Tracker

Hours Alberta Premier Jason Kenney initially announced the benefit March 19, and opened applications that week. “Albertans are doing their part to keep each other safe and prevent the spread of COVID-19. We are doing ours by assisting Albertans and their families, protecting jobs and supporting workers and employers,” Kenney said. The one-time payment of $1,146 was open to Albertans required to isolate by public health guidelines or who had to take care of a dependent who was isolating, who also had a significant decrease in income and no other source of compensation. According to the province, the Alberta Emergency Isolation Support program was meant to “bridge the gap” while awaiting federal financial support in the form of the CERB. But over the past few weeks, many Albertans who went to apply for the benefit say they were faced with long wait times and denied applications for seemingly no reason.

Trump ridiculed, then minimized, then delayed the federal government’s response to the coronavirus for weeks. Then finally he wrapped his boastful, confused ego around reality. But Trump is actively pushing programs that will endanger more Americans. Here’s a brief look at Trump’s pro-contagion activities that leave Americans defenseless in the face of the virus, implemented by his crazed and cruel appointees. Trump is pushing hard to weaken safety regulations for nursing homes. Weakening these regulations leaves elderly residents vulnerable to infectious diseases, meaning more people will get sick and die. Trump is fanatically trying to end Obamacare in court cases. Twenty million people, at least, will lose health insurance. He has no replacement. As a Yale University study just demonstrated, 65,000 to over 100,000 Americans die every year because they do not have health insurance (see the Yale study here). Trump apparently is okay with many more people losing their lives to further entrench his cruel, corporatist ideology. Many more people will stay sick because they are uninsured and therefore cannot afford diagnosis and treatment. Trump is lying about his concern for American workers. Why is OSHA weakening workplace safety protections that keep workers safer? The answer: Trump is a crazed and cruel corporatist. Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) henchmen are racing to weaken, revoke, or not enforce environmental safeguards for the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the food you eat. Certain scientifically condemned pesticides, for example, are in your food, but Trump and his EPA lackeys don’t care. These cruel minions are also taking advantage of the coronavirus crisis by signaling to polluters they can open up emission pipes and that the EPA will look the other way. Trump’s EPA is taking actions that mean more people will get sick and more people will die. Last month, Food and Drug Agency (FDA) announced that it is suspending inspections of foreign manufacturers importing food, drugs and medical devices into the U.S. through April. This decision is madness! FDA will even suspend inspections of Chinese labs producing large amounts of imported drugs for American patients.This is like telling corporate criminals that the panicked U.S. is unguarded without federal cops on the beat. More unprotected Americans will be at immediate risk of death and disease. Just last week, against the advice of even some major auto manufacturers, clenched- jaw Donald rolled back automobile mileage and pollution standards (See here the New York Times op-ed by Daniel F. Becker and James Gerstenzang on August 2, 2018). Trump’s mania knows no bounds! Trump’s compulsive crazy desire to repeal all Obama’s achievements means he is willing to move us backwards, making the future more dangerous and uncertain. The result is more life-destroying pollutants in your lungs, more consumer dollars spent on gasoline for less mileage per gallon, more climate crisis-exacerbating gases. Trump faces enormous opposition, from medical experts, consumer groups, environmental groups, civil rights groups, anti-poverty organizations, and even conservatives that will take him to court. What does he care? Stubborn Trump’s embargo of Iran and other severe sanctions on nations wanting to sell medicines and equipment to virus-plagued poorer locations disrupts international efforts to contain the deadly virus. Almost no reporters are asking Trump about his reckless, anti-safety policies in the midst of a pandemic that is especially dangerous for victims with pre-existing ailments and sicknesses.

Now Trump and his abettors believe that they will have unfettered access to billions to reward themselves and their supporters with no oversight. All of the investigations into Trump's illegal dealings have been suspended or slowed down due to being denied resources, so the table is tilted badly in Trump's favour. He has, with complicity of the GOP, been given power without any legal consequences, and has funneled millions into his resorts. why would he now think he ought to be cautious?

