The Times probes the "Lost Month" during which the US dropped the ball on testing for coronavirus.
Although I'm confident their preferred script depicted Trump as the obstacle, the story they tell is of foot-dragging, incompetence and cover-up by the senior professionals leading the FDA and CDC.
One might argue that more energetic civilian leadership from the top could have salvaged this, but its hard to reconcile that view with "trust the experts". This is a ghastly example of the testing program running into a ditch (my emphasis):
But soon after the F.D.A. cleared the C.D.C. to share its test kits with state health department labs, some discovered a problem. The third sequence, or “probe,” gave inconclusive results. While the C.D.C. explored the cause — contamination or a design issue — it told those state labs to stop testing.
The startling setback stalled the C.D.C.’s efforts to track the virus when it mattered most. By mid-February, the nation was testing only about 100 people per day, according to the C.D.C.’s website.
Dr. Redfield played down the problem in task force meetings and conversations with Mr. Azar, assuring him it would be fixed quickly, several administration officials said.
To be fair, those sources may be protecting Azar rather than sharing the truth. Pressing on:
The C.D.C. gave little thought to adopting the test being used by the W.H.O. The C.D.C.’s test was working in its own lab — still processing samples from states — which gave agency officials confidence. Dr. Anne Schuchat, the agency’s principal deputy director, would later say that the C.D.C. did not think “we needed somebody else’s test.”
...
Throughout February, Dr. Redfield shuttled between Atlanta, where the C.D.C. is based, and Washington, holding multiple calls every day with Mr. Azar and participating in the coronavirus task force.
Mr. Azar’s take-charge style contrasted with the more deliberative manner of Dr. Redfield, who lacked the kind of commanding television presence that impressed Mr. Trump. He was “a consensus person,” as one colleague described him, who sought to avoid conflict. He relied heavily on some of the C.D.C.’s career scientists, like Dr. Schuchat and Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the director of the agency’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
Under scrutiny from Congress, Dr. Redfield offered reassurances. Responding on Feb. 24 to a letter from 49 members of Congress about the need for testing in the states, he wrote, “CDC’s aggressive response enables us to identify potential cases early and make sure that they are properly handled.”
Uh huh. Meanwhile,over at the FDA a new commissioner was stumped by his underlings (my emphasis again):
Dr. Stephen Hahn’s first day as F.D.A. commissioner came just six weeks before Mr. Azar declared a public health emergency on Jan. 31. A radiation oncologist and researcher who helped turn around MD Anderson in Houston, one of the nation’s leading cancer centers, Dr. Hahn had come to Washington to oversee a sprawling federal agency that regulates everything from lifesaving therapies to dog food.
But overnight, his mission — to manage 15,000 employees in a culture defined by precision and caution — was upended. A pathogen that Mr. Trump would later call the “invisible enemy” was hurtling toward the United States. It would fall to the newly arrived Dr. Hahn to help build a huge national capacity for testing by academic and private labs.
Instead, under his leadership, the F.D.A. became a significant roadblock, according to current and former officials as well as researchers and doctors at laboratories around the country.
Private-sector tests were supposed to be the next tier after the C.D.C. fulfilled its obligation to jump-start screening at public labs. In other countries hit hard by the coronavirus, governments acted quickly to speed tests to their populations. In South Korea, for example, regulators in early February summoned executives from 20 medical manufacturers, easing rules as they demanded tests.
But Dr. Hahn took a cautious approach. He was not proactive in reaching out to manufacturers, and instead deferred to his scientists, following the F.D.A.’s often cumbersome methods for approving medical screening.
Again, maybe table-pounding from Trump and Azar could have gotten these guys going. But that that hardly jibes with the "Let the professionals do their job" mantra. A recent Joe Biden tweet illustrates this mindset (Joe Biden? Yeah, he's the guy who used to be running for President):
It's hard to believe this has to be said, but if I'm elected president, I will always lead the way with science. I will listen to the experts and heed their advice. I will do the opposite of what we’re seeing Donald Trump do every day.
Well. Trump blaming the health care subdivision of the DC establishment for lack of energy and imagination would be a bit rich. Trusting the experts didn't work well for Bush with Iraq and it didn't work well here.
As the hero or goat Doc Fauci said, the private sector saved our ass on testing once the Feds got out of the way.
Pretty rich having the Times which just told us the era of small government is over explaining how big government screwed us.
