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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

Let me file that under fuck it.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

The revolution will be supervised.

All hail the time of the bunny!

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Late Night Horrorshow Open Thread: PopCult Celebrity

Late Night Horrorshow Open Thread: PopCult Celebrity

by Anne Laurie|  March 9, 202011:33 pm| 135 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Decline and Fall

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Nero is being recognized more and more these days.

Except by him. pic.twitter.com/roKJyajibh

— Joanne Freeman (@jbf1755) March 8, 2020

The Senate had an opportunity to remove this President from office, and every Republican but one declined. pic.twitter.com/bK9cl6H1nr

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) March 8, 2020

ETA, per TPM (h/t multiple commentors):

… But for QAnon followers, the second half of the caption speaks to a central narrative in the conspiracy theory, which is based on years of cryptic online posts from an anonymous self-purported insider whose legion of fans pore over the posts like Talmudic scholars.

Trump, the theory posits, is engaged in a behind-the-scenes war against evil forces intent on his destruction. The unknown “Q” has used the phrase in several unsigned, largely inscrutable missives.
The phrase is meant to convey that mass arrests and a “great awakening” are inevitable no matter what the “deep state” or mainstream media do, said Travis View, co-host of the “QAnon Anonymous” podcast.

“It’s very fatalist,” View said…

So I guess the rest of us are left hoping for Heaven’s Gate, as opposed to Jonestown, climax for the cultists.
 

treat for you: open this tweet and see who the quote is about and die instantly https://t.co/Wq33ERuBTq

— steel reinforced hunter h (@HRETNUH) March 5, 2020

You have been warned…

"When I look at the aims of my boyfriend and I look at the aims of Bernie, like, their end goals are very similar."https://t.co/PjtxXMh0Z3

— NYLON (@NylonMag) March 5, 2020

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Next Post: COVID-19 Coronavirus Update (Domestic) – Monday/Tuesday, March 9/10 »

Reader Interactions

135Comments

  1. 1.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 9, 2020 at 11:45 pm

    omg lol wow. Grimes ??‍♂️

    I got back from Mexico City a little while ago. Not gonna fly again for a while, I was a nervous wreck.

  2. 2.

    The Dangerman

    March 9, 2020 at 11:45 pm

    Fiddler on the Roofies?

    ETA: I mean, how else does he miss the Nero thing other than incapacitated?

  3. 3.

    dmsilev

    March 9, 2020 at 11:47 pm

    “When I look at the aims of my boyfriend and I look at the aims of Bernie, like, their end goals are very similar.

    Bernie wants to colonize Mars? Elon Musk’s life-long dream is to bring down the capitalistic system?

    I is confused.

    Also, too, Horrified Grimes Stumbles Upon Boyfriend’s $18 Billion Plan For All-New, Reinvented Grimes

  4. 4.

    Wag

    March 9, 2020 at 11:47 pm

    Who is Grimes?

    I must be old 

  5. 5.

    Jerzy Russian

    March 9, 2020 at 11:48 pm

    I am curious (but not curious enough to click on any links):  is/was Scavino making fun of Trump (something along the lines of Nero fiddled while Rome burned) and Trump is/was too stupid to know?

  6. 6.

    dmsilev

    March 9, 2020 at 11:50 pm

    @Jerzy Russian: Scavino is Trump’s social-media director, so he’s more likely to be flattering Trump than undercutting him.

    I’ve seen some people speculating that this is a reference to more QAnon lunacy.

  7. 7.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 9, 2020 at 11:50 pm

    @Jerzy Russian: it’s apparently some kind of Q-anon inside joke. I still don’t get it.

  8. 8.

    Morzer

    March 9, 2020 at 11:51 pm

    Maybe Grimes is trying to tell us that Elon Musk is a self-aggrandizing poseur with a self-destructive streak that’s going to lead him to ignominious failure?  Doesn’t seem like news to me, but maybe she doesn’t spend much time on social media…

  9. 9.

    catclub

    March 9, 2020 at 11:52 pm

    @Jerzy Russian: Actually Scavino was making a shout-out to QAnon with the ‘nobody knows what comes next’ and probably did not think of Rome and nero, either.

  10. 10.

    akryan

    March 9, 2020 at 11:52 pm

    @The Dangerman: never, ever, paying attention to anything anyone has ever tried to teach him

  11. 11.

    Wag

    March 9, 2020 at 11:53 pm

    @Jerzy Russian:

    according to Josh Marshall, I don’t think so.
    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/qanon-satanic-cabal-obsession-donald-trump-dan-scavino-nothing-can-stop-whats-coming

  12. 12.

    germy

    March 9, 2020 at 11:54 pm

    Incoming White House chief of staff Mark Meadows among lawmakers sidelined by coronavirus concerns

  13. 13.

