Last weekend, Resident Donald Trump*, Fuhrer of the Nazi Republican Reich, promised a press conference in which he would explain how he would provide his own relief plan for the American People. It was really a campaign rally, delivered at taxpayer expense from his own Bedminster, NJ country club, while greedy Republican billionaires cheered him on. Everything he said and everything his supporters, like Larry Kudlow, said later were lies.
According to the Washington Post, his so-called unemployment relief created a whole new program that would take months to set up. States would have to pay $100 of the $400 per person per month payments, and pay for the administration of the program. Trump also said he would suspend payroll taxes. These are not taxes at all, but the entitlement payments that fund Social Security and Medicare. He said he will terminate those “taxes”, if reelected. The so-called rent relief provides for studies, but no relief at all. The measure on student loans is just a two month extension of the relief Democrats passed in March.
According to the NY Times, the Trump* plan included no relief for small businesses, schools, or state and local governments.
According to Market Watch, workers would still be on the hook to repay the payroll tax relief by April 15. Unless governors request the unemployment relief and can afford to pay their share, workers will receive nothing. Since Republicans are funding the program with money repurposed from from disaster relief funds, the program will run out of money in two months and leave nothing for disaster relief during hurricane season.
On the other hand, if Trump steals the White House again, and eliminates the “payroll taxes” permanently, Republicans will have an excuse to cut Social Security and Medicare, as they have wanted to do for years.
In short, this is nothing but a dog and pony show, intended to make Trump* look good before the election, but providing virtually no relief.
It’s a hot, busy day here in the CatBox. I’m waiting for Diana, my palliative care nurse, to come change my patch, hopefully at about 9:30 AM. I’m already running late, because I overslept. Tomorrow is a WWWendy day, but it will not affect my publishing as she won’t be back from Eastern Oregon until mid-afternoon tomorrow. I texted WWKristen, who is with her and promised they will both stay safe and naughty. Oh God, it’s Monday! Update: Diana came and changed my patch.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:12 (average 4:49). To do it, click here. How did you do?
From YouTube (CNN Channel): Georgia teen says school used students as guinea pigs
The school administrators were goose-stepping behind their beloved Nazi leader, criminal Fuhrer Trump*. Now that her suspension has been lifted, nine students have already tested positive for Trump* virus, and this GOP crime has been exposed, threats of physical violence are SOP for the Republican Reich! RESIST!!
It’s a frustrating day here in the CatBox, because criminal Fuhrer Trump* held his campaign rally for billionaires at his private club, pretending to be a Trump* virus relief executive action on Saturday, and the news analysis has not percolated to YouTube. There is no relief in his bullshit orders. It will be my lead article tomorrow, but this is my only article today. Tomorrow, I may run late, because my palliative care nurse, Diana, is coming to change my Fentanyl patch. Have a restful Sunday.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:15 (average 4:38). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
Trump* Virus Update:
US Cases: 5,152,001 US Deaths: 165,093
Short Takes:
From Alternet: Tom Eckerle—a Republican road commissioner for Leelanau County, Michigan—is reportedly resigning after political pressure for repeatedly using the n-word, an anti-Black racist slur, to describe racial justice protestors.
Before a meeting of the road commission started last Tuesday, Eckerle was asked by a commission member why he wasn’t wearing a mask. He responded, “Well this whole thing is because of them (n-words) down in Detroit.”
When Bob Joyce, the commission’s chair, told Eckerle he couldn’t say that, Eckerle said, “I can say anything I want. Black Lives Matter has everything to do with taking the country away from us.”…
…When asked about his comments during a Thursday interview with Interlochen Public Radio, Eckerle said didn’t realize the public found out about his comments and said, “No, I don’t regret calling it an (n-word). A( n-word) is a (n-word) is a (n-word). That’s not a person whatsoever.”
Republicans are not racist, the Pope is not Catholic, Trump* is not an asshole, and bears never, ever shit in the woods! RESIST!!
From Buzzfeed (Hat-Tip Crooks and Liars): At least two students say they have been suspended at North Paulding High School in Georgia for posting photos of crowded hallways that went viral on Twitter.The photos show students packed into hallways between classes, not appearing to practice social distancing and with few masks visible, amid the coronavirus pandemic. They went viral after being shared by the account @Freeyourmindkid.
