I can not believe Trump and his coterie of idiots are even thinking about lifting all restrictions. We’re not even a month away from thinking about that. We haven’t even come close to the peak, ffs. LOCK EVERYTHING DOWN AND START THE PRINTING PRESSES AND START HANDING OUT MONEY. FIRE UP THE MANUFACTURING PLANTS AND MAKE MASKS AND SANITIZER AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES AND VENTILATORS. GIVE ALL GROCERY STORE AND UTILITY WORKERS AND COPS AND MEDICAL PERSONNEL RAISES. PAY EVERYONE ELSE TO STAY THE FUCK HOME. CHRIST SEND EVERY FUCKING HOUSE AN XBOX AND PS4 IF YOU YOU FUCKING HAVE TO.
jesus christ make me president.
Cheryl Rofer
Solid platform, John. I’ll vote for you!
Jess
President? How about God-Emperor?
Scuffletuffle
I would vote for you over Joe Biden any day…
Chyron HR
At least the
contradictionscorpse piles will be heightened.Martin
So, there’s a growing consensus on the right that sacrificing 2-5% of the population to keep the economy going as-is is worth the price. Lost on them is that they’re the ones in the 2-5%, but whatever. It’s a campaign for ‘infect everyone and let the market sort it out’.
They have to move on that fast before the folks they need to convince start losing family members, because that’s not far off.
dmsilev
You probably could have stopped here.
Betty Cracker
Yep, it’s happening. We’ll get the worst of both worlds: a deep recession AND an out-of-control virus spread that overwhelms hospitals and kills hundreds of thousands of people, if not millions. Elections have consequences, especially if your country is stupid enough to elect a sociopath.
bbleh
You’re right of course, but I think what’s really happening is, they’re positioning themselves to SAY that’s what they want, knowing that a lot of people are really going to start chafing at the restrictions soon.
They’re the Candy And Ice Cream For Everyone Party! Yay! Not like those mean ol’ Dimmycrats who make us eat icky vegetables and go to bed early!
Trump and his followers connect via their inner nasty spoiled children. Can’t deny it’s effective …
The Moar You Know
IF that happens, and I can’t believe that anyone might be this stupid, I am fleeing the country, abandoning everything I have that I can’t carry, and will ask a sane nation to take my wife, my dog and I in as asylum seekers. I’m not going to die so that Orange Nitwit can get himself re-elected by the same bunch of know-nothing dolts that put him there last time.
Marcus
Give everyone a copy of Animal Crossing – that will keep ’em indoors.
Kilgore Trout
The “pro life” party is going to kill thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Americans to protect their investments.
Reading the comments on Twitter, it’s clear the campaign to get rid of Fauci is in full gear.
Buckle your seatbelts, shit is about to get real.
Mary G
Love a good rant from John. Can I have a Switch instead of the Xbox & PS4?
Fair Economist
President Cole sounds good to me!
Comrade Scrutinizer
@Martin: The 1% have removed to their bunkers. Who cares about the proles when they are safe?
Skippy-san
25th Amendment NOW!
dmsilev
@Martin: And, of course, if they think that lifting restrictions will immediately bring back the economy, they’re even dumber than I thought. Which is impressive in its own way.
JPL
@Kilgore Trout: Wonder if he will be there today? Barr is going.
Mary G
WereBear
I’m ready for pro-pet policies and mustard in every cupboard!
NotMax
Gonna party like it’s
19991349.//
Ella in New Mexico
Guess what else lifting the restrictions will do?
Businesses will now be able to force workers back regardless of risks or public health recommendations. If they refuse because they know it’s still not safe, they’ll be fired.
Not easy to file for and be approved for unemployment benefits, even if they’re tripling them, IF YOU’RE FIRED “FOR CAUSE”
Martin
@Kilgore Trout: Oh, we’re already committed to 10s of thousands even if we locked down tight today. Given there are states not yet there, I think we’ll slide into the hundreds of thousands.
They’re proposing 15 million dead. It’s not going to be a managed culling of the population that a 1% rate would imply. It’s a tsunami of illness that will overtake everything and anything, with most people going without treatment whatsoever.
They don’t realize this, because they’re idiots. And there’s no fucking way the governors go along with this (maybe a few) so for those of us with rational governors should be relatively fine, but the fact that this idea has spilled out into the public is actually pretty good news. I hope we get as far as Trump announcing it from the WH. The backlash will be apocalyptic. It’s peak late-stage capitalism – an admission they’re willing to openly murder people for profit.
If you have any hope for M4A in the near term, it’s that kind of moment you need in order to get there.
NotMax
Every high rise office building bathroom stripped of toilet paper in 3…2…1…
Hildebrand
@Marcus: Yep. My 17-year old daughter’s day: Wake, Homework/On-line classes, Go for run, Play Animal Crossing the rest of the day (whilst face-timing with friends).
Fair Economist
@Ella in New Mexico: Good catch.
Major Major Major Major
I guess Tucker needs to have another sit-down with him.
Trump can’t force NY and CA and other smart states to un-lockdown, right?
horatius
@Jess: No God emperor who fills the house with pets can be all that bad.
The Mugster
I believe Trump and his Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight would do this.
What I DON’T believe is that Cuomo, Newsom, Inslee, and Pritzker would let any passengers deplane, nor any civilian aircraft refuel, at their airports. Ditto Murphy, Brown, Lamont, and Wolf.
Sure, the Feds run the TSA and Customs, and the air traffic controllers, but not much else, right?
Get your popcorn ready, folks!
Hummus Where The Heart Is
@dmsilev:
Exactly this; the chances of me hearing “hey, honey, let’s go out for dinner, Donald says go for it” is zero.
They are playing the role of Slim Pickens at the end of Dr. Strangelove. Assholes all the way down to the boom.
Eunicecycle
@Ella in New Mexico: Yes people are already scared and to force them to go to work, especially in a public facing job, would be horrible. If things get as bad as they say they will in the next week, maybe he will be persuaded otherwise. Not putting any hope in that, though.
NotMax
@Major Major Major Major
In practice, not really, but it could hold sway over any federal workers in those states.
Brachiator
President Short Attention Span Sharpie strikes again.
Snoopy
Look: this is the same BS he’s been doing for three years now.
Drumpf: “People are paying attention to something besides me! I better throw some poop on the wall!”
Everyone: “Oh mah gawd! Everyone look! There’s poop on the wall!”
The correct thing to do is ignore the poop-thrower.
Fair Economist
@Martin:
Including treatment for anything else. Heart disease, kidney failure, accident trauma, cancer – if anybody has a serious problem over the next year, it’s not going to be treated. People needing constant medical treatment like dialysis will mostly die, either from missing treatment, or from COVID.
Renie
@Ella in New Mexico:
Wonder what the liability is for companies that force employees back (on threat of firing) when any employee gets sick and dies.
mrmoshpotato
Who wants some gallows humor?
MazeDancer
Only upside to Trump wanting to commit genocide on his supporters is how is he going to make this work without setting an example himself?
Go out and shake hands, for example.
No doubt he will have a rally, which no member of the press need cover.
But the heart-breaking part is desperate people, needing money, will go out there. Get infected, bring it back and everyone will die.
Who won’r die? Dems. Regular Dems. Middle class Dems, well off Dems, rich Dems. People who will have wait it out for a year.But can and will.
Except we will be constructing our haz mat suits to go vote if necessary.
Damien
Good rule of thumb: pick literally the stupidest thing you can conceive of, dedicate yourself to making that stupid thing as evil and mean as you can, congratulations you’re a Republican.
NotMax
@Renie
Without ironclad, 101% indisputable proof it was contracted at the workplace (hint: virtually impossible), the answer boils down to: zippo.
no_absolutes
This is serious, Cole absolutely does not want to do a job where people yell at him on the internet all the time!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
catclub
i did a rough calculation for italy – population 60M, assume life expectancy of 75years, then 1/75th of pop dies every year – that is 800,000 per year – which is 2192 per day. so 500 extra deaths per day is a big deal.
USA Numbers: 330M and you get 12054 deaths per day in the US.
Just for further reference.
