“Wuhan Virus Watch: Over Half of All U.S. Deaths Have Occurred in Just Five States”
“Today’s update will start with a review of where the Wuhan Coronavirus deaths have occurred in this country.
Over half of all documented coronavirus deaths have occurred in just five states, following the trend seen in other nations that show heavily concentrated and very localize outbreaks.
Of the nearly 80,000 deaths from the virus in this country as of Saturday afternoon, nearly 48,700, or about 60 percent, had occurred in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
New York remains the hardest-hit state of any in the country by far, having logged nearly 27,000 deaths as of Saturday afternoon. The next-hardest-hit state, New Jersey, had recorded over 9,100.
Those numbers reflect a startling regionalism to the disease, which has brought much of the economic and social life of the United States to a grinding halt. New York and New Jersey also top the country’s list for number of deaths adjusted for population, while Massachusetts, Michigan and Pennsylvania also fall in the top ten.
Those concentrated numbers are reflective of a virus that seems to strike noticeably heavier in some locations than others, a pattern that has borne out in numerous countries around the world.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has prepared a map of the total number of cases, which also reflects the same pattern.”
Wow, it seems Democrats have perfected Minority Report type technology. They can tell a crime is going to happen before it even does. Tom Cruise would be so proud….
Oh wait… no, they’re just lying again….
Breaking news: senior Obama admin officials did their jobs. As @SallyQYates testified to Congress three years ago, there were concerns about Flynn's conduct on the call with Kislyak. If the Trump admin believes the transcript shows no wrongdoing, they should release it too. https://t.co/yAUFXnIg2t
“The day has arrived. Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell has declassified who wanted to unmask Michael Flynn during the transition period, which was part of the scheme to ensnare him in a perjury trap set up by the FBI. Flynn had spoken with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. We know this because the call was leaked to the press. This was part of the long campaign of coordinated leaks to get the Russian collusion circus going. Reportedly, Obama gave marching orders for how he wanted the FBI’s probe to be protected once he left, preferably with the goal of preventing the incoming Trump administration from finding out about it. And based on these news documents, former President Obama, along with former Vice President Joe Biden, disgraced former FBI Director James Comey, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and former CIA Director John Brennan, all wanted Flynn’s name unmasked. Katie has more:
The list of Obama administration officials who requested the unmasking of General Michael Flynn during the transition period between the November 2016 election and President Donald Trump’s January 20, 2017 inauguration has been released. Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell declassified the list late last week and it has been published by Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson.
[…]
Here are some of them:
-Vice President Joe Bden – One request January 12, 2017
-FBI Director James Comey – One request December 15, 2016
-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper – Three requests
-CIA Director John Brennan – Two requests – December 14-15, 2016
-U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power – 7 requests
-Obama Chief of Staff Dennis McDonough – One request January 5, 2017
Yes, Obama appears to be a starting QB in fanning the flames of this heinous scheme within the DOJ. Besides Flynn, the Justice Department has spied on the Trump campaign, sending informants to glean information from campaign officials under false pretenses and then relaying that information to the third party. And all of this was due to one piece of biased political opposition research, the Trump dossier, which was compiled by an ex-British spy, Christopher Steele, and funded by the Democrats and the Clinton campaign. It was thoroughly debunked with reports from the Mueller probe and DOJ IG report on FISA abuses. The dossier was cited as credible evidence, despite never being verified, in securing a spy warrant against former Trump campaign official Carter Page. Given the breadth of this scheme, it’s no shocker I guess that Obama and his goons were in the driver’s seat. There were strong inclinations, as anything to the contrary would suggest an Obama executive that has truly gone rogue. Nope. We now have confirmation that yes, while the Obama executive went off the reservation, it was done on purpose. ”
——
Former Vice President Joe Biden sought to unmask General Michael Flynn.
Yet just days ago, he said he knew nothing about the investigation.
Unmasking an American citizen is illegal, so it’s no wonder Biden has been hidin’!
