Rock on.
Friday, July 31, 2020
Election Delay
There's no legal channel for a president to delay the election, so any actual attempt to do so or similar is actually the coup attempt, whether or not it gets anywhere.
We All Want Things
March -> August seemed like a reasonable amount of time for things to get back to normalish. Ah, well, nevertheless.
NEW from CDC: #COVID19 outbreak at an overnight camp in Georgia infects *at least* 260 campers & staff.
— Amy Maxmen (@amymaxmen) July 31, 2020
-51% of positives 6-10yo
-44% 11-17 yo
-Camp required a test <12 days before arriving & attempted "pods"
-Masks required for staff but NOT campers
(1/2)
How Long Can Stonks Float On Powell's Levitation Device
I don't actually remember an economic model of "The Fed blowing up financial assets as fast as possible as the real economy disintegrates" and am too dumb to imagine how long that bubble can float on nothing.
Cascade
No enhanced unemployment extension, evictions are going to snowball, state and local governments going broke...
I guess I don't really have a point here, folks!
I guess I don't really have a point here, folks!
Thursday, July 30, 2020
Workin' 9 to 5
People have to eat, but I doubt too many of these people are dependent on these jobs. They don't have to work for people who will happily feed them - and us - to the wood chipper.
We are getting more and more messages from deep inside the Trump administration from aides and senior officials who feel like they cannot work safely during COVID, and are being told not to wear masks
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) July 30, 2020
Pls, pls continue reaching out. We want to tell you story in Playbook.
Never Go The Full Racist
I think enough people (maybe just enough) are repelled by it that it isn't actually a winning strategy. I hope!
SUMMER FUNDRAISING FUNSTRAVAGANZA DAY FINAL
Thanks so much! Gonna book my dream weekend at Mar-a-Lago now!
Fun Season
Better luck next year.
The Philadelphia Phillies have canceled workouts today after a coach and clubhouse attendant tested positive for coronavirus. Activities are shut down “until further notice,” according to the team.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 30, 2020
Asymmetry
Even the "good guys" in DC always err on the side of not doing enough, especially as the costs of not doing enough are huge relative to the costs of doing too much. People might have a little extra money? Oh no. How can we measure the scale of the human tragedy this would cause.
This was obviously a time to go yuuuuuge, and it was obvious from the beginning that not enough of the Very Serious People had any idea, with all that chatter about turning the economy off and then on again, and V-Shaped recoveries, etc.
Oh well, we'll know better next time.
This was obviously a time to go yuuuuuge, and it was obvious from the beginning that not enough of the Very Serious People had any idea, with all that chatter about turning the economy off and then on again, and V-Shaped recoveries, etc.
Oh well, we'll know better next time.
Wow What A Dumbass
Some idiot with a blog, March 20, 2020.
Whatever you think is enough, double it and then double it again.
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
1.43 million new lucky duckies.
I'm not sure it's easy to think about an initial claims number as either good or bad, because we can't yet see whether this is an unusually deep downturn or an unusually rapid one.
I'm not sure it's easy to think about an initial claims number as either good or bad, because we can't yet see whether this is an unusually deep downturn or an unusually rapid one.
Just The Flu
150,000 dead and no end in sight. My expert Dr. Dr. Atrios, Ph.d MD take is that measures which can allow life to return to somewhat normal (mask wearing as a standard practice, no indoor dining and similar) once the new case rate is low, are also measures which can flatten the curve and stop cases from exploding but not enough to significantly lower them.
The initial round of medicine needs to be harsher, and 30-60 days of strong lockdown is necessary to deal with a state like Florida. Any official measures can be helped or hindered by a culture that embraces or rejects the basic advice (enforcement isn't really the way, you need leadership and general buy in from the populace).
MAGAs coughing in each others mouths to own the libs, a president who can only manage his new tone for about 7 minutes (long enough to get the bobbleheads to praise him for it yet again), and a conservative media telling "you" constantly that it's all a plot to steal your vital essences, are going to make dealing with this impossible no matter what the relevant stupid governor makes official policy.
Almost August! Gonna open up by Easter, 2021!
The initial round of medicine needs to be harsher, and 30-60 days of strong lockdown is necessary to deal with a state like Florida. Any official measures can be helped or hindered by a culture that embraces or rejects the basic advice (enforcement isn't really the way, you need leadership and general buy in from the populace).
MAGAs coughing in each others mouths to own the libs, a president who can only manage his new tone for about 7 minutes (long enough to get the bobbleheads to praise him for it yet again), and a conservative media telling "you" constantly that it's all a plot to steal your vital essences, are going to make dealing with this impossible no matter what the relevant stupid governor makes official policy.
Almost August! Gonna open up by Easter, 2021!
Morning Thread
Huzzah! All eight episodes of Tim Bousquet's podcast Uncover;Dead Wrong, are now available. Perfect listening while having your first cuppa.
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Still
I certainly don't expect anything from Trump and I have as low an opinion of Republicans generally as is legally allowed, but I still can't believe they're clowning around about covid over 4 months later, even after it stopped just killing bad liberals in New York City and started killing THEIR OWN PEOPLE.
I Love My Boss
PLAYBOOK PM: After we reported that @replouiegohmert was positive, we got an email from a Gohmert aide. pic.twitter.com/x31CSOdkLf
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) July 29, 2020
SUMMER FUNDRAISING FUNSTRAVAGANZA DAY 6
After 18 years, this blog is finally going to adopt a new tone.
Florida Man
The good news is cases don't seem to be rising... the bad news is they don't really seem to be falling, either
Florida set a new daily record for coronavirus-related deaths for the second day in a row Wednesday, as the state saw a spike of 216 deaths.
...
The state also added another 9,446 new COVID-19 cases, for a total of 451,423 dating back to March, according to figures released by the Florida Department of Health Wednesday. It's the fourth straight day that fewer than 10,000 cases were confirmed.
Surprise Surprise Surprise
NEWS … Texas Rep. LOUIE GOHMERT (@replouiegohmert) has tested positive for the coronavirus.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) July 29, 2020
He has not been wearing a mask on Capitol Hill.
Gohmert was scheduled to go to Texas with @realDonaldTrump this morning.
Story up on POLITICO shortly….
So Everybody In The School Then
I am dumb and I don't have the solution, but I suspect there just isn't one within the realm of possibility, especially but maybe not even because of the limits of our politics.
Just days after Alcoa City Schools began slowly welcoming students back to class during the coronavirus pandemic, an individual has tested positive for the virus.I don't know the specifics here, of course, but in general the burden on teachers trying to make this sort of dual system work is absurd, and quite likely the uncertainty for everybody involved makes it just not worth it.
The school system announced Friday night that an individual at Alcoa Middle School has tested positive for COVID-19 and contact tracing has been completed.
"Anyone who has been in close contact with this person will be notified by phone messaging system and email within the next 24 hours," wrote director Rebecca Stone.
If notified, the student will need to quarantine for 14 days unless a doctor's note or negative test shows it's possible to return sooner. Students are expected to continue working digitally, but are not permitted to attend school or any school activities.
New York Times Editorial Board Member Is Making Sense
For all the talk about accountability during the 2018 elections, what we got was a few half-assed investigations, a narrowly focused impeachment and the occasional made for TV rant.
— Binyamin Appelbaum (@BCAppelbaum) July 28, 2020
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Tuesday Night
Rock on.
Bill Barr is aggressive towards Black Lives Matter protests but not armed right-wing extremists threatening to lynch a Governor.
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) July 28, 2020
Why? Because white men with swastikas storming a Capitol are part of Trump's agenda while people of color protesting injustice are seen as terrorists. pic.twitter.com/hrpUuatIks
Umbrella Man
I think people can be a bit too quick to assume any seemingly bad actions by protesters are committed by agitators, but Umbrella Man was pretty obvious.
A masked man who was seen in a viral video smashing the windows of a south Minneapolis auto parts store during the George Floyd protests, earning him the moniker “Umbrella Man,” is suspected to be a member of the Hell’s Angels biker gang seeking to incite racial tension in a demonstration that until then had been peaceful, police said.
