Headlines

Trump’s other coronavirus complication: His credibility gap

Third Republican Senator tests positive for coronavirus in two days

Ron Johnson the third senator to test positive for coronavirus

Wallace: ‘Lesson’ of Trump getting the coronavirus ‘is wear the damn mask’

Trump sets off multi-state Covid tracing crisis

Trump donors from around the country attended fundraiser before positive test

Court strikes down Michigan governor’s emergency powers

NBA ratings crash by 45%, lowest viewership since 1994

Trump plans to appoint conservative activist Tom Fenton to Court Oversight Agency

Trump isn’t the first president to contract a virus during a pandemic, so did Woodrow Wilson in 1918

ISIS affiliate working to establish presence in India

John Hickenlooper praises China as ‘great nation’

STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

Looming Crisis

There is a very good reason why we are going to need nine justices on the Supreme Court in time for November’s presidential election ... and that is to resolve certain numerous disputed election results which are bound to erupt because of all the changes occurring in our presidential election process: universal mail-in ballots, provisional ballots, extended voting periods, early voting, relaxed ballot validation rules, ballot harvesting, rank-choice voting, extended vote counting periods, dropping picture ID requirements, resisting the cleansing of voter registration rolls, same-day registrations, motor-voter registrations, etc. ... most of which changes to the traditional and Constitutional-mandated voting process having been installed by Democrats under the guise of increasing the number of people voting ... and to accommodate the current pandemic ... but are really designed to allow dishonest localities ... mostly Democrat ... to rig elections.

If, like most finger-in-your-ears liberals, you dispute this conclusion, read how just one of these slip-knots, voter registration rolls are in disarray ... see: Breitbart Article.

 I would like to believe that the rhetoric surrounding these changes are sincere ... but anyone not just fallen off the turnip truck knows that they are not. And loud remonstrations against such a conclusion are equally dishonest ... no matter how loud and spittle-flecked.

As will be the pulpit-thumping complaints and threatened violence against the filling out of our highest court’s bench for Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s departure.  We must have a fully-functioning Supreme Court prior to all this looming election crisis.

Unsolicited advice: Don’t get caught in the coming crossfire.


STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

Trump Light

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. — Old Proverb

Donald Trump must have been doing something right ... because Joe Biden is now pretending to support ... not in the written Democrat platform ... but in teleprompter interviews, what Trump’s policies have been toward China trade, fighting the pandemic, restoring the US manufacturing base, supporting law and order,  etc. ... anything of Trump’s that polls well. (Should I have suggested “plagiarizing?”)

Ergo, why elect Trump light when you already have the real thing?



STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

Out of Sorts

With the pandemic, resulting economic swoon and widespread civil unrest, people are currently feeling all out of sorts ... and this doesn’t bode well for re-electing the party in power ... since incumbents often carry the blame for such problems. Will voters therefore throw the Republicans out of office in November?

The answer to this vital question depends on if it is a “head” or “heart” election. In other words if emotion carries the day, the Orangeman and his posse are toast. If somehow logic prevails ... a realization that Biden is not the solution to all this distresses, then the Republicans have a chance ... a slim chance ... but nevertheless a chance.

How might this minor miracle happen again? Well, a vaccine for the coronavirus would help. And some good employment numbers in the current quarter. And finally, some oil on the civil unrest waters ... maybe some high-profile arrests of anarchists? All would sooth voter dyspepsia ... and not force Trump back to Mar-a-Largo.

STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

Imitating Immaturity

We are now in the midst of an pandemic. No, not the coronavirus, but Trump imitators.

Admittedly, President Trump has a sandpaper personality ... although less so recently ... and with offsetting policy pluses. This unattractive part of his temperament has spawned lots of obnoxious copy cats ... over-paid jocks, Nancy Pelosi, CNN commentators, many state governors, Chuck Schumer, Blue State mayors, snow-flake protestors, some foreign heads of state, Hollywood twits ... and many ... too many others ... without the good policy offsets ... a very disappointng gaggle of juvenile adults.

