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solarbirdThere are a couple of things, I think, going on with the rightist efforts to stop coronavirus measures.
The first is just normal reality-denying horseshit, which the GOP have made their brand and let take over everything. Massive reality deficit continues and we'll all pay for it.
Second, though - I think with Donkeyballs Donald's involvement, he's such a psychopath that I think it's more of a specific plan. If they do manage to spread the disease wildly with these rallies (as is fairly likely), then they'll go "SEE NONE OF IT WORKED AND YOU POOCHED THE ECONOMY YOU COMMIES" and blame Democratic leaders who have been trying to get this under control.
And yeah, I'm totally willing to believe that's intentional. Fuckers. Anyway, enjoy(?) your headlines.
----- 1 -----
Seth Abramson
twitter.com/SethAbramson
2:20 PM · Apr 18, 2020
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1251621579324379136
DISINFORMATION ALERT: Today Trump is spreading the dangerous disinformation that new daily coronavirus infections in the U.S. "peaked" on April 4. The truth: the U.S. is on Day 18 of a new-infections *plateau* where *each day* sees 26,000 to 34,000 new infections. Please RETWEET.
----- 2 -----
KTLA
twitter.com/KTLA
Apr 17 2020
https://twitter.com/i/status/1251259183820795904
BREAKING: Demonstrators could be seen holding up signs that read, “Liberate Huntington Beach,” “Open Cali Now,” “Let us work,” “”Pandemics does not cancel our constitutional rights!!” and “COVID-19 is a lie.”
[LINK TO]
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/demonstrators-gather-in-huntington-beach-to-protest-states-stay-at-home-order-and-defying-social-distancing-rules/
[EDITOR: Embedded photo, protestor holding up sign "SOCIAL DISTANCING = COMMUNISM"]
[THREAD]
“We’re here in defiance of Gavin Newsom and his socialist agenda to ruin our economy,” one of dozens anti-stay-at-home protestors in Huntington Beach today said. “We’re definitely not practicing social distancing, which is all right in my book.”
"The virus is not true. I mean, it's true, but it's not like a pandemic. We think it's New World Order trying to take over," Becky Walker Fagernes said. "I’m not gonna wear a mask. I’m not gonna be a sheep."
----- 3 -----
Maryn McKenna
twitter.com/marynmck
April 18, 2020
https://twitter.com/marynmck/status/1251538798292467712
The chief executive of a MA hospital, outbid for PPE by the feds multiple times, cut a deal, paid extra, hired the trucks — and then was interrogated by the FBI and had to get his Congressperson to intervene to keep DHS from heisting the shipment.
[LINKS TO]
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2010025
----- 4 -----
‘Who takes a victory lap on piles of corpses?’: Trump blasted as ‘sociopathic monster’ for bragging about 65,000 deaths
April 18, 2020
By David Badash
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/who-takes-a-victory-lap-on-piles-of-corpses-trump-blasted-as-sociopathic-monster-for-bragging-about-65000-deaths/
President Donald Trump is being blasted for his apparent bragging about and celebrating “only” 60,000 to 65,000 coronavirus deaths. The actual number of Americans who have died so far is currently 37,095, but Trump is projecting a little less than twice that number will lose their lives to the virus he spent months ignoring until it was too late.
Friday evening Trump spent several minutes rattling off a long litany of numbers, comparing his projected coronavirus deaths to other possible horrific death projections, in a clear attempt to frame his disastrous mismanagement of the pandemic. As he did, many took to social media to slam the President’s callous lack of empathy.
----- 5 -----
Governor Jay Inslee [Washington State]
twitter.com/GovInslee
12:46 PM · Apr 17, 2020
https://twitter.com/GovInslee/status/1251235713414123521
The president’s statements this morning encourage illegal and dangerous acts. He is putting millions of people in danger of contracting COVID-19.
