Octopus Overlords

Max Peck wrote: Tue Apr 21, 2020 9:32 pm Anti-malarial drug Trump touted is linked to higher rates of death in VA coronavirus patients, study says

An anti-malarial drug President Trump has aggressively promoted to treat covid-19 had no benefit and was linked to higher rates of death for Veterans Affairs patients hospitalized with the novel coronavirus, according to a study, raising further questions about the safety and efficacy of a treatment that has seen widespread use in the pandemic.

The study by VA and academic researchers analyzed outcomes of 368 male patients nationwide, with 97 receiving hydroxychloroquine, 113 receiving hydroxychloroquine in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin, and 158 not receiving any hydroxychloroquine.

Rates of death in the groups treated with the drugs were worse than those who did not receive the drugs, the study found. Rates of patients on ventilators were roughly equal, with no benefit demonstrated by the drugs.

So it was necessary to kill a few veterans to prove Trump is full of shit?

Max Peck wrote: Tue Apr 21, 2020 9:32 pm Anti-malarial drug Trump touted is linked to higher rates of death in VA coronavirus patients, study says

An anti-malarial drug President Trump has aggressively promoted to treat covid-19 had no benefit and was linked to higher rates of death for Veterans Affairs patients hospitalized with the novel coronavirus, according to a study, raising further questions about the safety and efficacy of a treatment that has seen widespread use in the pandemic.

The study by VA and academic researchers analyzed outcomes of 368 male patients nationwide, with 97 receiving hydroxychloroquine, 113 receiving hydroxychloroquine in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin, and 158 not receiving any hydroxychloroquine.

Rates of death in the groups treated with the drugs were worse than those who did not receive the drugs, the study found. Rates of patients on ventilators were roughly equal, with no benefit demonstrated by the drugs.

So it was necessary to kill a few veterans to prove Trump is full of shit?

Unknown activists have posted nearly 25,000 email addresses and passwords allegedly belonging to the National Institutes of Health, the World Health Organization, the Gates Foundation and other groups working to combat the coronavirus pandemic, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors online extremism and terrorist groups.

While SITE was unable to verify whether the email addresses and passwords were authentic, the group said the information was released Sunday and Monday and almost immediately used to foment attempts at hacking and harassment by far-right extremists. An Australian cybersecurity expert, Robert Potter, said he was able to verify that the WHO email addresses and passwords were real.

The lists, whose origins are unclear, appear to have first been posted to 4chan, a message board notorious for its hateful and extreme political commentary, and later to Pastebin, a text storage site, to Twitter and to far-right extremist channels on Telegram, a messaging app.

“Neo-Nazis and white supremacists capitalized on the lists and published them aggressively across their venues,” said Rita Katz, SITE’s executive director. “Using the data, far-right extremists were calling for a harassment campaign while sharing conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic. The distribution of these alleged email credentials were just another part of a months-long initiative across the far right to weaponize the covid-19 pandemic.”

Holman wrote: Tue Apr 21, 2020 9:49 pm

Max Peck wrote: Tue Apr 21, 2020 9:32 pm Anti-malarial drug Trump touted is linked to higher rates of death in VA coronavirus patients, study says

An anti-malarial drug President Trump has aggressively promoted to treat covid-19 had no benefit and was linked to higher rates of death for Veterans Affairs patients hospitalized with the novel coronavirus, according to a study, raising further questions about the safety and efficacy of a treatment that has seen widespread use in the pandemic.

The study by VA and academic researchers analyzed outcomes of 368 male patients nationwide, with 97 receiving hydroxychloroquine, 113 receiving hydroxychloroquine in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin, and 158 not receiving any hydroxychloroquine.

Rates of death in the groups treated with the drugs were worse than those who did not receive the drugs, the study found. Rates of patients on ventilators were roughly equal, with no benefit demonstrated by the drugs.

So it was necessary to kill a few veterans to prove Trump is full of shit?

Wait--Didn't Trump already announce that we were buying a shitload of that stuff? Before any testing, apparently?

Was he recklessly wasteful and stupid, or was he just lying again?

Max Peck wrote: Tue Apr 21, 2020 9:32 pm Anti-malarial drug Trump touted is linked to higher rates of death in VA coronavirus patients, study says

An anti-malarial drug President Trump has aggressively promoted to treat covid-19 had no benefit and was linked to higher rates of death for Veterans Affairs patients hospitalized with the novel coronavirus, according to a study, raising further questions about the safety and efficacy of a treatment that has seen widespread use in the pandemic.

