COVID-19 Megathread 5: The Trumps catch COVID-19

[pbrower2a]

President Trump may have done the equivalent of injecting Clorox (R) or Lysol (R) into the "veins" of his re-election bid.

Approval only of the President's performance on COVID-19 -- not disapproval. Note the difference in the legend. I am treating anything from 46 to 49% approval as effectively a tie. To be sure, COVID-19 is the focus of most Americans' concerns these days as a clear and present danger to ourselves, or at least to people for whom we care. COVID-19 is about as dangerous as any war for which there is conscription, and I assure you -- I am doing everything possible to dodge its draft! This time, draft-dodging is without qualification a noble act!  

Trump approval:

60% or higher approval
55-59%
50-54%
46-49% (white)
43-45%
41 or 42%
40% or lower

Trump's "best" state is Wyoming, where he gets 59% approval on his handling of COVID-19. As you can see. sixteen states give Trump 40% or lower approval on his handling of COVID-19, which shows Trump in an unflattering light. To be sure, these states have usually been trouble for Trump for other things, but because COVID-19 is the equivalent of war as a clear and present danger, it is the current focus of political life.    

Note that all Governors fare better than Trump in approval in their states (I take that the number for the District of Columbia is for the mayor or the majority of the city council, either Democratic.  

Approval of State governors

Red  - Democrats;  Blue -  Republicans

The saturation is the tens digit of approval (first digit of an approval number. Thus Kristi Noem (R, SD)  gets a saturation of "4" in the color red for 49% approval and David Ige (D, HI) gets only 39% approval and blue at the saturation level of "3". Those two Governors get the worst approval ratings.    

You will notice that Governors of Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont are Republicans and that Governors of Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, and North Carolina are Democrats, and thus we have the anomalous colors for those states.

Source:  http://www.kateto.net/COVID19%20CONSORTIUM%20REPORT%20April%202020.pdf

[pbrower2a]

Oh please. Quit being such an apologist for thugs. Oh goodie! They didn't actually cock and point their guns at legislate arguing in favor of keeping the shut down! Nothing to see here! Totally business-as-usual compatible with the open expression and exchange of ideas in the legislature why nonviolent needs!

Some of us carry guns. Yes, all the time. Just because you don't like guns doesn't mean carrying guns is a threat ... let alone terrorism. Or is the terrorism that they opposed the suspension of our fundamental rights and breathed in public without wearing a mask. I've seen so much hateful invective directed at people who support the Bill of Rights these past months its kind of hard to tell why we should "muh killz the terrist protesters!" Quit being an apologist for a comment clearly calling for violence against protesters. What do you think "treat them like terrorists" means in this context?

When you say you carry a gun "all the time"...do you carry a gun to the airport?  To a courthouse?  
I am completely shocked that anyone is allowed to take a gun into any state capitol.

Haven't flown in years. Dont carry at court because thats illegal, but they also have metal detectors and armed deputies to assume responsibility for your security. Im a government lawyer that takes people to court for taxes, utility debts, and code violations; I also prosecutes doggie death penalty cases ... I do get death threats from time to time. I was also the victim of stalking last year. So sorry my life isn't as boring as others in this thread.

And good for you. I get it, honestly I do. Also we decided not to get a gun despite concerns about some of the people I prosecuted and their families, but I get it that you do.

But there's a fundamental difference between you are responsible and, generally incidental - - I hope that it will always be the case - - handgun possession for protection, versus what these yahoos clearly did in attempt 2in intimidate or worse elected legislators.

The fact that Michigan state law regarding the capital is so effed up that it is legal to carry a semi-automatic into the bleachers of the State House chamber itself oh, but one can't bring a protest sign into the building - - I'm not exaggerating, a number of individuals protesting Medicaid Cuts in the building in the last year or so were arrested for carrying signs in the building contrary to law - - does not change how deplorable the clear and dangerous signal they actively attempted to send to legislators is.

Such regrettably reflects the relative power of the interests of the guns-and-ammo business and of course welfare recipients. Money does not simply talk in our system: it shouts opponents down.

[pbrower2a]

The US's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorised emergency use of the Ebola drug remdesivir for treating the coronavirus.

The authorisation means the anti-viral drug can now be used on people who are hospitalised with severe Covid-19.

A recent clinical trial showed the drug helped shorten the recovery time for people who were seriously ill.

However, it did not significantly improve survival rates.

www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-us-canada-52511270

Complications kill, too.

[pbrower2a]

Truth be told, I feel that mask laws would be good in theory, but the American politicians are too afraid to enforce them. We saw how many who broke the stay-at-home orders in front of the police weren’t arrested, and I highly doubt people who don’t wear masks would be arrested considering the precedent. Honestly, this crisis has really revealed just how truly eroded our society has become.
Modern American “culture” is a blight on our country.

