The Countdown to the restart of the economy has begun.

[BoSoxGal]

BSG, how about this?




or this:
https://img.buffalonews.com/eyJidWNrZXQ ... VyIn19fQ==

Thanks, love it!

[Gob]

Norway and Denmark had lockdowns and their death rate is 4 or 5 times better (lower) than Sweden's. Not so clever now, those Swedes eh?

Indeed

[MajGenl.Meade]

Meade--That is true as well, and they are beginning to remove those restrictions. Of course, the SSwedish death toll (adjusted for population) is still lower than the American one, even with our "lockdown".

I'm not sure that's right. Johns Hopkins gives our rate as 232 deaths per million while Sweden's is 301 per million

However, they can take a crumb of comfort that they are currently doing better than:
New York 1,344
New Jersey 995
Conn. 781
Mass. number of the beast
Louisiana 473 (nice to see the backward states making an appearance in the top 5, eh rubato?)
Michigan 436
D.C. 416
Rhode Island 367

[Gob]

[ex-khobar Andy]

That is a really interesting table, Gob. I've been looking for that information. In other words, in UK and Netherlands (we are not allowed to call them Holland any more) the CoV death toll may actually be around double the official figure.

I'd be really curious to know what the factor is for the US - actually on a state-by-state basis, because they all use different counting methods.

[Gob]

Here you go mate.

[Scooter]

Woman who accused Fauci of sex assault now says Trump supporters paid her to lie

A woman who had accused Dr. Anthony Fauci of sexual assault now claims she was paid to lie about the public health expert by a pair of President Donald Trump’s supporters.

The woman says right-wing provocateur Jacob Wohl and his frequent accomplice Jack Burkman persuaded her to cast Fauci as the assailant using details from an actual sexual assault she survived just after high school, and they paid her to do it, reported Reason.

“The reality is that I’ve known Jacob since 2018 and that he charmed me into taking money to do this (see attached picture of us together),” said Diana Andrade in an email to the website. “[They also] had me do something like this…back in January.”

Andrade said she decided to abandon her claims and try to record incriminating evidence against the pair after Wohl asked her to find another woman to accuse Fauci of sexual assault — as they’ve done to former special counsel Robert Mueller and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

“Let me tell you something, Diana,” says Burkman on the nine-minute, 35-second call. “This guy shut the country down. He put 40 million people out of work. In a situation like that, you have to make up whatever you have to make up to stop that train and that’s the way life works, okay? That’s the way it goes.”

Andrade reminds the pair that COVID-19 was dangerous, and asked them to take the outbreak seriously — but Burkman seemed excited about mass deaths.

“Mother Nature has to clean the barn every so often,” Burkman says. “How real is it? Who knows? So what if 1 percent of the population goes? So what if you lose 400,000 people? 200,000 were elderly, the other 200,000 are the bottom of society. You got to clean out the barn. If it’s real, it’s a positive thing, for God’s sake.”

Andrade sounded horrified by his “survival of the fittest” argument, and then Wohl begged her to keep her mouth shut and stick with her story.

“What could be wrong, Diana?” Wohl asks. “You did a good job, you got paid. What’s the problem? What seems to be the issue? You’re freaking out. You’re texting me late at night. What’s the issue?”

Andrade asks whether a man who hand-delivered five figures to her in Los Angeles was actually a lawyer, as the pair claimed, and Wohl boasts that the attorney has White House connections.

“Yeah, he’s a real lawyer,” Wohl says. “He’s a good lawyer.”

Shortly after the call ended, Andrade decided to send the recording to Reason and expose the pair’s nefarious scheme.

“I don’t know how they do all these things and why they do all these things,” Andrade said. “Also, he tried to frame Mueller … I’m like, how is he not in jail?”

Good question.

So now we see, falsely accusing a man of rape is a small price to pay in the minds of these lowlifes, in order to get the economy going again. Oh, and who cares if hundreds of thousands of people die as a result?

