[shyams]

https://twitter.com/...171592932589569

Stephen Fowler (journalist):

Quote

I’ve deleted this tweet from a week ago because it keeps getting aggregated and re-shared out of full context of what it does/doesn’t say.

There was a bad graph. DPH was asked and it changed after a day. This was one of many graphs on their site (and one of many errors).

[Winstonm]

shyams, on 2020-May-19, 09:22, said:

https://twitter.com/...171592932589569

Stephen Fowler (journalist):

Did you read the replies?

Quote

JP Marr
@thejahpaul
·
May 17
Replying to
@stphnfwlr
You called it right the first time
John Patterson
@sciensta
·
21h
Replying to
@stphnfwlr
I'm using this graph to teach my students how officials try to manipulate data in their favor. X is the independent variable people!
Sally Dillehay
@SallyDillehay
·
3h
Replying to
@stphnfwlr
Did you ever obtain the final corrected data? I would like to do a trend analysis to determine if there is a statistically significant decrease in cases or not. TY!

[shyams]

Let me clarify, if I'm allowed.

I feel that the US media continually presents extreme interpretations. That is equally true for both the GOP supporting media and the Dem supporting clans. The way the "large viewership media" (I don't want to use "mainstream media" because of the implied connotations in the US) keeps their target audience hooked is by creating waves.

My previous post was mostly due to media outlets falling over themselves to ascribe events/actions/decisions to deviousness or malice when often they are probably caused by stupidity or carelessness or such.

In any case, this is not my country. Your governors/president/senators etc. don't impact my life and though I love the USA and its people I don't directly care much about their internecine politics (except when I can occasionally gamble/win a few pounds on a specific political outcome)

[Winstonm]

shyams, on 2020-May-19, 13:02, said:

Let me clarify, if I'm allowed.

I feel that the US media continually presents extreme interpretations. That is equally true for both the GOP supporting media and the Dem supporting clans. The way the "large viewership media" (I don't want to use "mainstream media" because of the implied connotations in the US) keeps their target audience hooked is by creating waves.

My previous post was mostly due to media outlets falling over themselves to ascribe events/actions/decisions to deviousness or malice when often they are probably caused by stupidity or carelessness or such.

In any case, this is not my country. Your governors/president/senators etc. don't impact my life and though I love the USA and its people I don't directly care much about their internecine politics (except when I can occasionally gamble/win a few pounds on a specific political outcome)

I'm not castigating you. It is almost impossible for us here in the U.S. to keep up with the corruption. Here's another little piece that fits in nicely with the post above about Georgia and its governor. This time, though, it is Florida and Trump wingman Ron DeSantis:

Quote

....Ron DeSantis had put his cronies in charge of the Florida database for COVID-19 cases and deaths.... the scientist who had been in charge of the site was fired back on May 1. She spoke last night with a West Palm Beach TV station which broke the blockbuster story of why she was fired:

Rebekah Jones said in an email to CBS12 News that her removal was “not voluntary” and that she was removed from her position because she was ordered to censor some data, but refused to “manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen.”

Jones made the announcement May 5 in a farewell email to researchers and other members of the public who had signed up to receive updates on the data portal, according to Florida Today. She said that for “reasons beyond my division’s control,” her office is no longer managing the dashboard, involved in its publication, fixing errors or answering any questions.

The GOP is now acting as if governing is nothing but production of a reality tv show - dupe the masses with falsities and cliffhangers, and then sit back and let the mainstream news organizations promote your stories.

[johnu]

Chas_Troll_and_Manchurian_President_Puppet, on 2020-May-18, 19:17, said:

And, as we all know, the Bidens were as pure as the driven snow. LMAO. https://www.youtube....h?v=UXA--dj2-CY

LOL, only Grifter In Chief dunces believe that story.

Explainer: Biden, allies pushed out Ukrainian prosecutor because he didn't pursue corruption cases

Quote

It wasn't because Shokin was investigating a natural gas company tied to Biden's son; it was because Shokin wasn't pursuing corruption among the country's politicians, according to a Ukrainian official and four former American officials who specialized in Ukraine and Europe.

Shokin's inaction prompted international calls for his ouster and ultimately resulted in his removal by Ukraine's parliament.

In any case, the US Vice President does not make policy, they carry out the policy of the President. Let me repeat, the Vice President does not make policy. You can ask Mike Pence about that if you don't believe me. If Joe Biden was guilty of anything it was being overly boastful for his role in Shokin being fired. It was Obama's overall decision, and certainly the European leaders who wanted Shokin fired did not need Biden to show them the way.

