COVIDiots

[Vrede too]

Dallas salon owner who reopened in defiance of Texas' coronavirus restrictions sentenced to 7 days in jail

Reopened (Dallas) restaurant tells workers: Don't wear face masks — or don't work

Coincidental that the first two I found are in Dallas?

Congress insider trading inquiry looks 'particularly damning' for Senator Burr (R-NC), expert says

NC represent!

Lock him up! Is it possible that we could oust Burr and then defeat Senator Tillis (R-NC) in Nov? If so, that's more than half of what's needed to give the Senate to the Dems. I can dream.

[Vrede too]

Ohio lawmaker refuses to wear mask because he says it dishonors God

... "This is the greatest nation on earth founded on Judeo-Christian Principles. One of those principles is that we are all created in the image and likeness of God. That image is seen the most by our face. I will not wear a mask," Rep. Nino Vitale, a Republican, wrote on Facebook. "That's the image of God right there, and I want to see it in my brothers and sisters."

... He had also posted a conspiracy theory on his campaign Facebook page earlier in April, saying billionaire Bill Gates "wants to lock us down and profit by charging us for mandatory vaccinations.” The post also falsely claimed Gates "chose not to vaccinate his own kids.” ...

Comments:

I believe my entire body was actually actually made in God's image. But I still wear clothes around other people - especially in public.

Then why don't we all look alike?

I'm a Christian, but I think he's being too literal.

How would he like it if he was going to have major surgery and the people in the OR didn't wear masks during his surgery so they could honor God?

So his image of God is a man in a 3 piece suit?

We are supposed to view our body as a temple, correct? We are supposed to do the best we can to keep that temple in a state of good repair, correct? Doesn't wearing the mask not only protect our temple, but everybody else's temple as well? Isn't refusing to wear a mask an invitation for the debasement of the the temple? Doesn't that dishonour God?

Deep.

What will Vitale say when he reaches the Pearly Gates if Saint Peter won't let him in because he refuses to wear a mask???

I love hearing conservative Christians talk about how they're not going to let something 'invisible' control their lives.

CONFLATE MUCH? I have seen God used to JUSTIFY some crazy things but THIS?

In my experience most people dishonor God with or without their masks on.

Paging Rep. Nino Vitale.....Charles Darwin on line one

My family knows my health conditions, but they don't dare say anything to me about going thru my everyday routines without wearing a masks - they are all in the will!

[Vrede too]

In a hurry to reopen state, Arizona governor disbands scientific panel that modeled outbreak

On Monday, the same day that Arizona’s Republican governor, Doug Ducey, announced he was lifting some coronavirus restrictions on businesses, and the day before he met with President Trump on a visit to the state, his administration disbanded a panel of university scientists who had warned that taking the step now would be dangerous.

In an email to 23 researchers from Arizona State University and the University of Arizona whose modeling on the spread of the coronavirus had helped guide Ducey’s implementation of social distancing guidelines, the state’s Department of Health Services informed the scientists that their services were no longer needed, effective immediately....

Just a week after extending Arizona’s stay-at-home order until May 15, Ducey reversed course and announced Monday that barbershops and hair salons would be allowed to open Friday, with restaurants following suit on May 11.

The model the scientists had developed showed that reopening the state before the end of May would likely result in a spike in coronavirus cases.

“I can say, scientifically, no, it’s not safe to reopen unless you’re planning on, you know, shutting down again after a couple of weeks,” Tim Lant, a mathematical epidemiologist at ASU, told the Republic prior to Ducey’s decision to go against the team’s modeling....

As of Wednesday, Arizona had reported 9,707 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and at least 426 deaths. While relatively low in comparison with harder-hit states, the number of cases reported Tuesday in Arizona rose by 4.3 percent in just 24 hours, and the 33 deaths recorded there represented the single biggest increase since the start of the pandemic. The Opening Up America Again guidelines call for a gradual lifting of social distancing only after a sustained 14-day downward trend in the number of new cases.

[Vrede too]

Trump's advisers released a 'beyond stupid' mathematical model of coronavirus deaths created in Excel by a controversial economist

President Donald Trump and his top advisers have repeatedly played down the threat posed to American lives and the US economy by the coronavirus pandemic.

