"No reason this can't be fun, y'know...."

— Gust Avrakotos,
Charlie Wilson's war

What’s the difference between Covid-19 and Romeo & Juliet? One’s a coronavirus and the other is a Verona crisis. (I stole this and I’m not even sorry) ~ Crid at March 19, 2020 11:40 PM

...but I've seen a number of other videos just like this pre-COVID-19. ~ Amy (in another thread)

Is it Covid-19 or COVID-19?

If Western Civilization is going to collapse from this thing, I'd like to spell it correctly.

"I think it would be a good idea." ~ Mohandis K. Gandhi (when asked what he thought of Western Civilization)

Kiddo tells me that walking through the park (in Southern Maryland) yesterday evening, a young dude asked her for money. She didn't have any, and the dude didn't persist. Only moments later did she realize that she recognized the dude as one of the fellows who worked in the local Bonchon, now shuttered.

Meanwhile, it appears that Maryland governor Larry Hogan may be requiring all state residents to "shelter in place," as Governor Newsom has done in California. This article from WBAL-TV outlines what that might look like. It turns out that "shelter in place" isn't nearly as draconian as it sounds. I haven't heard if Virginia is planning anything similar.

And so the descent into totalitarianism begins. In a recent CNN town hall, Sean Penn suggested that the US military should take control of the US because of the crisis.

Once the argument has been made, it will be picked up by others. Fear is a powerful motivation and quite easily overpowers common sense.

While I generally trust the US military to do the right thing, no one should be given that kind of power. Expedience is a useful rationalization tool; it works for anyone, of any political stripe.

What is it with Lefties and this love affair they have with an all-powerful centralized authority overriding the wishes of the population?

"The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote." ~ Kosh (from the Babylon Five tv series)

> Is it Covid-19 or COVID-19?

I remember when early-90's pop sparkler "k.d. Lang" tried to be precious about her capitalization, thusly. And by the most gentle thunder of their planetary editorial propriety, the New York Times told her to get fucked (using even fewer words).

The Street rules these decisions. Not the schoolmarms, and not their apple-polishers.

Besides— Wuhan Virus is a fine name for it… Descriptive, traditional, and a sentimental remembrance of those carefree days in January.

I'm sometimes partial to Michael Yon's moniker of Xi's Disease.

What is it with Lefties and this love affair they have with an all-powerful centralized authority overriding the wishes of the population?

Lefties == progressives, who admired the Commies and the Fascists in the 1920s and 30s. Hey, Mussolini got the trains to run on time. After the excesses of such regimes, they rebranded themselves as liberals. Many have reverted back to progressives, and they're the ones that admire Che and Cuban, Russian and Chinese commies. Hey, Bernie!

They're partial to the notion that scientific government is the superior form. For such scientists, they strangely do not have a firm grasp of human nature. And they are very desirous of creating the New Soviet Man.

https://twitter.com/laoneill111/status/1240598258533138433

> I'm sometimes partial to
> Michael Yon's moniker of
> Xi's Disease.

✓ I admire the keen edge.

But it was an entire culture that let this happen, and enormous coterie of (authorities) and a nakedly submissive populous, similarly irresponsible.

It was local officials who detained and muzzled Dr. Li Wenliang in his last days… They didn't call Beijing before directions before bringing him in.

Everybody knew what was expected of them.

This @nytimes story lauding China’s “humanitarian efforts” to combat the pandemic that it started may as well have been written by the communist party.

It only admits that China is actually *selling* medical equipment to Italy in paragraph 28.

https://twitter.com/JamesHasson20/status/1240429555120300037

Everybody knew what was expected of them.

True. Even if the Kongers were to free themselves (I am at once hopeful and doubtful) the rest of the nation will not get rid of the ChiComs. They can not conceive of any other way.

Xi may end up being encouraged to "retire" sooner than later, but that's just to keep the waters smooth.

https://twitter.com/RealSexyCyborg/status/1241003807649087491

For anyone jonesing for some sprotsball:

https://www.goodbullhunting.com/2020/3/19/21187323/all-caps-preview-top-chef

Ah, for the halcyon days of bad Title IX investigations!

https://hotair.com/archives/john-s-2/2020/03/19/another-title-ix-investigation-run-amok/

> bad Title IX investigations!

That's a nice condensation. The original piece was too long to finish as it was published, so I didn't. That wordiness, and its presumption that the rest of the world must grind to a halt and solemnly comprehend an individual circumstance, is the quintessence of Title IX, isn't it?

