Bashtop is a terminal-based resource monitoring utility in Linux. It’s a nifty command-line tool that intuitively displays statistics for your CPU, memory, running processes, and bandwidth to mention just a few. It ships with
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Thursday, August 6, 2020
The luxury sector has been hit hard by the virus. And what consumers value has changed
With fewer places to see and be seen, shoppers are slowing their spending, with an estimate from consultancy firm McKinsey forecasting the global luxury goods market will contract by 35% to 39% in 2020.
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Residents who host large parties can have utilities shut off, LA mayor says
This enforcement will primarily focus on the ‘people determined to break the rules, posing significant public dangers to all of us.’
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has authorized the Department of Water and Power to shut off utilities to homes or businesses that host “large” parties during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The mayor made the announcement on Wednesday, Aug. 5, amid reports of a rise in house parties that are in violation of public safety orders. Garcetti described such parties as “super-spreader” events, per Los Angeles Daily News.
“These large house parties have essentially become nightclubs for the hills,” Garcetti said during a press conference, Deadline reports. “By turning off that power, shutting off that water, we feel we can close these places down.”
Read More: LA mayor announces ‘big step forward’ with new LAPD community bureau
The mayor said this enforcement will primarily focus on the “people determined to break the rules, posing significant public dangers and a threat to all of us.”
“Starting on Friday night, if LAPD responds and verifies that a large gathering is occurring at a property, and we see these properties offending time and time again, they will provide notice and initiate the process to request that DWP shut off service within the next 48 hours,” Garcetti said.
“We will not act lightly, but we will act,” he added. “You’re breaking the law. Just as we can shut down bars breaking alcohol laws, in places that are in criminal violations, we can shut them down … We can actually do the power or water shutoff after a first violation, but we like to educate, not enforce.”
The L.A. County Department of Public Health said in a statement that violating the health officer is “a crime punishable by fine, imprisonment, or both,”
“While we have already closed all nightclubs and bars, these large house parties have essentially become nightclubs in the Hills,” Garcetti said. “Many times, the homes are vacant, or used for short term rentals, and beyond the noise, the traffic and nuisance, these large parties are unsafe and can cost Angelenos their lives.”
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The Philippines, the US, and a century of military alliance
For a few nights in late 1991, a 74-year-old army veteran, newly arrived in Los Angeles and looking for family members, needed to sleep outside. Pastor Amarillento was a recently naturalized Filipino American, based on a 1990 law granting citizenship to Philippine Army soldiers from World War II. Amarillento had fought at Bataan. But after being naturalized in San Francisco, his money had been stolen on the bus down to Los Angeles.
Thus Amarillento had “marched under General Douglas MacArthur, only to find himself, 50 years later, sleeping in MacArthur Park,” writes MIT historian Christopher Capozzola in a new book about the unique relationship between the Philippines and the United States.
Amarillento soon found relatives in Orange County, thanks to help from a shelter in the Filipinotown neighborhood, near downtown Los Angeles. Still, this episode symbolizes some contours of the larger Filipino American experience. Filipinos have long been staunch U.S. military soldiers, sailors, and servicemembers while receiving modest, belated rewards for their efforts. The countries’ ties have led to extensive immigration — there are 4 million Filipino-Americans in the U.S. — but even for decorated veterans, entry into U.S. society has not always been easy.
Capozzola’s new book, “Bound by War: How the United States and Philippines Built America’s First Pacific Century,” published by Basic Books, details both the military relationship between the countries, from the U.S. conquest of the Philippines in 1898 onward, and the way that military engagement shaped social connections between the nations.
“This is not a book about foreign policy, but foreign relations,” Capozzola says. “Not just what generals and presidents were doing, but what ordinary soldiers and immigrants were doing.”
New beginnings
After winning the Spanish-American War in 1898, the U.S. was granted control of the Philippines, a long-time Spanish possession. Then it squelched a Philippine independence movement, in what Capozzola calls a “very intense and brutal war.” It was a huge imperial leap across the Pacific for the U.S., which eventually installed over 20 military bases in the Philippines and ruled the land as a colony until 1946.
“This is really the heart of the relationship between these two countries,” Capozzola says.
Before long, Filipinos started enlisting in the U.S. army and navy, and Filipinos soon had new immigration opportunities as well. For a spell after 1924, the Philippines was the only country in Asia from which the U.S. allowed immigration. The number of Filipinos in the U.S. swelled from 5,600 in 1920 to about 56,000 in 1930, with substantial Filipino-American communities springing up near San Diego, in the Bay Area, and around Norfolk and Virginia Beach — close to Navy bases.