[Darren]

U.S. Field Hospitals Stand Down, Most Without Treating Any COVID-19 Patients

"As hospitals were overrun by coronavirus patients in other parts of the world, the Army Corps of Engineers mobilized in the U.S., hiring private contractors to build emergency field hospitals around the country.

The endeavor cost more than $660 million, according to an NPR analysis of federal spending records.

But nearly four months into the pandemic, most of these facilities haven't treated a single patient."

https://www.npr.org/2020/05/07/85171231 ... O_g_FqlIQI

[Scooter]

Supreme Court refuses to lift Pennsylvania's shutdown order for businesses

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a challenge of Gov. Tom Wolf's shutdown order for non-life-sustaining businesses.

The application for stay was denied by Justice Samuel Alito on Wednesday.

A handful of businesses across Pennsylvania and Friends of Danny Devito, a 27-year-old law clerk from Allegheny County who is running for the 45th District seat in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, had appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court urging a stay against Wolf's March 19 executive order that closed nonessential businesses to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The appeal to the high court occurred late last month after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected a similar request April 24.

"The Executive Order has and is continuing to cause irreparable harm to the petitioners and all those businesses and entities in the same non-life-sustaining classification as petitioners," according to the petition to the Supreme Court.

Beyond the Friends of Danny Devito, involved in the lawsuit are eastern Pennsylvania real estate agent Kathy Gregory, B&J Laundry LLC in Erie, Blueberry Hill Public Golf Course & Lounge in eastern Pennsylvania, and Caledonia Land Co. in Warren County. They further argued that they and tens of thousands of businesses were at risk at not being able to recover from the severe financial distress caused by Wolf's order, and that the orders were unconstitutional. Named in the case were Wolf and Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine.

The Supreme Court did not explain the reason why it didn't intervene in the case.

In a filing to the Supreme Court, Pennsylvania Chief Deputy Attorney General J. Bart DeLone defended the action.

"It is axiomatic that the federal government generally lacks police power, which is reserved to the states," wrote Delone. "It is equally well-established that those powers are at their broadest in the States’ efforts to protect the lives of their citizens. Exercising those powers is the most fundamental of public policies. The Court has been loath to enter into such matters. It should not do so here."

Looks like the pro-death crowd are not going to get a sympathetic hearing if they were hoping that the courts would support their reckless disregard for life.

[Scooter]

If we start a conspiracy theory that COVID-19 turns you gay, would Republicans stay home?

Actor George Takei has a brilliant idea to trick Trump supporters into following common-sense guidelines for slowing the spread of coronavirus during the global pandemic.

He wants to start a conspiracy theory that COVID-19 turns people gay.

“I’m starting a rumor on the Breitbart chats that Covid-19 turns you gay,” Takei tweeted. “That should keep a lot of these idiots at home.”

Despite the obvious joke, the far-right outlet that served as a mouthpiece for Donald Trump during the presidential campaign, quickly rushed out a story denying that their readers were “idiots” who would fall for it.

“It remains unclear if Takei’s reference to ‘Breitbart chats’ was meant to refer to reader comments sections or potentially social media replies,” they warned readers.

The site has repeatedly “reported” on a conspiracy theory that 5G wireless technology is linked to the spread of the virus.

Right-wing politicians, militia groups, anti-vaccers, conspiracy theorists, and Trump supporters have recently taken to ignoring health guidelines meant to protect lives. Breitbart‘s target audience includes the armed protestors sparking confrontations in state capitol buildings and GOP governors who are lifting stay-at-home orders while the number of deaths in their state continues to climb.