Policy policy policy, and then more policy… Yet the academics are now displeased, as if suddenly.

The school where Sarah and Marta worked eventually cleared them. Sarah was still offered the job in Michigan but they eventually said they could not find a job for Marta so she had to turn it down.

Plus, they sued the guy and won. So everybody's happy, right?

This is for those of you willing to sacrifice your elderly on the alter of cost savings. You will note, her two eldest children died before she did. Be careful what you wish for.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/nyregion/new-jersey-family-coronavirus.html

♥ Sheep

Policy policy policy, and then more policy… Yet the academics are now displeased, as if suddenly.

Policy is the reason for many positions in education (in general, higher ed more specifically). Policy is destiny. Or something. I work in higher ed. I try to avoid policy.

You may not be interested in policy, but policy is interested in you. Gah.

Exactly how much ... are we expected to offer these people?

My patience is wearing a tad thin, not that I have a lot to begin with. Maybe it's just CoViD-19 fatigue setting in, or that I've just about had enough of people who demand I care about what they care about. *Dr. Evil's voice* How about "No"?

Plus, they sued the guy and won. So everybody's happy, right?

No. The internet is forever, so those accusations will echo down the intertubes for a while. And I only skimmed the posting, so I don't know if the fabricator got the job or had to withdraw himself. The chix also have lost opportunity costs, and that's going to be hard to quantify. How many new opportunities will they miss out on because someone does a poor job of research and only finds those echoes?

Huh. Emphasis mine.

The owners experimented first with a recipe that called for ethanol, glycerol, aloe vera gel, lemongrass oil, and vitamin E oil. As they messed around with the recipe, they also applied for a license to produce the sanitizer. They were approved almost immediately by the federal government, which, honestly, is a sentence I thought I would never write.

"The federal government said the application typically takes three weeks for approval. We got approval in two days," the distillery's general manager, Jonathan Shair, told the ABC affiliate.

He said the idea to halt liquor production to focus their time and efforts on meeting the high demand for hand sanitizer started first as idle chatter over dinner at a bar. But as he thought about it more, he decided it was something that should be moved from hypothetical to reality.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/maryland-distillery-shows-what-free-markets-can-accomplish-in-a-pandemic

Be careful what you wish for.

That's always wise. You just might get it, good and hard.

https://youtu.be/MPQvVBaOx2E

Would it be politically correct to use the term “Kung Flu” to describe the Wuhan virus? Who gives a damn?

“Kung Flu” is funny, and if you don’t allow people to use humor at a time like this you’re a miserable human being who doesn’t deserve the attention of others.

https://spectator.org/five-quick-things-everybody-was-kung-flu-fighting/

Here's the new alarm clock notification for my android.

Kamala Harris is still not fit to hold elective office.

For one thing, a big wave named Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) swept over her decks. Gabbard, who was also profiled in the same 2016 McClatchy story, was aware Kamala Harris had a weak point in her armor: the real Kamala Harris.

Given a brief moment in the July debate, Gabbard slayed her by bringing attention to her record as a prosecutor withholding exculpatory evidence for a death row inmate, imprisoning drug offenders contrary to her own admission to smoking marijuana and other failings. By doing so Gabbard gained very little herself, but torpedoed Harris in the polls near to where she had been.

https://www.amgreatness.com/2020/03/15/jeepers-veepers/

Kamala Harris is still not fit to hold elective office. ~ I R A Darth Aggie at March 20, 2020 9:45 AM

Harris dated her way into the Bay Area's political inner circle. She made very good use of the Rolodex she gained from being Willie Brown's arm candy.

She never earned her way up to DA. She simply badmouthed Hallinan, spent her sponsors' money and was whisked into the job.

When Boxer retired, the California kingmakers had to choose between Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris. Newsom agreed to run for governor instead and Harris was effectively appointed senator.

Her mettle has never been tested. She's never stood up for an unpopular position, instead swaying in the wind with every change in the public's mood. Getting elected is her main goal and purpose in life.

Coming of age politically in a one-party state, she's never had to deal with, accommodate, or even socialize with people who don't hold positions similar to hers. From that one-party foundation, she learned that politics is an all-or-nothing proposition, not the art of compromise past politicians knew it to be. Anyone coming from the other party is evil by default; a bug to be squashed.

Conan offers several good observations about KH. My objection stems from small thing. A trivial thing. A trifle:

withholding exculpatory evidence for a death row inmate

I am unsure if the inmate was on death row prior to the withholding of evidence, or that's what earned him a date with Ol' Spark...lethal injection.