Ten times as many New Yorkers are dying in their homes than normal and they aren’t being tested for COVID-19 Written by Joshua Holland April 7, 2020 As of this writing, 12,242 people have died in the United States as a result of COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Over 5,000 of those losses were in New York, which has become the global epicenter of the pandemic. But we don’t actually know what the true toll from this disease is. The actual number of deaths is higher–possibly much higher. In New York City, somewhere around 20-25 people die at home on a typical day. But according to City Council Member Mark Levine, who chairs the health committee, between 200 and 215 are dying at home every day at present. As Levine wrote on Twitter, only those “who are known to have a positive coronavirus test have the disease listed as the official cause on their death certificate.” Gothamist reports that the city Medical Examiner’s office “is not testing dead bodies for COVID-19. Instead, they’re referring suspected cases to the city’s health department as ‘probable.’” And those “probable” COVID-19 deaths aren’t included in the tallies. This is not a problem that’s unique to New York. BuzzFeed News reported that “medical professionals around the US [say] that the official numbers of people who have died of COVID-19 are not consistent with the number of deaths they’re seeing on the front lines.”

GOD HAS A SENSE OF HUMOUR!

As the Trump administration scrambles to get a hand on the spread of the new coronavirus across the U.S., it is keeping one eye on developments in China, the country where the pandemic originated. According to two officials with knowledge of those efforts and cables reviewed by The Daily Beast, the administration is monitoring China’s second wave of coronavirus cases, gathering data on the ground on the number of individuals newly infected and the reasons for the recent uptick. Over the past few days Chinese officials have noted an emergence of new cases, particularly in asymptomatic individuals. But U.S. officials say it is difficult to trust Beijing’s numbers because of its history of putting out unreliable data.

It will be interesting to see Faux News' reaction when the tide turns against Trump and the GOP and they are reviled as thieves and racists. Once they are thrown out of office and in disgrace, Faux will probably say that they knew it all along and cannot understand how it took so long for the public to see that as well.

President Donald Trump has a “small financial interest” in the maker of an anti-malarial drug that he has been touting as a “game changer” in treating coronavirus, according to The New York Times. Over the past two weeks, Trump and his Fox News allies have aggressively promoted hydroxychloroquine as a potential cure, despite top infectious-disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci and others urging caution and noting that there was not enough evidence of the drug’s efficacy. The Times reports the president’s family trusts all have investments in a mutual fund whose largest holding is Sanofi, the manufacturer of Plaquenil, the brand-name version of hydroxychloroquine. Associates of the president, including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, have also run funds that hold investments in the pharmaceutical firm. Read it at The New York Times

Boris Johnson remains in intensive care as of Tuesday morning, and British government officials have confirmed for the first time that the prime minister is taking oxygen treatment. Johnson spent the night in ICU following the shock announcement that he was moved there Monday evening after his office spent days downplaying his illness. Government minister Michael Gove told BBC News: “The prime minister’s not on a ventilator. He has received oxygen support.” Downing Street later confirmed that Johnson’s condition was stable overnight and he remains in “good spirits.” Britain has no formal succession plan should a prime minister become incapacitated, but Johnson has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to carry out duties in his place “where necessary.” Johnson announced 11 days ago that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. His symptoms have persisted and significantly worsened over the past few days.

Aaaand another nut heard from: APRIL 6, 2020 8:44PM (UTC) Comedian Roseanne Barr recently posited a wacky theory that the coronavirus pandemic is an effort to eliminate baby boomers like herself. "You know what it is, Norm? I think they're just trying to get rid of all my generation," Barr told Macdonald during the Sunday interview on his informal YouTube talk show "Quarantined with Norm Macdonald," in which he calls up his friends to chat. "The boomer ladies that, you know, that inherited their — you know, are widows. They inherited the money so they got to go wherever the money is and figure out a way to get it away from people."

I do not agree with that degree of rancor, but can understand it. He was quite prepared to let the disease run rampant without significant prophylactic measures and just accept the deaths as the most economic course. Just a notch below Trump.

Christian evangelist Franklin Graham told Judge Jeannine Pirro on Fox News that the coronavirus pandemic happened because the world “has turned its back on God.” “Well, I don’t think it’s God’s plan for this to happen,” Graham told Pirro after she asked Saturday why God would allow a pandemic to occur. “It’s because of the sin that’s in the world, judge. Man has turned his back on God, we have sinned against him and we need to ask for God’s forgiveness. And that’s what Easter is all about — it’s about God so loving the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but should have everlasting life.” He added, “Jesus Christ came to save sinners. He didn’t come to condemn the world but to save the world. And if we put our faith and trust in him, he’ll forgive our sins. And he’ll heal our hearts, and he’ll change the course of our lives. And this pandemic — this is the result of a fallen world. A world that has turned its back on God. And so I would encourage people to pray, and let’s ask God for help.”

