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| From Diagones’ Middle Finger |
American politics ...
Sunday, May 31, 2020
Injustice
There are millions of injustices in this country every day ... from petty slights to malignant miscarriages. They might never all be rectified ... the black fireman whose brand new bar was recently torched by rioters in Minneapolis ... or the particularly egregious injustice that was General Michael Flynn’s hell. But he is finally, after three years, being remedied. Thus, there is some hope after all. Now let’s work to see that that black bar owner is also made whole ... see: GoFundMe.
The Big Picture
I’m guessing that the riots now in many major US cities have evolved and no longer have everything to do with George Floyd’s murder ... OK, a little bit, at least symbolically ... but these are also uprisings spawned by anger over the virus lockdowns, our huge levels of unemployment, Bernie Sanders not getting the Democrat nomination, the Left realizing that they have a loser in Joe Biden, President Trump once again escaping the Deep State and the media’s drumbeat attempts to take him down ... and a venomous vitriol in the far-left (ANTIFA, Black Lives Matter, etc.) for the US and our institutions.
(Of course, breaking things and lots of free stuff also helps.)
Afterward: See: CNBC Story.
Today’s Posers
Wouldn’t it be some kind of Devine justice if many of the major-city rioters and looters (ANTIFAs?) came down with COVID-19 because they weren’t social distancing and often had shed their masks?
And, if they don’t, wouldn’t this prove that most of the arbitrary restrictions imposed by the mayors of these (mostly liberal) cities were therefore proven unnecessary and capricious?
Headlines
Trump threatens to unleash gunfire on Minnesota protesters
Twitter flags Trump tweet on Minneapolis for ‘glorifying violence’
Trump vows to use military on ‘thugs’ ...
Report: Channel migrants ‘threaten to throw their children into water’
Trump says he would shut down Twitter if legally possible
Ted Cruz calls for criminal investigation of Twitter
Chinese state media troll Pompeo over MN ...
Mike Lee: You won’t like it if a Dem can regulate social media
UK to increase Hong Kong visa rights if China pushes security law
Coronavirus live updates: Prescriptions for Trump-touted drug surged, GM restarts most U.S. pickup truck production
War zone Minneapolis ... More chaos, more looting ... Unrest spreads in USA ...
Minneapolis mayor to protesters: Please social distance, wear masks
Saturday, May 30, 2020
48 Years Ago
Back in 1972 Norman Cousins, editor of the World magazine and former editor of the Saturday Review magazine, was a director of Metalanguage Products, a software company I had founded. He then was also agitating for private industry taking over space exploration. I thought this was a rather ambitious vision ... given all the enormoous costs and technology involved in such an endeavor.
Norman Cousins died in 1990 ... but today, 48 years after his initial vision ... his wish has finally been realized by Elon Musk’s private company, SpaceX.
A dream come true, Norman!
Letter to My Grandnephew
Dear xxxx,
I am George Potts, your great uncle. My sister, xxxxxxx, was your mother’s mother. I am a 81 year-old fart who won’t be around a whole lot longer. But you will ... and I would like to leave a few thoughts with you to compensate you for no celebrations surrounding your high school graduation ... and for you to chew on when you look back on this coronavirus pandemic:
- First, this world-wide crisis was possibly an accidental release of the coronavirus from a Chinese virus lab outside Wuhan, China ... but it’s spread throughout the rest of the world seems purposeful by the Chinese Communist party. I suspect you will find out a lot more about this malfeasance on its part ... and the consequences that resulted therefrom. I am reasonably sure the consequences will be enormous. I just wish I could look back with you to see this sea change. If, in the meantime, you have had to learn Mandarin ... then the bad guys won ... and you should probably burn this missive.
- They say the winners write the history books .. so, if Trump is still viewed as a pariah, you will know that he will be blamed for much of the damage of this pandemic. For what it is worth, from my perspective, I think President Trump performed as well as anyone could have during this crisis. I know, I know that many in this country disagree. But, if my age and experience are worth anything, Trump has been and will be unjustly vilified.
