Corona Virus: It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint

[Skinypupy]

Acting Sec of Navy is gonzo

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly has submitted his resignation a day after leaked audio revealed he called the ousted commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt "stupid" in an address to the ship's crew, according to a US official and a former senior military official.

The Navy and Department of Defense did not respond to a request for comment.

[LawBeefaroni]

Acting Sec of Navy is gonzo

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly has submitted his resignation a day after leaked audio revealed he called the ousted commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt "stupid" in an address to the ship's crew, according to a US official and a former senior military official.

The Navy and Department of Defense did not respond to a request for comment.

Well deserved. However, he didn't call the Captain stupid, he said he was either naive or stupid OR he wanted the memo leaked. He then went on to imply he wanted the memo leaked and that was why he was relieved of command. It was a rhetorical OR, not a boolean OR.

[YellowKing]

Every time I see another scandal in the Trump White House, this is all I can think of:

[malchior]

You have to think that Trump's evil strategists were like...guys...we are somehow are losing the *military* here. Could we dial back the evil a 'notch'. Just a notch? We have $2T of 'spending' to do. A little embarrassment is ok. Eye on the prize people.

[YellowKing]

It's typical Trump misdirection. It's so predictable at this point I don't even bother getting outraged by it.

[Jag]

You have to think that Trump's evil strategists were like...guys...we are somehow are losing the *military* here. Could we dial back the evil a 'notch'. Just a notch? We have $2T of 'spending' to do. A little embarrassment is ok. Eye on the prize people.

It didn't matter when he insulted military families during the election and it won't matter now. He has his cult of 40-60M+ fully in thrall who will support him no matter what he does.

[Holman]

There is a corner of my mind that is actually entertaining the idea that the President actually wants the virus to continue as long as possible to keep himself in power.

He sees everything in terms of personal gain. His choice up to now has been between mitigating the crisis (to earn genuine support) or exploiting the crisis (for electoral advantage).

The window on the former has just about closed. Get ready for the latter.

[RunningMn9]

I don’t have the Atlantic article handy, but I found it to be useful.

This one?

Why Does the President Keep Pushing a Malaria Drug?

Yes sir. Thanks.

[El Guapo]

[Blackhawk]

There is a corner of my mind that is actually entertaining the idea that the President actually wants the virus to continue as long as possible to keep himself in power.

He sees everything in terms of personal gain. His choice up to now has been between mitigating the crisis (to earn genuine support) or exploiting the crisis (for electoral advantage).

The window on the former has just about closed. Get ready for the latter.

Oh, I already assumed that he's exploiting it, and he'd be exploiting it regardless of the efforts he made to fight it. My 'dark corner' thought is more that he's deliberately interfering with efforts to solve the problem in order to give himself more to exploit. IE, he's cheering it on.

[malchior]

I think it's a side effect. He is as incompetent as he is evil and greedy. If it gets bad or good, his brood figure out a way to get paid. It is how autocrats work. Autocracy and grifting are part and parcel of the same activities. It is the whole point of the exercise. So he'll do whatever he feels like and exploit it no matter what. Once you realize he doesn't care about anything but himself and is just seizing easy opportunities his behavior makes sense.

[Enough]

So Trump has announced a hold on all funds going to the WHO, ffs I just can't even...

Added to Trump pulling US out of, among others:
- Paris Accord
- United Nations Arms Treaty
- UNESCO
- Iran Nuclear Deal
- Optional Protocol
- Universal Postal Union
- Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty

And of course the constant attacks on NATO, etc. This guy is Putin's wet dream and we are so boned.

[Defiant]

Staggering Surge Of NYers Dying In Their Homes Suggests City Is Undercounting Coronavirus Fatalities

If you die at home from the coronavirus, there’s a good chance you won’t be included in the official death toll, because of a discrepancy in New York City’s reporting process.

But another 200 city residents are now dying at home each day, compared to 20 to 25 such deaths before the pandemic, said Aja Worthy-Davis, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office. And an untold number of them are unconfirmed.

