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Marie Curies famous Blooming Great Tea Party is going virtual this year and the charity needs hosts more than ever before to make up for the devastating effect the coronavirus crisis has had on its income.

It is hoped people across Forth Valley will host a virtual tea party with family and friends as a fun way to stay in touch with loved ones and support nurses working on the frontline of the crisis.

In homes all over the district, the charity is caring for people with terminal illnesses, as well as people with Covid-19, and is protecting the NHS by keeping

patients away from hospital.

However, as the charity has stepped up its support for the nation, its fundraising income has been devastated by the impact of lockdown measures it had to cancel its Great Daffodil Appeal in March and closed all its charity shops shortly after.

The charity needs to raise a quarter of a million pounds to fund its Scottish services.

That is why the charity and its celebrity ambassador, Mel Giedroyc, are encouraging everyone to connect virtually with friends and family while raising some money at the same time.

Mel said: You can bake it, fake it, brew it or stew it whatever your cup of tea, Marie Curies Blooming Great Tea Party is going virtual this year and its a simple way to keep in touch with your chums, while raising money for a wonderful cause, which, I think youll agree, we all need right now".

Marie Curie needs to raise a massive 2.5 million each week to care for the tens of thousands of people who need its nursing and hospice care. This year, the amazing nurses and frontline staff need you more than ever, as the fundraising events they rely on have all been cancelled.

Ive met their nurses before. They are inspiring, kind, caring and loving people who are currently caring for people at the end of their lives and keeping people out of hospital,helping the NHS cope with the coronavirus crisis.

Every last crumb of the money you raise will help people at the end of their lives. So please join me by raising a cuppa, and some money, in your lounge or garden for the Marie Curie Nurses on the front line.

Jim Stewart, community fundraiser for Forth Valley, said: Our Blooming Great Tea Party looks a little different this year but I think everyone needs an excuse to meet up with their friends and family online of course and check in on the people they love. If you can do that while raising some money for Marie Curie, then your generous donations will enable us to help even more people at the end of their lives get the care they need in this time of uncertainty.

We rely on the support of the amazing public to ensure our nurses can keep caring for people. And while the coronavirus crisis has badly impacted our fundraising events, we hope by going virtual well be able to raise the vital funds we need to keep supporting people in our communities across Forth Valley.

To register as a Blooming Virtual Tea Party host visit here or call 0800 716 146 for you fundraising pack.

Read more here:
Marie Curie charity hopes Falkirk tea lovers will host a virtual party - Falkirk Herald

What I objected to was the failure to lay off the Its the End of Civilization As We Know It nonsense. The Ladies Tea Party agreed. Here was the PMs opportunity to present Covid as a nasty disease which had tragically taken the lives of over 30,000 of our fellow citizens a bloody gash in the national psyche, no doubt - but which, in all honesty, poses little threat to most of the population who will either have it mildly or remain asympomatic. Boris could have broken the good news that, according to Oxford University, Coronavirus is no longer an epidemic in the UK. Yes, really. Just 0.24 per cent of adults - thats 136,000 people - currently have the virus. Transmission in the community is very low with most new cases coming from care homes and hospitals. He could have gone on to say that, while we must continue to shelter the most vulnerable and maintain sensible hygiene measures, it really is safe to go to work and to take the kids to school. Not just safe, but absolutely vital if we are to preserve jobs and spare the country an economic depression that will cause infinitely more suffering.

It would have taken moral courage to tell a frightened populace that their fears are out of all proportion to the actual risk and its time to start living again. Boris ducked it. This was not his Finest Hour, it was a disappointing thirteen minutes.

Generally, Im not too fussed whether its men or women who are taking the decisions so long as theyre highly competent. On Sunday night, I was acutely aware that no mother could possibly have been privy to the content of Boriss statement. It revealed a startling lack of emotional intelligence (EQ). If you tell 29 million viewers that they must go to work if you can, you dont have schools as an afterthought. Schools will have been foremost in the minds of all parents watching and wondering, How on earth can I go to work if the kids are still at home? The so-called quad - Sunak, Raab, Hancock, Gove seem to think of work purely as work, it isnt. Work is people. Do our leaders really not understand how people think or how they live? All I can say is you know that men are in charge when the golf clubs are open and the hairdressers closed.

