Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with scattered showers and a high of sixty.  Sunrise is 5:27 AM and sunset 8:15 PM, for 14h 47m 21s of daytime.  The moon is a waning crescent with 16.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater School District’s distinctions committee meets at 2 PM via audiovisual conferencing. 

 On this day in 1863, the Siege of Vicksburg begins (“seventeen different Wisconsin regiments were involved in the assault that began the next day – “8th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 20th, 23rd, 25th, 27th, 29th and 33rd Wisconsin Infantry regiments and the 1st, 6th and 12th Wisconsin Light Artillery batteries as well as the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry”).

Recommended for reading in full —

Mike Stobbe and Jason Dearden report Officials release edited coronavirus reopening guidance:

The CDC drafted the reopening guidance more than a month ago and it was initially shelved by the administration, the AP reported last week.

The agency also had prepared even more extensive guidance — about 57 pages of it — that has not been posted.

That longer document, which the AP obtained, would give different organizations specifics about how to reopen while still limiting spread of the virus, including by spacing workers or students 6 feet apart and closing break rooms and cafeterias to limit gatherings. Many of the suggestions already appear on federal websites but they haven’t been presented as reopening advice.

Some health experts and politicians have been pushing for the CDC to release as much guidance as possible to help businesses and organizations decide how to proceed.

“They want to be able to tell their own employees the guidance of the federal government,” Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University, said at a congressional hearing Wednesday. “They want to be able to tell their customers, ‘We’ve done everything that’s been asked of us.’”

Evelyn N. Farkas writes Russia is interfering in our elections again. And Trump supporters are emulating Russian tactics:

U.S. national security experts warned years ago that Russia would meddle in our 2020 elections. The reality is worse: President Trump’s supporters are mirroring Russian tactics.

In 2017, I was attacked by the far right as well as Russian actors after speaking publicly as President Obama’s deputy assistant defense secretary for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia; today, the campaign against me appears to be domestic, albeit aided by Russian trolls. The political stakes are higher for all Americans this year, not just me. The tactics behind these attacks reveal a frightening development for American democracy.

In President Vladimir Putin’s Russia, disinformation and intimidation tactics are commonly used to silence domestic opposition. (So is murder.) False allegations, followed by contradictory, also false, narratives are the norm in Russian media and political discourse. Misinformation is so prevalent that many Russians are largely indifferent to what is actually true. In Trump’s America, similar tactics are taking hold. What began as a disconcerting nexus between Russia and the reactionary right in this and other countries has become part of the American right-wing repertoire.

Healthcare workers turn their backs on Belgium’s prime minister:

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of fifty-seven.  Sunrise is 5:28 AM and sunset 8:13 PM, for 14h 45m 25s of daytime.  The moon is a waning crescent with 23.3% of its visible disk illuminated.

 On this day in 1673, Louis Jolliet, Father Jacques Marquette, and five French voyageurs depart from the mission of St. Ignace, at the head of Lake Michigan, to reconnoiter the Mississippi River.

Recommended for reading in full —

Margaret Sullivan writes Facebook has a huge truth problem. A high-priced ‘oversight board’ won’t fix it:

Facebook last week announced the formation of a 20-member “oversight board.” The panel will rule on difficult content issues, such as whether specific Facebook or Instagram posts constitute hate speech. Some of its rulings will be binding; other will be considered “guidance.”

….

If gold-plated résumés were the answer, we’d be all set. But as one of the top technology critics in the country, Recode co-founder Kara Swisher, put it recently, they’ve been charged with the impossible — “trying to push back the ocean with one hand.”

To this, I’d add some other concerns. Anyone who has ever served on a committee, especially a large one or one populated with big egos, knows that it’s not an ideal way to get things done.

With rare exceptions, the committee format is unwieldy and inefficient, long on lofty discussions, short on definitive action. And certainly not a proven way to cut through a vast amount of information, take on the thorniest of problems and make hugely important decisions on issues that constantly arise in real time.

….

What’s more, the members’ paid participation may actually end up muting their voices at a time when they could be serving as some of Facebook’s most influential critics.

