January 1, Young People Driving Spread of COVID-19

This Day in History | 1799

A French soldier discovers the Rosetta Stone near Alexandria Egypt. The irregularly shaped stone contained passages written in Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphics and Egyptian demotic. The Greek passage revealed that all three scripts were of identical meaning. The artifact thus held the key to solving the riddle of hieroglyphics, a written language that had been “dead” for nearly 2,000 years.

Good morning Middle Americans, 

Great ready for the great age divide. We are seeing how the coronavirus is disproportionately impacting different groups of people. Young people seem to be having the easiest go of it. Seniors, not so much. So naturally, young people are also getting a lot of the blame right now for the rapid spread of the disease. This, in turn, will drive up tension between different age groups. So throw that on top of the pile of things making America super tense right now. 

The violent unrest continues in Portland Oregon and a lot of people seem to be horrified that federal authorities are there to try and get things under control. But the presence of the feds is not welcome by the Mayor of Portland and many of the other radical left factions in that city who seem content to watch it burn. 

Meanwhile in New York City, another city that sits on the brink, is bracing for mass evictions to start happening next month. In anticipation, people are organizing to resist their landlords. We’ll keep our eyes on this one. 

Finally today, we here at Middle America News, along with people all over the country continue to mourn the loss of Civil Rights Icon John Lewis. Congressman John Lewis was universally respected for his work alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Read all about it. 

-Fraser Dixon 

Young People Are Increasingly Driving COVID-19’s Spread

(The Hill) – Younger Americans eager to get back to their social lives are increasingly responsible for the spread of the coronavirus, risking their own health and that of their family and friends under what health experts say is the misguided impression that the virus cannot cause them harm.

Health departments across the country are reporting that younger people are making up larger shares of the total number of those infected with the virus. The greater infection rates among young people are occurring both in states that are getting a handle on their outbreaks and those that are not.

“In these trends, we are seeing the impact of our collective decisions. We are jeopardizing the gains we made as a state,” Washington state Health Secretary John Wiesman said Friday, pointing to an increase in hospitalizations among people between the ages of 20 and 39. “[T]he actions each one of us takes now will determine what happens next.”

Read more here

Oregon Sues Federal Agencies Over Protest Enforcement

(OPB) – The Oregon Department of Justice is suing several federal agencies for civil rights abuses, and state prosecutors will potentially pursue criminal charges against a federal officer who seriously injured a protester.

The federal lawsuit names the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Marshals Service, the United States Customs and Border Protection and the Federal Protective Service, agencies that have had a role in stepped-up force used against protesters since early July. The state filed the lawsuit late Friday night.

When asked for comment, the U.S. Marshals Service told OPB it does not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit lists defendants specifically as John Does 1-10 because the “identity of the officers is not known, nor is their agency affiliation,” the lawsuit states. 

Learn more here

Mass Evictions: The Next Crisis that Could Hit New York City

(Market Watch) – An economic crisis caused by a global pandemic, an inconsistent government response and a precarious social safety net has culminated in the prospect, community groups say, of some 50,000 New Yorkers losing their homes.

“This crisis existed before COVID-19,” said Cea Weaver, the campaign coordinator for Housing Justice for All, an advocacy organization in the city. “Millions of people who have lost income were already living in unaffordable apartments. Rent was already a struggle.”

But the coronavirus has exacerbated the situation. An estimated 735,000 households in New York City have lost employment income as a result of COVID-19, according to the NYU Furman Center, a group that advances research and debate on housing and urban policy. Black and Hispanic households in the city have been particularly hard hit. 

Find out more here

Rights Activists, Political Leaders Mourn Rep. John Lewis

(AP) – Rights activists, politicians from both parties and many other people touched by the legacy of John Lewis mourned the congressman and pillar of the civil rights movement Saturday, lauding the strength, courage and kindness of a man whose lifelong struggle against racial discrimination took him from a bridge in Selma to the nation’s Capitol.

“As a young man marching for equality in Selma, Alabama, John answered brutal violence with courageous hope,” said former President George W. Bush. “And throughout his career as a civil rights leader and public servant, he worked to make our country a more perfect union.”

Former President Barack Obama, America’s first Black president, recalled being sworn in for his first term: “I hugged him on the inauguration stand before I was sworn in and told him I was only there because of the sacrifices he made.”

Lewis died Friday, several months after the Georgia Democrat announced that he had been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. 

Lewis, 80, often recalled his upbringing in the segregated South, including how he was denied a library card because the library was for “whites only.” He was determined to destroy segregation, joining with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to help plan the 1963 March on Washington.

Get the latest here