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Biggest Threat to Democracy Is Disinformation

by Oui Mon Mar 30th, 2020 at 02:24:41 PM EST

Whether to go to war in Syria or Iraq or to manipulate public opinion for putting sanctions in place on "imaginary" adversaries, BIG government possess very powerful tools to weaponize information. Clearly with tech powerhouses like Google, Facebook, Alphabet, Appel and Amazon the global community faces an imbalance to preserve elections and democracy itself. A nice chat on Al Jazeera between whistle-blower Christopher Wylie and Filipino journalist Maria Ressa before an audience is a boost to morale to fight the fight.

In a world moving at a fast pace, the populist, conservative politicians will seize every opportunity of created chaos like today's COVID-10 Pandemic to move forward on their agenda of BIG BROTHER 21st Century style with no scruples.

What has already passed in Asia with China, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong will soon come to pass inside the European Union. The signs are there today!!

More below the fold ...

The attack on journalists by populist party leaders leads to subversion of truth and democracy. Today's social media and spread of hate leads to division, used by same politicians to their advantage and win elections. UK with the Tories, Brexiteers and Boris Johnson is a good example, with the same billionaires putting Donald Trump [Brazil's Bolsonaro] in power and guarantee that Bibi Netanyahu in Israel was handed a Stay-out-of-Jail card. Unfortunately, Dutch PM Mark Rutte is following suite as I have written quite often. The thrifty Dutchman supported by big multinationals and stimulating austerity for the less fortunate in society. Trickle down Mark? The Netherlands has a economy supported by flex workers, less workers rights and the new phenomena of self-employed with no safety net.

○ On-call work in the Netherlands:  trends, impact and policy solutions | ILO Geneva |

Is Big Tech the New Empire? - Maria Ressa and Christopher Wylie | Al Jazeera Studio B Unscripted |

In this episode of Studio B: Unscripted award-winning Filipino journalist Maria Ressa and Cambridge Analytica whistle-blower Christopher Wylie discuss the weaponisation of information and how social media threatens democracy around the world.

In 2012, Ressa set up the digital news platform, Rappler, now particularly known for its tough scrutiny of the Duterte administration and his controversial "war on drugs". She is currently facing charges of fraud, tax evasion and cyber-liber, in what she says are politically motivated prosecutions.

Ressa was included in the Time's 2018 Person of the Year as one of a collection of journalists combating fake news.  

Ressa talks disinformation at Jackson talk | Yale Daily News |

Faced with 11 charges imposed by Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte's government, Maria Ressa, the former CNN journalist, had to post bail eight times to be in New Haven on Tuesday. She spoke about her experience fighting against disinformation and defending journalism and democracy.

Despite the adversity she has faced, Ressa remains committed to defending free speech against "manufactured attempts" from Duterte's government to suppress it. Students, faculty and community members gathered in Horchow Hall to listen to her story and learn about Rappler, a company she founded to provide social justice-oriented media content in the Philippines.

"Why should you care about the Philippines? Why is our dystopian present your dystopian future? The problem is very simple," she said in the talk. "Authoritarian populist style leaders have used technology to make lies laced with anger and hate spread faster than facts. Without facts, you can't have the truth; without the truth, you can't have trust. Without any of these, democracy as we know it is dead."

The talk was hosted by the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and moderated by U.S. Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr., a Kissinger Senior Fellow at Jackson. After Ressa discussed the global phenomenon of disinformation in both social media and Filipino state press, Thomas moderated a conversation that entertained questions from the audience surrounding Ressa's work and life mission.  

FLAWS AND VULNERABILITY

I must compliment Dr. Fauci for convincing president Trump to pay attention to the numbers and outbreak modelling of COVID-19, which has hit the large metropolitan areas - BLUE - but will with a high degree of certainty spread in the coming weeks to the rural population of RED states where people will be infected, yet healthcare and hospitals are a Texas longhorn drive away.

○ The Weaponization of Information: The Need for Cognitive Security | Rand Corp. |

Display:
Biggest Threat to Democracy Is Disinformation | 56 comments (56 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
The 'Pro Forma' War Time Leader (4.00 / 2)
Bouncing on the air waves with vitriol and hate ... dividing America ...knows where the RED states are located.