His unhinged rantings and calls for people to “liberate” states could also lead to violence. We’ve seen it before. 1/7
[THREAD REPRODUCED IN FULL HERE, STARTS AT LINK ABOVE]
The president is fomenting domestic rebellion and spreading lies - even while his own administration says the virus is real, it is deadly and we have a long way to go before restrictions can be lifted. 2/7
Yesterday, the president told the nation science would guide his plan for easing restrictions. The White House released a sensible plan to resume economic activity.
24 hrs later he is off the rails, ignoring his own plan and spewing dangerous, anti-democratic rhetoric. 3/7
The president’s actions threaten his own goal of recovery. His words will likely cause a spike in infections where distancing is working.
That will further postpose the 14 days of decline his own guidance says is necessary to ease restrictions. 4/7
We appreciate our continued relationship with the vice president, Dr. Birx, Admiral Polowczyk, Admiral Giroir and others.
But their work is undermined by the president's irresponsible actions. 5/7
I hope someday we can look at today’s meltdown as something to be pitied, rather than condemned.
But we don’t have that luxury today. There is too much at stake. 6/7
I encourage political leaders to speak out firmly against the president’s calls for rebellion.
Americans need to work together to protect each other. That’s what is working in WA.
And it’s the only way to slow the spread of this virus and get us on the road to recovery. 7/7
----- 6 -----
In Trump's 'LIBERATE' tweets, extremists see a call to arms
Trump's tweets pushed many online extremist communities to speculate whether the president was advocating for armed conflict, an event they’ve termed “the boogaloo."
17 April 2020
By Ben Collins and Brandy Zadrozny
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/trump-s-liberate-tweets-extremists-see-call-arms-n1186561
When President Donald Trump tweeted "LIBERATE MINNESOTA!" on Friday morning, some of his most fervent supporters in far-right communities — including those who have agitated for violent insurrection — heard a call to arms.
The tweet was one of three sent from the president's account, along with "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!" and "LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!"
Trump's tweets came after small protests by Trump supporters broke out in a handful of states, many of which were fueled by anti-vaccination and anti-government groups. Anti-government sentiment has percolated among far-right extremists in recent weeks over the stay-at-home orders governors have issued to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Trump's tweets, however, pushed many online extremist communities to speculate whether the president was advocating for armed conflict, an event they’ve termed "the boogaloo," for which many far-right activists have been gearing up and advocating since last year.
There were sharp increases on Twitter in terms associated with conspiracies such as QAnon and the "boogaloo" term immediately following the president’s tweets, according to the Network Contagion Research Institute, an independent nonprofit group of scientists and engineers that tracks and reports on misinformation and hate speech across social media.
----- 7 -----
UW coronavirus model says Washington state could potentially start safely reopening the week of May 18
April 17, 2020
By Sandi Doughton
Seattle Times staff reporter
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/uw-coronavirus-model-says-washington-state-can-start-safely-reopening-the-week-of-may-18/
Modelers at the University of Washington are starting to tackle one of the questions on everyone’s mind as the arc of the novel coronavirus pandemic appears to be flattening in places like Washington state: When will it be safe to begin easing up on the restrictions keeping the virus in check?
According to the UW’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), Washington could cross that threshold the week of May 18. Estimates for other states range from as early as May 4 to as late as the end of June, based on the local status of the epidemic.
The latest projections are an outgrowth of IHME’s ongoing work to forecast the scope of the epidemic nationwide — in every state — and in several other countries. They come as the group’s work, which has been influential from the White House to state houses coast-to-coast, is attracting criticism from some disease experts.
[...]
This week, health officers from King, Snohomish and Pierce counties all stressed that the number of new infections must be very low before restrictions are lifted, or their staffs will be quickly overwhelmed — as they were when the epidemic first began exploding across the state.
They also emphasized the need to be ready with widespread testing and adequate hospital space and equipment to deal with a possible upswing.
----- 8 -----
US: Hundreds protest against coronavirus stay-at-home orders
Protests come as US deaths exceed 31,000; survey finds most Americans worry about virus restrictions lifted too soon.