- In the meantime, all the dislocation and suffering you have experienced and will be experiencing until this Wuhan plague has abated ... all this will be topics for your holding forth with those yet to be born ... your children, grandchildren and, hopefully, even great grandchildren. And, don’t tell anyone, but you are allowed to exaggerate some of this narrative. For sure I won’t tell.
Congratulations on your graduation and I wish you a long, happy and successful life.
Your Greatuncle George
Today’s Poser
Is the widespread George Floyd rioting also a transferred reaction to the coronavirus lockdowns?
Headlines
Famed Democrat pollster: Warren as VP would lead to Biden victory
Trump to sign executive order aimed at craking down on Facebook and Twitter, vows ‘FAIRNESS’
U.S. deaths from coronavirus surpass 100,000 milestone ...
Report: Fort Leavenworth soldier intervenes, takes out active shooter
2.1 million unemployment claims filed last week, as workers still struggle to get benefits
Coronavirus live updates: Continuing U.S. unemployment claims fall, CVS expanding to 1,000 testing sites
Asymptomatic cases may be more common than suspected ...
President Trump will sign executive order on social media censorship
Violence again rocks Minneapolis after man’s death, 1 killed
Mark Zuckerberg says social networks should not be fact-cheking political speech
TX students set to return to school — next week!
Minneapolis rioters smash charter school storefronts
Friday, May 29, 2020
Headlines
Trump and Musk unite over Twitter, the moon and sticking it to the establishment
Coronavirus live updates: Vaccine is a ‘2021 event’ former FDA chief says, new cases surge in Latin America
Spike in South Korea virus cases shows perils of reopening ...
Pence: U.S. will not tolerate big tech censorship of conservatives
Fauci says he wears mask as ‘symbol’ of good behavior
Dr. Anthony Fauci says second wave of coronavirus is ‘not inevitable’
Average American has packed on 5 pounds during lockdown ...
Homeless deaths rise in SF during lockdown, but not due to coronavirus
Trump threatens to shutter social media companies over alleged election interference
Top MLB players would lose 80% of their salaries under new coronavirus plan
DOJ drops insider trading probes for 3 Senators ...
Twitter brands Trump’s vote-by-mail post with fact-check, citing CNN
Thursday, May 28, 2020
Eye Opener
The number of registered voters in Los Angeles is 112% of its adult citizen population ... see: Town Hall Story. Does this suggest that all registered voters should be sent mail-in ballots ... and voter fraud would not be an obvious consequence?
Funny Thing
Once again the Orangeman is being vilified. He suggested that Joe Scarborough might have murdered his female intern back in 2001. Funny thing ... when Scarborough was a Republican ... pre-Mika-ing ... it was Michael Moore who was suggesting this very same possibility ... see: Daily Kos Story. Everything is red or blue politics these days ... no?
Afterward ... see also: Don Imus Interview.
Headlines
Widower of Scarborough staffer asks Twitter to remove Trump’s conspiracy theories
Coronavirus live updates: NYSE trading floor reopens, Gottlieb sees U.S. hospitalizations ticking up
States covering up death counts?
The Mainstream Media are bought, paid for — and doomed!
France clamps down on use of hydroxychlorquine for COVID-19
Home prices gained strength as coronavirus shut down economy in March, S&P Case-Shiller says
American death rate of diagnosed COvID cases 5.9% ...
Farage catches French escorting illegal migrants into U.K. waters again
German government takes controls at Lufthansa with bailout
Twitter refuses to delete Trump’s baseless claims about Joe Scarborough
Cases rising in 18 states ...
Molten: Politico admits Democrats ‘dread’ fast economic recovery
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Today’s Poser
Will the Democrats constant use of the phrase “we follow the science” every time they espouse some cockamamie idea, so sully this discipline that it will take decades to recover?
