An Independent view of law, politics and social issues confronting Angelinos, Californians, and Americans
Good News!
At long last a significant decline in the number of new cases in the United States.
April 19 New Cases: 25,040
April 20 New Cases: 28,123
April 21 New Cases: 25,985
April 22 New Cases: 29,973
April 23 New Cases: 31,900
April 24 New Cases: 38,474
April 25 New Cases: 35,419
April 26 New Cases: 26,509
I look in the mirror and I don’t recognize myself anymore. There is not a damn thing we can do about it. Just smile and think happy thoughts.
“I’M JUST HERE TO PRESENT IDEAS,” President DONALD TRUMP said to WaPo’s PHIL RUCKER when Phil posited, quite accurately, that “people tuning in to [the White House] briefings, they want to get information and guidance and want to know what to do. They’re not looking for rumors.”
Earlier in Thursday’s briefing a presentation about how disinfectants kill germs including the coronavirus Donald Trump followed up thanking the presenter Bill Bryan, an undersecretary at the Homeland Security Department and said “Is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside?” He said it would be “almost a cleaning. It gets in the lungs and does a tremendous number on the lungs.”
Doctors say that people should absolutely not use disinfectant in their lungs, or inhale or ingest it in any way. Bleach is a toxic chemical, and inhaling it could be damaging and dangerous.
“Inhaling chlorine bleach would be absolutely the worst thing for the lungs,” said John Balmes, a pulmonologist a Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, and a professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco. “The airway and lungs are not made to be exposed to even an aerosol of disinfectant.”
On Friday morning, the maker of Lysol and Dettol, Reckitt Benckiser Plc, issued a statement that “under no circumstance” should its disinfectant products be administered into the human body, through injection, ingestion or any other route.
Citing deaths, FDA issues warning against antimalarial drugs touted by Trump
Still, there are those who blindly respond to every word Donald Trump speaks. Emergency rooms need to prepare for another category of visitors.
It is obvious to most of us that Donald Trump repeatedly stretches the truth and is a deceiver and trickster. What do you call someone who does that? The answer is prevaricator. He is Pinocchio live.
The Free Dictionary definition of prevaricator – a person who has lied or who lies repeatedly, liar, Beguiler, cheater, deceiver, trickster, slicker, cheat – someone who leads you to believe something that is not true.
But to be fair I decided to check Merriam-Webster that offered almost the same word for word definition but provided these synonyms
Synonyms for prevaricator
Hitler led the German people into a war because the sycophants were mesmerized. I fear the same thing can happen here in America.
President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence both called Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday night and expressed support and praise for the Republican’s move to reopen businesses in his state starting Friday, a source familiar with the call said. Trump later said the opposite — that he told Kemp he disagreed “strongly” with the decision.
Why would Trump do this? If there is no resurgence of covid-19 he will claim that he was the wise one to recommend opening of all businesses. If there is a resurgence of the disease he will say he warned governors not allow businesses to reopen. He’ll deny he said anything that was contradictory. His supporters will give him a pass for anything said that contradicts his words. And he will get away with it!
Will the public remember these things at the ballot box in November? If the economy is in a recession in November that might deny him a second term. Then again his supporters seem to be willing to give him a pass no matter what he says or does. Pretty scary.
Let’s start with understanding the difference between U.S. Debt and U.S. Deficit.
In simple terms, a budget deficit is the difference between what the federal government spends (called outlays) and what it takes in (called revenue or receipts). The national debt, also known as the public debt, is the result of the federal government borrowing money to cover years and years of budget deficits.
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Today this item was posted on Bloomberg News website.
U.S. Debt to Surge Past Wartime Record, Deficit to Quadruple
By Christopher Condon and Dave Merrill
April 21, 2020, 5:00 AM
The U.S. budget deficit may quadruple this year to almost $4 trillion. Projections from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) say that by 2023 U.S. debt held by the public will surpass records set in the post-World War II years. (1)
And these projections only include spending enacted so far—in a three-month-old crisis that has seen emergency Congressional appropriations top $2.3 trillion. Additional spending is almost certain as the coronavirus pandemic destroys millions of jobs and thousands of businesses while slashing tax revenues for local and state governments.
Even before the crisis, U.S. debt-to-GDP had more than doubled to 79% in 2019 from 35% in 2007. Deficit hawks, already hard to find, disappeared once the virus shut down whole swaths of the U.S. economy. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES Act) legislation passed on a unanimous voice vote. Lawmakers understood that frugality made no sense in the face of impending economic collapse.
Will the candidates for president in the November election even touch this issue? Probably not.
In an unprecedented move, U.S. oil prices went negative Monday — meaning, companies paid to sell their oil — but don’t expect to get paid to fill up your tank at the gas station.
A oil futures contract expiring Tuesday went negative in bizarre move showing a demand collapse. … West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery fell more than 100% to settle at negative $37.63 per barrel, meaning producers would pay traders to take the oil off their hands.
US crude for June delivery is still trading above $20 a barrel — but even that’s disastrous. “$30 is already quite bad, but once you get to $20 or …
Why is this happening?
The coronavirus pandemic has caused oil demand to drop so rapidly that the world is running out of room to store barrels. At the same time, Russia and Saudi Arabia flooded the world with excess supply.
That double black swan has caused oil prices to collapse to levels that make it impossible for US shale oil companies to make money. US crude for May delivery turned negative on Monday — something that has never happened since NYMEX oil futures began trading in 1983. It was easily the oil market’s worst day on record.
US crude for June delivery is still trading above $20 a barrel — but even that’s disastrous.
“$30 is already quite bad, but once you get to $20 or even $10, it’s a complete nightmare,” said Artem Abramov, head of shale research at Rystad Energy.
Many oil companies took on too much debt during the good times. Some of them won’t be able to survive this historic downturn.
In a $20 oil environment, 533 US oil exploration and production companies will file for bankruptcy by the end of 2021, according to Rystad Energy. At $10, there would be more than 1,100 bankruptcies, Rystad estimates.
“At $10, almost every US E&P company that has debt will have to file Chapter 11 or consider strategic opportunities,” Abramov said.
The president did try to intercede on behalf of American oil companies. He tried to negotiate reduced oil pumping to stabilize the price. Obviously he did not succeed.
It will be interesting to learn what happens next.
“Waah, it’s not fair. I want to go out and shop. I don’t care who it hurts.”
Los Angeles County on Saturday reported 81 new deaths related to COVID-19, the county’s highest one-day death toll from the disease by far. In the last week, deaths among L.A. County residents have roughly doubled and now stand at more than 570. This was reported in all the local newspapers.
Meanwhile just 40 miles away in Orange county California (really part of metropolitan Los Angeles) a group of more than 100 protesters converged on Huntington Beach on Friday in a demonstration against California’s coronavirus stay-at-home rules, part of a series of national demonstrations organized by conservative groups. One demonstrator carried a “Live Free or Die” banner and another reading “Defy Fascist Lockdown.”
I guess cry babies are just that. Do these people wash their hands after using the toilet?
It was a quiet day Monday morning in September 2053 when John awoke with a need to go to the bathroom. To John this wasn’t just any ordinary day! This was the day he would open the last package of toilet paper his parents bought in the year 2020.
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