Doctor: America's for-profit health system 'just does not work' in a pandemic

Adriana Belmonte Associate Editor, Yahoo Finance•April 13, 2020

"For-profit health system just does not work" amid coronavirus pandemic: Expert

Worldwide, the number of cases topping 1 and 1/2 million

The U.S. now has over 550,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and various hospitals across the country have struggled with a surge in patients and deaths.

The result, according to Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, an epidemiologist and former health director of the city of Detroit, shows that “a for-profit health care system does not work when we’re dealing with a global pandemic.”

El-Sayed, appearing on Yahoo Finance’s The Ticker (video above), explained that most hospitals are “run as a business” and make the most money “on elective procedures. When you’re facing a global pandemic, you cancel those elective procedures.”

A doctor wears a protective mask as he walks outside Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City, New York, U.S., April 1, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid)

And this can cause a problem for hospitals that rely on funding from elective procedures in order to pay staff and maintain day-to-day operations. Some hospitals are already laying off staff even as coronavirus strains hospital systems.

To try to offset the deficit, the $2 trillion stimulus package passed by Congress at the end of March included $100 billion for hospitals to recover some of the lost revenue. But hospitals have reportedly said that it might not be enough.

“Now we have hospitals that are both battling COVID-19 in a fight for their lives and also battling bankruptcy because they don’t know how they’re going to pay their bills tomorrow,” El-Sayed said. 

‘A wake-up call’ for the country

Another issue with the health care system that the coronavirus pandemic highlights, Sayed said, is the fact that 10% of the population, or roughly 28 million people, doesn’t have health insurance at all while another 50% have their health care “behind a paywall because their deductible is so high.”

For those with employer-based health insurance, the major insurance companies have all announced that they would be waiving the costs of coronavirus testing and treatment. Nevertheless, premiums could rise further down the road.

The federal and local governments have taken some steps to address this issue. Eleven states and D.C., which have state-run health care marketplaces, created special enrollment periods to allow residents to sign up for health insurance coverage.

For the remaining 38 states, the Trump administration declined to create a federal special enrollment period, instead opting for promised cash payments to be distributed to hospitals that treat uninsured patients.

A Southeast Ambulance employee arrives with a patient at PruittHealth Grandview nursing home where at least 10 patients who were previously tested presumptive positive for COVID-19 have passed away on Wednesday, April 8, 2020, in Athens. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

El-Sayed asserted it’s “a real problem” because many people would still avoid going to the hospital or seeking medical care because they don't want to get hit with a surprise medical bill.

“That leaves people extremely vulnerable in a moment like this,” he said.

Ultimately, El-Sayed hopes that the COVID-19 pandemic serves as “a wake-up call” for the country.

“If we want a health care system that’s able to rise to the challenges of a pandemic like this, then we have to rebuild it so that we have the ability to guarantee everybody health care, to guarantee access to the basic resources for our frontline staff who are battling this pandemic, and make sure that our hospitals aren’t battling both a pandemic and bankruptcy at the same time,” he said.

Adriana is a reporter and editor for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @adrianambells.

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TEN YEARS AFTER I'D LOVE TO CHANGE THE WORLD

FULL ALBUM 
 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz6cAheObZci2TTOMyl-TYVAEN0sN2xKI

QUACK 

Dr. Oz says reopening schools is an 'appetizing opportunity' because only 2%-3% will die

Walter Einenkel Daily Kos Staff, Thursday April 16, 2020 · 

From left to right: Conman, egomaniacal conman.


Dr. Mehmet Oz is a television quack. He’s been busted for pushing dietary supplements he was making profits off of as medical “miracles.” They weren’t. He was using his perceived medical expertise to generate profits for himself at the expense of everyone else. Dr. Oz has taken this show on the road to Fox News and the right-wing sulfursphere. Donald Trump has used him to televise a dubious medical health review of the president’s fast-food laden body. Dr. Oz has added whatever passes for credence by pretending he could perform some kind of Twitter-collected scientific study of anecdotal evidence that hydroxychloroquine has any benefits if taken by people who come into contact with COVID-19.

In general, calling Dr. Oz a doctor is like calling me an air force pilot. I mean, I’ve been in a plane before, amiright? On Wednesday, with the Trump administration pushing to “reopen” major cities, the Fox News team set about working on creating propaganda that would try and further smooth over the already-dulled senses of the Fox News viewer. Sean Hannity brought on the scary doctor to discuss how we might get back to business as usual across this great land of ours.

Dr. Oz has released an I’m sorry you were confused by what I said “apology.” It’s some weak sauce that doesn’t explain what he thinks he is supposed to be doing or what he believes his position in the public should mean. But, make no mistake, his logo will be emblazoned behind him, every time you see him speak to you as a guy who plays a doctor on TV. Mostly to confirm the conservative movement’s anti-science and medicine opinions.

The television doctor explained that he sort of read a thing that sounded terrible but he doesn’t understand numbers and so there’s that. Sounding like a true sociopath, Dr. Oz explained how getting our kids back into school so that parents can get back to work might be exactly what this quack doctor thinks needs to be ordered. Hannity gave a nice overwrought throw to Oz, asking the discredited TV doctor to “help us.”

