This Is Fine

Tim Stone

01:17

> Political Aides Investigate VOA White House Reporter For Anti-Trump Bias

Noted leftist activist Steve "Mundane Tweets" Herman

(I follow him and like, saying things that happened that happen to be the President being the worst person imaginable isn't bias against the President, the President is just bad)

Memor-X

nothing says that "we're a propaganda network" more than investigating dissenting opinions

Unionhawk

02:21

I mean it was until 2013 illegal to broadcast VOA in america

since it had been considered propaganda and until then VOA was only allowed to propagandize non-americans

skullpatrol

03:06

@Memor-X sure, I could of said "his type of followers", but that would be lowering my self to their level

Even though, by saying "their" I have implicitly done so :-/

skullpatrol

03:46

I apologize to anyone who has been offended by my recent "rant."

He needs to do the right thing and step down.
This is serious stuff.
imho

skullpatrol

04:20

Ironically, "pandemic positivity" has been frozen for inactivity.

Pandemic Positivity

A cozy-things-only support group for distant socializing. Be e...

Memor-X

@skullpatrol lol

skullpatrol

Yeah, one can only "put on a happy face" for so long...

> A cozy-things-only support group for distant socializing. Be extra careful, we're fragile here.

Fact of life: people who are "fragile" easily break

Jolenealaska

04:38

I looked around for a bit. This was fun to see

skullpatrol

04:58

sweet, thnx for sharing

Private Pansy

06:36

> The idea that the proper way to confront the pandemic is for the president to expose himself to it is like saying that Franklin D. Roosevelt should have taken on Adolf Hitler by airdropping into Dresden. FDR managed to fight World War II while not drastically increasing his chances of being shot by a Nazi.

washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/10/04/…

Faded Giant

@PrivatePansy Why Dresden?

Nzall

07:00

@FadedGiant Dresden was bombed in WWII, not airdropped. At the time it was deep in the heart of Nazi Germany.

Faded Giant

I know that. I guess everyone knows that – except the Washington Post author.

My grandmother left Dresden one day before the air raids began.

Otherwise, I probably wouldn't be here today.

Anyway, airdropping into Dresden to find Adolf Hitler doesn't make much sense. I am not sure he visited Dresden during the war at all.

Nzall

@FadedGiant I think they mean that Roosevelt didn't have to airdrop troops or himself into Dresden to fight against the Nazis. Air raids are a far safer way to deal a heavy blow to the Nazis. And in the same vein, Trump didn't have to get himself exposed to COVID in order to deal with it. He could have just "air raided" it, by making stricter mask and lockdown mandates

Mad Scientist

Dresden is really not an example that fits the point the author is trying to make. And using what was arguably a war crime as an example here also seems very tone-deaf and callous to me

Faded Giant

@Nzall I don't think I like this comparison.

murgatroid99

I think they're just using Dresden as an example of a place deep in Nazi territory where it would be a really bad idea to send the President of the United States

Nzall

07:10

@murgatroid99 That's probably a better comparison

murgatroid99

I mean, there are also other reasons you wouldn't want to drop President Roosevelt out of a plane wearing a parachute

The overall point is simply that the president does not need to and should not put himself at personal risk to confront a crisis facing the country

Nzall

Yeah, this isn't a cheesy 90s action flick where the president has to jump into a jet fighter to help fight the alien menace because they need every available pilot in their last stand

Mad Scientist

@murgatroid99 Berlin would be the obvious example in that case. Dresden during WW2 is mostly famous for being fire bombed. It doesn't make much sense as an example unless you want to refer to the bombing in some way

murgatroid99

@Nzall I think that rule changes a little when you're facing an immediate global extinction-level event, and the president's non-presidential skills are directly relevant

Nzall

@murgatroid99 That's my point. Trump doesn't have any real non-presidential skills, especially not ones that are useful in a pandemic

fredley

09:03

@FadedGiant That's crazy.

Faded Giant

09:24

@fredley My grandmother was a refugee from Silesia, trying to escape the advancing Red Army. She was coming through Dresden on her way to the West. For a refugee, it would have been difficult to find proper shelter during the air raids.

fredley

@FadedGiant Wow. Dresden still blows my mind when I think about it. Have you read Slaughterhouse Five?