18 April 2020
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/hundreds-protest-coronavirus-stay-home-orders-200418195601596.html
Hundreds of people have demonstrated in cities across the United States against coronavirus-related stay-at-home rules - with the explicit encouragement of President Donald Trump.
Some Americans, who live in parts of states with lower infection rates, have been made restless by restrictions that have more than 90 percent of the country under stay-at-home orders.
----- 9 -----
The rightwing groups behind wave of protests against Covid-19 restrictions
Protesters in Michigan and other states claim to speak for ordinary citizens, but are also supported by street-fighting far-right groups
17 April 2020
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/17/far-right-coronavirus-protests-restrictions
A wave of planned anti-lockdown demonstrations that have broken out around the country to protest against the efforts of state governments to combat the coronavirus pandemic with business closures and stay-at-home orders have included far-right groups as well as more mainstream Republicans.
While protesters in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and other states claim to speak for ordinary citizens, many are also supported by street-fighting rightwing groups like the Proud Boys, conservative armed militia groups, religious fundamentalists, anti-vaccination groups and other elements of the radical right.
On Wednesday in Lansing, Michigan, a protest put together by two Republican-connected not-for-profits was explicitly devised to cause gridlock in the city, and for a time blocked the entrance to a local hospital.
----- 10 -----
Louisiana pastor asks followers to send their stimulus checks to churches instead of buying food
April 16, 2020
By Brad Reed
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/louisiana-pastor-asks-followers-to-send-their-stimulus-checks-to-churches-instead-of-buying-food/
Tony Spell, the pastor at the Life Tabernacle Church in Central, Louisiana, believes his fellow pastors need your COVID-19 stimulus money more than you do.
TMZ reports that Spell has started a campaign called “#PastorSpellStimulusChallenge” in which followers are encouraged to send money they’ve received from the government as part of the federal stimulus package to evangelists and missionaries.
Spell claims that he and his wife are both donating their personal checks to churches in need instead of using it to pay for food, although he did not initially offer proof of doing so.
“His challenge also doesn’t seem to consider many people are in desperate need of their stimulus money for food, rent or bills,” notes TMZ.
----- 11 -----
Michigan Republicans introduce legislation that would limit Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency authority
Apr 16, 2020
By Lauren Gibbons | lgibbon2@mlive.com
https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2020/04/michigan-republicans-introduce-legislation-that-would-limit-gov-gretchen-whitmers-emergency-authority.html
Nine days after the Michigan legislature moved to extend Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s COVID-19 state of emergency to April 30, some Republican lawmakers are seeking to limit her authority in response to her latest updates to the stay-at-home order.
Under current law, Michigan governors can declare a state of emergency for up to 28 days, after which an extension is required by the state legislature. Whitmer initially requested a 70-day extension to her March 10 state of emergency, which Republicans believed was too long. They ultimately agreed to extend the state of emergency through April 30 in an unusual legislative session last week.
The state of emergency gives Whitmer and her administration additional executive authority to respond to the coronavirus without legislative approval, and has resulted in dozens of orders temporarily amending state laws and operations to cope with the disease.
----- 12 -----
A Timeline Of Coronavirus Comments From President Trump And WHO
April 15, 2020
by Tamara Keith and Malaka Gharib
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/04/15/835011346/a-timeline-of-coronavirus-comments-from-president-trump-and-who
On Tuesday, President Trump said he's suspending U.S. funding for the World Health Organization. He said the agency has "mismanaged" the pandemic, has been slow to respond to the crisis and is "China-centric."
We looked at the public record to see what Trump and the WHO had to say over the past 15 weeks about the coronavirus pandemic. Here's a timeline highlighting key quotes.
----- 13 -----
Pathetic displays like these are all Trump has left
By Greg Sargent
Opinion writer
April 16, 2020
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/16/pathetic-displays-like-these-are-all-trump-has-left/
When President Trump decided he wanted the economy to begin reopening very quickly, some governors promptly asserted that they would make this decision on their own schedules, in keeping with their states’ public health needs.