Here's why Florida got all the emergency medical supplies it requested while other states did not | CT Mirror |

Five of Donald Trump's most misleading coronavirus claims | The Guardian |

by Oui on Mon Mar 30th, 2020 at 07:28:07 PM EST
Re: The 'Pro Forma' War Time Leader (4.00 / 2)
The Coronavirus Is the Worst Intelligence Failure in U.S. History
the Trump administration forced a catastrophic strategic surprise onto the American people. But unlike past strategic surprises -- Pearl Harbor, the Iranian revolution of 1979, or especially 9/11 -- the current one was brought about by unprecedented indifference, even willful negligence. Whereas, for example, the 9/11 Commission Report assigned blame for the al Qaeda attacks on the administrations of presidents Ronald Reagan through George W. Bush, the unfolding coronavirus crisis is overwhelmingly the sole responsibility of the current White House.
by das monde on Tue Mar 31st, 2020 at 06:40:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: The Understudy (none / 1)

btw, There's no art to successful sales. There are a few hard- and soft-sell techniques that are so simple even a cave man--the more unscrupulous the better--can do it, serially (bait 'n' switch) or in combination.

  1. Over-promise, under-deliver.
  2. Under-promise, over-deliver.
  3. Free sampling, lock-in.
Fauci with the assistance of Birx is a high-functioning cave seller. She supplies YUGE numbers, he shuffles the deck.
by Cat on Tue Mar 31st, 2020 at 06:58:03 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: The Understudy (none / 1)
Both Fauci and Brix are severely hampered by the psychological needs/demands of Trump for both praise and confirmation. I doubt anyone could both do a better job and last in that job more than a week.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Thu Apr 2nd, 2020 at 08:59:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: The Understudy (none / 0)
Definitely ... need to read between the lines ... the death threats undoubtedly come from the Trump crazies ... blinded by fairh in the anointed.
by Oui on Thu Apr 2nd, 2020 at 09:48:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Biggest Threat to Democracy Is Disinformation (none / 0)
My good old "friend" @CassSustein from the Obama administration and behavioural science - a first step towards selling government propaganda to the public. See also R2P for intervention [Samantha Power] in the Arab Spring, especially Libya and Syria. A disaster in the making. The UK funded military style disinformation for the sum of several £100 million for the overthrow of the Syrian regime.

by Oui on Mon Mar 30th, 2020 at 10:03:23 PM EST
Re: Biggest Threat to Democracy Is Disinformation (none / 1)

Abstract:

When gambling, think probability.
When hedging, think plausibility.
When preparing, think possibility.
When this fails, stop thinking. Just survive.

Naive probabilism is the (naive) view, held by many technocrats and academics, that all rational thought boils down to probability calculations. This viewpoint is behind the obsession with `data-driven methods' that has overtaken the hard sciences, soft sciences, pseudosciences and non-sciences. It has infiltrated politics, society and business. It's the workhorse of formal epistemology, decision theory and behavioral economics. Because it is mostly applied in low or no-stakes academic investigations and philosophical meandering, few have noticed its many flaws. Real world applications of naive probabilism, however, pose disproportionate risks which scale exponentially with the stakes, ranging from harmless (and also helpless) in many academic contexts to destructive in the most extreme events (war, pandemic). The 2019--2020 coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) is a living example of the dire consequences of such probabilistic naiveté.

by Oui on Mon Mar 30th, 2020 at 10:04:13 PM EST
I disagree. (none / 0)
On the cartesian plains of westworld, every choice must be quantified and expressed by a utility function. If the choice resists either coherence or quantification, ASSUME a value. For example:

Summing to the initial number of unemployed in February, this resulted in a total number of unemployed persons of 52.81 million. Given the assumption of a constant labor force, this resulted in an unemployment rate of 32.1%.
by Cat on Tue Mar 31st, 2020 at 07:14:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Biggest Threat to Democracy Is Disinformation (none / 0)
by Oui on Mon Mar 30th, 2020 at 10:04:43 PM EST
Scientism, of Pseudo Science and Art of Selling (none / 0)
The UK's coronavirus policy may sound scientific. It isn't | The Guardian - Opinion |

When, along with applied systems scientist Dr Joe Norman, we first reacted to coronavirus on 25 January with the publication of an academic note urging caution, the virus had reportedly infected fewer than 2,000 people worldwide and fewer than 60 people were dead. That number need not have been so high.

