You've probably already seen this, but: CATS AND DOMINO: https://t.co/tDCMmrM8Ie
— Charlie Stross (@cstross) March 17, 2020
Apologies for being ‘off schedule’ — the Spousal Unit is still adjusting to life under (voluntary) lockdown, and that is disrupting both my routine and that of the two rescue dogs. Most dogs, per twitter, are grateful that their people are home all the time now. But our guys hate change even worse than I do, so they alternate whining at whichever of their persons is closer and trying to start stuff with the cats (who are as large, or slightly larger, than the dogs). First world problems, as the youngs phrase it…
Whenever I see stuff like this from Warren I feel like it's the "come with me if you want to live" moment in life's movie. I think we'd be pretty dumb to not do what she says. https://t.co/nIXW7ohPt4
— Mike Caulfield (@holden) March 18, 2020
We owe a profound debt of gratitude to all our health professionals and everybody who’ll be on the front lines of this pandemic for a long while. They’re giving everything. May we all model our own behavior on their selflessness and sacrifice as we help each other through this. https://t.co/F3tsJTqd4c
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 17, 2020
A good friend who is an anesthesiologist in Virginia is coordinating with her local veterinary academy to increase her hospital’s supply of ventilators when they approach capacity in the ICU. She realized that out our pets mostly use the same ventilators we do.
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) March 17, 2020
The Pentagon will make available up to 5 million single-use respirator masks, 2,000 deployable ventilators and at least 14 testing labs, Defense Secretary Esper said today https://t.co/nMk810lE9N by @DanLamothe
— Mark Berman (@markberman) March 17, 2020
So we're just gonna quietly pass over that Trump's tone on the virus became visibly more alarmed 24 hours after he got his test result back, which claims he's not infected, despite having made contact with multiple infected people
— L Ron Hubbard's Space Jazz (@MenshevikM) March 17, 2020
OMG who made this? ???? pic.twitter.com/3LKnXAOZl3
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) March 17, 2020
AxelFoley
First!
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ? ??
rikyrah
@AxelFoley:
Morning Axel ?
debbie
Colbert played clips last night of Trump insisting he has been calling this a pandemic all along. It was the closest I’ve ever come to punching out the television. ? ?
rikyrah
So…Biden had a good night ??
rikyrah
OzarkHillbilly
Blech.
mrmoshpotato
@debbie: I’m luxurious at pandemic!
(Yeah, I know. I don’t watch Seth Myers’ A Closer Look segments until YouTube subtitles them, because Dump’s voice makes me want to break things. Oh to have Hillary managing these times…)
Even Colbert is too “hahaha” at times for my blood.
mrmoshpotato
@rikyrah: Biden SMASH? (Not to overshadow our Queen Nancy at all.)
Quinerly
@rikyrah: ???❤️?
OzarkHillbilly
No, I hadn’t already seen the cats and dominoes video. Thank you very much, Anne.
debbie
The governor means business: A restaurant in Cincinnati that defied orders to close has been padlocked.
Gin & Tonic
I’ve seen some reports that people with Type O blood could be immune. Anyone else seen anything about that?
rikyrah
I think that today is my last day at work for 2 weeks. We will find out today. The commuter train that I take is a ghost town ???
rikyrah
@Quinerly:
Why don’t you send pics in of your new sweetie pie ?
They can be part of a respite thread?
rikyrah
@debbie:
Take away the liquor license and then start fining them for selling liquor
germy
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Ohio Mom
Yesterday I got an email from the Ohio Democratic Party announcing they were going to court over yesterday’s “postponed” election.”
It turns out that legally, if you are the governor, you can’t just reschedule an election like it’s a garden tea party that got rained out. Only the state legislature or a court can do that.
I’m reasonably certain that I will eventually get to vote but there is an interesting question about how the momentum of local campaigns will be effected (I am not worried about Biden getting enough votes anymore).
Of course that can’t be known, but we have some very close Democratic primary races here in Hamilton County, plus a critical transportation levy.
Is the mailbox about to fill up with campaign flyers again? We’ll soon find out who still has money left in their campaign coffer.
Amir Khalid
Repost from a dead thread:
We’re in a time of great and unexpected Angst. Our access to our daily routine, our work, our leisure, so much of our lives, is being constricted before our eyes. We’re all having to make big adjustments for, well, we don’t know how long. And all this on top of the concerns we already had going on.
