The Coronavirus

[pbrower2a]

[pbrower2a]

A warning about COVID-19: a new strain is appearing, and it is more contagious' If you want to see what is behind the recent spike




Infectious Disease Expert Warns Of New COVID-19 Wave Infecting Younger People
“We’re almost in a new pandemic,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.
By Nina Golgowski

Infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm warned Sunday of a coming “fourth wave” of coronavirus infections in the U.S. due in part to a more contagious variant that is spreading and affecting younger people.

“I believe that, in some ways, we’re almost in a new pandemic,” Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told Fox News Sunday’s Chris Wallace. “The only good news is that the current vaccines are effective against this particular variant, B117.”

In addition to this variant being known to be more contagious and deadly, Osterholm said it is more likely to affect children, an age group that throughout the pandemic had been largely unaffected by COVID-19.

“Unlike the previous strains of the virus, we didn’t see children under eighth grade get infected often, or they were not frequently very ill,” he said in a separate interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“Kids are playing a huge role in the transmission of this,” he told Wallace.

Osterholm said he initially was in favor of students physically returning to classrooms, but because the virus is changing, he’s changing too.
“There isn’t a country in the world right now that has seen a big increase of this B117 that is not locking down. We’re the exception. And so the bottom line message from all of these countries is, we could not control this virus until we did lockdown,” he told Wallace. “We have to do a better job of helping the public understand that this is short term. All we’re trying to do is get through this surge of cases that are going to occur over the next six to eight to 10 weeks because of this B117 variant.”

Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb on Sunday also attributed new outbreaks in some states to a rise in infections among younger people but said he does not think there will be a “true” fourth wave of cases thanks to the rising number of vaccinations.

“What we’re seeing is pockets of infection around the country, particularly in younger people who haven’t been vaccinated and also in school-aged children,” he said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”

Gottlieb said that he thinks the FDA could authorize Pfizer’s vaccine for emergency use for children ages 12 to 15. He doesn’t expect it to be available to children younger than that before the start of the fall school semester, however.
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rochelle Walensky, also warned last week of a feeling of an “impending doom” over the recent rise in the seven-day average of cases.

“When we see that uptick in cases, what we’ve seen before is that things really have a tendency to surge and surge big,” she said.
The nation’s seven-day moving average of cases has been rising in recent weeks, with it topping 64,000 on Saturday. The last time it was this high was in early March, according to the CDC’s website.

More, including video, at the source (Huffington Post)

Mask it or casket -- or risk other nasty consequences. Keep social distancing, and wash your hands for at least 20 seconds.

[Eric the Green]

Why is Michigan getting hit so hard? Is it happening in Detroit and Flint?

[Bob Butler 54]

(04-05-2021, 12:13 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Why is Michigan getting hit so hard? Is it happening in Detroit and Flint?

I think part of it is that their Governor is Democratic and ordered all sorts of protection measures, but their legislature is Republican and removed her ability to declare the emergencies.  Also, they seem to have a big following of Republican die hards who are making it a point of avoiding the precautions.

I used to call lotteries a tax on stupidity.  Same thing.

[David Horn]

(04-05-2021, 12:40 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote:

(04-05-2021, 12:13 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Why is Michigan getting hit so hard? Is it happening in Detroit and Flint?

I think part of it is that their Governor is Democratic and ordered all sorts of protection measures, but their legislature is Republican and removed her ability to declare the emergencies.  Also, they seem to have a big following of Republican die hards who are making it a point of avoiding the precautions.

I used to call lotteries a tax on stupidity.  Same thing.

Trenchant points.  I spent many of my working years in Michigan, and found it a very bifurcated state.  There is a lot of the Dakotas and a lot of Minnesota, with a bit of Canada thrown in.  Go to a Blue city and drive 10 minutes into Red Country on steroids.  It's weird.  The state that built our automobiles has the highest percentage of dirt roads in the nation.

