janea4old
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Posts posted by janea4old
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The Federalist Society organized the Sept 26th White House event, at which Trump formally announced Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court.
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1 hour ago, amybrickwallace said:
He doesn't want a mute button? Well, let's remedy that.
https://images.app.goo.gl/7qHC4HDYArA38ouR8
ETA: Dang, I can't get the gif to embed.
Here you go:
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13 minutes ago, DRW50 said:
They are doing this to try to get older voters back in the GOP column.
Yup. As I said in my prior post, they are trying to spin the situation to serve their agenda.
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33 minutes ago, OzFrog said:
The UK had a major balls up on the weekend when it was revealed that they had missed over 16000 cases in their reported over the course of the previous week. This was because the reporting was happening via Excel spreadsheets
I saw that! The article said some of the data was in an older form of Excel file format.
It used a file name ending in .xlsModern spreadsheets have files names ending in .xlsx
Something wasn't compatible ... or it didn't get carried over, or added in or something, because of that.
.xls is from Microsoft Office versions released 1997-2003!
Either they were actually using an ancient MS Office program,or someone was using modern MS Office but accidentally saved the spreadsheet in the older format. (You can easily do that if you select that option).
Somebody just wasn't paying attention.
Ack though, this makes me think.
I worked for years as a data entry clerk. I cannot imagine the strain the workers are under with seven or eight months of daily numbers to enter from each city or region. These data entry clerks are certainly essential workers. And they're probably working from home. (How much are they paid? I don't know.) The data is likely automatically fed from cities to a central location via an online connection. But somebody has to input the data at the origin point, and somebody in the centralized department somewhere has to organize the data.
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1 hour ago, DRW50 said:
Trump has announced he's leaving Walter Reed.
After so many other people were revealed to be infected, I stopped believing it was a hoax, because I don't think that many doctors could be roped into lying without something being leaked, but I can't help myself from wondering if the Walter Reed part was a setup.
The narrative he and his people have attempted to create is of a tough President who got moments of walking to a helicopter with a mask because he wanted to show the public he was taking his diagnosis seriously, being so tough that he was only in the hospital for a few days, and going on a public tour - again, flouting what the medical professionals that we are supposed to fear and resent told him to do - to meet with the people, waving as they clapped and sang for their hero. We will now get images of the triumphant President, who showed that COVID is no big deal and you just have to live your life, returning to the White House.
The ads write themselves.
We will now get a month of talking points about how much stronger he is than Biden and how he is living life while Biden is cowering.
The true believers will eat this up, but this isn't about them.
This is about the media.
The media love this man, they love the money and coverage that he brings them. They have no real use for Biden, and never really have. He won't put cash in their hands, or get them awards that remind them how intelligent and fearless they are.
Will they stand up for us, in what is likely our last free election (if this one is even free), in our last moments before fascism fully envelops this country? Will they stand up for the over two hundred thousand people that Trump murdered? Or will they go with what is easy, and makes them feel special?
We will see.
I hear what you're saying.
You're not claiming the illness is a hoax.I agree that he really is sick. A few days ago I was skeptical that he was sick; but too much else has happened for it to all be a hoax at this point.
I think your point is ... and I agree with this:
The administration is putting a *spin* on the facts. Spinning a narrative.Whenever they can't outright lie, they opt to put their own spin on things.
And some (but not all) of the media is eating up the narrative because it's "infotainment".
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The Republican machine and those with corporate greed/power ...
are perfectly happy to use the Trump/COVID news cycle
to distract from the issues of
racism, voter suppression, poverty, the attempt to overthrow the Affordable Care Act,
the Supreme Court, Trump's taxes, etc, etc, etc.
There are so many important things going on in the world, that nobody is talking about.
Climate change!
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14 hours ago, Fevuh said:
I still say it’s all a ploy to take up news 24/7.
Whether or not all this chaos was orchestrated or unplanned, doesn't matter.
He has COVID.But what *does* matter *now*, is that he and the entire Republican machine ...
are trying to use the current circumstances as a ploy to take up news 24/7.
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54 minutes ago, marceline said:
I'm still utterly baffled about what people think he would have to gain from faking it. Biden is out here healthy and campaigning while Trump is in isolation and his own wife refuses to visit him. I don't see what the angle could possibly be.
