Countries Can Save Many Lives By Masking, in IHME Coronavirus Projections

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Dennis SILVERMAN

The August 6 IHME projections show which countries can benefit greatly from going to 95% masking.  They also show which countries have large increases in deaths in their future, without greater mitigations.  The new projections have been extended to December 1.

We present a table of Countries, Current Deaths as of August 6 from Johns Hopkins, Projected Deaths to December 1 with present policies, projected deaths With Masking, and Lives Saved by masking.  The Table focuses on countries with large projected increases, or with large numbers of lives to be saved by masking.

Country Current Deaths Projected Deaths With Masking Lives Saved
US 160,091 295,011 228,271 66,740
Brazil 98,493 192,511 167,644 24,867
Mexico 50,517 118,810 104,803 14,007
India 40,699 —- —— —-
Iran 17,976 71,548 38,387 33,161
Russia 14,579 55,314 20,422 34,892
Peru 20,228 44,232 43,829 403
Bangladesh 3,306 43,764 11,653 32,111
S. Africa 11,010 41,391 31,529 9,862
Ethiopia 479 38,081 13,603 24,478
Kenya 460 16,510 5,124 11,386
Indonesia 5,521 15,135 10,714 4,421
Pakistan 6,035 12,820 7,179 5,641
Senegal 244 6,878 2,904 3,974
Israel 576 6,180 5,257 923

Some of the countries do not have the resources to find all of the Coronavirus deaths.  The IHME does not include predictions for India, perhaps because of its large 1.35 billion population, and its combination of many states and large cities.  Clearly, the US as the third largest country at 0.33 billion, needs a masking policy more than other countries to save 67,000 lives by December 1.  The sum of the four next largest Lives Saved countries, Russia, Iran, Bangladesh and Brazil, is 125,000 lives saved, a very significant number.

The four countries with the largest number of cases are the US which is approaching 5 million, Brazil which is approaching 3 million, India which has reached 2 million, and Russia, which is approaching 0.9 million.

Update, August 13.  The IHME has added an article showing that masking Sub-Saharan Africa could save 60,125 lives by Dec. 1, reducing projected deaths from 126,225 to 66,100.  The four key countries are South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Senegal, which we have added to the table above.  Their sum of lives saved by masking is 49,700, or 83% of the total of lives saved in Sub-Saharan Africa.  The population of Sub-Saharan Africa was 856 million in 2010.

Posted in Coronavirus, COVID-19, Health Care | Leave a comment

IHME Projections to December: 67,000 Savable by Masking

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Dennis SILVERMAN

The new IHME Coronavirus projections for the US are extended to December 1.  They show that 67,000 lives are savable if we went up to 95% masking.  The previous projection was to November 1, and was 32,000 lives savable.  This has now more than doubled.  Presently, about 55% of Americans wear masks when needed.  The IHME model assumes that 50% of Schools will be online only.

The estimates are that there is a 17%-18% chance of transmission without someone wearing a mask.  That is reduced to only a 3% chance with a mask.  The IHME model assumes that when deaths reach 8 per million in a state, that they will then impose mandates.

The new projections are 295,011 deaths by December 1 with present restrictions, which is reduced to 228,271 with 95% masking, a difference of about 67,000.  The 95% probability range of the deaths with present restrictions is 242,000 to 370,000.  The range for the masking 228,000 is 205,000 to 255,000, or about 10% of the 228,000.

Present deaths from Johns Hopkins are 160,091.  So the new projection is 135,000 more deaths by December 1, which with masking is reduced to 68,000.  The 67,000 reduction is about 50%.  We really should have masking everywhere it is useful, and enforce it even on those who are misinformed or inconsiderate.  Another data on CNN is that 10% of people cause 80% of infections.  You have to avoid such people, and stay away from such situations.  Remember, we managed to construct smoking free businesses and schools.