Demon Sperm
Trump always finds the best doctors.
A Houston doctor who praises hydroxychloroquine and says that face masks aren’t necessary to stop transmission of the highly contagious coronavirus has become a star on the right-wing internet, garnering tens of millions of views on Facebook on Monday alone. Donald Trump Jr. declared the video of Stella Immanuel a “must watch,” while Donald Trump himself retweeted the video.
Before Trump and his supporters embrace Immanuel’s medical expertise, though, they should consider other medical claims Immanuel has made—including those about alien DNA and the physical effects of having sex with witches and demons in your dreams.
Immanuel, a pediatrician and a religious minister, has a history of making bizarre claims about medical topics and other issues. She has often claimed that gynecological problems like cysts and endometriosis are in fact caused by people having sex in their dreams with demons and witches.
SUMMER FUNDRAISING FUNSTRAVAGANZA DAY 5
Because this blog is, above all, dedicated to presenting Both Sides of every issue: the garbage one and the good one.
Are We The Baddies
Applebaum's been paid well for decades to explain things to us, and she apparently believed all the bullshit everyone she knew told her!
Oh my old friends were just seduced by that slutty bitch authoritarianism! Led astray by its siren song! It couldn't possibly be that their lifelong project was to implement it.
I hate these people.
Free Polanski!
In “Twilight of Democracy,” Applebaum tries to understand why so many of her old friends — conservatives who once fancied themselves champions of democracy and classical liberalism — have become paranoid right-wing populists. “Were some of our friends always closet authoritarians?” she asks. “Or have the people with whom we clinked glasses in the first minutes of the new millennium somehow changed over the subsequent two decades?”Imagine thinking the "throw leftists from helicopters" crowd actually believed all these things. Well, don't worry, you can continue to enrich Anne buy buying her book and also you can hear her talk to David Frum, for another episode of "we are truly stupid assholes with odious opinions and friends but wow you should give us more money and keep listening to our sage advice, because the one thing we refuse learn is that we are evil dumdums who no one should listen to."
To Applebaum, today’s right, in both America and Europe, “has little in common with most of the political movements that have been so described since the Second World War.” Until recently, she writes, the right was “dedicated not just to representative democracy, but to religious tolerance, independent judiciaries, free press and speech, economic integration, international institutions, the trans-Atlantic alliance and a political idea of ‘the West.’” What happened?
all are invited! I will ask @davidfrum about his book, "Trumpocalypse," and he will ask me about mine... https://t.co/IG4lhBsydi
— Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum) July 28, 2020
Oh my old friends were just seduced by that slutty bitch authoritarianism! Led astray by its siren song! It couldn't possibly be that their lifelong project was to implement it.
I hate these people.
Free Polanski!
Only Republicans Have A Right to Rule
That's how the political press covers things, and that's why Republicans have no problem attaching piece of shit bills to suicide vests wrapped around the entire country with 5 minutes left on the timers, over and over, and "everyone" demanding that the Dems do the right thing and pass it.
Only one way to break that dynamic...
Only one way to break that dynamic...
teChnOlogy
Sure we all want a vaccine, but otherwise... getting the virus under control - not perfectly, but enough for life to return to largely normal - has been possible a lot of places!
The country's most annoying stats nerd should learn to read his nerd charts.
Hong Kong identified 128 cases yesterday. That's a "resurgence" contact tracers can hopefully manage and suppress.
— Matt Novak (@paleofuture) July 27, 2020
Arizona, which has roughly the same population of Hong Kong, identified 1,973 cases yesterday and has a positivity rate of 22.7%.https://t.co/Z2jJ7BDP7O
The country's most annoying stats nerd should learn to read his nerd charts.
Monday, July 27, 2020
Surely A Bunch Of 3rd Graders Will Be Better At Following The Plan
I mean, seriously, they probably will be, but still.
The operations manual says that after a player tests positive for COVID-19, the club must conduct contact tracing to identify the individuals who had close contact with the infected individual. The Marlins flew together to Philadelphia from Atlanta, traveled by bus to a Center City hotel, traveled by bus to the ballpark, dressed in the clubhouse, and sat in the dugout.
It could be easily argued that every Marlins player and staff member came in close contact over the weekend with the infected players. If so, the operations manual says those individuals should be quarantined or isolated pending the results of an Expedited Diagnostic Test, which the Marlins received Sunday morning. Instead of quarantining and thus postponing Sunday’s game, the Marlins played a 3-hour, 44-minute game against the Phillies and then learned Monday morning that eight additional players had tested positive.
The Economy Is Saved!
100% business meals deduction in the GOP Senate Bill! If you survive your trip to the restaurant!
Sports
The writers are getting a bit obvious with this subplot.
the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings have announced that their Infection Control Officer has tested positive for coronavirus
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) July 27, 2020
A New Tone
Surely 1284 days into his presidency, in the middle of a depression and a pandemic, he'll FINALLY CHANGE HIS TONE.
Was That The Plan
Pretty dumb plan, if so.
The Marlins have not left Philadelphia yet after Miami took two out of three games in the season-opening series against the Phillies. The team decided to play its game Sunday afternoon game after holding out three players, including scheduled starting pitcher Jose Urena, due to positive test results. First baseman Garrett Cooper and outfielder Harold Ramirez were out of the lineup Sunday, and catcher Jorge Alfaro was placed on the injured list shortly before Friday’s season opener. Th team did not disclose an official reason for any of the absences.Even under this much scrutiny, they... just played.
SUMMER FUNDRAISING FUNSTRAVAGANZA DAY 4
Thanks for keeping my blogs mighty and strong! We will blog our way to victory, together!
That Was A Fun Couple Of Days
All the greatest minds and money of MLB couldn't make this work.
Tonight’s game between the Phillies and New York Yankees at Citizens Bank Park has been postponed following a coronavirus outbreak suffered by the Miami Marlins, according to sources.The issue every school is facing isn't a plan for reopening, it's the likely plan for reclosing.
The Marlins remain in Philadelphia, quarantined in a hotel after postponing their home opener tonight against the the Baltimore Orioles. At least 14 Marlins players and coaches have tested positive for COVID-19, with eight players and two coaches testing positive Sunday, according to ESPN.
The Virus Is Coming From Inside The White House
BREAKING scoop: Trump’s National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien has tested positive for the coronavirus, sources tell me.
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) July 27, 2020
The Next One Will Be Smarter
We can't continue the basic state of affairs in the US, which is that there is only meaningful Congressional oversight of Democratic presidents, and Democrats can't keep pinning their hopes for oversight on "independent" GOP Daddies like Mueller or from finding A Few Good Republicans in the Senate when necessary. Gotta use the power you have, and not keep outsourcing it to others or simply waiting for election day to wash all the sins away.
Hopefully we see President Biden in January 2021, but we will still have to plan for President Cotton in 2025.
The next one doesn't have to be much smarter, either. Donald Trump is the dumbest human being in America.
Hopefully we see President Biden in January 2021, but we will still have to plan for President Cotton in 2025.
The next one doesn't have to be much smarter, either. Donald Trump is the dumbest human being in America.
Sunday, July 26, 2020
Reopen By Easter
That was obviously nuts when Trump said it, but a that time, a month or so after Easter probably didn't seem so nuts, even knowing what we did about how the strategy of the federal government was to fuck things up as badly as possible. Even the pessimists were more worried about a second wave in the Fall, not that we'd never get past the first one.
It's July 26! Maybe we'll reopen by Easter!
It's July 26! Maybe we'll reopen by Easter!
Speaking Of Buying Ambassadorships
I'd be less annoying than this guy! Iceland's nice.
Despite being assigned to one of the safest countries in the world, Jeffrey Ross Gunter has been "paranoid" about his security since coming to Reykjavik last year, according to a dozen diplomats, government officials, former officials and individuals familiar with the situation. As a result, Gunter wanted the State Department to obtain special permission from the Icelandic government for him to have a firearm. He also wanted door-to-door armored car service, and entertained the idea of wearing a "stab-proof vest."