Hummus Where The Heart Is
@NotMax:
Correct. And it’s probably worse than that as OSHA might jump in … in which case, OSHA gets Executive Ordered out of existence … along with the 40 hour work week (because you have to work overtime to cover for those people no longer available as they are dead … and, hell, you want to be paid time and half? … yeah, right.
hueyplong
JFC, this is movie villain speeches come to life.
So some Mr Potter type connected to the markets has pointed out to The Orange Death that lives and money need to be looked at in a cost-benefit analysis, as befits a Great Leader like Trump. Because no decision is bold or “tough” unless someone gets hurt.
Others weigh in.
Harry Lime: Victims? Don’t be melodramatic. Look down there. Tell me, would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever? If I offered you twenty thousand pounds for every dot that stopped, would you really, old man, tell me to keep my money, or would you calculate how many dots you could afford to spare? Free of income tax, old man, free of income tax – the only way you can save money nowadays.
[Can you imagine a speech better aimed at Trump, from the opening lack of empathy through to the sale-closing pitch for tax evasion?]
Trump: Let them all die, Harry. People have been saying that since the South Carolina primary. Smart people, only the best. Beautiful idea, believe me. Buck?
Gen. Turgidson: Mr. President, sir [manufactures a tear to impress Trump], I’m not saying we wouldn’t get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than 10 to 20 million killed, tops. Uh, depending on the breaks.
[Note how Buck’s numbers bracket what @Martin posted]
Steven Miller: Yes, Mein Fueh… uh, Mr President. I calculate that a disproportionate percentage of POCs [Narrator: He used a different word] and immigrants and the poor would be among the dead, so your electoral chances would be enhanced the higher the mortality rate…
Scrooge: … and it would reduce the surplus population.
This administration’s thought processes cannot be given voice by anyone other than movie villains.
Martin
@Major Major Major Major: No. The feds don’t have that kind of jurisdiction. They can do that for federal employees in the states, but that’s about it.
catclub
But you and she are not the target demographic. For Trump followers – think the Governor of Oklahoma – this is an all-clear sign.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: Does mere knowledge of COVID-19 give people a case of the poops? Or do these idiots think toilet paper expires?
“This stockpile of tp must all be pooped on by the next full moon!”
Mike in DC
Brachiator
@hueyplong:
Doctor Strange-trump, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love That Virus
hells littlest angel
@hueyplong: Good comparison. But even the odious monster Harry Lime still is waaaaayy more likable than Trump.
StringOnAStick
I heard him say yesterday that he was thinking about letting people go back to work as long as they wear a mask. I was wearing a mask doing my job when I caught it! I feel like jello, tired, tired jello.
hells littlest angel
I can’t decide whether I should spend my free government money right away while it’s worth something, or wait for all the bargains at estate sales in just a few short months.
Geoboy
Republican Party delenda est.
NotMax
@catclub
Gotta open up the diners so reporters can get back to interviewing the Real ‘Murcan™ red hats, don’tcha know.
//
Ryan
Once you get poors addicted to crab legs, you’ll be feeding crab legs forever.
catclub
@hueyplong: A quote from a 12-year-old post by Jonathan Schwarz titled Global Warming: Why We’re Not 100% Doomed:
Sadly, Schwartz’s title notwithstanding, current indications are that we are, in fact, 100% doomed.
quoted entirely from somewhere else – stephenfrug.blogspot….
Mary G
Hell freezing over? Houston Chronicle:
My free articles have run out, so I don’t know what the rest of the article says. I wonder if his doctor scared Ted straight? Or is he taking his revenge for “your wife is ugly and your dad killed JFK” at long last? Or just a rat who sees the ship sinking and isn’t up for reelection until 2024?
Ryan
Trump also needs to realize that this 15 day guideline? Yeah, we’re in day 3 where I live. His math is different than mine I guess.
Martin
@Fair Economist: Next year? If we went back to business as usual, this would mostly be over with by June. Fatalities increase 10x every 10 days. 500 today, 5000 3/30, 50,000 4/6, 500K 4/13. At the point where infections start to slow because the number of uninfected is low, fatalities start to spike because hospitals are overrun. Regardless of policies, people go into survival mode and don’t go out at all by mid April. But millions are infected and they’re still spreading inside their household. You hit 5 million dead in April/May. You hit 15 million dead by June.
Now, you need a North Korean devotion to listening to dear leader to see that outcome, so it doesn’t actually happen, but the epidemiologists will gladly point out that Trumps’s policy is designed to create that outcome.
Ella in New Mexico
@Fair Economist:
My first thought. I have a nephew that works for Gamestop in San Diego, and they were forcing them to stay open and have contact with the public for more than a week after it was recommended people start staying home in CA claiming in an email to employees they were going to claim they were an essential business, not subject to closure. Why? Because they sell some batteries.
When Gavin Newsome forced the “Stay at Home” order through, they were still expecting employees to show up. My nephew refused, as did several other employees. They emailed their district manager and as word got out publicly on Twitter and Facebook, the company backed down. They’re now closed and allowed to use their leave if needed.
This young man is married to a woman in the Navy, and given the cost of living there, they were both terrified he’d lose his job or worse, get sick. Now they’re breathing a sigh of relief.
How quickly do you think that will reverse, in businesses all over the country, if Trump announces “A week is enough. Open for business!!” ?
But Corona’s not going anywhere…
catclub
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Completely predictable.
BroD
“jesus christ make me president”
No.
First of all, you use bad language and, also, you “can not believe Trump and his coterie of idiots are even thinking about lifting all restrictions” which means you don’t understand the seriousness of the situation.
hueyplong
@catclub: Holy crap, that’s great. Hadn’t seen it before.
gene108
Actually governing effectively is hard. Being a poop-flinging monkey screeching opposition party is easy.
I am convinced there is a strong contingent of Republicans, who enjoyed harassing Obama, more than kissing Trump’s ass.
Let the coronavirus continue out of control.
Democratic President gets sworn in, in January 2021.
Has to declare a national lockdown, because Trump & Republican states didn’t do enough and cases are increasing everyday.
Republicans spend the next two years running on Democratic overreach, “marshal” law, Democratic fascism, etc., with the well calculated goal to retake Congress, and then impeach the Democratic President, as payback, because of the national lockdown.
MomSense
Oh my god we’re you listening to the rant I just had walking my dog in the woods? I’m spitting mad and I hate spitting.
hueyplong
@Mary G: Just a guess, but Cruz recently had a close encounter with Rand Paul, so he’s probably just personally scared.
It’s a good rule of thumb to assume that these a-holes only wise up about things that threaten themselves.
Gin & Tonic
@Martin:
“I’m not saying we wouldn’t get our hair mussed, but I do say no more than 10 to 20 million killed, tops!”
Martin
@gene108: There won’t be any uninfected in Jan 2021 under that scenario. Well, not of Covid. Maybe of cholera.
Martin
@Gin & Tonic: If Biden doesn’t run that as an anti-Trump ad, I’ll lose my shit.
NotMax
@hueyplong
Worst. Slash fiction. Ever.
:)
mrmoshpotato
@Ryan: And all of the crabs will be walking around with no legs!
Matt McIrvin
@Martin:
I dunno, I’m capable of imagining at this point that 40% of the country would go full Heaven’s Gate and welcome a horrible gasping death to own the libs.
dmsilev
@Mary G: Cruz sounded …surprisingly rational in that article. I’m sure it won’t last however.
WereBear
@dmsilev: That’s the thing: they are capable of being actual human beings. So it follows that… they don’t want to.
mrmoshpotato
@gene108:
If we’re going to relive 2009-16, I want Obama as President again.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
What restrictions have the Feds done?
The only restrictions I remember is they shut down international air travel (except for Russia).
The Moar You Know
@Renie: My company, since we are specifically on the Very Important to the National Interest list, asked that of our (outside) legal team. The answer, in short, is none…unless the employee can PROVE to a jury/judge that they contracted that disease on the employer’s premises. Which is impossible, of course.
Motherfuckers.
Gin & Tonic
@Matt McIrvin: Was it really that bad a movie? I thought some people were re-evaluating their criticism based on the 2012 Director’s Cut.
jesus christ
okay cole, sounds good to me
you’re president
Martin
@mrmoshpotato: Michelle is available.
