I simply cannot believe that anyone could say thisā¦
āall my friends are saying you know, this is not a priority, people are dying and i realize that, but they canāt get their nails doneā
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An object lesson in kindness and how to really communicate
We are so fortunate to have such a good leader at this time.
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So a co-worker Rachel worked with yesterday called in sick today. Unless she can produce a doctorās note showing she is not infected, she has to quarantine for 14 days. Meanwhile, my wife, who may have been exposed, is working an extra 10 hours tomorrow in her place as we wait to hear if she can even get tested.
And I am waiting nervously, with two high risk factors and a cough from allergies. And the plumber who came by today, with three daughters, is waiting nervously. And my landlords are waiting nervously. And what happens if they wonāt test her? What do all of us do? This is insanity.
Meanwhile, for the fourth time in a month today we nearly got flooded by sewage. Turns out the foundation has settled in a way that creates an angle that means if anybody in the building clogs the pipes wrong, our location in back could get us flooded. And I canāt leave.
Thatās my day.
In other news, autocracy on the march:
https://twitter.com/business/status/1243272794345005056
Trump Campaignās Threat on TV Licenses May Be Mostly Bluster
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Is anyone tired of āwinningā yet? 
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I canāt seem to shake this macabre impression I have, that the reason trump is in no hurry to send stored ventilators to NY (etc) is because heās hoping to reduce the number of Democratic voters in the 2020 election? His lame response on COVID reminds me of when he told wildfire-ravaged Californians that they needed to rake the forests (ie. these wildfires were their own fault, due to forest mismanagement). See a pattern here? Some states are clearly on his sh-- list, & they happen to be the ones most heavily-Democratic. 
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Charles Koch Network Pushed $1 Billion Cut to CDC, Now Attacks Shelter-in-Place Policies for Harming Business
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You are not entirely wrong that he wants to be seen as the hero, he wants people to kiss the ring to get saved or heāll turn his back on them. Itās all about him.
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But I think itās more than that. Look at the way he calls out the pressā¦if he thought he could get away with offing them (the way his idol, Putin, does) I think he would. Heās a sociopath, he cares about no one.
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Trump tells governors he is setting new coronavirus social distancing guidelines
The president said in a letter that new testing abilities would allow his administration to identify āhigh-risk, medium-risk and low-riskā counties.
President Donald Trump told Americaās governors in a letter Thursday that his administration will soon set new social distancing guidelines as the coronavirus pandemic worsens.
Trump said the new testing abilities would allow his administration to identify āhigh-risk, medium-risk and low-riskā counties. And those new guidelines will assist governors and other officials in deciding on āmaintaining, increasing or relaxing social distancing and other mitigation measures they have put in place.ā
The president said that by doing ārobust surveillance testing,ā officials will be able to āmonitor the spread of the virus throughout the country.ā
Public health experts have said easing restrictions too soon could overburden hospitals and lead to more deaths and economic damage related to the virus.
Although the president said in the letter that āthere is still a long battle ahead,ā Trump said Tuesday he wants the country back to business by April 12, Easter Sunday, even though his own public health officials have warned that the outbreak will get worse.
āYouāll have packed churches all over our country,ā he said in an interview on Fox News. āI think it would be a beautiful time. And itās just about the timeline that I think is right.ā
The number of reported coronavirus-linked deaths in the U.S. passed 1,000 on Thursday morning, according to an NBC News count. More than 68,000 cases have been reported nationwide, Johns Hopkins University said.
Many states have issued stay-at-home orders, closed schools and imposed strict policies, such as closing all nonessential businesses and aggressive social distancing measures, to mitigate the infection rate and avoid overwhelming hospitals.
The governors of Michigan, Indiana, Oregon and West Virginia issued stay-at-home orders Monday. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced a stay-at-home āadvisoryā Monday. California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania are among the other states implementing sweeping mandates.
States are also looking to the federal government for critical help.
