Imagine a loved one dying because your governor was too lazy to read the news any time in the last month https://t.co/NF9XhZ4RPD
— Matt O'Brien (@ObsoleteDogma) April 2, 2020
Ain’t it just amazing what a rich white man is allowed to ‘not know’?
(And, of course, he threw a woman — Georgia Public Health Commissioner Dr. Toomey — under the bus, while attempting to excuse himself.)
If Kemp really didn’t know, he’s too dumb to be allowed to walk the streets unsupervised. If — and this is my bet — he just figured it didn’t matter, because COVID-19 wouldn’t come for him or his, he’s certainly a monster and probably a criminal.
neither option is especially reassuring. the fact his staff was attempting to discredit an epidemiologist this week using links to the Federalist as evidence suggests they’re living in an alternate reality.
— Andisheh Nouraee (@andishehnouraee) April 2, 2020
Just imagine what might’ve been if Kemp hadn’t been allowed to ‘supervise’ his own election (and dump some 700,000 voters that mostly would’ve voted not-Republican). Could this voter suppression have been deliberate? Well, what are Kemp’s cronies saying right now?…
So in their own logic bubble they are that they just openly admit the only way they hold power is through voter suppression now. https://t.co/cdCOa0UTea
— Schooley (@Rschooley) April 2, 2020
I predict that Stacey Abrams is gonna have a bright political future. Just listen to this interview:
FULL INTERVIEW: @staceyabrams joins @ABCNewsLive to discuss Census Day amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. https://t.co/LFwtqQy216
"What we have to remember is that the census is a count not only of who we are, but where we are and what we need." pic.twitter.com/wrOI3V5Qk8
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) April 2, 2020
War Of Words
SiubhanDuinne
He is a horrible, horrible man and I am embarrassed to live in the state he “governs.”
jl
Could have been a CYA ‘not entirely accurate in every sense of the word’ type of thing.
Hate to be so cynical, but we’ve all seen things recently….
cmorenc
I am reminded by this of the classic short Smothers Brothers song: “The Slithery Dee”
Oh, the Slithery Dee
he crawled out of the sea
he may catch all the others, but he won’t catch me…….
Baud
We have good people.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
thread
Krope, the Formerly Dope
Jesus, he’s just the Governor. Do you expect him to keep up with everything?
dmsilev
So, either he’s as dumb as a rock or he’s been living under one for the last two months. Or, quite possibly, both.
ThresherK
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
What, the county won’t accept free use of Trump resort golf carts in kind? What kind of monsters are they at the Palm Beach County offices?
kindness
There is a reason I refuse to live in the southeastern/southmidwestern US. California has spoiled me.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Tough shit. Welcome to representative democracy. Change your platform to appeal to more voters or prepare for minority status. Those are your only two legitimate choices
Spanky
@dmsilev: I urge you to explore Option Three, that he’s a lying sack o’ shit.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Krope, the Formerly Dope:
Also:
Jesus, he’s just the President. Don’t you know Obama never replenished the national PPE stockpile after Swine Flu and so it’s not really Trump’s fault (because nothing ever is, he’s anointed by God and therefore infallible) even though he’s been in office for over 3 years now? You libs just have Trump Derangement Syndrome and can never give him credit for anything he does! Only 100,000 to 200,000 Americans will die now! Talk about being ungrateful!
Anyway, if you ignore the stupid and horrendous shit he says all the time, then you can determine what he actually means and get the right information by selectively hearing what you want and giving his words the best possible spin!
/Trump cultist
Tell the world that you’re winning
Love and life
Love and life
Elizabelle
Stacy Abrams would have a clue that COVID19 is highly contagious and carried by the asymptomatic.
That governor who stole the seat is gonna get more Georgians killed. Residents gonna pay for that theft with their lives and health.
Krope, the Formerly Dope
What’s worse is they got rid of the personnel responsible for handling these things and ignored the playbook laid out for these purposes. It’s like they thought there is nothing the previous administration did that could inform their response. Do you think Obama refused to at least look at what Bush did before deciding on a course of action on any major decision?
johnnybuck
He’s not dumb, he’s just a damned liar. That act he played in his stupid ads was just that, an act. I’ve met the guy, on more than one occasion. His campaign was a lie and he is a liar. I don’t think this is going to play well for him.
Another Scott
Warning – Politico:
Sounds sensible to me. Everyone who can should vote absentee.
