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Francisco 2.0

Certifiably Surly
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Posts posted by Francisco 2.0

  1. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-says-his-coronavirus-response-could-help-not-hurt-his-re-election?ref=home

     

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    Over the past week, Democrats and public health experts have excoriated the Trump administration for its response to the novel coronavirus. Outside pundits have wondered whether the handling of the ballooning threat could damage the president’s chance for re-election.

     

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    Donald Trump himself appears to have a somewhat unique point of view on the matter. During one of the many White House meetings devoted to the coronavirus in the last week, the president joked that his critics would be “so surprised.” The coronavirus outbreak could actually “help, not hurt” Trump in 2020 because of how “terrific” his team’s handling of the public health crisis has been. The president went on to again congratulate and thank officials present for all the work they’ve done, according to two sources with knowledge of the private remarks.

     

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    It’s a view that is widely shared—or at least a political attack line largely disseminated—within Trumpworld, as the president’s management of the ongoing crisis has come under intense scrutiny. “While President Trump proactively combats coronavirus, Democrats campaign to curb Americans’ health care access” with their “Bernie Sanders-inspired, socialist health care agenda,” read a mass email sent by the Trump campaign on Monday.

    In the past week, President Trump and officials coordinating with the coronavirus task force have quietly strategized how to best strike back against Democratic criticism that the administration has not done enough to respond to the public-health threat, according to The Daily Beast’s two sources, plus a third with direct knowledge of the deliberations.

     

    Spoiler

    Discussions have focused on how growing dissatisfaction among Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill and others in Washington, D.C.—specifically that the administration was underfunding and mismanaging the response—could potentially hurt, or even counterintuitively benefit, Trump’s 2020 re-election prospects.

    The White House did not provide comment on this story. 

    The efforts to find electoral benefit from the response to the novel coronavirus stem from a fear inside the White House that Democrats would criticize the administration’s handling of the public health threat. If the Democrats were attacking the administration, the officials’ thinking went, then the president was going hit back even more aggressively. 

    And so he has. In the last month, as the coronavirus has spread, the president has repeatedly taken to the rally stages, lambasting his perceived nemeses, and alleging that Democrats were hyping the threat and unfairly criticizing the work of the coronavirus task force he had assembled. On Fox News on Wednesday night, Trump claimed that the World Health Organization had also drastically overstated the threat, inventing his own low mortality rate for the virus.

    Trump allies and top officials have followed the president’s cue, delivering remarks at last week’s annual Conservative Political Action Conference to echo the talking points on the Democrats’ coronavirus “hoax.”

    “Washington Democrats are trying to politicize the coronavirus, denigrating the noble work of our public health professionals, but honestly not so much anymore,” Trump said during a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Monday evening. “The political attacks from some of the Democrats really must stop. We’ve really got to work together on this one to safeguard our people.”

    Late last week, the White House blasted out an official talking-points memo to its media allies and surrogates on how “while the President is leading aggressive response and preparation efforts, many in the media remain focused on attacking him at every turn.” The email, a copy of which was reviewed by The Daily Beast, also read: “Blinded by their bias and ignorant to the irony, the [New York] Times is accusing the President of having a ‘credibility’ problem on this issue—while publishing politically-motivated disinformation blaming the President for a virus.”

    Publicly, President Trump has already made this messaging a cornerstone of his public remarks and his 2020 campaigning, using the coronavirus to slam Democrats’ immigration policies and insisting that “Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus” and claiming that he isn’t, somehow.

     

     

    At the same time, the White House has moved to make major changes in its coronavirus task force, particularly as it pertained to messaging. Trump appointed Vice President Mike Pence to take the lead on streamlining the dissemination of information to the public and installed several other individuals to coordinate response, including global U.S. AIDS coordinator Debbie Brix. 

    But the reshuffling of personnel and process sparked tensions inside the task force. Initially, it was unclear who was actually heading the task force, sources told The Daily Beast. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told a group of reporters after one press conference last week that there was confusion about the vice president’s appointment and that he, in fact, was still the leader. Meanwhile, reporters trying to cover the outbreak tried to place media requests with multiple different task force members. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told The Daily Beast that it would take the agency “days” to respond, in part because all questions were being funneled through the vice president’s office. On Feb. 28, the office appointed a communications official to deal directly with those media inquiries.