[Eric the Green]

(04-06-2021, 09:11 AM)David Horn Wrote:

(04-05-2021, 12:40 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote:

(04-05-2021, 12:13 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Why is Michigan getting hit so hard? Is it happening in Detroit and Flint?

I think part of it is that their Governor is Democratic and ordered all sorts of protection measures, but their legislature is Republican and removed her ability to declare the emergencies.  Also, they seem to have a big following of Republican die hards who are making it a point of avoiding the precautions.

I used to call lotteries a tax on stupidity.  Same thing.

Trenchant points.  I spent many of my working years in Michigan, and found it a very bifurcated state.  There is a lot of the Dakotas and a lot of Minnesota, with a bit of Canada thrown in.  Go to a Blue city and drive 10 minutes into Red Country on steroids.  It's weird.  The state that built our automobiles has the highest percentage of dirt roads in the nation.

It sounds like Wisconsin today too. I don't think these states used to be so polarized. Since Reagan? Or Bush?

A lot of states are like this. Go to Redding or Bakersfield CA and rural points nearby and a similar contrast is found. The Bakersfield area provides the nation with Devin Nunes and Kevin McCarthy.

[Bob Butler 54]

(04-06-2021, 09:11 AM)David Horn Wrote: Trenchant points.  I spent many of my working years in Michigan, and found it a very bifurcated state.  There is a lot of the Dakotas and a lot of Minnesota, with a bit of Canada thrown in.  Go to a Blue city and drive 10 minutes into Red Country on steroids.  It's weird.  The state that built our automobiles has the highest percentage of dirt roads in the nation.

You also have to remember that their last Republican governor was responsible for the water catastrophe that was Flint. At a guess they would be a red state, but the Flint fiasco was too much.

[pbrower2a]

(04-05-2021, 12:13 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Why is Michigan getting hit so hard? Is it happening in Detroit and Flint?

A few days ago I saw an encounter between a middle-aged woman and an unmasked couple with small children at a Meijer. The middle-aged woman tore into the parents for not wearing masks. It seemed over the top, but she was right. I found out later that she is a physician and she has seen people die of COVID-19. The young couple is a pair of anti-vaxxers....

The people who don't wear masks are generally to the right-of-center, often fundamentalist Christians who take their chances with COVID-19 as a test of faith (to which I say... don't test God with personal stupidity!).  There are also the militia-sympathizing types who think that Donald Trump really did win the 2020 election but got cheated. They greatly distrust formal learning that they think a corrupting influence hostile to faith and "common sense". Marxism (political and cultural), evolution, atheism, homosexuality, Black Lives Matter, Antifa... 

Whatever liberal wing existed within the Republican Party in Michigan is gone.  It appeals now largely to the most primitive drives in human nature. Trump signs and banners are still up in rural areas... this is after the January 6 Putsch.  

Stupidity is not a survival value except if it allows one to keep a job in a precarious economy... Michigan is the definitive Rust Belt State (or is it Ohio?) where factory work has been vanishing and college graduates expect to hold onto the near-minimum-wage jobs that they had while working their way through college. A hint: Texas road maps sell well in East Lansing and Ann Arbor. Rural areas are doing OK because Trump opened the spigot on crop subsidies in a barely-disguised effort to buy votes in the next election. It came close to working in Michigan. 

Remember well: people have been caught in a plot to kidnap and probably kill the Governor. it is a hare-brained plot, but those plots often culminate in great tragedy.

[Eric the Green]

(04-07-2021, 10:50 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote:

(04-06-2021, 09:11 AM)David Horn Wrote: Trenchant points.  I spent many of my working years in Michigan, and found it a very bifurcated state.  There is a lot of the Dakotas and a lot of Minnesota, with a bit of Canada thrown in.  Go to a Blue city and drive 10 minutes into Red Country on steroids.  It's weird.  The state that built our automobiles has the highest percentage of dirt roads in the nation.

You also have to remember that their last Republican governor was responsible for the water catastrophe that was Flint.  At a guess they would be a red state, but the Flint fiasco was too much.