Corrections welcome.
Cheers,
Scott.
Snarki, child of Loki
The sign-language interpreter on the right of the photo should have one hand pointing at Kemp, and the other with an upraised middle finger.
At least I *assume* it’s a sign-language interpreter, although with RWNJs like Kemp, in Lower Dumbfuckistan, he could just be flashing white-power signs.
A Ghost to Most
He, like DeSantis, finally divined the Messiah’s true wishes, once they pulled their lips off t*’s ample ass.
They lie. About everything.
lamh36
My 2cents from your resident Microbiologist!
Here’s the deal. If you are quarantining at home…no need to wear a mask or even gloves. Anything that comes in the house shoudl be disinfected as well as you can.
Majority of places have closed or reduced hours or gone to delivery only. So if you DO have to go out to the grocery store to replenish essentials, then practice social distancing and wear a masks, in my experience gloves shoulde be optional because I find that when you do wear gloves, you don’t always notice if your hands are soiled by clear fluid…i.e. if you touch something bare handed, you’ll know if it’s wet, wearing gloves, especially the gloves that are bought commercially, you cold get them wet and no even realize you touched something, so gloves I say optional. Just make sure you DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE.
If you don’t wear gloves though, then santizer for your hands when you enter and leave the stores. Once you get home, WASH YOUR HANDS WITH SOAP and disinfect the things you buy.
Simple. Mask up when/if you leave the house and practice social distancing, wear gloves if you want to, but remember DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE.
This is based on my 20+ years in lab, 17 of those as a Microbiologist. In those 20+ years, knock on wood, I’ve NEVER had a infection acquired from the reading cultures.
Brachiator
Well, it is Georgia, which has a long tradition of ignorance.
But also, this is America, where many people want a president who is as dumb as they are, a buddy they could have a beer with.
MattF
Derek Lowe has posted an ‘Immunology for the impatient’ summary explanation of how various coronavirus tests work and don’t work. It’s complicated, but at least offers an idea about what’s going on.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@A Ghost to Most:
Given the tendency of evangelicals and Trump supporters to claim he’s been sent by God to justify their support of him, calling Trump a “messiah” is apt. It’s like how the Ancient Romans used to deify and worship their emperors
A Ghost to Most
Also, too, FUCK fucking Hobby Lobby and the fucking book-banging Greens. They have already gotten cease-and-desist orders from CO and OH for ignoring shutdown orders. They call their shitty craft shops “essential”.
A Ghost to Most
@lamh36: What if your thoughtless water behemoth sends an unprotected inspector to roam and video every space in your house, to cover their ass if they fuck up?
That’s been my day. The clock just got reset.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Krope, the Formerly Dope:
Arrogance and ignorance. Along with a lot of leaders having been forced out since the pandemic simulations done with outgoing Obama officials.
Not for one second. His administration wasn’t always perfect, but I felt safe because they knew what they were doing and I always believe Obama actually cared about all Americans and tried to do the right thing
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@lamh36:
Do you think public mask wearing will be needed for further knocking the virus’ R0 down < 1? People should also wear eye protection as the virus can stay airborne and infectious for up to 3 hrs and can enter the eyes
Mike in NC
We made a rare trip to Walmart yesterday. One employee was assigned to the paper products aisle and said each customer was entitled to take a single pack of four rolls of toilet paper. They were 68 cents each — not the pricey ‘good’ stuff my wife would want — so no price gouging took place. People wanted to know when the next truck was due to arrive, as there was little left. It was like waiting in bread lines in the USSR, circa 1970.
debbie
I just listened to a half-hour interview with Dr. Fauci on NYT’s The Daily. Jesus, he’s awesome.
debbie
@Mike in NC:
Did you go for the cheap stuff or are you holding out for your wife’s brand?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Mike in NC:
That’s what all of these restrictions on not just toilet paper, but other staples such as milk, eggs, bread, etc have brought to my mind. At my store, we were told to limit 1 of each per household for the above items
lamh36
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I think eye protection could be overkill.
Yes the virus can be airborne, but so does almost any respiratory virus.
Can it enter you eyes just randomly walking around, sure…but it is also MORE likely to enter the mucosa from you not washing your hands, or touching your eye/face with soiled gloves.
I mean wearing glasses doens’t mean you are less likely to get pink eye for example. You get pink out from someone who has it and you picked it up and likley rubbed your eye.
