Tuesday, June 30, 2020
Correction
A while back I made a foray into the COVID-19 death statistics in the United States and suggested that they were being fudged to imply a surge in our deaths to match our surge in new cases ... see: Fake Stats.
Well, if you return to that Washington Post “Covid Deaths” graph of deaths in that link, you will now see why this “spike” in these numbers occurred. It seems that, in a footnote, WaPo now indicates that on June 25th over 1,800 deaths were added to this daily total by New Jersey ... and it looks like Delaware also slipped some extras in too. Anyway, this spike was obviously an outlier and only briefly interrupted the visible downward path of US COvID deaths.
However, we are not out of the woods yet as new virus deaths are supposed to lag new cases by two or three weeks ... so we still have a little time to wait to see if the opening of our economy might need to be slowed or reversed. I say this because a new case surge without a new death surge is not a huge problem ... something like the common cold ... not worthy of a new shutdown.
Sometime next week we should know for sure.
Remarkable Lawyer
Just came across a very informative interview with General Michael Flynn’s new lawyer, Sydney Powell. She has done a remarkable and courageous job of extracting the General from the setup that the government entrapped him in ... with the apparent help of his first lawyers, a firm including Eric Holder ... surprise, surprise!
Anyhow, please watch with an open mind: Conservative Treehouse Entry. I think there is much more to come out of this insidious conspiracy.
Today’s Poser
Gov. Andrew Cuomo |
What do you do when two “scientists” offer diametrically opposing advice on things like wearing coronavirus masks, “social distancing” or re-opening our economy?
My take: Listen to your inner voice (if you are wrong, it is on you) ... and tell those petty tyrants, who might be telling you differently, to go have intercourse with themselves.
Headlines
Pence attributes coronavirus spike to young Americans ‘disregarding’ Covid guidance
Starbucks is the latest company to pause advertising across social media
Trump administration asks SCOTUS to dismantle Obamacare
Poll: Trump losing ground with whites, not gaining with minorities
Andrew Cuomo: Trump is ‘in denial’ about coronavirus
Coronavirus cases worldwide top 10 million, with nearly half a million deaths —- and 25% are in the US
Breaking: Minneapolis unanimously approves of abolishing police force
Rolling Stones threaten to sue Trump for using their songs
Pelosi on Trump: ‘With him, all roads lead to Putin’
Florida reports second consecutive day of record coronavirus cases
Senate confirms Trump’s 200th judge
BLM protesters storm Beverly Hills neighborhood: ‘Eat the rich!’
Monday, June 29, 2020
Mass Suicide
Jonestown |
At least three cities, Seattle, Minneapolis and New York City, appear to be committing suicide (citycide?) in puckish defiance of Trump and the safety of their citizens. These are Democrat-controlled cities in Democrat-controlled states whose elected officials are either too weak or too stupid to pull themselves out of the death spirals they are obviously in.
President Trump has this rather unique effect on his opponents ... pushing them to commit hari kari as proof of their hatred of him. These city mayors and state governors are not alone in their political suicide ritual ... Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden and much of the Democrat national establishment are also following the polls by denying Trump any hint of victory before the November election ... all in the hope that voters will not wake up to this deception and throw their sorry asses out of office.
So far, they seem to be right. Trump looks weak by his forced inaction and is slumping in the polls ... this is because coronavirus is making a comeback, the economy is still on life-support, the iconoclasts control many of our streets, and Congress is sitting on their hands. The Orangeman seems to sense that those three cities mentioned are booby-trapped if he were to try to fix things ... so he is without a good solution until public opinion has had enough of this lefty lunacy.
Will the US electorate awakening happen before Biden sweeps up and invites Xi to occupy the White House? The answer, dear liberal readers, is within yourselves. Are you willing to believe that Trump, if given half a chance, can Make America Great Again? Are Trump’s petty annoyances tolerable for another four years? It’s either that or we surely will become another Venezuela ... or, worse yet, Jonestown.
