

Impressum

Copyright © 2020 by

Oliver Markus Malloy

Oliver.M.Malloy@Mail.com

All rights reserved.

Published by

Becker & Malloy

All quotes and images were collected under Fair Use, as defined in Section 107 of the United States Copyright Act:

"Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A,  
the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright."

INTRODUCTION

History is in the making. And it's an unprecedented clusterfuck of epic proportions.

So get your popcorn and watch it live with political satire from inside the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020.

Trumpvirus is a daily record of the events that are unfolding right now, to give future generations a contemporary eye witness account of what it was like to live through the greatest disaster in American history: the Trumpvirus era.

Each daily entry is a collection of the day's most relevant headlines from reputable news sources like the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN, BBC, NBC, ABC, CBS, The Independent, The Guardian, The Economist, The Hill, Politico, Deutsche Welle, Spiegel, France 24, etc.

The headlines are woven together in a flowing narrative that reads like a political comedy novel, to give you a better understanding of how various events are connected.

In addition to the news headlines, you'll also find my own thoughts, commentary, memes, and unique photos from the global lockdown.

Oliver

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24

Experts predict that covid-19 will spread more widely

 -The Economist

I made some pretty bold predictions and posted them on Reddit last night on the  r/economics sub. Today I wrote a little essay and listed my predictions on  r/CoronaVirus_2019_nCoV:

Over at r/economics I predicted last night (Sunday, 2/23) that this week some really bad stuff would start happening because of the coronavirus. Today (Monday 2/24), the very next day, the Dow crashed a thousand points. And that's just the beginning. It's gonna get much, much worse.

While talking to one of the guys over on the other sub, I made a few more predictions. I figured it makes sense to post them here as well, so here we go. My predictions for 2020.

These are perfectly rational predictions of what's about to happen, extrapolated from the current news articles in this sub:

-I think it's a pretty safe guess that Trump will inevitably get infected with coronavirus in India, and within the next 30 days, he'll have symptoms. And in the meantime, while he's symptom free, he'll infect hundreds if not thousands of people at his rallies.

-They're gonna shut down his rallies, and the Democratic primary, to avoid more mass infections.

-The Olympics in Japan will be cancelled. They're already talking about it, and Carnival in Venice was stopped because of the outbreak in Italy, just like countless other mass events have been cancelled in the past few days.

-Air travel between the US and Europe will be suspended. They're already banning flights from more and more countries in Asia and the Middle East.

-There will be severe supply/food/medical shortages in the coming weeks. A huge number of factories in China haven't produced anything, or shipped anything to the US for over a month now.

-As the market continues to decline, mega-funds that hold billions in passive ETFs will automatically dump their holdings when certain price triggers are reached.

-Before the end of March, the Dow will crash so bad, they will halt trading.

-There will be tens of thousands of dead people by the end of March, and tens of millions of dead people by the end of 2020.

-The US healthcare system will collapse, because there is only a total of 94,000 ICU beds in the whole country and that is not nearly enough for the mass infections that are about to happen in the coming days.

-There will be millions of uninsured or underinsured Americans going bankrupt because of insanely high medical bills, because millions of Americans will require extensive ICU treatment that will last weeks. It will cost a fortune. People who are lucky enough to survive will be bankrupt.

-When the US government tells us to quarantine and stay home to slow the spread of infections, the quarantine will fail, because homeless people and drug addicts will continue to spread the virus. They won't follow any quarantine. And the entire country is full of drug addicts. They will be the modern equivalent of the rats that spread the black plague.

-We'll be seeing an explosion of infections in India in the next few days.

-In the next few days, we'll be seeing outbreaks in every country on earth, with no cure, no vaccine, and no way to stop the pandemic from spreading to every town on the globe.

-The market is not going to keep going up up up anymore. It's gonna keep going down, until they halt trading.

-In a few days you'll see massive panic buying and empty store shelves in the US. It's already happening in other countries. The store shelves in Italy are empty. So are the shelves in Wuhan. Right now N95 breathing masks are already sold out on Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, CVS, etc. etc.

-In a few weeks, people will refuse to accept cash (if you can even find an open store at all) because cash spreads the virus. In China they took massive amounts of cash out of circulation to literally wash it with disinfectant. And in Wuhan the banks try to only circulate brand new bills, but most people use apps like Wechat to pay anyway.

-Entire cities in the US will be put under quarantine, just like in China, South Korea and Italy. The same will happen all over the world, until WHO officially announces that it's a pandemic. From that point on they will no longer try to contain the outbreak, but manage it somehow, by telling people to avoid others.

-A lot of medical personnel will quit their jobs and not show up for work, rather than risk getting infected.

-The police force and the US military will have more and more infected and quarantine thousands of troops. It's already happening in South Korea. The US bases in the epicenter of the South Korean outbreak quarantined themselves and are under lockdown. The South Korean army already has a bunch of infected and quarantined 7,700 soldiers as of yesterday. Probably more by today.

-At least one old politician (Trump, Bernie, Biden, members of Congress or the Senate) will probably die from coronavirus before the end of the year. Probably more than one since it's so fatal for old people. The head of one of the main hospitals in Wuhan died last week, along with about half a dozen young chinese doctors (that we know of so far.) About 3000 medics in China are infected so far according to reports.

-This pandemic will be a cataclysmic change to our way of life. A bigger change catalyst than 9/11. There was a world before coronavirus, and there will be a world after coronavirus. But it won't be the same world. This nightmare is worse than a nuclear war.

I know some (most) of these predictions sound totally nuts right now. And don't get me wrong, I don't claim to be a psychic or have a magic crystal ball. These are all rational guesses based on the information available right now. And the things I listed above are more likely to happen than not happen. I read a lot of international papers. And their coverage of coronavirus is a lot better than US media coverage right now. They report about current events that most Americans are unaware of. These current events that are happening right now have consequences.

And these consequences are easy to predict. That's why I predicted today's 1000 point drop last night.

Feel free to leave your own predictions below.

Knowledge is power. All of us need all the help and advice we can get to get through this. Having at least a vague idea of what to expect in the coming weeks, and how to prepare for it, might be the difference between life or death for someone.

For example, if you're a diabetic, it might be a good idea to stock up on insulin right now. People who have no clue how big and bad this really is, will be hit totally unprepared by the things that are about to unfold.

Of course a bunch of trolls called my predictions totally nuts and said I'm crazy. Let's wait and see.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27

I have a feeling that a major explosion of infections is about to happen in the US, because they found the first person-to-person infection in the US last night.

California coronavirus case could be first spread within U.S. community, CDC says

 -Los Angeles Times

That means it's now spreading in the community, between random people who've never been to China and did not meet anyone who was in China. This is the beginning of the next phase of the pandemic.

In some of the other countries, where the outbreak started a few days earlier, this was the point when they suddenly saw a massive increase in the numbers of confirmed infections, and governments all over the world making serious pandemic preparations.

Coronavirus has 'pandemic potential,' WHO warns as US ramps up testing

 -ABC News

Well, America's shitty private-for-profit healthcare system still can't even test for the virus, unless they send a sample to the CDC. This is ridiculous. This shit is spreading like wildfire around the globe, and at least the other civilized countries have the ability to test for the virus, and are already well underway in their attempts to contain the outbreak.

Meanwhile in the US: crickets. Trump gave his first press conference about the virus last night. To assure the country that he got it all under control. Of course everyone knows he's lying as usual, so today the stock market continued to crash.

Trump blames Monday and Tuesday's stock market slide on Dem debate that happened Tuesday night

 -Vox

Well, I shouldn't say "everyone" knows he's lying. Trump's brainwashed followers still have no clue that their messiah is lying to them all day every day. The coronavirus pandemic is just one of those things like global warming, where his fanatical cult followers happily deny the facts. They think if they stick their head in the sand and pretend it's not happening, then it's not happening.

They think reality is whatever you say it is. I have a feeling their ignorant bullshit is really gonna come back to haunt them.

It's ironic: many of Trump's MAGA minions are rednecks who live in the middle of nowhere, and a lot of them are conspiracy theorists and doomsday preppers.

These people think someone, something is out to get them, and they've been preparing their whole lives for that day when civilization as we know it will end, and only well-prepared rugged individualists have a chance of surviving the aftermath.

And now that it's actually happening, now that mankind is facing an unprecedented threat that could wipe out modern society as we know it, these guys don't want to believe anything is happening.

Trump told them there's nothing to worry about, it's just the flu. No biggie. So these folks aren't doing anything to prepare themselves. Trump told them that the media is exaggerating to hurt his reelection, and all those reports from all over the world are just fake news.

I think things will continue to escalate very quickly over the coming days and weeks, and these dimwits will be hit totally unprepared. I've been arguing with some of these people on social media the past few days, and any time I post a news article from a reputable international news outlet, like the BBC, they get downright hostile and attack me for "spreading fake news."

They're absolutely insane. Well, their willful ignorance is about to really bite them in the ass.

The cases are multiplying exponentially all over the world. Kuwait suddenly reported that they have 43 cases.

Germany's number of infected jumped up today, to 45. Right outside my old hometown of Aachen, too. In a suburb called Heinsberg. Fuck.

I hope my parents are gonna be ok. My dad has had a lot of problems with his heart over the last few years. He had a few minor heart attacks and got a bunch of stents, and he caught pneumonia during one of his hospital stays a few months ago.

They say the virus is especially deadly for older people who have a history of heart or lung problems. He has both. Not good.

I'm worried about him and my mom. She hasn't had as many health problems as my dad, but a few years ago she struggled with asthma. Back then the doctors said it was stress-related. I hope that's not gonna be an issue now. But even without any pre-existing health issues at all, this virus is really dangerous for older people.

Shelly is worried about her parents too. They live in Arcadia, a predominantly Asian suburb in north-east Los Angeles, with tons of Chinese people, who travel to China all the time.

Let's be realistic: it's pretty much 100% certain that people in Arcadia have been to Wuhan recently, or interacted with other Chinese people from Wuhan.

Today New York told 700 residents who recently traveled to China to self-quarantine. I'm pretty sure it's too late. They already infected others in New York, and we're about to see a major outbreak in New York that will cripple the entire city.

I spent the last 3 days prepping. Bought a ton of canned food and put it in the spare bedroom. That's our doomsday storage now. It's full of cans of food, cans of soda and juice, gallons of water, etc. And candy. Lots of candy.

I figured that way we'll be prepared even if they suddenly lock down Los Angeles the way Wuhan was locked down. I don't think we'll get a lot of advance warning, because they don't want people to flee before the city gets quarantined. I feel a little better now, knowing that we have supplies for 30 days.

I decided to go shopping one last time right before a serious escalation seems imminent.

Well, I was hoping that wouldn't be for another week or two. But with the first community spread case confirmed yesterday, I don't think we have much more time. So I went to the store yet again today and bought perishable foods that taste better than the canned stuff, but won't last as long because it needs to be refrigerated or frozen.

If the electricity goes out, it's all gonna spoil. So I didn't want to buy that type of food until the last minute. Well, I bought it today.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2020

Video: Trump defends US response to coronavirus

-Associated Press

Trump claims the press doesn't give him enough credit for the great job he's done.

Listen to his yes men in the background, obediently laughing at his lame jokes. Disgusting. Pathetic ass kissers.

In the video he brags about flying Americans from an infected cruise ship near Japan back to the US.

How the 'failed' quarantine of the Diamond Princess cruise ship started with 10 coronavirus cases and ended with more than 700

 -Business Insider

Coronavirus-stricken cruise ship passengers returned to US against CDC advice

 -Live Science

Brilliant move. And against the advice of the medical experts at the CDC. Big brain stuff. Good thing Trump is such a stable genius.

I think it's only a matter of time before these cruise ship passengers infect the whole country.

Ironically, a couple of years ago, Trump bitched at Obama on Twitter, for bringing an Ebola-infected American back to the US:

Trump is facing a coronavirus threat. Let's look back at how he talked about Ebola. None of it is reassuring.

 -Vox

"Ebola patient will be brought to the U.S. in a few days - now I know for sure that our leaders are incompetent. KEEP THEM OUT OF HERE!"

-@realDonaldTrump, July 31, 2014

"The U.S. cannot allow EBOLA infected people back. People that go to far away places to help out are great-but must suffer the consequences!"

 -@realDonaldTrump, August 1, 2014

So... Trump said only a totally incompetent leader would bring someone with an infectious disease back to the US.

And that's exactly what he just did.

And now he's even bragging about it.

Hmmmm.

It's almost like everything that comes out of his mouth is total bullshit.

Not only did they fly people infected with a highly contagious disease back to the US. They did so without taking proper precautions to prevent the spread of the disease:

Americans with coronavirus were flown home over CDC objections: report

 -The Hill

U.S. Health Workers Responding to Coronavirus Lacked Training and Protective Gear, Whistle-Blower Says

 -New York Times

I have a feeling this moment in history is not gonna age well.

One day we'll look back at this as the moment when Trump dropped the ball and it all went terribly wrong in the US.

Trump calls coronavirus 'hysteria' the Democrats' 'new hoax'

 -Yahoo News

Video: Trump calls coronavirus 'hysteria' the Democrats' 'new hoax'

-Evening Standard

What a fucking idiot. He's gonna get people killed with his bullshit. His brainwashed followers still don't know that  he lies all day every day. He and his corrupt henchmen lie as soon as they open their mouths.

Trump's cult followers think every word out of his mouth is the gospel truth. And if he calls it a hoax, they're not gonna do anything to protect themselves. They're gonna think not protecting yourself is a sign of loyalty to Trump.

Media's coronavirus stories trying to hurt Trump, Mick Mulvaney says as he urges public to turn off TV

 -CNBC

Can you believe this shit?

Trump and his army of darkness are trying to make his gullible followers think all this media hoopla about the virus is really all about him: the media and the Democrats are just trying to hurt him with a hoax.

Unfuckingbelievable.

He's a textbook  malignant narcissist.

This country is so fucked.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2020

I had a feeling that on the weekend we'd see more panic buying and hoarding. And that's exactly what happened.

There were news reports from all over the world (Australia, Austria, Germany, Japan, Italy, the US, etc) that people were stocking up on canned food, water and toilet paper.

A lot of people seem to think it's important to have plenty of toilet paper when the shit hits the fan.

Coronavirus: Australian newspaper prints extra pages to help out in toilet paper shortage

 -The Guardian

Today the German health minister declared that the coronavirus outbreak is now a worldwide pandemic.

Coronavirus is now a 'worldwide pandemic,' German health minister says

 -Deutsche Welle

There are now 260 confirmed cases in Germany. Mostly in the state NRW, where my parents live.

The WHO still refuses to call it a global pandemic. I think it's because they're still hoping to contain the outbreak. Once they declare it a global pandemic, they're essentially admitting that containment has failed.

CNN just announced the 11th person has died from the virus in the US. The number of infected in the US is up to 149 across 13 states.

Well that escalated quickly.

I wonder how many of the cruise ship passengers live in those 13 states. I wouldn't be surprised if all the cases could be traced back to them, and to the unprotected health care workers who came in contact with them.

The number of infected in Italy (3089) surpassed the number in Iran (2922). Crazy.

In Iran it's so bad, 8% of the Iraqi government is infected. And they released 54,000 prisoners yesterday, so that they don't get infected and die in prison. I wonder if the US is gonna do that too. Or if we're gonna let the prisoners rot in their cells.

And what about all those  immigrant kids who're locked up in  concentration camps at the southern border?

I've been watching a live feed on Youtube, that shows the number of infected growing in real time. Over the past few days it spread to almost every country. Even Iceland already has 26 cases now.

South Korea (5621) still has the most cases outside of China.

Yesterday WHO announced that the  mortality rate seems to be 3.4%, not just 2%.

The rate for the flu is just 0.1%. So this virus is 34 times deadlier than the flu.

And yet, Trump's ignorant cult members still refuse to believe that anything is going on. On social media these imbeciles still claim it's "just the flu." They're gonna be in for a rude awakening in a few days.

I talked to my friend George in Florida. He's older, and a Fox News viewer. So he also thinks this is just a flu and no big deal.

I asked him if he stocked up on some food and water.

He replied: "Why would I? For what?"

Oh jeez. And he has a heart condition and problems with his lungs. I'm worried about him.

I talked to my parents on Skype today. My father seems to have a cold since last night. I hope that's all it is.

A few weeks ago he fell off the roof while cleaning the gutters. He broke a bunch of bones, part of his spine, shattered his shoulder blade, and his clavicle had to be set with a titanium plate. He almost didn't survive the fall. And he's still recuperating.

My parents told me the hospital where my father was treated now found coronavirus among their ICU staff. Great.

More and more people are saying Trump is really fucking up America's response to the virus.

Trump Has Sabotaged America's Coronavirus Response. As it improvises its way through a public health crisis, the United States has never been less prepared for a pandemic.

 -Foreign Policy

Trump's coronavirus strategy faces new scrutiny after second US death

 -CNN

Why the Trump Administration's Coronavirus Response Continues to Raise Concerns

 -Intelligencer

Timeline: How Trump was out of step with the CDC during coronavirus response

 -CNN

Trump blames 'Obama rule' for slow coronavirus response in US

 -New York Post

"The Trump administration hit a major road bump in its coronavirus response when the CDC distributed faulty testing kits in early February. As of last week, the CDC allowed just 12 labs to test for the virus, amid criticism for not simply using a test approved by the World Health Organization and used in other countries."

Trump always tries to blame everyone else for his own failures. His deeply flawed ego is so fragile, he can never ever admit a mistake or take responsibility.

And then he appointed Pence as the coronavirus czar. I guess Pence is gonna be Trump's next fall guy.

Mike Pence, the most anti-science  religious fundamentalist in Washington, is now in charge of America's biggest science project ever: finding a cure for the coronavirus.

Grrreat. What could go wrong?

Coronavirus: Student in quarantine after classmates shook hands with Mike Pence

 -The Independent

Aaand we're off to a great start!

First Trump brings a bunch of infected people into the country against the advice of the CDC. Without proper precautions.

Then they wasted over a month because they decided not to use the WHO testing kits that the rest of the world is using. Instead Trumpistan decided to make their own tests. And then of course the tests didn't work. More time wasted.

Key Missteps at the CDC Have Set Back Its Ability to Detect the Potential Spread of Coronavirus The CDC designed a flawed test for COVID-19, then took weeks to figure out a fix so state and local labs could use it. New York still doesn't trust the test's accuracy.

 -ProPublica

As CDC warns of US COVID-19 spread, labs frustrated over lack of tests

 -Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy

Then Trumpistan tells people not to take the pandemic seriously because it's just a little flu and a Democratic hoax to make the glorious leader look bad.

Trump: Media Playing Up Coronavirus to Make Him Look Bad

 -Multichannel News

And now Trump's surgeon general just told people not to wear masks because it'll do more harm than good.

Masks may actually increase your coronavirus risk if worn improperly, surgeon general warns

 -CNN

"US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams not only wants people to stop buying facemasks to prevent the novel coronavirus, but warns that you actually might increase your risk of infection if facemasks are not worn properly."

Good job, guys!

I mean, why would you listen to the experts? Why would you heed the warnings from Chinese doctors who have been treating coronavirus patients for weeks and warned us it's airborne?

Novel coronavirus can transmit via aerosol: health authorities

 -Xinhua Net

"The aerosol transmission refers to the mixing of the virus with droplets in the air to form aerosols, which can float for long distances and cause infection after inhalation."

Shelly and I are supposed to stay at a hotel near LAX this weekend. Not looking forward to that.

Los Angeles declared a state of emergency today:

Los Angeles-area officials declare emergency after confirming six new coronavirus cases over 48 hours

 -CNBC

While other countries have been testing for weeks, some as many as 10,000 people per day, the US is way behind.

Americans are being told to prepare for a coronavirus outbreak — but US health agencies lack funding, and disease testing lags behind

 -Business Insider

They didn't even really start testing (except a handful of cases at the CDC) until 3 days ago.

New York gets green light to test for COVID-19 virus

-Associated Press

And of course, as soon as New York started testing, they found cases in the city.

Yesterday Boris Johnson floated the idea that the UK might tell people to work from home for 3 months. The UK (85) also announced that they'll test every patient in the ICU for the virus, so they'll probably have a big jump in confirmed numbers in the next few days.

Switzerland has 93 confirmed cases so far.

In Tokyo they're talking about postponing the Olympics.

In Germany a viral expert suggested the whole country should take a 2 week vacation where everyone stays at home, to avoid spreading the virus.

Today they also found a few more cases in India. Some people say India may not have a massive outbreak, because the hot and humid weather is a natural defense against viruses.

I don't know about that. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020

Today's most ironic news:

AIPAC says two people at conference attended by Pence and others have tested positive for coronavirus

 -USA Today

Now a lot of giddy people are keeping their fingers crossed and speculating that Pence might have caught the virus, too.

SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2020

Things are escalating every day. Today Italy announced that they're putting a quarter of their population on lockdown:

Italy announces quarantine affecting quarter of population

-Associated Press

Trump's brainwashed cult still doesn't believe this is real. He told them it's all just a Democratic hoax, and these clueless imbeciles believe it. Half the country has no idea what's happening.

Trump denies official coronavirus death rate based on his 'hunch' and suggests people with deadly virus can go to work

 -The Independent

Trump's Coronavirus Rhetoric Has Some Supporters Unworried, Claiming It Doesn't Exist

 -Huffington Post

Meanwhile CPAC announced that one of their attendees was infected with coronavirus:

CPAC attendee tested positive for coronavirus

 -CNN

I wonder how many people he infected. I guess we'll find out in the coming days.

It's bizarre that the news reports these things, while Trump's brainwashed cult doesn't hear or see anything about it, because he instructed them to ignore the "fake news."

They don't watch any news, they know nothing, and when you argue with them on social media and try to tell them what's going on, they attack you and claim it's all fake.

This country is so fucked.

Well, these clueless idiots are in for a terrible surprise in the coming weeks, when they start to notice undeniable changes in their own lives... closed stadiums and museums, sick neighbors, etc.

A cruise ship has been circling near San Francisco and is not allowed to dock, because they have at least 21 infected on board. Probably more. They only tested 40 people out of the 3500 on board so far. There's still a shortage of tests.

While other countries test tens of thousands of people per day, the US still can't get their shit together and has only tested a few hundred people.

Embarrassing.

Today's top 11 official numbers:

China: 80,695 infected, 3097 dead

South Korea: 7134, 50

Italy: 5883, 233

Iran: 5823, 145

France: 1020, 16

Germany: 921, 0

Spain: 516, 10

Japan: 463, 6

USA: 444, 19

Switzerland: 268, 1

UK: 209, 2

SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2020

It's crazy that this is really happening.

I've always loved science fiction. It was always my favorite genre. And a part of me always wanted to live in those futuristic worlds. I wanted to fight against the Terminators. I wanted to pilot the Millennium Falcon. I wanted to travel back to the future. I wanted to be Mad Max.

Now it feels like my wish is seriously gonna come true. Life is starting to feel like one of those science fiction stories from The Walking Dead or The Last Man on Earth.

It's really happening. In real life.

So weird.

Intellectually I've come to terms with it weeks ago, as soon as I first read about the Wuhan virus, and quickly realized that this was it. The pandemic Bill Gates had warned us about in 2017:

Feb 18, 2017: Bioterrorism could kill more people than nuclear war, Bill Gates

 -The Telegraph

I figured that this is bigger than World War 2. Since the popularity of The Walking Dead and the World War Z movie, a lot of people have been using that term to describe an imaginary zombie apocalypse: World War Z. The Millennials' version of an urban legend of the end times.

We were wrong. It's not World War Z that's gonna wipe out millions of us and disrupt the world as we know it. It's World War C.

It's one thing thinking about it theoretically. Trying to imagine what it's like to really be in some kind of clusterfuck end times scenario. Or at least a worldwide 9/11. No, bigger than 9/11. A world war. An extinction level event, where the human species is actually in danger on a global scale.

What if Coronavirus is like herpes? You can't detect it in the blood, only in the infected cells. So people think they're healed, and then, suddenly...

POW! There's a flare up. Like herpes.

But in your lungs. And every few weeks you have pneumonia. Just like that. For no particular reason. Just because the virus decides to flare up again.

And if you survive the first pneumonia after several weeks in intensive care, then maybe the next bout of pneumonia a few weeks later will kill you. Or the next one after that.

Imagine a world where people constantly get pneumonia every few weeks. How long is that gonna last before everyone's dead?

In theory it's almost fun to imagine all kinds of horrific end times scenarios. It's thrilling. It's scary. And it's fun to be scared. As long as it's just a book or a movie.

But today it's finally hitting me emotionally. The realness of it. It's starting to sink in.

I monitor the news all day every day. I don't want to miss any detail of how this is all unfolding. It's fascinating. It's thrilling. I almost can't wait for it to really start.

Don't judge me. I'm just being honest. And I know you've felt that way sometimes too. We all have.

We laugh at the doomsday preppers who spend their whole lives preparing for the end of the world. We're so sure it's never gonna happen and these crazy rednecks are wasting their lives hoping for an apocalypse that will never come. Everything will always be normal.

We have a normalcy bias. We think things are always gonna be how they always are, and how they always have been. Nothing's ever gonna change. Everything is always gonna be normal.

But then something like 9/11 happens. I lived in New York at the time. I remember how fake it felt to see it happen live on TV.

And then I looked out of the window and saw the pillar of black smoke. And it felt real. On a deeply emotional level.

I worked for a newspaper at the time and had a press pass. So I managed to get into Ground Zero and see the rubble close up, with my own eyes.

It was emotionally overwhelming. It was so not normal, but at the same time so real. It's hard to wrap your mind around it, but then suddenly it hits you like a punch in the gut.

This time it's more gradual. It's not a gut punch like standing at Ground Zero where the realness of it hits you all at once.

This time it creeps up on you. A lot of the predictions I made a few weeks ago are starting to come true. And it was one thing thinking about them as hypothetical events but it's another thing to see them unfold before your eyes.

Because it means that the predictions are correct. I wasn't totally nuts.

Today a third AIPAC attendee tested positive for coronavirus.

Third AIPAC Conference Attendee Tests Positive for Coronavirus. It is unknown whether LA resident contracted coronavirus before attending the policy conference, which attracted some 18,000 participants

 -Haaretz

I'm sure there'll be more. And there will be more at CPAC. And the virus will find its way into the White House and Congress and the Senate.

And then we're about to witness all sorts of unprecedented events. Things we never thought possible in real life. Things we love to watch in apocalyptic movies.

Little by little it's all unfolding.

I read yesterday that the movie Outbreak with Dustin Hoffman is trending. It's #7 on Itunes.

We watched it today. It's amazing how close to real life it felt.

A few days ago we watched the 2013 Korean movie Flu. That felt even more real because the footage looked so similar to the underground videos Chinese people from Wuhan have been sharing on social media.

Today's numbers...

China: 80,739 infected, 3119 dead

South Korea: 7382, 53

Italy: 7375, 366

Iran: 6566, 194

France: 1209, 19

Germany: 1087, 0

Spain: 674, 17

USA: 554, 22

Japan 509, 11

Switzerland: 332, 2

UK: 278, 3

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020

Another one of my Reddit predictions from 2/23 came true today:

Trading halted as U.S. stocks plummet

 -Axios

Dow Dives More Than 2,000 Points; Steep Market Slide Triggered Trading Halt

 -NPR

The stock market crashed because Russia popped America's debt bubble.

Russia's Defiance Sets the Stage for Oil Price 'Bloodbath.' Moscow rejects OPEC's effort to avert a coronavirus-driven price collapse, shutting down an agreement to cut crude output.

 -Foreign Policy

Why Russia and Vladimir Putin are waging an oil war with America

 -CNN

Putin just sparked an oil price war with Saudi Arabia — and US energy companies may be the victims

 -CNN

Russia's oil price war could spark corporate defaults in the US

 -Quartz

And that was the whole point.

March 20, 2019: When the U.S. falls into a recession, a credit bubble will explode

 -Market Watch

Italy announced today that the whole country is under lockdown now. Not just the northern area around Milan and Venice.

All of Italy on lockdown as coronavirus cases surge

 -France24.com

There are some Italians on my coronavirus sub on Reddit. The entire fucking country of Italy really is under mandatory quarantine as of today!! Unreal! They posted some updates from the frontlines of World War C:

"The healthcare system is under collapse with only 9000 cases.

The entire country will stop tomorrow.

For the German, French, American friends... take care of yourself. The plague is coming to you, just a matter of time."

 -Reddit

The plague is coming for us. Sounds just a tad ominous.

"There are 500 patients in ICU only in hospital Sacco, with 30/50 new people every day: they are severe, men for the most, of every age.

They are in a coma for 2 weeks, intubated and naked.

That's an inferno."

 -Reddit

"Hospitals in northern Italy are full and closed to the public, the army are preparing their barracks to hospitalize people in a worst scenario.

I see American news and I can see my country 3 weeks ago: IT'S NOT A FLU!

Take care of yourself."

 -Reddit

Italy's Coronavirus Response Is a Warning From the Future

 -The Atlantic

Meanwhile Trump's brainwashed minions have no idea any of this is going on. They still think coronavirus is just the flu and this whole clusterfuck is all just a big hoax invented by the media. Yet more proof that MAGA minions are the dumbest people on the planet.

Several Republicans who came into contact with Trump are now in self-quarantine because they were in contact with the infected guy at the CPAC convention.

Trump had contact with congressmen Collins and Gaetz before they self-quarantined over coronavirus concerns

 -CNBC

5 congressmen -- including Trump's future chief of staff and lawmaker who shook President's hand -- to self-quarantine after CPAC

 -CNN

Mark Meadows To Self-Quarantine After Potential Contact With Coronavirus Patient. The incoming White House chief of staff is the latest GOP lawmaker who may have had contact with an infected person.

 -Huffington Post

Can you believe this shit? Unreal. Even Trump's brand new chief of staff was exposed and is probably infected, on day one of his new job!

What a clueless team of bungling idiots. It would be funny, if this pandemic wasn't so dead serious.

Ah, who am I kidding, it's still funny.

Don't judge me.

"Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh."

-George Bernard Shaw

"Humor is the great thing, the saving thing."

-Mark Twain

Humor is a coping mechanism. It's human to laugh at the things that terrify you.

Humor As Weapon, Shield and Psychological Salve

 -Psych Central

"Placing a comical spin on dire circumstances that are outside one's control was an effective coping mechanism long before the Germans named the phenomenon, and continues to serve the oppressed, victimized and suffering today. Gallows humor often is viewed as an expression of resilience and hope that has the power to soothe suffering. When the minority has few tools to combat an oppressive majority, gallows humor can be used as a sort of secret, subversive weapon."

Awfully Funny

 -Association for Psychological Science

"Great thinkers throughout history have recognized this unusual tendency to poke light at dark times. Plato felt humor was the mixture of pleasure and pain; Mark Twain once said, "Humor is tragedy plus time." What's become clearer to psychological scientists lately is just why we have the ability to find comedy in tragedy, and just how well humor helps us cope with the various stressors of existence."

Anyway, I think there's no way Trump didn't get infected by now. But of course he denies it. Reporters asked him if he has been tested. He said no:

Trump says he sees 'no reason' to be tested for the coronavirus

 -The Hill

Yeah, right. As if that wasn't the first thing they did when the news broke that all these Republicans around him might be infected. Of course they tested him. And if it was negative, he would gleefully hold it up to the camera on TV.

Oh, and then there's this little gem:

Gohmert returns to Congress despite possible coronavirus exposure after physician recommendation

 -The Hill

Gomer, you're a fucking idiot.

I wonder how long it will take before he infects everyone in Congress.

Hmm, who knows, maybe it's a conspiracy, and he purposely went there to infect everyone, hoping that at the next vote some sick Democrats will miss the vote and they won't have a majority.

Just kidding.

Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see.

But I'm sure the Republicans will try to use the coronavirus to their advantage in every way possible. They funnel aid money into their own pockets, and either cancel the elections altogether, or try to stop people from voting by shutting down voting places in Democratic neighborhoods.

I wouldn't be surprised if they shut down Congress and the Senate in a few days. It would look pretty awkward. They get to stay home, while Trump told Americans a few days ago to go to work even if they're sick, because, you know, it's nothing. Just a little flu. No biggie.

Trump Claims Thousands Could Still Go To Work With Coronavirus And Get Better. The CDC advises people with COVID-19: "Do not go to work, school or public areas. Avoid using public transportation, ride-sharing or taxis."

 -Huffington Post

Man, can you imagine working for the CDC, and trying to protect America from the plague, and then the president is a complete moron who tells people not to worry about it, it's nothing, just a Democratic hoax?

Donald Trump Charleston, South Carolina Rally Transcript – February 28, 2020

 -Rev.com

"Donald Trump held a rally in South Carolina on February 28, 2020, where he called the coronavirus or COVID-19 outbreak the Democrats' "new hoax."

Trump and the 'New Hoax'

 -Factcheck.org

"Then the president, who often dismissed special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation as a hoax, continued, "They tried the impeachment hoax. That was on a perfect conversation. They tried anything. They tried it over and over. They'd been doing it since you got in. It's all turning. They lost. It's all turning. Think of it. Think of it. And this is their new hoax."

"So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!"

 -@realDonaldTrump, March 9, 2020

Saw an interesting little documentary tonight:

Health Care Sharing Ministries ARE NOT Health Insurance

-Full Frontal with Samantha Bee

Republican televangelists con their gullible flock into buying fake health care from them. These poor suckers think they have insurance, until they get sick and find out the bullshit their con man preacher sold them is not actually insurance and won't actually pay for their treatment.

Nice.

TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020

The Democrats, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, had the sense to cancel their rallies in Ohio tonight. (That means another one of my predictions from 2/23 just came true. Move over, Nostradamus!)

Bernie Sanders And Joe Biden Canceled Election Night Rallies Over Coronavirus Concerns

 -Buzzfeed

Trump said a few days ago that he would definitely  not cancel his rallies, and that he'll definitely continue to keep  shaking hands, even though the CDC advises against it.

What do you expect from an orange clown who stares directly into the sun?

I bet they'll probably shut down Wall Street as well, as soon as one of the guys on the trading floor tests positive for the virus.

China published yet another study that says the virus is airborne.

But people here in the US still pretend that it's not.

Or maybe they really don't know. But shouldn't they know this? Aren't our health officials talking to the health officials in China?

Well, it's the Trump clusterfuck, so yeah, no, his henchmen are probably too cocky, ignorant and arrogant to ask China for advice.

Or do they know but purposely don't mention it to avoid a panic?

I mean, obviously at least the experts at the CDC must know it's airborne, because the medics in China, Italy, Germany, South Korea and other countries all wear full biohazard gear, often with their own personal air tanks. You wear that kind of outfit when you battle an airborne pathogen, not when you go to a birthday party.

Meanwhile here in the US, people aren't even wearing masks yet. Everyone is inhaling the virus and thinks that washing their hands will save them somehow. And then they wonder why it's spreading so quickly.

Great job, Trump. You're the best at fighting a pandemic. No one is better.

The news keep telling us all day every day to wash our hands. Like a mantra.

I think it's purely psychological. To give people the sense that they're still in control of their destiny and not completely helpless against this virus.

It gives them the feeling that if they put all their energy into this one magic  20 second happy birthday handwash, it will keep them safe.

It's hope.

And we all need hope right now.

So wash your hands.

"Wash your hands to survive the doomsday virus" is like telling people to "duck and cover" to survive a nuclear war. It seems a little silly. It makes the threat seem less dangerous.

How terrible could this nuclear bomb be if a flimsy little table can protect me from it? No big deal.

And how bad could this virus be, if a little soap and the happy birthday song can kick its ass?

I mean, sure, washing your hands can't hurt. But let's be honest: it's not gonna protect you from an airborne virus. But a full biohazard suit does. And that's why the medics in the rest of the world are wearing them, while we sing happy birthday and wash our hands.

What could go wrong?

Coronavirus can travel twice as far as official 'safe distance' and stay in air for 30 minutes, Chinese study finds.

 -South China Morning Post

"Authorities advise people to stay 1-2 metres apart, but researchers found that a bus passenger infected fellow travellers sitting 4.5 metres away. The scientists behind the research said their investigation also highlighted the importance of wearing face masks because of the length of time it can linger."

The US healthcare system is so not prepared for this. This is gonna get really ugly.

The coronavirus pandemic is a world-changing event, like 9/11. There was a world before Covid-19. And there will be a world after Covid-19. But it won't be the same.

I went to Target today, for some last minute doomsday shopping. A lot more items are sold out now. Not just masks, toilet paper and hand sanitizer. There are lots of empty shelves.

That made it a little more real for me.

Like I said, it's one thing talking about a pandemic, or read about it on social media. It seems filtered. A different world. Not real life.

And then you step outside and the store shelves are empty.

And you realize, yeah, this is really happening. In real life.

They announced on the news that the governor of New York sent the National Guard to New Rochelle, to put them on lockdown. Apparently they found another cluster of infected people.

New York Gov. Cuomo deploys National Guard to New Rochelle, establishes containment center to stem coronavirus

 -CNBC

This is not far from New York City. Just north of the Bronx. They're probably worried that New Rochelle is going to infect Manhattan. But it's too late for containment, I think. It's already in Manhattan. It's everywhere.

Global coronavirus outbreak has 'exploded' and the aftermath could last a year, Singapore's foreign minister says

 -CNBC

By now 118 countries/territories are infected. This is gonna be the biggest event of our life times. 100 times bigger than 9/11. But Trump and his team of non-experts and hillbilly yokels are on it like white on rice.

Today's numbers from the countries with the most infected:

China: 80,778 infected, 3158 dead

Italy: 10,149, 631

Iran: 8042, 291

South Korea: 7755, 60

France: 1784, 33

Spain: 1695, 36

Germany: 1577, 2

US: 1018, 30

Japan: 587, 12

Switzerland: 497, 3

Norway: 400, 0

UK: 383, 6

On a lighter note, here's the latest from Florida man Gaetz:

Matt Gaetz ended up sleeping in a Walmart parking lot after potentially exposing Trump to the coronavirus

 -Business Insider

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020

The World Health Organization is finally calling it a pandemic:

WHO declares virus crisis a pandemic, U.S. stocks plunge

-Associated Press

Meanwhile, the orange clown:

Trump tweet suggests common flu worse than coronavirus

 -Treasure Coast Newspapers

"So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!"

 -@realDonaldTrump, March 9, 2020

No wonder that Trump's brainwashed cult still refuses to believe this is no worse than the regular flu. Just a hoax, folks.

Meanwhile the warnings on the news are getting more explicit:

Take this seriously. Coronavirus is about to change your life for a while

 -CNN

Doctor In Italy's Coronavirus Epicenter Tells Chilling Details In Plea For Action

 -Huffington Post

60% to 70% of the German population will be infected by the coronavirus, Merkel says

 -CNBC

Mnuchin to Urge Trump to Extend April 15 Tax Deadline Over Virus

 -Bloomberg

Wow... lots of news today. Things are happening faster and faster...

Trump Just Banned Travel From Europe to Stop The Coronavirus

President Trump slammed the EU's efforts to contain the coronavirus and labeled it a "foreign virus."

 -Vice

Jesus, what a lying piece of shit. Europe has been way further along in their pandemic response. The US still can't even test everyone who needs it.

Anyway, that was another one of my predictions. It's all happening the way I pictured it in my head a few weeks ago. I'm not happy about that. I hope eventually my predictions start to diverge from reality.

Maybe I'm describing the events in a different timeline. And we're lucky and in our timeline that stuff isn't gonna happen. In our timeline suddenly we find out that chocolate is the cure and everything goes back to normal.

The first two celebrities officially have coronavirus:

Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson Test Positive For Coronavirus As Outbreak Hits 'Elvis Presley' Film

 -Deadline.com

It's hitting big sports now too. That's gonna make it even harder for Trump's cult members to pretend that the coronavirus pandemic is just a hoax.

N.B.A. Suspends Season After Player Tests Positive for Coronavirus

 -New York Times

In Japan they keep talking about what they're gonna do about the Olympics.

I'm still guessing they will have to cancel it. How are they gonna have thousands of athletes stay in close quarters, when even college dorms are shutting down?

I've been coughing a lot tonight.

On the lighter side:

Coronavirus Conference Gets Canceled Because of Coronavirus

 -Bloomberg

THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020

The market is crashing so bad, it was halted again today.

Trump address sparks chaos as coronavirus crisis deepens

 -CNN

Trading halts after Dow plummets 1,696 as Trump's coronavirus response fails to calm investor nerves

 -MarketWatch

Dow Drops 2,100 Points: Stocks In Meltdown After Temporary Trading Halt

 -NPR

Pence says there's been 'irresponsible rhetoric' from people downplaying coronavirus

 -NBC

Yeah, from your boss. He's the #1 source of misinformation.

5 times Trump and US officials downplayed coronavirus as the administration struggled to prepare for the growing pandemic

 -Business Insider

'He's gonna get us all killed': sense of unease after Trump coronavirus speech

 -The Guardian

Italy closes bars, restaurants and most shops as coronavirus death toll jumps 30%

 -CNBC

California governor calls for all public gatherings to be canceled due to coronavirus

 -New York Post

Shit's gettin' real.

Too bad Trump doesn't know it.

Or maybe he doesn't want to admit it because he invested all his borrowed  Russian money in the stock market, and now he lost all that money in the crash? Oops.

Maybe Trumpy is  broke yet again and now he won't be able to pay his mortgage for Trump tower and Mar-a-Lago?

Let's see if in a few weeks there are gonna be  news reports about Trump not paying his bills again. Wouldn't be the first time.

Apparently he's famous for  not paying his bills. He called himself the "king of debt."

Meanwhile, more infected celebrities...

Beverly Hills Pastor, Sister Of Actor Matthew Broderick, Tests Positive For Coronavirus

 -CBS

Oh no, it's in Beverly Hills now too! Old celebrities are gonna start dying like flies. Let's wait and see who else announces they're infected.

Not looking good for professional sports either...

Coronavirus: Donovan Mitchell second NBA player to test positive, per report, after Jazz teammate Rudy Gobert

 -CBS

NHL suspends season indefinitely over coronavirus pandemic

 -KTLA

Coronavirus grinds the sports world to a halt: Here's what's canceled

 -CNBC

More infected politicians...

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau self-isolating over coronavirus fears

-BBC

Brazilian Official Who Met Trump at Mar-a-Lago Last Week Reportedly Tests Positive for Coronavirus

 -Daily Beast

Brazilian official who met Trump has virus; no plans to test Trump

 -Fox 4

Not fishy at all, huh?

Trump's virulent state of denial

 -Boston Globe

I get the feeling Trump has been infected ever since his India trip, and now he's infecting all these politicians who test positive after being in contact with him. Not the other way around.

Coronavirus Can Live in Patients for Five Weeks After Contagion

 -Bloomberg

Remember those cruise ship passengers? They were quarantined on the ship for weeks, then they let them off, and then finally some of them started showing symptoms.

And I read reports from Chinese doctors that said some people were showing symptoms as late as 29 days after being infected.

