“We had ample notice to get our country ready,” says Ron Klain, who served as President Obama’s Ebola czar, and lists the rolling out of testing, securing protective equipment, and building up hospital capacity as necessary preventative steps. “We spent all of January and February doing none of those things, and as a result, when this disease really exploded in March, we weren’t prepared.”
The government leaders who failed to safeguard the nation are CDC Director Redfield; FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn; Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar; and of course, President Trump. Together, these men had the power to change the direction of this pandemic, to lessen its impact on the economy, and constrain the death toll from COVID-19. Each failed, in a series of errors and mismanagement that grew into a singular catastrophe — or as Jared Kushner described it on Fox & Friends, “a great success story.”
Actor and comedian Jerry Stiller has died due to natural causes, his son, actor Ben Stiller said in a tweet. He was 92.
“He was a great dad and grandfather, and the most dedicated husband to Anne for about 62 years. He will be greatly missed. Love you Dad,” the tweet read.
At the direction of Attorney General Bill Barr, the Justice Department last week moved to dismiss a false-statements charge against Michael Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser. The reason stated was that the continued prosecution “would not serve the interests of justice.”
…………………………………….
But the report of my interview is no support for Mr. Barr’s dismissal of the Flynn case. It does not suggest that the F.B.I. had no counterintelligence reason for investigating Mr. Flynn. It does not suggest that the F.B.I.’s interview of Mr. Flynn — which led to the false-statements charge — was unlawful or unjustified. It does not support that Mr. Flynn’s false statements were not material. And it does not support the Justice Department’s assertion that the continued prosecution of the case against Mr. Flynn, who pleaded guilty to knowingly making material false statements to the FBI, “would not serve the interests of justice.”
I can explain why, relying entirely on documents the government has filed in court or released publicly.
Notably, Mr. Barr’s motion to dismiss does not argue that the F.B.I. violated the Constitution or statutory law when agents interviewed Mr. Flynn about his calls with Mr. Kislyak. It doesn’t claim that they violated his Fifth Amendment rights by coercively questioning him when he wasn’t free to leave. Nor does the motion claim that the interview was the fruit of a search or seizure that violated the Fourth Amendment. Any of these might have justified moving to dismiss the case. But by the government’s own account, the interview with Mr. Flynn was voluntary, arranged in advance and took place in Mr. Flynn’s own office.
A major blow in bringing corvid to heel has been struck:
The authority that sets the rules of the French language has decreed that Covid-19 is a feminine noun, according to an AFP report.
Now l’Academie Francaise has proclaimed “Covid-19” is a feminine noun and urged an end to what has become the widespread practice in France of referring to it as masculine.
“The use of the feminine would be preferable,” the Academie Francaise said in a directive published on its website under the category “faulty use”.
“It is perhaps not too late to give this acronym back the gender it should have.”
@OzarkHillbilly: Elon’s been crazy/stupid for the last several months. Which, having followed him for years and read books about him, is nothing unusual.
Criminal law specialists and members of the law enforcement community are tough to really shock. But the Justice Department’s announcement that it would drop criminal charges against Michael Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser, has provoked, in addition to outrage, a sense of utter demoralization among them. They’ve never seen such a thing before. After all, Mr. Flynn twice pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I.
But it’s important to understand why all Americans should be not just shocked but outraged. It’s not just because Mr. Flynn won’t go to jail or offer any service toward justice.
It’s because this move embeds into official U.S. policy an extremist view of law enforcement as the enemy of the American people. It’s a deception that Americans must see through — and that the federal judge overseeing Mr. Flynn’s case, Emmet Sullivan, can reject by examining the Justice Department’s rationale in open court and by allowing a future Justice Department to reconsider charges.
A national association of district attorneys is condemning the actions of a prosecutor who eventually removed himself from the Ahmaud Arbery case, and expressed concern that his handling of the case could prevent a “just outcome.”
In a strongly worded statement over the weekend, the National District Attorneys Association took particular issue with George Barnhill’s issuing a detailed letter exonerating the McMichaels on April 3 after he had concluded that he had a conflict of interest in the case. The association has 5,500 members and represents two-thirds of state and local prosecutors’ offices.
“We must strongly disagree with District Attorney George Barnhill’s decision to share his opinion of whether Greg and Travis McMichael should be arrested after he decided to recuse himself from the case,” the association said.
The association said the letter could influence jurors and make another prosecutor’s job more difficult. “No prosecutor should inject his or her opinion into a pending case to the point where she or he becomes a potential witness and risks compromising the just outcome of a case.”