[Econoline]

SURE, THE VELOCIRAPTORS ARE STILL
ON THE LOOSE, BUT THAT’S NO REASON
NOT TO REOPEN JURASSIC PARK

Hello, Peter Ludlow here, CEO of InGen, the company behind the wildly successful dinosaur-themed amusement park, Jurassic Park. As you’re all aware, after an unprecedented storm hit the park, we lost power and the velociraptors escaped their enclosure and killed hundreds of park visitors, prompting a two-month shutdown of the park. Well, I’m pleased to announce that, even though the velociraptors are still on the loose, we will be opening Jurassic Park back up to the public!

Now, I understand why some people might be skeptical about reopening an amusement park when there are still blindingly fast, 180-pound predators roaming around. But the fact of the matter is, velociraptors are intelligent, shifty creatures that are not going to be contained any time soon, so we might as well just start getting used to them killing a few people every now and then. Some might argue that we should follow the example of other parks that have successfully dealt with velociraptor escapes. But here at Jurassic Park, we’ve never been ones to listen to the recommendations of scientists, or safety experts, or bioethicists, so why would we start now?

As some of you know, Dr. Ian Malcolm, our lead safety consultant, had recommended that we wait until the velociraptors have been located and contained before reopening the park, so he wasn’t thrilled when we told him the news. I believe his exact words were “you were so preoccupied with whether you could reopen the park, you didn’t stop to think whether you should.” Talk about a guy on a high horse.

That said, you’ll be pleased to know that, rather than double down on our containment efforts, we’ve decided to dissolve the velociraptor containment task force altogether, and focus instead on how we can get people back into the park as quickly as possible. So rather than concentrating on so-called life-saving measures like “staying in designated safe areas” or “masking your scent,” we’ll be focusing on the details that will get our customers really excited, like a wider selection of fun hats, a pterodactyl-shaped gondola ride to the top of the island, and a brand new Gordon Ramsay designed menu at the Cretaceous Cafe.

In addition to satisfying our customers, the decision to reopen the park is also about allowing the furloughed employees of Jurassic Park to get back to the work they love. Could we have continued to pay their salaries for several months until we got the velociraptor situation under control? Definitely. We’re the wealthiest nature preserve on the planet after all. And will some of the employees returning to work have their limbs torn off and tossed into the air like a juggler tossing bowling pins? Undoubtedly. But we’re confident that with a few safety precautions put in place, we’ll be able to keep the level of workplace injuries and deaths just below levels that would elicit widespread public outrage. And keeping things just below widespread public outrage levels is our gold standard for all of the decisions we make here at Jurassic Park.

And speaking of injuries, I want to take a moment to thank our Jurassic Park EMTs. They’re the real heroes here, am I right? In the process of responding to velociraptor attacks, many of our EMTs get mauled and dismembered by velociraptors themselves. That’s why, as a sign of appreciation, we will be repainting the Jurassic Park ambulance with the words “Hero Mobile” in big bubble letters. We think this is a far more meaningful token of gratitude than the salary increase they requested.

I know many of you out there are going to be hesitant to return to Jurassic Park knowing there are still velociraptors roaming the preserve, but rest assured things will return to normal sooner rather than later. The life expectancy of a velociraptor is only 15-20 years, so we’re confident that these attacks will eventually run their course.

In the meantime, will more visitors die? Yes. Will more Jurassic Park staff die? Yes. But know that their sacrifice will not be forgotten — we plan to erect a small plaque dedicated to all of the velociraptor attack victims in the far back corner of the gift shop next to the T-shirts that say I SURVIVED A VISIT TO JURASSIC PARK AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY T-SHIRT. It’s the least we could do.

So pack your suitcases, and get ready to be reacquainted with the newly reopened, and only slightly more dangerous, Jurassic Park! And remember, life finds a way… unless you’re one of the unlucky ones that gets attacked by a velociraptor, then you’re probably screwed.

[RayThom]

[Darren]

"A small but growing number of county officials are challenging Gov. Tom Wolf’s control of the state’s (Pennsylvania) staged, regional reopening from the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns, with majority commissioners in two midstate counties unilaterally declaring Friday that they will be considering their counties in the “yellow” phase of the state’s reopening plan effective May 15.

