The US Hamster Wheel

[Boac]

You can see why Ben and others hang on his every word - he is a real JIGJAM

"When Leonard Schleifer, the CEO of biotechnology company Regeneron, noted that millions of people are vaccinated for the flu, Mr Trump interrupted and asked if the same vaccine could be used for coronavirus.

“You take a solid flu vaccine, you don't think that would have an impact, or much of an impact, on corona?” he said.

“No… probably none,” Mr Schleifer replied. Got that, CHUMP?

There is currently no vaccine for the new strain of coronavirus, officially known as Covid-2019, which was first identified in China in December.

Although multiple organisations are working on developing vaccines for the virus, health officials have said it will take at least one year to develop an effective treatment.

"In order to get a [coronavirus] vaccine that is practically deployable for people to use, it's going to be at least a year to a year and a half at best,” Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said last week. The Chump is ordering one to be ready in the next couple of months.

There are currently 16 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 27 “presumptive positive” cases awaiting confirmation in the US, according to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC).

Officials announced yesterday that six people in the US have died from the virus so far.

Later on Monday at a rally in North Carolina, Mr Trump also expressed his surprise at the fact that thousands of people die from flu every year in the US. No ***** Sherlock!

“Three or four weeks ago, I was sitting there and I said ‘what do we lose with the regular flu?’, they [health officials] said ‘about 27,000 minimum', it goes up to 70, sometimes even 80, one year it went up to 100,000 people,” Mr Trump told his supporters, as he recounted one of his meetings with health experts.

“I said ‘nobody told me that, nobody knows that.’ - correction YOU don't know, and you are the POTUS?

“So I actually told the pharmaceutical companies that they have to do a better job on that vaccine." Yep - you got it! Sheer brilliance

Let's face it - he NEEDS a vaccine before the election, doesn't he? This is the Chump who was 'anti-vaccine/anti- drug companies' during the run-up to the 2016 election. In BM's clip he complains about other countries laughing about America behind their backs - did well there, Don!

[prospector]

Boac

" Pros - you need to catch up on what I have said about the Dems. It's all here - just a little effort required."

My question was not what you thought of Democrats, My question was who of the current Democrat candidates do you think would be a better POTUS than the incumbent.

[Boac]

The answer is there. "just a little effort required"

[barkingmad]

The answer is there. "just a little effort required"

Which reminds me of the saying “Life’s too short for stuffing mushrooms”. Does anyone know the origin of and reasons why this one was composed? Is it because the sheer drudge and effort of placing herbs and mincemeat into the fins on the mushroom underside was considered timewasting and inefficient?
I really must get out more...

[Boac]

Oh-oh! That didn't work.

I tried to blame the Democratic Party for exaggerating the virus problem, then the FED for their interest rate handling, but sadly someone with half a brain noticed and it hasn't worked. I'm starting to panic now, so it was that Obama guy's fault - ok?

From our favourite newspaper:

"Donald Trump sought to shift blame on to the Obama administration for a nationwide coronavirus test kit shortage.

The president on Wednesday blamed a federal agency decision during Barack Obama’s presidency, which Trump said made it harder to quickly roll out testing for the virus.

“The Obama administration made a decision on testing that turned out to be very detrimental to what we’re doing, and we undid that decision a few days ago so that the testing can take place in a much more accurate and rapid fashion,” he told reporters during a White House meeting with airline executives, whom he had called to discuss the economic effects of the outbreak.

“That was a decision we disagreed with,” he said. “I don’t think we would have made it, but for some reason, it was made.”

It was unclear what decision Trump was referring to. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said private laboratories used to be able to develop clinical tests but “in the previous administration that became regulated. For someone to do that they had to file with the FDA”, Redfield said.

But experts on lab testing have said they are unaware of an Obama administration rule that would have hindered the use of tests developed at university or private labs in an emergency.

The responsibility for the coronavirus test kit shortage appears to lie with the CDC’s choice to develop and distribute its own kit rather than use the one recommended by the World Health Organization, according to ProPublica. But the CDC’s tests didn’t work, falsely flagging harmless samples that contained viruses other than Covid-19.

Moreover, Trump ordered the dissolution of the National Security Council’s global health security unit and reassigned its head. The former national security adviser John Bolton also pressured the team’s counterpart at the Department of Homeland Security to resign.