Posted by: Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki | March 29, 2020 at 10:58 PM
How do they conclude that hahn wasnt proactive enough.
Posted by: Narciso | March 29, 2020 at 11:01 PM
People are judged in bureaucracies by not making catchable mistakes not by achieving something effectively.Ask me how I know.
Posted by: clarice | March 29, 2020 at 11:01 PM
Almost willowed on the last thread...
"I love classic Warner Bros cartoons so much I have just the soundtrack to about the 20 best ones and listen to them while I'm driving."
Life imitates art in my neighborhood:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yMvkDaSgx4
Posted by: bubarooni | March 29, 2020 at 11:02 PM
So I've been playing with the data from covidtracking.com, a dangerous undertaking. Here's one chart I created, trying to extract some optimism. Note the deceleration of the bad stuff. Some caution is warranted: This is not a reduction, its a slowing of high growth rates. Still better than nothing.
Not sure about the spike in hospitalizations (and the data only begin on 22 March), but case growth has slowed for about 10 days, and deaths for about 5. Baby steps.
I also have a graph of growth in tests and the share of positives out of total test results over time. Maybe I'll try to post that too.
Posted by: jimmyk | March 29, 2020 at 11:03 PM
I linked 'whats opera doc' on the last thread
Posted by: Narciso | March 29, 2020 at 11:03 PM
I noted that thread this morning.
Posted by: Narciso | March 29, 2020 at 11:06 PM
Here's the chart on testing.
Upsurge in testing around the 16th, but decelerating since then. The share of positives has been drifting up, suggesting that maybe the growth in testing isn't quite keeping up with the growth in cases, maybe having a damping effect there. But it shouldn't affect the deceleration in deaths.
Posted by: jimmyk | March 29, 2020 at 11:06 PM
Seems an inverse correlation, fewer tests more positives
Posted by: Narciso | March 29, 2020 at 11:08 PM
So this r2 or r 3
Posted by: Narciso | March 29, 2020 at 11:09 PM
Well. I think it is bedtime for me, as these charts mean nothing to me and my eyes glaze over.
Nytol!
Posted by: MissMarple2 | March 29, 2020 at 11:11 PM
Fewer tests, a higher proportion of positives. Though there are more tests, just not growing as fast as cases.
Posted by: jimmyk | March 29, 2020 at 11:13 PM
Willowed:
Cathay Pacific 831 JFK to Singapore, first did a 180 in Canada, then did a 180 back and seems to have turned around near the nw of Greenland and is coming back to JFK after 9 hours of flying.
Posted by: sbwaters | March 29, 2020 at 11:14 PM
Trying to extract something useful out of the various sets of numbers floating around is like reading entrails.
Posted by: Another Bob | March 29, 2020 at 11:15 PM
The testing chart shows what happens when the screening improves.
Posted by: Buckeye | March 29, 2020 at 11:16 PM
I recall the day that the President was traveling to Tennessee to view the tornado damage. He made a special stop at the CDC to – in my view – confront them about the problems with their test kits and their refusal to allow or approve testing with test kits other than those used by the CDC. The President did not look happy about what the CDC was doing.
Things seemed to change pretty rapidly after that visit. The CDC kits hit the trash bin and testing began without the vaunted CDC's approval. The President is not a medical doctor or a scientist. He has to rely on the information provided by those in the medical/scientific field.
I believe he has done a remarkable job given the problems already inherent in the system. He's had to push these people all the way and should be given credit for his insight, response and leadership.
Posted by: Barbara | March 29, 2020 at 11:16 PM
AB, ironically as the pandemic grows, the signal to noise ratio improves. That's why I discarded the pre 3/15 data. And except for the spike in hospitalizations, the data look less noisy over the past 5 days. Law of large numbers and all that.
Posted by: jimmyk | March 29, 2020 at 11:22 PM
--I believe he has done a remarkable job given the problems already inherent in the system.--
Yep.
And I'll bet the next president to face an epidemic will have to deal with the same sluggardly inept bureaucracy.
Posted by: Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki | March 29, 2020 at 11:23 PM
And I'll bet the next president to face an epidemic will have to deal with the same sluggardly inept bureaucracy.
Yep.
Fiefdoms die hard.