“They are now effectively within the Facebook corporate tent,” Emily Bell, director of Columbia University’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism, told Columbia Journalism Review. That “buys up potential dissent or criticism.”

Greg Sargent writes The 2016 nightmare is already repeating itself:

The latest developments in the Michael Flynn case should prompt us to revisit one of the most glaring failures in political journalism, one that lends credibility to baseless narratives pushed for purely instrumental purposes, perversely rewarding bad-faith actors in the process.

News accounts constantly claim with no basis that new information “boosts” or “lends ammunition” to a particular political attack, or “raises new questions” about its target. These journalistic conventions are so all-pervasive that we barely notice them.

But they’re extremely pernicious, and they need to stop. They both reflect and grotesquely amplify a tendency that badly misleads readers. That happened widely in 2016, to President Trump’s great benefit. It’s now happening again.

….

When critics say Clinton was unfairly placed on an equivalent plane to Trump in this regard, journalists defensively point out that Democrats must be scrutinized, too. But this misses the objection, which centers not on a demand for light scrutiny of Democrats, but on a criticism of presentation and proportionality, and the ways in which getting that lopsidedly wrong misinforms in a larger and more intangible sense.

Building the World’s Largest Open-Air Museum:

Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of sixty-seven.  Sunrise is 5:29 AM and sunset 8:12 PM, for 14h 43m 27s of daytime.  The moon is a waning crescent with 31.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

 On this day in 1913, Woody Herman (American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader) is born.

Recommended for reading in full —

Inae Oh writes McConnell Admits He Was Wrong to Say Obama Left Trump Without Pandemic Plan (‘The former administration left behind a 69-page document’):

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday conceded that he had been “wrong” to claim, as he did during an appearance on the Trump campaign’s YouTube channel earlier this week, that the Obama administration had failed to leave guidance on preparing for a pandemic.

“I was wrong,” the top Senate Republican told Fox News. “They did leave behind a plan. So I clearly made a mistake in that regard.”

McConnell, however, refused to make a judgment on whether President Trump had failed to follow the playbook. “I don’t have any observation about that because I don’t know enough about the details of that to comment on it in any detail.”

But McConnell’s claim of ignorance didn’t stop him from making his false allegation on Monday.

Michelle Hackman and Alison Sider report TSA Preparing to Check Passenger Temperatures at Airports Amid Coronavirus Concerns (‘Travelers would have temperatures checked at about a dozen airports under plans that are still under discussion’):

U.S. officials are preparing to begin checking passengers’ temperatures at roughly a dozen airports as soon as next week, as the coronavirus pandemic has heightened anxieties about travel, according to people familiar with the matter.

Details of the plan are still being completed and are subject to change, the people said. It couldn’t be determined which airports will initially have the new scanning procedures. A senior Trump administration official said the initial rollout is expected to cost less than $20 million, and that passengers won’t be charged an additional fee.

Airlines have been pushing for the Transportation Security Administration to start taking passengers’ temperatures as part of a multifaceted effort to keep potentially sick people from boarding planes and to make passengers feel more comfortable taking trips again. Demand for air travel has dropped more than 90% amid transport restrictions and stay-at-home orders.

Woody Herman, Camel Walk:

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of seventy-four.  Sunrise is 5:30 AM and sunset 8:11 PM, for 14h 41m 27s of daytime.  The moon is a waning crescent with 41.3% of its visible disk illuminated.

 On this day in 1776, the Fifth Virginia Convention instructs its Continental Congress delegation to propose a resolution of independence from Great Britain.

Recommended for reading in full —

Scott R. Anderson and Margaret Taylor write The House Prepares to Move Forward With Remote Voting:

On May 13, House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern unveiled H. Res. 965, his latest proposal for implementing some form of remote voting in the House of Representatives in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

….

So how would this plan work? Like its predecessor, H. Res. 965 is still centered on the idea of proxy voting, a practice in which one member of Congress casts a vote on behalf of another. Yet it incorporates changes that address various concerns with and criticisms of that approach—including some we previously put forward.