Sloegin
Trump and the ghouls at Fox news don’t seem to understand yet that millions dead means tens of millions of Americans with murder in their eyes and hearts for anyone who even *breathed* this stupid idea.
dmsilev
@mrmoshpotato: That’s one of the big draws of Biden’s campaign. ‘Hey, remember the Before Times, four years ago, when sane people were running the Federal Government?’
Poptartacus
Damm tooting fig newton Open up a fire hose of money and wash it over everyone
Jeffro
He’s going to get millions of Americans killed and make this far worse. Someone in the WH please do the right thing here, and soon.
The Moar You Know
@Sloegin: If I lose a family member from this shit, well…I’m just not going to share what I have in mind.
moops
@Sloegin: Trump voters will accept deaths in the family from a manageable pandemic being mishandled if it means they can still own the libs. They will not blame Trump. They will not blame the GOP. They will learn nothing.
trollhattan
Nick Heath is a BBC sports caster out of direct work, so he’s finding other daily events to give his play-by-play skills.
Martin
Hospitals around the US now reporting they’re doing an intubation an hour. NYC, Detroit.
catclub
@Gin & Tonic: The UK article was more like 1.2-2M deaths.
Where did 15M come from?
joel hanes
@Mike in DC:
The states that go along with Trump will see a spike in cases
This has a latency of four to six weeks between decision and consequence.
Donald Trump and much of our media have a maximum attention span of four to six days.
Shakti
My parents want my brother and I to take a day trip with them to the Villages to get drive through tested for coronavirus. This sounds like a great way to…contract coronavirus* if we don’t already have it.
I mean, lets line up, touch all these fucking gas pumps and eat drive through food, congregate with a bunch of people in various health conditions and um… yeah. Why? I already don’t eat out anything anymore and I’m avoiding stores. Meanwhile, all three of them are grabbing coffee, playing golf, eating out, whatever.
My work has completely switched to not having face to face meetings with clients anymore. Everyone is either sending their documents online or dropping them off. Two people have already quit because of coronavirus — they’re either immunocompromised or they won’t be let back into their living quarters if they leave. A third person could quit because her husband is quarantining in a hotel (secondary exposure!) and her MIL, who has a respiratory illness, is living with her. We’ll either have way more than we can handle or almost nothing.
*My nose is stuffy. But I can still taste and smell things and ye gods lysol makes me gag. Being allergic to oak pollen is so much fun right now!
** I like my lungs and breathing so I think easing the restrictions is a terrible idea.
mrmoshpotato
@Martin: LOL You go ask her.
terry chay
@Martin: Exactly! There is no need to worry about Trump (or the Republicans). Medical systems will be overloaded in some areas in the next couple weeks and mortality jumps to 7%. We probably have hundreds of thousands already infected, and there isn’t a region of this country that is safe: red/blue, urban/suburban/rural, all income groups.
These are voters and friends/family of voters that will be dying.
mrmoshpotato
@dmsilev: Yup. “Remember when we didn’t have a Soviet shitpile mobster crime family gutting the Executive Branch?”
donnah
@mrmoshpotato: Okay, not just responding to this post of yours, but your posts in general: you are hilarious. I read so many of your posts and one-liners and laugh out loud.
Thanks for cracking me up!
Tom Q
So, apparently Jared is the one really pushing this “it’s not so bad/reopen businesses” thing? He’s like Rasputin: nothing but bad ideas, but blindly followed.
Who makes the first ad labeling this proposal “death panels”?
New Deal democrat
@Major Major Major Major: “Trump can’t force NY and CA and other smart states to un-lockdown, right?”
Since nobody else has answered you, let me give you one.
It would set up a major Constitutional showdown. The States clearly have the police power to quarantine their populations.
The Federal government only has those limited powers granted to it, which include authority to facilitate interstate commerce. Trump would claim that as his authority, which would if valid override State actions. But can interstate commerce justifications override public safety authority? Especially when done not by express statute, but by the Executive under a claim of emergency?
For the answer to that, I turn you over to the Roberts Five.
Martin
@catclub: So, we’re seeing a 1% fatality rate if hospitals aren’t overrun – this is what the ‘flatten the curve’ plan is designed to achieve. It also protects up to half the population from contracting it. We’re seeing a 5% fatality rate if hospitals are overrun. Wuhan, Italy. Outside of Wuhan it was a bit under 1%, in Wuhan it was 5%.
The moment you run out of ventilators you’re at 5%. If you run out of the ability to provide fluids, so not even field hospital beds, we don’t know – maybe higher.
So if you go back to the do nothing plan, the mortality rate skyrockets, plus the secondary effects as noted above – other illnesses can’t be treated. Conditions that could be addressed with minor treatment turn into fatal conditions. My stepfather had his necessary but non-critical surgery cancelled. He’s at home, in pain, as his condition slowly worsens. He’s a long way from it being fatal directly, but if he’s 2 months out from getting the surgery, it’s going to a much less minor procedure by then, and that assume there aren’t other complications that develop in the meantime.
Gin & Tonic
@catclub: Ask Martin. It’s his number.
Mike in NC
Looks like Fat Bastard was watching ‘FOX & Friends’ again and is back to “China Virus is a hoax!” mode. Good times.
terry chay
@Martin: My back of the envelope has the minimum dead already will be like 7K (assuming we are South Korea or Singapore overnight). I think 15 million is not an accurate estimate but an upper bound. Here is how:
300 million people in the US * .65 (herd immunity number) * .07 (mortality of the system fails) = 14 million.
That scenario, btw is not likely to occur because states will act (and already have), testing will become more prevalent (NY was the first state to ignore CDC protocol/FDC approvals, the others will follow or the CDC/FDC will approve of more tests), and contact tracing solutions (that can work in the US) will be discovered, so there will be a lot of variance in the response (and thus the result) from city to city, state to state, and region to region.
This will (minimum) drop mortality for those infected in some areas from 7% to 0.7% as well as protect the more vulnerable populations in those areas. The difference will be stark.
Still anything north of 100K deaths in the U.S. will shake us and the world. And I don’t see many scenarios where that will be avoided. We are behind the ball and will pass China and then Italy soon.
Martin
Presumptive case among WH correspondents.
mrmoshpotato
@trollhattan:
JPL
@Mike in NC: Even Kemp just shut down bars and restaurants. Not enough but for him it’s a start. We have 772 identified but know it’s far more. What happened today is a small county has 64 cases and only 8 icu beds. The number might be off because Kemp is a droner and puts me to sleep. By Friday I bet he invokes shelter in place.
dmsilev
@Martin: I guess that’s one way to get the reporters to stop showing up to the stupid things.
piratedan
anecdotally… we’re now planning on opening up military style medical tent wards at one of our hospitals in the greater Tacoma area to handle the surge of patients, so declaring that the crisis is over and we have a firm grip on things will probably not be seen as having any kind of relationship with reality, more along the lines of wishful thinking, which is apparently a major component of most GOP policy these days.
raven
@JPL: The fucking goobers in Oconee County have been running ads celebrating that they are “open for bidness” unlike us libs in Athens.
mrmoshpotato
@donnah: The muse is sometimes with me. :)
JPL
@raven: from wsbtv
https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/north-fulton-county/man-points-gun-2-women-he-thought-would-give-him-coronavirus-police-say/ODCY4EKICRCZHILOYORVFBQUYA/
Don’t wear protective items like gloves cuz you might get shot.
Grace
@New Deal democrat: Seems like it could be done without even involving the Roberts Five. Just withhold any federal aid or medical supplies from states that don’t re-open, on the basis they’re violating federal “law.” Yeah, it may be litigated but by the time it makes it through the courts it’s a moot point, 5% of population already dead but deaths waning due to rising levels of immunity, possible treatments or vaccine available. I think we need to accept and make our personal decisions on the assumption the country is open for business as usual come Monday.
mrmoshpotato
@Mike in NC: Wonderful! Good on everyone who was too pure to vote for HRC.
