Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, it’s door #2)

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Alternative history is always a weak argument. Always.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

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

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Let’s show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

T R E 4 5 O N

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

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

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

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

Let there be snark.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / But Seriously: Some Longer Pandemic Reads

But Seriously: Some Longer Pandemic Reads

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As much as a layperson can, I’ve been following the unfolding pandemic pretty closely, but I still learned a few things from this widely-praised Financial Times piece:

Vivid analogy, from a pandemics expert:


Reader Interactions

64Comments

  1. 1.

    different-church-lady

    Edward Luce spoke with dozens of officials to discover what went wrong in Donald Trump’s first real crisis — and found a president who ignored increasingly urgent intelligence warnings and dismissed anyone who claimed to know more than him had absolutely no interest in doing his job.

  2. 2.

    debbie

    “First real crisis?” Wasn’t that the North Korean missle launch just after the Inauguration? How  many firsts does this guy get?

  3. 3.

    Patricia Kayden

    Idiot.

    “The culture war that I believe is real, and is raging in this country, I believe was ushered in with his administration,” Meghan McCain said of Obama, “and then exacerbated in the Trump administration.”https://t.co/Kpn7H9zsZl— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) May 18, 2020

  4. 4.

    rikyrah

    Speaker Pelosi tells @AC360 it’s not a good idea for President Trump to be taking hydroxychloroquine because of his age and the fact that he’s “morbidly obese”— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) May 19, 2020

  6. 6.

    Elizabelle

    @rikyrah:   “Morbidly obese.”

    That’s gonna leave a mark.  Nancy Smash!

    OTOH, I think it’s the best thing Melania heard all day.  She probably laughed.  In private.

  9. 9.

    Elizabelle

    @debbie:   I agree that this is the first huge crisis WRT the mainland Trump has faced, although a better president would have thought Hurricane Maria was a huge crisis.  Not der Trump!

    We and he have been lucky in that respect, but luck runs out.  (Not that Trump has not been a disaster, in his own right.  But not the usual externalities a president sees.)

    I want Nuremberg Trials.

  10. 10.

    Benw

    Also, this particular pool has 90% of the water on one side and 10% on the other. 30 people or so are in the large side frantically cleaning it and siphoning off any clean water remaining in the small side while demanding the other 350 odd million of us jump in the shitty small side or they might lose just a tiny bit of their water. #failedpool

  12. 12.

    zhena gogolia

    @rikyrah:

    Haha, I have heard people called “heifer” so many times, but never has the epithet been more aptly used than in reference to Meghan McCain!

  16. 16.

    Mallard Filmore

    For anyone that is in constant contact with possible positive individuals, I ran across this item:

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/indepth/this-one-habit-is-why-thailand-has-so-few-covid-cases-doctor-says/ar-BB14d1Pd

    My ex-wife had one of these devices, and I have seen an advertisement on TV about a new and improved version. The hose in one nostril pumps the water in, and the hose in the other nostril sucks it out. If I HAD to do a sinus flush, this would be the way to go.

  18. 18.

    Geoduck

    Might want to extend the pool metaphor a  bit, since a big part of the problem is that the poop isn’t actually visible, and we only know it’s floating around in there somewhere because a percentage of the people who do go into the pool are getting nastily stained with it.

  22. 22.

    lgerard

    I have to disagree with those folks who claim that trump was ignoring his responsibilities and not focused on his job  He spent most of January addressing what he saw as the greatest threat to America:

    Toilets

  23. 23.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @rikyrah: Hey trump! yer old and fat!

    god bless her

    kilgore trout, lizard king @ KT_So_It_Goes · 41m
    if the kook pills don’t explode his heart this will

  24. 24.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Nancy Pelosi called Trump “morbidly obese” while talking to Anderson Cooper. He struggled for a straight face.

    ETA: Rikyrah beat me to it. It’s still a fun thing to post.

  27. 27.

    dmsilev

    @rikyrah:Full quote:

    “He’s our president and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group and in his, shall we say, weight group — morbidly obese, they say.”

    I love ‘his, shall we say, weight group’.

  28. 28.

