1) Joe Biden has called for the second presidential debate to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the infections among senior republicans and White House staff.
2) Dr. Fauci said that Trump's gathering to celebrate the nomination of Judge Barrett was the type of “dangerous situation” medical officials have long warned could become the new COVID-19 superspreader events.
3) Twitter and Facebook have deleted or hidden posts by President Trump in which he said that COVID-19 is less dangerous than the flu.
A debate between US Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris is being touted by commentators as one of the key moments of the election campaign.
The pair are due to face-off in Salt Lake City, Utah, in a televised debate on Wednesday night in what is usually a low-key affair that has little impact on the race for the White House.
However, President Trump's hospital admission last week with COVID-19 and his subsequent health concerns have made the event more significant for voters and observers.
Alex Conant, a Republican strategist who worked on Florida Senator Marco Rubio's 2016 presidential bid, said: "Normally, the vice presidential debate is inconsequential. That is not the case in 2020.
"The public has so many questions about how we got here and it's an opportunity for Pence to answer some of those."
Democratic Senator Harris is certain to push Republican Mr Pence on Mr Trump's health and poor record of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the president's relationship with Russia.
With such different backgrounds and policies how do the two compare?
Mr Pence is 61 and was born in Columbus, Indiana, in 1959. His father was a Korean War veteran who ran petrol stations.
He went to Hanover College in Indiana and then studied at Indiana University school of law.
He's been married to Karen Pence since 1985. They have three children together.
He is a socially conservative, 'born-again' Christian evangelical. His religion has influenced his policies on abortion, birth control and LGBTQ rights.
She is an experienced lawyer and prosecutor. She began her law career in the Alameda County district attorney's office before working as a district attorney in San Francisco.
She was the first black person and first woman to get the role. In 2011, she became California's attorney general before being elected to the US Senate in 2017.
Mike Pence
He was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013 and Indiana's governor from 2013 to 2017.
Before entering politics, he hosted a talk radio show.
She's been very vocal in her criticism of the Trump administration's handling of the pandemic that has seen over 210,000 Americans die.
In a speech, she said: "Donald Trump froze. He was scared. And he was petty and vindictive."
She went on to say Mr Trump was "fixated on the stock market" and "caved" to the Chinese government.
"And here's what you have to understand about the nature of a pandemic: It's relentless. You can't stop it with a tweet. You can't create a distraction and hope it'll go away. It doesn't go away," she said.
In May, she put forward the COVID-19 Racial and Ethnic Disparities Task Force Act to look into racial disparities, since BAME people are thought to be more adversely impacted.
Mike Pence
At the start of the pandemic in February, Mr Trump appointed Mr Pence to head up the nation's coronavirus task force.
Like Mr Trump, he has downplayed the pandemic and taken aim at the media's reporting of deaths.
He has said that panic over the virus is "overblown" and hailed his administration's "success" in dealing with it.
Mr Pence has also downplayed a second wave and reassured Americans: "We are winning the fight against the invisible enemy."
On healthcare
Kamala Harris
Ms Harris suffered during the presidential nomination race thanks to her position on healthcare.
She has gone back-and-forth on the subject, at times supporting free and subsidised care, and at others supporting continued privatisation.
At first, she supported Bernie Sanders' Medicare for All bill - a government healthcare scheme that would have eliminated the need for private insurance. In January 2018, she said: "We need medicare for all. That's just the bottom line."
But in August 2019, she said she was "not comfortable" with the plan. She further backtracked, telling MSNBC she was not in favour of abolishing private health insurance for all.
Then she laid out her own healthcare plan, a form of Medicare for All which is a hybrid of both. A government-run system which still allows private insurers to operate inside of it.
Mike Pence
His religious views have influenced his work on healthcare.
When he was a congressmen, his opposition to abortion led him to head up efforts to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood, a non-profit organisation that provides reproductive healthcare.
As governor of Indiana he refused to expand Medicaid under President Obama's Affordable Care Act, eventually relenting when he was allowed to introduce his own plan that saw low income adults above the poverty line forced to pay premiums.
He has been criticised for the state's handling of a HIV outbreak in 2015. He initially refused to introduce needle exchanges as it went against his religious beliefs. He relented when the number of cases soared over 200.
