crooksandliars--2020-05-19--Want To Reopen Retail? Everyone Must Wear Masks

There needs to be a national campaign to support mask wearing .
It needs to come from certain types of national organizations and be directed at corporations .
To make it work there needs to be movement on multiple fronts with support from people with various types of expertise and influence .
This needs to happen because of the massive failure at the national political level to protect lives during a pandemic .
Here 's a great piece in Vanity Fair about the power of wearing masks .
If 80 % of Americans Wore Masks , COVID-19 Infections Would Plummet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other countries that wear masks to show the massive difference in deaths .
They also created a simulator to show how masks can prevent infection .
The study addressed the cultural differences between countries about masks and how it 's been difficult to enforce mask wearing pin the US .
If the business community wants to start up retail again , one way to do that is broad support of mask wearing from powerful players in the retail level .
Americans can start pushing mask wearing at retail spaces easier than wearing them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ private property and can refuse service to people not wearing masks No Mask .
No Service .
This piece in the New York Times points out why there needs to be widespread support for wearing masks : Who ’ s Enforcing Mask Rules ?
Often Retail Workers , and They ’ re Getting Hurt The risk of a violent reaction now hangs over jobs already fraught with health perils .
May 15th by So what will it take to make this happen ?
I have a background in convincing major corporations to walk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protect their brand , here are the groups I think can make it happen and the steps to take .
To get all customers to wear masks in stores people with expertise and influence in the following areas need to help : Legal , insurance , financial , HR and PR .
The push needs to come from national organizations who have clout right now .
I 've listed them in the order of their current PR clout ( which is n't the same as their political , financial , backroom , golf @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of COVID-19 & I 'm serious about this '' clout . )
1 ) First responders ( EMT , firefighters , police , sheriffs ) First responder organizations can tell retailers , `` Making ads praising us is great , but if you want to save our lives , push for your customers to wear masks . ''
• Use male EMT , firefighters and cops as mask wearing role models.A recent study showed that men think wearing masks show weakness and that they wo n't be impacted .
it 's irrational and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ addressed .
All St. Louis firefighters like Cedric Ross , pictured here on April 15 , are wearing masks while on calls to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 .
2 ) Doctors , Nurses , Health Care Workers and Hospital Administrators The representatives for doctors , nurses , and health care workers can ensure retailers have the medical data to back up the policies , but the most important thing these groups can offer is their endorsement of the mask policy .
Bangor Fire Department paramedics Brian Cochrane ( right ) Nick @ @ @ @ @ @ @ simulation of how they respond to EMS calls with positive or inconclusive cases of COVID19 .
Bangor , Maine , April 28 , 2020 Image from : Composite graphic : Spocko .
Image : Linda Coan O ’ Kresik | BDN 3 ) Lawyers with experience in state & local law , executive orders and public policy Anti-maskers are using weaknesses in federal and state policy to stop implementation of mask wearing nationwide .
Corporations need legal and public policy knowledge about Executive Orders and state constitutions to help them push back against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that has the support of Trump and fringe RW groups .
Making Mask Wearing the Reality in Retail Customers can influence policy in retail .
They can convince corporate HQ to make changes that give managers the tools to support and enforce policies that make mask wearing in retail spaces a reality .
Educate corporations that everyone wearing masks is good for their brands and bottom line .
Dead customers are bad for your brand ( unless you are the BodyBagStore . )
For retail managers I wrote some scenarios local managers can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Store mangers need a POLICY .
Employees need a SIGN .
I know from recent conversations that there are people already doing the work behind the scenes to support mask wearing at the retail level .
One I know of is # Masks4all I 'm writing this piece to encourage them and other groups who are focusing on the health and safety of all the customers .
I hope they will start rolling out joint agreements showing mask wearing EMTs shopping at pharmacies .
I think mask wearing firefighters shopping at a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ When those stories happens expect the media to still cover the handful of anti-maskers verse entire group of pandemic heroes because they need a `` both sides ' story .
HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT MASK WEARING IN RETAIL If you go to a store and see people not wearing masks what can you do ?
Call the company directly and find out their policy .
Look to see what the State and local policies are .
If they do n't have a policy send them one they can use .
For example here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Customer Use of Face Coverings .
Or work with your favorite activist group that has experience with pressure campaigns on corporations at a national level .
They can use the power of your story to help convince the right people .
In my experience people at retail corporations need to hear from customers who support mask policies If they DO N'T , the CEOs might think they will lose customers if they require masks .
Call the companies , Tweet , emall , and post on FB or Instagram with yourr mask on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the staff .
Be polite .
Alert them to your concerns .
Educate them on the number of people who want to live and will wear masks .
Otherwise they will only see the stories about people complaining and threatening staff .
Conflict is news , compliance is not .
I know the people who work in Corporate HR , PR , communications and legal .
They all want people to be safe .
Sometimes they need reasons and excuses to tell top management to do what 's RIGHT , instead of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wants .
Company HQ especially need to hear that people in states that DO N'T require masks still want everyone to wear them in stores .
This is important since often they default to a narrow legal talking point .
`` We follow all state and local laws . ''
This does n't address the fact that on private property companies can require STRONGER POLICIES THAN WHAT THE STATES REQUIRE .
THE POWER OF RED HOT MEMES !
If you do n't want to do any of this you can create memes , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ support mask wearing in stores .
It would be great to see videos of people talking about why masks are important .
Contact my new friends at # Masks4all to see how you can help .
I 'm not an ad wizard , but watch this video and see how easily it could be changed into one supporting mask wearing .
[ Fade in ] Video of first responders wearing masks .
They look at the camera and say , '' If you care about me , ( EMT ) , me , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and me ( Nurse ) you will wear your mask when out in public and shopping here , ( CVS , ) here ( Trader Joes ) and here ( Target ) .
We support masks in stores for everyone because , `` We 're all in this together.. '' [ fade out . ]

There needs to be a national campaign to support mask wearing. It needs to come from certain types of national organizations and be directed at corporations.
To make it work there needs to be movement on multiple fronts with support from people with various types of expertise and influence.
This needs to happen because of the massive failure at the national political level to protect lives during a pandemic.
Here's a great piece in Vanity Fair about the power of wearing masks.
If 80% of Americans Wore Masks, COVID-19 Infections Would Plummet
They comparing data in the US vs other countries that wear masks to show the massive difference in deaths. They also created a simulator to show how masks can prevent infection.
“What’s most important about wearing masks right now,” said Guy-Philippe Goldstein, an economist, cybersecurity expert, and lecturer at the Ecole de Guerre Economique in Paris—and a masksim collaborator, “is that it works, along with social distancing, to flatten the curve of infections as we wait for treatments and vaccines to be developed—while also allowing people to go out and some businesses to reopen.”
Credit: Build A Sign The study addressed the cultural differences between countries about masks and how it's been difficult to enforce mask wearing pin the US. If the business community wants to start up retail again, one way to do that is broad support of mask wearing from powerful players in the retail level.
Americans can start pushing mask wearing at retail spaces easier than wearing them in public. Retail businesses are on private property and can refuse service to people not wearing masks No Mask. No Service.
This piece in the New York Times points out why there needs to be widespread support for wearing masks:
Who’s Enforcing Mask Rules? Often Retail Workers, and They’re Getting Hurt
The risk of a violent reaction now hangs over jobs already fraught with health perils. May 15th by
“Why aren’t you wearing the mask?” Jesse asked the customer on a recent day at a store in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. “I am not here to question what you believe in. These are the rules. I am just asking you kindly to wear the mask.” The customer, Genevieve Peters, who was recording the entire exchange, refused. “We are in America here,” she said, “Land of the free.” Then she turned her camera on other shoppers, who were less than amused: “Look at all of these sheep that are here, all wearing this mask that is actually dangerous for them.” Jesse, identified only by his first name in the video, telephoned the police, who did not arrive. Finally, when Ms. Peters left the store, others customers burst into applause.
So what will it take to make this happen? I have a background in convincing major corporations to walk away from toxic right wing media to protect their brand, here are the groups I think can make it happen and the steps to take.
3 GROUPS TO SUPPORT, ENDORSE & ENFORCE MASKS IN RETAIL
To get all customers to wear masks in stores people with expertise and influence in the following areas need to help: Legal, insurance, financial, HR and PR.
The push needs to come from national organizations who have clout right now. I've listed them in the order of their current PR clout (which isn't the same as their political, financial, backroom, golf buddy, or "my mom died of COVID-19 & I'm serious about this" clout.)
1) First responders (EMT, firefighters, police, sheriffs)
First responder organizations can tell retailers, "Making ads praising us is great, but if you want to save our lives, push for your customers to wear masks."
Use male EMT, firefighters and cops as mask wearing role models.A recent study showed that men think wearing masks show weakness and that they won't be impacted. it's irrational and incorrect, but it needs to be addressed.
All St. Louis firefighters like Cedric Ross, pictured here on April 15, are wearing masks while on calls to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Credit: Composite graphic Spocko. Image: BILL GRENBLATT | UPI
2) Doctors, Nurses, Health Care Workers and Hospital Administrators
The representatives for doctors, nurses, and health care workers can ensure retailers have the medical data to back up the policies, but the most important thing these groups can offer is their endorsement of the mask policy.
Bangor Fire Department paramedics Brian Cochrane (right) Nick Chapman wear full face shields during a simulation of how they respond to EMS calls with positive or inconclusive cases of COVID19. Bangor, Maine, April 28, 2020 Credit: Composite graphic: Spocko. Image: Linda Coan O’Kresik | BDN
3) Lawyers with experience in state & local law, executive orders and public policy
Anti-maskers are using weaknesses in federal and state policy to stop implementation of mask wearing nationwide. Corporations need legal and public policy knowledge about Executive Orders and state constitutions to help them push back against a very small, but loud group that has the support of Trump and fringe RW groups.
Making Mask Wearing the Reality in Retail
Customers can influence policy in retail. They can convince corporate HQ to make changes that give managers the tools to support and enforce policies that make mask wearing in retail spaces a reality. Educate corporations that everyone wearing masks is good for their brands and bottom line.
Dead customers are bad for your brand (unless you are the BodyBagStore.)
For retail managers I wrote some scenarios local managers can use to shut down debates with anti-maskers. Store mangers need a POLICY. Employees need a SIGN.
THE POWER OF RED HOT ALERTS & EDUCATION!
I know from recent conversations that there are people already doing the work behind the scenes to support mask wearing at the retail level. One I know of is #Masks4all I'm writing this piece to encourage them and other groups who are focusing on the health and safety of all the customers. I hope they will start rolling out joint agreements showing mask wearing EMTs shopping at pharmacies. I
think mask wearing firefighters shopping at a grocery store is a perfect fit.
When those stories happens expect the media to still cover the handful of anti-maskers verse entire group of pandemic heroes because they need a "both sides' story.
HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT MASK WEARING IN RETAIL
Credit: Buildasign.com If you go to a store and see people not wearing masks what can you do? Call the company directly and find out their policy. Look to see what the State and local policies are. If they don't have a policy send them one they can use. For example here's Trader Joes' policy page: Customer Use of Face Coverings.
Or work with your favorite activist group that has experience with pressure campaigns on corporations at a national level. They can use the power of your story to help convince the right people.
In my experience people at retail corporations need to hear from customers who support mask policies If they DON'T, the CEOs might think they will lose customers if they require masks. Call the companies, Tweet, emall, and post on FB or Instagram with yourr mask on their page.
Tell them you care about the staff. Be polite. Alert them to your concerns. Educate them on the number of people who want to live and will wear masks. Otherwise they will only see the stories about people complaining and threatening staff. Conflict is news, compliance is not.
I know the people who work in Corporate HR, PR, communications and legal. They all want people to be safe. Sometimes they need reasons and excuses to tell top management to do what's RIGHT, instead of doing what Trump or a dumb Governor wants.
Company HQ especially need to hear that people in states that DON'T require masks still want everyone to wear them in stores. This is important since often they default to a narrow legal talking point. "We follow all state and local laws." This doesn't address the fact that on private property companies can require STRONGER POLICIES THAN WHAT THE STATES REQUIRE.
THE POWER OF RED HOT MEMES!
If you don't want to do any of this you can create memes, stickers, videos and social media to support mask wearing in stores. It would be great to see videos of people talking about why masks are important. Contact my new friends at
#Masks4all to see how you can help.
I'm not an ad wizard, but watch this video and see how easily it could be changed into one supporting mask wearing.
[Fade in] Video of first responders wearing masks. They look at the camera and say,"If you care about me, (EMT), me, (Cop) me (Doctor) and me (Nurse) you will wear your mask when out in public and shopping here, (CVS,) here (Trader Joes) and here (Target).
We support masks in stores for everyone because, "We're all in this together.." [fade out.]


