Polls show support for mask mandates

There is public support for mask mandates for some or all people. All you see on TV are people who are violently opposed to them.

Two new polls find very broad support for various mask mandates, including among GOP-leaning demographics. This suggests that if GOP officials hadn't adopted Trump's project of stoking Covid conflict wherever possible, things might be very different today:https://t.co/5MiexqE3WI
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) August 11, 2021

Joe Biden won the election with 51.3% of the popular vote. 69% of the US population wants at least an indoor mask mandate in public places. Sounds like a no-brainer even for a politician. https://t.co/ABCl9fA9TF
— Dana Ludwig (@danaludwig) August 8, 2021

Completely agree. This is just like CNN always interviewing Trump cult/QAnon supporters but never interviewing Biden supporters. Biden supporters are boring because we believe in facts and don't spread outrageous conspiracy theories.
— Harris Levy (@HarrisL585) August 11, 2021

A poll released Wednesday found that 62 percent of Florida voters support a mask mandate for schools. At first blush, you might think that might cause DeSantis to rethink his position. pic.twitter.com/JktRu6A36P
— Jack Mobley (@Greenerpalmbea) August 9, 2021

"DeSantis’s position is horrible policy and rotten politics. A recent St. Pete poll finds that 62 percent of Floridians want a mask mandate in schools…" https://t.co/SF6us0sedY
— BrownEyedGirl (@Wandrwoman) August 5, 2021

This is what the media covers:

The parking lot after a school board meeting last night in Franklin, the wealthiest place in Tennessee. Parents harassed medical professionals who had spoken in favor of masks in schools. “We know who you are. You can leave freely, but we will find you.” pic.twitter.com/SzR0uvMeE7
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) August 11, 2021

In June Americans opposed mask mandates 60%-40%. Now they favor them 55%-45% — a big, sudden U-turn that reflects growing fears about Delta. The problem? Almost none of this extra caution is coming from unvaccinated people. The new @YahooNew @YouGov poll: https://t.co/7sAUvgsRpS
— Andrew Romano (@AndrewRomano) August 4, 2021

Scotland is investigating Trump

So far, nobody in our country has held Trump accountable. Maybe Scotland will.

NEW: A judge has ruled that Scotland can pursue a money-laundering investigation into Trump's golf courses, after lawyers cited the Trump Organization criminal cases in New York.
— Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) August 11, 2021

UK joins US, NY, GA DC in investigating Trump. https://t.co/5fSMJixkDl
— Jill Wine-Banks (@JillWineBanks) December 13, 2021

Interesting.

They’re pushing for an “unexplained wealth order,” which is designed to combat money laundering — and which would force Trump to explain his funding and why he’s kept a property that’s lost over $60 million since 2014. https://t.co/6sC9YoYHeU
— Angry Staffer (@Angry_Staffer) October 27, 2021

New satellite photos allegedly show Trump's destruction of sensitive sand dunes despite promises to preserve them https://t.co/RZPsryilJN pic.twitter.com/V8WV8zUNvP
— The Hill (@thehill) October 16, 2021

The threat of violence from the Trump cult

Homeland Security warns of "increasing but modest" threat of violence from Trump conspiracy. https://t.co/vpSZrI2ojo
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) August 9, 2021

DHS issues new warning of potential conspiracy theory-fueled violence in August, from ⁦@Geneva_Sands⁩ https://t.co/WlbL2g7kP1
— Carrie Cordero (@carriecordero) August 9, 2021

Die hard Trump supporters increasingly demand violence if he isn’t reinstated, Homeland Security warns https://t.co/GLgC66c8TG pic.twitter.com/9DcpyRYKNU
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) August 7, 2021

"It is becoming more and more evident that right-wing outlets that give oxygen to the Big Lie are helping to foment possible violence," @oliverdarcy writes in @ReliableSources: https://t.co/iMKBcfeqAF
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) July 10, 2021

Good Morning America
‘Perfect storm’: Bulletin warns of extremist violence as pandemic restrictions lift

"Whenever a political faction becomes obsessed with violent rhetoric and fantasies, brutal acts aren’t far behind….The cancer of political violence is not an endemic American disease. At the moment, it is a Republican disease."

Good from @Ibishblog:https://t.co/QGOJWRTgg3
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) August 12, 2021

The Covid Lambda variant

There's a lot left to learn about Covid-19's Lambda variant, which is still rare in the US. Here's what experts know so far. https://t.co/N6Q5sEW71H
— CNN (@CNN) August 7, 2021

Covers: Don’t Fear the Reaper

“Don’t Fear the Reaper” is a 1976 song by Blue Oyster Cult. It’s famous for the 2000 “More Cowbell” skit on Saturday Night Live. GQ just published an oral history of the song.

