Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

“More of this”, i said to the dog.

This blog will pay for itself.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Bark louder, little dog.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

T R E 4 5 O N

“But what about the lurkers?”

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / The Most Selfish Motherfuckers on the Planet

The Most Selfish Motherfuckers on the Planet

by | 131 Comments

This post is in: ,

Evangelicals:

As Liberty University’s spring break was drawing to a close this month, Jerry Falwell Jr., its president, spoke with the physician who runs Liberty’s student health service about the rampaging coronavirus.

“We’ve lost the ability to corral this thing,” Dr. Thomas W. Eppes Jr. said he told Mr. Falwell. But he did not urge him to close the school. “I just am not going to be so presumptuous as to say, ‘This is what you should do and this is what you shouldn’t do,’” Dr. Eppes said in an interview.

So Mr. Falwell — a staunch ally of President Trump and an influential voice in the evangelical world — reopened the university last week, igniting a firestorm. As of Friday, Dr. Eppes said, nearly a dozen Liberty students were sick with symptoms that suggested Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. Three were referred to local hospital centers for testing. Another eight were told to self-isolate.

If one person dies from this and it can be traced back to a Liberty “university” student, Falwell should be charged with negligent homicide or whatever charge applies. It’s not enough they follow a religious philosophy that kills, now they’ve embraced a political one.

Reader Interactions

131Comments

  1. 1.

    cain

    I suppose the university will have thoughts and prayers, amirite? These people are certifiably insane.

  2. 2.

    Suzanne

    Are you kidding? They think spreading the virus is God’s will. Did you read that terrible piece to which I will not link in First Things? Unbelievable.

  3. 3.

    dr. bloor

    Three were referred to local hospital centers for testing.

    Yeah, I know, Lynchburg.  But this is going to shatter the land-speed record in shitty town-gown relationships.

  4. 4.

    dmsilev

    There were also a bunch of preachers in Louisiana who decided that yes, they did in fact need to have 1000 people worshipping in person together today.

    I guess we should be grateful that someone beat Trump with a big enough stick to cram into his tiny little brain that Easter was not going to happen, but amazingly and despite furious effort on his part, he’s not actually the worst.

  5. 5.

    RSA

    Speaking of selfish motherfuckers, I’ll nominate Joel Freedman, who owns a shuttered hospital in Philadelphia that the city wants to re-open but can’t afford to rent or buy outright, even using eminent domain. So the hospital remains closed.

    “We’re going to continue to work with the city to find a reasonable and equitable solution,” Freedman’s spokesman, Sam Singer, told NBC10 on Tuesday afternoon. “We just think they’re unaware of the realities of the market.”

  6. 6.

    Duane

    The parents of these students are even worse than Falwell. They’re willing to sacrifice their children. Unconscionable lack of responsibility. Get your child out of there!

  7. 7.

    joel hanes

    @dmsilev:

    local TV newscast is presenting as if Trump stands alone battling coronavirus, mulling quarantines and taking action.

    I did not shout at the TV, because the people I live with are tired of that

  8. 8.

    dmsilev

    Winning friends and influencing people, a how-not-to-do-it guide:

    Jeff Brittain, a Liberty parent, wrote on Twitter: “I’m as right wing as they get, bud. But as a parent of three of your students, I think this is crazy, irresponsible and seems like a money grab.” Mr. Falwell replied, calling him a “dummy.”

  9. 9.

    Chris Johnson

    I gotta unplug from time to time. The amount of hate I wind up feeling isn’t good for even my physical health, never mind other sorts of health.

  10. 10.

    A Ghost to Most

    Practice social distancing from those infected with mindviruses.

    Malignant cancervatism is contagious.

  11. 11.

    Brachiator

    I’m listening to the mayor of Los Angeles give his pandemic briefing. The moron from Fox News asked why the mayor was calling for all states to do a lockdown. The mayor noted that state borders are abstractions, not physical barriers to a virus.

    ETA. The mayor conducts a good no-nonsense briefing.

  12. 12.

    BC in Illinois

    Churches throughout the nation are going online. The number of Lenten services, daily devotions, livestreams, sermons on YouTube – – in St Louis alone – – is pverwhelming.