Was that a problem for Trump? Nope! Trump simply declared he has the “total” authority to command governors to do his bidding. He’s in charge!
But numerous experts then pointed out that Trump doesn’t actually have that authority, meaning that if he did issue such a command, no one would listen, making him look powerless and silly.
Was that a problem for Trump? Nope! Trump then simply asserted that he would authorize those governors to reopen the economy on their own schedules, even though he doesn’t have that power. He’s in charge!
So Trump then convened conference calls with business leaders to help him decide on new, nonbinding federal guidelines that would relax social distancing, to create the appearance of marshaling the country behind him as he projects decisiveness.
----- 14 -----
"It'll all be over by Christmas" [SPOILER: No it won't]
By Charlie Stross
April 16, 2020
https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2020/04/itll-all-be-over-by-christmas.html
Let me make some predictions, starting with:
No it won't.
Vaccine development will take a flat minimum of 12 months. Then another 1-3 months to ramp up (on a Manhattan Project management basis) and a to-some-extent-overlapping 1-3 months to roll out around the various nations that are involved. (I predict the USA will merrily go its own way and faceplant, unless y'all elect a competent next POTUS. Or VPOTUS, insofar as Biden appears to be past it and Pence is incompetent at anything but arse-licking.)
Meanwhile.
Lockdown can't be sustained more than 1-2 weeks after peak ICU occupancy passes, so it will be lifted in mid-May in the UK and possibly as early as May 1st in the USA. (I know the Eastern Coalition are kicking back against Trump's deranged demand for an early restart: I expect other states may also join in if their estimates of the long-term damage track reality.)
Trump is shooting for May 1st because he's been told the economy will take 6 months to recover, minimum, and he's shooting for the November election deadline. This is laughably optimistic, even if the pandemic had burned out by May 1st: we're in Greatest Depression territory already, the hospitality sector has crashed 75%, airlines have crashed 90%, etcetera. It's not going to be back to normal by November, even if the Fairy Godmother shows up and banishes the horrid virus with a wave of her wand. Period.
So. The immediate peak hospital occupancy will pass, lockdown will be lifted sector by sector (or all at once) and region by region ... and the 50% of COVID19 cases who are asymptomatic will go back to work, mingling with the uninfected.
1-4 weeks later there will be a secondary surge in infections and it'll follow the same exponential growth as the first spike in Feb/March. And lockdown will resume, probably in mid-June. (It may be mitigated by summer heat, in which case things will look good for a month or two longer, but I'm not holding my breath: even if heat prevents spread, the prevalence of air conditioning in public spaces in the US provides a transmission-friendly environment.)
----- 15 -----
Brian Schatz
twitter.com/brianschatz
April 16, 2020
https://twitter.com/brianschatz/status/1250840935367245824
It is April 16 and now they are "exploring ways of increasing coronavirus testing." We have been screaming about ramping up testing for three months, and they assured us it was happening. It is not. This was all preventable if they had listened to experts.
[QUOTED TWEET]
Geoff Bennett
twitter.com/GeoffRBennett
Apr 16, 2020
https://twitter.com/GeoffRBennett/status/1250838157576359938
NEW: The White House is exploring ways of dramatically increasing coronavirus testing, as Trump aides scramble to put measures in place that might make it feasible for him to meet his goal of reopening the economy in parts of the country by May 1. https://nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/widespread-testing-barrier-reopening-country-white-house-seeks-plan-n1185516
The first is just normal reality-denying horseshit, which the GOP have made their brand and let take over everything. Massive reality deficit continues and we'll all pay for it.
Second, though - I think with Donkeyballs Donald's involvement, he's such a psychopath that I think it's more of a specific plan. If they do manage to spread the disease wildly with these rallies (as is fairly likely), then they'll go "SEE NONE OF IT WORKED AND YOU POOCHED THE ECONOMY YOU COMMIES" and blame Democratic leaders who have been trying to get this under control.