California Governor Calls Out What A Mess Coronavirus Testing Is Right Now

 -Huffington Post

Performing Arts And Cultural Organizations Close Their Doors Due To Coronavirus

 -NPR

Disneyland and Universal Studios to close for the rest of the month over coronavirus

 -Los Angeles Times

Coronavirus is France's 'greatest health crisis in a century', says Macron

 -France24

Coronavirus: Italy records over 1,000 deaths from Covid-19

 -Irish Times

Coronavirus has Italy on lockdown. Is that what the rest of us have to look forward to?

 -NBC

Coronavirus begins shutting down public life across Germany

 -Deutsche Welle

I went to Trader Joe's today. In the pouring rain. I've never seen the store this crowded before. And a lot of the shelves were empty.

Today's numbers:

China: 80,796 infected, 3170 dead

Italy: 15,113, 1016

Iran: 10,075, 429

South Korea: 7979, 68

Spain: 3146, 86

Germany: 2895, 6

France: 2876, 61

US: 1716, 41

Switzerland: 868, 7

Norway: 800, 1

Japan: 691, 19

Sweden: 687, 1

On a lighter note:

The Prepping Industry Wasn't Prepared for the Coronavirus

 -Wired.com

How ironic.

FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2020

Friday the 13th? Well that's not good.

New York cases jump 30% overnight, Louvre and Eiffel Tower shut down

 -CNBC

Coronavirus pandemic prompts the big 3 cruise companies to suspend operations

 -CNBC

2nd Person With Trump at Mar-a-Lago Tests Positive for Coronavirus

 -NBC

Look who finally decided to take this seriously:

Trump declares national emergency \-- and denies responsibility for coronavirus testing failures

 -CNN

U.S. Coronavirus Testing Gets A Potential Breakthrough

 -NPR

White House physician: Trump doesn't require test or quarantine after exposure to 2 people with coronavirus

 -The Hill

Get this: the evil orange clown tried to cut poor people's food stamps. In the middle of a god damn pandemic. It's like he's cruel just for shits and giggles. Thankfully a judge stopped it:

Federal judge cites coronavirus in decision blocking Trump admin cut to food stamps

 -The Hill

SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 2020

Step by step, the whole world seems to be shutting down. This is unprecedented.

I guess it's safe to say the Olympics are cancelled, even if they haven't officially announced it yet.

Apple to close all stores outside of China until March 27 in response to coronavirus

 -CNBC

Hospitals are canceling elective surgeries to make space for a potential flood of coronavirus patients

 -CNBC

In Italy, the people try to cope with the quarantine by singing out their windows:

Italian streets fill with song as millions remain on coronavirus lockdown

 -USA Today

Spain to follow Italy into lockdown as virus cases soar

-Associated Press

Jordan tightens lockdown to combat coronavirus

 -Reuters

World closes borders, restricts travel to contain coronavirus spread

 -Reuters

Virus-related shutdowns bringing US economy to grinding halt

-Associated Press

Here's what could really sink the global economy: $19 trillion in risky corporate debt

 -CNN

That's the debt bubble I mentioned on Monday.

White House now conducting temperature checks amid outbreak

-Associated Press

Trump, American exceptionalism and the virus

-Associated Press

America has learned a lot about Trump during coronavirus crisis

 -CNN

Trump tests negative for coronavirus, White House says

 -CNN

I don't believe a word that orange clown says.

Panic buying at L.A. supermarkets amid coronavirus leaves shelves empty, many anxious

 -Los Angeles Times

Went to Aldi today. Scary how many of the shelves were empty.

SUNDAY, MARCH 15, 2020

Nike, Urban Outfitters and other retailers shuttering stores temporarily because of coronavirus

 -CNN

Box office plunges to lowest level in over two decades amid coronavirus

 -New York Post

California, Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts close bars and restaurants in effort to slow coronavirus

 -USA Today

Coronavirus live updates: New York governor wants Trump to mobilize army, NYC mayor calls outbreak 'war'

 -CNBC

The global panic buying kicked into high gear. People from all over the world are posting pictures of empty shelves on social media. On Twitter they use the hashtag #panicbuying. And #coronapocolypse

Amazon says it is out of stock of household items and deliveries are delayed due to coronavirus demand

 -CNBC

Trump says 'relax,' urges against hoarding as coronavirus cases soar and Fed cuts rates to zero

 -CNBC

Speaking of not hoarding:

Germany and US wrestle over coronavirus vaccine. US President Trump is attempting to entice a German lab to develop a vaccine exclusively for the US, a German newspaper reported. The company, however, later rejected claims of a sale of the firm or its technology.

 -Deutsche Welle

Unbelievable.

Russia rushes to copy China and build a new hospital to deal with coronavirus

 -Daily Mail

The CDC recommends organizers cancel or postpone events with 50 people or more for 8 weeks

 -CNN

MGM and Wynn to close Las Vegas resorts amid pandemic

 -Fox 5

Top infectious disease expert doesn't rule out supporting temporary national lockdown to combat coronavirus

 -CNN

Mike Pence Scrambles After Google Contradicts Trump On Coronavirus Website

 -Huffington Post

MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2020

First Tom Hanks, now Idris Elba...

Idris Elba Tests Positive For Coronavirus

 -Huffington Post

I guess it's only a matter of time before they halt all movie production and shut down Hollywood. No new movies or TV shows for a while.

Dow falls 2,200 points, trading halted, as rate cut fails to calm markets

 -NBC

Wow... Trading halted yet again. Gee, who could have seen that coming? You mean giving businesses even more borrowed money, after giving them free money for years, doesn't fix a debt bubble?

The economic impact of this pandemic is gonna be so much worse than 9/11. After 9/11 they told us it was our patriotic duty to keep going shopping, "or the terrorists will have won."

This time they're telling us our patriotic duty is to stay home and not go shop. They're right, but this is going to destroy the global economy and bring about a depression that's even worse than the one in the 1930s. That might end up being even worse than the actual pandemic itself.

New York City, Los Angeles mayors order restaurants, bars, theaters closed for coronavirus

 -Reuters

New York Gov. Cuomo warns US won't have enough hospital beds for coronavirus pandemic

 -CNBC

Trump claims coronavirus is under control -- contradicting reality and his own top expert

 -CNN

U.S. poll shows growing worries about coronavirus; drop in confidence in government

 -Reuters

Trump finds his MAGA movement fracturing over coronavirus

 -Politico

Coronavirus will be 'with us permanently,' former Bank of England official warns

 -CNBC

Global Deaths From Coronavirus Surpass 6,000

 -NPR

As the casualties continue to climb exponentially, in a few weeks we'll look back at that number and think that this right now were the good old days.

Health officials warn US government does not have enough stockpiled medical equipment to deal with coronavirus

 -CNN

Millions holed up at home as virus profoundly shifts US life

-Associated Press

Amazon to Hire 100,000 Warehouse and Delivery Workers Amid Coronavirus Shutdowns

 -Wall Street Journal

Cannon fodder.

At least 5 Amazon warehouse workers in Europe test positive for the coronavirus

 -CNBC

Virus fears fuel spike in sales of guns and ammunition

-Associated Press

Lovely. What could go wrong?

EU proposes ban on non-essential incoming foreign travel for 30 days

 -CNBC

Coronavirus forces airlines to consider a once unthinkable possibility — halting US flights

 -CNBC

Stocks Go Into Shock. Dow Plunges Nearly 3,000 Points

 -NPR

White House Takes New Line After Dire Report on Death Toll. Without action by the government and individuals to slow the spread of coronavirus and suppress new cases, 2.2 million people in the United States could die.

 -New York Times

Trump, finally, takes the coronavirus emergency seriously

 -CNN

Trump Urges Avoiding Crowds Over 10 People To Prevent Coronavirus Spread

 -Huffington Post

Trump says coronavirus crisis could stretch into August, may look at lockdown for 'certain areas'

 -CNBC

Mitt Romney Proposes Sending Americans $1,000 To Deal With Coronavirus Downturn

 -Huffington Post

Even some of the Republicans are starting to realize that UBI is inevitable, unless you want millions of Americans to starve to death.

I went to Ralph's today. Empty shelves all over the store.

Today's numbers:

China: 80,860 infected, 3226

Italy: 27,980, 2158

Iran: 14,991, 853

Spain: 9942, 342

South Korea: 8320, 87

Germany: 7272, 17

France: 6653, 148

US: 4704, 93

Switzerland: 2353, 19

UK: 1551, 55

Netherlands: 1414, 24

Norway: 1348, 3

Sweden: 1121, 7

On a lighter note:

UK's sewage system in danger of gridlock from toilet paper substitutes

 -The Guardian

TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2020

New York state coronavirus cases soar to more than 1,300, hospitalizing 19%

 -CNBC

Ex-Trump chief of staff Mick Mulvaney self-quarantining over coronavirus concern

 -CNBC

So both of Trump's chiefs of staff, the old one and the new one, are both self-isolating for exposure.

No way in hell does Trump not have it. I don't believe for a second that he was tested and it came back negative. And he's still out there, shaking hands, although the CDC keeps telling him not to.

IRS extends tax deadline, big Vegas hotels close

 -Cnet

Amazon prioritizes household staples and medical supplies from merchants amid coronavirus outbreak

 -CNBC

Gov. Cuomo says New York City will not be quarantined: 'It cannot happen'

 -CNBC

Famous last words?

New Yorkers should be prepared for a 'shelter-in-place order,' Mayor Bill de Blasio says

 -CNBC

7M people in San Francisco area wake up to empty streets

-Associated Press

Cinemas close nationwide, studios push new movies into homes

-Associated Press

'D' word rears head as coronavirus-hit markets brace for recession

 -Reuters

That's D for depression.

Govts pledge aid as global commerce seizes in face of virus

-Associated Press

US plan warns coronavirus pandemic could last 18 months: report

 -The Hill

Europe is trying to deal with the closed borders:

Border chaos, choked supply lines in attempts to slow virus

-Associated Press

French Open postponed until September because of COVID-19

-Associated Press

French President Macron says 'we are at war' as he orders lockdown

 -Deutsche Welle

Suddenly even Trump is for UBI:

Mnuchin: Trump wants checks sent to public in virus response

-Associated Press

Trump Says He's 'Always' Taken The Coronavirus Pandemic Seriously. He Hasn't. The president continues to rewrite the history of how he's responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 -Huffington Post

Here's a timeline of Trump quotes about the coronavirus:

January 22: "We have it totally under control. It's one person coming in from China. It's going to be just fine."

February 2: "We pretty much shut it down coming in from China."

February 24: "The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA... Stock Market starting to look very good to me!"

February 25: "CDC and my Administration are doing a GREAT job of handling Coronavirus."

February 25: "I think that's a problem that's going to go away... They have studied it. They know very much. In fact, we're very close to a vaccine."

February 25: "Pretty close to air tight." - Larry Kudlow.

February 26: "The 15 (cases in the US) within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero."

February 26: "We're going very substantially down, not up."

February 27: "One day it's like a miracle, it will disappear."

February 28: "We're ordering a lot of supplies. We're ordering a lot of, uh, elements that frankly we wouldn't be ordering unless it was something like this. But we're ordering a lot of different elements of medical."

February 28: "Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus, you know that, right? Coronavirus, they're politicizing it. We did one of the great jobs. You say, 'How's President Trump doing?' They go, 'Oh, not good, not good.' They have no clue. They don't have any clue. They can't even count their votes in Iowa." "They tried the impeachment hoax. That was on a perfect conversation. They tried anything. They tried it over and over. They'd been doing it since you got in. It's all turning. They lost. It's all turning. Think of it. Think of it. And this is their new hoax."

March 1: "Everything is really under control."

March 2: "You take a solid flu vaccine, you don't think that could have an impact, or much of an impact, on corona?"

March 2: "A lot of things are happening, a lot of very exciting things are happening and they're happening very rapidly."

March 4: "If we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work — some of them go to work, but they get better."

March 5: "I NEVER said people that are feeling sick should go to work."

March 5: "The United States... has, as of now, only 129 cases... and 11 deaths. We are working very hard to keep these numbers as low as possible!"

March 6: "I think we're doing a really good job in this country at keeping it down... a tremendous job at keeping it down."

March 6: "Anybody right now, and yesterday, anybody that needs a test gets a test. They're there. And the tests are beautiful.... the tests are all perfect like the letter was perfect. The transcription was perfect. Right? This was not as perfect as that but pretty good."

March 6: "I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it... Every one of these doctors said, 'How do you know so much about this?' Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have done that instead of running for president."

March 6: "I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn't our fault."

March 6: "It's contained!" - Kellyanne Conway

March 8: "We have a perfectly coordinated and fine tuned plan at the White House for our attack on CoronaVirus."

March 9: "This blindsided the world."

March 9: "The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant."

March 10: "It will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away."

March 13: National Emergency Declaration

March 13: "I don't take responsibility at all"

March 15: "TODAY IS A NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER. GOD BLESS EVERYONE!"

March 16: "I give myself a 10 out of 10"

March 17: "I've always known this is a real--this is a pandemic. I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic."

And while this clueless idiot bullshits his way through a catastrophe, more and more Americans are dying.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020

They halted trading again today...

Trading on the New York Stock Exchange was temporarily halted for the fourth time in two weeks after the S&P 500 index plunged 7%. The S&P 500 fell 5% for the day.

 -NPR

Sanders Calls For $2,000 Per Month In Coronavirus Financial Aid, Plus Temporary Medicare For All

 -RealClearPolitics.com

White House coronavirus plan aims to send $2,000 to many Americans, includes $300 billion for small businesses

 -The Hour

'Hell is coming' — Bill Ackman has dire warning for Trump, CEOs if drastic measures aren't taken now

 -CNBC

NYC mayor pushes for 'shelter-in-place' order as coronavirus cases surge to almost 1,900

 -CNBC

Amazon warehouse worker in New York tests positive for the coronavirus

 -CNBC

NYSE to temporarily close floor, move to electronic trading after positive coronavirus tests

 -CNBC

Diaz-Balart is Congress' 1st known positive test

-Associated Press

2 Members Of Congress Test Positive For COVID-19, Others Quarantine After Contact

 -NPR

Trump dubs COVID-19 'Chinese virus' despite hate crime risks

-Associated Press

Jesus, what a racist piece of shit that orange lowlife is. There has been an increase in racist violence against Chinese people because of the coronavirus. Why make it worse by calling it the Chinese virus?

The World Health Organization specifically advised against giving a virus a geographic name, because it just leads to racism against the people of that region. That's why they decided to call it Covid-19... nice and neutral. But Trump always needs a boogeyman so he can rile up his braindead followers into a bloodthirsty frenzy.

I had to go to the embassy today, to renew my German passport. The German government takes its job seriously, and takes care of its citizens. In an emergency, they evacuate all their citizens back to the homeland for free. Right now they're evacuating over 100,000 from all over the world.

I want to put our names on the emergency list, just so that they know we exist and we're here. You never know. We might need to evacuate. Right now Germany is just as badly affected by the pandemic as the US. Maybe even a little worse, since they're a few days ahead of the US.

There was almost no traffic on my way there. I stopped at The Grove to take some pictures at the Farmers Market.

It's always super busy. Overrun by locals and tourists alike. And the folks from the CBS studios next door. It's a great place to spot a celebrity sipping a latte or buying some French cheese.

Today it was eerily quiet. I've never seen it so deserted.

Like a ghost town, even though about a third of the stores were still open despite the lockdown.

Desperate store owners who can't afford to shut down, I guess.

I took a bunch of photos. This is history. They'll be talking about this for generations.

I really hope they'll call it Trumpvirus.

So weird to see LA this empty.

Luckily the embassy was still open.

The lady who helped me said normally it takes 4-6 weeks to get the new passport from Germany. But since nothing is normal right now, it can take longer, if no planes are allowed to fly from Europe to the US due to the travel ban.

On the way home, I took some photos on Sunset and Hollywood Boulevard. They were empty too.

I've lived through the aftermath of 9/11 in New York, and hurricane Sandy. So I've been in bizarre emergency situations. But I've never felt closer to the end of the world than I do right now.

Anyway, this afternoon I noticed that the stuff in the fridge wasn't really cold, and the stuff in the freezer was thawed out. FUCK! I spent over $2000 in the past few weeks, preparing for the pandemic. Bought food, masks, medication etc.

There's about $500 worth of food in the freezer, and now it's all thawed out. FUCK FUCK FUCK!!

We checked the hamburger patties and they weren't frozen anymore. This is now the second time this happened. About a week ago the fridge also wasn't cool enough and some stuff on the top shelves thawed out. I figured maybe the thermostat is blocked by ice, or the coils are frozen or something like that. We moved some stuff around, and then the fridge seemed to be ok again.

Until today. Now everything thawed out a second time. I hope we don't end up with food poisoning if we eat the stuff that thawed out twice.

We decided to drive to Home Depot and get some cooler boxes and ice, and put the food from the freezer in the coolers. We bought two big ones for $50 each. Damn. Another $100 spent on this crap. And $20 on 8 packs of ice.

Then we put all the food in there, together with the ice. Hopefully we can salvage some of it. We already had to throw a bunch of it out, because it was obviously not going to be edible anymore. That was probably $60 of wasted food right there. Damn. This pandemic is not off to a good start.

This is the kind of shit you have to worry about during an emergency. Suddenly something goes wrong, and all your food supplies or your water is gone. And then you're a statistic.

Luckily I bought more canned food than frozen food. So even if we can't find a repairman tomorrow, we (hopefully) won't starve for a while. We'll just have to dip into our canned food stash sooner than expected.

I'm not crazy about that, but it's not the end of the world. We'll manage, even if the food supplies are disrupted for a little while, and grocery store shelves continue to be empty.

We should have enough toilet paper for a few weeks too. I wish we had more, but we have a decent supply right now. I just hope the toilet paper situation normalizes again before we run out.

Well, I guess if worst comes to worst, we do what they did after World War 2: wipe our butts with old newspapers.

I just called a few fridge repairmen on Yelp, Angie's List and Google Maps. Hopefully one of them actually shows up tomorrow.

At least my cough is gone. So that's something.

They've been saying on the news and on social media that Ibuprofen might make Covid-19 worse. I hid our Ibuprofen and I'm taking an Indomethacin every day now. I read in medical journals that it's also an NSAID, like Ibuprofen, but it doesn't raise your ACE2 enzyme, like Ibuprofen does. And that ACE2 enzyme supposedly helps the coronavirus attack your lungs.

Indomethacin not only doesn't raise your ACE2, it also has been shown to have strong antiviral properties against SARS. Since Covid-19 is very similar to SARS, I'm hoping Indomethacin might also be a good antiviral against the new coronavirus.

Today's numbers...

China: 80,929 infected, 3245 dead

Italy: 35,713, 2978

Iran: 17,361, 1135

Spain: 14,769, 638

Germany: 12,327, 31

US: 9464, 155

France: 9134, 264

South Korea: 8565, 92

Switzerland: 3115, 33

UK: 2644, 104

Netherlands: 2056, 58

Austria: 1646, 7

Norway: 1591, 6

THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2020

Italian death toll overtakes China's as virus spreads

-Associated Press

Damn, things are getting ugly in Europe. And the US is not far behind.

State Department warns U.S. citizens not to travel abroad during coronavirus pandemic

 -KTLA

The coronavirus could kill millions of Americans: 'Do the math,' CDC advisor says

 -CNBC

De Blasio pleads with Trump for military aid amid 'staggering' spike in coronavirus cases

 -Politico

California estimates 25.5 million residents — 56% of the state — will get virus in next 8 weeks

 -CNBC

Young adults under age 44 make up a big part of coronavirus hospitalizations in the US

 -CNN

Florida Senator Says 'Get Off the Beach' After the State's Governor Refuses to Shut Them Down Amid Coronavirus

 -Newsweek

Entire Georgia state legislature urged to self-quarantine after positive coronavirus test

 -The Hill

Coronavirus will radically alter the U.S.

 -Washington Post

Pelosi urges Trump to tap emergency war powers immediately

 -The Hill

Ford, GM and Tesla may make ventilators to combat coronavirus

 -CNN

$10 toilet paper? Coronavirus gouging complaints surge in US

-Associated Press

A repairman came this morning. He looked at the fridge and said it wasn't broken. The thermostat was just stuck. He jiggled it a little and the fridge turned right back on and started cooling off again.

So glad he came although most businesses are shut down. He wore gloves and an N95 mask. But I could see that he was wearing it wrong and there were gaps next to his nose.

He said we gotta wait 4 or 5 hours until the freezer is cold again, and then we can put the food back in there. He charged $69 for the service call. Seems a little pricey just for jiggling the thermostat. But at least we didn't have to buy a new fridge for $1400.

I keep listening to the fridge now, in case it stops running again. I hate that feeling when you have to worry about an important appliance. Reminds me of my old condo in Florida, where I was always worried about the AC, because it stopped working if the exhaust pipe got clogged. And it got clogged all the time. Not having an AC in Florida is unbearable. And your home might develop mold because of the high humidity.

FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2020

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 913 points, leaving the index 2.8% lower than when President Trump took office. Friday's drop culminated a staggering week of losses as the coronavirus impact took an economic toll.

 -WBUR

Two GOP senators face questions over stock sales ahead of the market's coronavirus slide

 -CNBC

Insider trading? I'm shocked.

Fucking Republicans. Always trying to profit.

Intelligence officials were warning Trump about a pandemic as early as January, but they 'couldn't get him to do anything about it'

 -Business Insider

I'm A Doctor. The U.S. Response To Coronavirus Has Been Nothing Short Of Criminal.

 -Huffington Post

Former CDC director: There's a long war ahead and our Covid-19 response must adapt

 -CNN

New York City is the new coronavirus epicenter with one third of all US cases, Mayor de Blasio says

 -CNBC

New Yorkers ordered to mostly stay inside to fight coronavirus: 'We're all under quarantine now,' Gov. Cuomo says

 -CNBC

Coronavirus: Illinois issues stay-at-home order for 13 million residents

 -NBC

California governor issues statewide order to 'stay at home' effective Thursday evening

-CNBC

Sheraton Hotel In Pomona To Be Used To Quarantine Coronavirus Patients

 -CBS

Carnival offers to turn its cruise ships into makeshift hospitals during coronavirus

 -The Hill

I decided to pick up some more antacid pills for my stomach. There were lines in front of every grocery store I checked: Aldi, Trader Joe's, Ralph's and Whole Foods. Luckily no lines at CVS.

White House Holds Coronavirus Briefing As Supply Struggles Intensify

 -NPR

Senators urge Jeff Bezos to give Amazon warehouse workers sick leave, hazard pay

 -CNBC

Total Cost of Her COVID-19 Treatment: $34,927.43

-Time

Americans more concerned with finances than health amid coronavirus pandemic

 -KTLA

WHO officials warn health systems are 'collapsing' under coronavirus: 'This isn't just a bad flu season'

 -CNBC

Five more Italian doctors die battling coronavirus: Thirteen medics have now lost their lives, with 2,629 health workers infected - 8.3% of country's total

 -Daily Mail

Italy calls in military to enforce coronavirus lockdown as 627 people die in 24 hours

 -CNN

Prince Albert II of Monaco tests positive for coronavirus

 -CNN

Andy Cohen tests positive for coronavirus

 -The Hill

Congressman with coronavirus feels 'about as sick as I've ever been'

 -CNN

WHO officials say at least 20 coronavirus vaccines are in development in global race for cure

 -CNBC

Let's see if at least one of these vaccines is actually gonna work, and will be administered to people before everyone is already infected.

Today's numbers...

Global total: 278, 461 infected, 11,404 dead

China: 81,008, 3255

Italy: 47,021, 4032

Germany: 22,417, 68

Spain: 21,571, 1093

US: 19,650, 263

Iran: 19,644, 1433

France: 12,459, 450

South Korea: 8799, 102

Switzerland: 5615, 56

UK: 3983, 177

Netherlands: 3003, 106

Austria: 2649, 7

Belgium: 2257, 37

On a lighter note:

Marijuana home delivery surges in California amid coronavirus outbreak

 -KTLA

I'm not surprised. There has never been a better time to smoke weed than during the end of the world.

Coronavirus: Mass prayer gathering is held in Bangladesh to read 'healing verses' against Covid-19

 -The Independent

Brilliant idea. What could go wrong?

SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2020

Virus advances around the world as medical supplies dwindle

-Associated Press

38 positive for coronavirus in NYC jails, including Rikers

-Associated Press

Coronavirus in N.Y.: 'Deluge' of Cases Begins Hitting Hospitals

 -New York Times

'This system is doomed': Doctors, nurses sound off in NBC News coronavirus survey. More than 250 health care workers responded to a social media survey seeking first-person accounts from those on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.

-NBC

U.S. Hospitals Prepare Guidelines For Who Gets Care Amid Coronavirus Surge

 -NPR

Pence will be tested for coronavirus after staffer tests positive

 -Politico

California congressman in critical condition with pneumonia

 -CNN

FDA grants 'emergency use' coronavirus test that can deliver results in 45 minutes

 -CNBC

How the Coronavirus Became an American Catastrophe The death and economic damage sweeping the United States could have been avoided—if only we had started testing for the virus sooner.

 -The Atlantic

Coronavirus in Germany: Bavaria on lockdown, is Berlin next?

-Deutsche Welle

Merkel: Coronavirus is Germany's greatest challenge since World War Two

 -Deutsche Welle

Holocaust Survivor Is First Coronavirus Death In Israel

 -NPR

UK PM Boris Johnson announces nationwide lockdown measures, telling cafes, pubs and restaurants to close

 -CNBC

Why Zoom has become the darling of remote workers during the COVID-19 crisis

 -CNBC

Cramer worries that post-coronavirus US could have just three retailers: Amazon, Walmart, Costco

 -CNBC

Today it got real for Shelly. One of her close co-workers was hospitalized and tested positive for Covid-19. Shelly informed her boss. That's when it really hit her how real this is. Suddenly her anxiety level is where mine has been for the past few weeks.

SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020

Spanish opera singer Placido Domingo tests positive for coronavirus

 -Korea Times

Shelly and I don't speak Spanish. But sometimes we pretend that we do, just for fun.

I don't know how to say "you're welcome" en Español, so when Shelly says gracias, I always reply with "placido domingo."

It sounds like you're welcome should sound in Spanish, doesn't it?

Former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz dies after contracting COVID-19

 -CBS

Italy coronavirus deaths jump by almost 800, government shuts most workplaces

 -Reuters

Hong Kong confirms a second dog is infected

 -Korea Times

Convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein tests positive in prison

 -Sky News

Bogota prison riot over coronavirus kills nearly two dozen

 -Reuters

Brazilians turn against Bolsonaro for government's handling of coronavirus crisis

 -Los Angeles Times

Army patrols Malaysian streets as coronavirus cases spike

 -Reuters

Gaza confirms first coronavirus cases as West Bank shuts down

 -The Guardian

India at 'critical stage' in coronavirus outbreak

 -Aljazeera

Germany's low coronavirus mortality rate intrigues experts

 -The Guardian

Angela Merkel In Quarantine After Her Doctor Tests Positive For The Coronavirus

 -Forbes

Don't visit your parents on Mother's Day, Boris Johnson tells Britons, as NHS nears Italy-style breaking point

 -CNN

New Zealand goes on lockdown to fight virus

 -Japan Today

Canada says it won't participate in Olympic Games in summer 2020

 -Straits Times

Olympic postponement may be 'inevitable', Japan's PM says

 -Korea Herald

Zagreb hit by earthquake while in coronavirus lockdown. Croatian capital hit by its 'biggest quake in 140 years', causing hospital evacuations.

 -The Guardian

Why is Russia reporting so few COVID-19 cases? Some say it's a cover-up

 -ABC News

Russia has reported few coronavirus cases but a sharp spike in pneumonia

 -Quartz

US now 3rd highest globally in COVID-19 total cases

 -ABC News

What Went Wrong with Coronavirus Testing in the U.S.

 -New Yorker

Coronavirus testing faces new challenge as key supplies run low

 -The Hill

6 things to know about the coronavirus testing disaster in the US. The medical supply chain is the latest fiasco.

 -Vox

Chinese test kits approved for use across Europe, United States

 -South China Morning Post

Fauci: U.S. 'looking very closely at' severe coronavirus symptoms in younger Americans. Fauci said experts will have to "really examine" the difference in cases in the U.S. and Europe vs. China.

 -NBC

Governors across the nation slam federal coronavirus response: 'We didn't take this seriously'

 -CNBC

NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio: More People Will Die If Trump Doesn't Act On Coronavirus

 -Huffington Post

Governors and mayors fill the leadership void left by Trump

 -MSNBC

Trump after hearing Romney is in self-quarantine: 'Gee, that's too bad'

 -The Hill

Trump made 33 false claims about the coronavirus crisis in the first two weeks of March

 -CNN

Thousands partied at this Miami Beach festival. Nine tested positive for coronavirus

 -Miami Herald

Lock the Fuck Down or End Up Like Italy

 -The Daily Beast

Israeli doctor in Italy: We no longer help those over 60

 -Jerusalem Post

Illinois governor said states are 'competing' for equipment shipments: 'It's a wild, wild West out there'

 -The Hill

Texas turns to prison labor to help cover face mask shortages

 -CNN

Louisiana, Ohio issue orders for citizens to stay at home

 -The Hill

Coronavirus forces states to order nearly one in three Americans to stay home

 -Reuters

De Blasio says April and May 'are going to be a lot worse'

 -The Hill

ER Doctor: Trump is 'not listening to people on the front lines'

 -MSNBC

WHO official warns more steps needed in addition to lockdowns

 -The Hill

Dow futures drop 5%, hitting 'limit down' at the start of futures trading Sunday

 -CNN

Trump activates National Guard in California, New York and Washington state: 'This is a war'

 -CNBC

The coronavirus has spread to at least a dozen US Navy sailors serving aboard ships in San Diego. As of Sunday, at least 111 US service members have reportedly tested positive for the virus.

 -Business Insider

Shelly just got a call from her boss. As of today, she can work from home. It's her dream come true, and all it took was a global pandemic.

Happy end of the world!

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020

U.S. axed CDC expert job in China months before virus outbreak

 -Reuters

This was the fastest 30% sell-off ever, exceeding the pace of declines during the Great Depression

 -CNBC

Western supply chains buckle as coronavirus lockdowns spread

 -Reuters

Surgeon General Tells U.S.: 'This Week It's Going To Get Bad'

 -NPR

12-year-old girl with coronavirus is on a ventilator and fighting for her life

 -CNN

Health care workers on frontlines feel like 'lambs to the slaughterhouse'

 -CNN

At least 23 Italian doctors have died in coronavirus epidemic

 -CNN

Trump And His Allies Are Floating Early End To Mass Social Distancing Despite warnings from public health officials, the president is reportedly eager to ease off the COVID-19 guidelines.

 -Huffington Post

Public health experts including Dr. Anthony Fauci are warning Trump officials against sending Americans back to work to re-start the suffering economy

 -Business Insider

The Republican Corporate Bailout Is Obscene. Welfare for the rich will do nothing to assuage the coronavirus crash.

 -Huffington Post

The GOP's coronavirus relief package is a dream for big corporations and a nightmare for struggling Americans

 -Business Insider

Number of coronavirus cases within Defense Department doubles over the weekend. On Monday, the Pentagon reported a total of 243 known cases of the coronavirus within the Department of Defense.

 -CNBC

Soldiers say they're getting worried as Army commanders continue training during the coronavirus outbreak

 -Business Insider

Koreans Flee U.S. over Coronavirus

 -Chosun

The UK's slow response to the coronavirus could cause up to 70,000 excess deaths according to a new study

 -Business Insider

UK rolls out nationwide lockdown

 -Deutsche Welle

Over 1.5 billion globally asked to stay home to escape virus

-Associated Press

2020 Tokyo Olympic Games Will Be Postponed Due To Coronavirus, Official Says

 -Huffington Post

India halts its crucial train network to try to stop virus

-Associated Press

Today's numbers...

Global total: 384,146 infected, 16,575 dead

China: 81,172, 3277

Italy: 63,927, 6077

US: 46,447, 590

Spain: 35,136, 2311

Germany: 32,024, 143

Iran: 23,049, 1812

France: 19,856, 860

South Korea: 9037, 120

Switzerland: 8795, 120

UK: 6726, 335

Netherlands: 4767, 213

Austria: 4474, 21

Belgium: 3743, 88

TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2020

WHO: US could be the next epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic

 -The Hill

Florida's spring break problem shows a political pandemic divide: Red and blue states are treating coronavirus differently

 -Business Insider

Democrats take the pandemic seriously, while braindead Republicans think it's all a big hoax.

Troops say the US military is not taking COVID-19 seriously

 -Task and Purpose

There has been a coronavirus outbreak aboard a deployed US Navy aircraft carrier

 -Business Insider

More young people testing positive for the coronavirus

-CBC News

California minor is the first person under 18 to die of coronavirus in the United States

 -Newsweek

President Trump pushes to reopen U.S. economy, state governors push back

 -Reuters

New Orleans-area coronavirus cases see alarming spike as governor requests major disaster declaration

 -CNN

New Orleans is a center of coronavirus. Mardi Gras could be to blame, doctors say.

 -NBC

Gee, ya think?

Trump wants 'packed churches' and economy open again on Easter despite the deadly threat of coronavirus

 -CNBC

Yes, let's pack crowded churches with lots of people during a deadly pandemic. Great idea, stable genius!

Trump said he wants the US to ease coronavirus restrictions and be 'raring to go by Easter,' which goes against the advice of his own experts

 -Business Insider

Economic Shutdown Is Estimated to Save 600,000 American Lives

 -Bloomberg

Trump weighs scaling back social distancing guidelines

-Associated Press

NY Governor On Conservatives Who Want To End Social Distancing: Life Is Not 'Disposable'

 -Huffington Post

'Trump kept saying it was basically pretty much a cure': Woman whose husband died after ingesting chloroquine tells the public not to 'believe anything that the president says'

 -Business Insider

Public Health Experts Decry Trump's Suggestion Shutdowns Could Soon Ease

 -NPR

Pentagon leaders indicate coronavirus outbreak could last for months

 -Reuters

129 members of NYPD, 46 members of FDNY have COVID-19

 -ABC Eyewitness News

'Troubling and astronomical' coronavirus cases increase urgency for hospital beds, New York Gov. Cuomo says

 -CNBC

What Pandemic? Trump Administration Presses Forward With Long-Term Benefit Cuts.

 -Huffington Post

Republicans are all about taking money away from the poor masses, and giving it to the 1% on top. But even during a deadly pandemic? That's not just greedy. That's evil and sadistic.

Ford partners with GE, 3M to begin manufacturing protective equipment, ventilators

 -CNBC

Moscow's coronavirus outbreak much worse than it looks, Putin ally says

 -Reuters

Spanish Military Finds Dead Bodies And Seniors 'Completely Abandoned' In Care Homes

 -NPR

Spain transforms ice rink into makeshift mortuary to cope with coronavirus deaths

 -France 24

Italy's coronavirus deaths rise by 743 in 24 hours, reversing recent decline in daily fatalities

 -France 24

First-Hand Accounts of the Coronavirus Horrors in Italy

 -Spiegel

'Brace Yourself': Doctors in Italy Share Coronavirus Advice

-New York Times

Germany treats first Italians as coronavirus care crosses borders

 -Reuters

Germany Treats Italian and French Coronavirus Patients

 -Berlin Spectator

Solidarity: Foreign hospitals help French virus hotspot cope

-Associated Press

France's coronavirus death toll tops 1,000, lockdown likely to be extended

 -France 24

French military field hospital starts unprecedented peacetime operations to combat coronavirus

 -France 24

Tokyo Olympics Postponed For A Year

 -NPR

India's prime minister orders lockdown of country of 1.3 billion people for 21 days

 -CNBC

Workers In 8 Amazon Warehouses Test Positive For Coronavirus

 -NPR

Coronavirus survived in Diamond Princess cabins for 17 days, CDC says

 -The Independent

White House and Senate strike a deal on coronavirus stimulus bill

 -CNBC

Pentagon warns of 'political chaos' as nations brace for Covid-19 onslaught

 -South China Morning Post

Countries Are Starting to Hoard Food, Threatening Global Trade

 -Bloomberg

I went to Target today. Lots of empty shelves.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2020

Sanders Demands Trump Rescind 'Truly Outrageous' Decision to Hand Gilead Exclusive Rights Over Possible Coronavirus Treatment

 -Common Dreams

"We must put human life above corporate profit. We cannot give pharmaceutical corporations a monopoly on treatments that could save millions of people during this crisis."

Trump's businesses barred from bailout money in Senate coronavirus bill

 -NBC

Trump wants America reopened by Easter. That could send the US economy into depression

 -CNN

I'm An ER Doctor In NYC. Trump's Coronavirus Plan Isn't Just Dangerous, It's Deadly.

 -Huffington Post

Pro-Trump Media's New Chorus On Coronavirus: Let People Die. Right-wing pundits are helping the president build his argument that restarting the economy is the only thing that matters right now.

 -Huffington Post

Conservative commentator Glenn Beck, 56, says he 'would rather die' than continue shutdown and that over 50s should work to keep the economy going because 'the country is dying'

 -Daily Mail

Billionaires Want People Back At Work, Even If It Kills Them

 -Huffington Post

Texas Lieutenant Governor Claims Seniors Willing To Die Of Coronavirus For Economy

-Huffington Post

Trump Fansite The Federalist Hits New Low: Telling People to Get Infected With Coronavirus

 -The Daily Beast

Pastor again defies state order not to hold large gatherings. He says 1,000 people came to his church Sunday

 -CNN

People at Liberty University Aren't Happy About Falwell Jr.'s Decision to Reopen Campus

 -Slate

'Dumbest shit': DeSantis takes heat as he goes his own way on coronavirus. The Florida governor is in the spotlight as cases multiply.

 -Politico

How could Republicans in red states be so unbelievably stupid?

Well, maybe it has something to do with the disinformation Russia keeps feeding the American alt-right, to turn Americans against each other and destroy the west.

Can Russia Use the Coronavirus to Sow Discord Among Americans?

 -New York Times

Flashback:

Dec 10, 2016: Putin's Russia has emerged as 'a beacon for nationalists' and the American alt-right

 -Business Insider

Aug 16, 2017: Charlottesville's Alt-right Leaders Have a Passion for Vladimir Putin

 -Newsweek

Aug 29, 2018: Russia Is Co-opting Angry Young Men. Fight clubs, neo-Nazi soccer hooligans, and motorcycle gangs serve as conduits for the Kremlin's influence operations in Western countries.

 -The Atlantic

Sept 14, 2018: Christian Fundamentalists Aid Russian Group In Promoting Alt-Right Values In America

 -Hill Reporter

Feb 14, 2019: German spy agency probes Russia links to right-wing parties

 -Reuters

I think it's no big surprise that the American alt-right, brainwashed by Putin's social media trolls, now suddenly hates Fauci, who's trying to protect America from a deadly pandemic.

Anthony Fauci becomes a fringe MAGA target. The cues from right-wing media, as split as they are, could influence how much Trump listens to his infectious disease expert in the coming weeks.

 -Politico

If Trump doesn't listen to Fauci, Putin gets exactly what he wants: a weak, mortally wounded America.

Video: Operation InfeKtion: How Russia Perfected the Art of War

-New York Times

Russia goes after coronavirus in latest health misinformation push

 -Axios

Is Russia running a coronavirus disinformation campaign? Is Russia using the coronavirus pandemic as a chance to incite unrest in the West by spreading fake news and misinformation? EU observers of Russian media say that's what it looks like.

 -Deutsche Welle

Russian media 'spreading Covid-19 disinformation'

 -The Guardian

Pentagon confirms first coronavirus case at US military headquarters

 -CNBC

New York hospitals battle coronavirus as hundreds of patients flood in: 'We must not break'

 -CNBC

NYC morgues near capacity, DHS briefing warns

 -Politico

New York, Hawaii and North Carolina ask FEMA for help handling coronavirus dead

 -CNBC

Three Nuns Left to Handle Nearly 100 Seniors Presumed to Have Coronavirus in NJ Care Home

 -The Daily Beast

Woman, 21, believed to be one of the youngest in UK to die from coronavirus

 -ITV

Why Germany's Coronavirus Death Rate Is Far Lower Than In Other Countries

 -NPR

Prince Charles Is Self-Isolating Separately From His Wife Camilla After Positive Coronavirus Test

 -People

Malaysia's King and Queen quarantined after staffers test positive for coronavirus

 -Straits Times

India, Day 1: World's Largest Coronavirus Lockdown Begins

 -New York Times

Italian nurse with coronavirus commits suicide fearing to infect others. According to the federation, this is not an isolated incident, with a similar case occurring last week in Venice for the same reason.

 -Jerusalem Post

Meanwhile in America:

Influencer reportedly hospitalized with coronavirus after licking toilet

 -New York Post

"A California social media prankster claims he was hospitalized with the coronavirus — just days after posting a video of himself licking a toilet bowl for a nauseating online challenge."

Fucking idiot.

There's this social media movement right now, of people purposely exposing themselves to the danger of getting infected, and posting YouTube videos of themselves licking the most unsanitary thing they can find: a public bathroom toilet bowl. It's called the Coronavirus Challenge.

Don't take the Coronavirus Challenge: It involves licking a toilet bowl, and it could kill you

 -Oregon Live

That's where we are as a country. Americans need to be told not to lick public toilets during a deadly pandemic.

We are so fucked.

THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2020

The coronavirus may be deadlier than the 1918 flu: Here's how it stacks up to other pandemics

 -CNBC

Flashback:

Feb 28: Trump calls coronavirus 'hysteria' the Democrats' 'new hoax'

 -Yahoo News

Fast forward to today:

U.S. Coronavirus Cases Surpass Those of China, Italy. Confirmed infections top 82,000 across country, exceeding all other national totals.

 -Wall Street Journal

US has more known cases of coronavirus than any other country

 -CNN

Woohoo! We're Number 1!

Man, am I glad Trump's gap-toothed billion-dollar wall is doing such a great job keeping out all the Mexicans, so they can't steal our Trumpvirus.

Thanks, Trump!

Trump Fights with Governors, Reporters Over Coronavirus Response: A Closer Look

-Late Night with Seth Meyers

The President Is Trapped. Trump is utterly unsuited to deal with this crisis, either intellectually or temperamentally.

 -The Atlantic

Seattle NPR Station Says It Will No Longer Carry Donald Trump's Coronavirus Briefings Live Because Of Misinformation

 -Yahoo News

We're Going to Need a Truth Commission Examining Trump's Coronavirus Response.

 -Esquire

No wonder his MAGA minions in the red states have no idea how bad this pandemic really is. Trump lies to them all day, every day. About everything.

His brainwashed cult members are gonna be so disappointed when they finally figure out that the orange clown is just a con man.

Meanwhile in the real world:

'It's like a third-world country': US hospitals struggle with coronavirus

 -Jerusalem Post

New York coronavirus cases soar to 37,258 as state scrambles for ventilators

 -CNBC

The Growing Chaos Inside New York's Hospitals

 -The New Yorker

But, hey, on the bright side, the billionaires are gonna get a whole lotta free money:

Tudor Jones says DC coronavirus aid is biggest fiscal-monetary 'bazooka' ever, more like 'nuclear bomb'

 -CNBC

Democrats delayed stimulus bill to tighten ban on Trump family profiting

 -Politico

Is a global debt crisis coming?