One of the teens who posted photos, 15-year-old Hannah Watters, told BuzzFeed News she received a five-day, out-of-school suspension for posting one photo and one video on Twitter.
She posted the above photo with the caption, “Day two at North Paulding High School. It is just as bad. We were stopped because it was jammed. We are close enough to the point where I got pushed multiple go to second block. This is not ok. Not to mention the 10% mask rate.”
Watters said she was pulled into the school’s office around noon on Wednesday and was told she had violated the student code of conduct.
“The policies I broke stated that I used my phone in the hallway without permission, used my phone for social media, and posting pictures of minors without consent,” she said.
Paulding County Schools has not responded to requests for comment on the alleged suspension.
Another student, who did not want their name used, also told BuzzFeed News that they were suspended for posting photos on Twitter.
When the Republican Reich weaponizes Trump* virus to murder children, they punish the children for telling the truth about it. RESIST!!
From YouTube (a blast of protest): “Trump Is an Asshole” – MUSIC VIDEO – NSFW
It’s a very tired day, here in the CatBox. JD, would you please cover Bill Maher? I have another lead story that needs doing. Yesterday they increased my Fentanyl dosage to 25 mg, so I’ll be in less pain starting with my next patch change Monday. The PET scan was not good. My oncologist is seeking insurance approval for a drug called Pembrolizumab. The chances of severe side effects (excessive immune response) are less than 5%. If it works, which is a long shot, it will tag my cancer cells with markers that allow my own immune system to recognize and attack them. If insurance will not approve, because it’s a long shot, or if it doesn’t work, I’ll be fortunate to see 2021. I hope you have a great weekend.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:02 (average 5:46). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
Trump* Virus Update:
US Cases: 5,098,494 US Deaths: 164,144
Short Takes:
From Alternet: The Sturgis, South Dakota motorcycle rally in 2015. This year’s rally, now underway, is expected to attract 250,000 people.
It would be too much to expect the millions of Americans who choose to celebrate their personal identity with intentionally loud and purposely obnoxious, high-polluting machines, operated at speeds in excess of 70 mph on our nation’s highways, with zero protection between themselves and the roadway, all to care equally about potentially infecting other people with an invisible virus.
Still, for at least a discrete subgroup of those folks who claim the “individual freedom” to face a fatality risk 26 times the rate of other motorists, attendance at the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota this year in the midst of the deadliest global pandemic in over a century, signifies a quantum leap of sorts in both irresponsibility and crass disregard not only for their own lives, but for the rest of the people in this country as well.
Certainly many bikers are not Republican fools. They will not be there. The deplorable Republican Sheeple will spread Trump’s* Republican plague far and wide! RESIST!!
From NY Times: Jerry Falwell Jr., one of President Trump’s most prominent and controversial evangelical supporters, will take an indefinite leave of absence from his role as president and chancellor of Liberty University, the board of trustees announced [pseudo-Christians delinked] on Friday.
The news comes days after Mr. Falwell posted, and then deleted, a photograph on Instagram of him posing alongside a woman with his pants unzipped and his arm around her.
Mr. Falwell did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Earlier in the week, he apologized for the photo.
Franklin Graham, who leads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, defended Mr. Falwell in an interview on Friday evening.
“He is a great leader and he has taken this school — it is one of the largest universities in the United States. He’s done an incredible job,” Mr. Graham said. “He is a great leader and I certainly support him.”
I thought you might appreciate this follow-up. I wonder how many BJs Graham has gotten on Falwell’s yacht. RESIST!!
From YouTube (a blast of protest): Barry McGuire – Eve of Destruction
Are we in the eve of destruction from the Republican Reich? Kudos to left-wing demonstrators! RESIST!!
Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
Once again, in connection with CoViD-19, the word “epithelial” comes up, and it is associated with something scary every time that it does. This is no exception. I doubt I could be more motivated to avoid getting CoViD myself than I already am. But I see a threat here beyond my own health which worries me. ================================================================
How COVID-19 might increase risk of memory loss and cognitive decline
These effects may be caused by direct viral infection of brain tissue. But growing evidence suggests additional indirect actions triggered via the virus’s infection of epithelial cells and the cardiovascular system, or through the immune system and inflammation, contribute to lasting neurological changes after COVID-19.