That certainly can happen. A case in point, FBI Agent David Farrell got just 90 days for a fatal Florida DUI crash The ridiculous being largely caused by the totally screwed up investigation of the accident which at first blamed the victims even though Farrell had .17 blood alcohol level.
So I can definitely believe the McMichaels getting away with the lynching they committed.
@Teve:
Sibling and I just got back from *finally* getting antibody tests done. We had a elderly family member test positive (and recover, thank god) weeks ago and were on the list for testing due to third hand exposure (having several medical people in the family treating COVID patients doesn’t help). I’m not sure we’ve had it – I was ill with something strange back in late Feb but nothing as bad as people have commented on. However, testing means we can end self-isolation so out we went.
The whole thing was *ridiculous*. Not only were appointments hard as hell to get (much clicking on refresh to see when a slot was available for over a week now) but there was a line of people standing outside in the rain for a chance to squeeze into the queue. There’s a real need for these tests to reassure people and offer a baseline for safe re-opening but there’s just not enough. A sign on the wall from the day before indicated they’d run out of tests *before noon* and people should try their luck again tomorrow. There’s no reason for it – at this point, there should be plenty of testing for everyone who wants or needs it. I felt so bad for the techs just doing their job when someone started getting bitchy about the wait or the fact that they will run out of tests before the end of the day. The stress from working at one of these sites must be incredible…..
But here we must pause for a moment to consider why the president has assembled this gallery of boobs. Much of the answer comes down to this: Trump never took staffing the federal workforce seriously. The executive branch is riddled with vacancies, especially at the top. Vice President Mike Pence may speak about a “whole-of-government approach” to the pandemic, but what we truly have is a government of holes.
We have an acting secretary of homeland security. We have an acting director of the Office of Management and Budget. We have an acting director of national intelligence. In February, The Washington Post reported that acting officials had already served more days in the Trump administration than they ever did in all eight years of Barack Obama.
“Acting officials are like substitute teachers, basically,” Max Stier, the founding C.E.O. of the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service, told me on Friday. “They can be amazing educators, but they’re substantially hampered because they don’t see themselves as the real authority, nor are they perceived as the real authority.”
Since December 2016, Stier’s group has been monitoring key staff positions in the executive branch, which in the Trump era really means key vacancies. You can eyeball the list yourself — it’s all online, and it’s all pretty distressing — but one corner of the cabinet looks especially bare: the Department of Homeland Security. Only 35 percent of its top spots have confirmed leaders. It has no nominee for deputy secretary to help out its acting secretary, and it has no nominee for its No. 3 spot, either.
If you don’t think that the Department of Homeland Security has much to do with managing this pandemic, think again. Pandemics render nations unstable. Now is the perfect moment for a rogue power to make mischief. Also? FEMA falls under its purview. FEMA’s head, Peter Gaynor, is supposed to have two deputies. He only has one, in an acting role. The other slot is empty.
@OzarkHillbilly:
But Trump likes it that way. He’s said numerous times that he likes chaos. He likes to keep people uncertain and fearful, because that, he believes, ensures their loyalty to him. Further, he likes having acting directors because he doesn’t need senate approval for them, and he can fire them more easily.
Thomas Stapley-Bunten was due to finish his contract aboard the Al Shamal, a huge cargo ship carrying liquid natural gas, early last month. The ship docked at the LNG terminal in Fos Cavaou, southern France, as planned, but by then the world was in coronavirus lockdown. He couldn’t disembark, and international flights were grounded, preventing him from getting home to Newcastle, UK.
So the 27-year-old former Royal Navy warfare officer has been stuck onboard as the Al Shamal criss-crosses the ocean from Qatar to Turkey and France and back. The 34-man crew, from the Philippines, India, Russia and Ireland, have had their pay increased by 50%, but they just want to go home.
“We are still loading, sailing and discharging our cargo. But in the back of our minds, we are starting to realise: we are trapped. People are essentially prisoners,” he said. “There is no way to get off the ship.”
Stapley-Bunten is one of 150,000 seafarers stranded at sea on their vessels, forced to work beyond their contracts indefinitely, often seven days a week. Many have families and don’t know when they will see them again. They have been given no choice but to keep going, from port to port, unloading at docks that are open for cargo but closed to the seafarers who deliver it.
I’ve heard the question, in good faith, of what could Trump, and what passes for his administration, have done to better respond to the pandemic. Not being an expert of any sort, this off the top of my head answer will be incomplete:
Use the Defense Production Act to procure more ventilators and protective equipment, as well as extra hand sanitizer.