If you (anyone) thinks rationally --
you (anyone) might *normally* expect other people to behave in ways that would logically methodically further their agendas.
Therefore you might be baffled at someone thinking DJT was faking it.
But DJT constantly does and says irrational things.I think it's rational to expect him to behave irrationally.
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From the list of side effects of dexamethasone
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/drugs/20480-dexamethasone-injection
- confusion, excitement, restlessness, a false sense of well-being
- hallucinations
- mental depression, mood swings, mistaken feelings of self importance or of being mistreated
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4 minutes ago, Vee said:
Everyone but the hardcore minority is shocked and disgusted.
According to media reports, his "base" (cult) doesn't care and still swears by him. I'm curious - what percentage of the voters are they? It's hard to say because the media gives them so much attention.
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Multiple people all over twitter are commenting that parading our "leader" around in the car for five minutes ... was like something that would happen in North Korea.
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The SNL "cold open" sucked. Did the actors/writers even watch the debate?
Jim Carrey portrayed Biden as senile, unable to answer any questions.
The sketch dialogue writing made it sound like the *only* thing Biden did was hurl insults at Trump.
Carrey played Biden as completely unable to control his emotions. And unable to stop himself from speaking against Trump.
NONE of that happened during the debate!
I'm so pissed that the media and comedians are still pushing the false narrative that Joe is senile and unable to speak coherently, and unable to control himself.Biden answered the debate questions intelligently, calmly, and compassionately.
A few times Biden made some comments about Trump - but each time, it was more like calmly doing a verbal exasperated eyeroll. He made very few comments of that nature, and those comments weren't angry or emotionally out of control.
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Transcript of statements from White House communications person Alyssa Farah to the White House press pool gaggle:
https://publicpool.kinja.com/subject-in-town-pool-report-13c-fuller-quotes-from-1845269104
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^ Twitter headlines from the newspaper and the reporter
A reply on twitter suggested what the headline *should* be:
BREAKING: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was FIRST INDICTED 5 YEARS AGO AND HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY EVADING TRIAL, has been accused by seven current aides of taking bribes and abusing his office.
Article:
From the "Austin American-Statesman" newspaper
(Austin, Texas)
Top aides accuse (Republican) Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton of bribery, abusing office
By Tony Plohetski and Chuck Lindel
Posted Oct. 3, 2020, update Oct. 4, 2020
Details behind the spoiler tag:
SpoilerQuoting the article:
Top aides of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have asked federal law enforcement authorities to investigate allegations of improper influence, abuse of office, bribery and other potential crimes against the state’s top lawyer.
In a one-page letter to the state agency’s director of human resources, obtained Saturday by the American-Statesman and KVUE-TV, seven executives in the upper tiers of the office said that they are seeking the investigation into Paxton “in his official capacity as the current Attorney General of Texas.”
The Thursday letter said that each “has knowledge of facts relevant to these potential offenses and has provided statements concerning those facts to the appropriate law enforcement.”
Paxton, a 57-year-old Republican, was first elected in 2014. His office said in a statement Saturday evening: “The complaint filed against Attorney General Paxton was done to impede an ongoing investigation into criminal wrongdoing by public officials including employees of this office. Making false claims is a very serious matter and we plan to investigate this to the fullest extent of the law.”
The statement did not elaborate.
The letter to human resources was signed by Paxton’s first assistant, Jeff Mateer, who resigned Friday, and Mateer’s deputy Ryan Bangert. It is also signed by James Blake Brickman, Lacey Mase, Darren McCarty, Mark Penley and Ryan Vassar, who are deputy attorneys general overseeing the divisions of policy, administration, civil litigation, criminal investigations and legal counsel.
“We have a good faith belief that the attorney general is violating federal and/or state law including prohibitions related to improper influence, abuse of office, bribery and other potential criminal offenses,” the letter states.
Their decisions to report possible illegal activity involving their employer represents a stunning development in an agency that prizes loyalty, particularly from within Paxton’s inner circle. It places a renewed spotlight on Paxton, who is already under indictment for alleged securities fraud.
The complaint concluded by saying that they notified Paxton in a text message Thursday that they had reported the alleged violations to law enforcement.