As for Hunter Biden, he is an adult who took advantage of his father's fame, and Burisma undoubtedly hired him to try to curry favor with the US government. Unsavory, but this is something that happens every day of the year both in the US and around the world. People use whatever connections they have to get ahead.
Sort of like Don Jr and Eric making millions because their father funneled government business their way, or getting hundreds of millions in loans from China because their father is President. Or Ivanka and Jared Kushner getting super high profile jobs in the White House despite have no qualifications, or getting top secret security clearance by presidential decree despite being disqualified from getting clearance by the FBI.

[johnu]

Winstonm, on 2020-May-19, 08:55, said:

I think everyone should stop and really ponder the meaning of this action taken by the state of Georgia in order to provide cover for Gov. Kemp:

Dana Milbank at the WaPo:


Creating a document that is nothing more that propaganda is what failed states do, what happens in banana republics. Think about how little the people who did this care about anyone or anything other than themselves - is that who you want to represent you in government?

Better coronavirus results through new math

Ousted Designer Of Florida’s COVID-19 Dashboard Says She Was Asked To Censor Data

Quote

The Florida official in charge of designing and managing the state’s online dashboard of COVID-19 data says she was fired after refusing to censor and “manually change data” in order to present a picture justifying the state’s process of reopening and loosening COVID-19 restrictions.

Rebekah Jones, who led a group of data scientists and public health experts at Florida’s Department of Health, announced her departure in an email to colleagues late Friday, according to Florida Today.

On Monday, Jones told Florida’s CBS12 that her departure, effective May 5, was “not voluntary,” saying she was dismissed after refusing to “manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen.”

‘What are you hiding?’: Health officials stop reporting growing number of coronavirus cases at Nebraska meatpacking plants

Quote

As of the first week of May, public health officials reported 96 at the Tyson plant in Madison; 237 at the JBS plant in Grand Island; and 123 arising from the Smithfield plant in Crete.

There were other cases around the state, too, and the counts were climbing. At least three were reportedly dead. Then the numbers stopped.

In a change initiated last week, governor Pete Ricketts, a Republican, announced at a news conference that state health officials would no longer share figures about how many workers have been infected at each plant. The big companies weren’t sharing numbers either, creating a silence that leaves workers, their families and the rest of the public blind to the severity of the crisis at each plant.

“What are you hiding?” said Vy Mai, whose grandfather died of the novel coronavirus after being exposed to her aunt and uncle, both employed by a Smithfield plant in Crete. “If the ‘essential’ workers are being treated fairly and protected at meatpacking plants, why aren’t we allowed to know the numbers?”

Does the Grifter in Chief have a plan to fire all the coroners in the USA? No coroners, no reported COVID-19 deaths, COVID-19 crisis over. Mission Accomplished. MAGA MAGA MAGA.

[cherdano]

kenberg, on 2020-May-19, 05:03, said:

Trump is in a class by himself. He is the first president in my lifetime that I just do not listen to at all.

You should (with Sarah Cooper lip-syncing him). https://twitter.com/...583362079936512
https://twitter.com/...085326887604224

[Chas_P]

johnu, on 2020-May-19, 14:42, said:

LOL, only Grifter In Chief dunces believe that story.

Johnboy, I must admit that I don't understand your specific kind of stupid.

But I do admire your total commitment to it.

[barmar]

It was funny when Trump used a Sharpie to support his erroneuous claim about the path of a hurricane.

Now other Republicans are following his playbook, but it's not funny when they're talking about mortality statistics.

[johnu]

Chas_NoDignity_NoHonor_NoIntegrity, on 2020-May-19, 17:57, said:

...

Is anybody surprised that the Manchurian President's acolytes have drunk the Clorox.

[johnu]

WTF seems redundant when talking about the Grifter in Chief

Trump Warns Farmers That Gun Control Will Leave Their Potatoes Defenseless

Quote

President Trump: "We're going after Virginia, with your crazy governor, we're going after Virginia. They want to take your Second Amendment. You know that, right? You'll have nobody guarding your potatoes."

The obvious solution is to build a wall around every potato field. There will be no cost because the Potatoes will pay for the walls. Build those walls, build those walls...

[y66]

David Leonhardt at NYT:

Quote

There have clearly been problems with the business loan programs in the federal government’s coronavirus stimulus.

Many companies, especially small businesses, have struggled to get loans. And in a high-profile hearing yesterday, several senators criticized Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, and Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, for those problems.