On immigration
Kamala Harris
She bitterly opposes Mr Trump's plan for a wall with Mexico. She said: "Because I was a prosecutor for many years, including the attorney general of California, I specialise on trans-national criminal organisations. That wall ain't gonna stop them."
She introduced the 2018 Access to Counsel Act. It guarantees detained migrants access to an attorney.
In 2019, she unveiled a plan to remove the threat of deportation for undocumented immigrants. And she supported the Reunite Act to bring together families separated at the border.
Mike Pence
He supports Mr Trump's plans for a Mexico border wall and for tougher controls on immigration. He's called immigration a "security crisis" and has criticised Democratic candidate Joe Biden's campaign, tweeting: "Joe Biden is for open borders, sanctuary cities, free lawyers and free healthcare for illegal immigrants."
He backed Mr Trump's travel ban and said the president's executive order to stop those coming from Muslim countries was "constitutional".
Ms Harris has long supported action on climate change, calling it an "existential threat that demands bold action".
She supports the 2019 Green New Deal which would see the US go to 100% clean and renewable energy in 10 years and the Paris Agreement.
In September, she released her own climate plan which include $12trn (£9.2trn) in investment to create a clean economy and make the US carbon-neutral by 2045.
She also supports a carbon tax.
Mike Pence
Like many conservatives, he has repeatedly denied climate science and called global warming a "myth".
He has also refused to call it a threat to US security and has criticised Mr Obama's Clean Power Plan (to reduce coal plant pollution) which the Trump administration rolled back.
On guns
Kamala Harris
When running for the Democrat presidential nomination, Ms Harris made bold statements about banning guns in the country.
She said if she was elected president she would give Congress 100 days "to get their act together and have the courage to pass reasonable gun safety laws, and if they fail to do it, then I will take executive action".
If elected she promised to sign an executive order mandating background checks for customers of any firearms dealer who sells more than five guns a year.
She also vowed to increase checks on manufacturers and close the loophole that sees domestic abusers allowed to buy guns if their victim is an unmarried partner.
Mike Pence
Like Mr Trump, he is pro-guns.
In 2019, he told gun activists at an event hosted by National Rifle Association: "I'll make you a promise: under this president, and this vice president, no one is taking your guns.
"The president and I stand with the NRA because, like all of you, we stand for freedom."
On law and order
Kamala Harris
As a district attorney and attorney general, Ms Harris has lots of experience to draw from when talking about her record on law and order.
At times she has been criticised for seeing to be too tough, thanks to her stance on non-violent crimes.
In the past, she has fought prison releases due to overcrowding, defended convictions of up to a dozen people after they were found not guilty and pushed for state legislation that would have seen the prosecution of parents of children who play truant from schools.
However, she has made lots of moves to bring about a reform of the justice system. She has a criminal justice reform plan that seeks to minimise incarceration, end the death penalty and solitary confinement, ban private prisons, get rid of cash bail, create national standards for police conduct and end mandatory minimum sentencing.
And she has a strong record when it comes to the Black Lives Matter movement, calling it "essential" and praising protesters.
On the issue of drugs, she co-sponsored an act to end the federal prohibition of cannabis and has moved to get non-violent cannabis offences removed from offenders' records.
Mike Pence
He has long reiterated Mr Trump's calls for law and order across America.
He pledged to work with the president to restore order after riots started following the shooting of black man Jacob Blake by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
He said: "Too many heroes have died defending our freedoms to see Americans strike each other down.
"We will have law and order on the streets of America."
Referring to riots and Black Lives Matter marches in some states, he said: "Let me be clear: the violence must stop. Whether in Minneapolis, Portland, or Kenosha."
He has also lambasted activists who have attempted to take down controversial statues.
Mr Pence has called for tougher penalties for those convicted of drug-related crimes, doesn't support the legalisation of cannabis and backs the death penalty.
On Foreign Policy
Kamala Harris
She has often used her background and upbringing to defend her stance on foreign policy.
Senator Harris is running on a ticket based around a centre-left view of foreign policy. She promised to support Ukraine in their fight against Russia.
And she has pledged support for the Uighurs and those in Hong Kong suffering oppression from Beijing.
She is thought to have a lot in common with former president Harry Truman in her desire to promote America and American interests abroad.
She is expected to challenge Mr Pence on Mr Trump's relationship with Vladimir Putin and the administration's handling of Russia.
