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Pennsylvania officials admit duplicate ballots were mailed to voters

election ballots postal service
© Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via AP
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, officials have admitted that duplicate ballots were mailed out to registered voters, though they are not sure how many.

Last week, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania's top election official admitted that duplicate ballots had been sent to registered voters but said he did not know how many were sent, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
In a conference call with reporters, Dave Voye, who manages the division that's had to process a massive influx of vote-by-mail applications and ballots as voters look for an alternative to in-person voting amid COVID-19, said the department started to notice there was a problem with duplicate ballots at the end of April. [Emphasis added]

Several voters told the Post-Gazette this month that they had applied for a mail-in or absentee ballot and received more than one in the mail. The county released a statement on the issue Thursday, and said it was the result of a bug in the state's voter registration system. [Emphasis added]
Still, Allegheny County officials have said the problem has been resolved and that duplicate ballots marked as such will not be counted in the state's primary election on June 2.

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Roses

Mental toll: Heartbroken dad reveals son took his own life days before 13th birthday after struggling with coronavirus lockdown

Hayden's dad is devastated by his loss
Hayden's dad is devastated by his loss and spoke out in an 11-minute video
A GRIEVING dad revealed his son took his own life after struggling with the coronavirus lockdown - just days before his 13th birthday.

Brad Hunstable from from Aledo, Texas, said Hayden, 12 "wasn't depressed" or "someone who moped around" before the COVID-19 pandemic.

But his young son suffered during as a result of the emergency stay home orders and school closures.

Reflecting on his loss, Hunstable refuted people's claims that the lockdown was "just like summer" for kids like Hayden, who were stuck at home and isolated from their peers.

"It's not like summer," an Hunstable said in an emotional YouTube video, where he describes how coronavirus killed his son "but not in the way you think."

"We have a social and emotional bubble that's about to burst," he said "I hope nobody ever feels this way, to see what I saw, and to feel this pain."

Comment: We have only just begun to see the detrimental effects on the mental health of millions because of the unnecessary lockdown. But that we would already see such despair from a child is tragic beyond words. One wonders, also, just how much of a negative effect being so focused on gaming might have had on this child.


Question

Coincidence? George Floyd and now-former officer Derek Chauvin worked overlapping security shifts at south Minneapolis club

George Floyd and Derek Chauvin
George Floyd and Derek Chauvin
A former club owner in south Minneapolis says the now-fired police officer and the black man who died in his custody this week both worked security for her club up to the end of last year.

George Floyd and now-former Officer Derek Chauvin both worked security at the El Nuevo Rodeo club on Lake Street, according to Maya Santamaria. Santamaria owned the building for nearly two decades, but sold the venue within the last few months.

"Chauvin was our off-duty police for almost the entirety of the 17 years that we were open," Santamaria said. "They were working together at the same time, it's just that Chauvin worked outside and the security guards were inside."

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Sheriff

Minnesota Police arrest CNN reporter and crew covering George Floyd protests live on air

CNN journalist Omar Jimenez arrested
© CNNCNN journalist Omar Jimenez was taken into police custody during a live broadcast at protests in Minneapolis over George Floyd's death.
CNN journalist Omar Jimenez was arrested and taken into Minnesota State Patrol custody during a live broadcast on Friday covering protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

In the live broadcast, the journalist could be seen reporting on protests before pausing as state patrol officers appeared to pursue a demonstrator.

The journalist could then be seen speaking with state patrol officers directly, as he identified himself and his crew โ€” including a producer and a camera operator โ€” as journalists.

Bizarro Earth

Minneapolis 'war zone': Rioters take over police station amid clashes, fires & tear gas - UPDATES

Minneapolis
Minneapolis
Demonstrators have broken into a Minneapolis police headquarters, setting fires and destroying everything in sight amid unrest unleashed by the killing of a local black man at the hands of law enforcement.

The Minneapolis Police Department's 3rd precinct headquarters was breached late on Thursday night, with a raucous crowd of protesters seen filing into the building, smashing windows and some attempting to set it ablaze.

While the police presence in the area was heavy earlier in the day, it appears officers have since retreated, putting up no resistance to the break-in.

Comment: The FBI and local prosecutors are dragging their feet - according to residents - by saying they need more evidence to file charges against the officers who killed Goerge Floyd. A "robust and meticulous" investigation is reportedly underway, but Hennepin County attorney Mike Freeman added,
"I will not rush to justice, I'm going to do this right," Freeman said, adding that the footage of Floyd's last moments alive in police custody is "graphic and horrible," but that investigators must "prove [the officer] violated a criminal statute, and there's other evidence that does not support a criminal charge."
According to MSNBC host Ali Velshi, the protests/riots were "not, generally speaking, unruly", despite arson fires raging behind him:


Candace Owens is blaming Soros and agents provocateurs for the looting and vandalism:



Shots were fired in Louisville while rioters tried to flip a police van; seven were reportedly injured, one critically. Police deny they were the ones who opened fire, saying that arrests had been made in connection to the shooting.


Gunfire was also heard in Denver.


At least 30 protesters were arrested in New York City.


Mayor de Blasio is fueling the racial tension with his crystal ball-reading abilities:




Roses

The way 'Covid deaths' are being counted is a national scandal

coronavirus deaths coffin PPE


We have no idea how many lives have really been lost to the disease


As a pathologist, I'm used to people thinking that my job mainly involves dealing with death. But nothing could be further from the truth. That is why I and many of my colleagues are so dismayed by changes introduced during the coronavirus epidemic which mean that pathology has not been able to play the role that it should have in helping to understand this new disease.