    Universities and schools nationwide are going online. My G’kids are getting assignments, doing assignments on their iPads; Mrs BC is watching webinars on music education online and doing piano lessons on zoom.

    Falwell did what he did, simply to make a point. He must take responsibility for his actions.If lawsuits bankrupt his institution of higher learning, no one would be the loser.

    If Falwell would like a little Bible study, Matthew 4:6-7 will point out that, although Psalm 91:11-12 promises that the Lord will command his angels to “lift you up in their hands,” it is the voice of Satan that would conclude from that promise that one should jump off the top of a building. Jesus answered that particular temptation with the words of Deuteronomy 6:16, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”

    Or, as other translations say it, “Don’t tempt the Lord, Buster.”

  14. 14.

    Jackie

    @dmsilev:  A Mega church in Tampa held services today. It was packed. The preacher promised he “alone” would save them from this devil disease – just as he had saved them from Zika.

  15. 15.

    scav

    Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

    ETA. Late again, and BC provides context!

  18. 18.

    Another Scott

    Trump has come a long way from the 15-cases-but-we're-going-down-to-zero. He's now saying that keeping this to 100,000 US deaths would be evidence that he has been successful. https://t.co/nVVucVjbCZ

    — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) March 29, 2020

    Example MMCXIV of “The curve for the mediocre white man is real.”

    Grrr…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  19. 19.

    Ken

    The evangelicals have been saying Trump is the Lord’s instrument for years, so not surprising. Though I have to wonder if any of them ever stop and say, “instrument for what?”

    (Yes, I know, instrument to appoint judges that will overturn abortion rights.  Odd how they never seem to get around to that.)

  20. 20.

    Patricia Kayden

    You can’t blame Obama for this. Obama never had anything like this. This is what happens when you elect an incompetent wannabe crime boss based on how much you think he’ll harm minorities. Now you’re the one getting hurt.— Marcus H. Johnson (@marcushjohnson) March 29, 2020

  21. 21.

    JoyceH

    @Duane: It wasn’t Liberty, but I saw an article today about a dad who told his son not to go on spring break in Florida. Son did it anyway, and now he’s not allowed back in the house. The grandfather lives in the house so I think dad’s reaction is quite understandable.

  22. 22.

    Feathers

    Liberty is awful. Know someone who went there before she finally left the fundamentalist church for good. She said it was a nest of untreated mental illness, with fundie kids from across the country who thought they would be able to pray away whatever was ailing them. Big rape problem, too. What finally drove her away was the guy who raped a girl every week or so, came back to the dorm, confessed to everyone not sparing any details, and then there was a huge prayer group where everyone prayed for the rapist, demanding that the victim forgive him, so that he wouldn’t face eternal damnation. Because getting raped is nothing compared to that hellfire after you die. And because it’s all about a personal journey fighting demons, the same guy is allowed to do it over and over again, as long as he repents hard enough and swears he’ll never do it again. You know he’s only doing it because everyone isn’t praying hard enough for him.

    Seriously, burn the place down.

  23. 23.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @dmsilev:

    Jeff Brittain, a Liberty parent, wrote on Twitter: “I’m as right wing as they get, bud. But as a parent of three of your students, I think this is crazy, irresponsible and seems like a money grab.” Mr. Falwell replied, calling him a “dummy.”

    Gotta love it. He calls the parent must likely paying tuition to his university, a “dummy”. Classy. This pales in comparison to opening campus during a pandemic, but it’s still gob-smacking in it’s own lesser way

  24. 24.

    Sloane Ranger

    @BC in Illinois: Or, as my Mum used to say, “God helps those who help themselves.”

    She was fine with praying. She just felt that praying and acting in accordance with best information was better.

  25. 25.

    raven

    The lonesome friends of science say
    “The world will end most any day”
    Well, if it does, then that’s okay
    ‘Cause I don’t live here anyway
    I live down deep inside my head
    Well, long ago I made my bed
    I get my mail in Tennessee
    My wife, my dog, my kids, and me
    https://youtu.be/gn2MwHGbP1A

  27. 27.

