Plan B Forum

MajGenl.Meade wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:16 am

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”

Lord Jim wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 06, 2020 6:08 am

we can’t risk China starting a war with us while the whole globe battles a pandemic.

I have no doubt that this crisis has had a significant impact on US military readiness; undoubtedly to greater extent than the public does (or should ) know...

The "good news" (if that's what you want to call it) is that those countries that would normally be counted on to attempt to exploit this situation... like Iran, China, Russia,...(The Russians in particular have been lying their butts off about the extent of infection in their country) are in the same boat we are, and thus are poorly positioned to make any substantial territory grabs or other aggressive military moves...

(If someone who hasn’t used their monthly allotment of Globe articles wanted to C/P this one here, I wouldn’t object.)

BoSoxGal wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 08, 2020 2:53 am

RIP John Prine

400,000 cases later, Trump defends his February claim that the coronavirus was going away on its own

On February 23, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro addressed a memo to President Donald Trump warning that as many as 2 million Americans could die from the coronavirus. Trump wants you to believe it was never brought to his attention.

That memo and another similarly dire memo Navarro authored in January were https://www.axios.com/exclusive-navarro ... y by Axios. Asked about them during the latest White House coronavirus task force briefing, Trump played dumb.

“I didn’t see ’em, but I heard some memos talking about pandemic [sic],” Trump said on Tuesday. “I didn’t see ’em, I didn’t look for ’em either. But that was about the same time as I felt that we should do it, that was about the same time that we closed it down.”

It’s true that by February 23, Trump had restricted travel from China. But the virus was already spreading within the United States. And Trump’s public statements belie the revisionist history he’s now offering about how he took the coronavirus seriously from the beginning.

For instance, during a news conference on February 26, Trump said, “when you have 15 [coronavirus cases], and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.”

But instead of going down “close to zero,” the United States now has nearly 400,000 cases less than two months out from Trump uttering those words. During Tuesday’s briefing, a reporter pressed him on this point.

“When Peter Navarro did circulate those memos, you were still downplaying the threat of coronavirus in the US,” the reporter said. “You were saying things like, ‘I think it’s a problem that is going to go away within a couple of days —’”

“Which I’m right about,” Trump interjected.

The reporter continued: “You said ‘within a couple of days the cases will be down to zero.’”

Given the current magnitude of coronavirus cases in the US, you might think Trump’s comment about coronavirus going away on its own would be too much even for him to try and defend. You’d be wrong.

“Well, the cases really didn’t build up for a while,” Trump replied.

Trump later claimed that even if he had read the memo, it wouldn’t have made any difference because “I basically did what the memo said.” But he didn’t.

Navarro’s memo recommended significant immediate federal investment in personal protection equipment (PPE) for health care workers. But federal agencies largely held off on such expenditures until mid-March, when the crisis was already spinning out of control. Trump’s line on that point has been that states should’ve done more to help themselves.

If Trump really didn’t learn of Navarro’s memo until media reports about it in recent days, it’s an indictment of his administration — after all, you’d expect a top official’s conclusion that as many as 2 million Americans could die from a deadly disease would be worth bringing to his attention. But if he did see it and not only didn’t act but told the public that the coronavirus would go away “like a miracle” as he did on February 27, then in some ways that’s even worse.

What we do know is that, for whatever reason, Trump was indulging in wishful thinking during a critical period in which more proactive measures could’ve saved lives. And as a result, the goalposts have now moved to a point where Trump is preparing to tout as many as 100,000 American deaths as a win.

Walgreen to offer 15 minute COVID-19 testing.

Walgreens to open 15 drive-thru testing sites for the coronavirus across 7 states

Walgreens said Tuesday that it plans to open 15 drive-thru testing locations for the coronavirus across seven states, starting later this week.

The sites will be in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee and Texas, the drugstore chain said in a news release. They will use Abbott Laboratories’ rapid COVID-19 test.

Walgreen’s expansion of drive-thru testing marks the acceleration of an effort that the White House announced more than three weeks ago. President Donald Trump met with leaders of major U.S. retailers and health-care companies March 13 and announced in the Rose Garden that four companies — Walmart, Target, CVS Health and Walgreens — would host drive-thru testing in their parking lots. The U.S. has lagged behind other countries in the availability of coronavirus testing.

Since then, only about a handful of sites have opened in the retailers’ parking lots. Most are staffed by government health-care workers. Walmart has two drive-thrus and Walgreens has one drive-thru in the Chicago area, but they restrict tests to first responders. CVS has a drive-thru in Massachusetts and said Monday that it would open two new drive-thru locations: one in Atlanta and one near Providence, Rhode Island. These latest sites are not in CVS parking lots, but at larger locations that can support multiple lanes of cars.

In interviews, Walmart and CVS executives have acknowledged challenges with the rollout, saying it’s been difficult to get protective gear for workers and has taken time to coordinate with state and federal officials.

Walgreens said in a news release that it chose the new sites with the Department of Health and Human Services based on anticipated hot spots for cases of COVID-19. It said it expects to test up to 3,000 people per day across the sites. [woopee]

Tests will be by appointment only. Walgreens pharmacists will oversee the testing, which will be outside of the stores. Members of the public who show COVID-19 symptoms will fill out an assessment on Walgreens’ website or its app. If they qualify for the test, they will make an appointment for a drive-thru site.

ex-khobar Andy wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 06, 2020 1:57 pm

I don't think that Kushner is as smart as Goebbels. Goebbels was deliberately lying to advance some purpose. Kushner and his FIL both believe that they alone have the truth and that they are the sharpest minds on the planet.