 -CNBC

Yupp. I think we're headed for the Greatest Depression. But people are still partying on the Titanic, while heading straight for the iceberg.

Markets take 3 million unemployment claims in stride and now brace for 'tsunami of negative news'

 -CNBC

Coronavirus stimulus checks will come within three weeks, Mnuchin says

 -CNBC

Let's see if that's actually gonna happen.

Senators will leave Washington until April 20 — but the coronavirus crisis could force them to return

 -CNBC

While the senate goes on spring break during a deadly pandemic, they're telling us peasants to go back to work, because the billionaires need more billions.

Trump to review options to 'open the country up' as US coronavirus cases pass China, Italy

 -CNBC

Unfuckingbelievable.

Prepare For Outbreaks Like New York's In Other States, Warns Anthony Fauci

 -NPR

Coronavirus: 17-year-old dies of Covid-19 in Louisiana

 -The Independent

New Orleans Faces a Virus Nightmare, and Mardi Gras May Be Why. Louisiana may be experiencing the world's fastest growth in new cases. Medical experts said Mardi Gras might have accelerated the crisis.

 -New York Times

Gee, ya think?!

Trump's Big Plan To "Pack Churches" On Easter

-The Daily Show

US wave of the coronavirus is 'just starting', says ResMed CEO

 -CNBC

Dr. Fauci issues stark warning that coronavirus will 'come back in cycles' and become seasonal - as 252 Americans die in a day and death toll shoots past 1,000, while Trump softens on his desire to reopen the whole country by Easter

 -Daily Mail

'We Are At War,' WHO Head Says, Warning Millions Could Die From COVID-19

 -NPR

Worldwide coronavirus cases top 500,000, doubling in just over a week

 -CNBC

India's Doctors Worry The Country Is Unprepared For A Coronavirus Surge

 -NPR

The Kremlin sends mixed messages on coronavirus as Russian cases spiral

 -CNN

France Transfers Coronavirus Patients On High-Speed Train With Mobile Emergency Room

 -NPR

FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2020

US coronavirus cases top 100,000, doubling in three days

 -NPR

The Coronavirus Pandemic May Be Loosening Links In The Supply Chain

 -NPR

Fox Business parts ways with Trish Regan, host who dismissed coronavirus as 'impeachment scam'

 -CNN

"The Fox Business Network announced on Friday that it had parted ways with Trish Regan, the conservative news host who ignited controversy earlier this month when she dismissed the coronavirus pandemic as a conspiracy to throw President Trump out of office."

Hospital ship Mercy, with 1,000 beds, will help ease L.A.'s healthcare strain amid crisis

 -Los Angeles Times

How US governors are fighting coronavirus – and Donald Trump

 -The Guardian

Trump on urgent requests for ventilators: 'I don't believe you need 30,000'

 -The Guardian

Jesus fucking Christ!

 Buying Trump was the best money Putin ever spent. Trump is  Russia's most useful idiot ever.

Trump is single-handedly destroying America with his malignant narcissism. Trump's spiteful idiocy and ignorant refusal to acknowledge the Covid-19 pandemic will kill countless Americans.

Gov. Cuomo on Trump ventilator claim: Grossly uninformed

-CNN

Trump says he told Pence not to call governors who aren't 'appreciative' of White House coronavirus efforts

 -CNBC

New York City hospitals are 11 days from running out of space as the number of new coronavirus cases explodes

 -Business Insider

Trump touts great success as US becomes world's worst virus epicenter

 -CNN

Fact check: Trump utters series of false and misleading claims at coronavirus briefing

 -CNN

Mayors say they can't get supplies needed for coronavirus crisis

 -CNN

Coronavirus: Teenage boy died after being turned away from urgent care for not having insurance. Mayor confirms teenager's death with heart-breaking statement: 'The Friday before he died, he was healthy ... By Wednesday, he was dead'

 -The Independent

'We're Scared': Doctors in New Coronavirus Hotspots Brace for 'Tsunami' of Patients. "I just don't want Atlanta to be the next New York City," an ER doctor told The Daily Beast, as cases in his city continue to surge.

 -The Daily Beast

New Jersey Hospitals Brace For Coronavirus Surge: The Numbers 'Are Going To Kill Us'

 -NPR

Governors' coronavirus pacts could thwart Trump goal of reopening country. Some governors and public health experts say the localized lifting of restrictions could create new clusters of disease that leave officials chasing the outbreak well into the summer.

 -Politico

Bill Gates: State-by-state shutdown won't work

 -CNN

Dr. Anthony Fauci: Trump's desire to reopen the country by Easter is an 'aspirational projection'

 -CNN

Bipartisan majority of Americans reject Trump idea to reopen by Easter: Reuters/Ipsos poll

 -Reuters

"Eighty-one percent said the country should continue social distancing initiatives, including "shelter at home" orders, "despite the impact to the economy." This includes 89% of Democrats and 70% of Republicans.

Only 19% said they would like to end social distancing as soon as possible "to get the economy going again," including 11% of Democrats and 30% of Republicans."

Coronavirus Updates: FDNY, NYPD feeling the impact of coronavirus on two fronts

 -CNBC

Subway fire in NYC kills train operator, appears "intentional"

 -CNN

South Africa Reports First COVID-19 Deaths; Goes Into 3-Week Lockdown

 -NPR

A 'super spreader' in India may have given 40,000 people coronavirus

 -New York Daily News

India 'super spreader' quarantines 40,000 people. Indian authorities in the northern state of Punjab have quarantined around 40,000 residents from 20 villages following a Covid-19 outbreak linked to just one man.

-BBC

Boris Johnson tests positive for coronavirus

 -CNN

Four dead on Carnival-owned cruise ship amid new coronavirus outbreak aboard

 -CNBC

Coronavirus travel: China bars foreign visitors as imported cases rise

-BBC

China Orders Re-Closing Of All Cinemas Nationwide

 -Deadline

Remember my cough?

I thought it was gone, but now it's been back for the past few days.

Just a cough here and there. It doesn't seem all that ominous. Just a normal cough.

But you get paranoid. Am I infected? Is this how it starts? Is this how I'm gonna die? Am I gonna be a statistic?

I can't believe these are real life thoughts I'm having in real life.

Tonight my lungs feel a little phlegmy. I hope I'm just paranoid from the edibles we had for dinner. I tend to be a paranoid hypochondriac when I'm really high.

I feel like I have the symptoms. Sometimes I can't breathe in deep enough. And that low key cough. And the phlegm in my lungs. Just a little bit, but it's there. And my face feels warm. Maybe I have a fever.

But I'm also really high. So maybe I should just wait.

Hopefully those won't be my famous last words.

I hope this is all just in my hypochondriac head.

But I read that this virus is really strange. You can have almost no symptoms for days or weeks, except maybe a low key cough, and then BOOM it suddenly flares up and kills you in a matter of hours. You drown in your own phlegm.

So maybe ignoring these little symptoms that may just be in my head could kill me. If I go to sleep, I might wake up in the middle of the night, gasping for air, turning blue, and drowning in my own phlegm.

But that just seems so crazy. Like that can't happen to me. You just see that kind of stuff happen to other people you don't know and don't really care about, because they're just numbers on the news. Extras with no lines.

The numbers go up every day. The novelty is wearing off. As horrible as it is that the numbers go up, I'm numb to it. Like it's not really happening. I read it's a defense mechanism.

But this emotional numbness that I feel doesn't seem normal. Shouldn't I be horrified? Shouldn't I feel distraught?

But I don't. I don't feel anything that could be described as an appropriate emotional response to this once in a century, unprecedented global clusterfuck. This pandemic is a catastrophe bigger than World War 2.

We're gonna be in history books for centuries. In the future, they will read about us. Study what we did wrong.

Well, what Trump did wrong.

"Leadership: Whatever happens, you're responsible. If it doesn't happen, you're responsible." - Donald Trump

 -@realDonaldTrump, November 8, 2013

My German grandmother was interviewed by a history documentary about World War 2 survivors. They asked for her eyewitness recollections of that cataclysmic time in human history.

When we're really old, people in the future will interview us, because we lived through one of the biggest events in human history. Like the Spanish flu of 1918 that killed over 50 million people. Or the Great Depression. Or Pompeii. Or the Titanic.

When historians in the future ask a really old version of me about this pandemic, I'm gonna tell them that Trump's MAGA minions were the only ones who had no idea what was happening, while the rest of America stared into the abyss.

Today's numbers...

Global total: 599,262 infected, 27,452 dead

US: 104,804, 1753

Italy: 86,498, 9134

China: 81,394, 3295

Spain: 65,719, 5138

Germany: 53,112, 375

France: 33,414, 1995

Iran: 32,332, 2378

UK: 14,751, 769

Switzerland: 12,928, 231

South Korea: 9478, 147

Netherlands: 8603, 546

Austria: 7697, 58

Belgium: 7284, 289

SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 2020

New York Knicks owner tests positive for coronavirus

 -The Hill

A detective is the first N.Y.P.D. officer to die from the virus.

 -New York Times

Coronavirus: Gov. Cuomo, the National Guard and FEMA transform the Javits Center into a hospital

 -CNBC

Wow. That sounds like something out of a post-apocalyptic horror film.

It's starting to feel like the beginning of The Walking Dead.

Rhode Island Police to Hunt Down New Yorkers Seeking Refuge

 -Bloomberg

Rhode Island sending cops, National Guard to find New Yorkers seeking coronavirus refuge

 -New York Post

North Carolina Governor Orders Residents to Stay at Home as Coronavirus Spreads

 -US News & World Report

Trump orders General Motors to make ventilators under Defense Production Act

 -CNBC

Only about a month too late. But better late than never.

Trump authorizes call-ups of military reservists to fight virus

 -Politico

Trump is considering 'enforceable' quarantine in New York, New Jersey and parts of Connecticut

 -CNBC

New York Gov. Cuomo says Trump has no authority to impose quarantine: 'It would be illegal'

 -CNBC

Trump Backtracks After Cuomo Criticizes Quarantine Idea. Gov. Andrew Cuomo compared the president's suggestion that he was considering a quarantine on the New York region to "a declaration of war on states."

 -New York Times

Trump: Let's lift the lockdown and pack the churches for Easter!

Trump the next day: Let's put NY, CT & NJ under enforced quarantine!

Trump again: Let's not do the enforced quarantine!

Dear Republicans, have you ever noticed that Trump contradicts himself from one day to the next and then pretends he never said it?

He does it all the time. But you Fox News viewers usually don't know about it, because Fox News never mentions it.

'A game changer': FDA authorizes Abbott Labs' portable, 5-minute coronavirus test the size of a toaster

 -USA Today

Not wearing masks to protect against coronavirus is a 'big mistake,' top Chinese scientist says

 -Science

'Off the charts': Virus hotspots grow in middle America

-Associated Press

Locked up: No masks, sanitizer as virus spreads behind bars

-Associated Press

The US economy has come to a standstill, satellite imagery shows

 -CNBC

Brazil's Bolsonaro makes life-or-death coronavirus gamble

-Associated Press

"Even as coronavirus cases mount in Latin America's largest nation, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has staked out the most deliberately dismissive position of any major world leader, calling the pandemic a momentary, minor problem and saying strong measures to contain it are unnecessary.

Bolsonaro says his response to the disease matches that of President Donald Trump in the U.S., but the Brazilian leader has gone further, labeling the virus as "a little flu" and saying state governors' aggressive measures to halt the disease were crimes.

On Thursday, Bolsonaro told reporters in the capital, Brasilia, that he feels Brazilians' natural immunity will protect the nation."

Bolsonaro is Brazil's Trump. Another right-wing asshole who only cares about enriching himself and doesn't give a fuck about his own people.

'Some may even die, I don't know': Former Wells Fargo CEO wants people to go back to work and 'see what happens'

 -Business Insider

How many deaths can we afford? Just two weeks into this crisis some are actually calculating how many deaths society can accept to salvage the economy.

 -Deutsche Welle

Trump struggles with tone in virus crisis, aides urge more empathy

 -Reuters

With eye on election, Trump in high-stakes balancing act over coronavirus response

 -Reuters

Trump only cares how the Covid-19 pandemic affects him, his bank account, and his chances of getting re-elected.

Prisoner serving time for drug charge is first U.S. inmate to die from COVID-19

 -Reuters

Prisoners At Rikers Say It's Like A 'Death Sentence' As Coronavirus Spreads. The COVID-19 infection rate in NYC jails is 87 times higher than the overall U.S. rate, and prisoners have no way to protect themselves.

 -Huffington Post

Virus prevention measures turn violent in parts of Africa

-Associated Press

Can the coronavirus infect someone twice?

 -France 24

Gee, that's a good question.

Let's see what Chinese experts had to say about that two months ago:

January 31:

Coronavirus: Chinese health experts warn patients can get reinfected

 -South China Morning Post

But no, let's not listen to the Chinese. Let's waste more time. That's working out great for us so far.

The U.S. Military Hasn't Faced A Threat Like Coronavirus In A Century. Troops say commanders aren't taking the pandemic seriously, and a former Army epidemiologist says the military has "done a poor job" responding to the crisis.

 -Huffington Post

Of course they don't take it seriously. Just like the people in the red states. Trump has been lying to them about the coronavirus for weeks. He's been telling them it's no big deal, and it's just the flu, and all this pandemic hoopla is just a Democratic hoax to hurt his re-election.

Trump accuses media of wanting to keep economy shut to hurt his reelection

 -The Guardian

Typical malignant narcissist. Everything is always about him.

For weeks, Trump has been downplaying the pandemic for selfish reasons. Just like Bolsonaro in Brazil.

Trump keeps misleading Americans by comparing coronavirus to the flu. He's still doing it!

Trump's Deadly Mistake in Comparing Coronavirus to Flu

 -The Intercept

A lot of people are gonna die because of Trump's lies and his inaction during the first month of the outbreak in the US.

The Lost Month: How a Failure to Test Blinded the U.S. to Covid-19

 -New York Times

I'm A Combat Veteran. Trump's Inability To Tell The Truth Is Costing American Lives.

 -Huffington Post

Man charged after New Jersey police break up alleged 'coronavirus party' with 47 people

 -The Hill

Trump fans are actually having parties to deliberately get infected with coronavirus!

Thanks to Trump's lies, they think it's just a flu. Just a minor inconvenience. So now they want to get it over with asap and get back to work. They think that's how they're showing their support for Trump.

It's so fucking insane!

Medical Expert Who Corrects Trump Is Now a Target of the Far Right. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the administration's most outspoken advocate of emergency virus measures, faces a torrent of false claims that he is mobilizing to undermine the president.

 -New York Times

Trump is the leader of a death cult, and these brainwashed fools are drinking his Kool-Aid.

A 25-year-old California man dies of coronavirus. It's a warning for others

 -Los Angeles Times

16-year-old girl becomes France's youngest coronavirus victim

 -France 24

Illinois Governor Says An Infant With Coronavirus Has Died

 -Huffington Post

So much for "it's only dangerous to very old people."

I think my cough got a little better today, but it's still there. And I still feel a tightness in my chest every now and then, so I have to make an effort to take a deep breath. I hate that feeling.

I hope it's nothing. I've had occasional tightness in my chest ever since I was a kid. It comes and goes. I learned to live with it. Slowly inhaling through your nose helps. Or yawning.

Even if I tried to see a doctor, they'd probably just tell me to go home, because they don't have a test for me, unless I recently travelled to China, and I'm really sick.

Shelly was in the office this morning, to print out some papers that she needs to work from home. She wore gloves and a mask again. I wear them too now when I go to a store.

Later in the afternoon Shelly got a text message from her co-worker Paul.

He's a close family friend of Lorene, the co-worker who tested positive for covid-19 last Saturday. She's in her late 50s. Paul texted Lorene's son and asked how she was doing.

Her son texted back that she was put on a ventilator three days ago, because she can no longer breathe on her own.

Holy shit.

Lorene's family hasn't heard anything from the hospital since then, and they're not allowed to visit her. They're in limbo. That feeling of not knowing how their mom is doing and if she will survive must be terrifying.

Shelly and I looked at each other as the news sunk in: Her co-worker Lorene is a severe case and she might actually die!

Holy fuck.

I hope she'll make it. She's a nice lady.

Man I hope we didn't catch it from her.

And if we did, I hope it's gonna be mild.

As long as it doesn't get worse than it is right now, it's gonna be ok.

Tonight Shelly started coughing too.

It's gonna be ok.

SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2020

Coronavirus: Italy becoming impatient with lockdown - and social unrest is brewing. Police descend on a supermarket after reports people have stolen food to feed themselves, as patience turns to desperation.

 -Sky News

More Than 50 doctors in Italy have now died from coronavirus, with thousands of health care workers infected

 -Newsweek

Estimates Show Wuhan Death Toll Far Higher Than Official Figure. Based on cremation figures, Wuhan residents estimate more than 40,000 have died, compared with an official toll of 2,535.

 -Radio Free Asia

I wouldn't be surprised. Nobody really believes China's low official numbers.

Maria Mercader, our beloved CBS News colleague, died from COVID-19 on Sunday at age 54.

 -CBS News

She was about the same age as Lorene.

A 3rd NYPD member dies of coronavirus after hundreds of officers test positive

 -CNN

Emergency Hospital Being Constructed in Central Park

 -NY1

2020 Detroit auto show canceled after venue chosen for coronavirus field hospital

 -CNBC

Holly Harris: Prison overcrowding is 'a death sentence' during coronavirus

 -MSNBC

Trump extends virus guidelines, braces US for big death toll

-Associated Press

America's sociopathic capitalism fetish is really gonna bite us in the ass in this pandemic.

Overcrowded private for-profit prisons and the largest prison population in the world: death.

Underfunded crippled government agencies: death.

A corrupt for-profit educational system and lots of dumb people who don't know how serious this pandemic is: death.

Lots of dumb desperate people on edge, with guns: death.

Insanely expensive private for-profit health insurance clusterfuck: death.

No social safety net and a dirt poor working class who must keep working even when they're sick: death

Tightly packed trailer parks: death.

A morbidly obese population with high blood pressure and diabetes: death.

A corrupt pharma industry that caused a for-profit opioid epidemic and an army of millions of walking dead drug addicts with weak immune systems: death.

US could see millions of coronavirus cases and 100,000 or more deaths, Fauci says

 -CNN

Flashback:

March 11: Coronavirus could infect "many, many millions" if U.S. is complacent in its response, America's top infectious disease expert says

 -Newsweek

"More than 1,000 people in 38 states have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19, and 29 people have died, according to a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University."

That was about 2 weeks ago.

Right now we're at  133,240 infected and 2363 dead.

Well that escalated quickly.

The numbers increased a 100 fold in just a few days. Exponential growth.

I've been trying to remember to write down the daily numbers every 3 days, because experts said the numbers are doubling roughly every 3 days right now.

So, yeah, we'll reach the first million very quickly. And the second million soon after that.

Fauci: Worst-case coronavirus predictions 'unlikely if we do the kinds of things that we're essentially outlining right now'

 -The Hill

"The CDC reportedly predicted 160 million to 214 million infections, 2.4 million to 21 million hospitalizations and 200,000 to 1.7 million deaths in the country."

Dr. Fauci two weeks ago: "Coronavirus could infect many, many millions if U.S. is complacent in its response"

Dr. Fauci this morning: "US could see millions of coronavirus cases and 100,000 or more deaths"

Because of course we were complacent.

Instead of preparing for the pandemic, Trump spent the past month lying about it, to make himself look good: "Don't believe the Democratic hoax! They want to hurt me! ME! This is all about ME! It's just the flu! Pack the churches for Easter! And then get back to work, peasants! The billionaires need more billions!"

The numbers are doubling every  3 days, according to experts.

We've seen a 100 fold increase in the numbers in the past 2 weeks.

We will most likely see another 100 fold increase in the next 2 weeks.

So by Easter we could be at over 1,3 million infected and 23,000 dead, if people don't stay home to slow the spread.

Holy shit. I hope that's wrong. That gotta be wrong. That can't be right.

Calling the coronavirus pandemic a world war is fitting, because that term gives a good sense of the magnitude of this unprecedented global event. Even the Olympics were cancelled!

Bill Gates  warned us years ago that a pandemic could kill more people than a nuclear war.

Happy Easter!

Pelosi accuses Trump of costing US lives with coronavirus denials and delays. House speaker criticizes president on CNN while Dr Anthony Fauci says as many as 200,000 Americans may die.

 -The Guardian

Pelosi on Trump's COVID-19 response: 'As the president fiddles, people are dying'

 -MSNBC

Meanwhile Trump brags about his ratings:

Trump brags about high TV viewership of coronavirus briefings

 -Reuters

"President Trump is a ratings hit. Since reviving the daily White House briefing Mr. Trump and his coronavirus updates have attracted an average audience of 8.5 million on cable news, roughly the viewership of the season finale of 'The Bachelor.' Numbers are continuing to rise..."

 -@realDonaldTrump, March 29, 2020

Yeah, he really tweeted that today.

Seriously.

Trump is such a malignant narcissist, he likes to talk about himself in the third person, like an insane king.

He  does that all the time, especially when he writes about himself in his own tweets. It's absolutely bizarre. But his minions don't notice anything wrong with it.

They don't realize that he talks like that so his  brainwashed cult members can quote his propaganda slogans verbatim. Almost like religious gospel: "Trump is the greatest. His will shall be done. Amen!"

Many right-wing extremists refer to Trump as the  God Emperor. There are  social media groups where they share pictures of a giant statue of Trump in golden armor.

The statue was built by Italian jokers a few years ago, as a  satire, to make fun of Trump's dictatorial delusions of grandeur.

Trump's alt-right followers pretend that they're also only referring to him as the God Emperor ironically.

But the truth is, they really do  worship and fetishize him.

They really are the same kind of people who would have a portrait of Hitler over the fireplace in their living room.

They love images that  glorify Trump as a  bloodthirsty action hero.

Trump shoots journalists and rival politicians in fake church video 'shown to supporters at his Florida resort'

 -The Independent

And these right-wing extremist psychos now think Dr. Fauci, America's #1 virus expert, is America's enemy, because he dares to contradict Trump's flu lies.

And that's how you end up with people who go to infection parties, to show their support for Trump, the infallible God Emperor who is never wrong.

These are the insane times we live in now.

A few days ago Trump literally referred to his 2020 re-election as one of the most important dates in the history of religion:

Trump Asks Pastors to Pray for Reelection, Calls Nov. 3 'One of the Biggest Dates in the History of Religion'

 -Right Wing Watch

Maybe we should start counting years as BT and AT. Before Trump and after Trump. I bet he'd love that.

A few months ago he referred to himself as the second coming of Christ and the king of israel.

Trump declares himself "King of Israel," the "Second Coming of God"

 -Vanity Fair

And millions of his brainwashed Evangelical followers literally believe he is the messiah, who will bring about the end of the world:

The Belief That Trump Is a Messiah Is Rampant and Dangerous

 -Psychology Today

Trump will start the end of the world, claim Evangelicals who support him

 -Newsweek

Ironically, Trump matches the bible's description of the Antichrist:

Could American Evangelicals Spot the Antichrist? Here Are the Biblical Predictions

 -Benjamin Corey, Formerly Fundie

Should we tell the Evangelicals that as soon as they made a godless, lying, lawless, womanizing conman their messiah... a plague showed up?

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2020

Pentagon orders military bases to stop releasing specific COVID-19 numbers

 -The Hill

Birx: U.S. will see 100,000 to 200,000 coronavirus deaths if citizens act "almost perfectly"

 -Axios

Did you notice that? Yesterday Fauci predicted 100,000 to 200,000 deaths. Today Dr. Brix says that's the best case scenario if citizens act "almost perfectly."

Unfortunately half the population still thinks this is all a Democratic hoax to hurt Trump, and they spitefully break the rules, to show their support for Trump and to "make the libtards cry."

Everything Trump's brainwashed cult members do is motivated by blind hate for Democrats. Trump brainwashed them to see Democrats as their mortal enemies, just like Hitler brainwashed Germans to see their Jewish neighbors as their mortal enemies.

Dirt poor Trump fanatics will gladly vote against universal healthcare, and hurt themselves, if Democrats are for universal healthcare. It's like that with every topic. Even in this deadly pandemic.

America is so fucked.

Coronavirus response highlights deepening partisan divide

-Associated Press

"Republican leaders have been far more likely to resist the most aggressive social distancing measures, emboldened by President Donald Trump's initial rosy outlook and a smaller early caseload in their more rural communities across middle America.

But in the more crowded population centers on the East and West coasts where the disease first appeared, the Democrats in charge have been more willing to embrace strict steps such as curfews, sweeping business closures and law enforcement assistance.

"This epidemic has been a window into our politics," said Larry Levitt, who leads health policy for the Kaiser Family Foundation, which has been tracking responses. "Particularly over the past couple of weeks, a political divide has emerged."

Pastor arrested for violating rules amid virus outbreak

-Associated Press

"Florida officials have arrested the pastor of a megachurch after detectives say he held two Sunday services with hundreds of people and violated a safer-at-home order in place to limit the spread of the coronavirus."

Good job, genius. Now that town is gonna see explosive growth of infected people in a week or two. In South Korea, a few weeks ago thousands were infected by attending a church.  They put the pastor on trial for murder.

How would overwhelmed hospitals decide who to treat first?

-Associated Press

The U.S. weighs the grim math of death vs. the economy

 -Reuters

That's capitalism for ya. The billionaires get to decide whether it's more profitable for them to keep you alive or let you die.

Hungary's Viktor Orbán granted sweeping powers amid coronavirus crisis

 -Axios

Great, another insane right wing extremist wannabe dictator with almost unlimited powers.

What could go wrong?

Indian police fire tear gas on jobless workers defying coronavirus lockdown

 -Reuters

Spread of coronavirus accelerates in U.S. jails and prisons

 -Reuters

Spain's hospitals at breaking point, US cities brace

-Associated Press

Virus pushing Russia toward nationwide lockdown

-Associated Press

Russia to Close Borders to Curb Coronavirus

 -Moscow Times

West African countries are trying to shut down to contain the coronavirus spread

 -Quartz

TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2020

Russian doctor who met Putin last week diagnosed with coronavirus

 -Reuters

CNN's Chris Cuomo, Brother of Governor, Tests Positive for Coronavirus

 -New York Times

Passengers on Holland America's 2 stranded cruise ships, the Zaandam and Rotterdam, may be stuck at sea indefinitely as Florida officials fret over letting them dock

 -Business Insider

Commander of aircraft carrier hit by coronavirus outbreak warns Navy 'decisive action' is needed

 -CNN

Top US official says its not time to evacuate aircraft carrier dealing with coronavirus — even after its commander pleaded for urgent help

 -Business Insider

The coronavirus has now killed more people in the US than the 9/11 terror attacks

 -Vox

Trump tells Americans to brace for 'very, very painful two weeks'

 -The Hill

White House predicts 100,000 to 240,000 will die in US from coronavirus

 -CNBC

Hobby Lobby quietly reopened stores in at least 2 states, defying coronavirus-related shutdowns and prompting police intervention

 -Business Insider

The White House projects that shutting down the US to stop the coronavirus could save 2 million lives

 -Business Insider

What happened to packing the churches for Easter? Are you saying that was an absolutely idiotic idea?

Trump's Coronavirus Claim Is His Biggest Lie Yet – And It Could Be Working. He bankrupted casinos but sold voters on his business acumen anyway. Now he needs America to forget he downplayed coronavirus for two months.

 -Huffington Post

Journalists challenge Trump's 'revisionist history' regarding coronavirus response

 -CNN

U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses China As Global Fatalities Top 40,000

 -US News & World Report

America's deadliest day to date: Coronavirus death toll soars to 3,180 - an increase of 605 with a person dying every TWO MINUTES - as 22,000 new infections are recorded and experts say the worst is yet to come

 -Daily Mail

I followed New York City 'deathcare' workers as they collected the bodies of people killed by the coronavirus, and I saw a growing, chaotic, and risky battle

 -Business Insider

New York hospitals received damaged ventilators with missing parts in emergency shipments from a national stockpile

 -Business Insider

Illinois governor says state has gotten 10 percent of medical equipments it's requested

 -The Hill

Pelosi: Trump should "immediately" invoke Defense Production Act for coronavirus equipment

 -Axios

Will the US Supreme Court let Trump deport 27,000 healthcare workers despite coronavirus?

 -Quartz

For fuck's sake... It's almost like Trump is actively trying to be the worst sociopath on the planet.

Trump's personal motto seems to be: What would Emperor Palpatine do?

Trump administration won't reopen Obamacare enrollment for uninsured as coronavirus spreads

 -CNN

The Trump Administration Doesn't Care If You're Uninsured And Have COVID-19

 -Huffington Post

Unfuckingbelievable.

Iraq reportedly plans to join the global oil war with prices already near 18-year lows

 -Business Insider

I'm not so sure it's a price war. I think Russia and Iraq have figured out that they can destroy the US oil industry, which has the highest production cost for oil, by flooding the market at a time when the US economy is most vulnerable. Economic warfare. I think it's payback for Trump's selfish "America first" foreign policy.

Flashback:

March 10: Why Russia and Vladimir Putin are waging an oil war with America

 -CNN

Keep that in mind when you look at today's headlines:

Oil's 66% plunge marks its worst quarter ever amid the double whammy of coronavirus and a global price war

 -Business Insider

Dow closes out the worst first quarter in history

 -CNN

World coronavirus updates: UN warns of recession with "no parallel" to recent past

 -Axios

Today I posted an update on the predictions I made on Reddit last month:

On February 23rd, I posted a couple of coronavirus  predictions. I was mocked on r/economics at the time, because the things I anticipated seemed ridiculously outlandish in "normal" pre-coronavirus America.

More and more of the stuff I anticipated came true in the weeks that followed. From today's perspective, my predictions don't seem so outlandish anymore. Now they just seem like statements of facts and common knowledge.

A lot of people have asked me for an update and more predictions. So here we go. Let's start by looking at which of the predictions came true so far:

PREDICTIONS THAT ALREADY CAME TRUE AS OF MARCH 31:

"They're gonna shut down his rallies, and the Democratic primary, to avoid more mass infections."

March 10:  Sanders, Biden cancel rallies as coronavirus fears haunt the campaign trail (NBC)

March 12: Amid virus fears, Trump moves away from rallies — for now (Associated Press)

March 30:  14 States Have Postponed Their Primaries Because of Coronavirus. (New York Times)

"The Olympics in Japan will be cancelled."

March 24:  Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics Officially Postponed Due To Coronavirus (Forbes)

"Air travel between the US and Europe will be suspended."

March 11:  Trump is suspending all flights from Europe to the US to fight coronavirus (Quartz)

"There will be severe supply/food/medical shortages in the coming weeks."

March 13:  The toilet paper shortage caused by the coronavirus is real (Washington Post)

March 24:  ER Doctor describes impact of medical supply shortage (MSNBC)

March 26:  Coronavirus measures could cause global food shortage, UN warns (The Guardian)

"As the market continues to decline, mega-funds that hold billions in passive ETFs will automatically dump their holdings when certain price triggers are reached."

March 3:  In a Down Market, ETFs Could Make Things Even Worse (Wall Street Journal)

March 29:  Coronavirus puts an end to ETFs' decade-long spree (Financial Times)

"Before the end of March, the Dow will crash so bad, they will halt trading."

March 9:  Trading halted as U.S. stocks plummet (Axios)

March 12:  Trading halted after stocks plunge following Trump's coronavirus response (MSNBC)

March 16:  Stock markets halted for unprecedented third time due to coronavirus scare (TechCrunch)

"There will be tens of thousands of dead people by the end of March, and tens of millions of dead people by the end of 2020."

March 31:  U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses China As Global Fatalities Top 40,000 (US News & World Report)

"In the next few days, we'll be seeing outbreaks in every country on earth"

Global coronavirus map (John Hopkins University)

"The market is not going to keep going up up up anymore. It's gonna keep going down"

March 31: Stock markets suffer worst quarter since 1987 (BBC)

"In a few days you'll see massive panic buying and empty store shelves in the US."

March 16: Panic Buying Leaves Empty Shelves At Supermarkets And Stores (Today Show)

"In a few weeks, people will refuse to accept cash (if you can even find an open store at all) because cash spreads the virus."

March 7:  Dirty money: The case against using cash during the coronavirus outbreak (CNN)

March 16:  America Closed: Thousands Of Stores, Resorts, Theaters Shut Down (NPR)

March 20:  Paper money shunned for fear of virus spread (ABC News)

March 26:  Merchants shun cash as coronavirus infection fears widen (Nikkei Review)

"Entire cities in the US will be put under quarantine, just like in China, South Korea and Italy. The same will happen all over the world, until WHO officially announces that it's a pandemic. From that point on they will no longer try to contain the outbreak, but manage it somehow, by telling people to avoid others."

March 11:  WHO declares novel coronavirus outbreak a pandemic (CNN)

March 14:  Why Experts Are Urging Social Distancing to Combat Coronavirus Outbreak (USCF)

March 18: New York: The city that never sleeps on lockdown (BBC)

March 19:  California Orders Lockdown for State's 40 Million Residents (Wall Street Journal)

March 20:  Illinois governor issues order requiring residents to 'stay at home' starting Saturday (Chicago Tribune)

"A lot of medical personnel will quit their jobs and not show up for work, rather than risk getting infected."

March 20:  "Two of her nurses had just quit, in tears. "They were fed up," she said. "They couldn't take it any longer." (New York Times)

March 25:  Georgia Nurse Quits Her Job After Being Assigned To The 'Corona Floor' (BET)

March 26:  Sibley Memorial Hospital nurse quits over 'lack of protection' (WTOP)

March 27:  Health care workers on frontlines feel like 'lambs to the slaughterhouse' (CNN)

March 27:  More Than 50 Doctors in Italy Have Now Died From Coronavirus (Newsweek)

"The police force and the US military will have more and more infected and quarantine thousands of troops. It's already happening in South Korea. The US bases in the epicenter of the South Korean outbreak quarantined themselves and are under lockdown."

March 27:  Defense department reports more than 600 cases of coronavirus and 2 related deaths (CNBC)

March 30:  Pentagon orders military bases to stop releasing specific COVID-19 numbers (The Hill)

March 31:  15 percent of NYPD officers out sick amid coronavirus crisis: commissioner (New York Post)

March 31:  Commander of aircraft carrier hit by coronavirus outbreak warns Navy 'decisive action' is needed (CNN)

PREDICTIONS THAT ARE VISIBLY IN THE PROCESS OF COMING TRUE SOON:

"There will be tens of thousands of dead people by the end of March, and tens of millions of dead people by the end of 2020."

March 31:  U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses China As Global Fatalities Top 40,000 (US News & World Report)

My prediction of tens of thousands dead by the end of March was based on the same math model as the prediction that there will be millions dead by the end of 2020. Since the March figures were true, the year end figures will most likely be true too.

"The US healthcare system will collapse"

The pandemic follows very similar trajectories in countries all over the world. We are 2 weeks behind whatever happens in Italy and Spain. So looking at what's happening in other countries is a good predictor of what will happen in the US in the coming weeks, because it's already happening elsewhere.

March 12:  U.S. states scramble to slow virus spread, prevent hospital collapse (Reuters)

March 16:  Doctors: COVID-19 pushing Italian ICUs toward collapse (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy)

March 20:  Brazil's health system will collapse by April: Health minister (Aljazeera)

March 26:  Spain's healthcare system on verge of collapse as another 655 die of coronavirus (Metro UK)

March 25:  More Than 1,000 Massachusetts Doctors Sign Plea Warning Health System Could Be Close To Collapse (WBUR)

March 27:  New York City Hospital Director Says Equipment Supply Will Only Last Through March (NPR)

March 31:  Hospitals Tell Doctors They'll Be Fired If They Speak Out About Lack of Gear (Bloomberg)

"There will be millions of uninsured or underinsured Americans going bankrupt because of insanely high medical bills, because millions of Americans will require extensive ICU treatment that will last weeks. It will cost a fortune. People who are lucky enough to survive will be bankrupt."

This pandemic is the perfect time to start Medicare for All, like the systems they have in the rest of the civilized world. America is the only country where people have to worry about sky high medical bills.

March 10:  Kept at the Hospital on Coronavirus Fears, Now Facing Large Medical Bills. Care was mandated by the government, but it's not clear who has to pay. (New York Times)

March 19: Total Cost of Her COVID-19 Treatment: $34,927.43 (Time)

"When the US government tells us to quarantine and stay home to slow the spread of infections, the quarantine will fail, because homeless people and drug addicts will continue to spread the virus."

We still haven't reached the point of a nationwide lockdown yet, but there are already signs that it's failing because people aren't listening:

March 24:  A shortage of illicit drugs is imminent due to the coronavirus lockdown – and the consequences could be deadly (The Independent)

March 29:  People Are Throwing Coronavirus Parties, Prompting Arrests And Citations (Huffington Post)

March 30:  Cops Break Up Drug-Fueled Orgy, Confiscate Liquid Ecstasy and Cocaine (Rare)

"We'll be seeing an explosion of infections in India in the next few days."

India hasn't done nearly enough testing in the past few weeks. That's why we didn't see the explosion of officially confirmed infections yet. But it's finally starting to show.

March 20: Coronavirus: Why is India testing so little? (BBC)

March 20:  India scrambles to fight its hidden coronavirus epidemic: 'The explosion is already here' (The Independent)

March 22:  Indian Migrant Workers Crowd Trains, Defying Virus Curfew (US News & World Report)

"At least one old politician (Trump, Bernie, Biden, members of Congress or the Senate) will probably die from coronavirus before the end of the year. Probably more than one since it's so fatal for old people."

No one in the Senate, Congress or White House has died of the coronavirus yet, as far as we know. But there have been several infections reported inside the beltway in recent days, as well as among political leaders around the world. Statistically speaking, it's only a matter of time before a high ranking US politician dies from the virus.

March 13: Canadian PM Trudeau's wife tests positive for coronavirus (BBC)

March 21:  Rand Paul is first senator to test positive for coronavirus (CNN)

March 27:  Coronavirus in Congress: Lawmakers who have tested positive (The Hill)

March 27:  Coronavirus strikes UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his health secretary and his chief medical adviser (CNN)

March 31:  White House predicts 100,000 to 240,000 will die in US from coronavirus (CNBC)

"This pandemic will be a cataclysmic change to our way of life. A bigger change catalyst than 9/11. There was a world before coronavirus, and there will be a world after coronavirus. But it won't be the same world. This nightmare is worse than a nuclear war."

We're not quite there yet. But we've only seen the tip of the iceberg so far. The coming weeks will be much worse. But already it is pretty clear that Covid-19 has changed the world forever and is one of the biggest disasters in human history.

March 20:  How the World Will Look After the Coronavirus Pandemic The pandemic will change the world forever. (Politico)

March 31:  NYC paramedics overwhelmed by coronavirus cases: "We've had 9/11-type calls for eight days" (CBS News)

March 31:  The coronavirus has now killed more people in the US than the 9/11 terror attacks (Vox)

March 31:  America's deadliest day to date: Coronavirus death toll soars to 3,180 - an increase of 605 with a person dying every TWO MINUTES - as 22,000 new infections are recorded and experts say the worst is yet to come (Daily Mail)

PREDICTIONS THAT WERE WRONG:

"I think it's a pretty safe guess that Trump will inevitably get infected with coronavirus in India, and within the next 30 days, he'll have symptoms. And in the meantime, while he's symptom free, he'll infect hundreds if not thousands of people at his rallies."

Out of all  my predictions from 2/23, this is the only one that I got wrong.

But using Trump as an example was really only meant to illustrate that the virus will not stay in Wuhan, but even reach the upper echelon in Washington.

And at the time I made that prediction, one day before Trump's India trip, it seemed the most obvious way he will get infected.

As far as we know, Trump has not been infected yet. But several people around him have. Well, who knows, maybe they didn't infect him, because he infected them. Maybe Trump simply was lucky enough to have very mild symptoms.

March 9:  Republicans who came in contact with Trump self-quarantine (Politico)

March 13:  Trump dinner companion tested positive for coronavirus, White House physician says (Politico)

Today's numbers...

Global total: 869,812 infected, 43,174 dead

US: 189,800, 4087

Italy: 106,128, 12,443

Spain: 102,136, 9053

China: 81,554, 3312

Germany: 71,906, 778

France: 52,128, 3523

Iran: 44,606, 2898

UK: 25,150, 1789

Switzerland: 16,605, 433

Belgium: 13,964, 828

Turkey: 13,531, 214

Netherlands: 12,595, 1039

Austria: 10,372, 146

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1: MORE PREDICTIONS

Trump's alarming message portends tragic days ahead

 -CNN

Oh, so no  packed churches on Easter?

The White House projects that shutting down the US to stop the coronavirus could save 2 million lives

 -Business Insider

Florida Governor, at Long Last, Orders Residents to Stay Home to Avoid Coronavirus

 -New York Times

Well look who finally decided to do something about this pandemic!

Pence seeks to blame CDC and China for any delay in US coronavirus response -- not Trump's initial failure to face reality

 -CNN

Of course. As usual, the Trump administration is busy  rewriting history. They're hoping people will forget that Trump spent the past 2 months telling his brainwashed followers that the coronavirus pandemic is just a flu "hoax," hyped up by the media and the Democrats.

Flashback:

The President vs. the Experts: How Trump Played Down the Coronavirus

 -New York Times

Fact check: Trump tries to erase the memory of him downplaying the coronavirus

 -CNN

Journalists challenge Trump's 'revisionist history' regarding coronavirus response

 -CNN

Now that he can no longer deny that the pandemic is real, he's trying to pretend he was on top of it all along. It's a blatant lie, but as the old saying goes: history is written by the winners.

Let's hope his blatant lies will not become the history that people will remember in the future.

I hope my day-by-day account will make it more than clear to anyone what really went on in America during this deadly pandemic.

Trump's Breakdown. Old traits — bluster, defiance, implacable self-promotion — that once worked well now threaten to sink a presidency.

 -Politico

More than 1,000 New York City police officers have the coronavirus as 911 calls hit records

 -CNBC

Sailors from aircraft carrier hit by coronavirus outbreak to quarantine in Guam hotels

 -CNN

Man Attempts 'Suicide by Cop' After Purported Coronavirus Diagnosis

 -NBC

China Concealed Extent of Virus Outbreak, U.S. Intelligence Says

 -Bloomberg

Why the Global Recession Could Last a Long Time

 -New York Times

I called my doctor today. I've been having a dry cough and shortness of breath for the past 5 days or so. It didn't get worse, but it also didn't get better. At least I don't have a fever. So maybe I'm just being a hypochondriac.

I asked him what to do. I've been dreading getting in touch with him, and kept telling myself that I was just gonna give it a few more days and see if it goes away, because I don't want him to tell me to come see him, or go to the ER.

I feel like even if I didn't have Covid-19 before, I will have it after I leave there. A medical office or hospital is pretty much the worst place to be right now.

Thankfully he agreed. He said that unless it gets to the point where I really can't breathe anymore, I should not go to the ER. He said I can just call him on the phone if I start to feel worse.

I asked him about getting tested. He said even he can't get tested because he doesn't have any symptoms, even though he really wants to, because he's around sick people all day every day.

Despite all the lies Trump keeps spreading on TV, there still aren't nearly enough tests.

So for now I'm just gonna do what I do best: stay home and write a book.