Trump has declared disasters in New York, California, Washington, Louisiana, Iowa, Florida, Texas and Illinois due to the coronavirus outbreak. Connecticut on Thursday joined the growing list of states that have asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a disaster declaration to cope with the āseverity and magnitudeā of the coronavirus outbreak.
Although governors and local officials have the authority to lift their mandates, Trump has been eager for American life to get back to normal and regain the strong economy his administration boasted before the outbreak. However, some state lawmakers have resisted the calls.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo strongly criticized Trumpās effort, saying Tuesday that āwe will not put a dollar figure on human life.ā
āWe can have a public health strategy that is consistent with an economic one,ā he said in a tweet. āNo one should be talking about social Darwinism for the sake of the stock market.ā
Cuomo, a Democrat, has also been critical of the massive $2 trillion relief package, which Trump praised and which passed the Senate late Wednesday. The governor called it a āshortfallā compared to the funding relief the state needs.
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Letās hope the governors have sense enough not to listen to trumpā¦otherwise, weāll have massive spread where it hasnāt yet happened, & a lot more deaths. I think Hillary Clinton said it best:
Hillary Clinton@HillaryClinton
Please do not take medical advice from a man who looked directly at a solar eclipse.
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During a call-in on Hannity tonight. WTF
TRUMP on New Yorkās ventilator needs for the coronavirus outbreak:
āI donāt believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators. You know, you go into major hospitals sometimes, theyāll have two ventilators. And now all of a sudden theyāre saying can we order 30,000 ventilators?ā pic.twitter.com/WMuOlkaGZk
ā JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) March 27, 2020
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https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article241471511.html
Mitch McConnell blocked Democratsā coronavirus bill for 10 days ā and the press covered for him
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What a miserable illness! 
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FBI learned of coronavirus-inspired bomb plotter through radicalized US Army soldier
The FBIās office in Missouri issued an alert offering more details on the case.
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First a personal update: My wifeās co-worker tested negative for flu, but has a case of bronchitis, & the day before she called out my wife had told her about what was going on and she might have freaked. Still not definitive, & not the actual Covid-19 test, but much less likely she has it now. This is probably the best I am going to get for confirmation.
In other news:
This wonāt backfire horribly.
EPA suspends enforcement of environmental laws, telling companies they would not need to meet environmental standards during the coronavirus outbreak so long as they claim any failures were ācausedā by the virus pandemic.
EPA suspends enforcement of environmental laws amid coronavirus
Trump Is Now Openly Trying to Censor His Critics. He May Succeed.
His campaignās cease-and-desist letter to broadcast stations is a frightening assault on free speech.
Note: MSNBC has laughed this attempt off and is airing the ads.
After Considering $1 Billion Price Tag for Ventilators, White House Has Second Thoughts
A deal with General Motors and Ventec Life Systems to produce tens of thousands of the critical lifesaving devices seemed imminent. Then the announcement was pulled back.
Trump Shuns War Powers to Speed Virus Goods After Chamber Balks
- U.S. Chamber lobbied against using Defense Production Act
- More than 100 former national security officials push for DPA
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-26/trump-shuns-war-powers-to-ramp-up-virus-supplies-after-lobbying
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-27/trump-threatens-to-force-gm-to-move-faster-on-ventilators?utm_campaign=pol&utm_medium=bd&utm_source=applenews
Andy Slavitt on the coming need in New Orleans, where Mardi Gras may have resulted in a COVID19 explosion.
āThe cruelty is the pointā meets #WhereAreTheMasks as the CBP priorities harassing immigrants over saving lives:
https://twitter.com/NickMiroff/status/1243289313313533952
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/coronavirus-government-mask-stockpile/2020/03/26/89d729c8-6f5b-11ea-96a0-df4c5d9284af_story.html
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Donāt Worry, America, Jared Kushner Is Going to Save You From COVID-19
WHEW!
Having conquered Middle East peace and innovated America to within an inch of its life, the Trump son-in-law is now taming COVID-19. OhāIvanka too!
Experts: Trumpās Touting of an Untested āGame Changerā Coronavirus Drug Is Dangerous
Rep. Joe Cunningham has tested positive for the virus.