The word 'pathology' tends to conjure up images of body bags, mortuaries and murder investigations. 'Ho ho,' people say, 'your patients can't answer back.' They imagine days spent trudging across fields to reach murder scenes, Silent Witness-style, and nights sifting through arcane evidence to catch the perpetrators. And a rare type of pathologist โ€” the forensic pathologist โ€” does indeed do that.

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No Entry

French gov't submitting to pressure from pharma labs by banning hydroxychloroquine, politician claims

Hydroxychloroquine
© REUTERS / Yves Herman
The French government's decision to ban anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine for use in COVID-19 cases goes against French people's interests and rights to get an inexpensive and effective medicine to treat coronavirus, suggests Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, the leader of Debout la France party.

The French government has revoked a decree authorising the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients two days after the World Health Organisation (WHO) halted clinical trials of the drug citing potentially dangerous side effects which overweigh the supposed benefits.

The country's health officials approved prescribing the anti-malarial drug, in some coronavirus cases, in late March 2020, when a study by microbiologist Didier Raoult suggested that a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin would be efficient in fighting COVID-19. However, the recent research by The Lancet has found that the medicine in question could also cause cardiac toxicity especially if administered with azithromycin.

Comment: See also:


People

The new stupid: Design firm announces protective virus-proof suit designed for concerts and clubbing

bubble suit 1
The concert and nightlife industry has been one of the hardest-hit by the coronavirus pandemic because live events with hundreds, if not thousands of people is an essential part of the business model. Some artists and music producers have attempted to stream into their fans' homes through online platforms, and this has created a great way to connect, but some of the social aspects of these events are lost in the internet gatherings.
bubble suit

Comment: Now you can succumb to the virus hysteria, still go out clubbing "safely" - and look like you work at the Pentagon's most flamboyant bio-research lab in existence while doing it! Welcome to the New Stupid!


Footprints

Global tourism faces biggest slump in nearly 70 years, UN agency says

Sultanahmet Square and Hagia Sophia
Istanbul's popular tourist sights Sultanahmet Square and Hagia Sophia left deserted amid the spread of COVID-19, May 21, 2020.
International tourism is set to fall by 70% this year, marking the sector's biggest slump since records began in the 1950s, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said.

In an interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt, Pololikashvili said this prediction for the coronavirus-hit sector was based on the assumption that countries around the world would gradually open their borders from August.

UNWTO forecasts published in early May suggested that the number of tourists worldwide could fall by between 60%-80% in 2020 as a result of the pandemic.

Comment: And, needless to say, the airline industry has taken a very big hit leaving many working in that sector unemployed - or about to be:
International carriers which have been suffering massive losses due to the coronavirus crisis are massively cutting their workforce, leaving thousands without jobs. More cuts could come as the prospects for a quick recovery fade.

Europe's top airlines said they would have to ax tens of thousands of jobs in order to cut costs because of the rapidly deteriorating medium-term outlook for aviation. According to the general secretary of the British Airline Pilots' Association, Brian Strutton, aviation workers face a "tsunami of job losses."

Ryanair, Lufthansa, British Airways, Scandinavian Airlines, and Air France-KLM could shed as many as 32,000 jobs among them. The Irish discount carrier Ryanair will cut 3,000 jobs and keep 99 percent of flights grounded through June, adding to a mounting employment toll that includes 12,000 cuts at British Airways and 5,000 at SAS AB.

EasyJet announced on Thursday it will cut up to 30 percent of its workforce and reduce its fleet, with CEO Johan Lundgren saying these were "very difficult decisions."

[...]

While the pandemic has led to a 96 percent plunge in air travel within the United States, the nation's airlines are not allowed to implement any layoffs as a condition of their $25 billion bailout package. However, the ban only runs until September 30.

United Airlines has already told staff it plans job cuts of at least 30 percent on October 1. According to reports, a third of United's 12,250 pilots may have to leave the company. Other airlines, including Delta, also have warned of coming job cuts.
Around 100,000 employees at the four major US airlines (American, United, Delta, and Southwest) have also agreed to take salary cuts or unpaid leave, some for as long as nine months.

American Airlines announced on Thursday it is planning to cut 30 percent of its management and support staff, a reduction of about 5,000 jobs, because of the toll the pandemic is taking on the business. The carrier had about 130,000 employees at the end of 2019 and so far, about 39,000 have taken voluntary leave or early retirement.



People

IKEA values vs Polish traditions: Manager faces up to two years behind bars after firing employee opposing pro-LGBT event

rainbow flag pride
© Global Look Press / Michal FludraFILE PHOTO.
An IKEA HR manager has been charged in Poland with violating the religious rights of a Bible-citing employee, who was fired after refusing to endorse a pro-LGBT event. Now, the manager could end up behind bars.

The Warsaw-Praga District Prosecutor's Office has decided to press charges against the manager, whose identity has not been revealed, arguing that this person has infringed upon an employee's rights on the basis of religion. The decision to sack the employee was based on "arbitrary assessment and prejudice" toward a man expressing "Christian" views, it added. Now, this person could face anything between a fine and a two-year prison sentence.

The controversy dates back to last June when the Swedish furniture and home goods store decided to delve into the public debate on LGBT rights in Poland and express solidarity with LGBT people by staging an event in support of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.