Many of the symptoms we attribute to an infection are really due to the protective responses of the immune system. A runny nose during a cold is not a direct effect of the virus, but a result of the immune system’s response to the cold virus. This is also true when it comes to feeling sick. The general malaise, tiredness, fever and social withdrawal are caused by activation of specialized immune cells in the brain, called neuroimmune cells, and signals in the brain.
These changes in brain and behavior, although annoying for our everyday lives, are highly adaptive and immensely beneficial. By resting, you allow the energy-demanding immune response to do its thing. A fever makes the body less hospitable to viruses and increases the efficiency of the immune system. Social withdrawal may help decrease spread of the virus.
Unfortunately, this also provides a way in which illnesses like COVID-19 can cause both acute neurological symptoms and long-lasting issues in the brain.
Microglia are specialized immune cells in the brain. In healthy states, they use their arms to test the environment. During an immune response, microglia change shape to engulf pathogens. But they can also damage neurons and their connections that store memory.JUAN GAERTNER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Getty Images
During illness and inflammation, the specialized immune cells in the brain become activated, spewing vast quantities of inflammatory signals, and modifying how they communicate with neurons. For one type of cell, microglia, this means changing shape, withdrawing the spindly arms and becoming blobby, mobile cells that envelop potential pathogens or cell debris in their path. But, in doing so, they also destroy and eat the neuronal connections that are so important for memory storage.
Another type of neuroimmune cell called an astrocyte, typically wraps around the connection between neurons during illness-evoked activation and dumps inflammatory signals on these junctions, effectively preventing the changes in connections between neurons that store memories.
Because COVID-19 involves a massive release of inflammatory signals, the impact of this disease on memory is particularly interesting to me. That is because there are both short-term effects on cognition (delirium), and the potential for long-lasting changes in memory, attention and cognition. There is also an increased risk for cognitive decline and dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, during aging.
How does inflammation exert long-lasting effects on memory?
If activation of neuroimmune cells is limited to the duration of the illness, then how can inflammation cause long-lasting memory deficits or increase the risk of cognitive decline?
Both the brain and the immune system have specifically evolved to change as a consequence of experience, in order to neutralize danger and maximize survival. In the brain, changes in connections between neurons allows us to store memories and rapidly change behavior to escape threat, or seek food or social opportunities. The immune system has evolved to fine-tune the inflammatory response and antibody production against previously encountered pathogens.
Another major illness with a similar cognitive complications is sepsis – multi-organ dysfunction triggered by inflammation. In animal models of these diseases, we also see impairments of memory, and changes in neuroimmune and neuronal function that persist weeks and months after illness.
Does COVID-19 increase risk for cognitive decline?
It will be many years before we know whether the COVID-19 infection causes an increased risk for cognitive decline or Alzheimer’s disease. But this risk may be decreased or mitigated through prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
Prevention and treatment both rely on the ability to decrease the severity and duration of illness and inflammation. Intriguingly, very new research suggests that common vaccines, including the flu shot and pneumonia vaccines, may reduce risk for Alzheimer’s.
Additionally, several emerging treatments for COVID-19 are drugs that suppress excessive immune activationand inflammatory state. Potentially, these treatments will also reduce the impact of inflammation on the brain, and decrease the impact on long-term brain health.
COVID-19 will continue to impact health and well-being long after the pandemic is over. As such, it will be critical to continue to assess the effects of COVID-19 illness in vulnerability to later cognitive decline and dementias.
In doing so, researchers will likely gain critical new insight into the role of inflammation across the life-span in age-related cognitive decline. This will aid in the development of more effective strategies for prevention and treatment of these debilitating illnesses.
================================================================ Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, it was stupid and willfully ignorant voter who got us into the mess we are in. And in many cases it’s those same stupid and willfully ignorant voters who are daring the virus to infect them – and then going around infecting others, including some who are not stupid or willfully ignorant, but get into their path. If the virus can manage to get into patients’ brains, it will cause even more stupidity, as well as ignorance (through memory loss) which may not be willful, but is still damaging. How on earth are we going to deal with that? We need you. Desperately.
The world is dealing with an unprecedented health crisis caused by a new virus. With new insights in the way COVID19 spreads, in the way the virus behaves and in the way to deal with the pandemic every day, it is now more important than ever to safeguard the information we share is accurate and fact-based. We have to inoculate ourselves against the fake news and misinformation that infect our newsfeeds and timelines at this crucial moment by fact-checking.