DR. MEHMET OZ: “Well, first, we need our mojo back.”

Oh man.



DR. OZ: “Let’s start with things that are really critical to the nation where we think we might be able to open without getting into a lot of trouble. I tell you, schools are a very appetizing opportunity. I just saw a nice piece in The Lancet arguing the opening of schools may only cost us 2 to 3% in terms of total mortality. You know, any life is a life lost, but to get every child back into school where they’re being safely educated, and fed, and making the most out of their lives—with the theoretical risk on the backside—that might be a tradeoff some folks would consider.”

It’s hard to know what Dr. Oz is even talking about. He might be referring to this study that reports that, without any other interventions, just closing schools alone would prevent “2-4% of deaths, much less than other social distancing interventions.” The conclusion of that study is that we need even more social distancing practices, not less.

But, Dr. Oz said his bright idea would only result in 2% to 3% mortality. Let’s take him at his misinformed word and the logic of his own statement. As CNN anchor Jack Tapper pointed out, Dr. Oz’s grasp of numbers is seemingly as bad as his grasp of medicine. “A mortality rate of 2-3% of 328,200,000 Americans is 6,564,000 to 9,846,000 dead Americans.” Yup. And when only 5 million Americans die, Trump and his pals can say they did a great job?

But maybe the comic book Halloween mad scientist doctor means just schoolchildren? According to the National Center for Education Statistics, “about 56.6 million students will attend elementary, middle, and high schools across the United States.” Doing some quick math—carry the one—that would mean Dr. Oz, Trump, and fiends feel that between 1,132,000 and 1,698,000 dead school age kids is “a very appetizing opportunity.”

DR OZ: "Schools are a very appetizing opportunity. I just saw a nice piece in The Lancet arguing the opening of schools may only cost us 2 to 3%, in terms of total mortality. Any, you know, any life is a life lost, but ... that might be a tradeoff some folks would consider."  pic.twitter.com/aifMeKTsIv— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 16, 2020

                       MOLOCH

And here’s Dr. Oz’s non-apology … apology.
I've realized my comments on risks around opening schools have confused and upset people, which was never my intention. I misspoke. pic.twitter.com/Kq1utwiCjR— Dr. Mehmet Oz (@DrOz) April 16, 2020

Fringe right closes down Michigan capital with 'gridlock' protest against coronavirus measures


David Neiwert for Daily Kos
Daily Kos Staff
Thursday April 16, 2020


People take part in a protest at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, on April 15. The group is upset with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's expanded stay-at-home order to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

A huge phalanx of cars, reportedly numbering in the thousands, flooded the streets of downtown Lansing, Michigan, on Wednesday, driven by people—mostly conservative Republicans, but featuring a healthy contingent of gun-wielding far-right extremists—protesting Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s lockdown orders for the Great Lakes State, issued last week amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Called “Operation Gridlock,” the protest—organized primarily by the Michigan Conservative Coalition, a group with connections both to far-right extremists and to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos—successfully shut down all traffic in and around Lansing. That included traffic to and from Sparrow Hospital, the city’s main coronavirus treatment center, as well as in and out of the Capitol building, whose entrance at one point was blocked by a truck bearing a large sign for the Michigan Proud Boys.

Most of the vehicles were pickup trucks, many of them adorned with signs and flags. Ordinary American flags, yellow “Don’t Tread On Me” Gadsden flags, and deep blue Trump flags dominated the scene. A couple of Confederate flags—including one modified to feature an AR-15 silhouette—were also in the crowd. The Michigan Militia also was present.

The majority of protesters remained in their cars. However, about 150 of them parked and got out to carry protest signs, along with guns, up the steps of the state Capitol building. According to some reports, those protesters generally maintained social distancing rules, but not all of them. At least one group of protesters that gathered on the steps for a video was clustered fairly closely.

"I think every single person here is probably going to get coronavirus, we're all within six feet of each other," protester Nick Somber told WILX-FM.

Proud Boys stopped at a green light to block traffic in front of Sparrow Hospital pic.twitter.com/tIGBcSESPe— Joshua Pugh (@JPughMI) April 15, 2020

Multiple photos posted on social media showed an ambulance stuck in the middle of the gridlocked traffic around the hospital. Another photo showed a pickup with a large “Michigan Proud Boys” banner blocking the entrance. Yet another photo showed a doctor out in the middle of the stopped traffic, pleading with drivers to clear a path for the ambulance.

The Michigan Nurses Association issued a statement pleading for consideration:

While everyone has a right to gather and express their opinions, today's protest sends exactly the opposite message that nurses and healthcare professionals are trying to get across: we are begging people, please stay home. The protest was irresponsible, impeding ambulances and traffic to Sparrow Hospital, where frontline healthcare workers are risking their lives taking care of patients suffering from COVID-19. Lives are being saved because of the stay-home order. We ask everyone to protect themselves, their families and us by doing what's best for the greater good.

The protest’s organizers later claimed that the hospital entrance had not been blocked.