“Pelosi Palooza: House $3 Trillion Relief Bill Loaded With Dem Political Goodies
“The 1,815-page piece of legislation is, once again, filled with ideological wishes that are unrelated to coronavirus relief” like amnesty, mandatory mail voting and banning voter i.d., stimulus payments to illegals, tax relief for wealthy blue-states, and more”
“Nancy Pelosi and Democrats are once again exploiting the Coronavirus crisis in an attempt to ram through spending they would never get passed otherwise.
Pelosi has been absent in Washington for weeks, but she somehow produced an 1,800 page bill with a price tag of $3 trillion dollars that reads like a progressive wish list.
Reagan McCarthy writes at Townhall:
Speaker Pelosi Proposes Another Partisan Relief Package
Speaker Pelosi unveiled Democrats’ proposed COVID-19 relief package on Tuesday, even as she refuses to allow the House to return to D.C. This version totals to an additional $3 trillion of relief.
The 1,815-page piece of legislation is, once again, filled with ideological wishes that are unrelated to coronavirus relief. Speaker Pelosi also allowed no GOP input in the crafting of this package that is virtually dead-on-arrival. Included in Speaker Pelosi’s bill are voting reforms, a repeal of the SALT cap, diversity incentives for marijuana businesses and other unrelated wish-list items.
You wouldn’t believe some of the items in this bill:
National Endowment for the Arts- $10 million for the National Endowment for the Arts for grants to support the general operations of recipients and language to permit the waiver of matching requirements.
National Endowment for the Humanities- $10 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities for grants to support the general operations of recipients and language to permit the waiver of matching requirements.
Sec. XX3. Temporary Protections for Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers. This section provides temporary protections to undocumented workers in the United States engaged in essential critical infrastructure work, as defined by DHS-issued guidance, during the COVID-19 emergency. Such workers are deemed to be in a period of deferred action and to be authorized for employment, and employers are shielded from certain immigration-related violations for employing such workers.
Section XX5. ICE Detention. This section requires DHS to review the immigration files of all individuals in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to assess the need for continued detention. Individuals who are not subject to mandatory detention shall be prioritized for release, either on recognizance or into an alternative to detention program, unless the individual is a threat to public safety or national security.
That barely scratches the surface. Here’s more:”
Pelosi’s bill would give get-out-of-jail free cards to every federal prisoner with asthma or diabetes or who is over age 50.
Good. Now prosecute him and anyone else who participated in this insider trading scam. Any and all of them, regardless of party, and yes, both parties had people involved in the same type of insider trading.
“FBI seizes Sen. Richard Burr’s cellphone in probe over stock sales
The North Carolina Republican faced calls to resign after reports he privately warned donors of the dire impact of the coronavirus pandemic in February while selling off up to $1.6 million of his stocks.”
“The FBI has seized the cellphone of Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., pursuant to a search warrant as part of an investigation of possible insider trading, a senior law enforcement official confirmed to NBC News.
The Los Angeles Times first reported Wednesday night that federal agents obtained the cellphone belonging to Burr, indicating a major escalation of the Justice Department investigation into the stock trades.
The newspaper reported that Burr turned over his phone to agents after they served a search warrant at his Washington-area residence, citing a law enforcement official it did not identify.”
“These rumors have been going around for years that Obama’s administration was abusing te power of unmasking, and this sounds like they were using it to go after a political opponent, which is a serious offense and should be investigated,” Paul said. “The fact that Vice President Biden is directly involved in the unmasking of a political opponent — think about it. You remember impeachment? They said the president was using the government to go after a political opponent? This is Vice President Biden using the spying powers of the U.S. to go after a political opponent and he is caught red-handed here… eavesdropping on a political opponent’s phone calls.”
“Every reporter in the country needs to ask this legitimate question. They need to come out of hibernation and ask Vice President Biden, do we think it is a legitimate function of government to eavesdrop on political opponents, illegally unmask them and listen to their private conversation?”
