Wednesday, July 01, 2020

Cowardly Trump Can't Acknowledge COVID Record

49,000 new COVID-19 cases in the US today. Our cowardly, good-for-nothing, yellow-bellied president doesn't say a word about it.

What a fucking pussy this man is.

35 comments:

Layzej said...

He thinks that it's "going to sort of just disappear" -
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-still-believes-coronavirus-will-just-disappear-as-cases-rise-2020-7

Entropic man said...

Download Report 9 here and examine Figure 4.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/mrc-global-infectious-disease-analysis/covid-19/report-9-impact-of-npis-on-covid-19/

It projects four or five lockdown cycles over 18 months to two years and about 0.7% of the population dying of Covid-19.

The projection is for the UK, but the same outcome seems likely for the US.

We're a quarter of the way through this.

It is not "going to sort of just disappear"

Layzej said...

That is really discouraging. I'd hoped we could walk the line between a Laissez-Faire policy where cases explode and the tight restrictions we've been subjected to. Figure 4 shows either explosive growth or shutdown.

J. D. said...

I see the right wing media and Trump supporters on social media are ecstatic because the latest study on the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine has proved that the president is a stable genius after all.
This from fox news

"So fewer people died because they took the drug @realDonaldTrump suggested.... Thank you, POTUS for doing the right thing even in the face of a DC culture attacking you no matter what you do," wrote former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell.

The Federalist's Sean Davis added: "Media and incompetent corrupt government officials lied to you about social distancing. They lied to you about hydroxychloroquine. They lied to you about risks to children and the general population. They lied not to help you, but to control you, and they’re not going to stop."


So there you have it. President Trump was the only thing standing in the way of the deep state and corrupt media who wanted to kill thousands of American citizens. That's what I'm reading on social media anyway. However there is this from CNN

"As the Henry Ford Health System became more experienced in treating patients with COVID-19, survival may have improved, regardless of the use of specific therapies," Dr. Todd Lee of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, Canada, and colleagues wrote in a commentary in the same journal.

"Finally, concomitant steroid use in patients receiving hydroxychloroquine was more than double the non-treated group. This is relevant considering the recent RECOVERY trial that showed a mortality benefit with dexamethasone." The steroid dexamethasone can reduce inflammation in seriously ill patients.


I'm far from being a medical expert but it seems to me that at best the jury is still out and that whichever way this plays out Trump should still not have personally pushed the drug because he has no medical expertise either.

David Appell said...

Trump spoke today at Mt Rushmore and again hardly said a word about COVID-19. Instead he says we're under attack by leftist fascists who are intent on destroying our history and heritage.....

David Appell said...

I can't imagine a campaign manager getting paid by Trump would actually advise him to take this line, but I guess you never know....

David in Cal said...

My biostatiscian wife and I read the Ford Hospital paper pretty carefully. We agree that any retrospective study, like this one, is less convincing than a proper prospective study. The challenge is to somehow be sure that group who got the drug matches the group who didn't. Strangely, the paper did not explain how this was done.

However, the apparent value of HCQ is enormous: Mortality rate of 13% instead of 26%.

We also found an error, where the supposed median on one of the ranges was outside the range.

Cheers

David in Cal said...

David - IMHO we are indeed under attack by a certain number of people who want to destroy our heritage. These are the ones attacking and defacing statues of Lincoln, Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, etc. These people handed Trump a good campaign issue. He will take full advantage of it by denouncing them as strongly as possible.

Cheers

Entropic man said...
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David in Cal said...

Entropic man -- I'm Jewish. My people were slaughtered in an intentional Holocaust. I have relatives who came to the US after having been in a Nazi concentration camp. That was a heck of a lot more recent than the mistreatment of Native Americans in the US. Nevertheless, I don't hold a grudge against modern-day Germans. Today's Germans did nothing wrong.

Anyhow, there are hardly any Native Americana destroying statues of our American history. The vandals are mostly Caucasians as well as a goodly number of blacks. These vandals were mis-educated to see the bad in the US and to ignore all the good.

Cheers

Entropic man said...


The archaeologists estimate that the population of North America was between 70 and 120 million when Columbus landed. By the Trail of Tears that was down to less than 1 million and those remaining were marched off their land by a bunch of foreigners.

