Here is a list of Opinionated Blogs ordered by Most Commented, posted by members. A Blog is a journal you may enter about your life, thoughts, interesting experiences, or lessons you've learned. Post an opinion, impart words of wisdom, or talk about something interesting in your day. Update your blog on a regular basis, or just whenever you have something to say. Creating a blog is a good way to share something of yourself with others. Reading blogs is a good way to learn more about others. Click here to post a blog.
Covid-19
Does COVID Stand for ‘Chinese-Originated Viral Infectious Disease’?
There are different processes and purposes for naming diseases.
DAVID MIKKELSON
PUBLISHED 26 MARCH 2020
Claim
"COVID-19" is named so because it is the 19th "Chinese-Originated Viral Infectious Disease."
Rating
False
About this rating
Origin
As governments fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Snopes is fighting an “infodemic” of rumors and misinformation, and you can help. Browse our coronavirus fact checks here. Tell us about any questionable or concerning rumors and “advice” you encounter here.
As the World Health Organization (WHO) has noted, viruses and the diseases they cause often have different names: “For example, HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. People often know the name of a disease, such as measles, but not the name of the virus that causes it (rubeola).”
During the pandemic of 2020, most everyone was familiar with the name of the coronavirus disease that was sweeping across multiple countries (COVID-19), but less so with the name of the virus that caused it (SARS-CoV-2). In either case, many people weren’t aware of the derivations of those names, leading some to take japes like the following seriously:
covid stands for chinese originated viral infectious disease
The claim in the above meme is false. The true origins of the names of the coronavirus behind the 2020 pandemic and the disease stemming from it are rather straightforward, however.
The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) announced “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)” as the name of the newly discovered virus on Feb. 11, 2020. As the WHO observed, “This name was chosen because the virus is genetically related to the coronavirus responsible for the SARS outbreak of 2003. While related, the two viruses are different.”
On the same day, the WHO announced “COVID-19” as the name of the new disease caused by that virus. The first part of that name is a shortening of the phrase “coronavirus disease,” and the latter part reflects that the disease was first reported in the year 2019.
Although the strange new pneumonia of unknown cause first appeared in a cluster in Wuhan, China, nothing about the name of that illness or the virus that causes it reflects a geographical origin. The notion that the name COVID-19 stands for “Chinese Originated Viral Infectious Disease” and reflects that it is caused by the “19th virus to come out of China” is nothing more than a bad joke.
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PUBLISHED 26 MARCH 2020
BY
DAVID MIKKELSON
FILED UNDER
COVID-19
SOURCES
‘Biggest Rally Signup of All Time by 10X’
More Than 800,000 People Sign Up For Trump’s MAGA Rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
President Trump’s mega MAGA rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma is the hottest ticket ever!
By Sunday, more than 800,000 people signed up for tickets to attend Trump’s first rally after the COVID-19 lockdowns.
The mega MAGA rally was originally scheduled for June 19 (Juneteenth), however, President Trump moved the rally to Saturday, June 20th.
Mega MAGA rallies are also being planned in Florida, Arizona and North Carolina.
The Democrat-media complex is already going crazy and attacking President Trump for holding rallies ‘during a pandemic.’
That’s because the Democrat front runner old senile Joe Biden is still hiding in his Delaware basement and he couldn’t even fill a high school gym with supporters if he paid them.
Still think Biden has a chance of beating Donald Trump? You got another think a coming!
President Trump’s mega MAGA rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma is the hottest ticket ever!
By Sunday, more than 800,000 people signed up for tickets to attend Trump’s first rally after the COVID-19 lockdowns.
The mega MAGA rally was originally scheduled for June 19 (Juneteenth), however, President Trump moved the rally to Saturday, June 20th.
Mega MAGA rallies are also being planned in Florida, Arizona and North Carolina.
The Democrat-media complex is already going crazy and attacking President Trump for holding rallies ‘during a pandemic.’
That’s because the Democrat front runner old senile Joe Biden is still hiding in his Delaware basement and he couldn’t even fill a high school gym with supporters if he paid them.
Still think Biden has a chance of beating Donald Trump? You got another think a coming!
Who you really are......
I had been gone for a long time and only some on a bit now for entertainment -but there are people that have the same picture as Like ten years or more!! Hey-Show us the real you! IS it even ethical to keep the same pic for a thousand years?
Come on, I could list some here but you all know who you are!!
Come on, I could list some here but you all know who you are!!
It's a shame ...........
............when someone hates Trump so much that he can't hold back from slamming him when his Brother passes away.
It's a shame that he is so filled with hate that tries to justify his crass remarks with feeble excuses for his unconscionable behavior.
It's just a shame there is so much hate for a family on here.
It's a shame that he is so filled with hate that tries to justify his crass remarks with feeble excuses for his unconscionable behavior.
It's just a shame there is so much hate for a family on here.
