All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[JCAll]

The vile immorality of this administration continues among the pandemic they let get out of control :no

After Kushner says 'it's our stockpile,' HHS website changed to echo his comments on federal crisis role

I'm just amazed. I thought we had elected the worst possible person for the job, but impossibly he managed to find someone even worse to pass the buck on to.

[Tami]

I'm just amazed. I thought we had elected the worst possible person for the job, but impossibly he managed to find someone even worse to pass the buck on to.

Not surprising, Ivanka married her father. Jared is proving more and more how much he is like Trump.

[AnakinFlair]

Gov. Parsons in Missouri finally pulled his head out his ass and issued a stay at home order for the state through April 24- starting 12:01 am Monday morning. So it looks like we have the weekend to go out and catch the damn thing first.

[Malvolio]

At what point can certain speech be considered as reckless endangerment?

We have voluntarily given up our right to assembly and that is something we can debate. However, we shouldn't try to test the constitutionality of these measures at the risk of our own lives.

[PwrdOn]

At what point can certain speech be considered as reckless endangerment?

Frankly, I don't understand how we ever let the right declare themselves as the "pro-freedom" side when the only reason they ever talk about free speech at all is as cover to be racist. The Republicans obviously don't have any actual concern for the constitution or coronavirus patients, all they care about is preserving a socioeconomic system that has enriched them at the expense of the general public, a system that is right now seems headed for an inevitable collapse that no amount of propaganda has the power to stop. Let them say whatever nonsense they want, just make sure no one you care about is listening to it.

[worstblogever]

I read a pretty good Twitter thread about how, to some unknown extent, the true death toll from Covid-19 will be a mystery in the U.S.

There are many who have already died from "pneumonia" or "natural causes" and were never tested for the virus, since December. So it will undoubtedly be inaccurately undercounted.
The CIA is already casting doubt on China's final number of deaths as suppressed. And the same is expected for Russia. If they do it, why wouldn't we?
We already know this administration will hide American deaths to avoid looking bad. 5,000 people died in Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and Trump was trying to claim the number was like 6.

So when they say the final number will be in the range of 100,000 to 240,000... we're never gonna know how high it actually is. But it's likely going to be above those estimates.

[Tami]

I read a pretty good Twitter thread about how, to some unknown extent, the true death toll from Covid-19 will be a mystery in the U.S.

There are many who have already died from "pneumonia" or "natural causes" and were never tested for the virus, since December. So it will undoubtedly be inaccurately undercounted.
The CIA is already casting doubt on China's final number of deaths as suppressed. And the same is expected for Russia. If they do it, why wouldn't we?
We already know this administration will hide American deaths to avoid looking bad. 5,000 people died in Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and Trump was trying to claim the number was like 6.

So when they say the final number will be in the range of 100,000 to 240,000... we're never gonna know how high it actually is. But it's likely going to be above those estimates.

Barring any interference by Republicans, Congress (House, Senate) is probably going to launch an investigation into this. You might be right, but I'm sure that anything kept secret twon't be kept secret for long.

[shooshoomanjoe]

Frankly, I don't understand how we ever let the right declare themselves as the "pro-freedom" side when the only reason they ever talk about free speech at all is as cover to be racist. The Republicans obviously don't have any actual concern for the constitution or coronavirus patients, all they care about is preserving a socioeconomic system that has enriched them at the expense of the general public, a system that is right now seems headed for an inevitable collapse that no amount of propaganda has the power to stop. Let them say whatever nonsense they want, just make sure no one you care about is listening to it.

We don't, which is why they are constantly mocked for it.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, as well as 2019, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day posted profiles of the current U.S. House Representative for South Carolina’s 3rd District, Jeff Duncan, who in that original spotlight, we discussed the fact that Rep. Duncan hung out with the very, very insane Rick Wiles to discuss his desire to investigate President Obama’s birth certificate, as well as the time he had Secretary of State John Kerry testifying at a Benghazi hearing and asked him why the United States embassy in Libya was smuggling arms to Syrian rebels (for which Kerry schooled him like a kindergarten teacher). Duncan has also warned against a federal gun registry, warning that it would be used so that liberals could hunt down every last gun owner and hack them to death with a machete, just like how “the Hutus slaughtered the Tutsis in Rwanda”. Duncan has also compared illegal immigrants to “vagrants and animals”, and responded to the Paris Terror attacks with a Twitter post that read, “How's that Syrian refugee resettlement look now? How about that mass migration into Europe? Terrorism is alive & well in the world. #No” which conveniently assumed that attackers were refugees from Syria (when in fact, they were from France and Belgium). Duncan also gleefully participated in Chik-Fil-A Apprecation Day to support the fast food chain’s anti-gay support, denies climate change, and voted against Hurricane Sandy relief.

