CDN/US Covid-related political discussion

[OceanBonfire]

Denmark blocks firms registered in tax-havens from state aid

Denmark has become one of the first countries to ban companies that are registered in tax havens from accessing financial aid during the coronavirus pandemic.

Additionally, firms applying for an extension of Danish state aid must now promise not to pay dividends or make share buy-backs in 2020 and 2021, it said.

Poland, one of Europe’s most vocal opponents of tax havens, was the first to restrict large firms’ access to state aid based on whether they pay taxes in Poland earlier in April.


https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-denmark/denmark-blocks-firms-registered-in-tax-havens-from-state-aid-idUSKBN2221V8

 

[Remius]

Wish they would do that here.

 

[brihard]

Wish they would do that here.

Something something every single cruise line.

 

[Kat Stevens]

Something something every single cruise line.

Something something every single cruise line. And every other shipping line in the world.

 

[brihard]

Something something every single cruise line. And every other shipping line in the world.

Yes, though the need to ship goods will show recovery well before the need or willingness to go on cruises. Between cruises and cargo shipping, I believe that only cruises face an existential threat.

And that's not to say that cruises would go away. If Royal Caribbean went defunct tomorrow, all of its ships and facilities would still exist and would be liquidated to pay creditors. Someone else would take over a substantial portion of the ships and operations and get them profitable again, perhaps under a more disaster-resilient business structure that trades acceptance of domestic tax burden for that government umbrella in the event of crisis- their investors might demand that.

Or they might now, and in 40 years this might happen again. *Shrug*. Business investment entails risk. It's entirely appropriate that governments will focus their bailouts in a targeted way to protect their own economies.

 

[Kat Stevens]

People being what they are, I think as soon as the bar is lifted the booking agents will be working overtime. Cruisers gonna cruise.

 

[Brad Sallows]

>Denmark blocks firms registered in tax-havens from state aid

Sounds fair at a glance.  Of course, if firms with Danish employees close out operations in Denmark, it's just more self-inflicted damage.

 

[OceanBonfire]

Virus misinformation flourishes in online protest groups

The coronavirus numbers are fake, some of the social media videos claim. “Social distancing is the new way to control you, your family and your behavior,” another commenter warns. Others say the pandemic is an overblown hoax.

The loose network of Facebook groups spurring protests of stay-at-home orders across the country have fast become a hotbed of misinformation, conspiracy theories and skepticism around the coronavirus pandemic. Launched in recent weeks by pro-gun advocacy groups and conservative activists, the pages are repositories of Americans’ suspicion and anxiety — often fueled by notions floated by television personalities or President Donald Trump himself and amplified by social media accounts.

There’s little basis in reality for many of the claims on the sites.

Facebook groups in Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania were launched by Ben Dorr and his brothers, who run pro-gun groups in several Midwestern states. The brothers have also registered several websites under the “Reopen” name that directs users to their pro-gun lobbying group and invites them to “donate” to the cause.

The Dorr brothers have spent years raising money off conservative causes like anti-abortion rights or gun rights, said Kurt Daudt, Minnesota’s Republican House minority leader. Daudt believes it’s a scam — saying he once watched them take a video outside the statehouse, claiming they were headed inside to lobby, but they left immediately after filming wrapped.

“They really try to take advantage of whatever issue people are passionate about at any given time and try to raise money for themselves,” Daudt said.


https://apnews.com/5862a9201c7b1bea62069a9c5e5fbb1c

How Trump allies have organized and promoted anti-lockdown protests

In Michigan, the organizers of last week’s rally against Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home order aimed at combating the coronavirus pandemic are involved in the Republican president’s re-election effort, a Reuters review of their profiles and interviews with them show.

In other swing states, such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and North Carolina, Republican lawmakers, party leaders and Trump allies encouraged their social media followers to join the protests, often organized by conservative activists and pro-gun- rights groups, and attended the events themselves.

A bipartisan majority of Americans - 88% of Democrats and 55% of Republicans - also want to continue to shelter in place despite the impact on the economy, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday.


https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-trump-protests/how-trump-allies-have-organized-and-promoted-anti-lockdown-protests-idUSKCN2233ES

 

[Jarnhamar]

Maybe the CAF should look at re-purposing some of those cruise line ships.

Transport ships
Hospital Ships
Command and Control ships (better leave the wet bar and pools in on those)
Basic training accommodations
Helicopter carriers.
Humanitarian relief or rescue.

 

[Spencer100]

Maybe the CAF should look at re-purposing some of those cruise line ships.

Transport ships
Hospital Ships
Command and Control ships (better leave the wet bar and pools in on those)
Basic training accommodations
Helicopter carriers.
Humanitarian relief or rescue.

I love the idea.  Most of them are too big. 

 

[daftandbarmy]

Maybe the CAF should look at re-purposing some of those cruise line ships.

Transport ships
Hospital Ships
Command and Control ships (better leave the wet bar and pools in on those)
Basic training accommodations
Helicopter carriers.
Humanitarian relief or rescue.

It would be a great opportunity for a richer career path for Navy Stewards...

 

[FJAG]

Director of key federal vaccine agency says his departure was retaliation

By Kaitlan Collins, Jeremy Diamond and Betsy Klein, CNN

Updated 6:17 PM ET, Wed April 22, 2020

(CNN)The director of the office involved in developing a coronavirus vaccine says he was abruptly dismissed from his post in part because he resisted efforts to widen the availability of a coronavirus treatment pushed by President Donald Trump.

Dr. Rick Bright had led BARDA, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, since 2016 until Tuesday, when was reassigned to a narrower position. He also announced he will file a whistleblower complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services' inspector general.

