The White House is expected to announce massive disaster relief for Puerto Rico 3 years after Trump tossed paper towels to survivors of Hurricane Maria
 
 
Sarah Al-Arshani
06:22, 18 sep 2020
 
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* President Donald Trump is expected to announce major disaster aid packages for Puerto Rico on Friday, CBS reporter David Begnaud reported.
 
* The package would come three years after Hurricane Maria destroyed much of the island.  
 
* Most of the money is expected to help rebuild the power grid that was destroyed in the hurricane.
 
* Trump has previously stalled aid to the island and claimed the crisis was not so bad.  
 
 
President Donald Trump is expected to announce a major disaster aid package for Puerto Rico on Friday, CBS reporter David Begnaud reported.
 
Begnaud reported that the package would be the largest disaster aid in US history. He reported that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nydia Valesquez said a $10 billion package was approved to rebuild the Puerto Rico Electric Power grid after its destruction in Hurricane Maria three years ago.  
 
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“Long before the hurricanes, Puerto Rico had a crumbling and dirty energy grid. After the storms utterly destroyed the grid, it created an opportunity to rebuild a cleaner, cheaper, and more resilient energy system but the Trump administration dithered and delayed and refused to deliver timely disaster aid for the people of Puerto Rico,” Schumer said in a statement. “I will work with the Puerto Rican community to see that these long overdue and desperately needed funds are put to use in a wise way
 
The announcement comes years after the hurricane destroyed much of the island and after Trump stalled on relief and even threw paper towels at the hurricane victims while visiting the battered island.  
 
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Trump then repeatedly claimed that the death count was far lower than reported and said the storm that tore through the island and killed an estimated 3,000 people wasn’t a “real catastrophe” like Hurricane Katrina.
 
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In 2018, Trump claimed that his response administration’s response was “unsung success” and “incredibly successful,” despite being criticized by many for not doing enough and neglecting the US territory as it tried to recover.  
 
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz has on multiple occasions directly blamed Trump for additional deaths.  
 
“The [Trump] administration killed the Puerto Ricans with neglect. The Trump administration led us to believe they were helping when they weren’t up to par, and they didn’t allow other countries to help us,” Cruz told CNN in late August. “Shame on President Trump. Shame on President Trump for not even once … just saying, ‘Look, I grieve with the people of Puerto Rico.'”
 
After news of the potential new relief packages, Rep. Valesquez released a statement suggesting that the move is political and noted how the announcement comes just a few weeks before the November presidential election.
 
“Puerto Rico has been desperate for federal assistance to modernize and upgrade its electrical grid for years especially since Hurricane Maria inflicted the longest blackout in modern history on the island. Yet, as is too often the case with Puerto Rico, the Trump administration delayed, dragged its feet, and resisted allocating these badly needed funds,” Velazquez wrote.  
 
The White House declined to comment.  
 
 
 
https://www.businessinsider.nl/the- [...] ane-maria/

An Idaho pastor skeptical of masks lands in the ICU for Covid-19
 
 
By Nakia McNabb and Scottie Andrew, CNN
Updated 0213 GMT (1013 HKT) September 18, 2020
 
 
A pastor in Idaho who called himself a "no-masker" during a service and repeatedly questioned the veracity of coronavirus case reporting is in the ICU after contracting Covid-19.
 
Paul Van Noy, senior pastor at Candlelight Church in Coeur d'Alene, has spent two weeks in the hospital with a Covid-19 diagnosis, ministry coordinator Eric Reade confirmed to CNN. Five other church staff were infected with coronavirus, too, but they've all recovered, he said. In a comment shared through Candlelight Church, Van Noy said he'll soon move out of the ICU into another room in the hospital and then recover at home.
 
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Candlelight Church shut its doors temporarily in March but reopened for in-person services in early May. Van Noy's church doesn't require parishioners to wear masks, though they're welcome to, Reade told CNN. In a July 22 service that was posted online, Van Noy said while he doesn't mind if other people wear masks, he didn't "want to be told" he needed to wear a mask.
 
He also said he wouldn't comply if the city ordered him to halt in-person services, though the church also livestreams its services. Nationwide, church leaders have been fined -- and even arrested -- for holding services during the pandemic. In a July Facebook post, Van Noy falsely claimed that wearing masks doesn't prevent Covid-19 transmission, and he urged his parishioners not to fear the "cause or effect of Covid-19."
 
Multiple international studies have shown that wearing masks, paired with persistent social distancing, are the most effective ways to prevent transmission of coronavirus. Effective face masks keep asymptomatic people from sneezing, coughing or spitting out droplets that contain the virus and prevent the wearer from breathing in someone else's virus-bearing droplets.
 
"May we keep our heads at a time like this," Van Noy wrote. "And, may we defend our freedoms lest they quickly disappear. We will not close down our church, we will not stop singing praises to the Lord, and we will not be required to wear masks or refrain from allowing those who wish to wear one the opportunity."
 
Van Noy's church will soon host two controversial figures who've flouted coronavirus guidelines and questioned mask mandates: Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative student group Turning Point USA, and Rob McCoy, a California pastor who was fined for holding indoor church services despite Covid-19 restrictions. The men will speak at services later this month to "work to make sense of what the church's proper role in America can and should be in the face of increasing opposition and cultural animosity."
 
Pacific Northwest newspaper the Spokesman-Review reported that the event with Kirk and McCoy will be held in-person.
 
 
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/17/ [...] =hvper.com

Days before her death, as her strength waned, Ginsburg dictated this statement to her granddaughter Clara Spera:

“My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed."

Michael Moore sounds alarm on Biden's campaign in Michigan: 'It’s actually worse than Hillary's'
 
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainme [...] mpaign.amp