Oh, and speaking of things we’ve covered in his voting record, Duncan has sponsored a bill to require women across the nation to be forced to undergo a medically unnecessary ultrasound prior to getting an abortion and was a big supporter of the 2013 Government Shutdown, so much so that when the time came to reopen the government, Duncan voted to keep it closed. Our last note would be that upon the death of Antonin Scalia, Duncan was one of 27 Congressmen who sent a letter to Mitch McConnell immediately demanding the nomination of ANY Supreme Court Justice for the next year be blocked. On the 2015 anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting, Duncan got on social media to wonder if France would institute “knife control” because one teacher was injured in a stabbing the day prior.

And, in the twelve months since we last left Rep. Duncan, he has nearly thrown his back out carrying water for the Trump administration whenever possible, like in May of 2017 when he went on social media to demand apologies and retractions from CNN because they reported that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had conducted undisclosed meetings with the Russian Ambassador during the presidential transition period, claiming the story was false (it isn’t).

By October of 2017, Duncan’s rage against Trump critics wasn’t limited only to the media, but also to members of his own party, when he said any Republican who spoke ill of Trump had “drank the water” and was “part of the swamp”. Then again, you have to consider that perhaps Jeff Duncan is a deranged idiot, especially when in December of 2017, he still was saying that the GOP’s U.S. Senate candidate in Alabama, Roy Moore, was “a man of high principle and steadfast character”, which is a rather flattering thing to say about a fanatical racist pedophile.

South Carolina’s 3rd District which has a +19 Republican lean in the Cook Partisan Voting Index.
and in 2018, that led Duncan to a victory with 68% of the vote to get re-elected to a fifth term in office. And, looking to his voting record, if you were wondering, yes, he’s still awful:

• January 27th, 2019: Jeff Duncan voted against HJR 30, which was meant to express disapproval of Donald Trump not acting against Russian Federation for attacking our democracy. You see, he’s fine with our nation being sublet to Vladimir Putin.
• January 23rd, 2019: Rep. Duncan also voted against HR 648, because he was gleefully enjoying the longest government shutdown in history.
• February 28th, 2019: Jeff Duncan votes against HR 1112, a bill which would have required universal background checks on all firearm purchases, and close the gun show loophole.
• March 7th, 2019: Duncan votes against HR 183, a resolution to condemn anti-Semitism as a hateful extension of intolerance.
• March 14th, 2019: Rep. Duncan votes against HJR 46, which sane members of Congress voted for to reject Donald Trump’s “national emergency” regarding the U.S. border and his attempts to reallocate funds for a border wall without Congressional approval.
• April 4th, 2019: Jeff Duncan is one of 158 Republicans who choose to vote against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).
• May 17th, 2019: Duncan votes against The Equality Act, which would have prevented discrimination towards Americans based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.
• June 4th, 2019: Rep. Duncan can’t be arsed to vote for the Dreamers Act, because he’s too xenophobic and partisan to care about immigration reform.
• July 16th, 2019: Jeff Duncan votes against a resolution to condemn Donald Trump for his racist statements that four people of color in Congress should “go back where they came from”.
• October 17th, 2019: Duncan is one of 60 Republicans who vote against HJ Res 77, which opposed Donald Trump’s disastrous decision to abandon Syrian Kurdish forces in Northeast Syria to the mercies of a Turkish invasion.
• October 23rd, 2019: Duncan is one of 41 Republicans who, while staring down the possibility of Donald Trump being impeached, stage a ridiculous publicity stunt in response by crashing a classified impeachment inquiry hearing for a “protest”.
• December 18th, 2019: Rep. Duncan ignores his Congressional duty to hold a president who has been proven to commit high crimes and misdemeanors accountable and votes against the impeachment of Donald Trump.

After being in office for almost a decade, Jeff Duncan has no signature legislation he’s worked on, and has simply used his tenure in office to be a partisan hack who flings whatever s*** he finds around like a deranged simian. Perhaps no moment underlines that more when after the GOP Senate refused to allow witnesses or any real impeachment trial for Donald Trump in February, he falsely claimed the result proved that Trump had been “vindicated”.

Because he’s a tool.
 

[PaulBullion]

Justice! Democrats.

