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Started by Shadow.97, August 06, 2016, 11:39 AM

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scarface

Macron is currently announcing a reconfinement here...
https://www.france.tv/france-2/direct.html

humbert

Quote from: scarface on October 28, 2020, 07:43 PM
I guess you are confined again because of the "terrible" virus? (humbert must not be convinced). I'm waiting for the allocution of Macron at 8pm.

Of course I'm not saying we should do absolutely nothing about this virus. But we have to put this into perspective. This virus has less than a 5% kill ratio. This doesn't even come close to REAL pandemics such as bubonic plague or the Spanish flu. Are survivors immune? Probably. There have been very few cases of reinfection, and even then these people have recovered faster.

Trump, his wife, youngest son, and some others in his government have tested positive for Covid19. Unfortunately the virus hasn't killed any of them.

scarface

Tonight, I'm going to talk about the elections in the US.

But First and foremost, let's talk about various different things.
Maybe you know that I'm confined again due to the coronavirus. Well, this is not bad news since I tinkered with the repack of Amnesia Rebirth. New size: 10.1 Gb (vs 10.3 Gb previously).
I don't know when it will be available on the forum (I'd want to reduce its size a bit more).
I guess very few of you are confined again, even if in Europe tightened measures amidst sharp rise in coronavirus cases. Maher, aa1234779 and Vasudev probably aren't confined right now. They may be partying, who knows? I remember that 2 years ago I was invited at the restaurant by my father for my 35th birthday and I was offered a couscous. Now the restaurants are closed. I imagine that humbert might be confined in Texas, or at least, he must have barricaded himself in his house, until the election results come out. We don't know what the Republicans will do if their candidate loses the elections.


Now let's talk about the American elections.
Who will win 2020 presidency?



The race for the White House is nearly over as voters head to the polls in the 2020 presidential election.
While current polling suggests former Vice President Joe Biden has an almost insurmountable lead, Donald Trump still has a chance of securing four more years in office.

Who is in the lead for president 2021?
According to the latest polling averages, Joe Biden's lead over the incumbent is remaining solid, despite a slight downfall in the wake of the US presidential debates and Donald Trump's diagnosis with coronavirus. Mr Biden's polling average has remained above 50 per cent since October 4, and the Democratic nominee has consistently polled in the lead since the race began.
If state polls are close to the final result, Mr Biden is on course for gains in at least two swing states - Michigan and Wisconsin - and Arizona, which has been more likely to vote Republican in recent years.
While Florida and Texas are too close to call - carrying 67 electoral college votes between them - Pennsylvania and its 20 votes for the presidency are leaning Democrat according to the latest polls.
Of the states that could go either way based on the latest polls, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida all flipped to Donald Trump from the Democrats in the 2016 election, and his chances of retaining the presidency could rest on reclaiming victory here and holding on to Texas.
Having voted Republican in every election since 2000, Texas is now a toss-up and could be pivotal to the final result.

What are the latest odds on winning?
UK bookmakers appear to be setting out their stall to take on Mr Trump by making the present POTUS the subject of their enhanced-odds sign-up offers.
After shortening following the final head-to-head debate, Mr Trump’s US election odds have stagnated, with Biden still the odds-on favourite.
These are the latest odds from Betfair Exchange
•   Joe Biden â€" 2/15
•   Donald Trump â€" 15/8


Trump and Biden clash in debates.
Donald Trump and Joe Biden faced each other in the first presidential debate in September.
In a bad-tempered and at times chaotic debate, the candidates ripped chunks out of each other on their records and issues such as the economy and race.
Mr Trump was rebuked several times by Chris Wallace, the moderator, for speaking over his opponent. At one point, after incessant interruptions from the president, Mr Biden said: "Will you shut up, man?"
Tempers were much more controlled at the second debate in Nashville, in which insults flew but neither candidate could land a killer blow.
The pair had their microphones turned off at the final presidential debate on Thursday 22 October to stop them talking over each other. The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) enforced two minutes of uninterrupted speaking time for each candidate per topic after the first debate between rivals became a farce.
Presidential debates are a political version of gladiatorial combat and they have, in the past, turned elections.
Four years ago the polls showed it was reasonably close between Mr Trump and Hillary Clinton with neither delivering a knockout blow.
Meanwhile both Mr Trump's and Mr Biden's running mates - Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris - clashed in their own vice-presidential debate on Wednesday 7 October, with the focus dominated by the Trump administration's Covid-19 response.