This stuff really gets to me these days. The extent of the inhumanity and destruction just makes me cry in museums...

Jolenealaska

10:58

Election 2020: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

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Memor-X

@Jolenealaska just finished watching The Russel Howard Hour which had John Oliver on....which was on right after this episode

Nzall

11:19

WTAF? UK underreported COVID-19 cases by 16,000 because the Excel file became too large

Mad Scientist

hmm, Trump's Twitter activity just now seems slightly more weird and crazy than average

@Nzall That is a giant fuckup. I find the Excel stuff a bit weird, as I'd expect that kind of issue to stop all new reports, so it should have been much more obvious. But I would assume that quite a lot of details are not getting reported, and I wouldn't exactly trust the information we know right now

Jolenealaska

‘Is he sicker than we’re hearing?’ Outside experts weigh in on Trump’s condition

fredley

@Nzall Yes! British IT excellence on show.

skullpatrol

@fredley the Washington post author used Dresden for the added emotional impact

(For those who have read Kurt Vonnegut)

Ronan

I was trying to explain to my friend just how much of a fuckup that excel thing is

Like the number of people who either didn't do their job or were ignored when they did

Mad Scientist

11:37

it also delayed contact tracing for those cases

skullpatrol

I wonder how closely trump followed what was going on with the British PM when he tested positive.

fredley

@Ronan It's about how much money was creamed off frankly (i.e., almost all of it)

Serco has the contract (owned by a former Tory MP) and I don't think much of the money they are receiving has gone into building a quality system...

Nzall

11:55

So I looked a bit deeper into this Excel sheet thingy

fredley

@Nzall Did the void stare back at you?

Nzall

It appears that the UK is currently just over the 500K cases treshold since the beginning of COVID, and that's roughly half of the 1M lines that you can have max

fredley

It's cols not rows

Nzall

wait, COLS?

fredley

One col per case

Nzall

11:56

They didn't do it rowbased?

Ronan

Evidently not

fredley

Lol why would they do anything that sensible?

cols for the lols

skullpatrol

12:11

hmmm, apparently trump and the British PM are good buddies

Jolenealaska

I see several Kurt Vonnegut references above. I haven't listened to this myself, but I wholeheartedly recommend Slaughterhouse-Five to anyone who hasn't read it.

Kurt Vonnegut – Slaughterhouse-Five | Audiobook

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skullpatrol

^

yesterday, by skullpatrol

That's a classic thing.

Jolenealaska

@skullpatrol As far as I know, Trump and Boris have always been partners in crime (figuratively, at least)

skullpatrol

yeah, makes sense

An ancient Simian proverb comes to mind :-)

Jolenealaska

12:36

reddit.com/r/quotes/comments/auh9ct/…

skullpatrol

@Jolenealaska I always wondered what effect listening to audiobooks has on one's reading ability?

Without the opinions of audiobook companies, of course.

Jolenealaska

I'm a poor test subject as I only started listening to books regularly a few years ago, well into my 40s. I worry more about spell-check and Grammarly for developing intellects. I'm not sure I would have learned to write had I had crutches like that in my early education.

fredley

12:51

Who really decides the outcome of the US election?

Elva

Big donors msotly

obligatory joke done, time to read article

MBraedley

@fredley It actually kinda makes sense to put summary information for each day as one row per day. It doesn't make sense to have all of the tracing information for a given day on the same sheet as the summaries, and instead should be one sheet per day with 1 row per case (so you can more easily enter more details).

fredley

@MBraedley It should be a fucking database

MBraedley

I mean, yes, you're not wrong there.

skullpatrol

In an ideal world.

MBraedley

12:59

But if it were a database, they would still likely have to export the data to a spreadsheet for end users and might still run into an issue like this.

