Wideleft

Which is the exact reason why we should vaccinate when given the chance. General rule of thumb that I've been reading is that for every reported case, an additional 2 people have been infected. The multiplier is crazy if isolation is not taken seriously.

I've never seen them both in the same room. Just saying.

Then why did we just wait 29 years!

Latvia, Lithuania & Estonia have a combined 29 cases (no deaths) and are banned. Romania alone has 45 cases (no deaths). Ireland has 43 with 1 death. Both are good to go. We need to see Trump's taxes, so we can understand where his businesses are and how that's effecting his decisions. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/01/22/mapping-spread-new-coronavirus/?arc404=true

That's pathetic. Back to ignore.

Trolling isn't fostering discussion and you know it. Contrarianism isn't another point of view. Misinformation isn't valuable to any discussion. So I ask again, why are you an admitted troll?

You have admitted to being a troll. The question is why do you do it?

I'm actually going to agree with you here. There are hundreds of reasons to hate Trump.

Fact check: A list of 28 ways Trump and his team have been dishonest about the coronavirus By Daniel Dale and Tara Subramaniam, CNN Updated 2:38 PM ET, Wed March 11, 2020 Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump has been comprehensively misinforming the public about the coronavirus. Trump has littered his public remarks on the life-and-death subject with false, misleading and dubious claims. And he has been joined, on occasion, by senior members of his administration. We've counted 28 different ways the President and his team have been inaccurate. Here is a chronological list, which may be updated as additional misinformation comes to our attention. (more) https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/11/politics/fact-check-trump-administration-coronavirus-28-dishonest/index.html

With 16 Months to go, Negative Partisanship Predicts the 2020 Presidential Election by Rachel Bitecofer In July of 2018, my innovative forecasting model raised eyebrows by predicting some four months before the midterm election that Democrats would pick up 42 seats in the House of Representatives. In hindsight, that may not seem such a bold prediction, but when my forecast was released, election Twitter was still having a robust debate as to whether the Blue Wave would be large enough for Democrats to pick up the 23 seats they needed to take control of the House of Representatives and return the Speaker’s gavel to Nancy Pelosi. Based on its 2018 performance, my model, and the theory that structures it, seem well poised to tackle the 2020 presidential election – 16 months out. I’ll serve up that result below, but first let’s set the table by reviewing my model’s 2018 forecasting success. Not only did I predict that they would gain nearly double the seats they needed, but I also identified a specific list of Republican seats Democrats would flip, including some, such as Virginia CD7, that were listed as “Lean Republican” by the majority of race raters at the time. At a time when other analysts coded even the most competitive House races for Democrats as Lean or Tilt Democrat, I identified 13 Republican-held districts as “Will Flips,” 12 as “Likely to Flip,” and 6 as “Lean Democrat.” I also identified a large list of “Toss Ups,” from which I would later identify the remaining “flippers.” In addition, I identified some “long-shot toss-up” districts that could be viable flips under some turnout scenarios. Of the original 25 districts I identified as definitely or highly likely to flip, all but one, Colorado CD3, did so, possibly because the party failed to invest in their nominee there. (more) https://cnu.edu/wasoncenter/2019/07/01-2020-election-forecast/

I've been reading about negative partisanship lately which basically reasons that people tend to vote against people rather than for people. Studies began in earnest in the 80's in countries with multiple political parties so these parties could leverage hate/disagreement in order to win. I totally plead guilty as a voter to this as I am ABC provincially and federally. The U.S. Republican party was really first to the gate to use this in a two-party system, which explains why Republican voters always seem so angry. If dislike or hate is actually THE motivating factor in the upcoming election, I think Biden is going to do just fine.

Just because a source is anonymous does not mean what is being reported is untrue. Preference is always to have sources identified, but there are valid reasons some are kept anonymous. Same rules of sourcing still apply - at least 2 other people/sources to corroborate the information. Vanity Fair does good reporting - especially long form journalism.