Trump - a "total disgrace"
An opinion piece from The Washington Post;
In response to:
Trump’s pardon of Michael Flynn is a parting disgrace
November 25, 2020 at 8:25 p.m. EST
DAY AFTER day, year after year, Americans wondered when Donald Trump would change. But winning primaries, claiming the GOP nomination, taking the White House and being president did not snap him out of a lifelong habit of indecency. It was too much to imagine that losing his reelection bid would bring a change of character. And so it is that President Trump is leaving the White House just as he entered it: a total disgrace.
In what we can only hope will be his last official degradation of his office, the president pardoned Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser, on Wednesday, the afternoon before Thanksgiving. Mr. Flynn freely pleaded guilty to lying to FBI investigators, a felony, about whether he discussed anti-Kremlin sanctions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. “I recognize that the actions I acknowledged in court today were wrong, and, through my faith in God, I am working to set things right,” Mr. Flynn said then. “I accept full responsibility for my actions.” But then he took it all back.
Mr. Flynn switched lawyers, hiring Sidney Powell — yes, the same Sidney Powell who last week alleged a vast international communist plot to flip the 2020 presidential election to President-elect Joe Biden — and insisted that he was the victim of FBI manipulation. Of course, no one forced him to lie to counterintelligence investigators. But Mr. Trump, who had privately pushed then-FBI Director James B. Comey to go easy on his former confidant, waged a public campaign against prosecuting Mr. Flynn, tying it into his efforts to discredit the Russia investigation. Finally, Attorney General William P. Barr bailed out Mr. Flynn, moving to drop the case against the former Trump staffer, despite his previous guilty plea.
Mr. Flynn’s judge balked, igniting a debate about whether he could stop the Justice Department from showing such obvious favoritism for one of the president’s friends based on legal reasoning the department rejected in other cases. A former federal judge hired to advise the court found Mr. Barr’s justifications “an unconvincing effort to disguise as legitimate a decision to dismiss that is based solely on the fact that Flynn is a political ally of President Trump.” No matter: Now the case is closed. Mr. Trump steamrolled the facts and debate, deploying one of the least reviewable powers of his office — his pardon authority — to officially end the Flynn drama. He enabled an admitted felon to walk free solely because he was a loyal Trumpist.
As he so often does, Mr. Trump grounded his decision in a half-baked conspiracy theory, insisting Wednesday through his press secretary that Mr. Flynn was “the victim of partisan government officials engaged in a coordinated attempt to subvert the election of 2016.” In fact, Mr. Flynn was caught scheming with the representative of a foreign government that actively tried to subvert the 2016 election. Then he lied about it to the FBI.
So it remains in Mr. Trump’s America, at least for a couple more months: Guilty is innocent; lies are truth; traitors are patriots. The question is not whether Mr. Trump has degraded the presidency. The question is how much long-term damage he has done. Will future presidents now feel free to use the pardon power — or the other vast powers of office — with such nakedly crooked motives? How many will calculate that they can make corruption appear to be patriotism as long as enough of the country wants to believe the lies they tell?
Trump’s pardon of Michael Flynn is a parting disgrace
November 25, 2020 at 8:25 p.m. EST
DAY AFTER day, year after year, Americans wondered when Donald Trump would change. But winning primaries, claiming the GOP nomination, taking the White House and being president did not snap him out of a lifelong habit of indecency. It was too much to imagine that losing his reelection bid would bring a change of character. And so it is that President Trump is leaving the White House just as he entered it: a total disgrace.
In what we can only hope will be his last official degradation of his office, the president pardoned Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser, on Wednesday, the afternoon before Thanksgiving. Mr. Flynn freely pleaded guilty to lying to FBI investigators, a felony, about whether he discussed anti-Kremlin sanctions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. “I recognize that the actions I acknowledged in court today were wrong, and, through my faith in God, I am working to set things right,” Mr. Flynn said then. “I accept full responsibility for my actions.” But then he took it all back.
Mr. Flynn switched lawyers, hiring Sidney Powell — yes, the same Sidney Powell who last week alleged a vast international communist plot to flip the 2020 presidential election to President-elect Joe Biden — and insisted that he was the victim of FBI manipulation. Of course, no one forced him to lie to counterintelligence investigators. But Mr. Trump, who had privately pushed then-FBI Director James B. Comey to go easy on his former confidant, waged a public campaign against prosecuting Mr. Flynn, tying it into his efforts to discredit the Russia investigation. Finally, Attorney General William P. Barr bailed out Mr. Flynn, moving to drop the case against the former Trump staffer, despite his previous guilty plea.
Mr. Flynn’s judge balked, igniting a debate about whether he could stop the Justice Department from showing such obvious favoritism for one of the president’s friends based on legal reasoning the department rejected in other cases. A former federal judge hired to advise the court found Mr. Barr’s justifications “an unconvincing effort to disguise as legitimate a decision to dismiss that is based solely on the fact that Flynn is a political ally of President Trump.” No matter: Now the case is closed. Mr. Trump steamrolled the facts and debate, deploying one of the least reviewable powers of his office — his pardon authority — to officially end the Flynn drama. He enabled an admitted felon to walk free solely because he was a loyal Trumpist.