And yeah, I'm totally willing to believe that's intentional. Fuckers. Anyway, enjoy(?) your headlines.
- DISINFORMATION ALERT
- SOCIAL DISTANCING = COMMUNISM
- More DHS seizures of PPE
- ‘Who takes a victory lap on piles of corpses?’: Trump blasted as ‘sociopathic monster’ for bragging about 65,000 deaths
- The president’s statements this morning encourage illegal and dangerous acts.
- In Trump's 'LIBERATE' tweets, extremists see a call to arms
- UW coronavirus model says Washington state could potentially start safely reopening the week of May 18
- US: Hundreds protest against coronavirus stay-at-home orders
- The rightwing groups behind wave of protests against Covid-19 restrictions
- Louisiana pastor asks followers to send their stimulus checks to churches instead of buying food
- Michigan Republicans introduce legislation that would limit Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency authority
- A Timeline Of Coronavirus Comments From President Trump And WHO
- Pathetic displays like these are all Trump has left
- "It'll all be over by Christmas" [SPOILER: No it won't]
- It is April 16 and now they are "exploring ways of increasing coronavirus testing."
----- 1 -----
Seth Abramson
twitter.com/SethAbramson
2:20 PM · Apr 18, 2020
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1251621579324379136
DISINFORMATION ALERT: Today Trump is spreading the dangerous disinformation that new daily coronavirus infections in the U.S. "peaked" on April 4. The truth: the U.S. is on Day 18 of a new-infections *plateau* where *each day* sees 26,000 to 34,000 new infections. Please RETWEET.
----- 2 -----
KTLA
twitter.com/KTLA
Apr 17 2020
https://twitter.com/i/status/1251259183820795904
BREAKING: Demonstrators could be seen holding up signs that read, “Liberate Huntington Beach,” “Open Cali Now,” “Let us work,” “”Pandemics does not cancel our constitutional rights!!” and “COVID-19 is a lie.”
[LINK TO]
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/demonstrators-gather-in-huntington-beach-to-protest-states-stay-at-home-order-and-defying-social-distancing-rules/
[EDITOR: Embedded photo, protestor holding up sign "SOCIAL DISTANCING = COMMUNISM"]
[THREAD]
“We’re here in defiance of Gavin Newsom and his socialist agenda to ruin our economy,” one of dozens anti-stay-at-home protestors in Huntington Beach today said. “We’re definitely not practicing social distancing, which is all right in my book.”
"The virus is not true. I mean, it's true, but it's not like a pandemic. We think it's New World Order trying to take over," Becky Walker Fagernes said. "I’m not gonna wear a mask. I’m not gonna be a sheep."
----- 3 -----
Maryn McKenna
twitter.com/marynmck
April 18, 2020
https://twitter.com/marynmck/status/1251538798292467712
The chief executive of a MA hospital, outbid for PPE by the feds multiple times, cut a deal, paid extra, hired the trucks — and then was interrogated by the FBI and had to get his Congressperson to intervene to keep DHS from heisting the shipment.
[LINKS TO]
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2010025
----- 4 -----
‘Who takes a victory lap on piles of corpses?’: Trump blasted as ‘sociopathic monster’ for bragging about 65,000 deaths
April 18, 2020
By David Badash
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/who-takes-a-victory-lap-on-piles-of-corpses-trump-blasted-as-sociopathic-monster-for-bragging-about-65000-deaths/
President Donald Trump is being blasted for his apparent bragging about and celebrating “only” 60,000 to 65,000 coronavirus deaths. The actual number of Americans who have died so far is currently 37,095, but Trump is projecting a little less than twice that number will lose their lives to the virus he spent months ignoring until it was too late.
Friday evening Trump spent several minutes rattling off a long litany of numbers, comparing his projected coronavirus deaths to other possible horrific death projections, in a clear attempt to frame his disastrous mismanagement of the pandemic. As he did, many took to social media to slam the President’s callous lack of empathy.