We show the IHME projected deaths for US states which have large projected increases, or in which a large number of lives can be saved by universal masking.  Afterwards, we discuss the states with large gains in the new projections.  States are ordered by projected deaths.  The Columns are the States, Johns Hopkins Current Deaths, the Projections, the projections With Masks, and Lives Saved with masking.

State Current Deaths Projections With Masks Lives Saved
CA 10,006 32,692 21,384 11,308
TX 8,569 27,435 24,305 3,130
FL 7,747 19,358 15,765 3,593
GA 4,026 11,288 8,163 3,125
OH 3,618 9,041 5,331 3,710
NC 2,126 8,862 3,849 5,013
LA 4,146 7,901 6,230 1,671
MO 1,302 5,436 2,793 2,643
CO 1,852 5,179 2,814 2,365
WA 1,653 5,075 2,606 2,469
AL 1,714 4,296 2,659 1,637
WI 978 3,708 1,546 2,162
SC 1,942 3,672 3,311 361
MS 1,825 3,464 2,814 650
NV 900 3,152 2,149 1,003
OR 339 2,992 959 2,033
OK 593 2,967 1,335 1,632
TN 1,186 2,903 1,827 1,076
AR 514 2,234 1,063 1,171

California lives saved are about 16.9% or 1/6 of the total lives saved.  North Carolina wasn’t even in my short list a week ago, and is now second, with 7.5%.  Ohio, Washington, and Wisconsin are also new to the list.  Together, California and North Carolina make up 24.4%, or about a quarter of lives saved.  Totaling the first six states, which are over 3,000 lives saved each, gives 29,879, or 45%.  Totaling all 11 states with over 2,000 lives saved gives 41,551, or 62%.  This allows campaigns for masking to focus their efforts, with the maximum benefits for those states.

The sharp rise in deaths in the next four months in all of the states in the table is going to give a shock to all of those states.  But, it may also leave them to doubt the model, especially with steep rises projected in the last month of November.

Posted in Coronavirus, COVID-19, Health Care, IHME Projections, Politics | Leave a comment

In International Democracy Survey, US Drops to 36th, and Only 70%.

Posted on August 5, 2020 by Dennis SILVERMAN

 

We show the 2020 Democracy ratings of countries of current concern to the US.  The source of the ratings is the V-Dem Institute at V-dem.net.  We use data from Version 10 of April 2020.  The North American Regional Center is the Kellog Institute of International Studies at the University of Notre Dame.  The main headquarters is the V-Dem Institute in the Dept. of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg.  They use 429 indicators, evaluated by 3,000 international experts.  This year, they have included 21 on Civic and Academic space.

92 countries are now autocracies, which now contain 54% of the global population.

Academic Freedom has declined 13% in autocratizing countries, and the right to peaceful assembly has declined 14% in those countries.

We include a table of democratic factor ratings for countries of current political and pandemic interest to the United States, by my outlook.  In the decade long comparison with 2009, when President Obama took office, the US was rated at 86% or 0.86.  It has now decreased to 70% in 2019, and is probably still decreasing.

The indexes are:

LDI: Liberal Democratic Index; and the rankings are based on this index;

EDI:  Electoral Democracy Index;

LCI:  Liberal Component Index;

ECI:  Egalitarian Component Index;

PCI:  Participatory Component Index;

DCI:  Deliberative Component Index.

The ranking of countries is based on the Liberal Democratic Index.