The same foreigners bought prisoners of war in Africa and used them as something between slaves and domestic animals before "freeing" them into more poverty and discrimination.

If your people suffered genocide, disposession, slavery, poverty and discrimination from a bunch of Europeans you would have a similarly jaundiced view of "American heritage".

Entropic man said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
David Appell said...

"The archaeologists estimate that the population of North America was between 70 and 120 million when Columbus landed. By the Trail of Tears that was down to less than 1 million and those remaining were marched off their land by a bunch of foreigners."

It strikes me that with all the necessary attention on BLM, systemic racism, etc right now, there is almost nothing being said about America's historical sins against Native Americans. I'm not going to compare the scale of one of these sins to the other -- they're both utterly appalling, of course, and far beyond that. The scale of America's genocide against the native people who were here for millennia may well be the greatest reign of immorality and sheer deliberate large-scale terror ever promulgated against any people ever on Earth. With slavery we can, perhaps, get some kind of picture of the whole of it, though of course inadequate. But the systematic and purposeful elimination of Native Americans is possibly too big and so shameful and so poorly covered historically and educationally that we can't help but turn numb when we ponder it.

I can't speak for any of them, of course, but were I one I might, right now, be even angrier that the Native American tragedy remains so deeply buried when other longtime inequalities are finally beginning to see the light of day.

David Appell said...

"we are indeed under attack by a certain number of people who want to destroy our heritage. These are the ones attacking and defacing statues of Lincoln, Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, etc."

The only statue of Lincoln I know of that is under attack is the one in DC where a black man is kneeling at his feet. You can't imagine how that can be seen as problematic?

Likewise, the Teddy Roosevelt statue in NY City in from of the Museum of Natural History was planned to come down *before* the protests, because it has him on a horse with a Native American walking on one side and a black man on the other. Don't you think that's problematic? According to one of his biographers in the NYT recently, during his life Roosevelt practically begged people not to memorialize him with statues, and he thought TR would be the first to want the statue to come down.

Doesn't Washington have enough named after him? I read, again in another NYT article, that one reason Washington didn't want Philadelphia to be the nation's capital was that any slave who made it to PA could declare himself a free man. Washington didn't want to lose any slaves. Washington knew slavery was wrong, but didn't free any of his slaves until after both he and then he wife died. That's not honorary, it's unethical and its cowardly.

Let's take down a Washington statue and put one up of several of his slaves. Why not?

Most Americans support BLM, by a wide margin, something like 2/3rds. Trump campaigned on hate in 2016, against Muslims, and thinks he can do it again, against BLM and "leftist fascists." That's an hilarious term for a real fascist to use. Look at his approval rating recently; tanking:

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/

David in Cal said...

Entropic man - you have an argument as to why Native Americans might have a jaundiced view of American history. However, for the rest of us, a lot of other achievements merit big-time approval:
- Setting an example of democracy for the world.
- Ending slavery at enormous sacrifice. Other countries did this sooner, but they didn't have the same cost
- Defeating Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan
- Winning the Cold War with the USSR
- the Marshall Plan, which saved the European economy after WW2.
- Leading the fight against HIV in Africa
- Scientific, medical and cultural contributions to the world: polio vaccine, electric lights, the transistor, etc.


BTW, Em, although it doesn't affect your point, that estimate of 70 - 120 million represents all the Americas, not just North America

Cheers

David Appell said...

David, no one is saying the US hasn't done some good things. Though I don't see why any of what you listed excuses the deep moral sins of slavery and Native American genocide. Nothing can excuse them, period.

David in Cal said...

David - George Washington made incredible contributions to the founding of our country. Without Washington, there would have been be no democracy in the US and possibly no democracy worldwide. I recommend "Washington: The Indispensable Man" by James Thomas Flexner. It's completely appropriate that we celebrate George Washington's heroics.