“HE’S DEFINITELY MELTING DOWN OVER THIS”: TRUMP, GERMAPHOBE IN CHIEF, STRUGGLES TO CONTROL THE COVID-19 STORY Publicly, he sees it as yet another (“Fake News”) media war; privately, he worries about virus-carrying journalists on Air Force One. But cancel his rallies? “I’m not going to do it,” he says. BY GABRIEL SHERMAN MARCH 9, 2020 Ever since the coronavirus exploded outside of China at the end of January, Donald Trump has treated the public health crisis as a media war that he could win with the right messaging. But with cases now documented in 34 states and markets plunging, Republicans close to Trump fear his rosy assessments are fundamentally detached from reality in ways that will make the epidemic worse. “He is trying to control the narrative and he can’t,” a former West Wing official told me. The problem is that the crisis fits into his preexisting and deeply held worldview—that the media is always searching for a story to bring him down. Covid-19 is merely the latest instance, and he’s reacting in familiar ways. “So much FAKE NEWS!” Trump tweeted this morning. “He wants Justice to open investigations of the media for market manipulation,” a source close to the White House told me. Trump is also frustrated with his West Wing for not getting a handle on the news cycle. “He’s very frustrated he doesn’t have a good team around him,” a former White House official said. On Friday he forced out acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and replaced him with former House Freedom Caucus chair Mark Meadows. Trump thought the virus was “getting beyond Mick,” a person briefed on the internal discussions said. Trump has also complained that economic adviser Larry Kudlow is not doing enough to calm jittery markets. Last week Kudlow refused Trump’s request that Kudlow hold an on-camera press briefing, sources said. “Larry didn’t want to have to take questions about coronavirus,” a person close to Kudlow told me. “Larry’s not a doctor. How can he answer questions about something he doesn’t know?” Trump found a willing surrogate in Kellyanne Conway, but Conway’s dubious claim on Friday that the virus “is being contained” only made the P.R. situation worse. Trump’s efforts to take control of the story himself have so far failed. A source said Trump was pleased with ratings for the Fox News town hall last Thursday, but he was furious with how he looked on television. “Trump said afterwards that the lighting was bad,” a source briefed on the conversation said. “He said, ‘We need Bill Shine back in here. Bill would never allow this.’” Trump’s press conference on Friday at the CDC was a Trumpian classic, heavy on braggadocio and almost entirely lacking a sense of the seriousness of the crisis. “I like this stuff. I really get it,” Trump told reporters, his face partly hidden under a red “Keep America Great” hat. “People are surprised that I understand it. Every one of these doctors say, ‘How do you know so much about this?’ Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should’ve done that instead of running for president.” At another point Trump compared the situation to the Ukraine shakedown. “The [coronavirus] tests are all perfect. Like the letter was perfect. The transcription was perfect,” he said. By now many of the president’s advisers are numb to this kind of performance. “There’s very little that fazes anyone now,” a former official said. But one person who spoke to the president over the weekend saw the press conference as an ominous sign. “He’s just now waking up to the fact that this is bad, and he doesn’t know how to respond.” As Trump pushes a nothing-to-see-here message in public, sources said he’s privately terrified about getting the virus. “Donald is a famous germaphobe. He hates it if someone is eating nachos and dips a chip back in after taking a bite.He calls them ‘double dippers,’” a prominent Republican said. Former Trump aide Sam Nunberg recalled Trump’s response to the last major outbreak in 2014. “When I worked for Trump, he was obsessed with Ebola,” Nunberg told me. (One Mar-a-Lago guest disputed this and said Trump was handshaking with gusto this past weekend. “He was acting like the opposite of a germaphobe,” the source said.) Stories about Trump’s coronavirus fears have spread through the White House. Last week Trump told aides he’s afraid journalists will try to purposefully contract coronavirus to give it to him on Air Force One, a person close to the administration told me. The source also said Trump has asked the Secret Service to set up a screening program and bar anyone who has a cough from the White House grounds. “He’s definitely melting down over this,” the source said. But thus far Trump’s private concerns haven’t affected his public response. Pressure from the public health community is mounting on Trump to cancel his mass rallies, but Trump is pushing back. “He is going to resist until the very last minute,” a former West Wing official said. “He may take suggestions to stop shaking hands, but in terms of shutting stuff down, his position is: ‘No, I’m not going to do it.’” The White House did not respond to a request for comment. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/03/trump-germaphobe-in-chief-struggles-to-control-the-covid-19-story