Rank Country LDI EDI LCI ECI PCI DCI
36 USA 0.70 0.80 0.88 0.67 0..66 0.67
21 Canada 0.78 0.87 0.89 0.91 0.65 0.93
68 Mexico 0.49 0.71 0.65 0.55 0.53 0.56
60 Brazil 0.51 0.67 0.73 0.41 0.58 0.64
13 U.K. 0.79 0.86 0.92 0.82 0.67 0.85
20 Germany 0.78 0.83 0.95 0.94 0.65 0.95
49 Israel 0.57 0.67 0.85 0.80 0.58 0.80
90 India 0.36 0.51 0.65 0.49 0.52 0.38
108 Lebanon 0.29 0.47 0.55 0.48 0.51 0.61
141 Iran 0.14 0.22 0.41 0.53 0.11 0.45
150 Belarus 0.12 0.26 0.27 0.81 0.23 0.21
153 Turkey 0.10 0.29 0.21 0.43 0.37 0.28
156 Russia 0.10 0.25 0.23 0.61 0.44 0.32
158 UAE 0.09 0.10 0.30 0.49 0.11 0.42
159 Cuba 0.09 0.20 0.27 0.85 0.44 0.31
174 China 0.05 0.08 0.17 0.34 0.16 0.59
175 Syria 0.04 0.15 0.11 0.21 0.20 0.04
177 Saudi A. 0.04 0.02 0.16 0.42 0.08 0.21
178 N. Korea 0.01 0.10 0.03 0.34 0.05 0.02

The 68% standard deviation of the ratings are a few percent, except for the DCI, where it is about 0.63.

The last ten countries listed are disturbingly much lower than we normally perceive, except for North Korea.  There is only one country below N. Korea, and it is Eritrea.

India under Modi has decreased in the Liberal Democracy Index from 55% in 2009 to 36% now.  Under Bolsonaro, Brazil has decreased from 76% in 2009 to 51% now.  Turkey under Erdogan has decreased from 46% in 2009 to 10% now.

Update:  August 10.  In Belarus, Lukashenko claims that he won the election by 80%, but there are opposition demonstrations.  Lukashenko has ruled Belarus for 26 years, since 1994.  He is backed by Russia.

Update:  August 15.  The UAE, United Arab Emirates, is a country of seven emirates or constitutional monarchies.  They just established diplomatic relations with Israel.

A previous article which I wrote on the 2019 report showed graphically the progress of Democracy since 1900.

Posted in 2020 Election, Affairs of State, China, Congress, Congressional Investigation, Criminal Justice System, Democracy Ratings, Donald Trump, Equal Treatment Under the Law, First Amendment, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the Press, Freedom to Assemble, Freedom to Petition, Freedoms, Iran, Middle East, North Korea, Politics, Russia, Supreme Court, Trump Administration, Turkey | Leave a comment

Unsettling Future Coronavirus Scenarios

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Dennis SILVERMAN

Unsettling Future Coronavirus Scenarios

Declaration:  I am not an Epidemiologist or a doctor.  This article is just based on what I read or hear on TV.

While looking into what became of the 1918 flu, the first Google article from 2006 stated that many of the current yearly Type A flu viruses were descended from the 1918 flu.  I saw a headline recently that said that the Coronavirus would be with us forever.  I thought that it meant that it would be hard to eradicate globally because of the costs of the vaccines, or the need to keep some very cold.  It might have just meant that it would be mutating and returning yearly.  However, a vaccine expert said that those vaccines that target the spikes on the Coronavirus would apply for other mutations.  Another article said that a recent flu vaccine would have targeted the 1918 flu as well.

The good news is that the number of tested cases is turning over, though deaths are still rising.

The WHO says that the morbidity of the Coronavirus is 0.6%.  This is not as low as people had hoped as at 0.4%, but lower than the 1% estimates.  It is much lower than the current 3.3% US ratio of deaths to total cases, or the world ratio of 3.8%.  However, the morbidity varies rapidly with ages and vulnerable conditions.  So it varies not only with each country, state, and city, but with each demographic.  Since the US has the most obesity and not the longest lifespan, it would be higher here for both reasons.  Also, the first virus that hit China was superseded in the US by an offshoot from Europe.

Putting the two facts together, with the possibility of yearly flus from the Coronavirus, is a future dystopia of perpetual masking and social distancing, especially for the old and the vulnerable.  Hopefully, the continued masking and social distancing will cut down from missed school, recreation, and work days from the common colds and the flus.  The flu can take up to 66,000 lives in the US in a year.  The morbidity of flus is about 0.1%.