My doctor said I shouldn't keep reading the news, because it's just gonna stress me out and I'm gonna drive myself crazy.

Easier said than done. Especially when you write a book about the news.

I started and ended the previous book about March with a bunch of predictions I made on Reddit, so I'll do the same thing for this book about April:

On February 23rd I made  22 coronavirus predictions for March and the rest of 2020.

 21 of those predictions were right. Only one was wrong.

Here are a couple of predictions for April, the rest of the year 2020, and beyond:

1. April will be very different from March, and much much worse.

The best way to explain the difference between March and April is the famous Battle for Winterfell scene in The Long Night \- season 8, episode 3 of Game of Thrones.

We are the humans, trying to defend the castle.

The approaching horde of undead White Walkers are the virus.

The first line of defense, the Dothraki on horseback who heroically ride into the darkness to meet the approaching deluge first, are our healthcare workers.

March is that moment in the battle when the fighting is still far away, and the people in the castle stare blindly into the darkness, as the Dothrakis' torches extinguish one by one on the black horizon.

The people in the castle can't see what's happening to the Dothraki in the distance. Just like most of us have no idea what healthcare workers on the front lines are going through right now.

The Dothraki fought valiantly but they couldn't stop the onslaught. They could barely slow it down.

Now the darkness is eerily quiet. That's us safely at home, waiting for whatever comes next. Some of us are even bored, and hoping for something exciting to happen that we can tweet about, or post on Instagram.

And then, suddenly, the horde of White Walkers reaches the castle, and all hell breaks loose. Suddenly they're everywhere, totally overwhelming the castle's defenses.

That's what April will be like. We will be totally overwhelmed by the virus tsunami and hundreds of thousands will die.

And just like the dead Dothraki riders joined the zombie horde, so are our healthcare workers  joining the ranks of the infected.

2. The empty store shelves are here to stay for the foreseeable future.

Global commerce, and the just-in-time inventory that stores rely on, depend on smooth supply lines. The pandemic is causing unprecedented  disruption to the supply lines.

While entire cities are on lockdown and countries seek refuge in nationalism and closed borders, those lockdowns and closed borders will prevent products from reaching consumers in time.

What makes the situation even worse is that there will be a  shortage of workers as more and more people get sick and die.

3. The times of plenty are over, at least until the end of the year, if not longer.

We're used to being able to buy whatever we want (or can afford.) We can no longer take that for granted. From now on, we'll have to get used to buying whatever happens to be available in the store at the moment.

You may be in the mood for peas and carrots, but there may not be any, so you'll have to eat whatever happens to be on the shelf at the moment. Maybe green beans, or bread.

4. There will be a great depression that's even worse than the Great Depression.

Some experts predict unemployment could reach 32% in the US, which is  significantly higher than the 24.9% during the Great Depression.

5. Essentials like food will get more expensive. Non-essentials like laptops will get cheaper.

Countries in severe crisis tend to see  high inflation. Rare items, like food during a food shortage, will get more expensive. We can already see this happening with  toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and face masks.

During the  hyperinflation in Germany, a loaf of bread went from costing tens of thousands, to millions, to billions. We often use $20 bills. Back then Germany had bills with numbers as high as  500 million and even  50 billion printed on it. Money was so worthless, you could wipe your ass with it. People carried their money around  in wheelbarrows.

I don't think we'll see insane hyperinflation like that. But food will get noticeably more expensive.

People won't have enough money to spend frivolously, so manufacturers of non-essentials will have sales and reduce the prices of their products, like during the deflation in Japan.

6. The pandemic will officially turn America into a third world country.

We like to think of America as a rich country. But that wealth is not evenly distributed  like in Europe.

In many ways America resembles developing nations in Africa, with a small super rich elite who owns almost everything, and tens of  millions of dirt poor people who live in  third world squalor.

In America, the 3 richest men own more than 50% of the population do. That's  pretty typical for African banana republics that are known for their extreme poverty and rich elites.

Many Europeans already considered  America an underdeveloped country even before the pandemic.

Hookworm, a  parasite linked to extreme poverty, is usually only found in developing nations in Africa. It thrives in the dirt poor southern US.

People in poor countries have a lower life expectancy than people in rich countries. So it's no surprise that Europeans  live several years longer than Americans. One of the reasons is America's  shitty healthcare system.

Infant mortality is another sign of a poor country with inadequate healthcare.

America has one of the highest infant mortality rates among rich countries. A child born in the U.S. is  76 percent more likely to die before their first birthday than infants born in other wealthy countries, and children who survive infancy have a 57 percent greater risk of death before reaching adulthood.

7. More and more people will demand UBI and Medicare for All.

That stimulus check is  only the beginning. Governments all over the world will quickly need to start figuring out by the end of May how to feed millions of unemployed people, and take care of their health.

 All other civilized countries already have universal healthcare, and some have already begun  sending their citizens monthly checks.

It's either that, or widespread famine, civil unrest, and riots, like during the French revolution.

8. The US National Guard will be deployed nationwide

More and more  police officers will get infected. They will need help keeping order. In other countries that are ahead of us in their pandemic timeline,  the military was deployed to keep order, enforce the lockdown and prevent  looting.

9. Some countries will fail before the end of the year.

Some  fragile states won't make it through the pandemic. They will descend into chaos and violence.

10. We'll see an increase in shootings and riots in the US.

Allowing every halfwit to own assault rifles was a bad idea even in the best of times. Many Second Amendment fanatics have been waiting their entire lives to use their collection of guns against a "tyrannical government."

Imagine one of those guys, drunk and armed, encountering the National Guard, who tell him to get back in his trailer. It's a recipe for disaster.

Before the end of the year, we will see Bundy-style standoffs or even shoot-outs between gun nuts and the military who try to enforce a lockdown or prevent looting.

11. As anger and unrest grows, Trump will try to redirect blame on minorities and other countries.

It's already starting to happen  right now.

A disease can start anywhere. There are plenty of Americans with  rare or unique diseases. Some of these diseases are so rare, they  don't even have names.

And we don't call them "American disease." Because why would you blame the people of an entire country for a disease?

I'm pretty sure it's true that China  covered up the true number of dead over there. Some estimates say Wuhan had  over 40,000 casualties.

That sounds far more realistic to me than the official number, after I saw a whole bunch of shocking  hidden camera footage from China on Weibo and from Chinese Twitter accounts. People over there risked their lives to smuggle the footage out of the country and warn the world.

Someone spliced some of the footage together and created a collection that is pretty terrifying to watch. It looks like a trailer for a new horror movie. I recognize many of those  scenes from the footage I saw earlier, posted by Chinese people trying to warn us about the true magnitude of what occured in Wuhan.

Maybe it really did accidentally  escape a Chinese bio-weapons lab. We may never know the truth.

It's unfortunate that this coronavirus started in China. But it could have just as easily started in Africa or Alabama.

The Spanish Flu of 1918 that killed 50 million people actually started in Haskell county, Kansas as far as we know.

Should we have called it the Kansas flu? And risk violence against the people of Kansas?

Trump's insistence on calling Covid-19 the "China flu" will cause an  increase in violence against Chinese Americans. And that is by design. He is purposely deflecting people's anger at him for ignoring the pandemic for 2 months, and  directs it at a minority.

During the Great Depression, Hitler manipulated Germans by making them believe that Jews were to blame for everything that was wrong in Germany. We all know how that turned out.

Germans attacked and persecuted Jews for "destroying the German economy" and being "traitors."

The same will happen in the US if Trump keeps shoring up hatred against Chinese people and blames them for the great depression that's about to come.

12. There may not be any elections in November.

Bill Maher keeps saying that Trump  won't leave office voluntarily. Ever. I think he's right. I think Trump will use every dirty trick he can to stay in power. Even if that means declaring martial law and postponing the elections indefinitely "until things improve."

Dictators often use a crisis to gain absolute power. That's how Hitler  became a dictator in the Weimar Republic. And Orban just did the same thing in Hungary. Like Hitler, Orban could have anyone killed now, if he wanted to, because he is now above any law.

Trump has already made clear that he thinks of himself as  above the law.

13. The Great Depression led to World War 2. The new Great Depression may very well lead to World War 3 before November.

If all else fails, and Trump feels like even his MAGA  death cult members are turning on him, he will declare war on China and start World War 3. That will shore up a sense of patriotism and give his poll numbers a boost.

Sounds far out, I know. But so did my  2/23 predictions at the time. This prediction is no more outlandish than last month's prediction that the Olympics will be cancelled or that US cities will be on lockdown.

Trump loves the idea of being a  war president, because he wants to go down in history as a tough guy and the most famous person ever. He  craves attention.

He's been asking repeatedly  why we can't use nukes and even  ordered the production of a  new line of nukes that many people consider a bad idea because making more "usable" nukes  increases the likelihood of a nuclear war. Trump even suggested using  nukes against a hurricane.

Who's the most famous person in history right now? Arguably Hitler.

Who's gonna be even more famous than that? The tough guy who starts a war and uses nukes. His fans are  gonna love it... Murica #1!

Even  our NATO allies think if anyone in the world is nuts enough to use nukes, it's Trump. Global surveys show that Trump's America is seen as the  biggest threat to world peace.

The 1918 pandemic led to the  1920 Depression. And the Great Depression led to WW2. It's not unreasonable to assume that an  even bigger pandemic will lead to an even  Greater Depression and another world war.

Hitler promised full employment and an  end of the Great Depression. He delivered by starting a war and turning Germans into cannon fodder.

And the German people loved him for it. They saw him as their  savior and messiah. Just like Trump's cult members think of him as their savior and  messiah today.

America is an  empire in decline. China is  on the rise. The 19th century was Europe's century. The 20th century was America's century. The 21st century is China's century.

Trump is already calling this pandemic a war. And his rhetoric against China is increasingly hostile. Trump's minions are already declaring that  China will pay for this.

I think if Trump sees his minions turn on him, he will incite more hatred against China and switch from calling this a "war," to calling it "an attack on America."

He will give his followers the false impression that America is under attack, just like Hitler convinced his followers that Germany was under attack by Jews, not the other way around.

And the next thing you know, Trump's followers will be screaming for a "retaliatory strike" to punish China for their attack on America.

And US nuclear policy says that America may use nukes against countries that use biological weapons.

And there you have it... World War 3.

Sounds crazy, I know. But what would you have said if someone had told you 6 months ago that there will be a deadly global pandemic? That would have sounded pretty insane 6 months ago as well.

And yet, here we are.

Man, I hope when this is all over, I'm gonna look back at these predictions and laugh at how wrong I was.

THURSDAY, APRIL 2: TRUMP HAS BLOOD ON HIS HANDS

US records 1,169 new coronavirus deaths, the highest one-day toll recorded in any country

 -France 24

Economic fallout mounts, worldwide cases top 1 million

-Associated Press

As the coronavirus triggers a global economic crisis, just how bad could it get?

 -Deutsche Welle

Coronavirus: global trade braces for 'tidal wave' ahead, as shutdown batters supply chains

 -South China Morning Post

How pandemics are worse than wars

 -Axios

Coronavirus: pandemic could last for months says top Hong Kong expert

 -South China Morning Post

About half of workers lose income due to virus

-Associated Press

Record 6.6 million Americans seeking unemployment benefits

 -MSNBC

Americans without IRS direct deposit may not receive stimulus checks for months

 -Axios

Stimulus Cash Payments May Take Up To 20 Weeks To Reach Some Americans

 -NPR

This is ridiculous.

Increase in domestic violence feared during virus lockdown

 -Axios

The same thing happened in  China and other countries that started lockdowns before the US.

Florida jobless claims rise as does anger among unemployed

-Associated Press

While Americans are facing personal ruin, the German government sends its citizens monthly checks to stay home. Obviously a much better approach that will save many millions of lives.

Germany is using a familiar weapon to prevent massive layoffs

 -CNBC

Germany has a low coronavirus mortality rate: Here's why

 -CNBC

Doctors deal with the stress of the COVID-19 crisis

 -Deutsche Welle

Florida's slow response may have made its coronavirus outbreak worse

 -Axios

Oh, ya think?!

And what's your opinion on water? Is water wet? You don't say. That's brand new information!

White House to urge Americans to wear face coverings in public to slow spread of coronavirus

 -Washington Post

Good job! And only 2 months too late.

Dr. Fauci: 'I Don't Understand' Why The Entire Country Isn't Under Stay-At-Home Orders

 -Huffington Post

I can tell you why: Trump is an idiot.

How Trump and Kushner Failed on Testing and Ventilators: A Closer Look

-Late Night

Boston Globe Editorial Board: Trump 'has blood on his hands'. Bina Venkataraman, Editorial Page Editor for The Boston Globe, tells Lawrence O'Donnell that President Trump is trying to "recalibrate our expectations" after the administration's "colossal failures" in addressing COVID-19.

 -MSNBC

Very true.

While other countries prepared for the pandemic, Trump spent the past 2 months lying about it and conning his gullible cult members into believing that it's just a Democratic hoax about a harmless flu.

The medical supply shortage, and the resulting deaths are entirely Trump's fault.

With his lies, Trump single-handedly killed more Americans than any other villain in history.

Governor admits he didn't know asymptomatic people could pass virus

 -MSNBC

How about you start paying attention to the medical experts, you ignorant Republican fuckwit?

Maddow: Lack of US national coronavirus policy is insane. And fatal.

 -MSNBC

Coronavirus hotbed NY set to run out of ventilators in six days, says Governor Cuomo

 -France 24

In Desperation, New York State Pays Up To 15 Times The Normal Prices For Medical Equipment

 -Huffington Post

America's predatory capitalism kills people.

Trump's Labor Department Takes A Hacksaw To Coronavirus Paid Sick Leave

 -Huffington Post

Pure evil.

Navy relieves captain who sounded alarm about COVID-19 outbreak on aircraft carrier

 -MSNBC

How ironic. Just yesterday Trump talked shit about China covering up the magnitude of the outbreak and silencing the whistleblower doctor.

Guam Locals Unhappy With Housing U.S. Sailors From Coronavirus-Hit Aircraft Carrier

 -NPR

Spanish hospital personnel must improvise in a makeshift ICU

-Associated Press

Iraq has confirmed thousands more COVID-19 cases than reported, medics say

 -Reuters

Africa faces an 'existential threat' as virus cases spread

 -US News & World Report

World Bank OKs first $1.9B for poor countries battling virus

-Associated Press

Indian economy was rolling down a hill. With Covid-19, it's falling off a cliff

 -Quartz

'Shoot them dead,' Philippine's Duterte warns coronavirus lockdown violators

 -France 24

This guy loves shooting people. He said the same thing about  drug addicts a few years ago.

Netanyahu re-enters coronavirus quarantine after health minister tests positive

 -Axios

Putin seeking to create new world order with 'rogue states' amid coronavirus crisis, report claims

 -CNBC

WHO covering up for China, says US Senator Martha McSally, calling for director general to resign

 -South China Morning Post

Why Covid-19 infections affect people differently

 -Quartz

Man, it's getting stressful to try to keep up with all the daily news. When I started collecting the most important news each day back in February, it was just a handful of headlines per day.

Now it takes me hours to go through the 20 or so news sites I read regularly each day, because there is an overwhelming amount of news from all over the world.

And it's only gonna get worse.

I stumbled across an old music video on YouTube earlier today. The song Overcome by Live. With footage from 9/11. It reminded me of what it was like to live in New York back then.

I still used to work for a newspaper in Brooklyn at the time, and was able to get into Ground Zero with my press pass. It was gut wrenching.

Watching that old video footage and the sorrow-filled voice of the wailing singer gave me the feels. I was overwhelmed by sadness and started to tear up.

I didn't cry back then. But seeing the video today made me cry.

Maybe because I already know deep down what's coming.

This pandemic is gonna be so much worse. Like 9/11 happening in every town and every city all over the world, over and over again, day after day, for weeks. And then the aftermath. For months, or even years.

I guess all this shit is starting to take its toll on me emotionally. I'm usually a pretty stoic person. I put my emotions in a little box and hide them, so they don't get in the way.

But this stuff is starting to get to me. So much suffering. So many deaths. And we're still at the very beginning of it.

Maybe my doctor was right. Maybe I need to take a break from the news. Ignorance is bliss. On the other hand, I really want to chronicle what it was like to live through this pandemic. Just for myself, if for no one else.

I guess it's my way of coping with it. It keeps me busy while I sit indoors and the world outside is imploding.. Writing is all I know. Doing what I always do gives me a sense of normalcy.

FRIDAY, APRIL 3: WE NEED UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE

The collapse of the US fracking industry, in seven charts

 -Quartz

Virus deaths, unemployment accelerating across Europe, US

-Associated Press

Coronavirus: young people more likely to retest positive after treatment, study says

 -South China Morning Post

WHO says 'more and more' young people are dying from the coronavirus

 -CNBC

Detroit Bus Driver Who Implored Sick People To Stay Home Dies Of Coronavirus

 -Huffington Post

If you are out of a job and health insurance, these are your options

 -Quartz

Trump Says The Government Will Cover Coronavirus Expenses For The Uninsured

 -Huffington Post

And just like that, we suddenly have universal healthcare.

Watch... In a few weeks Trump will claim he never said it.

That's what he always does. He says something stupid, and then a few days later denies ever having said it. And his brainwashed minions fall for it every time.

Fact-check: Trump says some states aren't in jeopardy from the virus, denies saying it would go away by April

 -CNN

Lying fucker. Here's a video of him saying it will go away in April.

More states issue stay-at-home orders as coronavirus crisis escalates

 -Axios

It's about fucking time. Were these dumbasses waiting for everyone to get infected first?

Social distancing works, but resistance prompts worries of growing crisis

 -The Hill

America's small business bailout is off to a bad start

 -Axios

Of course. What else is new? Leave it to Trump and his troupe of amateurs to fuck this up too.

Skepticism rises over government's small business bailouts

 -Axios

Bank of America says 85,000 small businesses have asked for $22.2 billion in loans since 9 a.m.

 -CNBC

The rich pull up the drawbridges

 -Axios

Will the clueless trailer park MAGA minions ever figure out that the Republican party and their propaganda outlet Fox News only care about millionaires and billionaires?

Nah. Never gonna happen.

Coronavirus Will 'Absolutely' Make Inequality Worse. But We Can Change That. For some, the COVID-19 pandemic is an inconvenience, says a former Lehman Brothers executive. For others, it's life and death.

 -Huffington Post

Immigrants on the front lines in the coronavirus fight

 -Axios

Immigrants are treated as expendables. They're the cannon fodder of World War C. The pawns of the billionaires. Calling a worker essential sounds better than expendable.

Navigating the Covid-19 pandemic: We're just clambering into a life raft. Dry land is far away

 -Statnews

The government's official scorekeeper just poured cold water all over the Trump administration's predictions of a rapid economic recovery from the coronavirus

 -Business Insider

Sanders calls for $2,000 monthly payments, suspending some bills amid pandemic

 -The Hill

Researchers warn the COVID-19 lockdown will take its own toll on health. As governments race to stem the spread of coronavirus through an unprecedented closing of schools, businesses and travel, some specialists fear the long term public health impacts of a depressed economy and shuttered society.

 -Reuters

U.S. attorney general orders release of more federal inmates due to coronavirus pandemic

 -Reuters

Trump Fires Inspector General Who Sounded Alarm On Ukraine Call

 -Huffington Post

Trump fires intelligence official involved in his impeachment probe

 -Reuters

Of course he did. The vindictive orange clown doesn't like it when you don't treat him like a king.

Captain Crozier cheered by sailors after firing

-Reuters

The sailors know that captain Crozier sacrificed his career to save their lives. He's a good man. So of course Trump fired him. There's no room for good men in Trump's death cult.

Over 120,000 sign online petition to reinstate U.S. Navy carrier commander

 -Reuters

It's only a matter of time now til Trump calls captain Crozier a trailor or a loser or something equally idiotic. That's what he always does.

Trump Administration Alters National Stockpile Website To Cover Kushner Claims

 -Huffington Post

Reality is whatever Trump says it is.

New York in 'race against time' as Trump stresses face masks are voluntary

 -Reuters

Trump Announces CDC Mask Guidelines But Says He Probably Won't Follow Them

 -Huffington Post

Face coverings recommended, but Trump says he won't wear one

-Associated Press

This is the  handshake thing all over again. What a fucking idiot. Dumb as a rock.

Trump's Do-What-My-Experts-Say-Not-As-I-Do Pandemic Response Ready For More Golf. The president held a big party, keeps touching people, and now is all set to return to the golf course despite social distancing guidelines.

 -Huffington Post

Rep. Shalala: This president is dangerous to our health. Congresswoman Donna Shalala says that President Trump saying he won't abide by voluntary guidelines to wear a mask is dangerous to 'our health': "Millions of Americans are going to be confused by this mixed messaging."

 -MSNBC

Admiral defends federal government sending medical supplies to the private sector. Rear Adm. John Polowczyk defended the federal government's decision to send medical supplies needed in coronavirus relief efforts to the private sector, saying they were "not here to disrupt a supply chain."

 -MSNBC

The Trump regime is giving ventilators to the private sector, instead of hospitals. And then the "private sector" sells the ventilators to the highest bidder.

Cuomo said it's kinda like Ebay. All 50 states are bidding against each other. And they're so desperate, they're driving up the prices like crazy. Supply and demand.

That's capitalism for ya. Instead of helping people survive, Trump and his billionaire buddies are profiting from the pandemic.

Sickening.

Cuomo orders shift in ventilators to overwhelmed hospitals

-Associated Press

New York governor Cuomo has been my hero during this crisis. It seems like he's the only politician who actually gets shit done. I kinda wish he'd run for president in November. The country would be in much better hands.

#Cuomoforpresident is actually trending on Twitter.

Mark Cuban opens door to 2020 run

 -Axios

Scramble for virus supplies strains global solidarity

-Associated Press

US accused of seizing face mask shipments bound for Europe, Canada

 -Deutsche Welle

Coronavirus: Germany, France accuse Americans of mask 'piracy', dirty tricks

 -South China Morning Post

Trudeau warns U.S. against denying exports of medical supplies to Canada

 -Quartz

Germans rally behind Merkel amid coronavirus crisis

 -Deutsche Welle

Coronavirus lockdown: Delhi struggles to feed migrants left behind

 -Deutsche Welle

Americans stock up on guns and ammo amid coronavirus pandemic

 -Deutsche Welle

Will The Coronavirus Pandemic Lead To A Political Shakeup?

 -Huffington Post

I went to 4 stores today, to stock up on some groceries. And I tried to find Zinc. But it was sold out everywhere I went.

Now all the stores have lines outside, and they only let a few people in at a time. There are still empty shelves, but not quite as many as a few days ago. At least for now.

I noticed that some stores rearranged products so that their shelves aren't so obviously empty. Our local Trader Joe's put laundry detergent on the shelves where the missing toilet paper should be.

The streets are pretty empty.

I saw several homeless people. One was sleeping in the middle of an empty sidewalk.

Another just quietly sat in an empty parking lot. I gave him a buck.

Another guy stood in front of a Dollar store and totally spazzed out like he had a seizure, while barking like a dog and holding his ears like he was in pain. It was pretty intense. I called 911. He obviously needed help.

When I drove out of the parking lot, I saw a fourth homeless guy, pushing a shopping cart full of crap. Probably whatever was left of his old life, before being homeless. Or maybe it was just crap he found in a dumpster here and there, and hoped to turn into cash somehow.

He was screaming at the top of his lungs, at someone who wasn't there. He was really angry and kept cursing at nobody. He obviously had mental problems.

How are these guys gonna survive? They rely on getting a few dollars here and there from passersby. But now no one is passing by.

Los Angeles is on lockdown. Everyone is supposed to stay home. But what about the homeless?

Many of these poor bastards are probably gonna die. And no one is even gonna count them. They're the forgotten.

Then again, there are probably gonna be millions more who won't be counted. Once the number of daily deaths becomes unmanageable, there will be mass cremations, and there just won't be time to record each and every death.

No one counts all the grains of sand at the beach.

Anyway, for now the world is still trying to count the dead.

So here are today's numbers, as of right now:

On a lighter note, here's a video from February 27th, of Trump whining about the media not giving him enough credit for what a great job he has done managing coronavirus.

Just a little reminder of what an epic failure Trump's handling of coronavirus has been these past 2 months.

It would be funny, if it wasn't so sad.

SATURDAY, APRIL 4: HEROES OF THE PANDUMBIC

World coronavirus updates: Confirmed cases top 1.2 million

 -Axios

US reports most coronavirus deaths in one day as 1,344 die on Saturday

 -CNN

U.S. coronavirus updates: Death toll surpasses 8,500

 -Axios

Trump warns the country to prepare for a lot of death due to COVID-19

 -MSNBC

Voices from the front lines: Medical workers share their coronavirus stories

 -MSNBC

Former astronaut, ER doctor more concerned about catching COVID-19 than when he went to space

 -The Hill

'The scary things that this virus can do': Doctors across NYC share the harrowing reality of caring for oxygen-starved coronavirus patients as equipment runs short

 -Business Insider

'Suicide mission:' Medical professionals describe going to work in New York City

 -MSNBC

The desperate hunt for coronavirus personal protective equipment

 -Axios

Hunt for medical supplies creates marketplace of desperation

-Associated Press

States turn to election security funds to pay off coronavirus costs

 -The Hill

States lack key data on virus cases among medical workers

-Associated Press

America doesn't even have enough tests to test the medical workers. Just like my doctor said. What an epic clusterfuck.

Testing struggles emerge as key hurdle to reopening country

 -The Hill

California Gov. Newsom Says More Tests Coming; State Asks Public For Medical Supplies

 -NPR

Meanwhile in countries that have their shit together:

How Taiwan is tracking 55,000 people under home quarantine in real time

 -Quartz

Taiwan got it handled pretty well so far.

Taiwan offers masks and medical aid to foreign countries, angering Beijing

 -South China Morning Post

Taiwan's coronavirus response is among the best globally

 -CNN

That's what it looks like when your president isn't a lying idiot who wastes two months pretending it's just a hoax, instead of preparing the country.

Trevor Noah's staff put together an excellent little video of some of the bullshit Trump and his propaganda henchmen at Fox News have been telling gullible red state yokels about the coronavirus these past two months:

Saluting the Heroes of the Coronavirus Pandumbic

-The Daily Show

If you haven't seen this little video yet, you have to watch it. You have to see these soulless liars with your own eyes to believe it.

Fox News Stars Now Pretend They Never Said What They Said About the Coronavirus

 -The Daily Beast

No wonder so many of Trump's brainwashed little lemmings still think this is all just a hoax.

One of these halfwits even tried to sink the hospital ship in Los Angeles by ramming a train into it a few days ago:

Engineer tried to crash train into USNS Mercy in Los Angeles: Feds

 -ABC News

Engineer Arrested For Derailing Train Near USNS Mercy, Claimed Ship Part Of 'Government Takeover'

-CBS News

This is the insane world we live in now. Half the country seriously thinks none of this is real because they've been lied to by Trump and Fox News since day one.

These lying scumbags have blood on their hands. They should be in prison for the lies they have been telling the American people about this "harmless little flu."

3 disease experts reveal what surprised them about the coronavirus pandemic: not the outbreak itself, but rather the US's lackluster response

 -Business Insider

An expert in global supply chains says Trump should have used the power of the Defense Production Act 4 to 5 weeks ago

 -Business Insider

Coronavirus pandemic in New York City detailed by Mayor de Blasio

 -MSNBC

Several patients test positive for coronavirus aboard hospital ship docked in New York after it loosens screening regulations

 -Newsweek

Andrew Cuomo: China Sending 1,000 Ventilators To New York

 -Huffington Post

New York gets Chinese ventilators; Trump wants more thanks

-Associated Press

Trump says he may take drug to treat coronavirus, questions states' ventilator needs

 -Reuters

Pressed by Trump, U.S. pushed unproven coronavirus treatment guidance

 -Reuters

Nearly 40k flew to U.S. from China after Trump's coronavirus travel ban

 -Axios

Trump suggests firing watchdog was payback for impeachment

-Associated Press

'He's a total disgrace': Trump defends firing U.S. intel watchdog

 -Reuters

Trump says the fired Navy commander's letter pleading for help for his coronavirus-stricken ship 'looked terrible' and was 'not appropriate'

 -Business Insider

The Trump Organization laid off 1,500 people after it closed over a dozen properties due to the novel coronavirus pandemic

 -Business Insider

Trump Org Reportedly Seeking Debt Help From Deutsche As Bank Is Probed By DOJ

 -Huffington Post

I knew it! Trump is fucking broke again!

Flashback:

Samantha Bee Digs Up Awkward Old Clip Of Ivanka Trump Talking About Her Father's Debt

 -Huffington Post

"Ivanka Trump, now a senior White House adviser to the president, said in the video: I remember once my father and I were walking down Fifth Avenue and there was a homeless person sitting right outside of Trump Tower and I remember my father pointing to him and saying, 'You know, that guy has $8 billion more than me,' because he was in such extreme debt at that point, you know?"

Deutsche Bank feared Trump Organization would default on $340M loans while Trump was in office. Execs at German banking giant, concerned about default, considered extending repayment past Trump's term in office

 -Salon

"According to the report, senior executives at Deutsche Bank, including CEO John Cryan, were concerned about the backlash they might face if the bank tried to go after the assets of a sitting president should the Trump Organization default on the loans."

How Russian Money Helped Save Trump's Business. After his financial disasters two decades ago, no U.S. bank would touch him. Then foreign money began flowing in.

 -Foreign Policy

Anyway, back to today's headlines:

Georgia's governor orders state to 'shelter in place' — while also opening state beaches

 -Business Insider

Where will the bodies go? Morgues plan as virus grows

-Associated Press

My guess: sooner or later we'll have mass cremations.

'The Flash' actor Logan Williams dies at the age of 16

-Associated Press

Appalachian Coal Communities Brace For Coronavirus: It's Going 'To Wipe Us Out.' Vulnerable coal miners suffering from black lung disease fear what will happen if COVID-19 is added to the mix.

 -Huffington Post

Covid-19 is about to reach US farms in a major test for food supply chains

 -Quartz

The supply chains are buckling. Products aren't reaching consumers:

U.S. dairy farmers dump milk as pandemic upends food markets

 -Reuters

"Despite strong demand for basic foods like dairy products amid the coronavirus pandemic, the milk supply chain has seen a host of disruptions that are preventing dairy farmers from getting their products to market."

'There's a shortage of everything': Pharmacies in New York City struggle to keep key medications stocked amid coronavirus outbreak

 -CNBC

Single passenger flights: The daily woes of airlines, and the crew still working

 -Reuters

A woman flying to see her dying mother was the plane's only passenger

 -CNN

Amazon to delay Prime Day event due to coronavirus, outlines cloud risks

 -Reuters

Scenes of Sin City shut down by coronavirus

 -CNBC

Trump Administration Says Millions May Have to Wait 5 Months to Receive $1,200 Relief Check

 -Common Dreams

New coronavirus limits bring new religious freedom tension

-Associated Press

I think it's only a matter of time before some religious nuts with guns get into a shootout with cops or the National Guard, who try to enforce the lockdown and prevent these redneck yokels from going to megachurches during a god damn pandemic.

Why the fuck are you going to a crowded church during a pandemic? What the fuck is prayer gonna do? You think if you ask God real nice, he's gonna make the pandemic go away?

I thought your God is all-knowing? So doesn't he already know there's a pandemic, and how you feel about it? Do you really need to leave him a voicemail to tell him about it? And can't you fucking do that from home? You really need to run to a megachurch and throw some money at a corrupt preacher?

If God supposedly knows everything, then he obviously knows there's a pandemic about to kill millions of people. So, why is he letting it happen? Or did he make it happen on purpose? Either way, God obviously wants it to happen, otherwise he would have stopped it already.

Did he send a plague to punish America because half the country worships Trump like a messiah? Trump is not a messiah, you ignorant MAGA dumbfucks. He's a con man and a liar who's about to get hundreds of thousands or even millions killed. If anything, he's  the antichrist.

Just kidding. I'm an atheist. I don't believe in any of that religious mumbo jumbo.

Asian Americans use social media to mobilize against attacks

-Associated Press

Inside the deadly voyage of 2 Holland America cruises stricken with coronavirus and stranded at sea for weeks with hundreds of sick passengers

 -Business Insider

Another cruise ship with virus victims docks in Florida

-Associated Press

Velshi: America needs universal healthcare

 -MSNBC

Why Africa is at risk of a coronavirus catastrophe

 -The Hill

India reports four coronavirus cases in Asia's largest slum

 -CNN

Mainland China sees rise in new coronavirus cases

 -Reuters

They thought they had it under control.

Coronavirus: about 130 riot police in Hong Kong's West Kowloon region ordered into quarantine

 -South China Morning Post

All 2,700 residents of a refugee camp in Greece will be tested for the coronavirus and quarantined, after 20 residents tested positive

 -Business Insider

Nearly 3,000 released from Sri Lanka prisons

-Associated Press

In Italy, support groups fear lockdown is silencing domestic abuse victims

 -Reuters

'Normal' will look completely different when this is all over

 -CNN

I was up til 3 am again last night. Reading the news and writing. Same as every night this week. And then I get up when Shelly gets up around 7:30 am. I haven't been getting enough sleep all week.

Not good for my immune system. Or for my mood. I have a hard time concentrating and I'm feeling irritable. I get annoyed at every little shit. Felt like slapping my laptop because the pages were loading too slowly.

I ate a bunch of fruit today. Pineapple, bananas and mango. Trying to give myself a vitamin boost, to counteract the lack of sleep. Didn't really work though I guess.

My cough was worse today. And the shortness of breath, that was gone yesterday, came back today.

Around 1 pm it was starting to scare me, so I took everything potentially antiviral I could find in the kitchen drawer: a  garlic pill,  vitamin D, Indomethacin,  tart cherry extract and a  turmeric pill. We ordered some zinc on Amazon last night, but it won't get here til April 20th or so.

Amazingly, I started to feel better about an hour later. The coughing subsided and the shortness of breath got better too. So maybe one of those pills I took helped. Or maybe all of them together.

Anyway, I really need to get more sleep. They say your body repairs itself during the night. I told myself I'm gonna go to sleep by midnight tonight.

SUNDAY, APRIL 5: SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT & HOW DUMB IS TRUMP?

Trump reportedly dismissed January coronavirus warnings from Health Secretary Alex Azar as 'alarmist'

 -Business Insider

Dr. Fauci Warned In 2017 Of 'Surprise Outbreak' During Trump Administration

 -Huffington Post

Bush warned America about pandemics in 2005

 -This Week

I used to think he was the dumbest, most incompetent president ever. But compared to Trump, Bush looks like Einstein.

Flashback:

A while ago, it was all over the news that "stable genius" Trump threatened his schools with lawsuits if they released his grades to the public.

Well, except on Fox News, because they're nothing more than Trump propaganda who  purposely hide negative news about Trump and claim that those negative news are hoaxes.

You know, like the Democrats' warnings that Trump was ignoring the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

Trump Threatened Colleges Over Any Leaks of His Grades

 -Inside Higher Ed

Donald Trump Criticized Obama's Grades. But His Lawyer Threatened Trump's Alma Maters Not to Release His Own Grades

 -Time

Fordham confirms that Trump team threatened the school if his grades became public

 -Market Watch

Fordham confirms: Trump was obsessed with hiding his SAT scores

 -Vanity Fair

Not the sign of someone who's proud of his grades. That sure does not sound like the grades of a "genius" to me.

And one of his professors said that Trump was the dumbest student he ever had:

Revealed: Trump's professor thought he was his 'dumbest student' ever

 -Sl News

Former Wharton Professor: "Donald Trump Was the Dumbest Goddam Student I Ever Had."

 -The Daily Kos

Seriously, How Dumb Is Trump?

 -Huffington Post

All the ways Trump's closest confidants insult his intelligence

 -Quartz

'Idiot,' 'Dope,' 'Moron': How Trump's aides have insulted the boss

 -Politico

Woodward: Kelly labeled Trump 'unhinged' and 'idiot'

 -The Hill

Tillerson reportedly called Trump a 'moron.' Months later, he's out

 -USA Today

Steve Bannon reportedly joked to a friend that Trump is 'like an 11-year-old child'

 -Business Insider

Outgoing inspector general says Trump fired him for carrying out his 'legal obligations'

 -The Hill

Navy Captain Removed From Carrier Tests Positive for Covid-19. Captain Crozier was fired after a leak of a letter he had emailed to Navy leaders detailing the service's failures in dealing with a coronavirus outbreak on the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt.

 -New York Times

Fauci: US is 'struggling' to get coronavirus under control and to say otherwise would be wrong.

 -CNN

Dr. Anthony Fauci did a facepalm after Trump mentioned the 'Deep State Department' in a wild coronavirus briefing

 -Business Insider

And this clown is now in charge of America's response to the  greatest disaster America has ever faced. On the monumental scale of a world war.

Sanders warns of coronavirus 'meltdown' on par with World War II

 -Politico

Trump has handled the coronavirus the way he handles everything: Like a toddler

 -Washington Post

We. are. so. Fucked.

Trump promotes use of drug for coronavirus: 'I'm not a doctor. But I have common sense'

 -The Hill

I think he meant to say: I'm not a president, but I play one on TV.

Trump doubles down on unproven drugs to treat and prevent coronavirus

 -CNN

Trump is touting experimental drugs for COVID-19, saying it's 'not going to hurt' people. But the drug has severe side effects and its misuse has led to poisoning and even death.

 -Business Insider

Inside the epic White House fight over hydroxychloroquine

 -Axios

Scott Gottlieb becomes key voice warning Trump, GOP on coronavirus

 -The Hill

As Surgeon General warns of 'Pearl Harbor moment', U.S. surpasses 9,000 COVID-19 deaths

 -MSNBC

The Covid-19 pandemic is going to be much worse than Pearl Harbor. It's going to be nationwide, in every city in every state. And it's going to last for months, not hours. It's going to be an elephant compared to an ant.

U.S. 'wasted' months before preparing for virus pandemic

-Associated Press

Stelter: Federal response to pandemic is a 9/11-level failure

 -CNN

Louisiana governor says state will run out of ventilators on April 9

 -Axios

Fauci says it's likely coronavirus will be seasonal

 -The Hill

In other words, there will be wave after wave of this virus.

How the Pandemic Will End: The U.S. may end up with the worst COVID-19 outbreak in the industrialized world. This is how it's going to play out.

 -The Atlantic

I think there is only one way the Covid-19 pandemic is gonna end: The immune will live. The rest will die. We might lose a 5th of the world population.

Americans brace for 'hardest, saddest' week of their lives

-Associated Press

Georgia mayor blasts governor for reopening state's beaches during pandemic: Health of our residents "being put at risk"

 -Newsweek

Unfuckingbeliebable. More brilliant conservative leadership in a time of crisis. Fucking Republicans. Gotta love their dedication to always doing exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time, for profit.

What could go wrong?

Flashback:

Florida governor refuses to shut down beaches amid spread of coronavirus

 -NBC News

Will spring breakers become super-spreaders? As Florida finally cracks down, young revelers return to hometowns where people may have been social-distancing for days.

 -Politico

As Florida coronavirus cases surge, spring breakers express regret. Spring breakers are now expressing regret they went, but some say the government wasn't clear enough in its message to practice social distancing.

 -NBC News

It's like these red state yokels are purposely trying to go extinct. And they're taking everyone else with them.

Inside an ER during the coronavirus outbreak

 -CNN

Doctors, nurses leave homes to protect families from virus

-Associated Press

Two workers at the same Walmart store die of coronavirus

 -CNN

'I'm worried that I have infected 1000 people in the last three days': Amazon workers reveal all the reasons why they're afraid to go to work

 -Business Insider

I reported on the coronavirus for 3 months — then I got it. Here's what my battle with COVID-19 has been like.

 -Business Insider

Musician Christopher Cross calls coronavirus 'possibly the worst illness I've ever had'

 -CNN

Renters In Turmoil As Federal And State Relief Measures Fall Short

 -Huffington Post

Chaos and scrambling in the US oil patch as prices plummet

-Associated Press

Turning the Tables, Russia Sends Virus Aid to U.S.

 -New York Times

Chinese communities built a donation pipeline for Covid-19 supplies to US hospitals

 -Quartz

That's how you know you fucked up: When other countries are collecting donations for us.

CNN Host To Pastor: How Is It 'Pro-Life' To Pack People Into Church Amid Pandemic?

 -Huffington Post

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted to hospital with persistent COVID-19 symptoms

 -MSNBC

Coronavirus: The Queen gives special address during pandemic

-BBC

Pope Francis delivers Palm Sunday sermon to empty St. Peter's Basilica

 -Axios

The female perspective on the coronavirus pandemic:

Coronavirus For Her

-Full Frontal with Samantha Bee

Still got that cough. It's rougher than yesterday. The itch comes from the bottom of my lungs. Deep down.

I feel like my bronchial tubes are getting irritated from the forceful coughing.

Today I took the same pills as last night, and by the evening the cough calmed down.

The shortness of breath seems to have improved a tiny little bit. I took less of those labored deep breaths today. I didn't have diarrhea either.

And still no fever.

Does that mean I have a mild case? Am I almost over it already? Or is the worst yet to come?

It's so weird not knowing if you really have Covid-19, or you're just being a hypochondriac.I hate this constant anxiety in the pit of my stomach that that silly cough might end up killing me.

Maybe that ever present thought is what's giving me a psychosomatic cough in the first place. But I can't stop thinking about dying from a stupid cough, every time I cough.

I didn't have any edibles since last Monday. I read weed lowers your immune system and raises your blood pressure. I don't need that right now. My immune system needs to be on point and in tip top shape. Always vigilant and ready to kill any viral White Walkers from beyond the wall.

My immune system is the Nights Watch: "Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death."

Since the cough seemed to be almost gone this morning, I had some edibles at 11 am as a reward. I'm still high.

Shelly and I have this scale from 1 to 10 so we can communicate to each other exactly how high we are at that moment. We're usually a 7. Good stuff. Good stuff.

But then the cough started getting more frequent and rougher in the afternoon. Did the weed really lower my immune system so quickly that the cough flared up again?

If I knew that what I feel now is the worst of it, and I'll be ok in a few days, this would be a piece of cake. But the worst part is the fear of the unknown: Not knowing what's gonna happen tomorrow.

Am I gonna wake up with a gurgle in my lungs? Is that the beginning of the end?

If at least I knew for a fact that I'm coughing because I have it, I wouldn't feel so anxious about infecting myself when I'm at the grocery store, or while I touch the elevator button.

I feel like Schrödinger's cat. Until I get tested and I know the results, I have to assume I'm both: I have to be careful outside not to infect myself, because I'm not infected. But I also have to be careful not to infect others because I am infected.

It's so weird.

A little certainty would go a long way right now.

Meanwhile...

A tiger at the Bronx Zoo tests positive for coronavirus

 -CNN

Noooo! Not the tigers too  is gonna be so upset!