Headlines
Judge: U.S. must free migrant children from family detention
Credit card industry reins in balance transfer offers as banks from JPMorgan to Amex fear defaults
Anti-police Minneapolis City Council now spending $2.5k/day on private security
FN.c’s Wallace: ‘Just isn’t a history of fraud with mail-in voting’
Appeals court: Trump wrongly directed $2.5 billion for border wall
Nasdaq trades NYSE listings even better than NYSE
Robert Stone ordered to report to prison July 14
Soros group vows to turn out 6m Hispanic voters to defeat Trump
Florida shutters bars as coronavirus cases hit new record
Scorching heat and coronavirus endanger people without AC this summer
Seattle mayor gives CHAZ/CHOP Sunday deadline to remove barriers
Nike reports surprising $790 million loss, 46% plunge in North America
Sunday, June 28, 2020
An Apt Comparison
Like clockwork, the New York Times has reported that Russia had bribed Afghans to kill American soldiers ... and President Trump ignored this intelligence and still wanted to invite Putin to the G-7 meeting this week ... all to compound the Orangeman’s recent poll slippage.
Like most Times stories, we don’t and probably can’t know if this reportage is true.
But, this sniper attack invites a partisan comparison ... OK? Now it was well verified that many of the IEDs that were used in Iraq to kill and maim thousands of American soldiers were made in Iran and supplied to the Iraqi insurgents. Sooo, how did the Obama regime respond to this Iranian evil? Well, as far as I remember, they negotiated a sham nuclear pact that gave Iran $150 billion in bank transfers ... and $1.8 billion in hard cash ... a bit more than a meeting invitation.
Did the Gray Lady draw a similar tut-tut back when Iran was killing Americans?
You know the answer.
Privilege
There might be such a thing as unearned white privilege ... but life contains many other privileges that are far more subtle and insidious ... and don’t relate to the color of one’s skin. How about celebrities? Once, in coach on an airplane I found myself sitting next to Dick Clark. The flight attendant quickly upgraded him gratis to first class. Is this not a “privilege” of being a celebrity? Every day one sees people famous only because they are famous spouting off in the most inane ways just to keep their names in the news. (Kathy Griffen and Rob Reiner come to mind.)
There are other ways of attracting privilege ... what I call Poobah privileges ... such as low-number or special license plates ... or using limousines to arrive at an event ... or wearing designer dresses or British-tailored suits ... or wearing expensive jewlery or Rolex watches. These are all ways to establish oneself as deserving of better treatment by one’s lesser ... in other words “privilege.”
In the old Soviet Union one would see military men with so many medals on their chests you wondered how they stood straight ... thus deserving privilege. What about the ever-growing number of TV award shows? Is this not a way of celebrities buffing their stars even brighter ... in order to get reservations and turn heads at the best restaurants?
The English are addicted to privilege differentiators ... Earl of this or Duke of that ... see: Edwardian Promenade. Royalty also bestows status and privilege on a few with knighthoods ... Sir Richard Branson for heavens sake! Is this not melanin-independent privilege?
Congressional privileges ... executive privileges ... faculty privileges ... doctor privileges ... looter privileges ... the list goes on and on. People like to see themselves as rising above their peers while at the same time professing “inclusion.”
Such bullshit!
Headlines
Headlines
‘There’s no discipline to his strategy’: Trump is undermining his own campaign
Amazon to buy self-driving technology company Zoox
Biden campaign won’t say if he supports removing statues of Washington, Grant, Roosevelt and Jesus
Glasgow: Stabbing rampage at asylum seeker hostel ... Report: 3 dead, police wounded, suspect dead
Trump says push for less coronavirus testing was sarcasm
Texas rolls back it’s reopening a day after pausing plans, as coronavirus cases rise
CBP chief says 95% of illegals being returned rather than detained
Biden vows to force Americans to wear masks in public
John Bolton: Boris Johnson ‘playing Trump like a fiddle‘
Coronavirus updates: Housing and jobs markets show signs of slowing recovery
Trump says BLM leader’s threat to ‘burn down this system,’ is ‘treason, sedition, insurrection’
Veepstakes: Kamala all in on defunding police
‘There’s no discipline to his strategy’: Trump is undermining his own campaign
Amazon to buy self-driving technology company Zoox
Biden campaign won’t say if he supports removing statues of Washington, Grant, Roosevelt and Jesus
Glasgow: Stabbing rampage at asylum seeker hostel ... Report: 3 dead, police wounded, suspect dead
Trump says push for less coronavirus testing was sarcasm
Texas rolls back it’s reopening a day after pausing plans, as coronavirus cases rise
CBP chief says 95% of illegals being returned rather than detained
Biden vows to force Americans to wear masks in public
John Bolton: Boris Johnson ‘playing Trump like a fiddle‘
Coronavirus updates: Housing and jobs markets show signs of slowing recovery
Trump says BLM leader’s threat to ‘burn down this system,’ is ‘treason, sedition, insurrection’
Veepstakes: Kamala all in on defunding police
Saturday, June 27, 2020
Celibacy and Lotharios
There are two polar extremes on the sexual-activity spectrum ... Jeffery Epstein whose daily existence revolved around orgasms ... and (truly) celibate priests and monks who deny their hormones for a higher good. (I don’t mean to cast this comparison as only a male one ... there are obviously female equivalents.)
