underpants
underpants's Journal
In an effort to inject some measure of humor into things
One of the members of the International Olympic Committee is Dick Pound.
Accomplished Author of hardbacks and outstanding in the water - being able to hold 4 Commonwealth medals at one time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Pound
Today - Senate Democrats again defeat key procedural vote on coronavirus package
I know we want them to stick to their guns but the masses aren’t going to remember the details. Just saying.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/23/senate-coronavirus-rescue-package-143799
The Senate reached a critical pressure point on Monday as Democrats tanked another procedural vote while they negotiate a nearly $2 trillion coronavirus economic rescue package.
The vote’s failure — which comes after four days of frenetic talks — further frustrated Senate Republicans and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has aggressively pushed for a deal by Monday. Every Democrat voted against moving forward on Monday’s procedural vote except Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.).
Governor closes Virginia schools K-12 for rest of this year
School year
We just got the texts and voicemails
Trump hints possibility of less-restrictive approach in coronavirus fight
Trump’s ending the 15 day guidelines from CDC.
It’s on Fox News main page .....see if you can find it.
I caught some understandable grief about posting a Fox News link here just yesterday. Okay so I’m not providing the link.
It’s there but it’s hard to find.
CNN's Jake Tapper folds to RW pressure. Trump didn't call the virus a hoax is a real thing now.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/cnns-jake-tapper-under-fire-after-admitting-he-didnt-fact-check-aoc-on-trump-coronavirus-claimCNN's Jake Tapper under fire after admitting he didn't fact-check AOC on Trump-coronavirus claim
During an interview on "State of the Union," Ocasio-Cortez was sounding the alarm on her city and state's shortage of medical supplies but then quickly took a swipe at the Trump administration for its evolving rhetoric as the outbreak was spreading.
"We're hearing every step from this administration- first, we were hearing it was a hoax, then we were hearing that everything is fine, then we were hearing that the fundamentals of the economy was OK – until the crash comes," Ocasio-Cortez told Tapper.
Tapper responded, acknowledging what Ocasio-Cortez said wasn't factually accurate.
"I thought about it, because the president did not call the virus a hoax," Tapper tweeted. "But I didn’t because he *did* call a hoax the concerns of those saying that the response from the president was insufficient and that he was downplaying the gravity of the crisis. And that too was a lie."
He continued, "I guess that’s the problem with a politician who lies so often; while I agree that Democrats are mischaracterizing what he said, what he did say was also false so it’s tough to justify taking the time for a fact check when it’s not taking a stand defining the truth."
I just got a spam notification on Facebook. Replying to someone blaming Obama for the virus
I posted the link below. Kaiser Health News. I selected that one because it was a complete summary and there couldn't be any hint of bias.
https://khn.org/morning-breakout/how-a-crisis-simulation-run-before-trumps-inauguration-by-obamas-team-eerily-mirrors-current-outbreak/
How A Crisis Simulation Run Before Trump’s Inauguration By Obama’s Team Eerily Mirrors Current Outbreak
As part of the transition of power, aides from the Obama administration prepped President Donald Trump's advisers on different crises they could face in the upcoming years. One of those was a flu pandemic. Meanwhile, the Trump administration's current response to the coronavirus outbreak shows all the cracks that have been glimpsed over the past few years.
Politico: Before Trump’s Inauguration, A Warning: ‘The Worst Influenza Pandemic Since 1918'
Seven days before Donald Trump took office, his aides faced a major test: the rapid, global spread of a dangerous virus in cities like London and Seoul, one serious enough that some countries were imposing travel bans. In a sober briefing, Trump’s incoming team learned that the disease was an emerging pandemic — a strain of novel influenza known as H9N2 — and that health systems were crashing in Asia, overwhelmed by the demand. “Health officials warn that this could become the worst influenza pandemic since 1918,” Trump’s aides were told. Soon, they heard cases were popping up in California and Texas. The briefing was intended to hammer home a new, terrifying reality facing the Trump administration, and the incoming president’s responsibility to protect Americans amid a crisis. (Toosi, Lippman and Diamond, 3/16)
The New York Times: Inside The Coronavirus Response: A Case Study In The White House Under Trump
Senior aides battling one another for turf, and advisers protecting their own standing. A president who is racked by indecision and quick to blame others and who views events through the lens of how the news media covers them. A pervasive distrust of career government professionals, and disregard for their recommendations. And a powerful son-in-law whom aides fear crossing, but who is among the few people the president trusts. The culture that President Trump has fostered and abided by for more than three years in the White House has shaped his administration’s response to a deadly pandemic that is upending his presidency and the rest of the country, with dramatic changes to how Americans live their daily lives. (Haberman and Weiland, 3/16)
West Virginia's patient #1. Details of the struggle to get him tested.
Long read. I got frustrated just reading it.
How one woman fought to get her husband tested while her state was applauded for having no coronavirus
He would become the state's Patient #1. They didn't know it then, of course, nor did anyone else. But in the following days they felt like that they were the only people in the state who wanted to find out. From medical professionals who simply had no information to health administrators in the same boat, all the way up to the President saying the state was doing a good job for having no cases.
It made no sense to her for West Virginia -- with its health and wealth gaps, plus its high rate of smokers -- to be impervious to a virus that hits the respiratory system.
The doctor's receptionist told her "you absolutely cannot come here." And she was given a hotline number. The same number she had called for the state health department that had sent her to call their doctor. It was her first dead end.
The next day, they expected to get the test results, only they never got a call. When it hit midafternoon, she contacted the ER. She was told to call the state lab. According to Carolyn, they said to call the county health department. The county health department told her something that hit her in the gut: They had no record of James being tested.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/21/us/west-virginia-coronavirus-patient-one-test/index.html
The roots of Sympathy
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