But while many Filipinos had come to the U.S. hoping to acquire more education and better work, they often landed on farms, in fisheries, or in service jobs, as Capozzola documents.
“When Filipinos migrated to the United States in the early 20th century, they faced the same forms of discrimination that most Asian immigrants did: restrictions on housing and education and the professions, [while] being relegated to low-status, low-paying jobs,” Capozzola says. “It could have been otherwise. And that’s a running theme throughout the book as well. There is a series of broken promises.”
Still, as Capozzola writes, the military service of many Filipino men gave their familes “a language of patriotism and sacrifice — and therefore of equality.” That sense of belonging helped spur battles for civic justice. It was Filipino grape pickers who initiated what became famous as the United Farm Workers strike of the 1960s.
In the sphere of veteran’s rights, 64,000 of the 76,000 prisoners on the Bataan Death March had been Filipinos, fighting for the U.S. — yet they did not receive equitable military benefits. Only after a concerted effort, including a year-long vigil in MacArthur Park in the 1990s, was compensation folded into the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Only about 12,400 Filipino veterans realized those payments, leading one advocate for Filipino veterans to call the settlement “yet another beginning” in the battle for Filipino-American rights and benefits. There may be similar fights for inclusion in the future: In the Iraq War, about 31,000 U.S. troops were not citizens, and 20 percent of those were Filipino.
“The book is a way to think about who serves in and with and for our armed forces, [and] to ask what we owe them in return,” Capozzola says. “If we really want to understand big forces like war and globalization, we need to look at that full frame.”
With or without the U.S.?
While it explores immigration and social integration, “Bound by War” also examines politics in both countries after 1946, when the Philippines gained independence but remained in the U.S. sphere of influence.
“In many ways the Philippines enters the community of nations on the back foot,” Capozzola observes. “It’s devastated by the war, its economy is destroyed, and there is an emerging Cold War threat. This requires Philippine politicians to maintain ties to the U.S. in order to protect their country.”
But many voices have criticized that arrangement, Capozzola notes: “If there’s one central question in Philippine foreign policy that’s consistent from 1946 to the present, it is this: Are we better off with the Americans, or without them?”
President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in the Philippines in 1972 and ruled over a police state until the “People Power” movement ousted him in 1986 — with the U.S. only belatedly grasping the strength of opposition leader Corazon Aquino. Yet despite solid U.S. backing, Marcos actually made rhetorical overtures to China in the 1970s, perhaps trying to play off the two powers against each other. In 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte surprised the U.S. by announcing the Philippines would “realign” with China, but has not followed through on the idea.
On the ground, the U.S.-Philippines relationship evolved again in 1965 when U.S. immigration law allowed Asians back into the country — especially white-collar workers. In the 1970s, Filipinos were the second-largest group immigrating to the U.S., behind only Mexicans.
Today Filipino emigration is worldwide, with workers settling in the Gulf States, elsewhere in Asia, and some parts of Europe. Overall, Filipino immigrants sent an estimated $10 billion in remittances back home in 2005.
“The core aspects of the U.S.-Philippine military relationship are remarkably unchanged from the early 20th century to today,” Capozzola says. “What has changed is the power of Filipinos themselves. The economy is substantially different and not as tied to the United States. Filipino migrations are global, and the United States is not by any means the largest recipient country. Through their everyday choices, the relationship is being remade. And I think ultimately that will shift the U.S.-Philippine military relationship.”
So while it is important to know formal military history, Capozzola thinks, it is also vital to regard military history as something more than wars and strategies.
“To understand 20th-century America, you need to understand the U.S. military,” Capozzola says. “Not only as a [fighting] force, although of course that’s what it was designed for, but also a generative force that transforms social relationships, immigration patterns, ideas about race and culture. This book is a way to bring that to the center of the story.”
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Are there medical reasons to not wear a mask? Yes, but not many
A slew of viral videos show people claiming medical exemptions to avoid wearing masks on airplanes and in grocery stories. Doctors say there are legitimate health reasons to do so, but that the list is quite short.
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Trump issues executive order banning TikTok and WeChat
The ban is set to go into effect in 45 days, if the popular short-form video app is not sold to a U.S. company.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday banning transactions between U.S. companies and Chinese company ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok.
The order is set to go into effect in 45 days, if the popular short-form video app is not sold to a U.S. company, CNN reports.