----- 5 -----
Governor Jay Inslee [Washington State]
twitter.com/GovInslee
12:46 PM · Apr 17, 2020
https://twitter.com/GovInslee/status/1251235713414123521
The president’s statements this morning encourage illegal and dangerous acts. He is putting millions of people in danger of contracting COVID-19.
His unhinged rantings and calls for people to “liberate” states could also lead to violence. We’ve seen it before. 1/7
[THREAD REPRODUCED IN FULL HERE, STARTS AT LINK ABOVE]
The president is fomenting domestic rebellion and spreading lies - even while his own administration says the virus is real, it is deadly and we have a long way to go before restrictions can be lifted. 2/7
Yesterday, the president told the nation science would guide his plan for easing restrictions. The White House released a sensible plan to resume economic activity.
24 hrs later he is off the rails, ignoring his own plan and spewing dangerous, anti-democratic rhetoric. 3/7
The president’s actions threaten his own goal of recovery. His words will likely cause a spike in infections where distancing is working.
That will further postpose the 14 days of decline his own guidance says is necessary to ease restrictions. 4/7
We appreciate our continued relationship with the vice president, Dr. Birx, Admiral Polowczyk, Admiral Giroir and others.
But their work is undermined by the president's irresponsible actions. 5/7
I hope someday we can look at today’s meltdown as something to be pitied, rather than condemned.
But we don’t have that luxury today. There is too much at stake. 6/7
I encourage political leaders to speak out firmly against the president’s calls for rebellion.
Americans need to work together to protect each other. That’s what is working in WA.
And it’s the only way to slow the spread of this virus and get us on the road to recovery. 7/7
----- 6 -----
In Trump's 'LIBERATE' tweets, extremists see a call to arms
Trump's tweets pushed many online extremist communities to speculate whether the president was advocating for armed conflict, an event they’ve termed “the boogaloo."
17 April 2020
By Ben Collins and Brandy Zadrozny
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/trump-s-liberate-tweets-extremists-see-call-arms-n1186561
When President Donald Trump tweeted "LIBERATE MINNESOTA!" on Friday morning, some of his most fervent supporters in far-right communities — including those who have agitated for violent insurrection — heard a call to arms.
The tweet was one of three sent from the president's account, along with "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!" and "LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!"
Trump's tweets came after small protests by Trump supporters broke out in a handful of states, many of which were fueled by anti-vaccination and anti-government groups. Anti-government sentiment has percolated among far-right extremists in recent weeks over the stay-at-home orders governors have issued to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Trump's tweets, however, pushed many online extremist communities to speculate whether the president was advocating for armed conflict, an event they’ve termed "the boogaloo," for which many far-right activists have been gearing up and advocating since last year.
There were sharp increases on Twitter in terms associated with conspiracies such as QAnon and the "boogaloo" term immediately following the president’s tweets, according to the Network Contagion Research Institute, an independent nonprofit group of scientists and engineers that tracks and reports on misinformation and hate speech across social media.
----- 7 -----
UW coronavirus model says Washington state could potentially start safely reopening the week of May 18
April 17, 2020
By Sandi Doughton
Seattle Times staff reporter
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/uw-coronavirus-model-says-washington-state-can-start-safely-reopening-the-week-of-may-18/
Modelers at the University of Washington are starting to tackle one of the questions on everyone’s mind as the arc of the novel coronavirus pandemic appears to be flattening in places like Washington state: When will it be safe to begin easing up on the restrictions keeping the virus in check?
According to the UW’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), Washington could cross that threshold the week of May 18. Estimates for other states range from as early as May 4 to as late as the end of June, based on the local status of the epidemic.
The latest projections are an outgrowth of IHME’s ongoing work to forecast the scope of the epidemic nationwide — in every state — and in several other countries. They come as the group’s work, which has been influential from the White House to state houses coast-to-coast, is attracting criticism from some disease experts.
[...]