That’s because the ME’s office is not testing dead bodies for COVID-19. Instead, they’re referring suspected cases to the city’s health department as “probable.”

“If someone dies at home, and we go to the home and there [are] signs of influenza, our medical examiner may determine the cause of death was clearly an influenza-like illness, potentially COVID or an influenza-like illness believed to be COVID,” said Worthy-Davis. “We report all our deaths citywide to the health department, who releases that data to the public.”

[Kraken]

Wife understands that if I contract it hard (I'm the one going out into the world), I want to die at home. Save the ventilator for someone who wants it more than I do.

[malchior]

Staggering Surge Of NYers Dying In Their Homes Suggests City Is Undercounting Coronavirus Fatalities

If you die at home from the coronavirus, there’s a good chance you won’t be included in the official death toll, because of a discrepancy in New York City’s reporting process.

But another 200 city residents are now dying at home each day, compared to 20 to 25 such deaths before the pandemic, said Aja Worthy-Davis, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office. And an untold number of them are unconfirmed.

That’s because the ME’s office is not testing dead bodies for COVID-19. Instead, they’re referring suspected cases to the city’s health department as “probable.”

“If someone dies at home, and we go to the home and there [are] signs of influenza, our medical examiner may determine the cause of death was clearly an influenza-like illness, potentially COVID or an influenza-like illness believed to be COVID,” said Worthy-Davis. “We report all our deaths citywide to the health department, who releases that data to the public.”

This has been a worldwide issue. There is widespread suspicion of under counting in France, Italy, Spain, etc. Unfortunately this will be a statisticians job someday in the future but The Economist has a story already about a focused investigation into this issue in Italy.

The spread of covid-19 is most often measured by two numbers: how many people are infected, and how many have died. The first is very uncertain. Some carriers show no symptoms, and most countries do not test people who seem healthy. Because data on infections are unreliable, researchers have focused on deaths. Yet new statistics suggest that current fatality numbers may also understate the damage.

Official death tolls for covid-19 may exclude people who died before they could be tested. They also ignore people who succumbed to other causes, perhaps because hospitals had no room to treat them. The latter group has been large in other disasters. For example, when Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in 2017, America recorded only 64 deaths. A study later found that the surge in total deaths was close to 3,000. Many occurred in hospitals that lost power.

...

However, journalists and scholars have crunched their own numbers. L’Eco di Bergamo, a newspaper, has obtained data from 82 localities in Italy’s Bergamo province. In March these places had 2,420 more deaths than in March 2019. Just 1,140, less than half of the increase, were attributed to covid-19. “The data is the tip of the iceberg,” Giorgio Gori, the mayor of Bergamo’s capital, told L’Eco. “Too many victims are not included in the reports because they die at home.”

Comparable figures can be found across Europe. In Spain El País, a newspaper, has published the results of a study by the government’s health research centre, showing that “excess” deaths in the Castile-La Mancha region were double the number attributed to covid-19. Jean-Marc Manach, a French reporter, has found a similar disparity in the department of Haut-Rhin.

[malchior]

I think it's a side effect. He is as incompetent as he is evil and greedy. If it gets bad or good, his brood figure out a way to get paid. It is how autocrats work. Autocracy and grifting are part and parcel of the same activities. It is the whole point of the exercise. So he'll do whatever he feels like and exploit it no matter what. Once you realize he doesn't care about anything but himself and is just seizing easy opportunities his behavior makes sense.

This is right on the money courtesy of Rick Wilson

(Editorial grouping into paragraphs is my own based on a this unroll of the Tweet thread)

Watching all this slow, grinding failure and the mounting death toll because of this low, dumb, corrupt man and his low, dumb, corrupt enablers and his low, dumb, corrupt failspawn doesn't shock me, and I'm sorry for that. Part of his chaotic method is to exhaust people with rage and despair and fury. He wants them to just give up and accept his shit. The message is, "I have no shame, no bottom, no limits. Fuck you."