Posted by: Barbara | March 29, 2020 at 11:29 PM
Michael Reagan
@ReaganWorld
I’ve never seen any POTUS even my father that could do a Q&A like trump and have a grasp of every questions asked without using notes..This is why we hired a business person to be president. Public Private partnership is going to save us
Posted by: Stephanie Nene Not Your Normal Granma | March 29, 2020 at 11:30 PM
The flight trackers are confused SBW. FA shows diverting to JFK, FR24 shows continuing to HKG. But they’re both anomalous in different ways.
Posted by: Another Bob | March 29, 2020 at 11:32 PM
Interesting
https://mobile.twitter.com/AlexBerenson/status/1244420367797628929
Posted by: Narciso | March 29, 2020 at 11:36 PM
Heading to bed. Just read that Massie’s Dem opponent just used a Hitler analogy on him.
Posted by: Threadkiller | March 29, 2020 at 11:41 PM
Re. CX831, apparently some sort of water issue that they resolved.
Was a decently long diversion, wonder if they’re still fuel-legal to HNG?
Posted by: Another Bob | March 29, 2020 at 11:53 PM
effrey Satinover
The Tony & Donald Good News Two-Step:
What we see:
1) Just as the professional little chickens in the press corps(e) are ballooning their quarantine estimates to terrifying lengths (18 months!!) The Donald, in his very, very well-practiced meant-to-seem-thoughtless style, announces that he’d like to get the economy back in gear by Easter. That’s two weeks — “What a moron! He’ll kill us all!!”
2) Just a week later, the New England Journal of Medicine, the Everest of medical research journals, releases an article by The Tony, head of the Sinovirus Task Force, predicting mortality rates from SARS CoV 2 not anywhere near Italy’s pseudo 8.5%, say, but quite possibly near the seasonal flu’s 0.1%. At its max divergence that’s almost a factor of 1/1000th.
What we don’t see:
1) No matter who you are, you aren’t going to get an article in print in the NEJM in a week. A month would be light speed.
2) Not in a million years would The Tony prepare an article like that, with that prediction, for that outlet, to be dropped like a surprise stinkbomb on The Donald and the Task Force
3) So as long as a month ago, if not longer, The Tony had already advised his Task Force and The Donald that while sharp and severe measures were proper, they could very likely be rescinded with the same suddenness they were imposed.
4) The Donald’s announcement was bait that the little chickens could not resist.
So beteen The Donald and The Tony, yeah, pretty close to Easter might just be a real thing. We’ll see.
Posted by: clarice | March 30, 2020 at 12:08 AM
Clarice, why announce April 30th if he's still thinking about Easter. Crash the markets, make a bunch of small business decide they're not going to make it, then pull a suprise out of a hat in 2 weeks? Doesn't make sense to me. Better to err on the side of optimism in terms of timelines, even if it's better to err on strict in terms of measures.
Posted by: jimmyk | March 30, 2020 at 12:11 AM
Trying to extract something useful out of the various sets of numbers floating around is like reading entrails.
In any case, AB, "reading entrails" might be a good new definition of statistics.
Posted by: jimmyk | March 30, 2020 at 12:12 AM
They went syrian:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/03/cbs-news-caught-using-footage-from-an-italian-hospital-to-describe-conditions-in-new-york-city-video/
Posted by: Narciso | March 30, 2020 at 12:17 AM
jimmyk--giving himself some leeway to see if the measures they're instituting are working. He can shorten the time from April 30 as warranted, but lengthening is more problematic. The medical ships are in place, the test kits are flying off the shelf, reservists etc have been called in to provide extra medical assistance, doctors are trying the drug cocktail, respirators are being provided--if that doesn't mitigate this faster, nothing will. Imagine the relief if he says we pulled it off, you are free to move around. Imagine the crash if he sets in place the mechanisms for an Easter release and then has to backstop it. (Just a theory but I understand it.)
Posted by: clarice | March 30, 2020 at 12:24 AM
Interesting comparison from the WHO Saturday statistics.
European region new cases 36,688 new deaths 2,753
Region of the Americas new cases 20,484 new deaths 488
Europe vs. North, Central and South America.
Posted by: jim nj | March 30, 2020 at 12:25 AM
Clarice, why announce April 30th if he's still thinking about Easter.
April 30 is still a hell of a lot more optimistic than the current narrative among the doom porn merchants/buyers.