What happened in the town halls?
After the second presidential debate was cancelled, the two candidates appeared in separate live town halls that were broadcast at the same time.
Mr Trump dominated the headlines after he refused to denounce the QAnon conspiracy theory, which falsely claims the US government is controlled by a "deep state" cabal of anti-Trump Satanist paedophiles. He said: "So, I know nothing about QAnon. I know very little. What I do hear about it, they are very strongly against paedophilia. I do agree with that."
The president was questioned over his decision to retweet a false conspiracy theory, from a QAnon-linked Twitter account, suggesting that Navy Seals killed a body double of Osama bin Laden and that the Obama administration covered it up. Mr Trump said he was just "putting it out there" and "people can decide for themselves".
Mr Trump also denied that he was told in the Oval Office, by his national security adviser in January, that the coronavirus would be the biggest national security threat of his presidency.
In Philadelphia, Mr Biden said: "We're in a situation where we have 210,000 plus people dead and what's he doing? Nothing. He's still not wearing masks."
Mr Biden put on his mask when leaving the stage to be closer to questioners.

Trump approval static at around 40 per cent.
Donald Trump's presidential approval ratings are at steady levels, according to the Telegraph's poll tracker.
The tracker, which takes an average of the last eight polls, put Mr Trump's approval rating at around 44 per cent, while 54 per cent disapprove of the way the president is doing his job.
The president's approval ratings had recovered slightly recently, after experiencing a "rally around the flag" effect with Americans backing the Government to handle the coronavirus crisis.
The period since Donald Trump's election has been packed with controversy and intrigue but, underneath it all, few people seem to have really changed their minds about America's 45th president.
His approval rating quickly slumped in the chaotic days after assuming office, with Trump achieving a majority disapproval rating in a record of just eight days. Three years in, he is far less popular than previous presidents at this stage of a presidency - but overall approval has generally remained above 40 per cent.
Still, with the president having defied political gravity four years ago, the jury's out as to whether he can do the same again against his new Democrat opponent.

humbert

Quote from: scarface on November 03, 2020, 07:49 PM
Tonight, I'm going to talk about the elections in the US.

It is 22:00 here in San Antonio election night and I have turned the TV off. At this point things are looking very bad. It appears this despot will win again. Why people would vote for this miscreant is beyond my comprehension. Once again all the polls were wrong. That is, of course, unless the polls sampled people who aren't voting. It seems to be the only possible explanation.

I would love to move out of the USA. Possible destinations include Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and any country in Scandinavia. Unfortunately that's not possible, not even in the unlikely event one of those countries offered me a premanent residence visa. And of course returning to my native Cuba (which is NOT impossible) is a situation where the cure is worse than the disease.

I read somewhere that Edward Snowden is applying for Russian citizenship. I wish I could ask him to put in a good word for me with Putin so I could possibly emigrate there.

I'm sick and tired of this country and the majority of idiots who live here.

scarface

Well, yesterday Biden was ahead in the polls but it seems it's not the case any more.
Incredibly enough, humbert was right: the tyrant Trump could win the elections.
After six years of Republican rule, the Senate could very well flip.
With such uncertainty, the Dow Jones futures are dropping 300 points.


scarface

Apparently Biden is once again ahead of Trump due to his lead in Michigan and Wisconsin. I wouldn't be surprised if Trump was making a coup d'etat to stay in power.

scarface

Here are some news about the election in the USA...
It seems Biden won the vote in Wisconsin and Michigan. Early results showed Joe Biden with a lead Tuesday over President Donald Trump in Nevada, a state no Republican presidential candidate has carried since 2004 but that has remained a battleground. If Biden wins Nevada, he will win the elections.

