Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Tuesday Early Evening
855,007 confirmed cases globally
186,265 cases in the USA
226 cases in Albany NY
108 cases in Saratoga NY
31 cases in Atlantic City NJ
186,265 cases in the USA
226 cases in Albany NY
108 cases in Saratoga NY
31 cases in Atlantic City NJ
Monsters
Taking away health care during a pandemic.
Politico: Trump rejects Obamacare special enrollment period amid pandemic - President Donald Trump and administration officials recently said they were considering relaunching HealthCare.gov. By SUSANNAH LUTHI
Politico: Trump rejects Obamacare special enrollment period amid pandemic - President Donald Trump and administration officials recently said they were considering relaunching HealthCare.gov. By SUSANNAH LUTHI
Mueller
MSN: Federal Judge Who Slammed AG Barr Obtains Unredacted Version of Mueller Report by Colin Kalmbache
The long sought-after report won’t be looked over any time soon, however, due to the general and specific federal caseload slowdowns enacted in response to the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and social distancing response regime.
Disgusting
NY Times: Trump’s Virus Defense Is Often an Attack, and the Target Is Often a Woman - Now part of the long list of women the president has insulted: a governor, a reporter, the head of General Motors and, of course, the House speaker. By Annie Karn
“As the president fiddles, people are dying,” Ms. Pelosi said.
In an interview on Monday, she rolled her eyes at his attack. “Every knock from him is a boost for me, quite frankly, so I don’t care what he says,” she said.
The Market On Tuesday
Good morning. At 8:15 a.m. ET DOW futures are -60. The market is poised to open moderately lower.
CNN: The Dow has spiked nearly 4,000 points in a week. That doesn't mean the crisis is over By Matt Egan
CNN: The Dow has spiked nearly 4,000 points in a week. That doesn't mean the crisis is over By Matt Egan
Monday, March 30, 2020
Imagine
Washington Post: Trump doesn’t understand what a wartime president does By Jennifer Rubin
Yes, imagine a president in wartime saying he will not pick up the phone to talk to a general because the general has not been appreciative enough.
Consider in a war if a president said losing 100,000 to 200,000 people (two to four times the U.S. deaths in Vietnam) would be grounds for celebration.
Monday Early Evening
777,286 cases confirmed cases globally
160,020 in the USA
205 cases in Albany NY
108 cases in Saratoga NY
29 cases in Atlantic City NJ
160,020 in the USA
205 cases in Albany NY
108 cases in Saratoga NY
29 cases in Atlantic City NJ
Lawn
CNN: Designing an end to a toxic American obsession: The Lawn
Ripping up a generic lawn can reveal a canvas for personal creativity -- to plant with food, flowering plants and herbs, or to shape into wildlife habitats that invite in local fauna.
Flying In The Face Of Reality
FOX13 Tampa: Tampa megachurch crowded with worshipers, despite social distancing orders By Jordan Bowen
"We brought in 13 machines that basically kill every virus in the place," Howard-Browne said. "If they sneeze it shoots it down like at 100 miles per hour and it will neutralize it in a split second."
Lives
Guardian UK: Pelosi accuses Trump of costing US lives with coronavirus denials and delays -House speaker criticizes president on CNN while Dr Anthony Fauci says as many as 200,000 Americans may die
“The president’s denial at the beginning was deadly,” the House speaker told CNN’s State of the Union. “His delay in getting equipment to where it’s needed is deadly … As the president fiddles, people are dying.”
Retreat
I've recently decided that it's best to not post anything Trump says or does. I don't want to spread his disinformation and lies. I will continue to post articles that either ignore his nonsense or take apart his nonsense and examine its lie quality. We have an extremely serious problem and simultaneously an extremely small and gutless human being leading the country. The only way around it is if we follow the experts, Trump is not even remotely close to being an expert or is he someone who recognizes experts.
