March 1, 2020

Can you get coronavirus from drinking Corona beer? No, but the brand still takes a hit

A study released this week of about 740 beer drinkers in the United States shows that 38% of them said they “would not buy Corona [beer] under any circumstances now." Their fears are linked to the coronavirus, the respiratory illness that has infected thousands of people around the globe.

Corona is a “victim," some reports say, of unfortunate wordplay, as there is no known link between those who drink Corona beer and those who have contracted the virus. One article on medium.com even says “rumors go viral faster than the actual virus."

5WPR’s recent survey — which also shows that 16% of those studied “were confused about whether Corona beer is related to the virus” — proves that some Americans are not sure how the virus is (or is not) spread. But the confusion has created very real aftershock for Constellation Brands Inc., Corona’s parent company.

Stock for Constellation Brands Inc. has fallen steadily in the past week, including an 8% drop on Feb. 27. The market as a whole has seen a historic plunge and is finishing its worst week since late 2008.

Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/food/restaurant-news/2020/02/28/can-you-get-coronavirus-from-drinking-corona-beer-no-but-the-brand-still-takes-a-hit/

March 1, 2020

Meanwhile, at that other progressive site

they already used the b-word and the c-word to describe Warren:

https://jackpineradicals.com/boards/topic/vindictive-republican-lizzie-warren-trashing-bernie-sanders-tonight-looks-like-lizzie-is-really-pissed-that-bernie-is-going-to-beat-her-ass-in-massachusetts/

What a unifying message!

It appears that a Sanders/Warren ticket won't sit well with some.

March 1, 2020

Best choice for the Democratic Party, best choice for the USA!

I'm moving from undecided to Biden. Let the good times roll!

February 29, 2020

D.C. mayor, police chief want to keep untraceable 'ghost guns' out of District

The number of homicides committed in the District with untraceable, home-built “ghost guns” has risen to four, D.C. authorities said Friday as they proposed new legislation to prohibit kits used to make these new types of firearms.

One of the killings occurred in 2018, two last year and one this year, police said.

The numbers, up from a count police had provided earlier this week, added a new sense of urgency as the District’s mayor, police chief and forensics lab director said action was necessary to stop the flow of ghost guns into the city.

“The message we’re sending with this legislation is simple,” Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said at a news conference. “If you assist with, participate in or profit from bloodshed in our community, we will hold you accountable.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/dc-mayor-police-chief-want-to-keep-untraceable-ghost-guns-out-of-district/2020/02/28/5bc8f1d6-5a5e-11ea-9000-f3cffee23036_story.html

February 29, 2020

Gov. Northam-Backed Gun Control Bills Pass in Virginia

Parts of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's sweeping gun control legislation have won final passage in the General Assembly.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate gave final passage to several pieces of gun control legislation Friday.

That includes a red flag bill to allow authorities to temporarily take guns away from people deemed to be dangerous to themselves or others, and legislation giving local governments more authority to ban guns in public places.

Lawmakers also approved legislation requiring gun owners to report lost or stolen guns to police and to toughen the penalty for leaving a loaded, unsecured firearm in a reckless manner that endangers a child.

Read more: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/gov-northam-backed-gun-control-bills-pass-in-virginia/2227424/

February 29, 2020

High stakes in South Carolina primary for Biden, Sanders

As former Vice President Joe Biden looked to Saturday’s Democratic primary for a turnaround in his bid for the 2020 presidential nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders finds himself facing intensive new pushback there from his old self-definition as a “democratic socialist.”

Tuesday night’s televised debate in Charleston disintegrated into a political food fight in which no one escaped unscathed. However, Biden still clung to hope by virtue of a strong performance and the endorsement the next morning by the state’s most prominent Democrat, Rep. James Clyburn, leader of the large African-American community there.

Opponents assailed Sanders for years-old praise of aspects of foreign socialist states such as Cuba, questioning whether he could beat Donald Trump in November, bearing such political baggage.

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, too, was again a target, if somewhat less so than in his debate debut in Nevada the previous week. He seemed more relaxed while still on the defensive against allegations of trying to buy the nomination with $400 million in television ads.