    HumboldtBlue

    March 9, 2020 at 11:55 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Sister and husband still in Morocco. Her kids remain thoroughly unhappy with their decision and as I said to her in a conversation the day before they left: “Next Wednesday is gonna look a lot different from today.”

    At least you’re home.

  14. 14.

    Martin

    March 9, 2020 at 11:56 pm

    @Wag: So, on the Peoples Temple/Heaven’s Gate continuum, where do you figure the US is right now?

  15. 15.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 9, 2020 at 11:57 pm

    The Senate had an opportunity to remove this President from office, and every Republican but one declined.

    They have blood on their hands. McConnell will probably lose his seat over this in November, if he doesn’t become infected and die first

  16. 16.

    chris

    March 9, 2020 at 11:57 pm

    “Nothing can stop what’s coming.” It’s a direct quote from a “Q drop.”

  17. 17.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 9, 2020 at 11:59 pm

    @catclub:

    I’m so glad the WH communications director is making shout-outs on Twitter to conspiracy cults /s

  18. 18.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 10, 2020 at 12:01 am

    I’ll probably regret asking this, but what is Q-Anon’s take on COVID-19, anyway? Chinese bioweapon escaped from a lab?

  19. 19.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 10, 2020 at 12:08 am

    @Jerzy Russian: No he wasn’t. The bottom part of Scavino’s meme, “nothing can stop what’s coming” is a QAnon phrase referencing the “coming storm” that Q has foretold. That storm is when the President turns Attorney General Barr loose to arrest the Clintons, the Obamas, Soros, the Romneys (minus Rona), everyone at NBC/MSNBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, PBS, The NY Times, WaPo, Comey, McCabe, Brennan, Clapper, Pelosi, all the Democrats in the House and Senate, Huma Abedin, all the NeverTrumpers, a bunch of other people, and most likely my boss and I for attempting to overthrow his administration beginning a year before he was ever elected, and for being involved in a Deep State led Satanic pedophile and child trafficking ring and one world government conspiracy.

    Scavino spends a lot of time interacting with the Chan kiddies, as well as the loons at Gab, Q twitter and /k/ (which is sort of a Q version of 4Chan), r/TheDonald, etc. This is who this message was for. It’s coded so that everyone who doesn’t pay attention to this bullshit are all like “what the hell does that mean” and the people it was really intended for have their stupid delusion confirmed that the President is actually in on their secret and working to bring it to fruition. The President retweeting it, which may have actually been Scavino who also tweets from the President’s personal account, is further confirmation that the President is in on it.

  20. 20.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 10, 2020 at 12:12 am

    @Martin: They’ve run out of generic brand sneakers and track suits at Wal-Mart.

  21. 21.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 10, 2020 at 12:12 am

    The Hoarse Whisperer @HoarseWisperer
    Wouldn’t suck to have a president who was overprepared right now. Now would it, Chuck Todd?

  22. 22.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 10, 2020 at 12:13 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    That storm is when the President turns Attorney General Barr loose to arrest the Clintons, the Obamas, Soros, the Romneys (minus Rona), everyone at NBC/MSNBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, PBS, The NY Times, WaPo, Comey, McCabe, Brennan, Clapper, Pelosi, all the Democrats in the House and Senate, Huma Abedin, all the NeverTrumpers, a bunch of other people, and most likely my boss and I for attempting to overthrow his administration beginning a year before he was ever elected, and for being involved in a Deep State led Satanic pedophile and child trafficking ring and one world government conspiracy.

    Do these Q-Anon nutcases actually understand that we all outnumber them and that we have agency too?

  23. 23.

    HumboldtBlue

    March 10, 2020 at 12:13 am

    Italy has shut down, you laugh so ya don’t cry.

    Gotta smile somewhere.

  24. 24.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 10, 2020 at 12:14 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Apparently not.

  25. 25.

    Cheryl Rofer

    March 10, 2020 at 12:15 am

    @Adam L Silverman: Thanks, Adam.

  26. 26.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 10, 2020 at 12:16 am

    Thread

    Both as a journalist and a NYC resident and parent I’ve watched the governor and mayors daily pressers closely and carefully. Overall I’ve been very impressed by the govt response in the state, both in terms of action and communication. One thing that is notable is that …

    — Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) March 10, 2020

  27. 27.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 10, 2020 at 12:17 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Apparently. How are you doing in the great state of Florida? Have you stocked up on any food/supplies?

  28. 28.

    Martin

    March 10, 2020 at 12:17 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Oh, that is way the fuck too mainstream for them.

    I think they believe it’s more of a Rapture kind of thing. That the deep state deliberately released it, but Trumps people are buying up all of the emergency supplies and will invite the QAnoners into their secret bunkers while we all perish on the outside. They also say that QAnoners should drink bleach to protect from it, so y’know.

    I’m still of the view QAnon is just a couple of anarchists grifting the Trump folks for T-shirt sales.

  29. 29.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 10, 2020 at 12:19 am

    @HumboldtBlue: yeah, it was definitely the last day I would’ve felt even a little comfortable flying.