    Aleta

    This pisses me off to the brink past sanity:  John Prine (worked hard to come back after throat cancer, fought to come back after lung cancer, and was to be touring right now) has corvid-19.  In rough shape.

    That’s How Every Empire Falls

    A bitter wind blows through the country
    A hard rain falls on the sea
    If terror comes without a warning
    There must be something we don’t see

  28. 28.

    Bruuuuce

    @Sloane Ranger:

    “God helps those who help themselves.”

    Just like in the old joke whose punchline is “I sent you a truck, a boat, and a helicopter. What else did you want Me to do?”

  29. 29.

    NeenerNeener

    My SIL works for Liberty and my nephew is studying aeronautical engineering there. My brother told us how bad the local hospitals around Lynchburg are when he had an emergency tour of them on Christmas Day. It seems inevitable that my brother will get this and die in one of those crappy hospitals.

  30. 30.

    Brachiator

    @JoyceH:

    Son did it anyway, and now he’s not allowed back in the house. The grandfather lives in the house so I think dad’s reaction is quite understandable.

    Smart, forward thinking father. I hope the son learns from this.

  32. 32.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    Can the Virginia state government close down Liberty University? It’s a private university, but surely emergency powers can give them something to work with?

  35. 35.

    Aaron

    republicans fundamentally place no value on human life, American lives, women’s lives, even fetus’ ‘lives’

  36. 36.

    raven

    @NeenerNeener: I spent a couple of months working “from home” in the Panera down the hill from that joint while my FIL was in his final days. What a fucking pit.

  38. 38.

    Mary G

    @Another Scott:
    Exactly. Somebody finally got it through Twitler’s thick head that he can start claiming credit because 2.2 million Americans won’t die of Covid19. His initial weeks of denial and ineptitude will be disappeared in the right wingnutissphere.

    New crisis, same narcissism.

    The President considers himself the state and finds its interests and his own indistinguishable.

    But America is so much more than any one person. She is strong, generous and resilient. Everything he is not.

    That is why we will overcome. https://t.co/rC1TtczN19
    — Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) March 30, 2020

  39. 39.

    NotMax

    @raven

    Was at one time in consideration for a job at a radio station in Lynchburg.

    Drove down there, took one long look around, turned 180 degrees and bailed on the interview/audition.

  41. 41.

    CarolPW

    @Aleta:

    Prine hit me hard, very unexpectedly. Guy Clark dying was tough, but after his wife died that was baked in the cake so not surprising. What a shit time we are living in.

  46. 46.

    joel hanes

    Headlines on Google news aggregation saying that Trump extended the social distancing.

    As if he imposed it in the first place.

    As if it were in place in places like Mississippi.

    As if he had the authority to end it in places like California.

    They’re falling for the kayfabe.

  47. 47.

    RedshiftLiberty University to offer $1,000 credit to students who leave dorms by Saturday because of coronavirus

    It’s all about the grift. Ms. Redshift had it pegged when he first announced they were reopening -Falwell Jr probably thought families might ask for refunds if they didn’t reopen. Now this:

    Liberty University to offer $1,000 credit to students who leave dorms by Saturday because of coronavirus

    What do you bet to get the $1000, you have to sign away the right to ask for any more?

  48. 48.

    MoCA Ace

    You ever hit that point where your rage and anger exceeds your ability to process it so you just shut it off?  that’s where I’m at.  I was sliding into acceptance yesterday, then my wife got a call from my son telling her they had their first Covid-19 positive at the nursing home where he works.  All the fear came flooding back.  I read this and I’m just fucking numb.

    After this wine buzz wears off I’m heading back out to the shop to finish my coat hooks and shelves.   Putting them in the mud room… one for work clothes and one for home clothes.  My wife works in a pharmacy and I’m still going in a few days a week so the new normal is strip down, use the basement shower, then get into “home clothing”.  We’re trying our best to keep our home a virus free sanctuary.

    Oh, and don’t worry, no power tools tonight… just have to do some glue-ups.