Clearly, the human imperative is to procreate ... but most humans have crossed this reproductive threshold into the realm of pure physical pleasure without the bothersome result of conception. As far as I know, no other animal species has achieved this level of civilization.
It has long been asserted that celibacy channels humans’ coital energies into other creative outlets. Maybe so ... although lothario Harvey Weinstein made some pretty good movies ... and that coxswain Bill Cosby was quite entertaining as a performer.
But Bubba Clinton does support the notion that Casanovas are generally worthless.
We all know that the #MeToo movement was our nation’s convulsive reaction to this run-away male sexual aggression. But this movement has now met its end when it finally crossed another threshold by fingering Joe Biden’s sexual antics.
Quotable Quote
“Now came multitudes of men of the lowest class from the south of Italy, and men of the meaner sort out of Hungary and Poland, men out of the ranks, where there was neither skill nor energy nor any initiative of quick intelligence, and they came in numbers which increased from year to year, as if the countries of the south of Europe were disburdening themselves of the more sordid and hapless elements of their population.” — Woodrow Wilson
Afterward: Princeton erases the Woodrow Wilson (D) legacy ... see: Politico Story
Headlines
Florina signals she’ll vote for Biden over Trump
Warren demands answers from private equity on coronavirus lobbying
BLM leader Hawk Newsome: If change doesn’t happen, then ‘we will burn down this system’
Weekly jobless claims remain stubbornly high at 1.48 million
New York City reports no protest-related upticks in COVID-19
New York Gov. Cuomo to other states: ‘You played politics with this virus and you lost’
New FBI notes confirm Obama directed anti-Flynn operation
Appeals court orders Flynn case to be dismissed
Polls show Biden climbing past Trump in Wisconsin, Ohio
Total of those receiving unemployment benefits falls below 20 million
SCOTUS sides with Trump in case regarding deportation powers
Brazil: Federal court orders Bolsonaro to wear mask in public
Friday, June 26, 2020
Fake Stats
Many observers, including your humble poster, have felt that the most revealing statistic to use for tracking the coronavirus specter is COVID deaths. After all, that is the ultimate impact. And one key source for this data has been The Washington Post ... see: COVID deaths and click on “Deaths.”
Looking at this WaPo graph, one sees a very dramatic increase in deaths ... basically a 4x jump in one day. Wow! Is this real? Or is this more fake news ... or rather fake stats? This site offers no specific reason for this spike ... might this be another attempt by the media swamp to undermine Trump’s reopening of the U.S. economy ... in order to hamper his re-election chances?
Fortunately, we can check WaPo’s data against other sources. Please go to: World Meters and scroll down to Daily New Deaths graph. See the difference? Yes, no spike in these numbers! Can we then conclude that the numbers person(s) at WaPo has been corrupted by politics?
I conclude so.i
Afterward: See also: Powerline Entry
Headlines
Only 4 in 10 voters say Trump, Biden are in good health
Coronavirus updates: NYC Marathon cancelled as more states see rising case totals
NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace doubles down following FBI ‘noose’ investigation
Cuomo: Nursing home order ‘wasn’t a mistake’
House Democrats tack to center with election year health care bill
IMF slashes its forecast for the global economy and warns of soaring debt levels
Mnuchin says next stimulus will be ‘jobs focused’
Sharpton continues pushing Taladega ‘noose’ story
DOJ, states eye potential antitrust probe of Apple
Appeals Court orders dismissal of case against ex-Trump advisor Michael Flynn
Bolton says he would consider testifying against AG Barr
Feds bust L.A. City Councilman Jose Hulzar for corruption
Thursday, June 25, 2020
Virtuoso Demagoguery
When one side in a political dispute can lie and abandon all bipartisan comity ... calling the other side “murderers” ... knowing that a biased media will back them ... while the opposing party tries to engage in a reasonable dialog ... to no avail ... one sees politics at its very raw worst ... being played with virtuoso demagoguery.
