Thursday, July 2 top news briefs
Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! It is Thursday, July 2.
Here we have the Detroit Free Press. Its motto is “On Guard For 189 Years.”
Covid-19 impact on bars and gyms
The two cover stories are about the coronavirus’ impact on bars and gyms. The first story at the top explains that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has ordered bars in south and central Michigan to halt indoor service to control the spread of Covid-19. The order applies to establishments that earn more than 70% of their gross receipts from alcohol sales. Restaurants can still serve alcohol to customers seated at tables that are set at least six feet apart from each other. The northern lower peninsula and the upper peninsula can continue indoor services.
We see similar orders across the U.S. to close down bars after they were allowed to reopen a few weeks ago. I think we all are starting to understand why scientists warned us that Covid-19 will be here to stay until there is an effective vaccine. The virus just won’t “go away” by itself, it’ll keep on looking for an opportunity to transmit itself, growing tentacles, reaching out, always looking to multiply.
Today Florida reported 10,109 new cases of Covid-19, it’s highest single-day increase ever for the state. The nation had over 50,000 new cases yesterday.
At the bottom of the front page is a story about some gym owners in Michigan who refuse to close. The gym owners are challenging the governor’s orders in federal court by arguing that gyms are generally safe and do not cause high transmissions of infection. Some local law enforcement issued citations to owners of gyms for violating the governor’s orders.
Ghislaine Maxwell arrested in connection to Jeffrey Epstein case
This morning news broke that Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested and accused of helping Jeffrey Epstein with recruiting, grooming, and sexually abusing young, underage teenager girls. Maxwell used to be Epstein’s girlfriend and is a longtime associate of his. Epstein was arrested last year on sex trafficking charges and committed suicide n jail. Maxwell was arrested this morning in New Hampshire.
U.S. economy adds 4.8 million jobs
The U.S. economy added 4.8 million jobs last month (June). The unemployment rate went down two percent from 13.3% to 11.1%. This is great news for America, but this data is based on a time when the economy was on a re-opening trend. Now things are starting to freeze up or shut down, so in August we’ll see how things went in July.
“Black Lives Matter” painting on 5th Ave in NYC
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he wanted to paint “Black Lives Matter” on 5th Avenue in front of the Trump Tower. The painting was supposed to start this morning, but it the mayor said he had to postpone it to next week. He did not give specific reasons for the delay.
President Donald Trump said yesterday that the BLM sign was a “symbol of hate” and that it would denigrate “this luxury Avenue.” Trump tied the BLM slogan with a chant from a BLM protest from 2015 in which people chanted “Pigs in a blanket, fry ‘em like bacon.” This was targeted at police officers and that’s why Trump said it was a symbol of hate. Many others disagreed and it’s a controversy. For now the painting is put on hold. We’ll see if it does get painted or is put on a longer hold.
Russian voters allows Putin to remain in power until 2036
In Russia, voters supported a proposal to change the country’s constitution to make it possible for President Vladimir Putin to remain in power until 2036 by allowing Putin to run for two more six-year terms after his current term expires. CNBC explained that the changes to the constitution was already passed by Russia’s parliament but the vote was to “legitimize the amendments.”
Black and quadriplegic man allowed to die because of “poor quality of life”
There are news headlines about a Black, hearing, and quadriplegic man named Michael Hickson who died at a hospital in Austin, Texas after contracting Covid-19. He died after doctors decided to not give him any hydration, nutrition, or treatment for six days. They intentionally allowed him to die. I read several news articles but will explain the story from “The Texan.”
Michael was 46 years old and used to be abled and “normal.” He got into a serious accident in 2017 in which he had brain damage and became paralyzed. He lived at a nursing home and then contracted the coronavirus and was admitted at the hospital. That’s when doctors decided to not treat him.
His wife, Melissa, did an audio recording of a conversation with his doctor. The doctor said they decided not to intubate him or try various treatments because he had a poor quality of life. The doctor said there were other patients who died so it would be better to let him die. Melissa argued back and questioned why the doctor and the hospitals would decide that he had a poor quality of life. She argued that he wanted to live and deserved to live. The doctor was adamant that it was the best decision for him and they got into a back-and-forth, but Michael has already passed away. He leaves behind five children. A spokesperson for the hospital said Michael had a court-appointed guardian who made this decision with his medical team. The article explained that there was a legal battle between Michael’s sister and wife over who was the guardian and on who could make decisions about his care. In Michael’s death, the decision was made by the nursing facility where Michael was staying in. The facility agreed with the view on his quality of life and to withhold treatment, hydration, and food. The controversy has sparked a conversation on social media by many people — including deaf and deafdisabled individuals — about how they feel threatened during the pandemic on the power hospitals hold on whether they live or die based on their quality of their life. So the question is if I’m deaf, or deafdisabled, or have a particular skin color, would it affect how they perceive whether I die or not? Some deaf people say they want the hospitals to fight for us to live regardless of their perception of whether we have a poor quality of life or not. The idea is that we do want to live, although life can be hard, I still want to live and you can’t decide for me. So there’s a conversation about the ethical and legal standpoints of the case. It is news, and Michael has passed away.
That is all the news for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!
https://www.axios.com/june-jobs-report-coronavirus-5c7eff2a-400d-4a8f-9d07-06d8b8dcabd5.html
https://thetexan.news/austin-hospital-withheld-treatment-from-disabled-man-who-contracted-coronavirus/