Make millions of test kits.
Banning all travel from China seemed extreme even in February, but administering tests to arriving passengers and having them isolate for 14 days was not.
Prepare a nationwide program of testing and tracing, with mandatory isolation for anyone found positive.
Prepare the nation for a lock down, should one be necessary. this would mean advertising the possibility, but also preparing economic measures to support the unemployed and small business.
That’s just off the top of my head. I’m sure there were other measures experts would recommend.
What we know is: don’t play it down, don’t say it will go away, and don’t waste time.
We read parts of it in high school, and the teacher did an analysis. As I recall, the three damned souls remembered their lives.
early joke of the day:
Joe dies and arrives in Hell. A demon shows him the sights first, while letting him know what awaits him for eternity. Amid all the eternal tortures, they come to a room with a long line of beautiful women, dressed in short, form-fitting outfits and fully made up, waiting to go in.
“What’s in there?” Joe asks.
“I’ll show you,” the demon replies. opening the door.
Inside there’s a honeymoon suite, and on the bed is Donald Trump having sex with one of the women.
Back outside, Jose says “I don’t get it. Wasn’t he a terrible person?”
The demon replies, “These women did awful things. Donald Trump is their punishment.”
I was suspicious of the story when I saw it this morning, but two different legal news sites are reporting it.
Kevin Bain, administrative manager, on Facebook:
Any business that tells me to put on a mask (Whole Foods on Lomo Alto) in Dallas will get told to kiss my Corona ass and will lose my business forever. It’s time to stop this BULLSHIT. Do I have to show the lame security guard outside of a ghetto store my CV19 test result? I will show him my Glock 21 shooting range results. With Hornady hollow points. Pricey ammo, but worth it in this situation. They have reached the limit. I have more power than they do … they just don’t know it yet.
Thompson & Knight, LLP:
This afternoon we learned that an administrative employee of the firm issued a threatening and offensive post on a personal social media account related to COVID-19 mask protections. This post is a complete violation of the values of our firm, including our commitment to the health and safety of the communities we serve. We have terminated this individual’s employment and notified the proper authorities about the post as a precaution. We are deeply sorry for the situation. This type of post is not and never will be tolerated by our firm.
I hope the cops are having some good long discussions with that guy. And perhaps a local prosecutor should be involved.
According to Bloomberg, Republicans are now saying they can’t give any more relief to people hurt by Covid and unemployment, because gosh darn it the deficit is just so high.
What I recalled was three people in a room in Hell claiming they shouldn’t be there, then slowly confessing what they did that put them there. Then I peeked at the Wikipedia entry.
Sibling and I just got back from *finally* getting antibody tests done. We had a elderly family member test positive (and recover, thank god) weeks ago and were on the list for testing due to third hand exposure (having several medical people in the family treating COVID patients doesn’t help). I’m not sure we’ve had it – I was ill with something strange back in late Feb but nothing as bad as people have commented on. However, testing means we can end self-isolation so out we went.
Good news! There’s no FDA oversight on antibody tests, so you can save money by having a dog lick you, and then seeing if his next potty break involves poo or just pee!
Oh, that’s not good news.
If you get a positive test result, I wouldn’t take it as gospel that you’ve been exposed and are likely immune. We don’t know the false positive rate, and that seems like a lot to risk your life on. I’d get another test done by another company, and only feel certain if the results agree.
Just another way we have fucked up testing in this country.
On other things, I’m on podcasts now taking a break from audio books. Reading Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States was draining.
I found a podcast called Cautionary Tales, by Tim Harford. It’s about disasters, accidents, and crimes, with a close look at how they came about. This complements my interest in air crash investigations, albeit the detail doesn’t go as far.
It also looks like Harford has some interesting books. I put those in the back-back burner (the back burner is full).
Good news! There’s no FDA oversight on antibody tests, so you can save money by having a dog lick you, and then seeing if his next potty break involves poo or just pee!
On the other hand, there are folks that figured you might just care about that, so they tested the tests…
tl/dr: Four assays (Bioperfectus, Premier, Wondfo, in-house ELISA) achieved >80% positivity in the latest two time intervals (16-20 and >20 days) while maintaining >95% specificity.
I call it “reading” when a cultured voice actor reads to me an audio book (or a professor lectures on the Great Courses). It can still be exhausting.
One early book I read that way which left me thoroughly drained was Inferno by Max Hastings. it’s a look at letters, diaries, etc. written in the midst of WWII, with some narrative of events to place it in context.
