https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-americans-wearing-masks-show-disapproval-not-as-preventive-measure-2020-6

https://apnews.com/article/health-donald-trump-ap-top-news-virus-outbreak-understanding-the-outbreak-227fa2d005b3923157b9eb736c12e6c5

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-tells-allies-his-wearing-mask-would-send-wrong-message-n1202001

https://www.thedailybeast.com/cdc-recommends-americans-wear-cloth-masks-in-public-white-house-says

Coronavirus: Why is there a US backlash to masks? - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52540015

https://time.com/5815615/trump-coronavirus-mixed-messaging/

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/mandatory-mask-rulestrump-insists-personal-choice/story?id=71519019


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And right around this time,
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/trump-launch-opening-our-country-task-force-global-deaths-pass-n1181796

April 11, 2020
President Donald Trump said that his “opening our country" task force would start work next week, ...the virus has as of Saturday killed more than 20,000 people in the United States

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Hey @bobknight33 ! Here's a question for you: Can the GOP successfully gerrymander its way out of killing large swaths of its own constituency ?

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Pro-Trump counties now have far higher COVID death rates. Misinformation is to blame - December 5, 2021
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/12/05/1059828993/data-vaccine-misinformation-trump-counties-covid-death-rate

"People living in counties that went 60% or higher for Trump in November 2020 had 2.73 times the death rates of those that went for Biden. Counties with an even higher share of the vote for Trump saw higher COVID-19 mortality rates."
----------------------------

I'll just leave this here, let me know if u see anything they all have in common https://www.reddit.com/r/HermanCainAward/
(BESIDES being fucking idiots)

And I'm totally unaware of any scenario under which an aircraft smoke screen was ever used in exactly this way. By vague report, aircraft generated smoke screens might have been part of the landings at Iwo Jima (ineffective---and I'm not sure about this) and the Philippines in WW-II (can't find a reference for this). In terms of aid from a fleet's own aircraft, the closest I can think of is the distraction and cover attacks of Taffy 1, 2, and 3's disparate air craft at the Battle of Leyte Gulf---but they didn't drop a smoke screen---they just attacked Kurita's battleship task force while the destroyer escorts made their runs until Kurita's nerve broke and he turned.

see that press conference yesterday? It was a doozy. let me summarize (quotes paraphrased):

He starts with a detailed outline in his propaganda commercial video 'yes we knew about it in January and how dangerous it was, then we did absolutely nothing for the entire month of February, and then we declared an emergency in March'

reporters - 'you say you bought yourself a month's time, why didn't you do anything in February?'

and then what follows is pretty insane

I have never heard someone sound so much like a dictator. 'all the information needs to come from me and everyone knows all of you are fake (talking to the room). I have all the power. The president's powers are limitless.'

A lot of explanation about how he has the ultimate authority and can choose to do whatever he chooses;
Governor's of states should have known this was coming and stockpiled their own ventilators

Is pressed again: What did you do during this time yo help lower the number of cases ?
'YOU ARE FFFFFAAAAKEeeeeeeeeeeeeeee NHHHEEEEWWZZZ'


Edit: I almost forgot the best part where he gets called on his "absolute power" and the 10th amendment is brought up

This is an exact quote "WHEN YOU SAY MY AUTHORITY? THE PRESIDENT'S AUTHORITY. WHEN SOMEBODY IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE AUTHORITY IS TOTAL AND THAT IS THE WAY IT'S GOT TO BE. " from that cspan transcript, you can click the play next to it to hear him say it.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?471160-1/white-house-coronavirus-task-force-briefing

https://theintercept.com/2020/04/14/trump-pr-stunt-falls-flat-white-house-video-exposes-failure-prepare-pandemic/

HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAH


https://www.c-span.org/video/?471160-1/white-house-coronavirus-task-force-briefing

O MAN YEAH GOOD SHIT

The actual letter-

Dear Senator Schumer:

Thank you for your Democrat public relations letter and incorrect sound bites, which are wrong in every way.

As you are aware, Vice President Pence is in charge of the Task Force. By almost all accounts, he has done a spectacular job.