Washington Post: Trump beats a retreat on opening the country as coronavirus data, images show dark reality - The Debrief: An occasional series offering a reporter’s insights By Philip Rucker
Washington Post: Trump beats a retreat on opening the country as coronavirus data, images show dark reality - The Debrief: An occasional series offering a reporter’s insights By Philip Rucker
David Axelrod, a former senior adviser in the Obama White House, wrote on Twitter that Trump is discovering, “You can’t spin a pandemic. People are sick. People are dying. The media is covering the grim reality of the pandemic and the government’s response, which was laggard. This enrages him.”
Medical Staff
NY Times: Nurses Die, Doctors Fall Sick and Panic Rises on Virus Front Lines - The pandemic has begun to sweep through New York City’s medical ranks, and anxiety is growing among normally dispassionate medical professionals. By Michael Schwirtz
...in New York City, is beginning to take a toll on those who are most needed to combat it: the doctors, nurses and other workers at hospitals and clinics.
Containment
NY Times: Coronavirus Slowdown in Seattle Suggests Restrictions Are Working
Officials in Washington State worry that their gains are precarious, but they see evidence that containment strategies have lowered the rate of virus transmission. By Mike Baker
...evidence that strict containment strategies, imposed in the earliest days of the outbreak, are beginning to pay off — at least for now.
Deaths are not rising as fast as they are in other states.
The Market On Monday
Good morning. At 8:45 a.m. ET DOW futures are +123. The market is poised to open significantly higher.
CNN: Is the worst over for markets? Wall Street can't decide By Julia Horowitz
CNN: Is the worst over for markets? Wall Street can't decide By Julia Horowitz
Friday, March 27, 2020
Weekend!
Have an excellent weekend and see you bright and early Monday morning. It's been another hard week as we've watched the virus spread in the USA. It will take a lot more time before the peak infection rate is finally reached. Meanwhile, please stay safe. Keep social distancing, limit your shopping, eat especially well, stay healthy, exercise, sleep well, if you go outdoors wash your hands often, and generally be smart. This is the real deal, this is a pandemic. This is also a good time to grow, to soul search, to reflect, to enjoy simple things, and even to laugh and smile.
work by Paul Cézanne 1839 - 1906
work by Paul Cézanne 1839 - 1906
Early Friday Evening
101,657 total confirmed cases in the USA
25,573 in NY City
187 in Albany NY
82 in Saratoga NY
25,573 in NY City
187 in Albany NY
82 in Saratoga NY
Refugees
An article like this leads me to think that the death toll from Covid-19 may be enormous.
NY Times: Unprepared for the Worst: World’s Most Vulnerable Brace for Virus - Crowded camps, depleted clinics and scarce soap and water make social distancing and even hand-washing impossible for millions of refugees. By Hannah Beech and Ben Hubbard
NY Times: Unprepared for the Worst: World’s Most Vulnerable Brace for Virus - Crowded camps, depleted clinics and scarce soap and water make social distancing and even hand-washing impossible for millions of refugees. By Hannah Beech and Ben Hubbard
A refugee camp in Bangladesh is so cramped that its population density is nearly four times that of New York City, making social distancing impossible. Clinics in a refugee camp in Kenya struggle in normal times with only eight doctors for nearly 200,000 people.
Mind
Just a reminder but, Buddhists have known this for the last 4,000 years.
Pocket Worthy: Scientists Say Your “Mind” Isn’t Confined to Your Brain, or Even Your Body - Exploring how the mind extends beyond the physical self.
Pocket Worthy: Scientists Say Your “Mind” Isn’t Confined to Your Brain, or Even Your Body - Exploring how the mind extends beyond the physical self.
How
Guardian UK: How US governors are fighting coronavirus – and Donald Trump - Governors have found themselves under an intense spotlight, highlighting an evolving dynamic between those running states and an impossible-to-predict president
At the same time, Republican and Democratic governors are learning how to shape their public comments under the intense scrutiny of a TV-obsessed president eager to return praise and respond to criticism with more criticism. It is a tough tightrope to walk and in the face of dealing with a pandemic comes with life-or-death high stakes.
