Source: Washington Post

The United States has entered the new year with record numbers of Americans hospitalized with coronavirus, straining a health-care system bracing for a post-holidays surge that has the potential to further stretch hospitals.

At least 128,000 covid-19 patients were hospitalized nationwide as of Monday, eclipsing the record set in the last week of 2020. Facilities across the West and South are especially burdened.

Los Angeles County has been so overwhelmed it is running out of oxygen, with ambulance crews instructed to use oxygen only for their worst-case patients. Crews were told not bring patients to the hospital if they have little hope of survival and to treat and declare such patients dead on the scene to preserve hospital capacity. Several Los Angeles hospitals have turned away ambulance traffic in recent days because they can’t provide the air flow needed to treat patients.



Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/01/05/covid-hospitalizations-los-angeles-oxygen/

---

Why on earth are we not sending oxygen canisters via FEMA, the Red Cross, or the military?

How is it possible that in 2021, in Los Angeles, there is not enough oxygen to treat patients?

Washington Post:

Trump supporters protesting the election begin demonstrating in D.C.

By
Marissa J. Lang, Peter Hermann, Emily Davies and Jessica Contrera
Jan. 5, 2021 at 3:07 p.m. EST


One day before Congress votes to certify that Joe Biden won the presidential election, Trump supporters who refuse to accept the reality of his defeat have begun demonstrating in Washington again. The city is bracing for 48 hours of potentially violent protests, egged on by President Trump himself.

One Wednesday gathering has a permit with the National Park Service for up to 30,000 people, but multiple events planned for Tuesday are already drawing crowds downtown. Among the masses: the far-right groups whose members were involved in stabbings and the vandalism of historic Black churches in the District during last month’s protest.

The city has mobilized the National Guard alongside its police force, which will focus on arresting anyone who is unlawfully armed. The mayor has asked residents to avoid the demonstrations, which will take place at Freedom Plaza, the Capitol and the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

***

By 2 p.m. Tuesday, hundreds of people were gathered in Freedom Plaza, listening to speakers who repeated falsehoods about the election, offered prayers and shared discount codes for MyPillow, a company owned by a Trump ally. Some donned flak jackets with walkie talkies and camouflage fanny packs strapped around their waists.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/01/05/dc-protest-trump-supporters-election/


And from NBC4Washington

Pro-Trump Demonstrators Converge in DC to Protest Election Results; Street Closures in Effect

By NBC Washington Staff • Published January 5, 2021

Supporters of President Donald Trump gathered for a wave of demonstrations in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, the day before Congress meets to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the Electoral College.

Trump's supporters plan to rally Tuesday and Wednesday, seeking to bolster the president's unproven claims of widespread voter fraud.

Crowds of people, many carrying Trump flags, gathered a block from the White House on Freedom Plaza early Tuesday afternoon to kick off an event that could draw thousands, organizers say.

Speakers asked the crowd to chant "fake news" while repeating unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the 2020 election that are promoted by Trump and allies but refuted by election officials nationwide.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/demonstrations-road-closures-to-begin-tuesday-in-dc-before-congress-acts-on-electoral-college-vote/2529480/

Source: NBC Washington

Members of the D.C. National Guard will respond as supporters of President Donald Trump protest the 2020 election results in downtown D.C. this week.

The D.C. National Guard will assist the Metropolitan Police Department with crowd management and traffic control, MPD’s acting chief, Robert Contee, said at a news conference Monday morning. The department is expecting a crowd larger than at two pro-Trump events in D.C. last year.

Anyone who carries a gun at a protest or within 1,000 feet of a protest will be arrested, in line with D.C. law, the acting police chief said. Police posted signs this weekend in Freedom Plaza, where protests are expected, warning about the law.



Read more: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/dc-national-guard-to-respond-to-pro-trump-protests-this-week/2528488/

29 days and counting!

This is a present for those wonderful DUers who took part in the original Door Buzzard thread, and those who reposted and commented about it. And for everyone else at DU too! Thank you, Orrex, for posting it. I've never seen anything like it.

This gargoyle saga kept me howling for nearly an hour today.

https://www.boredpanda.com/christmas-gorgoyle-statue-karen-complain/

Republicans plotting attempt to deny presidency to Biden on floor of the House if Trump gives the word: report

Raw Story
December 13, 2020
By Tom Boggioni

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/12/republicans-plotting-to-deny-presidency-to-biden-on-floor-of-the-house-if-trump-gives-the-word-report/

According to a report from the New York Times, hardcore supporters of Donald Trump who serve in the House are willing to attempt to deny the transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden if Donald Trump gives them a thumbs-up to proceed.

With the president insisting on Saturday during a Fox News interview that “It’s not over,” and Biden would be an “illegitimate president,” a few Republicans are making plans to use the rules of the House to contest the election results.

“As the president continues to refuse to concede, a small group of his most loyal backers in Congress are plotting a final-stage challenge on the floor of the House of Representatives in early January to try to reverse Mr. Biden’s victory,” the Times reports. “Constitutional scholars and even members of the president’s own party say the effort is all but certain to fail. But the looming battle on Jan. 6 is likely to culminate in a messy and deeply divisive spectacle that could thrust Vice President Mike Pence into the excruciating position of having to declare once and for all that Mr. Trump has indeed lost the election.”

According to the report, the effort is being led by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) who has amplified the president’s accusations of voter fraud despite a complete lack of evidence.

https://www.tickcounter.com/countdown/10457/days-until-trump-leaves-office

Raw Story
December 13, 2020
By Tom Boggioni

In an opinion piece for Politico, an exasperated Kimberly Wehl — a professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law — said it is time for judges who are being forced to rule on accusations of voter fraud by Donald Trump’s lawyers to lay down the law and penalize them for wasting the court’s time.

Following the ultimate smackdown on Friday by the Supreme Court, which refused to even consider a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Wehl said now is the time for judges to put a halt to the Republican election fraud charade.
...

“In federal court (where 11 of the cases have been brought) it’s called Rule 11. And courts have used it many times to discourage the very kinds of legally insufficient and bad faith claims that have been advanced by Rudy Giuliani and his so-called elite strike force of attorneys,” she wrote before pointing out that the president’s lawsuits have been dismissed with astonishing speed which is an indication of how specious they are.
...

“Rule 11 sanctions are normally triggered when the offended party files a motion. The alleged wrongdoer gets 21 days to fix the problem, else the court gets involved. Courts can also prompt sanctions on their own—or ‘sua sponte.’ If it’s a party that brings up sanctions, courts can order monetary fines to be paid to the court under Rule 11 (not to the other party, for fear of creating incentives to seek sanctions as a moneymaking enterprise),” she explained before adding, “Moreover, courts can sanction parties and lawyers in ways that do not involve money. At the federal level, nonmonetary sanctions have included public reprimands, orders to undergo legal education, referrals to the bar for disciplinary proceedings, warnings, suspension or even disbarment, forced admission of the facts alleged by the other side, and bans on a party or attorney (e.g., Powell or Giuliani) from bringing similar suits without advance permission from the court.”

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/12/heres-how-to-stop-trumps-election-fraud-lawyers-in-their-tracks/