hillbill
Well-Known Member
Sounds like MDA, not MDMA
Pandemic 2020
- Thread starter Jimdamick
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topcat
Well-Known Member
I don't see this as him caving, or a full retreat, at all and I don't think he views it that way, either. He's "authorizing" states and he'll put that authorization in his spin.'I authorize states governors full power..'
A day after claiming 'total' power, Trump caves in
His declaration--and then retreat--on the notion that he 'calls the shots' on governor's reopening form pandemic brings three things into focus, writes Jill Filipovic. The President is a wannabe totalitarian, is ignorant of the Constitution... and Republicans cherish 'state's rights' only when...www.cnn.com
WHAT A FREAKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!
DIY-HP-LED
Well-Known Member
Yep in the midst of a Global Pandemic, shift the blame to the WHO and cut off their funding, not just a moron, a dangerous moron supported by dangerous fear driven morons. How many Trumpers care or are even smart enough to figure it out, one thing is for sure, Donald is gonna kill them in large numbers before he's done. Of course the republican congress and senate agree wholeheartedly with the president's "wise" decision, he is a stable jenius after all. If he's doing this to the WHO, imagine what he's doing to the American epidemic response, you don't really need to imagine though, just count the deaths.
Gee, I thought congress allocated those funds for the WHO...
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Trump's WHO cutoff sends officials, allies scrambling
One of the president's top public health officials also distanced himself from the move.
President Donald Trump’s 60-day freeze on U.S. funding of the World Health Organization was met with swift criticism Wednesday, with defenders of the United Nations agency denouncing the directive as a risky and baffling maneuver amid the very kind of global pandemic it was meant to combat.
Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder and philanthropist who has pledged billions to help speed development of a coronavirus vaccine, tweeted that “halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds.”
Inside the State Department, officials scrambled to make sense of the White House’s decision. James L. Richardson, the director of U.S. foreign assistance resources, informed his staff in a brief email that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had instructed diplomats and aid officials “to identify and utilize alternative implementers for foreign assistance beyond the WHO.”
“By taking this approach,” Richardson wrote, “we can continue our good work on behalf of the American people, while ensuring that U.S. foreign assistance is best positioned to improve the lives of vulnerable people around the world, as Americans have always done.”
The order was just the latest example of officials seeking to fill in the details of a lurching policy shift by the president, who is prone to the bureaucratic equivalent of shooting first and asking questions later.
America’s allies were stunned by Trump’s announcement, which came after a litany of accusations from the president and his aides, who have charged that WHO covered up key details about the coronavirus on behalf of a secretive and duplicitous Chinese government.
The president floated a potential pause in funding for the agency last week and followed through with his threat Tuesday, asserting the administration has "deep concerns [about] whether America's generosity has been put to the best use possible."
Josep Borrell Fontelles, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said there was “no reason justifying this move" by the American president "at a moment when [WHO's] efforts are needed more than ever to help contain & mitigate the #coronavirus pandemic."
And British diplomat James Roscoe shared news that the United Kingdom would provide a $252 million package of funds to WHO and other U.N. agencies in the aftermath of Trump's announcement, arguing that eradicating the coronavirus "requires a global effort."
Back in the U.S., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) issued a statement labeling the administration's move as "senseless," adding that "this decision is dangerous, illegal and will be swiftly challenged."
The aid freeze, House Democrats said, violates the same federal spending laws as the blockage of military assistance to Ukraine that partly prompted the president's impeachment, while a senior official countered that the administration had "broad discretion" in how to spend the money.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declined to comment. But Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), an influential voice within the GOP on matters of foreign policy and an outspoken China hawk, expressed support for the White House and bashed Gates.
The tech titan’s "decision to defend the performance of the WHO during the coronavirus crisis and current WHO leadership ignores overwhelming evidence of China bias and incompetence," Graham said in a statement, insisting that "cutting off funding at this time is the right move.”
Trump effusively praised China and the WHO in the early stages of the outbreak — only recently shifting his toneas the administration's handling of the U.S. response has come under greater media scrutiny.
Even the president’s senior officials have expressed their own tempered appreciation for the global health body, while being careful to avoid directly contradicting their boss.
Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday his agency will continue to work with the WHO to combat the coronavirus pandemic and other infectious diseases.
"You know, I'm just going to say the WHO has been a longstanding partner for CDC. We've worked together to fight health crises all around the world. We continue to do that," Redfield said, citing ongoing joint efforts to quash the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
"WHO has been a long-term and still is a great partner for us. We're going to continue to do all we can together to try to limit this," he added, referring to the coronavirus.
Pressed on Trump's announcement, Redfield declined to denounce the WHO and said the move to halt its funding fell outside his official purview.
"Those decisions that are going to be made above, related to some of the geopolitical issues, I have to leave to those that really have that expertise," he said. "But for me and for CDC, in the public health arena, we're continuing to work side-by-side with WHO to do the best that we can to limit the spread of disease and to protect the American people."