I'm glad to see that Biden infrastructure Plan includes replacing lead pipes in water systems.

[Eric the Green]

#......State...................Total Cases.......New Cases....Total Deaths....New Deaths
.........USA....................31,637,243.......+75,183........572,849..........+873
1.......California..............3,687,972........+2,402...........59,985..........+101
2.......Texas...................2,819,002........+4,055...........49,138..........+108
3.......Florida..................2,096,747........+5,885...........33,844...........+44
4.......New York..............1,968,112........+7,443...........51,120...........+83
5.......Illinois...................1,265,457........+3,790...........23,702...........+29
6.......Georgia.................1,068,199........+1,528...........19,305...........+67
7.......Pennsylvania.........1,060,102........+4,604............25,402..........+52
8.......Ohio.....................1,030,864........+2,064............18,741
9.......New Jersey..............937,979........+4,243............24,749..........+49
10.....North Carolina..........924,810........+1,380............12,212..........+23
11.....Arizona....................846,230...........+750............17,023..........+27
12.....Tennessee...............819,505.........+1,497............11,976...........+9
13.....Michigan.................795,492..........+9,369............17,373.........+30
14.....Indiana...................693,452..........+1,212............13,099.........+15
15.....Massachusetts.........650,573..........+2,550............17,358.........+21
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

[pbrower2a]

The population comparisons are thinning out, but each of them gets increasingly dramatic. We have just passed Albuquerque; on the next stop, get a mass-market beer (is it any wonder that the city is in decline?) in Milwaukee.  At ro ughly 595K people, it is now America's 31st-largest as pf 2019 estimates.

By the time this dreadful epidemic is over -- and it is now mostly the result of human fault -- we will have a list of cities by official 2020 Census counts.

 

Go ahead. Feel free to hate. Two of the three above evil entities deserved the antipathy of their time. The third is alive and well. It deserves your hatred.

[Eric the Green]

(04-08-2021, 08:03 AM)pbrower2a Wrote: The population comparisons are thinning out, but each of them gets increasingly dramatic. We have just passed Albuquerque; on th enext stop, get a mass-market beer (is it any wonder that the city is in decline?) in Milwaukee.  At ro ughly 595K people, it is now America's 31st-largest as pf 2019 estimates.

By the time this dreadful epidemic is over -- and it is now mostly the result of human fault -- we will have a list of cities by official 2020 Census counts.

 

Go ahead. Feel free to hate. Two of the three above evil entities deserved the antipathy of their time. The third is alive and well. It deserves your hatred.

And my reflection. So many beautiful lives lost. Much consolation needed for those who loved them. And so much necessary to see beyond death, and reflect on the possibility that spirit lives on in some way. The eternal lives within the temporal. And the hope that some of us, at least (those who are not fanatical Trump Republicans) can learn something from this, and support for the necessary funds and research which Trump cut off, for plans and medicines to treat this and future pandemics, and support environmental measures that allow humans to stop encroaching on Nature and other species. And sorrow too for those (and their stupid leaders) who refuse to follow the health rules, get vaccinated and keep each other safe; they are paying the price as the pandemic continues.

[pbrower2a]

(04-08-2021, 01:55 PM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(04-08-2021, 08:03 AM)pbrower2a Wrote: The population comparisons are thinning out, but each of them gets increasingly dramatic. We have just passed Albuquerque; on th enext stop, get a mass-market beer (is it any wonder that the city is in decline?) in Milwaukee.  At ro ughly 595K people, it is now America's 31st-largest as pf 2019 estimates.

By the time this dreadful epidemic is over -- and it is now mostly the result of human fault -- we will have a list of cities by official 2020 Census counts.

 

Go ahead. Feel free to hate. Two of the three above evil entities deserved the antipathy of their time. The third is alive and well. It deserves your hatred.