Hmmm...Ol' Drippy doesn't sound so frightening.

The snapshot does not comfortably affirm the headline.

I have the awful feeling that if these robots were deployed in America two things would happen: The passengers would destroy them for shits and giggles, and the subway workers would do the same because it goes against union regulations:

https://twitter.com/dailydigger19/status/1241105559996248065

Don't you understand?

He's declaring his absolute authority over Californians because Trump is a dictator.

Starting my out-of-state job search today.

Then again, Newsom's hair is perfect.

withholding exculpatory evidence for a death row inmate ~ I R A Darth Aggie at March 20, 2020 11:12 AM

She didn't actually withhold evidence. As Attorney General, she opposed the DNA testing that Kevin Cooper insisted would prove him innocent. The governor, Jerry Brown, also opposed the DNA testing. As a presidential candidate, she changed her mind.

Brown finally ordered limited testing. Newsom expanded the testing, which is still ongoing. So, Cooper's innocence has not yet been proven.

Harris goes with the current of whatever stream she's in. As Attorney General running for re-election, she needed to be perceived as a "law and order" candidate. As a presidential candidate, she needed to be perceived as interested in justice.

Today—

At this very moment, stockpiles of masks, hand sanitizer, and other supplies are sitting in warehouses waiting for FDA inspectors to get around to them. Where other nations are expediting these deliveries, trusting proven suppliers in their deliveries, the FDA has resorted to its favorite fetish: bureaucratic lethargy.

The problem here is not simply that the FDA is insisting that its box-checking comes before exigent needs of public health, but also that the agency doesn't have enough inspectors to get the job done quickly.

I spoke to one significant medical supplier who talked to me on the condition of anonymity, for fear of FDA retaliation. In one location on the Pacific coast, this supplier has had more than 20 pallets of coronavirus-specific medical supplies waiting in a warehouse for five days. […]

At another depot in the south-central United States, this same supplier has had 500,000 level-three or level-four masks sitting in a warehouse for two days now. They expect the FDA delays to continue indefinitely.

I've been working on an N95 mask production project with a team for about a week now.

We just got off the phone with NIOSH. They told us that approval for a new mask production facility in the US will take at minimum 45 days, but more likely 90.

But then you remember how, just nine days before the Governor and Mayor forbade the exit of my home at the risk of interdiction by deputized dog-catchers and parking-lot managers, the chief Executive promised:

"It will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away."

Properly named. The PC leftists can go F themselves.

Chinese Virus daily Thread #22

At this very moment, stockpiles of masks, hand sanitizer, and other supplies are sitting in warehouses waiting for FDA inspectors to get around to them. Where other nations are expediting these deliveries, trusting proven suppliers in their deliveries, the FDA has resorted to its favorite fetish: bureaucratic lethargy.

Puerto Rico, HOOO-OOOO! Puerto Rico, HOOO-OOOO!

@Crid,

I wish I could say this is a case of Hanlon's Razor, but in the age of Orange Man Bad there's more than enough malice in the hearts of people who see this as a means to an end.

> Puerto Rico, HOOO-OOOO!

?

> more than enough malice

So this famously boastful master of enterprise can't make the bureaucratic meanies do what he says?

We need to talk about Italy—

“The way in which we code deaths in [Italy] is very generous in the sense that all the people who die in hospitals with the coronavirus are deemed to be dying of the coronavirus.”

"China Mobile lost 8.116 million users in Jan+Feb. China Telecommunications lost 5.6 million in February. Undoubtedly due mostly to economic disruption, but also likely a huge human cost behind numbers. Don't believe Italy already eclipsed the death toll of a country 20X its size"

Perhaps not—

"This is very likely spin…

"'We were better then the West reinfected us, oh btw we have 250k dead and 10m more confirmed cases, this is totally the West's fault, China number 1 safe, not anything to do with CCP actions.'"

+

“'A new wave of contagion' is the exact language PRC is using.”

The band plays on.

> Puerto Rico, HOOO-OOOO!

Puerto Rico's top emergencies manager has been sacked after video emerged of a warehouse full of supplies dating back to the devastating Hurricane Maria that hit the island in 2017.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51166735

The dosage is the poison:

https://twitter.com/drawandstrike/status/1241085500401823744

"Sean Penn suggested that the US military should take control of the US because of the crisis."

Does he not know who the Commander in Chief is?

This is the commie/socialist paradox: they hate Trump and don't trust him ... but they want to give more power to the federal government, which still includes the executive branch. Go figure.