The order prohibits after 45 days “any transaction by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, with ByteDance Ltd.”.
The White House says the ban is for security reasons.
Read More: NJ teen allegedly kills neighbor to gain TikTok fame
Thursday’s order alleges that TikTok “automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users” which “threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information — potentially allowing China to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage.”
The president issued a similar executive order targeting WeChat, a group chat app owned by Tencent, one of China’s largest tech companies.
Trump told reporters Friday (Aug, 1) that he plans to ban the popular TikTok app in the United States, theGRIO previously reported.
“As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States,” the president said. His criticism of the company comes amid renewed rhetoric against China and the country’s trade practices.
Read More: Trump pauses TikTok ban to allow negotiation of Microsoft acquisition
On Saturday, TikTok issued a response to Trump’s remarks, making clear that “We’re not planning on going anywhere,” U.S. General Manager Vanessa Pappas said in a statement shared to Twitter.
News also broke last week that software giant Microsoft is interested in acquiring the video platform.
“If goal is to get teenagers to stop using TikTok, I’m not sure an executive order will stop them,” said Kirsten Martin, a professor of technology ethics at the University of Notre Dame. “Every teenager knows how to use a VPN (a virtual private network). They will just pretend they are in Canada.”
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Nicki Minaj on Megan Thee Stallion’s drive: ‘Megan is the perfect example’
The ‘Barbie Tingz’ rapper dotes on her mentee, saluting her for handling business with a smile, intelligence and that magic that makes her one of ‘Variety Magazine’s 2020 Power of Young Hollywood Issue’
Many people in Hip-Hop believe that women in the game cannot get along. However, one of the top female rappers, have proven the naysayers wrong.
Nicki Minaj, one of the world’s best selling artists, doesn’t have to shout people out, mentor those on the come up, or publicly salute anyone. However, when Variety Magazine hit her up about Megan Thee Stallion appearing on their “2020 Power of Young Hollywood Issue,” she did not hesitate to dote on the “Savage” superstar.
READ MORE: Meek Mill called out after posting comment about Nicki Minaj’s pregnancy
The Pinkprint mogul could have talked about Megan’s looks and her ability to push out bangers after bangers, but she noted what makes her most proud of the young rapper is focus she is on success.
“…Megan is the perfect example that we can have fun and be smart at the same time,” said Minaj.
(Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for MTV)
Minaj’s praise, as well as the Hollywood salute, comes at the right time.
As reported by theGrio.com, Megan’s hot girl summer has been traumatic than carefree. Like most people, she too has been hit with the 2020 blues, but even more devastating than the coronavirus pandemic and unprecedented amount of civil unrest sparked by the litany of Black and Brown bodies killed by police officers, she has also been a victim of a crime.
Last month, she was shot in both of her feet while out with friends.
The Stallion tweeted, “Black women are so unprotected and we hold so many things in to protect the feelings of others without considering our own.”
The lack of support Megan Thee Stallion received following being shot has exposed a lack of support and empathy for Black women, Harpers Bazaar reported.
Sisterhood has become a more essential place for women to uplift one another, while men support and learn from women.
Minaj has been that for the Houston homegirl since the jump of her career.
“One of my favorite things about Meg is her desire to further her education,” said Minaj.
She related education to bettering the rapper’s sense of self; her decision to not be solely focused on superficial attachments.
“It’s so important for women to feel inspired to achieve goals outside of social media, where the focus is usually placed on their bodies or who they’re dating at the time,” she said.
Draya Michelle spun the incident of Megan being shot into a love story comparing the Houston lyricist and friend, Tory Lanez, to the infamously troubled Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown.
The jokes following Megan’s shooting were an example of people dismissing Black women and their emotions, Revolt reported.
“Women are more than just baby mamas, and we can continue to prove that by being goal-oriented, bettering ourselves, and being independent,” continued Minaj to Variety. The example Nicki Minaj is calling “perfect” — Megan Thee Stallion, a student and BET Award-winning recording artist who gives back to her community.
READ MORE: Cardi B teases new single ‘WAP’ with Megan Thee Stallion, internet implodes
Smart, talented and courageous are words that can describe. But SAVAGE is probably the one that best fit with this cover.
Her spread was styled by Jason Bolden and photos were shot by Orin Fleurimont, serving her up like the beautiful queen that she is.
And it could not come at a better time … hopefully, it reminds her that she was chosen to win.