Among the WHO's 194 member states, the U.S. remains the greatest contributor to the agency's $4.8 billion budget, pledging more than $400 million per year. Trump's funding halt comes after his fiscal year 2021 budget request proposed cutting in half the amount Congress allocated the agency in 2020 — from roughly $122 million to less than $58 million.
According to the WHO, the United States owed more than $99 million to the agency as of March 31. That amount covers "assessed contributions," which are essentially the mandatory dues countries agree to pay to fund its operations. Most of the U.S. contributions to the WHO are so-called voluntary dollars, and those funds are typically are funneled through grants.
Although the WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said at a news conference Wednesday he “regret“ Trump‘s decision to halt U.S. funding, he was less explicit in addressing the controversy on Twitter — instead issuing a series of cryptic, single-word sentiments that could not have been confused for the president's more bombastic social media posts.
"Solidarity," he wrote in one such message. Then came, "Humanity," "Unity" and, finally, "Love."
Gee, I thought congress allocated those funds for the WHO...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trump's WHO cutoff sends officials, allies scrambling
One of the president's top public health officials also distanced himself from the move.
President Donald Trump’s 60-day freeze on U.S. funding of the World Health Organization was met with swift criticism Wednesday, with defenders of the United Nations agency denouncing the directive as a risky and baffling maneuver amid the very kind of global pandemic it was meant to combat.
Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder and philanthropist who has pledged billions to help speed development of a coronavirus vaccine, tweeted that “halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds.”
Inside the State Department, officials scrambled to make sense of the White House’s decision. James L. Richardson, the director of U.S. foreign assistance resources, informed his staff in a brief email that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had instructed diplomats and aid officials “to identify and utilize alternative implementers for foreign assistance beyond the WHO.”
“By taking this approach,” Richardson wrote, “we can continue our good work on behalf of the American people, while ensuring that U.S. foreign assistance is best positioned to improve the lives of vulnerable people around the world, as Americans have always done.”
The order was just the latest example of officials seeking to fill in the details of a lurching policy shift by the president, who is prone to the bureaucratic equivalent of shooting first and asking questions later.
America’s allies were stunned by Trump’s announcement, which came after a litany of accusations from the president and his aides, who have charged that WHO covered up key details about the coronavirus on behalf of a secretive and duplicitous Chinese government.
The president floated a potential pause in funding for the agency last week and followed through with his threat Tuesday, asserting the administration has "deep concerns [about] whether America's generosity has been put to the best use possible."
Josep Borrell Fontelles, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said there was “no reason justifying this move" by the American president "at a moment when [WHO's] efforts are needed more than ever to help contain & mitigate the #coronavirus pandemic."
And British diplomat James Roscoe shared news that the United Kingdom would provide a $252 million package of funds to WHO and other U.N. agencies in the aftermath of Trump's announcement, arguing that eradicating the coronavirus "requires a global effort."
Back in the U.S., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) issued a statement labeling the administration's move as "senseless," adding that "this decision is dangerous, illegal and will be swiftly challenged."
The aid freeze, House Democrats said, violates the same federal spending laws as the blockage of military assistance to Ukraine that partly prompted the president's impeachment, while a senior official countered that the administration had "broad discretion" in how to spend the money.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declined to comment. But Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), an influential voice within the GOP on matters of foreign policy and an outspoken China hawk, expressed support for the White House and bashed Gates.
The tech titan’s "decision to defend the performance of the WHO during the coronavirus crisis and current WHO leadership ignores overwhelming evidence of China bias and incompetence," Graham said in a statement, insisting that "cutting off funding at this time is the right move.”
Trump effusively praised China and the WHO in the early stages of the outbreak — only recently shifting his toneas the administration's handling of the U.S. response has come under greater media scrutiny.
Even the president’s senior officials have expressed their own tempered appreciation for the global health body, while being careful to avoid directly contradicting their boss.
Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday his agency will continue to work with the WHO to combat the coronavirus pandemic and other infectious diseases.
"You know, I'm just going to say the WHO has been a longstanding partner for CDC. We've worked together to fight health crises all around the world. We continue to do that," Redfield said, citing ongoing joint efforts to quash the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
"WHO has been a long-term and still is a great partner for us. We're going to continue to do all we can together to try to limit this," he added, referring to the coronavirus.
Pressed on Trump's announcement, Redfield declined to denounce the WHO and said the move to halt its funding fell outside his official purview.
"Those decisions that are going to be made above, related to some of the geopolitical issues, I have to leave to those that really have that expertise," he said. "But for me and for CDC, in the public health arena, we're continuing to work side-by-side with WHO to do the best that we can to limit the spread of disease and to protect the American people."
Among the WHO's 194 member states, the U.S. remains the greatest contributor to the agency's $4.8 billion budget, pledging more than $400 million per year. Trump's funding halt comes after his fiscal year 2021 budget request proposed cutting in half the amount Congress allocated the agency in 2020 — from roughly $122 million to less than $58 million.