Posted by: Porchlight | March 30, 2020 at 12:26 AM
In any case, AB, "reading entrails" might be a good new definition of statistics.
Indeed. First casualty of war and all that.
Posted by: Porchlight | March 30, 2020 at 12:27 AM
Sinovirus
I like this. My teenage daughters think I'm a horrible person for referring to it as the Chinese virus. I told them I'd be happy to change over to the CCP flu if they preferred. Of course they don't even know what I'm talking about.
Posted by: Porchlight | March 30, 2020 at 12:29 AM
With grim reaper emmanuel stretching till june, murray peaking in mid may the end of april seems reasonable.
Posted by: Narciso | March 30, 2020 at 12:31 AM
Pretty sure my church won't be holding in-person Easter services (we are an old congregation, abundance of caution and all that). But we will be celebrating Pentecost together in church.
If I can find a church that is open on Easter, I will go. If Mr Porch lets me.
Posted by: Porchlight | March 30, 2020 at 12:42 AM
Wiki has cases and deaths leveling off even more than CovidTracking.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_coronavirus_pandemic_in_the_United_States#Statistics
Deaths the last three days: 432, 447, 423.
Posted by: jimmyk | March 30, 2020 at 12:43 AM
Tell em you have an online friend who calls it the Mongoloid Miasma. They'll be beggin you to go back to Chinese virus.
If that doesn't work there's gotta be a chink in their armor somewhere.
Posted by: Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki | March 30, 2020 at 12:48 AM
I would recheck new cases and new deaths for the 29th tomorrow, Jimmy.
As we saw yesterday they're subject to pretty severe revision sometimes.
Posted by: Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki | March 30, 2020 at 12:52 AM
Hahaha, Iggy.
Let's make a list. I'll start with your excellent bid:
Mongoloid Miasma
and will add, from the greatest hits:
Chinese Virus
WuFlu
Kung Flu
Y2K flu
CCP flu
Shanghai Shivers
Panda Sneeze
Wu Ping Cough
Brack Prague
I know I'm missing some, chime in folks.
Posted by: Porchlight | March 30, 2020 at 12:53 AM
If deaths are really starting to flatten out, then all these 100,000 scenarios start to look highly unlikely.
On the downside, there was a COVID-19 death here on the upper west side, a husband of a friend of a friend, not anyone I knew, but not an elderly or sickly guy as far as I know. Also someone my wife overlapped with in school is in critical but stable condition on a ventilator. According to FB she was completely healthy, athletic, etc. I guess these are the 1 in 100 cases for people in this age group.
Posted by: jimmyk | March 30, 2020 at 12:53 AM
Ah shoot.
I forgot to denounce myself for that 12:48 comment.
Denouncement commencing...now.
Posted by: Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki | March 30, 2020 at 12:53 AM
Brack Prague...hadn't seen that before. That is funny.
Posted by: Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki | March 30, 2020 at 12:55 AM
jimmyk,
I read (insert caveat here) that athletes are getting it in higher numbers because "chapped lungs" (getting winded regularly) makes one more susceptible to severity of symptoms.
This somewhat accounts for weather, old folks' susceptibility, certain medical conditions including obesity, etc.
Posted by: Porchlight | March 30, 2020 at 12:56 AM
Add smokers to that. Of which I am one. Just put out a cigarette before typing this. The added stress isn't helping my habit.
Posted by: Porchlight | March 30, 2020 at 12:57 AM
If deaths are flattening out I wonder how much is simply from hunkering lowering the curve and how much is possibly from fish tank cleaner therapy.
Posted by: Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki | March 30, 2020 at 12:59 AM
We may never know, Iggy @12:59. But add warmer temps to the possibilities.
Posted by: Porchlight | March 30, 2020 at 01:00 AM
https://nypost.com/2020/03/29/heres-the-next-big-problem-after-new-york-gets-ventilators/
"Even if New York gets all the ventilators it needs to handle the growing coronavirus crisis, there’s still one major question — who will operate them, medical experts say.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said the state needs 30,000 ventilators if hospitals gets swamped with critically ill COVID-19 patients under the worst-case scenario.
Yet there are only a total of 7,713 respiratory specialists licensed to operate the breathing machines in New York, plus an unknown number of highly skilled nurses and doctors trained to use them."
Assuming 12 hour shifts that's enough people to run 3,865 ventilators at the same time. If they don't have to monitor each machine full-time than they can more than one, but I have no idea how that scales.