crooksandliars--2020-03-02--Mike's Blog Round Up

Mike's Blog Round Up

First Draft - we may just have to get over ourselves ; No More Mr. Nice Blog - what turnout @ @ @ @ @ ( @ blogenfreude ) blogs at stinque.com and asks , if you 're not listening @ @ @ @ @ The Daily Beans podcast ... WTF ?
To recommend a link , send it to @ @ @ @ @ do check it !

Bark Bark Woof Woof - what Katherine Johnson means;
First Draft - we may just have to get over ourselves;
Just Above Sunset - expect a miracle;
Mock Paper Scissors - Scientific American talks coronavirus;
No More Mr. Nice Blog - what turnout problem?
Steve in Manhattan (@blogenfreude) blogs at stinque.com and asks, if you're not listening to Mueller She Wrote's The Daily Beans podcast ... WTF?
To recommend a link, send it to mbru@crooksandliars.com - we do check it!


crooksandliars--2020-03-02--John Oliver On Coronavirus: Trump Doesn't Know How Not To Lie

John Oliver explains we need to be scared of the coronavirus -- but not too scared , and slammed the Trump administration for making things so much worse than they had to do .
Via Deadline.com : “ The White House messaging has been all over the place , ” Olive said , pointing out that one of Trump ’ s advisors said that they have contained it…or “ pretty close to airtight ” when it comes to containing it .
Just when you think they are sending mixed messages , Donald Trump puts Mike Pence in charge of leading @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he has apparently has a 'certain talent for this . '
“ Does he , though ?
” Oliver questions .
“ I was under the impression that the only thing Pence had a certain talent for were avoiding off-leash women , sucking up to people who represent the antithesis of everything he claims to believe in , and miserably failing at a haircut known as the Judi Dench.
” Things got even more confusing during a press conference when Trump just left as Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tried to explain that he is not being replaced .
Oliver points out that he is downplaying any bad news and tweeted that the coronavirus was under control .
He ’ s reluctant to admit that there will be more cases in the U.S. During the press conference , Trump ’ s experts blatantly said that cases will go up while he said they are going down .
“ This is the problem with a president whose entire life has been a series of low-stakes lies , ” Oliver explains .
“ A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other things — his net worth , his Apprentice ratings , the number of floors in Trump tower , the size of his electoral college victory , the attendance at his rallies , whether it rained at his inauguration and whether or not he was invited to this very boring , low-rated show — which he wasn ’ t !
It was a lie !
” Trump continued to pedal false hope when he said that the warmer weather in April will kill the virus and said that it was a “ beautiful @ @ @ @ @ @ @

John Oliver explains we need to be scared of the coronavirus -- but not too scared, and slammed the Trump administration for making things so much worse than they had to do. Via Deadline.com:
“The White House messaging has been all over the place,” Olive said, pointing out that one of Trump’s advisors said that they have contained it…or “pretty close to airtight” when it comes to containing it. Just when you think they are sending mixed messages, Donald Trump puts Mike Pence in charge of leading a task force on the virus because he has apparently has a 'certain talent for this.'
“Does he, though?” Oliver questions. “I was under the impression that the only thing Pence had a certain talent for were avoiding off-leash women, sucking up to people who represent the antithesis of everything he claims to believe in, and miserably failing at a haircut known as the Judi Dench.”
Things got even more confusing during a press conference when Trump just left as Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who should be leading the task force, tried to explain that he is not being replaced.
Oliver points out that he is downplaying any bad news and tweeted that the coronavirus was under control. He’s reluctant to admit that there will be more cases in the U.S. During the press conference, Trump’s experts blatantly said that cases will go up while he said they are going down.
“This is the problem with a president whose entire life has been a series of low-stakes lies,” Oliver explains. “A man who has lied about — among other things — his net worth, his Apprentice ratings, the number of floors in Trump tower, the size of his electoral college victory, the attendance at his rallies, whether it rained at his inauguration and whether or not he was invited to this very boring, low-rated show — which he wasn’t! It was a lie!”
Trump continued to pedal false hope when he said that the warmer weather in April will kill the virus and said that it was a “beautiful” thing to look forward to.


crooksandliars--2020-04-03--Government Wasted Opportunity To Add 10,000 Ventilators To Its Stockpile

