Also this happened today.

Mayo Clinic requires all visitors to wear a mask. Will Mike Pence do so today? Famed hospital punted Qs about the visit from the VP, who has avoided wearing a mask in photo opps. pic.twitter.com/u4iAtjTJGn

— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) April 28, 2020

PENCE flouts Mayo Clinic policy that everyone on campus wear a mask, even as he meets with staff and a patient. pic.twitter.com/kfo64KQDhU

— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) April 28, 2020

Statement from a Mayo Clinic spokesperson:

We made the Vice President and his staff aware of our policy regarding masking. For all additional inquiries please contact his press team.

— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) April 28, 2020

… Read the rest

People are taking the hint from Barr and suing their states for the precious right to infect other people.

A judge in Illinois ruled on Monday that Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker cannot enforce his stay-at-home order against Republican state Rep. Darren Bailey. Bailey, who represents a rural area that’s been spared from the contagion, argued that the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act restricts a governor’s emergency powers to 30 days from the day he declares a disaster, which was March 9. “The governor was just clearly overreaching his authority and his powers,” Bailey told Meagan Flynn. 

Pritzker promised to appeal. “Rep. Darren Bailey’s decision to take to the courts to try and dismantle public health directives designed to keep

… Read the rest

Barr is threatening states that take strong measures to slow the pandemic.

Attorney General Bill Barr directed all 93 U.S. attorneys on Monday to “be on the lookout for state and local directives” that curtail individual rights in the name of containing the novel coronavirus. 

Of course quarantines curtail individual rights, but you know what else does that? Death, and debilitating after-effects of damaged lungs and other organs. Sometimes individual rights have to give way to the rights of everyone else.

This new declaration by the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, who has heavily politicized the Justice Department during his tenure, should be read as a warning to governors and mayors that they may face challenges in federal court if

… Read the rest

Well, you see, it was a very warm weekend.

Tens of thousands of people packed southern California beaches over the weekend, reigniting fears that large crowds in public spaces could reverse progress on containing Covid-19 in the US.

Photos of the gatherings in Newport Beach, Orange county, during a weekend heatwave sparked intense backlash and comparisons with Florida, where images of beachgoers raised alarms about the state’s coronavirus strategy. In recent days, beach and park reopenings have also prompted debates and public health concerns in Texas, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and other regions looking to re-emerge from lockdowns.

But isn’t there some kind of magic thingy where crowded beaches don’t count? Because the sand scares the … Read the rest

I hope I never have to take any of that.

Trump begins his April 27 #TrumpPressConference with some reading difficulties pic.twitter.com/V1AnjAh9NK

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 27, 2020

… Read the rest

Politico has a ridiculous piece about Hope Hicks (which many shockingly cynical people are suggesting is based on what Hope Hicks wanted them to say).

For Hope Hicks, it marked a challenge unlike any other — trying to develop a communications strategy for the president to carry with a wartime footing in an election year. As one of the few aides Trump implicitly trusts, the former White House communications director urged the president to act as a frontman for the coronavirus crisis — a leader who could offer calming messages, critical health information and important updates on the progress of the White House’s response efforts, instead of delegating those responsibilities to health officials or the vice president.

You see what … Read the rest

I wrote a column for The Freethinker yesterday, a play on freethinking and free thinking i.e. a joke about the fact that some thinking is a good deal too free, like for instance Trump’s.

What’s funny about that is that several of the people commenting are…how shall I put this…missing the fact that it’s a joke and that there are many sub-jokes within the larger joke…Which is particularly amusing because the column is partly about Trump’s very free thoughts about how he was being sarcastic and all you dopes missed it.

Also one person thinks it’s a good sign that “stalwart Trump supporters like Benson are getting critical of him.”… Read the rest

Oh he was just thinking aloud.

After several days in which state public health officials have rushed to issue urgent warnings to Americans about the dangers of ingesting disinfectants, Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, sidestepped the opportunity to amplify that message Sunday.

Asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper what the American people should know about disinfectants and the human body, she instead defended the President’s tendency to muse aloud about his ideas as he processes new information, and suggested that the media had missed the point of the White House presentation.