And my reflection. So many beautiful lives lost. Much consolation needed for those who loved them. And so much necessary to see beyond death, and reflect on the possibility that spirit lives on in some way. The eternal lives within the temporal. And the hope that some of us, at least (those who are not fanatical Trump Republicans) can learn something from this, and support for the necessary funds and research which Trump cut off, for plans and medicines to treat this and future pandemics, and support environmental measures that allow humans to stop encroaching on Nature and other species. And sorrow too for those (and their stupid leaders) who refuse to follow the health rules, get vaccinated and keep each other safe; they are paying the price as the pandemic continues.

Pointless death is always a tragedy. Even wartime death, however heroic, in a struggle against slavery or genocide brings to mind the question of whether slavery and genocide can ever have justification. 

America had nearly ideal leaders in the worst and most dangerous years of the last Crisis Eras. Lincoln and FDR were models of decisive, resolute, wise leadership who almost invariably made the right decisions. Maybe Obama did not get quite the opportunity. His style was far more to prevent trouble than to wage war against it. So if one is on the collectivist Far Left, then Obama fails for not leading America into a struggle against the social faults of capitalism. If one is the Hard Right, then Obama fails for not accepting the idea that nothing  matters except the will of economic elites that (those elites claim) society puts at the forefront of all activity lest everything fall apart. Note well: in an age in which scarcity is not the primary concern of the vast majority of people, the political system can solve almost all problems without overthrowing the super-rich. Note also: privilege, which includes great wealth for the potential of sybaritic indulgence, rightly serves as a necessary perquisite of great responsibility. 

I have said enough already about the gross inadequacy of Donald Trump, someone who exploited privilege to its fullest all his adult life yet exacted every benefit of great privilege. Some people must swab the desks; some people must do KP; some people must do farm labor. The conventional three greatest Presidents were George Washington, who defined the Presidency; Abraham Lincoln; and Franklin Roosevelt. All three took a country deeply divided and in grave danger of dissolution, disintegration, or the direst possible defeat and left America far more united with the initial dangers largely gone. Donald Trump took a country with a few unsolved problems and close to being united and provoked social rifts that had not yet existed.

[Eric the Green]

(04-08-2021, 04:27 PM)pbrower2a Wrote:

(04-08-2021, 01:55 PM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(04-08-2021, 08:03 AM)pbrower2a Wrote: The population comparisons are thinning out, but each of them gets increasingly dramatic. We have just passed Albuquerque; on th enext stop, get a mass-market beer (is it any wonder that the city is in decline?) in Milwaukee.  At ro ughly 595K people, it is now America's 31st-largest as pf 2019 estimates.

By the time this dreadful epidemic is over -- and it is now mostly the result of human fault -- we will have a list of cities by official 2020 Census counts.

 

Go ahead. Feel free to hate. Two of the three above evil entities deserved the antipathy of their time. The third is alive and well. It deserves your hatred.

And my reflection. So many beautiful lives lost. Much consolation needed for those who loved them. And so much necessary to see beyond death, and reflect on the possibility that spirit lives on in some way. The eternal lives within the temporal. And the hope that some of us, at least (those who are not fanatical Trump Republicans) can learn something from this, and support for the necessary funds and research which Trump cut off, for plans and medicines to treat this and future pandemics, and support environmental measures that allow humans to stop encroaching on Nature and other species. And sorrow too for those (and their stupid leaders) who refuse to follow the health rules, get vaccinated and keep each other safe; they are paying the price as the pandemic continues.

Pointless death is always a tragedy. Even wartime death, however heroic, in a struggle against slavery or genocide brings to mind the question of whether slavery and genocide can ever have justification. 

