1/ Frank Rich gives us his wisdom.....
He’s doing about as well as you’d expect. Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
Most weeks, New York Magazine writer-at-large Frank Rich speaks with contributor Alex Carp about the biggest stories in politics and culture. Today, Trump’s response to coronavirus shortages, how the press should cover Trump’s exaggerations and failed promises, and how to hold primaries during a pandemic.
As the coronavirus-related layoffs and medical needs pile up, experts are concluding that a strong federal response is needed. Is the Trump administration capable of rising to the occasion?
The president who is leading this country into battle cares about no one but himself, continues to lie to Americans daily about the most basic imperatives of a public-health catastrophe, and presides over an administration staffed with incompetent, third-tier bootlickers and grifters.
2/ Most interesting six minute video from Vox on how comedians, and only comedians have figured out how to cover Trump's BS. It's nice to have our clips on DDD validated, and this is why we are missing the comedic reporting during this crisis.....we need them to expose the BS, and we also could use a good laugh....
Recommended!
3/ Andrew Sullivan with a poignant essay on plagues....
Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images
It’s quite possible that by the end of all this, almost every American will know of someone who has died. A relative, a friend, an old high-school classmate … the names will pop up and migrate through Facebook as the weeks go by, and in a year’s time, Facebook will duly remind you of the grief or shock you experienced. The names of the sick will appear to be randomly selected — the ones you expected and the ones you really didn’t, the famous and the obscure, the vile and the virtuous. And you will feel the same pang of shock each time someone you know turns out to have fallen ill.
You’ll wake up each morning and check to see if you have a persistent cough, or a headache, or a tightness in the lungs.
https://nymag.com/
4/ Look at this video and read the Twitter storm - when Trump said he had a virus test, he lied.....i.e. he hasn't been tested.
5/ A must read folks - nerdy but well researched story on the spread of Covid-19....and how the number of cases is going to explode within two weeks...
With everything that’s happening about the Coronavirus, it might be very hard to make a decision of what to do today. Should you wait for more information? Do something today? What?
Here’s what I’m going to cover in this article, with lots of charts, data and models with plenty of sources:
- How many cases of coronavirus will there be in your area?
- What will happen when these cases materialize?
- What should you do?
- When?
When you’re done reading the article, this is what you’ll take away:
The coronavirus is coming to you.
It’s coming at an exponential speed: gradually, and then suddenly.
It’s a matter of days. Maybe a week or two.
When it does, your healthcare system will be overwhelmed.
Your fellow citizens will be treated in the hallways.
Exhausted healthcare workers will break down. Some will die.
They will have to decide which patient gets the oxygen and which one dies.
The only way to prevent this is social distancing today. Not tomorrow. Today.
That means keeping as many people home as possible, starting now.
It’s coming at an exponential speed: gradually, and then suddenly.
It’s a matter of days. Maybe a week or two.
When it does, your healthcare system will be overwhelmed.
Your fellow citizens will be treated in the hallways.
Exhausted healthcare workers will break down. Some will die.
They will have to decide which patient gets the oxygen and which one dies.
The only way to prevent this is social distancing today. Not tomorrow. Today.
That means keeping as many people home as possible, starting now.
6/ John Oliver with an excellent summary of the coronavirus crisis.....comedic reporting indeed.
Twenty two good minutes....
7/ A most disturbing article about what happens to your body when it's attacked by the virus.....wow...
Photo: Dr. F.A. Murphy/Getty Images/Visuals Unlimited
You call a friend and arrange to meet for lunch. It’s unseasonably springlike, so you choose a place with outdoor seating, which seems like it should be safer. As usual, you take all reasonable precautions: You use hand sanitizer, sit a good distance from other customers, and try to avoid touching your face, though that last part is hard. A part of you suspects that this whole thing might be overblown.
8/ How to do social distancing properly.....
As Americans and people around the world are being asked to help halt the spread of the coronavirus, we have frequently been told to practice social distancing. The idea is to “flatten the curve,” or slow the spread of the virus, decreasing the number of people who get sick at one time and the risk of overwhelming our medical system. In practice, social distancing mostly means avoiding close contact with people who do not live with you, and also public spaces, where surfaces may be contaminated. But, no matter how often we have been given such advice, it can be hard to totally change our habits, and the specific advice about how to behave can be confusing and overwhelming.
9/ Tom Tomorrow.....wonderful!
10/ Interesting analysis of who Biden might pick as VP.....
President Harry Truman said of the vice presidency, “Look at all the Vice Presidents in history. Where are they? They were about as useful as a cow’s fifth teat.”
Perhaps no one has summarized the vice president’s job as succinctly as Joe Biden: “It’s easy to be vice president — you don’t have to do anything.”
Of course, that is not exactly true. There are lots of funerals to attend. And if you are a really unlucky vice president, you get stuck leading a task force charged with stopping a seemingly unstoppable infectious disease.
https://medium.com/@
11/ Fox News has done a pivot on coronavirus coverage.....have a look at this supercut of their hypocrisy... the Trumpies
are getting some of the truth, but according to the next article the facts are reluctantly given and mixed in with distortions........
12/ All BS all the time....Fox "News" is why 40% of the country is not just not informed, but dangerously so....