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom .
Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox .
Five years ago , the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services tried to plug a crucial hole in its preparations for a global pandemic , signing a $ 13.8 million contract with a Pennsylvania manufacturer to create a low-cost , portable , easy-to-use ventilator that could be stockpiled for emergencies .
This past September , with the design of the new Trilogy Evo Universal finally cleared by the Food and Drug Administration , HHS @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Strategic National Stockpile at a cost of $ 3,280 each .
But as the pandemic continues to spread across the globe , there is still not a single Trilogy Evo Universal in the stockpile .
Instead last summer , soon after the FDA ’ s approval , the Pennsylvania company that designed the device — a subsidiary of the Dutch appliance and technology giant Royal Philips N.V. — began selling two higher-priced commercial versions of the same ventilator around the world .
“ We sell to whoever calls , ” said a saleswoman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Island that bought 50 Trilogy Evo ventilators from Philips in early March and last week hiked its online price from $ 12,495 to $ 17,154 .
“ We have hundreds of orders to fill .
I think America didn ’ t take this seriously at first , and now everyone ’ s frantic.
” Last Friday , President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to compel General Motors to begin mass-producing another company ’ s ventilator under a federal contract .
But neither Trump nor other senior officials made any mention of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ HHS officials explain why they did not force Philips to accelerate delivery of these ventilators earlier this year , when it became clear that the virus was overwhelming medical facilities around the world .
An HHS spokeswoman told ProPublica that Philips had agreed to make the Trilogy Evo Universal ventilator “ as soon as possible.
” However , a Philips spokesman said the company has no plan to even begin production anytime this year .
Instead , Philips is negotiating with a White House team led by Trump ’ s son-in-law , Jared @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and expensive hospital ventilators for Americans stricken by the virus .
Some experts said the nature of the current crisis — in which the federal government is scrambling to set up field hospitals in New York ’ s Central Park and the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center — underscores the urgent need for simpler , lower-cost ventilators .
The story of the Trilogy Evo Universal , described here for the first time , also raises questions about the government ’ s reliance on public-private partnerships that public health officials have used to piece @ @ @ @ @ @ @ net .
“ That ’ s the problem of leaving any kind of disaster preparedness up to the market and market forces — it will never work , ” said Dr. John Hick , an emergency medicine specialist in Minnesota who has advised HHS on pandemic preparedness since 2002 .
“ The market is not going to give priority to a relatively no-frills but dependable ventilator that ’ s not expensive.
” The lack of ventilators has quickly become the most critical challenge to keeping alive many of the people most seriously sickened @ @ @ @ @ @ @ help people breathe but also can provide pressure that holds the lungs open so the air sacs don ’ t collapse .
Neither HHS nor Philips would provide a copy of their contract , citing proprietary technical information that would have to be redacted under a Freedom of Information Act request .
But from public documents and interviews with current and former government officials , it appears that HHS has at times been remarkably deferential to Philips — and never more so than in the current pandemic .
From the start of its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ portable ventilator , the small HHS office in charge of the project , the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority , or BARDA , knew that it might need to move quickly to increase production in an emergency and insisted that potential partners be able to ramp up quickly in the event of a pandemic .
But the contract HHS signed in September 2019 gave Philips almost a year before it had to produce a single Trilogy Evo Universal , and two more years to fulfill the order of 10,000 ventilators .
On @ @ @ @ @ @ @ FDA cleared the stockpile version of the ventilator , it granted the application of Philips ’ U.S. subsidiary , Respironics , to sell commercial versions of the Trilogy Evo .
Philips quickly began shipping the commercial models overseas from its Murrysville , Pennsylvania , factory .
Steve Klink , the company ’ s Amsterdam-based spokesman , said Philips was within its rights under the HHS contract to prioritize the commercial versions of the Trilogy Evo .
An HHS spokeswoman — who insisted she could not be identified by name , despite speaking for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Keep in mind that companies are always free to develop other products based on technology developed in collaboration with the government , ” she said in a statement to ProPublica .
“ This approach often reduces development costs and ensures the product the government needs is available for many years.
” Just last month , HHS gave a very different impression to Congress , hailing the Trilogy Evo it funded as a breakthrough in its campaign for pandemic preparedness .
“ This game-changing device , considered a pipedream just a few years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prices to improve stockpiling and deployment ” in an emergency , the agency told Congress in a budget document delivered on Feb 10 .
But less than two weeks later , officials overseeing the Strategic National Stockpile approached Philips with an urgent appeal : Start making our ventilators .
On March 10 , Philips agreed to a modification of the HHS contract — one that called for the company to produce the Trilogy Evo Universal “ as soon as possible , ” a spokesperson said .
However , in a subsequent statement , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ required to deliver the ventilators “ as they are completed.
” Klink , the company spokesman , said Philips was only committed to meeting the original contract deadline of 10,000 ventilators by September 2022 .
Had government officials insisted that Philips first produce the ventilators that taxpayers paid to design , the government could conceivably be distributing all 10,000 to hospitals now .
Last year , Philips plants in Pennsylvania and California produced 500 ventilators of various models per week ; they sped up to 1,000 per week earlier this year , Klink @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stockpile ventilators could have been completed even if Philips devoted only part of its lines to their production .
Klink said the reason the company is not producing the stockpile ventilator is because it has not yet been mass-produced and would require time-consuming trial runs .
In the current crisis , it ’ s faster and more efficient to continue producing the versions it is already making , he said .
Asked if Philips could hand over its Trilogy Evo Universal design to another manufacturer , he argued that the fundamental constraint on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assembly lines but its dependence on more than 100 smaller companies around the world that make the 650 parts needed for a hospital ventilator .
“ We can not sell a ventilator with only 649 parts , ” he said .
“ It needs to be the whole 650.
” It is difficult to assess how much profit motives might be driving Philips ’ decisions about which ventilators to produce because the company does not disclose how much it charges different clients for commercial models .
The commercial version of the Trilogy Evo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ long after it began selling the ventilators last summer , Philips sent out recall notices to customers in Europe and the U.S. , alerting them to a software glitch that prompted the devices to shut down without sounding their alarm .
The software has since been updated and the problem solved , the company said .
Klink said Philips hopes to be making 4,000 ventilators of all types each week in the U.S. by October , and that it would prioritize “ those communities and countries that need it the most.
” But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demand for the commercial models of the Trilogy Evo is driving up prices sharply , and evidence from the chaotic open market for the devices raises questions about Philips ’ stated commitment to prioritize the neediest .
On Staten Island , a saleswoman at No Insurance Medical Supplies , who would give her name only as Jeanette , said the company was selling to “ anyone who calls , ” including doctors and individuals .
The company ’ s first shipment of 50 devices sold out quickly , but an additional five ventilators @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 148 more , but Philips Respironics said it could only provide 11 ventilators by April 6 , she said .
The company ’ s prices are determined by what the manufacturer charges , she said .
The competition abroad is also intense .
On March 12 , the regional government of Madrid , one of the cities hardest hit by the virus , bought 10 Trilogy Evo ventilators from a Spanish medical supply company for about $ 11,000 each .
In Budapest , Hungary , the Uzsoki Street Hospital announced that a local @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ultra-modern ” Philips Trilogy Evo ventilators on March 18 .
The struggle has grown so fierce that last week , a trade group representing ventilator manufacturers asked the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to decide for the manufacturers whom they should sell to first .
“ We would appreciate the Administration ’ s leadership and the advice of clinical and other experts within the Administration in deciding how to allocate these products in the most effective way , ” the Advanced Medical Technology Association wrote in a letter to FEMA Administrator @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health officials have believed for nearly two decades that they needed a less-expensive and simpler-to-operate portable ventilator that could be made and distributed quickly in an emergency .
“ This is not a new problem , ” said W. Craig Vanderwagen , a former senior HHS official who oversaw studies that led to the government ’ s early efforts to design and build a low-cost portable ventilator for such eventualities .
“ We knew back in the 2000s that ventilators were going to be critical in pandemic preparedness .
That was a clear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ early 2000s , American public health experts and government officials were gripped by a sense of urgency they had not felt before .
The 9/11 attacks and the anthrax scare that followed underscored the need for sweeping new actions to keep the country safe .
Outbreaks of Avian influenza — first reported in Hong Kong in 1997 — exposed the public health system ’ s vulnerability to new , highly fatal pathogens from overseas .
The George W. Bush administration ’ s disastrously slow and inept response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 prompted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its ability to deal with a growing array of emergencies , from new , highly contagious diseases to previously unthinkable terrorist attacks .
One obvious vulnerability was to a viral pandemic or a chemical or biological attack that would ravage the lungs of its victims , setting off a cascade of cases of what doctors call Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome , or ARDS .
“ None of us expected an event on the scale of what we ’ re going through now , ” said Dr. Lewis Rubinson , a pulmonologist who participated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ studies .
“ We had to guess : What would the patients look like ?
What we predicted correctly was that we could face massive cases of ARDS.
” By the early 2000s , officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had already begun working to stockpile a few thousand ventilators for such an eventuality , former officials said .
But studies by medical experts and government scientists — including sophisticated models of what might occur in the event of various disasters , outbreaks or attacks — suggested a bigger problem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by shortages of complex and costly ventilators , but also by a lack of the trained respiratory technicians who are generally required to operate the machines .
The experts envisioned one important solution : a portable ventilator that was less complex than hospital machines and could be more quickly produced , safely stockpiled and widely distributed in emergencies .
They envisioned a device that could be deployed in field hospitals like the ones that authorities are now rushing to create in Central Park and elsewhere .
The job of bringing such a device @ @ @ @ @ @ @ innovative office of HHS that was established in 2006 to help the country prepare for pandemic influenza , new types of infectious diseases or an attack or accident involving chemical , biological or radiological weapons .
Much of BARDA ’ s work has been focused on developing potentially critical vaccines and other medicines that are not necessarily profitable for big pharmaceutical companies .
The agency often works with medical researchers at the National Institutes of Health and elsewhere , identifying promising therapies and other innovations , and then forms partnerships with private biotechnology @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and move them through various stages of regulation .
In 2008 , BARDA began trying to find a company that could make a ventilator that would be inexpensive — ideally , less than $ 2,000 each — and could be simple enough to use that “ inexperienced health care providers with limited or no respiratory support training ” could operate the devices during a pandemic , according to the agency ’ s solicitation for bids .
BARDA also anticipated the shortage of parts and competing priorities that the ventilator industry now faces .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ show they could secure the parts needed to “ ramp up production to supply at least ” 1,700 ventilators per month and 10,000 in six months ’ time .
The companies also had to pledge that government “ contracts will be honored during a pandemic , ” the initial solicitation said .
With only a couple of bids , BARDA settled on a small , privately held ventilator company in Costa Mesa , California , Newport Medical Instruments Inc. BARDA and Newport signed a $ 6.4 million contract in September 2010 , specifying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ incrementally as the company met various milestones .
But in May 2012 , Newport was purchased by a larger Irish medical device company , Covidien , for $ 108 million .
Covidien quickly downsized and asked Rick Crawford , Newport ’ s former head of research and development and the lead designer of the BARDA ventilator , to finish up the project without any staff assigned to him .
Crawford said he took a job with another company .
“ I don ’ t know how you finish a project when nobody reports @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
A former BARDA official who worked on the project said that Covidien began raising issue after issue and demanded more money .
BARDA agreed , eventually tacking on almost $ 2 million more to the price tag , records show .
Even so , Covidien abandoned the project .
A spokesman for the still-larger firm that acquired Covidien in 2015 , Medtronic , said that the prototype ventilator created by Newport Medical “ would not have been able to meet the specifications required by the government , nor at the price required.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ story in The New York Times , Medtronic said it left the federal government with all the designs and equipment created in the project .
Several former BARDA officials said such outcomes come with their territory .
Like big pharmaceutical companies , they had to take chances , especially in the development of vaccines .
“ There are going to be risks like that when you partner with businesses , ” said one former senior BARDA official , who , like others , asked for anonymity because she was not authorized to speak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s a problem that we at BARDA had encountered before , where a company changed hands and changed priorities.
” In March 2016 , less than two years after signing its ventilator contract with BARDA , Philips Respironics agreed to pay $ 34.8 million to settle a Justice Department lawsuit under the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute .
Justice lawyers accused the manufacturer of effectively paying kickbacks to medical suppliers to buy its masks for sleep apnea .
The company also agreed to abide by a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of oversight measures on the company ’ s operations .
With BARDA ’ s continuing support , Philips finally won FDA approval for the Trilogy Evo Universal ventilator in July 2019 .
Klink , the Philips spokesman , said the $ 13.8 million from HHS covered only a portion of the design and development costs for the ventilator and that the company invested more .
Rubinson , now the chief medical officer of Morristown Medical Center in Morristown , New Jersey , praised the BARDA effort as essential , adding that if 10,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the COVID-19 crisis , it had to be understood in the context of government officials ’ typical unwillingness to buy equipment it might only need in an emergency .
“ They could have bought a million ventilators , ” he said .
“ And then you would be writing about the boondoggle of all these devices that never got used.
” Today , the government ’ s failure to obtain the Trilogy Evo Universal is seen by some experts as the real game changer .
“ Even if a few months ago we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kinds of ventilators , it would have been better , ” said Hick , the emergency medicine specialist in Minnesota .
“ If I had a ventilator that cost $ 4,000 rather than $ 16,000 , I ’ d be in better shape .
We can buy a lot more of them .
”

