All posts by David Obelcz

Health and Lifestyle, National

OANN gets owned by YouTube

One America News Network, a pro-Trump alternative news source, has received a one week ban and demonetization of all content posted on YouTube. The network ran afoul of a YouTube policy on posting false COVID-19 information. In the now-deleted video, OANN claimed there was a “guaranteed COVID cure.”

There is no “cure” for COVID, and a small number of promising therapies are not widely available to the public.

YouTube spokesperson Ivy Choi stated the suspension comes from receiving a “strike” against their account. The demonetization may be a more significant blow, as OANN will have to reapply for YouTube Partner status.

OANN, once an obscure fringe network, has come to the forefront among the most ardent Trump supports for pedaling election conspiracy theories. NewsMax, another alternative far-right news network, has also enjoyed a significant boost in ratings in the weeks after the election. Iconic right-wing network FoxNews has struggled to straddle the line of reality and fantasy in their post-election coverage, resulting in outrage and defections with their audience.

OANN received another black eye earlier this month when a video showed their reporters allowed actress Maria Bakalova to coattail into a White House press briefing. Bakalova was in character, playing the 15-year old daughter of Borat, a character created by Sacha Baron Cohen. Bakalova was only feet away from the President and engaged in a conversation with his son, Donald Trump Jr., at a reception. She was allowed access without a security screening or COVID test. The White House nor OANN would comment on the lapse in security.

Health and Lifestyle, National

Almost 4 million people take to the skies in the last four days

Despite surging COVID cases and record hospitalizations, 3.97 million Americans passed through TSA checkpoints from November 20 to November 23. On CBS “Face the Nation,” Dr. Anthony Fauci appealed for people to do a risk-benefit assessment. In his interview, Fauci stated, “people at airports…are going to get us into even more trouble than we are in right now.”

Over three-million COVID cases have been reported in the United States between November 1 and 22. The dizzying increase in positive tests represents almost 25% of all COVID cases in the United States since January 21. According to Johns Hopkins, 9.6% of tests are coming back positive, indicating significant under testing.

Multiple departments of transportation officials reported near-normal levels of pre-holiday traffic across the United States on the roads. AAA had predicted 50 million Americans would travel by car, a 10% reduction from 2019. Although many Americans are opting to stay home, too many are traveling to mitigate significant spread.

Although being on an airplane wearing a mask is considered to have moderate risk, passengers have no control over who is masked. Additionally, the airport themselves and queues for security, check-in, restrooms, and retail are higher-risk activities. Travel by car with members of the same household is safer than air travel, but using the bathroom and fuel and meal stops introduces a higher risk.

To compound the problem, anti-science protesters have events planned in Washington, Oregon, Illinois, and Connecticut. In Washington, protesters are calling for a potluck outside of the governor’s residence.

BIPOC, National

Frank Nitty released from jail without charges

Black Lives Matter activist Frank Sensabaugh, known as Frank Nitty, has been released from a Milwaukee jail without charges. Police arrested Nitty last week without incident after being accused of sexual assault by a 39-year old woman. Nitty and his friends live-streamed the arrest.

The District Attorney’s office stated that Nitty was released without charges but that the investigation is ongoing. During Nitty’s arrest, Arthur Von Morgan, better known as Sino, punched a Milwaukee police officer and was also arrested. Sino’s alleged assault and subsequent arrest were live-streamed, with associates begging him to stop. Von Morgan is facing felony battery to a law enforcement officer charges from the incident. Bail has not been set and Von Morgan remains in custody.

Nitty is best known for his walk from Milwaukee to Washington, D.C., in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr. I had a Dream speech. Nitty and his group faced harassment, arrest, and Sino was shot in Pennsylvania. John and Terry Myers, the shooters in the August 25, 2020 incident in Bedford County, have gone uncharged. According to an investigation by the Philadelphia Inquirer on September 30, 2020, the Pennsylvania State Police have changed the story of the events three times. None of the versions align with three live-streams and one video shot at the time. 

BIPOC, Health and Lifestyle, Local

Washington medical resources stretching thin as COVID cases explode

Washington state continues to add to grim milestones in the battle against COVID, with 762 patients now in hospital, a state record. Despite only 1,440 new cases logged on November 21, 2020, the weekend typically produces lower numbers with delays in reporting and testing. The number is an improvement from the record-breaking 3,327 new cases identified on November 16.