Martin
@terry chay: We’re already committed to more than 7K. Based on China’s data, it’s 21 days from lockdown to when fatalities start to slow. We’re at 500 (actually almost 600 now) and increasing 10x every 10 days. Assuming a lot of things going right (so far nothing has gone right) that puts us in the low 10s of thousands with 5K-10K deaths per day. It’s another week or more before it drops from that rate (but at least it stops growing). Some places are already a week into their 21 days, so they should help slow things up at least a little in early April.
If we had a national lockdown today, I think we’ll still come in around 100K by end of May.
AnotherBruce
Hey Bloomberg. Go put some money for protective masks, ventilators and testing. It’s your fucking state. Do something.
And you too Bill Gates.
mrmoshpotato
@JPL: Kemp? Brian Kemp? Fraudulent Georgia governor Brian Kemp?
Martin
@piratedan: It’s actually a bit encouraging that its only now that you’re hitting that point in Tacoma. I think that early action in WA really helped a lot.
Martin
@AnotherBruce: They are. But if there’s nothing to buy, it doesn’t matter how rich you are.
HumboldtBlue
@StringOnAStick:
Fuck, String, I didn’t know you had it. Fuck! All the best. Goddamn.
Fleeting Ex-istence
When people start dying in their homes, alone…yeah.
PenAndKey
@New Deal democrat: quite frankly this isn’t a fight the federal government should even consider picking, not if it actually wants to have a country after this is over. That’s the kind of move rebellions are triggered by.
Martin
@mrmoshpotato: Hey, I’ve not gotten any diseases from her emails and neither have you. Crisis averted.
terry chay
@Ella in New Mexico: Yes, Gamestop is atrocious but your nephew doesn’t have to worry beyond the exposure he already had. The governor of California’s order to close the business supersedes anything Trump might do in San Diego. Gamestop tried to get itself labeled an “essential business” already (I forgot if it was in SF or CA as a whole) and it didn’t fly. In fact, they experienced a huge backlash.
As for his job, in the Bay Area at least, there are restrictions against any evictions at the moment and I imagine Gov. Newsome will implement the same statewide if it hasn’t already. The Democrats want a rider on any stimulus bill forcing companies to retain employees if they take money/the bulk of the money used to pay benefits/wages, and I really doubt that anything less will pass. Even in Tory-dominated U.K. their bill has even more onerous (to companies) version of these requirements to see a penny of their bailout. Such things poll at over 70% here and poll equally well with both Democrats and Republicans, pretty much the only economic measure that does.
Litlebritdifrnt
I am well and truly fucked. Boris’s new restrictions means you can only leave the house to
1) Shop for essential groceries
2) Go to medical appointments/ seek treatment
3) To and from work if you cannot work from home.
4) To exercise outside in isolation.
Banks are allowed to remain open but you are not allowed to visit banks under the new restrictions. Due to bloody stupid laws SS benefits and State pension benefits are only allowed to be paid into a US bank account covered by FDIC laws (despite the fact that we have perfectly adequate mirror laws in the UK) The only way to get the money out of our US bank account in the UK is by going to the ATM and withdrawing 300 pounds a day and putting it into our UK bank accounts. Wire transfer is useless as a wire transfer from the US to the UK takes two weeks (wire transfer from UK to US is 2 days). So basically when all my bills come due on Mar 30 there is going to be no money in the UK accounts because it is all sat in the US accounts because I can’t go to the fucking bank!
piratedan
@Martin: granted Martin, I think we’re in like day 6 of the 21 day window, my biggest fear is that while Washington/Seattle has done what could be done to mitigate the chain of events as early as possible, we’re still exceeding capacity… it makes me wonder how it will be elsewhere with the lack of governmental conviction…
back to building temporary infrastructure…
Martin
@Ella in New Mexico: @terry chay: Gamestop is closed here. They’re having their business license pulled for refusing to close.
FlyingToaster
This maladministration isn’t going to get very far up heah in the People’s Republic of Massachusetts.
I made a grocery run to Wegman’s today. They’ve taped shut the can redeeming machines. The garage entrance, pharmacy entrance, and stairs from the liquor shop are all closed.
At the single remaining entrance, there is a rope delineated line outside to get into the store. You MUST have a cart (don’t care that you want one damn thing). Signs instruct you to stay one cart distant away from all other customers. They let you in as other customers leave. Unless you’re disabled, you have to scan and bag your own groceries; if they have to bag it, you can’t use your reusable bags (they can’t risk touching them); you’re getting paper.
This wasn’t per the governor’s orders today; this was Wegman’s corporate office actually consulting epidemiologists, and taking their expert advice.
Best Buy e-mailed me, closing their doors to customers, but being happy to let me buy online, drive over to WatertownMall, text them that I’m out front, and they’ll deposit my purchase in my open trunk (or in my case, hatch). Again, corporate policy, not dependent upon Governor Baker.
Nobody around here is listening to DC, except the FoxNoise Trumpista two doors up, and the whole block thinks she’s insane.
Ksmiami
I will personally raze the White House with the idiots inside
terry chay
@gene108: Where are these Republicans going to get the votes? Demographically their base got literally decimated (10% will have died given their age), there won’t be a single voter who will not know someone personally who died because of inaction while liberal places (and possibly a single red state, Ohio) that acted aggressively look like island oasis in this turmoil.
Anyone who has spouted “maybe the cure is worse than the disease” has been cut off from society and is without a single person to listen to their ravings because people are pissed, no matter what their party affiliation is.
No, the Republican Party as we know it is dead. It’ll have to transform to something else and have different messaging. This “big government”/”socialist overreach”/”demoRATs” shit will fly about as well as it did on the “Greatest Generation”, only we are talking about 3-4 generations this time (Gen Z to Gen X or Baby Boomers)
@Matt McIrvin: “owning the libs” has always been a luxury. That’s why Trump’s approval rating has been so historically low as a function of the economy.
That economy is no longer.
What will happen is these people will go back to being “apolitical.” However, in a world post-“50%+1” strategy, a non-vote is just as bad as a switched vote, in some ways far worse because there is so much larger a potential there.
lashonharangue
Martin
@piratedan: You should see a slowdown in cases around day 13 based on China’s experience. That’s what Italy is seeing as well. So, you might be closer yet than you realize.
The pressure on ICU will keep increasing though because patients are staying in ICU for so long that they aren’t being discharged. But any sign of relief is, well, relieving.
Mai naem mobile
These people won’t get it until either somebody they love or they themselves end up in the hospital with a serious case of COVID19. I am not even a 100 percent sure a loved one would get the message through especially with Trumpov. I am not wishing them bad. I’ve worked with people like these. I just don’t think these kind of people get it unless it affects them in a very personal way. They have zero empathy. They’ve always had wealth privilege so its buffeted them to a lot of hard stuff in life.
RSA
Mustard in every cupboard and a mop in every tub.
Steeplejack (phone)
trollhattan
@mrmoshpotato:
If he can keep up this level of excellence he may well yet announce marble races!
Would love to be that quick on my feet. Only in the car. By myself.
patrick Il
Business is often criticized for planning based on next quarter’s profits. Even that is too distant a goal for our stable genius president.
PenAndKey
My son was born three months premature and if it weren’t for the ban on lifetime caps he’d be uninsurable despite being in great health now. I have wing nut family members who know that, know he only has medical care as an option for the rest of his life thanks to the ACA, and who still say it should be repealed.
Trust me, it’ll take a lot more than a family member being affected for many of these people.
Litlebritdifrnt
@lashonharangue: No what is that?
dmsilev
Speaking of evil assholes, both Ohio and Texas are using this crisis as a way to try to ban abortions.
AnotherBruce
@jesus christ: Jesus, can you make water turn into wine? I’m going to need a lot of wine for the next nine months.
Baud
Ugh. News covering Trump again.
Crashman06
@FlyingToaster: A fellow Watertownian! Be safe out there!
Bill Arnold
@Kilgore Trout:
No. 2.5 to 5 percent of the US population is about 8-16 million human sacrifices to appease Mammon.
