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U.S. Hits 11 Million Coronavirus Cases, Adding 1 Million In A Week:
U.S. Hits 11 Million Coronavirus Cases, Adding 1 Million In A Week
More than 11 million confirmed coronavirus cases have been recorded in the United States, according to a COVID-19 tracker by Johns Hopkins University. The country reported 166,555 new cases on Sunday, with 1,266 new deaths.
The staggering milestone was reached only six days after the U.S. hit 10 million cases. Positive test rates and hospitalization rates are on the rise across the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[...] Hospitalizations continue to climb. More than 69,000 people were hospitalized as of Sunday, more than ever before.
The pandemic also continues to disproportionately affect Black and brown communities in the U.S. According to data from the CDC as of Nov. 7, hospitalization rates for Hispanic or Latino people are 4.2 times higher than that of white people. American Indian or Alaska Native people have been hospitalized at 4.1 times the rate of white people, with Black people being hospitalized at 3.9 times the rate of white people.
[...] The Trump administration has blocked the current coronavirus task force from communicating with President-elect Biden's team.
(Score: 4, Touché) by Mykl on Tuesday November 17 2020, @02:00AM (4 children)
I think you make some good points about the worst elements of the D party (rated you Interesting), but you're delusional if you think that the R's are a party of reason at the moment.
This is what is so good about mandatory voting in Australia. It tends to force a more centrist position from both parties, rather than the race to the fringes that US politics seems to be enjoying, because the parties have to cater to the group in the middle.
The preferential/proportional/runoff voting element also provides a stronger voice to minor parties, even if they don't have a significant number of elected representatives.
(Score: 1, Troll) by khallow on Tuesday November 17 2020, @04:19AM
If that's what's so good about mandatory voting, then it's time to end it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 17 2020, @04:22AM (1 child)
We get fined (a couple hundred if I remember correctly) for not voting in Australia but pay nothing to get a covid test. In the US its the opposite, go figure - whether you're a R or D cult member surely you see how screwed up that is?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 18 2020, @05:12AM
Interesting note, liberals will probably agree while conservatives will disagree for no reason.
Brainwashing is a hell of a drug.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Grishnakh on Wednesday November 18 2020, @03:02AM
I'm not convinced about that mandatory voting at all. If someone doesn't care enough to vote, how is forcing them to vote going to convince them to make an informed decision, instead of just choosing randomly or choosing someone who's name they remember?
I'll wager that the reason you get a more centrist position is really because of the other factor you mentioned: preferential/proportional/runoff voting systems. Plurality (first past the post) voting necessarily leads to a 2-party system and prevents non-incumbent parties from seriously challenging the 2 dominant ones. Just look at the US: no political party has *ever* risen up and challenged the incumbent ones. The *only* time the system changed is when the Whig party died out, and then the other party (the Democratic-Republicans) split in 2, forming the 2 parties that now exist. If we ever have different dominating parties (without changing the election system), it'll be because one of the two parties imploded, and the other party broke in half. I thought this might possibly happen to the Republican party in this election due to Trump, causing the Democratic Party to split into the center-right/conservative party and the progressive/leftist party, but apparently I was quite wrong, as it seems nearly half the population has wholeheartedly embraced far-right political ideals (similar to Germany in the 1930s, when they went from the more liberal days of the Weimar Republic to Naziism and most of the population eventually embraced it. Luckily it isn't that bad here, but it does show how political views do not always get more liberal over time as some people believe, and in fact can swing back the other way pretty quickly).