  50. 50.

    senyordave

    If one person dies from this and it can be traced back to a Liberty “university” student, Falwell should be charged with negligent homicide or whatever charge applies. It’s not enough they follow a religious philosophy that kills, now they’ve embraced a political one.
    The doctor should lose his license to practice medicine (or whatever the fuck he practices).

  52. 52.

    Mai naem mobile

    My sister in heavily involved in our temple. They cancelled services 3 weeks ago.  Theh do some streaming/online stuff but no gatherings. The only pushback they got on the cancellation of services was from a member, a man who is a physician.

    I get PO’d at Kyrsten Sinema for not more liberal(I don’t mean Liz Warren liberal just not as conservative) but she’s been on Gov Ducey on this. She’s got some RWNJ family practice physician who is on her ass about being overly aggressive about lockdowns etc. You can’t make this shit up.

  53. 53.

    sdhays

    @senyordave: Yeah, that quote from the “doctor” is just stunning:

    “I just am not going to be so presumptuous as to say, ‘This is what you should do and this is what you shouldn’t do,’” Dr. Eppes said in an interview.

    WTF is his job if it’s not to say “what you should do” and “what you shouldn’t do”? I get that he’s not at the level of “pool boy” in the hierarchy, but still.

  54. 54.

    West of the Cascades

    @Redshift: This is insane — bring them back to campus, encourage them to act normally, have three students come down with Covid-19, and THEN pay for them to spread it out into the community?

  55. 55.

    Another Scott

    @Redshift:

    Horse’s mouth:

    During the last three weeks, Liberty’s administration has evaluated if and how the University can provide assistance to students who do not return to campus to use the remainder of their room and board. We promised a decision this week.

    As a customer service measure, Liberty University announces that students who did not return to use their on-campus residence hall room for the remainder of the Spring 2020 semester will receive an automatic $1,000 credit toward any of their Fall 2020 charges (room, board, tuition, fees). Students who choose not to return to Liberty for Fall 2020 will not be eligible for the credit.

    […]

    (Emphasis added.)

    How generous of the university to keep the students’ money for them and return part of it if they come back in the fall…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  56. 56.

    Aleta

    My sister’s been waiting (eagerly) for god to smite the world since the presidency of Barack Obama.  (Around that time she also told me satan had taken over the pentagon, which somebody was telling her kind of people.)   I  have a feeling a climax of deaths around easter will make perfect sense to her.

  57. 57.

    NotMax

    @Redshift

    Wouldn’t be at all surprised it includes requiring signing an NDA to keep mum about anything happening on campus.

    Also, a credit, not a refund. To be applied against future costs (after they’re bumped up by $1500)?

  60. 60.

    Eunicecycle

    @Redshift: Note it is a credit on next year’s tuition; if they wise up and don’t return next year, or are a senior, you get nothing.

    ETA Another Scott beat me to it.

  62. 62.

    Mike in NC

    Wife and I decided to explore central VA on a long weekend about 15 years ago when we lived in Alexandria. Went to Appomatox, Richmond, Lynchburg and a few other places. Still felt like the 1860s there.

  64. 64.

    Eric U.

    I have a brother and a niece that live in Lynchburg.  I am beside myself with rage at this point.  I was angry when I found out that the students were coming back from spring break, but now the obvious has happened.  And reports are they haven’t been socially distancing at all.

  65. 65.

    Zinsky

    Falwell Jr. and his skank wife are the most unChristian people on the planet.  If you don’t believe me, ask the pool boy.

  67. 67.

    Duane

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): The Evangelical parents I’ve known have a lot of influence with their children. if Mr. Brittain is so concerned about his THREE children and is rightly convinced it’s an irresponsible money grab he shouldn’t have let them return. God gave him a brain and a backbone. Use them.

  68. 68.

    leeleeFL

    @Zinsky: They have some tough competition from David Green CEO of Hobby Lobby.  I had boycotted them over many things I had heard a0bout Green for about 5 years.  Recently shopped there a few times because they actually had reasonable prices on things I actually was looking for.  THAT IS OVER!

    I will pay more when I find a company with similar ethics to myself.  Might take awhile!