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/05/d ... -plan.html

[Scooter]

CDC reopening guidelines will reportedly 'never see the light of day'

For six weeks, the White House's official coronavirus guidelines served as a foundation of the federal response to the pandemic. On April 30, those standards quietly faded away, without much notice or fanfare.

But don't worry, the administration said, those guidelines would be replaced with something even more relevant to the changing national landscape: a new, multi-phase directive, laying out a series of benchmarks federal officials want states to meet when weighing how best to reopen.

Almost immediately, there were signs of trouble. The president, for example, seemed to celebrate states' decisions to ignore the new policy unveiled by his own White House. The Washington Post reported this week that Donald Trump and members of his team had quietly "backed away from their own guidelines."

Making matters slightly worse, the Associated Press took this a step further, reporting that detailed documents, "created by the nation's top disease investigators," and intended to provide step-by-step advice to officials, have been "shelved" by the administration.

The 17-page report by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention team, titled "Guidance for Implementing the Opening Up America Again Framework," was researched and written to help faith leaders, business owners, educators and state and local officials as they begin to reopen. It was supposed to be published last Friday, but agency scientists were told the guidance "would never see the light of day," according to a CDC official.

The AP obtained a copy of the federal guidance -- which were separate from the vague directive issued by the White House on Friday -- and the report suggests the document was poised to be quite important.

The rejected reopening guidance was described by one of the federal officials as a touchstone document that was to be used as a blueprint for other groups inside the CDC who are creating the same type of instructional materials for other facilities. The guidance contained detailed advice for making site-specific decisions related to reopening schools, restaurants, summer camps, churches, day care centers and other institutions. It had been widely shared within the CDC and included detailed "decision trees," flow charts to be used by local officials to think through different scenarios.

And it now appears the "specific, tailored recommendations for reopening" won't reach their intended audience, at least not through official channels.

[Scooter]

Ohio urges employers to report workers fearful of returning to work

Fear of catching Covid-19 will now cost you more than sleep in Ohio. The Ohio state government has asked employers to report anyone who refuses to return to work because they are concerned about the coronavirus pandemic. Reported workers may be ineligible for unemployment benefits.

The coronavirus has now claimed more than 73,000 lives in the US, more than a 1,000 of them in Ohio alone. Quarantine measures have triggered an unprecedented wave of job losses and the state’s unemployment fund is in crisis.

Ohio’s department of job and family services has now asked employers “to report employees who quit or refuse work when it is available due to Covid-19”. The information collected on the “Covid-19 Employee Fraud” form can then be used to evaluate potential unemployment benefits claims from people who are refusing “suitable work”, and are thus ineligible for benefits.

Ohio started reopening non-essential businesses last week. Polling shows the majority of the state’s residents oppose reopening the economy, and the state, like the rest of the US, still lacks the tests to assess the true scale of infections.

An email sent to employers last Friday notifying them of the form said: “Ohio law prohibits individuals from receiving unemployment benefits if they refuse to accept offers of suitable work, or quit work, without good cause.”

Kimberly Hall, the department’s head, told reporters on Monday that the department will look at claims of employee fraud on a case-by-case basis.

“We recognize that there could be a difference of opinion in regards to whether or not an employer is meeting health and safety standards,” she told reporters. “It’s basically a reasonable person’s standards.”

Like many states, Ohio has been grappling with challenges of balancing the health of the economy while Covid-related deaths continue in the state.

As of Wednesday, Ohio has seen over 21,500 cases of the virus and 1,114 confirmed deaths. The state saw 90 deaths on Wednesday – the second highest in a day, after 29 April.

The state has said it does not have the capacity to test people who are experiencing mild symptoms. As it works toward its goal of administering 22,000 tests a day by the end of the month, it is prioritizing essential healthcare workers and patients who are hospitalized or going through a medical procedure.