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Five years ago, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services tried to plug a crucial hole in its preparations for a global pandemic, signing a $13.8 million contract with a Pennsylvania manufacturer to create a low-cost, portable, easy-to-use ventilator that could be stockpiled for emergencies.
This past September, with the design of the new Trilogy Evo Universal finally cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, HHS ordered 10,000 of the ventilators for the Strategic National Stockpile at a cost of $3,280 each.
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But as the pandemic continues to spread across the globe, there is still not a single Trilogy Evo Universal in the stockpile.
Instead last summer, soon after the FDA’s approval, the Pennsylvania company that designed the device — a subsidiary of the Dutch appliance and technology giant Royal Philips N.V. — began selling two higher-priced commercial versions of the same ventilator around the world.
“We sell to whoever calls,” said a saleswoman at a small medical-supply company on Staten Island that bought 50 Trilogy Evo ventilators from Philips in early March and last week hiked its online price from $12,495 to $17,154. “We have hundreds of orders to fill. I think America didn’t take this seriously at first, and now everyone’s frantic.”
A screenshot obtained by ProPublica of a Trilogy Evo portable ventilator, sold by a medical supply company on Staten Island.
Last Friday, President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to compel General Motors to begin mass-producing another company’s ventilator under a federal contract. But neither Trump nor other senior officials made any mention of the Trilogy Evo Universal. Nor did HHS officials explain why they did not force Philips to accelerate delivery of these ventilators earlier this year, when it became clear that the virus was overwhelming medical facilities around the world.
An HHS spokeswoman told ProPublica that Philips had agreed to make the Trilogy Evo Universal ventilator “as soon as possible.” However, a Philips spokesman said the company has no plan to even begin production anytime this year.
Instead, Philips is negotiating with a White House team led by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to build 43,000 more complex and expensive hospital ventilators for Americans stricken by the virus.
Help Us Continue Reporting on COVID-19 Are you a public health worker or front-line medical provider? Do you work for or with a government agency involved in the effort to protect the public? Have you or your family personally been affected? Show us what we should be covering or serve as an expert to make sure we’re on track. Note: If you develop emergency warning signs for COVID-19, such as difficulty breathing or bluish lips, get medical attention immediately. The CDC has more information on what to do if you are sick.
Some experts said the nature of the current crisis — in which the federal government is scrambling to set up field hospitals in New York’s Central Park and the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center — underscores the urgent need for simpler, lower-cost ventilators. The story of the Trilogy Evo Universal, described here for the first time, also raises questions about the government’s reliance on public-private partnerships that public health officials have used to piece together important parts of their disaster safety net.
“That’s the problem of leaving any kind of disaster preparedness up to the market and market forces — it will never work,” said Dr. John Hick, an emergency medicine specialist in Minnesota who has advised HHS on pandemic preparedness since 2002. “The market is not going to give priority to a relatively no-frills but dependable ventilator that’s not expensive.”
The lack of ventilators has quickly become the most critical challenge to keeping alive many of the people most seriously sickened by the virus. Ventilators not only help people breathe but also can provide pressure that holds the lungs open so the air sacs don’t collapse.
Neither HHS nor Philips would provide a copy of their contract, citing proprietary technical information that would have to be redacted under a Freedom of Information Act request. But from public documents and interviews with current and former government officials, it appears that HHS has at times been remarkably deferential to Philips — and never more so than in the current pandemic.
From the start of its long effort to produce a low-cost, portable ventilator, the small HHS office in charge of the project, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, knew that it might need to move quickly to increase production in an emergency and insisted that potential partners be able to ramp up quickly in the event of a pandemic.
But the contract HHS signed in September 2019 gave Philips almost a year before it had to produce a single Trilogy Evo Universal, and two more years to fulfill the order of 10,000 ventilators.
Read More Desperate Hospitals May Put Two Patients on One Ventilator. That’s Risky. Facing a ventilator shortage, doctors are considering using one machine for multiple patients in respiratory failure. But it’s at best a stopgap and can injure the lungs.
On the same day in July that the FDA cleared the stockpile version of the ventilator, it granted the application of Philips’ U.S. subsidiary, Respironics, to sell commercial versions of the Trilogy Evo. Philips quickly began shipping the commercial models overseas from its Murrysville, Pennsylvania, factory.
Steve Klink, the company’s Amsterdam-based spokesman, said Philips was within its rights under the HHS contract to prioritize the commercial versions of the Trilogy Evo. An HHS spokeswoman — who insisted she could not be identified by name, despite speaking for the agency — did not disagree.
“Keep in mind that companies are always free to develop other products based on technology developed in collaboration with the government,” she said in a statement to ProPublica. “This approach often reduces development costs and ensures the product the government needs is available for many years.”
Just last month, HHS gave a very different impression to Congress, hailing the Trilogy Evo it funded as a breakthrough in its campaign for pandemic preparedness.
“This game-changing device, considered a pipedream just a few years ago, is now available at affordable prices to improve stockpiling and deployment” in an emergency, the agency told Congress in a budget document delivered on Feb 10.
But less than two weeks later, officials overseeing the Strategic National Stockpile approached Philips with an urgent appeal: Start making our ventilators. On March 10, Philips agreed to a modification of the HHS contract — one that called for the company to produce the Trilogy Evo Universal “as soon as possible,” a spokesperson said.
However, in a subsequent statement, the HHS spokeswoman said Philips is only required to deliver the ventilators “as they are completed.” Klink, the company spokesman, said Philips was only committed to meeting the original contract deadline of 10,000 ventilators by September 2022.
Had government officials insisted that Philips first produce the ventilators that taxpayers paid to design, the government could conceivably be distributing all 10,000 to hospitals now. Last year, Philips plants in Pennsylvania and California produced 500 ventilators of various models per week; they sped up to 1,000 per week earlier this year, Klink said. At that pace, the stockpile ventilators could have been completed even if Philips devoted only part of its lines to their production.
Klink said the reason the company is not producing the stockpile ventilator is because it has not yet been mass-produced and would require time-consuming trial runs. In the current crisis, it’s faster and more efficient to continue producing the versions it is already making, he said.
Asked if Philips could hand over its Trilogy Evo Universal design to another manufacturer, he argued that the fundamental constraint on production is not the company’s assembly lines but its dependence on more than 100 smaller companies around the world that make the 650 parts needed for a hospital ventilator.
“We cannot sell a ventilator with only 649 parts,” he said. “It needs to be the whole 650.”
It is difficult to assess how much profit motives might be driving Philips’ decisions about which ventilators to produce because the company does not disclose how much it charges different clients for commercial models.
Jeff Marshall, a senior marketing manager at Philips Respironics, demonstrates the commercial version of the Trilogy Evo in a HomeCare Magazine video filmed last year. (Obtained by ProPublica via YouTube)
The commercial version of the Trilogy Evo has had its own problems. Not long after it began selling the ventilators last summer, Philips sent out recall notices to customers in Europe and the U.S., alerting them to a software glitch that prompted the devices to shut down without sounding their alarm. The software has since been updated and the problem solved, the company said.
Klink said Philips hopes to be making 4,000 ventilators of all types each week in the U.S. by October, and that it would prioritize “those communities and countries that need it the most.”
But as the pandemic spreads, desperate global demand for the commercial models of the Trilogy Evo is driving up prices sharply, and evidence from the chaotic open market for the devices raises questions about Philips’ stated commitment to prioritize the neediest.
On Staten Island, a saleswoman at No Insurance Medical Supplies, who would give her name only as Jeanette, said the company was selling to “anyone who calls,” including doctors and individuals. The company’s first shipment of 50 devices sold out quickly, but an additional five ventilators arrived on Friday. The company requested 148 more, but Philips Respironics said it could only provide 11 ventilators by April 6, she said. The company’s prices are determined by what the manufacturer charges, she said.
The competition abroad is also intense. On March 12, the regional government of Madrid, one of the cities hardest hit by the virus, bought 10 Trilogy Evo ventilators from a Spanish medical supply company for about $11,000 each. In Budapest, Hungary, the Uzsoki Street Hospital announced that a local property development company had donated two “ultra-modern” Philips Trilogy Evo ventilators on March 18.
The struggle has grown so fierce that last week, a trade group representing ventilator manufacturers asked the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to decide for the manufacturers whom they should sell to first.
Read More Here’s Why Florida Got All the Emergency Medical Supplies It Requested While Other States Did Not The Department of Health and Human Services has come under fire as several states’ requests for supplies from the emergency medical stockpile go unfulfilled. A chaotic distribution plan is buckling under a big problem: Nobody has enough.
“We would appreciate the Administration’s leadership and the advice of clinical and other experts within the Administration in deciding how to allocate these products in the most effective way,” the Advanced Medical Technology Association wrote in a letter to FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor.
Medical experts and public health officials have believed for nearly two decades that they needed a less-expensive and simpler-to-operate portable ventilator that could be made and distributed quickly in an emergency.
“This is not a new problem,” said W. Craig Vanderwagen, a former senior HHS official who oversaw studies that led to the government’s early efforts to design and build a low-cost portable ventilator for such eventualities. “We knew back in the 2000s that ventilators were going to be critical in pandemic preparedness. That was a clear gap that we identified.”
In the early 2000s, American public health experts and government officials were gripped by a sense of urgency they had not felt before. The 9/11 attacks and the anthrax scare that followed underscored the need for sweeping new actions to keep the country safe. Outbreaks of Avian influenza — first reported in Hong Kong in 1997 — exposed the public health system’s vulnerability to new, highly fatal pathogens from overseas. The George W. Bush administration’s disastrously slow and inept response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 prompted widespread calls for the government to strengthen its ability to deal with a growing array of emergencies, from new, highly contagious diseases to previously unthinkable terrorist attacks.
One obvious vulnerability was to a viral pandemic or a chemical or biological attack that would ravage the lungs of its victims, setting off a cascade of cases of what doctors call Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, or ARDS.
“None of us expected an event on the scale of what we’re going through now,” said Dr. Lewis Rubinson, a pulmonologist who participated in several of the early government-sponsored medical studies. “We had to guess: What would the patients look like? What we predicted correctly was that we could face massive cases of ARDS.”
By the early 2000s, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had already begun working to stockpile a few thousand ventilators for such an eventuality, former officials said. But studies by medical experts and government scientists — including sophisticated models of what might occur in the event of various disasters, outbreaks or attacks — suggested a bigger problem. Hospitals could be crippled not only by shortages of complex and costly ventilators, but also by a lack of the trained respiratory technicians who are generally required to operate the machines.
The experts envisioned one important solution: a portable ventilator that was less complex than hospital machines and could be more quickly produced, safely stockpiled and widely distributed in emergencies. They envisioned a device that could be deployed in field hospitals like the ones that authorities are now rushing to create in Central Park and elsewhere.
Volunteers set up a field hospital in New York’s Central Park on Monday. Portable ventilators, like the Trilogy Evo Universal, would have been especially useful for field hospitals, medical experts said. (Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images)
The job of bringing such a device to life fell to BARDA, an innovative office of HHS that was established in 2006 to help the country prepare for pandemic influenza, new types of infectious diseases or an attack or accident involving chemical, biological or radiological weapons.
Much of BARDA’s work has been focused on developing potentially critical vaccines and other medicines that are not necessarily profitable for big pharmaceutical companies. The agency often works with medical researchers at the National Institutes of Health and elsewhere, identifying promising therapies and other innovations, and then forms partnerships with private biotechnology or other companies to create the drugs and move them through various stages of regulation.
In 2008, BARDA began trying to find a company that could make a ventilator that would be inexpensive — ideally, less than $2,000 each — and could be simple enough to use that “inexperienced health care providers with limited or no respiratory support training” could operate the devices during a pandemic, according to the agency’s solicitation for bids.
BARDA also anticipated the shortage of parts and competing priorities that the ventilator industry now faces. Companies bidding for the contract had to show they could secure the parts needed to “ramp up production to supply at least” 1,700 ventilators per month and 10,000 in six months’ time. The companies also had to pledge that government “contracts will be honored during a pandemic,” the initial solicitation said.
With only a couple of bids, BARDA settled on a small, privately held ventilator company in Costa Mesa, California, Newport Medical Instruments Inc. BARDA and Newport signed a $6.4 million contract in September 2010, specifying that the money would be doled out incrementally as the company met various milestones.
But in May 2012, Newport was purchased by a larger Irish medical device company, Covidien, for $108 million. Covidien quickly downsized and asked Rick Crawford, Newport’s former head of research and development and the lead designer of the BARDA ventilator, to finish up the project without any staff assigned to him. Crawford said he took a job with another company.
“I don’t know how you finish a project when nobody reports to you,” he recalled thinking.
A former BARDA official who worked on the project said that Covidien began raising issue after issue and demanded more money. BARDA agreed, eventually tacking on almost $2 million more to the price tag, records show. Even so, Covidien abandoned the project.
A spokesman for the still-larger firm that acquired Covidien in 2015, Medtronic, said that the prototype ventilator created by Newport Medical “would not have been able to meet the specifications required by the government, nor at the price required.” In a statement responding to a story in The New York Times, Medtronic said it left the federal government with all the designs and equipment created in the project.
Several former BARDA officials said such outcomes come with their territory. Like big pharmaceutical companies, they had to take chances, especially in the development of vaccines.
Read More A Medical Worker Describes Terrifying Lung Failure From COVID-19 — Even in His Young Patients “It first struck me how different it was when I saw my first coronavirus patient go bad. I was like, Holy shit, this is not the flu. Watching this relatively young guy, gasping for air, pink frothy secretions coming out of his tube.”
“There are going to be risks like that when you partner with businesses,” said one former senior BARDA official, who, like others, asked for anonymity because she was not authorized to speak for the agency. “It’s a problem that we at BARDA had encountered before, where a company changed hands and changed priorities.”
In March 2016, less than two years after signing its ventilator contract with BARDA, Philips Respironics agreed to pay $34.8 million to settle a Justice Department lawsuit under the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute. Justice lawyers accused the manufacturer of effectively paying kickbacks to medical suppliers to buy its masks for sleep apnea. The company also agreed to abide by a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement with HHS inspector general that imposed a series of oversight measures on the company’s operations.
With BARDA’s continuing support, Philips finally won FDA approval for the Trilogy Evo Universal ventilator in July 2019. Klink, the Philips spokesman, said the $13.8 million from HHS covered only a portion of the design and development costs for the ventilator and that the company invested more.
Rubinson, now the chief medical officer of Morristown Medical Center in Morristown, New Jersey, praised the BARDA effort as essential, adding that if 10,000 ventilators seems like a small number in the COVID-19 crisis, it had to be understood in the context of government officials’ typical unwillingness to buy equipment it might only need in an emergency.
“They could have bought a million ventilators,” he said. “And then you would be writing about the boondoggle of all these devices that never got used.”
Today, the government’s failure to obtain the Trilogy Evo Universal is seen by some experts as the real game changer.
“Even if a few months ago we had taken dramatic action to develop these kinds of ventilators, it would have been better,” said Hick, the emergency medicine specialist in Minnesota. “If I had a ventilator that cost $4,000 rather than $16,000, I’d be in better shape. We can buy a lot more of them.”
Claire Perlman contributed reporting.
Help Us Continue Reporting on COVID-19 Are you a public health worker or front-line medical provider? Do you work for or with a government agency involved in the effort to protect the public? Have you or your family personally been affected? Show us what we should be covering or serve as an expert to make sure we’re on track. This form requires JavaScript to complete. Powered by CityBase.


