The Daily Dread - Tracking the spread, 8/29/20

All times Pacific, source: Johns Hopkins/NBC News

At 8:06am - domestic data only
Confirmed cases US - 5,940,471
Deaths US - 182,987

At 2:26pm
Confirmed cases US - 5,956,916
Deaths US - 183,431

Update -

At 6:47am
Confirmed cases worldwide - 24,481,408
Deaths worldwide - 832,814
Confirmed cases US - 5,895,847
Deaths US - 182,036

At 7:37am
Confirmed cases worldwide - 24,482,013
Deaths worldwide - 832,826
Confirmed cases US - 5,896,452
Deaths US - 182,048

* At 9:28am, a graphic spelled out:
Dead in the US this week alone - 3,784
Deaths US - 182,163

At 9:30am - domestic data only
Confirmed cases US - 5,906,962
Deaths US - 182,243


At 9:31am
Confirmed cases US - 5,907,812
Deaths US - 182,247


At 12:33pm
Confirmed cases worldwide - 24,487,964
Deaths worldwide - 833,299
Confirmed cases US - 5,916,835
Deaths US - 182,366

Mine, such as they are, are at least one generation too far back.

Unfortunately.

I'd love to relocate. Unless, of course, Our Biden/Harris team carries the day.

I find myself grateful that we're staying healthy, mainly because we're staying home! This is Day 173 of our self-quarantine.

Sounds like an effort to avoid stirring people up.

That could have been a problem. With some awfully lousy visuals.

Update -

At 6:47am
Confirmed cases worldwide - 24,481,408
Deaths worldwide - 832,814
Confirmed cases US - 5,895,847
Deaths US - 182,036

At 7:37am
Confirmed cases worldwide - 24,482,013
Deaths worldwide - 832,826
Confirmed cases US - 5,896,452
Deaths US - 182,048 *

* At 9:28am, a graphic spelled out:
Dead in the US this week alone - 3,784
Deaths US - 182,163

At 9:30am - domestic data only
Confirmed cases US - 5,906,962
Deaths US - 182,243


At 9:31am
Confirmed cases US - 5,907,812
Deaths US - 182,247

The Daily Dread - Tracking the spread, 8/28/20 - after Hurricane RNC week

All times Pacific, source: Johns Hopkins/NBC News

Because I just realized I didn't post any stats yesterday, here's where we left off last night:
At 9:23pm - domestic data only
Confirmed cases US - 5,883,445
Deaths US - 181,488


At 6:47am
Confirmed cases worldwide - 24,481,408
Deaths worldwide - 832,814
Confirmed cases US - 5,895,847
Deaths US - 182,036

At 7:37am
Confirmed cases worldwide - 24,482,013
Deaths worldwide - 832,826
Confirmed cases US - 5,896,452
Deaths US - 182,048 *

* At 9:28am, a graphic spelled out:
Dead in the US this week alone - 3,784
Deaths US - 182,163

At 9:30am - domestic data only
Confirmed cases US - 5,906,962
Deaths US - 182,243

Me, too. From what little I could stand to watch of the CONvention, especially the last two nights,

I'm nervous now.

I hate to admit it.

Dear God, all those lies. ALL THOSE LIES! That false, distorted, misleading, untrue picture they painted. Just what their true believers longed to hear - that their preferences and worldview were totally validated. ALL THOSE LIES! That the virus is in the past tense. That this so-called "pResident" is compassionate, effective, fast-responding, thorough, informed, and a real leader like it says in the fairy tales they also cling to. How everything going wrong now is Biden's fault (and that he somehow caused!?!?!? And will make even worse if he gets into power?!?!?!?)

You know in your gut that it's exactly what Dumbfuckistan wants to hear. To reinforce their worldview from deep within that bubble world they'd rather live in and acknowledge. It was projection on a scale we've never seen or heard before. All the shit going on now, ON donald's WATCH, WHILE HE'S in power, that's somehow foisted off on the "he's not even President yet". But they're gonna swallow it whole.

One of the talking heads - early this morning - expressed some serious concern. Author/columnist Anand Giridharadas said he was starting to worry. The sales pitch was VERY convincing and shrewdly tied to outbreaks of violence and destruction by opportunists, looters, and other assorted shit-stirrers looking to exploit large numbers of protesters. Sorry donald, sorry fans-of-donald, NONE of that was caused or directed by Joe Biden. OR organization Democrats - capital "D," AND small "d" also. And I listened to this fellow and a troubling feeling came over me - "hey, dude, you too?" He was describing how I'd been feeling over this past week - with this AVALANCHE of lies and distortions and misrepresentations. How fast he sprang into action against the coronavirus? Hell, he spent two months calling it a hoax? They sold that over and over and over all week! And that's just one example!*



* On edit - this bothered me so much that I determined to go back and find who expressed that feeling in a TV interview. I couldn't think of his name but his appearance - especially this prominent (and high) headful of silver hair) - was unforgettable. I checked my notes - it was from this morning's "Morning Joe" on MSNBC. Just really struck me that somebody else was putting words to my new worrying. He was feeling it, himself.