BAM…pink eye.
Mask up makes more sense, at least in my experience. But again I’m just a plain ole Microbiologist, and NOT a COVID specialist
SiubhanDuinne
Question about homemade masks: would sturdy coffee filters (maybe a double layer) work, do you think? I believe I could jerry-rig something that would keep the worst of the coughs and sneezes at bay (other people’s, not mine — I’m asymptomatic and feel fine). I don’t go anywhere but the grocery store these days.
Spanky
@debbie: “Holding out” might be a too-apt term if they run out altogether.
Origuy
A Russian Pentecostal church in Sacramento has more than six dozen members testing positive after holding clandestine meetings.
Geminid
A friend lives in Atlanta and in 2018 spent a lot of time on you tube checking out speeches by Senate candidates. He thought O’Rourke and Gillum were good but that Abrams was in a class of her own. People were wondering the other day why John Clyburn would discourage talk of Abrams as a VP choice, but I think he did that because he knows how much good Abrams could do as governor for the people of Georgia, especially the African American community that has gotten a raw deal for three centuries.
Spanky
@SiubhanDuinne: Hold 2 filters over your nose & mouth to make sure they pass enough air before going to the effort.
Brachiator
@Mike in NC:
I’ve been to the supermarket a couple of times, but there has never been any toilet paper available. Fortunately, I had enough from earlier shopping trips.
However, I noted in a prior thread that the local coffee shop owner sold me a couple of rolls at his cost. Before, the pandemic, he had stocked up on toilet paper for the two restrooms in his store; but once Los Angeles county officials said that restaurants were take out only, he no longer has any customers who needed to use the restroom. So now, he has an overabundance of toilet paper.
I imagine that there are some other business establishments like his that might be a similar resource.
I hear the supermarkets are getting better. But I go here to pick up breakfast. It’s one of the few places I go to while working at home and staying in. He is still selling toilet paper, and I don’t have to stand in a line, as I have to do when I go to the supermarket.
joel hanes
@Mike in NC:
Turns out the TP shortage in stores may not be primarily due to hoarding, and may persist for a long time:
https://marker.medium.com/what-everyones-getting-wrong-about-the-toilet-paper-shortage-c812e1358fe0
debbie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
The nerve of them. I wish Deutsche had the balls to foreclosure on them the way they so speedily do on “regular” people.
lamh36
this fuq’er!
debbie
@SiubhanDuinne:
My understanding is that homemade masks are to prevent you from spreading the virus, not to protect you from the virus.
debbie
@lamh36:
What the fuck does he plan to do with them, for fuck’s sake.
That statement clearly shows he has absolutely no understanding of the purpose of the federal government!
FelonyGovt
We knew they were monsters, caging children, throwing people off health insurance, and the like. But the complete lack of concern for any other human beings is somehow chilling.
debbie
@A Ghost to Most:
Hobby Lobby meekly reshuttered after getting the C&D in Ohio.
piratedan
@FelonyGovt: we are all sheep, simply waiting our turn to be shorn, that seems to be how they think of us… sociopaths all.
Citizen_X
Well. Looks like stolen elections have consequences.
raven
One of Athens most beloved restaurateurs, the owner of Marti’s at Mid-day
has left us and it seems it was the pressure of all this shit on her business.
Spanky
@debbie: Au contraire. He’s redefining the purpose of the Federal government in this New World Order.
These people must be stopped.
debbie
@Spanky:
THIS IS LIKE CHANGING THE RULES IN THE MIDDLE OF A KNIFE FIGHT!
SiubhanDuinne
@raven: Oh, I’m really sorry about that. Sadly, there will be many more before this is over.
lgerard
OMG
The letter that trump sent to Senator Schumer today is a triumph of peevishness and ignorance written by a fifth grader
Isn’t anybody watching Steven Miller?
Ella in New Mexico
@kindness:
I’m from upstate New York state originally. A very nice and pretty place, with lots of diversity growing up, even though it’s kinda moderate conservative now, it’s still pretty balanced, not horrible. But I’ve lived in Pennsylvania, Virginia and South Carolina and as far as they’re concerned I. Will. Never. Go. Back.
Also, humble brag here for my Heart Home State New Mexico: I really think we have some of the best Voting Rights and Access Laws in the country and I’d love to see every state use them as their boilerplate reform legislation after the Apocalypse.