More quietly, though, there also seems to be a growing recognition in Congress — among members of both parties — that the execution of the stimulus program hasn’t been the main problem. The design of the program has been.

Much of the rest of the world — including Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and South Korea — has followed one strategy on coronavirus stimulus. Governments have temporarily paid the salaries of workers in order to prevent millions of layoffs.

The United States has taken a different path. It created a complicated mix of different stimulus policies, including loans to businesses and checks for families. This approach doesn’t appear to be working: The U.S. has had a sharper rise in unemployment than other countries. Many jobless Americans have also lost their health insurance — in the midst of a pandemic.

Now Congress may be on the verge of changing its approach.

The stimulus bill that House Democrats passed last week includes a new paycheck subsidy program, similar to those in other countries. For businesses that have lost substantial revenue, it would cover — as grants, not loans — as much as 80 percent of payroll costs, up to $60,000 per worker in annual salary. The policy would be expensive, yet still cheaper than the previous stimulus plans.

The bill is only one sign of the idea’s growing popularity. Yesterday, almost 100 House Democrats introduced a more ambitious version of the program. And senators across the ideological spectrum — from Josh Hawley (a Missouri Republican) on the right to Doug Jones (an Alabama Democrat) in the center to Bernie Sanders (you know who he is) on the left — are pushing their own versions of the plans.

Janet Yellen, the former Fed chair, has praised the idea as a “smart, quick and effective way to channel aid to workers through their firms.”

It’s still not clear what will happen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, continues to speak skeptically about the need for any further stimulus. Regardless, any bill is likely to be more diffuse and complex than the approach of other countries, and any paycheck subsidy is likely to be less ambitious.

But the U.S. may soon be moving in the direction of those other countries.

[y66]

Matt Yglesias @mattyglesias said:

Twitter: It sucks that Democrats nominated this moderate old guy.

Moderate old guys: I voted for Trump last time but now I’m going to vote for Biden.

Quote

After the 2016 election, analysts spilled tubs of ink arguing that “Obama-Trump” voters helped swing the election. Analysis by John Sides for the Voter Study Group (which both of us have worked with) found that 9 percent of Barack Obama voters from 2012 switched to Donald Trump in 2016, for about 6 million voters overall. Disproportionately white, non-college-educated and concentrated in electorally vital states from Florida to the Great Lakes, these Democratic defectors shifted enough votes to help Trump win Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, which gave him an electoral college win despite losing the national popular vote.

Will party switching influence the 2020 presidential election? Our analysis suggests that, yes, a significant number of Trump’s 2016 voters are ready to vote for the presumptive Democratic Party nominee, Joe Biden.

John Halpin and Ruy Teixeira at WaPo

Quote

Left-leaning old guys to left-leaning young guys: You say you want a revolution? My goal is more modest. I just want a president who isn't a lunatic.

[cherdano]

Quote

Left-leaning old guys to left-leaning young guys: You say you want a revolution? My goal is more modest. I just want a president who isn't a lunatic.

Did they interview Ken Berg?

[kenberg]

Quote

Left-leaning old guys to left-leaning young guys: You say you want a revolution? My goal is more modest. I just want a president who isn't a lunatic.

Indeed this is a fine assessment of how I see things.

But oldie and youngie could probably agree that "I am not a lunatic", while relevant and accurate, is not an adequate campaign foundation for Biden.

I've been thinking about that. Biden is the presumptive nominee but not yet the actual nominee. It's not that unusual but with the pandemic drawing attention it is more of a problem than usual. Maybe he could do a couple of things.

1. Announce: "I am the presumptive nominee, I would like to get things moving along, and with that in mind I welcome a thorough discussion of discussion of the Tara Reade allegation. Similarly, I welcome a full discussion of my actions regarding Ukraine. There will be accusations during the campaign, my plan is to fully address accusations". Yes he has done much along these lines, but it needs to be complete and then more complete. Voters need to be confident that there wil be no late October surprise, or rather that any such surprise will immediately be seen as groundless.

2. He should announce his choice for vice-president. This also is a recurring problem. We spend a year in lengthy discussions about who should head the ticket and then the veep candidate is selected in some obscure manner. Who ever heard of, say, Dan Quayle or Geraldine Ferraro before they were put on the ticket? Ok, maybe you heard of them but little more than that. And Sarah Palin? Really? I don't know exactly how many veeps have become president through death of the pres but it happens often enough that, especially with a guy who is not all that much younger than I am, the choice deserves care. I would be very happy to have the candidate be a woman, I am not so happy that he has announced that gender is a deal-breaker, but having gone that far he should now make his choice. Many people are fine, make that enthusiastic, with having a woman on the ticket, but they then wish to know which woman. And just as "I am not a lunatic" isn't enough, neither is "It won't be Sarah Palin".