    Two officials who spoke to The Daily Beast about the changes said although the communications process has smoothed out, there are ongoing rifts between the scientists involved in the task force and the vice president’s office over how and when to release information to the public. One official said the team has tried to balance keeping Americans updated on the latest case numbers, deaths and preparation guidance while at the same time not frightening people. But others on the task force—those in charge of gaming out every scenario if the virus continues to spread and cause more deaths—have argued that the task force should push out information on all the different kinds of situations the public could find themselves in order to help them prepare.

    The CDC this week stopped updating the total number of people tested for coronavirus. It’s unclear exactly how the agency decided to remove the data or if it will return in the future. But the agency has suggested the move was made because testing was increasingly being carried out at the state and local level. An official familiar with the task force’s conversations said the CDC was increasingly testing individuals across the U.S. and that it could not update the numbers unless state and local officials submitted their data in a timely manner.

     

     

  2. 42 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

    I’m going to laugh if those people boarded that cruise ship after the shitshow with the cruise ship in Japan.   And given the amount of time, I’m guessing that they did.    Why would anybody do a cruise at this point?

    Hell, why does anyone do any cruise?  Seems every year there's a story or two about some Norwegian rat virus or whatnot causing a massive shit and vomit attack amongst all the passengers.

  3. 13 minutes ago, mdmost said:

    If Trump loses in the fall, it will be interesting watch her try to revert back to being a liberal, NY socialite

    That ship done sailed.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/31/us/politics/trump-new-york-florida-primary-residence.html

     

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    In late September, Mr. Trump changed his primary residence from Manhattan to Palm Beach, Fla., according to documents filed with the Palm Beach County Circuit Court. Melania Trump, the first lady, also changed her residence to Palm Beach in an identical document.

     

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    Each of the Trumps filed a “declaration of domicile” saying that the Mar-a-Lago Club, Mr. Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, will be their permanent residence.

    The president confirmed the decision on Twitter after The New York Times reported on the move, saying that he would “be making Palm Beach, Florida, our Permanent Residence.”

     

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    “I have been treated very badly by the political leaders of both the city and state. Few have been treated worse,” he said, describing his decision as the “best for all concerned.”

    Some New York leaders shared the sentiment. “Good riddance,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo tweeted. “It’s not like Mr. Trump paid taxes here anyway. He’s all yours, Florida.”

     

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    An attachment lists his “other places of abode” as 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the address for the White House, and his private golf club in Bedminster, N.J., where he spends warm-weather weekends and a few weeks every summer.

     

    (Sidenote.  Lotsa similarities between her signature and his.  Plus, each of these done 6 days apart?)

     

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  4. Gee, imagine that.

    https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2020/03/03/coronavirus-emergency-bill-119729?__twitter_impression=true

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    House and Senate leaders have run into last-minute snags on a $7.5 billion emergency package to combat the U.S. spread of coronavirus, including disputes over vaccine availability and hospital reimbursement costs.

     

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    The biggest issue, according to several people familiar with negotiations, involves a Democratic attempt to control the costs of vaccines and other treatments that are developed in response to the outbreak. Other issues include details of hospital reimbursement for uninsured patients and whether to pay for a provision to help expand telemedicine, which would cost roughly $500 million.

     

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    Democrats are insisting the spending package include significant funding to purchase large amounts of coronavirus diagnostics, treatments and vaccine, when it becomes available, which would then be made available to the public free of cost, according to a senior Democratic aide. 

    The Democratic aide said Republicans are trying to eliminate the “fair and reasonable price” federal procurement standard for the vaccines and treatments that will be developed and purchased with the emergency funds. “Fair and reasonable price” is a basic standard to prevent price gouging in federal contracts.

     

  5. 51 minutes ago, NoName said:

    Sort of related.