In my pre-pandemic life, I used to worry about the 4.2 million dying early worldwide each year from air pollution.  Air pollution and COPD from smoking are supposed to be risk factors for Coronavirus complications.  Now, there are even claims that the PM2.5 micron particles could be carrying the Coronavirus particles.

Could it get any worse?  We know that it can, with incompetent and unscientific federal and state management.  

In Los Angeles and Orange Counties, the number of known positive cases has reached 2% and 1.2%, respectively.  Nationwide it is 1.4%, or 1 out of 70.  California has reached a half million cases out of a 40 million population, or 1 out of 80.  

There is some doubt that the antibody tests, which show specific antigens, do not mean resistance to the Coronavirus, instead of just to colds or other flus.  So they are not reliable to calculate a true infection rate.  

The head of WHO says that we may never have a “silver bullet” against the  Coronavirus.  A vaccine expert on CNN says that the vaccine might not be more than 50% effective.  Many flu vaccines just soften the blow, but do not prevent infection.  Some flu shots only give 20% protection to older adults, and have to be doubled to give them 40% protection.

Halloween is still three months away, and it is just three days before Election Day.  I am more scared by Election Day. 

Posted in Coronavirus, COVID-19, Donald Trump, Health Care | Leave a comment

Trump’s Election Interference Plots

Posted on August 2, 2020 by Dennis SILVERMAN

Trump’s Election Forces 

While Trump appears to be slowly adapting to the new constraints of an election in a pandemic year, he is mustering a breadth of election forces which have long been contemplated and hinted at.  Several of them involve organizing the assets of the Executive Branch, Justice, and Military.  All of them are supposed to be out of bounds by the Hatch Act, which forbids government employees from engaging in political influence using their government jobs or resources.

Who would be providing oversight against abuses of the Hatch Act?  Why, Attorney General Bill Barr, who has granted Trump “Absolute Powers”.  There are also the inspector generals, who Trump fires at will.  There are also the Whistleblowers, who Trump and Barr bar from reporting to Congress, who they forbid to testify, who are outed, and who are fired if they do testify.  This violates the whistleblower act.  Of course, the Congressional oversight committees can investigate any of this.  Except, Trump refuses to let anybody go testify about these subjects.

Trump once said something like he couldn’t lose the election with the Police, Military, and Motor Cycle gangs backing home.  We thought this was an appeal to them if he lost the election.  We didn’t know that he would enlist them to help him during the campaign.

Yesterday, Trump flew somewhere for a rally with law enforcement.  Air Force 1 was in the background.   The Sheriff’s, in official working uniforms, were politically backing Trump’s re-election.  But wait, Air Force 1 made it look like a Presidential function.  The Sheriffs were in uniform, and therefore acting in their official rolls.  This would be a violation of their county non-political interference policies.  Nobody was masked or social distancing.  But wait!  As the camera pulled back, it revealed about 10 rows of marked separators to hold a crowd of a thousand, which were all empty!  The few people there were all crowded in the front row.  Trump was not masked or social distancing either.  At least it was outside.

We have yet to have an investigation about the Department of Homeland Security agents sent to Portland to guard a single Federal building, and politically assault demonstrators in one city block.  There was also the brutal assault of definitely peaceful demonstrators in Lafayette Square next to the White House, moved out to give Trump a photo op holding a bible upside down in front of a disapproving church.  Trump has threatened to repeat this in other Democratic cities, to heighten his campaign tactic of inducing any and all fears.  Chicago is next, but the reasons given are scattered:  murders, guns, drugs, gangs, …  And, nobody has complained Trump says.

Speaking of fears, which of my medicines have alien DNA in them?  While Twitter had Trump’s and Donald Jr.’s retweeted Witch Doctor’s video taken down, Madonna retweeted it.  Maybe Trump would have done better by actually lowering the price of medicines, instead of insisting that all parts of them had to be made in new plants in the US by Kodak.

