Coronavirus

[AmareIsGod]

I agree with everyone in hoping Trump gets waxed and it's not even close. And then I go for a walk early in the morning with my wife and 10 month old daughter. Nearly every street I go down is nearly 5 to 1 Trump signs to Biden signs outside of homes, with many homes hanging Trump banners and flags. To be fair, it seems Trump supporters love to be loud and let the world know who they are behind. Maybe the majority of homes with no signs or flags are inclined to vote Biden. It's just disheartening. It's even worse when we visit my parents house. Seems their entire street is lined with Trump signs, on top of most busy intersections having some giant Trump sign and banner.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I have no tangible proof, but I think there will be significantly more people in Maricopa Co. voting for Biden than Hillary in 2016. I don't think it'll be enough to turn the county and state blue, but I also don't think yard or intersection signs are a good estimate of polling results. Especially road side signs. It's someone's job to put those up and doesn't necessarily reflect the opinion of the nearby electorate.

[virtual9mm]

I think Trump is going to get shellacked. His timing has been real poor lately. He chastised Biden at the first debate for wearing a mask all the time and then half the people in the WH get Covid two days later. Not a good look. Now half of Pence’s staff has Covid and today we find out there is an outbreak at FOX News. Trump says it’s all but disappeared as the virus hits it’s all time peak two weeks before the election. Meadows says there isn’t anything to be done about the virus throwing in the white towel on it.

People are voting in record numbers even with all the painstaking work the GOP has done to suppress the vote.

I agree generally that things are on the way to a big Trump loss. At this point my big fear isn't that he will get more votes and win. It's that election day itself will get mucked up, perhaps by violent outbursts from his armed supporters at polling places, perhaps by troops seizing ballot boxes before they can be counted, or whatever. And then we won't have a legitimate outcome to the election. I'm really scared and hope the win is so decisive that he can't muck it up.

Troops won't get involved unless Trump refuses to abide by election results. Less worried with big margins in polls but still possible.

[Nodack]

Russian hackers are attacking hospitals bigly right now with ransomware and have succeeded in several cases. Not very nice especially during Covid.


https://www.wired.com/story/ransomware- ... -trickbot/

A FRESH WAVE of ransomware attacks has struck almost two dozen United States hospitals and health care organizations in recent weeks, just as Covid-19 cases spike across the US. According to US intelligence agencies and cybersecurity professionals, the situation could soon become much worse.

On Wednesday evening, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Department of Health and Human Services warned that there is a "an increased and imminent cybercrime threat to US hospitals and health care providers," above and beyond the wave of attacks that have already occurred. The alert points to the notorious Trickbot trojan and Ryuk ransomware as the primary hacking tools involved in the attacks. Security analysts at private companies say that the activity is tied to the Russian criminal gang sometimes called UNC 1878 or Wizard Spider.


https://www.wsj.com/articles/hackers-hi ... 1603992735

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/us/h ... virus.html

https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/10/29/2 ... uk-malware

[Indy]

I have no tangible proof, but I think there will be significantly more people in Maricopa Co. voting for Biden than Hillary in 2016. I don't think it'll be enough to turn the county and state blue, but I also don't think yard or intersection signs are a good estimate of polling results. Especially road side signs. It's someone's job to put those up and doesn't necessarily reflect the opinion of the nearby electorate.

Just based on the party affiliation and the ballots already turned in, I think there is plenty of proof.

[Superbone]

I just feel sorry for all these poor saps that blindly follow Trump and attend his super spreader events as he tries to get reelected. I just watched as Trump mocked a Fox news host for wearing a mask at one of them. He tried to shame her into taking it off. Saying stuff like, "Ah, you're wearing a mask today.", "I don't recognize you with a mask on.", "Is that you?", and the kicker, "You're being SO PC wearing a mask."

It's definitely Darwinism in action. Still, I feel sorry for them.

[Mori Chu]

I just feel sorry for all these poor saps that blindly follow Trump and attend his super spreader events as he tries to get reelected. I just watched as Trump mocked a Fox news host for wearing a mask at one of them. He tried to shame her into taking it off. Saying stuff like, "Ah, you're wearing a mask today.", "I don't recognize you with a mask on.", "Is that you?", and the kicker, "You're being SO PC wearing a mask."

It's definitely Darwinism in action. Still, I feel sorry for them.

What gives me hope is that this whole schtick simply isn't working. He tries to pressure them, and they just don't take their masks off. They ignore him. They see that he doesn't actually have power over them. His influence and sway are fading.

[Indy]

I just feel sorry for all these poor saps that blindly follow Trump and attend his super spreader events as he tries to get reelected. I just watched as Trump mocked a Fox news host for wearing a mask at one of them. He tried to shame her into taking it off. Saying stuff like, "Ah, you're wearing a mask today.", "I don't recognize you with a mask on.", "Is that you?", and the kicker, "You're being SO PC wearing a mask."

It's definitely Darwinism in action. Still, I feel sorry for them.

I am pretty sure that was Laura Ingram. Like their 3rd biggest star on Fox and huge Trump apologist, supporter.

Oh, and one of these:

[Superbone]

Whoa. I had no idea that she's a Nazi.