The Defense Production Act (DPA) has been consistently used by my team and me for the purchase of billions of dollars’ worth of equipment, medical supplies, ventilators, and other related items. It has been powerful leverage, so powerful that companies generally do whatever we are asking, without even a formal notice. They know something is coming, and that’s all they need to know.
A “senior military officer” is in charge of purchasing, distributing, etc. His name is Rear Admiral John Polowczyk. He is working 24 hours a day, and is highly respected by everyone. If you remember, my team gave you this information, but for public relations purposes, you choose to ignore it.

We have given New York many things, including hospitals, medical centers, medical supplies, record numbers of ventilators, and more. You should have had New York much better prepared than you did, and as Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx said yesterday, New York was very late in its fight against the virus. As you are aware, the Federal Government is merely a back-up for state governments. Unfortunately, your state needed far more of a back-up than most others.

If you spent less time on your ridiculous impeachment hoax, which went haplessly on forever and ended up going nowhere (except increasing my poll numbers), and instead focused on helping the people of New York, then New York would not have been so completely unprepared for the “invisible enemy.” No wonder AOC and others are thinking about running against you in the primary. If they did, they would likely win.

Fortunately, we have been working with your state and city governments, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill DeBlasio, to get the job done. You have been missing in action, except when it comes to the “press.” While you have stated that you don’t like Andrew Cuomo, you ought to start working alongside him for the good of all New Yorkers.

I’ve known you for many years, but I never knew how bad a Senator you are for the state of New York, until I became President.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call. Or, in the alternative, call Rear Admiral Polowczyk.

Sincerely yours,

Donald J. Trump


So, not the time to play politics, eh? Hilarious letter, eh? Hilarious in it's self centered ignorance, self congratulatory message, complete lack of self awareness, and total lack of anything helpful or useful, just more Don the Con whining that bad man make little Donny cry hurt and firing tactless political shots. It would be hilarious if tens of thousands of lives weren't at risk because of this narcissistic idiocy.
Remember, Trump said those who aren't nice enough to him won't get their calls answered, and publicly instructed Pence to follow suit.
Con man Don told Schumer that he had written this "very nasty letter" (Donny's words) but would try to keep it from being sent and publicly apologize if it was, then Trump's office released it to the media.
Not the time for politics....yep. *facepalm

@enoch
I did my best :-) I honestly feel threatened by this attitude of feeding the bear crumbs and pretending he is a friend. Also cant help liking Abby, so very disappointed.

@newtboy
For russia Assad is a (replaceable) puppet, bolstering Assad is just using that puppet for their own needs. ISIS is a threat because it directly supports terrorist groups within Russia. Sending in their air force and that coal powered smoking joke of an aircraft carrier was a military excercise with minimal losses and huge political and home security gains. Expensive though.

One cant just send in a task force to take out a dictator simply because one believes it would be the right thing to do. Countries generally have a limitless supply of local mafioso would-be dictators or religious leaders which the local population prefers to foreign rule. Religion and politics are just a thin veil for local tribal wars. In spite of Syria being a fairly civilised country before the current events I doubt there was ever a "democratic" alternative to Assad. Sometimes you just get lucky and the dictator decides he wants democracy (South Korea, Chile, Gorbatchev inadvertently).

F**k the whole middle east actually IMHO, twice. The Kurds never get any love from anyone and they´ve survived in the middle of this crazy shitstorm for millenia. Yet they will never have a country of their own. Even "Palestinians" created only in the last few decades appear to be closer to that goal. Not fair at all.

People forget, Hillary scammed tons of money with the Whitewater scandal for decades until it was leaked in 1992, but they protected Hillary by everyone else in the partnership taking the heat but her, then very quickly almost without media catching it Bill Clinton as lame duck end of term pardoned everyone involved in Whitewater, in 1994 Hillary was stealing money "again", her law firm partner "fell on his sword" accepting the blame keeping Hillary safe, 1996 democrat fundraising head "fell on his sword" receiving 17 count indictment for money again.

there's ton of stuff even back to her youth with money scams and always wiggling out of it.