America had nearly ideal leaders in the worst and most dangerous years of the last Crisis Eras. Lincoln and FDR were models of decisive, resolute, wise leadership who almost invariably made the right decisions. Maybe Obama did not get quite the opportunity. His style was far more to prevent trouble than to wage war against it. So if one is on the collectivist Far Left, then Obama fails for not leading America into a struggle against the social faults of capitalism. If one is the Hard Right, then Obama fails for not accepting the idea that nothing  matters except the will of economic elites that (those elites claim) society puts at the forefront of all activity lest everything fall apart. Note well: in an age in which scarcity is not the primary concern of the vast majority of people, the political system can solve almost all problems without overthrowing the super-rich. Note also: privilege, which includes great wealth for the potential of sybaritic indulgence, rightly serves as a necessary perquisite of great responsibility. 

I have said enough already about the gross inadequacy of Donald Trump, someone who exploited privilege to its fullest all his adult life yet exacted every benefit of great privilege. Some people must swab the desks; some people must do KP; some people must do farm labor. The conventional three greatest Presidents were George Washington, who defined the Presidency; Abraham Lincoln; and Franklin Roosevelt. All three took a country deeply divided and in grave danger of dissolution, disintegration, or the direst possible defeat and left America far more united with the initial dangers largely gone. Donald Trump took a country with a few unsolved problems and close to being united and provoked social rifts that had not yet existed.

The inadequacy of the people in confederate America (Classic Xer's America) certainly matches that of the previous civil war era. Our new crisis leader Joe Biden certainly aims to manage the crisis well, and is doing pretty good job. He is more like George Washington; steady and practical and dignified, although not as charismatic or eloquent as Lincoln and FDR. The problem is the supporting cast. As long as our country is not split, as under Lincoln, the Republican Party (which has switched to become the confederate Party) is given too much power by our system to block progress. A few Senate Democrats are representing Republican states, so their ability to act is also limited. We may have to separate so that the blue half of the country can make progress. Only as the separate red half later sees itself falling into total ruin will it then petition to join back. Unless enough voters in red and purple states can send enough representatives to congress to support Biden, end the filibuster, pass all the voting rights in the For the People Act, give DC and PR and maybe Guam two senators, reform or abolish the electoral college, reform immigration, and if needed reform and pack the Court, stalemate will continue, and I don't think we can deal with our existential threats without separating ourselves from our retrograde half.

[David Horn]

(04-09-2021, 12:10 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: The inadequacy of the people in confederate America (Classic Xer's America) certainly matches that of the previous civil war era. Our new crisis leader Joe Biden certainly aims to manage the crisis well, and is doing pretty good job. He is more like George Washington; steady and practical and dignified, although not as charismatic or eloquent as Lincoln and FDR. The problem is the supporting cast. As long as our country is not split, as under Lincoln, the Republican Party (which has switched to become the confederate Party) is given too much power by our system to block progress. A few Senate Democrats are representing Republican states, so their ability to act is also limited. We may have to separate so that the blue half of the country can make progress. Only as the separate red half later sees itself falling into total ruin will it then petition to join back. Unless enough voters in red and purple states can send enough representatives to congress to support Biden, end the filibuster, pass all the voting rights in the For the People Act, give DC and PR and maybe Guam two senators, reform or abolish the electoral college, reform immigration, and if needed reform and pack the Court, stalemate will continue, and I don't think we can deal with our existential threats without separating ourselves from our retrograde half.

While I agree, I don't see Guam making the cut, to be fully honest about it. The same can be said of American Samoa.  Guam has fewer than 170,000 residents; American Samoa less than 50,000.  The US Virgin Islands may be ripe for statehood, but they have only slightly over 100.000 residents -- another no-go.  

Revising the Constitution is a bigger task, one that may only happen if Texas gets painted Blue.  At that point, the GOP will have no chance of electing a POTUS, and may be ready to bargain.  That may be a while coming, so statehood for the deserving needs to come first.

[pbrower2a]

(04-09-2021, 12:10 PM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(04-08-2021, 04:27 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: Pointless death is always a tragedy. Even wartime death, however heroic, in a struggle against slavery or genocide brings to mind the question of whether slavery and genocide can ever have justification. 

