Folly and fakery have always been with us... but it has never before been as dangerous as it is now, never in history have we been able to afford it less. - Isaac Asimov
Every damn thing you do in this life, you pay for. - Edith Piaf
The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. - Orwell
No amount of belief makes something a fact. - James Randi
UPDATE: In addition to Trump Tower Vancouver going bankrupt, the hotel is also closing forever. Employees learned from the news.
Trump licensed out his name to the hotel for the almost three years they were in business. Yes, the hotel went with the Trump name after the inauguration, Donnie Dum-Dum Jr cut the ribbon. In Canada. The hotel has negative three point seven million dollars, because of course something named after Trump would be in massive debt.
“Do not lose time on daily trivialities. Do not dwell on petty detail. For all of these things melt away and drift apart within the obscure traffic of time. Live well and live broadly. You are alive and living now. Now is the envy of all of the dead.” ~ Emily3, World of Tomorrow
Words to live by.
Just when you thought it couldn't get worse than throwing paper towels to storm survivors, Trump is now handing out autographs in Louisiana and telling them to ebay it for $10k.
Fuck Trump and fuck anyone who supports him.
Trump Program to Cover Uninsured Covid-19 Patients Falls Short of Promise
Marilyn Cortez, a retired cafeteria worker in Houston with no health insurance, spent much of July in the hospital with Covid-19. When she finally returned home, she received a $36,000 bill that compounded the stress of her illness.
Then someone from the hospital, Houston Methodist, called and told her not to worry — President Trump had paid it.
But then another bill arrived, for twice as much.
Ms. Cortez’s care is supposed to be covered under a program Mr. Trump announced this spring as the coronavirus pandemic was taking hold — a time when millions of people were losing their health insurance and the administration was doubling down on trying to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, the law that had expanded coverage to more than 20 million people.
“This should alleviate any concern uninsured Americans may have about seeking the coronavirus treatment,” Mr. Trump said in April about the program, which is supposed to cover testing and treatment for uninsured people with Covid-19, using money from the federal coronavirus relief package passed by Congress.
The program has drawn little attention since, but a review by The New York Times of payments made through it, as well as interviews with hospital executives, patients and health policy researchers who have examined the payments, suggest the quickly concocted plan has not lived up to its promise. It has caused confusion at participating hospitals, which in some cases have mistakenly billed patients like Ms. Cortez who should be covered by it. Few patients seem to know the program exists, so they don’t question the charges. And some hospitals and other medical providers have chosen not to participate in the program, which bars them from seeking any payment from patients whose bills they submit to it.
Large numbers of patients have also been disqualified because Covid-19 has to be the primary diagnosis for a case to be covered (unless the patient is pregnant). Since hospitalized Covid patients often have other serious medical conditions, many have other primary diagnoses. At Jackson Health in Miami, for example, only 60 percent of uninsured Covid-19 patients had decisively met the requirements to have their charges covered under the program as of late July, a spokeswoman said.
I don't think this is a deep fake. Multiple sources are reporting it.
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The University of Alabama reports 1,000 cases last week alone. A fucking thousand.
“Leadership: Whatever happens, you’re responsible. If it doesn’t happen, you’re responsible.” -- Donald J. Trump, 2013
"I don't take responsibility at all." -- Donald J. Trump, 2020
I thought Trump was a billionaire. Seems like he could just directly help the Americans he claims to care about.
Doesn't he have no direct control over his companies since he's taken over as the President? I haven't seen the president's tax returns but I would figure all of his wealth is tied up in companies, and he was required by law to grant control of those companies to someone else.
America's already had this discussion with the Procurement Act as well. As I understand, he can direct any private business, not just his own, to provide for the COVID effort.
If you are particularly bold, you could use a Shiny Ditto. Do keep in mind though, this will infuriate your opponents due to Ditto's beauty. Please do not use Shiny Ditto. You have been warned.
Most people would have used a blind trust. Trump decided to hand it to his family, the same family that basically works and lives in the White House. "Direct" is not the issue. Trump could very easily make business plans based on political motives, and vice versa. It's the very definition of "the swamp" that he accuses others of.
"When Facism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross." - Unknown
42,843 new cases, about 1k fewer than last Saturday.
Texas: 4,780 new cases; 121 deaths
California: 3,863 new cases; 67 deaths
Fuck Florida.
Georgia: 2,386 new cases; 105 deaths
North Carolina: 2,221 new cases; 24 deaths
Illinois: 1,880 new cases; 11 deaths
Alabama: 1,704 new cases; 45 deaths
Tennessee: 1,465 new cases; 24 deaths
South Carolina: 1,298 new cases; 43 deaths
Virginia: 1,217 new cases; 18 deaths
Ohio: 1,210 new cases; 20 deaths
Indiana: 1,121 new cases; 8 deaths
Oklahoma: 1,093 new cases; 11 deaths
Iowa: 1,081 new cases; 12 deaths
Minnesota: 1,017 new cases; 4 deaths
It's the weekend so tallies are low overall and there's not a lot to go on, but today was Iowa's third-highest total ever, Minnesota's second-highest ever and both North and South Dakota recorded new highs. It's definitely looking like that region is the next epicenter. Tuesday will probably see pretty high corrections coming out of there. This was California's lowest tally since the end of June.
954 deaths, only slightly lower than last Saturday, putting the total at 186,855. I haven't been bothering posting Florida's numbers because they're not bothering to test or report accurately, so their numbers are bullshit, but they did post nearly 150 deaths again today. It's been between 100-150 on average for a while now--when it wasn't between 150-200. If they test their dead maybe we'll have a better picture on how many cases they actually have, but I doubt they're doing that. We'll have to go by excess deaths when all is said and done and by that metric it's already FAR worse there than they've been letting on. But we already knew that.
Stay safe, folks.
Yeah...about that.
University of Alabama to Profs: Don’t Tell Students About COVID-Infected Classmates
It's not just one University. It's Trump University.In an email to the politics department, professors were explicitly instructed not to tell their students if someone in a class tests positive.
“Do not tell the rest of the class,” the email reads, with the word “not” underlined. It goes on to say that students who test positive are not considered an exposure risk if masks were worn and social distancing was practiced—meaning the students and professor may never be informed if someone in their class tests positive.
Multiple other emails from other departments reviewed by The Daily Beast warn teachers against telling students about a positive classmate or posting about it on social media, even in the most general terms, claiming it could constitute a HIPAA violation.
Professors who spoke with The Daily Beast said the policy made them feel unsafe on campus.
“A lot of my colleagues and people I've talked to, they’re terrified,” said Michael Innis-Jimenez, an American studies professor who decided to teach his classes remotely after learning the details of the school’s reopening plan.
“Every statement at least for the last month has been about this plan, they’ve got this plan,” he said, adding later: “It makes it feel like a lot of this is for show, especially when they don’t want you to confirm it’s not working.”