Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of eighty-three.  Sunrise is 5:30 AM and sunset 8:31 PM, for 15h 00m 59s of daytime.  The moon is a waning crescent with 35.7% of its visible disk illuminated.

 The Whitewater School Board’s Policy Review Committee meets via audiovisual conferencing at 9:30 AM.

 On this day in 1960, Jane Goodall arrives at the Gombe Stream Reserve in present-day Tanzania to begin her famous study of chimpanzees in the wild.

Recommended for reading in full —

Quinta Jurecic and Benjamin Wittes write The Roger Stone Commutation Is Even More Corrupt Than It Seems:

Stone did, indeed, refuse to provide testimony adverse to Trump. And while his precise relationship to WikiLeaks and Assange was never fully explained, he stood trial for lies to Congress denying his efforts to contact WikiLeaks, and for intimidating another witness who could have contradicted those lies. As the judge in Stone’s case put it: “He was prosecuted for covering up for the President.”

Now, with Trump’s commutation, Stone has received the precise reward Trump dangled at the time his possible testimony was at issue.

“Roger Stone is a victim of the Russia Hoax that the Left and its allies in the media perpetuated for years in an attempt to undermine the Trump Presidency,” the White House said Friday evening. In the White House’s telling, Stone was targeted by out-of-control Mueller prosecutors for mere “process” crimes when their “collusion delusion” fell apart. He was subject to needless humiliation in his arrest, and he did not get a fair trial. “[P]articularly in light of the egregious facts and circumstances surrounding his unfair prosecution, arrest, and trial, the President has determined to commute his sentence. Roger Stone has already suffered greatly. He was treated very unfairly, as were many others in this case. Roger Stone is now a free man!”

Indeed he is. But the story may not be over.

“Time to put Roger Stone in the grand jury to find out what he knows about Trump but would not tell. Commutation can’t stop that,” tweeted Andrew Weissman, one of Mueller’s top prosecutors, following the president’s action.

That’s most unlikely while the Justice Department remains in the hands of Attorney General William Barr. But it’s far from unthinkable should Trump leave office in January. What’s more, the commutation means that the story Mueller tells about potential obstruction vis-a-vis Stone did not end with the activity described by the Mueller report. It is a continuing pattern of conduct up until the present day.

Charles Ornstein and Ash Ngu write No, President Trump, Testing Is Not Causing Case Counts to Rise. The Virus Is Just Spreading Faster:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters on Saturday that testing alone does not account for the increase in COVID-19 cases in his state. “Even with the testing increasing or being flat, the number of people testing positive is accelerating faster than that,” DeSantis said at a briefing at the state Capitol. “You know that’s evidence that there’s transmission within those communities.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott acknowledged Wednesday that the state is experiencing a “massive outbreak” and that additional restrictions may be needed to ensure hospitals don’t become overloaded. On Thursday, he paused the state’s reopening and ordered a halt to elective surgeries in four large counties.

Why Ambulance Rides Are So Expensive In The United States:

Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of eighty-one.  Sunrise is 5:29 AM and sunset 8:32 PM, for 15h 02m 28s of daytime.  The moon is a waning crescent with 45.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

 Whitewater’s Planning Commission meets at 6 PM via audiovisual conferencing.

 On this day in 1787, Congress establishes the Northwest Territory, encompassing present day Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, parts of Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

Recommended for reading in full —

 Eli Rosenberg reports Workers are pushed to the brink as they continue to wait for delayed unemployment payments:

The issue has spilled back into public view in recent weeks, as thousands of frustrated workers awaiting payments have camped out, sometimes overnight, in front of unemployment offices in states like Oklahoma, Alabama and Kentucky.

The Department of Labor does not track the percentage of unemployment benefits that have been processed, an agency spokeswoman said in an email. The agency did not offer a comment on the issue of delays in processing benefits.

But previously unreleased data compiled by Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, illustrates the scope. By the end of May, about 18.8 million out of 33 million claims — 57 percent — had been paid nationwide. That number has steadily improved from 47 percent of paid claims at the end of April and 14 percent at the end of March.

In Wisconsin, where about 13 percent of claims remained unprocessed as of July 7, residents told local reporters that they had waited 10 weeks or longer for their claims to be processed, leaving some on the brink of bankruptcy and eviction. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development said through a spokesman that the average time from application to payment is 21 days. In Pennsylvania, another 15 percent of claims were still in review as of mid-June.