    Bill Arnold

    Copied from a thread below, since it’s pertinent.
    Just to be clear, there is no observed protective effect for hydroxychloroquine in a population that takes it regularly for other reasons.
    Hydroxychloroquine. Does. Not. Work. To. Prevent. Serious. COVID-19[1]. At. Least. Not. For. Lupus. Patients.
    A bit technical but short:
    Baseline use of hydroxychloroquine in systemic lupus erythematosus does not preclude SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 (Accepted 27 April 2020, pdf)

    As of 17 April 2020, we have now identified 80 patients with SLE and COVID-19 in the global physician-reported registry. Patients were predominantly female (72/80, 90%) and less than 65 years of age (69/80, 86%). Importantly, 64% (51/80) of patients with SLE were taking an antimalarial (HCQ or chloroquine) prior to infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (30% as mono-therapy). Notably, 21.1% (121/573) of all reported patients with rheumatic disease in the registry were treated with an antimalarial prior to onset of COVID-19, yet 49.6% (60/121) required hospitalisation. In patients with SLE, frequency of hospitalisation with COVID-19 did not differ between individuals using an antimalarial versus non-users (55% (16/29) vs 57% (29/51), p=ns; χ2 test). In patients with lupus, escalation to maximum level of care (non-invasive ventilation, invasive ventilation or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)) was required regardless of HCQ use (online supplementary table S1).

    [1] Nor, probably, does it affect rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection. That’s less clear from the data, but not particularly relevant; mortality and general symptomatic COVID-19 cases are what matters.

  30. 30.

    TS (the original)

    @rikyrah: She seems to be the only media pundit talking the truth about what is happening in the US at the minute. EVERY talk show should be highlighting the issues she covers.

  31. 31.

    eemom

    @rikyrah:

    Phuck that heifer

    Much as I hate to insult either bovines or porcines, Meghan McCain also epitomizes the phrase “lipstick on a pig”.

  32. 32.

    Kent

    @debbie:“First real crisis?” Wasn’t that the North Korean missle launch just after the Inauguration? How  many firsts does this guy get?

    I remember a couple of hurricanes there too.

  34. 34.

    Bill Arnold

    Already linked I think, but worth a skim if one’s blood pressure is under control.
    So, lockdown protests almost certainly include some geographically-dispered superspreader events:
    US lockdown protests may have spread virus widely, cellphone data suggests – Devices associated with protesters travelled up to hundreds of miles after rallies where few precautions were taken (Jason Wilson, Mon 18 May 2020)

    Cellphone location data suggests that demonstrators at anti-lockdown protests – some of which have been connected with Covid-19 cases – are often traveling hundreds of miles to events, returning to all parts of their states, and even crossing into neighboring ones.
    The data, provided to the Guardian by the progressive campaign group the Committee to Protect Medicare, raises the prospect that the protests will play a role in spreading the coronavirus epidemic to areas which have, so far, experienced relatively few infections.
    The anonymized location data was captured from opt-in cellphone apps, and data scientists at the firm VoteMap used it to determine the movements of devices present at protests in late April and early May in five states: Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Colorado and Florida.
    …
    Dr Rob Davidson, executive director of the Committee to Protect Medicare, said that although “it’s hard to draw a straight line between devices, individuals at these protests, and cases”, the data suggests that the protests may be epidemiologically significant events.
    “The behavior we’re seeing at protests carries a high risk of infection. We can see protesters are going from a highly concentrated event and then dispersing widely,” he added.

  35. 35.

    ThresherK

    and found a president who ignored increasingly urgent intelligence warnings and dismissed anyone who claimed to know more than him

    This is sooo on-brand. I don’t even want bonus points for predicting this back in February.

  37. 37.

    dr. bloor

    @rikyrah: With two words, Nancy SMASH manages to trigger Trump with a re-enactment of old mother-son dynamics AND send a warning shot across Ronny Jackson’s bow as to how obsequious incompetence is viewed in the House.

    Fucking brilliant.

  38. 38.

    Kay

    @Matt McIrvin:

     “we’re gonna lose so bad”.

    God, Democrats, there are no bigger handwringers on the planet. Some of these people are not going to make it to November. They’ll have a collective nervous breakdown.

    Do you recall the specifics of the last Nancy Pelosi outrage? It was when she tore up the SOTU speech. Obviously a huge turning point in the race, sealed the deal for Donald Trump.

  39. 39.