Summer Fundraising Funstravaganza Day 3!
Thanks to all! Only a few million more donations and I will be able to afford to buy my very own ambassadorship!
The Most Ridiculous Show On TV
I admit I can't stop watching, but these writers are just trolling us at this point.
“If you vote for Biden, you’re going to be living in Nazi Germany,” the woman with the swastika mask told Mueller, as her companion bagged up toilet paper and an enormous canister of cheeseballs. The two were apparently using the masks to protest Minnesota’s mask mandate, which took effect Saturday.
Poll Porn
Just for fun.
In Florida (51% Biden to 46% for President Donald Trump) and Arizona (49% Biden to 45% Trump), registered voters break in Biden's favor by single-digit margins, while in Michigan, Biden's lead stands at 52% to 40%, matching the national average for the presidential race per the most recent CNN Poll of Polls.
Live Die Repeat
My current basic concern is that as "we" are apparently incapable of learning anything or even remembering 2 months ago, that current hotspots which have to varying degrees shut down again, will, as soon as things start looking a bit better, try to go back to normal. Also the schools, of course.
There's a reason the doctor tells you to make sure to take the full 10 day course of antibiotics, even if you're feeling better by day 4.
There's a reason the doctor tells you to make sure to take the full 10 day course of antibiotics, even if you're feeling better by day 4.
Saturday, July 25, 2020
Must. Have. Sports.
Coming to schools near you.
Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez remains out of action because of "a condition involving his heart," according to WEEI's Rob Bradford.
Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke confirmed July 7 that Rodriguez had tested positive for COVID-19.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO
i guess the dall didn’t go well pic.twitter.com/tTqBRyHrnT
— Ryan Mac 🙃 (@RMac18) July 25, 2020
Florida Man
Another 12K+ cases. Will probably surpass New York in number of recorded cases tomorrow. New York almost certainly had many many more cases that were just never confirmed by testing, but...
Stonks
We have members of Congress who won't do much of anything unless Stonks are crashing, and we have a Fed that is propping up the Stonks because they pretend that's all they can do (the Fed can do whatever it wants, it's already proven that). This is a bit of a problem which is not precisely how these fiscal-monetary policy issues were taught to me.
LOL Nothing Matters
I can't claim I'm any different, necessarily, but you'd think that everything going on at the moment would make some of our Great Public Thinkers get off their usual bullshit for a minute or two, but instead they're all complaining that if they do too much racism they might lose their extremely lucrative barely-show jobs. Though they never seem to lose them.
This "cancel culture" stuff was boring in 1993 when they called it "political correctness."
Why can't we manage to cancel any of these fuckers? How does David Frum still walk free?
This "cancel culture" stuff was boring in 1993 when they called it "political correctness."
This tweet is an exquisite example of how those who decry “cancel culture” want to constrain, not expand inquiry and debate.
— Julia Carrie Wong (@juliacarriew) July 25, 2020
O’Connor is not being cancelled. She is being considered in a new context. Who benefits when you refuse to ask new questions or consider new information? https://t.co/hIVKAPnapp
Why can't we manage to cancel any of these fuckers? How does David Frum still walk free?
Friday, July 24, 2020
Covid Truthers
I have a couple search columns open on twitter for covid news from various states, and the virus truthers are always out in force, even now, spinning out various conspiracy theories about why all the cases/deaths are greatly exaggerated.
I don't know whether they are real people or bots or paid or whatever, but there they are.
I don't know whether they are real people or bots or paid or whatever, but there they are.
Repeating Everywhere
This type of thing is just a warning about what's going to happen for schools (at all levels) that open. Someone gets sick, and widening circles of people get quarantined.
(WXYZ) — All members of the Michigan State University football team have been ordered to quarantine or self-isolate after team members tested positive for COVID-19.
According to a statement from MSU Athletics, two staff members and one student-athlete tested positive after testing was conducted last week.
Broke Cities And States
People need cash, but so do our Laboratories of Democracy, which are constrained in their ability to borrow in various ways and don't have money printers (though CA did use scrip for a bit to pay some bills not so long ago).
Will Joe Biden win the election? Will Democrats take the Senate? Will those Democrats not be haunted by the ghost of Pete Peterson? Will we reject "expansionary austerity"? Can we make it until the end of January, 2021?
Will Joe Biden win the election? Will Democrats take the Senate? Will those Democrats not be haunted by the ghost of Pete Peterson? Will we reject "expansionary austerity"? Can we make it until the end of January, 2021?
Optimism!
It is possible to go back to mostly normal. It should have been possible 2 months ago. Fortunately it isn't quite the zombie apocalypse. It isn't *that* contagious. It isn't *that* likely to be fatal. It's possible to get the pandemic under control, and it's possible to fix the economic devastation that is still arriving.
As for the latter, whatever our glorious leaders are offering won't be enough. There's no point in clapping for half measures. Whatever is on offer, it should be doubled and then doubled again. It isn't enough until unemployment is back down to 4%.
As for the latter, whatever our glorious leaders are offering won't be enough. There's no point in clapping for half measures. Whatever is on offer, it should be doubled and then doubled again. It isn't enough until unemployment is back down to 4%.
Summer Fundraising Funstravaganza!
Quarterly begging bowl time. I don't always know what I'm doing here, but at the very least we've managed to maintain a community, which after years of everybody deciding that the problem with the internet is "the comments section" and then wondering, yet again, why Facebook ate everything, is no small thing. Still Facebook (and google) did eat everything, including all the ad money! If this fine outpost on the internet is not worthy of your coffee money, I suggest giving it to some other finer outpost on the internet, or similar, as the ad-supported internet for stuff like this isn't really a thing anymore. I suppose there's money in podcasts, but Apple and Spotify are gonna eat that soon, too. The life cycle of the internet!
Florida Man
12,444 new cases there yesterday. As I said before, some signs of plateauing in the worst states, but plateauing at a high level doesn't mean it's coming down. With a 1% (low side) fatality rate, 10,000 daily new cases means, eventually, 100 daily deaths, plus those as-yet-not-entirely-known long term health consequences.
My impression is that panic and focus of coverage subsides when things stop getting obviously worse, but things are bad!
My impression is that panic and focus of coverage subsides when things stop getting obviously worse, but things are bad!
Sure
I'm one who thinks (and I am a SUPER SCIENTIST so I know everything) that outdoor spaces are probably pretty ok, and even those crowded beaches aren't too much to worry about (it's the crowded bars near the crowded beaches that are more of a concern), relatively speaking, but an old baseball stadium is a bit of a hybrid indoor-outdoor facility with a lot of bottlebecks, and 7000 people are 7000 people.
The Chicago Cubs have devised strict protocols they believe would allow 6,000 to 7,000 fans to safely attend games at Wrigley Field midway through this pandemic-shortened season — in groups of two, four and six and with designated gates and staggered entry and exit windows.
That Fucking Bitch
The people who work at the New York Times are deeply broken people.
As for "fucking bitch," here's the article about Yoho calling her that.
These fucking people.
WASHINGTON — Ever since Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez came to Congress as the youngest woman elected to the House, she has upended traditions, harnessing the power of social media and challenging leaders, including President Trump, who are 50 years her senior.Sure she was called a fucking bitch, but she used it to tik-tok her way into the hearts of the snapchat generation by elevating her brand!!!
On Thursday, she had her most norm-shattering moment yet when she took to the House floor to read into the Congressional Record a sexist vulgarity that Representative Ted Yoho, a Florida Republican, had used to refer to her.
“In front of reporters, Representative Yoho called me, and I quote: ‘A fucking bitch,’” she said, punching each syllable in the vulgarity. “These are the words Representative Yoho levied against a congresswoman.”
Then Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, who excels at using her detractors to amplify her own political brand, invited a group of Democratic women in the House to come forward to express solidarity with her. One by one, they shared their own stories of harassment and mistreatment by men, including in Congress. More even than the profanity uttered on the House floor, where language is carefully regulated, what unfolded over the next hour was a remarkable moment of cultural upheaval on Capitol Hill.
