Author: peterimrich

Threatening Military Intervention in Venezuela During a Pandemic? | The Smirking Chimp

Venezuela is battling COVID-19 within its own borders, as we are doing here at home. The country is also experiencing a deep economic crisis and facing severe shortages of medical supplies, a situation that has been compounded by U.S. unilateral economic sanctions. President Trump has no business deploying U.S. military assets against Venezuela, a country that in no shape or form represents a threat to the security of the United States, especially not now when a pandemic is raging around the world and in our own country.

via Threatening Military Intervention in Venezuela During a Pandemic? | The Smirking Chimp

The COVID-19 catastrophe in Spain

via The COVID-19 catastrophe in Spain

We need imagination, not hibernation – » The Australian Independent Media Network

We don’t need people with small minds who long for the days of coal, copper and austerity. We need people with imagination about the opportunities of where we are headed and the foresight to start preparing now.

via We need imagination, not hibernation – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Delusional: Investors are underestimating the economic shock the world is facing

Markets should not be counting on a swift recovery.

Global banks were supposed to be bullet-proof after boosting capital ratios but the regulatory buffers were never stress-tested for such a shock. They risk becoming the “amplifier” of the downturn as rising bad loans force them to pull back, starving the real economy of credit.
Related Article
A cyclist wearing a protective face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus moves past the Rocky statue outfitted with mock surgical face mask at the Philadelphia Art Museum in Philadelphia, Tuesday, April 14, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Coronavirus pandemic
As the day unfolded: Scott Morrison says COVID-19 restrictions could be lifted in four weeks, global cases surpass 2 million, Australian death toll stands at 63
Even if the worst is avoided and there is no secondary financial crisis, there will not be a swift return to normal. Mohamed El-Erian from Allianz said the rescue measures offer liquidity but cannot prevent the slow burn of defaults. Nor can they kick start the economy when companies refuse to invest because they have no idea what is going to happen.

via Delusional: Investors are underestimating the economic shock the world is facing

History shows future generations don’t need to suffer from government debt – Michael West

Cutting government services to pay off government debt post the current pandemic is not a necessity but rather a political and ideological choice. History has shown that if we focus on full employment and the real economy, the budget will take care of itself. Economist Warwick Smith reports.

via History shows future generations don’t need to suffer from government debt – Michael West

Old Dog Thoughts- Watching dogs bark at their own shadows

Robert Reich: Trump’s Failed Coronavirus Response. Turnbull vs News Corp;

George Pell’s motive for Andrew Bolt interview is questionable

Shame, Pell, shame. You already know your standing in the general community. Yet you seem incapable of doing anything, ever, to try and put things right. You harp on about your innocence so much that the disconnect with Jesus’s own lack of similar protestations when his life was on the line seems almost laughable.

Of course, Pell can pick whoever he likes to interview him. But if he thinks he can recover one scintilla of public respect for going this way, he is badly mistaken.

via George Pell’s motive for Andrew Bolt interview is questionable

Old Dog Thoughts- Timeline of Trump’s failed response.

‘It’s positively alpine!’: Disbelief in big cities as air pollution falls | Environment | The Guardian

via ‘It’s positively alpine!’: Disbelief in big cities as air pollution falls | Environment | The Guardian

Wall Street Titans Fund Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Challenger

DELIVERING ALPHA -- CNBC?s Michelle Caruso-Cabrera interviews Steve Bannon, Former White House Chief Strategist and Chief Executive Officer of the Trump Campaign, at the CNBC Institutional Investor Delivering Alpha conference July 18th in NYC. (Seated left to right: Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, Chief International Correspondent and Co-Anchor, "Power Lunch," CNBC, and Stephen K. Bannon, Former White House Chief Strategist and Chief Executive Officer of Trump Campaign ) -- (Photo by: Heidi Gutman/CNBC/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

AOC the rising star in NY politics has now got to face Wall St she’s too good (ODT)

via Wall Street Titans Fund Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Challenger

Coronavirus update: Bill Gates calls Donald Trump’s WHO funding decision ‘dangerous’, UK Government accused of acting slowly, global tally of cases hits 2 million – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

A man in a suit holds his hands up as he speaks to a crowd.

via Coronavirus update: Bill Gates calls Donald Trump’s WHO funding decision ‘dangerous’, UK Government accused of acting slowly, global tally of cases hits 2 million – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Coronavirus: Bill Gates, in rebuke of Trump, calls WHO funding cut ‘as dangerous as it sounds’

Bill Gates, pictured, said the decision to suspend funding to the World Health Organisation was "dangerous".