Many of them among the old-and-vulnerable rich and powerful.
jimmiraybob
Uh oh. Another briefing with no Fauci?
terry chay
@raven: That was a worry in California also. This is why the SF Bay’s “shelter-in-place” order was a joint order across 6 counties. I have a feeling this is why Los Angeles, which is actually worse off than the Bay Area delayed 5 days for their order (almost half their population is in Orange County).
The thing is the disease overtakes everything so fast — 5-7 days/generation, 2.4x new cases every generation — that any behavior to punish Peter to pay Paul looks very stupid a week later.
Look at the difference between Gov. Cuomo and Mayor DeBlasio. People didn’t have that opinion a week ago. Imagine what it’ll look like in 2 weeks even.
eric
@FlyingToaster: is that the one on route 9?
Tony Jay
@Litlebritdifrnt:
That’s just…. words fail.
I can only apologise that 43% and change of the British electorate decided it would be a fucking dandy idea to place the running of this ramshackle hamster-wheel of a country back in the hands of the funny fat man with the messy hair rather than face the fact that shit needs fixing and that costs money, time and, most of all, people in power who give a monkeys about something more than the first of those.
Sorry.
Robert Sneddon
@Martin: Anyone suffering from COVID-19 who is on a ventilator for more than a few days is very likely to die while being ventilated. It’s really a medical device intended to get someone over short-term breathing difficulty like an opportunistic infection or a mild pneumonia. In many cases COVID-19 does a lot of damage to lung tissue and the ventilator itself does more damage — it traps blood and mucus in the lungs, the secondary infections and toxins pile up and eventually the coronary system shuts down.
There was a report from a Milan hospital, of 32 COVID-19 patients on ventilation only one survived, the other 31 died. Ventilators might save some folks but they’re not a magic bullet. The bad news is that there’s nothing better for the most serious cases.
August West
Trump needs to be placed in a straitjacket and carted away to the nearest psychiatric ward. I can’t take any more of his delusional, deranged bullshit.
jimmiraybob
Holy shit. Anybody else listening to the News Con?
Ella in New Mexico
@terry chay: Thanks for those reassuring words–I’m passing them onto my nephew
artem1s
@Mary G: The informed experts that understand the nature of the problem know that there can be no quick fix, and the danger is that the impatient and impulsive president sooner or later just stops paying any attention to what they have to say.
Really, the informed experts need to stop looking to Dolt to do anything. Go directly to the House or Senate Committee in charge of your industry and start working with them. It’s time to stop even meeting with that asshole. It’s not like he’s going to notice. Hell fucking give someone hazard pay to set up pretend press conferences once a day to keep him occupied. Use your creativity people. The sooner competent people start acting like they are in charge, and take charge, the better.
mad citizen
@jimmiraybob: Did he indicate at the start that someone on the team had the virus?
terry chay
@Martin: It’s called a lower bound estimate for a reason. The estimate assumes that New York numbers are an outlier (it isn’t), the medical system will not fail in any region (it will) and that we can immediately implement protocol like in Singapore or South Korea (we can’t). It DOES indeed take into account the three week delay which is why 7K is a much higher number than ~300 (the current reported number).
What you are talking about is realistically. Realistically I think we’re committed to close to a million deaths (I said as much in my post). Still a million is a far cry from the 15 million number you gave (which IS an upper bound assuming the disease progresses unabated the medical system collapses completely). A million is more than enough to spark socio-political-economic change the likes we have not seen in almost 100 years
Realistically, if we did everything we could starting now (and fiat the Republicans and Trump not controlling any federal or state government), I think the number could be as low as 40K deaths. Even that number is pretty impactful because it matters who dies and how. We react very differently to cancer than kidney failure.
Steeplejack
Flipped to MSNBC to watch Ari Melber, and, God, Trump is still gassing on about complete bullshit.
Ooh, Attorney General Barr is going to be speaking about hoarding in a few minutes. Be still, my heart. I hope he and Trump exchange a manly, virus-laden embrace as he takes the podium.
Aziz, light!
The mortality rate in Puerto Rico was a lot higher than it should have been because of Trump’s incompetence and intransigence. Hoocoodanode he would trump that performance so bigly?
Steeplejack
Barr: Thanks Trump for his “decisive leadership.” He screwed up the canonical “bold and decisive leadership.”
ETA: Golly, “We have started to see some signs of hoarding and price gouging.” ?
jimmiraybob
@mad citizen:
I didn’t hear the very beginning. I wasn’t even going to listen or watch but it was on in the other room and my BS meter started going off so I turned my attention that way. He’s apparently going to be talking about a plan to get America back to work soon. Soon.
I also think that I heard that vaccines were going to be sent out soon. Soon.
terry chay
@Martin: In two weeks, pulling their license will seem like “going easy” on them.
Mnemosyne
@Comrade Scrutinizer:
Once again I invite them to read “The Masque of the Red Death.” No bunker will protect them, especially if they have servants of any kind. Do you really think that David Koch will do his own cooking and cleaning?
hedgehog mobile
@StringOnAStick: I am so sorry. Fuck.
Gin & Tonic
@Litlebritdifrnt: Set up an account with XE.com. It might be a little convoluted to set up, but it moves money more quickly and cheaply than wire transfers. I used it extensively when my son was studying in Canada.
bemused
I didn’t realize the monster was on tv until I walked in the room. Seriously, media really needs to stop airing him. He went on and on crowing about the malaria drug, making up shit.
West of the Rockies
@eric:
Are you in Beantown? How are you feeling?
mrmoshpotato
@Martin: So! Fucking! True!
NotMax
So much winning (emphasis added).
Mnemosyne
@Ella in New Mexico:
I am fairly relieved that my division of the Giant Evil decided, Fuck it, let’s not take any chances about a week before Gov. Newsom made his state-wide declaration. And we’re all being paid to work from home, too. VPN connections are at a premium, but fortunately I can do 90 percent of my work without out.
hueyplong
@Steeplejack: Even fucking Hitler was content to have people limit their kow-towing to a two-word opening before getting on with their remarks.
Mo Salad
We need an additional, third case of letters, that is even louder than capital letters or I am afraid our Dear Leader might not make it through the next couple of months. Don’t talk to me about other measures like bold, italic, underline, font size, color or whatever the fuck else.
These are extraordinary times. SOMEBODY GET JOHN THAT THIRD CASE!
debbie
@bemused:
I believe the hydroxychloroquine/Azithromax combination causes serious heart problems. So, yeah, let’s pass ’em out like candy.
I heard the shortages of hydroxychloroquine are due to doctors prescribing it for themselves and their families. Monsters.
Miss Bianca
@StringOnAStick: Damn, girl! You got this?? : (
terry chay
@Robert Sneddon: I find that report suspect. If ventilators didn’t work to save lives, why is there an 5-10x higher mortality rate when medical system fails vs. when it doesn’t? Blood/fluid in the lungs is EXACTLY why these people need ventilators and be restrained (it apparently feels like drowning).
I think you need to source that report before we spread something that is, at best, misleading. Maybe there is a report but the report will have some huge caveat that needs to go along with it.
StringOnAStick
@HumboldtBlue: Thanks, Blue. I haven’t been tested because as we know, it is impossible to get tested unless you are on the verge of being admitted. I know I was exposed doing my job. I’ve been sick since Thursday but I don’t seem to be getting a lot worse. I’m planning on being in the 80%. Not much else I can do.
eric
@West of the Rockies: i (and my ex) are well thanks. we both had similar symptoms of pain the chest area and some headaches. nothing else of note, no fever or cough. i dont really have any of that anymore, though there is a very good chance it is stress related. The only issue for us in the friday visit to the Jimmy Fund clinic for my daughter’s chemo visit. working with clinic now to streamline the process to minimize risk of issues. thanks so much for your generosity. Yes, here in beantown, staying bunkered in for the foreseeable future (but for chemo).
Matt McIrvin
@terry chay:
I wouldn’t count on that. So far, the worst-hit places have been liberal places simply because they’ve got higher population density. New York is apocalyptic. Nobody’s done as well here as the dense East Asian places that got on top of it, so I doubt any of them are going to look good enough to serve as advertisement.