Then there is Trump slowing the postal service to ruin mail-in voting during a pandemic.  And enforcing that ballots be received by Election Day, rather than just postmarked by then.  There are also Trump’s repeated detailed dog-whistle descriptions of how groups can interfere with mail-in balloting.  Interfering with voting and the mail are federal crimes.  Who would prosecute them?  Update:  Trump threatens to sue Nevada for passing a bill to send mail-in ballots to all voters.

The interference of Southern Republican Governors with preventative Coronavirus measures, just to back Trump’s election reopening goals are unethical, immoral, and ineffective.  They are spreading the great suffering of the virus, and costing families deaths.  They also fall on the old and people of color.  Now we are going to see families suffer as Trump and Education Secretary DeVos push in-person school reopening, which will be very short-lived.  They are also corrupting federal school funding to fund private schools, DeVos’s continual goal, using the Coronavirus as an excuse.  Again, an abuse of scientifically combating the virus to restart Trump’s economic success.

Then there is the Trump-Putin-Johnson-Bolsonaro-Netanyahu mutual admiration election campaigning international society.  Trump interferes in all of these elections, and in return, they show up in time to back Trump.  It was one thing when Trump was a civilian and not President, in 2016.  Now, it’s a compromise of our foreign policy interests, to subvert them to Trump’s re-election as well as those of the other rulers.   Didn’t Trump also get Impeached for trying to force the President of Ukraine to investigate the Bidens?  Trump also publicly reached out to Xi Jinping of China to investigate the Bidens, but apparently, he didn’t bite.  And, he is paying the price now.  

The one group which has stood up to Trump is the US Military, which refuses to be used for political purposes.

Update:  August 3.  Trump says he will introduce a Health Care plan by the end of the month, and an immigration plan next month.  This reminds me of a line from the musical Evita:  shouldn’t we do a few of the things we promised them.  The plans are only four years late, and Congress has heard nothing about them.

I can’t yet go on and on, but I may have to, as future plots are unfolded, like delaying the election a year, suggested after Trump secretly talked to Putin.  Trump and his Senate have blocked additional funds to support new election equipment for years.  There will be few election workers during the pandemic, and very long lines at Democratic urban districts.  Rather belatedly, the House wants to restore the Voting Rights Act, as the Supreme Court said they could, after the Court removed states from its purview.

Posted in 2020 Election, Affairs of State, AG William Barr, China, Congressional Investigation, Constitution, Donald Trump, First Amendment, Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Assemble, Freedoms, Governors and State Legislatures, Impeachment, Joe Biden, Lafayette Park, Politics, Putin, Russia, State Department, Trump Administration, Voter Fraud, Voting Rights | Leave a comment

All Tied Up in Politics: The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Dennis SILVERMAN

Comments on the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis hearing.

Don’t expect a politically blind review by me.  Dr. Birx was not present.  Nor was the head of the Warp Speed vaccine program.  Dr. Redfield of the CDC, Dr. Fauci, and Admiral Brett P. Giroir, M.D. of HHS for procurement were being questioned.  

In General, the Republicans were backing Trump’s actions and blind push forward, including HCQN and Zinc, as I am now watching.  

Rep. Jordan of Ohio seems to be the Ranking Republican member.  He is grinding on Dr. Fauci about trying to halt the Black Lives Matter demonstrations as Coronavirus unsafe, completely ignoring the effects of federal forces breaking arms and ribs with baton strikes, knocking people down, firing massive amounts of pepper spray on individuals, flash grenades, rubber bullets, and constant tear gas.  Rep. Jordan seems to want Churches, any and all businesses, schools, and especially gun stores to be open, even without any safety measures, backing Trump’s approach.  A Democratic Representative put two studies in the record showing that the BLM demonstrations did not lead to Coronavirus outbreaks.  (Pictures that I saw showed that everybody was masked and they were all outdoors.  Of course, the few destructive provocateurs as well as the few sadistic federal forces should be arrested.)