This week, health officers from King, Snohomish and Pierce counties all stressed that the number of new infections must be very low before restrictions are lifted, or their staffs will be quickly overwhelmed — as they were when the epidemic first began exploding across the state.
They also emphasized the need to be ready with widespread testing and adequate hospital space and equipment to deal with a possible upswing.
----- 8 -----
US: Hundreds protest against coronavirus stay-at-home orders
Protests come as US deaths exceed 31,000; survey finds most Americans worry about virus restrictions lifted too soon.
18 April 2020
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/hundreds-protest-coronavirus-stay-home-orders-200418195601596.html
Hundreds of people have demonstrated in cities across the United States against coronavirus-related stay-at-home rules - with the explicit encouragement of President Donald Trump.
Some Americans, who live in parts of states with lower infection rates, have been made restless by restrictions that have more than 90 percent of the country under stay-at-home orders.
----- 9 -----
The rightwing groups behind wave of protests against Covid-19 restrictions
Protesters in Michigan and other states claim to speak for ordinary citizens, but are also supported by street-fighting far-right groups
17 April 2020
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/17/far-right-coronavirus-protests-restrictions
A wave of planned anti-lockdown demonstrations that have broken out around the country to protest against the efforts of state governments to combat the coronavirus pandemic with business closures and stay-at-home orders have included far-right groups as well as more mainstream Republicans.
While protesters in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and other states claim to speak for ordinary citizens, many are also supported by street-fighting rightwing groups like the Proud Boys, conservative armed militia groups, religious fundamentalists, anti-vaccination groups and other elements of the radical right.
On Wednesday in Lansing, Michigan, a protest put together by two Republican-connected not-for-profits was explicitly devised to cause gridlock in the city, and for a time blocked the entrance to a local hospital.
----- 10 -----
Louisiana pastor asks followers to send their stimulus checks to churches instead of buying food
April 16, 2020
By Brad Reed
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/louisiana-pastor-asks-followers-to-send-their-stimulus-checks-to-churches-instead-of-buying-food/
Tony Spell, the pastor at the Life Tabernacle Church in Central, Louisiana, believes his fellow pastors need your COVID-19 stimulus money more than you do.
TMZ reports that Spell has started a campaign called “#PastorSpellStimulusChallenge” in which followers are encouraged to send money they’ve received from the government as part of the federal stimulus package to evangelists and missionaries.
Spell claims that he and his wife are both donating their personal checks to churches in need instead of using it to pay for food, although he did not initially offer proof of doing so.
“His challenge also doesn’t seem to consider many people are in desperate need of their stimulus money for food, rent or bills,” notes TMZ.
----- 11 -----
Michigan Republicans introduce legislation that would limit Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency authority
Apr 16, 2020
By Lauren Gibbons | lgibbon2@mlive.com
https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2020/04/michigan-republicans-introduce-legislation-that-would-limit-gov-gretchen-whitmers-emergency-authority.html
Nine days after the Michigan legislature moved to extend Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s COVID-19 state of emergency to April 30, some Republican lawmakers are seeking to limit her authority in response to her latest updates to the stay-at-home order.
Under current law, Michigan governors can declare a state of emergency for up to 28 days, after which an extension is required by the state legislature. Whitmer initially requested a 70-day extension to her March 10 state of emergency, which Republicans believed was too long. They ultimately agreed to extend the state of emergency through April 30 in an unusual legislative session last week.
The state of emergency gives Whitmer and her administration additional executive authority to respond to the coronavirus without legislative approval, and has resulted in dozens of orders temporarily amending state laws and operations to cope with the disease.
----- 12 -----
A Timeline Of Coronavirus Comments From President Trump And WHO
April 15, 2020
by Tamara Keith and Malaka Gharib
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/04/15/835011346/a-timeline-of-coronavirus-comments-from-president-trump-and-who
On Tuesday, President Trump said he's suspending U.S. funding for the World Health Organization. He said the agency has "mismanaged" the pandemic, has been slow to respond to the crisis and is "China-centric."