Kelly
@StringOnAStick: Best Wishes!
debbie
@Mnemosyne:
This morning, my evil place of work announced that someone who works in my area has been confirmed to have COVID-19. They won’t tell us who they are or where exactly they sat. I suppose I can understand that, but their assurances that they would inform the people who interact with that diagnosed person aren’t very reassuring.
trollhattan
@hueyplong: Rhymes with “trial splitler.”
Brachiator
@dmsilev:
Ugh. These dopes always look for a chance to do evil.
trollhattan
@debbie:
Sweet.
“This individual may or may not be sheltering at home or reporting for work as normal. We are not allowed to share anything further, because rules. Carry on.”
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: I don’t think David Koch(not the BJ commenter) has any problems with finding heat for cooking where he is, he’s kind of dead.
WereBear
@StringOnAStick: A good plan and I wish you the best.
SFBayAreaGal
No sick leave for you
It’s an article on Business Insider. I can’t access it.
BI Prime
In a leaked memo, Hobby Lobby refuses to give workers paid sick leave during the coronavirus pandemic
Kelly
@Mo Salad: emergency escalation font measures
SOMEBODY GET JOHN THAT THIRD CASE
SOMEBODY GET JOHN THAT THIRD CASE
SOMEBODY GET JOHN THAT THIRD CASE
patrick Il
@bemused:
Just curious. Your moniker caught my attention. You must be way past bemused by now.
debbie
@Steeplejack:
Of course Barr said the people hoarding toilet shouldn’t worry about prosecution. Of course what he didn’t say is that they wouldn’t be prosecuted because they’re very likely Trump supporters.
Tim C.
John. You are a misanthrope because you actually love people and wish they would be better than they are. I’d vote for you.
West of the Rockies
@eric:
I’m glad you’re feeling better. I suspect the office where chemo is done will be super clean.
The Thin Black Duke
So far, none of the white supremacist bozos in the White House have shown any evidence at all that they are the “superior” race. Odd.
Elizabelle
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
And in Hell.
Access to heat is really no longer a problem for David Koch.
Unless Hell is ice, like the iciest of a glibertarian’s heart.
trollhattan
@SFBayAreaGal:
“Pro-life” really permeates their very essence.
Baud
Some good news.
WereBear
@The Thin Black Duke: If it was obvious they wouldn’t have to proclaim it all the time.
johnnybuck
Dude I just hope you got that fish sandwich.
StringOnAStick
@Miss Bianca: I’m cared for and being watched by my husband. I really, really do not want to go near any medical facility, period.
This is how I know the numbers being tossed around right now are total BS; I’m sure there are lots of people like me, feeling really crappy but not being picked up in the numbers at all. In my state I do not qualify to get tested. I can see the logic, there is no point wasting a test on me unless I get a LOT sicker and there is no treatment unless you get sick enough to need a hospital for fluids or, God forbid, a vent. This is why we have no idea how many are infected at this point in time.
SiubhanDuinne
I still can’t get over the way Trump and his minions crowd together for their daily press conferences. (Personally, even if everyone in the country were 100% healthy, I wouldn’t want to stand that close to Trump or Barr. Ugh.)
Sab
@Matt McIrvin: I liked Heaven’s Gate. It’s problem was it wasn’t a traditional western, which for some reason all critics were expecting. Also how did he spend that much money on it? Also they killed a lot of horse extras. But otherwise it was an interesting piece of history of the western US.
joel hanes
@Mai naem mobile:
I am not even a 100 percent sure a loved one would get the message through especially with Trumpov
The only loved one in Donald J. Trump’s life, in the normal meaning of the phrase “loved one”, is Donald J. Trump.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Gin & Tonic:
Heh, will be watching for someone to “correct” you.
SFBayAreaGal
@trollhattan: Yup. I have boycotted them.
The Thin Black Duke
@SiubhanDuinne: Shhhh. Don’t tell them. It’s a self-correcting problem.
Be BernieAPOSTROPHEs Valentine
The “We Built It” class is missing their cogs.
NotMax
@Elizabelle
Whereas it turns out snowballs can be provided a fighting chance.
;)
debbie
@Sab:
It would have been far better if they had stood up to Cimino and actually done some editing.
Steeplejack (phone)
The lady doctor just preened about how she felt a little off Friday, but it was okay because she (quickly) got a test that came back negative. “That’s how we take care of each other.” Talk about wallowing in privilege. You should do that, Joe Six-Pack.
trollhattan
The concern for our healthcare folks is well-considered.
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne:
Fixed it for you.
mrmoshpotato
@trollhattan:
Quick on your foot. ?
Steeplejack (phone)
Goddamn, Trump is just chewing up airtime with circular word salad, with minions occasionally tagging in. Sane people are ignoring him, and the MAGAts are getting an extended dose of Fearless Leader.
August West
@debbie:
Video captures Trump supporter buying Dollar Tree store out of toilet paper during coronavirus crisis
h/t https://www.rawstory.com/2020/03/shocking-video-captures-trump-supporter-buying-dollar-tree-store-out-of-toilet-paper-during-coronavirus-crisis
Sab
@SiubhanDuinne: The minions are required to do that. At the beginning you can see some woman (Mrs. Miller?) herding them closer together together.
Mnemosyne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I can’t keep those assholes straight. Whichever one is still alive, if you can call it living.
Patricia Kayden
FlyingToaster (Tablet)
@eric: yep, Chestnut Hill Square. HerrDoktor’s work is out near Burlington’s, so I’ll get a report on that later this week.
Mnemosyne
@Elizabelle:
Totally random, but I remember reading one time that Christianity’s vision of Hell as the hottest place possible is a remnant of its origins in the deserts of the Middle East. In northern climates, Hell generally is the coldest possible place.
Chyron HR
@Baud:
Fucking establishment shitlibs. I hope Bernie’s campaign staff, who have no connection to Bernie Sanders, doxxes them.
Hildebrand
@debbie: A coworker has Lupus and can’t get hydroxychloroquine because our of our idiot president.
lgerard
This is interesting
Fox News Channel announced Monday it will host a two-hour virtual town hall with President Trump and other top members of the White House coronavirus task force on Tuesday at noon ET.
A more accurate statement might be
“White House privatizing corona virus information, awards rights to Fox News”
Sab
@StringOnAStick: When my niece got it she was okay one morning, feeling peaked in the afternoon, went to bed after work, and on her way to the hospital by 4 a.m. the next morning. I.e. it kicked in really fast. She was home three days later and is gradually getting better.
She said after the initial fatigue she had fever, chest pain, breathlessness and a splitting headache.
I gather every case is different but that was hers.
Hopefully you have something else.
Bill Arnold
@Mnemosyne:
Bold mine:
‘We should blow up the bridges’ — coronavirus leads to class warfare in Hamptons (Maureen Callahan, March 19, 2020)
(For non-norteasterners, The Hamptons are at the tip of Long Island and are where some of NY rich go for the summer.)
Quinerly
@Steeplejack (phone): whole thing is disgusting.
More so than usual.
Mallard Filmore
@Litlebritdifrnt: Try to sign up online for Moneygram or some other remittance service. Even Western Union should be cheaper and faster than a wire transfer.
bemused
@debbie:
I heard about shortages too. I read a story today about a couple that ingested chloroquine used in pool cleaning. He died, wife in critical condition. Not clear if trump touting the malaria drug inspired them but believing what he says is life threatening.
debbie
@Hildebrand:
I believe there was an order issued today to limit prescriptions to 14-day supplies unless it was for autoimmune issues. I hope that helps your co-worker, but I can’t believe there won’t be riots at the pharmacy counters.
Mnemosyne
@Bill Arnold:
First sentence of the second paragraph of the story:
For folks who haven’t read it, let’s just say that you shouldn’t get too attached to Prince Prospero, or anyone else in the story.
debbie
@bemused:
I heard there was one death, but I can’t believe anyone was so afraid or so stupid to think swallowing a pool-cleaning chemical was a good idea.
ballerat
@bbleh: There’s a reason they often refer to the Democratic Party as the Mommy party or Dem government as a nanny government.
They’ve never outgrown their childhood resentment for having an adult refuse the demands of their id.
chopper
@Elizabelle:
according to dante the very bottom part of hell is actually hella cold.
NotMax
@Litlebritdifrnt
Overdraft protection?
