Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Celerity

Celerity's Journal
Celerity's Journal
April 21, 2020

The Cure - A Forest (Extended UltraTraxx Remix) + The Cure - Let's Go To Bed (Milk Mix)





Label:
Not On Label (The Cure) - none
Series:
The UltraTraxx remixes -
Format:
CD , compilation, unofficial release
Country:
Germany
Released:
2009
Genre:
Electronic , rock
Style:
New Wave , synth-pop



Label:
Polydor - PODP-6005
Format:
CD , mini, single
Country:
Japan
Released:
10 Dec 1990
Genre:
Electronic , rock , pop
Style:
Alternative Rock , New Wave , Pop Rock , Synth-pop


April 21, 2020

You think testing is hard to do now, wait until a week or 2 after these idiot red states open up

Trump will employ a veritable army of goons and gaslighters to shut it down as much as possible. I already trust the US coronavirus reporting for shit, but just wait.

Also, why the hell are not ALL the Dem Senators and House members plus (and especially) Biden having daily, coordinated, massive call-outs for these mob-like fed heists of as much as possible of all PPE, tests, etc that are being ripped off from the states and counties and cities and their hospitals, etc., etc.?? The press gave Cuomo massive attention... well duplicate it daily! Rotate groups of Dem leadership. Get it on every MSM channel. Surely they can coordinate a unified response to stop this fucking mobbed-up shite led by that little monster grifter Kushner and his band of merry thieves. They also need to put mad pressure on the small business bailout (which was emptied already last week) to get the funds to small businesses that NEED IT, not in the chips corporate scum like Ruth's Chris, and these fucking hedge funds, buyout hyena firms, etc etc etc. who ripped off the damn thing for fucking billions upon billions already.

April 21, 2020

Netanyahu's Power Is Extended as Rival Accepts Israel Unity Government

The deal keeps Mr. Netanyahu in office as he faces trial on corruption charges and buys him time to try to extend Israeli sovereignty over occupied Palestinian territory.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/world/middleeast/netanyahu-israel-government-gantz.html

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and his former challenger, Benny Gantz, agreed Monday night to establish a unity government, a deal that finally breaks a yearlong political impasse and keeps Mr. Netanyahu in office as he faces trial on corruption charges.

After three inconclusive elections in the past year, the creation of the new government forestalls what had appeared to be an inevitable fourth election and offers a deeply divided Israel a chance for national healing as it battles the coronavirus pandemic.

For Mr. Netanyahu, the agreement buys him time to try to resolve two contentious issues central to his legacy: to sidestep his prosecution or at least prevent it from driving him from power, and to extend Israeli sovereignty over occupied Palestinian territory.

The deal, announced by both men’s political parties at 7:15 p.m., adds to Mr. Netanyahu’s tenure as Israel’s longest-serving leader and, coming after his conservative coalition failed to win a majority, cements his reputation as a canny political survivor who can never be counted out.

snip
April 21, 2020

Demand for Sharp's face masks crashes website and smart home gadgets

Online store goes down, taking air conditioners with it

https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/21/21229163/sharp-face-mask-demand-server-crash-iot-smart-devices



Sharp announced last month that it would begin making face masks at its TV factory in Japan, and this morning they became available to order — at least, that was the plan. Demand for the masks has overwhelmed Sharp’s servers to the point that not only is it near-impossible to access the online store, internet services for the company’s smart home gadgets have apparently been taken down too.

The Asahi Shimbun reports that Sharp IoT devices like air conditioners that connect to the internet and use smartphones for controls are currently experiencing problems. A Sharp representative apologized for the trouble and said the company is looking into the root cause. According to the company, it’s possible that the problems were caused by concentrated traffic to a server that handles user accounts for both the online store and the smart devices.

The masks look like regular medical masks that are commonly worn in Japan and other Asian countries to help prevent the spread of diseases, but they do have a Sharp logo on the bottom. They cost 2,980 yen (~$28) for a box of 50, with $680 yen ($6) for shipping, and customers are restricted to buying one box at a time every three days. The store went live at 10AM JST today, but as of this writing (nearly five hours later) is still offline.

snip



Access to Sharp-made masks flooded IoT appliances (Japanese)

https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASN4P4DFKN4PPLFA00D.html
April 21, 2020

NYT: The outbreak is continuing to worsen in some parts of America.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/us/coronavirus-live-news.html#link-af0a049


The Army National Guard unloaded groceries to distribute at a pop-up food pantry in Chelsea, Mass., on Monday.Credit...Brian Snyder/Reuters

Although there have been encouraging signs that the outbreak is beginning to level off in some places, the threat of the virus is continuing to grow in some states and regions. Even in areas where the number of new cases is beginning to flatten, it is doing so at a very high level: New York, which reported its fewest new cases in a month and its lowest one-day death toll in more than two weeks, still reported 4,726 new cases and had 478 new deaths on Sunday. And the country has added more than 25,000 new cases a day for the past week.