@Gustopher @Liberal Capitalist:
Oh, definitely planning on it- especially if we do end up going to Disney in Sep (looking likely, fam not backing down). Took pics of the paperwork and kit when I could to see if I could look them up.
I’m unsure I’m reading the site correctly though or it doesn’t seem to be comprehensive. Paperwork has it listed as “TaqPath COVID-19 NP Swab” and “IgM/IgG Panel” and Google led me to Thermo Fisher Scientific. I also know Bostonheart Diagnostics is the lab running it. Does that mean anything to anybody?
@Kathy: Again, and in fairness to Trump, it may be unreasonable to think of Trump using the Defense Production Act because the act calls for the government to contract with the various production facilities that will be… well commandeered, in fact.
This means that those factories will need to be paid by the government for what they produce. When has Trump ever paid anyone?
Out of curiosity, you said that you read parts of it in high school. It seems odd to not read a whole one act play. Did they assign only parts of it, or did you choose to find something else to read?
It was a class called, more or less “Reading and writing workshop.” We read, during class, lots of pieces from plays and novels, and sometimes whole poems. Assignments were confined to short stories (the teacher had a fetish for Magic Realism in Latin America, I never warmed up to it) . There was no real writing involved.
I don’r remember why or how we got to “No exit,” or what parts we read (for all I can recall, we read the whole thing), but I think it had something to do with how character or settings are revealed.
Today is 32 years since I first met my wife. I was in the Navy and stationed at Subic Bay Philippines at the time. Dear Wife was visiting her cousin at Subic. I knew the husband of her cousin. The cousin introduced us.
DW is 5′ and I’m 6’1. We met at the base bowling alley. The first thing DW says to me?
“How tall are you?” May 11th has ever since been ‘How tall are you day?’ Our 31st wedding anniversary* is later this month.
Kaspersky finally got around to refunding me my $74.99. I am still angry with them. For violating their own autorenewal policy that says you will be informed of the upcoming charge. Their charging me full price isn’t any better so far as I am concerned. So its off to BitDefender the first chance** I get.
My 85-year-old neighbor called me yesterday asking if I could take him to the grocery store***. I said no. I’m still isolating myself 99% of the time. The only times I go out 1- Dr appointments 2- My early morning walk 3- My early morning doing laundry. The walks/laundry are done sometime between 5-6:30 and almost nobody is around so social distancing isn’t a problem.
I continue to feel good.
*- DW and I got married twice, which isn’t unusual in the Philippines. Our civil wedding was May 30 1989 and our church wedding is June 17 1989.
**- I bought a new subscription last December which hasn’t been activated yet. Last weekend I wrote Kaspersky asking that order be cancelled and I get a refund. I haven’t heard back yet nor do I have high hopes for a positive response. So I’m likely to be still using Kaspersky Internet Security till May 2021.
***- Since moving here, I have been taking the neighbor to the grocery store 1 or 2 times a week till the coronavirus plus my recent bout of pulmonary edema.
*- DW and I got married twice, which isn’t unusual in the Philippines. Our civil wedding was May 30 1989 and our church wedding is June 17 1989.
That’s the common custom in Mexico, too. On the other hand, we don’t do things like a rehearsal dinner.
It used to be, by law, that in order to perform a religious ceremony, there had to be a valid civil marriage certificate. I though that was how the custom originated. For the past 30 years or so, that has no longer been the case. Whatever the origin, the custom has stuck.
Usually the “civil wedding” is smaller and less formal, but not always.
Don’t think anyone posted this yet. If they did, I’m sorry for the re-post.
Yes, let’s eliminate a grant specifically extended by NIH for bat-hosted viruses. Why? They collaborated with an infectious disease lab in Wuhan, Chaaaaiiiina.
Seriously, if we added together the IQs of Trump and Gaetz, would the sum reach triple digits?
It used to be, by law, that in order to perform a religious ceremony, there had to be a valid civil marriage certificate. I though that was how the custom originated. For the past 30 years or so, that has no longer been the case. Whatever the origin, the custom has stuck.
Usually the “civil wedding” is smaller and less formal, but not always.
A civil wedding isn’t a requirement in the Philippines.
I forgot to mention something earlier. Today marks the return of the ‘Prodigal Freezer’. In 1991 DW and I became Costco members. Costco sells meat in bulk. Our refrigerator at the time didn’t have a big freezer, my Dad who was living with us at the time, liked Costco’s meat and we went 50/50 on the purchase of a small freezer.