At the time of writing, the numbers are 351,000 and 15,000 respectively. Our research did not use any complicated model with a vast number of variables, no more than someone watching an avalanche heading in their direction calls for complicated statistical models to see if they need to get out of the way.

We called for a simple exercise of the precautionary principle in a domain where it mattered: interconnected complex systems have some attributes that allow some things to cascade out of control, delivering extreme outcomes. Enact robust measures that would have been, at the time, of small cost: constrain mobility. Immediately. Later, we invoked a rapid investment in preparedness: tests, hospital capacity, means to treat patients. Just in case, you know. Things can happen.

The error in the UK is on two levels: modelling and policymaking.

The modellers use hypotheses/assumptions, which they then feed into models, and use to draw conclusions and make policy recommendations. Critically, they do not produce an error rate. What if these assumptions are wrong? Have they been tested? The answer is often no. For academic papers, this is fine. Flawed theories can provoke discussion. Risk management - like wisdom - requires robustness in models.

But if we base our pandemic response plans on flawed academic models, people die. And they will.

This was the case with the disastrous "herd immunity" thesis. The idea behind herd immunity was that the outbreak would stop if enough people got sick and gained immunity.

Individuals and scientists around the world immediately pointed out the obvious flaws: there's no way to ensure only young people get infected; you need 60-70% of the population to be infected and recover to have a shot at herd immunity, and there aren't that many young and healthy people in the UK, or anywhere. Moreover, many young people have severe cases of the disease, overloading healthcare systems, and a not-so-small number of them die. It is not a free ride.

This doesn't even include the possibility, already suspected in some cases, of recurrence of the disease. Immunity may not even be reliable for this virus.

Second, but more grave, is the policymaking. No 10 appears to be enamoured with "scientism" - things that have the cosmetic attributes of science but without its rigour. This manifests itself in the nudge group that engages in experimenting with UK citizens or applying methods from behavioural economics that fail to work outside the university - yet patronise citizens as an insult to their ancestral wisdom and risk-perception apparatus.

○ Caught Between Herd Immunity And National Lockdown, Holland Hit Hard By Covid-19 | Forbes |
○ Outbreak -- Herd Immunity Is Damning!

by Oui on Mon Mar 30th, 2020 at 10:38:27 PM EST
Pandemic Crisis: Problem Sits In The Oval Office (none / 0)
The Contrarian Coronavirus Theory That Informed the Trump Administration | The New Yorker |

President Trump, who at one point called the coronavirus pandemic an "invisible enemy" and said it made him a "wartime President," has in recent days questioned its seriousness, tweeting,

"WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF."

Trump said repeatedly that he wanted the country to reopen by Easter, April 12th, contradicting the advice of most health officials. (On Sunday, he backed down and extended federal social-distancing guidelines for at least another month.) According to the Washington Post, "Conservatives close to Trump and numerous administration officials have been circulating an article by Richard A. Epstein of the Hoover Institution, titled 'Coronavirus Perspective,' which plays down the extent of the spread and the threat."

[...]

You wrote last week, "In the United States, if the total death toll increases at about the same rate, the current 67 deaths should translate into about 500 deaths at the end." We are currently at eight hundred deaths--over eight hundred deaths.

First of all, let me just say I wrote an amendment to that, the thing I regret most in that whole paper. But I was not so much interested in explaining why my number was right. I was interested in explaining why the other projections were wrong.

O.K., but your number was surpassed in about a week, and now we're already--

I understand that, but the point about that is that, first of all, there was a simple stupid error, which is you would never want to put it in a model that total deaths in the United States relative to the world would be one per cent.

by Oui on Mon Mar 30th, 2020 at 11:00:50 PM EST
CoV-2 Virus Does Discriminate (none / 0)
The most stupid will be eliminated, it's called selection of species 😉

Howard-Browne is not alone in refusing to curtail in-person worship services despite public health orders designed to stop the virus from spreading. Churches in Ohio, Kentucky and Louisiana have continued to invite worshippers in recent days because at least half a dozen states offer some degree of exemption for faith in their orders to shutter non-essential activity during the pandemic.