America had nearly ideal leaders in the worst and most dangerous years of the last Crisis Eras. Lincoln and FDR were models of decisive, resolute, wise leadership who almost invariably made the right decisions. Maybe Obama did not get quite the opportunity. His style was far more to prevent trouble than to wage war against it. So if one is on the collectivist Far Left, then Obama fails for not leading America into a struggle against the social faults of capitalism. If one is the Hard Right, then Obama fails for not accepting the idea that nothing  matters except the will of economic elites that (those elites claim) society puts at the forefront of all activity lest everything fall apart. Note well: in an age in which scarcity is not the primary concern of the vast majority of people, the political system can solve almost all problems without overthrowing the super-rich. Note also: privilege, which includes great wealth for the potential of sybaritic indulgence, rightly serves as a necessary perquisite of great responsibility. 

I have said enough already about the gross inadequacy of Donald Trump, someone who exploited privilege to its fullest all his adult life yet exacted every benefit of great privilege. Some people must swab the desks; some people must do KP; some people must do farm labor. The conventional three greatest Presidents were George Washington, who defined the Presidency; Abraham Lincoln; and Franklin Roosevelt. All three took a country deeply divided and in grave danger of dissolution, disintegration, or the direst possible defeat and left America far more united with the initial dangers largely gone. Donald Trump took a country with a few unsolved problems and close to being united and provoked social rifts that had not yet existed.

The inadequacy of the people in confederate America (Classic Xer's America) certainly matches that of the previous civil war era. Our new crisis leader Joe Biden certainly aims to manage the crisis well, and is doing pretty good job. He is more like George Washington; steady and practical and dignified, although not as charismatic or eloquent as Lincoln and FDR. The problem is the supporting cast. As long as our country is not split, as under Lincoln, the Republican Party (which has switched to become the confederate Party) is given too much power by our system to block progress. A few Senate Democrats are representing Republican states, so their ability to act is also limited. We may have to separate so that the blue half of the country can make progress. Only as the separate red half later sees itself falling into total ruin will it then petition to join back. Unless enough voters in red and purple states can send enough representatives to congress to support Biden, end the filibuster, pass all the voting rights in the For the People Act, give DC and PR and maybe Guam two senators, reform or abolish the electoral college, reform immigration, and if needed reform and pack the Court, stalemate will continue, and I don't think we can deal with our existential threats without separating ourselves from our retrograde half.

Slaves often voted with their feet (as Lenin described refugees) to go to the Union lines. They knew that the Union Army was not going to return them to their "owners". The Confederacy depended upon slave labor for its agriculture, and as the slaves abandoned the roles that the masters had appointed them, the economic basis of the Confederacy collapsed.

It is ironic that the right wing in the former secessionist states (except in Virginia, which is in no way Southern in its politics anymore)  has become increasingly strident, corrupt, and exclusive. That is how dying machines operate, trying to hold onto power as they see their time running out. Remember well that all of the former Secessionist states have large African-American minorities that could decide statewide politics if white people would vote their economic interests instead of identity. White Identity can connect a white agricultural worker with the corporate farmer who exploits him severely and sees him as dirt. White Identity exploits the fear "you don't want mulatto grandchildren", something that most people dare not say unless they wear robes and burn crosses. 

It may be hard to imagine, but the historical truth is shown in the 1976 election: the former Confederacy, except for Virginia (barely) all voted for Jimmy Carter. The "Rockefeller Republicans" still held sway in much of the North and West, and if they were liberals on racial equality they still believed in corporate domination of economic life. For a short time in the "New" (post-1964) South, the Democratic Party could win by large numbers in Southern states based upon a coalition of the white working class and the black working class. 

What happened? The Religious Right took over in the Mountain South. Large numbers of white Presbyterians became "Southern Baptists" in areas in which there were still few Southern Baptists. The new Southern Baptists took the old Calvinist value of economic hierarchy seriously with a new birth of self-righteousness on anything other than straight, plutocratic, male-dominated family life and a level of faith that subordinated science to a literal reading of Scripture. (If the Bible says that the Earth was created in seven literal days, then the fossil record is perhaps a demonic trick to trap the rationalists into a descent into Hell). The Religious Right was delighted to sell out to Corporate America and accept the desirability of the evisceration of labor unions. 