I'm curious if anyone has an idea of how this might work. How many machines can they operate at once? How many could they operate with semi-trained apprentices helping out? Or do we need to start flying skilled respiratory therapists around the US to where they are most needed?
Posted by: jim nj | March 30, 2020 at 01:02 AM
That sucks, when anyone you know comes down with it, but there do seem to be some cautiously positive trends.
Posted by: Narciso | March 30, 2020 at 01:06 AM
You know it's like progs never get it.
My interest in the epidemiological models is that their estimates of doing nothing seem likely to me if we do nothing and so that possible worst case should inform the decisions about how we approach it. Now, there was no chance we weren't going to do something significant because as people [including me] have pointed out that was politically untenable.
But do progs not see that when they run around screeching as though those numbers are going to happen because...TRUMP!...that when they don't, as they won't, he again looks like the people's champion against the ignorant enemy of the people? How can they not? I still say he has to be paying his enemies.
Posted by: Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki | March 30, 2020 at 01:07 AM
They do have strangeloviam reflexiveness. Trump suggests a quarantine decides against it now they want one.
Posted by: Narciso | March 30, 2020 at 01:09 AM
Porch,
If I'm not stressed and paying attention I cut down by smoking a cigarette half way down and knocking the lit part off. I smoke the remainder later.
I smoke the same number of times as usual. Just not the whole thing at once.
Posted by: jim nj | March 30, 2020 at 01:10 AM
Just when you think mad scientist zeke seems to gettimg clise to the point, he goes samuel the medieval barber.
Posted by: Narciso | March 30, 2020 at 01:11 AM
Hes playing a game of fizbin with them.
Posted by: Narciso | March 30, 2020 at 01:12 AM
Iggy, if nothing else he is highlighting good news, as a good leader should. That will never win him any favors with his enemies but will always be appreciated by normal people who don't have a political axe to grind.
Posted by: Porchlight | March 30, 2020 at 01:12 AM
Wikipedia also has today's growth in new cases tentatively at 17%. If that doesn't change, that's the first increase below twenty percent since Feb 27 when there were thought to be a total of 15 cases in the entire country and two days before the first person died.
Posted by: Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki | March 30, 2020 at 01:16 AM
jim nj,
I typically only smoke ten cigarettes per week when coronavirus isn't a factor, but when I'm hanging out with my BFF we always share cigarettes. Same concept - we light more of them, but don't consume as much smoke per cigarette. I will be more mindful of your strategy in future. The first huff, like the first sip of coffee, is always the best.
Posted by: Porchlight | March 30, 2020 at 01:18 AM
Broadcast TV in NYC cuts Trump's press conference short so I never get to see the whole thing.
I must have missed something because I don't have a problem with the social distancing guidelines being extended. I presumed they would be left in place even if they thought some counties could come out of quarantine.
Posted by: jim nj | March 30, 2020 at 01:19 AM
Andrew has been all over the map the last few days, first admitting that there were thousands of ventilators in storage, then ridiculing Trump for having the audacity to point that out, saying that they needed to be held in reserve. Now he's screaming about the feds not sending him enough, as if he hasn't been governor for 10 years. At some point he said the need 40,000, another time 30,000. There's also video of him saying this (paraphrasing): "FEMA is sending me 400 ventilators. I need 30,000!!! What am I going to tell the other 26,000?!" Math is hard I guess.
Posted by: jimmyk | March 30, 2020 at 01:19 AM
Night everyone. "Homeschooling" and "work from home" resume tomorrow morning.
Posted by: Porchlight | March 30, 2020 at 01:21 AM
Are we sure chris is the stupid one, but by one atandars deviation.
Posted by: Narciso | March 30, 2020 at 01:21 AM
Or should I say "resume" to be more accurate.
Posted by: Porchlight | March 30, 2020 at 01:21 AM
"chapped lungs" (getting winded regularly)
Hmm, that's a new one. Couldn't find anything on it, do you have a link? I like to pretend I'm athletic, in the sense of being pretty fit, exercising 5 or 6 days a week, etc. But I'm not a marathon runner or triathlon type.