“This is exactly what they were accusing President Trump of — he was acquitted on those charges. They have now found that Vice President Biden is guilty of using government to go after a political opponent.”
Clapper: I was unmasking Americans “once or twice a week” but “I don’t recall what prompted a request that was made on my behalf for unmasking” Flynn. pic.twitter.com/Tq0G8HlkhA
Clapper, asked whether he’ll accept Sen. Graham’s call to testify: "Given my age demographic, I’d be happy to come after I’ve been vaccinated for Covid-19 … I don’t particularly want to put my life or my wife’s in jeopardy” [says remote testimony possible] pic.twitter.com/IpVPItraIi
Yesterday I made a reference to Ben Shapiro when I mention taking NYC out of stats. I was making fun of Shapiro nothing more. Recently, you posted two tweets from Shapiro; the first one he takes NYC out of the US in order to compare the US to other countries (so as to make the US look better). In his second tweet, he put NYC back in the US when he wanted to compare New York State to Florida (in part to make Florida look better).
Now if you take NYC out it makes the US look worse therefore I wondered if Shapiro was going to continue his pattern of removing and putting in the NYC when it suited him. Since I referenced Shapiro and you had previously posted his tweets I thought you would catch the slight sarcastic jab at Shapiro. Ironically, you instead said it was a leftist trait even with the Shapiro reference.
In reality, playing with statistics in this manner is quite common but not particularly helpful nor confined to one side of the political spectrum. However, stats do point to issues that may arise whether or not they are being used for partisan. The decline in NYC cases is indeed masking the rise of cases elsewhere — perhaps we should unmask it….
There is a rise in rural areas — the White House knows this but its definitely not one of their talking points. Now the Salon article talks about 400 to 1000% increases in some areas but here again you should see a problem in the stats — when you deal with small population centers even the slightest uptick can produced an exaggerated effect. In a small town, a single outbreak in the local nursing home can be computed to be 1000%. Instead of looking at percentage increase it may be more valid to look at total number, per capita and if its confined.
Regardless, the US is a large nation with an infrastructure that facilitates long distance transportation. Its only to be expected that the virus will migrate from urban areas to isolated rural hot spots. In rural areas, the only places with the necessary population density for an outbreak are workplaces and health care centers (long term care). If its confined to these areas, the rural area will be okay. However, the people in rural areas have been restless under restrictions that they see only suitable for urban areas and may ignore the advice that they’ve been hearing for almost two months in which it probably didn’t apply to them.
In this case, some of Trump’s staff and family had Russia connections, Obama as President warned his staff as a matter of national security to be careful. This explanation is far simpler and easier to prove than the confluent one presented elsewhere. The more assumptions, correlations, etc needed the less likely its true. Trump himself can’t explain it even when he the opportunity at a press conference — his answer; it was horrible, and you know. The conspiracy is finally presented to us three years later — just in time for the next election and to provide a distraction from the Covid response.
As for foreigners perception of the US news — its important as long as the US wants to project itself as a world power. In the past, the rest of the world admired, feared, or at least looked to the US for leadership. Now there is no fear — Xi is buying up Africa, Putin does his thing, even tin pot dictatorships like Kim do what they want. Europeans who used to either to look to the US for leadership or criticize their leadership are now united in not even laughing but ignoring or expressing pity. Germany along with France runs the continent without reference to the US. Other allies of the US are cooperating with China or Russia. Italy has just agreed to be the end point for China’s ambitious Silk Road project. Hungary and even Poland are increasingly moving to authoritarianism and an admiration of Putin.