If Trump could he’d FIRE Bill Gates (ODT)

via Coronavirus: Bill Gates, in rebuke of Trump, calls WHO funding cut ‘as dangerous as it sounds’

Bezos Gains $24 Billion in 2020 While World Battles Pandemic – Bloomberg

Other Billionaires are bailed out (ODT)

Bezos Gains $24 Billion in 2020 While World Battles Pandemic – Bloomberg

Donald Trump’s 3-Month-Old Tweet About China And The Coronavirus Comes Back To Haunt Him | HuffPost Australia

Trump’s 3-Month-Old Tweet About China And The Coronavirus Comes Back To Haunt

via Donald Trump’s 3-Month-Old Tweet About China And The Coronavirus Comes Back To Haunt Him | HuffPost Australia

MPs Told They’ll Need To Accept $1500 JobKeeper Payment If They’re Not Working Until August – The Shovel

via MPs Told They’ll Need To Accept $1500 JobKeeper Payment If They’re Not Working Until August – The Shovel

via MPs Told They’ll Need To Accept $1500 JobKeeper Payment If They’re Not Working Until August – The Shovel

After COVID-19, a change is overdue

You cant privatise a pandemic Scott Morrison (ODT)

It will be difficult for Morrison to backtrack on measures already put in place to cope with the economic effects of the virus and more government financial assistance can be expected before we are out the other side. The fragility of the economy will require nurturing by the State for some time to come. The funding of childcare, universities and the increased funding of Newstart will not be easy to reverse even when the economy is stronger given likely voter resistance. It will give the Labor Party a platform.

via After COVID-19, a change is overdue

Old Dog Thoughts – Two Australian Losers Deflating in public

Fighting Fake News with Real,16/4/20; Shame Pell Shame, Bolt can’t help anyone but himself;

US coronavirus deaths set single-day record as total hits 28,300 | USA News | Al Jazeera

Paramedics taking a patient into an emergency centre at Maimonides Medical Center in the Brooklyn borough of New York, United States [Andrew Kelly/Reuters]

via US coronavirus deaths set single-day record as total hits 28,300 | USA News | Al Jazeera

Trump’s ‘Mutiny On The Bounty’ Fantasy Will Not End Well | Crooks and Liars

Trump's 'Mutiny On The Bounty' Fantasy Will Not End Well

Save the ship | Cynthia (Ištá Tȟó Tȟó) Coleman Emery's Blog

Trump can’t even get the movie he’s starring in right it’s the remake of the Cain Mutiny and Captain Queeg

Trump’s ‘Mutiny On The Bounty’ Fantasy Will Not End Well
If Donald Trump thinks he’d enjoy Captain Bligh’s position, and ultimate final fortunes, he’s even dumber than he looks.

via Trump’s ‘Mutiny On The Bounty’ Fantasy Will Not End Well | Crooks and Liars

‘Beyond Predatory’: Trump Treasury Department Gives Banks Green Light to Seize $1,200 Stimulus Checks to Pay Off Debts | Common Dreams News

SOOOO Republican!! SOOOO Trump!!(ODT)

via ‘Beyond Predatory’: Trump Treasury Department Gives Banks Green Light to Seize $1,200 Stimulus Checks to Pay Off Debts | Common Dreams News

Minimum-Wage Workers Are Dying to Keep Everyone Else Alive. They Deserve More. | The Smirking Chimp

via Minimum-Wage Workers Are Dying to Keep Everyone Else Alive. They Deserve More. | The Smirking Chimp

Conservative media push Sweden’s coronavirus response even as evidence suggests that it isn’t working | Media Matters for America

Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham

There is little evidence showing that Sweden’s approach is effective, and in fact, indicators suggest that it’s likely backfiring. Sweden has seemingly embraced the idea of “herd immunity,” As a result, Sweden’s fatality rate from coronavirus is significantly higher than those of the neighbouring countries and of the United States, at 7.68% as of April 8 compared to 1.46% in Norway, 3.85% in Denmark, and 3.21% in the U.S.