The county and governor's orders require gatherings, including those held by faith-based groups, to be fewer than 10 people to limit the spread of Covid-19. A livestream of Sunday's three-and-a-half-hour service showed scores of congregants. In a Facebook post, Howard-Browne said coronavirus "is blown totally way out of proportion".

On 18 March, the church called its ministry an essential service, just like police and firefighters, and said it would keep its doors open.

In a Facebook video Sunday, Howard-Browne said: "It looks like we're going to have to go to court over this because the church is encroached from every side."

○ Pastor of Tampa church that held two large Sunday services arrested, jailed | Tampa Bay Times |

by Oui on Tue Mar 31st, 2020 at 07:17:40 AM EST
Re: CoV-2 Virus Does Discriminate (none / 1)
Unfortunately intelligence is not always selected for. The physical attributes supporting intelligence take a lot of feeding and maintenance. Many creatures have demonstrated significant intellect over the millennia, but few have propagated reliably. Indeed, indiscriminate propagation is likely as good a way to cast progeny into the future as any, and I can't think of a religion which discourages rapid propagation. It's the easiest way to gain market share.
by Andhakari on Tue Mar 31st, 2020 at 02:20:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: CoV-2 Virus Does Discriminate (4.00 / 2)
And his attorneys call themselves Liberty Counsel.  "We got us a KKKonstitooshunul rat to spread disease!"  No you don't, assholes.  You may practice the brain rot you call your religion, but that is the extent of the public health threat you may inflict.
by rifek on Tue Mar 31st, 2020 at 03:31:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Big, Bigger, Biggest .... Not USA (none / 0)
by Oui on Tue Mar 31st, 2020 at 08:24:24 AM EST
Green Movement -- Not Trump-Rutte-Johnson.. (none / 0)
by Oui on Tue Mar 31st, 2020 at 08:34:54 AM EST
600K Chinese Face Masks Failed Hospital Standards (none / 0)

A Chinese shipment of 600K face masks recalled from hospitals - failed standards | Dutch News |

by Oui on Tue Mar 31st, 2020 at 10:15:13 AM EST
Re: RUSSIA! Face Masks Failed Hospital Standards (none / 1)
by Cat on Tue Mar 31st, 2020 at 11:54:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Shutdown In India: Mass Exodus of Migrants (none / 0)
by Oui on Tue Mar 31st, 2020 at 03:19:11 PM EST
Re: Biggest Threat to Democracy Is Disinformation (none / 0)
    God knows all about order and chaos. Whatever God created in the very first moments of creation was "without form and void" (Genesis 1:2).

George Bush et al. "Skull & Bones"
From chaos leaders give form and order ... in his image!

Conservatives and British Tories in a moment of turmoil and chaos will establish their New World Order.

Leaders in the Western World will do well taking initiatives ... democracy is frozen.

Out of Chaos: Evolution from the Big Bang to Human Intellect

by Oui on Tue Mar 31st, 2020 at 04:53:21 PM EST
BoJo's Penthouse: China and the Numbers (none / 0)
Boris Johnson's government is reportedly furious with China and believes it could have 40 times more coronavirus cases than it claims | Business Insider |

  • UK government officials say there'll be "reckoning" for China over its handling of the coronavirus.
  • Boris Johnson's government is reportedly furious with the Chinese state.
  • It has accused of China of spreading disinformation and lying about the number of cases it has.
  • Scientists have reportedly warned Johnson that China could have up to 40 times more cases than it says.
  • It could prompt the prime minister to abandon his deal with Chinese telecomms company, Huawei.

    • The newspaper says scientists have warned Johnson that China could have downplayed its number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus "by a factor of 15 to 40 times." China had reported 81,439 cases at the time of writing.

    by Oui on Tue Mar 31st, 2020 at 06:15:02 PM EST
    Re: BoJo's Penthouse: China and the Numbers (none / 0)
    CN.gov summarily outlawed consumer livestock ("wet") markets nationwide ~first of the month.