We had the freezer till 2015. Dad died in 1997. 2015, our house was lost to foreclosure, so we moved to a 2-bedroom apartment. DW and I wanted to keep the freezer but we didn’t have the space for it. The people who helped us move, were two of DW’s co-workers at church. Our freezer was hauled away to the church.
I assumed it was long gone. We moved last year and our new place has a patio which we use for storage and for hanging clothes to dry.
While talking with DW recently, I learned the freezer was still at the church. After making sure it still works, DW’s co-worker delivered it to our place a few minutes ago. We are again proud owners of a 29-year-old Kenmore mini-freezer. (About 3 or 4 feet tall) Call it the return of prodigal freezer for it was away for five years and one month almost but it came back home.
Not related: if there is a GOP convention this year, I mean with a packed arena and all, wouldn’t it be a nice touch for someone to hand out Kool-Aid packets to all comers?
@Teve:
I assume el presidente is exempt from this dictate? Why don’t the staffers respond by saying, “If the president won’t wear a mask because he’s afraid of looking silly, neither will we.”
I can offer $0.05 for an indulgence if that will help 🙂
One time I emailed a hotel, they emailed me back, I emailed them a question, and their reply got sent to the SPAM folder. Weird. Sometimes I think software has become self-aware and it’s yet to figure out the difference between being whimsical and annoying.
@Kathy:
Yes; that happens to me. Legit mail–addressees with whom I’ve corresponded previously–get suddenly consigned to spam for no apparent reason. Mostly this occurs with gmail.
The herd immunity crowd reminds me of the nuclear winter debate in the 80s. In an editorial, Asimov said “We can’t have a nuclear war to see if we kill off all humanity or only half,” in sarcastic satire of parts of the debate.
With herd immunity, we cannot expose everyone to SARS-CoV2 and see if we kill tens of millions or only millions.
The last large pandemic, the flu of 1918-1919, killed fifty million. Is that fair price to pay for not having lock downs and not wearing masks?
@Bill: I bought a Kenmore mini freezer for my first apartment (it only had an icebox type installation in the refrigerator itself, not a separate freezer like modern ones do). It was great. When I moved and got a place with a real refrigerator, I gave the freezer to a friend and he used it until it died about 15 or 2o years later.
Lock Her Up! Lock Her Up!
The Four Men Responsible For America’s COVID-19 Test Disaster
Actor and comedian Jerry Stiller has died of natural causes, Ben Stiller says
(NYT) Bill Barr Twisted My Words in Dropping the Flynn Case. Here’s the Truth.
A major blow in bringing corvid to heel has been struck:
“F*ck Elon Musk.”
-Lorena S Gonzalez,
“Mama, Labor Leader turned CA Assemblywoman [and] Progressive Latina Democrat”
@Kit: Well I feel better now.
@OzarkHillbilly: Elon’s been crazy/stupid for the last several months. Which, having followed him for years and read books about him, is nothing unusual.
The Appalling Damage of Dropping the Michael Flynn Case
The Base.
US district attorneys condemn recused prosecutor in Ahmaud Arbery case–
That certainly can happen. A case in point, FBI Agent David Farrell got just 90 days for a fatal Florida DUI crash The ridiculous being largely caused by the totally screwed up investigation of the accident which at first blamed the victims even though Farrell had .17 blood alcohol level.
So I can definitely believe the McMichaels getting away with the lynching they committed.
The headline of the day-
Iran naval exercise accident kills 19 sailors
Missiles and Iran aren’t mixing too well of late.
@Teve: As far as I can tell, Elon’s always been crazy/stupid. He’s also intelligent. Funny how often those go together.
@sam:
Not just superior jeans, but a dazzling intellect as well.
I have to keep reminding myself that if this were really The Bad Place, I’d have memories of a life.
@sam:
He may be wearing Versace jeans, but he got them at TJ Maxx. They’re irregular.
@sam: Ye Olde Photo-shoppe.
@Kathy:
Not necessarily… You ever read “No Exit”?
@Kurtz: Hell is other people, especially those ones over there.
@Teve:
Sibling and I just got back from *finally* getting antibody tests done. We had a elderly family member test positive (and recover, thank god) weeks ago and were on the list for testing due to third hand exposure (having several medical people in the family treating COVID patients doesn’t help). I’m not sure we’ve had it – I was ill with something strange back in late Feb but nothing as bad as people have commented on. However, testing means we can end self-isolation so out we went.
