There are two problems in the US with pandemic (or other) interventions:
1. Everything is couched in voluntary terms - meaning precautions are strongly recommended but never really enforced meaningfully. Similar for both health care and gun control.
2. Patchwork - whether related to healthcare or education (or politics), everything in this country is a patchwork down to individual municipalities. Since the end of WWII there has been little to no unifying principles coming out of the federal government. The neo-cons have clawed away at federalism bit by bit, this country is dying a death of a million cuts.
Because the Regime's only justification for anything is to hold onto power, they are using "states' rights" as the leverage point, basically punting (if you prefer sports terms) so they don't have to take the blame.
Remember, the Founders said - If you don't like the government, overthrow it.
But by the early 1800s we got the Sedition Act - which means it's illegal to overthrow it.
It appears the system is working as planned.
Your entry (and this one) really belong under the COVID-19 thread, as this thread is meant more for predictions for 2021 related to US politics.
@jeanne-mayell - ?
This is so interesting to read - thank you! I am also in MI (southeast) and have kids in middle school, so I was especially interested in your take on school this fall here. I am skeptical as well on how this will all pan out. I agree that we will know more as July goes on, how any surges affect things after the holiday weekend, etc. I just can't imagine how in-person school will manage, esp. with colds/flu going around at the same time. It just feels like utter confusion and chaos trying to sort out what is what and who stays home (both teachers and students.) I look forward to following your posts about this and other sources about our state as we proceed.
I was also very interested in your thoughts on Biden. I just posted a long Tarot read yesterday on the Random Predictions thread that you might be interested in (if you haven't already seen it.) I was focusing on Biden and also Kamala Harris. I am fairly new to Tarot, but feel like it is a really helpful tool for my own personal intuition. Guess I'll find out this fall if it is all coming from my imagination or my intuition! I was sensing Biden as possibly at transitional president as well - setting up whomever is his VP choice as the next long-term leader.
@laura-f One thought in regards to your comment: don't assume liberals will be outgunned. Out"bombed" ... probably; liberals aren't really into indiscriminate destruction; out"crazy"ed ... likely. But outgunned? Not necessarily. My husband is a liberal, loves guns and shooting (has his whole life; he wanted to go into the military to be a sniper but his mom talked him out of it), and is willing and able to defend. One of his closest friends is even more liberal, even more into guns, former LEO, and former member of NRA ... he quit when it went off the rails. But from his experience in both law enforcement and the NRA, he knows that there are many more liberals with guns than people assume. My sister and her husband are both military, and they also have commented that there are more left-leaning people in uniform than people realize, especially now, with how much Trump has betrayed them. We DO have strength on our side, as well as rationality.
So Trump's new directive to hospitals to stop reporting covid data to CDC and only to HHS Protect, and TeleTracking , has more darkness in it than just to cover up the virus. The depths of Trump and GOP depravity keeps boggling the mind:
From Health Cox Richardson July 15, 2020 (Wednesday) posted on her FB page:
This move has met with widespread condemnation as observers worry that Trump is trying to take control of information about the coronavirus in order to conceal it. In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis has hidden information this way, and Trump has made it clear he believes that if only he downplays the numbers, he can convince people to go back to work and resurrect the economy.
Richardson points out even more sinister reasons for this change:
HHS Protect is developed by Palantir Technologies, a data-mining firm that works with the Pentagon and law enforcement agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Peter Thiel, a billionaire Trump supporter, co-founded the company, which last week confidentially filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to go public. An initial public offering (IPO) would have made bucketloads of money in any case, but a federal contract to compile coronavirus information is a sweet addition to its portfolio.
The TeleTracking system also raises suspicions of a financial deal. On June 3, Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) wrote to the director of the CDC, Dr. Robert Redfield and the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Robert P. Kadlec, to ask why HHS had awarded a $10 million no-bid contract to create this data system that duplicated the one the CDC already had. Why indeed?
It gets worse: The administration is blackmailing hospitals now by withholding a key drug for treating Covid unless they follow this reporting:
They wrote to hospitals: “We will no longer be sending out one-time requests for data to aid in the distribution of Remdesivir or any other treatments or supplies. This daily reporting is the only mechanism used for the distribution calculations, and the daily [sic] is needed daily to ensure accurate calculations.”