[Tendrin]

Surprise, though, Shaun King is being accused of exploiting the Coronavirus to run yet another grift.

https://www.dailydot.com/irl/shaun-k...us-fundraiser/

Organizer Leslie Mac, who co-founded the Ferguson Response Network and co-created the Safety Pin Box subscription service, tweeted on Sunday to discourage people from contributing to the C19 Help Squad.
“I knew he couldn’t resist jumping in to capitalize on this crisis,” Mac wrote. “Don’t let him.”


“You’re an opportunistic predator, and you should be ashamed of yourself,” wrote one user who said they “possibly” have coronavirus.


“You are better supporting better groups,” wrote journalist Ernest Owens.
Other commenters criticized the vagueness of the platform’s description, which reads, “We’re building a team to help people, families, & businesses in need. Follow @C19HelpSquad & commit to helping at least one person in need. More info to come.”


King, one of the faces of the Black Lives Matter movement in its early days, is no stranger to controversy. In 2015, conservative media outlets questioned whether King is really biracial. Last year, he came under fire for the vilification of Black women who have long called him out for his lack of transparency and accountability in other fundraisers. Most recently, activist DeRay Mckesson penned a long letter calling King out for multiple transgressions and asking him to totally remove himself from fundraising.
Social media pages for the C19 Help Squad went up last weekend, and the website for the platform went up on Tuesday.
“We are forming a national team of everyday people to help. We want YOU, no, WE NEED YOU to join us,” reads a post on the @C19HelpSquad Instagram page. ⁣“If you want to GIVE help, you can join us. ⁣If you need to GET help, you can join us.”
The Instagram page, which has more than 33,000 followers, links to the website, where people can opt to give or receive help. According to the description, donors who join the “team” will be matched with someone who has requested goods or services according to their needs.

The review section of the Facebook page of the platform has received a rating of 2 out of 5, with negative reviews referencing King’s past efforts and calling the fundraiser a “scam.”
As one Twitter user pointed out, the “privacy policy” section of the C19 Help Squad website leads to a page with error, which only adds to growing suspicion.
The platform’s Instagram page, however, appears to be doing well. Many people have commented on the three posts on its page, expressing their gratitude or sharing their own situation as someone in need.
The Daily Dot has reached out to King’s team and will update the report if he responds.

[PaulBullion]

Sanders supporting vlogger Jimmy Dore called Bernie Sanders a "************" for not doing enough revolutionary stuff during this pandemic and it's beautiful.

[Tendrin]

Sanders supporting vlogger Jimmy Dore called Bernie Sanders a "************" for not doing enough revolutionary stuff during this pandemic and it's beautiful.

Ugh. Jimmy Dore. :P

[Steel Inquisitor]

We don't, which is why they are constantly mocked for it.

PwrdOn's language implies that the Democrats are in what the GOP are doing, pushing the narrative that both sides are not only the same but two wings of the same bird. It's leftist propaganda.

[Jim Kelly]

Donald Trump ordered 3M to divert all their production of medical masks and gowns away from Canada and Latin America to the U.S.A. However, 3M has resisted such an unwise action. And here's the hitch, all the pulp for the production of medical masks and gowns comes from one mill in Nanaimo, BC, Canada--Harmac Pacific.

From the Tofino-Ucluelet Westerly News:

Production is heating up at Harmac Pacific to produce a special paper pulp used in the manufacture of disposable surgical masks, gowns and other medical products.

Those products, worn to help prevent the spread of disease, are in short supply due to the COVID-19 crisis and the U.S. customer that produces them has doubled its order for the K10S pulp.

“It’s a customer out of the States and we’ve been supplying them for years, but in light of what’s going on in the lack of medical supplies, they’ve doubled their order with us in the last week, so we’re doing everything we can to meet that demand,” said Levi Sampson, Harmac president.


Sampson said the Harmac mill is the world’s only producer of the particular grade of paper pulp used in the manufacture of surgical masks and gowns and that the mill has been producing it since before he came to work there in 2008.

“K10S is the pulp that we’re producing for these medical supplies. We’re the only one that produces it,” he said. “Different pulp mills run different grades of pulp – almost kind of like recipes.”

K10S pulp is made from western red cedar that produces a soft fibre that makes it suitable for the final products made from it.

“It’s been tweaked over the years to come up with the right formula that allows it to go into the medical supplies,” Sampson said.

Ramping up production means Harmac Pacific’s 320 full-time employees will continue turning out to do their jobs while people in other industries are off work because of efforts to control coronavirus spread. The mill is located on more than 100 hectares and is running a program of extra cleaning and disinfecting of washrooms, work stations and other facilities, and the workers on each shift should be able socially distance and maintain workplace conditions that will help them prevent spreading the virus.