“In 1997, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, along with several other groups, filed a lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and Donna Shalala over closed-door meetings related to the health care plan. The AAPS sued to gain access to the list of members of the task force. Judge Royce C. Lamberth found in favor of the plaintiffs and awarded $285,864 to the AAPS for legal costs; Lamberth also harshly criticized the unethical tactics especially as she was a partner in a lawfirm, at least before it was shut down due to her partner "falling on his sword for theft and scamming clients".


“In the weeks before the inauguration, he [Vince Foster] had worked intensively with another Arkansas lawyer to expunge Bill and Hillary’s financial records of a shady land deal – a scandal later known as the Whitewater affair… One of his [Vince Foster’s] first jobs in the White House was to try to make sense of the Clintons’ false tax returns concerning the Whitewater land investment. A note in his hand-writing, found much later, warned that Whitewater was “a can of worms you shouldn’t open.”

Vince Foster was assassinated 1993.

He has now been put on desk duty, lost his badge and gun, been thrown off the joint terrorism task force, and is being investigated by the civilian review board.
Wow!
He's still a jerk though! ;-)

Benefits:
1. If a government did decide to crush it's citizens by way of direct physical means, then the citizens would have a marginally increased chance of defending themselves against small task forces.

2. If someone without invitation enters your home lacking any degree of friendly intentions, then having a small remote control sized devise to 'turn them off' could be beneficial to yourself and your loved ones, provided you knew how to use it safely and could analyze a situations quickly and calmly enough while rationally determining when to and when not to act with said device.

As a general statement about the item and not the skill or mentality of using the item, I think guns are a very effective, reliable, strategically advantageous and intelligently engineered tool for destroying a target from range while increasing your level of safety as best one can.

.. and it is for this core reason above while combined with others that I think civilians should not have them for a reason as illegitimately justified as 'I want one'.
Combine the high degree of effectiveness of the tool, while noting what the single effectiveness is (i.e. quick ranged destruction), with mental instabilities and you have a potentially negative and hard to control situation. Arming more people to act as defenders only further pushes the negative potential to higher levels as they are also subject to fluctuations of rational thought.

For those who want to 'shoot down' this above statement as a curable and treatable problem of mental health, you are inherently and naturally wrong. Emotions are not rational thought, they are effective survival mechanisms precisely because they can easily blind us to some logical thought processes that could otherwise get in the way of us doing what seemingly needs to be done, depending on which emotion is in question and any circumstantial details of the specific situation.
Emotions evolved over a long period of time and subsequently are not geared beneficially for all the challenges we face in this modern world, the result is byproduct effects.

In regards to my 1st stated benefit, if someone genuinely thinks that because they have a tool that can spit out 600 rounds of lead a minute with an effective accuracy range of 800 meters, that this is going to give them a realistically decent chance of going head to head and holding their own against an army of people who are just like themselves (i.e. standard human attributes) with the difference of this activity being the life they have dedicated themselves to professionally for years.. then that pro-gun human is grossly delusional.
The previous point doesn't even begin to touch on the sheer difference of resources in terms of quantity let alone quality, in that if you actually managed to hold your own for long enough, you would get bombed into oblivion without ever having a clue it was going to happen until at best a second or 2 before it occurred.

Re my 2nd stated benefit, if the intruder has already gained access to your house before you have your tool in hand and aimed at them, then there is as reasonable a chance they could get to you before you can defend yourself, at which point that tool could then potentially be used against you or you loved ones.

PS: crap, that was meant to be a short post.

Right, but what evidence do you have that this isn't words alone? Between 2001 and 2010 more than 2500 hate crimes were reported in Texas. 11 were prosecuted. Talk to me when we stop hearing numerous local reports per year of obviously hate driven assaults not being charged as such by the police. They claim to be working on it. Making "task forces" and "training officers" yet nothing changes. Even those actions were fought by the city.

I think actions worthy of attention attract their own. They don't come with a manufactured message with a manicured poster boy. It's people in the trenches gettin' 'er done. Having been there watching careerist politicians and clergymen take credit for my and others' efforts I'm left skeptical of those eager for the limelight. I think it's a bit naive not to be.