Another Republican Rep. is now harping on China.  It’s as if the White House programmed their attacks.

Democratic Rep. Bill Foster of Illinois is a special scientist from UCI Physic’s point of view, since he received his Ph. D. Here working with the Neutrino study group.  After working at Fermilab, he became a businessman, and then a Congressman.  He asked intelligent scientific and management questions.  He pointed out that the program for the rapid development of vaccines was founded in the Obama administration in 2013 by funded NIH research, and complained that the present Administration continually deeply cuts their budgets.

The Admiral Dr. Gerard claimed that 75% of tests came back within 5 days, but Dr. Fauci said that slow test results invalidate the effects of tracing.  Rep. Velazquez emphasized the long lines at sites for minorities to be tested.

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland comments that the limit of 100 on Church services was the same as on cinemas.  He points out that anti masking protesting does spread the Coronavirus.  Apparently Jared Kushner formulated a secret testing plan, but the White House dropped the plan, and left it up to the states to make a mess of it, since only Blue states were infected at that time.

While Republicans were stressing that children were not seriously affected by the Coronavirus, none mentioned what happens when they infect their teachers or staff, and bring the virus home and infect their parents quarantining them for two weeks, or grandparents who could be hospitalized.  Republicans claimed that there were unspent funds given to states to adapt schools, but Democrats weren’t sure about that.  Nobody discussed funds to provide virtual students with computer equipment and internet access. 

I was really upset when the Rep. Gohmert (R-Texas) tested positive, and we learned that he and other Republicans has forced their staffs to work without masking.  You would think that even OSHA had rules requiring masking when workers could inhale dangerous particles in the air.

I only saw the last two hours of the three hour hearing.  It is being reshown on C-SPAN (115) at 6 PM tonight. 

This was the House special committee to help fight the Coronavirus.  It stank with Administration political defense, counter charges, and defenses against the counter charges.  This was another reason why we are failing to counter the Coronavirus, as other leading nations have.

Posted in Coronavirus, COVID-19, Donald Trump, Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Assemble, Freedom to Petition, Health Care | Leave a comment

IHME Projections: 32,000 US Lives Savable by Complete Masking

Posted on July 30, 2020 by Dennis SILVERMAN

The July 30th IHME projections for US deaths by Nov. 1 has increased by 11,000, from 220,000 last week to 231,000 now.  The US lives savable by Nov. 1 by universal mask wearing is now at 32,000, still about the same as the 34,000 that were savable last week.  Today’s US deaths are 152,000.  So of the new projected US deaths of 231,000 – 152,000 = 79,000, the 32,000 savable are 40.5%.

For World countries, we show current deaths, projected deaths by Nov. 1, and deaths with Universal Masking.  We show a subset of countries with Projections much larger than Present Deaths, or where masking can save many lives.

Country Present Deaths Projection With Masks
US 152,040 230,822 198,831
Brazil 91,263 181,899 157,432
Mexico 46,000 95,929 84,060
India 34,956 —- ——
Iran 16,569 57,694 29,949
Peru 18,816 39,973 39,530
Indonesia 5,058 31,648 19,387
Russia 13,778 28,901 17,977
Bangladesh 3,083 11,076 6,070
Pakistan 5,924 8,975 6,931
Israel 500 4,793 2,944

Total World deaths are 672,062.  The World has 17.3 million cases.  The leading countries are the US with 4.50 million, Brazil with 2.61 million, and India with 1.63 million cases.

We show the IHME projected deaths for US states which still have large projected increases, or in which a large number of lives can be saved by universal masking.