Mad Scientist

@fredley It really should. Though my impression is that in this case it's about a file format used to transfer the data, which is assumed to be Excel. So a database might not be the solution here (though there really should be at least one real DB in this whole thing)

fredley

@skullpatrol I don't think you have to go as far as ideal. Not totally batshit corrupt and chaotic would suffice.

skullpatrol

:-)

Wipqozn

13:30

@fredley That reminds me

Trump Fails To Walk Back His Troubling Endorsement Of A Violent Hate Group During First Debate

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I saw this the other day, and the section about the "undecided voters" is just so...unreal

Honstly it just feels like they're trying to act all HIGH AND MIGHT by trying to be...actually centrists.

"I want to take the middle position between racism is good and racism is bad"

"I want to take the middle stance between concentration camps are good and concentration camps are bad"

fredley

13:56

Excel waiting for the Covid patient data

^^ Epic tweet if you get the refrance

MBraedley

@fredley twitter.com/Zetetic_Elench_/status/1313064909824032769?s=20

skillpatrol

14:12

@Jolenealaska small world, looks like it's been unfrozen

BradC

16:01

Supreme Court rejects appeal from county clerk who wouldn't issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples

Nzall

@BradC Note that 2 of the judges want to overturn Obergefell

BradC

@Nzall yep. Only 2 dissented in this ruling, but more than that would be on board for the right case, see Robert's original dissent to Obergefell

Big brain logic right here:

> The Trump campaign is now attacking Biden for...not contracting coronavirus.

> “He has experience — now — fighting the coronavirus as an individual. Those firsthand experiences, Joe Biden, he doesn’t have those." - @TimJHogan

Wipqozn

> Two of the conservative justices, however, said the 2015 ruling making same-sex marriage the law of the land amounted to a "cavalier treatment of religion."

Of course

discrimination is fine, so long as you're Christian!

> Although the court was apparently unanimous in refusing to hear her appeal, two of the conservative justices said the 2015 ruling making same-sex marriage the law of the land amounted to a "cavalier treatment of religion." Davis "may have been one of the first victims" of the decision, "but she will not be the last," wrote Clarence Thomas for himself and Samuel Alito.

She's not the victim here

At least the supreme court made the right decision, although I suspect those statements are to encourage an appeal against that law being brought to them.

BradC

Good news everyone!

Russians ‘Have Committed’ to Not Interfering in Elections, Trump Aide Insists

Jolenealaska

@BradC \o/ !!

I'm so relieved.

BradC

16:15

Trump's press secretary tests positive for coronavirus

4

As recently as last night, Kayleigh McEnany was speaking with reporters without a mask

Mad Scientist

@BradC I don't think they'll get rid of it unless they quarantine the entire White House, there's just too many potentially infected people there that aren't isolating. And you can't rely on the tests alone

BradC

Someone on twitter pointed out that there were more new cases in the White House than in the entirety of many foreign countries

Mad Scientist

for comparison, any of our politicians here that came into contact with a known COVID-positive person self-isolated, and either continued that for the entire required time or were tested multiple times with some time in between before returning

Nzall

@BradC Yeah, more cases than Thailand, Vietnam and New Zealand combined

BradC

As Trump Seeks to Project Strength, Doctors Disclose Alarming Episodes

A decent summary of the madness and contradiction of the last few days

One of the authors of the piece, Maggie Haberman, said on twitter (linking to the above article):

> The president had wanted to be discharged from Walter Reed yesterday, but doctors weren't okay with it. So the car ride became the compromise

Which... I couldn't really find that in the article itself? But, she's the author, so perhaps this is an accurate characterization that nevertheless wasn't made explicit in the piece?

Tim Stone

16:57

@BradC Going to be extremely weird when he walks away from Walter Reed seemingly fine then like survival modes in Minecraft later while playing golf

Wipqozn

@MadScientist yeah I expect most if not all of the white house to get infected. It was just a matter of time, honestly, considering how much of a mess Covid is in the US.

Mad Scientist

@TimStone the information we have is so contradictory that pretty much anything is possible, he might be fine already, or just barely well enough at this moment doped up on dexamethasone, and potentially much worse later this week. Wouldn't suprise me if he goes back today, just to return to the hospital again

Unionhawk

gives very "old man who refuses to stay in the hospital" vibes

Mad Scientist

I mean they hít him with all the biggest guns we have for COVID, so it certainly wasn't an obviously minor case at first

8g of monoclonal antibodies is probably really fucking expensive

Unionhawk

I do know they are going to keep posting videos for sure

Someone bought an adobe premiere subscription so they're going to get their money's worth

Tim Stone

17:04

inject it into my veins

"HIPPA" just makes it

Unionhawk

I mean, no it's not?