In some of the most infamous instances, Trump predicted on February 26 that the number of COVID-19 infections in the US "within a couple of days is going to be down close to zero," while Larry Kudlow, Trump's director of the National Economic Council, declared the virus had been "contained."

Earlier this week, The Washington Post reported that the White House is relying in part on a so-called "cubic model" devised by Kevin Hassett, a top economic adviser, that shows COVID-19 deaths plummeting to zero by mid-May.

This model, which the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) released on Tuesday, contradicts all other data and modeling, including that the White House is reportedly looking at. The University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation predicts 135,000 deaths by August 1. Nearly 73,000 people have already died from the disease in the US, with about 2,000 dying every day over the last week....

Jason Furman, a former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama, similarly slammed Hassett's work after the Council shared a graphic of the cubic model on its Twitter account.

"This might be the lowest point in the 74 year history of the Council of Economic Advisers," Furman tweeted on Tuesday. "The stakes on the epidemiological questions are so high that this utterly superficial and misleading 'modeling' has no place whatsoever in any discussion of the government's response."

Furman added that "the 'cubic fit' is based on an approach to epidemiology that has long been absent from any serious epidemiological discussions" and surmised it was "chosen to get the result they wanted." ...

Kevin Hassett

Kevin Allen Hassett (born March 20, 1962) is an American economist who was the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2019. He has written several books and coauthored Dow 36,000, published in 1999, which argued that the stock market was about to have a massive swing upward. Shortly thereafter, the dot-com bubble burst, causing a massive decline in stock market prices.

Hassett has worked at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. He was John McCain's chief economic adviser in the 2000 presidential primaries, as well as economic adviser to the 2004 campaign of George W. Bush and 2008 campaign of McCain. He was an economic adviser on Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign.

In the Trump administration, Hassett was the 29th Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers from September 2017 to June 2019. He returned to the White House in 2020 to work on the administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic. Hassett, despite lacking experience in the field of public health policy, influenced the administration's response by downplaying the danger of coronavirus and pushing the administration to re-open the economy amid lockdowns and social distancing.

"What, me worry?"

[Vrede too]

Two McDonald’s workers shot by customer over dining area dispute
Police say the customer was angry that the restaurant’s dining area was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic

Never mind that pretty much every dining area in the country has been closed for weeks.

[Vrede too]

Platforms scramble as ‘Plandemic’ conspiracy video spreads misinformation like wildfire

[billy.pilgrim]

Two McDonald’s workers shot by customer over dining area dispute
Police say the customer was angry that the restaurant’s dining area was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic

Never mind that pretty much every dining area in the country has been closed for weeks.

Rightwingers just wanna have fun

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/02/us/face- ... index.html

"An emergency proclamation issued Thursday in Stillwater, Oklahoma, requiring the use of face masks in stores and restaurants was amended Friday after threats of violence."

"In the short time beginning on May 1, 2020, that face coverings have been required for entry into stores/restaurants, store employees have been threatened with physical violence and showered with verbal abuse," Stillwater City Manager Norman McNickle said in a statement."

"In addition, there has been one threat of violence using a firearm. This has occurred in three short hours and in the face of clear medical evidence that face coverings helps contain the spread of Covid-19."

[billy.pilgrim]

Platforms scramble as ‘Plandemic’ conspiracy video spreads misinformation like wildfire

this is insane
But expected

And in a real fucked up way it could work - sort of

If everyone gets the virus, only the deserving/righteous/chosen/true believers/trumpets will survive as God wants.

[billy.pilgrim]

Trump's advisers released a 'beyond stupid' mathematical model of coronavirus deaths created in Excel by a controversial economist

President Donald Trump and his top advisers have repeatedly played down the threat posed to American lives and the US economy by the coronavirus pandemic.

In some of the most infamous instances, Trump predicted on February 26 that the number of COVID-19 infections in the US "within a couple of days is going to be down close to zero," while Larry Kudlow, Trump's director of the National Economic Council, declared the virus had been "contained."

Earlier this week, The Washington Post reported that the White House is relying in part on a so-called "cubic model" devised by Kevin Hassett, a top economic adviser, that shows COVID-19 deaths plummeting to zero by mid-May.

This model, which the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) released on Tuesday, contradicts all other data and modeling, including that the White House is reportedly looking at. The University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation predicts 135,000 deaths by August 1. Nearly 73,000 people have already died from the disease in the US, with about 2,000 dying every day over the last week....