Why Trump Won
- He is genuine in thought and action
- He is a patriot and loves his country
- He identified many issues* that were being ignored by our betters
- He promised to fix them ... and the voters believed him
- He said he would make America great again
- He knew that Washington was corrupt to the core
- And promised to “drain this swamp”
- He identified our fake media ... something that many suspected
- He wasn’t Hillary
* uncontrolled immigration, unfair trading pacts, anemic economic growth, Chinese hegemony, pointless international nation building, tolerance of terrorism at home and abroad, NATO slackers, climate change hoax, Obamacare disaster, liberal courts, insane Iran nuclear deal, North Korea nuclear and missile problems
Headlines
Trump’s 2020 strategy: A never-ending war with the states
Google, Apple, Amazon and Tesla slam Trump’s immigration crackdown
President heads to Arizona, an emerging presidential battleground ...
Trump: 10-year prison for people attacking statues
‘I don’t kid’: Trump says he wasn’t joking about slowing coronavirus testing
Coronavirus update: Tennis great Novak Djokovic tests positive, U. of Michigan won’t host presidential debate
7.4 mag quake Mexico ...
Whistleblower: Claims Chinese Communists pay Vatican $2 billion in bribes
Miami mayor says presidential debate might not have audience
BET founder Robert Johnson urges Black Lives Matter to form own independent political party
Declining dollar could happen at warp speed ...
Nolte: Mount Rushmore doomed to 1619 riots
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
More on Voter Fraud
Lawyer John Hinderaker points out how the Democrats collude with the courts to steal elections ... this time in Minnesota ... see: Powerline Post.
I can just see them professing their innocence, “Who us?”
Headlines
WHO: Sunday was a record day for coronavirus infections
All 8 Ivy League schools won’t require standardized testing next year
President Trump to rally in Arizona and Wisconsin next week
Joni Ernst proposes to disclose lawmakers’ PPP loans
Supreme Court gives Trump a win on his steel tariffs
There’s nearly $5 trillion parked in money markets as many investors are still afraid of stocks
Sarah Sanders says Bolton was drunk on power
Kudlow: ‘There is no second wave coming’
Trump ways he’ll only meet with Maduro to discuss him stepping down
Coronavirus updates: Hospitalization rise in some states, Gottlieb says Northeast states unlikely to see spikes
Black Lives Matter founders describe themselves as Marxists
At least 100 shot on Father’s Day weekend in Mayor Lightfoot’s Chicago
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Virtue Signaling
I hesitate to point this out, in the midst of our current racial hysteria, that the “noose” that was found on the only black NASCAR driver, Bubba Wallace’s garage stall at the Taladega Speedway over last weekend was nothing more than a garage door pull-down rope ... the same as was found on all the other garage stalls for the white drivers ... see: Conservative Treehouse Entry.
The unanimous hand-wringing response to this obvious overblown normality seems like nothing more than a opportunity to virtue signal by the other NASCAR drivers ... since they must all realize the actuality of this event.
In other words, to have pointed out the truth, like above, would have labeled one a “racist” by much of our manic media. So what does one do?
Understandably, just go along to get along. Kinda like the passive crowd standing around, watching the Salem witches being burned at the stake.
Afterward: Pity the poor maintenance person who put up that particular garage door pull-down ... maybe even years ago.
The Truth
Your initial reaction to a news story is that which the reporters and editors wanted you to have ... and is probably misdirected. Good reason to seek out multiple sources before you can uncover the truth ... something that the internet allows you to do ... a happy plus to this technological cesspool.
(Of course, Google does like to lead you by the nose to those internet sites that it wants you to see.)