As for "fucking bitch," here's the article about Yoho calling her that.
After a brief and tense exchange, the newspaper said, Mr. Yoho walked away from Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, uttering a pair of expletives.They didn't even quote Yoho using the naughty words, but they quoted AOC quoting him using the naughty words, because it UPENDED TRADITIONS, and was NORM-SHATTERING. You might say, UPPITY!
These fucking people.
Thursday, July 23, 2020
Poll Porn
"Mr. President, just keep going out there and reminding the people that it's only the wrinklies who are getting killed by Covid."
"Great plan, Jared, I am so glad Ivanka married you instead of that football guy."
"Great plan, Jared, I am so glad Ivanka married you instead of that football guy."
*BIDEN 51%, TRUMP 38% IN FLORIDA: QUINNIPIAC
— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) July 23, 2020
Why Not
WH adviser @StephenMoore is "very discouraged" GOP bill includes $1,200 stimulus payments but not payroll tax cut
— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) July 23, 2020
Moore says: "There is no benefit from dumping money from helicopters into people's laps ... If this works, why not send every family $10,000?"
Lunch Thread
Rock on.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez: "Mr. Yoho mentioned that he has a wife and two daughters. I am two years younger than Mr. Yoho's youngest daughter. I am someone's daughter, too. My father, thankfully, is not alive to see how Mr. Yoho treated his daughter." https://t.co/U2UIEaCljG pic.twitter.com/kk701q80zW
— ABC News (@ABC) July 23, 2020
Our Precious Norms
Though a lot of them are bullshit, governments do only function if there is general buy-in to some set of norms. The belief that the only problem is Trump is belied by the fact that you can count the number of "Susan Collins has a furrowed brow" level of objections to his behavior from Republicans on two hands, or perhaps even one.
Double Zero
One more bad spin, and it could be the end, folks!
This plan may work—I’d go so far as to say it probably will work. But from Trump’s perspective, the way around the inevitable is to keep pushing and pushing and pushing against open doors until he’s subverted the election itself. This, too, may fail, and if it does, the basic obligations of government will practically require the Biden administration to throw open the books and do the oversight that wasn’t done in 2019 and 2020; to assure allies and adversaries alike that Trump didn’t permanently turn the United States into a mafia state. But if Trump’s efforts succeed, we will be in the dark and at Trump’s mercy, left to wonder what we might have learned and been spared from if Democrats had taken a different approach, and if it might have saved us from catastrophe. The plan Democrats have adopted is to put every egg that matters in a single basket and hope the most volatile and crooked president in American history doesn’t knock it over.
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
1.4 million new lucky duckies.
The peak weekly number during the Great Recession was... 665 thousand.
The peak weekly number during the Great Recession was... 665 thousand.
Masks Up
More places are adding mask requirements. Forget the details about precisely what rules should have been applied where, if Trump and the Republican governors and the conservative movement hadn't settled on the virus being a hoax (the seriousness of it at least), basically, and hadn't made everything about OWNING THE LIBS... if they (including Trump) had just said "This is serious, we think we can open safely as long as people are careful, please wear masks when possible, please do not have large gatherings," etc. As in, just taken the damn thing seriously while still going ahead with WE MUST OPEN UP EVERYTHING. Instead of WE MUST OPEN UP EVERYTHING AND THE NEW SOCIAL GREETING IS TO COUGH IN EACH OTHER'S FACES.
Obviously a lot of other things could have and should have been better, but simply pretending to take it seriously instead of telling the MAGAs that it was all a liberal plot to steal their vital essences would have helped. Some!
Obviously a lot of other things could have and should have been better, but simply pretending to take it seriously instead of telling the MAGAs that it was all a liberal plot to steal their vital essences would have helped. Some!
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
That's A Lot Of Avocado Toast
Fun times ahead.
Don't think this brilliant warning from supergenius real estate heir Jason Furman is going to be relevant.
Republicans are considering extending the enhanced unemployment insurance benefit at a dramatically reduced level of $400 per month, or $100 a week, through the rest of the year, sources told CNBC.
Congress passed a $600 per week, or $2,400 a month, boost to jobless benefits in March to deal with a wave of unemployment unseen in decades as states shut down their economies to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The policy expires at the end of July as the U.S. unemployment rate stands above 11%, despite two strong months of job growth.
Don't think this brilliant warning from supergenius real estate heir Jason Furman is going to be relevant.
"We are about to see the best economic data we’ve seen in the history of this country," says a top former economic adviser to Obama.Though it was in the "even if technically true, really dumb" category anyway.
“Everyone looked puzzled and thought I had misspoken,” Furman said in an interview. Instead of forecasting a prolonged Depression-level economic catastrophe, Furman laid out a detailed case for why the months preceding the November election could offer Trump the chance to brag — truthfully — about the most explosive monthly employment numbers and gross domestic product growth ever.
Since the Zoom call, Furman has been making the same case to anyone who will listen, especially the close-knit network of Democratic wonks who have traversed the Clinton and Obama administrations together, including top members of the Biden campaign.
So Much For Pitting Moms Against Teachers
That was a brewing right wing strategy - to blame the schools failing to open on the TEACHERS GOONIONS and teachers.
BOSTON — A new AP-NORC poll finds only 1 in 10 Americans think schools should return to normal operations this fall.
And What A Great Story That Would Be
Donald Trump, crass playboy, humbled and honored to serve the American people, has a bit of a rocky start, but then rises to the occasion and truly Leads The Nation (cue Snuffy Walden).
They keep trying to tell it.
They keep trying to tell it.
Pivoting To A New Tone
It isn't the full explanation, but when they go all in on this every few weeks I'm reminded of this Pareene piece.
Yeah, there are guys (and it is guys, for the most part) out there who spend their whole careers trying to be Dan Rather staring down Nixon or Cronkite turning on Vietnam—or even just Tim Russert making some elected mediocrity stammer with a patented “tough question”—but mostly these guys want to be witnesses to Great Men Making History. They want to Respect The Office Of The Presidency.
Lunch Thread
Rock on.
jfc these are all from THIS MORNING pic.twitter.com/xAEsM2Ox8Q
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) July 22, 2020
Boring
Elon's done a tunnel in Las Vegas. It take will take people one mile in Las Vegas. In cars. That drive down the tunnel. This is a station rendering.
Getting in and out of cars is slow, they don't fit many people, and if there's luggage or anything similar that is an extra step. Just picture your typical airport people mover as a comparison. Doors open at level, people walk in with their bags, doors shut. Previously Elon has said Teslas would drive down the tunnel for who knows what reason, but also that there would be a vehicle that looked and functioned a bit more like a people mover. I guess not.
I can't wait for this to open. Hello ADA lawsuit, also, too.
Getting in and out of cars is slow, they don't fit many people, and if there's luggage or anything similar that is an extra step. Just picture your typical airport people mover as a comparison. Doors open at level, people walk in with their bags, doors shut. Previously Elon has said Teslas would drive down the tunnel for who knows what reason, but also that there would be a vehicle that looked and functioned a bit more like a people mover. I guess not.
I can't wait for this to open. Hello ADA lawsuit, also, too.
Charged
If every major city just prosecuted a couple of these (deserving) cases a year, I suspect behavior would improve quite a lot.
The Philadelphia SWAT officer captured on video last month pulling down protesters’ masks and pepper spraying them as they knelt on the Vine Street Expressway turned himself in Wednesday to face criminal charges, according to the District Attorney’s Office and his lawyer.
Richard P. Nicoletti is expected to face charges of simple assault, reckless endangerment, official oppression, and possession of an instrument of crime, said Jane Roh, spokesperson for District Attorney Larry Krasner.
The Good News And Bad News
Eyeballing the graphs, new cases might be plateauing though deaths are not (yet). The optimistic view is that 3 months from today started 2 weeks ago, which means we'll "re-open" again in about a month, force kids to go back to schools, and restart it all again.
Impeachment
Should've been about lining his pockets. Still could be!