The revised proposal would provide for special procedures during certain “covered periods[,]” as designated by the speaker in consultation with the minority leader (or their designees). The speaker would be able to make such a designation only after being notified by the sergeant-at-arms, in consultation with the attending physician, that “a public health emergency due to a novel coronavirus is in effect[.]” Any designated “covered period” would last only for 45 days, though the speaker would be free to extend it in intervals of up to an additional 45 days through these same basic procedures. If the sergeant-at-arms and attending physician were ever to notify the speaker that the public health emergency is no longer in effect, the speaker would be obligated to terminate the covered period.

During such a period, any member of the House would be able to designate another member of the House as his or her proxy through a signed letter delivered to the clerk of the House, including through electronic means. No one member would be able to serve as proxy for more than 10 other members, and any member would be able to change this designation through the same procedures. The clerk would also be responsible for informing majority and minority leaders of any such designations or changes and for maintaining a list of designated proxies, which would be made available to the public. A designated proxy would, in turn, only be allowed to cast a vote on a matter or record his or her presence pursuant to “exact instruction[s]” from the member whom the proxy is representing, which the proxy would be obligated to announce prior to doing so. Any individuals voting through a proxy would be counted toward the quorum required for the House to conduct business under relevant congressional rules (and the Constitution’s Quorum Clause).

Separately, during a covered period, House committees and subcommittees would also be authorized to pursue a broad range of their functions remotely—including participating in proceedings, holding hearings and business meetings (which would have to be made open to the public), authoring reports, issuing subpoenas, and voting. The only exception would be for closed and executive sessions, which would still only be able to be held in person.

 The Rise of Instacart and Online Grocery Delivery:

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be cloudy with showers and a high of sixty-nine.  Sunrise is 5:31 AM and sunset 8:10 PM, for 14h 39m 24s of daytime.  The moon is a waning gibbous with 51% of its visible disk illuminated.

 On this day in 1973, Skylab, America’s first space station, is launched.

Recommended for reading in full —

 Laura Hazard Owen reports Americans say there are two main sources of COVID-19 misinformation: social media and Donald Trump:

A majority of U.S. adults think that misinformation about the the COVID-19 pandemic is a problem, according to survey results released Monday by Gallup and the Knight Foundation. And who are its sources?

Asked to identify the two most common sources of misinformation, a combined 68 percent name social media and 54 percent the Trump administration, though more give the Trump administration as their first response (47 percent) than social media (15 percent).

“82% of Democrats, 79% of independents and 73% of Republicans” think coronavirus misinformation is a major problem — but, not surprisingly, Democrats were vastly more likely to identify the Trump administration as a major source of misinformation (85 percent) than Republicans (4 percent). Meanwhile, 75 percent of Republicans identified mainstream news organizations as the main source of false or misleading coronavirus information, compared to just 2 percent of Democrats. So what you’d expect.

Kiera Butler reports What negative interest rates would mean for your wallet:

Up until this point, the Federal Reserve has never brought its benchmark rate into negative territory and, according to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, the Fed is not considering going to negative interest rates now.

“The committee’s view on negative rates really has not changed,” Powell said Wednesday. “This is not something that we’re looking at.”

Yet, “on some level, negative interest rates are inevitable in the U.S.,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com. “It’s just a matter of when.”

President Donald Trump was advocating for negative interest rates well before the coronavirus pandemic brought the economy to a standstill, arguing that erasing borrowing costs would spur economic growth.

“Negative interest rates sound like fun but it’s nothing to wish for,” McBride said.

“It hasn’t even proven to be effective,” he added. “Parts of Europe have had negative interest rates for seven years and it hasn’t done anything — their economies were reeling then, they’re reeling now.”
And even if the federal funds rate, which is what banks charge one another for short-term borrowing, fell below zero, that is not the rate that consumers pay.

The prime rate, which is the rate that banks extend to their most creditworthy customers, is typically 3 percentage points higher than the federal funds rate.

Should Georgia Reopen? These Pastors Say No: