Author: danelabonte
“Weeks before the coronavirus spread through much of the world, parts of Africa were already threatened by another kind of plague, the biggest locust outbreak some countries had seen in 70 years.
“Now the second wave of the voracious insects, some 20 times the size of the first, is arriving. Billions of the young desert locusts are winging in from breeding grounds in Somalia in search of fresh vegetation springing up with seasonal rains.”
“As his administration grapples with reopening the economy and responding to the coronavirus crisis, Trump worries about his re-election and how the news media is portraying him.”
“Trump arrives in the Oval Office these days as late as noon, when he is usually in a sour mood after his morning marathon of television.”
“Trump sees few allies no matter which channel he clicks. He is angry even with Fox, an old security blanket, for not portraying him as he would like to be seen…”
“Confined to the White House, the president is isolated from the supporters, visitors, travel and golf that once entertained him…”
“The economy — Trump’s main case for re-election — has imploded. News coverage of his handling of the coronavirus has been overwhelmingly negative as Democrats have condemned him for a lack of empathy, honesty and competence in the face of a pandemic. Even Republicans have criticized Trump’s briefings as long-winded and his rough handling of critics as unproductive.”
“His own internal polling shows him sliding in some swing states, a major reason he declared a temporary halt to the issuance of green cards to those outside the United States. The executive order — watered down with loopholes after an uproar from business groups — was aimed at pleasing his political base, people close to him said, and was the kind of move Mr. Trump makes when things feel out of control. Friends who have spoken to him said he seemed unsettled and worried about losing the election.”
“But the president’s primary focus, advisers said, is assessing how his performance on the virus is measured in the news media, and the extent to which history will blame him.”
(https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/23/us/politics/coronavirus-trump.html)
“…U.S. retail sales plunged by 8.7 percent from February to March thanks to COVID-19.”
(https://www.icsc.com/news-and-views/icsc-exchange/a-deeper-look-at-marchs-u.s.-retail-sales)
“It’s the fifth straight week that job losses were measured in the millions. From March 15 to April 18, 26.5 million people have probably been laid off or furloughed. The number of jobs lost in that brief span effectively erased all jobs created after the 2008 financial crisis. Jobless figures on this scale haven’t been seen since the Great Depression.”
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/23/economy-coronavirus-unemployment/)
“[HHS chief] Alex Azar, a 52-year-old lawyer and former drug industry executive, assured Americans the U.S. government was prepared.”
“Azar’s initial comments misfired on two fronts. Like many U.S. officials, from President Donald Trump on down, he underestimated the pandemic’s severity. He also overestimated his agency’s preparedness.”
“…Azar tapped a trusted aide with minimal public health experience to lead the agency’s day-to-day response to COVID-19. The aide, Brian Harrison, had joined the department after running a dog-breeding business for six years. Five sources say some officials in the White House derisively called him “the dog breeder.”
“The extended school closures mean students will now be out of school for about six months — if classes resume in September. It is believed to be the longest-ever statewide shuttering of schools in Massachusetts, eclipsing what many considered to be a record set more than four decades ago when the Blizzard of ’78 caused widespread school closures for much of February.”
(https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/04/21/nation/coronavirus-boston-massachusetts-april-21/)
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