The study by VA and academic researchers analyzed outcomes of 368 male patients nationwide, with 97 receiving hydroxychloroquine, 113 receiving hydroxychloroquine in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin, and 158 not receiving any hydroxychloroquine.

Rates of death in the groups treated with the drugs were worse than those who did not receive the drugs, the study found. Rates of patients on ventilators were roughly equal, with no benefit demonstrated by the drugs.

So it was necessary to kill a few veterans to prove Trump is full of shit?

The newly formed coalition includes Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi, a part of the country that has underfunded health systems, as well as high rates of obesity, diabetes and other illnesses that amplify the deadliness of the coronavirus.

And unlike their peers in New York, New Jersey and other Northeastern states that have been working cooperatively since last week to restart their economies, the six in the South have lagged on testing and social distancing measures.

Schmitt's office also outlined what they described as key factual allegations. Those allegations include the Chinese government denying the risk of human-to-human transmission, silencing whistleblowers, failing to contain the outbreak, and hoarding personal protective equipment.

Defiant wrote: Tue Apr 21, 2020 11:54 pm Well, states in the South-East are making their own coalition

The newly formed coalition includes Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi, a part of the country that has underfunded health systems, as well as high rates of obesity, diabetes and other illnesses that amplify the deadliness of the coronavirus.

And unlike their peers in New York, New Jersey and other Northeastern states that have been working cooperatively since last week to restart their economies, the six in the South have lagged on testing and social distancing measures.

Zarathud wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 3:44 am Republican Missouri Attorney General attempts to sue China over the Covid outbreak. I can't wait for the counter-argument about the Trump administration in court, but this is so obviously an attempt to feed Trump's propaganda machine rather than a serious lawsuit.

Schmitt's office also outlined what they described as key factual allegations. Those allegations include the Chinese government denying the risk of human-to-human transmission, silencing whistleblowers, failing to contain the outbreak, and hoarding personal protective equipment.

Now replace China with Trump. When did Republicans lose all sense of irony and truth? The Colbert Report?

LawBeefaroni wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 9:00 am Kudlow on CNBC calling for legislation/EO to block liability lawsuits for businesses that open up.

BREAKING: Atlanta has announced plans to reopen the city now that they have a 28-3 lead on COVID-19.

Dogstar wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 9:25 am

LawBeefaroni wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 9:00 am Kudlow on CNBC calling for legislation/EO to block liability lawsuits for businesses that open up.

I'm pretty sure you can't pre-empt lawsuits through Executive Order. And there's no way in hell a Democratic House agrees to that legislation.

White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said Wednesday that he was in favor of shielding companies from coronavirus-related lawsuits as the administration eyes a speedy reopening of the economy.

Kudlow, speaking on on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” said that businesses, and particularly small businesses, should not have to face what he called “trial lawyers putting on false lawsuits.”

“You’ve got to give the businesses some confidence here that if something happens, and it may not be their fault — the disease is an infectious disease — if something happens, you can’t take them out of business,” Kudlow said “You can’t throw big lawsuits at them. And I think liability reforms and safeguards are going to be a very important part of it.”

...

On Monday, President Donald Trump addressed the topic at a White House press briefing, saying “we have tried to take liability away from these companies.” Trump said a “legal opinion” would be forthcoming.

“We just don’t want that because we want the companies to open and to open strong,” Trump said.

...

Justin Wolfers, an economics and public policy professor at the University of Michigan, wrote in a widely circulated post on Twitter last week that such a proposal was “bad economics and bad policy.”

“The whole point of making employers liable for risking the lives of their staff is to prevent them from exposing their staff to undue risk,” Wolfers wrote. “Businesses are asking for the right to expose their workers to fatal risks with no consequences.”

Justin Wolfers, an economics and public policy professor at the University of Michigan, wrote in a widely circulated post on Twitter last week that such a proposal was “bad economics and bad policy.”

“The whole point of making employers liable for risking the lives of their staff is to prevent them from exposing their staff to undue risk,” Wolfers wrote. “Businesses are asking for the right to expose their workers to fatal risks with no consequences.”

Dogstar wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 10:52 am

Justin Wolfers, an economics and public policy professor at the University of Michigan, wrote in a widely circulated post on Twitter last week that such a proposal was “bad economics and bad policy.”

“The whole point of making employers liable for risking the lives of their staff is to prevent them from exposing their staff to undue risk,” Wolfers wrote. “Businesses are asking for the right to expose their workers to fatal risks with no consequences.”