    Melusine

    @Patricia Kayden: She forgot to add, “As John McCain’s daughter…”

     

    I just love watching spoiled entitled brats who never had to earn anything in their useless lives pontificating on what “working people” need. It’s like they’re trying to accumulate a sense of accomplishment and self-respect via association instead of, you know, actually doing something.

  40. 40.

    lamh36

    @rikyrah: I already see Nancy being accused of fat shaming, but as someone, who’s got the same BMI classification as Chump saying Chump is “morbidly obese” for his age and size is not “shaming”.  And the fact is for someone with that underlying condition, IF he is taking that drug, then its medically true that it is not a good idea to be morbidly obese and older to be using that drug in any other capacity than it’s intended use.

    But I guess folks gonna cry bout anything…at some point folks are going to have to not be sensitive when someone accurately points out the dangers of being morbidly obese to one’s health.

    I’d like to think I am very realistically about my health and I know my obesity is a problematic precursor for other conditions

    “morbidly obese” is a medical terms, it’s not like she called the guy a “fat fuq” and just because Anderson Cooper smirked doesn’t change that.

  41. 41.

    Mai naem mobile

    @Mallard Filmore: I found the use of betadine interesting because I’ve always preferred using betadine for cuts and ‘not deep’ wounds(instead of neosporin) but I wonder what happens if betadine makes its way into the lungs.

  46. 46.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Patricia Kayden: my sister used to wear a button that said, “Why isn’t ignorance painful?” Of course, I do believe Meghan is more stupid than ignorant. You can fix ignorant.

  48. 48.

    Elizabelle

    @Kay:   I have no patience with pants wetters.

    These are probably the same people who think Democrats are real fuckups, every single time.  A lot of them are … progressives.

    Courage, pants wetters.

  49. 49.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Matt McIrvin:  @Kay:

    Tentin Quarantino @agraybee · 1h
    Something something back row kids are also fat something something neoliberals insult working class fat people.

  50. 50.

    Redshift

    @Patricia Kayden: McCain’s remark could almost be true in the sense that the culture way was ushered in with the Obama Administration by Mitch McConnell. But that’s not remotely true either.

    Idiot.

  51. 51.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Redshift: the recently resurfaced Turd Blossom used Meghan McCain’s Bangladesh-born sister as racist-bait in the 2000 So Carolina Republican primary because he knew Barack Obama was going to usher in a culture war 8 years later

  52. 52.

    Elizabelle

    @Redshift:   And McCain’s running mate — Sarah Palin.

    No way anyone could ever accuse that one of fomenting culture wars.  It’s why she was chosen.

  54. 54.

    Redshift

    I don’t much like fat jokes about Trump because that’s not what’s bad about him, and I know perpetuating the idea that being fat is a personal failing is painful for many fat liberals I know. (It was even worse with Chris Christie.)

    But puncturing Trump’s vanity with some concern trolling about an entirely relevant risk factor isn’t a fat joke.

  56. 56.

    Mai naem mobile

    @Elizabelle: I remember when Katrina happened, FEMA had a Katrina kind of disaster in NOLA and the San Andreas fault cracking up  as two possible natural disasters they were concerned about.  I am wondering if this earthquake is going to happen under Donny the way our luck is running with him.

  58. 58.

    Elizabelle

    @Mai naem mobile:   Oh please no.  At least California has excellent state government.

    But no more disasters.  Trump is a fucking disaster all on his own.  Does not need no help from Mother Earth.

  59. 59.

    Mai naem mobile

     

    @Matt McIrvin: if we lose to Donny we fucking deserve to dissolve as a party and as a country. I don’t care what crap the GOP pulls there should be enough motivation on our side to win. Electoral college, voter suppression, russian bots, media time unfairly apportioned  to Donny…whatever, we still should be eeking out a win.

  60. 60.

    Kattails

    @lamh36: Listen, love, we just wished you a happy graduation. You need to take care of yourself.  PLEASE. After my dad died, we found a notebook with a quote: “If you don’t take time for health now, you will have to take time for sickness later.” It was heartbreaking.

  61. 61.

    Kay

    Can you help people who would take medical advice from Donald Trump, though?

    Those people would have taken something deadly at some point anyway. I’m amazed they’re alive right now. They’re a lost cause.

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