Martin
To be clear, every state has an exponential curve like New York and New Jersey. Those curves may be steeper or shallower, and they maybe farther or less far along that curve, but every state has exponential growth.
This is basic scientific illiteracy. The virus does not function differently in red states and blue states.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: Yea, we’re not sure of the details, she’d had a really tough road for the last couple of years.
cminus
To be fair, he’s lying.
On March 16: “There is a significant risk that individuals who seem healthy could visit a facility and unintentionally endanger residents,” Kemp said in a statement.
https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/gov-kemp-urging-georgias-long-term-care-facilities-to-restrict-visitors?fbclid=IwAR1R9gWnpfTbF2hUTkpBPIhg9fE5ZkPSzeO3RKrtwpqrhMs_F74Q6sHa_d0
SiubhanDuinne
@debbie: Well, I think it would be reassuring. Certainly couldn’t hurt. But are coffee filters of any use at all as masks?
Sasha
In fairness, the governor may not be stupid, he just may simply be lying and using his recent “discovery” to justify putting in measures that he should have been in place weeks ago but didn’t because he didn’t want to cross Trump.
SiubhanDuinne
@lgerard: Link to letter, svp?
FelonyGovt
@Martin: As a (long ago, but still) former New Yorker, his “fuck New York” attitude makes me want to spit. Of course he’s no kinder to my current state, California.
lamh36
??
I got one teacher who’s horrible at using Zoom. I got another teacher who uses the majority of the time ranting about shit ?
Dude just tel is what u want us to write and when it’s fuqn due?. At this point I would rather they had suspended the program have us a refund and made it so that we would have to push it to summer or something?
tybee
I was sent this today…
Day 9 of the quarantine:
My wife called out from the other room and asked if I ever get a stabbing pain in my chest like someone has a voodoo doll of me and is stabbing it.
I replied “No”.
She responded, “How about now?”
SiubhanDuinne
@Spanky: Yes, of course. Thanks.
Spanky
@Martin: Like President Hillary said, do not take science advice from someone who looked directly at a partially eclipsed sun.
debbie
@SiubhanDuinne:
I think the main thing is to mark sure you could breathe through them. I don’t have any coffee filters to try. I do know that people are using vacuum cleaner bag filters. Also disposable furnace filters.
Geminid
I wish someone more knowledgeable than I about high-level banking would comment on the dynamic between Trump, Deutsche Bank, and the German government. Deutsche Bank is owed a lot of money by Trump that is likely laundered Russian funds. But the bank is chartered and regulated by the German government, and I think at this point Merkel and company probably regard Trump as they would a rabid dog that needs to be put down for the safety of the world. (I expect Xi of China thinks similarly). Could Merkel and the Finance Minister force DeutscheBank to drop the hammer on Trump later this year when he would have less time to retaliate? Would they?
chopper
@lamh36:
i guess the federal stockpile is only for washington dc?
CliosFanBoy
@lamh36: Sorry, I’m still waiting to hear what rightwing law professors suggest I should do.
(seriously, thank you)
lgerard
@SiubhanDuinne:
Letter to Schumer
https://twitter.com/Phil_Mattingly/status/1245836495702933504/photo/1
CliosFanBoy
@chopper: and Guam
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@lamh36:
Thank you!
WereBear
Thanks! That totally makes sense. @joel hanes:
James E Powell
@lamh36:
I think I see the problem they’re trying to avoid.
debbie
@lgerard:
That letter is unworthy of that letterhead.
But I’m angry there hasn’t been massive pushback against the talking point about blaming COVID-19 on the impeachment “hoax.”
James E Powell
@lgerard:
Wow. That guy is really an a hole.
But I’m sure FOX will promote it and Republicans will celebrate it.
Elizabelle
@lgerard: How infantile.
James E Powell
@debbie:
Who would do the pushback? The press/media? Never. Elected Democrats? Almost never.
SiubhanDuinne
@lgerard:
Thank you for the link.
And holy fucking fuck. It’s beyond comprehension that a President of the United States would send such a vitriolic letter to anyone, let alone to the Leader of the Democratic Party in the United States Senate. I keep saying, and thinking, that Trump can’t possibly surprise and disgust me any more, and I’m always wrong.
John Revolta
@Geminid: I understand (and I may have heard this here, from Adam) that Deutsche Bank is pretty tangled up with the Russians.
lgerard
I had a hard time getting past the “English as a second language” first sentence
debbie
@SiubhanDuinne:
I’ve been googling around and a couple of studies, like these, say effectiveness is at best only 50%.