Despicable White House
NY Times: After Considering $1 Billion Price Tag for Ventilators, White House Has Second Thoughts - A deal with General Motors and Ventec Life Systems to produce tens of thousands of the critical lifesaving devices seemed imminent. Then the announcement was pulled back. By David E. Sanger, Maggie Haberman and Zolan Kanno-Youngs
The White House had been preparing to reveal on Wednesday a joint venture between General Motors and Ventec Life Systems that would allow for the production of as many as 80,000 desperately needed ventilators to respond to an escalating pandemic when word suddenly came down that the announcement was off.
The decision to cancel the announcement, government officials say, came after the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it needed more time to assess whether the estimated cost was prohibitive.
Updates
NY Times: Coronavirus Live Updates: Boris Johnson Tests Positive; U.S. House Vote on $2 Trillion in Relief May Face Delay - The United States now has the most detected cases in the world. States are pleading for supplies as cases spike outside of New York City. And health workers, short on protective gear, face growing dangers the world over.
With many lawmakers scattered around the country, House leaders will attempt on Friday to pass the $2 trillion economic stabilization plan by voice vote, but the plan could be delayed a day if any lawmaker insists on a recorded vote.
At least one Democrat and one Republican have suggested they might do so.
The Market On Friday
Good morning. At 9:05 a.m. ET DOW futures are -662. The market is poised to open significantly lower. I am strictly writing here from a personal point of view, this is my opinion. In spite of the two trillion dollar bonus for America's corporations, the market will continue to drop. The reason why the market will continue to drop is because the virus will continue to infect people meaning that the economy is under extreme pressure, no jobs, no trade, no nothing. It is also my opinion as someone who is following this like many, that the peak number of infections is in the future. We are not close to this pandemic flattening out.
CNN: The Dow is back in a bull market. Should it be? By Julia Horowitz
CNN: The Dow is back in a bull market. Should it be? By Julia Horowitz
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Thursday Early Evening
The USA has more known cases of the virus than any other country, surpassing China, and Italy.
cases globally - 523,163
USA - 82,404
NY City - 21,873
Albany NY - 171
Schenectady NY - 62
Saratoga NY - 73
cases globally - 523,163
USA - 82,404
NY City - 21,873
Albany NY - 171
Schenectady NY - 62
Saratoga NY - 73
Better
Fear is the cheapest room in the house.
I would like to see you living
In better conditions
Hafez
Read This
The Atlantic: How the Pandemic Will End - The U.S. may end up with the worst COVID-19 outbreak in the industrialized world. This is how it’s going to play out. Story by Ed Yong
Partly, that’s because the White House is a ghost town of scientific expertise. A pandemic-preparedness office that was part of the National Security Council was dissolved in 2018. On January 28, Luciana Borio, who was part of that team, urged the government to “act now to prevent an American epidemic,” and specifically to work with the private sector to develop fast, easy diagnostic tests. But with the office shuttered, those warnings were published in The Wall Street Journal, rather than spoken into the president’s ear. Instead of springing into action, America sat idle.
It’s likely, then, that the new coronavirus will be a lingering part of American life for at least a year, if not much longer. If the current round of social-distancing measures works, the pandemic may ebb enough for things to return to a semblance of normalcy. Offices could fill and bars could bustle. Schools could reopen and friends could reunite. But as the status quo returns, so too will the virus. This doesn’t mean that society must be on continuous lockdown until 2022. But “we need to be prepared to do multiple periods of social distancing,” says Stephen Kissler of Harvard.
Surge
Guardian UK: 'It's all Covid': New York medical staff brace for a surge of coronavirus patients by Jessica Glenza
Dr Craig Spencer, an emergency medicine doctor at Columbia University Medical Center, described hearing a “cacophony of coughing” in the facility. Nearly every patient he saw in a recent day had Covid-19.
