[American Thinker] I have an embarrassing fondness for romance novels, so I know the genres. For decades, one popular genre has had FBI agents as lead characters, whether male or female. In a romance novel, being an FBI agent is shorthand for being intelligent, courageous, and upright.
With the latest revelations about the FBI’s war against Donald Trump, it’s unlikely that any conservative will ever again want to read a romance novel with an FBI hero or heroine. And while CIA agents and DOJ lawyers were never that popular as romantic leads, any romance showcasing them will probably head for the circular file too.
Writing at the Federalist, Margot Cleveland summarizes how recently released documents show that the FBI and DOJ, both during and after Obama’s presidency, went after Michael Flynn, who had honorably served his country for 33 years. The documents expose the machinations behind forcing Flynn to plead guilty to a crime he didn’t commit.
The FBI's and DOJ's c conduct included, but isn’t limited to, plotting how to catch Flynn in a lie, blindsiding him at the White House, hiding from him the transcript of his call with the Russian Ambassador, trying to sneak into the conversation notice to Flynn that lying to the FBI is a felony, illegally changing the interview notes, threatening Flynn's son to get him to plead guilty and then hiding that fact from the court, and withholding exculpatory documents.
Kurt Schlichter highlights that this reprehensible behavior continued with Robert Mueller and his posse:
#6
/\ I'll give this one less than a 5% chance of actually happening.
In the off chance it does happen, please don't forget to ask about the whereabouts of Ms. Katherine Russel Tsarnaev, Ghislaine Maxwell, the Soetoro passports, and if time permits the MLK college transcripts.
#4
Sleep matters, vitamins matter, stress matters, physical separation matters, age matters, overall health matters, weight matters, insulin resistance matters... the cumulative effect of which makes one person more or less susceptible than another despite appearing identically at risk on paper.
But really, getting adequate and restful sleep impacts so many other things — once again science proves what common sense has always known.
#6
While the brain sleeps, it clears out harmful toxins, a process that may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's, researchers say. During sleep, the flow of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain increases dramatically, washing away harmful waste proteins that build up between brain cells during waking hours, a study of mice found.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/05/2020 17:32 Comments ||
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[Breitbart] United States Senate candidate Jeff Sessions says there is no shortage of American labor, calling out lawmakers and their "corporate friends" for supporting a continued flow of foreign workers to the U.S. to take jobs in the midst of mass unemployment.
In an exclusive interview with Alexander Marlow on SiriusXM Patriot’s Breitbart News Daily, Sessions said it is critical that lawmakers defend the interests of unemployed Americans who have been laid off due to forced business closures spurred by the Chinese coronavirus crisis.
#2
There's no economic reason to bring in any worker on less than average wage, there's plenty of pork-spending when low market-productivity foreign workers immigration is subsidised (leading to lower wage bills and higher rents, both of which the globalist establishment gain from).
#3
That all sounds great, but the reality is few Americans would perform such labor. Many were lead to believe that if they get a university degree they can get a job in their field of study and be set. How many foreign students come to major in Women's Studies or Urban Studies? Anyway, also look at Germany, for example. Very few Germans work the asparagus fields. Now they fly them in from Romania. Poles used to be the predominant seasonal workers. So, it's not just here. Not saying we like it, but that is reality.
#4
Well, those low-wage workers have to pay the same as everyone else for food, rent, health care, etc. The answer, of course, is to pack them into slum apartments, let them drive without a license or insurance, let them go to the emergency room (but not pay) when they need medical care and subsidize their daily living expenses via welfare. Add in the cost of schooling their kids. This is just transferring money from the taxpayer to their employers, also known as "privatizing profit while socializing risk," or "rent-seeking," if you prefer.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/05/2020 7:17 Comments ||
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#5
As a general rule, a dish on the menu containing Serrano Peppers likely needs no additional hot sauce.
#8
Bullshit, Clem. That's the same argument George W. Bush tried to make. That's telling us that we need slave labor just like the Old South, just like the Chinese Communists. Cut out welfare and subsidized housing. Pay decent wages. People will work. And if you can't find anybody to pick your asparagus then you do without asparagus. When there is a shortage of asparagus and people are willing to pay for it then people will pick it.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/05/2020 11:58 Comments ||
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#9
But when the word gets out that certain employers only hire foreign slaves, it discourages American citizens from applying for those jobs.