I *wish* we were still shocked by how bad he is as a President and as a man. It's a stain on this country. I *wish* we weren't surrounded by the credulous and the cretinous and the corrupt who make up the worst of his spider-hole dead-ender Trumphadi cultists who will emulate and adore his mendacity and his ghoulish populism.

In this long road, I've come to a realization about the Trump cult. Some of them are just evil, opportunist shitbirds in DC and New York who hate the Trump base in ways they ascribe to people like me, but do it behind closed doors. The Trump Media Human Centipede are almost all in this category. It's a ratings play not some principled ideology. Yes, MAGAe, the people at Fox mock you. They know they're feeding you lukewarm shit, laugh as they do it, and profit in the billions. Trust me, you're never getting a beer with them.

Some are political cowards, FOMT victims Vichy Republicans, ass-wipe wannabe players, and hustlers. And yes, MAGAe, the vast majority of them hate you. They fear you, but they hate you. A lot. Elected Rs who should be appalled by Trump's failures either pretend of embrace him, or are too cowardly to oppose him.

The "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills" sensation is rational. Everything he does is an improv. There's no strategy. It's all impulse and instinct, and his impulses and instincts are either evil, stupid, or some alchemical slurry of the two. Like a science fiction monster...he thrives on this chaos and fear and loss. He's fine with the despair as long as the spotlight is on him.

This moment will end. COVID-19 will, eventually recede. Everyone one of you who stayed home, did the social distancing drill, sat through 100 Zoom meetings took on homeschooling, lived right, wondered how you'd pay the rent or the mortgage, wore a mask, feared for your parents, wondered if you'd have a job in a month...none of it matters to him.

It's never about you, or us. It's always about him. It's not about the docs, nurses, respiratory therapists, drivers, janitors, health officials, or anyone else on the front line. It's about *him.* His *ratings.* His *ego.* That's why you have to get and stay angry. There's a fight coming this fall, and it's not over. Don't think for a moment that Trump and his media minions are going to have a moment of reflection or responsibility.

The narrative already emerging is "The God King Hero Saved Us from the Chinese Soros Liberal Media Plague." Don't think this leads to victory in Nov on its own. I wish it did, but we are sinners in the hands of an angry God. This thread is to remind you that when you're furious at the death toll and his deception, denial, and distraction in the months he *knew* this was coming, that's what you're *supposed* to feel.

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

So endeth the lesson.

Well, one more point. This shitty, terrible, costly exercise should also remind you of something truly profound. We are a better country than this President. We are better people than this President. We are more compassionate, more giving, more engaged and more enterprising, more devoted to the country than he will ever be. You'll never have a more stark and wonderful dichotomy between the so-called leader who didn't lead, and the millions of Americans who did.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[Skinypupy]

If you haven't read Rick Wilson's book "Everything Trump Touches Dies", I would highly recommend it. It's a fascinating (and hilarious) look at the administration through that same sort of lens.

[Defiant]

Researchers at Stanford Medicine are working to find out what proportion of Californians have already had COVID-19. The new study could help policymakers make more informed decisions during the coronavirus pandemic.

The team tested 3,200 people at three Bay Area locations on Saturday using an antibody test for COVID-19 and expect to release results in the coming weeks. The data could help to prove COVID-19 arrived undetected in California much earlier than previously thought.

The hypothesis that COVID-19 first started spreading in California in the fall of 2019 is one explanation for the state's lower than expected case numbers.

https://www.ksbw.com/article/new-study- ... 9/32073873

[Octavious]

My daughter and wife were a mess all winter and the school had tons of people out. I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out that they had already gotten sick and had no idea it was this.

[stessier]

My daughter and wife were a mess all winter and the school had tons of people out. I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out that they had already gotten sick and had no idea it was this.

That would be the dream as it would mean there are more people now immune to it than we know. But I don't think it is the case. We had something go around too but it didn't have the symptoms that COVID has.

