Sat Feb 29th, 2020, Wed Mar 4th, 2020, Mon Mar 23rd, 2020

The COVID-19 death toll could reach a half million in the U.S. by February unless nearly all Americans wear face masks, researchers said, a day after the number of new infections reported across the country approached a record high https://t.co/DCQp3Kpv1B pic.twitter.com/m7VuGtRCHX

— Reuters (@Reuters) October 24, 2020

oh.

This is because a Republican is in the White House. If Biden wins, @MayaMacGuineas will restart her breakfast roundtables at the St. Regis, McConnell will demagogue COVID relief due to austerity concerns and there will def be questions at the '24 debates https://t.co/3w3BhZpg9L

— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) October 23, 2020

58%? That's not what census bureau calculated.

WSB-TV/Landmark polls

President Trump widens lead over Joe Biden in latest exclusive WSB-TV poll

About 64% of Trump voters are planning to wait until Election Day compared to only 29% for Biden voters.

The vast majority of Biden supporters say they'll either vote early or by absentee ballot.

Looking closer at the demographics, the poll shows Trump with a big lead among white voters in Georgia with 72% favoring him.

Contrary to what's happening nationwide, Trump leads among seniors in Georgia by 10%.

Will 64% of Trump voters show up at the polls ... and what will they decide after curtain is closed? 😇🤣

Texas appeals court says state may not limit ballot drop-off sites

Texas 3rd Court of Appeals agreed with the lower court that limiting the number of drop boxes would increase the risk that voters could get infected with COVID-19, and would infringe on their right to vote.

the other California v Texass battle for the soul of our bumper sticker

It's no surprise ignorant hick white Evangelical bigots are going with Trump.  In 2016 whites were 60% of the vote and they went 75% for Trump.  So oddly the 72-73% is a drop from 2016 and one he cannot afford.  According to Pew Research the white percentage of total vote has dropped from 68% in 2000 to 58% in 2018 or 0.055% per year.  So can we predict the percentage will drop to 56% in the this election?

It's going to be a nail biter.

pic.twitter.com/A1sAfxmeGy

— El infame Sergacabra (@FantomasSerg) October 21, 2020

Census takers fall short of target goal in areas of US

There are also concerns about the quality of the data obtained.
[...]
Census Bureau director Steven Dillingham said Monday that a first look at the data collection operation indicates "an extremely successful execution." He noted that the 67% self-response rate this year was higher than the 66.5% reached during the [NO CITIZENSHIP Q] 2010 census.
[...]
Civil rights groups and others are pushing [BWAH!] Congress to extend the bureau's deadline for turning in apportionment numbers for congressional seats from Dec. 31 to the end of next April.

thwarted by disasters of BIBLICAL PROPORTION amicus briefs developing ...

Crowing about $8.3 billion of exports while trashing £300 billion of exports.

GOOD GOING BORIS!

Judge throws out Trump campaign lawsuit against New Jersey's election plans

"Plaintiffs have alleged nothing more than the possibility of future injury to their members," U.S. District Court Judge Michael Shipp wrote in his ruling.

Politico offers alternative "context", because of course a recitation of factual history of Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.'s lawsuit in the opinion is unintelligible to English-language readers.

Biden win would bring relief but few fixes, says Merkel ally
"'Would it help? I don't think so because (from) what we've heard from Joe Biden ... we will see that many of the existing transatlantic topics will remain, such as Nord Stream 2, energy security, economic issues,' [Peter Beyer] added."

in the rear-view mirror

This article rightly got a lot of flack - but our new WSB/Landmark poll does in fact show President Trump maintaining a big lead among GA White voters - we don't break down by education. Trump is ahead 72-23 among white voters in Georgia in our new poll. https://t.co/yYQGDd5zx3

— Justin Gray (@JustinGrayWSB) October 23, 2020

I'm not a witness ... I knew I couldn't stomach this game of jousting between two elderly men. Did my best not to view any reporting of the debate today. I can live happily without the anger ... just 11 days!

FTSE 100 set to rise as Boris Johnson hails trade deal with Japan - Britain's first since Brexit vote

Pressure remains high on the government to reach a deal with the EU for post Brexit trade terms, however; Japan is currently only Britain's 13th biggest export partner, making up $8.3 billion of exports, compared with Germany's $46.6 billion, France's $31 billion and Holland's $30 billion.

Coincidence? I think not. MN is a LEOBOR state, because MN electorate installed legislators to ahh protect and serve their "use of force" with impunity.

statisticians
19th Century Polling Laws to Stop Parties Kidnapping Voters May Be Inadequate This Time
"This is why we now have secret, government-printed ballots rather than party-provided ballots" a/k/a "straight-line" ballots, hmm

50 million people have already voted. Here's how that compares with past elections.
All presidential elections in the last 50 years, ranked by highest eligible voter turnout rate (61.65%)

... only when it suits us.