  30. 30.

    Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]

    March 10, 2020 at 12:19 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): SATSQ: No

  31. 31.

    Martin

    March 10, 2020 at 12:19 am

    @Adam L Silverman: That bad, huh? Do I need to provide my own plastic bag or will one be provided?

  32. 32.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 10, 2020 at 12:19 am

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I don’t know how to feel about that hand sanitizer produced by NYS prisoners.

    However, I am impressed with Cuomo’s handling of this. I hope this makes you feel a tad better living in NYC

  33. 33.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 10, 2020 at 12:21 am

    Water finds its own level, my old man used to say

    Aaron Rupar@atrupar
    Here’s Glenn Greenwald on Tucker Carlson’s show accusing Obama of pulling strings behind the scenes to impose “creepy-like discipline” in getting Democrats to “snap into line” behind Biden.

  34. 34.

    Martin

    March 10, 2020 at 12:23 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Yeah, I agree. But it’s something. It tells people there will be something they can use, that govt is at least trying.

  35. 35.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 10, 2020 at 12:24 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I am actually at my deep ocean lair for the duration.

    I basically keep two weeks worth of emergency supplies because of hurricane season. And since I didn’t have to use any last year, I have two weeks worth of bottled water. I’ve got enough non perishable food too. And if worse comes to worse I’ve got the extra special, I’ve run out of everything else, no sugar added protein pudding (blech!). I picked up a few things over the past several days just to make sure I had it. My field medic kit is stocked as I’ve never had to use it. I’ve got about three months of dog food. And a month of doggie treats. I just renewed my prescriptions, so I’ve got between 60 and 90 days of that stuff. And since I work from home, unless I’m needed somewhere on site, I basically only go out to the store or the gym. And if this gets really bad, I can just hook my TRX up at home. I’m about as prepared as I can be.

  36. 36.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 10, 2020 at 12:25 am

    @Cheryl Rofer: You’re welcome. I’m going to go run some pipe cleaners through my ears to clean this stupidity out of my brain.//

  37. 37.

    Fair Economist

    March 10, 2020 at 12:26 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    referencing the “coming storm” that Q has foretold.

    And been wrong, and foretold again, and been wrong and… It’s like the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Unfortunately, that seems to include surviving in spite of being wrong on every possible prediction.

  38. 38.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 10, 2020 at 12:26 am

    @Martin:

    Oh I’m sure “Q” is a fraud. But that’s insane. At least the bioweapon conspiracy is semi-plausible (in the sense that such a thing is actually possible).

    I’ve heard that China has been trying to deny that the virus originated from within their borders. Which is weird. We know it did. We know exactly where it came from. Why deny it now?

    NVM: the CCP objects to COVID being labeled “Wuhan virus” or “Chinese virus” which is fair enough

  39. 39.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 10, 2020 at 12:26 am

    @Martin: I don’t know, those knuckleheads don’t make much sense to the Elders, so I have no official statement on the matter from our glorious leader, the Supreme Babka, at this time.

  40. 40.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 10, 2020 at 12:27 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

     

    @Martin: agree with Martin, and I’ll additionally say that the government should retain the capacity for critical infrastructure so it’s good they’re wanting to do it, obviously the implementation has that big problem. FWIW that’s not a new labor source here obviously

  41. 41.

    Martin

    March 10, 2020 at 12:28 am

    SUNY Stonybrook.

  42. 42.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 10, 2020 at 12:28 am

    @The Dangerman: how else does he miss the Nero thing

    I’ll take He’s A Dumbshit Mobster Manchild for 400, Alex.

  43. 43.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 10, 2020 at 12:28 am

    @Fair Economist: Millerites. Started off peacefully. Prophecy failed and they morphed into the Seventh Day Adventist. That ultimately couldn’t contain some of the extremists who split off into a branch sect led by a guy named David. You’ll know them as the Branch Davidians. And we know how that ended.

  44. 44.

    Amir Khalid

    March 10, 2020 at 12:29 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Very delusion. It makes my head hurt.

  45. 45.

    phdesmond

    March 10, 2020 at 12:29 am

    @HumboldtBlue: that’s one of my favorite agriculltural stories — thank you.

  46. 46.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 10, 2020 at 12:29 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Chinese influence operations are subtle. It is intended partially for internal consumption, partially for use in the Belt and Road Initiative. Which is why this influence operation blames it on the US and our maple lackeys the Canadians.

  47. 47.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 10, 2020 at 12:30 am

    @Amir Khalid: You and me both, you and me both!

  48. 48.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 10, 2020 at 12:32 am

    @Adam L Silverman: given that Beijing’s propaganda is “this came from a Canadian lab”, I think there are good odds it… came from a chinese lab. To be clear, a lab that researched wild viruses, not some weapon crap.

  49. 49.