Simon from Essex spoke for baffled parents everywhere when he asked a question of the PM at Mondays briefing. Were people like him allowed to use the schools that had stayed open for key workers? If not how do you propose these people return to work if theres no childcare available?

I think its only fair to regard that as an obvious barrier to their ability to return to work and Im sure employers will agree with that, answered the PM without answering at all.

Nor did he have a defence for the frankly laughable proposition that people will be able to see one parent out of doors, but not both. Natasha from Richmond asked How is it logical that I as a primary schoolteacher can mix with the many returning children but seeing my relatives is still not allowed?

Dont go expecting logic, here, love. Were living in the Age of Anti-Reason. So, under the new rules, people can see their boss, but they cant see their dad/grandchild/girlfriend? Trust me, that is going to infuriate pretty much everyone.

What happened is some pointy-head at SAGE did the maths and worked out that if an individual sees just one extra person outside their own household that will stop R (the reinfection rate) going up too much. What pointy-heads cant compute is that if you drive to, say, Nottingham from London to see your mum and dad, a non-pointy person is not going to just invite their mother out the front for a chat and then drive home again. Being human, and possessed of the full complement of unscientific feelings, they will end up seeing both parents, whether together or separately.

I actually have huge sympathy for the Prime Minister as he tries to pull off this supremely difficult balancing act of suppressing the virus while coaxing the country back to life. Its as if the Prince hacked his way through the thorns, scaled the palace walls, blew Sleeping Beauty a kiss from the other end of the bedchamber and, when she awoke, cried, Prithee, stay right there, beloved, and keep two metres away from me at all times!

To make a tricky situation even worse Boriss enemies, still smarting from their Brexit defeat, have no qualms about using a national crisis as a proxy war. Somehow, the PM must plot a course through the Scylla of a shamelessly opportunistic Nicola Sturgeon and the Charybidis of the trade unions who rather like having half of all adults on the state payroll and so set an impossible standard of 100% safe before members can return to work.

Read more:
Come on Boris, tell a frightened nation that its fears are out of proportion - Telegraph.co.uk

This is a rush transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.

Protestor: This is a free country. Land of the free.

Jaisal Noor: Medical workers stood in the middle of the road, blocking a car carrying an anti-lockdown protester in Denver, Colorado on Sunday, April 19th. The protestor was part of the many small scale, but highly publicized Reopen America protest, leaned out of the window to confront the man in medical scrubs, holding a poster reading Land Free and shouting, You go to work. Why cant I go to work? President Donald Trump has encouraged these demonstrations, many of which have targeted democratic governors and have been linked to billionaire donors. Thats despite the mounting evidence they can jeopardize public health. Kentuckys infection rates skyrocketed a week after the protest there.

The protest had been tied to Michigans DeVos family, billionaires who are leading Republican donors and activists. The DeVos family includes Erik Prince, Founder of Blackwater, and Betsy DeVos, the heiress who serves as Donald Trumps Education Secretary. The DeVos familys also a leading member of the Koch Donor Network who bankroll conservative causes and it turns out who are major backers of the supposedly Grassroots Tea Party Movement, which called for less government and lower taxes. Real News climate reporter Steve Horn says, Right wing billionaires have funded an ecosystem that greatly amplifies their message through organizations like the State Policy Network.

Steve Horn: The State Policy Network essentially is the think tank world of the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, and its what gets these ideas out there. So in Michigan when this protest was happening, a different prong of this apparatus called the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, they were doing reporting on this from their own portal, and then they beamed out the protests. They linked to something on Breitbart. So Breitbart then beamed that out to 5.8 million people. And essentially, this was the perfect depiction of how the right wing echo chamber works, the legacy of it and the newer prongs of its a Breitbart is funded and bankrolled, or at least was by the Mercer family. And Mercer is and was a major backer of Trump. Steve Bannon, who was a top White House aide.

Jaisal Noor: More than 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits in the past month as closures of businesses and schools and severe travel restrictions have hammered the economy. The United States is by far the worlds largest number of confirmed cases with more than 740,000 infections and over 40,000 deaths. Though, the real numbers are said to be much higher. Professor Gerald Horne says this movement represents a dangerous development.

