Trump, Invoking Cold War Authority, Enjoins GM To Build Ventilators | NPR
About time.
Many people out walking their dogs or airing out the kids. Everyone keeping nice social distance. All is as orderly and well as can be expected.
Billionaires Want People Back to Work. Employees Aren’t So Sure Pay no attention to the stack of bodies in the corner. You peons get back to work. #corporatism
Fog is rolling in. I like fog when I don’t have to drive in it. Except I always expect Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce to emerge out of it.
Free hosting for teachers for 6 months. “We’re now offering teachers 6 months of free hosting on Micro.blog. For blog posts, podcasts, or short videos as schools adjust to moving lesson plans and classes online.”
There is something wrong here:
we can’t produce enough masks and protective garments inside the US,
states and the Federal government are all bidding against each other for basic critical supplies like masks in the middle of a pandemic,
meanwhile, doctors and nurses in hospitals have no masks and protective clothing,
meanwhile, while the White House, corporations and politicians dick around, common people are using GoFundme to raise money for masks for NYC hospitals,
meanwhile, hospitals in Iowa have put out the desperate plea for homemade, washable masks,
meanwhile, hundreds of women in Iowa are cutting up their bedsheets and t-shirts for material to sew masks in response.
meanwhile, while women’s sewing machines are clattering into the dark of night, Trump’s DOJ quietly asks for extra ordinary powers to suspend Constitutional rights and Habeas corpus.
and we still don’t have enough test kits or the means to process them.
What is wrong with this picture?
With everybody shut up inside who’s going to spot the UFO’s?
DOJ wants to suspend Constitutional liberties Power grabs. Power grabs are not a substitute for competently dealing with the emergency at hand.
No and hell no.
I understand that many US rural hospitals were financially stricken before the coronavirus. Not one big corporation, casino, bank, airline, hotel, Boeing etc. should be bailed out before we bail out rural hospitals.
Take note: all these capitalist corporations are now elbowing every one else out of the way to get in line for a good old socialist government bailout. And we’ll probably have to do it but there had better be conditions first and a shit load of reforms. Hell, I’m a capitalist too but the ways Big Business, the big 5 Banks and Wall Street have been allowed to operate since 2008 has got to change.
Final thing: Even though I’d prefer a Canadian style national health system, Medicare for All or some sort of system is coming quicker than you know. Just you wait till the medical bills start rolling in in the US from this pandemic - there will be hell to pay. And it won’t be the doctor’s, nurses or technicians fault either.
Coronavirus Journal 3/21/2020
Coronavirus Journal 3/21/2020 Moved boxes to storage to make more room. Unloaded the tubes of sand from bed of pickup tr...Of all the various talking heads on Twitter, talking about coronavirus, Mark Cuban twitter.com/mcuban really stands out. He’s shown a lot of good sense and humanity in this crisis. He’s worth following.
In case you missed it: Useful Links, for Those Stuck at Home During Coronavirus Links to news sources, entertainment, and things to pass the time in isolation/quarantine.
I just double checked. I have plenty of Scotch.
We have leaned down the supplychain, government (Fed., State, Local) and our medical system far far too much. We have no cushion, reserves or excess domestic capacity, or any capacity, for times of crisis. 40 years of unfettered capitalist orgies have put us at the edge of the Abyss.
It’s time for some deep changes in leadership, banks and corporations.
I’m waiting here for the repairman. A spring on my garage door decides to break right in the middle of a effing pandemic. Brilliant.
Snapshots: School closings left local dairy with huge inventory of half-pint cartons of milk. So they started giving them away drive up pickup to families w/kids. Had to quit, the line of cars was taking over the town.
Local Ace Hardware is bringing out customer orders to people curbside in their cars. Looks like the demand is high. Good for them. They have always helped with community charities. Shows small, local stores can adapt faster than big box stores. #shoplocal
Hmm, somebody in Germany is viewing every single page of my blog. 300+ pg. views so far. Either they’re really bored or they are scraping it to steal the content. I’m pretty sure it’s the later. Anyone else experiencing the same thing?
Walmart online has canned rattlesnake meat. Please form an orderly line, limit one per customer. :-)
I should start a daily journal/blog during this coronavirus thing. The problem is I know it will devolve down to “Ate burrittos for supper,” and “Eggs for breakfast”. Now in 90 days, when we are all starving and hunting rats with dandelion stickers, THAT will be interesting.
Food for thought here on how Big Tech platforms can help out in this time of crisis. Extraordinary Times Call For Extraordinary Measures by Rand Fishkin. It’s part of doing the right thing.
Parenting advice: twitter.com/nlqualls/…
Yes keep them alive, feed them occasionally.
This is the Spirit: Czechs sew to combat virus mask shortage Never give in. Never surrender. Don’t wait for orders, help others. Fight!
Apparently, Roller Derby is still a Thing. Videos on Youtube I thought it died in the 1970’s. Who knew?
So if you get bored watching your cat sleep while on lockdown you can watch this highpoint of Western culture.
Claymation Cat Slaughters Hordes of Demons - Video | GeeksareSexy.