She has expertise in this area as a member of the Senate select committee on intelligence which investigated Russian interference with the 2016 election.
Mike Pence
As VP, Mr Pence has travelled all over the world including Iraq, China and Israel promoting American interests abroad.
He was instrumental in persuading President Trump to keep American forces in Afghanistan "until we eliminate the terrorist threat to our homeland, our people once and for all".
He has openly condemned Russia and Iran for their role in the Syrian conflict and has fervently denied any collusion with Russia during the 2016 election.
He is in favour of investing in the US military saying: "I just have to tell you that the provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength."
I'm trying to restrain myself right now, but maybe I'll go crazy tonight.
I usually don't discuss my favourite rock songs because my taste is very ecclectic and I have had many favourites over many decades (anything from Paperback Writer to Paint It Black to Born In The USA to Smells Like Teen Spirit) and it can get very difficult.
I created a playlist on Windows Media Player in 2005 and I decided to only add my favourite rock songs and there were over a thousand songs by the time that I had finished.
joseph1832: better than Slash? Well yeah its possible but hey I still don't know the criteria they use in knowing who is better than who.
Cc: naptu2
Jimi Hendrix was a god who played the Star Spangled Banner with his teeth and often set his guitar on fire. NTA Channel 10 often showed his concerts in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
naptu2: The video begins with the famous incident in which Jimi Hendrix set his guitar on fire (It was a Fender Startocaster! ).
This is not the official video of the song. Rather, a fan pieced together some of the most famous clips of him (e.g. the clip of him playing the guitar with his teeth).
Angelique Kidjo covered this song.
This song and Victor Uwaifo's Joromi are my two best songs for tuning a guitar.
naptu2: I'm sure that there are many nigerians who have never heard this song, or who have heard it, but cannot remember it. I remember this song very well and I found it very interesting for two reason.
1) It's Michael Jackon's angriest diss song.
Michael Jackson was accused of sexually molesting a young boy c1993 (this was the first accusation). However, the alleged victim and his family stopped co-operating with the police and the DA and the case was therefore eventually dropped. Michael allegedly paid the boy's family $10 million to also drop the civil suit that they had instituted against him.
Michael Jackson felt that the District Attorney was out to get him and that he ordered the police to be hard on Michael (including subjecting him to a strip search). So Michael wrote this song to insult the DA.
2) Slash played the guitar on this song. I don't think that his riff was as good as Van Halen's riff on Beat It, but his solo was absolutely wonderful. Michael screamed "Slash!" and this man began to play and it was BEAUTIFUL!
I'm going to post the lyrics, so that you can see the insults (the DA's name is Tom Sneddon. Michael changed the name to Dom Sheldon on the track, so that he won't get sued. The way Michael says "Dom Sheldon" in the chorus, it sounds like he is actually saying Tom Sneddon, but what's written on the CD notes is Dom Sheldon).
They wanna get my ass dead or alive. You know he really tried to take me Down by surprise. I bet he missioned with the CIA. He don't do half what he say.
Dom Sheldon is a cold man! Dom Sheldon is a cold man! Dom Sheldon is a cold man! Dom Sheldon is a cold man!
He out to shock in every single way. He'll stop at nothing just to get his, political say. He think he bad cause he's the SDA. I bet he never had a social life anyway. You think he brother with the KKK? I know his mother never taught him, Right anyway. He want your vote just to remain DA. He don't do half what he say.
Dom Sheldon is a cold man! Dom Sheldon is a cold man! Dom Sheldon is a cold man! Dom Sheldon is a cold man!
Dom S. Sheldon is a cold man Dom Sheldon is a cold man Dom Sheldon is a cold man Dom Sheldon is a cold man
Does he send letters to the FBI? Did he say to either do it or die?
Dom Sheldon is a cold man Dom Sheldon is a cold man Dom Sheldon is a cold man Dom Sheldon is a cold man
Dom S. Sheldon is a cold man Dom Sheldon is a cold man Dom Sheldon is a cold man Dom Sheldon is a cold man
naptu2: Did you know that Michael Jackson had a diss track? Yes he did!
I’m sure that my neighbours in the late 1990s knew, because I played that song at full volume every weekend.