  69. 69.

    sdhays

    @NotMax: I certainly don’t feel sorry for these people, though. This is the experience they asked for, whether they realized it or not

    ETA: The parents. I feel sorry for the kids, even thought they’re not really kids anymore.

  70. 70.

    SFAW

    @Another Scott:

    Example MMCXIV of “The curve for the mediocre white man is real.”

    Bullshit. The Plague-Pusher-in-Chief is nowhere near mediocre. Gerry Ford was mediocre; this mofo wishes he were “mediocre” enough to lick the underside of Ford’s shoes. Or, he would wish that, if he had any brain or self-awareness.

  71. 71.

    mad citizen

    @Aleta: I have two sisters-in-law in this RWNJ/conspiracy theory  boat as well.  My wife has had some recent conversations, and I learned that “they” are putting all that “black stuff on our roofs” at night so we don’t notice.  She’s a long chemtrail believer.  I had to tell my wife about QAnon the other day, that surely that was a source of some of her sister’s stuff.

    Today I asked my wife if her sisters thought Trump was smart, and sadly, the answer was yes, they think he is a smart man.  I said have they ever watched him speak for 15 or 20 minutes?

    I also don’t get why these people fret or care about anything if they truly think the end times are near.  Is just so they can tell other people “See I told you so”?

  73. 73.

    Another Scott

    @Mike in NC: I often drove through Lynchburg when taking a non-I-95 route to NC from NoVA.  The Falwells have built an empire there – a fancy airport, the university, etc.  It’s kinda amazing how much it has grown in the last 20+ years.  You wouldn’t recognize it.

    (If there’s any justice) The place is going to be hurting when their emperor falls.  But them’s the breaks when you hitch your wagon to a charlatan like that…

    I feel sorry for folks that studied biology there. :-(

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  74. 74.

    eemom

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Can the Virginia state government close down Liberty University? It’s a private university, but surely emergency powers can give them something to work with?

    Excellent question. I’ve been wondering the same thing. IAAL and I live in Virginia but have not been able to find the answer yet.

  76. 76.

    tokyokie

    @Feathers:

    And because it’s all about a personal journey fighting demons, the same guy is allowed to do it over and over again, as long as he repents hard enough and swears he’ll never do it again. You know he’s only doing it because everyone isn’t praying hard enough for him.

    If some fundie can explain to me the difference between this and Catholic bishops selling indulgences to the rich in the 16th century, thus prompting Martin Luther to start the Protestant Reformation from which American evangelical fundamentalism emerged about 500 years later, I’d be curious what it is.

  80. 80.

    Tehanu

    If one person dies from this and it can be traced back to a Liberty “university” student, Falwell should be charged with negligent homicide or whatever charge applies.

    Not just Falwell. What about that “doctor” who apparently feels that doing his fkg job would be “presumptuous”?  What kind of doctor refuses to tell people the truth about a disease?

  82. 82.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @BC in Illinois:

    I know that it is unpopular to say here, but this “online only” thing, where you’re not supposed to interact with people except at a distance or on a screen absolutely sucks for me. It is a poor substitute for interactions and is absolutely hammering my mental health.

  84. 84.

    Kent

    @senyordave:If one person dies from this and it can be traced back to a Liberty “university” student, Falwell should be charged with negligent homicide or whatever charge applies. It’s not enough they follow a religious philosophy that kills, now they’ve embraced a political one.
    The doctor should lose his license to practice medicine (or whatever the fuck he practices).

    They may very well be liable:  https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/03/liberty-university-coronavirus-shutdown-liability.html

  86. 86.

    Amir Khalid

    @Yutsano:

    I read the first few paragraphs. I sense a strong “I am a lawyer so I know better than the doctors” vibe coming off the man.

  87. 87.

    Another Scott

    @Amir Khalid:

    This article reads as “the worst tendency of every lawyer I know.” Which is to say that many attorneys are quick studies and are overconfident. They get in trouble when they believe they understand things that they truly don’t. Signed – A Lawyer.

    — K Tee Ell (@KTeeEll) March 30, 2020

    (via Popehat)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  89. 89.