Conservatives want that approach here. History has shown that pandemics come in ever-increasing waves. So if your prepared to stand up and say that those that die are expendable and shrug for the sake of the “Economy” be prepared what you wish for as social sacrifice is never equal. News Corp and Sky News pundits are parroting the head office Fox line   (ODT)

Conservative media push Sweden’s coronavirus response even as evidence suggests that it isn’t working | Media Matters for America

Mossad False Flag Attacks on Jews, by Philip Giraldi – The Unz Review

Weaponizing one point of view inevitably limits the ability of contrary views to be heard. The downside is, of course, that the frenzy that has resulted in the criminalization of free expression relating in any but a positive way to the activity of Jewish groups. It has also included the acceptance of the dishonest definition that any criticism of Israel is ipso facto anti-Semitism, giving that nation a carte blanche in terms of its brutal treatment of its neighbors and even of its non-Jewish citizens.

Mossad False Flag Attacks on Jews, by Philip Giraldi – The Unz Review

and

News Ltd issues apology to former Labor MP Melissa Parke

Saving the economy or lives: The new neoliberal ‘debate’

The Economy is a system of institutionalised patterns of behaviours that have changed over the years. This pandemic has brought out its current inability to serve all Australians and is in need of serious change. People have always been sacrificed for “the economy” it’s time the economy was sacrificed to accommodate all Australians so death isn’t structured to simply serve it. The economy isn’t an Aztec God. The Aged, immune-deficient, Indigenous, homeless addicted and poor aren’t simply expendables. All parents would sacrifice themselves for the children’s future if given the choice. However, all parents don’t have that privilege some are simply systematically made to. America is finding that COVID-19 is shining a light on their Racism. 40% of deaths are Afro-American in areas where they are only 20% of the population. Equality is the myth, the economy its agent of death. (ODT)

Saving the economy or lives: The new neoliberal ‘debate’

A world we can’t explain – » The Australian Independent Media Network

It would also be appropriate to ensure that independent state funded media, such as the ABC and SBS were funded sufficiently to support their ‘essential’ purpose of providing information 24/7 for 365 days a year (because the next adverse event somewhere in Australia is just around the corner). No government is going to find all of the content of an independent media outlet to be sympathetic to their particular ideology.

Lenore Taylor, the Editor of The Guardian recently wrote an article that suggested that ‘Australia can be a much better, fairer place after the coronavirus if we are prepared to fight for it’. The ABC’s Laura Tingle has made similar comments Even the Sydney Morning Herald’s editorial on 3 April 2020 discussed why a wind back from the ‘sugar hit’ should be gradual, suggesting that raising taxes is probably a better option than reducing welfare.

We are all heading to a new world and at this point we can’t explain how it works. If we all work together to create understanding and equality rather than revert to the ‘greed is good’ mantra that served us badly from the 1980’s to the 2010’s — it will be a far more equitable and pleasant place for all of us.

via A world we can’t explain – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Old Dog Thoughts- Van Badham says it better than I can

This is some grown-up politics from Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, who are powerfully uniting to defeat Donald Trump.

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Sanders has endorsed Biden and Biden is including Sanders’ people in his policy development process.

Goes to show you can get a lot more done within the tent of the big party than squealing impotently on the sidelines at it. No one turns up to the big game to watch the audience.

My politics are closer to Sanders; I liked his policies from all the way back when successive Australian Labor governments legislated them, from 1941 onwards.

But what I do like about Biden has always been a union man – and proud of it. There are not enough people who live union values in American politics and the idea that one could become President gives me hope that it will lead to many more… Especially in the wake of the murderous billionaire shit-show which is the Trump administration.

There are many squealy “leftishts” on the internet who are insisting that despite Trump’s mismanagement of coronavirus leaving piles of dead bodies across the continental landmass of America, Joe Biden is the devil, and they won’t vote for him.

I can’t imagine living a life so entitled, self-absorbed and privileged that you’d forsake the one opportunity you have to end the Trump presidency to throw a tantrum because Biden’s politics aren’t as OBVIOUSLY FLAWLESS as your own – and, as is made clear in the link below, good Bernie Sanders can’t, either.

 

If the Democrats nominate a can of cheese to run against Trump, I would be marching in the street chanting “CHEESE! CHEESE! CHEESE!” – because where I come from, we believe it sensible to tackle our problems in the order of which they’ll kill us.