Headlines
National Republicans sue California to block mail-ballot election
Trump threatens to move GOP convention over coronavirus restrictions in North Carolina
Trump accuses MSNBC host of murder ... Mika begs Jack: Make it stop!
Chicago mayor launches police raid to shut down black church’s Sunday service
Federal judge strikes down restrictions on Florida felons voting
Oil on track for its best month ever after rebound, but traders say it’s ‘not out of the woods’
Violence erupts as crowds swarm to reopen beaches ...
EU: End of U.S. leadership, rise of China ‘happening before our eyes’
U.S. is ahead of China in vaccine race, former FDA chief says
Coronavirus updates: Japan seeks to end Tokyo’s state of emergency, Trump bans travel from Brazil
Six shot at Daytona Beach ...
Trump calls on Sessions to drop out of Alabama Senate race
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Eye-opener
Only 1.8% of all Americans live in nursing homes or assisted-living facilities ... yet represent 42% of all our coronavirus deaths.
US Virus Data
There is some interesting data about what is happening regarding coronavirus in the United States ... see: World Meters and follow this narrative.
Scroll down on this analysis until you see the graph of Daily New Cases and you should see that coronavirus has clearly peaked in the US ... and is declining, albeit slowly. Now, scroll down further and inspect the Daily New Deaths chart. Interestingly, you will see that deaths have not only peaked, but are declining even faster than cases. (Is this why the stock market is going up?)
One would think that daily coronavirus deaths would lag daily cases ... but they appear to be leading. Why might this be?
My only possible explanation is that virus testing in the US is ramping up at such a rate as to cause positive new case results to outpace deaths. Can’t think of any other reason.
Also, kind reader, there is a curious aspect to both these charts ... and that there appears to be harmonics in each ... a sharp drop followed by four or five days of increase ... then repeated again and again to even lower levels. Anyone have any ideas why?
Afterward: And is the coronavirus mutating and decreasing in its mortality profile?
Obvious Truth
Headlines ending in a question mark do not indicate reportage, they denote opinion ... and should be ignored ... and the reporters fired.
Headlines
Trump adviser compares China’s handling of coronavirus to Chernobyl
Coronavirus live updates: Trump suspends travel from Brazil, Spain eases dining restrictions in major cities
‘Up to a dozen’ COVID-19 variants ...
China: On brink of ‘Cold War’with USA
Rick Scott says Bill of Rights trumps all
Main Street Lending Program to offer loans to mid-size companies, Boston Fed President says
Model predicts USA virus free by late September ...
Soros attacks Salvini, says he wants to get Italy out of the EU
Trump ‘has a point’ on WHO, German health minister says
Coronavirus pandemic will drive major changes to nursing home industry
Trump to conduct first nuclear test in decades?
Beijing now claims ‘open’ to identifying virus source ...
Monday, May 25, 2020
Sage Advice
Any time you hear an epidemiologist tell you, with certainty, how the COVID-19 pandemic is going to progress, rather send that Nigerian prince the money he needs to get and share his rightful family inheritance.
Afterward: Same for predictions from a climatologist.
Imagine
In song, John Lennon imagined a world without belligerence ... without war. Yet, his tragic reward was the very violence he decried. It’s as though he wished the wind to stop blowing ... the lightning to only strike up ... the lion to lie down with the lamb. A nice thought ... but only a thought ... not reality.
The human animal is a carnivore ... thus a killer. It’s a very short step from killing for food ... to killing for pleasure ... to killing for power. We deny all this by believing we’re civilized ... but this is only a patina ... killing has been forever an integral part of living and thus the taking of life is in our DNA ... inescapably.
And yet, men, and now women, have forever matched off to war knowing that they may not come back. Remarkable ... and deserving of somber remembrance.
Please, kind reader, join me in doing this on this Memorial Day.