    Late January, I ordered 120 engraved iPads from Apple.  I've done this for several years now, and usually, the turnaround on engraved iPads is 5 days or so.

    It's March 3, and I've still not received notification from Apple that they have shipped.

  6. 3 hours ago, JimmyJames said:

    Can we please just get rid of this guy? It’s become really, really annoying and old. 

     

    Like herpes, he's never going away.

    If he were to lose in November, and (lulz) peacefully leave office on January 20, you think his Twitter account is going to go dormant?

    Sure, he would not be in a position of making decisions, but he's gonna go scorched earth everyone, including the GOP, for he would believe they didn't do enough to get him re-elected.

  7. 21 minutes ago, SHOOTER12 said:

    Almost afraid to ask but, did they not do an MRI on your shoulder prior to surgery?  I saw x-ray mentioned but not MRI.

    I may be wrong, but I don't think x-rays show shit as far as soft tissue injuries go.  I'm not sure if I would want your doctor under any circumstances.

    No on the MRI.

    The initial X-Ray was so bad the doc immediately asked if I wanted surgery the next week. There was a sizable gap between the humerus and the socket. He told me at the follow up after the surgery that in retrospect, he should have ordered an MRI to get a better idea of what I needed; and had it not been so obvious that I had issues he would have ordered the MRI.

     

  8. 3 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

    Doesn’t pre market trading open at 3am central.  I believe Tokyo opens at 6pm central time. 

    https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-futures-coronavirus-stock-market-correction-tesla-nvidia-shopify-servicenow/

     

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    Dow Jones futures fell sharply Sunday, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures. Expect volatile Dow futures trading following the major indexes' worst week since 2008 as a coronavirus stock market correction took hold. The U.S. reported its first coronavirus death amid concerns of many more infections. Covid-19 cases continue to soar outside of China. Meanwhile, China manufacturing activity contracted at a record pace.

    Quote

    Dow Jones futures plunged 1.3% vs. fair value, but after falling more than 2% soon after their 6 p.m. ET open. S&P 500 futures retreated 1.3%. Nasdaq 100 futures lost 1.2%. Remember that overnight action in Dow futures and elsewhere doesn't necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session.

     

     

  9. This is reassuring:

    https://www.axios.com/cdc-lab-coronavirus-contaminated-6dc9726d-dea3-423f-b5ad-eb7b1e44c2e2.html?stream=top&utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alerts_all

     

    Quote

    A top federal scientist sounded the alarm about what he feared was contamination in an Atlanta lab where the government made test kits for the coronavirus, according to sources familiar with the situation in Atlanta.

    The Trump administration has ordered an independent investigation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lab, and manufacturing of the virus test kits has been moved, the sources said.

     

    Quote

    At the time the administration is under scrutiny for its early preparations for the virus, the potential problems at the lab became a top internal priority for some officials. But the Trump administration did not talk publicly about the Food and Drug Administration’s specific concerns about the Atlanta lab.

    Senior officials are still not saying exactly what the FDA regulator found at the Atlanta lab.

    The CDC lab in Atlanta developed the testing formula for the coronavirus test — which the government says works — and was manufacturing relatively small amounts of testing kits for laboratories around the country. This is where the lab ran into problems, per sources familiar with the situation.

     

    Quote

    FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said, in a statement to Axios, that government agencies have already worked together to resolve the problems with the coronavirus tests.

    “Upon learning about the test issue from CDC, FDA worked with CDC to determine that problems with certain test components were due to a manufacturing issue,” he said. 

    “We worked hand in hand with CDC to resolve the issues with manufacturing. FDA has confidence in the design and current manufacturing of the test that already have and are continuing to be distributed. These tests have passed extensive quality control procedures and will provide the high-level of diagnostic accuracy we need during this coronavirus outbreak.”

     

    Quote

    The FDA says it now has full confidence in the coronavirus diagnostic kit, but a slew of new cases announced over the weekend suggest the virus has spread throughout the country while the U.S. government tested only a narrow subset of the population for it.

    The U.S. government had admitted to problems with its diagnostic tests — which have put the U.S. well behind China and South Korea in doing large-scale testing of the American public for the coronavirus. 

