DL Open Thread: Saturday, March 13, 2021

Filed in Featured, Open Thread by on March 13, 2021

Kentucky Senate Outlaws Saying Something That Might Hurt Cops’ Feelings:

Kentucky’s Republican-majority Senate on Thursday moved forward a bill that would make it easier to arrest protesters for insulting a police officer, a measure that critics say would stifle free speech.

The bill, passed two days before the anniversary of the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor, would make it a misdemeanor to taunt or challenge an officer with words or gestures “that would have a direct tendency to provoke a violent response from the perspective of a reasonable and prudent person.” Conviction would be punishable by up to 90 days in jail and fines of up to $250.

Right. Because racist cops are reasonable and prudent persons.

Nursing Homes Have Always Gamed The System.  The Feds have been (perhaps) unwitting co-conspirators:

Despite years of warnings, the system provided a badly distorted picture of the quality of care at the nation’s nursing homes. Many relied on sleight-of-hand maneuvers to improve their ratings and hide shortcomings that contributed to the damage when the pandemic struck.

Among The Times’s findings:

  • Much of the information submitted to C.M.S. is wrong. Almost always, that incorrect information makes the homes seem cleaner and safer than they are.

  • Some nursing homes inflate their staffing levels by, for example, including employees who are on vacation. The number of patients on dangerous antipsychotic medications is frequently understated. Residents’ accidents and health problems often go unreported.

  • In one sign of the problems with the self-reported data, nursing homes that earn five stars for their quality of care are nearly as likely to flunk in-person inspections as to ace them. But the government rarely audits the nursing homes’ data.

  • Data suggest that at least some nursing homes know in advance about what are supposed to be surprise inspections. Health inspectors still routinely found problems with abuse and neglect at five-star facilities, yet they rarely deemed the infractions serious enough to merit lower ratings.

To place this in context, companies that run nursing homes are criminal conspiracies very much in the same spirit as the Republican Party.

‘Avocado’. Rethugs’ ‘safe word’ when playing submissives to Trump’s dom:

Maddow noted how Trump this week urged GOP donors to send their cash directly to him, causing momentary tensions with the Republican Party until its leaders ended up bowing down once again to their one-term and twice-impeached president.

“I mean this is some masochistic stuff right here. Do you guys have a safe word? You might want to employ it at some point,” joked Maddow. “At some point, we’re going to hear the Republican Party in the corner going ‘avocado.’”

“What does he have to do to get you to not give him more of what he wants?” she added. “To stop praising him, to not actually giving him more of your money? What does he have to do? The meaner he gets, the bigger the swings and the more insulting he gets toward you, the more you praise and thank him.”

How Biden Plans To Sell The Stimulus Package.  This PAC will serve to boost the travels of Biden and Harris:

A surge of TV and digital ads selling the massive Covid recovery package will hit the airwaves next week, just as President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris embark on a national tour to explain what they’re delivering to Americans.

Unite the Country, a pro-Biden super PAC, has launched a seven-figure TV and digital ad campaign in the battleground states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona and Georgia…

The ad campaign casts the $1.9 trillion “rescue” package as promises made, promises kept by the president, who campaigned on a pledge to get the pandemic under control and deliver help for those suffering from its effects. And it is timed to hit the airwaves as the president, vice president and their spouses tour the country to tout the elements of the massive plan, which includes direct payments to many Americans, as well as funds to distribute vaccines, open schools and aid local governments, workers and businesses.

Is Cuomo Toast?  Not all bullies and sexual predators get to skate despite their behavior.  Learn more about Cuomo’s toxic workplace here.

What do you want to talk about?

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  1. bamboozer says:
    March 13, 2021 at 9:14 am

    Do what you must to keep relatives out of the racket we call nursing homes, they are almost all run by the usual cruel and callous corporations whose only goal is profit. Has the government been complicit? But of course, corruption is what a failed government does best. I had to retire early and take Social Security early as well, but we kept my wife at home until the proverbial bitter end and paid them not a penny. And yes, damn proud of myself and my son as it ain’t easy.

    • Alby says:
      March 13, 2021 at 10:21 am

      I probably shouldn’t speak for others, but I think you have the respect of every regular here. I’m proud to have you as a reader.

      • El Somnambulo says:
        March 13, 2021 at 11:19 am

        He certainly has my respect. We built an addition on our house for our in-laws. As somebody who worked on nursing home reform in Delaware, I learned that I had to think like criminals in order to figure out how they planned to take money while providing as little care as they could get away with.

      • VenialCyn says:
        March 13, 2021 at 7:41 pm

        I’m not a regular but he certainly has my respect!

  2. Andrew C says:
    March 13, 2021 at 11:14 am

    https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/31053026/oklahoma-prep-game-broadcaster-denounced-using-racial-epithet

    Oklahoma basketball announcer blames his racism on his diabetes.

    Yes, really.

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