Cumbersome, but withdrawing from the ATM of the bank with the U.S. funds and depositing in the ATM of the U.K. bank not a possibility?
J R in WV
@catclub:
We have a much larger population than the UK, and a more deranged leader in charge of our federal government!!!
Also, these estimates are all spitballing estimates. No one know how many will die without strict quarantines and complete availability of testing and personal protection equipment.
Everyone should have n-95 masks, and we don’t
bemused
@patrick Il:
Ha, I only wish I was puzzled. Maybe I should change name to Realitybites.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@debbie: Obama warned them not to do that.
bemused
@debbie:
It does seem like a horrible way to commit suicide and Idon’t how they could have taken it accidentally. I would not be shocked if they were trump cultists and just that dumb.
Mallard Filmore
@Litlebritdifrnt: I see some suggested companies. You also should search
money transfer service
mrmoshpotato
@Chyron HR: LMAO! Thank you for your biting sarcasm!
Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)
@Tom Q: Jared is way the hell worse than anyone in my family. We at least have an occasional good intention!
Sloane Ranger
@Tony Jay: Except that the Shadow Minister of Health has welcomed Johnson’s statement.
And Liittlebritfast’s issues seem more with the US banking system than the UK one.
bjacques
@Mnemosyne: I read Masque Of The Red Death to the missus at bedtime a few weeks ago. Come to think of it, the GOP Senate Crony Bailout Bill’s fate followed pretty much the same arc.
Elizabelle
@chopper:
I know not whether Hell is fire or ice
But with David Koch in it
I’d say that’s rather nice.
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: Reading that made me wonder whether you plan to enter any of the contests:
Haiku
Limericks
Dirty Limericks
Six-Word Memoirs
One-Act Play, 10-minute version
Submissions due Saturday night, 8pm blog time
I bet you and Subaru Diane would both be contenders!
mrmoshpotato
@Mnemosyne: Roger Corman’s movie adaption is most excellent as well. Starring one Vincent Leonard Price Jr.
Martin
@terry chay: They were on life support before this even happened, within weeks of going under. They had nothing to lose as a business.
James E Powell
@lgerard:
Or how about “FOX is the Trump campaign”
raven
@bemused: I had a friend who drank Drano and lived. . .for a couple of years.
japa21
@WaterGirl:
Hmm, seems there might be some bias amongst the judges.
Steeplejack (phone)
@mrmoshpotato:
“Don’t blame me, I voted for the e-mail lady.” Seen on Twitter.
Elizabelle
@japa21: Subaru Diane will be a category killer.
Except for One-Act Plays, where Mustang Bobby will take a bow.
surfk9
@Ella in New Mexico: I have a son who lives with me here in Lodi and had the same experience. Really shitty management. Probably would not have closed except for an article that was published in Vice that help cause the social media meltdown. They only closed their California stores as far as I know.
L85NJGT
Sweet Georgia Brown!
Sloane Ranger
@Litlebritdifrnt: I assume from the context that the money is paid into a UK branch of a US bank, Can you set up a Direct Debit or Standing Order or what about a bank transfer?
WaterGirl
@japa21: You think I am going to be one of the judges? I was thinking something far more democratic than that.
Ruckus
@FlyingToaster:
Went to the store and the local Whole Foods knockoff is doing lines in, blue lines on the floor for 6 ft sep in the cashier line. It wasn’t crowed. Vons (part of a huge US chain for those not around SoCal) wasn’t stopping anyone from coming in, cart wipes at the door, distance to the cashier, and I always bag my own anyway. Shelves a bit less empty but for sure not full, shopping limits, no butcher, no unpackaged meats. Noticed that anything not from US not in stock, not being restocked.
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: I should have included the link for anyone who didn’t see it on Saturday.
https://balloon-juice.com/2020/03/21/homework-due-one-week-from-today-haikus-limericks-and-one-act-plays/
Luciamia
If you go by Dante, it is. Lowest circle I Hell is pure ice.
Martin
They need to 20th Amendment Trump. He’s lost it. He was showing signs of coping with all of this throughout last week, but that’s all out the window today. He cannot cope.
Elizabelle
Listening to John Brennan praise Tony Fauci on Ari Melber (MSNBC to us, MSDNC to a jerk of a twitter user).
I love that Brennan seems to always say Donald Trump. Have not heard him say “President” except when discussing Obama.
He is a closet jackal. Adam is the only one here I notice calling the Orange one “the President.”
L85NJGT
Is he wearing silicon gloves?
bemused
@raven:
Yikes! No details please but glad you’re back.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Elizabelle:
I just call him Trump, or worse.
mrmoshpotato
@Steeplejack (phone): Oh, I have Jeff’s account bookmarked.
Elizabelle
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Yup. No title for that fucker.
He stole his office, anyway.
?BillinGlendaleCA
Madame just texted me that the local Costco is now open 8-9am for folk over 60. Maybe I can get some eggs and bacon(this is an EMERGENCY!).
chopper
@Elizabelle:
hah!
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
@Elizabelle: General McCaffrey does the same.
Martin
So, Hong Kong is having a 3rd infection wave right now. The first was people coming in from China. The second was community spread. They started to ease restrictions the first week of March and are now having a third wave.
Assuming you have locked down, moving to a non-locked down state is surprisingly difficult. Lockdown doesn’t eradicate the spread, it just makes is very slow. As soon as you ease up, it spreads quickly again. When you ease up you need to put your containment plan back in place – widespread, aggressive testing, tracing, and isolation, continuing to limit movement, control points, etc. That’s manageable for China who has effectively lojacked their entire population. Harder for everyone else.
The US can in theory do it but it’s going to take a hell of a coordinated local to federal effort, more organization than we’ve mustered in 80 years, and a public that won’t haul out their AR-15 when they get their temperature taken for the 8th time of the day. Short of a vaccine that’s the only way to actually get out of this mode of varying degrees of lockdown.
Elizabelle
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: They know.
He is not worthy of the title.
Sloane Ranger
If I understood Dr Bird? correctly, she was suggesting that you could slice and dice the US into areas of high infection rates and low infection rates using widespread testing. Those areas with low rates could go back to normal with infected individuals being quarantined while lockdowns would continue to be used in high infection areas.
The problem is, the tests would have to be done regularly and there still aren’t enough and likely won’t be for some time. Also,if its business as usual, what about all the delivery drivers, cargo plane pilots and other people coming in from high infection areas. Presumably they would have to be tested every time they entered the low infection area.
And who will all these returned to normal areas sell to if the rest of the world is in lockdown.
This is pure fantasy.
Elizabelle
New post: Guest post by Suzanne, on hospital design and coronavirus. She’s there to answer questions.
Barbara
@Ruckus: Ikea did this last week for click and collect orders. I thought it was funny. What wasn’t funny was the long line of people who hadn’t read the email confirming their purchase and telling them to wait for a second email notifying them that their order was ready befor trying to pick it up. Really, really grumpy people. I mean, what could possibly be an urgent purchase at Ikea? Maybe a crib for a newborn homecoming?
L85NJGT
He turned a question of economic depression right into mental health depression. It was strange and concerning. Like is he depressed and having suicidal ideation?
Mnemosyne
@Sloane Ranger:
California produces about 1/3rd of the food we eat and is currently a high-infection area. So, no, I don’t see that being practical in any way.
Mnemosyne
@L85NJGT:
FWIW, it’s not that uncommon for narcissists to commit suicide if they think it will let them present themselves as martyrs who were driven to it by cruel people who didn’t understand them, or if they think they’re finally going to be publicly exposed as the complete losers they secretly know themselves to be. So, yes, it’s a genuine risk.
Spc
@Grace: That would get an emergency stay.
Spc
@Grace: That would get an emergency stay.
@Litlebritdifrnt: try doing a Transferwise borderless account? A few days max.
WereBear
@Barbara: it’s no fun being in the above average half of the population.
Just Chuck
@Martin: That’d be the 25th amendment, and it was meant for an incapacitated president, i.e. not conscious. If POTUS decides to challenge it, it has a _higher_ vote threshold than impeachment (requires 2/3 of _both_ houses). To say nothing of having to originate with his cabinet, and what are the odds of that? The 25th will not happen. Period. It’s becoming a stale joke.