Posted by: jimmyk | March 30, 2020 at 01:26 AM
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/490033-newsom-170-ventilators-sent-from-federal-government-arrived-not-working
“Rather than lamenting about it, rather than complaining about it, rather than pointing fingers, rather than generating headlines in order to generate more stress and anxiety, we got a car and a truck,” Newsom said after touring Bloom Energy's ventilator refurbishing site in Sunnyvale, Calif."
Eye roll. They'll be repaired by Monday.
Posted by: jim nj | March 30, 2020 at 01:33 AM
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/29/tech/instacart-strike-hand-sanitizer-tips/index.html
I see the unions are getting busy taking advantage where they can.
Posted by: jim nj | March 30, 2020 at 01:46 AM
Wow.
Just wow.
https://amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/mar/30/astrophysicist-gets-magnets-stuck-up-nose-while-inventing-coronavirus-device
Posted by: cathyf | March 30, 2020 at 01:48 AM
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/29/consolidating-flights-to-us-cities-could-help-stem-airline-losses.html
Interesting Idea. The airports won't like it though. They'll lose gate fees.
Posted by: jim nj | March 30, 2020 at 01:55 AM
Worldometers look see.
Total US cases 142,735, new cases 18,985, %change +15.#, deaths 2,488, recovered 4,559.
Using my 2 AM numbers or their end-of-day numbers both new cases and deaths declined Sunday. The recovered rose by more than 1,000 from the prior day. This number bears watching.
recap
date total cases change %change
3/26 85,594 17,105 +24.9%
3/27 104,256 18,662 +21.8%
3/28 123,750 19,494 +18.6%
3/29 142,745 18,985 +15.3%
NY has 41.7% of all cases, NJ has 9.3%. While NY is losing a little each day in that measure NJ is gaining a little. NY+NJ still combine for over half of all cases.
Posted by: jim nj | March 30, 2020 at 02:46 AM
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8164735/Experts-warn-coronavirus-hotspots-including-Detroit-New-Orleans-WORSE-NYC.html
No state or city will be spared: Experts warn that new US coronavirus hotspots including Detroit and New Orleans are 'off the chart' and could be WORSE than NYC as death toll doubles to 2,000 in two days
A bit theatric, but with 49% of all new cases outside of NY+NJ I don't believe they are distributed evenly, so more small hot-spots that will grow in size.
Posted by: jim nj | March 30, 2020 at 02:56 AM
https://www.foxnews.com/us/maryland-nursing-home-coronavirus-outbreak-carroll-county-governor-hogan
Maryland nursing home hit with 'tragic' coronavirus outbreak, as 66 test positive, 11 hospitalized, governor says
https://www.fox9.com/news/7-of-minnesotas-coronavirus-deaths-were-long-term-care-patients-as-illness-spreads-to-25-facilities
I saw a report on Florida a week ago. One in NJ a few days ago.
This kind of thing can easily happen at a well-run facility. At some point one needs to wonder about possible sloppiness in some facilities and about possible lax supervision by state health departments.
Maybe it's inevitable that the weakest among us get found by this virus.
OTOH, maybe this would be a good use for the new five minute test machines. Concentrate on healthcare workers. Move them around for shift changes.
Posted by: jim nj | March 30, 2020 at 03:21 AM
If you’re sitting at home under de facto house arrest even though you are a good boy who didn’t do nothing and you were contemplating whether or not to “Take the Soup” you should watch a movie called Black ‘47.
Posted by: Pinandpuller | March 30, 2020 at 03:29 AM
Drug cocktails are for sissies. Take it neat or stay home.
Posted by: Pinandpuller | March 30, 2020 at 03:42 AM
A little factoid about athletes’ lungs— somewhere I read that top athletes (Olympic & World champions) have twice the levels of asthma as the general population, and nobody knows why. Speculation that the steroids used in treatment give them some slight edge? Overtraining damages lungs?
Posted by: cathyf | March 30, 2020 at 03:43 AM
Filled in my census report on-line tonight.
Ever since I learned that an ancient ancestor was a Mohawk woman I self-identify as American Indian for the census. Maybe 3-4 censuses by now. The on-line census wasn't satisfied with that. It wanted to know what tribe. Well, Mohawk.
Odd household - male Mohawk, female Korean.
Send more money here please. We deserve it.