"I believe this transfer was in response to my insistence that the government invest the billions of dollars allocated by Congress to address the Covid-19 pandemic into safe and scientifically vetted solutions, and not in drugs, vaccines and other technologies that lack scientific merit," Bright said in a lengthy statement issued Wednesday. "I am speaking out because to combat this deadly virus, science -- not politics or cronyism -- has to lead the way."

...

Bright said he "limited the broad use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, promoted by the administration as a panacea, but which clearly lack scientific merit."

...

See rest here:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/22/politics/rick-bright-barda-trump-coronavirus/index.html

:cheers:

 

[dimsum]

It would be a great opportunity for a richer career path for Navy Stewards...

FFS they're still a trade?  :sarcasm:

 

[Blackadder1916]

Las Vegas Mayor Offers Up Her City's Residents As Covid-19 Guinea Pigs For Science
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/las-vegas-mayor-offers-up-her-citys-residencts-as-covid-19-guinea-pigs-for-science/

A little scientific knowledge is a dangerous thing if it convinces people they know more than they do. Perhaps that's the explanation for Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman's extraordinary offer of her citizens as a “control” to see how many people die if a major city abandons attempts to control the spread of Covid-19.

In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper that has since attracted widespread criticism, Goodman argued for re-opening businesses in Las Vegas, citing the need to get people back to work. She certainly isn't the first public official in America to make this case, particularly in a state that has so far avoided many deaths. There have been 163 total deaths confirmed in Nevada, 150 of them occurring in Las Vegas.

Cooper responded, ”But hasn’t it been because of social distancing that the numbers have been what they are?”

This is where Goodman came up with something really new, saying, “How do you know until we have a control group? We offered to be a control group.” Goodman started talking about the importance of control groups for vaccine testing before Cooper interrupted, “You’re offering for the citizens of Las Vegas to be a control group...?” At this point, Goodman confirmed, “I did offer, it was turned down.”

Goodman is right about one thing: the best science involves control groups. A lot of the studies claiming the effectiveness of various treatments for the disease are of limited value because they either didn't have one, or didn't select it randomly.

However, modern science values other things, including getting informed consent before you experiment on people, which Goodman doesn't seem to think important. Goodman herself believes she had Covid-19 in January, which if true might reduce her personal risk in such a scenario, making it even more inappropriate to put others' lives on the line.

Las Vegas itself has more than 600,000 residents. Goodman said the idea was rejected because the 2 million people living in the metropolitan area, many of whom work in the city, would affect the reliability of the study – probably the most tactful reason that could be offered.

It's true we don't know how bad this pandemic will get if isolation efforts are abandoned, but cities that put stay-at-home orders in place too late provide clear evidence of a minimum. Abandoning isolation efforts would definitely produce a much worse toll. Most people don't want to find out how much worse.

Goodman also dismissed the relevance of evidence Cooper presented from China on the way the virus spreads. If what we have learned from other cities isn't relevant for Las Vegas, it's not clear why the reverse wouldn't also be true, and thus an experiment in Las Vegas wouldn't be informative or useful elsewhere.

Goodman is in her third term as mayor, having succeeded her husband. An independent who has previously endorsed candidates from both parties, she was re-elected with 83.5 percent of a very low turnout vote. Her chief opponent in that race was Phil Collins (not the singer), 2020 presidential candidate for the Prohibition Party, an affiliation unlikely to be electorally advantageous in Las Vegas.

Term limits mean Goodman can't run again, so we may never know how her electors feel about her offer, but some ex-residents aren't happy.

Maybe the mayor thinks that her city's tagline, "What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas" also applies to viruses.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Las Vegas Mayor Offers Up Her City's Residents As Covid-19 Guinea Pigs For Science
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/las-vegas-mayor-offers-up-her-citys-residencts-as-covid-19-guinea-pigs-for-science/
Maybe the mayor thinks that her city's tagline, "What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas" also applies to viruses.

To be fair, Vegas is a city utterly dependent on Tourism, the fiscal impacts of this crisis on the city, industry and the people is going to be huge. One thing I seen about Vegas, is that they are very good at moving a huge amount of people in and out with minimal fuss and generally make people feel good enough about losing money to come back. If I wanted someone to come up with a semi-safe way to handle hundreds of thousands of people, I would ask the Vegas planners. 

 

[Remius]

Las Vegas Mayor Offers Up Her City's Residents As Covid-19 Guinea Pigs For Science
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/las-vegas-mayor-offers-up-her-citys-residencts-as-covid-19-guinea-pigs-for-science/
Maybe the mayor thinks that her city's tagline, "What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas" also applies to viruses.

I saw the interview on YouTube...wow...

 

[mariomike]

Maybe the mayor thinks that her city's tagline, "What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas" also applies to viruses.

Maybe not this time.

 

[Remius]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/23/us/atlanta-death-stay-at-home-trnd/index.html

So kid ignores stay at home order against parents will.  Looks like they locked him out after he went out, broke back in and the step dad shot him after an alteration. 

I wonder If the step father is going to try and plead self defence?

Crazies on both sides of this.

 

[PMedMoe]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/23/us/atlanta-death-stay-at-home-trnd/index.html

So kid ignores stay at home order against parents will.  Looks like they locked him out after he went out, broke back in and the step dad shot him after an alteration. 

I wonder If the step father is going to try and plead self defence?

Crazies on both sides of this.

You know damn well they'll blame the shelter in place order though.

 

[Remius]

You know damn well they'll blame the shelter in place order though.

Every side of this will find some way to exploit this story lol.  But yeah.

This happened in Georgia on top of it.