Read more: https://www.fredericknewspost.com/opinion/columns/high-stakes-in-south-carolina-primary-for-biden-sanders/article_c27b936c-1ba7-597a-9728-0f882d4b5cde.html

February 29, 2020

Gov. Hogan's political lobbying organization to begin airing TV ads against legislative Democrats

Gov. Hogan’s political lobbying organization to begin airing TV ads against legislative Democrats over crime, taxes


Armed with $1.1 million in donations, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s political lobbying organization on Friday announced it would begin airing negative television ads against Democrats in the General Assembly over crime and taxes.

One spot advocates for the legislature to pass the Republican governor’s crime legislation amid a dispute with Democratic lawmakers over the effectiveness of mandatory minimum sentences.

The other opposes a large expansion of the state sales tax, proposed by some House of Delegates Democrats as a way to raise $2.6 billion annually to pay for improvements to public education proposed by the Kirwan Commission.

The Change Maryland Action Fund is paying for the ads after raising $1.1 million in 2019 from 1,600 donors, said David Weinman, spokesman for the political lobbying group. Weinman released a list of the donors, but did not respond to questions about how much money the organization was spending on ads.

Read more: https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-pol-hogan-ads-20200228-n6qibjzkxjg4hkrem5ykmmet3a-story.html

February 29, 2020

Report: State Lost Billions by Not Closing Corporate Loopholes

A liberal-leaning think tank is pressing for passage of a series of revenue bills targeting business loopholes and tax breaks ― by looking back at what could have been.

The Maryland Center on Economic Policy released a memo on Thursday detailing $2.8 billion in revenue that could have been raised by their bill package if lawmakers had passed the measures last term.

The center, which produced the memo independently, is part of the Fair Funding Coalition, which is pressing for passage of 10 bills that they say would close corporate loopholes, end policies that benefit special interests and establish a more equitable income tax system in the state.

The goal of the proposals is to raise dedicated revenues to help the state cover the costs of Kirwan Commission education reform proposals, which could become substantially more expensive in coming weeks as lawmakers consider tweaks to relieve local spending mandates.

Read more: https://www.marylandmatters.org/2020/02/28/report-state-lost-billions-by-not-closing-corporate-loopholes/

February 29, 2020

Local democrats vote against bringing a tax intercept program back to Anne Arundel County

Anne Arundel state Democrats blocked a local bill that would have withheld tax refunds from anyone with an outstanding warrant out for their arrest in a near party-line vote at the Friday morning delegation meeting.

The bill would have rekindled a relationship between Anne Arundel County Sheriff’s Department and the Office of Comptroller Peter Franchot, in which individuals with a warrant out for their arrest are notified by the comptroller that they cannot access their tax refund until they resolve their warrant.

The future of the tax intercept program is unclear, as it was cross-filed in the Senate by Sen. Ed Reilly, R-Crofton, who has tried to get it across the finish line in previous sessions. Since the bill would only bring the program to Anne Arundel, it will likely be subject to “local courtesy” with lawmakers from other counties voting in accordance with the delegation opinion. Lack of support from the local delegation may end the bill’s run.

In the Senate, it has yet to be voted out of the committee.

The bill encourages people to go to court and take care of their warrant so they can get their tax return, rather than waiting until the warrant is served, said House sponsor Del. Michael Malone, R-Crofton.

Read more: https://www.capitalgazette.com/politics/ac-cn-delegation-vote-20200228-20200228-vgxto5a3mjcjzlr2rn2nw3nzkm-story.html
(Annapolis Capital Gazette)

February 29, 2020

Utah is Set to Decriminalize Polygamy, and Right-Wingers are Blaming the Gays

A bill that would effectively decriminalize polygamy in Utah cleared a key hurdle on Wednesday, when it was overwhelmingly approved by the state’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Currently, polygamy is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Under the bill, it would become a minor infraction similar to a traffic ticket, punishable by a fine of up to $750 and community service.

The goal of the bill is to encourage victims of abuse in polygamous marriages to come forward without fear of prosecution. But not surprisingly, some right-wingers claim the measure is a direct result of the legalization of same-sex marriage — just as Chief Justice John Roberts predicted in his dissenting opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges.

“[F]rom the standpoint of history and tradition, a leap from opposite-sex marriage to same-sex marriage is much greater than one from a two-person union to plural unions, which have deep roots in some cultures around the world,” Roberts wrote.

Read more: https://www.towleroad.com/2020/02/utah-is-set-to-decriminalize-polygamy-and-right-wingers-are-blaming-the-gays/