That DOES NOT, however, mean that I'm gonna let that sense of dread keep me from working my tail off to make sure the nightmare conclusion does NOT become reality!

I hate that posture of his. Leaning on the podium like he owns the damn thing.

All these complaints are legitimate - but THIS one in particular might be first.

I used to fume about the whoring for "access" during bush/cheney. MAN-OH-MAN did the cheney people muscle that one in, deep. You did not get "access" with the administration folks who counted, unless you gave them the constant benefit of the doubt. dubya even yowled about it once, as I recall. "Well, just gimme the benefit of the doubt!"

I used to tear my hair about the "anything for access" mentality - to do what? Hear more of the same lies, distortions, and manipulative bullshit you heard last time one of 'em went on TV?

I kept fuming - "okay, so you piss off the White House because you tell the truth? That's a bad thing? Telling the truth is a bad thing now?" Or maybe "not expedient" or "we HAVE TO compete! If we take a stand, nobody will talk to us and they'll just go on our competition all the time!"

To which I'd growl - "so you're too lazy to develop interesting/relevant/provocative sources? You know nobody in poly-sci circles? International policy/diplomacy circles? Nobody who's experienced or a recognized constitutional expert, historian, respected authors or academics? How 'bout FORMER government officials who still remember how it was done right/ethically/legally? You can't start NOW, to cultivate new people as talking heads? Rachel Maddow's done that multiple times. She brought Joyce Vance in. Chuck Rosenberg. Barbara McQuade. They and others have become familiar names on-camera, showcased in marquee-name editorials and commentaries in the NYTimes and Washington Post. And thus they become noteworthy (or more noteworthy) by this exposure. Heck, I went through a Google search, and saw a four-way split-screen shot of Vance AND McQuade both testifying in Congress before the House Judiciary Committee looking into "presidential obstruction." One of the other four in the blocks was famed Watergate penitent and now media gadfly John Dean. These folks have stature of their own. And credibility. Name-recognition. Audience familiarity. They're now quite well-established as experts in their field, and most of 'em have highly-respectable resumes. I wouldn't even be surprised if one of them eventually got a show of his/her own maybe on Saturday mornings or something. They're already semi-regulars on other MSNBC shows by now.

Shit, THAT'S how you do it. Counter-programming! Grow, cultivate, develop YOUR OWN experts and VIPs and reliable sources! Showcase them! Make THEM into household names! Who needs those other assholes who won't talk to you and are trying to boycott you and thereby decrease your relevance. Fuck 'em! They're blocking the road? Find another road! Or get a catapult. Or a boat. Or one of those personal flying machines. Or a BIG megaphone and a stage with a lot of glitter and lights and metallic streamers and other eye/camera catching elements and fireworks in the background, right at the edge of their boycott. Or SOMETHING!

DON'T CEDE THE STAGE!!! If you can't use the one they're hogging, FOR PETE'S SAKE, build one of your own that competes and make sure it generates lots of stuff that's splashy and attention-getting - audio AND visual! ESPECIALLY visual.

The Daily Dread - Tracking the spread, 8/26/20

All times Pacific, source: Johns Hopkins/NBC News

At 7:55am
Confirmed cases worldwide - 23,918,660 **
Deaths worldwide - 820,645
Confirmed cases US - 5,806,503 ***
Deaths US - 179,701 *

* How soon til 180,000 deaths? Tomorrow, on "donald Night"? A glaring number no longer all that far from the bigger projections expected in our future (200-thousand deaths by when? September-something?)

** Next stop, globally, 24-MILLION cases? And "Confirmed" would suggest "just the ones we know about"?

*** 5-point-8 million confirmed cases domestically. How far off is SIX-million?

Just a note: this is Wednesday. Aka "Pence night" at the RNC.

TOMORROW, when the Hurricane Laura shit hits, we may hit one of those milestones. And yep, it'll be "donald Night." Certainly the domestic death toll. It's not going to be in the 170s anymore. It will have gone up a digit. And, frighteningly enough, sooner than later.