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Fauci requests security for daughters as family gets death threats
The White House health advisor had to hire beefed-up security to protect his family.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says he and his family continue to receive death threats over his public statements about combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Wednesday that he had to hire beefed-up security to protect his family. The White House health advisor and his wife, bioethicist Dr. Christine Grady, have three adult daughters who are catching heat over their father’s work.
Speaking to CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta in an interview organized by Harvard’s School of Public Health, Fauci said the coronavirus crisis is bringing “out the best of people and the worst of people.”
Read More: Dr. Anthony Fauci says a coronavirus vaccine may be coming in 2021
Fauci and President Donald Trump have had their share of public disagreements regarding the pandemic. The potentially deadly virus has infected roughly 4.8 million people in the U.S., per CNBC.
The White House has made extra efforts to discredit Fauci’s work, which he finds “bizarre,” theGRIO previously reported.
“I just want to do my job. I’m really good at it. I think I can contribute. And I’m going to keep doing it,” Fauci told The Atlantic. He also noted that the country can get to a better place with the right procedures.
“By pushing a reset button, I don’t mean everybody locking down again. We’ve got to call a time-out and say, “If you’re going to open, we’ve got to get everybody on the same team.” I’m not going to name any states—that’s not helpful—but some states did, in fact, prematurely jump over some checkpoints,” he said when asked about a solution.
Read More: Trump asks why ‘nobody likes me,’ questions Fauci’s high approval rating
Since early April, Fauci has required a security team to protect him and his family after they started being harassed over his opinions on how to best contain the coronavirus.
“I wouldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams that people who object to things that are pure public health principles are so set against it and don’t like what you and I say, namely in the world of science, that they actually threaten you,” Fauci explained to Dr. Gupta. .
“I mean, that to me is just strange,” he added.
“Getting death threats for me and my family and harassing my daughters to the point where I have to get security is just, I mean, it’s amazing. I wish that they did not have to go through that,” Dr. Fauci shared.
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Facebook removes troll farm masquerading as Black support for Trump
The social media platform has removed hundreds of accounts linked to a network in Romania.
Facebook has taken action against a foreign troll farm posing as pro-Trump Black Americans.
On Thursday, the social media platform removed hundreds of accounts linked to troll farm in Romania that pushed content on Instagram under names like “BlackPeopleVoteForTrump” and on Facebook under “We Love Our President,” NBC News reports.
A “troll farm” is an organized operation that manipulates online discourse via misinformation aimed at affecting public opinion. Troll farms are typically outsourced and purchased by foreign governments or businesses that want to push specific political propaganda.
Read More: Trump trolled as ‘Frorida’ trends on Twitter after misspelling Florida
Facebook also removed hundreds of fake accounts, pages, groups and IG profiles linked to conservative media outlet The Epoch Times. The digital network was banned from buying ads on Facebook in August 2019 after spreading conspiracy theories.
Facebook removed 35 accounts, three pages and 88 Instagram accounts for violating its policy “against foreign interference which is coordinated inauthentic behavior on behalf of a foreign entity.”
The company said the takedowns were based on “behavior, not content.”
“About 1,600 accounts followed one or more of these Pages and around 7,200 people followed one or more of these Instagram accounts,” Facebook said.
Nathaniel Gleicher, the company’s head of security policy, said the motives behind the operation are unknown. He told NBC News on Thursday that there was no “clear evidence of financial motivation” or “clear links to known commercial actors in this space.”
Read More: Marsai Martin claps back at trolls over BET Awards hair
Facebook said the trolls used fake accounts “to pose as Americans, amplify and comment on their own content, and manage Pages including some posing as President Trump fan Pages.”
The troll farm was detected as part of its “internal investigation into suspected coordinated inauthentic behavior ahead of the 2020 election in the US.”
Last month, Facebook removed a network of accounts tied to former Trump advisor Roger Stone, and the neo-fascist Proud Boys group. The company previously removed pages and accounts connected to the conspiracy group, QAnon.
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Black-Owned Media Companies Call for Advertisers to Start Spending
In addition to calling for racial justice and the end of systemic racism, the Black Lives Matter movement is leading the call for black economic empowerment through the support of Black-owned businesses. In wake of the movement, campaigns like Beyonce’s Black Parade directory and “My Black Receipt” have mobilized consumers to buy Black. However, some Black media entrepreneurs say they are being left of out the conversation.
According to the Transform Finance and Ford Foundation, Black-owned media companies face a unique set of challenges when it comes to access to capital. Media entrepreneurs of color are struggling to raise funding to scale due to biases, exclusionary networks, and a lack of support. Plus, they face revenue disruptions and other uncertainties in the media industry, notes ImpactAlpha.