The conversation at Balloon Juice right now is capturing all this Angst, and for some of us it’s getting a little too intense. Of late I’ve seen people get disheartened by the grimness, or get unhappy with each other over something, and sometimes they decide they need a break from Balloon Juice. It seems there’s more of that happening than usual — people taking refuge, from what is meant to be a refuge from the Crazy Out There. Some of the Crazy Out There has managed to seep in; it was probably inevitable in these times.
I don’t even know where I’m going with this comment. At first I was going to say, ease off on the “please don’t go” replies, don’t inadvertently guilt people out of doing what’s best for their own tranquillity. But that felt like me lecturing you guys, a job I don’t feel all that qualified for. So I’ll just put this out there: this is what I’m seeing here.
Mallard Filmore
Gin & Tonic @ 13:
O+ is 38%
O- is 7%
If this many were immune, it should have been noticed by now.
Amir Khalid
@Gin & Tonic:
Do the reports say just how type O blood confers immunity from Covid-19? Did it sound plausible to you?
Immanentize
@germy: The American epidemic during the world wide pandemic
Baud
@rikyrah:
Lipinski is out too. It’s nice to have something all progressives can be happy about.
germy
Did anyone here take Uncle Cosmo’s bet that Biden would choose a white male for VP, because “now isn’t the time to play with identity politics” ?
MattF
Will Saletan at Slate notes that virus-denial makes Trump supporters a group that increases risk for everyone else.
OzarkHillbilly
@Gin & Tonic: No. Seeing as Type O is the most common blood type and this is a highly infectious disease I find it unlikely. But considering I am A Neg (the 2nd rarest type) it would make perfect sense because I can never catch a break.
Immanentize
@Gin & Tonic: no one is immune. Sorry.
But some indication that A blood folks might get it more than O blood folks. But that is preliminary studies from Wuhan reported in pretty sketchy press sites. All with one story only, the same one.
I take it you are type O? I hope it proves true if you are.
Immanentize
@Baud: This is a good thing. Seems to have been a generational shift?
satby
@rikyrah: Good morning ?
mrmoshpotato
@Ohio Mom:
Good. I hope the court slaps their faces off.
Ohio Mom
[email protected]: Agree.
How are things playing out in your end of the world? Is everyone under lockdown, are the hospitals keeping up?
Baud
@Immanentize: IIRC, he almost lost the primary last time in a crowded field. So this was coming. Still, good news.
germy
It seems voters have dismantled the Lipinski family business.
satby
@rikyrah: you probably take the same line as my daughter-in-law, and her business had them go to working from home last week. Plus all the CBOT and Merc traders were sent home to work remotely last week too. Hope you get to stay home.
mrmoshpotato
@Baud:@rikyrah:
Calm yourself Chatbot Baud. Mail-in ballots aren’t counted yet.
Immanentize
@MattF: That Will Saleton has a real keen mind for the most obvious.
germy
Immanentize
@Baud: I read in the middle of the night (ugh) that the only thing that kept lipinski’s primary from being a route was that, in his open primary yesterday, 19% of the people who voted for him were Trump supporters. Hmmmm….
Soprano2
I feel crazy, because while my hair is on fire about this, many of the people around me are going on as if this will all be over in a couple of weeks because “we’re more isolated” or “we’re not a really big city”, or some other such crap. Our manager thinks we’ll be open in two weeks. When I say it’s going to be more like one or two months, they all pooh-pooh me. My husband thinks that in a week there will be a lot of pressure from people to re-open things. I told him it all depends on how many more people are diagnosed in the next week. They announced their 4th case in Springfield yesterday, which is what I think triggered the bar/restaurant closure order. The biggest problem now is people’s ignorance of how widespread the disease actually is. I’m lucky – I’ve got enough money in the bank that I can pay the bills our pub will need to pay until we can re-open, but I know a lot of small business owners aren’t that lucky. The healthcare people understand what’s coming, but few other people do.
Baud
@mrmoshpotato: Then I hope the result holds up.
satby
@Amir Khalid: agree, lots of PTSD. First from the 2016 election of TOTUS, now worldwide with the pandemic.
OzarkHillbilly
I knew it, I KNEW it. I can never catch a break!
mrmoshpotato
@Baud: Same, but I’m not counting chickens yet.
satby
@Baud: that news sparked much joy, but not just for progressives. Moderates in my old neighborhood have been trying to unload that guy for years.
rikyrah
Baud
@satby: I just hope the voters give Dems more than 2 years to fix things this time. The demand for instant utopia is destroying this country.
germy
Ohio Mom
Mrmoshpotato: Governor Dewine asked a court on Monday if he could postpone the election and the court said, No, You can’t do that, Get outta here, Permission denied (IANAL, if you can’t tell by my choice of words).