Late last week, at Swedish First Hill, they admitted ten new COVID patients in five hours. In Kirkland, Evergreen Hospital, once ground zero in the United States for COVID, has held steady with 25 patients hospitalized through the week. UW Medicine has seen an expanding number of patients, including several on ECMO, a last line of defense where an infected person’s lungs have essentially failed.

In Auburn, MultiCare Auburn Medical Center is suffering a COVID outbreak on the fourth-floor unit that has sickened over two-dozen. A patient died on November 10, and another died on November 16. In October, Harborview Medical Center experienced an outbreak resulting in one patient death. Providence Hospital in Everett also reported an outbreak on November 11 but did not provide specific information on the number of infections.

In eastern Washington, the situation isn’t much better. Deaconess and Valley Hospitals, Sacred Heart and Holy Family Hospitals, and Pullman Regional Hospital did not comment on how many patients were under their care. All spokespersons made similar statements around expanding patient load but available capacity. In the Idaho panhandle, Kootenai Health reported 54 patients in their care on Thursday, up from 46, with 10 requiring critical care.

In southwest Washington, Clark County reports 75% ICU utilization as of mid-week, while overall COVID patient numbers are low. Legacy Salmon Creek and PeaceHealth Southwest have a combined 56 patients in the hospital.

As wait times for COVID tests in the Puget Sound region expanded to hours, doctors started advising people not to test unless they are displaying symptoms. A lack of available tests and lab capacity continues to plague the nation, and UW Medicine reports their testing systems are overwhelmed. Last week, the University of Washington started canceling booked tests due to a lack of capacity and resources.

In western Washington, UW Medicine and Swedish are reporting they are deferring surgeries to provide capacity for a growing caseload of COVID patients. In eastern Washington, Deaconess and Valley Hospitals are under similar conditions, and Pullman Regional Hospital implemented their surge plan.

The regional healthcare system is also straining due to a shortage of PPE, therapeutic drugs, and staffing shortages. Officials report the question isn’t hospital beds, but the staff to support critically ill patients, who can require three to four full-time caregivers to keep them stabilized. Additionally, states such as Idaho send their sickest patients to Seattle and Portland, Oregon, for advanced treatment.

By the numbers, COVID in Washington state continues to be brutal on the BIPOC community. Hispanic communities have seen the worst numbers, representing 36% of cases and 27% of hospitalizations while representing 13% of the total state population. In south King County, the Black and persons of color communities report over a 300% increase in detected infections over the more white communities north of Seattle.

There are some silver linings. The mortality rate in Washington is drifting downward, now at 1.9%. By age group, 83% of cases discovered are now people 59 and younger. The younger age groups tend to have lower mortality.

Detected cases are a leading indicator of hospitalizations and deaths. Peak hospitalization will likely come in the next two weeks if the number of new cases can stabilize and start to drop. Peak deaths would follow two to four weeks after peak hospitalizations.

BIPOC, Local, National

Thousands face end of unemployment benefits on December 26

Update: An edit was made to reflect that the SBA estimates one-third of all small businesses will fail by June of 2021.

With growing signs that the economic recovering is stalling out and a fresh set of COVID-based lockdowns across the United States, federal benefits will end on December 26 with no extension in sight. The Federal CARES Act provided additional unemployment benefits in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC). For thousands of Washingtonians depending on these lifelines, the looming deadline is a body blow.

PUA provides for an additional 13 weeks of unemployment compensation above and beyond state benefits. PEUC provides unemployment compensation for gig workers, the self-employed, and others who rely upon 1099 pay. Recipients of PEUC typically would not be eligible for traditional unemployment compensation, with millions of Americans dependent on the “gig economy” for work.

Congressional leaders, the White House, and the Federal Reserve have been bickering over a new COVID stimulus package since the summer with no progress. The White House has favored a $2.4 trillion package, including small business and individual relief, which the House has supported. The Senate prefers a far smaller package of $500 billion, which provides almost no individual relief and corporate protections that are a non-starter for the House.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell issued a very rare rebuke to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, who ordered the Fed to wind down CARES Act programs and return all unspent funds to Treasury. Chairman Powell indicated that the economy is still fragile, and ending these programs prematurely as COVID surges could extend the ongoing recession. Despite the public dust-up, the Fed agreed to wind down these programs over the weekend in a letter to Mnuchin.

The unemployment rate has dropped to 6.9% in October. However, the U3 unemployment figure doesn’t include people who have exhausted their unemployment benefits. The broader U6 unemployment figure consists of those who have used up unemployment compensation, given up looking for work, or, most critically, are underemployed. The U6 for October was 12.1%, down from a high of 18% earlier in the year.