Anyway, the news website Politico put together a dot point list of Biden’s existing policy positions, and I think they’re totally worth voting for, whether he was running against Trump or not. Progress becomes possible when the demand’s no longer “perfection or nothing”.

https://www.theguardian.com/…/bernie-sanders-endorses-joe-b…

Image may contain: possible text that says 'solid Joe Biden, irrespective of him being not-trump: double minimum wage abolish private prisons abolish death penalty he'll increase teacher emissions leases on federal land he'll end and offshore drilling reparations process slavery companies liable user he'll posts corporate taxes high wealth Americans increase capital gains he'll scrap past convictions for marijuana offences leave it to the states to marijuana -he'll give children born America citizenship rights extend healthcare years of college free he'll keep abortion legal support universal background checks on gun purchases supports national firearms register he supports paid family leave'

“Be generous with your praise and considerate with your criticism” – » The Australian Independent Media Network

The coronavirus has bought with it the hope of a renaissance. That a new understanding of whom we are and what we are here for might emerge from this dreadful time.

Would it be too much to hope that a new period of enlightenment might indoctrinate itself into the hearts and minds of our leaders who at present govern us from the perspective of self-interest only?

Have they woken to the fact that good open governance has its rewards? We have so much to learn from people we disagree with that it’s a wonder we don’t do it more often.

via “Be generous with your praise and considerate with your criticism” – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Coronavirus death toll tops 25,000 in the US, cases exceed 600,000

US President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with recovered COVID-19 patients in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC.

Trump blames the WHO now for his mismanagement (ODT)

US deaths from the novel coronavirus topped 25,400 on Tuesday, doubling in one week, according to a Reuters tally, as officials debated how to reopen the economy without reigniting the outbreak.

via Coronavirus death toll tops 25,000 in the US, cases exceed 600,000

Old Dog Thoughts- Who and what is a Parasite?

Amazon.com: vanfan-Cool Shower Curtains Cartoon Flea Animal ...

Fighting Fake News with REAL,15/4/20; What the LNP has done since 2008; Trump Trips again and again; Andrew Bolt parasite cadet showing the real Pell;

The new coronavirus threat to the world is the USA

The reality is that America’s response to the pandemic has been disastrous.

The latest data shows that the USA:

now has the world’s highest number of active coronavirus cases at 480,427, nearly five times higher than Italy, second with 96,877;
now has more than 38% of the world’s active cases, despite having only 4.25% of the world’s population. This is up from 27.5% 12 days ago;
has the highest total deaths, having overtaken Italy and Spain yesterday; and
has a death rate at 61.8 per million citizens, up from just 12.3 at the end of March.

The falsehoods most obvious to informed observers were Trump’s assurances that everything possible was being done and the crisis was virtually over. This was conveyed via terms like “incredible” used 14 times: “It’s been really incredible what’s been happening”. Plus the word “tremendous” used 23 times: “We have tremendous plans” and “We are doing tremendous testing”. The word “great” was used 81 times: “We are in great shape in every way” and “We’re doing great. Number one in the world”.

And the never-ending self-congratulation:

“I watched a certain network, and it wasn’t Fox, and you had doctors saying that we’ve done an incredible job.” 

a

The new coronavirus threat to the world is the USA

 

Brave New Normal, by C.J. Hopkins – The Unz Review

Capitalism Images, Stock Photos & Vectors | ShutterstockSOCIALISM OR YOUR MONEY BACK: Global Capitalism = Global Exploitation

I hope so, because that is what is happening right now. The system (i.e., global capitalism, not a bunch of guys in a room hatching a scheme to sell vaccines) is reacting to the last four years of populist revolt in a predictable manner. GloboCap is attacking the virus that has been attacking its hegemonic body. No, not the coronavirus. A much more destructive and multiplicitous virus … resistance to the hegemony of global capitalism and its post-ideological ideology.

via Brave New Normal, by C.J. Hopkins – The Unz Review

The Ultimate Stress Test: America as revealed by the Coronavirus Pandemic

https://media.juancole.com/images/2020/04/the-ultimate-stress-test-america-750x422.jpg

HE’S YOUR PRESIDENT AMERICA

Nearly three million Chinese visitors came to this country in 2018 and 2.5 million Americans, counting only tourists, traveled to China. In fact, we now know that, in the weeks after Covid-19 was disclosed in Wuhan, China, more than 430,000 people flew here from that country, thousands of them from Wuhan itself — and this continued even after Donald Trump put his much-vaunted travel measures in place. (“I do think we were very early, but I also think that we were very smart, because we stopped China,” he nonetheless claimed.)

via The Ultimate Stress Test: America as revealed by the Coronavirus Pandemic

U.S. Got More Cases of Covid-19 From Europe Than China

https://theintercept.imgix.net/wp-uploads/sites/1/2020/04/GettyImages-1212628882-crop.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90&fit=crop&w=1440&h=720

U.S. Got More Cases of Covid-19 From Europe Than China

Joe Biden Hails Bernie Sanders in Endorsement Video

Biden told Sanders his endorsement “means a great deal” to him, saying, “I want to thank you for being a powerful voice. And you’ve been the most powerful voice for a fair and more just America.”