Watching the US lately, I see some strong state responses and basic administration state structures. However, I also see a federal state in decline – so shrunken its barely relevant and can’t even administer a simple aid program. I see a legislature so old and out of touch it reminds me of the Politburo in the 80s — none of the Russians paid attention and local gov’ts increasingly paved their own paths til it all fell apart in 1990 -1991. I watched Chuck Grassley of Iowa giving a speech. He was the senator of Iowa over 30 years ago. I don’t favor term limits but that’s ridiculous. I see a political elite on both sides more concerned the mechanisms of power than actually using them. It reminds of the Roman empire where senators and Caesars fought amongst themselves while the barbarians (ie virus) were storming the gates. Meanwhile, supporters of both sides but most noticeably the right have become heavily armed and use their arms as a show of strength to intimidate other groups — a common occurrence in the Weimar republic. This isn’t new — it started under Reagan but Trump’s incompetence brought it all out. Now I don’t actually want to see the US disintegrate if the alternatives are China and Russia. Hopefully a German led EU maintains and protects the western democracies.
Gen. Flynn was going to expose the Russia hoax – they had to take him out at all costs. However, they were caught red-handed, and top members of “the most scandal-free administration in US history” are now going to pay a huge price. A LOT more will come out – the worst political scandal in our history is going to get worse and worse…
Tychicus — that only works if you think there is a “Russia hoax”. However, there is Russian connections to the Trump admin — maybe not to the extent that some on the left may want to believe but its there. During the campaign and transition, the Trump team had extensive contacts with Russian gov’t and businesses. Flynn lied, got caught and plead guilty — rather simple — Occam’s Razor in action .
It is rather interesting that some Republicans think this is a winning strategy — chasing Obama does two things — revive interest in Russian connections and motivate the Democratic base. Does Trump really want to campaign against Obama?
It’s funny. Now you sound like Adam Schiff and his repeated refrains of “I have proof!” yet you never show any. Of course there was some contact between the incoming admin and the Russians, including Flynn, whose job required he do so. That’s SOP.
And of course on a personal business level there would be talks between Trump, his family, and some Russians.
It’s called trying to put a hotel in Moscow. All perfectly legal and acceptable.
Obama admin officials are falling, one after another. All lied repeatedly to the press and American people, yet when under oath, they all admitted they had nothing.
And neither do you. That’s why you just posted a 3 year old hit piece full of lies and false innuendo from Politico. They are just spouting all the lies of the day, which we now know are false, thanks to Barr and Grenell.
“Feinstein asked ‘basic questions’ by FBI over pre-pandemic stock sales, amid Burr investigation”
“Sen. Dianne Feinstein has been questioned by law enforcement over her husband’s stock sales during the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak, Fox News has confirmed.
“Senator Feinstein was asked some basic questions by law enforcement about her husband’s stock transactions, as I think all offices in the initial story were,” a spokesman for the California Democrat told Fox News on Thursday.
“She was happy to voluntarily answer those questions to set the record straight and provided additional documents to show she had no involvement in her husband’s transactions,” the spokesman said. “There have been no follow up actions on this issue.”
Earlier this year, reports had said Feinstein, who is the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and her husband sold between $1.5 million and $6 million in stock in California biotech company Allogene Therapeutics, between Jan. 31 and Feb. 18.
But a spokesman for Feinstein at the time denied any wrongdoing and indicated the sales involved the senator’s husband, saying that “all of Senator Feinstein’s assets are in a blind trust” and “she has no involvement in her husband’s financial decisions.”
Meanwhile, an investigation has intensified into stock sales made by Republican Sen. Richard Burr during the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Thursday that Burr would step aside as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee amid the probe.”
Wandering Views 
For HRW,
What do they all have in common?
Inept Democrat leaders like Cuomo and Deblasio….
https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/05/wuhan-virus-watch-over-half-of-all-u-s-deaths-have-occurred-in-just-five-states/
“Wuhan Virus Watch: Over Half of All U.S. Deaths Have Occurred in Just Five States”
“Today’s update will start with a review of where the Wuhan Coronavirus deaths have occurred in this country.
Over half of all documented coronavirus deaths have occurred in just five states, following the trend seen in other nations that show heavily concentrated and very localize outbreaks.
Of the nearly 80,000 deaths from the virus in this country as of Saturday afternoon, nearly 48,700, or about 60 percent, had occurred in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
New York remains the hardest-hit state of any in the country by far, having logged nearly 27,000 deaths as of Saturday afternoon. The next-hardest-hit state, New Jersey, had recorded over 9,100.