Remdesivir is one of the two drugs proven effective at combatting Covid-19. Two weeks ago, the Trump administration bought up almost all of the world’s supply of the drug for the next three months.
Now, it appears, in order to get access to it, hospitals will need to use the private data systems the administration supports.
Russia has been trying to hack US UK and Canada for the Covid vaccine. Don’t worry T will say not his comrades no way they good people on that side. They are just trying to help.
A "cyber espionage group" associated with the Russian intelligence services has attempted to hack into coronavirus vaccine research in the U.S., Britain and Canada, according to a report from the U.K.'s National Cyber Security Center.
The U.S. National Security Agency agreed with that report.
"Throughout 2020, APT29 has targeted various organizations involved in COVID-19 vaccine development in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, highly likely with the intention of stealing information and intellectual property relating to the development and testing of COVID-19 vaccines," the NCSC report said.
APT29, also known as "the Dukes" or "Cozy Bear," is one of the Russian Intelligence Service entities identified in the FBI's assessment of malicious cyber activity in the 2016 presidential election.
"It is completely unacceptable that the Russian Intelligence Services are targeting those working to combat the coronavirus pandemic," Dominic Raab, the U.K.'s foreign secretary, said in response to the advisory. "While others pursue their selfish interests with reckless behavior, the U.K. and its allies are getting on with the hard work of finding a vaccine and protecting global health."
APT29, also known as "the Dukes" or "Cozy Bear," is one of the Russian Intelligence Service entities identified in the FBI's assessment of malicious cyber activity in the 2016 presidential election.
"It is completely unacceptable that the Russian Intelligence Services are targeting those working to combat the coronavirus pandemic," Dominic Raab, the U.K.'s foreign secretary, said in response to the advisory. "While others pursue their selfish interests with reckless behavior, the U.K. and its allies are getting on with the hard work of finding a vaccine and protecting global health."
All part of the genocidal plan, IMHO.
As for Palantir - they are a very evil company. My husband used to work for one of their main competitors, and even now, when either of us says their name it's preceded by a strong "GRRRR".
If I was a hospital director, I'd nod, smile, say ok and then send stats to both, and then shrug in ignorance when confronted, just like Dear Leader does. Ad if I was the person at the CDC in charge of receiving said data, I'd deny all knowledge, "I never got any data? What data?"
I read her posts first thing with my morning coffee
Before I retired one of my clients, who works in the government, a particular branch... we would have discussions while his dog was getting treatments...they were talking about how hard they were working to ensure the Russians did not tamper with the election like they did last time... in spite of how difficult the current administration made it to do so. Have no doubt .. they are ... working constantly ... to do all they can to disrupt. Break it down to the lowest factor .. for Impotus.. its about the money.. and.. avoiding prosecution should he not win... as for the Russians? well their agenda is the same as it has been ... and Putin? is a particularly dangerous individual for completely different reasons than Impotus is a dangerous man.
I am in despair about the dubious, groveling sycophant that calls himself Governor in my state..his ignorance.. makes him a clear and present danger as well. https://www.boston.com/news/coronavirus/2020/07/16/georgia-masks
Here's my question. Aren't most hospitals already sending their data to both the federal government and their respective state health departments? We know that a couple of states (like Florida) are suppressing data. Yet many states are forthcoming. So, if glaring discrepancies develop between the numbers coming from states and the numbers being published by the CDC/HHS, wouldn't it be pretty obvious that something is amiss?
I lumped the CDC with Health and Human Services because while the dashboard of cases and fatalities has been restored at the CDC site, I'm pretty sure CDC numbers are going to be laundered through HHS from here on out.
When New York City reaches phase four of reopening, indoor activities are still not allowed.
Two of the largest districts in my Texas city announced today that at least the first three weeks of the fall semester will be online.
My son teaches in a district in Oklahoma. His school board is still debating but he thinks they will come down on the side of virtual learning because of liability issues. Basically it’s impossible for the schools to meet the CDC guidelines.