The whole thing was *ridiculous*. Not only were appointments hard as hell to get (much clicking on refresh to see when a slot was available for over a week now) but there was a line of people standing outside in the rain for a chance to squeeze into the queue. There’s a real need for these tests to reassure people and offer a baseline for safe re-opening but there’s just not enough. A sign on the wall from the day before indicated they’d run out of tests *before noon* and people should try their luck again tomorrow. There’s no reason for it – at this point, there should be plenty of testing for everyone who wants or needs it. I felt so bad for the techs just doing their job when someone started getting bitchy about the wait or the fact that they will run out of tests before the end of the day. The stress from working at one of these sites must be incredible…..
@KM:
And, as with everything caused by the administration’s utterly incompetent, failed response…it didn’t have to be this way.
@Kit:
Sacre bleu.
(NYT) The Trump Administration Is Made of Swiss Cheese
@OzarkHillbilly:
But Trump likes it that way. He’s said numerous times that he likes chaos. He likes to keep people uncertain and fearful, because that, he believes, ensures their loyalty to him. Further, he likes having acting directors because he doesn’t need senate approval for them, and he can fire them more easily.
The Guardian:
@Mikey:
I’ve heard the question, in good faith, of what could Trump, and what passes for his administration, have done to better respond to the pandemic. Not being an expert of any sort, this off the top of my head answer will be incomplete:
Use the Defense Production Act to procure more ventilators and protective equipment, as well as extra hand sanitizer.
Make millions of test kits.
Banning all travel from China seemed extreme even in February, but administering tests to arriving passengers and having them isolate for 14 days was not.
Prepare a nationwide program of testing and tracing, with mandatory isolation for anyone found positive.
Prepare the nation for a lock down, should one be necessary. this would mean advertising the possibility, but also preparing economic measures to support the unemployed and small business.
That’s just off the top of my head. I’m sure there were other measures experts would recommend.
What we know is: don’t play it down, don’t say it will go away, and don’t waste time.
@Kathy: $2k per month to every person laid off this year until unemployment falls below 10%.
@Kurtz:
We read parts of it in high school, and the teacher did an analysis. As I recall, the three damned souls remembered their lives.
early joke of the day:
Joe dies and arrives in Hell. A demon shows him the sights first, while letting him know what awaits him for eternity. Amid all the eternal tortures, they come to a room with a long line of beautiful women, dressed in short, form-fitting outfits and fully made up, waiting to go in.
“What’s in there?” Joe asks.
“I’ll show you,” the demon replies. opening the door.
Inside there’s a honeymoon suite, and on the bed is Donald Trump having sex with one of the women.
Back outside, Jose says “I don’t get it. Wasn’t he a terrible person?”
The demon replies, “These women did awful things. Donald Trump is their punishment.”
The US is testing slightly fewer than 248,000 tests per day. To contain this we need multiples more.
@Kathy:
I would have to look, but I thought it took effort for them to figure out who they were in life. It has been years, so you’re probably correct.
I was suspicious of the story when I saw it this morning, but two different legal news sites are reporting it.
Kevin Bain, administrative manager, on Facebook:
Thompson & Knight, LLP:
I hope the cops are having some good long discussions with that guy. And perhaps a local prosecutor should be involved.
According to Bloomberg, Republicans are now saying they can’t give any more relief to people hurt by Covid and unemployment, because gosh darn it the deficit is just so high.
This is great:
https//:coming42.livejournal.com/479179.html
Leave it to a Brit.
@Kurtz:
But I looked 😉
What I recalled was three people in a room in Hell claiming they shouldn’t be there, then slowly confessing what they did that put them there. Then I peeked at the Wikipedia entry.
You know, I really want this question asked at one of the press rallies, just so we could hear an orange head response…
“Mr. President – as a sitting Republican President, why did your administration so quickly embrace socialism as a response to Covid-19?“
@KM:
Good news! There’s no FDA oversight on antibody tests, so you can save money by having a dog lick you, and then seeing if his next potty break involves poo or just pee!
Oh, that’s not good news.
If you get a positive test result, I wouldn’t take it as gospel that you’ve been exposed and are likely immune. We don’t know the false positive rate, and that seems like a lot to risk your life on. I’d get another test done by another company, and only feel certain if the results agree.
Just another way we have fucked up testing in this country.
On other things, I’m on podcasts now taking a break from audio books. Reading Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States was draining.
I found a podcast called Cautionary Tales, by Tim Harford. It’s about disasters, accidents, and crimes, with a close look at how they came about. This complements my interest in air crash investigations, albeit the detail doesn’t go as far.