Gerald Horne: But these so called constitutional conservatives rallying at the state house in Lansing, Michigan, this was coupled with similar moves that are taking place in Idaho, which you may recall is the state that is the de facto headquarters of White supremacists, a number of the leaders of the August, 2017 pro Nazi and pro fascist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia actually had roots in Idaho. And Im afraid to say that this is also coupled with the spectacular rise in gun sales that is taking place as we speak.

Jaisal Noor: Congress Coronavirus bailout had little funding for workers or testing, while giving corporations a $6 trillion no strings attached bailout, says American Prospect editor David Dayen.

David Dayen: Reopening the economy, you really can only do that if we have the proper public health measures in place, the proper testing and things like that. And there was almost no money in this pandemic response bill to actually respond to the pandemic to actually bulk up testing and surge it so that you actually could reopen the country.

Jaisal Noor: For the Real News, this is Jaisal Noor.

Originally posted here:
Tea Party 2.0? Reopen Government Protests Linked To Right-Wing Donors - The Real News Network

Handgun strapped to his hip, Bob Culver denied that the 15 or so people railing against closures and stay-at-home orders Monday on Town Square were protesting.

I didnt organize a protest, or a demonstration, said Culver, a member of the Jackson Hole Tea Party. I just wanted people to come out and feel free to talk.

President Trump made headlines last week when he tweeted in support of protesters calling for an end to COVID-19 closures in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. On Sunday, images taken by Denver photographer Alyson McClaran went viral, showing two people in scrubs and face masks blocking a procession of protesting drivers.

More quietly, Culver sent out his usual Jackson Hole Tea Party email blast Friday, calling for people to gather for a lunch Monday on the square. He also said county officials had dismissed several peoples entreaties to abandon the countys stay-at-home orders. Those gathered Monday decried the orders as unconstitutional and fixed their signatures to a letter written by Maury Jones, threatening legal action if the orders werent rescinded.

County officials should immediately rescind the order or revise the order to a lawful request rather than a mandatory edict, Jones wrote. Failure to do so may result in criminal charges being filed against you.

Maury Jones reads aloud his petition to local elected officials during a gathering for lunch and discussion about re-opening Teton Countys economy Monday afternoon on the Town Square. The gathering concluded with those in attendance signing Jones petition threatening legal action against local elected officials unless they rescind or revise the countys health orders, which petitioners argue are in violations of both the United States and Wyoming constitutions.

People wave at passersby Monday afternoon as they gathered for lunch and discussion about re-opening Teton Countys economy on the Town Square. The gathering concluded with those in attendance signing a petition threatening legal action against local elected officials unless they rescind or revise the countys health orders, which petitioners argue are in violation of both the U.S. and Wyoming constitutions. See related story on page 3.

Carolina Wahlman, 8, brought a sign calling for schools to open back up as people gathered for lunch and discussion about re-opening Teton Countys economy Monday afternoon on the Town Square. The gathering concluded with those in attendance signing a petition threatening legal action against local elected officials unless they rescind or revise the countys health orders, which petitioners argue are in violations of both the United States and Wyoming constitutions.

Maury Jones reads aloud his petition to local elected officials during a gathering for lunch and discussion about re-opening Teton Countys economy Monday afternoon on the Town Square. The gathering concluded with those in attendance signing Jones petition threatening legal action against local elected officials unless they rescind or revise the countys health orders, which petitioners argue are in violations of both the United States and Wyoming constitutions.

Gloria Courser and Rebecca Bextel chat Monday afternoon as people gathered for lunch and discussion about re-opening Teton Countys economy on the Town Square. The gathering concluded with those in attendance signing a petition threatening legal action against local elected officials unless they rescind or revise the countys health orders, which petitioners argue are in violations of both the United States and Wyoming constitutions.

Police patrol the Town Square Monday afternoon as people gathered for lunch and discussion about re-opening Teton Countys economy. The gathering concluded with those in attendance signing a petition threatening legal action against local elected officials unless they rescind or revise the countys health orders, which petitioners argue are in violations of both the United States and Wyoming constitutions.