MONDAY, APRIL 6: TRUMP THE SNAKE OIL SALESMAN

Dr. Fauci: Going back to 'pre-coronavirus' normal 'might not ever happen'

 -MSNBC

Dr. Fauci says America getting back to normal and where it was before the coronavirus crisis 'might not ever happen' without a vaccine

 -Business Insider

Coronavirus Death Toll In U.S. Surpasses 10,000

 -Huffington Post

Coroners worry Covid-19 test shortages could lead to uncounted deaths

 -CNN

US Government's Handling of Coronavirus Crisis Has Led to Severe Undercounting of Deaths, Public Health Officials Say "Data erasure and the manufacture of mass confusion have already begun."

 -Common Dreams

Rate of deaths, illness among black residents alarms cities

-Associated Press

McDonald's workers go on strike after colleague tests positive for coronavirus

 -Newsweek

UPS employee dies of COVID-19 infection in Kentucky

 -Reuters

Texas teen faces terrorism charge after threatening to spread coronavirus, police say. Police in Texas are searching for an 18-year-old girl who claimed in a series of Snapchat videos to have tested positive for and to be "willfully spreading" the coronavirus.

 -NBC News

Wisconsin moves forward with election despite virus concerns

-Associated Press

GOP Gangsters Hijack the Coronavirus to Try and Steal the Election

 -The Daily Beast

'Reckless': Chaos Expected in Tuesday's Elections After Wisconsin Republicans Refuse to Cancel In-Person Voting. "The whole country should tune in to what Republicans are doing now in Wisconsin. It's a preview of how they'll politically weaponize coronavirus on a national scale."

 -Common Dreams

Ginsburg Blasts Conservative Justices Who Blocked Wisconsin's Absentee Voting Extension

 -Huffington Post

Florida, Nevada may be hit hardest by coronavirus economic shock: study

 -Reuters

Police in California have started ticketing people having picnics and congregating in beach areas as law enforcement cracks down on violators of the statewide stay-at-home order

 -Business Insider

Louisiana police use siren reminiscent of 'The Purge' to announce coronavirus curfew

 -The Hill

Middle-aged crowd break COVID-19 stay-at-home order to watch Pink Floyd cover band, chant "fuck the police" as officers arrive

 -Newsweek

Bodies Pile Up and Trumpworld's Sick Show Rolls On. Real America is freaked out, and rightly so. But Trump America thinks this is fun! And the ratings!

 -The Daily Beast

Trump slams watchdog report on hospitals engulfed by virus

-Associated Press

'Dry-Rotted' Supplies and 'Severe' Shortages: HHS Inspector General Report Offers Grim Look at US Coronavirus Response

 -Common Dreams

Trump says IG report finding hospital shortages is 'just wrong'

 -The Hill

What a clown.

Fact Check: Trump baselessly disputes HHS IG report, repeats several other false claims at Monday's coronavirus briefing

 -CNN

Fmr. Sen. Franken: Trump 'thinks the government is a reality show, when the rest of America is dealing with this reality'

 -MSNBC

'Donald Trump Has Blood On His Hands': NYC Official Lashes Out After Mom's Death

 -Huffington Post

Hospital Workers In Unsafe Conditions Fear They'll Get Too Sick To Care For Patients

 -Huffington Post

Even mild coronavirus cases can be brutal. Here's how to know when you should go to the hospital.

 -Business Insider

More than 700 employees at one Detroit hospital system test positive for coronavirus

 -The Hill

'How Many More Nurses Have to Die?': Coalition of Nurses Unions Demand Life-Saving Supplies in Battle With Coronavirus

 -Common Dreams

Navarro memos warning mass death circulated West Wing in January

 -Axios

"By late February, Navarro was even more alarmed, and he warned his colleagues, in another memo, that up to two million Americans could die of the virus."

72% of US counties — accounting for 94% of the population — likely have coronavirus epidemics, a new report says

 -Business Insider

In Apparent Slap At Trump, JPMorgan Chase CEO Rips Botched COVID-19 Planning

 -Huffington Post

The Trump administration's response to coronavirus could make the recession worse

 -CNN

White House pushes unproven drug for virus, but doctors wary

-Associated Press

Doctors embrace drug touted by Trump for COVID-19, without hard evidence it works

 -Reuters

"Doctors and pharmacists from more than half a dozen large healthcare systems in New York, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Washington and California told Reuters they are routinely using hydroxychloroquine on patients hospitalized with COVID-19. At the same time, several said they have seen no evidence that the drug, used for years to treat malaria and autoimmune disorders, has any effect on the virus."

I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out later that Trump made a backroom deal with one of his billionaire buddies, who owns a pharma company that makes this malaria drug.

Trump Has 'Financial Interest' in Hydroxychloroquine Manufacturer: NYT

 -The Daily Beast

Aaand there it is. That was quick.

Some Swedish hospitals have stopped using Chloroquine to treat COVID-19 after reports of severe side effects

 -Newsweek

'A Really Chilling Moment': Trump Refuses to Allow Dr. Fauci to Answer Question on Dangers of Hydroxychloroquine. "This is unacceptable. Dr. Fauci, one of the world's top infectious disease scientists, was just censored live at a White House press conference."

 -Common Dreams

Trump warns India of retaliation over 'game-changer' drug. The US president has touted hydroxychloroquine as a "gift from God" in its potential to cure COVID-19. But India, the world's main supplier of generic drugs, has banned its export.

 -Deutsche Welle

A gift from God? That is literally snake oil salesman talk.

So let me get this straight... Snake oil salesman Trump is pushing a drug that medical experts in the US and in other countries are saying is not shown to work against coronavirus and has deadly side effects, just so that he can personally enrich himself?!

Nice. What a guy. I guess he's panicking because he's broke and he can't make his monthly payments on his debt.

Fired Intel IG Speaks Out Against Trump as Watchdog Warns of a Democracy In 'Gravest Danger.' "The president's attempts to rid the government of those who would provide appropriate oversight and accountability for abuses... sets us on a dangerous trajectory."

 -Common Dreams

Jared Kusher 'doesn't know what the hell he's talking about:' commander of Katrina Task Force

 -MSNBC

Inside The Military's Top Secret Plans If Coronavirus Cripples the Government

 -Newsweek

"But Coronavirus is also new territory, where the military itself is vulnerable and the disaster scenarios being contemplated -- including the possibility of widespread domestic violence as a result of food shortages -- are forcing planners to look at what are called "extraordinary circumstances".

Above-Top Secret contingency plans already exist for what the military is supposed to do if all the Constitutional successors are incapacitated. Standby orders were issued more than three weeks ago to ready these plans, not just to protect Washington but also to prepare for the possibility of some form of martial law."

Acting Navy head called fired aircraft carrier captain "stupid" in address to crew

 -Axios

Rep. Luria calls for firing of Acting Navy Secretary in wake of leaked audio. Captain Crozier risked his career to blow the whistle about the coronavirus outbreak on his ship. In newly leaked audio, Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly slams the captain as "stupid." Rep. Luria (D-Virginia) weighs in.

 -MSNBC

Acting Navy head apologizes for calling fired captain "stupid"

 -Axios

What a fucking clown show.

YouTube tries to limit spread of false 5G coronavirus claims after cellphone towers attacked

 -CNN

Now the crazy right-wing conspiracy whackjobs are burning cell phone towers because they think 5G causes coronavirus. Fucking morons.

America's $350 billion emergency loan program for small businesses may run out of money

 -Quartz

Covid-19 has the US cheese and milk industries on the brink

 -Quartz

What top CEOs fear telling America about the coronavirus shutdown

 -Axios

"Eniola Odetunde/Axios Top CEOs, in private conversations and pleas to President Trump, are warning of economic catastrophe if America doesn't begin planning for a phased return to work as soon as May, corporate leaders tell Axios."

What follows a pandemic, unemployment and emergency stimulus? Inflation, most likely. It's rare to see the world economy hit simultaneously by demand and supply shocks. However, central banks now printing vast sums of money in their responses to Covid-19 might be sowing the seeds of global inflation.

 -South China Morning Post

Coronavirus: A timeline of Turkey's missteps. Turkey has put more effort into containing the flow of information about COVID-19 cases than it has into containing the spread of the virus. But transparency and press freedom are crucial to fight it, says Miray Erbey.

 -Deutsche Welle

Canadian province of Ontario angry over 'unacceptable' U.S. move to block face masks

 -Reuters

US accuses Beijing of using coronavirus as cover for South China Sea activity

 -South China Morning Post

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson moved to intensive care

-Associated Press

Spain is moving to permanently establish universal basic income in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic

 -Business Insider

Coronavirus: How China's army of food delivery drivers helped keep country going during outbreak

 -South China Morning Post

Singapore is racing to stop coronavirus spreading in migrant worker dormitories

 -Quartz

Coronavirus: Hong Kong shuts airport to foreigners indefinitely as cases rise to 914

 -South China Morning Post

Coronavirus in Gaza: Trying to avert disaster. What was long feared has now become reality — the COVID-19 pandemic has reached the closed-off Gaza Strip. It's a race against time to head off the outbreak and stop a catastrophe.

 -Deutsche Welle

'Escape from Tokyo' hot topic in Japan as state of emergency looms

 -Reuters

Brazil: Amazon's indigenous tribes brace for coronavirus

 -Deutsche Welle

It's just crazy how big this is. It still didn't quite sink in. This still doesn't feel real. These headlines are just so bizarre. Like I'm just reading online reviews about a pandemic movie. It's hard to wrap your head around that this is all happening in real life.

And none of us know how this is all gonna end.

TUESDAY, APRIL 7: TRUMP IS NOT A DOCTOR

New York City's coronavirus death toll officially passed the number of people killed during the 9/11 attacks

 -Business Insider

New York hospitals struggle as military reinforcements arrive to battle coronavirus

-CBS News

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly Resigns After Calling Ousted Captain 'Stupid'

 -Huffington Post

Good riddance.

New data on New York coronavirus deaths: Most had these underlying illnesses; 61% were men

 -USA Today

Black, Latino communities suffering disproportionately from coronavirus, statistics show

 -The Hill

Black Americans Face Alarming Rates of Coronavirus Infection in Some States

 -New York Times

70 percent of coronavirus deaths in Louisiana are African Americans, despite being 33 percent of the population

 -Newsweek

'It's horrific': Woman and three sons all die of coronavirus

 -The Independent

CDC releases first US data on COVID-19 cases in children

 -Ars Technica

A Crisis In Education: Schools Can't Reach Thousands Of Children

 -Huffington Post

Health care workers say they've been told to keep silent on hazardous conditions

-CBS News

Trump decries IG report on hospital shortages as 'another fake dossier'

 -The Hill

Coronavirus USA Death Toll Hits 10,792; More Fatalities Than 6 US Wars Combined

 -International Business Times

Facing a crisis that rivals Pearl Harbor, world's superpower pleads for coronavirus aid

 -USA Today

Trump threatens World Health Organization funding. The president also blasted the U.N. agency's early recommendations for countering the coronavirus.

 -Politico

Trump turns angry and defensive as evidence contradicts his coronavirus narrative

 -CNN

After Trump's Retaliation Threat, India Lifts Restrictions On Hydroxychloroquine

 -Forbes

Donald Trump Has Stake In Hydroxychloroquine Drugmaker: Report. The president has repeatedly touted the anti-malaria drug as a coronavirus treatment despite a lack of medical evidence.

 -Huffington Post

Touting untested medicinal treatment, Trump adds, 'What do I know?' We've arrived at a point at which a sitting president is publicly encouraging people to take a medication that hasn't been proven to work.

 -MSNBC

Trump Has Already Ousted The Top Coronavirus Response Watchdog

 -Huffington Post

Trump removes independent watchdog for coronavirus funds, upending oversight panel. The move comes as Trump makes a broad push against inspectors general scrutinizing his actions.

 -Politico

Trump is using the coronavirus as a cover to bully the government's watchdogs into submission. It's shameful and dangerous.

 -Business Insider

Gee, who could have seen that coming?

Let's see how much of that coronavirus money is gonna end up in his own pocket.

No respite from Trump's vindictiveness and foolishness. He uses the pandemic to cover his firing of experts and hiring of more incompetent loyalists.

 -Salon

It's Time To Say It: Trump Is Handling COVID-19 Like A Dictator

 -Huffington Post

Rush Limbaugh Claims Health Experts Are Hillary Clinton Allies Trying To Hurt Trump

 -Huffington Post

Rush is one of the lying right-wing extremist shitheads who's been  denying that coronavirus is a deadly pandemic.

Are Trump and his allies setting up Dr. Fauci as the pandemic scapegoat? Tucker Carlson bashes Fauci and Trump silences him at press briefing — have they found an "elite" scapegoat?

 -Salon

I'm pretty sure that's exactly what's gonna happen. Trump is a  malignant narcissist who can't handle it when someone else is more popular than him. And  Fauci is way more popular than Trump.

Trump allies put unproven virus drug to work in Texas

-Associated Press

Let's see how many people Republican greed is gonna kill this time.

People In Wisconsin Waited In Line For Hours To Vote Despite Fears Over The Coronavirus

 -BuzzFeed

DNC chair hits decision to hold Wisconsin elections: 'This was a dark day for our democracy'

 -The Hill

'They saw an opportunity to suppress the vote:' Lt. Gov. on Wisconsin GOP forcing voters to polls amid pandemic

 -MSNBC

Illinois mayor "embarrassed" after wife violates stay-at-home order to party at illegally open bar

 -Newsweek

Florida's coronavirus stay-at-home order doesn't bar churches from holding services The sheriff admits he can't stop Rodney Howard-Browne, who was arrested for holding services at his Tampa-area church, from reopening the church during the pandemic.

 -NBC News

When history looks back at this time period and future generations wonder how America fucked this up so bad, this shit is why. Republicans are even too stupid to stay at home during a deadly pandemic.

Coronavirus pandemic pushes U.S. and China closer to cold war

 -Los Angeles Times

Every time there's a Trump scandal, he changes the news cycle with an even bigger scandal to distract from the previous one. What's bigger than his coronavirus fuck up? A war with China.

Britain set for 66,000 COVID-19 deaths, most in Europe: study

 -France 24

"Britain could see as many as 66,000 COVID-19 deaths during the first wave of the current pandemic, new research showed Tuesday, making the outbreak there by far the deadliest in Europe."

Good job, Boris. No wonder they call you the British Trump.

So how did your brilliant idea of letting everyone get infected to establish "herd immunity" work out for ya?

Flashback:

The government's herd immunity plan is callous and dangerous

 -The Guardian

U.K.'s Boris Johnson, who initially advocated herd immunity, becomes symbol of the strategy's danger

 -Fortune

Boris Johnson in intensive care as coronavirus symptoms worsen

-CBS News

New Zealand health minister demoted after going to the beach during lockdown

 -CNN

Coronavirus French death toll passes 10,000

-BBC

Sex. Drugs. Virus. Venezuela elites still party in pandemic

-Associated Press

Hong Kong's pandas mate for first time in decade in privacy of coronavirus lockdown

 -The Guardian

51 recovered coronavirus patients test positive again in South Korea

 -New York Post

Well that's not good. If this shit can reinfect people over and over again, it's gonna keep killing people. Even if you survived it the first time, you might not be so lucky the second or third time.

Coronavirus: low antibody levels raise questions about reinfection risk

 -South China Morning Post

Whistleblower doctors say coronavirus reinfection even deadlier

 -New York Post

Chernobyl exclusion zone area sees spike in radiation 16 times higher than normal after forest fire

 -Newsweek

Man, it feels like the whole world is going to hell in a handbasket. What else is gonna go wrong?

UN chief decries 'horrifying' rise in domestic violence amid virus lockdown

 -France 24

Coronavirus: Four out of five people's jobs hit by pandemic. A total of 81% of the global workforce of 3.3 billion people have had their workplace fully or partly closed.

-BBC

China reopens Wuhan after 10-week coronavirus lockdown

 -Axios

Let's see how long that lasts.

Japan declares coronavirus emergency and approves a near $1 trillion stimulus package

 -CNBC

Ireland's prime minister to work as doctor amid coronavirus pandemic

 -USA Today

Is Amazon approaching its breaking point in the Covid-19 crisis?

 -Quartz

No one knows when the coronavirus sports shutdown will end

 -Axios

The coronavirus outbreak will forever change the world economy

 -Axios

Donald Trump 'lost $1bn in a month' from coronavirus lockdown

 -The Guardian

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8: TRUMP LIED AND AMERICANS DIED

Bernie Sanders drops out of 2020 presidential race

-CNN

Nooooo! Bernieeee!!

Bernie Sanders ends his second bid for the presidency The 78-year-old democratic socialist changed many things about the Democratic Party, but he could not become its leader.

 -Vox

That sucks. I really wanted Bernie to be the nominee. America needs Bernie, now more than ever. Here's an article I wrote about Bernie three months ago, long before the pandemic:

 Why America needs President Bernie

But I'm going to support Biden now. Anyone is better than Trump. Anyone. Even someone in a coma would be better than Trump.

Trump blames WHO for not calling coronavirus outbreak a pandemic sooner and threatens to cut funding

-Reuters

What a lying sack of shit. WHO has been warning the world for months, while Trump kept ignoring the warnings over and over. And now he's blatantly lying and pretending that it was the other way around: that he has been on top of it all along, while WHO was slacking.

Trump's lies are the exact opposite of what happened.

This shit is exactly why I'm writing this day to day account of the pandemic, to document his lies and record for posterity what really happened.

Flashback:

Feb 11: Trump claims coronavirus will "miraculously go away by April

 -Vanity Fair

Feb 20: WHO says no time for complacency as China coronavirus cases fall

 -Reuters

Feb 27: WHO warns against 'fatal' complacency in global coronavirus fight

 -The Irish Times

Feb 28: Trump calls coronavirus Democrats' 'new hoax'

 -NBC News

March 6: WHO warns governments 'this is not a drill' as coronavirus infections near 100,000 worldwide

 -CNN

March 9: WHO Warns of Nearing Coronavirus Pandemic as CDC Says U.S. Cases Will Spread

 -US News & World Report

March 9: Experts say Trump is wrong to compare coronavirus with flu

 -Aljazeera

"From contradicting his own public health officials on the coronavirus to dismissing the World Health Organization's global fatality rate of COVID-19 as "false", US President Donald Trump has been accused of attempting to downplay the seriousness of the disease since the virus reached the US earlier this year."

March 16: Trump believes coronavirus will vanish with April temps — experts are skeptical warm weather alone is enough

 -Market Watch

March 17: Fact check: Trump tries to erase the memory of him downplaying the coronavirus

 -CNN

March 24: WHO Warns U.S. Could Become Coronavirus Epicenter as Cases Top 50,000

 -US News & World Report

March 27: Analyzing the Patterns in Trump's Falsehoods About Coronavirus

 -New York Times

April 6: Trade Adviser Warned White House in January of Risks of a Pandemic

 -New York Times

April 7: Navarro warned White House in late-January memo that coronavirus could become 'full-blown pandemic'

 -CNN

April 7: Trump says he never saw aide's memos that warned coronavirus could endanger millions of Americans

 -USA Today

Trump has blood on his hands. He ignored the warnings from WHO, the CDC, US intelligence agencies, and his own aides, downplayed the threat, lied about the pandemic, and now countless Americans will die, because of Trump. Trump wasted months with his lies, instead of preparing America for a deadly pandemic.

Trump lied and Americans died.

Never forget.

Intelligence report warned of coronavirus crisis as early as November: Sources. "Analysts concluded it could be a cataclysmic event," a source says.

 -ABC News

Dec 3, 2019: Former official says Trump often refused to believe his intelligence briefings

 -CNN

That's what you get when you elect a moron for president, after his professor called him the  dumbest student he ever had.

Too bad Trump doesn't read intelligence reports unless they're written in crayons and have  pretty pictures and  mention his name a lot.

Nov 5, 2017: Trump's Biggest Flaw: He's Dumb

 -Real Clear Politics

Jan 5, 2018: The President Who Doesn't Read. Trump's allergy to the written word and his reliance on oral communication have proven liabilities in office.

 -The Atlantic

Feb 9, 2018: Dumbed-Down Security Briefings Still Too Difficult for Trump to Read

 -Intelligencer

Dec 13, 2018: Trump's refusal to pay attention during briefings leaving intelligence officials 'extraordinarily frustrated'

 -The Independent

Jan 31, 2019: Donald Trump admits he didn't read intelligence report, then criticizes reporting on it

 -Newsweek

Feb 5, 2019: 'Willful Ignorance.' Inside President Trump's Troubled Intelligence Briefings

 -Time

Anyway, back to today's headlines:

Fact check: Trump makes false claims about his coronavirus record and voter fraud, misleads about the WHO

 -CNN

WHO director-general urges unity after Trump threatens to pull U.S. funding

-ABC News

As Trump attacks, WHO warns against politicizing coronavirus if you don't want 'many more body bags'

 -CNBC

'No one really knows who's in charge': States navigate federal agencies amid crisis

 -CNN

U.S. sees deadliest day in COVID-19 outbreak

 -NBC News

Trump berates reporters when asked about report by his official

-CNN

'It's a shit sandwich': Republicans rage as Florida becomes a nightmare for Trump

 -Politico

CDC removes guidance on drugs touted by Trump to treat coronavirus

 -CNN

CDC website drops guidance, anecdotal data on Trump-backed hydroxychloroquine as COVID-19 treatment

 -USA Today

Biden renews Defense Production Act pressure on Trump: 'It is a national disgrace'

 -The Hill

Joe Biden leads Donald Trump by 8 points in new poll; majority believe US is in a recession

 -USA Today

Nearly A Third Of Renters Didn't Pay By 1st Week Of April

 -NPR

'Never Seen Anything Like It': Cars Line Up for Miles at Food Banks. Millions are flooding a charitable system that was never intended to handle a nationwide crisis.

 -New York Times

The Coronavirus Pandemic Could Force Half A Billion People Into Poverty

 -Huffington Post

Massive New York cathedral becomes coronavirus field hospital

-CBS News

After Deaths At Home Spike In NYC, Officials Plan To Count Many As COVID-19

 -NPR

New York City's Latinx Residents Hit Hardest By Coronavirus Deaths

 -NPR

Michigan's two largest health care providers have about 2,200 staff members affected by Covid-19

 -CNN

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Weighed In On Why So Many Black Americans Are Dying Of COVID-19

 -BuzzFeed

Disturbing moment white police sergeant is filmed intentionally coughing on black residents in Baltimore as 115 officers are quarantined for coronavirus

 -Daily Mail

Video shows Baltimore police sergeant coughing near public-housing residents. The video is "not only disturbing but incomprehensible," the Baltimore police commissioner said.

 -NBC News

Texas teen arrested after posting Snapchat videos claiming to have coronavirus and 'willfully spreading' the disease

 -Newsweek

Doctor arrested for attacking teen girls, choking one, apparently for not social distancing

 -NBC News

Ohio's latest projections for coronavirus outbreak shift dramatically to peak near 1,600 cases per day in April

 -Cleveland.com

Mississippi is declared a major disaster area amid the coronavirus outbreak

-ABC News

Louisiana Pastor: 'True Christians Do Not Mind Dying' Of Coronavirus If Infected At Church

 -Huffington Post

'Worse than Katrina': New Orleans faces dangerous spike in COVID-19 deaths

-ABC News

'When it gets your hospital, it becomes real': inside a hospital in one of the hardest hit US counties

 -The Guardian

Detroit's Nursing Homes Are The Next Coronavirus Hot Spot

 -Huffington Post

What California is doing right in responding to the coronavirus pandemic

 -CNN

Murphy officially delays New Jersey primary to July 7: 'I don't want a Wisconsin'

 -Politico

Trump claims mail-in voting 'doesn't work out well for Republicans'

 -New York Post

Oops. Trump accidentally admits that Republicans are all about voter suppression. The more people vote, the worse it is for Republicans.

Japan reports biggest daily jump in COVID-19 cases as emergency begins

 -Reuters

French aircraft carrier heads home early due to possible COVID-19 cases

 -Reuters

France announces 1,417 coronavirus deaths, nation's largest one-day toll

 -The Hill

Coronavirus - record UK deaths approach levels seen in Italy and Spain

-BBC

10,000 Cases and 500 Deaths in Africa. Health Officials Say It's Just the Beginning

 -NPR

Coronavirus: Israel's ultra-Orthodox lockdown challenge

-BBC

Why the Coronavirus Test Gives So Many False Negatives

 -Slate

Unexpectedly, the zinc pills arrived today. Amazon said they'd get here by the 20th. So it was a nice surprise.

My cough seemed almost gone yesterday, but the shortness of breath was worse than the day before. I was gasping for air at least once every 2 or 3 minutes, and every time I had to make several attempts to take a satisfying deep breath. It felt like my lungs were too small to supply my body with enough air.

Today there's a slight cough again, but with phlegm. And yet it feels like an improvement over yesterday. As if the phlegm had clogged my lungs, and today my coughs are dislodging the phlegm, and I can breathe better. I haven't had to gasp for air today. I breathe normally.

And when I do take a deep breath, it's not because I feel like I'm low on oxygen, but simply to see if I can. And I can! So that's good. I feel almost normal again. I hope I'm not wrong about that. I hope I'm not gonna wake up with worse symptoms tomorrow.

I hate this uncertainty. I hope they'll have antibody tests available soon, that tell you if you had it, and you're immune now.

Then again, there have been reports that a third of people seem to have very low or no antibodies after they recover. If that's true, that's bad news. That means they can get sick from it again - which is exactly what Chinese doctors have been telling us for months.

COVID-19 reinfection risk questioned after low levels of antibodies found in recovered patients

 -Newsweek

Scientists Raised Question on Coronavirus Reinfection Risk as Recovered Patients Show Surprisingly Low Antibody Levels

 -The Science Times

Chinese doctors have been trying to warn us that it's even deadlier when you catch it a second time:

Feb 14: Chinese doctors say Wuhan coronavirus reinfection even deadlier. Instead of creating immunity the virus can reportedly reinfect an individual and hasten fatal heart attack.

-Taiwan News

Like with everything else about this virus, American doctors seem to completely ignore what Chinese medical experts discovered weeks ago, and we waste precious time "discovering" the same information all over again, instead of heeding their warnings.

Chinese doctors also warned us months ago that the virus is airborne and we need to wear masks. Hand washing alone doesn't stop an airborne virus.

Feb 10: Coronavirus could be airborne, Chinese official claims

 -Newsweek

Feb 11: WHO says coronavirus is airborne

 -Global News

Two months later in the US:

April 2: You may be able to spread coronavirus just by breathing, new report finds

 -Science

So for two months, medical personnel in the US was exposed to the virus because they didn't take airborne precautions, like wearing full biohazard suits.

Why? Because  Trump fired the US pandemic response team in 2018, and it would have been their job to coordinate a nationwide response and create federal guidelines that tell US medical personnel in every state to wear biohazard suits. N95 masks alone aren't enough, because the virus can even infect you  through your eyes.

Now each state has to fend for themselves and figure out on their own how to deal with the pandemic, because they're not getting the federal guidelines they need.

Everyone is flying blind, and just winging it. And the result is a disaster that will make the pandemic worse than in other western countries, because they actually have functioning governments.

America first:

THURSDAY, APRIL 9: TRUMP IS GONNA GET US KILLED

How Did the U.S. End Up with Nurses Wearing Garbage Bags?

 -New Yorker

Fox News Set the Stage for America's Poor Coronavirus Response. The network has conditioned its viewers to hate experts and to trust miracle cures for 25 years.

 -Slate

Republicans Who Watch Fox News More Likely to Believe COVID-19 Falsehoods: New Poll

 -The Daily Beast

President Trump's coronavirus failures have cost lives. Now the integrity of the Nov. 3 vote is in jeopardy

 -Cleveland.com

Trump's self-interest is at odds with safe coronavirus policy

 -The Hill

Trump is playing a disgusting political game with our lives

 -Denver Post

Trump downplays need for widespread testing before reopening economy

 -The Hill

Mayors look to each other, not Trump, on coronavirus response

 -Politico

Cult expert Steven Hassan: Trump's "mind control cult" now faces an existential crisis. Author of "The Cult of Trump" explains how the president has trained his followers to believe no one but him.

 -Salon

As Universities Warned Students Of Virus, Liberty Kept Its Students In The Dark. HuffPost found that the evangelical college led by Jerry Falwell Jr. gave little to no information to students in the early weeks of March, flouting CDC guidelines.

 -Huffington Post

Florida governor falsely claims the coronavirus hasn't killed anyone under 25

 -CNN

21-year-old college student becomes youngest person in Colorado to die from COVID-19

 -KDVR

JPMorgan now sees economy contracting by 40% in second quarter, and unemployment reaching 20%

 -CNBC

Fed Chair Powell says U.S. economy deteriorating with alarming speed

 -MSN

Coronavirus crisis causes families to struggle to put food on the table

-ABC News

Across the South, 'Walking a Tightrope' While Awaiting the Worst. Public health officials fear underlying problems, from poor health to poverty, could exacerbate the effects of the coronavirus in the South.

 -New York Times

'We just can't feed this many.' Vehicles start lining up before dawn as locals hit hard by economic effects of coronavirus seek aid from the San Antonio Food Bank.

 -San Antonio Express-News

Prisons and jails across the US are turning into 'petri dishes' for coronavirus. Deputies are falling ill, too.

 -CNN

Coronavirus: Fast Food Workers Across California Go On Strike

 -CBS News

Sioux Falls pork plant shuts for 3 days because of workers sickened by COVID-19

 -Star Tribune

USS Theodore Roosevelt now has 416 coronavirus cases in wake of captain's firing

 -CBS News

Coronavirus: New York has more cases than any country

-BBC

80% of NYC's coronavirus patients who are put on ventilators ultimately die, and some doctors are trying to stop using them

 -Business Insider

New York hires laborers to bury coronavirus victims on Hart Island potter's field

 -The Hill

This drone footage captures NYC workers burying bodies in a mass grave on Hart Island, just off the coast of the Bronx. For over a century, the island has served as a potter's field for deceased with no known next of kin or families unable to pay for funerals.

 -Now This

South Korea reported that 51 coronavirus patients' infections went away then 'reactivated.' But it's unlikely the virus has a dormancy period.

 -Business Insider

Hungary's Far-Right Leader Continues A Power Grab During The Pandemic. Quickly moving to utilize emergency measures passed last week, critics say Prime Minister Viktor Orban is "killing democracy."

 -Huffington Post

Stealing masks and stockpiling hydroxychloroquine — what America has become during this epidemic is deeply worrying. Under Trump's crisis leadership, the US has been accused of modern piracy on the airport tarmac, considered denying medical supplies to Canada and taken medication off lupus patients. Meanwhile, New York has to take donations off China.

 -The Independent

FRIDAY, APRIL 10: STAY THE FUCK AT HOME ON EASTER YOU MAGA MORONS!

Global Coronavirus Death Toll Hits 100,000

 -Huffington Post

Coronavirus: US death toll passes 2,000 in a single day

-BBC

More recovered coronavirus patients in South Korea are testing positive again

 -New York Post

China is on a knife edge between recovery and another wave of coronavirus cases

 -CNN

Beware of the second wave of COVID-19

 -The Lancet30845-X/fulltext)

Cuomo: Economic reboot must account for second wave of coronavirus cases

 -Politico

New York sees nearly 800 coronavirus deaths in just one day, Cuomo says

 -New York Post

Coronavirus: mass grave in New York - facing world's highest death rate

-BBC

'At Some Point I'll Get Sick:' 4 Coronavirus Doctors Expose The Overwhelmed US Healthcare System

-Business Insider

Surgeon General Jerome Adams says 'most of the country' will not be able to open by May 1

 -USA Today

What the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board gets exactly right about Trump's problematic coronavirus briefings

 -CNN

"Perhaps they substitute in his mind for the campaign rallies he can no longer hold because of the risks. Perhaps he resented the media adulation that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been receiving for his daily show. Whatever the reason, the briefings are now all about the President."

Democrats want to drop Joe Biden for Andrew Cuomo, poll finds

 -New York Post

More Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of coronavirus

-CBS News

President Trump Botches Pandemic Response, Shifts Coronavirus Testing To The States

-Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Republican group attacks president for golfing during coronavirus outbreak: "Trump just didn't care"

 -Salon

Steve Schmidt: Trump's 'ignorance has turned deadly' for Americans

 -MSNBC

Trump Wants His Coronavirus Failures to Be "Quickly Forgotten": A Closer Look

-Late Night with Seth Meyers

Racist Trump Ad Falsely Implies Ex-Washington Governor Is Chinese Government Official

 -Huffington Post

Xenophobic Trump 2020 ad wrongly implies governor is Chinese and blames Biden for supplies sent to China by his own administration. Incoherent ad blames Biden for helping China hoard supplies that Trump administration sent

 -The Independent

Covid-19 has inflamed racism against Asian-Americans. Here's how to fight back

 -CNN

Senate Democrats call for federal action on anti-Asian coronavirus racism

 -NBC News

Trump's poll numbers dip over handling of coronavirus pandemic

 -The Guardian

Hundreds of U.S. Meat Workers Have Now Tested Positive for Virus

 -Bloomberg

In Nebraska, meat plant workers are afraid to go to work — but can't afford to stay home

 -NBC News

As the coronavirus takes hold in Detroit, pandemic magnifies city's poverty, racial disparities

 -CNBC

All coronavirus deaths in St. Louis, Missouri have been African Americans

 -Newsweek

Texas reaches milestone of 10,000 COVID-19 infections

-ABC News

Miami-Dade has most coronavirus deaths in Florida. State nears 18,000 cases, 419 deaths.

 -Miami Herald

'Unforgettable' Footage of Endless Line of Cars at Food Banks a Stark Illustration of Coronavirus Crisis in US. "It is outrageous that in the richest country in the history of the world, people are going hungry," said Bernie Sanders, who called for more urgent relief from Congress.

 -Common Dreams

Coronavirus pandemic: Security Council warned of violent conflict. Millions of jobs have been lost and extremists and authoritarian regimes are taking advantage of instability, said Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

 -NBC News

Ammon Bundy vows to defy stay-at-home orders for Easter gathering

 -CNN

Ignorant second amendment dumbfucks. Trying to provoke another standoff with the government, just to be assholes about guns. And they might trigger a civil war in the process. Stupid fucks.

Or maybe that's exactly what these treasonous government-disobeying America-haters want? Why would a "patriot" like Bundy be so hellbent on disobeying the government at the worst possible time?

Some defiant U.S. churches plan Easter services, ignoring public health guidelines

 -Reuters

More of Trump's loyal morons.

They're willing to infect themselves and the rest of the country, killing thousands and destroying the economy. All for the glory of their great cult leader, and to own the evil "libtards."

They seriously believe liberals are their biggest enemies, and often refer to liberals as actual  demons from hell who must be  exterminated.

Video: Trump's "spiritual adviser," TV preacher Paula White: Anyone who opposes Trump is "demonic"

 -Washington Post

Republican propaganda has brainwashed them to see their own friends, neighbors, and family members as their mortal enemies. They even think of medical experts who try to protect America as demons.

And these America-hating MAGA minions think of themselves as patriots!

It's so bizarre.

Why would these "patriots" do absolutely the worst thing they can do during a pandemic and inflict maximum damage on America?

'Demonic spirit:' Miami pastor rejects coronavirus warning

 -Miami Herald

"The pastor of a megachurch in South Florida warned his parishioners Sunday that fears of exposure to COVID-19 was a "demonic spirit," and he encouraged his parishioners to show up to worship and not heed warnings from officials to avoid crowded spaces."

Who are they really working for?

Putin must be rolling on the floor laughing, when he sees how well Trump and his  Russian trolls have  brainwashed red state Americans on social media.

Putin is not America's friend.

U.S. Air Force F-22 fighter jets intercepted a pair of Russian maritime patrol planes some 50 miles off the western coast of Alaska's Aleutian Islands on Wednesday in what military officials believe was a test of U.S. capabilities amid the coronavirus pandemic.

 -Stars and Stripes

Russia collecting intelligence on U.S. supply line failures amid coronavirus crisis, DHS warns

 -Yahoo News

Cyber-Attack Hits U.S. Health Agency Amid Covid-19 Outbreak

 -Bloomberg

Why Russia and Vladimir Putin are waging an oil war with America

 -CNN

Putin is not America's friend. Putin  hates America.

Why Putin Hates America

 -Business Insider

The Humiliation that Pushed Putin to Try and Recapture Russian Glory

 -History.com

Putin wants America to collapse, the same way his beloved Soviet Union collapsed.

Remember those two old Republican boomers in red MAGA caps, proudly displaying their matching T-shirts? It said: "I'd rather be a Russian than a Democrat."

That's how much Trump's MAGA cult members hate America.

They'd rather be Russian.

That's how much they hate their American brothers and sisters.

And they don't realize that these hateful thoughts were put in their heads by America's enemies. To  divide us.

To  turn us against each other.

America's only defense against the virus right now is to stay at home.

That's all we got.

And Trump's MAGA minions are actively sabotaging America's attempt to contain a deadly pandemic:

Louisiana church expecting 2,000 at Easter service despite coronavirus: 'Satan and a virus will not stop us'

 -The Hill

March 20: Is Russia running a coronavirus disinformation campaign? Is Russia using the coronavirus pandemic as a chance to incite unrest in the West by spreading fake news and misinformation? EU observers of Russian media say that's what it looks like.

 -Deutsche Welle

Trump's MAGA minions are actually Putin's saboteurs who destroy America from within. That's who they're really working for, without even realizing it. Russia calls people like that useful idiots.

Nov 21, 2019: Trump and Republicans function as Putin's useful idiots

 -Washington Post

Louisville police officers to record license plate numbers of Easter weekend churchgoers

 -Courier Journal

Almost 300 inmates at Chicago jail test positive for coronavirus

 -The Hill

Prison uprising put down as US inmates demand protection from coronavirus

 -The Guardian

Navy commander says virus-struck aircraft carrier crew 'struggling' after captain's firing

 -CNN

IRS (Finally!) Launches Registration Tool For Stimulus Checks

 -Forbes

DOJ opens investigation into nursing home where 32 veterans have died of coronavirus

 -USA Today

FDA warns Alex Jones to stop pitching bogus virus remedies

 -ABC News

A boy from a remote Amazonian tribe has died, raising concerns about Covid-19's impact on indigenous people

 -CNN

Sweden Continues With Controversial Coronavirus Strategy: Is It A Big Mistake?

 -Forbes

Germany is flying in thousands of seasonal farm workers

-Deutsche Welle

German farmers desperately  need foreign field workers, or their crops will fail. And if the crops fail, there will be  food shortages.

Germany, one of the richest countries in the world, is seriously worried about food shortages if the pandemic gets any worse.

Now they're flying in tens of thousands of field workers.

On planes! To work on farms!

Think about that.

This is serious shit. This is insane!

I can barely imagine what's gonna happen to the people in the world's poorest countries when there are  food shortages. And  looting... and  riots.

Then again, we'll probably end up seeing the same thing here. Many rural communities are nothing more than dirt poor trailer parks in the middle of nowhere. Their standard of living is  no higher than in many African villages.

Coronavirus will trigger 'staggering and unprecedented increase in number of homeless in US, say experts

 -The Guardian

In China charities run ads on TV with starving American children. They  collect donations to feed hungry children in America.

That's how dirt poor our rural towns in red states are. It's a disgrace.

And we have giant ghettos of the working poor in our large blue cities.

I think it will turn out to be incredibly short-sighted to not give undocumented immigrants any aid, food, or health care. It's brutal, inhumane, unchristian, cruel, and very very stupid.

How Will Illegal Immigrants "Survive" Without Government Aid During Coronavirus Crisis?

 -Real Clear Politics

What are all these millions of illegal immigrants supposed to do now? Starve to death?

First people get hungry. Then they get desperate. Then they get angry. And then they realize they have nothing to lose.

Ultimately that's going to cost our country a lot more than treating them like human beings and giving them at least some food and shelter.

We're all in this together. This is not a time to be selfish. We need to work together to get through this.

How the coronavirus pandemic affects the world's working poor

-Deutsche Welle

The global scope of this pandemic and its economic consequences are unprecedented.

'I'm scared': Johns Hopkins expert says coronavirus is totally unprecedented. One of the world's top pandemic experts says the disaster is unlike anything we've seen. The response could be just as historic.

 -Cnet.com

We're facing  worldwide economic collapse.

The Normal Economy Is Never Coming Back. The latest U.S. data proves the world is in its steepest freefall ever—and the old economic and political playbooks don't apply.

 -Foreign Policy

What Was the Last Time an Economy Froze Like This? Lessons for today from the collapse of the Soviet Union.

 -New York Times

That's extinction level shit. It's the biggest disaster humanity has ever faced, in all of history.

And here we are, slouching on our couch, in our jammies, high, and chilling with Netflix, while the world is crashing and burning right before our closed eyes.

I think we need to open our eyes, look at it, see it, understand it, and then work together to fix it, or this is all gonna get really ugly.

For starters, stay the fuck at home on Easter you MAGA morons!

Don't be Putin's useful idiot.

On a lighter note:

Czech nudists told to wear face masks by police

 -CNN

SATURDAY, APRIL 11: TRUMP PRETENDS TO THINK

Coronavirus could attack immune system like HIV by targeting protective cells, warn scientists

 -South China Morning Post

Deadly coronavirus comes in three variants, researchers find Types A, B and C are all derived from the pathogen first found in bats but have evolved in different ways, according to a report by British and German geneticists.

 -South China Morning Post

Coronavirus: US first country to record over 2,000 deaths in a single day

-BBC

Woohoo! America first!

Coronavirus: US overtakes Italy as country with most deaths

 -The Guardian

The United States is reporting 20,000 coronavirus deaths, more than any other country

 -CNN

The US is now the country with the most confirmed coronavirus deaths. America has now recorded more than 20,000 deaths, surpassing Italy. That number will rise.

 -Vox

Woohoo! America #1! No other country has more coronavirus casualties!

Great job, Trump.

No other country handled this worse than you did.

Torn Over Reopening Economy, Trump Says He Faces 'Biggest Decision I've Ever Had to Make.' The president suggested he wanted to move soon, but he also promised to listen to public health officials cautioning against relaxing restrictions prematurely.

 -New York Times

Wait, what?! You're "thinking" about reopening the country now?

NOW?!?

What the fuck is there to think about?

United States logs world's highest coronavirus death toll

-Reuters

Every US state is now under a major disaster declaration amid coronavirus pandemic

 -CNBC

They saw it coming: Inside the Trump administration's failures on coronavirus

 -Chicago Tribune

Trump learned of a memo in January warning 'half a million American souls' could die of coronavirus, and he was displeased his adviser put it in writing

 -Business Insider

Report: Trump Privately Asks Why Government Can't Just Let COVID 'Wash Over' The Country

 -Talking Points Memo

Trump keeps wanting to reopen the economy. Voters disagree.

 -CNN

Trump approval rating drops as coronavirus crisis drags on, poll says

 -New York Post

Your own surgeon general  said just yesterday that the country can't even re-open by May 1st. Never mind NOW.

Why do you keep ignoring what the medical experts are saying?

How many more Americans are you trying to kill?!?

New York Times' coronavirus report outlines how Trump 'could have seen what was coming'

 -CNN

"A new report on the Trump administration's missteps in the early days of the coronavirus' spread into the US was published in the New York Times on Saturday, detailing new instances showing how President Donald Trump ignored the warnings of his advisers about the lethal infectious disease approaching America's doorstep."