The coronavirus has struck virtually every age group throughout the world, but it has proven more lethal to older people. Those aged 60 and older have accounted for the majority of deaths in the United States, and medical experts have warned the public for weeks of the pandemic’s intensifying danger. Elderly Americans also are the average cable-news viewers. And of the networks commonly included in that category, Fox NewsChannel remains the most popular one in prime time.
Rupert Murdoch’s Fox cable networks, amid this crisis, have not been diverted from their primary mission, even if misinformation is the price.https://www.
13/ And of course a Floriduh story that is just bizarre......no tests or testing for the virus....
And as of today, Saturday March 21st, there are just a few tests trickling through....
MIAMI — At the Florida community of The Villages, the retirement capital of America and the place with the nation’s highest concentration of older people, only 33 people have been tested for the coronavirus.
In the Florida Keys, swamped with young spring breakers and travelers from around the world, just 16 people had been tested by Monday night. Ten of Florida’s 67 counties have tested no one at all.
A disease that is deadly to the elderly and easily spread by the young has left Florida especially vulnerable.
Todays Australian joke
Three friends married women from different parts of the world.
The first man married a Greek girl. He told her that she was to do the dishes and house cleaning. It took a couple of days, but on the third day he came home to see a clean house and dishes washed and put away.
The second man married a Thai girl. He gave his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes and the cooking. The first day he didn’t see any results but the next day he saw it was better. By the third day he saw his house was clean, the dishes were done and there was a huge dinner on the table.
The third man married a girl from Australia. He ordered her to keep the house cleaned, dishes washed, lawn mowed, laundry washed and hot meals on the table for every meal. The first day he didn’t see anything, the second day he didn’t see anything either but by the third day, some of the swelling had gone down and he could see a little out of his left eye. His arm was healed enough that he could fix himself a sandwich and load the dishwasher.
He still has some difficulty when he urinates.
Todays Little Johnny joke
The teacher asked class to use the word "fascinate" in a sentence.
Molly put up her hand and said, "My family went to my granddad's
farm, and we all saw his pet sheep. It was fascinating".
The teacher said, "That was good, but I wanted you to use the word
"fascinate, not fascinating".
Sally raised her hand. She said, "My family went to see Rock City
and I was fascinated".
The teacher said, "Well, that was good Sally, but I wanted you to use
the word fascinate".
Little Johnny raised his hand.
The teacher hesitated because she had been burned by Little Johnny before.
She finally decided there was no way he could damage the word
"fascinate" so she called on him.
Molly put up her hand and said, "My family went to my granddad's
farm, and we all saw his pet sheep. It was fascinating".
The teacher said, "That was good, but I wanted you to use the word
"fascinate, not fascinating".
Sally raised her hand. She said, "My family went to see Rock City
and I was fascinated".
The teacher said, "Well, that was good Sally, but I wanted you to use
the word fascinate".
Little Johnny raised his hand.
The teacher hesitated because she had been burned by Little Johnny before.
She finally decided there was no way he could damage the word
"fascinate" so she called on him.
Johnny said, "My aunt Carolyn has a sweater with ten buttons, but
her tits are so big she can only fasten eight!"
The teacher sat down and cried.
her tits are so big she can only fasten eight!"
The teacher sat down and cried.
Todays guy joke
A young man moved out from home and into a new apartment.
He went proudly down to the lobby to put his name on his mailbox.
While there, a stunning young lady came out of the apartment next to the mailboxes, wearing only a robe.
The man smiled at the young woman and she started up a conversation with him.
As they talked her robe slipped open and it was obvious that she had nothing else on. The poor kid broke into a sweat trying to maintain eye contact.
After a few minutes, she placed her hand on his arm and said,
"Let's go to my apartment, I hear someone coming".
He followed her into her apartment, she closed the door and leaned against it, allowing her robe to fall off completely.
Now nude, she purred at him, "What would you say is my best feature?"
Flustered and embarrassed, he finally squeaked,
"It's got to be your ears".
Astounded and a little hurt she asked,
"My ears, look at these breasts, they are a full 38 inches and 100% natural.
I work out every day and my ass is firm and solid. I have a 24 inch waist.
I work out every day and my ass is firm and solid. I have a 24 inch waist.
Look at my skin, not a blemish anywhere.
How can you think that the best part of my body is my ears?"
How can you think that the best part of my body is my ears?"
Clearing his throat, he stammered,
"Outside when you said you heard someone coming, that was me".
Todays philosophical jokes
Todays married guy joke
After being married for thirty years, a wife asked her husband to describe her.
He looked at her for a while, then said,
"You're an alphabet wife..... A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K."
"You're an alphabet wife..... A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K."
She asks ..."What the hell does that mean?"
He said, "Adorable, Beautiful, Cute, Delightful, Elegant, Fabulous, Gorgeous, and Hot".
She smiled happily and said ...
"Oh, that's so lovely, but what about I, J, K?"
He said, "Adorable, Beautiful, Cute, Delightful, Elegant, Fabulous, Gorgeous, and Hot".
She smiled happily and said ...
"Oh, that's so lovely, but what about I, J, K?"
He said, "I'm Just Kidding!"