The statue of Lincoln that you're referring to shows a slave being lifted to freedom. What's wrong with that? IMHO some leftists choose to find anything offensive if it includes a minority, no matter how portrayed. E.g., the Native American woman on the Land o'Lakes butter was a real person. The painting was made by a Native American artist. She was not portrayed disrespectfully. Nevertheless, that logo was deemed potentially offensive simply because it displayed a Native American person. See https://www.google.com/search?q=land+o%27lakes+butter+logo&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS751US751&sxsrf=ALeKk02GKcMFFRQMkQ4bff9Izm3fTngiGQ:1593915739472&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=e3Muo66C1qgs-M%252Cpb19l0ndsgAi9M%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kR8CtBKqODvHLaTYpx7XXg-NKg10Q&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiOzc_rhrXqAhWoIjQIHXcUApQQ9QEwB3oECAoQOA&biw=1024&bih=462#imgrc=e3Muo66C1qgs-M

David, I have entirely lost patience with the too-easily offended. Note that Native American groups didn't lobby to take the Native American woman off the butter. I have seen surveys showing that most Native Americans support Native American logos and team names.

IMHO the easily-offended are harming the minority groups they purport to support. Teaching people that it's good to be a victim is terrible. It's encourages people to be weak and incompetent and failures. I was raised believing that I lived in an anti-semitic world. That was indeed the case in the insurance industry where I worked. That knowledge encouraged me to work harder and do a better job. That positive attitude led to my success and it set a good example for other Jews to be hired in the insurance industry.

That attitude is particularly disgusting today, in a world filled with opportunities for minorities. My professional society is advertising and begging for blacks to enter the actuarial profession. Organizations of all sort are actively seeking minorities. Note the success of Fauxcahontas. To tell minorities that they have no hope wrongly discourages them.

Cheers

David Appell said...

David, you don't seem to be able to even acknowledge Washington's full life, which includes his ownership of dozens of black slaves.

He owned people. How did those people feel?


David Appell said...

Today I read a comment from a man under an Slate article about the Washington Redskins.

He said his company did a lot of business with Native American tribes. He said he would never address them with the r-word.

Would you do that, David? If you visited them to do business, when you pull into their tribal HQ parking lot and get out of your car, would you say, cheerfully, "hello, redskins!"

If not, why not?

David in Cal said...

David - how do Native Americans feel about the name? There's little doubt that the name "Redskins" will now be changed. The new name won't refer to "Native Americans". Don't forget that the team name honors Native Americans. Will Native Americans be better off if all public reference to them is removed, whether it be butter or team names or statues? I don't think so.

Cheers

Entropic man said...

I can just imagine a football team called the "Honkies", which honours whites.

Entropic man said...

Or perhaps, to honour President Trump's core vote, the "Redskins " should be renamed the "Rednecks"

Thomas said...

David, "It strikes me that with all the necessary attention on BLM, systemic racism, etc right now, there is almost nothing being said about America's historical sins against Native Americans"

There are ten times as many black people as there are Native Americans in USA. Kill enough, and there won't be many left to protest. If you want to do something there are a whole bunch of interesting treaties made with Natives like the Lakota that would have a profound effect on US territory if they were honored.

Extra hypocricy points for white people in USA who support Israel with the argument that "The Jews were there first".

David in Cal said...

Thomas - I'm glad to hear that you're concerned about all the black people being killed. We need to stand up for the police right now to stop enormous numbers of black Americans from being murdered. See this article https://townhall.com/columnists/kevinmccullough/2020/07/05/six-weeks-six-cities-600-murders-n2571887

Six Weeks, Six Cities, 600 Murders

In only six weeks, city after city operated by entrenched Democrats have seen a massive expansion in lawlessness, violence, and murder....

New York -- Thus far in 2020, homicides are up 21 percent. Shootings are up by 46 percent.

Los Angeles -- An increase in the month’s first week by 250 percent of homicides, and a 56 percent increase in shootings.

Chicago -- Year-to-date shootings have eclipsed 1,508 for 2020, putting them 350 ahead of 2019. To date homicides sit at 254, placing them ahead of 2019.

Washington D.C. -- Year-to-date homicide numbers are 13 percent higher than this time a year ago

Philadelphia-- Shootings are up 67 percent. Victims of armed violence are up 29 percent. Homicides are up 25 percent

Baltimore -- last year Baltimore set a new record at 348 homicides. Yet in 2020 they outpace last year’s record


Cheers

David in Cal said...

Entropic man - I once drove through the Tohono O'odham Nation reservation in southern AZ. We were driving from Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument to Tucson. What a sad wretched place. These people need lots of help, but changing the name of a football team will not do anything for them.

Cheers

Entropic man said...

David in Cal

We have a saying in England that it is much easier to turn £1 million into £2 million than to turn £1 into £2.