Then he ignored that and had the State Board of Health close it all down.
I don’t think he’s being malicious, in that he wants to shut democracy down. He’s not too smart and he wants to look decisive. But apparently he did not immediately take the required legal next steps to reschedule the election. Because he’s not too smart.
Immanentize
@Soprano2: When it is safe to travel and you re-open, I want to come and have a pint at your place
My quirky neighborhood Ramen place (closed Sunday, Monday, Thursday and only had take out on Tuesday night and Friday lunch) of course has gone to take out only. They had a very loyal dine-in clientele many Japanese, many from the Tufts community. I got take out last night just trying to help them stay open during this crap.
ETA. It was hot and yummy!
rikyrah
Our States Attorney, Kim Foxx won last night. I am very happy about this. The police union union has wanted her gone, and they didn’t get their way.???
TS (the original)
@Gin & Tonic:
I saw similar, I don’t think it said immune, I think it was less likely to get the virus. The same article said people with type A were more likely to get the virus – but I think I read the paper had not been peer reviewed. This is probably it
coronavirus and blood type
And I am type A & the spouse is type O
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: The Immp and I are A+. Doomed!
But the same article said that humility was found mostly in A blood types
satby
@Baud: if you look at a map of IL-03, you can see how gerrymandered it is. The tiny part of it inside Chicago city limits was always outvoted by the white flight suburban part, and there were always too many candidates splitting the opposition. This time they mostly coalesced around Newman and were able to oust him. I’m only sad that I wasn’t able to continue my record of voting against him in every election he’s ever run in.
germy
O. Felix Culpa
@Immanentize: @OzarkHillbilly:
I knew you guys were unique in your humility.
Immanentize
@Ohio Mom: My understanding is the Ohio Supreme Court overruled the lower Court and supported Dewine’s proclamation? But then again, Dewine’s son is on the Ohio Supreme Court.
O. Felix Culpa
WaPo:
Sanders to assess his campaign in wake of three decisive wins by Biden on Tuesday
Immanentize
@TS (the original): Business Today, although an anodyne name, is an Indian fortnightly. Same article appeared in the NY Post.
germy
Baud
@O. Felix Culpa: Betty just put up a post.
jonas
I think this is it — we’re flying blind because so little testing has actually been done at this point. We’re not going to really get a handle on this thing until virtually everyone in the country with so much as a sniffle gets tested and either cleared or quarantined. Testing is ramping up, but it’s going to take many weeks I think before a clear picture emerges of where we actually are and until the past few days, too many people weren’t taking the social distancing thing seriously.
Immanentize
@rikyrah: How many Daily K threads are going to be written attacking Oliver-Velez (a front pager there) for THAT tweet?
O. Felix Culpa
@Baud: Then I’m in good company. ;) Thanks for the heads-up.
Immanentize
@germy: National Grid did this in Mass too.
germy
@O. Felix Culpa:
Won’t his supporters just tell him to stay in the race?
PST
@rikyrah:
Every time I walk the dog I cross the busy main Metra tracks heading for the western and northwestern Chicago suburbs. We often have to wait for a train or two to go by, so I’m used to seeing the morning crowds on trains coming into the city and empty trains heading back for more commuters. The transformation is remarkable, but then so are all the other transformations. My neighborhood is basically tech companies, where everyone can work from home, and restaurants, which are now all closed. The streets at night are now as deserted as they used to be when I first moved here before the tech companies and restaurants arrived.
Amir Khalid
@Ohio Mom:
This story in The New Straits Times pretty much has that covered. The mosque in the photo that’s closed to tourists? It’s closed to worshippers too, like every mosque in the country. Friday prayers have been suspended by royal decree*; the same applies to any prayers in congregation. Incidentally, the mosque gets tourists because it was built in 1909 on the “muddy confluence” that gives Kuala Lumpur its name.
*It takes a royal decree because the King is the titular head of Islam in Malaysia.
TS (the original)
@Immanentize:
Google returned many similar articles – I didn’t know which one to choose, nor which one I first saw – thanks for the clarification
O. Felix Culpa
@PST: West Loop? Used to be my old ‘hood.