    Mnemosyne

    Interesting article in Forbes about Covid-19 in the Netherlands. They tried to do the same thing that the UK tried of quarantining older people and letting younger people roam free to try and create “herd immunity.” Unfortunately, they discovered the same thing that the UK did: there are still enough younger people who end up on respirators that you end up overloading the system anyway.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2020/03/27/caught-between-herd-immunity-and-national-lockdown-holland-hit-hard-by-covid-19/amp/

  90. 90.

    glc

    @Ken:

    Instrument for what?

    To bring about the End of Days, the return of the Messiah, and the Last Judgment, in fact.

    Not all that unreasonable as a strategy if that’s your utility function.

  91. 91.

    hueyplong

    I lived in Lynchburg for 7th and 8th grades.  Would tell people I did 2 to 10 in Lynchburg.

    That was back when we called the Thomas Rd Baptist Church the Barnum and Bailey Baptist Church and assumed Jerry Falwell was a clown who would never fool rubes outside the area.

    It taught me not to underestimate the ability of determined assholes to do harm.

  92. 92.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    I’m sorry. I know several of my friends are finding this difficult as well. We’re social creatures and having that taken away, with no certainty as to when we can resume life as normal, is frustrating—and not likely to help anyone who was already down.

    I’m a pretty solid introvert and I have to keep reminding myself to NOT go run out and see about x thing, which can be back-burnered, or to avoid suggesting breakfast with friends.

  93. 93.

    SFAW

    @Tehanu:

    What kind of doctor refuses to tell people the truth about a disease?

    Any one that has worked for, or aspired to work for, the Pandemic-Pusher-in-Chief.

  94. 94.

    Martin

    Ok, data update. A bit late as I’m trying to break out of this funk from Trump flexing over his death ratings. Anyway, everyone looks better today!

    • Italy: still in their range but down from the previous two days. Right now is when I’m expecting their fatality numbers to drop from their lockdown. Fingers crossed – will need to clearly break out of their local trend, which will take a few days to determine.
    • US: quite a bit below expectations for today. The US has been the most reliable trend thus far, so I’m going to take some time to figure out why. NY was better than expected, but that’s not enough to explain it. It could be just a data anomaly. We’ll see if tomorrow is unusually high – could just be some data got shoved from one window to another. Yesterday was higher than expected, so it could be differences in data processing on weekends. That happens. Was expecting 2750 and we came in at 2467.
    • NY: Still more fatalities day over day, but not as much of a increase as expected. Yesterday I thought their trend was modeling too high due to some of the data a week ago. Still, this corrected more than expected.
    • CA:  Here’s where I think we have evidence gathering for some social distancing working better than I expected. CA was only +14, making it the 5th day in a row of non-growth. That’s hard to ignore. Looking more closely, LA still seems to be on trend, but the Bay Area clearly has come off of their trend, and it’s too early to do so from their lockdown. So I think their work from home/canceling large events/community social distancing is working pretty well. It may not be R0 < 1 well,  but it’s definitely better than the R0 that other major urban/suburban areas are seeing. Similar thing in Washington.

    It’s possible that NYs numbers reflect this and we’ll see broad improvements all over. You do expect to see some small improvements over time due to people just being more cautious,  but this is quite a bit. Could just be a weird data day, but it’s at least a good data day.

  95. 95.

    Yutsano

    @Amir Khalid: It’s worse than that. He did law work on HIV in the 80s and that led him to a completely flawed theory about why it’s less deadly now. So of course since he can NEVER be wrong this of course applies to the novel coronavirus outbreak. You saved yourself a ton of torture by stopping. I was…not so lucky.

  96. 96.

    J R in WV

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Can the Virginia state government close down Liberty University?

     

    Order the utilities to shut them off. That would put an end to this BS. Falwell is a greedy sick perv. Power mad, like all the Calvinist pseudoxtians.

  97. 97.

    Brachiator

    From BBC News, Sweden may be tempting fate in trying to keep things normal

    While swathes of Europe’s population endure lockdown conditions in the face of the coronavirus outbreak, one country stands almost alone in allowing life to go on much closer to normal.
    After a long winter, it’s just become warm enough to sit outside in the Swedish capital and people are making the most of it.