Michael was so angry that he actually sang the man’s name! They changed the man’s name to Dom Sheldon, probably so that he wouldn’t be able to sue them, but what I actually hear Michael singing is the man’s real name. Listen to this song and tell me whether Michael is singing Dom Sheldon or Tom Sneddon (Tom Sneddon is the man’s real name).
In 1993, Michael Jackson was accused of sexually molesting a young boy. Police searched his home (Neverland Ranch) and they even stripped-searched him. The authorities later dropped the investigation for lack of evidence.
Tom Sneddon was the district attorney of Santa Barbara County at the time and he led the legal side of the investigation. Michael Jackson believed that Tom Sneddon hated him and wanted to use him to gain publicity so that he would be re-elected as district attorney.
Ten years later (after this song was released), Tom Sneddon actually charged Michael for sexually abusing a minor. Michael was found not guilty in 2005.
The chorus of the song is (I’m going to write what I can actually hear Michael singing, not what is on the music sheet of the CD) :
Tom Sneddon is a cold man. Tom Sneddon is a cold man. Tom Sneddon is a cold man. Tomas Sneddon is a cold man.
Part of the lyrics go:
You think he brother with the KKK? I know his mother never taught him right, anyway He want your vote just to remain DA He dont do half what he say
(They changed DA to TA in the music notes)
Now, the real reason that I love this song (and the reason that I played it every weekend 1996-2000) is not because of Michael Jackson, rather it’s because of Guns N Roses guitarist Slash.
Slash played the riff and the guitar solo on this song and the guitar solo is too sweet. It is absolutely wonderful. That’s the reason that I love this song.
Several people have featured on Michael Jackson’s songs, but (apart from Paul McCartney), they are usually not acknowledged in the song. Michael never said anything about Siedah Garrett (I Just Can’t Stop Loving You) or Eddie Van Halen (Beat It), but he actually introduced Slash before the guitar solo in this song.
The title of the song stands for Dom Sheldon, but Michael is actually singing Tom Sneddon.
joseph1832: em who actually spilled the beans that Eddie Van Halen is the one who played the Guitar in Beat It? Lol
Aha! He tells the story here again.
LL Cool J invited Eddie Van Halen to be on his record, so Pierce Morgan interviewed both LL Cool J and Eddie Van Halen on CNN.
Eddie said that he was invited to play on Michael's song, but the band had a policy of not doing any outside work. He said he would have asked the other members of the band, but they were all out of town, so he had no one to ask. Then he thought, "Well, who would know if I play on this kid's record?" So he did it anyway.
I think it was journalists that broke the story that he played on the track. He wasn't even listed on the credits.
He said that the rest of the band always blame him because their song was on number 2 on the charts while Beat It was number 1 and their album was number 2 while Thriller was number 1, so they blame him for not getting to number 1.
They were originally going to interview him about a Guns N Roses pinball machine, but Eddie Van Halen has just died and so the interview ended up being about Eddie.
joseph1832: Wow. Actually thought the dude who played the guitar in Michael Jackson's beat it is Slash, never knew it's this guy.
Frankly I've never even heard of him until now. Always thought Slash of Guns and Roses played for Michael Jackson.
There's Dirty Diana, Give In To Me, Come Together and the likes. Nice to know this anyway.
Rest In Peace to him.
Slash played the solo on DS and he also played on the video of Black or White (it was actually slash that played the riff that Macaulay Culkin was dancing to at the beginning of the video).
I often compare Eddie Van Halen's solo on Beat It and Slash's solo on DS, but I can't decide which I prefer.
Slash also played on Give In To Me, but it was a different guitarist on Dirty Diana.
Van Halen were very popular in the 1980s and early 1990s
Van Halen was one of the biggest rock bands of the 1980s and this was one of their biggest hits. The instrumental version of this song was used in many TV shows in the 1980s and 1990s and it was also used in WWF wrestling. It is still used in football and it is played before every home game by Olympique Marseille and Brondby. It is also played anytime AC Milan scores a goal at the San Siro.
Segun Odegbami used it as the signature tune of his Serie A show in 1989.
The guitar solo begins at the 3:07 minute mark. The way that he made the guitar sound like a door being opened and the thing that he did at the end of the solo are just phenomenal.
I watched a documentary in the early 2000s in which he said that he was invited to play on Michael Jackson's song and along the line Michael asked him how much he wanted to be paid. He replied, "How much?? I'll play for free!" He just loved playing.