It also looks like Harford has some interesting books. I put those in the back-back burner (the back burner is full).
@Liberal Capitalist:
Do you think Trump can define socialism any more than one of his acolytes can?
@Kathy:
What did you find?
@Gustopher:
On the other hand, there are folks that figured you might just care about that, so they tested the tests…
About the testing methodology and meta:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/health/coronavirus-antibody-tests.html
the results of the various test tests:
https://covidtestingproject.org/
tl/dr: Four assays (Bioperfectus, Premier, Wondfo, in-house ELISA) achieved >80% positivity in the latest two time intervals (16-20 and >20 days) while maintaining >95% specificity.
@Kathy:
Considering that most computers and phones will read it to you… why did you not choose that option. You don’t strike me as a luddite. 😉
@liberal capitalist:
I call it “reading” when a cultured voice actor reads to me an audio book (or a professor lectures on the Great Courses). It can still be exhausting.
One early book I read that way which left me thoroughly drained was Inferno by Max Hastings. it’s a look at letters, diaries, etc. written in the midst of WWII, with some narrative of events to place it in context.
@Gustopher @Liberal Capitalist:
Oh, definitely planning on it- especially if we do end up going to Disney in Sep (looking likely, fam not backing down). Took pics of the paperwork and kit when I could to see if I could look them up.
I’m unsure I’m reading the site correctly though or it doesn’t seem to be comprehensive. Paperwork has it listed as “TaqPath COVID-19 NP Swab” and “IgM/IgG Panel” and Google led me to Thermo Fisher Scientific. I also know Bostonheart Diagnostics is the lab running it. Does that mean anything to anybody?
@sam: In fairness, I do have to note that the jeans the guys in the picture are wearing seem to be really nice. Not faded or ripped or anything.
@Kurtz:
They are reluctant to admit their wrongs, but eventually get to it.
@Kathy: Again, and in fairness to Trump, it may be unreasonable to think of Trump using the Defense Production Act because the act calls for the government to contract with the various production facilities that will be… well commandeered, in fact.
This means that those factories will need to be paid by the government for what they produce. When has Trump ever paid anyone?
The DOJ may charge Gregory and Travis McMichael with federal hate crimes.
@Kathy:
Ah, yes. I figured you were correct.
Out of curiosity, you said that you read parts of it in high school. It seems odd to not read a whole one act play. Did they assign only parts of it, or did you choose to find something else to read?
@CSK: “The DOJ may charge Gregory and Travis McMichael with federal hate crimes.”
I thought under AG Barr, the only federal hate crime was being mean to Donald Trump.
Kathy:
The Aviationist has a story today about the real Six Million Dollar Man. I can provide the link if you’d like.
@wr:
Yeah. I don’t know how they slipped up on that.
@Kurtz:
It was a class called, more or less “Reading and writing workshop.” We read, during class, lots of pieces from plays and novels, and sometimes whole poems. Assignments were confined to short stories (the teacher had a fetish for Magic Realism in Latin America, I never warmed up to it) . There was no real writing involved.
I don’r remember why or how we got to “No exit,” or what parts we read (for all I can recall, we read the whole thing), but I think it had something to do with how character or settings are revealed.
@CSK:
Thanks. Would you believe it was in my email Friday with the Fear of Landing weekly digest?
Serenity Now!
@Kathy:
Glad you got it. It was an interesting story.
Kathy, my reply to you is awaiting moderation. God knows why.
Today is 32 years since I first met my wife. I was in the Navy and stationed at Subic Bay Philippines at the time. Dear Wife was visiting her cousin at Subic. I knew the husband of her cousin. The cousin introduced us.
DW is 5′ and I’m 6’1. We met at the base bowling alley. The first thing DW says to me?
“How tall are you?” May 11th has ever since been ‘How tall are you day?’ Our 31st wedding anniversary* is later this month.
Kaspersky finally got around to refunding me my $74.99. I am still angry with them. For violating their own autorenewal policy that says you will be informed of the upcoming charge. Their charging me full price isn’t any better so far as I am concerned. So its off to BitDefender the first chance** I get.
My 85-year-old neighbor called me yesterday asking if I could take him to the grocery store***. I said no. I’m still isolating myself 99% of the time. The only times I go out 1- Dr appointments 2- My early morning walk 3- My early morning doing laundry. The walks/laundry are done sometime between 5-6:30 and almost nobody is around so social distancing isn’t a problem.
I continue to feel good.