The Michigan Proud Boys also put in an appearance with Republican congressional candidate Mike Detmer of Howell, who posted a selfie of himself with a cluster of protesters, and the large truck with the Michigan Proud Boys sign in the back. One Proud Boy wearing a mask near the rear of the group flashed a white-nationalist “OK” sign. Detmer later claimed he had been photobombed and removed the shot from his Facebook page.

Michigan has been hit particularly hard by the novel coronavirus, with more than 27,000 cases confirmed in the state and at least 1,700 deaths. A Johns Hopkins University tracker indicated that in Wayne County, home to Detroit, 820 people have died—more than any county in the U.S. outside of New York state.

There have been protests elsewhere. On Easter Sunday, “Patriot” movement figure Ammon Bundy organized a protest gathering in Emmett, Idaho. On Monday, about 100 protesters urging Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to reopen the state gathered outside the statehouse in Columbus. And in Raleigh, North Carolina, more than 100 protesters gathered to demonstrate against Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper's stay-at-home order.

The Michigan Conservative Coalition has a history of dalliances with extremists—epitomized, perhaps, by its Facebook post featuring a cartoon attacking the lockdown orders as a nefarious social control scheme drawn by a noted neo-Nazi artist. Its Facebook page has regularly featured white nationalist “Pepe the Frog” and Islamophobic memes, and the group recently hosted provocateur Michelle Malkin, who herself has become closely aligned with the right’s white nationalist contingent.

It also claimed that “Operation Gridlock” was co-hosted by the Michigan Freedom Fund, an organization overseen by the DeVos family. When Gov. Whitmer pointed out the connection last week, Betsy DeVos responded that she wasn’t affiliated with the event.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel penned a defense of Whitmer’s lockdown orders on Facebook.

“These people may even choose to take it out on the Governor later,” she wrote. “Her numbers in the polls might diminish. She may not even win a second term. But if people all around our state do not have their lives cut short and instead go on to rebuild their future in the aftermath of this terrible time, then Governor Whitmer will have done her job. Even if the people she has saved and the lives she’s touched don’t recognize it or appreciate it. And that’s what leadership looks like.”

PROLOGUE

Did Michigan governor go 'too far' with stay-home order? Protesters plan in-vehicle rally

Kara Berg, Lansing State Journal, USA TODAY•April 14, 2020

Governor: Michigan can't yet get back to work

LANSING, Mich. – Critics of Michigan's expanded stay-home order are planning an in-vehicle protest to tell the governor they believe she has gone too far.

The Michigan Conservative Coalition and Michigan Freedom Fund asked for protesters to surround the state Capitol in their vehicles at noon Wednesday to display flags and signs, make noise and be disruptive about Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's "erratic, unilateral orders that threaten Michiganders' economic existence," according to a news release. They warned protesters to come ready for a potentially major traffic jam.

The protest would come several days after Whitmer extended her order through April 30 and took the requirements of staying home a step further, banning crossing the street to visit with neighbors or driving to see friends, among other things.

Is it the decision of the president? Who decides when and how America reopens from its coronavirus shutdown?

“Michigan has the third-highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country, and we’re still on the upswing," Whitmer said last week. "We must continue to do everything we can to slow the spread and protect our families. Data shows that most Michiganders are doing their part by staying home and staying safe. That’s good, but we must keep it up."

The extension was expected, and tracks with President Donald Trump's extension with federal social distancing guidelines and actions in other Midwest states.

During a press conference Monday, Whitmer said the Michigan Freedom Fund is funded in-part by the family of U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, something she called "inappropriate."

Nick Wasmiller, a spokesperson for the DeVos family, said the family has not spent any money on the protest, nor has it offered prior support to organizers.

"The DeVos family, however, understands the frustration of fellow Michiganders as elements of the governor’s top-down approach appear to go beyond public safety," Wasmiller said in the statement. "Michigan deserves competent governance, not baseless attacks.”

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks during a live update on Thursday, April 9, 2020.

Whitmer's new order has been blasted for its inconsistencies, as it allows the sale of lottery tickets at stores larger than 50,000 square feet, but not paint or gardening tools, and lets non-Michigan residents travel to their cottages in the northern part of the state, but not Michigan residents.

“Michigan’s typical small business owners obey laws, but they may not notice the progressive agenda being pushed by our radical leftist Governor Whitmer,” Rosanne Ponkowski, president of the Michigan Conservative Coalition, said in a news release. “Governor Whitmer will put you out of business before allowing mere citizens to be responsible for their own behavior. That is madness.”

More than 13,000 people said they were interested in the protest on Facebook as of Monday morning, and 2,800 had RSVP'd.

The Michigan Conservative Coalition's sentiments are echoed by many people in the Facebook group "Michiganders Against Excessive Quarantine," which as of Monday, its fifth day in existence, had nearly 270,000 members.

Kristi Greulich See, of Plymouth, west of Detroit, said she agreed with Whitmer that the first three weeks of the stay-home order were needed to allow government and medical officials to learn about the virus and plan a proper response.

But now it seems excessive, she said. Her understanding of the science behind the stay-home order was that self-isolating and social distancing would slow the spread of the virus so hospitals weren't flooded with cases, not to eradicate the virus.

"This is going to be coming in waves for awhile, it isn't going away," Greulich See said. "We could lock ourselves in the house and crash the economy for a year, and it won't be any different."

Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, Michigan's chief medical executive, however, has warned against loosening restrictions.

"If we loosen up too soon, more people will die, and hospitals will become overwhelmed," Khaldun said at a Thursday news conference with Whitmer.

Survey says: Americans say the economy is getting worse in much larger numbers than weeks ago

Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan, said groups like the Michigan Conservative Coalition and Michigan Freedom Fund have one goal: to attack Whitmer any way they can.

"While hundreds of Michiganders die every day because of COVID-19 and essential workers are doing their best to keep our communities healthy and functioning, these selfish and out-of-touch fringe groups are throwing a temper tantrum at the expense of public safety and health," Scott said in a news release.

Several legislators, including U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, I-Mich., joined the critics in opposing Whitmer's order. He asked her to "immediately reassess" in a series of tweets Saturday.

"As a federal official, I do my best to stay out of state politics," tweeted Amash. "But I have a constitutional duty to ensure states don’t trample on the rights of the people. @GovWhitmer’s latest order goes too far and will erode confidence in her leadership. She should immediately reassess it."

Follow reporter Kara Berg on Twitter @karaberg95.


This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Coronavirus: Michigan groups to protest Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's order

I Was A Member Of The John Birch Society


heretofore (AUTHOR)
Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)
Tuesday May 31, 2016 

(and why you should listen to my confession)

I have never confessed this, and as I am not adding my name, it remains, I hope, a secret; and also why this is an early post, a matter that only my sister keeps needling me about since that ONE PERIOD in the 1970s, when I also burned my Black Sabbath albums, which she caught me at, but she also caught me at growing Mary Jane on the roof top. (Mercy, sister, must you always bring this shit up?)

I was a Liberal, a hippie type, in the early ‘70s, as a kid. In 1972, some of us boys in the 5th grade actually staged a sit-in to protest the Vietnam War. It was after Kent State. When parents in a small town see politics reach all the way to their not-even-teen-aged children, well, it made an impact. I guess. That’s all I ever did for the Nam, that’s all we tykes could do. Also, fellow kid Richard M. rigged the sprinkler system to blow … because at that time me and Ross H. couldn’t do better; we were still working on explosives, having gained no experience beyond soda-and-vinegar kaboom.

Kids. (In our defense, we later graduated to mercury fulminate, inspired the 1950s book and 1960s film “Mister Roberts” which led me to a dangerous garage distillation involving nitric acid, mercury, and home-brewed methanol — because they sold all that except booze to kids in the day).


This diary is about the importance of young boys and girls, before they become young voters, and how the far Right has taken over at the local level. You all didn’t see this shit coming since it spread its wings. Let me tell you about the John Birch Society, something that you probably never heard. (You commie rats. – that was snark). This is NOT a CP diary. It is an observation based on my experience. I hope it educates someone.

-------—


So back in the mid-1970s, when the Oil Crisis was going on, I happened upon a JBS book by Gary Allan, “None Dare Call It Conspiracy.” As a teen, I was intrigued by the idea that a “cabal” of rich white men (or others), could somehow conspire to fuck up the world. What I did not know then, and know now, is that the best LIE is couched in truth. (The “truth,” as my Liberal high school teacher said, is that oil companies can and do conspire, but a world-wide conspiracy it does not make). It wasn’t until I got to college and university that my young mind realized the utter nonsense I had been feeding my mind with, and quickly returned to my Liberal roots.

That aside, let me tell you how, back then, the JBS worked, from my experience as an accolade up to, well, a trusted fellow. Yeah, I met Robert Welch (founder of the JBS, named after a missionary killed in 1945) and Gary Allen (the former in a signing of the “Blue Book,” and the later when fat Gary was taking a shit at the Ambassador in Los Angeles when I was afforded into whatever the bastards had planned for me … to be fair, they did say that I might turn into a Liberal if I went and up got educated).

Here is how the JBS worked then, and maybe works now. As an aside, you might wonder why I would be a member of the JBS if I were so anti-war Liberal. Well, back then, the JBS hated Nixon. Hell, they hated Eisenhower. They hated GW Bush, too. But they evolved, though not without their tactics. I see it. So let’s get back to how the JBS won the ground, over the decades, without mentioning the Koch brothers’ influence.

The John Birch Society patterned its local structure according to what it learned from Communism. This is not a conspiracy theory. Read the JBS “Blue Book” by Welch if you are not sure on the point. The reason the JBS established “cells” is because that is how “the commies” succeeded. And by way of emulation, so could the far Right do better. Ah, yes, the JBS introduced me to Sun Tsu’s “Art of War.” How very clever of them. Saruman, indeed.

Anyway, I got into the JBS smack hard, about 1975, and abandoned my long-haired ways. I was taken in, and soon became a small-time speaker at one of their camps for young people. They didn’t press me, they just asked what I wanted to talk about. By this time, all I wanted to talk about was logic. So that’s what they let me do, as long as I hewed to the party line.