We looked at the public record to see what Trump and the WHO had to say over the past 15 weeks about the coronavirus pandemic. Here's a timeline highlighting key quotes.
----- 13 -----
Pathetic displays like these are all Trump has left
By Greg Sargent
Opinion writer
April 16, 2020
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/16/pathetic-displays-like-these-are-all-trump-has-left/
When President Trump decided he wanted the economy to begin reopening very quickly, some governors promptly asserted that they would make this decision on their own schedules, in keeping with their states’ public health needs.
Was that a problem for Trump? Nope! Trump simply declared he has the “total” authority to command governors to do his bidding. He’s in charge!
But numerous experts then pointed out that Trump doesn’t actually have that authority, meaning that if he did issue such a command, no one would listen, making him look powerless and silly.
Was that a problem for Trump? Nope! Trump then simply asserted that he would authorize those governors to reopen the economy on their own schedules, even though he doesn’t have that power. He’s in charge!
So Trump then convened conference calls with business leaders to help him decide on new, nonbinding federal guidelines that would relax social distancing, to create the appearance of marshaling the country behind him as he projects decisiveness.
----- 14 -----
"It'll all be over by Christmas" [SPOILER: No it won't]
By Charlie Stross
April 16, 2020
https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2020/04/itll-all-be-over-by-christmas.html
Let me make some predictions, starting with:
No it won't.
Vaccine development will take a flat minimum of 12 months. Then another 1-3 months to ramp up (on a Manhattan Project management basis) and a to-some-extent-overlapping 1-3 months to roll out around the various nations that are involved. (I predict the USA will merrily go its own way and faceplant, unless y'all elect a competent next POTUS. Or VPOTUS, insofar as Biden appears to be past it and Pence is incompetent at anything but arse-licking.)
Meanwhile.
Lockdown can't be sustained more than 1-2 weeks after peak ICU occupancy passes, so it will be lifted in mid-May in the UK and possibly as early as May 1st in the USA. (I know the Eastern Coalition are kicking back against Trump's deranged demand for an early restart: I expect other states may also join in if their estimates of the long-term damage track reality.)
Trump is shooting for May 1st because he's been told the economy will take 6 months to recover, minimum, and he's shooting for the November election deadline. This is laughably optimistic, even if the pandemic had burned out by May 1st: we're in Greatest Depression territory already, the hospitality sector has crashed 75%, airlines have crashed 90%, etcetera. It's not going to be back to normal by November, even if the Fairy Godmother shows up and banishes the horrid virus with a wave of her wand. Period.
So. The immediate peak hospital occupancy will pass, lockdown will be lifted sector by sector (or all at once) and region by region ... and the 50% of COVID19 cases who are asymptomatic will go back to work, mingling with the uninfected.
1-4 weeks later there will be a secondary surge in infections and it'll follow the same exponential growth as the first spike in Feb/March. And lockdown will resume, probably in mid-June. (It may be mitigated by summer heat, in which case things will look good for a month or two longer, but I'm not holding my breath: even if heat prevents spread, the prevalence of air conditioning in public spaces in the US provides a transmission-friendly environment.)
----- 15 -----
Brian Schatz
twitter.com/brianschatz
April 16, 2020
https://twitter.com/brianschatz/status/1250840935367245824
It is April 16 and now they are "exploring ways of increasing coronavirus testing." We have been screaming about ramping up testing for three months, and they assured us it was happening. It is not. This was all preventable if they had listened to experts.
[QUOTED TWEET]
Geoff Bennett
twitter.com/GeoffRBennett
Apr 16, 2020
https://twitter.com/GeoffRBennett/status/1250838157576359938
NEW: The White House is exploring ways of dramatically increasing coronavirus testing, as Trump aides scramble to put measures in place that might make it feasible for him to meet his goal of reopening the economy in parts of the country by May 1. https://nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/widespread-testing-barrier-reopening-country-white-house-seeks-plan-n1185516
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Date: 2020-04-19 07:12 pm (UTC)