Elizabelle
What Schumer should send back to Trump (but won’t, because he’s an adult): saw this on Facebook and loved it:
trollhattan
@tybee:
That received vigorous spousal approval.
Should I be worried?
John Revolta
@debbie: Rules? In a knife fight?
lamh36
@James E Powell: I mean I’m sure it’s also a complication for folks who are using student loans.
I mean if you are paying out of pocket, then yeah a refund would be simpler. But many folks use student loans to pay for school, so an additional semester means addt’l loans. . No one should want that.
Still, at this point, it’s just so damn frustrating because if I wanted to take an online program, I would have applied to an online program. I specifically looked into in-person classes. I like them better, even if I do have to drive to campus 3x a week after work.
lgerard
@Elizabelle:
(checks supply of coffee filters)
Elizabelle
Here’s an easier to read version of the ridiculous letter Trump sent to Schumer. From axios; scroll down.
That one deserved an April 1st date. How far the Oval Office has sunk.
We are going to have to sanitize everything, for more than viruses. The stench. The corruption.
raven
Shit, it was suicide.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@lamh36:
WTF, Jared? I paid my income taxes yesterday. Did you get the money for the NATIONAL stockpile somewhere else? Do you not think the states are part of the nation?
Spanky
@John Revolta: You remember what follows that line, right?
mrmoshpotato
I can’t find anything solid here. Is this liquified sarcasm? ?
SiubhanDuinne
@raven: Oh god, I misunderstood. I just thought the restaurant was forced to close and the owner was despondent about that. Didn’t realise she had taken her own life. How awful and sad.
WaterGirl
@raven: What was? Oh, no, the owner of that cafe you mentioned?
Jeffro
hey guys what is this “us” and “we” that Post hack Marc Thiessen seems to be talking about?
Full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic
I’ll just leave that there…it actually gets worse…
Is there something beyond lying, gaslighting, subterfuge, and distraction? Because taking the trumpov maladministration’s many, many failures and painting them as “ours” has me itching for my bat…
Elizabelle
@raven: That is tragic. I looked Marti up on Google. Such a loss.
Meet Marti Schimmel of …
cain
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
He’s more the anti-Christ. His appearance have brought a lot of shit down upon us. I understand that a cloud of locusts the size of New York City is heading in our direction.
raven
@WaterGirl: Yea, she’s been a friend for years.
cain
@A Ghost to Most:
Do what California did, turn off their power and water.
Baud
Schumer on Hayes.
Elizabelle
We should keep an eye out for suicides. Too many people losing too much, all at once.
Tragic.
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: So much
winningwhining(By Trump, in case that wasn’t obvious.)
eddie blake
@lgerard:
wow. tang the conqueror, or whomever wrote that for him) is SUCH a dick.
Elizabelle
@Jeffro: That’s as much as I will read. Thiessen is a disgrace.
Gaslighting is all people like him do. The WaPost lessens itself by printing this crap in the interest of “balance.” For shame.
WaterGirl
@raven: Oh, I’m so sorry. Fuck.
raven
@WaterGirl: I’ll say this, it’s no surprise, shock yes but not a surprise.
joel hanes
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
The Talibangelicals spend decades telling us that the anti-Christ was coming soon.
Then he showed up, and they all voted for him.
Elizabelle
@eddie blake: It all sounds like Trump. Simplistic, ugly, no big words.
The only one that caught my eye was “haplessly” (re the impeachment). Otherwise, it’s all Trump’s limited vocabulary. That is giving him credit for knowing the word “leverage” (frankly, it’s the only thing at which he excels).
japa21
@James E Powell: You mean other than Pelosi, Biden, Schumer, Sciff, AOC and others?
joel hanes
@Jeffro:
Here’s the comment I left on Theissen’s previous effort :
japa21
@Jeffro: Let’s see. In each case, the WH was inhabited by a Republican. In each case the prior administration gave warnings about what was to come. In each case the Republican in the WH chose to ignore the warnings. Isn’t that hard to figure out.
WaterGirl
@raven: Tragic. I’m so sorry for everyone who cared for her.
WaterGirl
@joel hanes: That is a thing of beauty. So sad that it’s all true, but really well done.