David Folkenflik reports Fresh Scrutiny For Fox’s Tucker Carlson As Top Writer Quits Over Bigoted Posts:

The revelation that Fox News prime-time star Tucker Carlson’s top writer had posted racist, sexist and homophobic sentiments online for years under a pseudonym has led to renewed scrutiny of Carlson’s own commentaries, which have inspired a series of advertising boycotts.

On Monday, Carlson is set to address the growing controversy, which led to the resignation of the writer, Blake Neff, after questions were raised by CNN’s Oliver Darcy. It also led to a condemnation of Neff’s views by the network’s chief executive.

In an internal memo, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and President and Executive Editor Jay Wallace called the postings “horrific racist, misogynistic and homophobic behavior.” Neff had, among other things, assailed the intelligence of Black Americans, African immigrants and Asian Americans, according to CNN. He also repeatedly demeaned a woman, posting details about her dating life and mocking her on personal terms.

Carlson has publicly cited the importance of the value of Neff’s work on his show and for Carlson’s earlier book. The host has courted criticism repeatedly for severe rhetoric, especially toward people of color, immigrants and women.

Dog Delivers Groceries During COVID-19:

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of eighty.  Sunrise is 5:28 AM and sunset 8:32 PM, for 15h 03m 55s of daytime.  The moon is a waning gibbous with 54.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

 On this day in 1543, King Henry VIII marries his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, at Hampton Court Palace

Recommended for reading in full —

 David J. Lynch reports After the fastest recession in U.S. history, the economic recovery may be fizzling:

United Airlines announced plans to lay off more than one-third of its 95,000 workers. Brooks Brothers, which first opened for business in 1818, filed for bankruptcy. And Bed Bath and Beyond said it will close 200 stores.

If there were still hopes of a “V-shaped” comeback from the novel coronavirus shutdown, this past week should have put an end to them. The pandemic shock, which economists once assumed would be only a temporary business interruption, appears instead to be settling into a traditional, self-perpetuating recession.

When states and cities began closing most businesses in March, the idea was to smother the virus and buy time for the medical system to adapt. Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, spoke of hopes “that by July the country’s really rocking again.”

But without a uniform federal strategy, many governors rushed to reopen their economies before bringing the virus under control. Now states such as Florida, California, Texas and Arizona are setting daily records for coronavirus cases and more than 70 percent of the country has either paused or reversed reopening plans, according to Goldman Sachs.

After two surprisingly strong months, the economy could begin shedding jobs again this month and in August, Morgan Stanley warned Friday. Many small businesses that received forgivable government loans have exhausted their funds while some larger companies are starting to thin their payrolls in preparation for a longer-than-expected downturn.

Nsikan Apkan and Kennedy Elliott report How the new coronavirus surges compare to New York City’s peak:

COVID-19 has been described as a once-in-a-century pandemic, with New York City as the iconic early epicenter for the United States. Now, as coronavirus surges across the country, many places are moving toward a New York-style crisis—and not only in urban areas.

Hotspots are flaring everywhere, from Washington State to Kansas to Florida, with many of these regions matching the concentration of cases witnessed at the peak of New York City’s outbreak.

WORST TWO WEEKS

The U.S. just experienced its worst two-week stretch, with more newly confirmed cases than at any point since its coronavirus outbreak began in early 2020. From June 25 to July 8, 674,750 Americans were diagnosed with coronavirus, and the nation’s tally grew by one million cases over the span of the past month.

With the recent surge elsewhere in the U.S., many areas are experiencing a greater density of cases than New York City witnessed during its two-week peak. In the past few weeks, 59 counties with at least 50 cases have experienced a rise in cases per capita on par with or worse than New York City’s peak. When looking at total cases since the pandemic’s start, 536 counties have case densities worse than one in 100 people.

Eavesdropping on Orangutans:

Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will see late afternoon thundershowers with a high of eighty-four. Sunrise is 5:27 AM and sunset 8:33 PM, for 15h 05m 17s of daytime.  The moon is a waning gibbous with 63.9% of its visible disk illuminated.

 On this day in 1839, Ebenezar G. Whiting of Racine becomes the first Wisconsin resident issued a patent (for an improved plow).

Recommended for reading in full —

 Alex Samuels reports [Texas] Gov. Greg Abbott warns if spread of COVID-19 doesn’t slow, “the next step would have to be a lockdown”:

With Texas continuing to break records for new coronavirus deaths and hospitalizations this week, Gov. Greg Abbott reiterated Friday afternoon that things will continue to get worse. And if people keep flouting his new statewide mask mandate, he said, the next step could be another economic lockdown.