For the duration of the pandemic, I will try to give you an overview of the main issues in CoronaCheck, an Australian email newsletter with the latest from around the world concerning the coronavirus, but now appear only once a week.*
COULD VICTORIA’S PREMIER BE JAILED FOR PREVENTING THE USE OF HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE?
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews
As has been reported in edition # 20 that Victoria had seen a surge in new cases which only has worsened over the past weeks and now has forced its Labor Party Premier Daniel Andrews to have the capital Melbourne in full lockdown again and the rest of the state under close restrictions too after the previous measures didn’t show to have little effect on the ever-increasing number of infections.
The Premier now has come under attack by the Liberal opposition because of the failure of previous restrictions and imposing even stricter lockdown rules with strong detrimental effects on the Victorian economy.
Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly has suggested that Daniel Andrews could be jailed for blocking the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 during a Facebook posting spree that saw him promote the drug more than 30 times this week.
In a post that has since been edited (see posts above and below), Mr Kelly questioned whether the Premier could be jailed for up to 25 years for “continuing to ban hydroxychloroquine” under recently-introduced Victorian workplace laws, which include the crime of “workplace manslaughter”.
Image: Mr Kelly’s original Facebook post (supplied)
“With the current international evidence available, continuing to ban this drug is negligent, it falls below the standard of care that would be taken by a reasonable person — and creates a high risk or death,” Mr Kelly wrote, continuing with “Every officeholder in Victoria that continues to ban the use of Hydroxychloroquine, could be risking 25 years in jail under the state’s new laws” referring to the limitations the Therapeutic Goods Administration placed in March on the use of hydroxychloroquine and its recommendation against its use for treating COVID-19 outside of clinical trials.
The text of the post has since been updated to remove any reference to Mr Andrews, stating instead that “continuing to deny the right of medical professionals prescribing this drug to a patient” arguably constitutes conduct that in some states “has criminal penalties that carries [sic] severe penalties of up to 25 years’ imprisonment for individuals”.
“Given the limited evidence for effect against COVID-19, as well as the risk of significant adverse effects, the TGA strongly discourages the use of hydroxychloroquine outside of its current indications at this time other than in a clinical trial setting or in a controlled environment in the treatment of severely ill patients in hospital.”
Image: Mr Kelly’s edited Facebook post
Slater & Gordon industrial and employment principal lawyer Carita Kazakoff told Fact-check there was “zero chance” of Mr Andrews being charged with manslaughter as a result of any decision to ban or limit the use of hydroxychloroquine.
“Workplace manslaughter laws are designed to ensure that employers and organisations who exercise control over a workplace ensure the safety of those in that workplace,” she said in an email.
“While it’s conceivable that the Premier could be a ‘duty holder’ under the Act in relation to a workplace where he supervises or manages people, it is not relevant to the context Craig Kelly has described.”
When questioned by reporters about Mr Kelly’s posts, (Liberal) Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he would not “get onto what people talk about on Facebook” and asked Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly to comment on the use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19.
“In terms of its use for this particular disease… it doesn’t work,” Professor Kelly said.
As was mentioned in edition #3, Trump wannabe and millionaire Clive Palmer had purchased 32,900,000 doses of hydroxychloroquine and made it known in several large newspaper advertisements that he’s donating them towards Australia’s fight against COVID-19. No pressure there.
FROM WASHINGTON, D.C.
In a sit-down interview with news website Axios, posted on Politics Plus in It Is What It Is!
US President Donald Trump was grilled by Australian journalist Jonathan Swan on his administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed more than 150,000 Americans.
.@jonathanvswan: “Oh, you’re doing death as a proportion of cases. I’m talking about death as a proportion of population. That’s where the U.S. is really bad. Much worse than South Korea, Germany, etc.”@realdonaldtrump: “You can’t do that.”
Fact-checkers at PolitiFact have run the rule over the interview checking 22 claims made by the President. They concluded: “Trump’s comments contained a mix of half-truths, missing context and outright falsehoods.”
To begin with, PolitFact found to be misleading Mr Trump’s assertion that, even before the coronavirus outbreak, China had suffered its “worst year” in 67 years, given that 67 years ago the country was on the cusp of a famine which killed as many as 45 million people.