We aren't talking about Gandhi or MLK here. Why is every good guy Gandhi and every bad guy Hitler? This is a guy running a cop shop. People in this thread have already let on that his guarantees to occupy were BS. He entrapped them just like the rest of the cop shops nationwide. I'm not saying I don't like the guy. He's aiight as far as lawmen go. I just think he talks a bit of the talk for the camera. He makes like he's in the game. That's all. I'll judge him on his record, not his marketing.

>> ^bareboards2:

@bmacs27 we need voices in addition to action. I'm glad that he is putting himself out there via media. That is how one affects change. Gandhi wasn't silent.
Action alone isn't as strong as action and words.
Words alone isn't near as strong as action.
I say good on him.

Thank you Jesus!

Chris rewrote his letter with cleaned up language. His reasoning here:

http://blogs.twincities.com/outofbounds/2012/09/08/out-of-bounds-blog-no-8-inquisitive-kitten-pawing-at-yarn/


The letter here (former curse words in all caps):

Dear Emmett C. Burns Jr.,
I find it inconceivable that you are an elected official of the United States government. Your vitriolic hatred and bigotry make me ashamed and disgusted to think that you are in any way responsible for shaping policy at any level. The views you espouse neglect to consider several fundamental key points, which I will outline in great detail (you may want to hire an intern to help you with the longer words):

1. As I suspect you have not read the Constitution, I would like to remind you that the very first, the VERY FIRST Amendment in this founding document deals with the freedom of speech, particularly the abridgment of said freedom. By using your position as an elected official (when referring to your constituents so as to implicitly threaten the Ravens organization) to state that the Ravens should “inhibit such expressions from your employees”, more specifically Brendon Ayanbadejo, not only are you clearly violating the First Amendment, you also come across as a BEAUTIFULLY UNIQUE SPARKLEPONY. What on earth would possess you to be so mind-bogglingly stupid? It baffles me that a man such as yourself, a man who relies on that same First Amendment to pursue your own religious studies without fear of persecution from the state, could somehow justify stifling another person’s right to speech. To call that hypocritical would be to do a disservice to the word. SAD PUPPY DOG EYES hypocritical starts to approach it a little bit.

2. “Many of your fans are opposed to such a view and feel it has no place in a sport that is strictly for pride, entertainment, and excitement.” DISAPPOINTED LEMUR FACE WITH SOLITARY TEAR TRICKLING DOWN TO CHIN. Did you seriously just say that, as someone who’s “deeply involved in government task forces on the legacy of slavery in Maryland”? Have you not heard of Kenny Washington? Jackie Robinson? As recently as 1962 the NFL still had segregation, which was only done away with by brave athletes and coaches daring to speak their mind and do the right thing, and you’re going to say that political views have “no place in a sport”? I can’t even begin to fathom the cognitive dissonance that must be coursing through your rapidly addled mind right now; the mental gymnastics your brain has to tortuously contort itself through to make such a preposterous statement are surely worthy of an Olympic gold medal (the Russian judge gives you a ten for “beautiful oppressionism”).

3. This is more a personal quibble of mine, but why do you hate freedom? Why do you hate the fact that other people want a chance to live their lives and be happy, even though they may believe in something different than you, or act different than you? How does gay marriage, in any way shape or form, affect your life? If gay marriage becomes legal, are you worried that all of a sudden you’ll start thinking about DANCING CHUBTOAD? “ALACK AND ALAS MY TOP HAT HAS FALLEN. Gay marriage just passed. Gotta get me some of that DELICIOUS STATE FAIR HOTDOG!” Will all of your friends suddenly turn gay and refuse to come to your Sunday Ticket grill-outs? (unlikely, gay people enjoy watching football too)
I can assure you that gay people getting married will have zero affect on your life. They won’t come into your house and steal your children. They won’t magically turn you into a lustful FROLICKING OSTRICH. They won’t even overthrow the government in an orgy of hedonistic debauchery because all of a sudden they have the same legal rights as the other 90% of our population, rights like Social Security benefits, child care tax credits, Family and Medical Leave to take care of loved ones, and COBRA healthcare for spouses and children. You know what having these rights will make gays? Full fledged American citizens just like everyone else, with the freedom to pursue happiness and all that entails. Do the civil rights struggles of the past 200 years mean absolutely nothing to you?

