don't be antiseptic
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White House: Legal Defense of Mask Mandate Necessary to Preserve CDC Power
The White House on Wednesday said President Joe Biden’s administration would continue to defend mask mandates leveled by the Centers for Disease Control, despite airline passengers celebrating a court ruling effectively ending them.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended the two-week extension of the mask mandate on planes and public transportation, arguing the CDC “felt they needed that” to examine more data about the coronavirus pandemic.
She said the Justice Department announced its willingness to defend the CDC’s mandate to help preserve the agency’s power over public transportation.
“I mean our focus here was seeing what power we had to preserve what we felt was in the public health interest of the country,” Psaki explained.
She defended the mandate extension as “entirely warranted” and “entirely reasonable.”
“For current and future health crises, we want to preserve that authority for the CDC to have in the future,” Psaki said.
She also dismissed videos emerging on social media of airline passengers celebrating announcements about the end of a mask mandate.
“We also don’t take photos of flights as data about how the country reacts to issues, whether they are ripping their masks off or not,” she said.
The White House continues struggling to provide a cohesive response to the ruling from a federal judge striking down the mandate.
Psaki defended Biden’s reaction to the ruling after he said it was up to airline passengers themselves to decide whether or not they wanted to wear a mask.
“The president was answering the question quite literally,” she said, adding that the administration continued to “disagree” with the court order to overturn the law.
Psaki said it would be up to the CDC to decide whether or not they continued to want the additional two-week extension of the ban.
“We certainly anticipate hearing from them soon,” she said.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/04/20/white-house-legal-defense-of-mask-mandate-necessary-to-preserve-cdc-power/
Milwaukee Public Schools Reinstate Mask Mandate Right After Making It Optional
Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) reinstated its mask rule this week, shortly after making face coverings optional.
It made the announcement this week, forcing children and staff to wear masks yet again. The policy went into effect on Wednesday, April 20, and was made after the district determined “a significant transmission of the virus within the city of Milwaukee,” according to the district.
“The mask policy is in place to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. The district has the option to revert back to a mask-optional policy if it is determined that there is not a significant risk of virus transmission within the city of Milwaukee and/or the school district,” the district said in a statement, also encouraging students and staff to get vaccinated and boosted and practice “physical distancing.”
Because of the updated rule, students and staff only enjoyed the option of not wearing a face covering for two days, as the district board voted last month to make masks optional beginning April 18. The relaxed rules failed to last even a whole school week.
Notably, a Politico-Harvard survey released in March found a plurality of parents expressing the belief that forced masking “hurts” social learning and interactions of children, as well as their mental and emotional well-being.
The news comes as the Biden administration prepares to appeal U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle’s decision to nix the Biden administration’s federal mask mandate. Notably, no states currently have a statewide mask mandate in place, but the U.S. is still not completely mask-free, as masks rules continue to linger at certain airports, such as LaGuardia Airport, JFK International Airport, and Chicago’s O’Hare.
Residents and visitors of Philadelphia are also still under mask rules, as the city recently reintroduced its indoor mask mandate — one of the first major cities in the country to do so.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/04/20/milwaukee-public-schools-reinstates-mask-mandate-after-making-optional/
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/04/20/milwaukee-public-schools-reinstates-mask-mandate-after-making-optional/
Governor Polis Entices Woke Disney, Twitter to Hide from Oversight in Colorado
Gov. Jared Polis (D) on Tuesday enticed woke Disney and Twitter to relocate their headquarters in Colorado to evade oversight.
In light of Twitter and Disney’s respective feuds with Gov. Ron DeSantis, Polis has reversed the Democrats’ stereotypical position on over-regulating business by stating the woke corporations will be free from government oversight in Colorado.
“Florida’s authoritarian socialist attacks on the private sector are driving businesses away,” Polis claimed. “In CO, we don’t meddle in affairs of companies like @Disney or @Twitter. Hey @Disney we’re ready for Mountain Disneyland and @twitter we’re ready for Twitter HQ2, whoever your owners are.”
On Tuesday, DeSantis aimed at Twitter for potentially violating their fiduciary responsibility by rejecting Elon Musk’s purchase price for the company. Board members of public corporations are bound to operate the company in the best interest of shareholders.
“We’re gonna be looking at ways the state of Florida potentially can be holding these Twitter board of directors accountable for breaching their fiduciary duty,” DeSatnis said. The proposed initiative is predicated on the state of Florida apparently holding a stake in Twitter.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/04/20/governor-polis-entices-woke-disney-twitter-to-hide-from-oversight-in-colorado/
IDF said to strike Gaza terror targets in response to second rocket in 48 hours
Footage shows smoke rising from site operated by terror groups in central Strip; launch comes after Hamas warned of response if Jewish nationalist march in Old City went forward
The Israeli military reportedly struck targets in the Gaza Strip after midnight on Thursday in response to a rocket fired from the Hamas-controlled enclave hours earlier, which landed near a home in the southern city of Sderot.
The rocket attack was the second since Monday after almost four months period of quiet on the Gaza border. It came at the tail-end of a tension-filled day in Jerusalem, where Israeli nationalists were prevented by police from marching through the Old City’s Damascus Gate, a popular gathering point for Palestinians. Hamas, the terror group that rules the Gaza Strip, had threatened to attack if the march went ahead.
Palestinian media reports said a site in central Gaza operated by Palestinian factions was struck multiple times in the Wednesday air raid. Footage showed smoke rising from the site following a series of strikes.
There was no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces on the attack. The military generally issues a statement once it has concluded a series of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qasim said after Thursday’s IDF counterstrike that “the bombing of Gaza will increase the persistence of our people and its resistance to continue the struggle and escalate support and aid for our people in Jerusalem.”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-said-to-strike-hamas-targets-in-gaza-in-response-to-second-rocket-in-48-hours/
up is down
left is right
"Israel is our greatest ally"
Biden Admin to Change Student Loan Programs, Cancel Debt for 40,000 Borrowers
New changes to two federal student loan programs will immediately wipe out debts for 40,000 borrowers and bring 3.6 million closer to relief, the Education Department said Tuesday.
The changes will “fix long-standing failures” in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and income-driven repayment (IDR) programs, department officials said. Once the changes are implemented, 40,000 borrowers will have their debts erased under the PSLF program. More than 3.6 million borrowers will also receive at least three years of additional credit toward IDR forgiveness.
Specifically, the department said it is working to end what it called “forbearance steering,” the practice of loan service companies pushing borrowers into forbearance rather than helping them access an IDR plan.
According to Federal Student Aid (FSA), a borrower is always responsible for paying the interest that accrues during the forbearance period. Unpaid interest is usually added to the loan amount owed when the forbearance period ends, meaning that the borrower will likely pay more than what is originally owed.
By contrast, if a borrower qualifies for IDR, accrued and unpaid interest will be covered by the federal government using tax-payer money. The borrower will have to recertify information such as income and family size each year in order to remain on the repayment plan.
“A borrower advised to choose an IDR plan instead of forbearance can get a reduced payment, stay in good standing, and make progress toward loan forgiveness. A borrower advised to choose forbearance—particularly long-term consecutive or serial uses of forbearance—can see their loan balance and monthly payments grow due to interest capitalization and lead to delinquency or default,” the department said.
https://www.ntd.com/biden-admin-to-change-student-loan-programs-cancel-debt-for-40000-borrowers_768841.html