What Happens
If you can read this article, please do and work with the interactive model. Long story short, if we stop social distancing now, the number of infections goes unbelievably high. The number of deaths tops a million. Trump is completely full of shit and hurting all of us by recommending back to normal by Easter. That would be insane. Hang in there, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
NY Times: Trump Wants to ‘Reopen America.’ Here’s What Happens if We Do. By Nicholas Kristof and Stuart A. Thompson - Model created with Gabriel Goh, Steven De Keninck, Ashleigh Tuite and David N. Fisman
NY Times: Trump Wants to ‘Reopen America.’ Here’s What Happens if We Do. By Nicholas Kristof and Stuart A. Thompson - Model created with Gabriel Goh, Steven De Keninck, Ashleigh Tuite and David N. Fisman
“Anyone advising the end of social distancing now needs to fully understand what the country will look like if we do that,” cautioned Dr. Tom Inglesby, a health security expert at Johns Hopkins University. “Covid would spread widely, rapidly, terribly, and could kill potentially millions in the year ahead, with huge social and economic impact.”
The Market On Thursday
Good morning. At 9:45 a.m. ET the DOW is +255. The market has opened significantly higher.
CNN: US unemployment claims skyrocketed last week. There's more pain to come By Julia Horowitz
CNN: US unemployment claims skyrocketed last week. There's more pain to come By Julia Horowitz
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Read It And Weep
Read this.
Politico: Trump team failed to follow NSC’s pandemic playbook - The 69-page document, finished in 2016, provided a step by step list of priorities – which were then ignored by the administration. By DAN DIAMOND and NAHAL TOOSI
Politico: Trump team failed to follow NSC’s pandemic playbook - The 69-page document, finished in 2016, provided a step by step list of priorities – which were then ignored by the administration. By DAN DIAMOND and NAHAL TOOSI
The playbook also stresses the significant responsibility facing the White House to contain risks of potential pandemics, a stark contrast with the Trump administration’s delays in deploying an all-of-government response and President Donald Trump's recent signals that he might roll back public health recommendations.
Testing
Washington Post: The U.S. faces two disastrous scenarios. There’s a third option. By Tim Searchinger, Anthony LaMantia and Gordon Douglas
We suggest a strategy of massive testing that goes far beyond the group currently being tested — those most likely infected. Instead, we need to test as many people as possible.
If we know who is infected, who is not and who has recovered, we could greatly relax social isolation requirements and send both the uninfected and the recovered back to work.
Overwhelmed
NY Times: 13 Deaths in a Day: An ‘Apocalyptic’ Coronavirus Surge at an N.Y.C. Hospital - Hospitals in the city are facing the kind of harrowing increases in cases that overwhelmed health care systems in China and Italy. By Michael Rothfeld, Somini Sengupta, Joseph Goldstein and Brian M. Rosenthal
This week, the state’s hospitalization estimations were down markedly, from a doubling of cases every two days to every four days.
From The Front Lines
The Columbus Dispatch: An emergency room physician writes from the COVID-19 front lines
Another Good Resource
NY Times: Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count By Mitch Smith, Karen Yourish, Sarah Almukhtar, Keith Collins, Danielle Ivory, Allison McCann, Jin Wu and Amy Harmon
Many of the fatal cases were in people over age 70, including several in their 90s, but middle-aged adults have also been dying. In recent days, a man in his 50s from the Phoenix area, a 46-year-old man on Long Island and a Maryland woman in her 40s have all died.
Who Has The Final Word
Washington Post: Why Trump won’t have the final say on whether people go back to work By Amber Phillips
1. Governors are the ones ordering people to stay at home.
3. Trump’s request that people avoid groups of more than 10 was just that — a request.
Finally
Axios: Coronavirus: NY shows positive signs of social distancing measures by Rebecca Falconer, Orion Rummler, Marisa Fernandez
New York has begun to see its rate of hospitalizations slow, a positive sign that its social distancing measures are helping, despite the governor's pleas for more medical supplies and hospital beds.