I remember when high school and college kids used to work at fast food restaurants. It was their first step up the economic ladder. It was their first job and it gave them a dose of the real world that kids these days don't understand. It wasn't meant to allow them to buy a house or raise a family. The kids understood that if they wanted more money they would have to learn some marketable skills and find a better job.
These days, in San Diego at least, all those jobs are taken by people who speak Spanish. You can't understand what they say and they can barely understand what you want when you're placing your order. They want $15 an hour for menial labor so they can buy houses and raise families. They do not expect to go to any kind of school to improve their skill sets. They do not aspire to anything but food service. But they sure as hell want more money. And we'll pay for it every time we buy a hamburger.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/05/2020 12:08 Comments ||
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#10
Abu vs Clem
Wasn't where a story about a chicken processing plant raided by ICE - once illegals were gone, the jobs were taken by Americans?
#11
Stopped at an Arby's (road trip).
American teen order taker, fashionable glue on nails. I asked for the routine burger analog.
"...and what to drink?", she says.
"Ah'l have a milk," I reply.
"What?"
"a carton of milk."
"I don't understand."
"A carton of milk. Cow milk. Milk from a cow."
Standing there with a befuddled look on her face, her manager came over, reached into the fridge and gave me a milk, with a "I'm sorry, pity me" apologetic look.
#13
Why always think of low-end workers?
Stop the H1b program.
Waiters can count change for tips. Restaurant managers can run books and inventory on hand. Make them programmers and warehouse logisticians or account managers.
#14
I don't understand this bull shit talk of "slaves". These people aren't slaves. It's just that g.d. simple. "Forcing" Americans to do something they may not want to do sounds more like slavery to me. If no one wants to pick, for example, tomatoes, then so f'in what? Then we go without. But somehow I think a free market (which we do not have) would figure it out.
At least some of the illegal alien field hands, etc. indentured themselves to pay off the transit fee charged by the coyotes, ie. human traffickers, and have no say in what work they do nor do they get to keep their pay. De facto slaves if not de jure, and a practice of long standing — they can’t go to the police to complain lest they be arrested as illegals and presumably expelled from the country. This is such a long-standing threat that it’s been a staple of television cop and legal shows for decades.
But slaves or not, willing of not, America’s labour laws make it illegal for them to work for less than the minimum wage, so their consent is as illegal as an underage girl or boy consenting to s3xual relations. Require the illegals to comply with the same laws as American citizens, or allow Americans to work under the same conditions accepted by illegals, and see what happens. In most cases, having the entire workforce speak the same language and share the same culture will generate major cost savings
[France24] The World Health Organization said Monday that Washington had provided no evidence to support "speculative" claims by the US president that the new coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab.
"We have not received any data or specific evidence from the United States government relating to the purported origin of the virus — so from our perspective, this remains speculative," WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan told a virtual briefing.
Scientists believe the killer virus jumped from animals to humans, emerging in China late last year, possibly from a market in Wuhan selling exotic animals for meat.
Top US epidemiologist Anthony Fauci echoed the WHO's statement in an interview published Monday evening by National Geographic.
"If you look at the evolution of the virus in bats and what's out there now, (the scientific evidence) is very, very strongly leaning toward this could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated," Fauci told the magazine.
"Everything about the stepwise evolution over time strongly indicates that (this virus) evolved in nature and then jumped species," he said.
#3
"If you look at the evolution of the virus in bats and what's out there now, (the scientific evidence) is very, very strongly leaning toward this could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated,"
Straw man alert!
They did research on bat viruses on bats caught in remote areas of China.
If the lab practiced lax bio-security or, perhaps, if lab employees sold surplus animals to the notorious wet market the virus could have originated from the lab and infected humans without and genetic engineering being involved.
[The Federalist] Project Veritas recently released a video detailing how the number of Wuhan coronavirus deaths in the New York City area are being padded. Patients are being labeled as "coronavirus deaths" even though the person may have never even tested positive for the virus.
