News Roundup 09/26/20
Justice Ginsburg Becomes First Woman to Lie in State at the Capitol
On Sept. 18, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg passed away. A few days later, she became the first Jewish woman ever to lie in the state at the U.S. Capitol. Lawmakers held a very formal ceremony for Ginsburg in the National Statuary Hall inside the Capitol. Democratic President Joe Biden, his wife Jill Biden and Kamala Harris were among those who paid their respects. But GOP leaders, Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy did not attend.
Source: NBC News
Florida Republicans Take Aim to Pay Felon’s Fines So They Can Vote
On March 3, 2020 Democratic-Presidential candidate, Mike Bloomberg helped raise money to pay off felons’ fines so that they can vote in Florida. With the help of Florida’s attorney general, Bloomberg this week raised $16 million for a fund established by the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition to help felons who have completed their sentences vote in the upcoming election. In 2018, the coalition took initiative and created a law that prohibited felons from ever regaining the right to vote. However, Florida’s Republican-led legislature passed and signed a law last year that states felons cannot register to vote until they have paid all fines and fees imposed as part of their sentences.
Source: NPR
Body Positivity Has Become Commercialized and A Trend
Grammy Award winning singer Lizzo claims the body positivity movement has become hijacked by those who do not need it. After Lizzo was celebrated being the “first big black woman” to grace the cover of Vogue Magazine, she realized what was happening to the meaning of body positivity. Body positivity calls to accept all bodies shapes and sizes.
Lizzo claims it is commercialized, “Now you look at the hashtag ‘body positive’ and you see smaller framed girls, curvier girls. Lotta white girls. And I feel no ways about that, because inclusivity is what my message is always about.”
Lizzo is not upset because body positivity has made it into the mainstream, she just feels as though the people for whom the term was created for are not the ones benefiting from it.
Source: BBC News
Trump's Frustration With the CDC
President Donald Trump has lost patience for CDC Head, Dr. Robert Redfield and his team after their discussion on the future of the pandemic clashes with his assessments. According to associates who are familiar with the President’s thinking, Trump believes that breakthroughs are not coming swiftly enough. Trump’s frustration has even caused some to question whether or not Redfield is on the chopping block. The odds of the President making major staffing changes before the election are highly unexpected though.
Source: CNN
U.S. COVID-19 Cases Near Seven Million
Newly reported U.S. COVID-19 cases spiked as House Democrats prepared a new aid package and another vaccine ending final-stage trials. The U.S. reported about 44,000 new cases on Thursday. On Wednesday there were 37,000 cases reported. According to John Hopkins University, the total number of people who have been infected in the country since the pandemic began is 6.98 million. As the number of U.S. COVID-19 deaths surpasses 200,000 many public health experts point to a series of missteps and miscalculations in the country’s response.
Source: The Wall Street Journal