Get outta here!

And the field should be artificial snow instead of artificial turf.

British Writer Pens The Best Description Of Trump I’ve Read MARCH 8, 2019 ~ MICHAEL STEVENSON "Someone on Quora asked “Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?” Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote the following response: A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief. Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty. Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness. There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, **** Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege. And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down. So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that: • Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are. • You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man. This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of ****. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump. And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created? If being a **** was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set." https://thehobbledehoy.com/2019/03/08/british-writer-pens-the-best-description-of-trump-ive-read/?fbclid=IwAR3T9wIeTbT-LM8pYW7lMFvke6Mg40PJie2fNJBJx3YpCbWwxIiD-7DzXsY

Oil hits session lows as OPEC+ fails to reach deal on massive production cut https://t.co/eAnXhYSvcJ pic.twitter.com/wCoScIvzmC — CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) March 6, 2020

I'm just going to periodically drop this in threads from time to time to remind everyone.

Queue ominous music... "Sites removed from the parks system would have their legal park designations removed, and could be “open for alternate management approaches.”" Alberta will fully or partially close 20 provincial parks, reduce service in many others With the 2020 budget, the Alberta government announced that twenty parks are slated for either full or partial closures. According to Alberta Parks, this will mean full park closures, where the entire site will be closed to public access. Others will have partial closures, where either their campgrounds or specific facilities are closed to public access, with the remaining park areas open but non-serviced. The parks that will be fully closed include Kehiwin, Running Lake, Stoney Lake, Sulphur Lake, Little Fish Lake, Crow Lake, Bleriot Ferry, Greene Valley, Twin Lakes and Sheep Creek. Beginning fall 2020, there will be no groomed cross-country track setting in the three main areas traditionally groomed by government staff in the Kananaskis Region. The impacted areas include Peter Lougheed, Mt. Shark and Kananaskis Village area. https://www.kamloopsbcnow.com/news/news/National_News/Alberta_will_fully_or_partially_close_20_provincial_parks_reduce_service_in_many_others/

When racist policies just aren't enough - vote for an actual racist!

I'm pissed at the establishment too, but I'm terrified about what 4 more years of Trump can do to the world (not just the U.S.). What Sanders and Warren are proposing aren't actually radical, but real change takes time. The reality is there are a lot of people in swing states who hate Trump the person who will still vote for him cuz "soshulizm". Ten years ago, a Democrat could not call himself a "liberal" and single-payer healthcare was a pipedream. Look how far we've come. The democratic primary process isn't really that different than trying to figure out how to best use your non-Conservative vote in Canada. That's why we get Trudeaus and Chretiens instead of Laytons and Mays.

Not to mention the Dow Jones rose 600 points this morning largely due to last night's results. It all sucks, but Trump has proven it can be much, much worse (speaking as a progressive who always has to vote Liberal federally).

Do you have any data to back that up, because I'm not convinced it's true. Being a white man is an automatic +10 in America (and many parts of Canada). The Democrats absolutely need the black and suburban white women votes and Biden (for whatever reason) brings those. He's far from my first choice, but I'm pulling for him if he's the nominee.

Anyone watching Fox is already baked in as a Trump supporter so it won't accomplish much. Trump has no room to talk on being incomprehensible.

I'm betting on wilfully ignorant. This level of ignorance requires supreme effort and probably years of practise.