Geminid
@Ella in New Mexico: New Mexico has some very good Democratic elected officials too. Michelle Lujan-Griffin won the Governor’s race in 2018 on a clean energy platform, and put clean power legislation through the legislature last year. Long past due. New Mexico has plenty of wind and sun but lags behind neighbor Texas in utilizing them. Representatives Debra Haaland, Xochitl Torres-Small, and Ben Ray Lujan are excellent I think. Lujan will be a Senator in the new Congress. Torres-Small is one of the most vulnerable freshmen, and I hope to contribute to her reelection.
Martin
Data time:
I’m going to be adding a Florida model, but preliminary looks like they’ll pass CA on fatalities in a few days. Florida was +79 the last 2 days compared to +65 for CA and they are on a steeper slope.
Baud
James E Powell
@japa21:
Yes. I mean every single one saying the exact same thing at the same time to every reporter over and over and over and over and over. Unity. Repetition. That is how the Republicans get their lies to be accepted as fact by the press/media. We don’t do that.
John Revolta
@Spanky: Yeah, well I’m sitting down. Behind a desk.
Baud
Cuomo will be on Maddow.
A Ghost to Most
@FelonyGovt:
WaterGirl
@Martin: I very much appreciate these updates, Martin. And you!
TS (the original)
I just used the google to find Trump’s letter & it was full of RW media saying Trump ate Schumer for breakfast. THIS is why half of the US think trump is doing a great job. By accident (thinking it was the WaPo, I accessed the Washington Times & when I said no to their sign up page was told “So you prefer to read the fake media”
May this virus scare the bejesus out of trump from now until forever – may he live with the vision of 200,000 deaths that happened on HIS watch – now and always. Eventually the sycophants will slide away & only Javanka will be left to agree with his b.s.
TS (the original)
@Baud:
thanks – I’ve given up on 90% of the news, will watch this. Rachel has no more f..ks to give
JeanneT
@Spanky: Coffee filter pore size is 2 microns, way bigger than viruses are. Corona virus measures .1 micron. Smartairfilters.com has a long article about how well materials filter viruses, showing that many of the fabrics we can use for DIY masks should filter 50% or more of viruses.
I have an untested hypothesis that combining different fabrics (woven, nonwoven, knit) can work better together when combined as layers in a mask. I have found that too many layers make breathing too hard and too hot!
schrodingers_cat
@TS (the original): I saw it on Twitter and found two typos in the last paragraph while scanning it briefly.
Citizen_X
@lgerard: Holy fuck, that thread is a sewer of Trumpbots.
Jeffro
@Baud: bringing. the. bat.
I heartily approve this message
Jeffro
@Elizabelle: I hear you, anything beyond the headline is more than anyone needed to know Thiessen is irredeemable and should move up in the tumbrel line.
Jeffro
@japa21: amen and amen.
May more – many more – American voters make that connection.
Jeffro
@joel hanes: sometimes I really do think that – that all of my atheistic concerns have been for naught, and that we really do have Satan in our midst, as the head of our government.
then I realize what a complete and obvious know-nothing he is, how inept, how obviously pathetic, and realize that even Satan would do better
Bill Arnold
@SiubhanDuinne:
Can’t say about coffee filters, but this video is fun, if one can fine 2 rubber bands the right size:
Note: I have not tried this yet. If anyone manages to get it to work please let us know.
Martin
There’s a lot of reporting on why CA’s testing numbers are low.
So, that just came up on Chris Hayes and they covered the case of Quest labs, which CA has a lot of tests caught up in Quests’s backlog. Quest is a CA company, so we got caught up in their bottleneck a lot worse than other states.
But the other cause is deliberate, as I understand it from our hospital. Early on, CA made a determination that we couldn’t catch up for a South Korea style approach and went for a Wuhan style lockdown. We made that determination relatively early in the number of cases we had. Part of that determination was a shift in testing approach. Where the previous approach was a lot of testing and tracing, once you lose the ability to trace because you have too many cases and/or too little control because the feds kept allowing people in via LAX and other ports, then testing doesn’t do much for you if you already have a lockdown because all you can do is tell people to stay home, which you’ve already told them to do. You have a public that demands to be tested, because that seems like information they should have, but a crush on testing means inviting a failure of social distancing. It becomes counterproductive. And if you are trying (and knowingly failing) to do widespread community testing, when you have shortages of PPE, healthcare staff, swabs, reagents, etc. then you’re just exposing lab techs and risking failing to maintain enough capacity to test hospital staff and patients.