UK presses for use of faster passport gates at EU airports post-Brexit https://t.co/TZqNWVcSQi

— The Guardian (@guardian) October 23, 2020

To me it didn't look like Welker had much control after the intital two minute interruption free periods each candidate had. Trump would utter some lie, Biden would respond and then Trump would say "I want to respond to that" and talk for another two to five minutes. It was pathetic. The mute button needs to be in play the entire time.

Rasmusson is more Republican PR tool than legitimate polling. Were they legitimate they would have changed their sample methods years ago, but their 'bias' is a feature, not a bug. Trafalgar is about the same.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court says ballots can't be rejected based on signature comparisons, unanimous opinion

"We conclude that the Election Code does not authorize or require county election boards to reject absentee or mail-in ballots during the canvassing process based on an analysis of a voter's signature," the state Supreme Court wrote in an opinion signed by six of the seven justices, including five Democrats and one Republican.

The seventh justice, another Republican, concurred with the ruling.

99% certain RNC of PA won't be returning to SCOTUS for a second helping of "no".

And electricity has made free press all the more fascinating.

Libya's rival forces sign permanent ceasefire at UN-sponsored talks | The Guardian |

Rival forces in Libya have agreed a permanent nationwide ceasefire including the departure of all foreign fighters and mercenaries from the country for a minimum of three months.

"The parties have signed a complete countrywide permanent agreement with immediate effect. The parties agreed to the departure of all mercenaries and foreign fighters from Libyan territory, air, land and seas for three months." Military trainers will also leave.

The main frontline is between Sirte on the coast and Al Jufrah in central Libya.

The ceasefire includes the full opening of land and air routes, efforts to curb hate speech, an exchange of prisoners and plans to reconstruct the Petroleum Facilities Guard, an oil company and militia body linked to the eastern warlord General Khalifa Haftar that is seen as a threat to the stable flow of oil from Libya.

...
The surprisingly high level of progress in Geneva means the focus now shifts to whether the external actors will end the supply of arms to the warring factions, and agree to withdraw their troops.

Turkey has sent as many as 4,000 Syrian mercenaries [Jihadists from Idlib] to support the UN-recognised government in Tripoli headed by the prime minister, Fayez al-Sarraj. Mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary organisation, have supported general Haftar, and a steady flow of weaponry has been sent by the United Arab Emirates in blatant breach of the UN arms embargo.

The 'obvious' Winner of the final debate ...

Political pundits noted the calmer and less chaotic scene than in the first Trump-Biden showdown in Cleveland

Winner of the debate: @kwelkernbc who was clearly in command from start to finish with poise, substance and authority. Bravo!

— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) October 23, 2020

Austria postal service prints coronavirus-themed stamp on toilet paper
"It is not the first time the Austrian postal service has come up with an innovative response to current affairs."

FBI a lucky catch in Kannapolis, NC.

Washington state man arrested in N.C., accused of deadly threats against Joe Biden

His actions regarding Biden and other evidence against him were cited as reasons for his pretrial detention by the judge in an order signed Oct. 6.

Suffering from Asperger ... reminds me of the school shooting in Newtown, CT.

"A timeline of internet searches conducted by Defendant between March and May 2020 seeking information about Joe Biden's home address, state gun laws, rifle parts, and night vision goggles, along with actions taken by Defendant, including posting the above mentioned meme about killing Joe Biden, purchasing an AR-15 in New Hampshire, traveling to a Wendy's within 4 miles of Joe Biden's home, and writing a checklist note ending with execute," the order said.

Goldman Sachs Charged in Foreign Bribery Case and Agrees to Pay Over $2.9 Billion

According to Goldman's admissions and court documents, between approximately 2009 and 2014, Goldman conspired with others to violate the FCPA by engaging in a scheme to pay more than $1.6 billion in bribes, directly and indirectly, to foreign officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi in order to obtain and retain business for Goldman from 1MDB, a Malaysian state-owned and state-controlled fund created to pursue investment and development projects for the economic benefit of Malaysia and its people.

archived Sun Dec 9th, 2018

Guardian

Boris Johnson has clashed with Brussels over an 11th-hour attempt to save British passport holders from hours of delays at European airports from the end of the year.

The government is seeking continued use by UK nationals of the automatic e-gates used by EU nationals at airports and Eurostar terminals. The move is seen by the European commission as an attempt to keep Britons in faster lanes rather than having to queue up with the rest of the world after the end of the transition period.

Studies suggest the loss of access to automatic gates and the need for extra passport checks could delay Britons by an extra hour as they move through some European airports. The issue has been raised in the ongoing trade and security negotiations, and the government has made contact with a number of member states in an attempt to retain access to the e-gates.

"exposure to Canadian norms would have sensitized them Canadian norms": Are you joking? I can't tell.

Trump repeated Fox News and other Right Wing Bubble Machine propaganda leaving 75% of the audience scratching their heads wondering what he talking about.