crooksandliars--2020-04-03--Trump Puts His Idiot Son-In-Law In Charge Of COVID Response

Jared Kushner Is Going to Get Us All Killed Reporting on the White House ’ s herky-jerky coronavirus response , Vanity Fair ’ s Gabriel Sherman has a quotation from Jared Kushner that should make all Americans , and particularly all New Yorkers , dizzy with terror .
According to Sherman , when New York ’ s governor , Andrew Cuomo , said that the state would need 30,000 ventilators at the apex of the coronavirus outbreak , Kushner decided that Cuomo was being alarmist .
“ I have all this data about I.C.U .
capacity , ” Kushner reportedly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my own projections , and I ’ ve gotten a lot smarter about this .
New York doesn ’ t need all the ventilators.
” ( Dr. Anthony Fauci , the country ’ s top expert on infectious diseases , has said he trusts Cuomo ’ s estimate . )
Even now , it ’ s hard to believe that someone with as little expertise as Kushner could be so arrogant , but he said something similar on Thursday , when he made his debut at the White House ’ s daily coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for different products and supplies , a lot of them are doing it based on projections which are not the realistic projections.
” And then there 's this : What does that even mean ?
Apart from residents of D.C. and various territories , all Americans live in states .
So who is the stockpiled equipment for ?
We know that even now , facing a six-figure and possibly seven-figure death toll , the president cares about how he looks , not how good a job he 's doing .
Which is why @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this over to Jared .
Americans do n't like Jared .
That was obvious as far back as 2017 .
By 2018 , his numbers in an Economist/YouGov poll were even worse .
By March 2019 , his favorable rating had risen to 27 % in a YouGov poll , but his unfavorable rating was up to 45 % , including 32 % `` very unfavorable , '' which exceeded his `` very favorable '' ( 12 % ) and `` somewhat favorable '' ( 15 % ) numbers combined .
And then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from a firm called E-Poll Market Research .
A 2019 report said it was n't good .
So why does Trump put Jared in charge of , well , practically everything ?
I can only guess that it 's because Jared is a stupid person 's idea of a smart person , the stupid person being the president .
Unlike Trump , who does n't read and therefore does n't know anything ( but who seems to pride himself on `` street smarts , '' or something like that ) , Jared looks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ preppy .
He clearly believes he 's capable of mastering any subject .
To Trump , he must seem like the Professor on Gilligan 's Island -- an expert on everything .
I also suspect -- I have to tread carefully here -- that Trump believes Jared is smart because Jared is Jewish .
I 'm basing this on a years of exposure to white bigots from the urban Northeast -- among their prejudices , as a rule , is a belief that all Jews are smart .
Recall what John O'Donnell , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , told us Trump said about African-Americans who worked for the Trump Organization as accountants : Jared is tall , but I do n't think height is the key factor .
Trump 's M.O .
is to delegate all the hard stuff to uncharismatic people who do n't seem to mind sweating details .
In Jared , he seems to have someone who 's eager to sweat details -- of everything .
But Trump ca n't judge competence , especially in running the country , which he knows even less about than he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stuck with Jared , and we 're all gon na die .
Until we do , though , Democrats should focus America 's attention on Jared .
I know that many voters tie themselves in knots trying to persuade themselves that the thrice-married , porn-star-shtupping , pussy-grabbing president is a great Christian , that his billionaire status does n't prevent him from being the salt of the earth , that he 's a good ol ' boy even though he was until recently a lifelong New Yorker .
But Jared ?
The right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conservative voters find a way to tell themselves that Jared is down to earth and one of them ?
Trump at least talks like Archie Bunker -- I 'm convinced that he 'd never have won GOP voters ' favor without that Queens accent , which always reads as non-posh .
Jared does n't have that .
Jared does n't come off in any way as ordinary .
While we 're still ( barely ) breathing , ca n't we make him a liability for Trump ?
Posted with permission from No More @ @ @