“It’s a voice like yours that refuses to allow us just to accept what is. You’ve refused to accept that we can’t change what’s wrong in our nation,” he added. “And you don’t get enough credit, Bernie.”

via Joe Biden Hails Bernie Sanders in Endorsement Video

More Hopeful Times Ahead with President Joe Biden in a Post-Virus Era? – » The Australian Independent Media Network

via More Hopeful Times Ahead with President Joe Biden in a Post-Virus Era? – » The Australian Independent Media Network

If Trump fires Dr. Fauci and installs a Barr-like Toady, what ever will become of us?

https://media.juancole.com/images/2020/04/if-trump-fires-dr-fauci-and-inst-750x422.jpg

DOES TRUMP CARE?

Trump never wanted to close down the country, and only when his campaign’s polling showed that his reputation couldn’t survive to allow thousands of people to die, such that his reelection would anyway be in doubt, did he order social distancing on March 16. Trump is chafing all through April. He wanted to reopen things, at least in the Republican-governed states, by yesterday, Easter but was warned that such a measure would just start back up the countdown to a really big death toll. With effective social distancing, the deaths can possibly be kept to 60,000 – 100,000. Opening things back up too soon, and in the absence of large scale testing and contact tracing, could push that tally substantially higher.

via If Trump fires Dr. Fauci and installs a Barr-like Toady, what ever will become of us?

Coronavirus: Trump retweets call to fire Anthony Fauci after the coronavirus expert says quicker response ‘could have saved lives’

Anthony Fauci, left, listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a Coronavirus Task Force news conference.

via Coronavirus: Trump retweets call to fire Anthony Fauci after the coronavirus expert says quicker response ‘could have saved lives’

A Shockingly Long List of Corrupt Officials and Political Allies Pardoned by Trump – Mother Jones

via A Shockingly Long List of Corrupt Officials and Political Allies Pardoned by Trump – Mother Jones

Lest we forget – » The Australian Independent Media Network

After active opposition to action on climate change, rorting on a grand scale in water management, no long term national drought strategy, and a woeful response to the bushfires, ScottyFromMarketing (SFM) is now positioning himself as some sort of crisis leader.

In actual fact, he is finally being led by advice from experts, and luckily able to share the burden with the Premiers, or pass the buck where necessary.

via Lest we forget – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Old Dog Thoughts- My life and Greening the State.

Amazon.com: Soylent Green: Charlton Heston, Edward G. Robinson ...

Anthony Fauci: We “Could Have Saved Lives” by Acting Earlier on the Coronavirus – Mother Jones

Trump claims he saved lives. His chief Medical adviser said

“Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that the nation likely “could have saved lives” by acting earlier on the coronavirus outbreak.”

Trump can’t sack him (ODT)

via Anthony Fauci: We “Could Have Saved Lives” by Acting Earlier on the Coronavirus – Mother Jones

Doctor’s Note: Can the coronavirus reactivate? | Doctor’s Note | Al Jazeera

While our immune systems are able to clear most pathogens, there are some that lie hidden in our cells [Getty Images]

Nearly all children in the UK catch chickenpox by the age of 10, and it is considered a fairly benign virus for most. However, once you have cleared chickenpox, it remains inactive in your nerve tissue, and in one in three adults it reactivates to cause shingles, a condition resulting in a painful rash.

While we cannot rule out reactivation as a possibility yet, it still seems more probable that these 91 cases were either due to the levels of the virus dipping below a detectable level, allowing symptoms to improve, but then surging again, or that there were flaws with the tests, where the clearance samples were false negatives. The tests are not perfect and, from the data received from China, the most commonly used type of test showed up to a 30 percent false-negative rate.

As South Korea investigates this further and other countries are able to offer their own findings, we are likely to understand more about the way this virus summons an immune response and, hopefully, determine for sure whether reactivation or reinfection are possibilities.

Doctor’s Note: Can the coronavirus reactivate? | Doctor’s Note | Al Jazeera

Why the Stock Market Is Healthy as Americans Die

https://theintercept.imgix.net/wp-uploads/sites/1/2020/04/stockmarkter-theintercept-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90&w=1024&h=512

 

What matters is that the Trump administration will pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship to keep big corporations alive and profitable. That is, from the GOP’s perspective, the sole legitimate function of the U.S. government. And given their ferocious commitment and the government’s financial firepower, they have a plausible shot at success.