    Morzer

    March 10, 2020 at 12:37 am

    @Major Major Major Major: I’ll take minimal Chinese food safety standards and low air quality plus a government trying to stop any discussion of the issue and so compromising people’s ability to understand and react.

  50. 50.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 10, 2020 at 12:39 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I’m glad to hear that. I have stocked up some with canned foods, a bag of pasta, a package of 16 fruit cups, a package of 24 ramen noodle packages and frozen meats. I also have a case or two of bottled water, but I think the utilities should still be working fine. Even in Wuhan, the water still flowed

    I am worried about my older family. It’s going to be impossible for me to avoid being infected given the nature of my job (cashier) and nursing school. I just hope my 85 y/o grandmother can be safely isolated for a year. She lives alone.

    On top of that, my 58 y/o father is overweight, takes statins for cholesterol, has hypertension, etc. Even younger people are at higher risk. There’s a 32 y/o doctor in NJ who is infected who has no underlying conditions and he says he’s getting worse and worse.

    Oh and my cat is diabetic. What’s going to happen to insulin supply. Cat food is shipped via Amazon too and he only can tolerate canned Turkey and Rice

    This virus is upending everything

  51. 51.

    CaseyL

    March 10, 2020 at 12:39 am

    @Adam L Silverman: And you live…where exactly? (*gets car keys*)

    I’m good for the rest of this week, but will need to go out at that point.

    Also today was my first day working from home, and I was busier than I usually am at the office!

    Though a bit of that was trying to get the remote access thing working correctly on my laptop.  And then there were the merry hours spent trying to get web-based Outlook to not suck donkey balls, then giving up and installing MS Office onto my computer so I have a desktop version of Outlook rather than the web-based, which (did I mention this?) sucks donkey balls.

    So, I spent a lot of the day emailing IT, then talking to IT, and finally letting IT take control of my computer.

  52. 52.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 10, 2020 at 12:39 am

    (((Yair Rosenberg))) @ Yair_Rosenber
    Basically every wave of late California ballots has been more and more favorable to Biden, and Bernie actually got very lucky that no one pays attention to the count after primary night, or his collapse there from his polling would have been a big story.

  53. 53.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 10, 2020 at 12:41 am

    @Morzer: what does air quality have to do with a zoonotic leap?

    maybe this will get people to cut down on their pangolin consumption.

  54. 54.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 10, 2020 at 12:42 am

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I do have to be honest, if I was designing a bioweapon, I’d want something similar to COVID-19. It’s mild in the majority of cases and symptoms are often indistinguishable from the flu/cold. It’s perfect for that. However, this is probably a naturally occurring disease of zoonotic origin. Though it is technically man-made; the Chinese have set up the conditions for creating deadly zoonotic diseases

  55. 55.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 10, 2020 at 12:43 am

    @Major Major Major Major: I think the explanation that we have is the most plausible one as it is in line with how every other coronavirus seems to have developed. It started in wild animals, mutated so it could jump species, mutated again so it could jump species into humans, who got it from contact with infected animals in a wet market in Wuhan. Unless the PRC had identified the disease early and had it in a lab for testing and someone broke containment, I don’t think that the actual components of China’s influence operation are telling us very much other than they’re trying to shift the blame to the Maple Peril of the North!

  56. 56.

    L85NJGT

    March 10, 2020 at 12:44 am

    The count continues to roll:

    Biden has picked up three points since election night, and booked 2 more California delegates today.

    Biden spent all of $4000 in CA television ads. There is no conspiracy, the man ain’t keeping him down, and far too many sane progressives are still giving Bernie a pass. He and his campaign fucked a clear path to the nomination straight into the ground.

  57. 57.

    Morzer

    March 10, 2020 at 12:45 am

    @Major Major Major Major: Compromised immune systems, for one thing. We aren’t talking about a phenomenon with one cause or where all the causes directly link to each other.  Lots of factors have to come together to make something like the coronavirus as potent as it has been.

  58. 58.

    dmsilev

    March 10, 2020 at 12:45 am

    @Martin: My campus just sent out this notice:

    Earlier today, a Caltech graduate student was tested for COVID-19 by the Pasadena Public Health Department (PPHD). The student, who has exhibited mild symptoms, is currently self-isolating in off-campus housing pending test results.

    At this time, there are no confirmed cases on the Caltech campus, and no other community members are undergoing testing.

    As soon as we learn the outcome of the testing, we will inform you of the results and of any campus impact. In collaboration with and under the guidance of PPHD, we are continuing to operate within the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s established guidance for campus activities.

    We’re not closed so far, but I have a feeling it’s only a matter of time and probably not much time at that.

  59. 59.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 10, 2020 at 12:46 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): As long as you all take appropriate sanitizing actions before and during visits with your grandmother, she should be fine.

    I can’t really speak to your father or that doctor’s conditions as I’m not that kind of doctor.