[NickAragua]

Yeah, I was coughing up my lungs for about a month non-stop back in december-january. My wife's still coughing from the same thing.

No way to tell whether it was covid or not, though, without a test.

[hitbyambulance]

Yeah, I was coughing up my lungs for about a month non-stop back in december-january. My wife's still coughing from the same thing.

No way to tell whether it was covid or not, though, without a test.

yup, i know a few people with that lingering cough (pacific northwest). it's been going on for months for them.

[Octavious]

Yup I've known my wife for a long time and never saw her get sick like she did this year. She was coughing like crazy for months

[Blackhawk]

I've wondered if the early reports of 'bad flu season' could just be COVID-19 before it was recognized as such.

[Kraken]

Wife was coughing from December until a couple of weeks ago, but respiratory crud is an annual rite for her. I'd love to think that we've both been exposed and gotten past it...not counting on it, though.

[Holman]

I can't help noticing how beautiful the sky looks these days. Apparently pollution levels are significantly down.

I wonder if our experience with this pandemic might make more palatable the idea of rolling "stay-home" periods where polluting travel is discouraged and polluting industries take a holiday. This could be a part of fighting climate change.

[gilraen]

I had a pretty bad case of flu at the end of January, and spent the next month coughing my lungs out. But I do know (fortunately? unfortunately?) that it was flu. I didn't get tested myself, but my husband caught it from me and got sick enough to go to urgent care, so he got a test. I find it pretty unlikely that I had something other than what I gave him...

[gilraen]

I can't help noticing how beautiful the sky looks these days. Apparently pollution levels are significantly down.

A coworker took an birds-eye view picture of Denver today with a drone:

[Pyperkub]

Trump should have known in January? Oops, that's old data...

U.S. intelligence officials warned of an uncontrolled illness in the region of Wuhan, China, in late November, ABC News reported on Wednesday.

The National Center for Medical Intelligence submitted a report based on satellite images and wire and computer intercepts showing a threat to the region’s population from the as-yet unidentified contagion, since dubbed the “novel coronavirus” by the World Health Organization. The report apparently raised concerns about the health threat to U.S. military forces in Asia.

“Analysts concluded it could be a cataclysmic event,” a person familiar with the report told ABC. “It was then briefed multiple times to” the Defense Intelligence Agency, the White House and the Pentagon’s Joint Staff.

[noxiousdog]

My daughter and wife were a mess all winter and the school had tons of people out. I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out that they had already gotten sick and had no idea it was this.

That would be the dream as it would mean there are more people now immune to it than we know. But I don't think it is the case. We had something go around too but it didn't have the symptoms that COVID has.

We had 3 folks in the house with weird symptoms.
1) 1 was a dry cough for 2 weeks.
2) 1 was very flu like symptoms, but diagnosed as not flu.
3) 1 was stuffy and headache for several days with a complete inability to taste or smell.

I 90% dismiss it all, except for the smell/taste thing. My girlfriend has the cilantro is the worst soap ever mutation. She can detect, and hate, cilantro at even minimal quantities in any dish. While she was sick, she could eat it raw and fresh right off the plant I have. We did the experiment twice. When she felt better, it was back to normal and she could smell and hate the plant from a 2 foot distance.

I would love to have a test to see if it came through our house.

[RunningMn9]

My daughter and wife were a mess all winter and the school had tons of people out. I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out that they had already gotten sick and had no idea it was this.

NJ had a bad flu season as well. My daughter got it (tested positive for Flu A). Unless she had the terrible misfortune to simultaneously have the Flu and COVID-19, in which case she might be immortal.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

I also got pretty sick in January after attending a conference. I had a cough that lasted almost two months and at one point a lymph node in my neck swelled up to the size of a golf ball. But I never had any headaches or trouble breathing, so I’m 99% sure it wasn’t Covid-19, unfortunately for me and fortunately for everyone I interacted with.

[Jag]

Yeah, I was coughing up my lungs for about a month non-stop back in december-january. My wife's still coughing from the same thing.