Dying machines do what they must to extend their power. There is just too much to lose from the loss of power, including sweetheart deals involving Big Government (the Hard Right has learned that it can use Big Government to its material advantage, and the Small-Government interests that once dominated the GOP are practically defunct) and Big Business. Just look at what the Georgia state legislature did to try to ensure that Democrats would never win any statewide elections again... even making it possible for the state legislature to nullify an electoral result that it dislikes. 

Demographic trends are nearly impossible to stop except for abusive or even genocidal practices. Most of the former Confederate states have little attraction for immigrants or people from outside the South. Such population growth as the Deep and Mountain South have is largely from high birth rates (women get married and have children earlier).  Florida, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia have such attractions and are making their own demographic shifts away from the current right-wing paradigm.    

...Classic X'er seems to have stopped posting. Maybe he is banned or suspended (you probably know why, should such be so). Oddly he is from Minnesota, so nothing about that indicates that he would have any native ties to the Confederacy. His racism is something that Corporate America does everything possible to dodge. He sounds more like militia types that we have in Michigan, although his reference to "real Americans slitting the throats" of what he considers not-so-real Americans" is close to the language of those who would behead people in the name of Islam. Cruelty, and not some specific faith, is the essence of evil. I see Daniel Pearl as a martyr in the sense that I see Sophie Scholl, Medgar Evers, Steve Biko, Jerzy Popieluszko, and many devout Muslims under Ba'ath and ISIS  fascism  as martyrs. Conscience and tyranny are predictable enemies.

[pbrower2a]

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Hospitals in Turkey and Poland are filling up. Pakistan is restricting domestic travel. The U.S. government will send more help to the state with the country’s worst infection increase.

The worldwide surge in coronavirus cases and deaths includes even Thailand, which has weathered the pandemic far better than many nations but now struggles to contain COVID-19.

The only exceptions to the deteriorating situation are countries that have advanced vaccination programs, most notably Israel and Britain. The U.S., which is a vaccination leader globally, is also seeing a small uptick in new cases, and the White House announced Friday that it would send federal assistance to Michigan to control the state’s worst-in-the-nation transmission rate.

The World Health Organization said infection rates are climbing in every global region, driven by new virus variants and too many countries coming out of lockdown too soon.

https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-c...8e53a9b240

[Bob Butler 54]

(04-09-2021, 02:20 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: ...Classic X'er seems to have stopped posting. Maybe he is banned or suspended (you probably know why, should such be so).

Xenakis and I took at least a pause in our exchange over on the Generational Dynamics site. The last bit was an accusation that I was a criminal. No evidence. Just off the top of his confused little brain. I just used it as an example that he will slander people whose opinions differ from his.

For a while I have highlighted a generalization from S&H that the conservative values will collapse in a crisis. The royalists, slave owners, no regulation of the economy, isolationist, or racist faction just fades some as the democracy, free economy, regulation, world power, equality proponents move on. This does seem to be materializing of late. The Big Lie is being recognized more and more as a big lie. The red violence is being recognized as a problem. The Blue Wall of Silence is falling apart in the George Floyd trial. The Trump criminal investigations are proceeding. More people are ready to take a vaccine.

The Republican stonewall hasn’t broken though. The congress critters remain more loyal to their party than servants of the people. They are voting against widely popular bills. I don’t see how this can work past the first few years. They spent the conservative era obstructing anything that will help the people enough that it has become a habit. This has left a bunch of problems that so obviously need to be resolved that a progressive platform is obvious. If they try to stand in the way of that they can destroy themselves.

This has got to be hard on the poor conservatives.