White House and GOP leaders are distracted, attacking the national election results with baseless fraud claims, indicating they have no interest in focusing on economic security. The Small Business Association estimates one-third of all small businesses will fail by June of 2021. So far, in 2020, 40% of all black-owned small businesses have collapsed.

Also looming in early 2021 is the end of eviction, foreclosure, and energy bill deferments. Over 12 million American households are $5,000 or more behind on rent or mortgage payments.

Health and Lifestyle, National

Air travel hits the highest level since March 2020 despite COVID warnings

Ignoring warnings from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), some Americans have taken to the skies and roads to travel for Thanksgiving. According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), 1,019,836 travelers went through security on November 20, the largest number of travelers in a single day since March 16.

Trip Advisor predicted that more Americans would take the road for Thanksgiving versus flying. On November 12, AAA predicted that 50 million Americans would drive to a different location for Thanksgiving. If that prediction holds, 15% of Americans will take to the road to celebrate Thanksgiving somewhere else.

Although many Americans are heeding the pleas of federal, state, and local officials to have a virtual Thanksgiving, evidence shows that small and medium gatherings can turn into superspreader events. Poor air circulation, sitting close together with masks off while eating and drinking, and a sense of false safety create additional risks.

Under this backdrop, the United States experienced a record 193,000 new COVID cases in a single day and has over 82,000 people in the hospital with COVID. Detected cases are a leading indicator for hospitalizations, which is a leading indicator of fatalities. Hospitalizations are expected to continue to grow into December, with deaths moving to a new peak by Christmas.

There are positive signs that some Americans and listening to the warnings to stay home. Tiny turkeys, those that weigh 10 to 14 pounds, are in short supply across the country. Severely impacted states like Utah, Iowa, and North Dakota have taken additional action to curb spiraling infections.

BIPOC, Breaking News, Local

Seattle City Council votes to fund police hiring in 2021

After six months of protests, a council vote, a mayoral veto, and a veto override, The Seattle City Council reversed course again, voting to fund police hiring in 2021. The Seattle Police Department in October reported they had 1,203 uniformed officers. If fully funded, the hiring plan for 2021 could grow the police force to more than 1,300 officers.

Councilmembers Lisa Herbold, Teresa Mosqueda, Alex Pedersen, Lorena Gonzalez, Dan Strauss, Andrew Lewis, and Debora Juarez voted to hire more officers in 2021. The council’s reversal shatters six months of conversations and promised action to the BIPOC community, seeking sweeping changes to the Seattle Police Department. Although cuts to the police budget for 2021 remain, the consent decree coupled with an onerous contract with the Seattle Police Officer’s Guild has made cuts in logical places a near impossibility.

Compared to other west coast cities, only Oakland and San Francisco have larger per-capita police forces and budgets. In San Francisco, the cities approach to crime, drug addiction, and homelessness is mostly considered a failure. In Seattle, backers of the police frequently comment on how they don’t want the city to become San Francisco, yet are often the biggest proponents of a San Francisco approach to policing.

City leaders in Seattle continue to form advisory committees, hire Street Czars, and commit to studies without action. The continued issues of “legal redlining,” underfunded schools in BIPOC communities, and a non-approach to drug addiction and homelessness have gone unaddressed for decades. Despite the police budget growing 50% in the last ten years to the third-highest per-capita on the west coast, there has been no appreciable movement on crime rates. Some crimes, including assault and sex crimes, have increased over the last ten years – with assaults growing dramatically.

Other cities in the United States have been able to make more progress with less disruption and protests. Austin cut their police budget by over 30%, Minneapolis voted to abolish their police force and create a new one from the ground up, and Denver passed a series of reforms. Protests for Black Lives Matter and police reform began on May 26, 2020, in Seattle, peaking in mid-June while the world watched CHAZ/CHOP on Capitol Hill.

BIPOC, Health and Lifestyle, National

State officials and tribal leaders take different COVID paths in South Dakota

On November 17, South Dakota earned the distinction of being the only state left without some form of a mask mandate for their citizens. Kristi Noem (R), state governor, has refused to implement any COVID-based restrictions. Many believe the staunch Trump ally has aspirations to run for President in 2024 or 2028.