Here is a map showing the latest results:

scarface

Below is another interesting map which shows the electoral votes in the US. Maybe humbert and Vasudev haven't seen this map in detail yet.
And here is an article of le monde, which discusses the map et the elections (in French...): https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2020/11/04/elections-americaines-2020-suivez-la-carte-des-resultats-en-direct_6058394_3210.html


scarface

#278
Tonight, I'm going to talk about the "deadly" coronavirus (I think humbert will correct me).

Yesterday, roughly one thousand died due to the coronvirus in France and new records where reached today in Europe: France registered record 58,046 new cases and Italy reported highest death toll since April. Olivier Veran, the Health minister wants to strengthen the confinement. We know that some countries like the US or Brasil are coping better with the pandemic and there is no confinement other there. It's probably the case in Palestine too, I guess Maher is nodding.
But what is the situation in France? I found an article summing up the situation.

"This time it's too much! », Says Delphine. Like many French people, this 50-year-old Parisian social worker accepted the "ordeal" of the first confinement. But with the announcement of a new confinement, the "stunned effect" of spring gave way to anger and despair. She senses the “violence” and the “rupture” that this new episode will represent: “There is something Darwinian, the poor and the weak die faster. She no longer finds that spirit of "resilience through humor and solidarity" or the hope of deliverance that prevailed in spring. Applause on the balconies still remains with this young neighbor "who plays music and shouts" good night "every evening at 9 pm".

While it could have been painful, the first confinement, by its exceptional nature and the hammered injunction to stay at home, had been relatively understood, resulting in solidarity, mobilization, hopes of reinvention. Seven months later, the fear seems to have diluted, the funeral and disembodied figures trivialized, making the social acceptability of this reconfinement more difficult, despite the epidemic resurgence and the repeated call on Thursday evening by the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, to respect it. Everyone is faced with their own arbitrations.



As for the economic aftermath, it is estimated that around 15% of the 168,000 restaurants and 38,800 bars and cafes in France will close permanently by the end of 2020. This means that 220,000 employees - out of 960,000 in total - could thus lose their jobs, without counting of course the other sectors which will also suffer from these disastrous consequences: from suppliers to cleaning staff, including security guards, sometimes dozens of different sectors are affected by the closure of one restaurant.
Even if the government tries to reassure by distributing public aid of up to 10,000 euros per month, many bars and restaurants are in agony. The most alarming situation being in ÃŽle-de-France, where the tourist season has been more disastrous than in other regions of France during this summer.


In Front of the Cathedral Notre Dame. Not everyone is confined.

humbert

With respect to Coronavirus, I'm not suggesting we do nothing. What I'm saying is let's put it into proper perspective. This is not bubonic plague nor the so-called Spanish Flu (which had nothing to do with Spain). The kill ratio is under 5%, meaning over 95% survive. Only the most vulnerable are at risk. My lady's mom died of it, but then again she was 85 and a lifelong smoker. 2 or 3 of her children and/or grandchildren were also infected. They all survived.

With respect to the USA election, I originally believed all was lost. I forgot the fact that many more votes remained to be counted and are still being counted 3 days after the election. As of this moment things are looking very good for Biden. The US Secret Service has already extended presidential protection for him and his family. His transition team is already at work. As of today's post it's not over yet. Let's not chant victory until all votes are counted.

Coup d'etat? I don't think it'll go that far. Trump will rant and rave until people get tired of listening to him. For a coup to happen you need to control of the military. It's no secret the country's top generals and admirals don't like him. Even it they did, rest assured the American people are not going to just sit back and do nothing, especially when Biden clearly won the popular vote.