3. With 1 and 2 in place, there could be clear explicit agreement among the Dem leadership that Biden as nominee is a done deal. I do not know just how the National Convention will be affected by covid, but I imagine it will be, and certainly campaigning is now being affected. It would be very useful to say "Yes, it's Biden-? on the ticket" (with ? replaced by a name) ..

And then we will see. Campaigns are based on the assumption that at least some voters have not irrevocably made up their minds. If everyone has, we could save time and money by holding the election next week. But not everyone has. As I said in an earlier post, it's game time. Trump has been campaigning for four years.

[Winstonm]

kenberg, on 2020-May-20, 09:28, said:

[/size][/color]

Indeed this is a fine assessment of how I see things.

But oldie and youngie could probably agree that "I am not a lunatic", while relevant and accurate, is not an adequate campaign foundation for Biden.

I've been thinking about that. Biden is the presumptive nominee but not yet the actual nominee. It's not that unusual but with the pandemic drawing attention it is more of a problem than usual. Maybe he could do a couple of things.

1. Announce: "I am the presumptive nominee, I would like to get things moving along, and with that in mind I welcome a thorough discussion of discussion of the Tara Reade allegation. Similarly, I welcome a full discussion of my actions regarding Ukraine. There will be accusations during the campaign, my plan is to fully address accusations". Yes he has done much along these lines, but it needs to be complete and then more complete. Voters need to be confident that there wil be no late October surprise, or rather that any such surprise will immediately be seen as groundless.

2. He should announce his choice for vice-president. This also is a recurring problem. We spend a year in lengthy discussions about who should head the ticket and then the veep candidate is selected in some obscure manner. Who ever heard of, say, Dan Quayle or Geraldine Ferraro before they were put on the ticket? Ok, maybe you heard of them but little more than that. And Sarah Palin? Really? I don't know exactly how many veeps have become president through death of the pres but it happens often enough that, especially with a guy who is not all that much younger than I am, the choice deserves care. I would be very happy to have the candidate be a woman, I am not so happy that he has announced that gender is a deal-breaker, but having gone that far he should now make his choice. Many people are fine, make that enthusiastic, with having a woman on the ticket, but they then wish to know which woman. And just as "I am not a lunatic" isn't enough, neither is "It won't be Sarah Palin".

3. With 1 and 2 in place, there could be clear explicit agreement among the Dem leadership that Biden as nominee is a done deal. I do not know just how the National Convention will be affected by covid, but I imagine it will be, and certainly campaigning is now being affected. It would be very useful to say "Yes, it's Biden-? on the ticket" (with ? replaced by a name) ..

And then we will see. Campaigns are based on the assumption that at least some voters have not irrevocably made up their minds. If everyone has, we could save time and money by holding the election next week. But not everyone has. As I said in an earlier post, it's game time. Trump has been campaigning for four years.

These are not normal times.

The dirty tricksters of the Nixon era who used to work from the shadows now comprise much of the United States Senate, and they are using the powers of government to create a faux Biden scandal that will be helped along by a complicit media.

It is difficult to understand why retaining power is of utmost importance to them. If they win, what will they have won - a banana republic?

[johnu]

The term boondoggle seems inadequate for this Grifter in Chief scam.

I'm sure many may have seen news reports of machines that could clean thousands of N95 face masks so that the masks could be reused up to 20 times. Sounded like decent solution to the disgraceful shortage of N95 masks for health professional right???

https://www.msn.com/...mTWC?li=BBnbfcL

Quote

It sounded like a great deal: The White House coronavirus task force would buy a defense company's new cleaning machines to allow critical protective masks to be reused up to 20 times. And at $60 million for 60 machines on April 3, the price was right.

But over just a few days, the potential cost to taxpayers exploded to $413 million, according to notes of a coronavirus task force meeting obtained by NBC News. By May 1, the Pentagon pegged the ceiling at $600 million in a justification for awarding the deal without an open bidding process or an actual contract. Even worse, scientists and nurses say the recycled masks treated by these machines begin to degrade after two or three treatments, not 20, and the company says its own recent field testing has only confirmed the integrity of the masks for four cycles of use and decontamination.