Jason Furman, a former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama, similarly slammed Hassett's work after the Council shared a graphic of the cubic model on its Twitter account.

"This might be the lowest point in the 74 year history of the Council of Economic Advisers," Furman tweeted on Tuesday. "The stakes on the epidemiological questions are so high that this utterly superficial and misleading 'modeling' has no place whatsoever in any discussion of the government's response."

Furman added that "the 'cubic fit' is based on an approach to epidemiology that has long been absent from any serious epidemiological discussions" and surmised it was "chosen to get the result they wanted." ...

Kevin Hassett

Kevin Allen Hassett (born March 20, 1962) is an American economist who was the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2019. He has written several books and coauthored Dow 36,000, published in 1999, which argued that the stock market was about to have a massive swing upward. Shortly thereafter, the dot-com bubble burst, causing a massive decline in stock market prices.

Hassett has worked at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. He was John McCain's chief economic adviser in the 2000 presidential primaries, as well as economic adviser to the 2004 campaign of George W. Bush and 2008 campaign of McCain. He was an economic adviser on Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign.

In the Trump administration, Hassett was the 29th Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers from September 2017 to June 2019. He returned to the White House in 2020 to work on the administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic. Hassett, despite lacking experience in the field of public health policy, influenced the administration's response by downplaying the danger of coronavirus and pushing the administration to re-open the economy amid lockdowns and social distancing.

"What, me worry?"

Maybe he has the answer. Based on the broken clock rule, his time for being right once is long overdue.

[Vrede too]

Two McDonald’s workers shot by customer over dining area dispute
Police say the customer was angry that the restaurant’s dining area was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic

Never mind that pretty much every dining area in the country has been closed for weeks.

Rightwingers just wanna have fun

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/02/us/face- ... index.html

"An emergency proclamation issued Thursday in Stillwater, Oklahoma, requiring the use of face masks in stores and restaurants was amended Friday after threats of violence...."

Must be something in the Oklahoma water. To be fair, the Oklahoma City COVIDiot McDonald’s shooter is a Black woman. Could be a rightwinger, but more likely a lefty and most likely apolitical.

[billy.pilgrim]

Two McDonald’s workers shot by customer over dining area dispute
Police say the customer was angry that the restaurant’s dining area was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic

Never mind that pretty much every dining area in the country has been closed for weeks.

Rightwingers just wanna have fun

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/02/us/face- ... index.html

"An emergency proclamation issued Thursday in Stillwater, Oklahoma, requiring the use of face masks in stores and restaurants was amended Friday after threats of violence...."

Must be something in the Oklahoma water. To be fair, the Oklahoma City COVIDiot McDonald’s shooter is a Black woman. Could be a rightwinger, but more likely a lefty and most likely apolitical.

Yeah, no problem releasing the photo of the black lady. I guess I got caught assuming the McDonald's one is white, as I couldn't find a picture.

[Vrede too]

... the Oklahoma City COVIDiot McDonald’s shooter is a Black woman. Could be a rightwinger, but more likely a lefty and most likely apolitical.

Racial profile much?

Ummm, assigning weights to all 3 possibilities is merely accurate demographic analysis, the opposite of racial profiling. Which assertion do you dispute, and why do you think "lefty" is a negative?

Otoh, it is misogynist racial profiling to call young black woman that you disagree with a "$20" prostitute that you would fuck:
viewtopic.php?p=116313#p116313
Project much?

[Vrede too]

No shirt, no shoes, no mask, no service . . . or else!

Off-duty officer body slams Walmart shopper irate over face mask rule

An off-duty Alabama police officer body-slammed a Walmart customer after she refused to wear a face covering and became irate, authorities said Thursday.

The woman, who was not publicly identified, was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and other alleged crimes, police in Birmingham said.

Sgt. Rod Mauldin said the incident occurred Tuesday at a Walmart in a Birmingham shopping district.

The woman became upset after a store employee asked her to wear a face covering as a coronavirus protection before entering, Mauldin said in a statement. She refused and became “disorderly,” yelling expletives at customers and employees, he said.

When the woman refused to leave, the officer, who has not been identified and was working for the store at the time, tried to detain her, Mauldin said....