    Not that US would notice this "abundance of caution".

    by Cat on Tue Mar 31st, 2020 at 07:17:32 PM EST
    [ Parent ]
    Re: BoJo's Penthouse: China and the Numbers (none / 0)
    by Oui on Sat Apr 4th, 2020 at 07:44:40 PM EST
    [ Parent ]
    U-turn for BoJo-Trump-Rutte (none / 0)
    The fool's approach of "herd immunity" has been costly in time lost for preparation ... and insufficient protection for doctors, nurses and hospitals.

    At last, in same news broadcast  where PM Mark Rutte realizes the seriousness of the CoV-2 pandemic, the polls indicate high popularity as leader and his Liberal Conservative VVD party has gained a virtual 8 seats in Dutch parliament. 🇳🇱 🥇

    It's a cruel and callous world ... Rutte follows advise from hus team of "experts" ... the same team for many weeks ... no personnel changes. 😖☹️

    The Netherlands extends anti-corona measures to April 28, at least | Dutch News |

    Special measures to stop the spread of coronavirus in the Netherlands are to be extended until April 28 at least, prime minister Mark Rutte told a press conference on Tuesday.

    This means cafes, restaurants, museums and schools will remain shut for the next four weeks. The decision has been taken on the basis of expert advice, the prime minister said.

    'We realise we are asking a lot of people, but it is really necessary,' Rutte said. `The capacity in hospitals and intensive care units leaves us with no other choice.'

    'The good news is that we don't have to bring in extra measures,' the prime minister said.

    Intensive care

    Health minister Hugo de Jonge told the press conference that the Netherlands will have increased capacity at IC units to 2,400 by next Sunday. He also announced plans to start testing healthcare workers who are not directly involved in treating coronavirus for the disease.

    More labs, longer days and utilising private sector sources will enable four times as many tests to be carried out, De Jonge said.

    #ChinaAnger #LookInMirror #Selfishness #Change #Mercy #Solidarity

    by Oui on Tue Mar 31st, 2020 at 06:43:55 PM EST
    Re: Biggest Threat to Democracy Is Disinformation (none / 0)
    Is 6 feet enough for social distancing? An MIT researcher says droplets carrying coronavirus can travel up to 27 feet.

    < wipes tears >

    DROPLET JET PACKS!!!1@

    by Cat on Tue Mar 31st, 2020 at 07:22:15 PM EST
    Struggling With An Pandemic 100 Yrs Later (none / 0)
    by Oui on Tue Mar 31st, 2020 at 09:34:17 PM EST
    Lowering the Curve - Pandemic Modeling (none / 0)

    Imperial College named today as reference for US policy in White House  COVID-19 Crisis Team ... also pointed to modeling South Korea mitigation effort.

    by Oui on Tue Mar 31st, 2020 at 09:55:46 PM EST
    In Chaos,Trump Knows What He's Doing :-( (none / 0)
    by Oui on Tue Mar 31st, 2020 at 10:32:04 PM EST
    Founders of Herd Immunity CoV-2 --Imperial College (none / 0)
    h/t The RECON Consortium

    Origin of the modelling seen by Imperial College London - RIVM The Netherlands - CDC Washington DC ??

    by Oui on Wed Apr 1st, 2020 at 02:23:31 AM EST
    Founders of Herd Immunity CoV-2 --Imperial College (none / 0)
    by Oui on Wed Apr 1st, 2020 at 02:30:07 AM EST
    It's a Flu ...the Numbers: (none / 0)

    How does the Wuhan coronavirus compare to seasonal flu? | ITV - Feb. 6, 2020 |

    Coronavirus: awaiting the cavalry

    But, in fact, it now transpires that the UK government has gone for neither of those options. The clue to this came with last weekend's article which recorded the failure of a pandemic test run carried out three years ago, under the title "Exercise Cygnus".

    What emerged from the article is that, even though the system failed, no amendments were made to the strategic roadmap for a future pandemic, with the last update having been carried out in 2014. The actual working model for the current Covid-19 epidemic, therefore, is the Pandemic Influenza Response Plan augmented by the Pandemic Influenza Strategic Framework, both published by Public Health England in August 2014.

    And in those pages is the previously "opaque" reason why Public Health England so precipitously abandoned the "test and trace" programme, an action which has attracted so much criticism.