NY Sharp Rises
NY Times: New York’s Sharp Rise in Cases Becomes Federal Focus: Live Updates - The White House said that anyone who left New York recently should self-quarantine at home for 14 days. About 1 in every 200 city police officers has tested positive for the virus.
More than 26,000 people in New York State had tested positive for the virus as of Tuesday night.
Trump To NY - Drop Dead
NY Times: Trump to New York: Drop Dead - Untold thousands will likely die, absent federal intervention. And it needs to happen this instant. Why won’t the president help? By Jennifer Senior
So it’s essentially come to this: President Trump is treating each of our 50 states as individual contestants on “The Apprentice” — pitting them against one another for scarce resources, daring them to duke it out — rather than mobilizing a unified national response to a pandemic.
The Market On Wednesday
Good morning. At 9:50 a.m. ET the DOW is up +170. The market has opened significantly higher.
CNN: Global markets are starting to cool on the massive US stimulus deal By Clare Duffy, Laura He and Charles Riley
CNN: Global markets are starting to cool on the massive US stimulus deal By Clare Duffy, Laura He and Charles Riley
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Alabama's Death Panels
Al.com: ‘Last resort’: Alabama’s plan for deciding which coronavirus patients get ventilators
According to the state document, any of a wide range of underlying health conditions – such as metastasized cancer, AIDS, “severe mental retardation,” advanced dementia and “severe burns” – could disqualify patients from being put on potentially lifesaving ventilators if a pandemic grows dire enough. And some people already on ventilators could be removed from them to make space for people impacted by the pandemic, according to the guidance.
History Lesson - What Happens When We Open Up Society Too Early
Smithsonian Mag: World War I: 100 Years Later - Philadelphia Threw a WWI Parade That Gave Thousands of Onlookers the Flu - The city sought to sell bonds to pay for the war effort, while bringing its citizens together during the infamous pandemic
Within 72 hours of the parade, every bed in Philadelphia’s 31 hospitals was filled. In the week ending October 5, some 2,600 people in Philadelphia had died from the flu or its complications. A week later, that number rose to more than 4,500. With many of the city’s health professionals pressed into military service, Philadelphia was unprepared for this deluge of death.
America Goes Off The Deep End
I like Texas Republican Patrick's idea that we can sacrifice people over 70 in order to 'save' the economy. I truly hope all Trump supporters over the age of 70 go right now and jump off a cliff. The rest of us will follow your truly 'courageous' deed, we promise.
Guardian UK: Trump wants to reopen US businesses in weeks 'not months' even as deaths rise – as it happened
Guardian UK: Trump wants to reopen US businesses in weeks 'not months' even as deaths rise – as it happened
Texas Republican, Lt Governor Dan Patrick and said he is concerned that public health measures to prevent coronavirus will end American life as he knows it, and said he would rather risk death than having the country continue with tough public health restrictions that hurt the economy.
“You know, Tucker, no one reached out to me and said, ‘As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren?’ And if that’s the exchange, I’m all in,” Patrick said. “And that doesn’t make me noble or brave or anything like that. I just think there are lots of grandparents out there in this country like me.”
Tracking Paul
Washington Post: Six days: Tracking Sen. Rand Paul from coronavirus testing to positive diagnosis By Seung Min Kim, Michael Scherer and Paul Kane
On Monday, Paul was defiant that he did nothing wrong, despite bipartisan criticism for his behavior and even sharper private furor among senators and aides because he had potentially exposed them to a virus whose debilitating effect on the nation’s health and economy lawmakers were working so ferociously to combat.