I'm not bothering to look for the video and thus have no opinion on the “takedown measure” used and the charges. However, Walmart does get to set the rules for entry.

[O Really]

I'm not bothering to look for the video and thus have no opinion on the “takedown measure” used and the charges. However, Walmart does get to set the rules for entry.

That wasn't a "body slam." That was indeed a "takedown." The difference is that a body slam involves actually picking up the opponent and slamming them with force into the ground. A takedown just uses position and body weight to take the opponent off his/her feet. A takedown can be painful, depending on where you hit, but a body slam is intended to cause pain and possibly injury.

It does raise the question, though, of exactly what is a store security guy supposed to do if a customer becomes irate, refuses to calm down and refuses to leave? Several stories have made it as if it's heavy-handed enforcement of a minor (facemask) rule, but the original issue really doesn't matter. Should the store just say, "okayfine, if you're going to have a tantrum, we'll let you shop without your mask..." People have objected to a variety of things due to protective efforts - can't bring your bags to the grocery; have to wear masks; wait six feet back...yada. But it's no different from any other store rule - go along or get out.

[Vrede too]

... It does raise the question, though, of exactly what is a store security guy supposed to do if a customer becomes irate, refuses to calm down and refuses to leave? ...

In this case I believe PD rules apply, for better or worse. That's one reason why stores hire off-duty officers - it absolves them of some obligations and responsibility.

[O Really]

I've always had a problem with the concept of an "off duty" officer acting as if on duty. I understand the principle of an officer jumping in to take action if necessary, but when you start to put it together, all the pieces don't fit. F'rinstance, a police officer has certain rights and protections when acting in the course of duty - but when off duty? Maybe s/he becomes instantly "on duty" when s/he jumps into a situation? What if his/her help isn't actually needed, or s/he shoots somebody with his/her personal firearm? I used to deal with the issue regularly when negotiating police/fire contracts, but I never actually understood it.

[Vrede too]

I've always had a problem with the concept of an "off duty" officer acting as if on duty. I understand the principle of an officer jumping in to take action if necessary, but when you start to put it together, all the pieces don't fit. F'rinstance, a police officer has certain rights and protections when acting in the course of duty - but when off duty? Maybe s/he becomes instantly "on duty" when s/he jumps into a situation? What if his/her help isn't actually needed, or s/he shoots somebody with his/her personal firearm? I used to deal with the issue regularly when negotiating police/fire contracts, but I never actually understood it.

Ditto, and if you never understood it I won't try. Another example: More than most or all other jobs - an FD or hospital for example - a PD is held responsible when an off duty officer screws up. I'm not saying that it can or should be any other way, but it's a fact.

[Vrede too]

... it is misogynist racial profiling to call young black woman that you disagree with a "$20" prostitute that you would fuck:
viewtopic.php?p=116313#p116313
Project much?

Yeah, as Usual (Vrede too), you are all wet.

Nowhere did I mention race as a variable. So you are just so very wrong wrong wrong (wrong).

No need when you had just posted her picture, but if you're admitting to exclusively misogyny, that's more than you ever did before. Kudos .

[Vrede too]

Look, you obnoxious twit: you are a prime example of how a nasty personality ruins it for everyone else. Candace has such a personality. So do you. It has NOTHING in my humble opinion to do with your race or sex (if you have a gender at all). It's just that you are too fucked up mentally.

Capiché?

Could be, Stalinist Dr Phil. If so, it must make it extra humiliating for you that I can so effortlessly trigger you .

You CHOSE to turn a young Black woman that you disagree with into a "$20" prostitute that you would fuck, something you would not have done with a man and may not have done with a White woman. Then, you remained so butthurt over your cowardly inability to admit it when called out that weeks later you stupidly accused me of racial profiling in a pitiful and lame effort to get revenge.

Once again, you utterly fail in a fight YOU picked, so you thwow an adowable widdle tantwum over it.

[billy.pilgrim]

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/05/09/us/s ... 20%251%24s

Yep, the woman who got elected based on nothing but lies shows off her idiocy.

"governor of South Dakota has given an ultimatum to two Sioux tribes: Remove checkpoints on state and US highways within 48 hours or risk legal action.

Gov. Kristi Noem sent letters Friday to the leaders of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe demanding that checkpoints designed to prevent the spread of coronavirus on tribal land be removed"