    As for your cat, see if you can find an alternative source of her food, order some extra if you can afford it, and talk to your veterinarian about the insulin.

  60. 60.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 10, 2020 at 12:46 am

    Okay, people, this may sound a little crazy at first but bear with me…. I think there is a real possibility that the Italian reaction to this is completely over the top in order to distract from the Italian side’s dismal performance in the Six Nations Tournament. Now I am not saying that they engineered the whole crisis and released a virus in various parts of the world in order to distract from a poor rugby result. Even I am not that crazy – they’d only do that over a poor footie performance. But closing down the country for a few months? I wouldn’t put it past them.

    PS. I am not a crackpot.

  61. 61.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 10, 2020 at 12:47 am

    @CaseyL:

    And you live…where exactly?

    Balloon Juice. Apparently I live at Balloon Juice…

  62. 62.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 10, 2020 at 12:47 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Steve Kornacki knows…

  63. 63.

    Morzer

    March 10, 2020 at 12:47 am

    @Adam L Silverman: Right. China/Xi is much more concerned with not looking like the bad guy (especially after the Hong Kong clusterfuck) than it is with anything else. They also have a domestic population that is not too happy with the ways things have gone recently.  Most of the blame-shifting is probably aimed at them, rather than a wider world.

  64. 64.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 10, 2020 at 12:48 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I picked up an albuterol inhaler in Mexico. If I don’t need it maybe somebody I know will.

  65. 65.

    Eolirin

    March 10, 2020 at 12:48 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Weapons are only really useful if they can be directed at targets. This is so uncontrollable and indiscriminate that it’d only be useful if the goal is messing up humanity in general.

    Are you secretly a robot planning a revolution?

  66. 66.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 10, 2020 at 12:48 am

    @dmsilev: Sheldon Cooper will not be leaving his apartment for the foreseeable future.//

  67. 67.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 10, 2020 at 12:50 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: I texted a friend earlier today that apparently it is the Five Nations Tournament now. The first weekend of play, during the game, the commenters, who are, of course, not Italian, were suggesting that perhaps Italy should be dropped from the tournament after this year and a more competitive nation invited to replace them.

  68. 68.

    Martin

    March 10, 2020 at 12:50 am

    @L85NJGT: Still 3.2 million ballots to count. Biden may really tighten this up.

  69. 69.

    Morzer

    March 10, 2020 at 12:50 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: I would very much like to subscribe to your weed deal… er… newsletter.  Italy have been pretty much awful in the Six Nations every year.  So it was, so it is and, apparently, so it always shall be.

  70. 70.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 10, 2020 at 12:51 am

    And on that note to O2, I’m going to go watch one of the two Six Nations games they actually played this weekend as I haven’t had a chance to watch either of them yet. So NO SPOILERS!

  71. 71.

    frosty

    March 10, 2020 at 12:51 am

    @Adam L Silverman:  But have you filled up the tub so you have water to flush the toilet? (One of my Y2K preparations)

  72. 72.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 10, 2020 at 12:52 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    As long as you all take appropriate sanitizing actions before and during visits with your grandmother, she should be fine.

    Good advice, but it does primarily spread through droplets. I have 30 surgical-grade dust face masks. I reserved them for my household if/when we get sick to cut down on transmission if/when having to leave the house.

    I’m considering leaving a box of 10 at her house for any relatives to put on just in case

  73. 73.

    Morzer

    March 10, 2020 at 12:52 am

    @Adam L Silverman: People have been muttering about dropping Italy for several years now.  I think the mutterers intensified their campaign when Japan did so well in the World Cup, while Italy remained a turkey-shoot for the other teams.

  74. 74.

    Morzer

    March 10, 2020 at 12:53 am

    @Adam L Silverman: So we shouldn’t mention Joe Biden leading Wales to victo… ooops, I shouldn’t have said that!

  75. 75.

    Martin

    March 10, 2020 at 12:54 am

    @dmsilev: You guys can probably operate for quite a spell. You’re smaller than most high schools in student population, and your largest classes are about that size as well.

    It’s our 400+ enrollment classes that really terrify us.

  76. 76.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 10, 2020 at 12:54 am

    @Adam L Silverman: Noted.

  77. 77.

    HumboldtBlue

    March 10, 2020 at 12:54 am

    @phdesmond:

    The stuff they don’t teach you in schools, eh?

  78. 78.

    L85NJGT

    March 10, 2020 at 12:56 am

    Without widespread antibody testing there are just too many holes in the data sets.

  79. 79.

    HumboldtBlue

    March 10, 2020 at 12:57 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Shall we sing?

  80. 80.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 10, 2020 at 12:58 am

    Just got a really well-put-together email from my city councilman about Coronavirus. It is nice to see what seems like a pretty good response so far.

  81. 81.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 10, 2020 at 12:59 am

    @dmsilev:

    I have to resist making a Big Bang Theory joke. God that show sucked so bad

  82. 82.