However, it caused some friction in the band because he didn't tell the rest of the group before playing on the song. He said that he didn't think that it was a big deal and he had thought, "Who would know if I play on this kid's song"?
Eddie Van Halen has died.
Eddie Van Halen: Rock star and guitar legend dies of cancer aged 65
The music world's elite pay tribute to an "astonishing musician", "innovator" and a "genuinely beautiful soul".
Rock star and guitar great Eddie Van Halen has died aged 65 after a "long and arduous battle" with cancer, his son has said.
In a statement, Wolf Van Halen said: "I can't believe I'm having to write this, but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, has lost his long and arduous battle with cancer this morning.
"He was the best father I could ever ask for. Every moment I've shared with him on and off stage was a gift.
"My heart is broken and I don't think I'll ever fully recover from this loss.
"I love you so much, Pop."
He is understood to have most recently been diagnosed with throat cancer after first beating the disease in 2002.
Van Halen formed the band of the same name in California in 1972, with David Lee Roth on vocals, his brother on drums, and Michael Anthony on bass.
They are best known among a mainstream audience for their crossover hit single Jump, with its signature keyboard line.
The record it was taken from, 1984, sold 10 million copies in the US alone - and the band went on to sell more than 50 million albums in their home country.
Other hits include Why Can't This Be Love and Runnin' With The Devil.
Michael Jackson also recruited Eddie Van Halen for the distinctive guitar break on Beat It - a contribution he later said took about 20 minutes.
Van Halen is widely regarded as one of rock's best guitarists and used many of his band's songs to pioneer the finger-tapping style.
In 2012, readers of Guitar World magazine voted him the greatest player ever.
Tributes have come from some of rock's biggest names, with Kiss frontman Gene Simmons tweeting: "My heart is broken. Eddie was not only a Guitar God, but a genuinely beautiful soul. Rest in peace, Eddie!"
Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath said he was "devastated" and posted a picture of the pair.
"He fought a long and hard battle with his cancer right to the very end," said the guitarist.
"Eddie was one of a very special kind of person, a really great friend. Rest In Peace my dear friend till we meet again."
Beach Boys singer Brian Wilson also paid tribute, recalling the band's early impact on the Los Angeles scene.
"I just heard about Eddie Van Halen and I feel terrible about it," tweeted Wilson.
"Eddie was such a great guitarist and I remember how big Van Halen was, especially here in L.A. Love and Mercy to Eddie's family & friends."
Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea tweeted: "Oh man, bless his beautiful creative heart.
"I love you Eddie Van Halen, an LA boy, a true rocker. I hope you jam with Jimi tonight. Break through to the other side my brother."
Whitesnake's David Coverdale called him an "astonishing musician", tweeting: "Thank You For Your Extraordinary Gifts You Chose To Share With Us...Bleep"
Van Halen was first diagnosed with tongue cancer in 2000 and had part of it removed.
In recent years he is understood to have been diagnosed with throat cancer.
In a 2015 Billboard interview, he blamed it on the metal guitar picks he used to hold in the same spot in his mouth.
He told the magazine: "I mean, I was smoking and doing a lot of drugs and a lot of everything. But at the same time, my lungs are totally clear. This is just my own theory, but the doctors say it's possible."
Born in Amsterdam, his family moved to Pasadena in California in the 1960s and a decade later the band were established regulars on the LA music scene.
Their big break came when Warner Brothers signed them in 1977 and their eponymous album was released a year later.
The four-piece became one of the biggest bands of the 1980s but Roth was replaced in 1985 by singer Sammy Hagar, before rejoining temporarily in 1996, and again in 2006.
In 2007, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and released their most recent album, A Different Kind of Truth, in 2012.
Despite the song being unimaginable without it, Van Halen said he was always amused by how many people mentioned his guitar part in Jackson's Beat It - especially as he didn't appear in the video and wasn't credited.
"I think it's funny the way people talk about that," he told Billboard. "It was 20 minutes of my life.
"I didn't want anything for doing that... I literally thought to myself, 'Who is possibly going to know if I play on this kid's record?'"
Foreign Affairs › Re: Biden And Trump Presidential Election Debate In US Tonight by naptu2(op): 2:42pm On Oct 07, 2020