Like that's gonna happen. Trump needs all the toadies he can get but this might start to turn the 25% of hard-core Trump supporters in the military against him.

He absolutely was. He appeared at Nazi rallies with the Nazi salute and all. He campaigned long and hard for the US to remain out of the war in Europe.

BBC website confirms that Johnson has been moved into and remains in an ICU ward.

Reporter Robert Costa revealed that Jared Kushner has been coordinating the distribution of medical supplies with Republican donors. The Washington Post national political reporter said President Donald Trump's son-in-law has sparked confusion in those efforts by placing himself in the chain of command, and both Kushner and trade adviser Peter Navarro were contradicting advice from White House medical experts. "When you ask about the inner circle, it is clear to me," Costa told MSNBC's "Morning Joe," "based on my reporting, that Peter Navarro, more than anyone now, whether it's on urging the president to take a position that's different than Dr. [Anthony] Fauci, or when it comes to the Defense Production Act, nudging corporations, sometimes pushing corporations to do what the White House wants, that Navarro is at the center." "Jared Kushner is there and he's really being a liaison to different donors, to different corporate allies of this administration, which has created confusion about the chain of command, about whether corporations should work through Jared, whether they should work through Vice President [Mike] Pence and the task force," he added. Navarro and other Trump advisers, including Rudy Giuliani, have been overriding medical experts on the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine against the coronavirus, and Costa said the president's confidence in that unproven drug was not matched by science.

And not doing well.

Better to ask Dr. Teeth. Lets see if anyone knows who this is.

You're asking the same people who thought Trump would be a good president to vote on this?

Trump's personality cannot conceive that he can be wrong about any concept he has , no matter how obviously flawed it is. His self-concept is based on his infallibility and if that is proven false, he would have to admit being mortal, and his ego cannot tolerate that. Therefore, he will continue to propose that he is an expert at everything, and defend it to the end.

Of course, medical authorities and local leaders have also been begging for widespread testing for the coronavirus. As the New York Times reported last week, months were lost while the president drifted along in denial about the crisis, to the point where testing became almost irrelevant, since the virus had spread so far and wide that the only recourse was to lock down most of society and keep our fingers crossed. Similarly, a blockbuster Washington Post story published on Sunday details how the Trump administration "often seemed weeks behind the curve in reacting to the viral spread, closing doors that were already contaminated ... infighting, turf wars and abrupt leadership changes hobbled the work of the coronavirus task force." There are many other reports that outline the administration's monumental response fiasco. It may seem as though all this White House does all day is create chaos and confusion. But in fact the Trump's administration is still busily "deconstructing the administrative state" one department at a time, even in the midst of an unprecedented public health crisis. For instance, even as people are dying in vast numbers, gasping for breath, Trump's EPA decided it was a good time to create more air pollution and roll back America's best attempt to combat climate change by weakening fuel efficiency rules for automobiles. As Carl Pope observes in a Salon commentary published on Monday, even the auto industry doesn't want this regulatory rollback, which seems to be an attempt to rewrite federal law. According to the Guardian, "the changes will allow vehicles to emit about a billion more tons of heat-trapping carbon dioxide — equivalent to roughly a fifth of annual U.S. emissions." In other news, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper have recently decided that the U.S. will withdraw from the "Open Skies" treaty with Russia, which was intended to reduce the risk of an accidental war. Our allies are unanimously opposed to abandoning the treaty, which is probably why this administration is doing it.

TRUMP'S EGO STRIKES AGAIN During a press briefing Sunday night purportedly aimed at providing the U.S. public with crucial information amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump refused to allow the nation’s top infectious disease expert to answer a reporter’s question about the efficacy of an anti-malaria drug that the president has recklessly touted as a possible COVID-19 treatment despite warnings from medical professionals. Before Dr. Anthony Fauci could respond to the question about hydroxychloroquine, Trump—who was standing back and off to the side of the podium—complained that Fauci had already spoken about the drug “15 times.” “You don’t have to ask the question again,” said Trump, stepping forward and moving closer to Fauci as another reporter began asking a separate question.