    Fair Economist

    March 10, 2020 at 12:59 am

    @Adam L Silverman: That would be a very plausible future course for QAnon. Perhaps not even that future given how many times they’ve already been wrong.

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    There’s a 32 y/o doctor in NJ who is infected who has no underlying conditions and he says he’s getting worse and worse.

    One thing that the media has not reported at all is that “mild” cases are not generally mild. It means, roughly “can survive without supplemental oxygen”. Many “mild” cases report being so weak they can barely stand up for week or more. He may well have a “mild” case.

    @Adam L Silverman:

    who got it from contact with infected animals in a wet market in Wuhan.

    Sequencing and the likely ancestral state are suggesting (though not proving) that it did not hop at the market itself but a little bit earlier, with the market being its first superspreading event. My hypothesis is that the actual hop happened in a smuggler with business at the market. Extended hypothesis is that is why Iran got it so bad – Iran is a major player in smuggling animals to China. It might have gotten the virus early.

  83. 83.

    Martin

    March 10, 2020 at 12:59 am

    Sacramento just stopped 14 day quarantines. You only need to quarantine if you test positive.

    It’s endemic there. Changing strategy.

  84. 84.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 10, 2020 at 1:00 am

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Do you have asthma?

  85. 85.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 10, 2020 at 1:00 am

    @frosty: It’ll be the last thing I do. I have a clean 40 gallon barrel that I’ll fill from the garden hose if it comes to that.

  86. 86.

    Fair Economist

    March 10, 2020 at 1:00 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I got a sports mask, which is reusable. Not as good as a N95; it does leak some; but definitely better than nothing.

  87. 87.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 10, 2020 at 1:02 am

    @Fair Economist:

    Yeah “mild” is pretty broad. It can stretch from anything to an unpleasant flu/cold to just short of hospitalization

  88. 88.

    Martin

    March 10, 2020 at 1:02 am

    And Apple is giving employees, including hourly, unlimited paid sick leave if they need to quarantine/get sick.

    Gauntlet thrown down. Let’s see who else is ready to step up.

  89. 89.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 10, 2020 at 1:03 am

    @Morzer: The thing with the Italian national team is that the pieces are clearly there, but the sum doesn’t exceed the parts. This may be the result of coaching or something else, but as we’ve seen with Wasps over the past three weeks, which had the same problem in the English Premier League. Then Dai Young stepped aside as director of rugby for what has been described as personal reasons, his senior coach stepped in as acting, and it’s like watching two different teams.

  90. 90.

    frosty

    March 10, 2020 at 1:04 am

    @CaseyL: So, I spent a lot of the day emailing IT, then talking to IT, and finally letting IT take control of my computer.

    And in my line of work, none of it billable,

  91. 91.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 10, 2020 at 1:05 am

    @Fair Economist: That makes sense.

  92. 92.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 10, 2020 at 1:08 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I used to and also have a nasty tendency to get bronchitis. I guess it’s been a while but better safe than sorry.

  93. 93.

    frosty

    March 10, 2020 at 1:09 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Thanks, that was worth a laugh. Although I doubt highly that they would do this for rugby. Footie, though, definitely!

  94. 94.

    Fair Economist

    March 10, 2020 at 1:09 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): This is certainly not a designed bioweapon. It is *extremely* obviously evolved, with hundreds of irrelevant changes, a spike protein that shouldn’t work according to theory, and 2 proteins under positive selection we don’t understand at all.

    What worries me is that this provides a framework for a bioweapon by a nihilist group. Not useful for a normal government but until a vaccine if available anybody could cause tremendous damage by a planned release. Even after a vaccine is out a group with access to gene engineering could probably create a resistant strain and then we’re back to a potential for powerful bioterrorism.

  95. 95.

    Kelly

    March 10, 2020 at 1:10 am

    @Fair Economist:

    Iran is a major player in smuggling animals to China

    Another fact I’d only learn on Balloon Juice!

  96. 96.

    phdesmond

    March 10, 2020 at 1:11 am

    @Adam L Silverman: mental floss?

  97. 97.

    L85NJGT

    March 10, 2020 at 1:12 am

    The Morandi replacement bridge will be open before the report on the cause of the former bridge’s collapse is released.

  98. 98.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 10, 2020 at 1:13 am

    @Adam L Silverman: Maybe they need a Welsh defensive coach.  It’s done wonders for France.

  99. 99.

    sfinny

    March 10, 2020 at 1:15 am

    @Major Major Major Major: I have received several emails from my legislators in Westchester County that are informative and provide good information.  Which is somewhat comforting.  Then again, my neighbor is a nurse for the county and she called me to make sure I was staying at home because I am immunocompromised.

  100. 100.

    PeakVT

    March 10, 2020 at 1:15 am

    @Fair Economist: Maybe (hopefully) a silver lining in these dark clouds is that the Chinese government will tamp down on the live wild animal trade.