Posted by: jim nj | March 30, 2020 at 04:06 AM
I will be filing suits for clients across America against the lawless politicians violating First, Second, Fourth & Fifth Amendment rights of ordinary Americans. Our founders knew viruses & plagues; they didn't let it infect/exempt our #BillOfRights. #ConstitutionOverCoronavirus
https://twitter.com/barnes_law/status/1244433955769577472?s=21
Posted by: Pinandpuller | March 30, 2020 at 04:06 AM
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/03/29/us-pulls-out-of-a-third-base-in-iraq/
"Coalition officials said they would still assist Iraqi forces with air support and surveillance, but significantly cut back on training and ground operations, as the limited withdrawal continues."
Sounds like a plan. US forces are now said to be consolidated on two bases in Iraq.
Time to turn the ISIS fight over to Iraq. Give the PMF forces something to do besides attacking us.
Posted by: jim nj | March 30, 2020 at 04:32 AM
PIN,
If you don't obey social distancing rules the police will disobey social distancing rules in order to hand you a ticket.
If you maintain your social distancing with the officer and refuse the ticket is that resisting arrest?
If he then steps closer to you is that now police brutality? If you step closer to him to accept the ticket is that an assault on an officer?
If you inadvertently cough while this is going on have you committed a terroristic threat?
Weird times.
Posted by: jim nj | March 30, 2020 at 04:46 AM
jim
There are a lot of weird protocols in restaurants around here. Most places are using tables to blockade the front of the restaurant. One sushi place built these two huge doggie doors to pass food thru. It’s a weird combination of super max prison and grade school fair.
Posted by: Pinandpuller | March 30, 2020 at 04:52 AM
“I can purchase a plane ticket from Newark Airport to O’Hare, from O’Hare to LAX, and then from LAX to Tokyo.
But I can't go and get a haircut, I can’t sit down and eat at Applebee’s, and I can’t go anywhere after 8PM.
This makes no fucking sense. Wake up!”
Posted by: Pinandpuller | March 30, 2020 at 04:58 AM
I feel like this COVID madness was somewhat encapsulated by the last 20 minutes of Blazing Saddles.
Posted by: Pinandpuller | March 30, 2020 at 05:00 AM
Retweeted by the President:
Governor Mike DeWine
@GovMikeDeWine
·
6h
Thank you @realDonaldTrump and @SteveFDA!
@US_FDA has now given Columbus-based @Battelle full approval of the use of new technology to sterilize desperately-needed N95 masks in #Ohio and other parts of the United States.
Posted by: MissMarple2 | March 30, 2020 at 05:09 AM
Retweeted by the President:
Dr. Stephen M. Hahn
@SteveFDA
·
5h
We issued a new authorization this evening to @Battelle for their decontamination system. @US_FDA staff have been working nonstop across gov and with the private sector to deliver solutions to the American public.
Posted by: MissMarple2 | March 30, 2020 at 05:12 AM
ALERT!!
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
·
3h
Will be interviewed on @foxandfriends
at 7:55 A.M. USA STRONG!
Posted by: MissMarple2 | March 30, 2020 at 05:14 AM
https://hotair.com/archives/jazz-shaw/2020/03/29/baltimores-population-drops-levels-not-seen-since-great-depression/
I would suggest, if you're interested in a diversion, that the census might be a good topic.
It seems to me that it will be a disaster that some will want to adjust with "remedial statistics."
College students flocking home to be counted at home rather than at school. Who benefits, who loses.
We're going to ensure through our efforts, say many interest groups, that every person will be counted. Yeah, many years of planning and millions invested in messaging. For what?
Census takers being arrested for not sheltering in place?
Posted by: jim nj | March 30, 2020 at 05:17 AM
jim nj,
I filled mine out yesterday since I was here at the computer. I put down "white" for us, but that wasn't good enough, either. Since we are a mix, I asked daughter to pick and she decided "French.?
Posted by: MissMarple2 | March 30, 2020 at 05:23 AM
Rudy W. Giuliani
@RudyGiuliani
·
5h
The demented left is attacking hydroxychloroquin/azithromycin therapy. Democrats are banning it while the French just permitted use of it. It is being used in every one of the Red states where its been attacked.
Posted by: MissMarple2 | March 30, 2020 at 05:24 AM
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/coronavirus/fda-gives-emergency-approval-use-anti-malaria-drugs-fight-coronavirus#.XoFzCK1FrPk.twitter
This is John Solomon's site.