To tackle this issue, Devon Johnson, the founder of the men’s lifestyle publication BleuLife Media, and Rhonesha Byng, the founder of Her Agenda, are urging corporations to support Black-owned platforms. They have specifically called on companies like Target and Starbucks that have stopped advertising on Facebook due to the social media giant’s problematic policies to redirect their ad dollars to Black media. Under the umbrella of the newly-formed Black-Owned Media Sustainability Institute, the media entrepreneurs have also curated a public database of more than 75 Black-owned media companies in the country, which includes BLACK ENTERPRISE.
“Brands like Unilever, Diageo, Verizon, Ben & Jerry’s, Patagonia, The North Face, Target, Starbucks and others have pulled what’s left of 2020 advertising dollars from Facebook and other social media platforms. They’re calling it #StopHateforProfit,” reads a news release. “This has been a result of outcries from civil rights groups and consumers calling out divisive and racist content that exists unchecked on the Facebook platform. Billions of dollars already earmarked to spend on marketing efforts are now left in limbo.”
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Aggretsuko: Season 3 | Official Trailer | Netflix
Retsuko’s rage rises another octave when she finds herself moonlighting with an underground idol group to pay off her debts. Premieres August 27 only on Netflix. SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/29qBUt7 About Netflix: Netflix is the world's leading streaming entertainment service with 193 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments. Aggretsuko: Season 3 | Official Trailer | Netflix https://youtube.com/Netflix
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Retsuko’s rage rises another octave when she finds herself moonlighting with an underground idol group to pay off her debts. Premieres August 27 only on Netflix. SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/29qBUt7 About Netflix: Netflix is the world's leading streaming entertainment service with 193 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments. Aggretsuko: Season 3 | Official Trailer | Netflix https://youtube.com/Netflix
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The Voting Rights Act is still under siege 55 years later
People died to advance the cause of voting, yet disenfranchisement efforts continue
The Voting Rights Act turned 55 on August 6, commemorating when President Lyndon Johnson signed it into law to ensure voting rights for African-Americans. But in 2013, a major enforcement provision was eliminated, weakening the act.
So where does it stand now?
Read More: Postal Service backlog creates worry about November election
It was, “by far one of the most successful pieces of federal civil rights legislation” Nancy Abudu, the deputy legal director of voting rights at the Southern Poverty Law Center, told USA Today.
But weakening the act hastened efforts to disenfranchise the voters it was put into place to protect.
In 2013, the Shelby County vs. Holder case went to the Supreme Court which resulted in the removal of Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. That was the part of the act that required southern states that had a documented history of racism to receive federal preclearance for their voting practices.
According to USA Today, those states with jurisdictions known for egregiously discriminatory voting practices were Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Virginia. Locations in California, Florida, Michigan, New York, North Carolina and South Dakota were included as well.
James Cobb, a history professor at the University of Georgia and a former president of the Southern Historical Association, told USA Today that the Voting Rights Act was immediately effective. It led to African American voter registration improving by approximately 70% by the next election.
That factor is ironically what led to the voting law’s provision being struck down because the increase in Black voter registration supposedly meant that it was no longer needed.
But according to multiple studies, after Section 4 was eliminated, lawmakers in 25 states worked to undermine voting with everything from Voter ID laws to closing polling places to eligibility challenges.
Those issues have been realized in everything from long lines in voting precincts with heavily Black voting populations to the contentious Georgia gubernatorial race in 2018, when candidate Stacey Abrams alleged that the eventual victor, Brian Kemp, suppressed thousands of votes.
“Without that federal review process, we’ve literally seen rampant voter suppression efforts overtake parts of the country within the last several years,” Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, told USA Today.
“States like Georgia, Texas and North Carolina top the list.”
The late Georgia congressman John Lewis was beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge while advocating for voting rights in Selma, Alabama in 1965 before the Voting Rights Act was passed. He fought for those rights for the rest of his life.
Democratic congressmen and women want to honor his sacrifices by updating the Civil Rights Act with Section 4 intact and naming the update after Lewis. It’s unlikely to happen with a Republican-controlled Senate.
“The law he nearly died for has been gutted by the Supreme Court,” Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), the minority leader, said on the Senate floor after Lewis’ death as reported by the NY Times.
“Congress has the power to restore it. But only one party seems interested in doing so.”