Those numbers reflect a startling regionalism to the disease, which has brought much of the economic and social life of the United States to a grinding halt. New York and New Jersey also top the country’s list for number of deaths adjusted for population, while Massachusetts, Michigan and Pennsylvania also fall in the top ten.
Those concentrated numbers are reflective of a virus that seems to strike noticeably heavier in some locations than others, a pattern that has borne out in numerous countries around the world.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has prepared a map of the total number of cases, which also reflects the same pattern.”
————
Save your “well if you take out NY” propaganda.
LikeLike
Don’t be a Karen…..
———-
LikeLike
Wow, it seems Democrats have perfected Minority Report type technology. They can tell a crime is going to happen before it even does. Tom Cruise would be so proud….
Oh wait… no, they’re just lying again….
—–
https://twitter.com/justjules99/status/1260658387412381696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
——
——-
——–
Nope, nothing to see here, right HRW?
I know, I know…. but Covid 19!
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Nope, nothing to see here…..
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2020/05/13/trump-campaign-responds-to-new-docs-showing-biden-wanted-michael-flynns-name-unm-n2568757
“The day has arrived. Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell has declassified who wanted to unmask Michael Flynn during the transition period, which was part of the scheme to ensnare him in a perjury trap set up by the FBI. Flynn had spoken with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. We know this because the call was leaked to the press. This was part of the long campaign of coordinated leaks to get the Russian collusion circus going. Reportedly, Obama gave marching orders for how he wanted the FBI’s probe to be protected once he left, preferably with the goal of preventing the incoming Trump administration from finding out about it. And based on these news documents, former President Obama, along with former Vice President Joe Biden, disgraced former FBI Director James Comey, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and former CIA Director John Brennan, all wanted Flynn’s name unmasked. Katie has more:
The list of Obama administration officials who requested the unmasking of General Michael Flynn during the transition period between the November 2016 election and President Donald Trump’s January 20, 2017 inauguration has been released. Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell declassified the list late last week and it has been published by Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson.
[…]
Here are some of them:
-Vice President Joe Bden – One request January 12, 2017
-FBI Director James Comey – One request December 15, 2016
-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper – Three requests
-CIA Director John Brennan – Two requests – December 14-15, 2016
-U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power – 7 requests
-Obama Chief of Staff Dennis McDonough – One request January 5, 2017
Yes, Obama appears to be a starting QB in fanning the flames of this heinous scheme within the DOJ. Besides Flynn, the Justice Department has spied on the Trump campaign, sending informants to glean information from campaign officials under false pretenses and then relaying that information to the third party. And all of this was due to one piece of biased political opposition research, the Trump dossier, which was compiled by an ex-British spy, Christopher Steele, and funded by the Democrats and the Clinton campaign. It was thoroughly debunked with reports from the Mueller probe and DOJ IG report on FISA abuses. The dossier was cited as credible evidence, despite never being verified, in securing a spy warrant against former Trump campaign official Carter Page. Given the breadth of this scheme, it’s no shocker I guess that Obama and his goons were in the driver’s seat. There were strong inclinations, as anything to the contrary would suggest an Obama executive that has truly gone rogue. Nope. We now have confirmation that yes, while the Obama executive went off the reservation, it was done on purpose. ”
——
LikeLike
A. – Covid relief and stimulus….?
Or B. – Democrat wish list…..?
B. Final answer.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/05/pelosi-palooza-house-3-trillion-relief-bill-loaded-with-dem-goodies/
“Pelosi Palooza: House $3 Trillion Relief Bill Loaded With Dem Political Goodies
“The 1,815-page piece of legislation is, once again, filled with ideological wishes that are unrelated to coronavirus relief” like amnesty, mandatory mail voting and banning voter i.d., stimulus payments to illegals, tax relief for wealthy blue-states, and more”
“Nancy Pelosi and Democrats are once again exploiting the Coronavirus crisis in an attempt to ram through spending they would never get passed otherwise.