Danny and I are a part of this @GQMagazine oral history of Don’t Fear The Reaper! We made sure to sound super professional. https://t.co/gErP6FFShG pic.twitter.com/2ciK5jskj4
— Brian Wecht (@bwecht) August 5, 2021

Will Ferrell turns 55 today.

After “More Cowbell” aired on SNL in 2000, he said, Christopher Walken couldn’t escape cowbells. Folks would ring them at Walken’s B'way shows. Waiters would ask if he “wanted more cowbell.” “I think he was really mad at me.”pic.twitter.com/AmpnkKZqwr
— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla) July 16, 2022

Why is Trump fighting to block the release of his tax returns to Congress?

Chris Cillizza covers what we could learn.

The 6 BIG questions we may get answered on Trump's taxes:

1) How wealthy is he really?
2) Who does he owe money to?
3) Does he have Russian ties?
4) Is there an organized crime connection?
5)Has he paid taxes?
6) Does he donate to charity?https://t.co/dhVVFfUr8S
— Chris Cillizza (@ChrisCillizza) August 2, 2021

There must be something really bad in Trump’s tax returns if he’s fighting so hard to keep them from Congress. https://t.co/olIcofJJKQ
— Harris Levy (@HarrisL585) August 4, 2021

Lawyers for Donald Trump have asked a judge to block the Treasury Department from giving six years of his tax returns to Congress. https://t.co/Wc7ew5jXQw
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 4, 2021

Trump asks judge to block release of tax returns, blasts Biden Justice Dept. for authorizing release https://t.co/g4FLIHHqzv
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 4, 2021

Update on Texas Republicans – election law and “audit” plan

Texas audit proposed by GOP would miss minor but real errors. https://t.co/XBLle05Jsl
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) August 3, 2021

“‘If Texas is going to focus on the blue counties, that's probably the wrong thing to do,’ said Michael McDonald, …who led the team that found the Texas discrepancies. They should look at all the counties because there's something broken w/ this system.’” https://t.co/HJnll4wW5p
— Jennifer Cohn ✍🏻 📢 (@jennycohn1) August 3, 2021

Republican in a state Trump won now seeking to audit counties where Biden votes were clusteredhttps://t.co/s9KqPn7p9w
— Allan Smith (@akarl_smith) July 21, 2021

A hidden provision regarding mail voting in the Texas Republicans' voting restrictions might disenfranchise more than 100,000 Texas voters. https://t.co/Pppgtqmoxl
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 28, 2021

There's a certain red state turning blue where we @vest_team found numerous discrepancies between local election officials' precinct data and certified election results. The issue appears to be data entry errors into the SoS election reporting system https://t.co/4hlnnsJhfO
— Michael McDonald (@ElectProject) July 22, 2021

Great thread on Covid and kids

Despite stark differences in vaccinations by state,

In Louisiana, 0% of kids under 12 vaccinated
In Florida, 0% of kids under 12 vaccinated

Even in high vax Massachusetts

0% of kids under 12 vaccinated

So if we're in a pandemic of the unvaccinated, are these kids in trouble?
— Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH (@ashishkjha) August 3, 2021

Adjusted for population

Florida had 12X as many kids infected as Massachusetts last week

And Louisiana? About 10X

So what's going on?

None of these kids are vaccinated!

So why are infection rates so much lower in MA?

Right, because kids are protected by adults

4/5
— Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH (@ashishkjha) August 3, 2021

So when you hear we have a pandemic of the unvaccinated

Yes that includes kids

But largely only in unvaccinated communities

Very few kids in highly vaccinated places are getting sick

So if you want to protect unvaccinated kids

Make sure everyone around them has the shot

Fin
— Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH (@ashishkjha) August 3, 2021

Setsuko Hara on TCM – 8/19/21

Setsuko Hara was a great Japanese actress. She appeared in many fine films directed by Yasujiro Ozu. Ozu films were not widely shown in the US until Tokyo Story (1953) was shown in 1972.

Tokyo Story will be shown on 8/21 along with Late Spring, Early Autumn, Late Autumn and Tokyo Twilight. Tokyo Twilight is relatively unknown and is one of his best that I have seen. It’s available as part of this DVD set. Many of his films are part of the Criterion Collection.

See the schedule here.

It’s great that they’re showing so many of her Ozu films. I recommend Tokyo Twilight which is never talked about as one of Ozu’s best – I think it’s excellent. https://t.co/NI5yLL6NcS
— Harris Levy (@HarrisL585) July 28, 2021