U.S. officials caution public about Easter observance amid pandemic

-CBS News

But of course your brainwashed MAGA cult members will ignore the medical experts and congregate in crowded churches anyway, making the pandemic worse, infecting and killing more people, and destroying the economy a little more.

Good job, Trump. You have taught your minions well. Now they think medical experts are the enemy.

Hospital workers on front lines of coronavirus fight find their tires slashed

 -NBC News

This is fucking insane.

Fox's Brit Hume claims the number of coronavirus deaths are being inflated

 -Media Matters

Aaand there's your explanation.

Trump's brainwashed MAGA minions now believe medical experts are the enemy, who exaggerate the number of deaths to make Trump look bad.

Anyone who contradicts the lies of the great leader is the enemy.

Right-wing media suggests coronavirus death toll is inflated, despite experts saying the opposite

 -CNN

Fox Hosts Now Convinced Coronavirus Death Tolls Are Being Inflated. After downplaying the pandemic, then praising Trump's response, right-wing media has a new spin: The mainstream press is exaggerating deaths to make Donald Trump look bad.

 -Vanity Fair

Fauci dismisses 'conspiracy theory' of overstated US Covid-19 death toll

 -The Guardian

A Fox News Conspiracy—Are Coronavirus Death Numbers Inflated?—Attacked By Fauci, Birx

 -Forbes

Trump's brainwashed cult members believe the lies that come out of Trump's mouth more than the medical experts who are trying to keep us alive:

Republicans trust Trump more than the CDC for accurate info on the coronavirus, a new poll shows

 -Business Insider

Trump Administration Tells Employers Not To Worry About Recording COVID-19 Cases

 -Huffington Post

Trump's coronavirus briefings are too dangerous for news media to show them live

 -USA Today

President Trump is wrong in so many ways about hydroxychloroquine studies. Here are the facts

 -CNN

This is real life Idiocracy.

May 12, 2016: We Have Become an Idiocracy

-Time

June 3, 2016: "Idiocracy" Writer Says Donald Trump Made The Movie A Reality Faster Than He Ever Imagined

 -BuzzFeed

Feb 23, 2017: Terry Crews: 'Idiocracy' is so prophetic 'it actually scares people'

-Business Insider

Social Distancing Works, So Fox Hosts Are Ready To End It

 -The National Memo

CEO on Fox Argues for Quick Reopening of Economy, Claims Revised Coronavirus Death Toll Proof of 'Big Overreaction'

 -Mediaite

Trump and Fox News: the dangerous relationship shaping America's coronavirus response

 -The Guardian

Trump's Fox News Cabinet Tells Him the Coronavirus Crisis Is Over

 -The Daily Beast

These are the same lying sociopaths who said a few days ago that the coronavirus pandemic is just a hoax.

ICU nurse posts video crying after treating coronavirus patients in New York

 -Daily Dot

For front line workers, going to work isn't a life or death question, it's 'death or death'

 -Huffington Post

More than 2,200 coronavirus deaths in nursing homes, but federal government isn't tracking them. The numbers are likely a significant undercount, given the limited access to testing and other constraints, state officials and public health experts say.

 -NBC News

The Postal Service, On The Verge Of Collapse, Is Begging For Funding

 -Huffington Post

Trump threatened to veto stimulus package if it contained bailout money for USPS: report

 -The Hill

With Postal Service on 'Verge of Collapse' and 630,000 Jobs at Risk, Trump Slammed for Refusing to Act

 -Common Dreams

'Bullying of Marginalized Workers': Trump Moves to Slash Pay of Guest Farmworkers Amid Covid-19 Crisis "While farmworkers are working during a pandemic to pick the food that feeds our families during this crisis, Trump is looking to cut their pay."

 -Common Dreams

Sailor from USS Teddy Roosevelt found unconscious, transferred to intensive care

 -CNN

More than 100 additional sailors test positive for coronavirus on USS Theodore Roosevelt, brings ship's case count to 550

 -New York Daily News

New York hospitals could soon 'completely run out' of swabs needed for coronavirus testing

 -Politico

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson thanks hospital staff, saying 'I owe them my life'

 -CNN

New coronavirus cases double to 99 in mainland China as imported infections jump to record

 -Reuters

Singapore had the coronavirus under control. Now it's locking down the country.

 -Cnet.com

Tokyo closes shops, Kyoto keeps tourists away as virus spreads

-Aljazeera

Moscow hospitals see 'huge influx' of patients as Covid-19 spreads in Russia

 -The Guardian

Bodies Rotting in the Street: COVID-19 Chaos Grips Ecuador

 -The Daily Beast

Coronavirus: India to extend nationwide lockdown, state minister says

-BBC

The coronavirus pandemic could threaten global food supply, UN warns

 -CNN

How the coronavirus is disrupting the global food supply

 -Axios

"With some crops rotting in fields and others subject to export bans, the coronavirus crisis could cause shortages in richer countries and hunger in poorer ones."

As the coronavirus disrupts food supply chains, who will feed China?

 -South China Morning Post

US poultry are suddenly staring down their own deadly virus

 -Quartz

'Unprecedented threat': New locust outbreak threatens millions in eastern Africa

 -Washington Examiner

France to set aside nearly $1.3 billion to combat coronavirus in Africa

 -ABC News

Burning Man Canceled Due to Coronavirus, Going Virtual

 -TMZ

On a lighter note:

Covid-19 pandemic gives 'anti-vaxxers' pause

 -France 24

SUNDAY, APRIL 12: EASTER IN TRUMPISTAN

World coronavirus updates: Global cases near 1.8 million

 -Axios

With 20,500 coronavirus deaths, U.S. spends Easter Sunday on lockdown

 -Reuters

How Donald Trump Spent January and February Ignoring Coronavirus Warnings

 -Vanity Fair

Behind Trump's Botched And Delayed Coronavirus Response

 -Huffington Post

Trump suggests doctors complain about lack of coronavirus equipment in order to get on TV

 -The Independent

Coronavirus: Schiff worries Trump will 'reward his own businesses' during pandemic response. President has removed two inspectors general in April and clashed with a third.

 -The Independent

US's global reputation hits rock-bottom over Trump's coronavirus response

 -The Guardian

Nursing Homes Deaths Linked To Coronavirus Soar Past 3,300 In Alarming Surge. The true toll among the 1 million mostly frail and elderly people who live in such facilities is likely much higher, experts say.

 -Huffington Post

Michigan mother loses her entire family to coronavirus as her husband, 59, and only son, 20, die within days of one another

 -Daily Mail

Fauci: We 'Could Have Saved Lives' by Acting Earlier on Coronavirus

 -The Daily Beast

Signs missed and steps slowed in Trump's pandemic response

-Associated Press

Fauci on Trump's delayed response to coronavirus: "It is what it is"

 -Axios

As the going gets tough, America returns to experts for help

-Associated Press

"As the coronavirus rampages, the public increasingly is turning to experts in academia and government -- the educated, experienced "elites" that many Americans had tuned out. Ridiculed by some as Chicken Littles, enemies of capitalism or tools of Big Pharma, scientists are — for now — the new rock stars."

Trump shares tweet from supporter calling for Fauci to be fired

 -The Hill

Trump Retweets 'Fire Fauci' Coronavirus Message In Easter Sunday Twitter Rampage. The retweet came hours after Fauci suggested earlier action could have saved lives from COVID-19.

 -Huffington Post

I warned of Trump's attack on science. But I never predicted the horror that lay ahead

 -The Guardian

March 24: Trump wants 'packed churches' and economy open again on Easter despite the deadly threat of coronavirus

 -CNBC

March 25: The Party of Life Embraces Trump's Death Cult. We've skipped over any nuanced discussion of economic considerations, straight to the part where Republicans rationalize letting a million or so people die to fix the economy.

 -The Daily Beast

Solid Rock Church holds Easter service despite Ohio's stay-at-home order

 -Cincinnati Enquirer

Heritage Baptist Church defies governor's order with Easter services

 -Lawrence Journal-World

Mount Carmel church holds Easter Sunday service in person

 -WCYB

Kentucky Cops Take Down License Plates at Easter Church Service Defying Lockdown

 -The Daily Beast

Pastor Tony Spell Opens Baton Rouge Church for 1,300 on Easter

 -TMZ

Kansas pastor holds easter services, says he can bypass mass gatherings ban by claiming guests are part of church choir

 -Newsweek

April 2: 2 dead from coronavirus, 45 ill after March choir rehearsal

 -CNN

All 50 states under disaster declaration for first time in US history

 -The Hill

This Is Trump's Fault. The president is failing, and Americans are paying for his failures.

 -The Atlantic

'What The Hell Is Happening To Fox News?': Trump Slams Critical Chris Wallace. The Fox News host featured a health expert who said had the Trump administration taken earlier action against COVID-19 "we'd be in a much better position."

 -Huffington Post

Chicago mayor: Coronavirus is "devastating" black communities

 -Axios

Heroes of The Front Lines: Stories of the courageous workers risking their own lives to save ours

-Time

NYPD loses 20th member to coronavirus

 -CNN

'Absolute chaos' as businesses try to tap into rescue funds

-Associated Press

Fears of 'Wild West' as COVID-19 blood tests hit the market

-Associated Press

DOJ charged man for $750 million scheme to sell non-existent face masks to VA

 -Axios

Economic tolls grows as millions file for unemployment, food bank lines grow

 -MSNBC

Sanders Says Congress Must Stop Trump From Exploiting Covid-19 Crisis to 'Bankrupt and Privatize the Postal Service' "Now, more than ever, we need a strong and vibrant postal system to deliver mail 6-days a week. Congress must act now to save it."

 -Common Dreams

Pope advocates for universal basic income in Easter letter

 -The Hill

Congo marks somber Easter while battling COVID-19 and Ebola

-Associated Press

'We are social animals': Hong Kong residents flout virus rules to throng popular sites

 -Reuters

Social distancing wanes in S. Korea. Health authorities caution against loosening social distancing rules, citing possibility of silent spread of coronavirus.

 -The Korea Herald

Wuhan is open and infections are down, but China's coronavirus numbers can't be trusted

 -Yahoo News

WHO warns relaxing lockdowns could spur 'deadly resurgence' of coronavirus

 -France 24

Bolsonaro dragging Brazil towards coronavirus calamity, experts fear. Concerns grow that by downplaying threat, Brazil's president risks public health crisis

 -The Guardian

Coronavirus that causes Covid-19 can produce more than three times as many pathogens than Sars strain, HKU study reveals

 -South China Morning Post

"Dr Chu Hin of HKU says Sars-CoV-2 can replicate 100 times within 48 hours, while the Sars virus replicated about 10 to 20 times at its peak. There is almost no possibility to contain the virus before July because not many people have developed immunity yet, microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung says."

UN chief asks religious groups not to hold events

-NHK

Israel closes off Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox areas to stem coronavirus spread

 -Reuters

MONDAY, APRIL 13: CORONAVIRUS IS MUTATING

I'm not into conspiracy theories, but this is interesting:

October 15, 2019: U.S. delegation arrives in Wuhan for Military World Games

 -Xinhua.net

Video: Grand opening ceremony, Military World Games in Wuhan, October 2019

-CGTN

Intelligence report warned of coronavirus crisis as early as November: Sources

 -ABC News

Report: U.S. Intelligence Officials Warned About Coronavirus In Wuhan In Late November

 -Forbes

That's one month before the famous Chinese whistleblower Dr. Li Wenliang first alerted the world:

Li Wenliang was a Chinese ophthalmologist who worked as a physician at Wuhan Central Hospital. Li warned his colleagues in December 2019 about a possible outbreak of an illness that resembled severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), later acknowledged as COVID-19. He became a whistleblower when his warnings were later shared publicly.

 -Wikipedia

"On 30 December 2019, Li saw a patient's report which showed a positive result with a high confidence level for SARS coronavirus tests."

Jan 26: Wuhan seafood market may not be source of novel virus spreading globally

 -Science

Feb 24: Five foreign athletes from military world games in Wuhan infected with malaria, not COVID-19 in October 2019: hospital head

-Global Times

"Zhang's clarification came after an old media report resurfaces online, claiming that five athletes were sent to a hospital in Wuhan for medical care and quarantine measures after they were infected with an imported epidemic between October 18 to 27. Posts subsequently went viral on social media, prompting theories that they were the original carriers of the novel coronavirus.

The report covered by a local media outlet in Wuhan did not name the epidemic."

Personally, I would take that hospital director's denials with a grain of salt. Back in October, tests for coronavirus didn't even exist yet.

Feb 26: The first US soldier has tested positive for coronavirus. Coronavirus spreading through US military ranks would be a disaster.

 -Vox

April 2: Number of troops testing positive for coronavirus up over 50 percent this week

 -Military Times

"COVID-19 cases continue to soar in the military, outpacing the spread of coronavirus in the general U.S. population in the past 24 hours. There are 893 positive-testing service members, according to the Defense Department's Thursday update, out of 1,550 current cases, which include civilians dependents and contractors. The military reported 122 new cases since Wednesday more than the other three groups combined."

Chinese Diplomat Accuses US of Spreading Coronavirus

 -Voice of America

"It's possible that the U.S. military brought the virus to Wuhan. The U.S. has to be transparent and make public its figures. The U.S. owes us an explanation," he added. Zhao's comments echoed a rumored conspiracy, widely circulated in China, that U.S. military personnel had brought the virus to China during their participation of the 2019 Military World Games in Wuhan last October."

Researchers from Cambridge University found that Americans carry an older strain of the virus than Chinese people do:

April 9: COVID-19: genetic network analysis provides 'snapshot' of pandemic origins

 -University of Cambridge

"Forster and colleagues found that the closest type of COVID-19 to the one discovered in bats – type 'A', the "original human virus genome" – was present in Wuhan, but surprisingly was not the city's predominant virus type.

Mutated versions of 'A' were seen in Americans reported to have lived in Wuhan, and a large number of A-type viruses were found in patients from the US and Australia.

Wuhan's major virus type, 'B', was prevalent in patients from across East Asia.

Variant 'A', most closely related to the virus found in both bats and pangolins, is described as "the root of the outbreak" by researchers. Type 'B' is derived from 'A', separated by two mutations, then 'C' is in turn a "daughter" of 'B'."

Weird, huh?

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that I think the US military deliberately infected Wuhan with a secret virus back in October during the Military World Games.

Russia  attended those games as well.

My very own personal theory about the coronavirus, if I had to come up with one, is that Russia spread the virus in China, the US and Europe.

For months, Russia had an unusually low number of infected.

Russia is the largest country in the world. Luxembourg is one of the very smallest. It's tiny, with only 623,729 citizens. And yet, Luxembourg had more confirmed cases than Russia:

March 22: Why does Russia, population 146 million, have fewer coronavirus cases than Luxembourg?

 -CNN

March 22: Coronavirus: Russia's low infection numbers viewed skeptically. Russian officials attribute the low reported coronavirus numbers to aggressive border controls, but experts caution that the actual infection rates may be much higher.

 -NBC News

March 25: Why Is Russia's Coronavirus Case Count So Low?

 -The New Yorker

Things that make you go hmmmm.

Maybe Russia was miraculously spared by the coronavirus for a long time.

Or maybe Russia didn't do enough early testing, and cases went undetected.

Or maybe Russia is simply lying about how many infected there are.

Or maybe Russia was "lucky," because for decades their population has been taking a very common over-the-counter Russian flu medicine called  Arbidol aka Umifenovir.

Feb 26: Russian drug may help with fight against virus

 -MSN

"The influenza drug, developed in the Soviet Union back in 1974, has been used for years in Russia to fight the flu by preventing its ability to shed copies of itself from the surface of host cells. And China is now testing the drug to assess its effectiveness against the novel coronavirus, according to Zhang."

It has been widely used in China and Russia for decades, but not at all in the west. In Russia it's one of the most widely used over-the-counter medications, about as common as Aspirin in the US. And it's dirt cheap.

Can a Soviet-developed medicine treat coronavirus?

 -The Bell

"Arbidol seems to have high-level backers in Russia: it is produced by a friend of Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova, who oversees healthcare, and in 2010, it was personally recommended (Rus) by Putin. Unsurprisingly, Arbidol has been the most  popular (Rus) over-the-counter drug in Russia for several years in a row."

And it just so happens to be a potent broad-spectrum antiviral that has been shown in clinical studies to be as effective as Tamiflu in killing a bunch of different viruses, including  Coxsackie virus B5 (whatever the hell that is), Lassa, Ebola, and SARS.

Umifenovir (brand name Arbidol)

-Wikipedia

"Testing of umifenovir's efficacy has mainly occurred in China and Russia,[5][6] and it is well known in these two countries.[7] Some of the Russian tests showed the drug to be effective[5] and a direct comparison with Tamiflu showed similar efficiency in vitro and in a clinical setting.[8] In 2007, Arbidol (umifenovir) had the highest sales in Russia among all over-the-counter drugs."

March 23: Doctors in China Treated COVID-19 With Antivirals Not Approved in the U.S.

 -Real Clear Science

"Doctors in Wuhan have aggressively treated patients with antivirals not approved in the U.S. The drug they utilized most often was Arbidol, manufactured by the Russian company JSC Pharmstandard. One preliminary study showed that Arbidol could drastically improve chest CT scans and speed the body's clearing of the virus, perhaps by inhibiting viral replication."

And yet, Russia's big pharma industry never bothered to bring it to market in the west.

Weird, huh?

So, who knows, maybe coronavirus was spread by Russia, where people have a natural immunity to it because they keep taking Arbidol every time they get the sniffles.

Russia using coronavirus fears to spread misinformation in Western countries

 -The Hill

"The new concerns around Russian misinformation comes after European Commission Vice President Věra Jourová met with top representatives of tech groups including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter on March 3 to discuss the spread of coronavirus disinformation."

Russian hackers have been spreading misinformation about the coronavirus in the US, in Europe, and in China, each time accusing one of the other two of being the one who spread the virus.

It wouldn't be the first time Putin's Russian hackers blamed a different country for what Russia did:

Oct 14, 2017: How Russia used social media to divide Americans

 -The Guardian

July 23, 2018: How a fake news lie blaming China instead of Russia for election hacking went viral

 -Media Matters

Russian trolls politicized vaccines in 2016. Could coronavirus be next?

 -The Philadelphia Enquirer

US accuses Russia of spreading conspiracies about the Wuhan coronavirus, including that it's a CIA biological weapon

 -Business Insider

US Accuses Russia of Spreading Fear, Panic on Coronavirus

 -Voice of America

EU accuses Russia of looking to destabilise west with coronavirus disinformation campaign

 -The Independent

Who benefits when America, Europe and China fight? Russia.

Did America infect China? Did China infect America? Or did Russia infect China and America?

We may never know the answer.

We don't know much about Russia's bioweapon labs...

Sept 17, 2019: Russia Confirms Explosion At Ex Bioweapons Lab Storing Ebola, Smallpox And Plague

 -Forbes

"The fact that Vector is one of only two places in the world that stockpiles Smallpox—the other being the CDC facility in Atlanta—tells you everything you need to know. Local firefighter and rescue teams responded to the explosion before someone realised the implications and, as reported by Russian media, "the situation was quickly upgraded from an ordinary emergency to a major incident."

April 12: Russian border becomes China's frontline in fight against second virus wave

 -Reuters

Is there a connection? Who the hell knows?

But we do know one thing:

Experts say Putin loves to poison people he doesn't like with biochem weapons:

Sept 5, 2018: Russians charged over Novichok poisoning of Sergei Skripal, daughter

 -NBC News

Feb 14, 2019: Third Suspect In Poisoning Of Former Russian Spy Named By Investigative Group

 -NPR

June 28, 2019: PM tells Putin Salisbury attack 'can never be repeated.' Russia must end its "irresponsible and destabilising activity", Theresa May has told President Vladimir Putin in one-to-one talks, Downing Street said.

-BBC

July 28, 2019: Vladimir Putin critic Alexey Navalny hospitalized with suspected poisoning, doctor says

 -ABC News

Aug 1, 2019: Why Russia Keeps Poisoning People. With a wink and a nod, the Kremlin sends a chilling message to its foes.

 -Foreign Policy

But wait, there's more...

March 4: Coronavirus is mutating: Chinese scientists find second strain

 -Fortune

March 4: Scientists say they've identified 2 strains of COVID-19

 -ABC News

March 23: U.K. scientists to track mutations in coronavirus and map its spread

 -Japan Times

"All viruses accumulate mutations over time, some faster than others," said Paul Klenerman, a professor at Oxford University who will be involved in the work. "For Covid-19, this has only just begun — but this emerging variation can be tracked in detail."

March 30: Coronavirus is mutating and now has eight strains: doctors

 -New York Daily News

March 31: 8 strains of the coronavirus are circling the globe. Here's what clues they're giving scientists.

 -USA Today

April 1: A New Mutated Sub-Type Has Been Discovered After a Patient Was Contagious For 49 Days

 -Tech Times

April 3: Scientists Discover 'Chronic' Mutation of Coronavirus in a Patient Who Was Contagious for 49 Days!

 -Science Times

April 3: At least 8 strains of the coronavirus have been identified

 -The Hill

April 8: Studies Show N.Y. Outbreak Originated in Europe

 -New York Times

April 9: How America was hit with COVID-19 from two continents: Majority of cases in US epicenter New York came from Europe - but a DIFFERENT strain spread from China to the West Coast, genome studies reveal

 -Daily Mail

April 10: Coronavirus mutated into three distinct strains as it spread across the world

 -Metro

April 10: There are THREE distinct strains of the novel coronavirus in the world and while China's epidemic was driven by an early mutation that quickly spread in the UK, the US is suffering from an original variation

 -Daily Mail

April 10: Experts fear coronavirus vaccine may only provide "short-term" immunity from virus. Other coronaviruses like SARS did not confer long-term immunity on their victims — and that's worrisome

 -Salon

April 11: How genetic scientists have traced the coronavirus pandemic's journey across the world. Cambridge University researchers have found a variant of the virus that initially infected Britain was not found in mainland China

 -The Telegraph

April 11: No proof that COVID-19 originated in Wuhan

-CGTN

"Peter Forster, a geneticist at the University of Cambridge, has identified three distinct strains of COVID-19. Forster and his team traced the origins of the epidemic by analyzing 160 genomes from human patients and found that the strain in Wuhan mutated from an earlier version."

April 12: Coronavirus that causes Covid-19 can produce more than three times as many pathogens than Sars strain, HKU study reveals

 -South China Morning Post

"Dr Chu Hin of HKU says Sars-CoV-2 can replicate 100 times within 48 hours, while the Sars virus replicated about 10 to 20 times at its peak."

April 13: Who Is Immune to the Coronavirus? About this question, too, decisions with great consequences are being made, as they must be, based on only glimmers of data.

 -New York Times

"South Korea's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that 91 patients who had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and then tested negative for the virus later tested positive again. If some of these cases were indeed reinfections, they would cast doubt on the strength of the immunity the patients had developed."

It's mutating. There are between three to eight different confirmed strains so far, depending on who you ask.

There may be no immunity and you might catch it again. And again, and again...

That doesn't sound good.

And then there's this:

March 24: Iceland scientists found 40 mutations of the coronavirus, report says

 -New York Post

Grrreat.

Anyway, here are today's headlines:

Navy sailor assigned to USS Theodore Roosevelt dies after contracting coronavirus. At least 550 crew members who were aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

 -NBC News

A North Carolina prison complex has 60 inmates and 23 staff members with coronavirus

 -CNN

Police officer's hand chopped off with sword while enforcing coronavirus lockdown measures

 -Newsweek

Meat plants are closing. But you don't have to panic shop just yet

 -CNN

The real reason grocery shelves are empty: As Americans line up by the thousands at food banks, farmers are dumping gallons of milk and smashing eggs. Wall Street Journal reporter Jesse Newman explains why America's food supply chain isn't built for the coronavirus era.

 -MSNBC

'Absolute Clusterfuck': Inside the Denial and Dysfunction of Trump's Coronavirus Task Force. Missed warnings, conflicting messages, and broken promises — how the White House fumbled its response to the worst pandemic in a century

 -Rolling Stone

The American Patient: How Trump Is Fueling a Corona Disaster. Donald Trump's disastrous crisis management has made the United States the new epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic. The country is facing an unprecedented economic crash. Are we witnessing the implosion of a superpower?

 -Spiegel

Dr. Fauci is still the most trusted leader in America on the coronavirus, while Trump and Jared Kushner are in last place

 -Business Insider

Fauci at center of conservative storm

 -The Hill

Trump retweets call to fire Fauci amid coronavirus criticism

 -CNN

'Seriously. Enough:' Chris Wallace's Fox News colleagues defend him after Trump attack

 -USA Today

Trump Turns His Coronavirus Briefing Into A Full-On Propaganda Campaign. The president had a meltdown attempting to rewrite history after accurate reports that he was slow to respond to the pandemic despite early warnings.

 -Huffington Post

Coronavirus: Trump insists his 'authority is total' in wild White House briefing. 'This is insanity and extremely dangerous,' former Obama ethics chief says of president's claims

 -The Independent

NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo responds to Trump's claim of absolute authority: "We don't have a king"

 -Newsweek

'We've got to make Trump a one-term president': Bernie Sanders endorses Joe Biden in US election

 -The Independent

George Stephanopoulos tests positive for coronavirus two weeks after wife Ali Wentworth

 -Page Six

North Carolina woman gets coronavirus despite staying home for three weeks

 -New York Post

US woman who caught coronavirus despite self-isolating for three weeks believes it was passed to her when she collected a bag of groceries left on her doorstep

 -Daily Mail

Man, it's crazy how contagious this shit is.

Coronavirus death toll continues to climb as New York hospitalizations stabilize

-CBS News

New Jersey governor says reopening economy too soon "could be throwing gasoline on the fire"

-Face the Nation

South Dakota launches clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine

 -The Hill

Hospital matron photographed with Boris Johnson dies from coronavirus

 -New York Post

South Korea reports more recovered coronavirus patients testing positive again

 -Reuters

WHO officials say it's unclear whether recovered coronavirus patients are immune to second infection

 -CNBC

Russia's coronavirus cases expected to soar

 -ABC News

Ukraine: wildfires draw dangerously close to Chernobyl site. Witnesses accuse government of covering up severity of blaze near site of nuclear disaster

 -The Guardian

Second wave of locusts in east Africa said to be 20 times worse UN warns of 'alarming and unprecedented threat' to food security and livelihoods in the region

 -The Guardian

TUESDAY, APRIL 14: RUSSIA'S OPERATION INFEKTION

Anthony Fauci: 'We're Not There Yet' On Key Steps To Reopen Economy. President Trump has floated the possibility of reopening some areas by May 1 and said he could announce recommendations as soon as this week.

 -Huffington Post

Fauci says daily press briefings are important but 'really draining'

 -The Hill

Cuomo Threatens 'Constitutional Challenge' If Trump Orders States To Reopen Too Early. The New York governor said any such order would be "dictatorial," a day after the president falsely claimed to have "total" authority over states.

 -Huffington Post

Cuomo Says Trump Is 'Clearly Spoiling for a Fight' With the States

-Bloomberg

It's the Worst Possible Time for Trump to Make False Claims of Authority. He does not have "total" authority over states.

 -New York Times

King Trump thinks he can scare us into submission — but New York has had the power all along

 -The Independent

Pelosi: Ignore Trump, listen to scientists

 -The Hill

Schumer: Trump thinks coronavirus crisis 'revolves around him'

 -The Hill

Barack Obama endorses Joe Biden for president Obama: "I believe Joe has all the qualities we need in a president right now."

 -Vox

Barr says government 'may not impose special restrictions' on religious gatherings

 -The Hill

Yeah, let religious fanatics with zero common sense attend their megachurches during a deadly pandemic. Why not? What could go wrong?

Feb 23: 'Superspreader' in South Korea infects nearly 40 people with coronavirus. A woman in South Korea gave at least 37 people at her church COVID-19.

 -Live Science

March 2: Why a South Korean Church Was the Perfect Petri Dish for Coronavirus

 -Wall Street Journal

March 3: South Korea seeks criminal charges against Christian sect over coronavirus spread

 -France 24

March 6: South Korea's coronavirus cases climb above 7,000, most cases traced to church

 -Reuters

Oh. Right.

And now, thanks to Trump and Barr, hundreds of churches will spread the virus all over America, ruining any chance of a lockdown saving American lives.

It's almost like Trump and his Republican henchmen are doing whatever they can to make this pandemic worse. Putin must be so proud of his army of MAGA saboteurs.

March 21, 2017: Breitbart and InfoWars are drawn into FBI's Russian bot probe

 -New York Post

Aug 17, 2017: Trump, the alt-right and the Kremlin: White supremacists' Russia links are no secret. Neo-Nazis, white supremacists and Donald Trump all have deep ties to Russia — and this "conspiracy" isn't hidden

 -Salon

Aug 20, 2017: Is Russia using the Alt-Right to undermine U.S. democracy?

 -MSNBC

Aug 24, 2017: Breitbart, other 'alt-right' websites are the darlings of Russian propaganda effort

 -USA Today

Aug 27, 2017: Russia's propaganda machine amplifies alt-right

 -The Hill

July 26, 2018: American Racists Look for Allies in Russia: Pro-Trump hate groups are praising Russia and its 'macho' leader after the president's summit with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.

 -The Daily Beast

Aug 29, 2018: Russia Is Co-opting Angry Young Men: Fight clubs, neo-Nazi soccer hooligans, and motorcycle gangs serve as conduits for the Kremlin's influence operations in Western countries.

 -The Atlantic

Have you noticed all the misogynistic teenage Trump trolls on social media? What does it say about the Trump era that young incels feel nothing but hatred for women and can't find it in their heart to say one kind thing about a female?

What happened to this country?

Sept 14, 2018: Christian Fundamentalists Aid Russian Group In Promoting Alt-Right Values In America

 -Hill Reporter

Jan 17, 2019: The latest front in Russian infiltration: America's right-wing homeschooling movement. This is the latest connection between Russia and the American religious right.

 -Think Progress

Feb 26, 2019: Useful Idiots or Fellow Travelers? The Relationship between the American Far Right and Russia

 -Terrorism and Political Violence Journal

April 5, 2019: Russian Group Offered Paramilitary Training to U.S. Neo-Nazis. FBI spied on contacts between Russian nationalists and Charlottesville rally organizers

 -The Washington Free Beacon

April 16, 2019: Why far-right nationalists like Steve Bannon have embraced a Russian ideologue

 -Washington Post

But Putin hasn't just undermined democracy in America by funding right-wing extremists in the US. He's been doing the same thing in Europe.

People wonder why there has been a rise of right-wing extremist nationalism all over the west in recent years. Political scientists have come up with all sorts of complicated socioeconomic theories.

But the answer is pretty simple: Russia has been funding it. Putin is behind the rise of nationalism.

Putin is behind Brexit, because it breaks apart the European Union.

Dec 10, 2018: Brexit: Is Russia Getting What It Wanted?

 -Forbes

Nationalism breaks apart western alliances. Nationalism weakens the west and strengthens Russia. Think of all the anti-Nato rhetoric Trump has been spewing in recent years.

Jan 14, 2019: Trump Discussed Pulling U.S. From NATO, Aides Say Amid New Concerns Over Russia

 -New York Times

And America's relationship with her allies has never been worse than under Trump. That's no coincidence. It's all part of Putin plan.

June 27, 2018: EU must 'prepare for worst-case scenarios' under Trump, top official warns. Senior officials concerned about the future under a new American doctrine in which there are 'no friends, only enemies'

 -The Guardian

Breaking apart the west was Putin's plan all along. And he's doing it without firing a single shot. He lets his army of brainwashed saboteurs do all the dirty work for him.

Right-wing extremists sabotage the democratic governments of their own countries. They are unwitting Russian saboteurs, destroying their own country from the inside. For Putin. And they don't even know it.

Nov 25, 2014: Putin's far-right ambition: Think-tank reveals how Russian President is wooing – and funding – populist parties across Europe to gain influence in the EU

 -The Independent

Dec 8, 2014: We should beware Russia's links with Europe's right

 -The Guardian

Oct 31, 2016: Trump, Putin, and the Alt-Right International: In boosting Trump and funding fringe parties in Europe, Russia has helped construct a new kind of "comintern"—and it's even more effective than the Cold War version.

 -The Atlantic

Jan 9, 2017: Why France's Marine Le Pen Is Doubling Down on Russia Support

 -Time

Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit referendum

 -Wikipedia

Feb 12, 2017: Europe's Far-Right Enjoys Backing from Russia's Putin

 -NBC News

March 15, 2017: Russia's 5th Column

 -Center for American Progress

"Russia's actions to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election and help then-presidential candidate Donald Trump win were similar to its activities to build a network of far-right political parties and movements in Europe. Russian President Vladimir Putin is using this network to advance his policy objectives at home and abroad."

April 3, 2017: Marine Le Pen: Who's funding France's far right?

-BBC

May 4, 2017: Putin awaits return on Le Pen investment. Speculation swirls about extent of Russian leader's influence.

 -Financial Times

Sept 25, 2017: How Russian Voters Fueled the Rise of Germany's Far-Right

 -Time

June 10, 2018: Leading Brexit campaigners held secret meetings with Russian officials arranged by suspected Kremlin spy before referendum, report says

 -Business Insider

June 17, 2018: Why isn't there greater outrage about Russia's involvement in Brexit?

 -The Guardian

Oct 17, 2018: Russian trolls sent thousands of pro-Leave messages on day of Brexit referendum, Twitter data reveals

 -The Telegraph

Jan 19, 2019: Senate Finds Russian Bots, Bucks Helped Push Brexit Vote Through

 -NPR

April 5, 2019: German far-right MP 'could be absolutely controlled by Russia.' A German politician could become an "absolutely controlled" MP in the Bundestag, according to Russian documents seen by BBC Newsnight.

-BBC

May 18, 2019: Austrian government collapses over Russia scandal. Kurz calls for snap election after video shows far-right leaders offering contracts for cash.

 -Politico

May 22, 2019: Russia's long arm reaches to the right in Europe. Austrian politicians are not the only ones to be seeking deals with Moscow

 -Financial Times

July 10, 2019: Revealed: The Explosive Secret Recording That Shows How Russia Tried To Funnel Millions To The "European Trump." A close aide to Italy's deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini held covert talks to pump Russian oil money to his far-right party. BuzzFeed News has the tape.

 -BuzzFeed

July 12, 2019: Russia's Involvement in Far-Right European Politics

 -American Security Project

Jan 24, 2020: Is Brexit a Russia-backed Coup?

 -New Law Journal

So Russia spent the past few years weakening western alliances and turning the people in the west against each other. And now there's suddenly a pandemic. And instead of cooperating, we're fighting with each other.

Governors rebuke Trump for claiming 'total' authority

 -The Hill

If this turns into a civil war, you can thank Putin.

President Trump halts funding to World Health Organization

-CNN

Trump just cut off funding for the World Health Organization!! During a fucking pandemic!!!

This is gonna go down in history as one of the dumbest things any US president has ever done. Absolutely the dumbest thing you could do during a global pandemic. Well, right after keeping the megachurches open.

Putin must be laughing his ass off right now.

By the way, this isn't the first time Russia spread disinformation to turn the west against itself during a viral epidemic. They did the same thing during the AIDS crisis.

Russians actively spread disinformation about AIDS to get as many people as possible killed in the west. The same thing is happening again today.

Russian fake news is not new: Soviet Aids propaganda cost countless lives. It's easier than ever to spread myths and falsehoods, which shows how little we learned from one of the worst pieces of dezinformatsiya ever disseminated

 -The Guardian

"Throughout the cold war, the Soviets were virtuosos in creating tensions between allies."

Operation INFEKTION

 -CIA

"These "active measures" (aktivinyye meropriatia, as the Soviets called them) included manipulation and media control, written and oral disinformation, use of foreign communist parties and front organizations, clandestine radio broadcasting, manipulation of the economy, kidnappings, paramilitary operations, and support of guerrilla groups and terrorist organizations."

Operation INFEKTION

-Wikipedia

Video: Operation InfeKtion: How Russia Perfected the Art of War

-New York Times

"Russia's meddling in the United States' elections is not a hoax. It's the culmination of Moscow's decades-long campaign to tear the West apart. "Operation InfeKtion" reveals the ways in which one of the Soviets' central tactics — the promulgation of lies about America — continues today, from Pizzagate to George Soros conspiracies. Meet the KGB spies who conceived this virus and the American truth squads who tried — and are still trying — to fight it. Countries from Pakistan to Brazil are now debating reality, and in Vladimir Putin's greatest triumph, Americans are using Russia's playbook against one another without the faintest clue."

Anyway, let's get back to today's headlines:

3 California churches sue Gov. Gavin Newsom over orders banning gatherings

 -NBC News

Facepalm.

Virginia pastor who defiantly held church service dies of coronavirus

 -New York Post

Facepalm.

Struggles for adequate COVID-19 testing remain as Trump pushes to reopen US economy

-ABC News

Facepalm.

Lindsey Graham calls to cut unemployment benefits on "Fox & Friends": "We've got to get that fixed." Graham suggests that coronavirus relief benefits have made American workers not want to return to their jobs

 -Salon

Facepalm.

GOP congressman says letting more Americans die of coronavirus is lesser of two evils compared to economy tanking

 -CNN

Facepalm.

Trump campaign fundraising pitch seeks donations to 'hold China accountable'

 -The Hill

My face is starting to hurt from all the facepalms.

Florida's governor keeps hitting new lows in the battle against coronavirus

 -CNN

Republicans tried to suppress the vote in Wisconsin. It backfired. Wisconsin Republicans lost a state supreme court race on Monday after pushing to hold an election amid the Covid-19 pandemic

 -The Guardian

Immunity from COVID-19 antibodies not certain, HIV co-discoverer cautions

 -NBC News

7 crew members aboard hospital ship Mercy test positive for coronavirus

 -Politico

Thousands without power across Northeast after ravaging storm

 -New York Post

Deadliest tornado outbreak in 6 years: Stunned residents begin cleanup in the South, East

 -USA Today

Navajo Nation Reports More Coronavirus Cases Per Capita Than All But 2 U.S. States. Only New York and New Jersey have more confirmed infections per 100,000 people.

 -Huffington Post

Is India underreporting the coronavirus outbreak?

-BBC

Coronavirus takes a serious turn in Russia, and Putin no longer radiates confidence

 -CNN

"A recent outbreak in China has also underscored the severity of the situation in Russia. Health authorities in Shanghai recently reported a surge in imported cases, tracing dozens of cases to a single flight that arrived in Shanghai from Moscow on April 10. Chinese authorities are also fighting an outbreak in city of Suifenhe, on the border with Russia's Far East, a wave of cases attributed in large part to Chinese nationals returning from Russia."

"The spirits I summoned ignore my commands."

-Johann W. von Goethe, The Sorcerer's Apprentice

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15: TRUMP IS TOXIC

Confirmed COVID-19 Cases Worldwide Double To 2 Million In 2 Weeks. It took four and a half months for the new coronavirus to hit 1 million confirmed cases — and two weeks to double that.

 -Huffington Post

French study finds hydroxychloroquine doesn't help patients with coronavirus.

 -CNN

Imagine my surprise.

Lawsuit accuses Liberty University of 'profiting' from the coronavirus pandemic

 -CNN

Republicans love money. It's their drug. It's their God.

Fox News asks court to toss lawsuit calling network a public health risk

 -The Hill

Trump and Fox have blood on their hands. Countless Americans are dying because of their lies, disinformation and downplaying the virus for months, to  keep the stock market profitable for billionaires for as long as possible.

COVID-19 outbreaks in upper Midwest show virus is not just a New York problem

 -MSNBC

I wonder how many of those people got sick because last week Republicans forced the people of Wisconsin to vote in person during a pandemic, or lose their right to vote and let the Republican scumbags win.

Why Dems won in Wisconsin despite GOP attempt to use pandemic to its advantage

 -MSNBC

What Trump's bizarre love of Mutiny on the Bounty actually reveals about him

 -Vox

Trump tweeted: "Tell the Democrat Governors that Mutiny On The Bounty was one of my all time favorite movies," the president wrote. "A good old fashioned mutiny every now and then is an exciting and invigorating thing to watch, especially when the mutineers need so much from the Captain. Too easy!"

'Jarring, unwelcome, and dangerous': Some conservatives are outraged at Trump's claim that his 'authority is total'

 -Business Insider

US coronavirus toll hits new daily high with over 2,400 deaths

 -New York Post

Poll: 81 percent say keep social distancing despite damage to economy

 -The Hill

Trump backs down after Cuomo, other governors unite on coronavirus response: "I'm not going to put pressure on any governor to open," the president said in an about-face from his remarks on Monday.

 -NBC News

What a dumbass.

I wonder if someone told him that the Mutiny On The Bounty didn't end well for the captain.

The captain was the villain. He was the emperor Palpatine of the story. And Trump sees himself as the Palpatine type. The evil emperor type.

I bet when Trump watched Star Wars, he was rooting for the dark side the whole time.

Trump threatens to adjourn both chambers of Congress

 -The Hill

"President Trump on Wednesday threatened to use his executive power to force both chambers of Congress to adjourn if the Senate did not confirm his nominees for vacancies across the administration."

It's interesting to watch Trump unmask himself on live TV and turn into a dictator right before our eyes. Interesting and scary. This is what it must have been like when  Hitler became the Führer in the Weimar republic. Even the global circumstances were very similar.

If this was Star Wars, this would be the moment when two-faced senator Palpatine reveals his true self and transforms into the evil emperor Palpatine.

If history is gonna remember just one thing about Trump, let it be his sadistic cruelty. He is the 21st century's version of Caligula.

Caligula

 -History Extra

"Gaius ('Caligula, or 'little bootee' – a childhood nickname given him by his father's troops) is best known for a series of eccentric actions, such as declaring war on the sea and proclaiming himself a god.

His reign actually began quite promisingly, but after a serious bout of illness he developed paranoia that led him into alarmingly erratic behaviour, possibly including incest with his sister, Julia Drusilla, whom he named as his heir.

Gaius took particular delight in humiliating the senate, claiming that he could make anyone consul, even his horse (though, contrary to the popular story, he didn't actually go through with this). As the son of Germanicus [a prominent general], Gaius was keen to establish his military credentials, though his campaign in Germany achieved little and his abortive invasion of Britain had to be turned into a battle with the sea god Neptune: he is said to have told his troops to attack the waves with their swords and gather seashells as booty.

Gaius declared himself a god and used his divine status to establish what was, in effect, an absolutist monarchy in Rome. He followed Tiberius's example of using treason trials to eliminate enemies, real or imagined."

How long until Trump starts locking up journalists and opposition politicians? Think that won't happen? Remember all those "lock her up!" chants?

Of course Putin's Operation Infektion is going to amplify those calls on right-wing extremist social media, to create more chaos and damage in the US.

And the way things have been going so far, it won't be long til we'll have armed MAGA mobs, demanding that Trump lock up every Democrat who dares to oppose the great leader.

Trumpists Urging People to Leave Their Homes to Own the Libs. There is a growing resistance on the right that threatens to add additional stress to a political system already nearing the breaking point.

 -The Daily Beast

"A protest movement is taking hold targeting states that have extended social-distancing rules, closed schools, and restricted access to large religious gatherings. And it's being fed by loyalists and political allies of President Donald Trump."