If you take everything away from people you force them to start from nothing and disadvantage them forever after.

It is a poverty trap that minorities in the US have been stuck in for centuries.

David in Cal said...

Em - It's not poverty. My father came to this country at age 10 with nothing. His family never resorted to crime. In New York City, the average Asian is poorer than the average black. Yet, Asians outperform whites, on average. Read a biography of Dr Ben Carson, who was raised in poverty by a single parent.

The key is character and culture. For 50 years, Democratic policies were designed to weaken the character of responsible, hard-working black Americans. That's why black immigrants outperform blacks raised in the US.

Cheers

Layzej said...

The post is: "49,000 new COVID-19 cases in the US today. Our cowardly, good-for-nothing, yellow-bellied president doesn't say a word about it."

Trump has change the conversation to "we're under attack by leftist fascists who are intent on destroying our history and heritage....."

He's even managed to hijack this conversation :)

David Appell said...

David in Cal wrote:
"The key is character and culture."

And what has Black character and culture been through over the centuries? Shipped here against their will. Sold as chattel. Families ripped apart. Slaves tortured and their spirits destroyed. After the Civil War, blacks still discriminated against in both north and south. 30 years after the war southern states erect many statues of Confederate generals, deny blacks the right to vote, even put the confederate flag in their state flag. 1890-1950, blacks still discriminated against in opportunities for education, jobs, marriage, voting, even military service. Lynchings. KKK. In the civil rights era blacks attacked with dogs and beatings and racist police chiefs for standing up for themselves. Blacks still denied upward mobility in businesses. Had to go to the Supreme Court for interracial marriage. Now to today -- blacks *still* facing Confederate statues, Confederate flags, and plenty of racists. Black males terrified to be pulled over by the police. Even middle class and above professional blacks feel the need to have "the talk" with their children, sons especially. Blacks still murdered by the police, in broad daylight, even with cameras running. And now an openly racist President of the country.

What's the effect of all this on black culture, black families, black education, black income?

Did Asians go through anything like this? Jewish immigrants? Italian or Irish immigrants? Of course not.

PS: I asked you a lot of good questions above, and you ignored almost all of them.

David Appell said...

David in Cal wrote:
"how do Native Americans feel about the name?"

Would you greet a native American by saying "Hello, redskin?"

"Don't forget that the team name honors Native Americans."

Says who?

"Will Native Americans be better off if all public reference to them is removed, whether it be butter or team names or statues? I don't think so."

Then clearly the NFL needs teams called the "Blackskins" and the "Brownskins" and the "Yellowskins" and the "Whiteskins."

Why do you think this will never happen?

And now the Cleveland Indians are probably going to change their name, and perhaps even (finally) the Atlanta Braves. About time.

David Appell said...

Thomas wrote:
"There are ten times as many black people as there are Native Americans in USA. Kill enough, and there won't be many left to protest. If you want to do something there are a whole bunch of interesting treaties made with Natives like the Lakota that would have a profound effect on US territory if they were honored."

Yeah, but this is my point. There are 10x as many blacks because we killed all the Native Americans, either by disease or extirpation.

Where are the movies about Native Americans like Roots, Amistad, Hidden Figures, I Am Not Your Negro, even Django Unchained? And many many more. I can only think of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Americas (and the Spanish, too) so thoroughly destroyed the native American population that they are barely an after thought in the US today. I'm as guilty as anyone.

Layzej said...

Here's "Snotty nose rez kids on the subject of team names: I'm no racist but...

Since I've brought them up, here's my daughter's favourite song by them: H.O.W

As long as I'm posting great Canadian music, here's A Tribe Called Red: Sisters. I've seen them live. Great show.

And here's Tanya Tagaq: Uja

Ok. One more. Here's Buffy for good measure: Keeper of the Fire

Layzej said...

Uggg. Looks like I butchered the Tagaq link. Here it is again: Uja. When my daughter was a toddler she used to ask for this song over and over: The Iceberg Cometh

David Appell said...

This is a little more upbeat.

I like that song by A Tribe Called Red.

Your link to Uja didn't work. Maybe this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCuayGvy3i8

David in Cal said...

David - See The Chicago Blackhawks won't change nickname because it honors the life of an actual Native American
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/08/us/chicago-blackhawks-name-spt-trnd/index.html

Cheers