WereBear
@Gin & Tonic: I don’t see how. O is the most common type.
germy
PenAndKey
Good. This has been something I’ve been calling for since this started. Governments can’t demand that business shut their doors and also not do anything to alleviate the necessity of working to pay debt obligations in this country. I honestly don’t even care how “economically unsound” or “irresponsible” it is to pause these sorts of payments by any legal means necessary, as some here have claimed; it’s a necessary evil to prevent a massive percentage of workers and businesses from losing their homes or business entirely. If that needs to be followed by support to the affected utilities so be it, but the banks can eat the interest loss for all I care
Back in late December before this had announced widespread coverage everyone in my office came down with a nasty RSV-like “cold” one after another. It lasted about two weeks for everyone and included lethargy, a short-lived fever, deep chest cough, and runny nose. We all recovered. Thinking back on it I’d bet decent money that if you tested our antibody titers you’d find anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in all of us. Still, we’re treating this as if that wasn’t the case, but if we all appear to be unaffected or never come down with symptoms we’ll never know since we will likely never be tested for it. But if it’s the case that that is what we had? That’s massive community spreading under the radar.
Gin & Tonic
@TS (the original): I am, yes, O-, so very popular with my area blood center (O- is the universal donor.) I have a large collection of their coffee mugs – they give you one every gallon, which is 8 donations.
Calouste
@germy: Next step, Weijia, is to wonder what they are calling you behind your back.
germy
@Calouste: One can only imagine.
It’s really the most horrible people in this administration…
Dadadadadadada
I’m in the Bronx. My kids’ schools were canceled last week (one on Wednesday the 11, the other, a public school, starting Monday the 16). My wife was sent home from work and told to stay away indefinitely as soon as they heard about the Wednesday school cancelation, and my job went skeleton crew starting yesterday, so I’ll only be working about one shift every two weeks for the foreseeable future. I still get paid my normal salary, plus overtime for any time I actually work (hurray for public-sector unions!), so we should be pretty much okay financially.
There was a bit of drama yesterday; all I really know is that the cops roped off a section of my building’s driveway and called it a crime scene. They did that while I was out running, so I was unable to get back in for a good long time. The news doesn’t seem to have anything on it, but the rumor mill has it that a depressed 30-something man jumped off the roof of the building next to mine.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@germy: Being that the DCCC is composed of current members of the Democratic caucus in the House, they always support Democratic incumbents in the primaries and general elections.
PST
@O. Felix Culpa
Yes. The changes are remarkable, aren’t they? For the last six months I’ve been watching the rather seedy building across the street from me, which occupies a block of Fulton Market, get rehabbed as a shiny new WeWork. That was already looking a bit dubious three months ago. Now the whole idea of WeWork just seems quaint.
O. Felix Culpa
@PST: Probably dead thread – but yes, the area has changed mightily. I remember when it was a near-wasteland. I miss the restaurant supply stores that used to populate Madison St. I moved away a few years ago, when the quickie condo building boom started after the Great Recession, with no consideration to the character of the area. That’s what happens when a neighborhood is divided among three aldermanic wards. No one is responsible for managing growth. Nevertheless I loved the area. Hope it’s still a good place for you.
Bill Arnold
Concise roundup (with links) of emerging (potential) treatments:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) – Emerging treatments
The biggest wildcard would be if the “Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine” trials show effectiveness; they are cheap and already stockpiled and manufacturing could be ramped up quickly.
ETA this is interesting too:
Japanese flu drug ‘clearly effective’ in treating coronavirus, says China (Justin McCurry, 18 Mar 2020)
pluky
@Amir Khalid: No, just no! Blood type nothing to do with immunocompetence.
Robert Sneddon
@jonas:
Testing is not a magic bullet — for one thing people can be infected and become infectious before the first cough or sniffle. Of course once someone is tested that’s not an all-clear, there’s no real numbers about false negatives in the testing procedures. There’s also the problem of being tested on Monday and receiving an all-clear on Wednesday while having been infected on Monday night.
Front-line medical personnel facing suspected and proven coronavirus sufferers should be getting tested daily with their tests prioritised in the labs for a quick turnaround. That’s several hundred thousand tests a day, millions every week. For the rest of us it’s self-isolate, perform stringent hygiene and only if you start to suffer symptoms then contact the health services and get in line for a test if they’re available.
Miss Bianca
@Gin & Tonic: Wow, that would be cool, says Miss Bianca Type O Positive.
So cool, that I don’t believe it.
Miss Bianca
@rikyrah: Man, if this white chick could get at him, she’d be under arrest right now for slapping the crap out of that selfish alte kocher.
Uncle Omar
I followed the Sen. Warren link to her Twitter statement about what will and will not be in any bailout. Please elect a Democratic Senate that will make her Senate Majority Leader.