Businesses can. I am surprised that they don't turn people away for not wearing masks.

[pbrower2a]

https://twitter.com/davidlparsons/status/1258988672084373505?s=21

Best electric chair ever.

Yup! Good enough for gangster Lepke Buchalter and serial killer Ted Bundy.

[pbrower2a]

I wear a mask when going to the transaction windows of fast-food places.  If people taking the cash or handing you fast food are wearing masks, then so should you.

[pbrower2a]

The petulant narcissist just can't handle women asking him smart questions, ran away like a coward.
https://twitter.com/axios/status/1259959091704799233

Male. Chauvinist. Pig!

[pbrower2a]

I wear a mask when going to the transaction windows of fast-food places.  If people taking the cash or handing you fast food are wearing masks, then so should you.

Speaking of masks again, I noticed yet another increase in the number of customers not wearing masks at my job today. The majority still are, but the persistent minority-as I call them-has now risen to around 40% of all customers. It's amazing how stubborn so many people have been. Like I've said before, people will not wear masks unless if they are mandated to (and yes, I know that I've expressed skepticism over the mandatory mask orders since). But it's starting to get on me now, especially as we employees have been required to wear masks for weeks now, and yet many people still are not.

A suggestion that I might give: Thank people for wearing masks or scarves. Kind words can be encouraging. The isolation under which people live is limiting their opportunity to hear kind words of any kind. 

[pbrower2a]

Somebody did not stay calm. Someone got a broken arm. Someone is likely to get a particularly severe lockdown that will probably outlast COVID-19.  


https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2020/05/12/target-store-mask-fight-orig-mg.cnn

[pbrower2a]

As infection rates fall, measures that have caused the slowing of the infection rate will be kept in place. Any opening of America will be done with care; such is the apparent desire of people and Big Business.

Remember: the free market seeks solutions that harmonize profit and safety. Big Business wants to profit again, and people will want to spend money on what they most enjoyed doing before COVID-19.

I see plenty of opportunity for making masks available as fashion statements and as political statements. I can see plenty of variants of the letter O and the number zero into depictions of the virus.

Viral infections have a tendency to die out as means of transmission disappear. People will want to  to attend theaters, concert halls, sporting events, and religions services. People will want to participate in coming-of-age ceremonies, date, and marry.

[pbrower2a]

It should be obvious that including the flag on U.S. military uniforms is not a violation of the flag code.

As a decal or a patch it seems to be acceptable.  It is then not clothing or material for something else.

[pbrower2a]

Partial spoof of Eleanor Rigby, referring to some of the people that I saw at a Wal*Mart today:

Must be a moron! Wearing no mask when we're having a plague!

You might just die!

Children without masks! They might get sick just by being with you!

That is no lie!

All the stupid people -- where do they all come from!
All the stupid people -- where DO  they all come from!

Oh, look at all the stupid people!
Oh, look at all the stupid people!

[pbrower2a]

Partial spoof of Eleanor Rigby, referring to some of the people that I saw at a Wal*Mart today:

Must be a moron! Wearing no mask when we're having a plague!

You might just die!

Children without masks! They might get sick just by being with you!

That is no lie!

All the stupid people -- where do they all come from!
All the stupid people -- where DO  they all come from!

Oh, look at all the stupid people!
Oh, look at all the stupid people!

I noticed in a Wal*Mart today lots of people with expensive tattoos... but no masks! I am not going to judge tattoos unless they have gang or racist (White Power)  significance. I can think of other ways to spend money that I would find more satisfying. I suppose that if I had to get a tattoo it might be something like Euler's identity

 Euler's identity is often cited as an example of deep mathematical beauty.[3] Three of the basic arithmetic operations occur exactly once each: addition, multiplication, and exponentiation. The identity also links five fundamental mathematical constants:[4]

The number 0, the additive identity.
The number 1, the multiplicative identity.
The number π (π = 3.141...).
The number e (e = 2.718...), a.k.a. Euler's number, which occurs widely in mathematical analysis.
The number i, the imaginary unit of the complex numbers.
Furthermore, the equation is given in the form of an expression set equal to zero, which is common practice in several areas of mathematics.

e^πi -1 = 0

or perhaps a musical instrument. Cello, maybe?

OK, with those tastes I probably don't  fit the clientele of a tattoo parlor.

But still, consumer spending is a choice, and people with beautiful tattoos should not risk denying the view of those to those who appreciate tattoo art just because they die pointlessly young,