The watchdog group shared their investigative video on Twitter. Interestingly enough, the social media platform was caught removing retweets. One of the Project Veritas members caught the number of retweets decreasing from 6,324 immediately to 5,981 in a video.
"He caught Twitter reducing the number of retweets of our COVID-19 video," founder James O'Keefe said in a video uncovering the social media giant's move. "Jack Dorsey, what are you doing?"
WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite a century’s progress in science, 2020 is looking a lot like 1918.
In the years between two lethal pandemics, one the misnamed Spanish flu, the other COVID-19, the world learned about viruses, cured various diseases, made effective vaccines, developed instant communications and created elaborate public-health networks.
Yet here we are again, face-masked to the max. And still unable to crush an insidious yet avoidable infectious disease before hundreds of thousands die from it.
As in 1918, people are again hearing hollow assurances at odds with the reality of hospitals and morgues filling up and bank accounts draining. The ancient common sense of quarantining is back. So is quackery: Rub raw onions on your chest, they said in 1918. How about disinfectant in your veins now? mused President Donald Trump, drawing gasps instead of laughs over what he weakly tried to pass off as a joke.
#4
But the CDC says, even with all the COVID and COVID-related deaths, we are still 7% under the estimated 'deaths expected', based on averages for 2017-2019.
[mises.org] Perhaps never before in American history have the unelected technocrats [You mean like in Bruxelles?]
played such an enormous role in shaping public policy in America.
In recent weeks, members of Congress have been missing in action. Late last month, the House of Representatives passed the biggest spending bill in history while most members were absent. Member votes were not recorded and the legislation was passed with a voice vote, which required only a tiny handful of members.
Weeks later, the Senate refuses to even meet, and may finally get around to debating some legislative matters in May. As with the House, a handful of members assembled earlier to approve another enormous stimulus bill. Many Senators stayed home. This is "representative government" in modern America.
But if you thought this lack of congressional action means not much is happening in Washington in terms of policymaking, you would be very wrong. It's just that the democratically elected institutions have now become a largely irrelevant sideshow. The real policymaking takes place among unelected experts, who decide for themselves—with minimal oversight or control from actual elected officials—what will happen in terms of public policy. The people who really run the country are these experts and bureaucrats at the central banks, at public health agencies, spy agencies, and an expanding network of boards and commissions.
THE RISE OF THE TECHNOCRACY
This is not a new trend. Over the past several decades—and especially since the New Deal—official experts in government have gradually replaced elected representatives as the primary decision-makers in government. Public debate has been abandoned in favor of meetings among small handfuls of unelected technocrats. Politics has been replaced by "science," whether social science or physical science. These powerful and largely unaccountable decision-makers are today most noticeable in federal courts, in "intelligence" agencies, at the Federal Reserve, and—long ignored until now—in government public health agencies.
Technocracy as a style of governing has been around at least since the Progressive Era, although it has often been restrained by traditional legislative and elected political actors and institutions. Globally, it has gained prominence in a variety of times and places, for example in Mexico during the 1980s and 1990s.
But the technocracy's power has long been growing in the United States as well.
This may seem odd in a world where we are told democracy is among the highest political values, but technocrats have nonetheless managed to justify themselves through myths asserting that technocrats make scientific decisions guided only by The Data. These technocrats, we are told, care nothing of politics and only make sound decisions based on where the science leads.
Although that all may sound more reasonable or logical to some, the truth is that there is nothing nonpolitical, scientific, or evenhanded about government by technocrat. Technocrats, like everyone else, have their own ideologies, their own agendas, and their own interests. Often, their interests are greatly at odds with those of the general public that pays the technocrats' salaries and is subject to the technocracy's edicts. The rise of technocracy has only meant that the means of influencing policy is now limited to a much smaller number of people—namely those who are already influential and powerful in the halls of government. Technocracy seems less political, because the political wrangling is limited to what used to be called "smoke-filled rooms." That is, technocracy is really a sort of oligarchy, although not limited to the financially wealthy. It's limited to people who went to the "right" schools or control powerful corporations such as Google or Facebook, or work for influential media organizations. It's branded "nonpolitical," because ordinary voters and taxpayers are excluded from even knowing who is involved or what policies are being proposed. In other words, technocracy is government by a small exclusive club. And you ain't in it....