'Lock her up!': Anti-Whitmer coronavirus lockdown protestors swarm Michigan Capitol. Demonstrators were supposed to stay in their cars for social distancing. Not everyone did.

 -NBC News

Facepalm.

I'm sure infecting the whole country with a deadly virus isn't enough for these brainwashed Trump cult zombies.

I'm afraid it's only a matter of time before these halfwits start destroying American infrastructure, because that's what right-wing extremist nutjobs are already doing in other western countries.

There's this idiotic internet rumor that says 5G cell phone towers are causing the pandemic.

How dumb do you have to be to believe that? This kind of ignorant bullshit appeals to the very dumbest among us. The mouthbreathing yokels who don't understand the first thing about biology.

You know, the MAGA minions who think evolution is a hoax and Obama is a Kenyan muslim.

Anyway, guess who's behind that idiotic rumor... Russia of course:

5G Virus Conspiracy Theory Fueled by Coordinated Effort

 -Bloomberg

Putin's Long War Against American Science: A decade of health disinformation promoted by President Vladimir Putin of Russia has sown wide confusion, hurt major institutions and encouraged the spread of deadly illnesses.

 -New York Times

Russia trolls 'spreading vaccination misinformation' to create discord

-BBC

Russian trolls fueled anti-vaccination debate in U.S. by spreading misinformation on Twitter, study finds

 -CBS News

This too was a part of Operation Infektion. The goal was and still is to kill as many American children with preventable viral infections as possible, by convincing parents not to protect their kids with life-saving vaccinations.

Maybe it's working. Maybe Russian disinformation is ultimately responsible for the fact that the  child mortality rate is 76% higher in the US than in other rich countries.

Nah, that's probably still our own fault for having the most expensive, least efficient healthcare system in the world:

The most expensive health care system in the world

 -Harvard School of Public Health

"The U.S. spends more on health care than all the other wealthy democracies in the world. But in spite of all that spending, life expectancy in the U.S lags behind that of its peer countries. And many Americans struggle to pay for health care."

And who doesn't know this? Who thinks universal healthcare is more expensive than the private-for-profit clusterfuck we have?

The MAGA minions!

Examining Quality and Efficiency of the U.S. Healthcare System

-PubMed.gov

"The U.S. healthcare system is characterized as the world's most expensive yet least effective compared with other nations. Growing healthcare costs have made millions of citizens vulnerable."

New study finds 45,000 deaths annually linked to lack of health coverage

 -The Harvard Gazette

And who loves the fact that our private-for-profit healthcare clusterfuck is insanely expensive and inefficient, and Americans are dying from a lack of proper healthcare?

The MAGA minions!

U.S. Healthcare: Most Expensive and Worst Performing

 -The Atlantic

U.S. health spending twice other countries' with worse results

 -Fox News

Yeah, even Fox News knows it! And yet they keep telling you that universal healthcare is supposedly evil and terrible. Why? Not because it's true, but because the healthcare industry and big pharma tells them to lie to you. To maximize their profits.

In the U.S., an Angioplasty Costs $32,000. Elsewhere? Maybe $6,400. A study of international prices finds American patients pay much more across a wide array of common services.

 -New York Times

US healthcare is literally killing people

 -Financial Times

And who definitely does not want  better, cheaper universal healthcare, like they have in every civilized country, including  Israel and  Russia?

The MAGA minions!

The dumbest fucking people on the planet.

Amazing how well  Operation Infektion has brainwashed right-wing extremists, to demand corrupt policies that will ultimately kill them.

That's why they're chanting in the streets, demanding to reopen the economy in the middle of a deadly pandemic, so that the billionaires can make more profits at our expense again. Instead of giving back to the community in our time of need.

Republican billionaires don't believe in sharing is caring. That's why they're Republican billionaires.

How much has Trump donated to those affected by the coronavirus so far? Nothing? Yeah, that's what I figured.

Meanwhile, Trump's brainwashed peasants demand that he lock up the scientists and politicians who tell us not to gather in megachurches during a deadly pandemic because we're gonna die.

And this is why:

Russia goes after coronavirus in latest health misinformation push

 -Axios

US conservatives spread tweets by Russian trolls over 30 times more often than liberals

 -MIT Technology Review

Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to think the coronavirus threat is 'exaggerated,' new survey finds

 -Market Watch

Conservatives' Coronavirus Denial Is Going to Get People Killed. By dismissing the disease as a Democratic hoax, right-wing pundits are putting their elderly audience in danger.

 -The New Republic

And why do MAGA minions  believe windmills cause cancer and cell phone towers give you the cooties? Russia!

Your 5G Phone Won't Hurt You. But Russia Wants You to Think Otherwise.

 -New York Times

So what does Putin's army of brainwashed right-wing extremist western morons do? They destroy the cell phone towers in their own countries:

These Videos Show People Burning Down 5G Cell Phone Towers Over Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories

 -Vice

At least 20 UK phone masts vandalised over false 5G coronavirus claims

 -The Guardian

You know, the same cell phone towers that first responders rely on, to save your stupid life. During a pandemic for example.

Verizon cellular outage left Burlington first-responders in the dark

 -WCAX

"For first responders, having clear communication can mean the difference between life and death. "If it's a fire, or if it's a medical call, being able to communicate with each other so the best treatment can be given or the most effective means of extinguishing a fire -- everything with it is critical on communication," said Burlington Fire Deputy Chief Peter Brown."

Putin's western saboteurs are systematically destroying their own countries from the inside.

You hear that?

Shh... Listen...

If you're really quiet you can hear Putin laughing.

Operation Infektion is weakening the west, and taking down America.

It's no coincidence that Trump and Fox News often  parrot Russian disinformation.

Donald Trump is the virus: His coronavirus response confirms how toxic he is for the country

 -New York Daily News

Trump Can Lie About His Coronavirus Record, But People Remember His Early Inaction On The Threat

-The Late Show

Debunking Trump's dangerous new attack on W.H.O during pandemic

 -MSNBC

Fearless Dr. Fauci is more loyal to truth than to Trump

 -AL.com

That's why Trump's death cult  hates Fauci.

CDC Director Distances From Trump, Says Relationship With WHO Has Been 'Productive'

 -Huffington Post

WHO is a "long-standing partner" to CDC, says Director Robert Redfield

-CBS News

Trump's move to strip $400 million from WHO amid coronavirus is just the propaganda windfall Russia, China, and Iran have been hoping for

 -Business Insider

"All three countries have piled on the US in the wake of Trump's announcement, accusing it of undermining the global effort to defeat the virus.

Trump has made the US the bad guy at a time when many countries were turning against China.

Public-health experts, former US officials, US lawmakers, and even a top conservative think tank have said that cutting WHO's funding could exacerbate the coronavirus pandemic."

'We Alerted The World' To Coronavirus On Jan. 5, WHO Says In Response To U.S.

 -NPR

A Timeline Of Coronavirus Comments From President Trump And WHO

 -NPR

Pelosi says Trump's WHO decision is 'dangerous, illegal and will be swiftly challenged'

 -The Guardian

"The President's halting of funding to the WHO as it leads the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic is senseless," the Democratic speaker said in a new statement."

Elizabeth Warren Endorses Joe Biden For President

 -Huffington Post

AOC: 'It's really important that we rally behind our Democratic nominee'

 -The Guardian

Sanders warns his loyalists it would be 'irresponsible' not to support Biden. Sanders criticizes his supporters who have so far resisted his vow to do whatever it takes to help Biden win the presidency

 -The Guardian

And who's telling Bernie supporters not to vote for Biden and let Trump win? Russia!

Inside the Russian effort to target Sanders supporters — and help elect Trump

 -Washington Post

Russia Doesn't Want Bernie Sanders. It Wants Chaos. The point of Kremlin interference has always been to find democracy's loose seams, and pull.

 -Wired

Bernie Sanders blames vicious Bernie Bros on Russian trolls

 -Washington Examiner

July 19, 2018: Sanders Introduces Resolution to Protect American Democracy from Russian Meddling

 -Senate.gov

Not voting for Biden means Trump will win.

If you're a Bernie fan, Trump is the exact opposite of everything you believe in. Trump is the ruthless predatory capitalism we all hate so much.

Biden may not be everything you want, but Trump is nothing you want.

By not voting and letting Trump win, you're only hurting yourself. And isn't that what we always ridicule clueless Trump voters for? Voting against their own best interest?

Alright, that's my little rant for today. Let's get back to today's headlines:

Japan urges citizens to isolate as reports warn of 400,000 deaths

 -Reuters

The Dow Is Falling as Economic Data Show the Damage From Pandemic

 -Barron's

Trump is predicting a rapid economic recovery. Experts say it's not likely. The impact of the pandemic on business and employment will probably be felt for years, according to multiple economists.

 -NBC News

Why we're facing the worst recession since the Great Depression

-CNBC

How Covid-19 Broke the Global Economy

-Bloomberg

Why dairy farmers across America are dumping their milk

 -CNN

Retail sales plunge 8.7 percent in March, biggest drop on record

 -The Hill

A zoo is struggling so much that it may have to feed some animals to other animals

 -CNN

Insane video captures massive paper mill explosion in Maine

 -New York Post

Lots of fires lately.

April 5: Fort Myers Fire Destroys 3,500 Rental Cars

 -Auto Rental News

April 7: Rise in searches for 'How to set fire' a sign insurance fraud beckons as economy crashes

 -Washington Examiner

April 10: San Antonio firefighters investigate suspicious fire at strip club

 -NBC News

April 14: Fire rips through La Jolla nail salon

 -Fox 5

April 14: Fire tears through commercial building in St. Paul, leaving it a total loss

 -Twin Cities Pioneer Press

I wonder if there has been a significant uptick in the number of fires in businesses that were struggling due to the lockdown. I'm gonna have to google some nationwide insurance statistics in a few weeks.

CDC estimates more than 9,200 health care workers have been infected with covid-19

 -CNN

Two US sailors on French carrier test positive for coronavirus

 -The Hill

Pentagon to extend troop movement freeze past May 11

 -The Hill

Russians, Iranians hassle U.S. military in separate incidents

 -Politico

Coronavirus: Concerts, sports may not return until fall 2021, expert says

 -Mercury News

Universities begin considering the possibility of canceling in-person classes until 2021

 -CNN

Women leaders are doing a disproportionately great job at handling the pandemic. So why aren't there more of them?

 -CNN

So far, on average, female world leaders have been doing a much better job handling the coronavirus pandemic than male leaders. But to be fair, Trump is really bringing down the male average.

House Democrats introduce plan to pay Americans $2,000 a month until economy recovers from COVID-19

 -Business Insider

This would save a lot of lives and save the economy. It's what other countries in Europe and Asia are doing. It's the best option.

So of course the Republicans are going to do everything they can to stop it. In their minds, money is for rich people. In Trumpistan, only rich people get billions in free money from the government. Fuck the peasants.

"Let them eat cake."

-Marie-Antoinette

'Beyond Predatory': Trump Treasury Department Gives Banks Green Light to Seize $1,200 Stimulus Checks to Pay Off Debts

 -Common Dreams

Unparalleled crisis leads to unprecedented federal spending

 -The Hill

And almost all of that money is gonna end up in the pockets of Trump and a handful of his billionaire buddies.

Don't be Putin's useful idiot. Vote for Biden, even if he's nowhere near as good as Bernie. He's still a thousand times better than Trump.

Instead of admitting his failure to act, Trump is busy trying to blame everyone but himself for the 32,000 Americans who were killed so far.

In the past few days, Trump and his henchmen have been ramping up the anti-China rhetoric, just as I  predicted. Let's see how much longer it takes before they accuse China of deliberately infecting America.

I think it's only a matter of time, before Trump and his sniveling henchmen are going to call this pandemic an attack on America. To rally Trump's brainwashed minions behind him, and to demonize liberals as traitors, just like Hitler demonized jewish Germans as traitors.

Pompeo, Joint Chiefs chairman raise concerns about China over coronavirus

 -CNN

"Top government officials, including the secretary of state, are raising concerns about China's involvement with the beginnings of the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that without China providing transparency, the US cannot discern where the virus originated. Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark A. Milley could not completely deny reports that the virus originated in a Chinese research lab in Wuhan, merely calling the evidence "inconclusive."

Donald Trump's 3-Month-Old Tweet About China And The Coronavirus Comes Back To Haunt Him

 -Huffington Post

"China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!" -@realDonaldTrump, Jan 24, 2020

Trump says something, and then a few days later he says the exact opposite. And then he blatantly lies and screams "fake news" when someone points out that  he's a liar.

Everyone knows this, except for his brainwashed cult members. They take every word he says as the gospel truth, and willfully ignore that he constantly contradicts himself.

Trump vs Trump on Coronavirus: the US President's changing tone in just a few weeks

-Channel 4

Remember when Trump said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose any of his followers?

Trump: I could shoot somebody and not lose voters

-CNN

We have reached that point. Except he didn't shoot one person. He lied and lied and lied to benefit himself and got tens of thousands of Americans killed.

'He doesn't care about you:' Sen. Schatz says Trump is causing mass preventable deaths

 -MSNBC

And his brainwashed followers think it's not happening. They think the media and the doctors and the scientists are lying. Nobody is dying. The hospitals are empty. It's all just a big hoax to hurt the great leader.

That's where we are as a country.

Terrifying.

On a lighter note:

Shelly's co-worker Lorene called today.

I mentioned her a few weeks ago. She tested positive for coronavirus and was intubated in the hospital.

She made it! She's back home now and called to say she's doing ok.

Yayy! Some good news.

THURSDAY, APRIL 16: BRAZIL'S TRUMP JUST FIRED HIS FAUCI

Coronavirus deaths in U.S. nursing homes soar to more than 5,500. By far the largest increase was in New York state, where the death count rose from 1,330 last week to 3,060 as of Wednesday.

 -NBC News

New Jersey cops find 17 bodies stuffed inside tiny nursing home morgue

 -New York Post

Fauci: Diseases like coronavirus 'don't just disappear'

 -The Hill

Cuomo bashes Trump's 'bizarre' claim of NYC padding coronavirus death toll

 -New York Post

Trump is still trying to bullshit his way out of this by lying to his brainwashed minions. He's trying to convince them that the pandemic isn't real and the media and the Democrats are lying about the horrific death toll.

And it's working. His mouthbreathing MAGA yokels still believe it's all a big hoax:

Report: Trump's attacks on the press 'dangerously undermined truth and consensus'

 -USA Today

Activists and pastors sue Texas governor over stay-at-home order

 -The Hill

Protesters disrupt Kentucky governor's coronavirus briefing, chanting 'we want to work'

 -The Hill

Trump Refuses to Condemn Coronavirus Lockdown Protesters: They 'Like Me'

 -The Daily Beast

Protests are popping up across the US over stay-at-home restrictions

 -CNN

Fucking braindead morons.

Whitmer says protestors' 'irresponsible actions' can lead to extension of stay-at-home orders

 -The Hill

Parishioner from Pastor Tony Spell's Church Dies of COVID-19

 -TMZ

That's what happens when you disregard the lockdown and go to church during a deadly pandemic.

But you don't just hurt yourself. You also hurt everyone else around you:

Four family members infected after a bishop dies of coronavirus in Virginia

 -CNN

Pregnant nurse dies from coronavirus, but emergency c-section saves her baby girl

 -Newsweek

140-Plus Coronavirus Survivors Retest Positive For Disease In South Korea, Raising Questions About Immunity

 -Forbes

And that's why there are lockdowns. So stay the fuck at home you ignorant dumbfucks.

Two-thirds of Americans worry states will lift restrictions on public activity too quickly: poll

 -The Hill

Sweden grapples with high death toll after controversially refusing to lock down

 -New York Post

New York Gov. Cuomo extends stay-at-home order until at least May 15

 -CNN

Wisconsin extends stay-at-home order through May 26, closes schools for rest of academic year

 -The Hill

UK coronavirus lockdown extended at least three more weeks

 -The Hill

Europe's largest economy Germany extends coronavirus lockdown until May 3

 -Yahoo Finance

Smithfield Foods Becomes Largest Coronavirus Hotbed In United States, South Dakota Governor Yet To Mandate Stay Home Order

 -Forbes

"Smithfield Foods' meat processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has become the largest coronavirus hotbed in the United States with about 735 associate cases, while Gov. Kristi Noem has yet to issue a stay-at-home order."

5 Tyson employees have died of COVID-19, as hundreds of slaughterhouse workers fall ill. Tyson still does not offer paid sick leave.

 -Business Insider

Red state Murica! Where the billionaires make you work til you drop dead.

Some stimulus checks are being sent to wrong accounts: 'The bank account number is not even close'

 -USA Today

Delays to coronavirus stimulus cash cause anxiety, confusion: 'This is all just insane.' Americans are on edge as some get their payments while others wait — and struggle to use the new IRS system to speed up the process.

 -NBC News

Murica!

Paycheck Protection Program officially runs out of money

 -MSNBC

Muricaaa!

Republicans spent the last 40 years looting and destroying the government.

The Trump administration paid a bankrupt company with zero employees $55 million for N95 masks, which it's never manufactured

 -Business Insider

Republicans who seek political power are morally unfit to wield that power.

Republican politicians are predatory sociopaths.

People who have empathy and compassion become bleeding heart liberals.

'Empathy matters': Joe Biden's endorsers highlight the same trait

 -CNN

People who are predatory sociopaths become Republicans.

Voting for a Republican is like putting a wolf in charge of a hen house.

"Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem."

-Ronald Reagan, Republican

"My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."

-Grover Norquist, Republican

Now we see the result of corrupt Republican anti-governmentalism: an underfunded, understaffed, dysfunctional government that can't even get the most basic shit done.

The decades-long Republican attack on the government is the main reason why far more people will die in America than in countries with functioning, well-funded governments, who have  free universal healthcare and who pay their citizens a  monthly salary to stay home until it's safe to go outside again.

Government is your friend, when it's not run by Republican predators.

Study: Universal healthcare system would save lives, improve healthcare

 -Health Exec

When you drown the government in the bathtub, people die

 -Washington Post

Biden: Trump presenting a 'false choice' between health and economy

 -MSNBC

Warren: Testing, equipment two biggest failures of COVID-19 response

 -MSNBC

The US is investigating the theory that the COVID-19 virus was accidentally released from a Chinese lab

 -Business Insider

The headline should read: Trump tries to find someone else to blame for his failure to prepare America for a pandemic.

China may have conducted banned nuclear test blasts, US says

 -South China Morning Post

"Report, which does not provide evidence of tests, could worsen ties already strained by US claims about Beijing mishandling coronavirus outbreak"

World War 3, here we come.

While Trump Plays The Blame Game, Governors Will Set The Pace On Reopening The States

-The Late Show

Merkel defends WHO during call with international leaders

 -The Hill

Germany's leader Angela Merkel is a doctor in quantum chemistry. She knows a thing or two about science and public health. Merkel is a hundred times smarter than Trump.

'We need them!' ER Doc blasts Trump halting W.H.O. funds amid pandemic

 -MSNBC

W.H.O., Now Trump's Scapegoat, Warned About Coronavirus Early and Often. The World Health Organization, always cautious, acted more forcefully and faster than many national governments. But President Trump has decided to cut off U.S. funding to the organization.

 -New York Times

Trump is trying to drown WHO in the bathtub. Because that's what Republicans do. Destroy and loot public institutions and give the money to billionaires. Republicans are predators who steal from the poor and give to the rich.

He's doing the same thing to the post office:

Trump's war against the Postal Service could have another casualty: tens of thousands of military veterans with disabilities

 -Business Insider

"USPS is one of the largest employers of veterans nationwide: Nearly 100,000 military veterans are employed by the agency, or about 15% of its entire workforce. The agency estimated that at least 60% of its veteran employees have a disability rating."

And he's also gutting the VA:

Feb 13: President Trump's Extreme Budget Cuts Hurt Veterans

 -House Committee on the Budget

"Destructive Cuts to Health Programs Put Veterans' Health at Risk"

And he's taking health care away from Americans during the time when they need it the most:

Feb 10: Trump budget includes deep cuts to health care and safety net programs

 -CNN

Feb 11: President Trump's budget cuts target Medicaid, Medicare

 -Health Care Finance

Feb 26: Trump administration budget cuts could become a major problem as coronavirus spreads

 -Fortune

Republicans are the enemies of the people. They work for the 1%.

Feb 21, 2019: The GOP tax law showers benefits on the wealthy and large corporations while abandoning middle-class Americans and Main Street businesses

 -House Committee of the Budget

Oct 10, 2019: Trump Tax Cuts Helped Billionaires Pay Less Taxes Than The Working Class In 2018

 -Forbes

"For the first time in American history, the 400 wealthiest people paid a lower tax rate than any other group, according to a new study by economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman at the University of California, Berkeley."

Speaking of right-wing scumbags...

Brazil's president fires health minister after dispute over coronavirus response

 -The Hill

He's Brazil's Trump. He's also putting the lives of his people at risk for corporate profits.

March 23: Trump cares more about the stock market than humans

 -Washington Post

March 23: Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro says coronavirus crisis is a media trick. Far-right president has resisted strong measures to stop spread of what he calls a 'little flu'

 -The Guardian

March 31: Brazil's Bolsonaro Blasted For Coronavirus Response, As Twitter, Facebook Remove Post

 -Forbes

"Twitter and Facebook removed a video of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro talking about an experimental coronavirus treatment, classifying it as misinformation, as Bolsonaro increasingly comes under fire for his "coronavirus-denial" and response to the pandemic, including attacks on public officials for enacting social-distancing rules.

"This medicine here, hydroxychloroquine, is working in every place," Bolsonaro incorrectly claimed while talking to a street vendor in the video, which was posted to the Brazilian president's Facebook and Twitter accounts before the platforms removed it."

April 15: Anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine does NOT speed up coronavirus recovery, Chinese study finds in another blow for drug hopeful after Brazilian trial was called off because of heart problems

 -Daily Mail

And today he fired the Brazilian version of Fauci.

It's like we're living in the fucking twilight zone.

The power crazed crook in the Kremlin: The Oligarchs thought he'd last one term... until he brought them ruthlessly to heel. Now Putin has the West in his sights

 -Daily Mail

US military tracks Russian launch of anti-satellite missile toward space. The apparent test involved a system with the ability to destroy a target in low Earth orbit.

 -Cnet

Ominous.

Without satellites, the US military doesn't function. Everything is based on satellites. They're America's Achilles' heel.

FRIDAY, APRIL 17: THE JOKER IS NOT YOUR FRIEND

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker shuts down schools for rest of academic year as state reports new single-day high in coronavirus cases

 -Chicago Tribune

Trump Blames WHO and Rushes to "Open Up America Again": A Closer Look

-Late Night with Seth Meyers

Trump tweets support for protestors against stay-at-home orders

-CBS News

In Twitter showdown, Trump calls to 'liberate' states with Covid-19 stay-home orders

 -France 24

'LIBERATE': Trump tweets support for anti-lockdown protests. After saying governors would decide when to reopen, Trump urges supporters to 'LIBERATE' some states led by Democrats.

 -Aljazeera

Trump Foments Protests Against Governors; Experts Warn of Testing Shortages. The president issued calls to 'LIBERATE' states, and several announced plans to ease restrictions. At least 7,000 of the virus deaths in the U.S. are connected to nursing homes.

 -New York Times

Trump blasts new coronavirus message: 'LIBERATE' swing states that have Democratic governors

 -Yahoo News

The madness of King Donald: Trump's crazy and predictable about-face on coronavirus shutdowns

 -New York Daily News

Trump's 'unhinged rantings' could lead to violence amid a pandemic, Gov. Jay Inslee says

 -NPR

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."

 -NBC News

I bet you were rolling your eyes at me on Wednesday, when I compared Trump to Caligula and emperor Palpatine.

You're not rolling your eyes anymore now, are ya?

If a Russian agent posed as US president and wanted to inflict maximum chaos and damage on America, he'd behave exactly like Trump does.

"Baghdad Don": Trump blasted for most inept response to "any crisis in history"

 -MSNBC

Trump's devious -- and brilliant \-- coronavirus election strategy

 -CNN

"The President then doubled down on the strategy this morning with less subtle tweets saying "LIBERATE MINNESOTA," and "LIBERATE MICHIGAN," and "LIBERATE VIRGINIA."

Michigan drivers jam capital to protest coronavirus stay-at-home order

 -CNN

Protesters assemble in front of New Jersey Statehouse to assail stay-at-home order

 -Politico

The social-distancing deniers have arrived

 -CNN

Florida beach is crowded within 30 MINUTES of reopening at 5pm, despite state recording 1,413 new COVID-19 cases - its highest one-day increase since the pandemic crisis began

 -Daily Mail

It's official: Trump cult members are the dumbest fucking people on the planet.

They're proof that evolution is real.

MAGA minions are exterminating themselves at anti-lockdown protests. That's evolution. It's Darwinism in action: the dumb die.

I wish a reporter would ask Trump if he believes in evolution at the next propaganda briefing. I'd love to hear Trump's verbal diarrhea.

SATURDAY, APRIL 18: PUTIN'S WET DREAM

Most World Leaders See Approval Ratings Surge Amid Coronavirus. Not Trump.

 -Forbes

No wonder.

U.S. coronavirus death toll passes 35,000, cases top 700,000

 -Reuters

Putin leverages coronavirus chaos to make a direct play to Trump

 -CNN

"President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin appear to have had more sustained contact with each other in the past two weeks than at any time since 2016, as the Kremlin tries to use the coronavirus pandemic and close personal ties between the two leaders to normalize long-strained relations with Washington."

No wonder these past few weeks Trump has been acting even more like a Russian asset than usual.

Aug 29, 2019: US spies say Trump's G7 performance suggests he's either a 'Russian asset' or a 'useful idiot' for Putin

 -Business Insider

Oct 22, 2019: Former CIA official says Russia benefits most from Trump foreign policy, Putin must wake up thinking he "must be dreaming"

 -Newsweek

Keep that in mind while reading today's headlines:

65 percent of U.S. adults say Donald Trump was too slow to respond to COVID-19 outbreak

 -Newsweek

Trump says US investigating whether coronavirus spread after China lab mishap but cites no evidence

 -USA Today

Trump Says China May Be 'Knowingly Responsible' for Virus

 -Bloomberg

Trump says China should face consequences for knowingly spreading coronavirus, unless it was a "mistake"

 -Newsweek

Trump Warns Of 'Consequences' If China Was 'Knowingly Responsible' For Outbreak

 -NPR

This is how Trump is trying to start a war with China before the November elections. World War 3, here we come.

And who benefits if America and China fight? Russia.

Protesters in Texas, other states demand end to lockdowns day after Trump's 'LIBERATE' tweets. Demonstrators are calling for states to "open now."

 -NBC News

An anti-lockdown protest in Austin, Texas, drew anti-vaxxers and Trump supporters chanting 'Fire Fauci'

 -Business Insider

Trump's death cult is literally chanting  Russian propaganda talking points from Operation Infektion.

New Jersey governor: If you think coronavirus is "just the flu," you're "wrong"

-CBS News

Democrat governors resist Trump's calls to 'liberate' amid huge protests: Minnesota's Tim Walz says it will take 'more than a two-word tweet' for his state to reopen while Washington's Jay Inslee claims president is 'fomenting a domestic rebellion'

 -Daily Mail

That's Putin's wet dream.

Trump is playing with fire

 -CNN

No, he's setting fires. That's what Russian saboteurs do.

COVID-19 Protesters Just Like Rosa Parks, Says White House Adviser Stephen Moore

 -Huffington Post

Welcome to the twilight zone.

Florida's Governor Allowed Beaches To Reopen As Coronavirus Cases In The State Surpassed 25,000

 -BuzzFeed

Close to 1,000 attend Utah Business Revival rally; two more Utahns die of COVID-19

 -Salt Lake Tribune

Operation reopen America: are we about to witness a second historic failure of leadership from Trump? Without mass testing, contact tracing, and protective equipment for health workers – all in critically short supply – the president's plan could be disastrous

 -The Guardian

Trump is insane: And it's time for leading Democrats to say that out loud. Rational Americans already understand that our president is mentally ill. Will Democrats ever speak truth to power?

 -Salon

Pentagon extends travel ban for all troops to June 30

 -Politico

Gee, if ending the lockdown is such a brilliant idea right now, why isn't the US military ending their lockdown?

Massive Gathering In South Los Angeles Leads To Arrests

 -CBS News

Gov. Gavin Newsom on protests and President Trump's 'liberate' tweets

-Los Angeles Times

Stunning images show empty NYC under coronavirus lockdown

-CBS News

Cuomo says nursing homes are "feeding frenzy" for coronavirus outbreaks

-CBS News

'An absolute war' breaks out as coronavirus spreads in Alabama nursing homes

 -AL.com

The Food Chain's Weakest Link: Slaughterhouses. A relatively small number of plants process much of the beef and pork in the United States, and some of them have closed because workers are getting sick.

 -New York Times

Thousands wait in line at San Antonio food bank

-ABC News

Native American tribes struggle with coronavirus crisis

-CBS News

Harvard Researchers Advocate Economic Aid for 'Devastated' Native American Tribes Amid Pandemic

 -The Harvard Crimson

Amid coronavirus, tribes say they aren't getting help they need from federal government

 -CNN

Native American tribes file suit against U.S. Treasury over $8 billion in coronavirus relief to keep money from going to corporations

 -Newsweek

Some gas prices drop under a dollar per gallon due to coronavirus

 -New York Post

Broadway Star Nick Cordero Undergoes Surgery to Amputate Leg Due to Coronavirus Complications

 -People

Experimental COVID-19 Drug Remdesivir Might Be Working, US Trial Shows

 -Observer

French President Emmanuel Macron says the coronavirus pandemic will remake capitalism

 -Business Insider

The US is becoming  a warning to the world of how corrupt, destructive, incompetent and inhumane America's version of  predatory capitalism really is. And Putin couldn't be happier.

Spain's coronavirus death toll rises to over 20,000

 -CNN

North Korean lecturers say there are confirmed coronavirus cases in the country: RFA

 -Reuters

More Than 1,000 French Sailors Test Positive For Coronavirus—On A Single Ship

 -Forbes

Singapore sees huge surge in new virus cases

 -PBS

Coronavirus: Japan doctors warn of health system 'break down' as cases surge

-BBC

SUNDAY, APRIL 19: LETTING IT WASH OVER

Former California mayor, 72, dies in a small plane crash days after he quit, following outrage over him calling Trump 'racist' and comparing his supporters to the KKK

 -Daily Mail

Maryland governor: 'Absolutely false' for Trump to say states have testing capacity to reopen

 -The Hill

'Delusional,' 'Absolutely false': Governors cry foul on Trump testing claims. Experts have said testing would need to be at least doubled from current levels in order to allow for even a partial reopening of America's economy.

 -NBC News

Pence defends Trump's 'LIBERATE' tweets He said the president is not trying to undermine local authority.

 -Politico

Pence is lying to cover Trump's ass, as usual. He knows that undermining local authority is exactly what Trump is doing.

GOP Governor Criticizes Trump for Encouraging State Protests Against Stay-at-Home Orders: 'It Just Doesn't Make Any Sense'

 -Newsweek

Coronavirus lockdown protests break out across America calling for restrictions to be lifted

-The Telegraph

Trump Defends Right-Wing Protesters Fighting Coronavirus Restrictions: 'These Are Great People.' The president's enabling response to the anti-safety protesters echoed his handling of the 2017 violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

 -Huffington Post

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer isn't backing down in the face of protests over stay-at-home order during the coronavirus outbreak

 -Chicago Tribune

Back to work protests spread to Texas. Texas became the latest U.S. state hit by a protest largely from supporters of President Donald Trump anxious to get back to work.

-Reuters

Health Care Workers Block Denver Protesters Calling For End To Stay-At-Home Orders

 -Huffington Post

Powerful photos show healthcare workers quietly standing up to anti-lockdown protesters in Denver

 -Business Insider

NBC News/WSJ Poll: Majority of Americans disapprove of Trump's COVID-19 response

 -MSNBC

At least 7,300 deaths confirmed at nursing homes around the nation

-CBS News

US coronavirus death toll tops 40,000 as researchers call for more testing before reopening economy

 -CNN

The COVID-19 Death Undercount Is Scarier Than You Think

 -The Daily Beast

Europe reaches grim milestone, surpasses 100,000 coronavirus deaths

 -NBC News

How did Britain get its coronavirus response so wrong?

 -The Guardian

Boris Johnson decided to let it wash over Britain. Just like Trump wanted to let it  wash over the US. This is the result.

March 16: The UK is scrambling to correct its coronavirus strategy

 -MIT Technology Review

"A new report issued by a group of experts advising the UK government offers a blistering assessment of the country's previous "herd immunity" approach to coronavirus, suggesting that as many as 250,000 people could die as a result—and that it would do little to stop health-care facilities from being overwhelmed."

April 1: Trump says the UK's coronavirus plan for 'herd immunity' would have been 'catastrophic' and caused 'a lot of death'

 -Business Insider

And yet, now Trump is trying to do exactly the same thing in the US.

April 11: Trump Asked Fauci Why Health Officials Couldn't Simply Let Coronavirus 'Wash Over' the Country

 -The Daily Beast

"In a conversation with Dr. Anthony Fauci last month, President Trump questioned why health officials couldn't simply let the coronavirus pandemic "wash over the country," according to The Washington Post. In his desire to reopen the country as soon as possible, Trump reportedly wanted to know why the United States could not simply decline to take countermeasures against COVID-19, with an aim of reaching a critical mass of immunity faster. Fauci, reportedly aghast, said, "Mr. president, many people will die." Public health experts agree that if the coronavirus is not contained, hundreds of thousands will die."

Trump KNOWS that opening the lockdown right now, to let the virus wash over America, is going to kill a lot of Americans. And he's trying to pin the blame for it on China:

As U.S. investigates Wuhan lab leak theory, senior China researcher says allegations are "malicious, impossible"

 -Newsweek

Navarro: 'It's incumbent on China to prove' lab played no role in coronavirus outbreak

 -The Hill

Trump warns of consequences if China 'knowingly responsible' for COVID-19

-Aljazeera

Trump is playing a deadly game in deflecting Covid-19 blame to China

 -The Guardian

Trump said China may have started the coronavirus deliberately, as top advisers claim attacking Beijing may be the best way for the president to save his job

 -Business Insider

So in other words, he's blatantly lying to benefit himself.

What else is new?

100,000 gather for funeral in Bangladesh, defying lockdown and sparking outbreak fears

 -CNN

179 recovered coronavirus patients in South Korea tested positive again

 -New York Post

Coronavirus could push Americans to lobby for a social safety net like Europe's, experts say

 -CNBC

On a lighter note...

Japan is offering sex workers financial aid. But they say it's not enough to survive the coronavirus pandemic

 -CNN

MONDAY, APRIL 20: THE WORST IS YET TO COME

Alex Jones joins Texas protest against coronavirus lockdown orders as crowds chant 'Fire Fauci'

 -The Independent

The guy who claimed vaccines are a hoax and the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax, now claims the pandemic is a hoax.

Imagine my surprise.

WWARAD? What would a Russian asset do?

The White House Has Erected A Blockade Stopping States and Hospitals From Getting Coronavirus PPE

 -New York Intelligencer

Illinois Gov. Pritzker Secretly Bought Medical Supplies From China. And The White House Is Not Happy.

 -Forbes

Pritzker says secret charter flights to China needed to keep feds from seizing medical supplies

 -Washington Examiner

Think about how insane this is. Trump is actively sabotaging the states' ability to protect their health care workers.

WWARAD? What would a Russian asset do?

The 52 most off-the-wall lines from Donald Trump's Sunday night coronavirus briefing

 -CNN

Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina Say Businesses Can Reopen Soon. Even as some states move to restart their economies, coronavirus hot spots are emerging, including at a state prison in Ohio.

 -New York Times

Georgia to open gyms, nail salons, bowling alleys and more on Friday, restaurants and movie theaters next Monday

 -Business Insider

RIP Georgia.

Trump says he'll win 2020 'in a landslide' as U.S. death toll tops 42,000

 -MSNBC

Coronavirus: WHO chief warns 'the worst is yet ahead of us'

-The Telegraph

Nurses urge residents to stay home during a protest at Pennsylvania's capitol

 -CNN

Fauci takes heat from protestors of stay-at-home orders, says ignoring guidelines will 'backfire'

 -USA Today

Kentucky sees highest spike in coronavirus cases after protests against lockdown

 -The Hill

Thousands descending on reopened Florida beaches prompts #FloridaMorons trend on Twitter as coronavirus cases continue to rise in the state

 -Daily Mail

Coronavirus's ability to mutate has been vastly underestimated, and mutations affect deadliness of strains, Chinese study finds

 -South China Morning Post

"The most aggressive strains of Sars-CoV-2 could generate 270 times as much viral load as the least potent type. New York may have a deadlier strain imported from Europe, compared to less deadly viruses elsewhere in the United States"

Pastor defends asking congregants to donate stimulus checks. CNN's Victor Blackwell asks Life Tabernacle Church Pastor Tony Spell about his request for followers to donate their coronavirus stimulus checks to the church.

-CNN

Arrest Warrant Issued for Pastor Tony Spell, Says He Won't Surrender

 -TMZ

Coronavirus: Immigration to US to be suspended amid pandemic, Trump says

-BBC

Donald Trump bans ALL immigration into the U.S. to 'protect jobs' as coronavirus pandemic puts 22 million Americans out of work - but critics call it 'pointless' because country is already shut

 -Daily Mail

Oil Is Now Worth Less Than Nothing. Monday started like any other gloomy Monday in the oil market's worst crisis in a generation. It ended with prices falling below zero, thrusting markets into a parallel universe where traders were willing to pay $40 a barrel just to get somebody to take crude off their hands.

-Bloomberg

Oil futures go negative for the first time in history amid pandemic

 -MSNBC

USS America steams to intercept Chinese ships in disputed waters near Malaysia as China flexes its muscles in the region after US aircraft carrier was crippled by coronavirus

 -Daily Mail

Germany Is Treating More Than 200 Critically Ill Coronavirus Patients From Other European Countries. "That is our understanding of European solidarity," Germany's health minister said.

 -BuzzFeed

TUESDAY, APRIL 21: TRUMP THE SNAKE OIL SALESMAN

Study Of Hydroxychloroquine As Coronavirus Treatment Finds More Deaths, No Benefit

 -Huffington Post

NIH Panel Recommends Against Drug Combination Promoted By Trump For COVID-19

 -NPR

Fox News falls out of love with hydroxychloroquine

 -CNN

Turns out the drug Trump has been hyping like a snake oil salesman at a carnival doesn't help against coronavirus, but it does kill people. Oops!

Donald Trump Really Wants You to Take This Drug

-Vice News

So what does Trump do? Apologize? Admit his mistake?

No, of course not. Telling the truth is for pussies.

Trump grilled over continued promotion of hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus

-The Guardian

Reporter accuses Trump of "promoting" hydroxychloroquine as COVID-19 treatment

-Ruptly

Instead of admitting that he was wrong, he creates the next scandal, to distract from the previous scandal:

Trump Issues New Immigration Ban On Hitler's Birthday

 -Hip Latina

"Yesterday, President Donald Trump issued a new executive order that would prohibit immigrants from entering the United States to live and work. Interestingly enough, the order was released late last night — on April 20 — which is known for honoring weed but also happens to be Adolf Hitler's birthday. Yikes!"

'Deliberately Cruel': Millions of US Citizens Blocked From Stimulus Payments Because They Married Immigrants

 -Common Dreams

Racists love Trump because they recognize him as one of their own.

But he didn't just copy Hitler's racism. Hitler was also a big fan of angry mobs.

Trump Indulges His Penchant For Chanting Mobs By Tweeting Encouragement To Lockdown Protesters

-Late Show with Stephen Colbert

How Trump allies have organized and promoted anti-lockdown protests.

 -Reuters

Jimmy Kimmel's Quarantine Monologue – Trump Encourages Stay at Home Protests

-Jimmy KImmel Live

Who's Behind the "Reopen" Domain Surge?

 -Krebs on Security

Some anti-lockdown protests are reportedly being organized by groups funded by Republican mega-donors

 -The Week

Remember a few days ago, when Republicans refused to allow people in Wisconsin to vote by mail because Republicans know they can't win if a lot of people vote?

Well, the people who were forced to vote in person during a deadly pandemic are now getting sick.

19 Wisconsin coronavirus cases reportedly linked to Election Day

 -MSNBC

Georgia's governor hit with wave of backlash over plans to begin reopening the state's economy on Friday

 -Business Insider

Trump tells Georgia governor he supports move to reopen despite public health experts' concerns, source says

 -CNN

Alabama senator on Georgia reopening economy: 'It's just crazy'

 -MSNBC

Lindsey Graham worried Georgia reopening is going "too fast too soon"

 -Newsweek

'I Am Beyond Disturbed': Internal Dissent as States Reopen Despite Virus

 -New York Times

Trump boasts his briefings have 'great ratings' as US coronavirus deaths near 43,000

 -The Independent

Trevor Noah: Trump's Response To Coronavirus Is Exposing His Lack Of Leadership

-Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Republican Group Endorses Biden With Anti-Trump Ad In Battleground States

 -Huffington Post

That's a big deal.

Meanwhile, Brazil's Trump...

Bolsonaro joins anti-lockdown coronavirus protests in Brazil

-The Guardian

Bolsonaro won't help with coronavirus, so Brazil's favelas are helping themselves

-The Guardian

Rioting in Paris as police are accused of being 'heavy-handed' in COVID-19 lockdown

-The Sun

And who has been behind the riots in Paris all along?

Dec 14, 2018: How Putin and the Far Right Played the Paris Yellow Vests Protests. Russia didn't trigger the Gilets Jaunes. But Putin and the far right want to see Paris burn and Europe weakened and divided, so they jumped at the chance to contaminate and manipulate them

 -Haaretz

Dec 15, 2018: France's 'yellow vests' and the Russian trolls that encourage them. Russian social media trolls reportedly helped stoke the 'yellow vest' protests — France's largest demonstrations in years.

 -Deutsche Welle

And now Putin is doing the same thing in the US.

Russia reports 5,642 new coronavirus cases and record 51 deaths as Moscow demands a 'thorough study' into whether the virus was made in a lab

 -Daily Mail

Putin isn't really interested in finding out whether the virus was made in a Chinese lab. Remember, Russia keeps spreading the disinformation lie that coronavirus was made in an American lab:

Feb 3: Russian Media Outlets are Blaming the Coronavirus on the United States. Conspiracies pushed by Kremlin-linked sites allege the epidemic is an American bioweapon.

 -Mother Jones

Feb 23: Coronavirus: Russia pushing fake news about US using outbreak to 'wage economic war' on China, officials say

 -South China Morning Post

Feb 24: US accuses Russia of spreading conspiracies about the Wuhan coronavirus, including that it's a CIA biological weapon

 -Business Insider

March 18: Russian Military: Virus 'Affects Only the Mongol Race'

 -The Daily Beast

I think it's only a matter of time, before Putin claims to have evidence that the virus was created by the CIA. And Trump will use that Russian disinformation to rile up angry mobs against "the Deep State" in the US.

And voila, suddenly there are brainwashed Trump loyalists rioting in the streets, against law enforcement.