In South Dakota, the seven-day moving average positivity rate for COVID-19 is 57.5%. Anything over 5% is problematic, and over 20% is considered a public health crisis. Only Wyoming has a higher rate of 62.9%. Of the top ten states in the country for positive results, only one, Pennsylvania, voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

Jodi Doering, a Sioux Falls emergency room nurse, wrote in a Twitter thread that has gone viral that patients deny they are infected with COVID-19 to their dying breath. “I can’t stop thinking about it. These people really [sic] think this isn’t going to happen to them. And then they stop yelling at you when they get intubated. It’s like a fucking horror movie that never ends. There’s [sic] no credits that roll. You just go back and do it all over again.”

According to Forbes, in May of 2020, the rural state of South Dakota had 159 ICU beds to support the state. Governor Noem claimed that capacity had been expanded to 607 beds but later admitted that it included pediatric and NICU beds. ICU utilization in South Dakota is up to 87%, with staffing a major issue. A COVID patient in ICU typically requires a team of 3 or 4 caregivers to keep them stabilized.

But in western South Dakota, there is a different story on the Cheyenne River Reservation. Earlier this year, tribal officials implemented roadblocks into the reservation, including on state highways. At the checkpoints, tribal officials prevented leisure travel and non-essential visitation. In May, Governor Noem threatened to sue the tribe in court (along with tribal leaders of the Pineridge Indian Reservation). In June, she made good on the threat, with federal officials refusing to intervene. Tribal land is considered sovereign.

Tribal leaders decided to lockdown the reservation because they believed the federal government would provide ineffective assistance, and they lacked medical resources to deal with widespread COVID transmission. Additionally, they had long prepared for supply chain disruptions due to the centuries-long history of dealing with the federal government.

Their actions appear to be paying dividends, but the efforts are showing cracks. While South Dakota has a positivity rate of 57.5%, the Cheyenne River Reservation rate is 17.9%. The percentage indicates significant under testing but is well below the catastrophic rate of infection ravaging South Dakota.

In Indigenous culture, the respect and care of the elderly is a core value. Tribal members have set up support networks to assist families who have to quarantine and care for sick relatives. The tribe supports each other by providing meal and supply deliveries, adequate fuel for heating, and check-ins multiple times a day. Creating a system and safety net to help families dealing with infection can further isolate the sick and asymptomatic carriers.

With neighboring North Dakota issuing a mask mandate and Iowa taking further steps to curb infections, governor Noem is under increasing pressure to do something to curb the infection rates in her rural state.

BIPOC, National

Milwaukee activist Frank Nitty arrested on sexual assault charge

Frank Sensabaugh, a Milwaukee activist and central figure in the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement, was arrested yesterday on a sexual assault warrant by Milwaukee police. In a series of live stream videos posted on November 16, 2020, Nitty stated, “Police knocked on my door and said I sexually assaulted this young lady.” The videos show that Nitty was taken into custody without incident and was cooperative with the police.

According to Nitty’s videos, he took in a woman who had marched with him to Washington D.C. who was unhomed. The woman was using a rental car, rented in his name. When the car was supposed to be returned, the woman and the rental car were missing. After three days, the rental agency indicated to Nitty they would take further action. Nitty says he sent texts to the woman that he would have to go to the police if the car was not returned. Nitty denies the allegations of sexual assault calling them, “bullshit,” saying that phone calls and text messages will exonerate him.

Nitty became a central BLM figure this summer when he, and a group of supporters, marched from Milwaukee to Washington D.C. The walk was documented on social media and in the news. He was arrested in Indiana, shot at in Pennsylvania, and suffered multiple racially motivated incidents during his journey.

Nitty and his group arrived in Washington D.C. for the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s, I Had a Dream speech. While there, he was embroiled in another controversy over statements he made that some deemed homophobic.

Although the woman has been identified by other sources, Malcontent News has a policy of not publishing the name of individuals who make claims of or are victims of sexual assault.

Breaking News, Local

Wind storm moving into Puget Sound for Tuesday

Rain and wind are coming to Puget Sound as another wind storm event approaches the area. The National Weather Service has issued a Wind Advisory for Tuesday, from 8 AM to 5 PM. The official forecast predicts south winds, typically for a northern tracking storm, from 25 to 35 MPH with gusts to 50 MPH.

This particular system won’t be a significant rainmaker by November standards, with .25 to .30 inches of rain expected. Wind will arrive around 10 AM to noon on Tuesday, with the east side seeing the forecast model’s lower range.

Residents should prepare for power outages, especially in the areas commonly impacted, such as Finn Hill in Kirkland. Because most residents panic bought everything that wasn’t nailed down in the stores yesterday, everyone is already well-stocked with their French Toast supplies!