I get sick and tired of the ignorance of civics displayed so often in articles like this.
The "technocracy" is established by the elected representatives. And should be controlled by them. It's impossible to form a government by law that can ensure that all the folks involved are hard-working, knowledgeable and honest.
As far as technocrats go they have been around since at least the times of the pharaohs most often they were of the priestly class.
#4
As I understand it, your founding fathers deliberately designed USA to not be a democracy.
1. it was a union of states in a contract.
2. it was ratified by the states, not the people.
3. it was why the anti-federalists won the final argument with the inclusion of the first 10 amendments, aka Bill of Rights.
#6
"Democracy", eh?
I remember a history on the early Greek city states that exposed the central problem with "democracy": Who votes? Is it everybody or only a select few? The difference between an Oligarchy and a Democracy is only a matter of degree.
It's Kurt.
[Townhall] The good news is that you might get out of future jury duty, because when you are asked under oath about your own biases during a federal criminal case jury selection you would have to answer honestly by responding, "Your Honor, I don't trust a damn thing anyone in the FBI says."
If the heirs of Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., were to go up on the stand and testify, the recent disgraceful revelations about how their bosses tried to frame LTG Mike Flynn mean you would be entirely correct to grant them the same credibility as the dude caught wearing a black cape, a Lone Ranger mask, and a nametag that says "Willie Sutton" while tip-toeing out of First National carrying a big sack with a dollar sign on it as the alarm goes off.
Oh, and if an FBI agent asks if he can ask you some questions, try not to burst into laughter before you reply, "No, I assert my right to remain silent" and call your lawyer.
And this sorry state of affairs is all the FBI's fault.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/05/2020 00:00 ||
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#1
From Don Winslow's The Force, a corrupt police detective muses "Truth and justice are just two guys who pass each other in the courthouse hallway on occasion..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/05/2020 7:29 Comments ||
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#2
We appear to be in the Benjamin Franklin... "if you can keep it" phase.
Franklin was, btw, a keen observer of all things French.
PJ via Instapundit
As the Wuhan coronavirus continues to spread, stay at home orders have shut down commerce in many parts of the world. Some have predicted a 40% contraction in the U.S. economy in the 2nd quarter of 2020. This means that China’s economy, heavily dependent upon exports, will see no economic rebound for quite some time. In the mean time, the Trump administration has "turbocharged" its effort to relocate global supply chains from China to markets less hostile to the West.
The Epoch Times reports that China’s manufacturing industries have completely imploded:
Chinese factories are ramping up production as the country struggles to get back on its feet from the pandemic-induced recession. Around 80 percent of the small and medium-sized businesses, and nearly all large firms have returned to work, according to China’s commerce authorities. But analyses of recent data from the country suggests a quick rebound is nowhere in sight.
Export orders, including to China’s top export markets of the United States and Europe, have shriveled up as the virus shatters the world economy and workforces continue to shrink, and companies are uncertain about the outlook ahead.
The China Beige Book, a project to collect data on commercial activity in China, says that reopening the nation’s factories has come in fits and starts:
The good news is that almost all — 91% — of the more than 500 Chinese companies surveyed had reopened by late April, and about three-quarters were working on-site again, but just 42% were able to operate at more than half their capacity.
Worse, demand for goods and services from Chinese companies has plummeted. Foreign orders have fallen more than twice as fast as domestic ones, with orders from the U.S. contracting the most among China’s major trading partners.
Crucially, 81% of executives at surveyed companies said they’re worried about a resurgence of the coronavirus in the next three months. And 69% say April’s tepid pace of economic activity may be "as good as it gets" for the next several months.
This gives the Trump administration more ammunition in its attempts to move global supply chains away from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Reuters reported on Sunday:
Now, economic destruction and the massive U.S. coronavirus death toll are driving a government-wide push to move U.S. production and supply chain dependency away from China, even if it goes to other more friendly nations instead, current and former senior U.S. administration officials said.
"We’ve been working on [reducing the reliance of our supply chains in China] over the last few years but we are now turbo-charging that initiative," Keith Krach, undersecretary for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment at the U.S. State Department told Reuters.