So get ready for further triumphalist tweets from Trump anytime the stock market goes up. You may be reading them while picking up sanitized food containers from a soup kitchen, or auctioning off the wreckage of your bankrupt small business, or attending a funeral via Zoom.

via Why the Stock Market Is Healthy as Americans Die

Sanders Says Congress Must Stop Trump From Exploiting Covid-19 Crisis to ‘Bankrupt and Privatize the Postal Service’ | Common Dreams News

via Sanders Says Congress Must Stop Trump From Exploiting Covid-19 Crisis to ‘Bankrupt and Privatize the Postal Service’ | Common Dreams News

Bernie Drops Out: A Post Mortem – » The Australian Independent Media Network

As Chomsky said, Sanders has fundamentally changed the conversation. Ideas that were unthinkable even two years ago are now part of the conversation. The media largely dismisses them, but the very fact that they have to respond at all speaks volumes. Politicians, too, are forced to respond to the ideas of M4A, tuition-free public college and eliminating student-loan debt. The conversation is changing. Sanders’ focus on the issues, sometimes unfortunately to the exclusion of smart politics, has brought that style of campaign back to the forefront of politics. Long may this continue.

Bernie Drops Out: A Post Mortem – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Coronavirus has sped up changes to global order and sovereignty is making a comeback – Politics – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler speaks at the opening ceremony of the Volkswagen car factory in Fallersleben, Lower Saxony, Germany

What will the post-coronavirus world look like? Do we take an authoritarian turn? Does government continue to play a bigger part in our lives? Does the state trump free markets?

As the end of World War I ushered in American dominance, does China emerge from this moment more powerful?

Nations matter. Sovereignty matters. Especially now. The Prime Minister is right about that. But don’t think for a moment ideology doesn’t matter too.

via Coronavirus has sped up changes to global order and sovereignty is making a comeback – Politics – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Old Dog Thoughts- Relief in the outbreak of Covid-19; Research and the unknown;

Veiled Muslim Women abruptly Find Acceptance amid Coronavirus Face Masks: “Nobody is giving me Dirty Looks”

Fighting Fake News with REAL 13/4/20; The relief of COVID-19 Media hiding Trump’s FAILURES; The undiscovered aspects of COVID;

Donald Trump has tested positive — for the bulls**t virus | Salon.com

Trump could bluff his way through marriages, sexual abuse allegations, bankruptcies … hell, he could even bluff his way into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. But he couldn’t bluff the virus. He doesn’t owe the virus any money. He hasn’t left the virus sobbing in some Reno hotel suite with no one to turn to. He can’t divorce the virus and remarry another, younger, prettier virus. He can’t slather the virus with orange pancake makeup and spray it into submission with swoops of combover cotton candy and fool everyone into believing it wasn’t really there.

via Donald Trump has tested positive — for the bulls**t virus | Salon.com

Trump’s Ridiculous Behavior at Covid-19 Briefings Baffles World

U.S. President Donald Trump, center, speaks during a Coronavirus Task Force news conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Saturday, April 4, 2020. Trump said he would use the Defense Production Act to retaliate in cases where companies ship medical equipment elsewhere that’s needed in the U.S. to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Photographer: Tasos Katopodis/Bloomberg

via Trump’s Ridiculous Behavior at Covid-19 Briefings Baffles World

Coronavirus: Which countries have confirmed cases? | News | Al Jazeera

'We need food': Tunisians struggle under coronavirus lockdown

United States – 503,594 cases, 19,701 deaths

Spain – 161,852 cases, 16,353 deaths

Italy – 147,577 cases, 19,468 deaths

France – 125,942 cases, 13,216 deaths

Germany – 122,855 cases, 2,736 deaths

China – 83,014 cases, 3,343 deaths

The total includes 44 cases in Macau and 765 cases – four deaths – in Hong Kong.

United Kingdom – 79,841 cases, 9,891 deaths

Iran – 70,029 cases, 4,357 deaths

Turkey – 47,029 cases, 1,006 deaths

Belgium – 28,018 cases, 3,346 deaths

Switzerland – 24,900 cases, 1,015 deaths

Netherlands – 24,565 cases, 2,652 deaths

via Coronavirus: Which countries have confirmed cases? | News | Al Jazeera