May 31, 2020

The new boss at NBC is considering turning CNBC into a right wing talk channel at night

https://twitter.com/benyt/status/1267239659505094658





More of this shit? Mark Levin is awful. Why in the hell does Trump need an olive branch?

May 30, 2020

People are reporting getting automated calls from the ATF warning of civil unrest

Asher lives in Nebraska


https://twitter.com/AsherLangton/status/1266809540453990404


Welp, just got an automated call from the ATF warning me of civil unrest and to secure my "inventory" and records. I have a Federal Firearms License (03, collector of curios and relics); maybe they're calling all FFLs, commercial or not?

https://twitter.com/AsherLangton/status/1266810687612952585

An FFL-03 is purely for personal buying/selling of vintage weapons (generally > 50 years old), no commercial sales allowed. Not sure why FFL needs to warn me about the "looting of businesses". Unless:


https://twitter.com/AsherLangton/status/1266813225682731010

This could be a routine thing, but I had the same license when I lived in Oakland from 2013-2016 and don't recall ever receiving such a call.

May 30, 2020

MN Gov said protests are being infiltrated by white supremacists

Crime cartels and anarchists. Walz spoke at about 2:30am ET with the Mayor . He said that some of the arsons were strategic and professionally set and that various groups were burning and looting for their own agenda. Seeing tons of videos on Twitter of white guys dressed in black destroying and smashing.

May 21, 2020

Here's some new poll numbers!

https://twitter.com/tonyposnanski/status/1263596991579164672


Other national polls...

Coronavirus- 44%
Trump- 42%

Bag of shit- 46%
Trump- 39%

Murder Hornet- 40%
Trump- 33%

Carole Baskin- 40%
Trum- 36%

Crocs with white socks- 44%
Trump- 38%

Miracle Whip- 12%
Trump- 9%

May 20, 2020

Why do some COVID-19 patients infect many others, whereas most don't spread the virus at all?

"Probably about 10% of cases lead to 80% of the spread."

Adam Kucharski, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Most of the discussion around the spread of SARS-CoV-2 has concentrated on the average number of new infections caused by each patient. Without social distancing, this reproduction number (R) is about three. But in real life, some people infect many others and others don’t spread the disease at all. In fact, the latter is the norm, Lloyd-Smith says: “The consistent pattern is that the most common number is zero. Most people do not transmit.”

That’s why in addition to R, scientists use a value called the dispersion factor (k), which describes how much a disease clusters. The lower k is, the more transmission comes from a small number of people. In a seminal 2005 Nature paper, Lloyd-Smith and co-authors estimated that SARS—in which superspreading played a major role—had a k of 0.16. The estimated k for MERS, which emerged in 2012, is about 0.25. In the flu pandemic of 1918, in contrast, the value was about one, indicating that clusters played less of a role.

The factor scientists are closest to understanding is where COVID-19 clusters are likely to occur. “Clearly there is a much higher risk in enclosed spaces than outside,” Althaus says. Researchers in China studying the spread of the coronavirus outside Hubei province—ground zero for the pandemic—identified 318 clusters of three or more cases between 4 January and 11 February, only one of which originated outdoors. A study in Japan found that the risk of infection indoors is almost 19 times higher than outdoors. (Japan, which was hit early but has kept the epidemic under control, has built its COVID-19 strategy explicitly around avoiding clusters, advising citizens to avoid closed spaces and crowded conditions.)

Some situations may be particularly risky. Meatpacking plants are likely vulnerable because many people work closely together in spaces where low temperature helps the virus survive. But it may also be relevant that they tend to be loud places, Knight says. The report about the choir in Washington made her realize that one thing links numerous clusters: They happened in places where people shout or sing. And although Zumba classes have been connected to outbreaks, Pilates classes, which are not as intense, have not, Knight notes. “Maybe slow, gentle breathing is not a risk factor, but heavy, deep, or rapid breathing and shouting is.”

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/why-do-some-covid-19-patients-infect-many-others-whereas-most-don-t-spread-virus-all




https://twitter.com/mugecevik/status/1257392347010215947

A lot of discussion recently about transmission dynamics, most of which are extrapolated from viral loads & estimates. What does contact tracing/community testing data tell us about actual probability of #COVID19 transmission(infection rate), high risk environments/age?
[thread]

15/ In summary:
While the infectious inoculum required for infection is unknown, these studies indicate that close & prolonged contact is required for #COVID19 transmission. The risk is highest in enclosed environments; household, long-term care facilities and public transport.

16/ High infection rates seen in household, friend & family gatherings, transport suggest that closed contacts in congregation is likely the key driver of productive transmission. Casual, short interactions are not the main driver of the epidemic though keep social distancing!

May 19, 2020

FBI Uncovers Al-Qaeda Plot To Just Sit Back And Enjoy Collapse Of United States

WASHINGTON—Putting the nation on alert against what it has described as a “highly credible terrorist threat,” the FBI announced today that it has uncovered a plot by members of al-Qaeda to sit back and enjoy themselves while the United States collapses of its own accord.