I'm sure that a ton of state AG's as well as employment lawyers look forward to challenging that, and it won't be hard to find a court that will side with the plaintiffs, tying this up in the system indefinitely. You remove liability and you start undermining the basic reason for having OSHA.

Smoove_B wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 11:07 amThere's no such thing as no risk, but I can't imagine a situation where an business liability insurance carrier in places like Georgia isn't flipping the hell out right now.

ImLawBoy wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 10:59 am If they then fail to institute reasonable measures to keep their employees safe, however, then they lose that immunity.

stessier wrote: Tue Apr 21, 2020 7:26 am ...
Later this week they will decide about reopening the schools. (Spoiler - they are totally going to reopen the schools. )

...

Edit: The more I think about it, the more they can't open the schools, right? I'm legally required to send my kid and there is no way to socially distance anyone in that environment. They have to keep them closed. Right? Please let sanity reign...

At least two people who died in early and mid-February had contracted the novel coronavirus, health officials in California said Tuesday, signaling the virus may have spread — and been fatal — in the United States weeks earlier than previously thought.

Tissue samples taken during autopsies of two people who died at home in Santa Clara County, Calif., tested positive for the virus, local health officials said in a statement. The victims died on Feb. 6 and Feb. 17, respectively.

Initially, the nation’s earliest coronavirus fatality was thought to have occurred on Feb. 29, in Kirkland, Wash., a suburb of Seattle that rapidly became a hot spot. In March, health officials there linked two Feb. 26 deaths to covid-19, the disease caused by the new virus.

Jeff V wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 11:31 am

ImLawBoy wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 10:59 am If they then fail to institute reasonable measures to keep their employees safe, however, then they lose that immunity.

The nature of "reasonable measures" is likely to be a hard thing to pin down.

ImLawBoy wrote:such guidelines would by their nature have to be vague and subject to interpretation. (Lawyer employment opportunity there.)

Unagi wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 12:14 pm https://mobile.twitter.com/stop_trump20 ... 6577948672

I keep watching it.
She really has nailed it.

Daehawk wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 3:51 pm Saw someone online today say "Im glad to see Trump supporting the protesters."

Im like I just dont get their way of thinking.

Alefroth wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:28 pm Why do we calculate mortality rate by deaths/infections rather than deaths/cases that had an outcome?

El Guapo wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:41 pm

Alefroth wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:28 pm Why do we calculate mortality rate by deaths/infections rather than deaths/cases that had an outcome?

I"m confused what you mean by "cases that had an outcome"? Infections is everyone who contracted coronavirus. So the mortality percentage is out of that whole universe of infected people, how many died?

El Guapo wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:41 pm

Alefroth wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:28 pm Why do we calculate mortality rate by deaths/infections rather than deaths/cases that had an outcome?

I"m confused what you mean by "cases that had an outcome"? Infections is everyone who contracted coronavirus. So the mortality percentage is out of that whole universe of infected people, how many died?

Wisconsin's Republican-led legislature filed a lawsuit Tuesday in an attempt to reopen the state and block the extension of a stay-at-home order issued by state health officials to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The lawsuit was filed against Wisconsin's Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Andrea Palm and other health officials, who recently extended the state's "Safer at Home" emergency order until May 26, but loosened some restrictions on certain businesses.
In the complaint, lawmakers argue that if this order remains in effect, "many Wisconsinites will have lost their jobs, and many companies will have gone under, to say nothing of the Order's countless other downstream societal effects. Our State will be in shambles."

.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday opened the door to allowing U.S. states to file for bankruptcy to deal with economic losses stemming from the coronavirus outbreak that are punching big holes in their budgets.

McConnell said in a radio interview that Republicans would not support giving state and local governments more money in future coronavirus aid legislation, saying those funds could end up being used to bail out state pensions.

Speaking on Hugh Hewitt’s syndicated conservative talk radio show, McConnell said he instead “would certainly be in favor of allowing states to use the bankruptcy route.”
...
Currently, states cannot file for bankruptcy, while cities and other local governments can use Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy to restructure their debt if allowed by their states. Puerto Rico, a U.S. commonwealth, commenced a form of municipal bankruptcy in 2017 after the U.S. Congress authorized it.
...
Muni market analysts played down McConnell’s comments as political posturing. Matt Fabian, a partner at Municipal Market Analytics, said he doubted whether such a move was constitutionally or politically possible.

“The whole point is a red herring,” he said. “(McConnell’s) statement is more about how Republicans are going to require concessions from Democrats if Democrats want states to get additional aid.”

hitbyambulance wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:56 pm top three 'spreader' states are all ones without a shelter in place order:



from https://rt.live, of course