Headlines
Reports: UK to cut Huawei’s involvement in 5G
New York coronavirus fatalities fall to lowest level since March
24 states still have uncontrolled spread ...
Gov. Wolf: Pennsylvania cannot return to normal without ‘foolproof’ vaccine
Grenell moving to declassify Flynn-Kislyak transcripts
Coronavirus live updates: National park’s could be this summer’s go-to vacation spots
Los Angeles turns hot spot ...
Poll: More voters trust Trump over Biden on economic recovery
Trump ordered states to open churches. Can he do that?
Trump administration warms up to sending out more virus relief money
Massive fire erupts at San Fran’s iconic Fisherman’s Wharf
Audio resurfaces of Klobuchar suggesting husband took hydroxychloroquine
Letter to Trump
Mr. President,
I know that it is against your very nature, but you don’t need to attack Biden any more in your campaign to get re-elected next November ... not for his perviness, not for his dementia, not for his corruption, not for his bone-headed foreign-policy mistakes ... not even for son Hunter. May I suggest you let him keep digging the hole he is is in. It’s already so deep, it is unlikely he can climb out before the walls cave in.
Sincerely,
A Voter
Sunday, May 24, 2020
Six Word Stories
Got a spam comment on an old blog post ... see: Six Word Stories. Inspired me to write another one:
Used rowing machine ... got into USC.
Quotable Quote
“Americans are thinking, there are some good members of Congress but we can’t figure out what they are good for. Others are thinking, how did these morons make it through the birth canal.” — John N. Kennedy, Louisiana Senator
Today’s Poser
Kind liberal readers: How many additional coronavirus deaths would be tolerable during a possible second pandemic wave this Fall ... if this meant that Trump would not get re-elected?
(Poser inspired by NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s similar question on how many deaths are acceptable to get the economy back growing.)
Today’s Poser
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| L.A. Mayor Garcetti and public health officials |
Is it at all possible that some local politicians and public health officials are using lockdowns and other draconian unconstitutional restrictions to cover for the fact that they are lazy and/or incapable ... and do not want to do the hard work of targeted testing, hot spot identification, effective isolation, contact tracing, virus spread analysis, medical resource allocation and effective communication?
(This is clearly the case with de Blasio in NYC.)
Headlines
Pompeo blasts Beijing’s national security bill as ‘death knell’ for Hong Kong ‘s autonomy
Trump administration warms up to sending out more virus relief money
Little sense of shared grief as fatalities near 100,000 ...
Biden: ‘No one should be going to jail for drug crime, period‘
Biden: ‘If you have a problem figuring out if you are for me or Trump, then you ain’t black’
Coronavirus updates: Midwest virus spreads, Biden says he would make vaccine free for everyone
Hydroxychloroquine shows no benefit, raises death risk ...
Wallace: No record of ‘serious fraud’ from mail-in voting
Issa sues California over November mail-ballot election
Dr. Anthony Fauci says staying closed for too long could cause ‘irreparable damage’
67,000 released so far under coronavirus jailbreak ...
McConnell: After impeachment, Pelosi not in position to lecture us
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Pig in a Poke
Many liberal Americans have rationalized next voting for Biden, a man one step out of the Memory Unit at the rest home, by saying, “he will have good people around him.” I don’t know, but isn’t this a lot like buying a pig in a poke?
Quotable Quote
President Trump is a hard dog to keep on the porch. He's not a porch dog; he's a running dog. He likes to do things his way. — John N. Kennedy, Senator Louisiana
Headlines
Former TV star Lori Loughlin, husband to plead guilty in college admissions scandal
Coronavirus live updates: New airport screening procedures, Starbucks sales improve in U.S., China
California: Most deaths in day ...
Local report faults state of Michigan for poor oversight of failed dams
Active shooter ‘neutralized’ at Texas Navy base
Jobless claims total 2.4 million, still elevated levels but a declining pace from previous weeks
Vaccine chief has vast ties to drug industry, posing possible conflicts ...
