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Thursday, May 21. 2020

Susan Rice’s Team Confirms She Was Directed By White House Counsel to Write January 20, 2017 Email About Secret Oval Office Meeting

The ACLU’s Absurd Title IX Lawsuit

Why California Is In Trouble – 340,000 Public Employees With $100,000+ Paychecks Cost Taxpayers $45 Billion

CDC Now Says Virus 'Does Not Spread Easily' on Surfaces

Did The Lockdown Save Lives?

Illinois Governor Pritzker Threatens Business Owners with a Year in Prison if They Try to Reopen

Update: Illinois State Police Defy Tyrannical Governor — WILL NOT Arrest, Jail Business Owners for Breaking Lockdown

Florida vs New York: Who did better?

Doctors raise alarm about health effects of continued coronavirus shutdown: 'Mass casualty incident'

Data Leak Suggests China Had Hundreds of Thousands of Coronavirus Cases in 230 Cities

Evidence That Russia’s Coronavirus Numbers Are Almost Certainly Bogus

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 06:00 | Comments (22) | Trackbacks (0)

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Hmm. So the "news" is that a virus "acts" as... a virus?

Whodathunkit?

Chatted w/our volunteer coord last PM - the TMC continues to reopen as more square footage is restored to normal operations and the number of patients continues to remain far below initial expectations. According to the handout, the biggest issue remains one of testing - very, very few are availing themselves of said tests (one day's data showed 900 tests available - only 30 people showed up...)

#1 anon a mouse on 2020-05-21 08:18 (Reply)

I am extremely pleased that IL sheriffs defied the petty, anti-science, authoritarian tyrant in Springfiled. You have no idea how awesome this news is.

This includes the sheriff of my own county (Dupage County) who went public, unprompted, and said we are not making criminals out of ordinary citizens who just want to work, and by the way governor your threats to withhold funding will not work. Such a breath of fresh air! And this is in the Chicago suburbs!

I was getting down about the future here — and there are definitely many problems especially related to budget and pension obligations — but finally we have an encouraging sign.

#2 Jeff Brokaw (Link) on 2020-05-21 08:35 (Reply)

Also, for accuracy’s sake, there was substantial public pressure applied to the legislative group that was ready to vote on Pritzker’s latest stupid and illegal moves.

#2.1 Jeff Brokaw (Link) on 2020-05-21 08:42 (Reply)

I wonder what the next phase of COVID re-opening is going to look like in the blue states governed by the likes of Cuomo, Whitmer, Newsom, Pritzker, et. al.. My guess is the lawsuits from business owners against mandated lockdowns will start to fly in desperation. But we know how governments love to impoverish their opponents. What business owners don't lose to welfare, they'll lose to lawfare. A machine-Democrat-sponsored cytokine storm on the business sector. I guess some viruses kill the host.

#3 Aggie on 2020-05-21 09:00 (Reply)

re Data Leak Suggests China Had Hundreds of Thousands of Coronavirus Cases in 230 Cities

Is that all?

100s of thousands of cases in a country with 1.4 BILLION people?

That's practically nothing.

#4 feeblemind on 2020-05-21 09:49 (Reply)

It is a mistake for Florida or any state to be bragging because they haven't yet endured a high number of Corona-19 cases. Over time the cases in all parts of the country will regress to the mean and what seems like success today will not be true in 12 months.

#5 Anon on 2020-05-21 10:08 (Reply)

Objecting to patently unfair reporting on a point-by-point basis is not the same thing as bragging. I think the Florida governor and health officials might be paying a little more careful attention to their health data than you imply, and I also think they would tell you that their actions are in response to what they see in the data. You agree that their outcome is better, so far, than New York's for example? And that sending COVID-positive patients to live in the same environment as the most vulnerable cohort, as New York did, might be a flawed strategy?

#5.1 Aggie on 2020-05-21 10:17 (Reply)

QUOTE:

What is the current mean and your (numerical) level of confidence in it?

#5.2 Bill Carson on 2020-05-21 11:55 (Reply)

[blockquote] Why California Is In Trouble – 340,000 Public Employees With $100,000+ Paychecks Cost Taxpayers $45 Billion[/quote]

Top-ten states in terms of government employees per capita (2018):

1. Alaska
2. Wyoming
3. New Mexico
4. West Virginia
5. Mississippi
6. Oklahoma
7. Hawaii
8. North Dakota
9. Montana
10. Alabama

Notably, most are red states. Here are a few others on the list:

28. Texas
30. New York
32. California

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/05/13/states-where-the-most-people-work-for-the-government/39461227/

#6 Zachriel on 2020-05-21 10:56 (Reply)

Why not tell us about insolvent pension systems and state debt, which is what the story is about?