Michelle Goldberg is right.
Jared Kushner Is Going to Get Us All Killed Reporting on the White House’s herky-jerky coronavirus response, Vanity Fair’s Gabriel Sherman has a quotation from Jared Kushner that should make all Americans, and particularly all New Yorkers, dizzy with terror. According to Sherman, when New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, said that the state would need 30,000 ventilators at the apex of the coronavirus outbreak, Kushner decided that Cuomo was being alarmist. “I have all this data about I.C.U. capacity,” Kushner reportedly said. “I’m doing my own projections, and I’ve gotten a lot smarter about this. New York doesn’t need all the ventilators.” (Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top expert on infectious diseases, has said he trusts Cuomo’s estimate.) Even now, it’s hard to believe that someone with as little expertise as Kushner could be so arrogant, but he said something similar on Thursday, when he made his debut at the White House’s daily coronavirus briefing: “People who have requests for different products and supplies, a lot of them are doing it based on projections which are not the realistic projections.”
And then there's this:
JARED KUSHNER: "The notion of the federal stockpile was it's supposed to be our stockpile. It's not supposed to be states stockpiles that they then use." pic.twitter.com/9Q7j8QBCMv — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 2, 2020
What does that even mean? Apart from residents of D.C. and various territories, all Americans live in states. So who is the stockpiled equipment for?
We know that even now, facing a six-figure and possibly seven-figure death toll, the president cares about how he looks, not how good a job he's doing. Which is why I'm puzzled that he's turned this over to Jared.
Americans don't like Jared. That was obvious as far back as 2017.
The husband of Ivanka Trump is viewed favorably by just 22 percent of American voters, with 36 percent having an unfavorable opinion, according to a Politico/Morning Consult poll....
By 2018, his numbers in an Economist/YouGov poll were even worse.
... Kushner had a favorability rating of 25 percent in January 2017, compared with 29 percent who looked at him in a negative light. Since then, not only has the percentage of those viewing him favorably seen a modest drop, to 22 percent, but his unfavorability percentage now stands at a massive 42 percent.
By March 2019, his favorable rating had risen to 27% in a YouGov poll, but his unfavorable rating was up to 45%, including 32% "very unfavorable," which exceeded his "very favorable" (12%) and "somewhat favorable" (15%) numbers combined.
And then there was Kushner's "E-Score" from a firm called E-Poll Market Research. A 2019 report said it wasn't good.
... Mr. Kushner['s] overall strong positive appeal was 6 percent and ... overall strong negative appeal was 36 percent.... Mr. Kushner scored highest for the attributes of “insincere” (29 percent), “creepy” (27 percent) and “overexposed” (22 percent). He was lowest in terms of “exciting,” “glamorous” and “emotional,” rating 1 percent in those categories.
So why does Trump put Jared in charge of, well, practically everything? I can only guess that it's because Jared is a stupid person's idea of a smart person, the stupid person being the president. Unlike Trump, who doesn't read and therefore doesn't know anything (but who seems to pride himself on "street smarts," or something like that), Jared looks and talks like a well-read Ivy League preppy. He clearly believes he's capable of mastering any subject. To Trump, he must seem like the Professor on Gilligan's Island -- an expert on everything.
I also suspect -- I have to tread carefully here -- that Trump believes Jared is smart because Jared is Jewish. I'm basing this on a years of exposure to white bigots from the urban Northeast -- among their prejudices, as a rule, is a belief that all Jews are smart. Recall what John O'Donnell, who used to run a Trump casino, told us Trump said about African-Americans who worked for the Trump Organization as accountants:
And isn’t it funny, I’ve got black accountants at Trump Castle and at Trump Plaza. Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day. Those are the kind of people I want counting my money. Nobody else.
Jared is tall, but I don't think height is the key factor.
Trump's M.O. is to delegate all the hard stuff to uncharismatic people who don't seem to mind sweating details. In Jared, he seems to have someone who's eager to sweat details -- of everything. But Trump can't judge competence, especially in running the country, which he knows even less about than he knows about business. So we're stuck with Jared, and we're all gonna die.
Until we do, though, Democrats should focus America's attention on Jared. I know that many voters tie themselves in knots trying to persuade themselves that the thrice-married, porn-star-shtupping, pussy-grabbing president is a great Christian, that his billionaire status doesn't prevent him from being the salt of the earth, that he's a good ol' boy even though he was until recently a lifelong New Yorker. But Jared? The right hates "elitists" -- can even conservative voters find a way to tell themselves that Jared is down to earth and one of them? Trump at least talks like Archie Bunker -- I'm convinced that he'd never have won GOP voters' favor without that Queens accent, which always reads as non-posh. Jared doesn't have that. Jared doesn't come off in any way as ordinary. While we're still (barely) breathing, can't we make him a liability for Trump?
Posted with permission from No More Mr. Nice Blog


crooksandliars--2020-04-10--Friday News Dump: Americans Flood Neighborhood Food Banks, And Other News

If we had competent leadership , someone would not only be getting food to the people who need it , they 'd tell the public about everything they 're doing to protect the food-to-table supply chain -- but of course , we do n't have competent leadership , and there 's probably not even a plan .
That 's why we have such extremes , with some people hoarding , and other people lining up at food banks : Our nation ’ s food banks are being struck by shortages of both donated food and volunteer workers .
We must @ @ @ @ @ @ @ banks deliver food to those who need it the most .
Thank you @ TAFoodBank for all of the great work that you do .
pic.twitter.com/egy7nSnflN Farmers are dumping food they usually sell to restaurants .
Meanwhile , food banks are struggling to feed the spike in people who ca n't afford groceries .
This is what we get with an economy that is organized around capital rather than around human needs .
https : //t.co/wggOVlwKca In the U.S. , demand for food assistance is rising at an unprecedented rate , just as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of both donated food and volunteer workers https : //t.co/x7Efv8bD0u Thousands upon thousands of people have been lining up in their cars at food banks across the United States this week , literally waiting hours to receive food aid .
pic.twitter.com/URIFc6EsI8 We are calling upon our fellow Texans to fill volunteer shifts at our foodbanks .
Join me in making calls this Saturday during our virtual phone bank .
We need you !
https : //t.co/tzLM7gCqPg pic.twitter.com/FjitqrD2l5 Toronto Public Library branches are turning into food banks , as the need skyrockets during the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it 's been like for library staff to transform their branches .
pic.twitter.com/pmKCvsRuIi I ’ m getting a lot of comments to this about how farmers should donate this food .
Please read the story — they are donating a lot !
But perishable produce requires different storage and transportation than many food banks have in place .
https : //t.co/r58Jz3EePu I spoke with the Postmaster General again today .
She could not have been more clear : The Postal Service will collapse without urgent intervention , and it will happen soon .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ House to help .
@ realDonaldTrump personally directed his staff not to do so .
https : //t.co/5wPQvbA951 It might not be until fall 2021 that Americans “ can be completely safe ” from COVID-19 , Bill Gates said in a Tuesday interview with Judy Woodruff on PBS Newshour.https : //t.co/sEWNfZQoDm '' The news agency found that not a single shipment of medical-grade N95 masks arrived at U.S. ports during the month of March .
The federal gov't was not only disorganized ; it was absent .
Federal agencies waited until mid-March to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : //t.co/Yak8A18Z4F and each one of these people should sue the pants off the state GOP https : //t.co/1HhlwJRSt1 via @ journalsentinel A new simulation by Finnish researchers showing how far viruses spread when a single person coughs is a startling reminder of why we should do our best to # StayHome https : //t.co/NqVUNGjzER What about the teachers , janitors , administrators and parents ?
How did someone so stupid become the governor of Florida ?
Serious question .
https : //t.co/y65FXavrCc See this from @ askdrfitz .
People of color & @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And you must follow @ askdrfitz .
She ’ s incredible.https : //t.co/mdkCkkHsrG The Freelance Mutual Aid Circle , organized by @ HelloTrupo , is a new community resource to find and share opportunities especially for freelancers .
Check it out : https : //t.co/auPcUhPUgM Feds : Oh , You Wanted Us To NOT SHUT DOWN TESTING SITES ?
Well If You Feel So Strongly About Ithttps : //t.co/04lofXDV2A by @ DoktorZoom At the same time , there is a renewed push to get people out of prisons & jails quickly .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ announced his office is recommending 141 people in min security prisons , who are w/in 90 days or less from release , be released by end of week https : //t.co/LLUHhy0H06 Fuckers .
NE `` allows counties of less than 10K people to mail ballots to all voters ( many of them Republicans ) but forbids it in large urban areas ( where many voters are Dems ) .
Texas allows no-excuse absentee voting for people 65 or older , another group that skews Republican . ''
All of the `` good news @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was the deadliest day yet -- is based on the assumption that we continue the physical distancing that has led to less transmission .
If we stop physical distancing , we could be courting calamity .
https : //t.co/L9FjyYQhnm The mass graves now being filled , three coffins deep , because the Trump administration failed to act early enough or effectively .
This should be on the network news , all the time .
https : //t.co/UoFEAtsM5K pic.twitter.com/XzNpjt6Anu Russia is delivering `` aid '' to Italy huh ?
Now they are going after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intel mission .
Last mth I said Putin was furthering his goals of propaganda/breaking up EU Now we need to find out about Putin 's `` aid '' plane to US https : //t.co/GNC2EBHM1Y My 3-year-old nephew is the friendliest toddler you 'd ever wish to meet , and always says hello to all the people he walks past .
On his daily walk today , though , he had to pretend ... 🤣 Hope this brightens up your day !
pic.twitter.com/C4lSyYU2eb Every Friday on the farm we host a mothers and toddlers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for friends to catch up and discuss issues such as cheating husbands , holes in fences and what a knob the collie dog is It 's Edna 's ( No .
46 ) turn to bring the snacks pic.twitter.com/JxiABMFuvz That 's all for today .
Have a wonderful weekend !