People share hand sanitizer Monday afternoon during a demonstration on the Town Square. The gathering concluded with those in attendance signing a petition threatening legal action against local elected officials unless they rescind or revise the countys health orders, which petitioners argue are in violations of both the United States and Wyoming constitutions.

Valerie Music joins people gathered for lunch and discussion about re-opening Teton Countys economy Monday afternoon on the Town Square. The gathering concluded with those in attendance signing a petition threatening legal action against local elected officials unless they rescind or revise the countys health orders, which petitioners argue are in violation of both the U.S. and Wyoming constitutions.

Bob Culver packs away an extra ball cap following a gathering about re-opening Teton Countys economy Monday afternoon on the Town Square. The protest of widespread closures concluded with those in attendance signing a petition threatening legal action against local elected officials unless they rescind or revise the countys health orders, which petitioners argue are in violations of both the United States and Wyoming constitutions.

Maury Jones reads aloud his petition to local elected officials during a gathering for lunch and discussion about re-opening Teton Countys economy Monday afternoon on the Town Square. The gathering concluded with those in attendance signing Jones petition threatening legal action against local elected officials unless they rescind or revise the countys health orders, which petitioners argue are in violations of both the United States and Wyoming constitutions.

People wave at passersby Monday afternoon as they gathered for lunch and discussion about re-opening Teton Countys economy on the Town Square. The gathering concluded with those in attendance signing a petition threatening legal action against local elected officials unless they rescind or revise the countys health orders, which petitioners argue are in violation of both the U.S. and Wyoming constitutions. See related story on page 3.

Carolina Wahlman, 8, brought a sign calling for schools to open back up as people gathered for lunch and discussion about re-opening Teton Countys economy Monday afternoon on the Town Square. The gathering concluded with those in attendance signing a petition threatening legal action against local elected officials unless they rescind or revise the countys health orders, which petitioners argue are in violations of both the United States and Wyoming constitutions.

Maury Jones reads aloud his petition to local elected officials during a gathering for lunch and discussion about re-opening Teton Countys economy Monday afternoon on the Town Square. The gathering concluded with those in attendance signing Jones petition threatening legal action against local elected officials unless they rescind or revise the countys health orders, which petitioners argue are in violations of both the United States and Wyoming constitutions.

Gloria Courser and Rebecca Bextel chat Monday afternoon as people gathered for lunch and discussion about re-opening Teton Countys economy on the Town Square. The gathering concluded with those in attendance signing a petition threatening legal action against local elected officials unless they rescind or revise the countys health orders, which petitioners argue are in violations of both the United States and Wyoming constitutions.

Police patrol the Town Square Monday afternoon as people gathered for lunch and discussion about re-opening Teton Countys economy. The gathering concluded with those in attendance signing a petition threatening legal action against local elected officials unless they rescind or revise the countys health orders, which petitioners argue are in violations of both the United States and Wyoming constitutions.

People share hand sanitizer Monday afternoon during a demonstration on the Town Square. The gathering concluded with those in attendance signing a petition threatening legal action against local elected officials unless they rescind or revise the countys health orders, which petitioners argue are in violations of both the United States and Wyoming constitutions.

Valerie Music joins people gathered for lunch and discussion about re-opening Teton Countys economy Monday afternoon on the Town Square. The gathering concluded with those in attendance signing a petition threatening legal action against local elected officials unless they rescind or revise the countys health orders, which petitioners argue are in violation of both the U.S. and Wyoming constitutions.

Bob Culver packs away an extra ball cap following a gathering about re-opening Teton Countys economy Monday afternoon on the Town Square. The protest of widespread closures concluded with those in attendance signing a petition threatening legal action against local elected officials unless they rescind or revise the countys health orders, which petitioners argue are in violations of both the United States and Wyoming constitutions.

The timing of the gathering, noon, was the same as that of the Choice to Work protest, which took place on the steps of the Capitol building in Cheyenne. There, Gov. Mark Gordon stepped out of the Capitol flanked by mask-clad guards to address protesters.

Public officials made no such gesture locally. Instead, the Jackson groups gathering a much quieter affair than Cheyennes proceeded more or less uninhibited aside from one person driving by in a truck who stuck his head out the window and yelled Stupid, stupid, stupid at the gathering, which wasted no time replying.