But in some regions, there are signs that things are getting worse, not better. Massachusetts has been particularly hard-hit in recent days. It reported 1,705 new cases on Sunday, bringing its total to 38,077, and 146 new deaths, which brought the death toll to 1,706. “We’re right in the middle of the surge now,” Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, said Sunday. At the White House briefing on Monday evening, Dr. Deborah L. Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator, noted that “we still have a significant number of cases, both in the Boston area and across Massachusetts and Chicago.”

Los Angeles County reported 81 deaths on Saturday, its highest one-day death toll. Fewer deaths were reported Sunday — 24 — but county officials noted that nearly 1,000 new cases had been identified in the previous 48 hours. There have been significant workplace-based clusters in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee and other states, suggesting that the pandemic is just beginning to spread into some communities.

Collateral damage includes people whose other illnesses go untreated.


A drive-through testing center in Brooklyn on Monday.Credit...Dave Sanders for The New York Times

The coronavirus may be killing people who are not infected by depriving them of desperately needed treatment, said Dr. Bruce Lowell, an internist in Great Neck, N.Y. “People are still having heart attacks, people are still having strokes,” he said. “I feel as if there is no awareness of anything other than Covid.” The virus has sickened hundreds of thousands of Americans, killed tens of thousands of them and forced millions into unemployment. But the pandemic has also shaken every aspect of health care, including cancer treatments, organ transplants and even brain surgery.


snip
April 21, 2020

Trump Exceptionalism: What happened to President Trump's approval ratings?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/us/politics/trump-approval-ratings.html



A few weeks ago, as the president received some of the highest marks of his presidency, we wrote about a “Trump bump.” Over the past few weeks, that bump has turned into a fairly distinct slump, as President Trump’s approval ratings returned to where they were before the pandemic began. The president’s job approval rating has slipped 6 percentage points since mid-March, to 43 percent — the sharpest drop Gallup has recorded for the Trump presidency so far, in part because the president’s ratings have remained fairly stable (and lower than the historical average for presidents of 53 percent).

In a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released on Sunday, just 36 percent said they trusted what the president said about coronavirus, while 52 percent did not. Voters by a 9-point margin said they thought Joe Biden would be better able to handle a crisis than Mr. Trump, and by a 9-point margin said Mr. Biden would be better at responding to the coronavirus. And in a Pew poll, 65 percent of Americans said Mr. Trump was too slow to take major steps to address the threat to the United States when cases of the disease were first reported in other countries.

Typically, during a national crisis, leaders get a boost in their numbers, as a result of the rally-around-the-flag moment. That’s been happening both in the U.S. and around the world. Unlike Mr. Trump, leaders in Europe and across the globe have seen their support rise to record highs. Even in Italy, one of the countries hit hardest by the virus, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has hit a remarkable 71 percent approval rating, up 27 points. At home, governors are getting marks far higher than Mr. Trump, with majorities in state polls saying they approve of how their governor is handling the crisis.

Mr. Trump, meanwhile, has quickly returned to his baseline level of support, which has averaged around 40 percent. The fact that a majority of Americans see his early response to the virus as inadequate suggests that his numbers could decline further if the situation worsens, given that the current situation with the virus can be traced back to the steps taken early on. Conservatives say Mr. Trump could improve his ratings — and his chances at re-election — by swiftly reopening the country. They point to protests happening around the country in which demonstrators storm state capitols and clog streets as a sign that some Americans are growing frustrated by the restrictions and are worried about the economic impact. So far, polling has shown that these protesters represent only a small minority of Americans — or even of all Republicans. But some right-wing activists argue that those numbers are beginning to shift away from backing the most severe restrictions.

snip
April 21, 2020

BBC: Canada shooting: Gunman kills at least 18 in Nova Scotia

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52346447



A gunman disguised as a policeman killed at least 18 people, including a female Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer, in the worst mass shooting in Canada's modern history. The 12-hour rampage started late on Saturday and ended with a car chase.

