most haunting image of the day is that of a deserted White House, where aides clean the living quarters dressed in HazMat suits and virtually everyone works virtually.
Except the Emperor. And sure enough, he has no clothes.
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*At least 1 of Trump's military aides tasked with carrying the nuclear 'football' reportedly has coronavirus (Yahoo News)
* Claudia Conway's popular, unfiltered TikTok account is a communications problem for the Trump administration -- The 15-year-old daughter of the former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway is an outspoken and often unfiltered critic of the president on TikTok. -- She has garnered more than 1 million followers, many of whom see her posts as a direct lens into the administration's workings. They also appear to enjoy the direct insight into Conway family drama, made more delicate by Claudia's discussions about her mental health. (Business Insider)
* For the Secret Service, a New Question: Who Will Protect Them From Trump? -- Central to the job is a willingness to say yes to the president no matter what he asks. Now, that means subjecting an agent’s health to the whims of a contagious president. (NYT)
* President Donald Trump may be eagerly seeking a return to normal after three nights in the hospital. But the White House he arrived home to Monday with dramatic and reckless flourish has changed drastically since he was airlifted off the South Lawn at the end of last week. Instead of a bustling hive of pre-election activity, the West Wing has become a breeding ground for viral contagion. At least 11 of the President's aides or allies have either contracted the virus or -- in the case of his daughter Ivanka -- are working from home. Entire suites of offices sit vacant as Trump's aides work to isolate him in the residence and out of the West Wing. (CNN)
* White House Is Not Tracing Contacts for ‘Super-Spreader’ Rose Garden Event -- Since President Trump’s Covid diagnosis, numerous associates have tested positive, but the White House has not aggressively investigated the outbreak. (NYT)
* Nearly One-Third of Covid Patients Show Altered Mental State (NYT)
* With coronavirus infections raging through the White House and the state of the President's health unclear, it's time to face up to an unsettling reality. We need to start thinking about what to do if the disease incapacitates or kills President Trump or his opponent, Joe Biden -- or even both of them -- between now and January 6, 2021, when Congress meets to count Electoral College votes. There is one thing each state can do now to minimize the risk: pass a law providing that voters' votes for a deceased or incapacitated presidential candidate count toward a replacement chosen by that candidate's party, and that state's electoral college votes for the deceased or incapacitated candidate also go to the party replacement. (CNN)
* Opposition groups in Kyrgyzstan said they had seized power in the strategically important Central Asian country on Tuesday after taking control of government buildings in the capital during protests over a parliamentary election. (Reuters)
* ‘The Coal Industry Is Back,’ Trump Proclaimed. It Wasn’t. -- The demise of coal-fired power plants in Arizona and Kentucky shows how the president, despite promises to restore jobs, failed to counter the forces decimating the industry. (NYT)
* Calamities Challenge California’s Economic Foundation -- The pandemic and wildfires have underscored issues of housing and growth. Will the disruptions and dislocations force the state to chart a new course? (NYT)
* Concern rises for White House residence staffers as their workplace emerges as a virus hot spot (WashPo)
* So far, 13 people in Trump's inner circle have tested positive for Covid-19. (CNN)
* Americans showed Trump compassion. He repaid us with contempt. (WashPo)
* ‘Better Safe Than Sorry,’ Cuomo Says After School Closings -- Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York announced that he would close schools on Tuesday in areas where there has been a spike in coronavirus cases. (NYT)
* VP debate to feature plexiglass barriers to increase safety (WashPo/ Reuters) |
* The Pressure to Be Perfect Turns Deadly for Celebrities in Japan -- A succession of suicides has shown the burdens of a society where many feel that they must conceal their personal struggles. (NYT)
* Earth is not necessarily the best planet in the universe for life, a new study has found. Researchers have found some 24 planets that are "superhabitable", offering conditions more suitable for life than they are here on Earth. And some of them even have better stars than our own Sun, the researchers said. The new study looked for worlds that would be even more likely to foster life than our own – including those that are older, bigger, warmer and wetter than Earth – in the hope of informing future searches for life elsewhere in the universe.The study identified 24 of the “superhabitable” planets. They are all 100 light years away, making them difficult if not impossible to ever see up close, but research with future telescopes could give us much more information about those worlds. (Independent)
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