As a trusted young-un in the JBS, I was afforded some latitude. Except when I got kissing with a young girl from North Hollywood, whose family were really rich compared to my middle class, and she went missing for a couple of hours, and they (a couple of ex Green Berets name Mahoney and that other short fuck) put the screws to me, ah, but it turns out she was scared by a raccoon or whatever and bolted into the woods, and like that’s my fault. Again, I digress. Oh wait. The year after in Big Bear, there was this upper JBS adult man, who was perving on the young teens. Dude had major film equipment. I still have a couple of photos (don’t ask). Long story short: so I’m 17 trying for a kiss, and this 34-year-old dude is buying really skimpy bathing suits for two teens, then goes all cinema on me … so then the dude’s wife later comes up to me in my room, being as she can see I’m not happy about him horning in, but I don’t know wtf with these people or if this 30-year-old cutie is making a play on me because she is so over her husband, but turns out she’s pissed at him and not going cougar, so I just say “it’s not fair.” As in, it’s not fair to this 17-year-old that a 34-year-old man jumps into my attempt at romance ... when in fact she was simply pissed off because her husband was a fucking pervert. I wanted to punch the fucker, out of principle alone. And then later this 40-year-old JBS hardcase woman gets wind of the shit, and tries to break me on the situation … and I’m thinking, Jesus, I’m fucking 17 and all I want is to get laid in this bullshit juke joint, and even Nurse Ratched is fucking my shit up. Her name was McGowen, as I recall, and the whole clan of them came out the JBS SoCal headquarters in San Marino, CA, a pretty rich enclave to this day. At the center was Joe Merten, a pretty slick dude, perhaps even my handler. Whatever.

I should also mention the “exorcism” of a young boy that happened. I wasn’t there at the scene, but it was later explained to me. See, there was this pig-pen kid, all dirty and smelly, and his fellow campers were complaining about his body odor. Well, the fucking Berets decided to take the boy, strip him naked, and shove him into a hot shower. The boy wasn’t having any of it, and Arnie M., a firefighter, shouted sternly at the boy. As the short Beret told me, Arnie’s “jaw shot out five inches” and then the boy blanched and took his shower. I was told later that the boy was right as rain when turned over to his parents, a happy camper. In hindsight, I suspect something else. It was a tight ship, alright. Later in the ‘80s, after I bolted from the farm, I came across Arnie M. during a refinery fire in Paramount, where I was attempting journalism. “Hey, Arnie.” Straight off, he says to me: “You know, the Russians got us.” He was referring to the KAL 007 flight indeed shot down by the USSR, which happened to have aboard the successor to JBS founder Robert Welch. Fucking commies. (Please know that I grew under the umbrella of the Southern Calif. defense industry, which might explain why I was encouraged to access dangerous chemicals in order to build better rockets against the commies. But by then I wasn’t having any of his shit, and simply plied my trade to get better access to the Paramount Refinery fuckup … good luck googling it, because it was before the internet, but I have some beautiful photos in stock.)

Other than the other JBS camp photos I have from those days, you might wonder why I so vividly recall such memories. Well, one year on the way down from the Big Bear camp (it was a Presbyterian site leased by the JBS, as I recall), I nearly cooked the engine on my 1965 Mercury Comet, because the valve circulating the water cooling shut fast, and all I could do was to keep feeding oil as it boiled away, until I arrived home exhausted. When I woke up, I was told that my engine smoked for six hours. And the enormous heat didn’t crack the engine block. They don’t build ‘em like that anymore.

So what the JBS did, and does so now, is establish a human “cell” system based on the old Soviet model, which they found to be effective. They established a long-term goal, starting not only by garnering the support of Big Business (see, Koch Brothers), but also in recruiting future voters all the way down to 9-year-old children. I was there. They had me on lifeguard duty, because I was Red Cross certified, and at the mountain camp I made sure the kids didn’t drown. That was R&R, according to the Green Beret dudes. The camp was tight.

I made out with JBS girls, sure, almost got hitched to another when I was a cook in Tahoe, before I woke the fuck up (and proceeded with more adventures befitting my early 20s, as in I’ve seen a lot more shit since even that one time, which was off the rails). (Yeah, she tracked me down on the internet ten years’ back, an boy was that just five ways away from Sunday.)

So I know the how and why of the far Right wing. Them fuckers were organized a long ass time ago, and they get ‘em young, they get ‘em stupid (see Tea Party) …

And SOME in the Democratic Party have the vapors whenever we Liberals even mention taking out the hammer and tongs. The far Right had those long knives out before you were born. Thus the top image from dear old Driftglass, a blogger who deserves a lot more credit than he’s gotten.

I have sinned. I was once a bit too deep in the iniquity of the far Right. As a teenager, as a provocateur in high school in the school’s newspaper, influencing my friends, who turned out to be Republicans as I now know from Facebook … to my shame. I was an idiot with a vial full of mercury fulminate.

I done fucked up. I am sorry.

* As a side note to any young people reading this, do not worry about making mistakes. From such you learn a lot. To be perfect is an illusion. To learn from our failures is the beginning of wisdom. (Old man advise done. Peace out.)

This content was created by a Daily Kos Community member.