Mad Scientist

you don't have to publicize the names if you do proper contact tracing. But you certainly have to inform all potential contacts

Wipqozn

If he dies, I wonder how long it would take them to reveal it. I can see them trying to Cover it up until the election.

Tim Stone

> GOLDMAN SACHS: A Democratic "blue wave" would "likely result in substantially easier US fiscal policy, a reduced risk of renewed trade escalation, and a firmer global growth outlook."

Mad Scientist

@Wipqozn I don't think they could hide that. I would expect them to try to hide if he gets worse though

Tim Stone

17:05

checks notes Goldman Sachs is now Antifa

Unionhawk

It is also not a HIPAA violation to publish "this person told me they tested positive"

Wipqozn

@MadScientist I mean I'm confident we'd all know it happened, but that doesn't mean they wouldn' try.

Unionhawk

(it would be to publish "my patient, this person, tested positive")

Mad Scientist

As far as I understand, here in Germany it would be illegal to announce e.g. inside the company that a specific employee was tested positive. But the contact tracing and informing contact persons would still take place, which inevitably leaks that information to some degree

Unionhawk

I mean again this is still open and shut not hipaa because it's "they told me and anything you tell a reporter is on the record especially if you are the white house press secretary"

Tim Stone

17:10

Yeah this is as much of a HIPAA violation as it is a "HIPPA" one

Unionhawk

hippo violation

Tim Stone

Sean Spicer running around screaming about violating hippos

Mad Scientist

it's probably legal because the US generally doesn't have any notable privacy rights

Unionhawk

It's definitely legal, a doctor would be prevented from disclosing but you yourself are allowed to tell a reporter anything you want about your own health

Mad Scientist

I mean e.g. your employer telling the public you have COVID without your explicit permission

Unionhawk

17:14

Ah. Hmm

Jolenealaska

> "Some experts raised an additional possibility: that the president is directing his own care, and demanding intense treatment despite risks he may not fully understand. The pattern even has a name: V.I.P. syndrome, which describes prominent figures who receive poor medical care because doctors are too zealous in treating them — or defer too readily to their instructions."

https://nyti.ms/3ldJTgl

Tim Stone

Nobody else has ever told the president no so I guess why start now

Mad Scientist

twitter.com/JenniferJJacobs/status/1313155290569768960

two White House communication aides also tested positive

The White House press corps probably needs to get their hands on some HazMat suits if they want to be safe

Tim Stone

17:44

If I were a political action group I would simply not have Michael Bloomberg email me asking me for money

Unionhawk

Who the fuck asked that guy

The lincoln project?

Tim Stone

Everytown

Unionhawk

Hi I'm mike bloomberg I backed out on my promise to support the democratic nominee can you spare $5 for joe biden though

Tim Stone

Well since it's Everytown it's about VA gun laws but yeah

Like dude just write them a check

Shut up and don't take my money

Oh okay the email says he's matching every gift

Unionhawk

He didn't even write it probably, they just asked "hey can we put your name on this email"

Tim Stone

17:47

I'm sure in the same way he promised to support the nominee and pay his staff

Unionhawk

To be fair the guy does seem to slightly care about gun laws

Tim Stone

> Another WH rose garden #COVID19 positive case—Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California who was at both the Prayer March on the Mall with Mike Pence and Franklin Graham and #SCOTUSNomination event same day. That makes 31, 4 new today

Unionhawk

Dude's a weird republican except about guns and that's about it

Tim Stone

Only pick your Christians when they're ripe

Tim Stone

18:03

> Peter Navarro's twitter account (@peternavarro45) appears to have been deleted

> A source familiar with POTUS phone calls from the hospital today tells me he said “I need to get out of here.” He's being warned that if he rushes to leave the hospital and has a setback it would be bad for not just his health, but his re-election campaign

He just busts out of the hospital in a medical gown, ass freely hanging in the wind

Amazingly they're going to let Dr. Conley speak again

At 3

Jolenealaska

18:23

> Republicans WANT Herd Immunity. THEY just wanted it to be me or people like me not Them to get ill from it. All while taking our healthcare away

Ouch ***

Here’s what experts say about what happens when an infectious patient wants to leave the hospital.

Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential “drive-by” just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die. For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity.

- Walter Reed Dr

Mad Scientist

bbc.com/news/uk-54422505

Update on the UK Excel fiasco

They used the old xls format as an intermediate format to transfer the data at some step, and with multiple rows per case ran into the 64k row limit once the cases per day were large enough

> I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!

twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1313186529058136070

yeah, I don't think he learned anything from this, as expected

Wrigglenite

18:44

200000 is just a number

BradC

> I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!

(For those who don't want to click through to a Trump tweet)

Jolenealaska

On a lighter note :/ How do pandemics end? A very nicely done history lesson from BBC News Visual Journalism Team

Nzall

19:30

@MadScientist my entire Twitter feed is upset about this

Jolenealaska

19:57

Trump’s doctor says the president can be discharged back to the White House

If you haven't seen it, watch the video.

... um ... the microphone (singular) ... dudes! (plural)

They might as well be snogging.

Eddie Kal

21:08

@BradC Looking good Mr. President. Nice do!

Unionhawk

21:28

@MadScientist for reference, herman cain said he was really feeling better on july 27

Private Pansy

@Unionhawk I don't know how much we should trust his Tweets though since he was still tweeting after he has passed away

Mad Scientist

I think all versions are on the table for Trump. It might have been a not entirely minor, but still not very severe case (especially if he hid the symptoms and we're further in the timeline than officially). Or he might be on a steroid high right now, and comes crashing down into critical care in the next days

BradC

21:55

> Just reported on MSNBC: the CDC has been prohibited from doing contact tracing for any of the COVID infections at the White House or Trump's contacts. via John Oberlin

How is it that I continue to be surprised

Mad Scientist

@BradC that is just entirely fucked up

this means they have something to hide, that's not just the usual downplaying

BradC

@MadScientist Maybe, or perhaps its just more of the same "everything is fine! nothing to see here!" they've been doing for 8 months

Mad Scientist

I think Trump knew earlier that he was infected, and they tried to hide it. Which might have worked if he was asymptomatic, but he wasn't

nytimes.com/2020/10/05/health/contact-tracing-white-house.html

Article on the lack of contact tracing for the WH event

BradC

That's just out and out murder. People will die because of this decision

Memor-X

@TimStone even worse, he's could be still infectious and tried to get back to Business as Normal and more or less becomes a Patient Zero and infects everyone around him

@MadScientist knew it. got money on him being at a rally talking about how over hyped the pandemic is because "i just had it, it wasn't bad"

Memor-X

22:17

for anyone who's keeping up, do we see Melania with Trump?

because i've only ever heard about Trump being taken to that hospital despite both of them being infected. did he just abandon her to COVID?

Tim Stone

McAfee has been indicted for tax evasion following his arrest in Spain

BradC

@Memor-X Melania stayed at the White House

She actually issued a pretty reasonable statement about not wanting to expose her staff/security just to visit the hospital

Melania Trump Does One Right Thing at Least and Stays Home

Melania Trump has no plans to leave White House while sick, official says, contrasting with the President

Memor-X

22:37

@BradC sounds reasonable but at the same time given the attempt to control the narrative with Trump's case, would not be surprised if it was not really her decision to stay or even send out that message

> A humbling Herman Cain/coronavirus timeline:

6/24: Attends Trump rally, maskless
7/2: Tests positive for Covid-19
7/10: Says he’s improving
7/15: Says his doctors seem happy
7/27: Says he’s really getting better
7/30: Dies

^ mobile.twitter.com/TimOBrien/status/1313192280971452418

Present: continues to tweet

could be what we expect from Trump if he's not careful. more so the part i added

Unionhawk

22:50

@TimStone does spain have an extradition agreement with belize

Private Pansy

23:19

@Memor-X Ooof

Unionhawk

23:48

My lawyer has recommended that I not quote rocky 4

Pandemic Positivity

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