Pelosi has been absent in Washington for weeks, but she somehow produced an 1,800 page bill with a price tag of $3 trillion dollars that reads like a progressive wish list.
Reagan McCarthy writes at Townhall:
Speaker Pelosi Proposes Another Partisan Relief Package
Speaker Pelosi unveiled Democrats’ proposed COVID-19 relief package on Tuesday, even as she refuses to allow the House to return to D.C. This version totals to an additional $3 trillion of relief.
The 1,815-page piece of legislation is, once again, filled with ideological wishes that are unrelated to coronavirus relief. Speaker Pelosi also allowed no GOP input in the crafting of this package that is virtually dead-on-arrival. Included in Speaker Pelosi’s bill are voting reforms, a repeal of the SALT cap, diversity incentives for marijuana businesses and other unrelated wish-list items.
You wouldn’t believe some of the items in this bill:
National Endowment for the Arts- $10 million for the National Endowment for the Arts for grants to support the general operations of recipients and language to permit the waiver of matching requirements.
National Endowment for the Humanities- $10 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities for grants to support the general operations of recipients and language to permit the waiver of matching requirements.
Sec. XX3. Temporary Protections for Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers. This section provides temporary protections to undocumented workers in the United States engaged in essential critical infrastructure work, as defined by DHS-issued guidance, during the COVID-19 emergency. Such workers are deemed to be in a period of deferred action and to be authorized for employment, and employers are shielded from certain immigration-related violations for employing such workers.
Section XX5. ICE Detention. This section requires DHS to review the immigration files of all individuals in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to assess the need for continued detention. Individuals who are not subject to mandatory detention shall be prioritized for release, either on recognizance or into an alternative to detention program, unless the individual is a threat to public safety or national security.
That barely scratches the surface. Here’s more:”
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Good. Now prosecute him and anyone else who participated in this insider trading scam. Any and all of them, regardless of party, and yes, both parties had people involved in the same type of insider trading.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/fbi-seizes-sen-richard-burr-s-cell-phone-probe-over-n1206726
“FBI seizes Sen. Richard Burr’s cellphone in probe over stock sales
The North Carolina Republican faced calls to resign after reports he privately warned donors of the dire impact of the coronavirus pandemic in February while selling off up to $1.6 million of his stocks.”
“The FBI has seized the cellphone of Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., pursuant to a search warrant as part of an investigation of possible insider trading, a senior law enforcement official confirmed to NBC News.
The Los Angeles Times first reported Wednesday night that federal agents obtained the cellphone belonging to Burr, indicating a major escalation of the Justice Department investigation into the stock trades.
The newspaper reported that Burr turned over his phone to agents after they served a search warrant at his Washington-area residence, citing a law enforcement official it did not identify.”
LikeLike
Biggest scandal in US political history….
“Rand Paul: “Vice President Biden Is Guilty Of Using Government To Go After A Political Opponent””
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/05/13/rand_paul_vice_president_biden_is_guilty_of_using_government_to_go_after_a_political_opponent.html
“These rumors have been going around for years that Obama’s administration was abusing te power of unmasking, and this sounds like they were using it to go after a political opponent, which is a serious offense and should be investigated,” Paul said. “The fact that Vice President Biden is directly involved in the unmasking of a political opponent — think about it. You remember impeachment? They said the president was using the government to go after a political opponent? This is Vice President Biden using the spying powers of the U.S. to go after a political opponent and he is caught red-handed here… eavesdropping on a political opponent’s phone calls.”
“Every reporter in the country needs to ask this legitimate question. They need to come out of hibernation and ask Vice President Biden, do we think it is a legitimate function of government to eavesdrop on political opponents, illegally unmask them and listen to their private conversation?”
“This is exactly what they were accusing President Trump of — he was acquitted on those charges. They have now found that Vice President Biden is guilty of using government to go after a political opponent.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just because the left continues to lie, doesn’t make it true.