The whistleblowers, who notified human resources to protect their jobs, offered no other details about the allegations and did not describe what they believe Paxton did that was illegal. Efforts to reach them were unsuccessful Saturday.
Mateer’s inclusion in the complaint letter, and his departure as Paxton’s second in command, was particularly significant, coming from a political ally who shared a conservative Christian perspective on many social and legal issues.
When President Donald Trump tapped Mateer to become a federal judge in 2017, Paxton lauded him as “a principled leader — a man of character — who has done an outstanding job for the State of Texas.”
Mateer’s nomination was later withdrawn after revelations of anti-LGBT remarks, including calling transgender children part of “Satan’s plan.”
Mateer has told colleagues that he is leaving the government to rejoin a Plano-based conservative nonprofit law firm helping to nominate judges to federal courts, The Dallas Morning News reported Friday. Mateer worked for the First Liberty Institute prior to joining Paxton’s office.
Paxton has been operating under a separate legal cloud since the summer of 2015, when he was indicted on three felony counts
related to private business deals in 2011 and 2012.
Link to more info on the three indictments:
https://www.statesman.com/news/20160923/ken-paxton-arrested-booked-indictment-releasedSeven months after being sworn in for his first four-year term as attorney general, Paxton was arrested, booked into Collin County Jail and quickly released on a no-money bond.
He has steadfastly proclaimed his innocence and dismissed the charges as a political attack from those who oppose his strong conservative principles.
“Don’t believe the attacks on me,” Paxton said in a 2016 video released by his campaign. “They aren’t true, and I am going to fight them.”
The most serious charge, two counts of securities fraud, was related to Paxton’s efforts to solicit investors in Servergy Inc. without revealing that the McKinney tech company was paying him for the work. The first-degree felonies carry a maximum of 99 years in prison.
He also was charged with failing to register with state securities regulators while conducting other investment business, a third-degree felony with a maximum 10-year sentence.
Paxton has aggressively fought the charges, and the criminal case has been delayed by numerous appeals and legal wrangling from defense lawyers and prosecutors.
Link to more info on these delays:
https://www.statesman.com/news/20180806/ken-paxtons-indictments-now-3-years-old-are-a-campaign-issue
There still is no trial date set.
Paxton also was accused of fraud related to the Servergy venture in a civil complaint by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2016. A federal judge, however, dismissed the complaint, ruling that federal securities law didn’t require Paxton to tell potential investors about his deal with Servergy.
Still, the SEC filing provided most of the public details about Paxton’s involvement with Servergy.
According to the SEC, Servergy paid Paxton with 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, worth $1 a share, for his work in lining up $840,000 in investments — a sum that represented 32% of all Servergy investments in 2011.
Two of those investors were mentioned in the Collin County indictments — state Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, who has since left office, and Florida businessman Joel Hochberg, both of whom belonged to an investment club that included Paxton.
Responding to the criminal charges resulting from his Servergy involvement, Paxton has argued that his actions were not illegal, and he has accused prosecutors of stretching the definition of fraud beyond its legal meaning. Paxton also blamed his legal trouble on political opponents, particularly moderate Republicans in Collin County and the Legislature.
Running for reelection in 2018 against a Democratic opponent who made the indictments a centerpiece of the campaign, Paxton was given a second term with 50.6% of the vote.
But even as Republicans swept, yet again, every statewide office, Paxton’s 3.6-point victory over Democrat Justin Nelson was the closest statewide race for state office on the ballot.
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"Suffering from COVID-19 science overload? A team at the University of Washington (Seattle) wades through the deluge of information, so you don’t have to."
Article explaining this:Link to the "COVID-19 Literature Situation Report"
https://depts.washington.edu/pandemicalliance/category/covid-19-literature-situation-report/
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11 hours ago, sivad40 said:
Time correction:
8:25:59 pm EDT and 8:35:40 pm EDT
as explained in following tweet:0 -
The Politics Thread
in Off Topic Lounge
Posted · Edited by janea4old
Need a break from USA politics?
New Zealand politics:
Population: approx. 5 million.
COVID-19 stats as of Oct 5, 2020:
All-time number of cases: 1,502
All-time number of deaths: 25
Current number of active cases: 43
Current number hospitalized: 1
Prime minister Jacinda Ardern is running for reelection.
Her party's platform:
https://www.labour.org.nz/policy