  101. 101.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 10, 2020 at 1:16 am

    @Major Major Major Major:

    This goes for everyone here, but I want to say I deeply value the friendship (at least I hope) I’ve built here with you. You’ve always been very kind to me, not to mention patient. I hope you and your husband as well as your folks stay safe

  102. 102.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    March 10, 2020 at 1:17 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Do you have a newsletter with further details? Asking for a friend.

  103. 103.

    Martin

    March 10, 2020 at 1:18 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    PS. I am not a crackpot.

    I believe you. Totally.

  104. 104.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 10, 2020 at 1:19 am

    John Harwood@JohnJHarwood
    new Quinnipiac national poll on prospective Trump vs Biden matchup:
    white men Trump 58%, Biden 34%
    everyone else Biden 60%, Trump 32%

    whenever I see numbers like this, I wish they gave a geographic breakdown

  105. 105.

    A Ghost to Most

    March 10, 2020 at 1:21 am

    Well that sucks. Son fell off the wagon big time, turned nasty to the point we had to call the cops to haul him off for a psych hold. Maybe a ride in a cop car will open his eyes. Alcohol sucks.

  106. 106.

    NotMax

    March 10, 2020 at 1:22 am

    @Omnes Omnibus

    PS. I am not a crackpot.

    You just play one on TV the ‘net?

    :)

  107. 107.

    CaseyL

    March 10, 2020 at 1:25 am

    @frosty:  Well, my IT folks are part of the department, and therefore UW employees. Salaried. And we were working during regular office hours, though both of us were working from home, which I thought was kind of funny.

    What kind of work do you do that you wouldn’t bill for the tech help? The one time I worked with a truly outside contractor (way back when, helping me set up a WordPress blog for work) he did charge by the hour, including consults with me.

  108. 108.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 10, 2020 at 1:25 am

    @Steeplejack (phone): Subscription details will be available soon.  Stay tuned to this blog for further details.*

    *I might need a GoFundMe to fix my mimeograph machine.

  109. 109.

    Redshift

    March 10, 2020 at 1:26 am

    Usually I have the sense not to respond to random people on Twitter, but for some reason I decided to try to disabuse a Berner of the idea that they’re the only activists on the Dem side.

    Basically, they were trying to pivot from “the billionaire establishment saved Biden”/”but Biden spent hardly anything, and only had a few campaign offices,” by claimiing that winning without offices and a ground game meant “they” were telling activists “haha suckers you thought you would make something happen.”

    I was nice, because I want people to be activists. I asked who were “they”, and how did “they” make all those people vote for Biden? I talked about how I love being involved in campaigns, but there’s plenty of poli sci research showing that it doesn’t have much effect. So if you’re going to be an activist, you have to accept that you’re working for those close races where it can make the difference.

    No response, sigh.

  110. 110.

    Yutsano

    March 10, 2020 at 1:33 am

    @Martin:  There is talk in the federal government that if an employee gets the virus they can take unlimited administrative leave. I’m uncertain if this is IRS specific or if it’s government wide. But it’s out there right now.

  111. 111.

    Martin

    March 10, 2020 at 1:43 am

    @Yutsano: We don’t have that yet it CA. I was promised socialism.

  112. 112.

    frosty

    March 10, 2020 at 1:46 am

    @CaseyL: Consulting engineering. I get paid, but it’s overhead and I can’t bill any clients. I’ve got a billable target to hit and in some cases, I work OT so I can hit the target and write off the overhead, unpaid.

    Same as lawyers, really.

    ETA: IT help works for the company, they get paid for 40, but not for OT. I’m one of the grunts that brings in the revenue to support IT, HR, accounting, and the rest of the overhead.

    ETA2 Or was one of the grunts, since I just retired and went to intermittent part time if any of my clients need me.

  113. 113.

    NotMax

    March 10, 2020 at 1:46 am

    @Omnes Omnibus

    Real rebel cells use a Gestetner.

    ;)

  114. 114.

    L85NJGT

    March 10, 2020 at 1:54 am

    Pence was wearing a black suit jacket and red, white & blue tie. Trump was wearing a Mountain Dew yellow tie.

    Tan suit? Really??

  115. 115.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 10, 2020 at 1:56 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): ah, I’m sure I’ll survive, staying inside all day is what I was born to do. And thanks! Best to you and your family as well, it sounds like you’ve done plenty of prep!

  116. 116.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 10, 2020 at 1:59 am

    Ooooh I just figured out the one character motivation in my novel I was missing for an airtight plot.

  117. 117.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    March 10, 2020 at 2:08 am

    @A Ghost to Most: Ouch, I’m so sorry to hear that. Alcoholism is the devil. I hope treatment helps and that you are doing OK and have the resources to take care of yourself as well as him.

  118. 118.

    Calouste

    March 10, 2020 at 2:15 am

    @L85NJGT: Obviously a sign for QAnon :)

  119. 119.