In 2016 Marco Rubio learned the hard way that trying to trade insults with the Orangeman was a huge mistake ... but this lesson was apparently not learned by the above sophomoric simps.

The real conundrum is why Trump elicits such a tide of imitators ... particularly since such aping does not compliment the apers ... it makes them appear petty and truculent. If they hate Trump so much, why try to emulate him? This is counterintuitive and I certainly can’t explain it.

STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

Headlines

Trump keeps fighting the Confederate flag battle many supporters have conceded

Sweden kept its country relatively open during the coronavirus pandemic, but its elderly paid a price

State Dept. cables warned of China’s Wuhan lab two years ago

Motorcycle crash victim listed as coronavirus death in Florida

Newsom orders virtual instruction in most California counties

Goldman Sachs says a coronavirus vaccine could be approved later in 2020

Oregon AG sues to prevent DHS from arresting rioters

Biden fights science: ‘Just plain dangerous to reopen schools’

The post-pandemic economic recovery will lean on private equity

Trump properties have made over $17 million from the campaign and the RNC since 2016

Democrat National Convention may have as few as 300 attendees

Fire rips through cathedral dating to 1434 in Nantes, France


STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

Fractured Deinition

Pandemic — a worldwide disease that originated in a Chinese black-and-white, bamboo-eating bear

Headlines

Trent Lott fired by top lobbying firm

Boeing aircraft cancellations continue to outpace new orders

Bloody pig head left outside LAPD station on a spike ...

Europe racked with riots and protests over death of American George Floyd

Senior aide leaves de Blasio’s office over his defense of NYPD

Coronavirus updates: WHO clarifies comments on asymptomatic spread, virus spread in China in the fall

KKK leader plows truck into Richmond crowd ...

Exclusive: Cotton hits ‘clueless’ Biden: ‘Too confused to lead’

North Korea says it will cut communication channels with the South

25,000 stores are predicted to close in 2020, as pandemic accelerates industry upheaval

Chicago suffers deadliest day in 60 years with 18 murders ...

George Floyd’s family asks United Nations to disarm people in U.S.

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.

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.)

Obvious Truth

In the last forty years America has gone from a manufacturing economy to predominately a service-sector one ... off-shoring many of our factories to China. This would suggest that, if one wanted to punish an uppity service nation by shutting it down, would not a pandemic be the most efficient and effective method?

reddit Pic

Graduation Day during a pandemic.

Headlines

Coronavirus drives health insurers back to Obamacare

Coronavirus updates: Trump says military will distribute vaccine, CVS to offer drive-thru tests

Resentment builds as reopening rules apply to some, but not to others ...

Gretchen Whitmer lashes out at Michigander protesters,: lockdown ‘not optional’

Appeals court green lights emoluments suit against Trump

Dismal jobs report offered a sign that some people may be returning to work

Jobless claims total 36.5 million ...

Mayor Eric Garcetti: L.A. won’t completely reopen without virus ‘cure’

New Jersey may face $10B budget shortfall through FY 2021

Delta to retire Boeing 777’s as pandemic dims outlook for international travel

Judge asks whether Flynn should be held in contempt for perjury ...

Powell warns of a possible sustained recession from pandemic

Headlines

Wearing a mask is for smug liberals. Refusing to is for reckless Republicans

Coronavirus live update: Biotech stocks soar on hope for a cure,  retail workers plan for ‘sickout’ protest

U.S. deaths top 63,000 ...

National Archives admin refutes Biden — within two hours of Morning Joe fiasco

Trump urges Michigan’s Whitmer to strike a deal with anti-quarantine protesters

Manufacturing falls sharply in April, but not as much as expected

Model: 100,000 [coronavirus] deaths by end of summer ...

Michigan House won’t extend state if emergency, moves to sue Gov. Gretchen Whitmer instead

House panel demands that Bezos testify on whether Amazon misled Congress

Remdesivir coronavirus treatment will need a ‘sustainable model’ to keep it accessible, Gilead CEO says

Pandemic could last two years ...