“DNC Spokeswoman Defends Unmasking By Crying Collusion, Offers No Evidence When Repeatedly Asked…”
She can’t, because there is none. Never was.
LikeLiked by 1 person
More Obama flunkies caught lying under oath.
——-
LikeLiked by 1 person
The worm squirms…..
———–
Sorry, must be a bad connection…..
LikeLiked by 1 person
————-
LikeLiked by 1 person
AJ,
Yesterday I made a reference to Ben Shapiro when I mention taking NYC out of stats. I was making fun of Shapiro nothing more. Recently, you posted two tweets from Shapiro; the first one he takes NYC out of the US in order to compare the US to other countries (so as to make the US look better). In his second tweet, he put NYC back in the US when he wanted to compare New York State to Florida (in part to make Florida look better).
Now if you take NYC out it makes the US look worse therefore I wondered if Shapiro was going to continue his pattern of removing and putting in the NYC when it suited him. Since I referenced Shapiro and you had previously posted his tweets I thought you would catch the slight sarcastic jab at Shapiro. Ironically, you instead said it was a leftist trait even with the Shapiro reference.
In reality, playing with statistics in this manner is quite common but not particularly helpful nor confined to one side of the political spectrum. However, stats do point to issues that may arise whether or not they are being used for partisan. The decline in NYC cases is indeed masking the rise of cases elsewhere — perhaps we should unmask it….
There is a rise in rural areas — the White House knows this but its definitely not one of their talking points. Now the Salon article talks about 400 to 1000% increases in some areas but here again you should see a problem in the stats — when you deal with small population centers even the slightest uptick can produced an exaggerated effect. In a small town, a single outbreak in the local nursing home can be computed to be 1000%. Instead of looking at percentage increase it may be more valid to look at total number, per capita and if its confined.
Regardless, the US is a large nation with an infrastructure that facilitates long distance transportation. Its only to be expected that the virus will migrate from urban areas to isolated rural hot spots. In rural areas, the only places with the necessary population density for an outbreak are workplaces and health care centers (long term care). If its confined to these areas, the rural area will be okay. However, the people in rural areas have been restless under restrictions that they see only suitable for urban areas and may ignore the advice that they’ve been hearing for almost two months in which it probably didn’t apply to them.
Here’s the Salon article
https://www.salon.com/2020/05/12/leaked-white-house-data-shows-infections-spiking-more-than-1000-in-rural-areas-that-backed-trump/?fbclid=IwAR0daT9Y36-TaddoDa1ustpIAZGVbJ8pnhTCoAM3N4Vk0-wiRPeCRRV1CPA
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As for the grand conspiracy circulate on the right side on the internet and on FOX, I usually employ Occam’s Razor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor
In this case, some of Trump’s staff and family had Russia connections, Obama as President warned his staff as a matter of national security to be careful. This explanation is far simpler and easier to prove than the confluent one presented elsewhere. The more assumptions, correlations, etc needed the less likely its true. Trump himself can’t explain it even when he the opportunity at a press conference — his answer; it was horrible, and you know. The conspiracy is finally presented to us three years later — just in time for the next election and to provide a distraction from the Covid response.
As for foreigners perception of the US news — its important as long as the US wants to project itself as a world power. In the past, the rest of the world admired, feared, or at least looked to the US for leadership. Now there is no fear — Xi is buying up Africa, Putin does his thing, even tin pot dictatorships like Kim do what they want. Europeans who used to either to look to the US for leadership or criticize their leadership are now united in not even laughing but ignoring or expressing pity. Germany along with France runs the continent without reference to the US. Other allies of the US are cooperating with China or Russia. Italy has just agreed to be the end point for China’s ambitious Silk Road project. Hungary and even Poland are increasingly moving to authoritarianism and an admiration of Putin.
