POGO calls for IG removal protections; Reddit to disclose political advertisers; States want hold on 'public charge' policy; S. Korea bringing 750,000 virus tests to US; Ford, 3M develop face masks
NewsHero - April 14, 2020 - Issue 76
Welcome to today’s edition of NewsHero for April 14, 2020.
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Team NewsHero
An illustration of Kepler-186f, the first Earth-size planet to be discovered in a habitable zone, meaning it could support liquid water and potentially life. (NASA)
NewsHero Notes
NASA - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concept program announced last week it wants to photograph the surface of an exoplanet by using the sun as a giant camera lens. Cool!
South Korea, governing Democratic Party - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
South Korea—not on lockdown—will go ahead with elections scheduled for its 300-seat Parliament Wednesday, though many other countries, such as Britain and France, have postponed elections due to the COVID-19 crisis. South Korea is undeterred by several short-range missiles fired by North Korea off its east coast today.
Afternoon Brief
Project On Government Oversight (POGO) - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
More than 25 organizations have signed a letter calling on Congress to pass inspector general removal protections.
The letter, published by the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), is addressed to Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and Kevin McCarthy.
“The undersigned organizations write to express our grave and urgent concern for the independence of federal inspectors general. We urge you to expeditiously pass for-cause removal protections for inspectors general. The work of watchdogs, by nature, attracts attention from those whose political interests may be impacted by aggressive oversight. And yet IGs lack independence on the most fundamental level: they do not have for-cause removal protections. To operate effectively, IGs need independence both from the agency they are overseeing, and from the president,” the letter reads.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Common Cause, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), Equal Justice Society, Government Accountability Project, National Center for Health Research, National Taxpayers Union, National Women’s Health Network, Project on Government Oversight, Taxpayers Protection Alliance, Union of Concerned Scientists, and Whistleblowers of America are among the groups that signed the letter.
Reddit - 🦸♀️🦸♀️
Reddit said on Monday it will start publicly disclosing its political advertisers (and how much money they spend) in a new transparency community on the subreddit, r/RedditPoliticalAds.
Reddit said in a post, “we will strongly encourage political advertisers to use this opportunity to engage directly with users in the comments.” It will also list all political ad campaigns on Reddit dating back to January 1, 2019.
“We are trying to come up with a Reddit approach to what’s a pretty challenging debate regarding political ads,” Ben Lee, Reddit's vice president and general counsel, told Politico. “Why we're making this [change] is basically about two things that are pretty important to us: One is encouraging conversation around political ads and the second is transparency.”
Attorneys general seeking halt to “public charge” - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
Attorneys general from New York, Connecticut, and Vermont are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to temporarily block the Trump administration’s “public charge” rule—designed to limit immigrants’ access to public benefits—until the country bounces back from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The public charge rule drives immigrants and their families away from accessing health benefits to which they are entitled by threatening applicants’ eligibility for green cards and visa renewals,” New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) said in a statement, adding that the policy threatens “efforts to slow the continued spread of the virus happening nationwide.”
In a Monday filing the attorneys general argued that the public charge rule, which critics consider a “wealth test” on immigrants, is a risk to public health.
“Every person who doesn’t get the health coverage they need today risks infecting another person with the coronavirus tomorrow,” James said.
FEMA: S. Korea Bringing 750,000 Virus Test Kits to US
Regional states join together to decide on when to re-open their economies
Volunteer Manuel Garces organizes canned goods at Community Action Services and Food Bank in Provo, Utah. (Isaac Hale, Daily Herald)
NewsHero is continuing to offer a compilation of stories and resources that best represent the current state of the coronavirus pandemic, centered on those individuals, institutions, and organizations stepping up to end this crisis as quickly and effectively as possible. The public, too, has a duty. This includes staying responsibly informed and taking the situation seriously, while remaining as cool-headed and as isolated as possible. These are strange and difficult times, but we will endure.
South Korea is bringing approximately 750,000 more coronavirus tests to the U.S., according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Ford announced it will begin producing a new type of pressurized respirator face mask for healthcare workers today. The Powered Air-Purifying Respirator (PAPR) masks are being developed in partnership with 3M, reports CNN.
Forbes examined something that the countries with the best coronavirus responses have in common—women leaders.
Human Rights Watch assembled a COVID Checklist of 40 questions to ask global governments, offering a vision of a coronavirus response that protects public health and respects human rights.
Massachusetts has a new public health initiative: contact tracing. The goal is to reach everyone in the state who may have the coronavirus and get them tested and into isolation, reports NPR.