    Uncle Cosmo

    March 10, 2020 at 2:18 am

    @L85NJGT: Those whom the gods would destroy they first make nasty & arrogant. (A proposed epitaph for the 2020 Sanders campaign.)

  120. 120.

    sukabi

    March 10, 2020 at 2:38 am

    @germy: not wanting to piss off drumpf by turning down the job, Meadows contracts covid19 instead.

  121. 121.

    sukabi

    March 10, 2020 at 2:40 am

    @Martin: drumpf has the response team licking handrails.

  122. 122.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 10, 2020 at 2:57 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Ya know, there’s a “Big Bang Theory Way” in Pasadena.

  123. 123.

    HumboldtBlue

    March 10, 2020 at 3:07 am

    It never hurts much unless it’s you who get stung.

  124. 124.

    Morzer

    March 10, 2020 at 3:23 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I might need a GoFundMe to fix my mimeograph machine

    Those monks do take a lot of feeding.

  125. 125.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    March 10, 2020 at 3:26 am

    Elon Musk is dating a vampire?   Does Buffy know this?

  126. 126.

    Morzer

    March 10, 2020 at 3:29 am

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:  There’s a lot at stake in that relationship…

  127. 127.

    Morzer

    March 10, 2020 at 3:38 am

    A nice bit of news for Fightin’ Mad Joey B. :

    https://www.newsweek.com/republican-mayor-drops-donald-trump-joe-biden-key-swing-state-michigan-1491355

    With Tuesday’s Democratic primaries hours away, former Vice President Joe Biden has found an unexpected supporter in Sterling Heights, Michigan Mayor Michael Taylor, a Republican.

    “Since announcing my endorsement of Joe Biden I have received an outpouring of encouraging messages and believe even more strongly that Joe Biden is the candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in Macomb County and the State of Michigan,” Taylor said in a statement to Newsweek on Monday.

    While Taylor, a life-long Republican, voted for President Donald Trump in 2016, he said he would cast his ballot for Biden this year because Trump is “deranged.”

  128. 128.

    NobodySpecial

    March 10, 2020 at 3:45 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): A friend got a lot of flak for calling it nerd blackface. He wasn’t wrong, though.

  129. 129.

    Amir Khalid

    March 10, 2020 at 4:07 am

    @NobodySpecial:

    It did star Mayim Bialik, who has a doctorate in neuroscience.

  130. 130.

    cain

    March 10, 2020 at 4:44 am

    @dmsilev:

    Elon Musk is 48 and she is 31. Crikey. Well I suppose it will work out given that she is carrying his child.

  131. 131.

    Chyron HR

    March 10, 2020 at 5:00 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    “creepy-like discipline” in getting Democrats to “snap into line”

    And these people claim that Biden is having trouble speaking properly.

  132. 132.

    Tony Jay

    March 10, 2020 at 6:24 am

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    Well he did marry Talulah Riley (twice?), so I guess slender, pale brunettes are his type.

    Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Apparently their type is heavily worked-on megalomaniac billionaires so everyone got lucky.

  133. 133.

    Anne Laurie

    March 10, 2020 at 8:35 am

    @NotMax: Real rebel cells use a Gestetner.

    Back when I was joint owner of both an A.B. Dick mimeograph machine *and* a spirit duplicator (Ditto) machine, we considered Gestetners as a subcategory of mimeos.

    And knew that real rebels used Ditto, because you can’t get more than a hundred or so readable copies from even the best waxed master, so ditto’d manifestos are much more exclusive than their mimeo’d counterparts.

    (Also, it was possible to get masters in colors other than the common purple — red, green, blue, and the rare cherished yellow — so ditto artists had that much more scope.)

  134. 134.

    noname

    March 10, 2020 at 9:43 am

    @Morzer: HAHA you did it again!  Good one.

  135. 135.

    J R in WV

    March 10, 2020 at 12:08 pm

    I always loved Big Bang Theory, mostly. They, like all comic show biz, were over the top sometimes, but that’s what the show was all about, crazy smart people going over the top. Sorry it wasn’t to your taste, Goku.

    As an IT geek and science hobby person, I thought it was pretty accurate. Once I was attempting to manage a programming shop, that personal history helped me realize just how accurate TBBT was as a photo of American science geeks. My employees, brilliant, mostly, but no more common sense than an ass in the pasture.

    One guy developed a system for his client group, and asked me to ask the networking guys to give his test server under his desk access through the firewall. I asked him to migrate his new system to a production server, not to try to make his test server into a production server. He was so offended he found a new job… he was one of the more sane developers!

    Regarding the BBC piece about spaghetti trees, NPR once did an excellent April 1 story about the Fond du Lac in Wisconsin being rapidly depleted by the adoption of fondue eating by large numbers of people. It made a lot of sense if you didn’t know how fondue was made!  ;-)

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