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Okā¦some actions towards getting the ventilators - President authorized GM to make them, despite that T questioned the need for more than 2 ventilators per hospital.
President Trump authorized the use of the Defense Production Act on Friday to direct General Motors to prioritize building ventilators for patients affected by the novel coronavirus.
Why it matters: Americaās hospitals, doctors and nurses have urged Trump since last week to use the DPA to ramp up the countryās domestic production of medical supplies crucial for health care workers, saying āthere will not be enough medical suppliesā without it.
What theyāre saying: āVentec, GM and our supply base have been working around the clock for over a week to meet this urgent need. Our commitment to build Ventecās high-quality critical care ventilator, VOCSN, has never wavered,ā General Motors said in a statement on Friday.
- āThe partnership between Ventec and GM combines global expertise in manufacturing quality and a joint commitment to safety to give medical professionals and patients access to life-saving technology as rapidly as possible. The entire GM team is proud to support this initiative.ā
Flashback: " As usual with āthisā General Motors, things just never seem to work out. They said they were going to give us 40,000 much needed Ventilators, āvery quicklyā. Now they are saying it will only be 6000, in late April, and they want top dollar. Always a mess with Mary B. Invoke āP,ā Trump tweeted earlier on Friday, previewing his decision to invoke the act.
- The White House deal with General Motors and Ventec Life Systems was originally planned to be announced on Wednesday, but was called off to buy more time for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assess whether the estimated cost of more than $1 billion was too expensive.
This revelation comes on the heal of other waverings concerning the governmentās procurement of the ventilatorsā¦reported earlier today.
WASHINGTON ā The White House had been preparing to reveal on Wednesday a joint venture between General Motors and Ventec Life Systems that would allow for the production of as many as 80,000 desperately needed ventilators to respond to an escalating pandemic when word suddenly came down that the announcement was off.
The decision to cancel the announcement, government officials say, came after the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it needed more time to assess whether the estimated cost was prohibitive. That price tag was more than $1 billion, with several hundred million dollars to be paid upfront to General Motors to retool a car parts plant in Kokomo, Ind., where the ventilators would be made with Ventecās technology.
Government officials said that the deal might still happen but that they are examining at least a dozen other proposals. And they contend that an initial promise that the joint venture could turn out 20,000 ventilators in short order had shrunk to 7,500, with even that number in doubt. Longtime emergency managers at FEMA are working with military officials to sort through the competing offers and federal procurement rules while under pressure to give President Trump something to announce.
And confirmation that GM is making ventilators
General Motors and Ventec Life Systems said Friday they have agreed to build critical-care ventilators at one of the automakerās components plants in Indiana.
The deal, which includes FDA-cleared ventilators shipping as soon as next month, was announced shortly after President Donald Trump criticized the automaker and CEO Mary Barra for not moving quickly enough to produce life-saving ventilators wanting ātop dollarā for doing so.
Trump suggested he would invoke the Defense Production Act to force the companies to produce needed equipment like ventilators.
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Historic stimulus bill passes House and signed off in Oval Office.
President Donald Trump signed into law Friday afternoon a historic $2 trillion stimulus package as the American public and the US economy fight the devastating spread of Covid-19.
The far-reaching legislation stands as the largest emergency aid package in US history. It represents a massive financial injection into a struggling economy with provisions aimed at helping American workers, small businesses and industries grappling with the economic disruption.
The House of Representatives earlier in the day approved the bill that passed the Senate earlier this week, overcoming last-minute drama by using an unusual procedural move to thwart a demand by a conservative Republican to force members to vote in person.
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Some Covid-19 updatesā¦deaths due to drinking methanol in Iran is perhaps the strangest.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for coronavirus in Britain , where firefighters have been tapped to deliver food and collect bodies.
Italy reported 919 new deaths ā the largest one-day toll anywhere.
Nearly 300 people in Iran died after drinking methanol, falsely believing it would help them ward off the disease.
And the virus has been found in a cat in the Belgian city of LiĆØge, adding to evidence that sick people may be able to infect their pets.
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