[Eric the Green]

(04-09-2021, 12:36 PM)David Horn Wrote:

(04-09-2021, 12:10 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: The inadequacy of the people in confederate America (Classic Xer's America) certainly matches that of the previous civil war era. Our new crisis leader Joe Biden certainly aims to manage the crisis well, and is doing pretty good job. He is more like George Washington; steady and practical and dignified, although not as charismatic or eloquent as Lincoln and FDR. The problem is the supporting cast. As long as our country is not split, as under Lincoln, the Republican Party (which has switched to become the confederate Party) is given too much power by our system to block progress. A few Senate Democrats are representing Republican states, so their ability to act is also limited. We may have to separate so that the blue half of the country can make progress. Only as the separate red half later sees itself falling into total ruin will it then petition to join back. Unless enough voters in red and purple states can send enough representatives to congress to support Biden, end the filibuster, pass all the voting rights in the For the People Act, give DC and PR and maybe Guam two senators, reform or abolish the electoral college, reform immigration, and if needed reform and pack the Court, stalemate will continue, and I don't think we can deal with our existential threats without separating ourselves from our retrograde half.

While I agree, I don't see Guam making the cut, to be fully honest about it. The same can be said of American Samoa.  Guam has fewer than 170,000 residents; American Samoa less than 50,000.  The US Virgin Islands may be ripe for statehood, but they have only slightly over 100.000 residents -- another no-go.  

Revising the Constitution is a bigger task, one that may only happen if Texas gets painted Blue.  At that point, the GOP will have no chance of electing a POTUS, and may be ready to bargain.  That may be a while coming, so statehood for the deserving needs to come first.

The main reason I added Guam to my list, is the electoral college, which isn't going away anytime soon, most likely, and DC already has 3 votes, and the total-incompetent Trump almost won the 2020 election solely due to the EC (the margin was 43,000 votes in 3 states total). Just adding 5 or 6 votes for likely-Democratic Puerto Rico doesn't do much to change the balance. And given Texas' 6% margin for Trump in 2020, I don't see it going blue in the next presidential election. If Georgian Republicans can make it stick that their Republican legislature can just decide who wins the elections there, that is one more doubtful blue state. I don't know if Guam will ever be added, but it seems like a good idea. Maybe Guam and American Samoa could be cobbled together as the state of Oceania?

Meanwhile yesterday new cases in the USA were over 85,000, CA added 3600 and NY over 8000. The pandemic isn't going anywhere yet. New variants and pandemics could happen too. This existential threat, one among several, remains. Our Cold Civil War 4T will continue until the blue side wins the great divide and the red tide recedes, or we have put together some kind of division of the USA.

The greatest dangers I see now are the Republican drive to suppress the vote, leading to possible Republican congress takeover in 2022, Manchin's current unwillingness to support Democratic Party senate reforms and bills, and Kamala Harris's possible nomination in 2024 which would assure Republican victory for the White House.

[David Horn]

(04-10-2021, 01:05 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Meanwhile yesterday new cases in the USA were over 85,000, CA added 3600 and NY over 8000. The pandemic isn't going anywhere yet. New variants and pandemics could happen too. This existential threat, one among several, remains. Our Cold Civil War 4T will continue until the blue side wins the great divide and the red tide recedes, or we have put together some kind of division of the USA.

We haven't mandated vaccination so far, but it's fully legal for the Federal government to do it.  That was settled by the Supremes in 1905.  If we never get to herd immunity due to RW intransigence, that's an option that still exists.
 

Eric Wrote:The greatest dangers I see now are the Republican drive to suppress the vote, leading to possible Republican congress takeover in 2022, Manchin's current unwillingness to support Democratic Party senate reforms and bills, and Kamala Harris's possible nomination in 2024 which would assure Republican victory for the White House.

Manchin represents the second most pro-Trump state in the US.  Don't expect too much from him -- unless he grows a pair and decides to take one for the team. Kristen Sinema has a bit more running room, so pressure may be enough with her.  I'm beginning to doubt that Kamal Harris will ever run for POTUS. 

It's not all bleak.