Police said the suspect shot people at different locations in Nova Scotia, many of them randomly. He was killed in a confrontation with police. He was reported to have been driving what looked like a police car.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the attack as "a tragedy". "Violence of any kind has no place in Canada. We stand with you and we grieve with you," he said, addressing the nation on Monday. Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil told reporters this was "one of the most senseless acts of violence in our province's history".

The RCMP said on Monday that they believe there may be more victim within the remains of homes torched as part of the weekend's attacks. Mr Trudeau said that his government was "on the verge" of introducing bans to assault style weapons before parliament was dissolved amid the coronavirus outbreak. "We have every intention of moving forward", once the outbreak is curbed, he said.

snip
April 21, 2020

Tara Reade's Sexual Assault Allegation Against Joe Biden Is Falling Apart

Political activists urged the media to investigate Tara Reade's allegations against Joe Biden. They did, and Reade is not faring well.

https://thebanter.substack.com/p/tara-reades-sexual-assault-allegation

The Smearing Of Joe Biden Part 1: Why His #MeToo Accuser Is Not Credible

This is a difficult topic for me to write about for a number of reasons. The first is that I was sexually assaulted as a teenager in boarding school, then torn apart in court several years later over inconsistencies in my story. I had originally not revealed the extent of what happened to me due to extreme embarrassment and fear the situation would escalate dramatically at a time when I was emotionally not equipped to do so. Years later, others came forward to reveal abuse at the hands of the school master (far more serious than my own), and I agreed to testify and tell my story in front of a jury. I decided to tell the whole truth even though I knew it could derail the case. The defense lawyer tore me to pieces, and on that basis the teacher got off and was able to continue a career teaching children. It was a truly humiliating, deeply unpleasant experience that I would not wish on anyone. As a result of my experience and the stunning uncovering of sexual trauma in the wake of the #MeToo movement, I believe there be an enormous amount of latitude given to survivors of sexual assault. They may misremember details, change their story for extremely complex reasons, and not be deemed “reliable” witnesses due to past transgressions. When survivors speak out, they must be listened to, and they must be taken seriously.

Joe Biden’s #MeToo Accuser

Recently, Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden was shockingly accused of sexual assault by a woman named Alexandra Tara Reade (pictured above), who briefly worked for him in the Senate in the early 90’s. The assault was said to have taken place in 1993, where Biden allegedly pinned her up against a wall on Capitol Hill, and penetrated her with his fingers. I was stunned by the allegation and immediately took it very seriously. I did as much research as I could into the story and began thinking Biden’s history of inappropriate touching was far, far more serious than we had been led to believe. Perhaps he wasn’t just an older man who didn’t understand social boundaries in the same way we do now — perhaps he was a sexual predator who had assaulted women he had power over. Was this the man Democrats wanted facing off against Donald Trump? Would we be voting to replace one sexual predator with another? The more I looked into the case however, the more troubled I became by Reade and the timing of the allegation. I do not necessarily believe Reade is lying, but there are several factors in this story that severely undermine her credibility as a witness. Joe Biden has strenuously denied the allegations made against him, and in this case I think it is clear that he should be given the benefit of the doubt.

Warning Signs

What immediately caught my attention when Reade’s story broke was where the story broke. The pro Bernie Sanders media has a long, long track record of dishonest reporting, and the fact that they were promoting this story so feverishly gave me pause. I have learned over the years to immediately distrust journalism coming from ideological outlets on all sides of the spectrum in America. The far left and far right have ideological axes to grind, and their reporting should be scrutinized meticulously. Reade had made an earlier claim to about Biden’s inappropriate behavior in April of 2019 in The Union, a local California newspaper. She originally stated that Biden had made her feel uncomfortable when she worked as his Senate aide in 1993. Biden would, Reade claimed, “touch me on the shoulder or hold his hand on my shoulder running his index finger up my neck during a meeting." There was no mention of digital penetration or no hint that Biden had sexually assaulted her. A year later, Reade dramatically changed her story in a podcast interview with journalist and ardent Bernie Sanders supporter Katie Halper. Reade’s new charges against Biden were far, far more serious, and immediately propagated by far left (and far right) activists who believed them without vetting Reade or investigating her past.

The fact that mainstream outlets did not pick up the story was also apparently proof that centrist liberals were covering for Biden and shamefully silencing Reade:

https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1244980415829508097
https://twitter.com/nathanjrobinson/status/1242869097895002113 (deleted, screenshot right below)


While I was extremely sympathetic to Reade and wanted to believe her story, the militancy with which far left activists were running with the accusation troubled me. I’ve been covering the far left and far right for so long now that whenever they claim have an airtight story proving malfeasance on the part of Democrats/the media/centrists etc, etc, you can be assured that it is almost never the case. I began looking into Reade’s history to see whether there were any issues that would undermine her story. Unfortunately, there were so many it became almost impossible to take her at her word.

Reade is not a reliable witness...........

snip
April 20, 2020

How to Break Free From Your Phone

https://gearpatrol.com/2020/04/15/how-to-break-free-from-your-phone/



How much time do you waste looking at your smartphone each day? One hour? Maybe two? Even more? Tech companies have become increasingly aware that they need to help curb screen addiction before all our brains liquefy. With the built-in measures to stem these gadgets’ addictive nature and some committed mindfulness on your part, it is possible to start breaking free. Here’s some help.

Identify your hot spots

Pretty much every modern smartphone comes with a tool to help you look at its screen less. On the iPhone, it’s called Screen Time. On Android, it’s Digital Wellbeing. These apps deliver stats about your smartphone usage so you can stare at your bad behavior in the face.

Attack your worst habits

What is the worst offender in your screen time stats? Facebook? YouTube? Both Screen Time and Digital Wellbeing can set daily time limits for specific apps. Tackle your worst offenders and turn down the max time allowed bit by bit every day until it hurts — then keep going.

Consider a blackout

With features like Downtime (iOS) and Focus Mode (Android), you can set blocks of time where certain apps won’t work at all. Schedule daily blackouts — maybe first thing in the morning and right before bed — and plan an alternative activity instead. Books are neat!

Crackdown on the computer

If a laptop is your primary problem screen, free browser extensions can help reign in the internet. RescueTime tracks your browsing habits and calls out the most distracting trouble spots. StayFocusd lets you limit your time on certain sites like you can limit apps on your phone.

Set up bigger speed bumps



snip
April 20, 2020

Happy 4/20. Say Hello To Thrillist Cannabis.

Dear Thrillist Reader,

Typically a day for passing joints to strangers and splitting a brownie in return, 4/20 will sport a more solitary fashion this year. Our Weed Day spirit matters more than ever right now, as we pause our collective anxiety to celebrate cannabis and the pursuit of its blissful buzz. And with legal cannabis stores deemed essential businesses in most cities under lockdown and low-contact delivery services flourishing, celebrate we shall. The biggest difference will be having to finish that joint on your own during that 4pm video call.

In many ways, these remote weed rhythms are empowering people to take their highs into their own hands in a new way. Some are experimenting with different CBD-to-THC ratios, getting more in touch with how different products affect their bodies. Some are microdosing cannabis and psychedelics to go even deeper. Some are trying cannabis for the first time, feeling more comfortable ordering a home delivery than going out to visit a dispensary. Between COVID-minded efforts to be gentler on lungs and a wealth of time to kill at home, everyone’s making homemade edibles on Instagram right now.

Celebrating cannabis is about celebrating all the ways it makes us feel. Whether it’s physical relief, a good mood, the joy of a good smoke circle, harmony between mind and body — however you do weed, today is for you. Happy 4/20.

-Lauren Yoshiko
Cannabis Columnist at Thrillist



The Lazy Guide to Homemade Edibles

Preparing your own homemade edibles is a matter of minutes away.

https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/how-to-make-easy-edibles





Watch as We Explain The History of the Blunt





Relax Your Mind, Body, and Wallet With This Huge Sale on Trusted CBD Products

Crush it with calmness.

https://www.thrillist.com/shopping/nation/cbdistillery-sale-april-2020-25-off-cbd-products-oils-gummies





How Pro Athletes Use Cannabis for Performance

Does cannabis belong in the sports world? Several professional athletes weigh in.

https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/thrillist-podcast-best-and-the-rest-season-2-420-episode

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-thrillists-best-and-the-r-50598717/episode/how-pro-athletes-use-cannabis-for-61461022/



Everywhere You Can Get Free & Cheap Food for 4/20

Snacks delivered right to your doorstep.

https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/420-food-deals-2020-free-food


Profile Information

Gender: Female
Hometown: London
Home country: US/UK/Sweden
Current location: Stockholm, Sweden
Member since: Sun Jul 1, 2018, 07:25 PM
Number of posts: 43,240

About Celerity

she / her / hers
Latest Discussions»Celerity's Journal