Chaos in America. Exactly what Putin wants.

Anyway, back to today's headlines:

Boris Johnson too 'frightened' from coronavirus scare to ease UK lockdown

 -New York Post

'I don't want this job to kill me': why have 68 New York transit workers died during the pandemic?

 -The Guardian

Air-conditioning spread the coronavirus to 9 people sitting near an infected person in a restaurant, researchers say. It has huge implications for the service industry.

 -Business Insider

CDC Director Warns A Second Coronavirus Wave Would Be 'Even More Difficult.'

 -Forbes

Coronavirus: World risks 'biblical' famines due to pandemic - UN

-BBC

Coronavirus pandemic 'will cause famine of biblical proportions.' Governments must act now to stop 265 million starving, warns World Food Programme boss

 -The Guardian

Michael Moore Releases 'Planet Of The Humans' Documentary For Free On Eve Of Earth Day

 -Deadline

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22: WAR, WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?

McConnell pushes 'bankruptcy route' as local governments struggle

 -Politico

"Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday insisted that flailing state and local governments should be able to "use the bankruptcy route" rather than receive aid from the federal government — signaling renewed opposition to a top Democratic demand for the next coronavirus relief package."

So, first Trump and his corrupt accomplices told the state governors that they have to figure out on their own how to get people tested, and how to get enough protective equipment for their health care workers:

Reopening the economy depends on testing. Trump is leaving that up to the states.

 -Washington Post

Trump: U.S. states, not federal government, must improve testing

 -Reuters

Then Trump forced the governors to bid against each other for medical supplies on the open market:

States are bidding against each other and the federal government for important medical supplies — and it's driving up prices

 -CNBC

States Competing in 'Global Jungle' for PPE. For weeks, states have been locked in bidding wars with each other and the federal government for medical supplies needed to fight coronavirus.

 -US News & World Report

In Desperation, New York State Pays Up to 15 Times the Normal Prices for Medical Equipment. State data shows that New York is paying enormous markups for vital supplies, including almost $250,000 for an X-ray machine.

 -ProPublica

Then Trump confiscated the medical supplies the governors bought:

What's Up with the Feds Seizing PPE Shipments to States and Hospitals?

 -Talking Points Memo

The White House Has Erected a Blockade Stopping States and Hospitals From Getting Coronavirus PPE

 -New York Intelligencer

States and Hospitals Are Essentially Smuggling PPE Because They're Afraid the Feds Will Seize It

 -Law & Crime

And now Trump and Moscow Mitch told the states they won't get the financial aid they need, and they should just file for bankruptcy:

Mitch McConnell says cash-strapped states hit by the coronavirus should go bankrupt rather than receive emergency federal aid

 -Business Insider

So in other words, Republican con men are purposely bankrupting Democratic states.

New York mayor De Blasio asks if Trump is telling city to 'drop dead' over Covid-19. Mayor of city at center of coronavirus outbreak says not enough is being done to help finances of areas struck by pandemic

 -The Guardian

De Blasio Accuses Trump of Letting New Yorkers Die. "He will not lift a finger," the New York City mayor says of the Queens-born president.

 -Vanity Fair

Trump and his utterly corrupt henchmen are not just failing to respond to the pandemic. They're actively sabotaging the mayors and governors who're trying to save American lives.

How the Trump administration has stood in the way of PPE distribution

 -Vox

It's exactly the same malignant thought process as inciting anti-lockdown riots in Democratic states to undermine Democratic governors and create chaos:

Trump Foments Protests Against Governors

 -New York Times

Critics Accuse Trump of Inciting Violence With Bizarre Tweets Calling for States to 'LIBERATE': He's 'Encouraging Civil Unrest'

 -Mediaite

Flashback:

Nov 5, 2018: Trump Isn't Inciting Violence by Mistake, But on Purpose. He Just Told Us.

 -New York Intelligencer

March 15, 2019: Trump warns 'tough' supporters could turn things 'very bad' if provoked. Democrats argue the comments amount to a potential threat of violence.

 -ABC News

March 15, 2019: Trump: It Would Be "Very Bad" If My Biker Friends Got "Tough" On Left Wing Opponents

 -Esquire

Oct 2, 2019: Armed Militias Are Taking Trump's Civil War Tweets Seriously

 -Lawfare

Oct 5, 2019: Why Trump, Facing Impeachment, Warns of Civil War

 -New Yorker

WWARAD? What would a Russian asset do?

Feb 20, 2018: Biggest threat to US democracy in plain sight: Trump must stop denigrating his own intelligence community and come clean on the Russia connections

 -Gulf News

"Democracy is in serious danger. United States President Donald Trump may have been compromised by the Russians, but he has shown himself unwilling or unable to defend America against a Russian campaign to divide and undermine democracy in America."

But wait, there's more...

'Mother of All Distractions': Amid Covid-19 Failures, Trump Threatens War With Order to 'Shoot Down' Iranian Boats. "If the xenophobia isn't doing the trick and providing a good enough distraction, there's always the classic authoritarian move: gin up a war."

 -Common Dreams

Trump tweets he's ordered Navy to destroy Iranian gunboats

 -NBC News

And here's the real reason why Trump is suddenly threatening Iran:

Oil Prices Rise as Trump Tweets Threat Against Iran

 -The Motley Fool

Dow Jones Jumps 450 Points On Surging Oil Prices In Coronavirus Stock Market Rally

 -Investor's Business Daily

You wanna bet that Trump made a nice amount of money in the stock market today? And all he had to do was threaten Iran with war. That drove up the collapsing oil price, and that drove up the stock market.

Consoler-in-chief? Lacking empathy, Trump weighs the economic costs, not the human ones

 -The Guardian

Sacrificing American lives on the altar of the Dow Jones

 -The Hill

You think Trump is so rich, he doesn't need to use dirty tricks to make a few bucks? Think again...

Epidemic hits billionaires, too. Forbes says Donald Trump lost $1 billion in a month.

 -Miami Herald

Trump's Company Seeks to Ease Financial Crunch as Coronavirus Takes Toll. As companies nationwide look for relief, the Trump Organization has talked with Deutsche Bank and a Florida county about delaying payments on some loans and other obligations.

 -New York Times

Trump Org Reportedly Seeking Debt Help From Deutsche As Bank Is Probed By DOJ. Former White House ethics chief Walter Shaub called it the "absolute nightmare" he has warned against.

 -Huffington Post

Trump Asks Deutsche Bank and Palm Beach County to Give His Businesses a Break. We're one step closer to the nightmare conflict-of-interest scenario.

 -Mother Jones

By the way, here's something you probably didn't know about Hitler: He used his political office to get out of paying taxes and enrich himself.

Adolf Hitler: Billionaire tax-dodger?

 -USA Today

"Hitler's actual tax records survive and suggest that he was a 'cash-in-hand' businessman and a serial tax evader. He owed the German taxman a small fortune when he became supreme leader in 1933."

Hitler Revealed As A Tax Dodger

 -New York Times

"Through all the years before the Nazis gained power in Germany, Hitler fought with the tax collector over every pfenning. It was also known that in 1935, after two years in office as Germany's Chancellor, Hitler was declared exempt from taxes."

Adolf Hitler: Secret Billionaire

 -The Daily Beast

"Hitler had amassed a personal fortune in property, art and cash worth in excess of $6 billion."

That's what really motivates all dictators: money.

Is Vladimir Putin the world's richest person? Congress sets out to find Russian president's hidden net worth

 -Newsweek

Vladimir Putin Is Reportedly Richer Than Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos Combined

 -Fortune

THURSDAY, APRIL 23: DR. NECKFAT STRIKES AGAIN

Doctor in charge of vaccine research says he was fired over questioning drug touted by Trump

-CBS News

Top Vaccine Official Says He Was Demoted For Resisting Unproven Drug Pushed By Trump

 -Huffington Post

A top US vaccine scientist says he was ousted from his job for refusing to tout 'unproven' coronavirus treatments

 -Business Insider

Trump is systematically eliminating America's defenses against the virus. How long until he fires Fauci?

Trump says he disagrees with Fauci on testing capabilities

 -The Hill

WWARAD? What would a Russian asset do?

Trump Suggests Injecting Disinfectant Into The Body To Treat Coronavirus

-MSNBC

Coronavirus: Trump suggests injecting disinfectant as treatment

-BBC

Trump suggests 'injection' of disinfectant to beat coronavirus and 'clean' the lungs

 -NBC News

"I'm The President, And You're Fake News": Donald Trump Lashes Out As He Calls For Testing Injections Of UV Rays, Disinfectants To Kill Coronavirus

 -Deadline

Twitter names Trump the 'Tide Pods' president after he suggests disinfectant injections

 -USA Today

Yupp... today Dr. Neckfat told his adoring fans to inject bleach into their veins.

You can't make this shit up.

He is without a doubt the dumbest man to ever be president.

And the scary part is that his cult followers are even dumber.

Here's a video of MAGA minions harassing and insulting health care workers, because they think the virus is just a hoax, and the health care workers are just actors:

 Video: MAGA minions... the dumbest fucking people on the planet

 -Reddit

And Trump encourages this shit!

Jimmy Kimmel on Trump's protest praise: 'Irresponsible to the most unbelievable degree' Late-night hosts condemn the protests to reopen the country and the president's encouragement to violate his own guidelines

 -The Guardian

Oh, and remember how hard Trump was pushing to re-open the states? The dumbfuck governor of Georgia listened. He got a ton of flack for it, but he figured his blind obedience would please God Emperor Trump.

Yeah, no, not so much:

Donald Trump just threw Georgia's governor directly under the bus on coronavirus

 -CNN

Trump approved of Georgia's plan to reopen before bashing it

-Associated Press

Why Trump flipped on Georgia's reopening plan

-CNN

Trump reverses course, says it's 'too soon' for Georgia Gov. Kemp to reopen state

 -NBC News

Trump 'strongly disagrees' with Georgia governor

 -BBC

A Day After Praising Georgia Gov Brian Kemp, Trump Says He Disagrees With Plan to Reopen State

 -Yahoo News

Trump says federal coronavirus social distancing guidelines may be extended beyond early summer

 -Newsweek

And none of his daily contradictions, none of his blatant lies, none of his betrayals bother his brainwashed cult followers in the least.

Biden predicts Trump will try to delay November election

 -Politico

Maxine Waters Reveals Her Sister Is Dying Of The Coronavirus

 -Huffington Post

Elizabeth Warren's brother has died from coronavirus

-CBS News

Firefighter's infant daughter dies of coronavirus

-ABC News

Over 30 Amazon employees test positive for COVID-19 at warehouse outside NYC

 -Business Insider

At least 840 sailors on USS Roosevelt test positive for coronavirus

 -New York Post

Florida sees sudden spike in reported coronavirus cases as more than 1,000 are confirmed

 -Miami Herald

Gee, I wonder if that has anything to do with these fucktards running to the beach in the middle of a god damn pandemic.

Mitch McConnell's "Screw The States" Plan Riles Lawmakers From Both Parties

-Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Gov. Cuomo calls Sen. McConnell's latest comment 'one of the dumbest ideas of all time'

 -MSNBC

Fears grow for the nation's food supply as Tyson shuts its largest pork processing plant as meat packing factories become coronavirus hotspots - and workers at Smithfield say they were given hair nets to wear as face masks

 -Daily Mail

Tyson will close its biggest pork plant after workers call out sick with coronavirus

 -CNN

Meat shortage fears deepen as Tyson Foods closes its largest pork plant

 -Washington Post

Las Vegas Mayor Offers City As Social Distancing 'Control Group' In Call To Reopen Businesses

 -Huffington Post

'The mayor doesn't speak for the state of Nevada:' Gov. Sisolak on mayor's calls to open Las Vegas

 -MSNBC

China donates $30 million to World Health Organization in show of "support" after Trump pulls funding

 -Newsweek

US, Chinese warships enter South China Sea as tensions rise over oil dispute

 -New York Post

FRIDAY, APRIL 24: THE TRUMP IDIOCRACY

Lysol maker issues warning against injections of disinfectant after Trump comments

 -The Hill

This is the world we live in now. This is an actual headline, not satire from SNL or The Onion.

Makers of Clorox and Lysol Warn Against Ingesting Bleach and Disinfectants

 -New York Times

'Please don't inject bleach': Trump's wild coronavirus claims prompt disbelief. During Thursday's coronavirus briefing the president floated the idea of 'an injection inside' – and medical doctors were quick to denounce it

 -The Guardian

This is so idiotic, it sounds like a deleted scene from Dumb and Dumber or Idiocracy.

Doctors Warn Against Trump's Disinfectant Suggestion for Battling COVID-19

 -NBC News

"Doctors and scientists are warning against Mr. Trump's suggestion that injecting disinfectant into the body may kill the virus. The president made the comments during Thursday's Coronavirus Task Force briefing at the White House, while also suggesting that ultraviolet light may also provide a cure."

To be fair, Trump isn't the only Republican idiot who thinks bleach can cure Covid-19:

Aug 16, 2019: The FDA Is Literally Warning People Not to Drink Bleach Now

 -Science Alert

"Church" claims bleach is coronavirus-curing "sacrament," faces wrath of FDA. Injunction forces "non-religious church" to stop selling bleach as miracle drug.

 -Ars Technica

Coronavirus: Trump claims advice to inject disinfectant was just "sarcasm"

-BBC

He's lying. As always.

'He was not joking': Fox's Neil Cavuto baffled at Trump's 'unsettling' comments about injecting 'disinfectants'

 -Raw Story

Fact check: Trump lies that he was being 'sarcastic' when he talked about injecting disinfectant

 -CNN

Revealed: leader of group peddling bleach as coronavirus 'cure' wrote to Trump this week. Mark Grenon wrote to Trump saying chlorine dioxide 'can rid the body of Covid-19' days before the president promoted disinfectant as treatment

 -The Guardian

Ain't that some shit.

FDA issues warnings on chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine after deaths and poisonings reported

 -CNBC

Is anyone surprised?

Dr. Fauci says 'there will be coronavirus in the fall' after Trump says 'may not come back at all'

 -MSNBC

Dr. Fauci says 'we will have coronavirus in the fall'

 -Market Watch

It's only a matter of time before Trump fires him.

Aides and allies making concerted effort to get Trump to stop doing daily briefings

 -CNN

America is failing to handle its worst crisis in 80 years

 -NBC News

GOP memo urges anti-China assault over coronavirus

 -Politico

'Don't defend Trump – attack China': coronavirus strategy revealed in Republican memo

 -South China Morning Post

"Party sent out detailed 57-page document advising candidates on everything from dealing with accusations of racism to tying Democrat opponents to Beijing Memo calls coronavirus a 'Chinese hit-and-run', telling Republicans to say they will push for sanctions over country's role in 'spreading pandemic'"

Cuomo to McConnell on passing state bankruptcy law: "I dare you"

 -CBS News

Gov. Cuomo slams McConnell: New York bails you out

-CNN

There's trouble brewing.

Coronavirus: US death toll passes 50,000 in world's deadliest outbreak

-BBC

Doctors Warn COVID-19 Can Cause Sudden Strokes in People Under 50. Coronavirus has been linked to blood clots in age groups previously not deemed at risk.

 -Men's Health

5 young New Yorkers with mild COVID-19 were recently hospitalized with strokes. Doctors say the coronavirus can cause blood clots.

 -Business Insider

Georgia business owners are conflicted as the state reopens hair salons, gyms and bowling alleys

 -CNN

Georgia mayor on reopening: It's like the 'Twilight Zone'

-CNN

More coronavirus cases reported at 24 South Florida grocery stores, including Publix

 -Miami Herald

Protesters drive through Las Vegas demanding the Strip be re-opened while armed demonstrators surround the Wisconsin state capitol as thousands continue anti-lockdown rallies across the US

 -Daily Mail

A Few Thousand Protest Stay-at-Home Order at Wisconsin State Capitol. The protest was one of the nation's largest gatherings to date to condemn lockdown orders enacted by state and local governments.

 -New York Times

Nowhere else in the world are people this stupid.

Coronavirus: test booking website swamped as thousands apply

-BBC

'This Is A Tsunami': Queens Food Pantry Overwhelmed In Face Of COVID-19

-NBC News

World Food Program director David Beasley on coronavirus: "The worst is yet to come"

 -CBS News

Gov Cuomo says coronavirus arrived in New York from Europe after 2.2million obliviously arrived on flights in January and February while the world was still focused on China and warns 'an outbreak anywhere is an outbreak everywhere'

 -Daily Mail

Gov. Newsom announces plan for restaurants to deliver 3 meals daily to seniors at no charge

 -Newsweek

New York City will distribute 500,000 free halal meals to Muslims during Ramadan

 -CNN

China's first wave of coronavirus cases may have been four times bigger than originally reported

 -New York Post

China sends doctors to North Korea as TV report fuels speculation about Kim Jong Un's health

 -Newsweek

Singapore Contained the Coronavirus for Months. Now It Has One of the Worst Outbreaks in Asia.

 -Slate

Germany's Merkel cautions this is 'beginning' of coronavirus pandemic. "We cannot return to life before the pandemic," the German chancellor warns. "Our everyday lives will be different."

 -NBC News

South Korea outlines two year plan for return to normal life

 -The Telegraph

Brazil justice minister quits in dispute with Bolsonaro

-Reuters

Brazilian government in turmoil after justice minister resigns. President Jair Bolsonaro denies he sought to influence federal police inquiries

 -The Guardian

'They are trying to steal everything.' US coronavirus response hit by foreign hackers

 -CNN

I've been waiting for Russian hacker attacks on America's online infrastructure at the worst possible time.

It's the next logical step in Putin's attack on America.

First he  trained an  army of alt-right  saboteurs.

Then he  infiltrated America's  white supremacist churches.

Then  he got Trump elected.

Then he  turned Americans against each other.

Then he used the coronavirus to cripple America's economy and kill Americans.

Then he  crashed the oil market to  destroy America's oil industry.

Then he  convinced China and others that coronavirus is an  American bio weapon that targets  non-whites.

Then he  convinced Trump to  abandon WHO at the  worst possible time, weakening the global response to the pandemic, and degrading world opinion of America to an  all-time low.

Then he  spread disinformation and  instigated anti-government protests to get as many Americans infected as possible and  create chaos.

A hacker attack at the worst time is inevitable, I think. We already saw a test run:

March 16, 2019: What we know about the Health Department website cyberattack: The attack appears to be a largely unsuccessful attempt to overwhelm the site's servers.

 -Vox

I'm also worried Russian hackers will disrupt our financial/credit system. Maybe they'll even  cripple our ATM machine network. And of course they'll  attack the election again.

I think Putin might even cut some of the  transatlantic internet lines on the ocean floor. It would cripple our internet.

Meanwhile Russia has been building  their own version of the internet that will continue to function.

SATURDAY, APRIL 25: MAGA MINIONS ARE BLEACH DRINKERS

Fauci's absence from recent coronavirus briefings draws notice. The national health expert was in attendance for just one of this week's seven briefings.

 -NBC News

And that was the one where he contradicted Trump about coronavirus coming back in the fall.

Trump's disinfectant remarks were tantamount to peddling death

 -Washington Post

Maryland emergency hotline sees over 100 calls about disinfectants, says "under no circumstances" should they be used for coronavirus

 -Newsweek

'A Spoonful Of Clorox': Randy Rainbow Channels Mary Poppins In Anti-Trump Parody

 -Huffington Post

The President Is Impossibly Stupid. I've often compared Trump to the unhinged drunk at the bar, regaling patrons with his conspiracy theories.

 -Washington Monthly

Brinkley: Nothing else like Trump's 'cavernous stupidity' in U.S. history

 -MSNBC

Say it loud, say it clear: Donald Trump needs to resign over his handling of the coronavirus

 -Boston Globe

Nervous Republicans See Trump Sinking, and Taking Senate With Him

 -New York Times

Trump says briefings 'not worth the effort' amid fallout from disinfectant comments. The president remained behind closed doors after advisers reportedly warned him that the briefings were hurting his campaign

 -The Guardian

Trump Suddenly Loses Interest In Briefings After Disastrous Disinfectant Comments

 -Huffington Post

Trump goes into hiding

 -CNN

'Exasperated' Trump aides scrambling to repair damage from president's press conferences

 -Raw Story

White House staff tries to make unhinged Trump sound reasonable

 -CNN

Trump administration chose ex-labradoodle breeder to lead coronavirus task force

 -Salon

A Labradoodle breeder, an internet thug and a college senior walk into the White House

 -CNN

Sounds like a joke, but this is our reality now.

I bet the people living in the timeline where Hillary is president are laughing at us.

They're probably sipping lattes and giggling: "Imagine if Trump had won! Can you even imagine what that clusterfuck would look like?"

But even in their wildest dreams they wouldn't come up with the unimaginable clusterfuck that our timeline is.

States begin to reopen as coronavirus pandemic intensifies

 -New York Post

We are officially a nation of idiots.

Dr. Fauci says the US needs to DOUBLE coronavirus testing before the economy reopens as questions mount over his absence at White House briefings after Trump's disinfectant claims

 -Daily Mail

How COVID-19 turned US nursing homes into devastating hotspots

-ABC News

VA under fire as coronavirus infections among veterans, staff surge

 -The Hill

San Francisco mayor says city's PPE orders have been diverted, confiscated: It 'blows my mind'

 -The Hill

Detroit health care worker dies after being denied coronavirus test 4 times, daughter says

 -NBC News

A 57-page memo urged GOP campaigns to blame China for the coronavirus pandemic and insist the term 'Chinese virus' isn't racist

 -Business Insider

West Point to bring back 1,000 cadets for graduation, Trump commencement address

 -CBS News

Translation: Trump needs some warm bodies as props for one of his Nuremberg rallies.

Expect a lot of "It's all China's fault" and "Chinese virus"and young men in uniforms who were instructed to cheer.

Global Death Toll From Coronavirus Surpasses 200,000. The tally compiled by John Hopkins University comes from government figures. The actual death toll is believed to be far higher.

 -Huffington Post

Social distancing in 100 square feet: Hong Kong's cage homes are almost impossible to self-isolate in

 -CNN

N. Korea Dictator Kim Jong-un Reportedly Dead After Botched Heart Surgery

 -TMZ

Italian woman tests positive for COVID-19 after 60 days of quarantine and swabbing

 -Newsweek

'No Evidence' Yet That Recovered COVID-19 Patients Are Immune, WHO Says

 -NPR

If there's no immunity, people can catch it again and again.

And if there's no immunity, vaccines can't work.

Scientists fear the hunt for a coronavirus vaccine will fail and we will all have to live with the 'constant threat' of COVID-19

 -Business Insider

'No evidence' that recovering from Covid-19 gives people immunity, WHO says

 -France 24

WHO says no evidence shows that having coronavirus prevents a second infection

 -CNN

World Health Org Warns Against 'Immunity Passports': 'No Evidence' People Can't Be Reinfected

 -Talking Points Memo

Are we gonna listen to WHO this time?

Or are we gonna ignore their warning, like we have  ignored all their earlier warnings?

And then Trump blamed them for not warning us, and cut their funding.

Because he's a stable genius.

Trump reportedly watches up to 7 hours of cable news every morning before getting to the Oval Office as late as noon

 -Business Insider

Trump Organization Seeking Aid From U.K., Ireland For Golf Resorts

 -Huffington Post

The  king of debt sounds broke.

San Juan mayor claims no one in Puerto Rico has received coronavirus stimulus checks

 -MSNBC

Immigrants raise alarm over 'cruel' exclusion from coronavirus medical aid

 -The Hill

These Health Care Workers Spoke Out. Their Hospitals Fired Them. Doctors and nurses say drawing attention to urgent needs and hospital conditions is the only way to force change and save lives. But it could cost them their jobs.

 -Huffington Post

Nurses Have Been Complaining for Weeks About Inadequate PPE. Now They're Suing.

 -The Daily Beast

Nashville musicians find themselves without jobs or benefits

-Associated Press

Sen. Bernie Sanders: 'Our best outcome is to go forward in the direction of Medicare for All'

 -MSNBC

Google, Facebook, Twitter team up to support addiction recovery during pandemic

 -CNBC

Calling US Postal Service 'A Joke,' Trump Demands Four-Fold Price Hike for Customers Amid Covid-19 Pandemic

 -Common Dreams

2 million chickens will be killed in Delaware and Maryland because of lack of employees at processing plants

 -CNN

US stores and supermarkets might see shortages for the next year and a half, supply chain experts say

 -Business Insider

'Scary,' 'visceral,' 'unprecedented': Traders describe oil's wild week and fall to negative prices

 -CNBC

Coronavirus and Germany: Why the world is looking to Angela Merkel

 -Deutsche Welle

The Secret to Germany's COVID-19 Success: Angela Merkel Is a Scientist

 -The Atlantic

Praised For Curbing COVID-19, New Zealand's Leader Eases Country's Strict Lockdown

 -NPR

'A phantom plague': America's Bible Belt played down the pandemic and even cashed in. Now dozens of pastors are dead

 -The Independent

Gee, I wonder what these guys did for  Easter.

SUNDAY, APRIL 26: MEAT SHORTAGES

Calls to poison control centers spike after Trump disinfectant comments

 -The Hill

After Trump's disinfectant comments, calls to poison control centers spike in New York, Michigan, Illinois and Maryland

 -Newsweek

Saturday Night Live: Brad Pitt plays Dr Anthony Fauci in standout virtual episode

 -The Guardian

Brad Pitt destroys Trump with Dr Anthony Fauci impersonation on Saturday Night Live

 -The Independent

Trump Goes on Angry Anti-Media Tweetstorm, Demands Reporters Give Back "Noble Prizes"

 -Slate

'Hambergers' and 'Noble prizes': Trump attacks press in furious Twitter rant riddled with spelling errors

 -The Independent

Trump calls for journalists who covered the Russia investigation to return their 'Noble Prizes' in Twitter rant before deleting it

 -Business Insider

Trump blasts Fox News, says he wants 'an alternative'

 -The Hill

Interesting little video:

We Stand Behind the President: Paying attention to the people around President Donald Trump is far more revealing than watching the man himself.

-The Atlantic

Controversial pastor Tony Spell shows off ankle monitor as he preaches to packed Sunday church service in defiance of Louisiana stay-at-home order despite being on house arrest for 'trying to reverse a bus over a protester'

 -Daily Mail

'Outrageous,' 'irresponsible': Governors slam McConnell over bankruptcy comments

 -NBC News

How Las Vegas Became Ground Zero for the American Jobs Crisis

 -New York Times

Panic-buying grips North Korea amid rumors of Kim Jong Un's demise

 -New York Post

UK PM Boris Johnson will return to work on Monday after battling Covid-19

 -France 24

India's Modi urges citizens to follow lockdown as coronavirus spreads

 -Reuters

New study says coronavirus detected on tiny particles of air pollution. As the debate rages worldwide about when to send people back to work, a new report says COVID-19 could be even more contagious than previously believed.

-CBS News

U.S. Could Be Weeks From Meat Shortages With Shutdowns Spreading

 -Bloomberg

'The food supply chain is breaking,' Tyson says as plants close

 -CNN

Reviving America after Covid-19 will take years, not months

 -CNN

MONDAY, APRIL 27: WWARAD?

'I can't imagine why': Trump says he takes no responsibility for people ingesting disinfectant despite telling them to

 -The Independent

Former Trump friend Howard Stern backs Joe Biden for president

 -The Independent

Trump deletes 'Noble Prizes' tweets as he struggles with coronavirus message

 -CNBC

Trump questions whether US should aid 'Democrat' states

 -Detroit News

Trump asks why taxpayers should help bail out blue states

 -The Hill

Trump: Government shouldn't rescue states and cities struggling under pandemic. State and local governments have pressed for the government to rescue them from what is quickly becoming a fiscal catastrophe.

 -NBC News

The blue states are America's economic powerhouses. California alone is the  world's fifth largest economy. The dirt poor red states contribute far less than the blue states.

Dec 16, 2019: A Third of America's Economy Is Concentrated in Just 31 Counties

 -Bloomberg

"The nation's economy is becoming increasingly concentrated in large cities and by the coasts—and less so in rural counties—spurring the question of whether rural areas will be increasingly left behind."

The misleading rhetoric on blue states needing to be 'bailed out' by the federal government

 -MSN

Trump's state 'bailout' swipe prompts pushback: Who's really getting rescued? "New York state has been bailing them out every year for decades," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said of red states.

 -NBC News

Dec 9, 2017: Blue high-tax states fund red low-tax states

 -Associated Press

Nov 16, 2018: How Blue States help Red States

 -Salon

"Residents of "blue" states send more tax money to Washington than they get back in federal help, while residents of "red" states send less money to Washington than they get back in federal help.

In 2015, for example, New Jersey got back only 74 cents in federal spending for every tax dollar it sent to Washington. New York got back 81 cents, Connecticut: 82 cents, and Massachusetts: 83 cents.

But when you turn to the red states, it's the opposite. Mississippi received $2.13 for every tax dollar it sent to Washington. West Virginia: $2.07. Kentucky: $1.90. And South Carolina: $1.71."

Republican-run red states are so dirt poor, they look like third world countries:

Rich Hill

-1091 Media

"Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, RICH HILL is an irresistibly moving examination of the challenges, hopes and dreams of rural America's youth, as embodied in Rich Hill, Missouri teenagers."

Health experts from the Trump, Obama, and Bush administrations want the government to pay Americans $50 a day to self-isolate, like jury duty

 -Business Insider

A new analysis of coronavirus deaths suggests that official tolls are massively undercounting all over the world

 -Business Insider

40,000 Missing Deaths: Tracking the True Toll of the Coronavirus Outbreak

 -New York Times

WHO director says the world should have listened to it about coronavirus

 -Newsweek

The US is not even 'remotely' ready to re-open for business, says outbreak preparedness expert

 -CNBC

Major US meat producer warns 'food supply chain is breaking'

 -The Guardian

Coronavirus breaks the food supply chain

 -Axios

"For consumers, this means less meat at the grocery store. For many farmers, this means the prospect of financial ruin. For many animals, this means euthanasia instead of slaughter."

2 million chickens will be euthanized at a single plant as the coronavirus puts the US on the brink of a meat shortage

 -Business Insider

Small farmers face "absolute disaster" from coronavirus

 -Axios

'Grotesque, Deadly Failure': Trump USDA Under Fire for Allowing Millions of Pounds of Produce to Rot as Food Insecurity Surges

 -Common Dreams

Ecuador suffers one of the world's worst COVID-19 outbreaks

-CBS News

The controversial experiments and Wuhan lab suspected of starting the coronavirus pandemic

 -Newsweek

TUESDAY, APRIL 28: WORSE THAN VIETNAM

COVID-19 has killed more Americans than died in the Vietnam War

 -KTLA

Confirmed Coronavirus Cases In U.S. Double To 1 Million In Less Than 3 Weeks

 -Huffington Post

Pence Disregards Rules at Mayo Clinic and Doesn't Wear a Mask

-Bloomberg

Vice President Mike Pence tours Mayo Clinic without coronavirus mask even though he was told to wear one

 -CNBC

Alabama to Partially Reopen Retailers, Beaches Despite Rising Coronavirus Cases

 -US News & World Report

'Reopen North Carolina' Protester Says She Tested Positive For Coronavirus

 -Huffington Post

'It's horrific': coronavirus kills nearly 70 at Massachusetts veterans' home

 -The Guardian

New York Doctor On Front Lines Of Coronavirus Pandemic Dies By Suicide

-NBC News

Hillary Clinton endorses Joe Biden for president

-The Guardian

Ten reasons why a 'Greater Depression' for the 2020s is inevitable

 -The Guardian

'It's a death sentence': Trump to force meatpacking plants to stay open amid fears over food supply

 -The Independent

Russia coronavirus cases overtake China as Vladimir Putin faces sharp rise in infections

 -Newsweek

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29: DYING FOR THE DOW

U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Top 60,000 — Trump's Predicted Maximum

 -Huffington Post

Evidence suggests coronavirus death toll much higher than official count

 -MSNBC

Trump still seems to not understand how bad the coronavirus crisis is

 -CNN

53 days after Trump said anybody could get tested, Fauci says the U.S. is still a month away

 -Washington Post

Georgia's Experiment in Human Sacrifice: The state is about to find out how many people need to lose their lives to shore up the economy.

 -The Atlantic

Florida stops medical examiners from releasing coronavirus death data: Report

 -Newsweek

"Only in Trump's America": Despite Covid-19, Employees in Texas and Iowa Told to Get Back to Work or Lose Unemployment Benefits

 -Common Dreams

Donald Trump and the Death Cult are putting people in danger to own the libs

 -Detroit Metro Times

Workers Gear Up for Major May Day Strike in Pushback Against Unsafe Conditions Amid Pandemic

 -Common Dreams

"One organizer explained that the goal is to "push back with large numbers against the right-wing groups that want to risk our lives by reopening the economy."

Tribes Were Supposed To Get $8 Billion In COVID-19 Aid. They've Gotten $0.

 -Huffington Post

Up to 60 bodies found in four trucks outside Brooklyn funeral home

 -CNN

Over 70% of tested inmates in federal prisons have COVID-19

-Associated Press

'So what'? Bolsonaro's response to coronavirus deaths riles Brazilians

 -CBS News

THURSDAY, APRIL 30: REVISITING MY PREDICTIONS

Armed Michigan protesters storm capitol as lawmakers debate extending Governor Whitmer's stay-at-home order

 -Newsweek

Armed gunmen stormed the Michigan state capitol to protest against the lockdown. These domestic terrorists were brainwashed by Russia's Operation Infektion. Russia is manipulating Americans on alt-right sites and social media, to instigate civil unrest and maximize infection rates.

Flashback:

Oct 31, 2017: Thousands attended protest organized by Russians on Facebook

 -The Hill

Feb 21, 2018: Russian trolls orchestrated divisive protests in the US about Trump — here are 9 that we know about

 -Business Insider

April 24: Trolls and bots are flooding social media with disinformation encouraging states to end quarantine

 -Business Insider

Elon Musk's $750 million Tesla payday could be threatened by the coronavirus shutdown he slammed as 'fascist'

 -Business Insider

Nation Divided As New Wave Of States Begin Reopening

-NBC News

Dr. Anthony Fauci warns states not to tempt a coronavirus rebound as they begin to roll back restrictions

 -Chicago Tribune

Trump Ignored Coronavirus Warnings; Pence Refused to Wear a Mask: A Closer Look

-Late Night with Seth Meyers

U.S. Intel Community Says COVID-19 'Not Manmade or Genetically Modified'

 -National Review

U.S. intelligence community: Coronavirus "was not manmade or genetically modified"

 -Axios

Trump contradicts US intel community by claiming he's seen evidence coronavirus originated in Chinese lab

 -CNN

Trump Officials Are Said to Press Spies to Link Virus and Wuhan Labs. Some analysts are worried that the pressure from senior officials could distort assessments about the coronavirus and be used as a weapon in an escalating battle with China.

 -New York Times

Trump officials mapping out plan for 'punishing China' for COVID-19 outbreak that now threatens president's re-election

 -Raw Story

Former WH Strategist Steve Bannon Accuses China of 'Premeditated Murder' for Initially Concealing Threat of Coronavirus Outbreak

 -Mediaite

China on 'high alert' as 'troublemaker' US patrols South China Sea

 -South China Morning Post

Maryland's GOP Governor Hid COVID-19 Test Kits So Feds Can't Take Them

 -Huffington Post

Maryland called in National Guard troops to defend coronavirus tests from South Korea against seizure

 -Business Insider

"Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan told The Washington Post Thursday that National Guard troops and state police were guarding coronavirus tests that the state purchased from South Korea at a secret location to prevent the federal government from seizing them."

New Poll: Trump Has Lower Approval on Coronavirus Response Than Every Single Governor in America

 -Mediaite

Trump erupts over poll slump and threatens to sue campaign manager. President blows his top in Friday argument and reportedly tells Brad Parscale 'I'm not fucking losing to Joe Biden' in November

 -The Guardian

The surprising popularity of the Great Lockdown

 -The Hill

UK has second-highest Covid-19 death toll in Europe, new figures show

 -France 24

Woman falls to death while posing for cliffside photo to celebrate end of lockdown

 -New York Post

I posted an  update on my  April coronavirus predictions on Reddit today:

On February 23rd I made  22 coronavirus predictions for March and the rest of 2020.

 21 of those predictions were right. Only one was wrong.

On April 1st I posted  13 new predictions. Let's see how many of those came true so far:

\----- PREDICTIONS THAT ALREADY CAME TRUE AS OF APRIL 30 \-----

1. April will be very different from March, and much much worse.

March 31:  US coronavirus death toll now over 4,000 (ABC News)

April 28:  Coronavirus death toll in US now exceeds that of Vietnam War (The Hill)

April 28: U.S.  Coronavirus Death Toll Is Far Higher Than Reported, C.D.C. Data Suggests (New York Times)

April 30:  U.S. deaths top 60,000 (NBC News)

2. The empty store shelves are here to stay for the foreseeable future.

April 26:  'The food supply chain is breaking,' Tyson says as plants close (CNN)

April 27:  2 million chickens will be euthanized at a single plant as the coronavirus puts the US on the brink of a meat shortage (Business Insider)

3. The times of plenty are over, at least until the end of the year, if not longer.

April 7:  Shortages of some grocery list staples could last for months (Press Herald)

April 8:  Hand Sanitizer Will Be Hard to Find for a Long Time (Bloomberg)

April 28:  Medication Shortages Are the Next Crisis (The Atlantic)

April 30: COVID-19 Meat Shortages Could Last for Months. (Time)

4. There will be a great depression that's even worse than the Great Depression.

April 3:  Coronavirus job losses 'way worse than anything we saw in the Great Depression:' Economist (Yahoo Finance)

April 8:  Coronavirus putting world on track for new Great Depression, says WTO (The Guardian)

April 9: Coronavirus warning: economic damage worse than Great Depression (BBC News)

April 17:  IMF Warns Coronavirus Recession Could Be Worse Than Great Depression (Bloomberg)

April 23:  Eurozone suffers worst fall in business activity on record (Capital)

5. Essentials like food will get more expensive. Non-essentials like laptops will get cheaper.

April 6:  Key Food Prices Are Surging After Virus Upends Supply Chains (Bloomberg)

April 7:  Rice prices surge to 7-year high as coronavirus sparks stockpiling (CNBC)

April 10:  20 Groceries Driving Up Your Food Bill the Most During Coronavirus (24/7 Wall St)

April 13:  Grocery prices are rising as eat-at-home demand soars during the coronavirus pandemic (Market Watch)

April 10:  U.S. consumer prices post largest drop in five years amid coronavirus disruptions (Reuters)

April 15:  US retail sales see biggest drop ever amid coronavirus crisis (New York Post)

6. The pandemic will officially turn America into a third world country.

April 6:  Coronavirus is revealing how broken America's economy really is (The Guardian)

April 12:  Why the US has the world's highest number of Covid-19 deaths (CNN)

April 21:  Jeffrey Sachs on the Catastrophic American Response to the Coronavirus (New Yorker)

April 21:  We Are Living in a Failed State (Real Clear Policy)

April 24:  Does the US response to coronavirus mirror that of a failed state? (TRT World)

April 25:  Donald Trump has destroyed the country he promised to make great again. The world has loved, hated and envied the US. Now, for the first time, we pity it (Irish Times)

April 29:  Chomsky: COVID-19 Has Exposed the US Under Trump as a "Failed State"(Truthout)

7. More and more people will demand UBI and Medicare for All.

April 16:  Even Republican Voters Support $2,000 a Month Payments During Coronavirus Crisis (Common Dreams)

April 17:  Coronavirus Could Force Universal Healthcare to Be a 2020 Election Issue (National Interest)

April 27:  Health experts from the Trump, Obama, and Bush administrations want the government to pay Americans $50 a day to self-isolate, like jury duty (Business Insider)

8. The US National Guard will be deployed nationwide

April 2:  In times of crisis, the National Guard is deployed. Here's what troops are doing amid the coronavirus pandemic. (USA Today)

April 28:  Latest National Guard COVID-19 update: nearly 45,000 troops mobilized with 83 percent on Title 32 orders (Military Times)

April 30:  National Guard protecting Maryland's coronavirus tests in undisclosed location so federal government can't seize them (Newsweek)

11. As anger and unrest grows, Trump will try to redirect blame on minorities and other countries.

April 18:  Trump Says China May Be 'Knowingly Responsible' for Virus (Bloomberg)

April 19:  Trump said China may have started the coronavirus deliberately, as top advisers claim attacking Beijing may be the best way for the president to save his job (Business Insider)

April 25:  A 57-page memo urged GOP campaigns to blame China for the coronavirus pandemic and insist the term 'Chinese virus' isn't racist (Business Insider)

April 30:  Trump contradicts US intel community by claiming he's seen evidence coronavirus originated in Chinese lab (CNN)

\----- PREDICTIONS THAT ARE VISIBLY IN THE PROCESS OF COMING TRUE SOON -----

9. Some countries will fail before the end of the year.

April 3:  Coronavirus will play out very differently in world's poorest nations (New Scientist)

April 21:  Coronavirus is the biggest disaster for developing nations in our lifetime (The Guardian)

April 29:  Fragile countries could see 1 billion coronavirus cases. (Rescue.org)

10. We'll see an increase in shootings and riots in the US.

April 3:  Coronavirus crisis raises specter of civil unrest, experts say (Washington Examiner)

April 6: How the coronavirus led to the highest-ever spike in US gun sales (BBC)

April 9:Prisoners Riot as Coronavirus Tensions Rise (Wall Street Journal)

April 12:  Ammon Bundy hosts Easter service despite state order against mass gatherings (CNN)

April 19:  Coronavirus Fears Have Produced A Lot Of New Gun Owners — And Safety Concerns (NPR)

April 27:  Why are people bringing guns to anti-quarantine protests? To be intimidating. (Washington Post)

April 29:  Shootings Are a Glaring Exception to the Coronavirus Crime Drop. Data shows gun violence outpacing other types of crime in several major cities and running higher than 2019 levels nationally.(The Trace)

April 30:  'America In the Age of Trump': Armed Gunmen Enter Michigan Capitol Demanding End to Covid-19 Lockdown (Common Dreams)

12. There may not be any elections in November.

April 14:  Trump can't cancel the election – but he will try to stop people voting (The Guardian)

April 23:  Biden predicts Trump will try to delay November election (Politico)

13. The Great Depression led to World War 2. The new Great Depression may very well lead to World War 3 before November.

April 8:  Trump's evangelical supporters want China to pay a price for coronavirus (Politico)

April 28:  Bannon charges China with 'premeditated murder' in COVID-19 pandemic (ABC News)

April 30:  Trump administration draws up plans to punish China over coronavirus outbreak (CNN)

April 30:  US Navy stages back-to-back challenges to Beijing's South China Sea claims (CNN)

April 30:  China on 'high alert' as 'troublemaker' US patrols South China Sea (Yahoo News)

I'll post a few more predictions soon.

Well, that's it for April.

The world didn't blow up yet, and there's no zombie apocalypse so far.

Let's see how much worse 2020 is gonna get in May...

Tell a friend about this book:

www.Trumpvirus.blog

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Oliver.M.Malloy@Mail.com

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Reddit.com/r/Trumpvirus

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