According to the WHO, the United States owed more than $99 million to the agency as of March 31. That amount covers "assessed contributions," which are essentially the mandatory dues countries agree to pay to fund its operations. Most of the U.S. contributions to the WHO are so-called voluntary dollars, and those funds are typically are funneled through grants.
Although the WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said at a news conference Wednesday he “regret“ Trump‘s decision to halt U.S. funding, he was less explicit in addressing the controversy on Twitter — instead issuing a series of cryptic, single-word sentiments that could not have been confused for the president's more bombastic social media posts.
"Solidarity," he wrote in one such message. Then came, "Humanity," "Unity" and, finally, "Love."
hanimmal
Well-Known Member
This might be the weed talking, but I am getting tripped up by 'flattening of the curve' being a strategy, when it is just talking about when the inflection point on that graphs is no longer increasing at an increasing rate right?
stay home. if you must go out wear a mask. swim in Purell. get delivery of everything you can.The Heartbreaking Last Texts of a Hospital Worker on the Front Lines
NEW YORK — Lying in a hospital bed last month, Madhvi Aya understood what was happening to her.
She had been a doctor in India, then trained to become a physician assistant after she immigrated to the United States. She had worked for a dozen years at Woodhull Medical Center, a public hospital in Brooklyn, where she could see the coronavirus tearing a merciless path through the city.
“I miss you mommy,” her daughter, Minnoli, wrote on March 25. She craved the reassurance of her mother’s hugs, the comfort of crawling into her bed. “Please don’t give up hope because I haven’t given up. I need my mommy. I need you to come back to me.”
“Love you,” Aya wrote the next day.
“Mom be back.”
Aya could not keep that promise.
The Heartbreaking Last Texts of a Hospital Worker on the Front Lines
NEW YORK — Lying in a hospital bed last month, Madhvi Aya understood what was happening...www.sfgate.com
Stay home wash your hands.....flatten the curve, it's our only hope
that's what white trash with money looks like..it doesn't refine you like he thinks- he's a fool and a moron..and he just gave 'permission' to States' Governors..how pathetic!
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
it's trying to keep hospitals from all getting swamped at the same time. spread out the cases over a longer time frame. so instead of 10000 admittances in the first week, have the same 10000 over a month kinda deal.
hanimmal
Well-Known Member
But without legitimate testing, isn't that number just a 'cap' on number of tests/Covid+ ? So we don't really have any idea on if we are at an inflection point of the people becoming infected with covid-19 in the overall population or if we are just getting a steady flow of test kits in a couple states. And are finding those areas have about that much resources to put to cover patients.
Again I am not in the health community, so I could be wrong, but just am not sure we have the right data and are flying blind. Hopefully there are people out there working to figure it all out.
Fogdog
Well-Known Member
deaths per day is as good as we have to tell us its not time to relax social distancing practices.
I'm sorry that this virus is so contagious.
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
sad to say but with testing for all, we'd all realize we are in a shit storm and much worse than we are being told.
just like saying in podunk, alabama we don't have any speeders. our police dept doesn't have a radar gun either. lol
Fogdog
Well-Known Member
Yup, we don't really need testing to tell us that a lot of people are dying due to this virus and that it's putting a strain on areas where the virus has established itself.
Testing would have been most helpful in January in an overall containment strategy. Now that it's widespread, what we are doing is managing the epidemic through social distancing so that the hospitals don't get overwhelmed. Once the epidemic subsides, testing and contact tracing will be useful to prevent the epidemic from flaring back up.
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
hopefully by the end of summer we'll have enough tests for the fall wave that's coming. and knowing that having it guarantees immunity would be a huge plus too. if not immune, it's gonna be a bad fall/winter. and then what happens if you get covid and the seasonal flu at the same time? holy crap.
but yes, agree with everything you said.
Fogdog
Well-Known Member
I think we could be ready for testing and contact tracing to be implemented in areas that aren't heavily affected before summer begins. Areas like NY, it could be a while before containment strategies could be implemented. However, plenty of areas in the US could open up if we had a plan and system in place for containing the virus in areas where it isn't established.
The Republican administration isn't up to the task. Many state governments are, though. Also, it's their job now that Republicans have clearly dropped the ball. The largest problem would be stopping travel from highly affected areas into unaffected areas. Probably travel restrictions should be part of a system for containment. I believe that would take measures that the federal government is responsible for.
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
in telluride and surrouding county (san juan I think), a guy who has a home there also owns a biotech firm in Europe. he paid for everybody to be tested in the entire county. somewhere like this would be where to test the strategy of test and trace and isolate. and leave it out of the hands of gov't.
topcat
Well-Known Member
A sphincter creation.
topcat
Well-Known Member
Support the U.S. Postal Service.
VILEPLUME
Well-Known Member
Michigan has also entered the race for the Darwin awards this year.
abcnews.go.com
'Operation Gridlock': Convoy in Michigan's capital protests stay-at-home orders
Protesters caused a traffic jam around the capitol building in Lansing.
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