If we had competent leadership, someone would not only be getting food to the people who need it, they'd tell the public about everything they're doing to protect the food-to-table supply chain -- but of course, we don't have competent leadership, and there's probably not even a plan. That's why we have such extremes, with some people hoarding, and other people lining up at food banks:
Our nation’s food banks are being struck by shortages of both donated food and volunteer workers. We must do our part and help our food banks deliver food to those who need it the most. Thank you @TAFoodBank for all of the great work that you do. pic.twitter.com/egy7nSnflN — Kim Olson Col. USAF ret. (@KimOlsonTx) April 9, 2020
Farmers are dumping food they usually sell to restaurants. Meanwhile, food banks are struggling to feed the spike in people who can't afford groceries.
This is what we get with an economy that is organized around capital rather than around human needs. https://t.co/wggOVlwKca — Jason Hickel (@jasonhickel) April 6, 2020
In the U.S., demand for food assistance is rising at an unprecedented rate, just as food banks are being struck by shortages of both donated food and volunteer workers https://t.co/x7Efv8bD0u — The New York Times (@nytimes) April 8, 2020
Thousands upon thousands of people have been lining up in their cars at food banks across the United States this week, literally waiting hours to receive food aid. pic.twitter.com/URIFc6EsI8 — redfish (@redfishstream) April 9, 2020
We are calling upon our fellow Texans to fill volunteer shifts at our foodbanks. Join me in making calls this Saturday during our virtual phone bank. We need you! https://t.co/tzLM7gCqPg pic.twitter.com/FjitqrD2l5 — Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) April 10, 2020
Toronto Public Library branches are turning into food banks, as the need skyrockets during the pandemic. @Tal_Ricci shows us what it's been like for library staff to transform their branches. pic.twitter.com/pmKCvsRuIi — CBC Toronto (@CBCToronto) April 9, 2020
I’m getting a lot of comments to this about how farmers should donate this food. Please read the story — they are donating a lot! But perishable produce requires different storage and transportation than many food banks have in place. https://t.co/r58Jz3EePu — Susie Cagle (@susie_c) April 10, 2020
******
I spoke with the Postmaster General again today. She could not have been more clear:
The Postal Service will collapse without urgent intervention, and it will happen soon.
We’ve pleaded with the White House to help. @realDonaldTrump personally directed his staff not to do so. https://t.co/5wPQvbA951 — Rep. Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) April 9, 2020
It might not be until fall 2021 that Americans “can be completely safe” from COVID-19, Bill Gates said in a Tuesday interview with Judy Woodruff on PBS Newshour.https://t.co/sEWNfZQoDm — Kimberley Johnson (@AuthorKimberley) April 10, 2020
"The news agency found that not a single shipment of medical-grade N95 masks arrived at U.S. ports during the month of March. The federal gov't was not only disorganized; it was absent. Federal agencies waited until mid-March to begin placing bulk orders." https://t.co/Yak8A18Z4F — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 10, 2020
and each one of these people should sue the pants off the state GOP https://t.co/1HhlwJRSt1 via @journalsentinel — Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) April 10, 2020
A new simulation by Finnish researchers showing how far viruses spread when a single person coughs is a startling reminder of why we should do our best to #StayHome https://t.co/NqVUNGjzER — The National (@TheNationalUAE) April 10, 2020
What about the teachers, janitors, administrators and parents? How did someone so stupid become the governor of Florida? Serious question. https://t.co/y65FXavrCc — Jennifer Hayden (@Scout_Finch) April 10, 2020
The world is quieting. https://t.co/lwEq9rNs38 — Seyward Darby (@seywarddarby) April 10, 2020
Rep Katie Porter found out why our country doesn’t have enough ventilators, masks & PPEs, hand sanitizers- listen to this pic.twitter.com/1AubORgaLD — Mia Farrow (@MiaFarrow) April 9, 2020
My latest piece for @newrepublic analyzes the raging medical controversy over when to put coronavirus patients on ventilators: https://t.co/L3JwhP2XJI — Lindsay Beyerstein (@beyerstein) April 10, 2020
See this from @askdrfitz. People of color & people living in poverty are disproportionately hurting.
And you must follow @askdrfitz. She’s incredible.https://t.co/mdkCkkHsrG — Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@ASlavitt) April 10, 2020
The Freelance Mutual Aid Circle, organized by @HelloTrupo, is a new community resource to find and share opportunities especially for freelancers. Check it out: https://t.co/auPcUhPUgM — Freelancers Union (@freelancersu) April 10, 2020
Feds: Oh, You Wanted Us To NOT SHUT DOWN TESTING SITES? Well If You Feel So Strongly About Ithttps://t.co/04lofXDV2A by @DoktorZoom — Wonkette (@Wonkette) April 10, 2020
At the same time, there is a renewed push to get people out of prisons & jails quickly. Ex: Ohio's Gov. DeWine announced his office is recommending 141 people in min security prisons, who are w/in 90 days or less from release, be released by end of week https://t.co/LLUHhy0H06 — Lauren-Brooke (L.B.) Eisen (@lbeisen) April 9, 2020
Fuckers.
NE "allows counties of less than 10K people to mail ballots to all voters (many of them Republicans) but forbids it in large urban areas (where many voters are Dems). Texas allows no-excuse absentee voting for people 65 or older, another group that skews Republican." — Joshua Holland 🔥 (@JoshuaHol) April 10, 2020
All of the "good news" -- keeping in mind that yesterday was the deadliest day yet -- is based on the assumption that we continue the physical distancing that has led to less transmission.
If we stop physical distancing, we could be courting calamity. https://t.co/L9FjyYQhnm — Matt Rogers (@Politidope) April 10, 2020
The mass graves now being filled, three coffins deep, because the Trump administration failed to act early enough or effectively.
This should be on the network news, all the time. https://t.co/UoFEAtsM5K pic.twitter.com/XzNpjt6Anu — Peter Gleick (@PeterGleick) April 10, 2020
News: MGM Ordered to Deliver Unaired 'Apprentice' Footage in Marketing Scam Lawsuit Against Trumps https://t.co/3H58upygGN — Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) April 9, 2020
Russia is delivering "aid" to Italy huh? Now they are going after Italian journalists who confirmed it was an intel mission. Last mth I said Putin was furthering his goals of propaganda/breaking up EU
Now we need to find out about Putin's "aid" plane to US https://t.co/GNC2EBHM1Y — Olga Lautman (@olgaNYC1211) April 9, 2020
DEPT. OF SMILES
https://twitter.com/mhdksafa/status/1248518077878329344
Boy Scout 3-D prints over 1,200 'ear guards' to help healthcare workers suffering from face mask pain.https://t.co/dtOn1jskHc pic.twitter.com/StJ8pnt3MQ — Upworthy (@Upworthy) April 6, 2020
Dandelion leaf treats for our little Guinea pigs. pic.twitter.com/7j8SwMo30h — Surrey Docks Farm (@surreydocksfarm) April 8, 2020
Soul-soothing Patrick Stewart has started reciting Shakespeare's sonnets and people are swooning.https://t.co/NX9m6UXF79 pic.twitter.com/EkzxvLesC6 — Upworthy (@Upworthy) April 7, 2020
Miami zoo announces birth of clouded leopard kittens with adorable photos https://t.co/zGlUI6wLI0 pic.twitter.com/Q4OVQvJeBZ — CBS News (@CBSNews) April 10, 2020
John Krasinski gathered the original Hamilton cast on Zoom to surprise a young fan.https://t.co/5EV1tka6hj pic.twitter.com/fjg10pTZDo — Upworthy (@Upworthy) April 6, 2020
My 3-year-old nephew is the friendliest toddler you'd ever wish to meet, and always says hello to all the people he walks past.
On his daily walk today, though, he had to pretend... 🤣
Hope this brightens up your day! pic.twitter.com/C4lSyYU2eb — Toby Marriott (@tobymarriott) April 3, 2020
Every Friday on the farm we host a mothers and toddlers coffee morning. It's a chance for friends to catch up and discuss issues such as cheating husbands, holes in fences and what a knob the collie dog is
It's Edna's (No. 46) turn to bring the snacks pic.twitter.com/JxiABMFuvz — Jim Smith (@standupfarmer) April 10, 2020
Do ailurophiles know the cautious cattitude of your kittens? #CatsOfTwitter pic.twitter.com/grL8I22gTV — People's Daily, China (@PDChina) April 10, 2020
Baby elephant sneezes and scares himself. pic.twitter.com/5awNpjKSw3 — Nature & Animals 🌴 (@AnimalsWorId) March 27, 2020
One way to play fetch and while keeping your toddler contained pic.twitter.com/d8h8JGtlC0 — Welcome To Nature (@welcomet0nature) April 6, 2020
That's all for today. Have a wonderful weekend!


crooksandliars--2020-03-27--The U.S. Is Not Testing Enough To Know The Progress Of The Virus