LONDON — The American ambassador to Britain, Robert Wood Johnson IV, told multiple colleagues in February 2018 that President Trump had asked him to see if the British government could help steer the world-famous and lucrative British Open golf tournament to the Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland, according to three people with knowledge of the episode.I mean you can pick anything, really, but not sure why they chose the thing with the name Biden in it.
Tuesday, July 21, 2020
He Never Disappoints
Can't wait to vote for him again.
Trump on Ghislaine Maxwell: "I just wish her well, frankly. I've met her numerous times over the years...I just wish her well, whatever it is"
— Betsy Woodruff Swan (@woodruffbets) July 21, 2020
Grand Old Police Blotter
Oops.
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder was arrested Tuesday morning ahead of an announcement about a $60 million federal racketeering case related to Ohio’s new nuclear bailout law, according to sources and media reports.
FBI agents, who were assisted by the Perry County Sheriff’s Department, were deployed to Householder’s property in Glenford, the Dayton Daily News reported. The investigation centers on House Bill 6, the $1 billion-plus ratepayer bailout of two Ohio nuclear power plants owned by FirstEnergy Solutions (now Energy Harbor) that Householder helped push through last year with the help of millions in dark money, according to the Toledo Blade.
That's The Way
Krasner would probably actually do it.
Anyone, including federal law enforcement, who unlawfully assaults and kidnaps people will face criminal charges from my office. https://t.co/RtBVdsRGpz
— DA Larry Krasner (@DA_LarryKrasner) July 20, 2020
And That's Why We Need To Shovel More Money To Rich People
McConnell says economy needs "another shot of adrenaline." Says he wants "another round of direct payments." Says "if we lose control of the virus...everything else will be window dressing."
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 21, 2020
Not gonna put too much hope in the idea that our Mitch is learning.
Bad Cops Bad Cops Whatcha Gonna Do
Too lazy to find it, but I remember a Dem staffer (I think Obama staffer but maybe a Senate one) complaining about his interactions with political reporters back when Mitch McConnell was refusing to consider an Obama SCOTUS nominee. Essentially, there was this rather major thing happening and reporters just wanted to know, basically, "Well what are you going to do about it?"
I do get being annoyed by that. Not everything is or needs to be covered by "One side did X, and the other side did Y." Still, well, what did they do about that? They did nothing. Obama quietly nominated Merrick Garland, a "reasonable" candidate, presumably to get points for being "reasonable," and then after being awarded those points, took them to Starbucks and with 5 bucks managed to buy a coffee.
Maybe a few sternly worded tweets and "wait for November I mean January" is the best strategy, overall. I tend to think not, but OK, I am dumb, fine. But it definitely isn't the only strategy. I don't want to hear that the House of Representatives is a powerless body, because if that's true then there isn't all that much point in trying to elect any of them. And it isn't the case that this is all just a Trump problem, and once he is gone The Good Republicans will return and The Norms will be re-established. I mean, Dick Cheney claimed he was constitutionally a fourth branch of government. Bill Barr is not a new arrival in DC.
The House controls appropriations (hey some votes are coming on that). Even if the courts are going to tie up everything having to do with the president specifically, they can make life miserable for everybody around him. They can fuck some shit up.
Even in normal times I wouldn't be a big fan of, "oh well, just gotta wait until we elect a president." But these are, well, [waves around].
I do get being annoyed by that. Not everything is or needs to be covered by "One side did X, and the other side did Y." Still, well, what did they do about that? They did nothing. Obama quietly nominated Merrick Garland, a "reasonable" candidate, presumably to get points for being "reasonable," and then after being awarded those points, took them to Starbucks and with 5 bucks managed to buy a coffee.
Maybe a few sternly worded tweets and "wait for November I mean January" is the best strategy, overall. I tend to think not, but OK, I am dumb, fine. But it definitely isn't the only strategy. I don't want to hear that the House of Representatives is a powerless body, because if that's true then there isn't all that much point in trying to elect any of them. And it isn't the case that this is all just a Trump problem, and once he is gone The Good Republicans will return and The Norms will be re-established. I mean, Dick Cheney claimed he was constitutionally a fourth branch of government. Bill Barr is not a new arrival in DC.
The House controls appropriations (hey some votes are coming on that). Even if the courts are going to tie up everything having to do with the president specifically, they can make life miserable for everybody around him. They can fuck some shit up.
Even in normal times I wouldn't be a big fan of, "oh well, just gotta wait until we elect a president." But these are, well, [waves around].
Morning Thread
My faith has been restored. Whatever the situation, we can still count on the resident to do exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time. Hallelujah!
Monday, July 20, 2020
Somebody Should Have Paid Me A Nice Consulting Fee
Would have saved you BILLIONS.
Back then, it made sense that autonomous driving was just a research project. Eleven years on, however, the industry still has little idea what to do with the technology, despite some big advances over the past decade. As the much-hyped, seven-year quest to develop a driverless Uber service has suffered several setbacks, the appetite is now switching beyond robotaxis in search of more profitable avenues.Or I guess you could have just read this dumb blog for free.
The sector is experiencing “autonomous disillusionment”, says Prescott Watson, principal at Maniv Mobility, an early-stage venture capital firm. Now, “the pitch is, ‘robotaxis are a pipe dream’, but let’s take this technology to do something more lucrative,” he adds.
We're In Our Base Killing Our Doods
It is a weird plan.
The rise in cases among older residents most likely stems from the spread of the virus by young people who are not taking preventive measures like wearing masks, said Dr. Madiha Syed, an infectious-disease specialist who works at University of Florida Health.
“You see, they don’t wear their masks,” Dr. Syed sighed. “What do you do?”
But even as cases climb, doctors in the Villages say they are prepared for an increase in patients. The hospital has enough capacity and antiviral drugs, Dr. Gogineni said.
...
Yet, residents still congregate every day without wearing masks. They turn up the volume on a radio and dance in the squares. They crowd bars where songs by Elvis Presley and Bobby Sherman play. There are picnics and water aerobics classes.
My Big Wet Boy is Back
Trump says he's bringing back 5 PM pandemic briefings as of tomorrow: "We had very successful briefings. I was doing them and we had a lot of people watching. Record numbers watching. In the history of cable television -- television -- there's never been anything like it."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 20, 2020
TV will run these free campaign commercials, of course. I'd be more annoyed by that if I thought it actually helped him.
Get Over It
Republicans always love that phrase, but usually in a somewhat different context.
A series of controversial remarks by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on a St. Louis radio show are getting widespread attention — and some pushback.And their parents get it and their grandparents get it and...
...
“These kids have got to get back to school,” Parson told Cox. “They’re at the lowest risk possible. And if they do get COVID-19, which they will — and they will when they go to school — they’re not going to the hospitals. They’re not going to have to sit in doctor’s offices. They’re going to go home and they’re going to get over it.”
Let It All Burn Down
Little chance the next Covid aid bill will be enough, and it will be the last, and the more it looks like Trump will lose the more Mitch will be happy to let it all burn down.
[insert some OBJECTIVE journalism about small government conservatives and both sides and TEH DEFICIT]
[insert some OBJECTIVE journalism about small government conservatives and both sides and TEH DEFICIT]
Sunday, July 19, 2020
Cancel Culture
The Oberlin Student Council won't stop until all of our tongues have been cut out.
In addition to being sued over a mask mandate and voluntary advisory guidelines on COVID-19, @GovKemp has asked for an emergency injunction to “restrain” me from issuing press statements and speaking to the press. Far more have sacrificed too much more for me to be silent. pic.twitter.com/gWlnZlCtoR
— Keisha Lance Bottoms (@KeishaBottoms) July 19, 2020
Brain Genius
Hard kweschins.
Trump took the test, known as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, in 2018 and his doctor said he “aced” it. At the time, a version of the exam circulated online.
“Let's take a test right now. Let's go down, Joe and I will take a test. Let him take the same test that I took.
Wallace said that after it was reported that Trump passed the test, he took it himself. Versions of it have circulated on the Internet after Trump passed it.
“It's not – well it's not the hardest test,” Wallace said. “They have a picture and it says ‘what’s that’ and it’s an elephant.”