State Deaths Projection With Masks
TX 6,442 24,557 16,477
CA 9,026 16,515 14,040
FL 6,586 16,318 16,321
GA 3,671 10,278 6,164
AZ 3,626 7,946 6,616
LA 3,925 6,401 5,147
AL 1,565 3,881 2,819
SC 1,667 3,232 2,757
MS 1,611 3,402 2,356
CO 1,822 2,665 2,129
NV 801 2,684 1,545
MO 1,255 2,283 1,733
OK 536 1,484 888
AR 442 933 684

 

Posted in Coronavirus, COVID-19, Health Care, IHME Projections, Iran | Leave a comment

If we can move the Election back, we can also move it up to Tomorrow, to save lives.

Posted on July 30, 2020 by Dennis SILVERMAN

If we can move the Election back, we can also move it up to tomorrow, to save lives.

The giant and most clever internet companies can figure out how to uniquely vote over the web in a matter of days.  Their data sets know everything about us.  They know our age qualification, our citizenship qualification, and our residency qualification.  As long as we are bypassing the date in the Constitution, we can also switch to a popular vote Presidency election.

Clearly, delaying Election Day till Trump solves the Coronavirus problem is betting on a lame horse.  By forcing early re-opening, Trump has doubled the number of deaths until the end of his term, with no end in sight for at least a year until vaccines are widely distributed and accepted.  That would triple the number of present deaths.  These are just linear extrapolations of the IHME Coronavirus model, done two posts ago.  Dumping Trump immediately would be the most important step in fighting the Coronavirus. 

I note the Election Date change idea occurred just after Trump talked to Putin, the world’s expert at fixing his own lifelong terms and locking up opponents.  Trump’s previous Dynasty and lifelong Presidential dreams occurred after he talked to Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has made himself President for Life, without any sanctions by Trump.

Sure this is an extremely imaginary scenario, by a comic author.  But it isn’t as far out as Trump’s reliance on a Witch Doctor for a cure.

Posted in Congress, Constitution, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Donald Trump, Health Care | Leave a comment

Trump’s Dr. Teleprompter Jekyll versus Mr. Tweeter Hyde

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Dennis SILVERMAN

Trump’s Dr. Teleprompter Jekyll versus Mr. Tweeter Hyde.

I’m pretty sure that Trump doesn’t write his teleprompter prose, and only reads it as a recalcitrant second grader who is forced to read it.  We know that, because it is written in complete sentences.  I’m sure that Trump doesn’t spend hours searching the web and excerpting Fox News clips to retweet.  Has he ever even had an iPad or computer or cell phone on his desk?  That is left for mortals, not Demi-gods, as he is.

Why does the Tweeting count now?  Trump would never admit that he doesn’t do his own tweeting, just as nothing leaks about who writes his speeches.  Today his retweeted video leaked out the top secret about alien blood being used in medicines, by Dr. Immanuel, who claimed that.  There goes the entire vaxing program.  (Why does my spell checker keep replacing “vaxing” with “vaping”.)  Full quote:  I AM JUST KIDDING!  Paul, of Area 51, never gave his blood for a vaccine.  He escaped, and was picked up to return to his home planet.  The same Dr. Immanuel also said that masks don’t work.

I just knew that Trump was angry at Fauci for getting to throw the first pitch this season.  Hardly a great way for Trump to help fight the Coronavirus.  While we all respect Dr. Fauci’s expertise, you don’t throw a baseball like a shot put.  Who am I to talk?  I sprained my right arm and can’t play keyboard right now, not to mention throwing anything.  Trump can’t understand why Dr. Fauci has a higher approval rating than he does.  But Trump had the right answer, it is Trump’s personality.

Oddly, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube took that Dr. Stella Immanuel hydroxychloroquine retweeted video off.  That couldn’t have to do with Zuckerberg of Facebook testifying before Congress?  The Coronavirus information seminars that I watched this morning said when battling misinformation, do not quote the misinformation, because you are just passing it along.  Stress that wearing masks will lead to businesses and jobs restarting, which I already have done.  Millions of Trump’s followers saw this before it was taken off.