UN WHO
Urged on by Conservatives and His Own Advisers, Trump Targeted the WHO

Trump cuts WHO funding in concerted efforts with conservatives and allies

Michael D. Shear, The New York Times•April 16, 2020

WASHINGTON — Fox News pundits and Republican lawmakers have raged for weeks at the World Health Organization for praising China’s handling of the coronavirus crisis. On his podcast, President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, urged his former boss to stop funding the WHO, citing its ties to the “Chinese Communist Party.”

And inside the West Wing, the president found little resistance among the China skeptics in his administration for lashing out at the WHO and essentially trying to shift the blame for his own failure to aggressively confront the spread of the virus by accusing the world’s premier global health group of covering up for the country where it started.

Trump’s decision Tuesday to freeze nearly $500 million in public money for the WHO in the middle of a pandemic was the culmination of a concerted conservative campaign against the group. But the president’s announcement on the WHO drew fierce condemnations from many quarters.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said cutting its funding was “not in U.S. interests.” Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the decision “dangerous” and “illegal.” Former President Jimmy Carter said he was “distressed,” calling the WHO “the only international organization capable of leading the effort to control this virus.”

Founded in 1948, the WHO works to promote primary health care around the world, improve access to essential medicine and help train health care workers. During emergencies, the organization, a United Nations agency, seeks to identify threats and mitigate the risks of dangerous outbreaks, especially in the developing world.

In recent years, the United States has been the largest contributor to the WHO, giving about $500 million a year, though only about $115 million of that is considered mandatory as part of the dues that Congress agreed to pay as a member. The rest was a voluntary contribution to combat specific health challenges like malaria or AIDS.

How Trump’s order to freeze the group’s funding while officials conduct a review of the WHO would be carried out was not clear. Congressional Democrats who oversee foreign aid said they did not believe Trump had the power to unilaterally stop paying the nation’s dues to the WHO. Congressional aides cited a Government Accountability Office report in January that concluded that the administration could not simply ignore congressionally directed funding for Ukraine simply because Trump wanted to.

A senior aide to House Democrats said they were reviewing their options in the hopes of keeping the money flowing. But Democrats conceded that Trump most likely has wide latitude to withdraw the voluntary contributions to specific health programs run by the WHO.

White House officials say Trump was moved to act in part by his well-known anger about sending too much of the public’s money to international organizations like NATO and the United Nations. And they said he agreed with the criticism that the WHO was too quick to accept China’s explanations after the virus began spreading.

           JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY

They cited a Twitter post by the WHO on Jan. 14 saying that the Chinese government had “found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus” as evidence that the WHO was covering up for China. And they noted that in mid-February, a top official at the WHO praised the Chinese for restrictive measures they insisted had delayed the spread of the virus to other countries, saying, “Right now, the strategic and tactical approach in China is the correct one.”

“It is very China-centric,” Trump said in announcing his decision Tuesday in the Rose Garden.

“I told that to President Xi,” he said, referring to Xi Jinping of China. “I said, ‘The World Health Organization is very China-centric.’ Meaning, whatever it is, China was always right. You can’t do that.”

Public health experts say the WHO has had a mixed record since the coronavirus emerged in late December.

The health organization raised early alarms about the virus, and Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the group’s director-general, held almost daily news briefings beginning in mid-January, repeating the mantra, “We have a window of opportunity to stop this virus. But that window is rapidly closing.”

But global health officials and political leaders — not just Trump — have said the organization was too willing to accept information supplied by China, which still has not provided accurate numbers on how many people were infected and died during the initial outbreak in the country.

On Wednesday, Scott Morrison, the prime minister of Australia, called it “unfathomable” that the WHO had issued a statement supporting China’s decision to allow the reopening of so-called wet markets, the wildlife markets where the virus is believed to have first spread to humans. And in Japan, Taro Aso, the deputy prime minister and finance minister, recently noted that some people have started referring to the WHO as the “Chinese Health Organization.”

But defending the WHO on Wednesday, Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of its emergencies programs, cited the early warning it sounded. “We alerted the world on January the 5th,” Ryan told reporters.

Ghebreyesus expressed disappointment with Trump’s decision to freeze funding.

“WHO is not only fighting COVID-19,” he said. “We’re also working to address polio, measles, malaria, Ebola, HIV, tuberculosis, malnutrition, cancer, diabetes, mental health and many other diseases and conditions.”

THE ORIGIN OF ANTI-VAXING IS ANTI-COMMUNIST AMERICAN FASCISM

           JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY

Trump’s decision to attack the WHO comes as he is under intense fire at home for a failure to respond aggressively to the virus, which as of Wednesday had claimed more than 28,000 lives and infected at least 600,000 people in the United States.

The president publicly shrugged off the virus throughout January and much of February, repeatedly saying that it was under control. He said in mid-February that he hoped the virus would “miraculously” disappear when the weather turned warm.

Trump barred some travel from China in late January, a move that health experts say helped delay widespread infection. But he also presided over a government that failed to make testing and medical supplies widely available and resisted calling for social distancing that allowed the virus to spread for several critical weeks.

The president’s decision to freeze the WHO funding was backed by many of his closest aides, including Peter Navarro, his trade adviser, and key members of the National Security Council, who have long been suspicious of China. Trump himself has often offered contradictory messages about the country — repeatedly saying nice things about Xi even as he wages a fierce on-again, off-again trade war with China.