Quote

"It's a fairy tale," said one nurse in Connecticut who works at a hospital where masks are run through the Battelle decontamination system. "It's being done because we don't have the policies in place to do what needs to be done, and people are going to be hurt because of it."

As Trump has pushed to find silver-bullet solutions to the pandemic during an election year, the speedy decision to activate the machines reflects yet again the problematic decision-making of the White House task force. As a series of NBC News articles have shown, its leaders have looked past financial costs, potential harm to the public and the risk of getting ghosted by bidders in order to give Trump a steady stream of deals to announce, often with major companies.

"They're always swinging for the fences hoping that one time they'll hit a grand slam" and not worrying if they strike out, said one administration official familiar with the work of the task force. "They're gambling that they'll win one time, and if they don't they'll just deflect, which is what we see inside all the time."

Instead of using the Defense Production Act to set up mass production lines for N95 masks which could have been started in January, the Incompetent in Chief did nothing until the shortage of masks was critical, and then desperately chose a not ready for prime time so called solution that was rife with grift.

[johnu]

Winstonm, on 2020-May-20, 13:55, said:

These are not normal times.

The dirty tricksters of the Nixon era who used to work from the shadows now comprise much of the United States Senate, and they are using the powers of government to create a faux Biden scandal that will be helped along by a complicit media.

It is difficult to understand why retaining power is of utmost importance to them. If they win, what will they have won - a banana republic?

With the failure to convict the Manchurian President during the impeachment trial, we are already well on the way to a banana republic. With well over 33 Republican puppets directly taking their marching orders from the Grifter in Chief and giving him veto proof and impeachment proof powers, you can make the case that we are already a banana republic. They are quite happy with what they got.

[Winstonm]

Some things you cannot make up.

The huge crime, as far the the GOP is concerned, was the unmasking of Michael Flynn. So frothy are they that the Senate is investigating this horrid crime:

Quote

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) announced this week that he wants to subpoena witnesses over the unmasking of Flynn, as part of a larger effort to unearth information about the FBI’s investigation of Trump campaign officials.

BUT....


As it turns out, Michael Flynn's name was never masked in the first place.

Quote

By Ellen Nakashima

May 20, 2020 at 2:28 p.m. CDT
A Republican effort to determine who may have leaked the name of Michael Flynn in connection to his 2016 contact with the Russian ambassador has centered on the question of which Obama administration officials requested his identity be “unmasked” in intelligence documents.

But in the FBI report about the communications between the two men, Flynn’s name was never redacted, former U.S. officials said.

The Flynn-Kislyak tapes were recorded by the FBI, not the NSA, so there was no deep state involvement to thwart the Trump presidency. Way to go, GOP, self-defeat is so much more satisfying than having to show you to be idiots.

[Winstonm]

While on the subject of Michael Flynn and Bill Barr's attempt to unofficially pardon him, let's take a close look at the primary excuse that all the bots, Fox say-so's, and W/C trolls will regurgitate as Flynn's get-out-of-jail free card:

First the excuse:

Quote

In their motion to dismiss the Flynn prosecution, DOJ used this quotation of Flynn to claim that because FBI already knew what he said with Kislyak, they had no need to interview Flynn.

In any event, there was no question at the FBI as to the content of the calls; the FBI had in its possession word-for-word transcripts of the actual communications between Mr. Flynn and Mr. Kislyak. See Ex. 5 at 3; Ex. 13. at 3. With no dispute as to what was in fact said, there was no factual basis for the predication of a new counterintelligence investigation. Nor was there a justification or need to interview Mr. Flynn as to his own personal recollections of what had been said.

The beat down:

Quote

Except DOJ and all of Flynn’s frothers are missing (or suppressing) something so obvious I pointed it out when Flynn’s 302 was first released in heavily redacted form 18 months ago.

Flynn wasn’t lying to hide what he said to Kislyak.

He was lying to hide that he had coordinated with people at Mar-a-Lago before speaking with Kislyak.

my emphasis

Game. Set. Prison sentence.

And what was Flynn trying to hide by not disclosing that he had talked to K.T. McFarland and others at Mar-a-lago before calling Kislyak? How about collusion?

Quote

As the Court has already found, his false statements to the FBI were material, regardless of the FBI’s knowledge of the substance of any of his conversations with the Russian Ambassador. See Mem. Opinion at 51-52. The topic of sanctions went to the heart of the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation. Any effort to undermine those sanctions could have been evidence of links or coordination between the Trump Campaign and Russia.

my emphasis