No way to tell whether it was covid or not, though, without a test.

I know a bunch of people in FL who had "the cough" back before this thing officially hit. Including my 83 year old mom who had heart surgery last year. Just not sure what to think. They all said it was a really weird type of thing.

[Defiant]

I can't help noticing how beautiful the sky looks these days. Apparently pollution levels are significantly down.

I wonder if our experience with this pandemic might make more palatable the idea of rolling "stay-home" periods where polluting travel is discouraged and polluting industries take a holiday. This could be a part of fighting climate change.

I've definitely been thinking of it as a trial run towards the problems we'll face in the coming century. Most notably climate change, but if TV sci-fi has taught me anything, alien invasions as well (There's that stargate episode where they needed to divert all of the worlds electricity to power some weapon)

And I feel certain that, for the period after we exit social distancing, we'll have an infection forecast along the lines of weather and allergy forecasts, which we would need to keep an eye out for localized social distancing if outbreaks occur, until it's finally in the past.

[El Guapo]

[LawBeefaroni]

Acting Sec of Navy is gonzo

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly has submitted his resignation a day after leaked audio revealed he called the ousted commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt "stupid" in an address to the ship's crew, according to a US official and a former senior military official.

The Navy and Department of Defense did not respond to a request for comment.

Looks like his trip to deliver the fateful message to the TR crew cost just a bit under $250K.

Modly flew aboard the C-37B, a Gulfstream business jet modified for military use. The per-hour cost of flying it is $6,946.19 per hour, according to the Navy official who was not authorized to speak publicly. Flight time for the Guam trip was about 35 hours for a cost of $243,116.65.

When nearly everyone else in the world is telecommuting, he takes a $7K/hr private jet halfway around the globe to deliver a message that cost him his job. He also exposed himself to COVID-19 and had to self quarantine.

[malchior]

If he doesn't get sick...well at least we learned that he was too stupid for one of the dumbest administrations in history. Vaya con dios moron.

[malchior]

A spot of terrible news. They've started burying people in mass graves on Hart Island in NY. #TrumpBurialPits is trending on Twitter right now. The almost predictable cuck back from the MAGATs is that they are unnecessary and the libs are doing this to hurt Trump.

[LawBeefaroni]

A spot of terrible news. They've started burying people in mass graves on Hart Island in NY. #TrumpBurialPits is trending on Twitter right now. The almost predictable cuck back from the MAGATs is that they are unnecessary and the libs are doing this to hurt Trump.

FWIW, it's an existing mass burial site for unclaimed deceased.

The drone footage comes from Hart Island, off the Bronx in Long Island Sound, which has been used for more than 150 years by city officials as a mass burial site for those with no next-of-kin, or families who cannot afford funerals.

It is probable that many of the coffins are for coronavirus victims, but it is not clear whether they fall into the above categories.

Burial operations at the site have ramped up amid the pandemic from one day a week to five days a week, according to the Department of Corrections.

[malchior]

A spot of terrible news. They've started burying people in mass graves on Hart Island in NY. #TrumpBurialPits is trending on Twitter right now. The almost predictable cuck back from the MAGATs is that they are unnecessary and the libs are doing this to hurt Trump.

FWIW, it's an existing mass burial site for unclaimed deceased.

The drone footage comes from Hart Island, off the Bronx in Long Island Sound, which has been used for more than 150 years by city officials as a mass burial site for those with no next-of-kin, or families who cannot afford funerals.

It is probable that many of the coffins are for coronavirus victims, but it is not clear whether they fall into the above categories.

Burial operations at the site have ramped up amid the pandemic from one day a week to five days a week, according to the Department of Corrections.

Totally. And it's been been controversial as long as I remember because people weren't allowed to visit the site because it was until recently part of the prison system. That said, it's being reported as mostly covid-19 victims and people can't even agree that this is terrible or that this isn't some political ploy. Our politics are horrible to a degree I didn't think was possible. It is getting worse and worse.