In the midst of the shutdown order, more than 1.1 million people in a state of about 11.5 million have filed unemployment claims. The state has struggled to clear its backlog of unemployment claims, leaving some who have filed claims without payments.

Employers have voiced concerns that employees are incentivized not to return to work in the case they get more from unemployment payments. If a person’s unemployment claim is accepted, they receive 50% of their normal wage in unemployment insurance, up to $480 a week for an individual, along with an additional $600 from the federal government.

“We are concerned about unemployment serving as a disincentive for individuals who have been laid off to get back to work when the economy reopens,” said a spokesperson for US senator Rob Portman, a Republican from Ohio.

On 1 May, the state allowed healthcare providers, like dentist and veterinarian practices, to reopen and elective surgeries to go forward. Starting Monday, general office workplaces and manufacturing, distribution and construction sites were allowed to reopen as part of the second phase of the reopening plan.

A host of businesses, such as restaurants, movie theaters and hair salons remain closed, as do schools. Governor Mike DeWine said he will announce this week when those businesses will be allowed to reopen.

Under its reopening plan, the state has issued broad guidelines for safe business practices, including wearing face masks and practicing social distancing. Local health departments within the state are charged with ensuring businesses follow safety protocols.

“With any decision, there’s a risk,” DeWine said when introducing the plan. “What we did today is a risk. Doing nothing is a risk.”

Worker advocacy groups have criticized the government’s crackdown on employees who refuse to return to work due to the virus, saying it will ultimately harm vulnerable workers, especially those who may not have the capacity to properly fight claims from their employer that they can safely return to work.

“Leaving employees, who have little access to evidence needed to prove their employer failed to follow Covid protocols and who are largely without access to legal counsel and advice … will be too much for many with legitimate claims to navigate and will put working Ohioans at a disadvantage,” said a statement from advocacy groups Policy Matters Ohio and Ohio Poverty Law Center.

[ex-khobar Andy]

That's a shame. Ohio's Dr Amy Acton (Health Commissioner) has had good reviews for being very straight with people but I see that the Ohio Repubs have been trying to limit her authority.

[BoSoxGal]

FUCKING BLOODLUST CAPITALISM

[dales]

Careful there BSG, you'll bust a gasket.

[Lord Jim]

CDC reopening guidelines will reportedly 'never see the light of day'

This story illustrates the historic level of depravity and indifference to the lives of Americans to which this Administration has sunk...

No longer content with just dissembling falsely positive projections, Trump and his henchmen have now resorted to attempting to prevent as much legitimate, life saving information as possible from ever reaching the public because these realities conflict with his maniacal "open now" policy...

Supreme Court refuses to lift Pennsylvania's shutdown order for businesses

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a challenge of Gov. Tom Wolf's shutdown order for non-life-sustaining businesses.

The application for stay was denied by Justice Samuel Alito on Wednesday...

This is indeed very good news...

It demonstrates that even this Court, will not stand as a conduit for Trump to advance his insane murderous schemes..


So sad that at least so far, almost none of the GOP Silent Sams and Silent Samanthas on Capitol Hill have screwed up the courage to stand publicly against Trump's vigorous advocacy for violating his own Administration's official guidelines for safe business re-openings...

[Gob]

Donald Trump has said coronavirus will “go away without a vaccine” and is expecting 95,000 or more deaths in the US, as Mike Pence’s press secretary tested positive for coronavirus.

The president’s comments, at an event with Republican lawmakers, capped a horror week in the US, in which it was revealed unemployment had risen to 14.7%, up from 3.5% in February, with 20 million people losing their jobs in April.

The news that Mike Pence’s press secretary Katie Miller had Covid-19, having recently tested negative, again brought the danger of the virus to the White House inner circle. Katie Miller is married to the White House immigration adviser and speech writer Stephen Miller. On Thursday one of Trump’s personal valets tested positive to the virus.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... -top-95000