The report describes a "whole-of-government" effort in which free trade advocates seem to be losing their struggle with China hawks inside the administration. Citing national security concerns, many departments have joined in the process to figure out how to incentivize U.S. firms to move their operations out of the Chinese mainland. Options reportedly include ’reshoring’ subsidies, tax incentives, developing closer ties to Taiwan, and ever higher tariffs on goods produced in China.
h/t Instapundit
[Business Insider] - Crises always have a habit of clarifying things. The coronavirus crisis is no different.
Once a treatment for the virus has been found, the debates about shutdown and easing restrictions have passed, and the recession has reared its ugly head, nothing less than the world order itself must be clarified. Or to be more specific: the matter of alliance. Where does Europe stand? On the side of the US or China?
Let us first look at a few assumptions and a few facts. America, the democratic world power, is currently governed by a narcissistic president — a man seen to be vulgar, uneducated, and with a volatile character who lacks any sense whatsoever for institutions. Half of Americans and three quarters of Europeans have no respect for him.
And yet, whether by accident, thanks to good advisers or a keen instinct, this president has managed to make some correct decisions. He lowered taxes to stabilize the US economy, withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, supported Israel, increased pressure on Europe to show more solidarity in NATO funding, and pressured the dysfunctional WHO.
China, on the other hand, the non-democratic world power, is currently controlled by a president with a measured vanity — a man who is supposedly sensitive, highly educated and cultivated, a personality who thinks and acts with a highly consistent and long-term perspective demonstrating great sensibility for the interests of China's unitary state.
And because Xi Jinping is said to look a little like Winnie the Pooh, the bear from the eponymous children's book, Chinese censorship forbids the use of either the name or the image of Winnie Pooh. Anyone who explicitly criticizes the government is punished.
Xi Jinping has been General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2012, and President of the People's Republic of China since 2013. In 2018, he lifted all limitations on his term of office, meaning he could continue to rule China for life.
He is a politician who, more than anything else, has continued and accelerated the economic reforms that were first introduced by Deng Xiaoping in the 1970s and reached new dimensions under Jiang Zemin. And thanks to tightened digital surveillance, he has been able to push China towards a position of global dominance as part of a seemingly friendly and peaceful international expansion.
The key date of this strategy is December 11, 2001, when China was accepted as a full member of the WTO following 15 years of negotiations. A great decision for China. But perhaps the biggest mistake made in recent history by the western market economies.
Since then, the US's share in the gross world product (GWP) dropped from 20.18% in 2001 to 15.03% (2019). Europe's share dropped from 23.5% to 16.05%, a drop of 7.45 percentage points in less than two decades. While China's share increased from 7.84% to 19.24% in the same period, with an average annual growth rate of around 9%.
The big mistake was to expose democratic market economies to a non-democratic state capitalism that exploits easier trading and competitive conditions without subjecting itself to the same rules. Asymmetry instead of reciprocity was the result.
The process of "change through trade" actually did take place. However, not quite in the way expected by the West. China has become even more authoritarian and economically stronger, while the West has become weaker.
What is our conclusion from all this? America has clearly decided to pursue a policy of 'decoupling' from China. If Europe does not want to see its freedom subverted by Beijing, it must decide which of the two countries to ally with, and it must do so soon.
#1
The eurines will always hate the US more, so what they will decide is no mystery at all.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/05/2020 6:28 Comments ||
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#2
>The big mistake was to
Nope. In short, you cannot have free-trade BETWEEN countries when there's not Free-Trade INSIDE the country. America has lots of internal tariffs that dwarf the external ones, all that "free-trade" means is importers get rich as jobs move abroad.
Cut internal tariffs (and raise external tariffs) and maybe you can increase trade, but it's always best to keep an external tariff until land price/wages are comparable as absolute advantage of production location will still mean the trade is beneficial to both parties (not just certain wealthy folks in both countries).
#10
^We have HCQ now. Soon there will be monoclonal IgG from Israel for passive immunization. And who knows, Remdesivir may actually work as advertised.
#12
Is the now very tired Target, Walmart, Loews, Best Buy graphic really necessary ?