So, CA decided that we would deliberately not do community testing. Tell people to just stay home, make sure we can turn around hospital testing quickly, and maintain our capacity knowing that we cannot scale labs as quickly as cases are going to scale. The goal is to bend the curve and save lives, and I think when the data is done, CA will shown that we’ve done that even with the lower testing rates.
The next phase of this will require a lot more testing, but we need to free up healthcare workers, PPEs, consumables, etc.
SiubhanDuinne
Gov. Cuomo is going to be on Rachel. Should be a good interview.
A Ghost to Most
@Jeffro: I saw the pathetic headline for Theissen, but he is head of the do-not-click list.
Geminid
@John Revolta: Yeah, I understand that Deutsche Bank is very much tangled up with the Russians, but they are a major German bank and my impression is that the German government exerts more control over banks than does the U.S. Stories I’ve read indicate that DeutscheBank has so much compromised itself that the government may have its executives by the short hairs. But I’m just guessing. Maybe someone who knows more will comment.
Sister Golden Bear
@lamh36:
Translation: It’s ours to sell out the back door to the highest bidder.
FelonyGovt
Shit. My daughter’s girlfriend, a nurse at the West Los Angeles VA, was just notified that a patient in her unit tested positive for COVID-19.
joel hanes
@Geminid:
Just a reminder that former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s son is a bigwig at Deutsche, and that Kennedy chose to retire so that Trump could appoint Kavanaugh.
Miss Bianca
@lamh36: thank you, lamh. May you stay safe and well!
joel hanes
@Sister Golden Bear:
Yes. This is the correct way to understand Kushner’s remark.
Miss Bianca
@tybee: lol!
I’m sorry, is that wrong of me?
SiubhanDuinne
@FelonyGovt: Just learned that my sister’s daughter-in-law’s brother has been tested positive. A bit distant from me, although I’ve met him briefly and found him pleasant. I’m guessing he’s late 40s-early 50s. Hope he gets through in good shape.
FelonyGovt
@SiubhanDuinne: This is going to touch us all sooner or later. I’m about to start crying.
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh36: Very clear and much appreciated. Stay safe and well, lamh.
Haroldo
@Jeffro:
Canada agrees!
https://www.macleans.ca/opinion/a-reminder-from-hell-that-saving-lives-will-save-the-economy/?fbclid=IwAR1U0UVdd5GdosqnIt2LzUmJGfCur2Ho2xPYXcnI8u83gvkdv2pxqj2jSQ4
SiubhanDuinne
@Bill Arnold: Thanks. Bookmarked for reference.
SFAW
@lgerard:
The words “fucking asshole” had little meaning (comparatively) before the Liar-in-Chief showed up.
It is unfortunate that his racist, asshole father did not keep him in public schools, where he might have gotten the shit kicked out of him enough times to teach him a little humility.
SFAW
@Miss Bianca:
If laughing at it’s wrong, I don’t wanna be right.
MoCA Ace
@raven:
So sorry. I pray this won’t become more common but fear it will. We all need to take some time and check on the ones we love.
Geminid
@joel hanes: Well, I doubt if Merkel and her finance minister would put Scalia’s son in prison. But I’m guessing they would not have much compunction as to the German executives. I think that Merkel et al still have more power in Germany than Trump and Putin together. And while Putin will be around for a while, Trumps looking like a goner. Maybe Merkel and Xi will put their heads together and figure out how to give him a push. I can’t see them giving him any support. At this point they are the two most powerful responsible leaders in the world, and are probably as antipathetic towards Trump as most of the people on this blog, just more calculating.
Geminid
@Geminid: I am hoping that somebody who knows Germany and the power dynamic between the government and big German businesses in general and banks in particular can give their perspective. I know they have an excellent health care system and outstanding industrial production, and I’ve read that local banks and local industrial enterprises work closely together, but that’s about all. DeutscheBank plays a major role in Trump’s finances, and the relationship stays in the news but my understanding is superficial.
Geminid
@joel hanes: Sorry, you spoke of Kennedy’s son, not Scalia’s. I guess I’m sleepy. I will try to research this topic. That should knock me right out.
2liberal
I tore up an AC filter rated 1500 and have been using that for my improvised face masks.
rikyrah
@joel hanes:
?????