“No, no, no,” Trump said, calling Wallace’s description “a misrepresentation.” Wallace said he was describing what he had seen online.
]
“It's all misrepresentation,” Trump reiterated. “Because, yes, the first few questions are easy, but I'll bet you couldn't even answer the last five questions. I'll bet you couldn't, they get very hard, the last five questions.” Trump said he answered all 35 questions correctly.
“Well, one of them was count back from 100 by seven,” Wallace said, then he began with, “Ninety-three.”
“You couldn't answer -- you couldn't answer many of the questions,” Trump told Wallace, prompting the host to ask what the difficult question was.
They Write Books
My friend Sarah wrote a good book and the kindle version is on sale for $2.99 today so you should buy it.
Women Can Be Bad, Too
The villain of this piece is Birx (aside from Trump, of course). All such pieces are a bit "Woodward journalism." Basically if you talk to the reporter you are less likely to portrayed as a villain. I don't mean this in an extortion sense (though it can be that), but in the sense that if you talk you get your side told, if you don't talk then it doesn't.
That aside, throughout the all of this there has been a tendency for people to want/hope that Birx was Actually Good. Some of this is just generally hoping that the people around Trump are staying in it because they hope they can do a small bit of good, instead of just being incompetent evil shits like he is. But there's also the common belief that women can't be as bad as the men, and of course both men and women exploit this fact, often with the help of credulous PR agents acting as journalists (Haberman doing years of PR work for Hope Hicks (still!) and Ivanka (not as much, or at least not as obviously)).
Sometimes women are just bad, too.
That aside, throughout the all of this there has been a tendency for people to want/hope that Birx was Actually Good. Some of this is just generally hoping that the people around Trump are staying in it because they hope they can do a small bit of good, instead of just being incompetent evil shits like he is. But there's also the common belief that women can't be as bad as the men, and of course both men and women exploit this fact, often with the help of credulous PR agents acting as journalists (Haberman doing years of PR work for Hope Hicks (still!) and Ivanka (not as much, or at least not as obviously)).
Sometimes women are just bad, too.
The Problem With The Discourse Is That It Lives Up Its Own Ass
This is just a selection of WaPo opinion pieces recently run about the most important issue of the day: how cancel culture has killed over 140,000 Americans and is snatching people off the street without due process pic.twitter.com/TRcfiHfiZr
— flavortown alderman (@jesseltaylor) July 19, 2020
Saturday, July 18, 2020
No Civil Rights Leader Like A Dead Civil Rights Leader
This is the same Cato Institute that told the Supreme Court in 2013 to strike down two key parts of the Voting Rights Act because they were "constitutional overreaches" and that "generations of federal intrusion have been more than enough to kill Jim Crow." https://t.co/CbkXu4Kvdh
— Ashton Pittman (@ashtonpittman) July 18, 2020
Destroy their legacies in life, pretend to honor them after their death.
Just Who Do You Want To Be In Charge Of The Inevitable Dystopian Hellscape
Funny.
In the talking points he distributed, Biden’s elevation to the White House was described as an event that would “surrender America and its citizens to the violent left-wing mob,” “import terrorists,” and “allow left-wing fascists to destroy America.”
Nothing To Be Done
You can agree that it's the best strategy, but the strategy of House Dems (they do run the place) post-impeachment and certainly post-Covid has been to wait for the election. What isn't true is that it's the only possible strategy.
Portlandia
Really unconscionable what the Oberblin Student Council is doing to our FREEDOMS.
For days, federal agents in unmarked cars have reportedly been snatching Portland protesters off the streets. On Thursday, video emerged of federal agents clad in camouflage fatigues and unspecified “police” patches apprehending one such demonstrator and placing him in an unmarked vehicle. Social media lit up with speculation about the intentions—and the identity—of these agents. A memo consisting of internal talking points for the federal agency responsible for the arrest, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and obtained exclusively by The Nation provides some answers—and raises even more questions.
Friday, July 17, 2020
It's A Plan
Probably not a very good one, but doing better than Georgia!
As the number of new coronavirus cases in Texas continues to rise and hospitals grow more crowded, Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday there is no statewide shutdown looming..
...
Abbott pointed to measures he’s taken in recent weeks, including a statewide mask mandate and an order shutting down bars, to slow the spread of the virus. It will take a few weeks to see a reversal in coronavirus case surges, he said
One Month Ago
Great update w/ the WH Coronavirus Task Force. Today less than 6% of Americans tested have the virus, cases have stabilized over the past 2 weeks, averaging 20K—down from 30K in April. Hospitalizations are declining & we’re working closely with states to Safely Reopen America. pic.twitter.com/z9hFwFhmSX
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) June 17, 2020
Sounds Like A Lot
77,000 new cases yesterday. Not crazy that it'll be 100,000 daily soon. Hopefully not!
VACCINE DEVELOPMENT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS THEFT
This is a thing serious people worry about because somebody making a profit off of the vaccine is much more important than civilization surviving.
"Good" is the right response.
"Good" is the right response.
Thursday, July 16, 2020
Might Be A Problem
Open the schools. What could go wrong.
Nearly one-in-three children tested for the new coronavirus in Florida has been positive, and a South Florida health official is concerned the disease could cause lifelong damage even for children with mild illness.
...
“They are seeing there is damage to the lungs in these asymptomatic children. ... We don’t know how that is going to manifest a year from now or two years from now,” Alonso said. “Is that child going to have chronic pulmonary problems or not?”
Hope Is The Plan
3 months from now starts tomorrow, again. Absent the miracle arrival of a vaccine, 3 months from now is going to continue to be 3 months away for the forseeable future.
I don't know how to change that, and while I think we should elect Joe Biden, hoping for a better president 6 months from now with our damaged political system isn't much of a plan, either.
I don't know how to change that, and while I think we should elect Joe Biden, hoping for a better president 6 months from now with our damaged political system isn't much of a plan, either.
Good-Bye for now!
What happened?
Just days after his full-throated rejection of all things coronavirus was retweeted by President Donald Trump, former game show host Chuck Woolery’s Twitter account was no more.Ah, well, nevertheless.
...
On Sunday Woolery wrote, “The most outrageous lies are the ones about Covid 19. Everyone is lying. The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors, not all but most, that we are told to trust. I think it’s all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election. I’m sick of it.”
Former game show host Chuck Woolery announced Wednesday his son has tested positive for COVID-19, just days after Woolery accused medical professionals and Democrats of lying about the virus in an effort to hurt the economy and President Trump's reelection chances.
Woolery, who hosted several popular game shows including "Love Connection" and “Wheel of Fortune” and who is a staunch supporter of the president's, has since deleted his Twitter account following the announcement about his son.
“To further clarify and add perspective, Covid-19 is real and it is here. My son tested positive for the virus, and I feel for of those suffering and especially for those who have lost loved ones," Woolery tweeted before his account disappeared.
A Lot Of Malarkey Out There, Folks
Sometimes I feel like screaming into the internet might, possibly, have some tiny impact on the world. Now I just have no idea what the pressure points are. Trump is bad! I don't think I have to make that case. As is usually the case, Dem leadership is running an inside game, if they're playing any game whatsoever, so that's where we are with that.
It's July 16.
It's July 16.
Death Cult
I don't know what they think is going to happen.
ATLANTA — Georgia’s Gov. Brian Kemp is explicitly banning Georgia’s cities and counties from ordering people to wear masks in public places. He voided orders on Wednesday that at least 15 local governments across the state had adopted even though Kemp had earlier said cities and counties had no power to order masks.There was a time when they could be in denial, Own the Libs, and hope for the best. But now...
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
A Graceful Dignified End To A Long And Distinguished Career
Lol I managed to miss that Jeff Sessions lost his primary.
What Did Any Of Them Expect
I really don't know.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has tested positive for the coronavirus, becoming the first U.S. governor known to have been infected during the COVID-19 crisis.
Stitt, a Republican, disclosed his illness during a press conference Wednesday over Zoom. He said that he had been tested the day before and that he has been getting tested periodically.