    Families are tucking into ice creams beneath a giant statue of the Viking God Thor in Mariatorget square. Young people are enjoying happy-hour bubbles from pavement seating further down the street.

    Elsewhere in the city, nightclubs have been open this week, but gatherings for more than 50 people will be banned from Sunday….

     

    Sweden has so far reported nearly 3,500 cases of the virus and 105 deaths.

  98. 98.

    NotMax

    @Martin

    Would normally expect collection and dissemination of information to lessen on weekends. Have you experienced this as occurring? And perhaps a concomitant corrective of data flow on Mondays?

  99. 99.

    laura

    I’m going out on a limb here, but I think the Jerry Falwell Jr reopened Liberty University in order to hoover up millions more of that sweet sweet guaranteed student loan cash. I hope he gets sued out of his sandals.

  100. 100.

    J R in WV

    @Mike in NC:

    Wife and I decided to explore central VA on a long weekend about 15 years ago when we lived in Alexandria. Went to Appomatox, Richmond, Lynchburg and a few other places. Still felt like the 1860s there.

    When I was in the Navy and sent to Pascagoula MS in 1972, it was like traveling back in time, to back when Jim Crow was still operative in the deep south. Despicable… I’m sure there is still some of that under the surface, but in ’72 it was as public and common as it could be.

    When I was discharged in early ’73 we were so out of there. Home by February.

  102. 102.

    Brachiator

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    I know that it is unpopular to say here, but this “online only” thing, where you’re not supposed to interact with people except at a distance or on a screen absolutely sucks for me. It is a poor substitute for interactions and is absolutely hammering my mental health.

    It sucks for everybody. I work from home, including Saturday. But I would sometimes go out and catch a Sunday movie matinee, by myself or with friends. I looked forward to this. It is disorienting to see all the movie theaters shut down. Just one of many things.

    And yet, I also value my online time, mainly here in Balloon Juice. It ain’t perfect, but it does provide some relief.

    I even value your posts. Seriously. No snark.

  103. 103.

    cain

    @RSA:

    His brand is going to really suck. When this is over, his name will be mud because when there was so much death this man did not step up – talking about the market.

    The market will then come from him and he better not complain when it fucks him over because nobody will want to do business with him for fear of losing business themselves.

  106. 106.

    Amir Khalid

    @Brachiator:

    Sweden’s population is one third of Malaysia’s, but it has about twice as many confirmed cases and three times as many deaths. I think that’s cause for concern.

  107. 107.

    cain

    @Jackie:

    Later Fox News will say that a New York based church held their services in defiance of the governor’s keep away policy.

  108. 108.

    cain

    @Another Scott:

    hahahaha! That 100k is like the best case.. given the stupid shit going down in the South. We are going to be seeing a lot of death and most of it will be in his precious South the core of his constituency.. he will run out of PPEs trying to supply those assholes with items while completely ignoring the rest of us – making things even worse.

    We. Are. Fucked.

  109. 109.

    cain

    @Ken:

    The evangelicals have been saying Trump is the Lord’s instrument for years, so not surprising. Though I have to wonder if any of them ever stop and say, “instrument for what?”

    The Lord’s instrument of death and vengeance – against evangelicals and the market. Good times.

  110. 110.

    opiejeanne

    @NotMax: I wondered yesterday in a chat with my various family members, if it was going to feel strange and possibly not in a good way, when we are finally able to be around each other.

    Yesterday my youngest dropped off some groceries and I felt like crying. She’s so afraid of giving it to us, and we are afraid of catching it, but my instinct is to move closer than I should. I didn’t but it was like fighting gravity.

  112. 112.

    lgerard

    Even my favorite bible bughouse, Pensacola Christian College ( they make Liberty look like Oberlin) sent almost all their students home and instituted online classes and chapel.

    Something wrong with Jerry

  113. 113.

