Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Whitley]

Michigan Tech too I've heard. The infection rates in the western UP are pretty bad, although some of that is spilling over from Wisconsin.

Yep. They closed the SOS in Marquette.

[Dr. Strangelove]

It would seem that Trump's interview with Lesley Stahl did NOT go well

[Whitley]

On the stay in place order at UM: First, reduce positives so as not to "strain testing and tracing capability." I read that to mean they don't have enough contact tracers, the infrastructure to do it correctly and/or insufficient testing kits in Washtenaw Co.. WTF. You've know about the need to rigorously test and trace this since, when, April, May?

That may be a bit harsh but still. It's true that there are big problems testing and tracing nationally. I've advocated know for about a month to stop the hand wringing, nationalize US based production capacity and order the production and distribution of test kits just like every other nation has done. Organize a Peace Corps like operation to recruit data managers and tracers and pay them well. I'll give the county a pass but not getting their shit together at the state level, joining other states in pressing for federal action to get the stuff they need then whining about rising case numbers and restricting social mobility is pretty shameful shit.

Second, as I read the thing, it won't affect M practicing this week and traveling to Minnesota. Good thing.

I think Michigan has about 25% of the contact tracers needed last I looked (of course this is based the current number of daily case infections I think). The state did have a contract with a group back in like April I think. However, IIRC, the company had democratic ties of some sort and the MI legislature pitched a fit about it and the state terminated the contract.

BTW, the some of the state level MI GOP are proposing to allow counties that meet certain metrics to opt out of covid 19 rules.

[Hannibal]

[Dr. Strangelove]

Heading into October the Trump campaign had a pitiful $63M cash on hand. This campaign was boasting of a $1B+ war chest at one point. Where did it all go?

Well, at least $40M of it went to companies owned by former campaign manager Brad Parscale, who has since completely resigned from Trumpworld after being arrested by police for beating his wife.

Almost another $275M went to an LLC called "American Made Media Consultants". The owners are not legally required to be disclosed.

As one consultant put it, you could give 10 monkeys flamethrowers and they wouldn't burn through $1 billion so fast

https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-virus-outbreak-joe-biden-donald-trump-impeachments-8ac355b6ebd62b19d8a44fedcbf5b128

[Dr. Strangelove]

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[Mike]

They ended up taking it straight up the ol’ exhaust port!

[Ghengis Jon]

For the first time since 1966, "Its The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" will not air on television.


This has to be the machinations of the insidious Donald J Trump.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Turnout numbers in some major states as of this morning compared with 2016

Nationwide now at 28.8% of the 2016 vote...

Texas: 59.2% (!)
Georgia: 45.9%
NC: 45.2%
Virginia: 39.1%
Florida: 38.4%
Iowa: 36.1%
Michigan: 34.3%
Arizona: 33.8%
Wisconsin: 30.8%

[Jeff Buchanan]

In S. FL, the number of early votes shatters all previous records ...... by a shit ton. D's outnumber R's 2-1. Although my mail has been spotty, I still don't have my mail-in ballot. Just checked and my polling place has < 15 minute wait. I'll probably vote in person tomorrow - if it stops raining. So much for the Sunshine State. Its rained a lot, every day, since we got here on Monday.

Sun Sentinel poll of the Jewish community in FL to be released tomorrow ....... Biden with a commanding lead over Trump among Jewish voters in Florida, 73% to 22% — a difference of 51 percentage points.

[Dr. Strangelove]

LOL...oh my god

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/oct/21/rudy-giuliani-faces-questions-after-compromising-scene-in-new-borat-film

[Jeff Buchanan]

Not much new news on the COVID front today. Media rant on the dire consequences of increased case numbers continues. GMA was on fire with it this morning. They have a John's Hopkins dude who is pretty reasonable. He does go off on case numbers but I can tell he's weary of it. Keeps saying, echoing Fauci comments, that "we need to be very careful." WTF does that mean.

Surprisingly, local FL news is muted. Desantis stated yesterday schools should not be closed due to a few COVID infections. He said, sure, test, track and isolate positives but don't send students home who have had only minimal passing contact in a hallway. Apparently that is happening.

He's right but his stand on re-openings continues to get hammered by the dire consequences crowd. This morning's opinion piece in the Sun Sentinel argued that the Virus that needs to be stamped out is Governor Desantis undying loyalty to Donald Trump and their joint dismissal of COVID.

TBF, numbers are up in FL but 7d average % positivty continues to not impress - overall it's around 6% up from below 5%. ED visits for ILI and CLI are up on a daily basis but not by much. On a weekly basis they are stable through 10/18. Hospital admissions are stable.The GMA lead-off report on the virus this morning was done live in Miami where the reporter stated COVID cases "have more than doubled." No context. They went up from 1700 new cases on Monday to 3500 on Tuesday. Oops, they forgot to mention testing also doubled with 35K tests on Monday and 70K tests on Tuesday. Positivity, as I said, around 6% overall in the state. In Broward Co., where I reside, positivity is 4.39%.

You get the point.

The disparity between data that we have available to us and the conclusions or implications being drawn from it by various sources is striking. I attribute a whole lot of this to the left's wish to hammer home Trump's failure to properly respond to the virus. All of Biden's TV adds here in S. FL are stressing this. I get it though we shouldn't react to that in a dismissive way with respect to the risk of SARS-CoV-2. Just continue to be aware of the potential distortion of the true COVID picture, enjoy your work and play routines - the ones that aren't restricted - while at the same time taking steps to do our own part in limiting spread.

I think we are all in agreement that the hand-wringing will stop, if/when Biden wins the election. I'm looking forward to it. I'm also confident that Biden will emphasize the importance of testing. Will he do anything to get that moving? I have no idea. Fauci was recently quoted as saying things along the line of the importance of testing. This isn't particularly new but he seemed to emphasize this in his latest interview. He's probably anticipating a Biden win and an end to the demeaning of him and the CDC, perhaps a restoration of their authority clearly undercut by Trump. I can get on board with that. I'm learning that the CDC actually has quite a bit of authority to make shit happen when it comes to the spread of disease. Testing availability and strategies along with distribution strategies for testing kits is in their purview. Keep an eye out for that in January ...... even if it's late. Fauci has gone on record as saying testing in combo with the introduction of a vaccine can will allow us to put the virus behind us by mid-summer, 2021. Just in time for all camp and a full CFB season.

[lineygoblue]

And the Governor's temper tantrum continues .... here it comes ....

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/10/21/whitmer-speak-michigans-response-rising-case-count/6004800002/

[CGVT]

So asking people to wear masks and social distance is a temper tantrum.

Got it

[THE_WIZARD_]

And the Governor's temper tantrum continues .... here it comes ....

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/ne...nt/6004800002/

Someone needs to kidnap that bitch.