The fact-checkers also found Mr Trump’s claim that 12,000 people had attended his rally in Tulsa to be a doubling of the real count of 6,000.
And on coronavirus in the US, PolitiFact said it was “incorrect” for Mr Trump to say the US had a high case count because of a greater number of tests. What mattered, the fact-checkers said, was the proportion of tests returning a positive result.
“If more tests are being conducted and more of them are coming back positive, that means that the virus is spreading beyond just the increase in testing,” they said. “In June, the share of positive tests climbed. While it has levelled off and eased a bit, it is still more than three percentage points higher than in the spring.”
On COVID-19 deaths, of which the US has suffered the highest number in the world, the fact-checkers found Mr Trump was incorrect when claiming that fatalities were falling.
“On the day before the Trump interview [on July 28], the 7-day average death toll nationally had been climbing for weeks, according to the Covid Tracking Project. It stood at 1,004. A week before that, it had been about 800. A week before that, it had been about 700.”
Things that don’t cure and/or prevent COVID-19
#38: Eating rasam or curry “There is no scientific evidence that rasam or curry protects from the virus.” – World Health Organisation
*The facts in this article are derived from the Australian RMIT ABC Fact Check newsletters which in turn draw on their own resources and those of their colleagues within the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), of which RMIT ABC Fact Check is a member.
I don’t have all the details YET to prove this is a scam, but when Republicans give an undeserving company with a history of scams $765 million to manufacture products completely unrelated to their skills and experience, and their stock price skyrockets right BEFORE the deal is announced, then Republican greed is afoot!
The Trump administration’s latest “economic nationalism” scheme involves having taxpayers underwrite a $765 million loan to Eastman Kodak, the long-struggling camera company, in the hopes of transforming it into a pharmaceutical manufacturer.
If that sounds like a far-fetched idea, well, give some credit to the lobbyists who apparently made it happen.
The Daily Beast’s Lachlan Markay reports that Kodak restarted its shuttered D.C. lobbying team in April of this year and proceeded to spend $870,000 on influence-peddling in the months leading up to last week’s announcement by the White House. That’s twice as much as the company had ever spent in a single quarter, according to lobbying disclosures, and it appears to have paid off.
When the White House announced the massive loan to Kodak last week, Trump lauded it as a “breakthrough in bringing pharmaceutical manufacturing back to the United States.” Eastman Kodak will produce active pharmaceutical ingredients, or APIs, which are the chemical compounds used as the building blocks for many drugs. The loan to Eastman Kodak is supposed to be repaid within 25 years.
The White House is throwing all that taxpayer-backed cash at a company with no experience making pharmaceuticals as part of an overall effort to shift the global supply chains for pharmaceuticals. Some Republicans—including Peter Navarro, Trump’s top trade advisor, and lawmakers like Sen. Josh Hawley (R–Mo.)—fear that America is too dependant [sic] on imported drugs and APIs manufactured in China.
I’d be willing to bet that the Trump* family committed the crime of insider trading and made millions from the 1,400%+ increase in Kodak stock, while $765 million could have gone to people and small businesses that really need the money due to Trump’s* Republican plague.
Criminal Fuhrer Trump* had an interview on Axios with Jonathan Swan. I was vaguely aware of it, but when I opened my email this morning, I found a link from Lona that zeroed me in on how important it is. Kudos to Jonathan Swan and Lona.
The President has implemented this strategy for the past five months, repeatedly touting “the pandemic is totally under control”, as cases and deaths have spiralled [sic].
It’s a message many within the medical world have criticised [sic] as being disconnected from reality and a danger to public health.
Swan pressed Trump on whether “wishful thinking” and “salesmanship” was an appropriate leadership style for handling the worst pandemic of the century, which has killed more than 150,000 Americans.
“Right now, I think it’s under control,” Trump said at one point.
“How? A thousand Americans are dying a day,” Swan interjected.
“They are dying, that’s true. And you ha… It is what it is,” Trump replied…
That single horrific line may summarize both the interview and criminal Fuhrer Trump’s* total lack of empathy, but Swan was on Trump’s* case from beginning to end. He did such a god job, that I’m including the entire 38 minute interview. Unfortunately that’s also a lot of Trump*