    Results Exercise Cygnus Kept Secret

    by Oui on Wed Apr 1st, 2020 at 06:04:00 PM EST
    BIG! Our Numbers Are the Biggest of All (none / 0)
    Why would a secret US Intelligence agency undermine Trump's boastful claim of supremacy? It's fake and clearly a HOAX. 🇹🇷🇬🇧🇸🇮🇺🇸

    Global confirmed COVID-19 cases top 880,000: Johns Hopkins | CGTN |

    by Oui on Wed Apr 1st, 2020 at 07:08:05 PM EST
    Re: BIG! Our Numbers Are the Biggest of All (none / 0)
    by Oui on Wed Apr 1st, 2020 at 07:09:07 PM EST
    [ Parent ]
    EU Risks Wrath of US - Medical Supplies to Iran (none / 0)

    ○ Europe and Iran complete first INSTEX deal dodging US sanctions

    ○ Europe-Iran trade mechanism to evade US sanctions now in effect | Middle East Eye - June 2019 |

    by Oui on Thu Apr 2nd, 2020 at 04:24:37 AM EST
    Joe Biden On Iran Sanctions: 'I Don't Know' (none / 0)
    As Sanders Demands End to Iran Sanctions to Save Lives Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Biden Says He Needs 'More Information'

    After Sen. Bernie Sanders and other progressive lawmakers last week called on the Trump administration to end its economic warfare against Iran amid the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden on Sunday refused to commit to even temporarily lifting U.S. sanctions on Iran that are severely restricting the country's access to essential medical supplies.

    "I don't have enough information about the situation in Iran right now," said Biden, the former vice president under the Obama administration, which negotiated the Iran nuclear accord that President Donald Trump scrapped in 2018.

    "There's a lot of speculation from my foreign policy team that they're in real trouble and they're lying," said Biden. "But I would need more information to make that judgement. I don't have the national security information available."

    The dire situation in Iran has been international news for weeks and the public outcry over U.S. sanctions has been coming from human rights groups as well as Biden's fellow Democrats.

    Biden in step with Republican unanimity heading towards the November Presidential election ... what a courageous leader! It's complicated Joe!?

    ○ Biden slams Trump over pulling out of Iran deal: `It took years' to achieve | The Hill - May 8, 2018 |

    by Oui on Thu Apr 2nd, 2020 at 04:48:46 AM EST
    Coronavirus: Fact vs Fiction Dr. Fauci (none / 0)
    Excellent podcast with CNN's Dr. Gupta ...

    Dr. Anthony Fauci describes his 'very different' relationships with 5 presidents | CBS News |

    Fauci, who has been a pragmatic, data-driven presence during the White House coronavirus task force briefings, has frequently dissented with Trump's claims pertaining to the outbreak, having refuted the President to his face and spoken publicly about working to get Trump's professed falsehoods "corrected for the next time."

    ...
    Fauci said that he got to know President George W. Bush amid the crises of 9/11 and the 2001 anthrax attacks before he "had the privilege of being close to him and developing PEPFAR," or the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

    LISTEN: The full episode of Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction with Dr. Sanjay Gupta

    COVID-19 is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation

    by Oui on Thu Apr 2nd, 2020 at 07:52:22 AM EST
    Security Tightened: Dr Fauci Under Threat (none / 0)
    Top coronavirus expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, forced to tighten security as death threats increase | CNN News |

    However, as Fauci's profile in the pandemic crisis grew up, as did concern for his well-being. Fauci's advice to Trump to keep the country as locked up as possible to help control the spread of the virus has not won fans among some fervent right-wing voices.

    Fauci was among the Trump team's health advisers encouraging the continuation of the current guidelines after the president heard from business leaders and conservative allies that the restrictions were more damaging than the virus itself.

    In fact, Trump's decision to extend these guidelines came after Fauci and Birx made a solid presentation with the new models that showed 100,000 to 200,000 people could die, a source familiar with the president's decision told CNN.

    "You don't make the chronology, the virus makes the chronology," Fauci told CNN last month when asked how long the new coronavirus could affect daily life in the United States.

    by Oui on Thu Apr 2nd, 2020 at 08:06:03 AM EST
    [ Parent ]
    Re: Security Tightened: Dr Fauci Under Threat (none / 0)
    by Oui on Thu Apr 2nd, 2020 at 01:50:30 PM EST
    [ Parent ]
    Re: Security Tightened: Dr Fauci Under Threat (none / 0)
    He should have retired 25 years ago.

    Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
    by Cat on Thu Apr 2nd, 2020 at 08:31:08 PM EST
    [ Parent ]
    Coronavirus: Viral Dose May Be Important (none / 1)
    by Oui on Thu Apr 2nd, 2020 at 06:29:30 PM EST
    [ Parent ]
    'I Love BIG Numbers' -- The Biggest EVER! (none / 0)
    by Oui on Thu Apr 2nd, 2020 at 12:53:23 PM EST
    Re: Biggest Threat to Democracy Is Disinformation (none / 0)
    by Oui on Thu Apr 2nd, 2020 at 12:57:38 PM EST
    Zombie Conservative Economic Policy: Paul Krugman (none / 1)
    by Oui on Thu Apr 2nd, 2020 at 07:08:38 PM EST
    We're also still doing this (none / 1)
    by generic on Thu Apr 2nd, 2020 at 09:54:16 PM EST
    Coming Out One of Dominic Cummings' Weirdo's (none / 0)
    #NotMe but You Should Volunteer for infection with COVID-19 virus to be part of "herd immunity". NICE!

    by Oui on Thu Apr 2nd, 2020 at 10:01:39 PM EST
    Lying Liars: Rutte, BoJo, Trump (none / 1)
    Numbers, numbers ... real persons, loved ones ... the economy people, the elderly are sacrificed. The Dutch Government with Mark Rutte don't do testing and don't count ... think Iraq and Syria. The same old as rightwing, conservative "leadership'.

    Following the same policy ... insufficient testing ... let the virus spread for herd immunity ... don't count the deaths as not all persons die in the hospital. Eighty per cent die in nursing homes or at home. Of course, in the weekly stats will alert by significant discrepancies: in week 12, March 16 thru 22, there are 440 more deaths than can be explained by seasonal average and the trending curve. This is 157% underreporting of the real numbers ... worse to come. The Dutch government organization RIVM has attributed fewer deaths to the coronavirus outbreak that will show in the official WHO statistics.

    CBS suspects higher corona death than previously reported | Dagblad v/h Noorden - ANP |

    The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) detects 440 more deaths than average in the third week of March. The researchers think that this difference can largely be explained by the coronavirus outbreak. They report a deviation from the mortality rates of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), which had 280 deaths from the coronavirus in that week. Statistics Netherlands suspects that there is a difference because not everyone who dies from the coronavirus is registered in this way.

    According to the CBS, 3,575 people died in week 12, which is considerably higher than the average death rate of 3,135 in the previous weeks.

    ○ CBS Stats: Deceased; gender and age, per week

    by Oui on Fri Apr 3rd, 2020 at 10:51:59 AM EST
    Re: Lying Liars: Rutte, BoJo, Trump (none / 0)
    Last week of March ...

    Wij testen niet en tellen de slachtoffers COVID-19 niet !!

    CBS: 1200 number of deaths missed in the last week of March

    Really shameful ... wilful neglect with a rightwing agenda!

    Rutte & Co ... just like BoJo Trump ...

    by Oui on Fri Apr 3rd, 2020 at 11:37:00 AM EST
    [ Parent ]
    Disinformation On Steroids:Pete Hoekstra (none / 1)
    Pete Hoekstra the bullsh***er Ambassador of the US  in The Hague ... a stone's throw away from my home 😖

    U.S. Ambassador lashes out at China over coronavirus transparency | NL Times |

    American ambassador to the Netherlands Pete Hoekstra lashed out at China and the information it provided about the coronavirus in an interview with Dutch newspaper AD. According to Hoekstra, China did not give the world reliable data about Covid-19 and is still not being transparent about the actual number of coronavirus infections and deaths in the country.

    "The world could have responded to this much more efficiently if China had been more transparent. Even now we don't see the transparency we would like to see. When we see how the disease develops in Europe and in the US, the trend is somewhat different from what we hear from China," Hoekstra said to the newspaper.

