Thursday, September 3, 2020

U.S. Coronavirus Rates Are Rising Fast Among Children

 https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/08/31/us/coronavirus-cases-children.html

 As some schools begin in-person classes, data compiled by the American Academy of Pediatrics from the summer show that cases, hospitalizations and deaths from the coronavirus have increased at a faster rate in children and teenagers than among the general public. 

Young children seem to catch and transmit the virus less than adults, and children of all ages tend not to experience severe complications from it. But Dr. Sean O’Leary, vice chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ committee on infectious diseases, said that substantial community spread in many parts of the United States corresponded with more infections among children.

 “Anyone who has been on the front lines of this pandemic in a children’s hospital can tell you we’ve taken care of lots of kids that are very sick,” Dr. O’Leary said. “Yes, it’s less severe in children than adults, but it’s not completely benign.” 

Dr. William Raszka Jr., a pediatric infectious disease expert at the Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at the University of Vermont in Burlington, said research consistently showed that adults — not children — were driving the spread of the virus. Outbreaks at summer camps and schools, however, have demonstrated that transmission can, in fact, happen among children.

 

Trump’s Claim He Didn’t Have a Stroke Would Be More Convincing If He Didn’t Constantly Lie About Everything All the Time

 https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/09/donald-trump-stroke-lies

 Remember, last November, when Trump made an unscheduled visit to Walter Reed hospital in Maryland to supposedly take advantage of a “free weekend” to have part of his physical performed, even though it had been less than a year since his last one, he was free the weekend before and the one after, the visit didn’t follow protocols for a routine presidential medical exam, he never went back for the rest of the exam, and no report was released after the visit, as has been traditionally been the case? At the time, the White House claimed the trip was much ado about nothing, and that the hack liberal media was back on its usual FAKE NEWS bullshit. Eventually, the story died down, and attentions turned to the president’s penchant for witness tampering, his fake war on Thanksgiving, and his decision to go full anti-Semite in a room full of Jewish people.

All of which feels a lot like a case of an administration doth protesting too much! But while Trump certainly exhibits some the symptoms of having had a stroke—he frequently slurs his words, gets easily confused, and struggles to control his limbs—at this time, there is no credible evidence to indicate that he has. And who knows, he probably didn’t! (Likely he just has a degenerative brain disease.) Unfortunately, it’s very hard to believe the president or his staff’s denials because they constantly lie about everything all the time. Crowd size. A deadly pandemic. How much Black people love him. Things he’s said on-camera in rooms full of people. Windmills. Toilets. Hillary Clinton’s health. Commercial flights full of looters. And thousands—literally thousands—of other things. So they’ll have to forgive people for not giving them the benefit of the doubt on this one.

 

He built a privately funded border wall. It's already at risk of falling down if not fixed.

 https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/02/texas-border-wall-private/

 Trump supporters funded a private border wall on the banks of the Rio Grande, helping the builder secure $1.7 billion in federal contracts. Now the "Lamborghini” of border walls is in danger of falling into the river if nothing is done, experts say.

 Tommy Fisher billed his new privately funded border wall as the future of deterrence, a quick-to-build steel fortress that spans 3 miles in one of the busiest Border Patrol sectors.

Unlike a generation of wall builders before him, he said he figured out how to build a structure directly on the banks of the Rio Grande, a risky but potentially game-changing step when it came to the nation’s border wall system.

Fisher has leveraged his self-described “Lamborghini” of walls to win more than $1.7 billion worth of federal contracts in Arizona.

 But his showcase piece is showing signs of runoff erosion and, if it’s not fixed, could be in danger of falling into the Rio Grande, according to engineers and hydrologists who reviewed photos of the wall for ProPublica and The Texas Tribune. It never should have been built so close to the river, they say.

 Fisher’s success and the $1.3 billion contract in Arizona he won in May — the largest border wall contract ever awarded — came despite repeated questions about his qualifications and work. Army Corps of Engineers officials have said the firm won because it submitted the lowest bid.

Fisher’s strategy was years in the making. Soon after the 2016 election, he became a frequent guest on Fox News, where he caught the attention of Trump. Last year, The Washington Post reported that the president “latch(ed) on” to Fisher’s claims of speed and quality and “aggressively pushed” for the firm in conversations with top Homeland Security officials.

Ultra-Orthodox press calls for virus czar’s resignation over rebuke of top rabbi

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/ultra-orthodox-press-calls-for-virus-czars-resignation-over-rebuke-of-top-rabbi/

 Ultra-Orthodox newspapers on Thursday condemned Israel’s coronavirus czar Ronni Gamzu and called for his ouster, after he denounced a prominent rabbi who reportedly told yeshiva students not to get tested for the disease.

Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, considered among the most important leaders of the non-Hasidic branch of ultra-Orthodox Jewry in Israel, expressed concern that the testing process would take students away from their studies and that positive results would require those who came in contact with the patient to quarantine, further disrupting yeshiva life, according to the Kikar HaShabat website.

 

Biden tops Trump in Pennsylvania, but lead shrinks: poll

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-tops-trump-pennsylvania-lead-shrinks-poll

An average of all the latest polls in Pennsylvania conducted by Real Clear Politics puts Biden ahead of Trump by 4.7 points. That’s down from a 6-point lead Biden enjoyed at the beginning of August.

Fox News Poll: Biden tops Trump among likely voters in key states

 https://www.foxnews.com/official-polls/fox-news-poll-biden-tops-trump-among-likely-voters-in-key-states

 Democrat Joe Biden is ahead in three key states that President Donald Trump won in 2016, according to new Fox News statewide surveys of Arizona, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. 

Support for reelecting Trump falls below his 2016 vote share in each state.  At the same time, there’s room for improvement, as more voters approve of his job performance than back his reelection.

Biden’s advantage comes from strong support among women and suburban voters.  Moreover, suburban women in all three states trust Biden over Trump to handle coronavirus and policing/criminal justice.

Interest in the election is roughly the same among both Biden and Trump supporters. 

 

'פער את פיו': היומונים החרדים נגד רוני גמזו

 https://www.kikar.co.il/373422.html

 חשיפת 'כיכר השבת' על הוראת מרן הגר"ח והתבטאות פרויקטור הקורונה נגדו, היום בכל היומונים החרדים • את הקו החריף הוביל עיתון 'המבשר', שקרא לרוני גמזו להתפטר (ארץ)

Rabbi Kanievsky: 'Don't test yeshiva students for coronavirus'

 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/286465

 Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, a leading haredi rabbi, has instructed that post-high school yeshivas not conduct coronavirus tests, since the tests may send thousands of students into quarantine, wasting time during which they would otherwise be learning Torah, Kikar Hashabbat reported.

 

Russia set up fake liberal network to help Trump win election - NYT

 https://www.jpost.com/us-elections/russia-set-up-fake-liberal-network-to-help-trump-win-election-nyt-640907

 

The White House has sought to control the flow of information concerning foreign threats to the election in recent weeks.

 A Kremlin-backed group created a network of fake accounts and a fake Liberal website as part of a disinformation campaign designed to assist US President Donald Trump, Facebook and Twitter said, according to The New York Times.

According to the NYT, the Internet Research Agency, which reportedly interfered in the 2016 presidential election, launched the campaign to push potential Democratic voters away from presidential candidate Joe Biden.


Judge Andrew Napolitano: Has Trump incited violence?

 https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trump-riots-andrew-napolitano

 Now back to the present use of words to incite violence. President Trump has been accused of inciting violence by his use of words. He has said many things: “When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” “Knock the crap out of them,” “any guy who can do a body slam, he’s my type,” and “the audience hit back; that’s what we need a little more of.”

Even though the president’s language was referring to violence in American cities last summer and this summer, and even though his supporters may take some consolation in his harsh and supportive words, because there was time for more speech to rebut what he said, his words are protected.

I write this as a constitutional analysis, not a political one. The voters will decide if Trump’s words are prudent or helpful or even presidential. But the courts will leave him alone.

 

 

In North Carolina, Trump urges voters to vote twice in November

 https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/politics/jamie-dupree/north-carolina-trump-urges-voters-vote-twice-november/O4R6IAVBT5C47JZ5ZILVQX4LGY/

 Hours after once again denouncing states which are mailing ballots to all active registered voters for November, President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged his supporters to not only vote by mail or by absentee ballot, but also then to show up to the polls on Election Day to vote a second time, which theoretically could put voters in legal jeopardy.

 Some election experts said the President himself broke the law by suggesting people should vote both by mail and in person.

In his answer, the President quickly suggested that people should both cast a ballot by mail, and then vote again at the polls.

“Well, they’ll go out and they’ll vote, and they’re going to have to go and check their vote by going to the poll and voting that way, because if it tabulates then they won’t be able to do that. So, let them send it in, and let them go vote, and if their system is as good as they say it is, then obviously they won’t be able to vote. If it isn’t tabulated, they’ll be able to vote. So, that’s the way it is. But send in your ballots, send them in strong, whether it’s solicited or unsolicited, the absentees are fine - we have to work to get them - you know, it means something. And you send them in - but you go to vote - and if they haven’t counted it, you can vote. So, that’s the way I view it.”

Trump Encourages His Supporters To Try To Commit Voter Fraud By Voting For Him Twice | MSNBC

Senator floats false data claim. See ex-CDC chief's reaction

'That's just weird': Brianna Keilar debunks Ronny Jackson's claim