#6.1 Aggie on 2020-05-21 11:44 (Reply)

Interesting. So what?

#6.2 mudbug on 2020-05-21 11:45 (Reply)

The correct response would be to begin to reduce federal, state and local employees by 10% each year for the next five years so that budgets can be reduced and taxpayers be allowed to keep more of their own money. They could also freeze public employee pay until it becomes competitive with the private sector.

#6.3 OneGuy on 2020-05-21 11:48 (Reply)

Speaking for the western states and Federal employees, a large portion (ranging up to most) of the land area is National Forest or other Federal lands. National Forests are typically around 2,500,000 acres and are broken into 3 to 5 Ranger Districts with management staffs at the Forest and Ranger District levels. There are also Regional Offices over 10-12 Forests. All of these offices are located in small to relatively small communities (and some remote Districts in no community at all). So, a large management concern in sparsely settled geography. I can't speak for state and local govts.
By the way, the same system of Forests obtains in California, Oregon and Washington (typically with much larger staffs) but the non-federal populations in those states are so large as to dwarf the federal contingent.
You could disband the National Forests and save that management expense for sure but if you keep them you have to manage them.

#6.4 Dennis on 2020-05-22 09:56 (Reply)

So I have a stupid question that perhaps a lawyer might be able to answer: How did we get the authority to release prisoners from jail simply because the "might" get the virus? Could we have done that last year or next year? Doesn't it directly counter justice? I mean why even waste the time and energy to have the court case, prosecute and have a jury decide guilt if we just let them go? Will this be an ongoing thing as in every year at flu season we release all the murders and rapists while putting people in jail for not wearing a mask or using the hand sanitizer at Walmart???

#7 Lee on 2020-05-21 11:53 (Reply)

It's not a stupid question, but which question are you asking?

1. Why is it being done? or,

2. What's the legal basis?

#7.1 Hugh Evan-Thomas on 2020-05-21 12:40 (Reply)

Yes, both.

#7.1.1 Lee on 2020-05-21 16:24 (Reply)

CDC Now Says Virus 'Does Not Spread Easily' on Surfaces

QUOTE:

But wearing one [a mask] in a crowded space should be a courtesy, not a requirement. I think we’ll find as we get closer to “normal,” that the hysteria over COVID-19 will begin to diminish and people will once again congregate as they did before.

Yes, absolutely. Except for those who believe that courtesies infringe muh constitushonal rights.

#8 Hugh Evan-Thomas on 2020-05-21 12:09 (Reply)

There is not a single word in the Constitution that says a damn thing about courtesy.

You're quite pathetic.

#8.1 jimg on 2020-05-21 17:24 (Reply)

It would seem that for small businesses the smart thing to have done would have been to cancel your lease on day one of the shutdown and move all your equipment into storage. Those businesses who thought it would just be a few weeks are now facing bankruptcy as expenses have piled up while profits disappeared. The motto of small business facing a shutdown should be to declare bankruptcy early rather than to wait too long.

#9 OneGuy on 2020-05-21 12:13 (Reply)

You don't understand how bankruptcy or landlord/tenant law works. Since it appears you're trying to run a fraud scam for your company (probably an LLC or a corp) against the landlord and other creditors, you'll probably choose a Chapter 7 filing.

At best, the court appointed U.S. Trustee will replace you as manager, seize company assets, liquidate them and the company itself will cease to exist, its debts technically not discharged.

At worst, creditors will come after you personally.

#9.1 Hugh Evan-Thomas on 2020-05-21 12:35 (Reply)

ACLU: I trust them/it NOT.

Florida vs New York: Who did better? FLORIDA.

Evidence That Russia’s Coronavirus Numbers Are Almost Certainly Bogus: Does anyone trust anything the Russians claim?

I see Zach's back. I am BUMMMED.

#10 Sam L. on 2020-05-21 13:05 (Reply)

Did the lockdown save lives? Sure. Less vehicle accidents. Less plane crashes. Lots of lives saved by people staying at home.

Oh, you mean coronovirus lives? No. It simply spread them out by delaying it.

Next question.

#11 jimg on 2020-05-21 17:19 (Reply)

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Thursday, May 21. 2020

Thursday morning links