Archive for 2020

MICHAEL GRAHAM: Elizabeth Warren has no one to blame but herself for losing Massachusetts.

And here’s the Boston Globe-Democrat: “She was, to my mind, the smartest, most exciting, inspiring, and best prepared presidential candidate since Barack Obama in 2008.” That was from a Globe columnist AFTER she lost her home state.

Week after week, defeat after defeat, the house organ of the Warren campaign kept cranking out pro-Liz agitprop. One Globe-Democrat reporter said after Liz’s New Hampshire defeat, “Warren’s done everything right!” And if you ignore the whole “getting people to vote for you” part, maybe she did.

Of course, the Globies are blaming Warren’s loss on sexism. And who’s more sexist than Massachusetts’ Democrats, right? Except maybe the misogynists of New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine — the other New England states where Warren’s campaign stunk up the joint.

With 94% of the vote reported late yesterday, Warren had won a total of 12 Massachusetts cities and townships. Out of 351. Ah, yes, those right-wing Democrats in Concord, Newton and Natick just couldn’t bring themselves to vote for a woman.

Or put another way, more than a million members of the Massachusetts “He-Man Woman-Hater’s Club” turned out to NOT vote for a Elizabeth Warren.

And as Tyler O’Neil adds at the PJ Mothership, “Not only did Warren lose her own state but she took third place, behind both the ostensible moderate Biden and the socialist Bernie Sanders. If a presidential candidate cannot win her own state, how can she convince voters in other states to support her?”

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: The US has reported 9 coronavirus deaths among more than 120 cases. Here’s what we know about the US patients.

Coronavirus: there are 2 types, Chinese researchers find, while authorities say faeces and urine can transmit the infection.

WHO warns of mask shortages as virus cases rise worldwide.Medical screener at LAX airport tests positive for coronavirus, DHS says.

Washington Democrats cancel event as coronavirus starts to take toll on U.S. campaign season.

Coronavirus latest updates: Germany labels outbreak a pandemic as Italy closes schools and universities.

What We Know About The First Californian To Die From Coronavirus.

IBM stops all domestic travel for internal meetings due to coronavirus.

United is drastically cutting flights worldwide and offering unpaid leave to employees as the coronavirus ravages the airline industry.

Microsoft Is Encouraging Employees To Work Remotely Due To Coronavirus Concerns.

Coronavirus pummels Iran leadership as data show spread is far worse than reported.

Iran’s coronavirus response: Pride, paranoia, secrecy, chaos.

S. Korea’s drastic measures battling coronavirus may offer glimpse into future for US.

How South Korea Lost Control of Its Coronavirus Outbreak.

China’s Grand Belt and Road Plan Is Being Lashed by Coronavirus.

Top hospital braces for coronavirus pandemic with secret warehouse full of emergency supplies.

China suppressed Covid-19 with AI and big data: The authorities tracked hundreds of millions of smartphones to obtain the information needed to contain the outbreak.

How Taiwan Used Big Data, Transparency and a Central Command to Protect Its People from Coronavirus.

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: After Action Report: Super Tuesday’s Lessons.

South Carolina voted just five days ago. The week prior — the date I’ve highlighted on the chart — polls seemed to confirm that Biden’s longterm decline in SC had accelerated, maybe into a collapse. Meanwhile, Sanders had been inching up for months. By February 21, the two candidates were in a statistical tie.

But that’s not what happened on primary day, not by a longshot. The final result was that Biden did slightly better than his best poll numbers during the entire race, all the way back in November. Texas tells a similar story. In polls there, Biden appeared as though his campaign had stumbled like the Three Stooges trying to walk across a field full of rakes. And yet, he won convincingly on primary day.

Forecasting guru Harry Enten tweeted that the move to Biden in the hours — mere hours — before Super Tuesday was triple the normal bounce after a big win like South Carolina.

Much more at the link, but this one is just for our VIP members. The VODKAPUNDIT promo code will still get you a discount, if you’ve been thinking of joining.

My regular column is coming up later this afternoon, but last night’s drunkblog on top of the dreaded CPAC CPLAGUE led to a slow start.

CHUCK SCHUMER JUST THREATENED JUSTICES BRETT KAVANAUGH AND NEIL GORSUCH: “This is the first abortion case since new Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, both nominated by President Trump, were confirmed by the Senate. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer attended a Planned Parenthood rally outside of the Court this afternoon and openly threatened Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Over what? It’s unclear.” Schumer is quoted as saying, “I want to tell you Justice Kavanaugh and Justice Gorsuch: You have unleashed a whirlwind, and you will pay the price.”

COLORADO: Inmate’s filing of red flag petition shows issues with law.

Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams has been one of the most vocal critics against red flag laws since Colorado legislators started considering one in 2019.

When he learned an inmate in the Weld County Jail used the law to ask a judge to remove weapons from Reams and a unit in the jail, he was frustrated to see it being abused in the ways against which he warned.

Sometimes it sucks to be right.

SUPPLY CHAIN: COVID-19 is exposing dangerous flaws in how we make and prescribe drugs. “Some 80 percent of the medically active ingredients in American drugs come from elsewhere. China, the country where COVID-19 originated and still the hardest-hit by the outbreak, is the world’s biggest supplier of pharmaceuticals. Lawmakers and public health officials have worried about this for a while—now, as the US plans for what may become a pandemic, it’s a bigger concern than ever. Patients who depend on medications are right to be thinking about potential shortages—and the fact that they may not even know about the shortages until they become severe.”