Headlines
Trump allies see a mounting threat: Biden’s rising evangelical support
U.S. reports 30,000 daily coronavirus cases, highest number since May 1
AOC brags that Trump’s Tulsa turnout was sabotaged by ‘teens on TIKTOK’
Black preacher to BLM: ‘Planned Parenthood #1 killer of blacks’
Schiff hopes ousted U.S. attorney testifies before Congress
Coronavirus cases spike in Alabama: ‘We are extremely concerned about these numbers’
Experts say that judge’s ruling opens the door for Bolton to be sued or prosecuted
Pollak: ‘The 2020 election is now about China’
Former Ukrainian president says Biden never pressed him on Burisma
The demise of American malls could deal a blow to the towns that depend on them
Trump tells Xi and Modi he would act as mediator in China-India border conflict if necessary
One dead, 11 injured in Minneapolis shooting
Monday, June 22, 2020
Headlines
Broken windows and Molotov cocktail: DOJ finds creative ways into local rioting cases
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Berman refuses to leave after Trump says SEC chief Clayton will replace him
One dead and another wounded from shooting in CHAZ/CHOP
Black Lives Matter co-founder: ‘Our goal is to get Trump out’
Fox News poll: Voters say campaign rallies are a bad idea
The stock market might be pricey, but it is nothing like the genuine market bubbles of the past
Rioters in California tear down statue of Francis Scott Key, composer of The Star Spangled Banner
Poll: 8-in-10 have ‘favorable’ view of people who wear masks
Trump rejects Fauci’s warning about football’s return
Judge denies Trump administration’s attempt to block John Bolton’s book
Iran unsuprisingly found to be engaging in secret nuclear work
Barr: I would have preferred grand jury, completed investigation in Brooks case
Sunday, June 21, 2020
Beanbag
“Politics ain’t beanbag.” — Tip O’Neill
Was visiting a friend yesterday and he had some sports channel on the TV. Dunno which one. Guess what sport was being featured?
Beanbag!
Wow! We (and he) are really getting desperate for competitive TV action ... any kind of action amid our COVID-19 shutdowns — vintage SuperBowls, old English Soccer League games ... even contemporary axe-throwing competitions.
Dr. Fauci says we won’t be having any football this Fall. Wanna bet?
COvID Deaths
Social Distancing |
Everybody has their favorite measure of what is happening with the progress of COVID-19 in the United States: new cases, percentage testing positive, new hospitalization, new ICU admissions, new deaths, etc. Since COVID has become a political issue, the measure selected often depends on your political party.
My preferred measure is new deaths ... which it seems should be a lagging indicator ... but, I suspect is now a leading one ... due to the rapid increase in testing, possible mutations in the virus itself or possibly even better therapeutics. Nonetheless, this is my preferred metric ... see: Washington Post Graphic.
These numbers there suggest to me, despite what one reads or sees in the media, the opening up of our economy seems to be moving apace.
We shall see.
Giddy
Trump’s rally in Tulsa on Saturday night did not fill the 19,000 seat arena ... even though there were an estimated million applications for tickets (even if some were fake). His handlers blamed protesters blocking access and national media coronavirus scare tactics for the shortfall of maybe 7,000 attendees.
Anti-Trump forces were giddy about this shortfall even though Trump got a rousing reception. The lesson to the Trump administration is to be careful about overpromising and underdelivering crowd sizes ... especially during a pandemic ... where older adults ... much of his base ... might be more chary about assembling in groups.
And the lesson for the Democrats is to be careful about jumping up and down too much about this shortfall. The real benefit here is the data collected by his re-election committee during the ticket application process. This data will be used during the actual election ... and, I expect here will be more rallies to come ... maybe in smaller venues ... but bigger than Biden’s basement.
Headlines
‘My biggest risk’: Trump says mail-in voting could cost him reelection
Ford, Fiat-Chrysler returning to pre-coronavirus production levels
Amy Klobuchar drops out of Biden VP contention — endorses ‘woman of color’
Portland: George Washington statue torn down, draped in bunting U.S. flag
California enacts November mail-ballot law — with surprising GOP support
U.S. coronavirus cases surge by more than 27,000 in a day
Congress plans to target Big Tech for circulating Chinese propaganda
Anthony Fauci: Americans ‘don’t believe science’ or ‘authority’
Fox News poll: Biden extends lead over Trump amid protests
Trump administration considers executive order to suspend certain work visas
Oklahoma National Guard activates 250 solders for security at Trump Tulsa rally
Abrams pitches for VP: ‘I understand the moment’ I was an activist