Edit: Man, I wish the input box supported markdown. Ah well, we’re old farts here, we can go back to the ASCII-isms of yesteryear :)
Odie Hugh Manatee
@mrmoshpotato:
My theory is that among those who are hoarding toilet paper, when one sneezes a hundred of them shit their pants.
Thus their need for extra paper. :)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
and Chris Hayes still trying to make Bernie happen
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Bernie babbling about his campaign being so strong as he loses every county in Michigan.
Bill Arnold
@Martin:
We really should be trying masks at large scale, of course with (near absolute) priority for health care workers.
This paper (2011) is a meta-analysis. It suggests, in current circumstances, that more masks such that the general population could use them would be helpful and might be a really inexpensive way to cut into some of the damage to the economy(ies). (Probably any reasonable masks would help, not just surgical masks.) Vanity and social norms can go fuck themselves could be gently adjusted with aggressive public service messages.
Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses (06 July 2011)
Would need to make it quite clear to the population that this would be additional to other distancing and hygene measures, which should not be relaxed.
HinTN
@Litlebritdifrnt: Figure out how to get your US back to pay your UK bills electronically. It’s not a wire transfer.
Martin
@Mnemosyne: No, that’s the right way to do it. You have to ignore political boundaries. You can easily divide CA along the transverse ranges (San Gabriels, etc.) They’re a natural chokepoint. You can regulate travel over the grapevine.
So the greater LA basin is one such area – the coastal routes (101) the 5/15/10 freeways in their passes, the 5 south at Pendleton.
The central valley is more or less another region. The bay area another. It’s WAY easier to keep an outbreak under control in the central valley where food is grown than in the LA basin where it’s not. So you find all of the places around the country where you can stop movement. You get a whole bunch of more-or-less economic regions such that you can shut down one region while leaving another open. So you close down LA and don’t let anyone out without some kind of permit – food deliveries, etc.
And don’t send the drivers into the heart of the region – commandeer the distribution facilities all around the region and turn them into a kind of airlock. Outside goods come in and are unloaded – driver stays in truck – and other good are loaded that need to go out (medical supplies, whatever) and the truck leaves. Driver is tested at the chokepoint both in and out. If a driver has a fever, you pull them out of the truck, isolate them, hook up a new cab, and have the new driver deliver it. On the other side of the facility you have inside LA trucks and drivers picking stuff up and delivering it locally. They never leave the region.
This is what China did. The only traffic in and out of Wuhan was this way. It worked.
And you do it this way because ⅓ of the nations food comes out of CA. Airlock the central valley from LA. Airlock the Port of LA from LA as well so you can unload goods and get them out of the area without infecting it.
ballerat
@The Moar You Know: I bought some more ammunition for reasons related to this. Not because I plan to go on a rampage against Fox News people and trumpers if I lose my family. But because I believe no small number of trumpers will blame dems, libs, POCs, gays, the educated — the groups they always blame, anyone but themselves — for the deaths in their families.
And Trump if he’s still alive and Fox News will fuel this, a MAGA Rwanda radio.
Martin
@Bill Arnold: On the backend of this, yes, I 100% agree. Right now our mask is our front door.
mad citizen
@Mnemosyne: I was asking where all the anti-trump songs were one day, and my friend pointed me toward: “Too Dumb for Suicide” by comedian Tim Heidecker. Unfortunately I can’t find it on you tube, only the trailer for his 2017 album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TXPwZl1OhE
This tune seems to be about when trump gets sentenced.
Bill Arnold
@ballerat:
You do not, but (statistically) some will. And this is America, land of guns, and an accurate hunting rifle with a scope is fairly inexpensive, and not easy to defend against.[1]
[1] Forgotten Tricks of Trench Warfare (2020-02-12 by grugq)
mrmoshpotato
@Odie Hugh Manatee: More charitable than my idea.
karensky
@Cheryl Rofer: ditto and my whole family and 50 friends and 100:acquaintances
Martin
US fatalities continue right on pace. Expect to cross 1000 fatalities on Thursday.
I think Italy is in this 10 day or so plateau on fatalities. China had this period where fatalities stopped increasing but didn’t really decrease. Since they’re reporting a drop in cases, it looks like 7-10 days for a case to either die or become a recovery. So, Italy may be nearing their midpoint on fatalities. It doesn’t fall to zero but ramps down similarly to how it ramped up. I think they may do well to stay under 15K from this wave.
Be aware, Italy had 233 fatalities when they went on lockdown. The US is at 550 and still not on a full lockdown. The only way we stay under 15K is if some drug treatment arrives in the next week.
China locked down at fewer than 20.
Ruckus
@Barbara:
Most around me seemed OK with all of it. Went to the store 10 days ago and one woman had TP and PT overflowing her cart. She was informed by the manager that she could not purchase more than one each. She was pissed. I think that pretty much everyone else was ready to tell her to fuck off. And die. Most any perishable was out of stock then today I picked up my normal week to 10 day shopping.
Ruckus
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
My theory is that they know they are full of shit, even if they can’t say it.
cain
So the Lt. Gov. of Texas believes that all the olds should take the risk and get out there for the sake of the country’s economy.
I’m curious how this will be received by the older Fox News readers.. will they go out there to save the President’s legacy. Will they sacrifice?
Martin
@cain: I asked Adam a week ago if this was more People’s Temple or Heaven’s Gate, and we might be about to find out.
mad citizen
@cain: Calling Reverend Jim Jones.
ballerat
@Martin: What was the rate pre-SARS-COV-2?
cain
@Martin:
If they sacrifice then I suppose there must be. I’m even more interested if the to mammon evangelists will push the olds out saying it’s God’s plan, and that they must be brave!
cain
@mad citizen:
I believe he has been replaced with God touched – President and Reverand of the United States.
Another Scott
catclub
@Sloane Ranger:
Dr Birx
Another Scott
Unbelievable timeline, really. Until it isn’t.
:-/
Cheers,
Scott.
Fair Economist
@StringOnAStick: Supplemental oxygen is very useful if you need it. It’s not invasive and can be provided at home. COVID patients with pneumonia can deteriorate rather quickly (a day or so in bad cases) so if you haven’t already, get a blood oxygen monitor (should be available at most drug stores) and check your oxygen saturation every few hours (very easy). If it gets below 95 at rest, see a doctor for a supplemental oxygen device and advice on when to come in for further treatment (I don’t know that bit).
Fair Economist
@Another Scott: That bill is AWESOME!!!
WaterGirl
@cain:
I must have missed something. What’s that about?
Martin
@WaterGirl: This is the new push out of the GOP that killing 2%-5% of the population is a reasonable trade-off to save the economy.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Martin:
That’s fucking insane. Killing millions of people will not be good for the economy. Do they honestly think people will want to go out to restaurants or shop at stores with Italy or Wuhan numbers of people dying daily?
WaterGirl
@Martin: Hard to believe they would actually say that out loud. May they all rot in hell.
WaterGirl
@Martin: I imagine the GOP would be happy to designate the makeup of that 2-5%.
WaterGirl
@Martin: Okay, one more thing before I close down the computer for the night.
I am so very grateful that you are here.
Princess Leia
@MarkAgee
So we’re doing The Trolley Problem but the most important thing is to save the trolley
Another Scott
@Fair Economist: Isn’t it though? 1404 pages, 63 page summary, 2 page tiny summary.
It covers lots and lots of stuff, but seems very well thought out.
They should pass it and get on with healing the country. Will they??
:-(
Cheers,
Scott.
sdhays
@Another Scott: The House will almost certainly pass it. Will it get past Moscow Mitch? I fear we need to hope that he accidentally wiped his nose with Rand Paul’s headband from the gym.
Ang
@Princess Leia: That . . . is a horrifyingly accurate way to put it.
Seanly
@Martin:
Plus the other issue is that the lower bounds for the estimates are if you flatten the curve enough to not overload the medical system. A disease with a 2% mortality rate given available modern medical equipment and care will be significantly more deadly if there are no hospital beds, overworked staff, and no available ventilators.