    Kelly

    You can gaze out the window get mad and get madder,
    throw your hands in the air, say “What does it matter?”
    but it don’t do no good to get angry,
    so help me I know

    For a heart stained in anger grows weak and grows bitter.
    You become your own prisoner as you watch yourself sit there
    wrapped up in a trap of your very own
    chain of sorrow.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S3M2UsGjG8

  114. 114.

    opiejeanne

    @NotMax: I can tell you that I tracked down today’s numbers for WA, and The Seattle Times still has yesterday’s numbers up, even though the report was supposedly updated a couple of hours ago.  it was tough finding a source I trusted.

  116. 116.

    Fair Economist

    @Amir Khalid: I think every country was in at least strict distancing by the per capita deaths of Sweden. That’s worse than many US states with outbreaks bad enough to get Republican governors to take action.

  117. 117.

    Jackie

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: We all feel you. I’m fortunate to live with my son’s family – for my financial benefit and theirs. I work part-time plus SS, and watch my grandgirls when they’re at work. BUT I also have another family across the country, (I’m in WA. They’re in FL) whom we have absolutely no idea when – outside of FT – we’ll see and hug and kiss, again. I’m fighting tears. My daughter is fighting tears. My grandsons ARE in tears wanting to know when we can have a sleepover again.
    We are all wishing and hoping things get sorta back to normal sooner than later.

  118. 118.

    Yutsano

    @NotMax:  I answered down below. Funny how our local institutions are finding ways of getting by. Not to mention I want to buy some flowers from them now.

    Also: I live about 240 miles southeast of Seattle now. I had plans to move back but a lot of that is on hold for obvious reasons.

  119. 119.

    Kirk Spencer

    @opiejeanne: The lack of available tests makes me hesitant to trust numbers for Texas. That said they’re what we’ve got.

    As of a little bit ago we got to 38 deaths in this state. The reported case count is 2833. That’s up from 34 and 2521 first thing this morning. My BotE says if the half-step distancing rules put in effect are working we will not see 5000 case till Thursday or later. If we see it before, well, then we in Texas are just a week or so behind the coasts.

  123. 123.

    opiejeanne

    @NotMax: I honestly do not know if they’re tossing the fish during the epidemic. Nothing online indicates that they’ve stopped.

    I don’t live in Seattle, I live about 16 miles from downtown if I could fly,  but it’s about a 22 mile drive. I usually go to the market if we have out-of-town visitors, and when my son comes for a visit. I haven’t been to the market in over a year.

  124. 124.

    Jinchi

    @Kirk Spencer: The lack of available tests makes me hesitant to trust numbers for Texas.

    It seems to me that the best measure we have right now would be the number of people rushing to the emergency room with flu like symptoms. That would give a pretty strong signal even in the absence of testing, especially with an exponential growth rate.

    But all I’ve seen is so far is anecdotal reports that the hospitals, everywhere, are under severe stress.

  125. 125.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Feathers: Makes Farwell sound like a pusher; he provides a safe space for them to act out their worst impulses under the cover of religion.

    Interesting question how many members of Liberty’s staff and students have to be at Liberty because they can’t function in normal society.

  126. 126.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @RSA: Is this the old Hahnemann hospital? An asshole bought it a few years ago, then intentionally ran it into the ground. The ground it’s on is more “valuable” as real estate than it is as a hospital. His plan was/is to build condos or some such.

    Complete and utter asshole. If there is a god, this asshole would die miserably of Covid-19 tomorrow.

  127. 127.

    Dan B

    @NotMax: Don’t know for certain but pictures in the local news show Pike Place, the street, empty.  Some food stores must be open in the Market but I haven’t heard of them.  Much of downtown is simply deserted and the streets in residential sections are empty as well.

  128. 128.

    NotMax

    @Dan B

    Thanks. Eateries doing takeout have to be getting their foodstuffs from somewhere. I imagine that could be one source of supply.

  130. 130.

    Dan B

    @NotMax: The big fish markets are not at the Market.  My sorta in-laws operate one.  I have no idea how they operate.  Jeff is what you would call reticent.

  131. 131.

    JAFD

    Yes, old Hahnemann Hospital and medical school.  Real estate under it is valuable – was ‘fringe area’ of downtown Philadelphia when built, now downtown expanded around it.

    But definitely oughta be reopened now.

    Couple of articles on inquirer.com

Comments are closed.