Come on over, they yelled back.

Members of the crowd stood close together, some with children in tow. Face coverings were scant, and people from different households gathered closely, which made maintaining 6 feet of social distance difficult.

Jackson Mayor Pete Muldoon said the gathering appears to be a violation of a public health order designed to protect our community.

Its disappointing, he wrote in a text. Freedom requires responsibility; you cant have one without the other, and I would ask those who value their freedoms to exercise the responsibilities that come with them.

But some didnt believe what they were doing flew in the face of Teton Countys health orders and recommendations.

This is no different than what you see on Snow King, when people are skiing and hanging out in the parking lot, or what you see on the bike path, Gloria Courser said. But this is going to be looked at differently because were actually saying something.

A police car drove by Town Square, stopping to idle for about 15 minutes, but ultimately turned and drove away. Jackson Police Lt. Roger Schultz said he couldnt speak to that patrol cars actions. He did, however, say the Jackson Police Department is choosing not to take any action against gatherings like that.

It comes down to that balancing act, Schultz said, weighing a constitutional right with a public health order.

Right now, were drawing the line with allowing people to assemble and petition and protest our government, he added. Thats not a fight were going to fight at this time.

The countys Director of Health Jodie Pond said the orders are not the thing to protest.

Protesting and gathering thats peoples first amendment right, but I would hope they did it in a way that didnt endanger themselves or others, Pond said. If youd like to protest, Id protest the fact that we havent received the testing material weve requested.

See the rest here:
Jackson Hole Tea Party gathers on Town Square to condemn closures, orders - Jackson Hole News&Guide

On April 15, protesters in Michigan railed against Gov. Gretchen Whitmers stay-at-home executive order. Spurred by right-wing media goliaths like Tucker Carlson and Rush Limbaugh, demonstrators took to the streets of Lansing, holding signs and waving flags. Some of the signs compared Gov. Whitmer to Adolf Hitler. Some protesters waved Confederate flags. Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel tweeted that Democrat Gretchen Whitmer is turning Michigan into a police state.

Sound familiar?

The Tea Party burst onto the national scene in February 2009 after the Obama administration announced the Homeowners Affordability and Stability Plan, which refinanced mortgages while the country was in the throes of the Great Recession. The first national Tea Party protest was on Feb. 27, 2009, but the seeds of the movement were sown before that day.

Modern right-wing populism was born in a time similar to this one, during a recession with a big-government response. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson proposed what would become the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 on September 20 of that year, and while the bailouts were necessary to save the global economy, they were unpopular. Grassroots organizations on both the left and right mobilized against the Acts Troubled Asset Relief Program. Protesters on the left argued against what they perceived to be a policy package that would only help Wall Street, not ordinary Americans, in step with the lefts positions on Wall Street for decades. Opposition to TARP on the right came from a new movement.

When the Bush administration unveiled its bailout plan, fiscal libertarians who would become the Tea Party felt that TARP was the government picking winners and losers in the economy. Staunch advocates against federal intervention, they immediately opposed the plan, despite evidence that without it, Americans would soon be unable to get money from ATMs.

Libertarian conservatives were not unreasonable in their growing discontent with President George W. Bush. The compassionate conservatism he campaigned on manifested in big-government policy. It makes sense that some Republicans felt like their leader had abandoned them with Medicare Part D. Civil libertarians in the party werent happy with the Patriot Act either, as they felt it represented big government violating citizens privacy. The Bush administration also found resistance to its stance on immigration; a nascent paleoconservative wing of the party defeated Bushs immigration reform plan because of the path to citizenship it sought to provide to illegal immigrants.

Conservatives werent stupid to think the Tea Party was going to right the ship. Tea Party candidates won handily in the 2010 midterms, but their time in Washington was indicative of a greater issue in the movement.

Tea Party protesters held signs and waved flags. A lot of the signs compared Obama to Hitler. Occasionally, protestors had Confederate flags. Tea Party Republicans complained that Obama was turning this country into a police state, taking their guns and taxing the bejesus out of them.