Poll Porn
NEW Quinnipiac poll
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) July 15, 2020
Biden 52% (+3 since mid June)
Trump 37% (-4)
**
Trump job approval: 36% (-6)
Lunch Thread
Our friend Tim Bousquet's podcast, Uncover, is available from the CBC. It is based on his original investigative series involving the death of a street walker and the wrongful conviction of an innocent man. Excellent listening while having lunch.
Normalize This
67K news cases or so reported yesterday (different tabulators put it slightly differently depending on timing). One week ago that number was 59K. 13% increase. Another 13% increase and next Tuesday's numbers will be 75K. If Friday-Friday numbers increase 13%, it'll be 72K-81K.
Not a prediction, just again highlight what "we" all know then apparently forgot, that if the number of cases keeps growing then that number hits an unimaginable level pretty quickly.
Not a prediction, just again highlight what "we" all know then apparently forgot, that if the number of cases keeps growing then that number hits an unimaginable level pretty quickly.
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Look Forward
I think you can, on balance, blame ONE SIDE for their tendency to kill hundreds of thousands of people and destroy the country every few years, but you can blame THE OTHER SIDE for letting bygones be bygones and helping to make people forget so they get to do it again.
Ee-ee-ow! A-yip-i-o-ee-ay!
❗️NEW: Oklahoma reports a record-breaking 993 new coronavirus cases, the first daily report ever over 900.
— Dillon Richards (@KOCODillon) July 14, 2020
The 7-day average of new cases hits another record high. pic.twitter.com/TOYEzjBsve
gEt More sKIllS
The message never changes. It's your fault, worker.
The rapid change is leading to mounting demands — including from typically opposing groups, like Republicans and Democrats, and business executives and labor leaders — for training programs for millions of workers. On their own, some of the proposals are modest. But combined they could cost tens of billions of dollars, in what would be one of the most ambitious retraining efforts in generations.Worker retraining is the cause of, and solution to, all of our problems.
OC Gonna OC
Death cult.
Orange County education leaders voted 4 to 1 Monday evening to approve recommendations for reopening schools in the fall that do not include the mandatory use of masks for students or increased social distancing in classrooms amid a surge in coronavirus cases.
Monday, July 13, 2020
Closing Time
California is shutting things down statewide again (restaurants, etc.). Even if there was a 90% chance of opening up being fine, and 10% chance of ...well... this happening again, they should have stayed closed. The cost of delaying opening up restaurants for another couple of weeks versus the cost of... another 3 months closing them down again when the cunning plan to open doesn't work.
It was important to get it right the first time, but nobody wanted to.
It was important to get it right the first time, but nobody wanted to.
3 Months
My point is 3 months is my basic guess at how long it takes for a state like Florida to go from zombie plague central to close-enough-to-normal assuming they do everything right.
And the clock to 3 months starts tomorrow. Or the day after. Not today. Maybe always tomorrow given who runs the place.
And the clock to 3 months starts tomorrow. Or the day after. Not today. Maybe always tomorrow given who runs the place.
You Fucked The Whole Thing Up
Let's check in with Mick Mulvaney
Ah, here we are, CPAC Feb. 28.
Any stimulus should be directed at the root cause of our recession: dealing with Covid. I know it isn’t popular to talk about in some Republican circles, but we still have a testing problem in this country. My son was tested recently; we had to wait 5 to 7 days for results. My daughter wanted to get tested before visiting her grandparents, but was told she didn’t qualify. That is simply inexcusable at this point in the pandemic.[weird scratching backwards music noise as we rewind time back a few months]
Ah, here we are, CPAC Feb. 28.
White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney suggested Friday that Americans ignore the media’s coverage of the coronavirus, arguing that journalists are ratcheting up fears to try to hurt President Donald Trump politically.
It's Only 3 Months Away, Starting Tomorrow
We locked down, it didn't work, "no one" thinks it's possible to lock down again, even if there's some backsliding about reopening, and somehow the schools are going to open and...
I don't know what happens if the powers that be don't do what is necessary.
I don't know what happens if the powers that be don't do what is necessary.
Donnie Crossed The Line This Time
There are regularly moments when Trump does something when members of official DC think that THIS IS THE MOMENT. HE HATH VIOLATED ALL SENSETH OF DECENCY SIRRAHS. Because it is elite DC and none of them care about policy that doesn't impact their wallets, these violations are generally about personality. OH NO HE CRITICIZED A TROOP. OH NO NOW HE HAS GONE AFTER AMERICA'S MOST BELOVED MAN, FAUCI. Threw a drink at the wrong person at a party. That kind of thing.
But even if that is the moment, what is supposed to happen? Somebody should do something. The celestial hall monitors or maybe the marshal of the Supreme Court are coming!
Nobody has infinite power but lots of people with some power are looking around the room waiting for somebody else to do something. Ah well nevertheless.
But even if that is the moment, what is supposed to happen? Somebody should do something. The celestial hall monitors or maybe the marshal of the Supreme Court are coming!
Nobody has infinite power but lots of people with some power are looking around the room waiting for somebody else to do something. Ah well nevertheless.
Sunday, July 12, 2020
Sunday Funday
Gotta hook some string to a tin can to get the internet at the moment so sucky blogging today!
Saturday, July 11, 2020
Lags
I don't know the precise answer (there isn't one precise answer) but anecdotes and various news reports suggest getting a test/test results from these hot spots is not easy and not quick.
While there's been too much focus on outdoor activities (people having fun at the park!) relative to indoor activities where the action likely really happens, I do not think it is wise for Disney World to open.
About 71,000 new cases yesterday. About 56,000 a week ago. The trend is not good, folks! At that rate, next Friday is...90,000.
While there's been too much focus on outdoor activities (people having fun at the park!) relative to indoor activities where the action likely really happens, I do not think it is wise for Disney World to open.
About 71,000 new cases yesterday. About 56,000 a week ago. The trend is not good, folks! At that rate, next Friday is...90,000.
CANCELLED
Liberal fascism won't stop until every racist incel is prevented from being the head writer for a prominent news show!
New York (CNN Business)Editor's note: This article quotes racist, homophobic and sexist language, much of which has not been censored.
The top writer for Fox News host Tucker Carlson has for years been using a pseudonym to post bigoted remarks on an online forum that is a hotbed for racist, sexist, and other offensive content, CNN Business learned this week.
Friday, July 10, 2020
Real Genius
It's somehow forgotten now, but back in March the whole country did basically shut down. To varying degrees and with varying local senses of urgency - ambulances were keeping people up all night NYC - but schools, for example, did shut down everywhere. It worked, almost, but then there was the MAGA uprising and the Republican (especially) politicians reopened too early and...
The point being most of these places shut down without having much of an outbreak. The dumb way to look at that is that it proves they didn't need to. The right way to look at that is that it worked. You can't wait until it's too late.
The point being most of these places shut down without having much of an outbreak. The dumb way to look at that is that it proves they didn't need to. The right way to look at that is that it worked. You can't wait until it's too late.
With Texas continuing to break records for new coronavirus deaths and hospitalizations this week, Gov. Greg Abbott reiterated Friday afternoon that things will continue to get worse. And if people keep flouting his new statewide mask mandate, he said, the next step could be another economic lockdown.Maybe the masks are enough. I don't know. But if "the worst is yet to come" with things as bad as they are... they're probably not enough. Things were as bad as they were in New York because they did wait too long.
“Things will get worse, and let me explain why,” he told KLBK TV in Lubbock. “The deaths that we’re seeing announced today and yesterday — which are now over 100 — those are people who likely contracted COVID-19 in late May.
“The worst is yet to come as we work our way through that massive increase in people testing positive.”
No You Don't
Maybe I am dumb and the schools should all open but so many people talk about it like it's an unavoidable inevitability.
"Well, it's not safe to send our children into the lava pit, and yet we must."
It’s not safe to reopen schools. And yet we must reopen schools. Trump put us in this situation. It didn’t have to be this way.
— Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) July 10, 2020
"Well, it's not safe to send our children into the lava pit, and yet we must."