New York, New Jersey and four other Northeastern states are grouping together to coordinate plans on when and how best to re-open parts of the economy. California, Oregon, and Washington have announced a similar joint plan for re-opening businesses.
Becky Barraclough bags food items along with fellow volunteer Josh Fairse at Community Action Services and Food Bank in Provo, Utah. Barraclough said that since access to the retirement and assisted living communities she works with have been greatly limited due to the coronavirus, she decided to spend some time volunteering at the food bank. (Isaac Hale, Daily Herald)
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday granted emergency use authorization for a coronavirus test that uses saliva samples, developed by a Rutgers University-backed entity, reports CNBC.
A report from ProPublica takes a look at how food banks have been strained by people “panic buying” items.
Providers where abortions remain available report increased demand—often from women distraught over economic stress and health concerns linked to the coronavirus pandemic—despite attempts fueled by the outbreak to ban the procedures.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced today an extension to the country’s lockdown for 1.3 billion people until May 3 but says there may be some easing in restrictions in people’s movement after one week to help the poor daily wage earners and those working in the agriculture sector.
An opinion piece from Bloomberg News suggests that the COVID-19 crisis could provide an opportunity for the western world to attempt some self-improvement.
“Time to think tech dependencies” - here’s the latest Corona Daily newsletter for you.
Extra! Extra!
Working from home. Lockdown. Isolation.
With all that’s going on (and not going on) it can be easy to slip into a routine that involves not slipping out of “something more comfortable.” For example, we may or may not be wearing PJs as we write this.
Zoom meetings? No problem. Just be presentable from the waist up, right? (It’s a bit frightening if you stop to think about it during an actual meeting—we like to assume everyone sticks to the honor system of wearing some form of pants.)
In Florida however, it’s become official.
The Associated Press tells us: “A Florida judge has one request for attorneys showing up for court hearings via Zoom: Get out of bed and put on some clothes!
Broward Circuit Judge Dennis Bailey made the plea in a letter published by the Weston Bar Association, news outlets reported.
‘It is remarkable how many ATTORNEYS appear inappropriately on camera,’ Bailey said in the letter. ‘One male lawyer appeared shirtless and one female attorney appeared still in bed, still under the covers.’”
Sheesh. And this is legal representation we’re talking about here. What are the average Joes wearing for Zoom chats? We can only imagine…or Google it.
Our heroes are identified as follows:
🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️ - the hero, hands down. - Meaning that it wasn’t even a close call.
🦸♀️🦸♀️ - the hero, but… - Meaning that in this situation the call needed to be looked at in a little more detail. For example, in this case, they did the right thing but there have been some questionable calls in the past.
🦸♀️ - the hero, but only here, and it was a close call. - Meaning that in this instance they did the right thing but it was either out of character or a maddeningly close call.
Sources:
NASA Wants to Photograph the Surface of an Exoplanet - Wired
North Korea Fires Missiles as South’s Elections Loom - The New York Times
Organizations Call on Congress to Urgently Pass Inspector General Removal Protections - POGO
Reddit makes political ads more transparent ahead of 2020 election - Politico
Reddit announces updates, including a new subreddit, to increase political ad transparency - TechCrunch
Reddit will now publicly track political ad spending on its platform - The Verge
Citing coronavirus, states urge Supreme Court to reconsider order on "public charge" rule - CBS News
State AGs ask Supreme Court to halt 'public charge' rule during pandemic - The Hill
States ask Supreme Court to suspend health and housing rule for immigrants due to COVID-19 - CNN
US to receive 750,000 coronavirus tests from South Korea - CNN
Ford to start producing respirator masks and other equipment for healthcare workers - CNN
What Do Countries With The Best Coronavirus Responses Have In Common? Women Leaders - Forbes
Rights Respecting Responses to COVID-19 - Human Rights Watch
Massachusetts Recruits 1,000 'Contact Tracers' To Battle COVID-19 - NPR
New York, New Jersey and other Northeastern states form coronavirus working group to decide when to ease restrictions - CNBC
California, Oregon and Washington Announce Joint Plan to Reopen Businesses - Newsweek
California, Oregon & Washington Announce Western States Pact - ca.gov
Coronavirus saliva test gets FDA emergency use approval, Rutgers University says - CNBC
How Panic Buying Has Put an Incredible Strain on Food Banks Even As the Need for Them Explodes - ProPublica
Abortion clinics: Pandemic boosts demand, heightens stress - AP News
India PM extends lockdown two weeks to May 3 - AP News
The Virus Should Wake Up the West - Bloomberg News
Florida judge: Get out of bed, get dressed for Zoom hearings - AP News
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(Add Pub, Article & # of journos to tally card doc)