These stores sell what their wholesale vendors sell to them and what their customers buy. When the wholesale vendors change, these stores will offer goods from places other than China. But the manufacturers and wholesale vendors will not change voluntarily.
For any real change to happen, customers must boycott Made in China merchandise, not necessarily the stores you mention. As I noted in a previous post, you can find merchandise in all of these stores that is not Made in China. But when the item you want is Made in China, then you must shop around at other stores to find a comparable item that was not Made in China, even if it costs more money. If, after all that shopping you still cannot find a comparable item that was not Made in China, then you must carefully consider how badly you need that item and whether or not you can do without it.
I spent a couple of hours last week fixing an old patio umbrella. I'm not exactly a Mr. Fixit kind of a handyman and I could have easily bought a new one at WalMart. But I figured it would be Made in China so I spent some time and effort on fixing the old one.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/05/2020 12:49 Comments ||
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#13
Aren't Countries angry with China enough to say no to the Huawei 5G?
Wishful thinking
Posted by: Jan ||
05/05/2020 15:03 Comments ||
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#14
Forget 5G - in 6 months there is StarLink 1GB UP/DOWN
Sometimes, the dog barks
[PJ Media] In March, Americans started to stay at home in what began as a voluntary movement. Governments issued lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, but Americans understood the threat of the Wuhan Chinese coronavirus from China was significant enough to take drastic measures. Thanks to these measures, America’s health care system was not overwhelmed by the global pandemic, and Americans across the country are demanding an end to the lockdowns.
Embattled Democratic governors are defending extended coronavirus lockdowns by citing the all-important "science." Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.), for example, told CNN, "The fact of the matter is, we’re in a global pandemic. This isn’t something we just negotiate ourselves out of and it’s a political matter. ... I am going to continue to do my job regardless of what tweets come out or what polls come out or what people think makes sense. We’re going to listen to facts and science because we’ve got to get this right."
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/05/2020 00:00 ||
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#1
Social distancing probably made next to no difference.
With on average 30% of people testing +ive for the antibodies, this virus has already been and gone and is just "tidying up".
With the Oz govt saying download the contact tracing app or we'll continue the covid house-arrest scheme and the actual lack of excess mortality this is looking like an excuse to squeeze the populace.
#2
I see the whole CV19 story as a competition among two schools hysterics. One side indulges in pandemic hysterics, the other in economic doom mongering.
Both rely on epidemiological/economic models that should've been washed down the toilet long time ago.
And I'd add the biggest lesson I've learned is that the right cannot be counted on for ANYTHING that involves the least bit of sacrifice. The idiots who keep whining about "the boogaloo" are the most disgusting, because their dream of a civil war would make all of this look like a golden age.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/05/2020 8:58 Comments ||
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#5
Not so fast, g. Your side's foolish models predicted 2 million deaths. We won't even reach 1/20th of that scaremongering, absurd forecast which has since been ignominiously dropped.
Your doomsayers then and proceeded to impose crude, draconian, over-hasty, inconsistent and incompetent measures toward anyone and everyone -- as opposed to targeted measures aimed at the elderly and those in nursing homes who serve them. Critics such as myself along with Federal Teserve economists and every other economist predicted, correctly, that this crude, broad-brush approach would cause mass unemployment and destroy millions of livelihoods. Fact: we now have NEARLY 30 MILLION UNEMPLOYED. That's not the product of your hypothetical bullshit Imperial College model but empirical FACT. The Department of Kabir's U-3 measure for claimed benefits stood at 16 million as of April 11 -- and the number of new claims each week has been in the 4 million range, so we're now at the unbelievable, catastrophic level of ca. 28 million people claiming unemployment benefits. The actual total number of unemployed is even higher.
And the numbers of people whose lives are being destroyed by this overreaction - healthy people under 65 who pose no risk to themselves or to any elderly person - these numbers of destroyed lives are still increasing because of the petulant, capricious, completely unscientific decisions of little fools like De Blasio and Whitmer and Newsom.
This foolish overreaction is already destroying the livelihoods of TENS OF MILLIONS of Americans who were never at risk.
The devastation is vast, and it's measurable with solid, accepted techniques that all can see and that are -- unlike your COVID numbers-- consistently and professionally applied to yield accurate data. This damage was needless and it's already here.