The Voting Rights Act takes on new importance this year as the coronavirus has impacted primaries all over the country with some fearful to stand in long lines in contested precincts. Many want to use mail-in ballots in November as an alternative to in-person voting.
President Donald Trump‘s attacks on the United States Postal Service and the appointment of Trump donor Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General have exacerbated those concerns. Cities around the country have experienced mail delivery slowdowns due to “efficiency” policies DeJoy recently enacted. They include the elimination of overtime and leaving mail to be delivered the next day on a postal carrier’s daily run if it comes in late.
Last month, New York Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Democratic chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, and Democratic Virginia Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, who leads the House subcommittee that oversees the Postal Service wrote to DeJoy about the change in policy. They were concerned about the impact it might have on the election.
Read More: Despite virus threat, Black voters wary of voting by mail
“While these changes in a normal year would be drastic, in a presidential election year when many states are relying heavily on absentee mail-in ballots, increases in mail delivery timing would impair the ability of ballots to be received and counted in a timely manner — an unacceptable outcome for a free and fair election,” they wrote.
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Georgia students threatened with suspension for exposing unsafe COVID-19 practices
Students at North Paulding HIgh face suspensions for posting on social media
Students at a Georgia high school are being threatened with suspension if they expose the school for its lack of adherence to COVID-19 protocols.
Read More: Barron Trump’s school bans in-person learning amid COVID-19
CBS46 reports that Paulding High School students will face consequences if they reveal that mandates like social distancing and wearing masks to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus are being ignored. The controversy erupted this week after a viral photo showed a crowded hallway of students that didn’t appear to be wearing face coverings.
The predominantly white suburb of Atlanta has labeled wearing a mask a “personal choice” despite the surge of coronavirus cases in Southern states. There has been an ongoing debate about whether schools should be re-opened amid the pandemic.
North Paulding opened Monday. They warned the student body that there would be consequences if more pictures of the school were shared on social media. CBS46 obtained a recording of the warning.
“Anything that’s going on social media that’s negative or alike without permission, photography, that’s video or anything, there will be consequences,” the recording from North Paulding principal Gabe Carmona warned.
An anonymous student told the outlet that they were being punished for raising concerns about the virus and its impact.
“It just sounded like they were trying to cover up the fact that they were putting people in unsafe conditions,” the student who recorded the announcement said.
North Paulding student Hannah Watters, 15, told Buzzfeed that she received a five-day suspension at home for sending out a tweet.
“Day two at North Paulding High School. It is just as bad. We were stopped because it was jammed. We are close enough to the point where I got pushed multiple go to second block. This is not ok. Not to mention the 10% mask rate,” she posted.
Read More: Student, staffer at Indiana schools test positive for COVID-19 as schools reopen
The school informed her she’d violated the school of conduct.
“The policies I broke stated that I used my phone in the hallway without permission, used my phone for social media, and posting pictures of minors without consent,” she told Buzzfeed.
Watters and her family planned to fight the suspension over what she believes is the school “ignorantly” opening back up this school for face to face learning.
“Not only did they open, but they have not been safe,” she said. “Many people are not following CDC guidelines because the county did not make these precautions mandatory.”
Another student, who chose not to be identified, also confirmed their suspension. Paulding County Schools has chosen not to comment on the disciplinary actions.
Instead, they have defended the viral photo by insisting it was a snapshot in time for the 2,000 students who attend the school and that they were in contact for less than 10 minutes.
However, many are not convinced that officials are doing all they can to ensure the health and well being of students and staff who returned to the school on Monday.
Sources told Buzzfeed that there has been an outbreak at Paulding and that football players and teachers have been infected with the virus.
“That was exactly one week ago, so we are all waiting to see who gets sick next week,” a North Paulding teacher told BuzzFeed News.
Read More: Pence ‘wouldn’t hesitate’ to send his kids back to school amid COVID-19
Those who choose not to go to school face suspension or expulsion.
“It’s the hallway situation that has me most paranoid,” one student said. “There’s a lot of people in the hallways, and you can’t do nothing about it, so it’s scary.”
Teachers also won’t be informed if they’ve been exposed until contacted by the state.
“A lot of us are terrified,” a teacher said.
Amy Westmoreland, a nurse at the school, quit and shared her resignation letter with Buzzfeed.
“Masks are not a ‘personal choice’ during a pandemic. I cannot return knowing I am not supportive of your decision to open so quickly and not at least mandate masks.”
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The post Georgia students threatened with suspension for exposing unsafe COVID-19 practices appeared first on TheGrio.
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