Pittsburgh vows to clean up rolls with 1.6K dead registered voters
USS Theodore Roosevelt gets underway after nearly 2 months battling coronavirus
More than half of small businesses are looking to have PPP loans forgiven, survey says
Quarter million dead by August, Second lockdown poses grave risks ...
Joe Biden forget ‘coronavirus,’ claims he doled out ‘$84 billion’
Friday, May 22, 2020
Newest Key Comparisons
I guess I’ll be doing this post every week for a while.
It is difficult to compare the various country, and now state coronavirus statistics ... since they are so far apart in the big tables. So, once again, I have taken some time to put together some of the critical measures (Tests per million, Cases per million and Deaths per million) for some key countries (USA, Sweden, Norway, Italy, South Korea, Germany) .... and states (California, Massachusetts, New York and Florida) one week after my first comparison. Here are the numbers as of May 22, 2020 ... see: Latest Data for verification. (If you check after 5/22/2020, the numbers will change.)
Tests per million
USA 40,768
Sweden 20,798
Norway 41,178
Italy 53,635
South Korea 15,653
Germany 42,923
California 36,742
Massachusetts 72,758
New York 80,066
Florida 37,973
Cases per million
USA 4,904
Sweden 3,251
Norway 1,534
Italy 3,770
South Korea 217
Germany 2,139
California 2,239
Massachusetts 13,070
New York 18,832
Florida 2,266
Deaths per million
USA 291
Sweden 389
Norway 43
Italy 537
South Korea 5
Germany 89
California 92
Massachusetts 892
New York 1,485
Florida 100
Do you believe the numbers for South Korea? Actually, the more I inspect numbers, the more I am certain the politics and nationalism are infecting most results. This, of course, makes dealing with this pandemic very problematic ... unfortunately.
As another metric here is an interesting comparison. (I forgot where I found it.) I think it is a little dated and does not reconciled it with the above numbers ... but looks close:
Brought to Heel
SloJoe Biden has pledged not to pardon Trump were he to beat the odds and get elected president next fall. Interesting! On the other hand, AG Barr has contemporaniously indicated that it is very unlikely that either Obama or Biden will be hauled before the docks in what Trump has dubbed “Obamagate.” In other words, even if our previous administration was up to their eyeballs in trying to overthrow their follow-ons, because of a vague notion of preserving a semblance of peaceful transition of power, the previous villanous top conspirators will skate.
Now, I understand the logic of Barr’s stance ... and am not surprised at Biden’s petty campaign grandstanding ... but there needs some sober reflection on this giving a pass to previous presidents and vice presidents from any criminal prosecutions. I tend to think that Biden’s stance makes more sense ... but let’s be frank ... if Obama and Biden were involved in subterfuge against Trump and the Trump administration, they should be prosecuted and appropriately punished.
Why do I feel this way?
If justice is not served, then as we have repeatedly seen, the next offense is even more audacious ... and I think that the Obama miscreants crossed a threshold of tolerance. Barr is wrong. Even if their crimes implicate the top dogs, the previous administration needs to be brought to heel.
The Dems have already telegraphed that, if Biden were to win, they will try to prosecute Trump. Turnaround is fair play.
Headlines
Across the country, local officials defy state leaders on reopening
Coronavirus live updates: CDC releases guidelines to reopen, swing-state voters divided on risk
US virus deaths projected to top 113,000 by mid-June ...
UK bans menthol cigarettes under EU directive
Trump misstates Michigan mail-in ballot policy, threatens federal funding
New York City mayor says number of kids getting vaccinated down more than 60%
New outbreak: Churches forced to reclose ...
New Black Panther party launches boycott of ‘Chinese merchants’
Oregon high court keeps state virus restrictions in place
Pompeo abruptly ends press briefing after questions about State Department IG firing
ACLU warns against fever-screening tools ...
California offers $500 each in coronavirus relief to illegal aliens