Multiple intelligence agencies confirmed that the militant Islamist organization and its numerous affiliates intend to carry out a massive, coordinated plan to stand aside and watch America’s increasingly rapid decline, with terrorist operatives across the globe reportedly mobilizing to take it easy, relax, and savor the spectacle as it unfolds.

“We have intercepted electronic communication indicating that al-Qaeda members are actively plotting to stay out of the way while America as we know it gradually crumbles under the weight of its own self-inflicted debt and disrepair,” FBI Deputy Director Mark F. Giuliano told the assembled press corps. “If this plan succeeds, it will leave behind a nation with a completely dysfunctional economy, collapsing infrastructure, and a catastrophic health crisis afflicting millions across the nation. We want to emphasize that this danger is very real.”

“And unfortunately, based on information we have from intelligence assets on the ground, this plot is already well under way,” he added.

https://www.theonion.com/fbi-uncovers-al-qaeda-plot-to-just-sit-back-and-enjoy-c-1819576375


An old article but still relevant.

May 19, 2020

Bill Barr, Trump's Pet Attorney General, Kicks Off the 'Obamagate' Show Trials

Donald Trump’s pet attorney general gave a potent reminder on Monday of why he is the most dangerous man in Washington. In an otherwise routine press conference, while using the still-respected language of the justice system we once enjoyed, Barr green-lit a series of show trials of Trump’s enemies. It was a launch signal to the “Obamagate” players that while he’ll publicly play the role of a neutral solon of justice, Barr’s heavy thumb will be on its scales.

Barr is precisely the kind of lawless, bloodless enforcer any autocratic strongman wants on the team, giving a thin, barely passable veneer of legal probity to an administration known for its indifference to the law, to say nothing of morals, norms, traditions, and institutional imperatives. His ideological ferocity for elevating executive power beyond anything recognizable in a modern liberal democracy is boundless.

Barr knew the big headline about letting Obama and Biden off of the hook would distract from his to-the-death efforts to block access to information about Trump’s shady Ukraine deal, obstruction of justice, hidden taxes, or witness testimony on a host of issues that Congress has demanded, and most importantly, the parts of the Mueller investigation Barr quashed and distorted.

He also knew the big headline would distract from the coming Durham report, which gives every indication of being a tit-for-tat exercise and one timed for maximum impact in the midst of an election. It’s no coincidence that Lindsey Graham (R-Trump’s colon) on Monday announced that his Senate Judiciary Committee would soon vote to subpoena damned near everyone in the Obama administration who came within a mile of the Russia probe.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/bill-barr-is-ready-to-kick-off-the-obamagate-show-trials?source=twitter&via=desktop

May 19, 2020

Here's a letter from Trump's doctor!

https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1262537150211506176







It doesn't really come right out and say Trump's taking it.

May 17, 2020

Elon Musk has taken the red pill

https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1262100557377925120


Elon Musk’s Twitter presence in the last few months feels very Kanye 2018





Taking the red pill in internet usage denotes a right wing awakening. It's commonly used in Trump/ men's rights forums. The rose is a symbol for Democratic Socialists of America. So, I don't know what's going on here.


The tweet comes as Musk, who once tweeted he is "openly moderate," has taken increasingly anti-regulatory tone as coronavirus has forced the shutdown of his Fremont factory. He has called stay-at-home orders "fascist," and last Monday said he was reopening his Fremont factory and was willing to be arrested to do so.

Already conservative voices are hailing the tweet as a sign that Musk — who tweeted that he supported Democratic candidate Andrew Yang and described himself as "openly moderate," is joining their side. Ivanka Trump quickly retweeted Musk's tweet herself, responding, "Taken!" https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-tweets-take-the-red-pill-what-it-means-2020-5

May 12, 2020

Supreme Court debate over Trump's financial records points to mixed outcome

The highly anticipated Supreme Court arguments over President Trump’s efforts to block disclosure of his income tax returns and private financial records suggested Tuesday the possibility of a mixed outcome.

Moreover, several justices suggested there might be more work for lower courts to do, which could delay any turnover of the documents being sought by congressional Democrats and Manhattan’s district attorney until after November’s election.

The court’s conservative majority seemed far more critical of lawmakers’ demands, questioning whether approving the subpoenas issued by three congressional committees would open the door for a Congress ruled by one political party to make potentially harassing requests of a president from a different party.

What Congress proposes as a limiting principle — that the request must be tied to potential legislation — is really “no protection at all, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. struck a similar chord.“Your test is not really much of a test. It’s not really a limit,” Roberts told Douglas N. Letter, general counsel to the House of Representatives, who said the key was that the request was tied to potential legislation.

Letter had trouble coming up with an example of a legislative proposal beyond Congress’s reach, which one of Trump’s private lawyers pointed out.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/05/12/trump-taxes-scotus-hearing-live/



I'm not a lawyer so correct if I'm wrong. Letter has had months to work on this. Shouldn't he have been able to come up with something better? Too bad Carey Dunne isn't the House lawyer. He was awesome.