As he so often does, Mr. Trump grounded his decision in a half-baked conspiracy theory, insisting Wednesday through his press secretary that Mr. Flynn was “the victim of partisan government officials engaged in a coordinated attempt to subvert the election of 2016.” In fact, Mr. Flynn was caught scheming with the representative of a foreign government that actively tried to subvert the 2016 election. Then he lied about it to the FBI.
So it remains in Mr. Trump’s America, at least for a couple more months: Guilty is innocent; lies are truth; traitors are patriots. The question is not whether Mr. Trump has degraded the presidency. The question is how much long-term damage he has done. Will future presidents now feel free to use the pardon power — or the other vast powers of office — with such nakedly crooked motives? How many will calculate that they can make corruption appear to be patriotism as long as enough of the country wants to believe the lies they tell?
Letter from ex-US attorney criticizing DOJ handling of election fraud claims surfaces
A former federal prosecutor in Pennsylvania said he disagreed with the Justice Department on how to handle allegations of voter fraud and election irregularities, according to a letter released by ex-President DJT.
William McSwain, who was U.S. attorney of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania from 2018 until January 2021, wrote to DJT in June expressing dismay with what he said were instructions from former Attorney General William Barr himself.
"On Election Day and afterwards, our Office received various allegations of voter fraud and election irregularities," the letter said. "As part of my responsibilities as U.S. Attorney, I wanted to be transparent with the public and, of course, investigate fully any allegations. Attorney General Barr, however, instructed me not to make any public statements or put out any press releases regarding possible election irregularities. I was also given a directive to pass along serious allegations to the State Attorney General for investigation – the same State Attorney General who had already declared that you could not win."
McSwain wrote that he "disagreed with that decision," but noting he was a Marine infantry officer, he added that he would follow his orders from superior even if he did not agree with them.
"U.S. Attorney from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania was precluded from investigating election fraud allegations. Outrageous!" DJT said in a statement of his own.
Barr did issue a memo in November authorizing U.S. attorneys to investigate "substantial allegations" of voting irregularities prior to the certification of elections, but he later said publicly the Justice Department did not find fraud sufficient to alter the outcome of the 2020 election. Barr went on to say he believed DJT's major claims of election fraud were "all bulls—-," according to an article published by the Atlantic last month.
Pennsylvania is one state won by President Joe Biden last year that post-election audits showed no widespread fraud. Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who said the state found "absolutely no evidence" of widespread voter fraud, has been criticized by Republicans for tweeting a couple days before the November election that "DJT is going to lose," although he said that would be if "all the votes are added up" in Pennsylvania.
Efforts are now underway in the GOP-led state Senate to conduct an Arizona-style "forensic investigation," which prompted Pennsylvania's Department of State to warn that any election equipment given to "third-party entities" will be decertified.
William McSwain, who was U.S. attorney of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania from 2018 until January 2021, wrote to DJT in June expressing dismay with what he said were instructions from former Attorney General William Barr himself.
"On Election Day and afterwards, our Office received various allegations of voter fraud and election irregularities," the letter said. "As part of my responsibilities as U.S. Attorney, I wanted to be transparent with the public and, of course, investigate fully any allegations. Attorney General Barr, however, instructed me not to make any public statements or put out any press releases regarding possible election irregularities. I was also given a directive to pass along serious allegations to the State Attorney General for investigation – the same State Attorney General who had already declared that you could not win."
McSwain wrote that he "disagreed with that decision," but noting he was a Marine infantry officer, he added that he would follow his orders from superior even if he did not agree with them.
"U.S. Attorney from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania was precluded from investigating election fraud allegations. Outrageous!" DJT said in a statement of his own.
Barr did issue a memo in November authorizing U.S. attorneys to investigate "substantial allegations" of voting irregularities prior to the certification of elections, but he later said publicly the Justice Department did not find fraud sufficient to alter the outcome of the 2020 election. Barr went on to say he believed DJT's major claims of election fraud were "all bulls—-," according to an article published by the Atlantic last month.
Pennsylvania is one state won by President Joe Biden last year that post-election audits showed no widespread fraud. Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who said the state found "absolutely no evidence" of widespread voter fraud, has been criticized by Republicans for tweeting a couple days before the November election that "DJT is going to lose," although he said that would be if "all the votes are added up" in Pennsylvania.
Efforts are now underway in the GOP-led state Senate to conduct an Arizona-style "forensic investigation," which prompted Pennsylvania's Department of State to warn that any election equipment given to "third-party entities" will be decertified.
Cackling Kamala finally visits U.S. Mexico border
Our feckless Vice President Kamala Harris finally visits the southern border when Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert drags her down to McAllen Texas.
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