In the early days of computers , there was a game known as “ Hunt the Wumpus.
” The game , which was well-suited to computers that had far less memory than a modern calculator and whose display might have been nothing more than a paper print out , was very simple : You are trapped in a maze .
Somewhere in the maze with you is a monster known as “ the Wumpus.
” To win you try to locate the Wumpus , identifying its location by carefully probing around the maze , using where the Wumpus isn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Millions of children around the world have had a similar experience with the game “ Battleship , ” in which they try to suss out the hidden contours of an enemy fleet .
Every blue “ miss ” is , in its way , as valuable as a “ hit.
” When it comes to COVID-19 , the same game is underway right now , only it ’ s not plastic pegs or computer coordinates searching out the enemy , it ’ s nasal swabs and test kits .
And it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s human lives—large numbers of human lives .
Which makes it so horrible to watch how this is being handled .
Every day since the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic , there seems to have been an onslaught of numbers .
Cases in China , cases in South Korea , cases in Italy , deaths around the world .
For those who have reported on the virus , keeping up with the daily announcements from affected countries has swiftly become impossible .
This has meant they must depend on daily situation reports @ @ @ @ @ @ @ news sites like BNO News and tabulating pages such as Worldometer to find the most recent numbers when it comes to the progress of the fight against COVID-19 in nations around the world .
There are some countries that provide fantastically detailed and transparent reports ; Singapore , for example , has a marvelously detailed dashboard that goes right down to each individual case .
It ’ s possible to see where the cases are located , the loads on various hospitals , the age and sex of victims—just about everything you might @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gets you to the Ministry of Health , where information almost as detailed is available about the extensive and ongoing testing program that has helped keep the level of COVID-19 in Singapore at just 401 active cases despite playing host to some of the first cases outside China .
Other countries , such as Iran , provide information , but it ’ s impossible to tell whether that information is more like disinformation .
The 27,000 cases and 2,200 deaths reported there now may be fairly accurate , but the information provided in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so clearly false that it ’ s difficult to tell for sure .
Then there ’ s the United States .
Or rather , there isn ’ t the United States .
There ’ s a page devoted to Coronavirus Disease 2019 statistics at the CDC , but this page is uniformly behind , rarely updated more than once a day , and—incredibly at this point—still not updated on weekends .
It features a particularly intriguing bit of information in giving the date that confirmed patients first reported symptoms .
Otherwise it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the embedded links are followed , anyone trying to get a glimpse of what ’ s happening in the United States has only one real choice—go to the individual states .
That ’ s what the people at the COVID Tracking Project have done .
They ’ ve sifted the information , state by state , in an attempt to learn exactly what ’ s happening at a state level .
The data at the state level within the United States varies at least as much as it does at the national level @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like Illinois or Kentucky that offer accurate , regularly updated information , including showing cases by county , the number of tests conducted , and the results of those tests .
There are also states like Missouri that offer pretty much nothing , forcing anyone who wants information to go down to the county level , or sift through local media to find any announcements .
The COVID Tracking Project gives Missouri a very generous “ C ” when scoring their site .
By any objective measure , it ’ s an absolute @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of many .
As The New York Times reported , the roll out of testing in the United States was an “ epic failure.
” Now Donald Trump is arguing that the U.S. has out-tested South Korea .
South Korea used 300,000 tests to “ hunt the virus ” in that country , tracking it down with a combination of targeted testing , public sampling , and a dogged system of case tracking , source identification , and isolation .
As Reuters reported on March 18 , South Korea “ trounced ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ testing .
It did so not just by getting a jump on the United States when it came to rolling out those tests , and not just by testing at a rate that is five times greater when compared to the size of the population .
It did so by understanding that the negatives are as valuable as the positives—that you hunt the Wumpus by knowing where it is not .
According to the COVID Tracking Project , the United States has now roughly equaled South Korea when it comes to the total @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states , there have now been 380,000 tests .
South Korea had tested at least 290,000 people a week ago .
But it ’ s not just that the population of South Korea is only 55 million compared to the 327 million in the United States .
There ’ s also this : Of the 290,000 tests deployed in South Korea , over 280,000 are negative .
That ’ s a ratio of over 30 negatives for every positive .
South Korea has not only identified and isolated the confirmed cases , it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ huge number of undetected cases lingering in its population .
At the same time , it continues to conduct public screenings , directed tests , and careful follow-ups .
Meanwhile in the United States , the ratio of negatives to positives is just 5:1 .
On a population basis , the United States has tested less than one fifth of the number that have been tested in South Korea .
On the basis of determining the real scale of the infection , it ’ s done about 1/30th of the necessary work .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the United States took so long to get started and flubbed its test rollout so badly .
And because , at this stage , new cases are popping up a rate that makes it clear we ’ re still discovering pools of unknown infection in the country .
And there are states like Maryland , where—so much as it ’ s possible to tell—four tests out of five have been positive .
On the scale where Missouri gets a C , Maryland gets a still-generous D in terms of the information it provides @ @ @ @ @ @ @ total number of tests recorded is only 624 , of which 255 were positive .
That ’ s not even hunting for the virus , that ’ s putting a hand over your eyes and hoping it goes away .
Still , it might be better than Ohio , where the 704 total tests including a staggering 564 positives .
Right now in the United States , it ’ s not possible to say where the virus is , much less where it isn ’ t .
And until both things are possible—a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tests—real action to suppress the virus in a way that doesn ’ t also require draconian measures isn ’ t possible .
Until recently , it wasn ’ t practical to include China on the chart with other nations because it so distorted the scale that it made it difficult to see what was going on elsewhere .
Sadly , that ’ s no longer true .
The curves in Europe and the United States make it clear that what ’ s happening in this third round of COVID-19 is fundamentally different than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And what ’ s happening in the United States is different than what is happening anywhere else—where “ different ” also means “ worse .
”

In the early days of computers, there was a game known as “Hunt the Wumpus.” The game, which was well-suited to computers that had far less memory than a modern calculator and whose display might have been nothing more than a paper print out, was very simple: You are trapped in a maze. Somewhere in the maze with you is a monster known as “the Wumpus.” To win you try to locate the Wumpus, identifying its location by carefully probing around the maze, using where the Wumpus isn’t to determine where it is. Millions of children around the world have had a similar experience with the game “Battleship,” in which they try to suss out the hidden contours of an enemy fleet. Every blue “miss” is, in its way, as valuable as a “hit.”
When it comes to COVID-19, the same game is underway right now, only it’s not plastic pegs or computer coordinates searching out the enemy, it’s nasal swabs and test kits. And it’s not bragging rights at stake, it’s human lives—large numbers of human lives. Which makes it so horrible to watch how this is being handled.
Every day since the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic, there seems to have been an onslaught of numbers. Cases in China, cases in South Korea, cases in Italy, deaths around the world. For those who have reported on the virus, keeping up with the daily announcements from affected countries has swiftly become impossible. This has meant they must depend on daily situation reports from the World Health Organization along with news sites like BNO News and tabulating pages such as Worldometer to find the most recent numbers when it comes to the progress of the fight against COVID-19 in nations around the world.
There are some countries that provide fantastically detailed and transparent reports; Singapore, for example, has a marvelously detailed dashboard that goes right down to each individual case. It’s possible to see where the cases are located, the loads on various hospitals, the age and sex of victims—just about everything you might want to see. And one click gets you to the Ministry of Health, where information almost as detailed is available about the extensive and ongoing testing program that has helped keep the level of COVID-19 in Singapore at just 401 active cases despite playing host to some of the first cases outside China.
Other countries, such as Iran, provide information, but it’s impossible to tell whether that information is more like disinformation. The 27,000 cases and 2,200 deaths reported there now may be fairly accurate, but the information provided in the first weeks of the epidemic was so clearly false that it’s difficult to tell for sure.
Then there’s the United States. Or rather, there isn’t the United States. There’s a page devoted to Coronavirus Disease 2019 statistics at the CDC, but this page is uniformly behind, rarely updated more than once a day, and—incredibly at this point—still not updated on weekends. It features a particularly intriguing bit of information in giving the date that confirmed patients first reported symptoms. Otherwise it’s so lacking that even if all the embedded links are followed, anyone trying to get a glimpse of what’s happening in the United States has only one real choice—go to the individual states.
That’s what the people at the COVID Tracking Project have done. They’ve sifted the information, state by state, in an attempt to learn exactly what’s happening at a state level.
The data at the state level within the United States varies at least as much as it does at the national level around the world. There are sites like Illinois or Kentucky that offer accurate, regularly updated information, including showing cases by county, the number of tests conducted, and the results of those tests. There are also states like Missouri that offer pretty much nothing, forcing anyone who wants information to go down to the county level, or sift through local media to find any announcements. The COVID Tracking Project gives Missouri a very generous “C” when scoring their site. By any objective measure, it’s an absolute failure, and it’s just one of many.
As The New York Times reported, the roll out of testing in the United States was an “epic failure.” Now Donald Trump is arguing that the U.S. has out-tested South Korea. South Korea used 300,000 tests to “hunt the virus” in that country, tracking it down with a combination of targeted testing, public sampling, and a dogged system of case tracking, source identification, and isolation. As Reuters reported on March 18, South Korea “trounced” the United States when it came to testing.
It did so not just by getting a jump on the United States when it came to rolling out those tests, and not just by testing at a rate that is five times greater when compared to the size of the population. It did so by understanding that the negatives are as valuable as the positives—that you hunt the Wumpus by knowing where it is not.
According to the COVID Tracking Project, the United States has now roughly equaled South Korea when it comes to the total number of tests. Across all the states, there have now been 380,000 tests. South Korea had tested at least 290,000 people a week ago. But it’s not just that the population of South Korea is only 55 million compared to the 327 million in the United States. There’s also this: Of the 290,000 tests deployed in South Korea, over 280,000 are negative. That’s a ratio of over 30 negatives for every positive.
South Korea has not only identified and isolated the confirmed cases, it also knows that there is not a huge number of undetected cases lingering in its population. At the same time, it continues to conduct public screenings, directed tests, and careful follow-ups.
Meanwhile in the United States, the ratio of negatives to positives is just 5:1. On a population basis, the United States has tested less than one fifth of the number that have been tested in South Korea. On the basis of determining the real scale of the infection, it’s done about 1/30th of the necessary work. That kind of number is necessary because the United States took so long to get started and flubbed its test rollout so badly. And because, at this stage, new cases are popping up a rate that makes it clear we’re still discovering pools of unknown infection in the country.
And there are states like Maryland, where—so much as it’s possible to tell—four tests out of five have been positive. On the scale where Missouri gets a C, Maryland gets a still-generous D in terms of the information it provides. And speaking of Missouri, the total number of tests recorded is only 624, of which 255 were positive. That’s not even hunting for the virus, that’s putting a hand over your eyes and hoping it goes away. Still, it might be better than Ohio, where the 704 total tests including a staggering 564 positives.
Right now in the United States, it’s not possible to say where the virus is, much less where it isn’t. And until both things are possible—a task that will now require millions of tests—real action to suppress the virus in a way that doesn’t also require draconian measures isn’t possible.
Until recently, it wasn’t practical to include China on the chart with other nations because it so distorted the scale that it made it difficult to see what was going on elsewhere. Sadly, that’s no longer true. The curves in Europe and the United States make it clear that what’s happening in this third round of COVID-19 is fundamentally different than events in either China or South Korea. And what’s happening in the United States is different than what is happening anywhere else—where “different” also means “worse.”
Published with permission from Daily Kos.