Posted by: MissMarple2 | March 30, 2020 at 05:26 AM
I enjoy seeing the government move at "Trump speed,"
Posted by: MissMarple2 | March 30, 2020 at 05:27 AM
PIN,
The CVS across the street from me has placed folding tables in front of the checkout counters.
In terms of distancing it works. It makes for awfully awkward transactions, especially for short people with limited reach.
Randy Newman earworm
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=short+people+got+no+reason&&view=detail&mid=110A64FEAEF33D9A4062110A64FEAEF33D9A4062&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dshort%2Bpeople%2Bgot%2Bno%2Breason%26FORM%3DHDRSC3
Posted by: jim nj | March 30, 2020 at 05:28 AM
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/03/29/coronavirus-jailbreak-eight-freed-cuomo-ny/
Cuomo freed 8 sex offenders, including 3 who were in prison for raping children.
Posted by: MissMarple2 | March 30, 2020 at 05:33 AM
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-business-buybacks-idUSKBN21H0S8
French companies benefiting from state aid can't buy back shares: minister
Posted by: MissMarple2 | March 30, 2020 at 05:42 AM
MM,
"White" isn't enough anymore? We need to get specific?
For those of us that do genealogy the early census efforts are well known to us. We've hunted through microfilm rolls or the digitized versions available through Ancestry.com.
They were done in person by an army of census-takers on a specific day, with follow-ups to fill in the gaps. And if you think back to those early days they hired people embedded in the neighborhoods.
Rural areas were covered by people who knew all their neighbors.
And the questions were good enough that a genealogist could link one decade's census with the next.
Posted by: jim nj | March 30, 2020 at 05:49 AM
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/03/28/new-york-governor-cuomo-who-previously-used-national-guard-to-quarantine-new-rochelle-goes-bananas-over-potential-for-quarantine-of-new-york-metro-area/
Video embedded in the article.
Posted by: MissMarple2 | March 30, 2020 at 05:57 AM
jim nj,
I vaguely remember my family having to fill out the "long form" which not only asked about the people in your house but wanted to know if you had a refrigerator, air conditioning, etc.
Posted by: MissMarple2 | March 30, 2020 at 06:00 AM
This offers a generalized overview
https://www.census.gov/history/www/through_the_decades/index_of_questions/
The column on the left offers the exact questions asked in each census. When the place of birth question began to be asked it helped to track internal and external migration.
Posted by: jim nj | March 30, 2020 at 06:08 AM
Epidemiology hobbyist Neil Ferguson detects a slowing in the spread of flu in the UK. No confirmation yet on reports that Ferguson then held a graph up to the window and announced that he'd meant "quickening", not "slowing".
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/30/coronavirus-uk-spread-shows-early-signs-of-slowing-key-adviser
Posted by: hrtshpdbox | March 30, 2020 at 06:10 AM
Reuters
@Reuters
·
1h
Drop in China's new coronavirus cases; none in Hubei for sixth day https://reut.rs/33TzcIc via @Rover829 @yanchun_liu Follow the latest news on coronavirus with our live blog: https://reut.rs/2UHsVeC
========================
I don't think I believe any figures coming out of China.
Posted by: MissMarple2 | March 30, 2020 at 06:13 AM
Since cops are going house to house in Rhode Island looking for New Yorkers I have a question: What’s a great New York Shibboleth?
Posted by: Pinandpuller | March 30, 2020 at 06:17 AM
MM,
Besides the population count some of the census questions sought information on farming, veteran deaths, etc.
For some years there are the usual population schedules and other more in-depth schedules that sought more information on other things.
If you learn the system you can cross-reference to learn even more about your ancestors.
Spelling was always a challenge. Some families were illiterate. Some census-takers wrote down what they thought they heard.
It was so bad that a system was developed to wade through the bad name capture.
https://www.archives.gov/research/census/soundex
You'll enjoy the explanation.
Posted by: jim nj | March 30, 2020 at 06:24 AM
“Nothing would be worse than declaring victory before the war is won,” Trump said. “That would be the greatest loss of all.”
Then you lose, Trump, because someone will die no matter when you stop the insanity, and the left (and the cowed right) will assure us that your rashness is your Mission Accomplished moment.
Posted by: hrtshpdbox | March 30, 2020 at 06:24 AM
PIN,
Those aren't cops in Rhode Island looking for New Yorkers. They're Herod's census-takers.
Posted by: jim nj | March 30, 2020 at 06:27 AM