Stop moving the goalposts. Don't play Whitmer with us.
#13
Newsome is moving to enlist and train a 20,000 person "army"...his words - to help trace and track down and quarantine possible Covid-19 cases. How long will this take? And once implemented, how long does one suspect will Gavin's Gestapo be in service? Meanwhile, Dems are all in Vote by Mail.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
05/05/2020 11:42 Comments ||
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#14
The left is pushing for mail-in voting, a rich opportunity for them to engage in voter fraud.
#16
@bright pebbles. With on average 30% of people testing positive
Maybe NYC and some prisons are up to that level, but it appears everywhere else is 1% to 10%. In other words, the vast majority hasn’t been exposed yet.
#17
If we don't open up we'll never get herd immunity and we will get a massive second wave. We should have started the slow open at Easter as Trump originally planned. Each area could judge their own hospitals to determine if they are being overwhelmed and then open up some more.
This whole thing stinks. Its as if the flatten the curve was forgotten or misunderstood by our leaders and their sheep.
Has anyone noticed the way all the TV personalities keep saying stupid things like "We're all in this together." or "We'll get through this together."? Somehow that rubs me the wrong way. I don't really feel much togetherness with local TV newscasters. For the most part I've stopped listening to them but sometimes Mrs. Uluque turns on the TV and I can still hear it. Sometimes they do these supposedly heartwarming stories about food banks but will they themselves pay the rent and buy groceries for all of the people who are out of work? And who wants to take that kind of charity instead of working and providing for themselves? What small businessman wants to take a loan from the government that will keep him in debt for the next several years? And if he never pays it back then guess who gets stuck with it? What do the TV people really mean when they say these things?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/05/2020 13:22 Comments ||
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[Babylon Bee] With many Americans eager to get back to work, state governors across the country are responding with their plans for giving everyone permission to be normal human beings again. One state governor is enjoying universal acclaim after unveiling his own innovative plan for getting his state reopened.
The new plan is called 'Our Vision for Health, Safety, Virtue, and Eternal Peace' and is a 37-step, 10-year plan for slowly opening up sections of the state economy. It reads as follows:
Form an exploratory committee to consult various experts on reopening things
Set date to hear recommendations from the exploratory committee
Create a panel of experts to explore the recommendations recommended by the exploratory committee
Build a brand new website to post exploratory committee recommendations for public comment
Discuss feedback from health experts over catered seafood lunch
Wait 4 weeks to see if catered seafood lunch led to any additional COVID infections
Hire commission to gauge the effectiveness of collaboration over catered seafood lunches
Take away all the guns
Announce a 12-phase reopening of the economy, starting with the businesses with the best lobbyists
Begin Phase 1
Form a new committee to review the effectiveness of Phase 1 before moving on to Phase 2
Order more drones from China and post them in front of every hair salon
Draft new legislation to allow voting by show of hands over Facebook live
Announce reopening of all golf courses in close proximity to the statehouse
Hold public hearings on the effectiveness of the implementation of Phase 1
Repeat parts 1-15 until all 12 phases are completed
Form an exploratory committee to research alternate food sources now that catered seafood no longer available
Draft legislation allowing people to eat squirrels and possums
Overturn squirrels and possums legislation after animal rights groups protest
Hire animal rights groups to enforce the overturning of the legislation in order to protect squirrels and possums
Introduce tax bill to fund arming all police officers with harpoon guns and spears
Strengthen the security of governors mansion with sniper towers and tiger pits
...Maybe also a moat around the governor's mansion
More drones from China, maybe bigger ones
Pass new legislation to fund hiring more enforcers to enforce things
Build checkpoints across the state to distribute milk and guzzoline
Create jobs by hiring welders to install armor plating on police cars
(redacted)
(redacted)
(redacted)
(redacted)
(redacted)
(redacted)
(redacted)(redacted)(redacted)(redacted)(redacted)(redacted)
(Super-secret surprise to be determined later)
Open the rest of the economy
Gladiator games anyone?
Other states have announced they will wait 10-15 years to judge the effectiveness of this 37 part plan before releasing their own plans. The only exception is Texas, whose governor simply said, "We're open, y'all!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/05/2020 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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#1
Bee. Unless it's California...