[Nodack]

Kodak deal with US government to produce pharmaceuticals appears to be on hold
The US DFC tweeted that ‘recent allegations of wrongdoing raise serious concerns’

https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/8/21360 ... hloroquine

Kodak CEO Jim Continenza told The Wall Street Journal that he expected pharmaceuticals to become 30 to 40 percent of the company’s business. The company’s plans included production of ingredients for drugs such as hydroxychloroquine, according to The Wall Street Journal. President Trump has touted hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment for COVID-19, despite evidence that the anti-malaria drug has been ineffective against the virus.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), chair of the House Financial Services Committee and other Democrats sent a letter to DFC head Adam Boehler August 4th asking why the agency was supporting a loan for Kodak, “an organization that was on the brink of failure in 2012 and was unsuccessful in its previous foray into pharmaceutical manufacturing, in its efforts to develop the capacity to produce up to 25 percent of domestic pharmaceutical components.” The committee is asking to see all communications concerning the loan.

A Kodak spokesperson declined to comment Saturday.

[ShelC]

A few months ago Kodak was awarded 750mil(!) from the govt for producing supplies to help with corona, which Trump mentioned in a press conference, that sent the stock from $2 to $60 in a day. So nothing weird there. It was put on hold a little while after when literally everyone started looking sideways, but I'm sure enough people on the inside made a fortune before and after the announcement.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/before-it ... ntice-show

[Superbone]

[Nodack]

Trump adviser pleads for 'more aggressive action' against virus as president downplays threat
https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/a ... 695855.php
Birx's internal report, shared with top White House and agency officials, contradicts Trump on numerous points: While the president holds large campaign events with hundreds of attendees, most without masks, she explicitly warns against them. While the president blames rising cases on more testing, she says testing is "flat or declining" in many areas where cases are rising. And while Trump says the country is "rounding the turn," Birx notes that the country is entering its most dangerous period yet and will see more than 100,000 new cases a day this week.

Other experts, including Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, have warned of record surges in cases and hospitalizations as the United States records more than 9 million cases and 230,000 deaths. "We're in for a whole lot of hurt," Fauci told The Washington Post late Friday, predicting a deadly winter unless there's an "abrupt change" - prompting Trump to suggest that he planned to fire the scientist after the election.

The increasingly dire tone of her reports has gotten little traction, according to an administration official who works with Birx and spoke on the condition of anonymity to share sensitive information. "She feels like she's being ignored," the official said.

The president appears unpersuaded by such messages, convinced by new medical adviser Scott Atlas, a neuroradiologist with no infectious-disease experience, that allowing healthy people to return to daily activities without restrictions will hasten herd immunity and bolster the economy.

Birx's report goes to pains to dispute Trump's false claims that coronavirus cases are increasing only because of increases in testing. Monday's report notes that although testing is flat, a rising number of tests are positive, suggesting "community spread is much worse than is evident by current [measurements]."

An Oct. 17 report sounded the same theme: It cited increasing daily hospital admissions, rising fatalities and emergency room visits, and said, "this is not due to increased testing but broad and ever increasing community spread."
That report added these words highlighted in bold: "There is an absolute necessity of the Administration to use this moment to ask the American people to wear masks, physical distance and avoid gatherings in both public and private spaces." On that day, Trump held two large rallies, according to his public schedule, one in Michigan and one in Wisconsin.

[ShelC]

If he wins re-election or drags out the results by going to court, we'll see a lot more deaths in the winter. They want to ignore, pretend it's not there and go with herd immunity at the cost of lives. And if he wins outright, Fauci and Birx (who's not even effective) will be gone altogether. Even if Biden wins and takes office, it will be that much harder to reset and change public opinion for about half the country.

I'm not even surprised at how easily parts of this country are ignorant/duped. It's just downright scary when the results are right in front of everyone yet we're still arguing about Fauci's credentials or the effectiveness of masks because of Donald Trump. But here we are.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Wait, so I thought I wasn't going to hear about this starting on Nov. 4th.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1246534

Coronavirus pandemic: For the first time, U.S. sees 100,000 new cases in one day

The number of new coronavirus cases recorded in a single day in the United States topped 100,000 for the first time Wednesday, setting a record in the monthslong pandemic, NBC News data show.

According to the data, there were 104,429 new cases, breaking the single-day record of 98,583 new cases set last week.

Or maybe that was just wishful thinking because Trump was already counting his win and planning to try to fire people actually working on a solution to this problem?

[Nodack]

Trump win or lose is there until January. I worry that if he loses he will try to blow it all up causing as much damage as possible.

[Flagrant Fowl]

You're right. It's going to be a long 10 weeks to Jan. 20th.

[Mori Chu]

You're right. It's going to be a long 10 weeks to Jan. 20th.

Maybe, but, if Trump has truly lost, every day after that news will be glorious and happy by comparison to the poop sandwich the last four years have been.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I don't really think so. I actually expect some networks to maintain their Trump coverage simply because he's a content machine for them.

You will feel better because he's no longer in the Oval Office, but that's not going to change the collective mood of the country very much, IMO.

[Nodack]

A show of hands. Who isn’t surprised?

Counties with worst virus surges overwhelmingly voted Trump
https://apnews.com/article/counties-wor ... da6edb6ebf
An Associated Press analysis reveals that in 376 counties with the highest number of new cases per capita, the overwhelming majority — 93% of those counties — went for Trump, a rate above other less severely hit areas.

Most were rural counties in Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Wisconsin — the kinds of areas that often have lower rates of adherence to social distancing, mask-wearing and other public health measures, and have been a focal point for much of the latest surge in cases.