“China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus,” Trump tweeted Jan. 24. “The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency.”

At a meeting of his coronavirus task force Friday, Trump polled all the doctors in the room about the WHO, according to an official who attended the meeting. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said that the WHO had a “China problem,” and then others around the room — including Dr. Deborah Birx, who is coordinating the U.S. response, and Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — agreed with the statement, the official said.

But the president’s critics assailed the timing of the announcement, saying that any assessment of the WHO should wait until the threat was over.

           JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY


Among those questioning the president’s decision to act now was Redfield, who heaped praise on the WHO during an appearance Wednesday on “CBS This Morning,” saying that questions about what the group did during the pandemic should be left until “after we get through this.” He said that the WHO remained “a long-standing partner for CDC,” citing efforts to fight the Ebola virus in Africa and the cooperation to limit the spread of the coronavirus. And he added that the United States and the WHO have “worked together to fight health crises around the world — we continue to do that.”

Pelosi said Trump was acting “at great risk to the lives and livelihoods of Americans and people around the world.” And in its statement, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said that it supported reform of the WHO but that “cutting the WHO’s funding during the COVID-19 pandemic is not in U.S. interests given the organization’s critical role assisting other countries — particularly in the developing world — in their response.”

In a tweet, Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and later a global health foundation, said the decision to end funding “during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds.”

He added, “Their work is slowing the spread of COVID-19 and if that work is stopped no other organization can replace them. The world needs @WHO now more than ever.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
© 2020 The New York Times Company

Paper towels may remove virus missed by poor hand washing: study

HAND DRYERS BLOW BUGS EVERYWHERE PAPER TOWELS ARE BEST

People should dry their hands with paper towels to avoid spreading the new coronavirus, according to the authors of a study published on Friday that finds disposable tissues are better than jet dryers at removing pathogens missed by ineffective washing. 

AFP Relax News•April 16, 2020


People should dry their hands with paper towels to avoid spreading the new coronavirus, according to the authors of a study published on Friday that finds disposable tissues are better than jet dryers at removing pathogens missed by ineffective washing.

Global health authorities have highlighted the crucial importance of washing hands with soap and water to protect against COVID-19, which has killed tens of thousands and spread around the world.

Contaminated hands are a major route for germ transmission, potentially spreading pathogens to surfaces -- like door handles or taps -- and causing infection when people touch their faces.

A small study by experts from Britain's University of Leeds and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust found that if hands had not been properly washed, drying with a paper towel was more effective at removing microbes.

"We believe that our results are relevant to the control of the novel coronavirus that is spreading at pace worldwide," said the authors, led by Ines Moura from the University of Leeds.

"Paper towels should be the preferred way to dry hands after washing and so reduce the risk of virus contamination and spread."

Four volunteers had their hands contaminated using a bacteriophage -- a virus that infects bacteria and is harmless to humans -- and then did not attempt to wash the microbes away.

They then dried their hands either with paper towels or a jet air dryer in a hospital toilet and went on to touch various surfaces including door handles, stair rails, phones and stethoscopes.
Researchers found that using both paper towels and jet dryers reduced the contamination on hands.

- 'Wash hands properly' -

But for 10 out of 11 surfaces sampled, the jet method left "significantly greater environmental contamination".

Microbes were found on all surfaces touched after using the jet dryer, with contamination on average 10 times higher than after the use of paper towels.
The authors said the study was particularly relevant for hospital settings.

They noted that while the NHS and World Health Organisation (WHO) recommend the use of disposable towels after hand-washing -- as well as using them to turn off taps -- healthcare facilities in the UK were increasingly using jet dryers.

"Clearly how much virus remains on peoples' hands after washing depends to a large extent on how efficiently people are at washing their own hands," said Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, in response to the research.

"If people do not wash their hands properly then other people may be at risk if standing close to someone using such a jet dryer. This study reinforces the need to wash hands properly so as much virus is removed as possible before drying."

The study was due to be presented at this year's European Congress on Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Paris this month, which was itself cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

AS A HEAD CUSTODIAN I WAS OFFERED THE OPPORTUNITY TO INSTALL AIR HAND DRYERS IN MY SCHOOL, I INVESTIGATED AND EVEN BACK THEN (THREE DECADES AGO) THE RESEARCH SAID, PAPER TOWELS WERE BEST. 

Draft UN resolution urges global access to COVID-19 material

The draft “reaffirms the fundamental role of the United Nations system in coordinating the global response to control and contain the spread of COVID-19 ... (and) acknowledges the crucial leading role played by the World Health Organization.”

EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press•April 16, 2020

A cyclist passes the United Nations headquarters Thursday, April 16, 2020, in New York. New York planned for a long fight against the coronavirus outbreak amid hopeful hospitalization trends. Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended stay-at-home restrictions Thursday through mid-May and New York City is getting ready to use 11,000 empty hotel rooms for coronavirus quarantines. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)


UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly has until Monday to consider a draft resolution calling for global action to rapidly scale up development, manufacturing and access to medicine, vaccines and medical equipment to confront the coronavirus pandemic.