Was that two or three days that Trump was on track?  Trump just couldn’t resist the spell of the hydroxychloroquine false cure.

I might as well add a tiny summary of the seven hours of House Judiciary Committee hearings with the heads of Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google.  The Democrats challenged them on the many ways that they act as monopolies.  The Republicans mainly worried about how their sites supposedly censored really right wing websites.  Democratic Rep. Raskin blew the Republicans up by stating that 7 of the top 10 websites of the past week were right wing.  In reference to my main article above, one Republican worried that they took off the very misleading Dr. Immanuel video, above.  Facebook uses 30,000 people worldwide to remove terrible content.  After berating these heads for right wing censorship, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio) demanded that they censor the “cancel culture” movement.  He also wanted them not to contribute to Democrats.  Rep. Raskin also pointed out the hypocrisy of Republicans supporting the Citizen’s United ruling, yet complaining when corporations supported Democrats.  Rep. Raskin also had to tell Rep. Jordan to mask up.

I walked by three beaches in Laguna Beach last weekend, and only half of the people were wearing masks.  This, despite there being signs that now say that you “must” wear masks.  Republican Rep. Gohmert of Texas was about to join Trump on Air Force 1, when he was tested positive for the Coronavirus.  Gohmert, 66 years old, didn’t really wear his mask, and now blames his infection on wearing a mask.  How many staff and Congressmen has he infected before his infection was detected?

How purposely dumb is America?  These stories of the Wild West Internet, the Republican Government, Trump’s HCQN fixation, and misled Americans are all tied together by a very dangerous plague.   Apparently, the White House spent the weekend rounding up doctors who back HCQN (hydroxychloroquine).

Today, the US passed 150,000 Covid-19 deaths.

Posted in Communications, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Donald Trump, Facebook, First Amendment, Freedom of Speech, Health Care | Leave a comment

Is Trump a Confederate President?

Posted on July 23, 2020 by Dennis SILVERMAN

Is Trump A Confederate President?

Update:  It is sad that the Civil Rights leader John Lewis passed away.  He served 33 years in the US House, and was respected by all.  Unfortunately, Trump is so wrapped up in himself that he will not go to pay his respects to Lewis, who lies in state at the Capitol.

Update:  Trump has threatened to take 50,000 to 75,000 Homeland Security officers from their very important law enforcement positions, and politically send them to Democratic Cities to antagonize and brutalize Black Lives Matter protesters.  This is not Law and Order.

We know Trump approves of the Rebel flag and is upset when it is banned.

We know Trump has sworn to protect all Confederate statues and monuments.

Update:  We know Trump said he would veto the Defense Budget if it contained a requirement to change the names of military bases named after Confederate Generals (who knew?).   Despite passing the Senate and House, Sen. Inhofe (Oklahoma) tweeted that the name changes would not happen.

We know that Trump opposes the Black Lives Matter movement and misclaims that it is rioting and destructive.

We know that Trump is sending his troops to invade Northern Cities, despite their unanimous opposition.

We know that the core of Trump’s political strategy is to sympathize with White Southern voters.

We know that Trump moved from New York City to Florida.

We know that Trump moved the Republican National Convention to Coronavirus overrun Florida, instead of Coronavirus safe New England cities.

We know that Southern Governors are rigorously and painfully forcing Trump reopenings of businesses and schools.

We know that Trump is opposing mail-in ballots in Northern States, calling them fraudulent.

We know that Trump is building a wall to protect our Southern Border, but not our Northern one.

We know that Trump’s first choice for Attorney General was Alabama’s Senator Jeff Sessions.

We know that Trump’s Senate dictator is Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell.

We know that Trump’s rally strategy started in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

We know that Trump’s troops are opposing Black Lives Matter marches, rather than solving any crimes.

Time to go back to fighting the Coronavirus with information.  Draw your own conclusions.

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