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/05/2020 0:35 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Glad I changed my batting stance the other week; headline sounds like Michigan.
In fact, if Bee had been listed after the article, I would have been along for a ride.
This little gem from YPost, in case some people think morons in Israel
[Ynet] During the days of the coronavirus crisis, I have followed the speeches of Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, from my home in Berlin. Stay there, we don't want you - you piece of sh*t!
Despite the grim data from other European countries, Germany had succeeded in lowering the rate of infection, flattening the curve, and giving hope to its people.
All of that didn’t happen because Germany is stronger, or richer than other countries - it happened thanks to the woman at the helm - one of Europe’s bravest, most humble, and strongest women, Angela Merkel.
There are many reasons for her success Some statistics from worldometer.
Israel: total cases/1M pop = 1,879; total deaths/1M pop = 27.
Germany: total cases/1M pop = 1,984; total deaths/1M pop = 83.
[Red State] Yesterday, the George W. Bush Presidential Center released a video that is so complete tone deaf and nonsensical that you almost have to double check to make sure it’s not a parody. Surely, this is some liberal group putting out a video make the former President look ridiculous, but nope, it’s real.
In the video, we see Bush’s mouthpiece stumping for more immigration in the middle of a pandemic, criticizing Trump’s closing of the borders to help stop the spread of the disease.
#6
What conservative things did Dubya do? He was a old school liberal and globalist like his dad. It's like Bloomberg in NYC. They couldn't run on the Socialist party ticket so they took the seat on the GOPe ticket. America was presented with a choice of bad and worse. We took bad cause the GOPe had and has nothing else to offer. Trump was never GOPe which is why all the Deep State coup was about. He wasn't going to be a Washington General to the Socialist Globetrotters.
#9
That's why Jeb got his ass kicked by Trump in 2016.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/05/2020 12:54 Comments ||
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#10
Until there are consequences for this behavior, they will simply get more brazen.
It's not just about the "principles" involved, it's about rubbing our noses in shit and saying "You can't do anything about this -- eat it!!!"
Thank China Mitch McConnell, Paul "the Gimp" Ryan, Jeff "J'Recuse!" Sessions, Jimmy "Greasy Fingers" DiStefano, the Chamber of Commerce, the Karens for whom mean tweets are the greatest sin, and yes, even Trump himself for thinking he could do deals with these people.
#12
I don't primarily blame Trump, but he does bear some responsibility for the circumstances in which he finds himself.
I've heard that he's been thinking about running for Prez since the Eighties.
If this is so, you'd think he would have developed a bigger and deeper cadre of loyalists that he could have relied on when elected.
Or maybe he could have used some of his wealth to get information on potential opponents for leverage.
I get wanting to defend him against all comers, but this can lead to the "if the tsar only knew" fallacy where he's never held accountable by his supporters.
And that can lead to support being taken for granted.
Which is bad for his supporters and dangerous to Trump's own position.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[American Thinker] I have an embarrassing fondness for romance novels, so I know the genres. For decades, one popular genre has had FBI agents as lead characters, whether male or female. In a romance novel, being an FBI agent is shorthand for being intelligent, courageous, and upright.
Any "romance" I had with Federal Law Enforcement and the Justice Department ended in 1993. 
[Breitbart] United States Senate candidate Jeff Sessions says there is no shortage of American labor, calling out lawmakers and their "corporate friends" for supporting a continued flow of foreign workers to the U.S. to take jobs in the midst of mass unemployment.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite a century’s progress in science, 2020 is looking a lot like 1918.
If the heirs of Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., were to go up on the stand and testify, the recent disgraceful revelations about how their bosses tried to frame LTG Mike Flynn mean you would be entirely correct to grant them the same credibility as the dude caught wearing a black cape, a Lone Ranger mask, and a nametag that says "Willie Sutton" while tip-toeing out of First National carrying a big sack with a dollar sign on it as the alarm goes off.
[Babylon Bee] With many Americans eager to get back to work, state governors across the country are responding with their plans for giving everyone permission to be normal human beings again. One state governor is enjoying universal acclaim after unveiling his own innovative plan for getting his state reopened. 