    The Return of Pete Hoekstra to Holland

    In sudden shift, US and China seek to cooperate as coronavirus pandemic rages on | Straits Times |

    by Oui on Fri Apr 3rd, 2020 at 12:16:43 PM EST
    Dutch Late To Respond and Fixed Numbers (none / 0)
    "Our numbers are nonsense" - German chief of the World Medical Association on Corona crisis

    Montgomery praised the federal government's strategy for dealing with the spreading virus. He also relies on international comparison. A number of countries, such as Great Britain and the Netherlands, did not respond at all and hoped that contact with the virus would quickly immunize the population. But they have now deviated from that. Others had opted for maximum foreclosure, according to Italy, but did not respond at all. The problem with this is, "You no longer know what is going on within the isolated areas".

    The medical officer, on the other hand, praised the Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn, whom he otherwise criticized. Thanks to his consultants like the virologist Christian Drosten, he already understood in January what was developing there. The pandemic plans have been adjusted by the federal and state governments and health care has been prepared for the wave of infections, according to Montgomery. The Federal Republic would therefore stand with "the best, maximum preparation".

    There are "fantastic conditions" in Germany, which alone shows that the approximately 28,000 intensive care beds in hospitals and clinics have so far been increased to 50,000. In comparison, Great Britain only has 4,000 such places, Spain only 4,400 and Italy 5,000. When looking at the smaller population of these countries, the Federal Republic has a much better starting position.

    Earlier I had a discussion on this blog how poorly the Dutch and PM Mark Rutte had prepared and opted for the herd immunity. The Dutch failed on many issues, especially the IC units from a mere 850 to 1150 ... quite late to 1500 and in the last few days upwards to 2500. The stage was set to reject elderly patients due to the RED code or BLACK code.  Leaving citizens behind ... loved ones will die and we must save the economy. No leadership !!

    by Oui on Fri Apr 3rd, 2020 at 08:42:34 PM EST
    Re: Biggest Threat to Democracy Is Disinformation (none / 0)
    Trump's infrastructure tweet makes Democrats look bad. The party of FDR needs to step up. | NBC News |

    by Oui on Sat Apr 4th, 2020 at 05:36:41 PM EST
    Re: Biggest Threat to Democracy Is Disinformation (none / 0)
    by Oui on Sun Apr 5th, 2020 at 06:20:36 AM EST
    Germany Developing CoV-2 Tracking App (none / 0)
    Germany gradually warming up to COVID-19 tracking app | DW News |

    Germany is developing a smartphone app that warns people if they're close to someone who's tested positive for COVID-19. Similar apps are widespread in Asia, prompting Germans to rethink their data privacy laws.

    by Oui on Sun Apr 5th, 2020 at 07:28:53 PM EST
    This Little Land of Mines (none / 0)
    The Forgotten War ...

    That little land of mines Laos | DW News |

    "This Little Land of Mines" is an independent feature documentary that premiered in 2019. It's about the Laotian people's resilience as they work to clear 80 million pieces of unexploded ordnance (UXO) the US dropped during the Vietnam War.

    by Oui on Sun Apr 5th, 2020 at 07:37:52 PM EST
    Modeling CoV-2 and the Tip of the Iceberg (none / 0)
    So early and yet so very late...

    How deadly is the new coronavirus? Scientists race to find the answer | LA Times - Feb. 12, 2020 |

    Another complicating factor is that death rates for an infection can vary across the globe. Disparities in the quality of medical care are exacerbated in an outbreak, when people and resources are stretched to their limits.

    "Shortages will certainly cause more deaths in Wuhan," Del Rio said. Meanwhile, if a few dozen patients "popped up in Atlanta, they'd be treated in luxury."

    Representatives of Coronavirus Task Force Brief Governors at NGA | Update Trump's Coronavirus Task Force |

    The panel reiterated that while this is a serious public health matter, the risk to the American public remains low at this time, and that the federal government will continue working in close coordination with state and local governments to keep it that way.

    by Oui on Sun Apr 5th, 2020 at 10:52:06 PM EST
    COVID-19: The Boss Remembers John Prine (none / 0)

    by Oui on Wed Apr 8th, 2020 at 02:36:46 PM EST
    Re: Biggest Threat to Democracy Is Disinformation (none / 0)
    by Oui on Tue Apr 21st, 2020 at 08:04:46 AM EST
    Biggest Threat to Democracy Is Disinformation | 56 comments (56 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)


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