Trump attacked Democrats for warning of the seriousness of the crisis while spreading disinformation and downplaying the outbreak, his critics have said.

Two days before he was announced as a member of the White House taskforce on coronavirus, Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council, declared coronavirus “contained” in the US, despite a plethora of data that suggested it was not.

“I won’t say airtight, but it’s pretty close to airtight,” Kudlow told CNBC, swaddling himself in a comforting narrative that was probably destroyed in his first meeting with the task force.

Last week, a senior health department official alleged that she was retaliated against after raising concerns that staff had been sent to assist Americans evacuated from China because of coronavirus without proper training or appropriate protective gear.

“If efforts are being made to muzzle them, to control messaging so that it suits the political needs of the administration,” Michael Carome of Public Citizen, a not-for-profit consumer advocacy organization, said, “that’s ultimately going to endanger the public.”

There's a growing rumour that some Trump supporters are so stupid that the others have noticed.................

[Boac]

From the Independent:

"Donald Trump has denied the official global death rate for coronavirus reported by health experts because he has a “hunch” it is lower.

The president described the 3.4 per cent global death rate given by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday as a “false number” in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity and gave medical advice which contradicted his public health experts.

Mr Trump suggested there could be hundreds of thousands of people who would recover from the virus “just by sitting around” and suggested some people would be able to go to work even if they are infected.

When asked by Mr Hannity about the death rate, Mr Trump said: “I think the 3.4 per cent is really a false number.

“Now this is just my hunch, but based on a lot of conversations with a lot of people that do this, because a lot of people will have this and it’s very mild, they’ll get better very rapidly.”

Not just a clown - now a viral expert too. Perhaps we should have that Sharpie map of infections just to convince everyone.

[Boac]

Another example of his blistering intellect:

"The president described the 3.4 per cent global death rate given by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday as a “false number” because he "has a “hunch” it is lower."

From D J Trump today:

"With approximately 100,000 CoronaVirus cases worldwide, and 3,280 deaths, the United States, because of quick action on closing our borders, has, as of now, only 129 cases (40 Americans brought in) and 11 deaths.

I wonder who in the White House is going to be brave enough to point out the 'Emperor's New Maths'?

Um 3.26% and 8.5%. Oh, never mind.

[prospector]

All this invective about POTUS is I believe not doing anything but exposing "blistering intellect"

More important problems to concern himself with. Like

https://sputniknews.com/us/202003051078 ... ite-house/

[Boac]

Let's hope his maths will cope with 'Tri'? I hold out as much chance of this coming good as Obama becoming POTUS.

PS High distraction score, Pros.

[barkingmad]

“Let’s hope his maths will cope with ‘Tri’?”. I would be concerned with the neurological challenge of the cortex-to-mouth signalling in order to get the 4 syllabubs in tri lat er al out in the correct sequence in a reasonable timescale. I await with interest and baited breath that successful event.

[OFSO]

Germaine Greer. And it isn't. They are very tasty.

[G-CPTN]

Germaine Greer. And it isn't. They are very tasty.

I thought it was Shirley Conran?

[barkingmad]

I’m lost! Have we latched on to mushroom stuffing again? Quote from previous posting would have saved me a senior moment!

[Boac]

It is beginning to look like one of the Chump's rally speeches, isn't it? Rambling, illogical etc etc

[G-CPTN]

It is beginning to look like one of the Chump's rally speeches, isn't it? Rambling, illogical etc etc

One of the facets of TRABB on TOP was there was often several unconnected topics running with responses to each appearing randomly interspersed with replies to other topics - you had to be able to multitask to understand the threads.

This was (I believe) that punters would visit spasmodically and respond to the various recent topics - then others would repeat the sequence and so on.

[Boac]

Just one problem, CPTN - this is not the TRABB thread? viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3529

[TheGreenGoblin]

Just one problem, CPTN - this is not the TRABB thread? viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3529

It is easily done...

[prospector]

Not particularly political, but another view when arithmetic is not relevant

https://www.foxnews.com/us/tennessee-to ... pastor-dog

[Boac]

Now the fool wants to keep the latest cruise ship passengers on the ship rather than quarantining them on-shore as it will upset his election chances. I bet all the US pax will be delighted.

"I would rather because I like the numbers being where they are. I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn't our fault,"

[Boac]

Does anyone think the Chump has realised that the death rate in the US for the virus is currently over 5%? If he has, don't tell him....