In closing, I would like to say that I hope this letter, in some small way, causes you to reflect upon the magnitude of the colossal foot in mouth SLIDE WHISTLE TO E FLAT you so brazenly unleashed on a man whose only crime was speaking out for something he believed in. Best of luck in the next election; I’m fairly certain you might need it.

Sincerely,
Chris Kluwe

p.s. I’ve also been vocal as hell about the issue of gay marriage so you can take your “I know of no other NFL player who has done what Mr. Ayanbadejo is doing” and shove it in your close-minded, totally lacking in empathy piehole and choke on it. UNFORTUNATELY PHALLIC HEDGE SCULPTURE.

Get off you high horse.

If one holds the opinion that begin gay is ok then you fine with it.
But If some one has the opinion that being gay is wrong than you think the worst of them. It appears that you have drawn a line in the sand and believe that bible believing people are the worst. Are you that intolerant of bible believing people.

I said nothing about mistreating or disrespecting gays and yet you drew you own false conclusions about me.




>> ^VoodooV:

>> ^bobknight33:
There is a difference between fear, hate and what one believes what is wrong. If one believes that being gay is wrong then it is wrong.

The 2000 U.S. Census Bureau found that homosexual couples constitute less than 1% of American households. The Family Research Report says "around 2-3% of men, and 2% of women, are homosexual or bisexual." The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force estimates three to eight percent of both sexes. So who's right -- what percentage of the population is homosexual?

I believe 2+2=5, Belief doesn't make you correct. You should be listening to evidence, not belief.
@PostalBlowfish is absolutely right, you can believe homosexuality is wrong all you want. There are still lots of people who believe blacks are of inferior genetic stock, women shouldn't vote and that the earth is really flat and that we didn't go to the moon either.
Public policy, however, has a higher standard of evidence than what makes @bobknight33 and the other bible thumpers uncomfortable. Doesn't matter if there were only two homosexuals in the entire world or 200 billion, you still treat people with basic dignity and respect and they have a right to their pursuit of happiness as you do. Civil rights is not a popularity contest.
If homosexuality is so horrible and detrimental to society as you would have us believe, you shouldn't have any problem proving it without using the bible. I eagerly await your mountains of evidence.
Run away bob, run away to your next sift-trolling

>> ^bobknight33:

There is a difference between fear, hate and what one believes what is wrong. If one believes that being gay is wrong then it is wrong.

The 2000 U.S. Census Bureau found that homosexual couples constitute less than 1% of American households. The Family Research Report says "around 2-3% of men, and 2% of women, are homosexual or bisexual." The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force estimates three to eight percent of both sexes. So who's right -- what percentage of the population is homosexual?


I believe 2+2=5, Belief doesn't make you correct. You should be listening to evidence, not belief.

@PostalBlowfish is absolutely right, you can believe homosexuality is wrong all you want. There are still lots of people who believe blacks are of inferior genetic stock, women shouldn't vote and that the earth is really flat and that we didn't go to the moon either.

Public policy, however, has a higher standard of evidence than what makes @bobknight33 and the other bible thumpers uncomfortable. Doesn't matter if there were only two homosexuals in the entire world or 200 billion, you still treat people with basic dignity and respect and they have a right to their pursuit of happiness as you do. Civil rights is not a popularity contest.

If homosexuality is so horrible and detrimental to society as you would have us believe, you shouldn't have any problem proving it without using the bible. I eagerly await your mountains of evidence.

Run away bob, run away to your next sift-trolling

I need to change my sexual orientation.
Thanks for helping me come out of the closet.

I'm going Alien.

Group alien sex sounds sweet. let me put that on my bucket list.


>> ^KnivesOut:

But bob, I believe that being gay is fine. So it's fine.
Can't argue with that logic, right?>> ^bobknight33:
There is a difference between fear, hate and what one believes what is wrong. If one believes that being gay is wrong then it is wrong.

The 2000 U.S. Census Bureau found that homosexual couples constitute less than 1% of American households. The Family Research Report says "around 2-3% of men, and 2% of women, are homosexual or bisexual." The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force estimates three to eight percent of both sexes. So who's right -- what percentage of the population is homosexual?