Watching the US lately, I see some strong state responses and basic administration state structures. However, I also see a federal state in decline – so shrunken its barely relevant and can’t even administer a simple aid program. I see a legislature so old and out of touch it reminds me of the Politburo in the 80s — none of the Russians paid attention and local gov’ts increasingly paved their own paths til it all fell apart in 1990 -1991. I watched Chuck Grassley of Iowa giving a speech. He was the senator of Iowa over 30 years ago. I don’t favor term limits but that’s ridiculous. I see a political elite on both sides more concerned the mechanisms of power than actually using them. It reminds of the Roman empire where senators and Caesars fought amongst themselves while the barbarians (ie virus) were storming the gates. Meanwhile, supporters of both sides but most noticeably the right have become heavily armed and use their arms as a show of strength to intimidate other groups — a common occurrence in the Weimar republic. This isn’t new — it started under Reagan but Trump’s incompetence brought it all out. Now I don’t actually want to see the US disintegrate if the alternatives are China and Russia. Hopefully a German led EU maintains and protects the western democracies.
LikeLike
Gen. Flynn was going to expose the Russia hoax – they had to take him out at all costs. However, they were caught red-handed, and top members of “the most scandal-free administration in US history” are now going to pay a huge price. A LOT more will come out – the worst political scandal in our history is going to get worse and worse…
LikeLiked by 1 person
SO disheartening.
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Tychicus — that only works if you think there is a “Russia hoax”. However, there is Russian connections to the Trump admin — maybe not to the extent that some on the left may want to believe but its there. During the campaign and transition, the Trump team had extensive contacts with Russian gov’t and businesses. Flynn lied, got caught and plead guilty — rather simple — Occam’s Razor in action .
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/03/connections-trump-putin-russia-ties-chart-flynn-page-manafort-sessions-214868
https://time.com/5572821/donald-trump-russia-contacts/
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It is rather interesting that some Republicans think this is a winning strategy — chasing Obama does two things — revive interest in Russian connections and motivate the Democratic base. Does Trump really want to campaign against Obama?
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HRW,
It’s funny. Now you sound like Adam Schiff and his repeated refrains of “I have proof!” yet you never show any. Of course there was some contact between the incoming admin and the Russians, including Flynn, whose job required he do so. That’s SOP.
And of course on a personal business level there would be talks between Trump, his family, and some Russians.
It’s called trying to put a hotel in Moscow. All perfectly legal and acceptable.
Obama admin officials are falling, one after another. All lied repeatedly to the press and American people, yet when under oath, they all admitted they had nothing.
And neither do you. That’s why you just posted a 3 year old hit piece full of lies and false innuendo from Politico. They are just spouting all the lies of the day, which we now know are false, thanks to Barr and Grenell.
Take off, eh…..
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Like I said earlier, all of them, regardless of party.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/feinstein-asked-basic-questions-by-law-enforcement-over-stock-sales-amid-burr-investigation
“Feinstein asked ‘basic questions’ by FBI over pre-pandemic stock sales, amid Burr investigation”
“Sen. Dianne Feinstein has been questioned by law enforcement over her husband’s stock sales during the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak, Fox News has confirmed.
“Senator Feinstein was asked some basic questions by law enforcement about her husband’s stock transactions, as I think all offices in the initial story were,” a spokesman for the California Democrat told Fox News on Thursday.
“She was happy to voluntarily answer those questions to set the record straight and provided additional documents to show she had no involvement in her husband’s transactions,” the spokesman said. “There have been no follow up actions on this issue.”
Earlier this year, reports had said Feinstein, who is the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and her husband sold between $1.5 million and $6 million in stock in California biotech company Allogene Therapeutics, between Jan. 31 and Feb. 18.
But a spokesman for Feinstein at the time denied any wrongdoing and indicated the sales involved the senator’s husband, saying that “all of Senator Feinstein’s assets are in a blind trust” and “she has no involvement in her husband’s financial decisions.”
Meanwhile, an investigation has intensified into stock sales made by Republican Sen. Richard Burr during the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Thursday that Burr would step aside as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee amid the probe.”
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