Conservative intelligentsia largely saw the Tea Party as a vehicle for a return to Reagan-era conservatism. Tea Party candidates evoked the Gippers memory in their speeches and policies. In fact, Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who rode the Tea Party wave into office in 2010, was hailed as the next Reagan before his 2016 presidential campaign.

But it was all a lie.

If Tea Party voters actually cared about limited government and the separation of powers, they couldnt possibly be Trump supporters.

The thing is, it was never about principles.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a libertarian hardliner, said to the Washington Examiner of his voters:

All this time, I thought they were voting for libertarian Republicans. But after some soul searching I realized when they voted for Rand and Ron and me in these primaries, they werent voting for libertarian ideasthey were voting for the craziest son of a b- in the race.

Massie is spot-on here. The vast majority of Tea Party voters and politicians still in office have pledged fealty to Donald Total Authority Trump, certainly not deigning to investigate his flagrant corruption, their one-time raison dtre. The anti-Whitmer protest, and similar demonstrations across the country, are nothing more than a redux of the Tea Partys beginnings this time without any pretense of support for the free market and limited government.

Lets not get caught up in the same narrative. It was all about tearing down the establishment. Real Americans versus the latte-sipping elites. Thats what it is now, too. Trump, in his unwillingness to listen to medical and epidemiological experts, is a man of the people. Hes draining the swamp when he reassigns career public servants Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and his brother from the National Security Council to lower posts after Vindman testifies against him in his impeachment hearings.

Bulwark founder and editor-at-large, Charlie Sykes, wrote Thursday that on the populist right, there is no tension between outrage over the Nanny State and slavish devotion to the Orange God King. Although as a matter of political philosophy or logic you would think those two things would be incompatible, as a matter of psychology theyre not.

Hes absolutely right on that point. Its a psychology of war, one that the Tea Party instilled in the partys identity, and that persists today. John McCain was a squishy RINO in 2008 to the conservative wing of the party, so he picked Sarah Palin, who ended up being maybe the highest-profile Tea Party leader. Mitt Romney wasnt conservative enough, and he picked Paul Ryan, who, while as conservative as Tea Party politicians, was seen as too much of a Washington policy wonk.

The right wing of the Republican Party wanted someone to take up the cause. Not of conservatism, but of populism. Donald Trump is the strongman who can give power back to the people the president who will tweet all-caps calls to LIBERATE three states, which might have been incitement.

Its not as if there arent valid reasons for all kinds of Americans to be distrustful of government and our countrys institutions. If the 21st century can be described in one word, that word would be disillusionment. But Trumps goal, and greatest strength, is self-preservation. Hell do whatever he and his team think necessary for him to stay in power.

What happens next?

Trump will likely exploit growing populist indignation, pitting Americans against one another even more than he did in 2016. Hell double down on immigration, citing the coronavirus pandemic as a reason to tighten border security. Hell claim countless powers he doesnt have, all while calling Biden a big-government socialist. His supporters wont call him out on his hypocrisy, because to them, the president isnt the government. Hes a fighter, and the government is the deep state that he has to beat.

My hope is that real conservatives dont fall prey to this faux-libertarian movement the way the right did a decade ago. Considering the responses to Trumps claim that when somebodys the president of the United States, the authority is total and Trumps history of not typically following through on his loudest pronouncements, I doubt anything shockingly more apocalyptic than what were currently experiencing comes to pass. Im sure there will be protests, more hand-wringing from elected Republicans when Trump says something particularly egregious about liberating states and Democrats taking guns, but not much more.

Polling data overwhelmingly shows that Americans support social isolation measures and stay-at-home orders. The divide between those who do and dont is almost entirely partisan. Americans are growing increasingly frustrated with the federal response to the pandemic, and theyre not the ones out in the streets protesting. The new silent majority is the moderate suburban voter, and their vote is right there for Joe Biden to pick up.

If he does, and is elected president of the United States, this new Tea Party wont pick up much political momentum, but itll exist as long as we as a country feel the effects of coronavirus. And theres no telling how long the GOPs populist turn will last, but its clear that its never been about conservative principles.

Zach Kessel is a Medill freshman. He can be contacted at zachkessel2023@u.northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.

See the article here:
Opinion | A new populist revolution is here. Don't buy in. - The Daily Northwestern