*- DW and I got married twice, which isn’t unusual in the Philippines. Our civil wedding was May 30 1989 and our church wedding is June 17 1989.
**- I bought a new subscription last December which hasn’t been activated yet. Last weekend I wrote Kaspersky asking that order be cancelled and I get a refund. I haven’t heard back yet nor do I have high hopes for a positive response. So I’m likely to be still using Kaspersky Internet Security till May 2021.
***- Since moving here, I have been taking the neighbor to the grocery store 1 or 2 times a week till the coronavirus plus my recent bout of pulmonary edema.
@Bill:
That’s the common custom in Mexico, too. On the other hand, we don’t do things like a rehearsal dinner.
It used to be, by law, that in order to perform a religious ceremony, there had to be a valid civil marriage certificate. I though that was how the custom originated. For the past 30 years or so, that has no longer been the case. Whatever the origin, the custom has stuck.
Usually the “civil wedding” is smaller and less formal, but not always.
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
Well, there must be someone… somewhere… that actually got a check that cleared from Dandy D.
Don’t think anyone posted this yet. If they did, I’m sorry for the re-post.
Yes, let’s eliminate a grant specifically extended by NIH for bat-hosted viruses. Why? They collaborated with an infectious disease lab in Wuhan, Chaaaaiiiina.
Seriously, if we added together the IQs of Trump and Gaetz, would the sum reach triple digits?
@Kathy:
A civil wedding isn’t a requirement in the Philippines.
I forgot to mention something earlier. Today marks the return of the ‘Prodigal Freezer’. In 1991 DW and I became Costco members. Costco sells meat in bulk. Our refrigerator at the time didn’t have a big freezer, my Dad who was living with us at the time, liked Costco’s meat and we went 50/50 on the purchase of a small freezer.
We had the freezer till 2015. Dad died in 1997. 2015, our house was lost to foreclosure, so we moved to a 2-bedroom apartment. DW and I wanted to keep the freezer but we didn’t have the space for it. The people who helped us move, were two of DW’s co-workers at church. Our freezer was hauled away to the church.
I assumed it was long gone. We moved last year and our new place has a patio which we use for storage and for hanging clothes to dry.
While talking with DW recently, I learned the freezer was still at the church. After making sure it still works, DW’s co-worker delivered it to our place a few minutes ago. We are again proud owners of a 29-year-old Kenmore mini-freezer. (About 3 or 4 feet tall) Call it the return of prodigal freezer for it was away for five years and one month almost but it came back home.
@CSK:
One wonders what it did.
Not related: if there is a GOP convention this year, I mean with a packed arena and all, wouldn’t it be a nice touch for someone to hand out Kool-Aid packets to all comers?
@Teve:
I assume el presidente is exempt from this dictate? Why don’t the staffers respond by saying, “If the president won’t wear a mask because he’s afraid of looking silly, neither will we.”
@Kathy:
I can’t imagine. And it’s sill languishing in comment purgatory.
As for the Republican convention, I have a feeling that many prospective attendees will quietly decide not to show up for it.
@CSK:
I can offer $0.05 for an indulgence if that will help 🙂
One time I emailed a hotel, they emailed me back, I emailed them a question, and their reply got sent to the SPAM folder. Weird. Sometimes I think software has become self-aware and it’s yet to figure out the difference between being whimsical and annoying.
@Kathy:
Yes; that happens to me. Legit mail–addressees with whom I’ve corresponded previously–get suddenly consigned to spam for no apparent reason. Mostly this occurs with gmail.
The herd immunity crowd reminds me of the nuclear winter debate in the 80s. In an editorial, Asimov said “We can’t have a nuclear war to see if we kill off all humanity or only half,” in sarcastic satire of parts of the debate.
With herd immunity, we cannot expose everyone to SARS-CoV2 and see if we kill tens of millions or only millions.
The last large pandemic, the flu of 1918-1919, killed fifty million. Is that fair price to pay for not having lock downs and not wearing masks?
@Kathy: Good point. It seems like there’s still so much we don’t really know about covid.
I can’t be the only person who looks at the Mos Eisley Cantina, and thinks, well I’m from Florida, do I even need to call ahead to get a table?
@Bill: I bought a Kenmore mini freezer for my first apartment (it only had an icebox type installation in the refrigerator itself, not a separate freezer like modern ones do). It was great. When I moved and got a place with a real refrigerator, I gave the freezer to a friend and he used it until it died about 15 or 2o years later.
@Kathy: I think handing out bottles of Clorox would be more appropriate.