Report: Gavin Newsom to close all beaches, state parks in California

Freedom of Speech (Update)

YouTube (Google) has poked this country’s Constitutional hornet nest by taking down a video of two California doctors discussing how we are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Basically their message is that we are not just quarantining the sick, we are quarantining the healthy too. This is bass ackwards and it is destroying our economy ... and also resulting in a far greater potential public health catastrophe. See: Banned on YouTube (Updated).

Now, these doctors’ message may be right or it may be wrong ... but a few techie pukes at YouTube do not and should not have the right to shut them down! This is totalitarian oppression of the first order! We are a country of sacred freedoms guaranteed by checks, balances and public debate.

The rise of social media’s power is coming dangerously close to negating our First Amendment freedoms.

Dear readers, don’t let this happen!

Afterward: Thanks to a clever reader, Lutfi, we know have another viewable video of these two California doctors that YouTube censored ... see: The Scoop.

Headlines

China put pressure on the EU to soften coronavirus disinformation report

Making sense of the stock market just 16% off its high while a pandemic costs 26 million jobs

Coronavirus in California, since Fall?

State Health Commissioner says reopening Virginia ‘will be a two year affair’

New evidence surfaces in Tara Reade allegation against Biden

Coronavirus live updates: ‘21 days of hell’: NY gov on state’s death rate, UK fatalities to 20,000

Nervous Republicans see president sinking, and taking Senate with him ...

Donald Trump does not owe 51 million to Bank of China ...

Belgium to begin relaxing coronavirus restrictions May 4

Congress approves $370 billion more for small businesses —  but money could run out in days

Alarming number of Americans believe vaccine exists and is being withheld ...

Donald Trump does not owe millions to Bank of China

Headlines

‘Should have happened yesterday’: Republicans press Trump to restart economy

Homebuilder confidence index takes the biggest monthly dive ever as coronavirus slams economy

So much unknown about pandemic because gov’t keeps a lid on it ...

Coronavirus lockdown: UK economy should shrink 35% this quarter

CDC Director: WHO remains ‘a great partner for us’ despite Trump’s funding cuts

US clinical trials for hydroxychlorquine hit ‘warp speed,’ could show results in weeks

UV light might protect ...

Schumer: Attacking W.H.O. Isn’t making America better

Commerce locks up and retail sales plunge an unprecedented 8.7%

Abbott announces new coronavirus antibody test that could do up to 20 million screenings in June

Bill would give Americans $2,000 a month during pandemic ...

Germany arrests 4 Islamic State suspects planning sack on U.S. bases

Headlines

Chinese ventilator makers desperate for parts as global demand for machines hits 1 million

Senate adjourns after Democrats block McConnell’s bid to add $250 billion in small business aid

Federal stocks of protective equipment nearly depleted ...

Pope says pandemic is ‘certainly nature’s response’ to global warming

Mnuchin: Economy could reopen in May

US weekly jobless claims jump by 6.6 million and we’ve now lost 10% of workforce in 3 weeks

Fed pumps another $2.3 trillion ... Why relief to small businesses has lagged ...

Donald Trump: What does Barack Obama know about Joe Biden?

Fed pulls out $2T lending bazooka to boost businesses, cities

Oil jumps 12% amid report Saudi Arabia and Russia have reached a deal, cut could reach 20 million barrels a day

Crisis devastating news industry. Many newspapers won’t survive ...

Trump: US spent $452 million on W.H.O. in 2019; China $42 million

COVID-19 Functions

In the following, “f” means “function of”

pandemic = f(herd immunity, number of herds)

herd immunity = f(infection rate, mortality rate, vaccination rate, vaccination efficacy)

infection rate = f(testing coverage, transmissibility, quarantine efficacy, mitigation actions)

mitigation actions = f(social distancing, protective gear, cleaning protocols)

mortality rate = f(infection rate, treatment efficacy, susceptibility profiles)

treatment efficacy = f(research science, validation testing, production delays, logistics)

quarantine efficacy = f(disease duration, isolation rules/duration, enforcement)

A Dissenting Opinion

I’m not sure I fully agree (possibly selfishly) with him, but nevertheless you might want to read this dissenting opinion on how we are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic ... see: The Diplomad.