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CentralMass

CentralMass's Journal
CentralMass's Journal
March 2, 2020

Coronavirus prevention: How to make hand sanitizer at home

https://www.oregonlive.com/coronavirus/2020/03/coronavirus-prevention-how-to-make-hand-sanitizer-at-
"Here’s what you need:
2/3 cup Isopropyl alcohol 91% (rubbing alcohol)
1/3 cup aloe vera gel
Essential oil in your choice of fragrance (optional)
A small or medium mixing bowl
A spoon
An empty container, such as a 3-ounce container from a travel toiletries kit
A small piece of masking tape for labeling
Here’s how to make it:
In a mixing bowl, stir Isopropyl alcohol and aloe vera gel together until well blended.

Add 8-10 drops of scented essential oil (optional, but nice!). Stir to incorporate.

Pour the homemade hand sanitizer into an empty container and seal. Write “hand sanitizer” on a piece of masking tape and affix to the bottle.

Note: This recipe creates hand sanitizer that contains 65% alcohol, above the 60% alcohol content that the CDC recommends."
March 2, 2020

Tom Steyer ends 2020 presidential campaign

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/29/politics/tom-steyer-drops-out-2020-race/index.html
"Tom Steyer ended his presidential campaign on Saturday night after the billionaire businessman failed to gain traction in a large field of Democratic candidates.

Steyer exited the race after he failed to claim victory in South Carolina, a state he invested heavily in, hoping it would turn around his sputtering run.

"I said if I didn't see a path to winning that I'd suspend my campaign," he said. "And honestly, I can't see a path where I can win the presidency."
February 28, 2020

House of Cards How Joe Biden helped build a financial system that's great for Delaware banks and

terrible for the rest of us.

About Mother Jones: https://www.motherjones.com/about/

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/11/biden-bankruptcy-president/
"House of Cards
How Joe Biden helped build a financial system that’s great for Delaware banks and terrible for the rest of us."

Note: This is an in depth article that discusses the history and unique laws of the state Deleware and how it has impacted the banking and financial industries in this country along with Joe Biden's role in supporting deregulation and other baking related legislation.

It is worth the read.

February 28, 2020

The Americans Joe Biden Left Behind on the Bankruptcy Bill

Note: The American Prospect is an independent voice for liberal thought founded by Robert Kuttner, Paul Starr, and Robert Reich.

https://prospect.org/politics/bidens-votes-on-the-bankruptcy-bill-middle-class-joe/

The article is about the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA), it impact on the middle class, and Elizabeth Warrens long fight opposing it.

."The bankruptcy bill was perhaps the most anti–middle class piece of legislation in the past century."

"In 2005 amendments to the bill, Biden voted against borrowers drowning in medical debt, seniors, servicemembers, union members, and victims of deadbeat dads."
"As the Prospect detailed Tuesday, BAPCPA made it harder for consumers to file for Chapter 7 by imposing a “means test” for Chapter 7 eligibility, and by substantially increasing the cost of filing for bankruptcy. This caused debtors’ average total out-of-pocket costs for filing for Chapter 7 to rise from $600 to $2,500. The subsequent result was a permanent 50 percent drop in Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings. BAPCPA made bankruptcy too expensive for the most broke households, making financial stress, mortgage defaults, and foreclosures more likely, particularly after the 2008 financial crisis.

Not only did the law discourage bankruptcy filings, but it made it harder to wipe out credit card debt and student loans in bankruptcy. The result was greater profits for consumer lending businesses, many of which are based in Biden’s state of Delaware. Not surprisingly, then, by lowering the risk of bad lending decisions, the Biden bankruptcy bill unleashed a glut of aggressive private student lending, which has contributed to the massive rise in student loan debt.

The bankruptcy bill was perhaps the most anti–middle class piece of legislation in the past century."

February 28, 2020

The typical US worker can no longer afford a family on a year's salary, showing the dire state of Am

https://www.businessinsider.com/america-middle-class-living-expenses-family-of-four-2020-2
"
The typical US male worker needs more than one year's salary to afford the typical costs of a family of four, according to a new report by the Manhattan Institute.

In 1985, it took him 30 weeks' pay to afford $13,227 in expenditures, versus 53 weeks' pay to afford $54,441 in 2018.

It's evidence of the dire state of the American middle class, which is struggling as living costs outpace wage increases."
"
The American economy may be booming, but its middle class is struggling.

The median male US worker now has to earn more than a year's salary to afford the annual expenses for a family of four, according to "The Cost of Thriving Index" published by the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, and previously reported by The Washington Post. "



February 27, 2020

Iowa Democrats expected to release final caucus recount results Thursday (today 2/27)

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2020/02/27/iowa-caucus-democrats-expected-release-final-recount-results-thursday-bernie-sanders-pete-buttigieg/4856850002/

"Thursday should be the day: The final results of the Iowa caucuses and resolution to the Iowa delegate math that so far gives Pete Buttigieg a slight lead are expected to be released.

The Iowa Democratic Party began a recount of 23 precinct locations on Tuesday and expected it to last two days. The recount stems from requests by Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont."
"
According to state party rules, the state central committee, which acts as a governing board of the Iowa Democratic Party, must certify the caucus results no later than Saturday."
.
February 25, 2020

Bloomberg called Warren 'scary' and vowed to 'defend the banks' in closed-door 2016 event

The audio is at this link:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/24/politics/kfile-bloomberg-called-warren-scary-and-defended-banks/index.html

"Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg said at a private event in 2016 that his presidential campaign platform would have been to "defend the banks" and also labeled the progressive movement and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, now a rival for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, as "scary."

When asked his views on the rise of the far right in Europe, Bloomberg warned about the rise of progressive politicians in the US, citing Warren.
"The left is arising. The progressive movement is just as scary," he says. "Elizabeth Warren on one side. And whoever you want to pick on the Republicans on the right side?"
"
Bloomberg, who was elected mayor as a Republican and as an independent, also criticized President Barack Obama, saying that his 2012 endorsement of Obama was "backhanded" and that he thought Republican Mitt Romney could have done a better job if he'd been elected."

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