July 10th
That My President seems unable to be aware of yesterdays or tomorrow affects the coverage of everything. By the time he gets around to something, it's too late. Going to open everything on Easter. Going to open the schools in August. Soon it will be October.
The Brain Worms Party
Trump is Trump, but just what did all of these Republican governors, who while not geniuses are not, well, Trump, expect?
The Schools
You can't do it, my friends.
I love the public schools my kids attend, but I also know they can't handle a lice outbreak on a good day and are not equipped to handle COVID on a bad one. School principals and superintendents are not epidemiologists or virologists and can’t possibly be expected to make plans like they are. So who should be making decisions? To start, the CDC. So, when the vice president of the United States says, as he did this week, that "we don’t want the guidance from the CDC to be the reason schools don’t open up," what he's really saying is that the government is abandoning children, parents, and all the people who work in schools.
And A Thousand Online Education Grifters Just Shit Themselves
Online education (whatever its valid uses and merits) has been a way for the a group of grifters to take the money given to people who do useful things (teach) and put it in their pockets instead. They are going to be so mad at My President.
Now that we have witnessed it on a large scale basis, and firsthand, Virtual Learning has proven to be TERRIBLE compared to In School, or On Campus, Learning. Not even close! Schools must be open in the Fall. If not open, why would the Federal Government give Funding? It won’t!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 10, 2020
Cracking
27% will support him no matter what, and another 13% will support him almost no matter what, but once you start losing at that latter group they don't come back. They're the ones who won't admit to voting for him in a few years (months).
Evaluation of Trump's oversight of the COVID-19 crisis reached a new low since ABC News/Ipsos began surveying on the coronavirus in March, with 67% disapproving of his efforts. One-third of the country approves of the president's oversight of the pandemic.They aren't reporting the overall approval rating, which I assume they asked, but...
Very Surprised
Trump tells Hannity that he "very recently" "aced" a cognitive test: "I took it at Walter Reed, a medical center, in front of doctors, and they were very surprised" pic.twitter.com/CavfF4BdKB
— John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) July 10, 2020
These types of cognitive tests are not, you know, AP Physics exams. They're dementia screening tests. But I bet they were very surprised.
Thursday, July 09, 2020
The Wisdom Of The Crowds
I'm looking back at different iterations of my book proposal. COVID started, it seemed like everything, and I hurriedly tried to make my proposal COVID-relevant. Reading it today, it comes across as quaint, now that few seem to care much about COVID
— Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid) July 9, 2020
All We Need Is A Defense And An Offense And Some Rule Changes
Good weather for it.
The Republican convention in Jacksonville, Fla., next month could be moved to an outdoor stadium as cases of the novel coronavirus in the state increase, according to several officials with knowledge of the plans.
Have You Ever Seen Children
I don't have them, but I think I have once or twice.
When students go back to school, they will be required to wear masks.
...
According to the Department of Health, all people in school buildings must wear masks. The order is effective immediately and applies to all people who are 2 years old and older.
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
1.3 million new lucky duckies.
Reminder this is initial claims, not continuing ones. New lucky duckies. In July.
16 weeks of new jobless claims over one million. Before this there was not a single week when that happened.
Reminder this is initial claims, not continuing ones. New lucky duckies. In July.
16 weeks of new jobless claims over one million. Before this there was not a single week when that happened.
Magical Thinking
Not going to work.
As President Donald Trump's administration pushes for schools to reopen on time, a small community in eastern Arizona is reeling from the death of a teacher who contracted COVID-19 after she taught summer school virtually while in the same room as two other teachers.Again, as I keep saying, the issue isn't the opening up, it's what it will take to trigger a closing down, and it won't take much.
The school district's superintendent, Jeff Gregorich, said three teachers went above and beyond in taking precautions against the spread of the virus while teaching in the same room, but all three contracted COVID-19.
Wednesday, July 08, 2020
Credit Where Credit Is Due
New York Post doing journalism edition.
State bail reform and coronavirus-related releases from city jails are not driving this year’s surge in shootings, the NYPD’s own data shows — despite the insistence of department brass to the contrary.
CANCELLED
The mayor's doing them a favor, which they will repay by blaming the DEMONCRAP.
(CNN)The Democratic mayor of Houston on Wednesday stopped the Texas Republican Party from holding its state convention in-person next week amid a spike in coronavirus cases.
The Schools
I suppose his latest sociopathy is based on him understanding something but not understanding it at all. Things can't go back to normal unless the schools open and a lot of parents really really want schools to open because their lives can't go back to normal (whatever that is) unless they do. But even the anti-Mask MAGAs mostly don't want to send their kids into a plague zone, and less insane parents certainly don't. And, fine, force them to open, but anywhere people start getting sick, they're just going to close again or parents are going to pull their kids anyway.
Are the private schools where Javanka's kids go going to open? Those of any of our glorious wealthy Thinkfluencers who are pushing this?
Are the private schools where Javanka's kids go going to open? Those of any of our glorious wealthy Thinkfluencers who are pushing this?
Do You Like Cheese
Put your favorite in the comments.
(Sorry...I'm just at a loss for words at the moment).
(Sorry...I'm just at a loss for words at the moment).
FUBAR
There's little to say in boring times and there's little to say in, well, EXCITING times.
Things are bad, folks, and that's no malarkey!
Things are bad, folks, and that's no malarkey!
It’s Easily One of the Top 10 Swamp Cities in Northeastern Florida
Almost 10K new cases in Florida, positive rate near 20%. Gonna be "funny" when they cancel the RNC even as Trump keeps tweeting "OPEN THE SCHOOLS."
Come On In, The Kool-Aid Is Right Over Here
These people.
The Republican Party of Texas is moving forward with its controversial in-person convention during the coronavirus pandemic — but elected officials including Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick will be giving their scheduled speeches virtually.
The Anti-Mask Brigade
I got the play a couple of months ago. Sure it was gross and cynical - these are, charitably, gross and cynical people - but it made sense. The evil libs had a problem in big cities like New York and were trying to impose their Stalinist precautions on the rest of the country, mostly to make Dear Leader look bad. Even New York Times columnist Bedbug Stephens agreed!
But now cases are booming elsewhere and they're in their own bases trying to murder their base.
But now cases are booming elsewhere and they're in their own bases trying to murder their base.
Happy Easter
Just repeating what we all know, because as the smartest people on the internet we don't suffer from the instant amnesia that plagues most people, but the first smoothed (7 day average) peak of new daily cases was in early April at about 35,000 (April 9) cases. That's now at about 54,000. The smoothed number of daily deaths on April 9 was at about 1,900. The peak number of smoothed daily deaths came 8 days later, at about 2200.
The good news is the 7 day average of deaths is "only" just above 500 now, but..
The good news is the 7 day average of deaths is "only" just above 500 now, but..
Tuesday, July 07, 2020
If Wishes Were Ponies
Again, if sports can't figure out how to organize the resources to keep their players safe, your local underfunded school district certainly can't.
But...but... here's my plan for how they can do it!
Any money behind that plan?
Ah, well, no.
But...but... here's my plan for how they can do it!
Any money behind that plan?
Ah, well, no.
Lying Sociopaths
This is both a lie (health care workers do get sick and die) and blame-placing, as in, if people get sick and die in schools, it's all their fault for not doing it right.
AZAR says schools can safely reopen. “Health care workers don't get infected because they take appropriate precautions. They engage in social distancing, wear facial covering....This can work. You can do all of this, there's no reason schools have to be in any way any different.” pic.twitter.com/CDJmKnYnd6
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) July 7, 2020
I Really Don't Care, Do You?
The most important thing is that all of these people are free to go out and public and be treated with respect and deference wherever they go, because if, say, a restaurant owner politely asks them to leave it will be a sign of CANCEL CULTURE RUN AMOK.
Katie Miller, press secretary for Mike Pence, quoted in Jacob Soboroff's new book, Separated: "DHS sent me to the border to see the separations for myself -- to try to make me more compassionate -- but it didn't work." pic.twitter.com/EicRSNtO7N
— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) July 7, 2020
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)