Crazy From Trump
NY Times: Trump Considers Reopening Economy, Over Health Experts’ Objections - The president is questioning whether stay-at-home orders have gone too far. But relaxing them could significantly increase the death toll from the coronavirus, health officials warn. By Jim Tankersley, Maggie Haberman and Roni Caryn Rabin
...President Trump, Wall Street executives and many conservative economists began questioning whether the government had gone too far and should instead lift restrictions that are already inflicting deep pain on workers and businesses.
The Market On Tuesday
Good morning. At 7:00 a.m. ET DOW futures are +930. The market is poised to open significantly higher. We appear to be in the denial stage of this virus, where people like Trump believe it's back to normal at the end of March.
CNN: Global stocks and US futures rise as policymakers try to blunt the coronavirus pain By Clare Duffy, Laura He and Charles Riley
CNN: Global stocks and US futures rise as policymakers try to blunt the coronavirus pain By Clare Duffy, Laura He and Charles Riley
Monday, March 23, 2020
Worse
Washington Post: Trump, as usual, is just making things worse By Eugene Robinson
The nation is suffering through a terrible crisis. Day by day, tweet by tweet, unhinged briefing by unhinged briefing, President Trump is making it worse.
Gulf
Washington Post: Governors and mayors in growing uproar over Trump’s lagging coronavirus response By Robert Costa and Aaron Gregg
But the growing gulf between the White House and officials on the front lines of the pandemic underscored concerns in cities, states and Congress that Trump does not have a coherent or ready plan to mobilize private and public entities to confront a crisis that could soon push the nation’s health-care system to the brink of collapse.
Trump Is Completely Nuts
Washington Post: Trump signals growing weariness with ‘social distancing’ and other steps advocated by health officials
President Trump is signaling interest in scaling back “social distancing” and other steps promoted by health officials to contain the novel coronavirus as a growing number of conservatives argue that impact on the U.S. economy has become too severe.
Fauci
Washington Post: Fauci gets frank about Trump: ‘I can’t jump in front of the microphone and push him down’ By Allyson Chiu
“I can’t jump in front of the microphone and push him down,” Fauci said, referencing Trump. “Okay, he said it. Let’s try and get it corrected for the next time.”
Extreme Quantitative Easing
Washington Post: Fed announces unlimited bond purchases in unprecedented move to help U.S. economy weather coronavirus meltdown - ‘It has become clear that our economy will face severe disruption,’ the Fed said Monday.
...effectively putting no limits on how many assets the Fed is willing to buy.
NYC
NY Times: New York City Region Is Now an Epicenter of the Coronavirus Pandemic - The city and its suburbs account for roughly 5 percent of global cases, forcing officials to take urgent steps to stem the outbreak. By Jesse McKinley
Three weeks after its first coronavirus infection was discovered, the New York City region reached an alarming milestone on Sunday: It now accounts for roughly 5 percent of the world’s confirmed cases, making it an epicenter of the pandemic and increasing pressure on officials to take more drastic measures.
The Market On Monday
Good morning. At 9:00 a.m. ET DOW futures are +360. The market is poised to open higher.
CNN: The US is running two races against coronavirus. It has to win both By Charles Riley
CNN: The US is running two races against coronavirus. It has to win both By Charles Riley
Harsh Measures
NY Times: Harsh Step Are Needed To Stop The Coronavirus, Experts Say
This contagion has a weakness.
Although there are incidents of rampant spread, as happened on the cruise ship Diamond Princess, the coronavirus more often infects clusters of family members, friends and work colleagues...
Friday, March 20, 2020
Weekend
Have an excellent weekend even with our strange circumstances, and see you bright and early Monday morning. Social distancing is really the key, as we have learned. Stay safe, keep your distance, be well, and if you are sick or might be getting sick, take excellent care of yourself. I truly wish you a speedy recovery. This week has been surreal.
caricature drawing by Monet 1840 - 1926
caricature drawing by Monet 1840 - 1926
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