“Things will get worse, and let me explain why,” he told KLBK TV in Lubbock. “The deaths that we’re seeing announced today and yesterday — which are now over 100 — those are people who likely contracted COVID-19 in late May.

“The worst is yet to come as we work our way through that massive increase in people testing positive.”

….

As of Thursday afternoon, 2,918 Texas had died of COVID-19. The state also reported nearly another 10,000 new cases of the disease.

Nearly 9,700 people were in Texas hospitals on Thursday, too, the highest number since the pandemic began.

With cases of the virus and related hospitalizations rising at alarming rates, Abbott expanded his ban on elective medical procedures Thursday to cover more than 100 counties across much of the state. On Friday afternoon, he also extended his disaster declaration for all Texas counties in response to COVID-19.

Laura Hazard Owen reports One group that’s really benefitted from Covid-19: Anti-vaxxers:

“How Big Tech powers and profits from vaccine misinformation.” That’s the title of a report released this week by the U.K.-based nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate. Among the findings:

Covid-19 has been a growth opportunity for anti-vaccination sites. “Our investigation of 409 English language anti-vaxx social media accounts shows that they now have 58 million followers. For 147 of the largest accounts, with 49 million followers, we have calculated that they have gained at least 7.8 million followers since 2019, an increase of 19%.”

The movement is strongest on Facebook… “In our sample, anti-vaxx Facebook groups and pages command over 31 million followers, well over half of the combined following of all the accounts we studied. Anti-vaxx accounts have nearly 17 million subscribers on YouTube and 7 million on Instagram, but appear to be weakest on Twitter where they have 2 million followers.” The authors theorize that this could be because people are reluctant to publicly admit anti-vaccination views: “89 percent of the Facebook pages in our sample have more followers than likes, with the key difference that likes are visible to other users. In contrast, just 44 percent of the top 50 Facebook pages have more followers than likes.”

Opossums Enjoying Their Banana:

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of eighty-three. Sunrise is 5:27 AM and sunset 8:33 PM, for 15h 06m 36s of daytime.  The moon is a waning gibbous with 72.9% of its visible disk illuminated.

 On this day in 1897, the temperature in Ashland reaches 115 degrees. (‘This temperature was recorded outside Harrison’s Drug Store, around 2:00 p.m.’)

Recommended for reading in full —

 Michael Gerson writes Trump is our ‘boy in the bubble’ — a right-wing information bubble:

So what are the sources of truth and authority in the land of Trump? There is the cool rationality of right-wing Twitter. There is the wisdom of golfing buddies. There is a constant consumption and regurgitation of cable television. There is Tucker Carlson for advice on epidemiology, Jeanine Pirro on constitutional theory, Lou Dobbs on immigration policy, Sean Hannity to polish his shoes.

We have entered a genuine crisis of truth. The president of the United States is allowing only inputs that reinforce his instincts. He is operating based on a set of views and assumptions that have no relation to the lives of Americans. The African American experience of injustice doesn’t matter to him. The deaths of the elderly from a preventable disease don’t register. The struggles of Americans in a disease-cursed economy are not even admitted. Instead, we get a huge helping of denial with a side of racism.

Does Trump really think this is the path to reelection? Does he believe that most Americans will give him a pat on the back for a job well done? Yes, he appears to believe this. It is part of his delusion to believe it is always November 2016. Hillary Clinton is still his opponent. The polls are still weighted against him. The experts and doubters will again be humiliated. If only he stays the course of polarization and intolerance. If only he refuses to doubt his bigotry and his destiny.

Emily Kassie and Barbara Marcolini report How ICE Exported the Coronavirus:

Admild, an undocumented immigrant from Haiti, was feeling sick as he approached the deportation plane that was going to take him back to the country he had fled in fear. Two weeks before that day in May, while being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Louisiana, he had tested positive for the coronavirus — and he was still showing symptoms.

He disclosed his condition to an ICE official at the airport, who sent him to a nurse.

“She just gave me Tylenol,” said Admild, who feared reprisals if his last name was published. Not long after, he was back on the plane before landing in Port-au-Prince, one of more than 40,000 immigrants deported from the United States since March, according to ICE records.

Even as lockdowns and other measures have been taken around the world to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, ICE has continued to detain people, move them from state to state and deport them.

An investigation by The New York Times in collaboration with The Marshall Project reveals how unsafe conditions and scattershot testing helped turn ICE into a domestic and global spreader of the virus — and how pressure from the Trump administration led countries to take in sick deportees.

Mars: Why now? A three minute guide: