Pandemic Deniers

Like many people in America I am forced to exercise social distancing practices. Lately I've had a lot of time to watch YouTube and Daily motion, more on that later. I'm not an expert in infectious diseases or pandemics. However I do know that there are people that live and breathe that sort of thing. They constantly study human viruses the same way I study computer viruses. I will also say that I'm not really an expert in political science. The only time I tend to follow politics is when it relates to things like net neutrality, software patents or when the Trump administration got rid of the cyber security coordinator. I thought that was nuts.

I was reading today that the Trump Campaign Threatens Lawsuit Over Political Ad Featuring President Labeling Convid 19 a' Hoax'.. Now I'm not saying I have a perfect memory. But I do remember pacifically Trump using those words when he came to concerns about the pandemic. The AD was put out by Priorities USA Action. It shows a chart of Convid 19 cases that rose as Trump's past comments downplaying the virus played in the background.

So I went to YouTube and Daily motion, to get the exact quotes from what was said about The hoax...

Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus. You know that, right? Coronavirus. They’re politicizing it. We did one of the great jobs . . . They tried the impeachment hoax. That was on a perfect conversation. They tried anything, they tried it over and over, they’ve been doing it since you got in. It’s all turning, they lost, it’s all turning. Think of it. Think of it. And this is their new hoax. But you know, we did something that’s been pretty amazing. We’re 15 people [cases of coronavirus infection] in this massive country. And because of the fact that we went early, we went early, we could have had a lot more than that . . . we’ve lost nobody, and you wonder, the press is in hysteria mode.“

Now one can argue that he was not calling the concerned about Convid 19 the "new hoax". But that's what his allies heard...

All the talk about coronavirus being so much more deadly [than the flu] doesn’t reflect reality,” Mar 7 -Fox News host Jeanine Pirro.

At worst — worst case scenario — it could be the flu,”  Mar 6 -Fox News medical correspondent Marc Siegel [a physician]

“This is yet another attempt to impeach the president,”  Mar 9 -Fox Business host Trish Regan

“They’re scaring the living hell out of people and I see it again as like, ‘Oh, let’s bludgeon Trump with this new hoax.’” Mar 9 -Hannity

But I’m telling you, folks, I have — there’s so many red flags about things happening out there. This coronavirus, they’re just — all of this panic is just not warranted. This, I’m telling you, when I tell you — when I’ve told you that this virus is the common cold.  -Mar 11  Rush Limbaugh, The Rush Limbaugh Show

Even in a Pro-Trump Facebook Group for firefighters and paramedics shared memes and conspiracy theories doubting the pandemic. "Every election year has a disease,” read one meme, purporting to be written on a doctor’s office whiteboard. “This is a viral-pneumonia being hyped as The Black Plague before an election.”

This coronavirus?” Rush Limbaugh asked skeptically on his show, “Nothing like wiping out the entire U.S. economy with a bio-threat from China, is there?”

So if Trump at that rally wasn't referring to the coming pandemic as a hoax. If he wasn't referring to the rising concerns of Convid 19 as a hoax. Why is it that his allies heard him say it?  Why did they in turn call it a hoax if he didn't call it hoax first?

Now everything Trump has said can be seen and heard across the web. There is video from several sources. It all started back in January of this year...

 “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. We have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.” —Jan. 22 Trump in a CNBC interview.

“We think we have it very well under control. We have very little problem in this country at this moment — five — and those people are all recuperating successfully. But we’re working very closely with China and other countries, and we think it’s going to have a very good ending for us … that I can assure you.” Jan 30 — Trump in a speech in Michigan.

“Now, the virus that we’re talking about having to do — you know, a lot of people think that goes away in April with the heat — as the heat comes in. Typically, that will go away in April. We’re in great shape though. We have 12 cases — 11 cases, and many of them are in good shape now.” Feb 10 — Trump at the White House.

It was also  Hannity that cited a comment from a “MIT guy on Twitter” who said that “coronavirus fear-mongering by the deep state will go down in history as one of the biggest frauds to manipulate economies, suppress dissent and push mandated medicines.”

Trump and his administration did repeatedly downplay the convid 19 and delivered mixed messages. Even now, Trump has said he'd like to reopen businesses by Easter, an idea public-health professionals have warned against. 

The Priorities USA Action ad speaks for itself...


Is the need for ventilators the "new hoax"?
"I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators. You know, you go into major hospitals, sometimes they’ll have two ventilators. And now all of a sudden they're saying, 'can we order 30,000 ventilators?'"- Mar 26 Trump
Republican leaders need to start trusting in science instead of Trump. They need to start fearing this pandemic instead of Trump.

Age of Convid 19

Not a software post. 
Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick suggests grandparents are willing to die for US economy.


 “No one reached out to me and said, ‘as a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the American that all America loves for your children and grandchildren? And if that’s the exchange, I’m all in.”  -Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick



“We don’t shut down our economy because tens of thousands of people die on the highways. It’s a risk we accept so we can move about. We don’t shut down our economies because tens of thousands of people die from the common flu.” -Republican Sen Ron Johnson

Why are Republican-leaning states displaying less urgency about the outbreak?

73 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of independents said they feared that they or someone in their family might be exposed to the coronavirus, only 42 percent of Republicans agreed. That 31-percentage-point difference dwarfed the gap in February, when slightly more Republicans (30 percent) than Democrats (26 percent) said they were concerned.
-Gallup poll

“We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. We have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.” — Jan 22 2020 Trump in a CNBC interview.

We think we have it very well under control. We have very little problem in this country at this moment — five — and those people are all recuperating successfully. But we’re working very closely with China and other countries, and we think it’s going to have a very good ending for us … that I can assure you.” — Jan 30 2020 Trump in a speech in Michigan.

Donald Trump downplayed the disease’s danger and lied about how much the United States government had control over it. Those statements are the reason why there is a disconnect in states like Texas, Missouri, Alabama, and Florida. States with Republican governors have been slower, or less likely, than those ran by Democrats to impose restrictions that could slow the spread.

"We have done an incredible job. We're going to continue, Trump said.."It's going to disappear. One day it's like a miracle, it will disappear. And from our shores, you know, it could get worse before it gets better. Could maybe go away. We'll see what happens. Nobody really knows." -Feb.27 2020 Black History Month reception at the White House

“And I’ve gotten to know these professionals. They’re incredible. And everything is under control. I mean, they’re very, very cool. They’ve done it, and they’ve done it well. Everything is really under control.” — Feb 29 2020 Trump in a speech at the CPAC conference

Those statements reinforce a sense among many Republican voters and office-holders that the threat has been overstated. I am not expert on infectious diseases but even I knew that Convid 19 was coming to America. I was excited when I read Deepin OS v20 was heading into beta status back in December and it was supposed launch in January. Then in Feb we got word that it would be postponed until March because the Convid 19 pneumonia epidemic. I knew then that we were in trouble here in the U.S. On a side note it is almost April and there is still no word from Union Tech about Deepin OS v20. 

So why are Democratic cities and states are moving more aggressively and faster than Republican cities and states?

“And we’re prepared, and we’re doing a great job with it. And it will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away.” — March 10 2020 Trump 

Republican leaders need to start trusting in science instead of Trump. They need to start fearing this pandemic instead of Trump.

Comodo Antivirus for Linux

 

Comodo Antivirus is free and powerful email server/anti-virus software for the Linux-based operating system. It works with a wide range of GNU/Linux distributions, including Ubuntu, Debian, Linux Mint, Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server, Fedora, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, openSUSE Linux, and CentOS, all of which are officially supported.

It has no Web-based protection against malicious and fraudulent URLs but all four major web browsers Safari, Firefox, Chromium, and Chrome offer fraudulent site protection.

• Detects and eliminates viruses from GNU/Linux based laptops and desktops
• Mail gateway blocks email-borne viruses and spam
• Features on-access, on-demand and cloud based scanning
• Virus definitions updated multiple times per day
• Simple to use: install and forget while Comodo Antivirus protects you in the background

Both 32 and 64-bit computer platforms are supported. This application requires a computer with a CPU running at 2 GHz, at least 2 GB of RAM, and at least 40 GB of free disk space.

No war on COVID-19 in Missouri

 Not a software post.

There is No Leadership in Missouri. Republicans in Missouri still got their heads in the ground. They have spent weeks downplaying the threat, even calling it hoax. Why do Republicans and Democrats have very different ideas about the COVID-19? Democratic cities and states are moving more aggressively and faster than Republican cities and states. That is sick and we all know it.

"Sixty-eight percent of Democratic voters are worried that an immediate family member might catch the coronavirus, compared with just 40 percent of Republicans who agree. Fifty-six percent of Democrats believe their day-to-day lives will change in a major way, versus only 26 percent of Republicans. And 79 percent of Democrats say the worst is yet to come, versus just 40 percent of Republicans who hold the same opinion." 
-NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll

 "We have done an incredible job. We're going to continue, Trump said.."It's going to disappear. One day it's like a miracle, it will disappear. And from our shores, you know, it could get worse before it gets better. Could maybe go away. We'll see what happens. Nobody really knows."
-Feb.27 2020 Black History Month reception at the White House

 On Feb. 28, 2020 Trump calls corona-virus Democrats' 'new hoax' at a campaign rally in South Carolina.

“Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus,” Trump said. “They have no clue, they can't even count their votes in Iowa.”

Hours after the Trump rally in South Carolina, the U.S. had the first COVID-19 death. Trump then went on to downplay the potential for more COVID-19 cases in the U.S., and even suggested, that the number of cases in America would fall.

Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council,said: 

"Frankly, so far it looks relatively contained.
-CNBC's "Squawk on the Street"

Conway, counselor to the president said:

"It is being contained...do you not think it's being contained in this country?"
-FOX News
 
The virus was NEVER contained in the U.S. because we were not testing. You cannot have containment without testing. There is not much testing in Missouri. There is no leadership in Missouri. And we ALL KNOW WHY.

Stop telling the naked emperor he is wearing cloths!!!

Motile 14 M142 UPDATE

When I bought the Ryzen 5 version of the Walmart Motile 14 M142 late last year, I didn't have very high expectations. The word "quality" is probably not the first thing most people think of when purchasing Walmart-branded products.The Motile 14 uses the Chi Mei N140HCA-EAC IPS panel but the outdoor visibility is bad because the backlit is relatively dim. The Motile 14 is limited to single-channel RAM but it is upgradable to 32GB. USB Power Delivery is not supported meaning that the system cannot be recharged via USB Type-C but it has Gigabit Ethernet port. Sound through my Etymotic Research headphones are great. Better than many other laptops. The laptop’s speakers are at the bottom.  If the speakers were placed anywhere other than the underside, the sound would improve drastically.

MY Motile 14 review here..

True it dose NOT come Preinstalled with GNU+Linux but it cost several hundreds of dollars less than more well-known alternatives from System 76, Dell, or Think penguin. To my surprise, however, the Walmart Motile 14 runs most Linux disrtos out of the box. Even Deepin OS worked well, however it did hang on shutdown. I was forced to hold down the power button to cut off the system. I am sure that problem will be fixed with Deepin OS v20 which is delayed because of COVID-19. I loved the fact that it is a rolling distro. Deepin is know for their sleek interface and seamless, streamlined desktop. 

Again, I have no major complaints. While Microsoft Windows 10 Home is preloaded, Manjaro 19 does run fine on it. UEFI Secure Boot can be easily disabled from the BIOS. To enter the BIOS, keep pressing the DELETE key during the boot up. Then disable UEFI Secure Boot.

AMD Ryzen 5 3500u with Radeon Vega 8 Graphics

Manjaro is often called a user-friendly Arch. It is the main OS on my Motile 14. Radeon Vega 8 gamers will be happy with Mesa 19.3.4 and linux kernel 5.4.23-1. Both always make many improvements to the Radeon Vulkan driver. Having an open source driver built in to the kernel  means you can literally install Manjaro and games will just work out of the box. I installed two games Xonotic v0.8.2 and the Shadow run Complete Collection. The Ryzen 5 3500u/Radeon Vega 8 Graphics delivered excellent performance with both games.

The 4 cores and 8 threads allow you to do multiple things at once with no problem. The laptop performed very well with everything I did. This SoC handled Internet, Office Applications and watching Pluto TV  like a champ. Even Darktable and Gimp ran very well. The AMD Ryzen 5 3500u is based on the Zen+ architecture and runs on the more efficient 12nm manufacturing process.