The proposed resolution obtained by The Associated Press requests Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to work with the World Health Organization and recommend options to ensure timely and equitable access to testing, medical supplies, drugs and future coronavirus vaccines for all in need, especially in developing countries.

The measure, drafted by Mexico and co-sponsored by about 75 countries, encourages all countries to work in partnership to increase research and funding for vaccines and medicine, and to strengthen international scientific cooperation to combat the coronavirus.

The draft also calls for stepped up coordination, including with the private sector, “towards rapid development, manufacturing and distribution of diagnostics, anti-viral medicines, personal protective equipment and vaccines.”

And it calls on all countries “to immediately take steps to prevent ... speculation and undue stockpiling that may hinder access to safe, effective and affordable essential medicines, vaccines, personal protective equipment and medical equipment."

Under new voting rules instituted because the General Assembly isn’t holding meetings during the pandemic, a draft resolution is circulated to the 193 U.N. member nations. If a single country objects before the deadline, the resolution is defeated. Normally, assembly resolutions are adopted by majority votes or by consensus.

General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande sent a letter to member nations on Thursday giving members until 5 p.m. EDT on Monday to object.

If adopted, the resolution would be the second one on the pandemic approved by the General Assembly. Its resolutions are not legally binding but reflect world opinion.

The assembly’s members approved without objection a resolution on April 2 recognizing “the unprecedented effects” of the pandemic and calling for “intensified international cooperation to contain, mitigate and defeat” the virus.

The more powerful 15-member Security Council, whose resolutions are legally binding, has not adopted a resolution since the pandemic began circling the globe, infecting more than 2.1 million people and killing more than 140,000 worldwide, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Its five permanent members, who have been divided on how to address the pandemic, are discussing a French-drafted resolution while its 10 elected members have their own draft. Diplomats expect discussions next week on merging the rival texts.

The Mexican draft before the General Assembly also addresses the World Health Organization, which has come under attack by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has suspended funding the U.N. agency,

The draft “reaffirms the fundamental role of the United Nations system in coordinating the global response to control and contain the spread of COVID-19 ... (and) acknowledges the crucial leading role played by the World Health Organization.”

I Was the Secretary-General of the U.N. Here's How the Coronavirus Crisis Can Bring the World Together

SOCIAL SOLIDARITY AS WELL AS SOCIAL DISTANCING

Ban Ki-moon,Time•April 15, 2020


There is no precedent in living memory for the challenge that COVID-19 now poses to world leaders.

The disease stands poised to cause a far-reaching economic depression and a tragically high number of deaths. Its impact will be felt in every corner of the world. To combat this historic threat, leaders must urgently put aside narrow nationalism and short-term, selfish considerations to work together in the common interest of all humanity.

As a former Secretary-General of the U.N., I support the call from my successor António Guterres for an additional $2 billion in humanitarian aid to tackle the pandemic. This aid—which will contribute to key efforts such as developing and distributing tests, treatments and vaccines—is essential to reducing the virus’s spread.

I also urge global leaders, led by the U.N., to consider how to develop a global governance system that can cope more effectively with any pandemics that may occur in the future. They should recommit to the values of the U.N. Charter, and use other multi-lateral bodies—including the G-20, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank—to proactively support the world’s most vulnerable populations.

It is encouraging that G-20 leaders last month committed to implementing any necessary measures to stop the spread of the virus and to injecting $5 trillion into the global economy. But these commitments need to be translated into immediate, proactive assistance to vulnerable countries in Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. Further, to ensure an effective recovery, this cooperation will need to be strengthened and sustained for some time. It is also crucial that border restrictions and closures, as well as pre-existing sanctions for countries like Iran, which have been severely affected by the pandemic, do not prevent critical medical equipment and supplies from being transported to where they are most urgently needed.

COVID-19 shines a harsh light on the many profound inequalities that scar our planet. Disparities of wealth between and within countries now risk being exacerbated even further by the pandemic.

Similarly, the constraints many countries have imposed on movement and assembly are understandable and necessary under the current circumstances, but legislators and judiciaries must bear in mind that, if not carefully instituted, these restrictions risk accentuating the marginalization of vulnerable groups such as refugees, migrants and racial minorities.

Respect for human rights, solidarity and justice need to be at the heart of our response to COVID-19. We all have a responsibility as global citizens to stay vigilant and not allow authoritarian regimes to exploit the crisis to roll back rights and democratic safeguards. Otherwise, we risk the prospect of a future where rich countries have recovered and reinstate “normal” patterns of social and economic interaction, but poorer states remain ravaged, with their citizens excluded and subject to new forms of discrimination.

Even before COVID-19 took hold, we were confronted by the existential threats of climate change and nuclear weapons. In January, I attended the unveiling of the “Doomsday Clock” in Washington, D.C., when the clock’s minute hand was moved closer to midnight than ever before.

The clock is still ticking, and these threats have been further aggravated since the outbreak of COVID-19. But if the world can show the necessary courage and leadership today, we will be better placed to tackle equally grave challenges tomorrow.

Ban is the deputy chair of the Elders, an independent group of global leaders, and served as Secretary-General of the U.N. from 2007 to 2016

This article is part of a special series on how the coronavirus is changing our lives, with insights and advice from the TIME 100 community.