    But the U.S. has now tested more than 3,600 people for the virus, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

     

    Spoiler

    It was not immediately clear if or how possible contamination in the Atlanta lab played a role in delays or problems with testing. Nor was it clear how significant or systemic the contamination concerns may be; whether it was a one-time issue that’s easily resolved, or a broader concern involving protocols, safeguards or leadership.

    Behind the scenes: The FDA official who visited the Atlanta lab, Timothy Stenzel, is the director of the Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health. 

    About a week ago, when the Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar was under extreme pressure over the delays in getting coronavirus testing kits to market, Stenzel traveled to Atlanta to help troubleshoot whatever technical problems might have been occurring with the tests.

    Stenzel was alarmed by the procedures he witnessed in the Atlanta laboratory and raised concerns with multiple CDC officials, per a source familiar with the situation in Atlanta.

    Stenzel is a highly-regarded scientist and diagnostics expert. He was on the ground in Atlanta to deal with technical issues and happened to stumble upon the inappropriate procedures and possible contaminants. He is not a laboratory inspector and thus was not charged with producing an inspection report on the lab conditions.

    But he raised the concerns and they have been taken seriously and risen to the highest levels of the U.S. government.

    On Thursday afternoon, the concerns about the Atlanta laboratory were raised in a conference call that included senior government officials from multiple agencies including the Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health. 

    The call’s purpose was to figure out ways to mass produce the testing kits and get them to market quickly. 

    The Trump administration says it’s now figured out how to get over those hurdles. An HHS spokesperson promised that by the end of this week, “we will have the capacity to test up to 75,000 individuals” for the coronavirus

    What's next: The FDA’s manufacturing concerns — which include the possible contamination of testing kits — have also resulted in the Trump administration ordering an independent investigation of the CDC’s Atlanta laboratory, according to senior officials.

    “HHS has launched an investigation and is assembling a team of non-CDC scientists to better understand the nature and source of the manufacturing defect in the first batch of COVID-19 test kits that were distributed to state health departments and others,” said an HHS spokesperson. 

    “HHS/CDC have been transparent with the American people regarding the issue with the manufacturing of the diagnostic and will be transparent with the findings of this investigation.” (But the administration was not transparent about the senior FDA official's concerns about the conditions and procedures in the Atlanta laboratory.)

    A senior administration official added that the government also moved the manufacturing of the coronavirus tests out of the Atlanta laboratory of CDC. 

    The official said that the CDC engaged with a third party contractor on Feb. 20 to help manufacture the testing kits. The official added that the FDA regulator, Stenzel, visited the Atlanta laboratory on Feb. 22.

    Between the lines: Until Thursday, the CDC’s guidance was to only test Americans for the coronavirus if they’d recently traveled to China — or had close contact with someone known to have the virus — and were symptomatic.

    Under this policy, the CDC initially refused to test a California patient who didn’t fit this criteria but had the coronavirus, although the CDC disputes that it denied doctors’ testing request. 

    As of Friday, South Korea had tested 65,000 people for the coronavirus; the U.S. had tested only 459, per Science Magazine. China can reportedly conduct up to 1.6 million tests a week.

    Although the World Health Organization has sent testing kits to 57 other countries, the U.S. decided to make its own.

    There have also been problems with the tests themselves. On Feb. 12, the FDA announced that health labs across the country were having problems validating the CDC's diagnostic test, Science reports in an in-depth account of what went wrong with the tests.

    The FDA announced yesterday that public health labs can create their own diagnostic test. Scott Becker, the CEO of the Association of Public Health Laboratories, told Science that he expects that public health labs will be able to do 10,000 tests a day by the end of the week.

     

  10. 52 minutes ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

    What are you going to do for the 47 hours and 59 minutes that you’re not having sex? Talk to her?

    Cross stitch.

     

     

  11. Wife proposed we dump the kids off at one of the grandparents at the end of this month; shack up at a hotel, take booze and only order room service for that weekend.  Said we aren't hitting our quotas.

    I'm down.

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