Birx noted that when Trump made the remark Thursday, he was engaged in a “dialogue” with William Bryan, the acting head of science at

… Read the rest

Whoa.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1254479607627231232 https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1254479609472659456

First of all journalists don’t get “Nobles” or even Nobels. There is no Nobel Prize for journalism. Second, spelling. Third…everything. Saying that out loud, and not just out loud but on Twitter. Acting like a spoiled toddler with a toothache out in public where we can all see you. Fourth – you do realize you’re telling us all it upsets you that nobody gives you a Noble prize for journalism? And that that looks kind of stupid coming from a head of state? In short that we’re all going to laugh at you? That all you’re doing is humiliating yourself? That we’re laughing at you (at the same time as we very seriously want you out of … Read the rest

.@realDonaldTrump never said Americans SHOULD inject themselves with disinfectants or drink bleach! Liberals and the media (same) are LYING & EMBELLISHING.. He was wondering aloud about it in the form of a question. No wonder nobody trusts the liberal media. @POTUS @WhiteHouse

— David Brody (@DavidBrodyCBN) April 25, 2020

Who’s this guy? What is CBN? His profile says ” Chief Political Analyst, CBN News” – so what’s CBN News?

Ah. Doctor Google informs us that CBN is Christian Broadcasting Network.

So Christians are all about the rapist serial adulterer serial marry-er who brags about grabbing women by the pussy? All about greed and pugnacity and cruelty and lying? All about sending refugees back to be killed, letting children die … Read the rest

The Post shares a numerical breakdown of Trump’s firehose of egotism at his virus rallies:

What began as daily briefings meant to convey public health information have become de facto political rallies conducted from the West Wing of the White House. Trump offers little in the way of accurate medical information or empathy for coronavirus victims, instead focusing on attacking his enemies and lauding himself and his allies.

He’s done 60 percent of the talking at the rallies disguised as briefings on the pandemic. He has by far the least to say of anyone there yet he uses up the majority of the time to say his tiny least over and over and over again.

The president has spoken for

… Read the rest

West Point sent students home and were unsure about having a graduation ceremony.

The Naval Academy, for its part, decided it was too risky to recall its nearly 1,000 graduating midshipmen to Annapolis, Md., for a commencement. Those graduates will have a virtual event. But the Air Force Academy, in contrast to the other schools, sent home its underclassmen, locked down its seniors on campus, moved up graduation, mandated social distancing — and went ahead with plans for Vice President Mike Pence to be its speaker.

And so last Friday, the day before Mr. Pence was to speak at the Air Force ceremony in Colorado, Mr. Trump, never one to be upstaged, abruptly announced that he would, in fact, be

… Read the rest

To get revenge for his failures Trump is pushing to destroy the WHO altogether.

Trump and his top aides are working behind the scenes to sideline the World Health Organization on several new fronts as they seek to shift blame for the coronavirus pandemic to the world body, according to U.S. and foreign officials involved in the discussions.

Last week, the president announced a 60-day hold on U.S. money to the WHO, but other steps by his top officials go beyond a temporary funding freeze, raising concerns about the permanent weakening of the organization amid a rapidly spreading crisis.

At the State Department, officials are stripping references to the WHO from coronavirus fact sheets, and Secretary of State Mike

… Read the rest

Something in my eye…

https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1254135441076424707… Read the rest

Speaking of bleach…

Weeks after CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, brother of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, tested positive for COVID-19, he announced that his wife, Cristina Greeven Cuomo, tested positive as well. 

Cristina Greeven Cuomo runs a health and wellness site called “The Purist,” where she blogged about her unusual regimen while battling the virus, including bathing in a bleach solution. She said she decided to give it a try as a “more affordable” alternative to an IV vitamin drip to purportedly “neutralize heavy metals” in the body.

Bleach is very affordable, that’s true, but it’s also very fucking toxic.

Also why do people with no actual medical training claim to teach “wellness”? I’m Googling her … Read the rest

The NY Times on Trump’s little gaffe:

In Maryland, so many callers flooded a health hotline with questions that the state’s Emergency Management Agency had to issue a warning that “under no circumstances” should any disinfectant be taken to treat the coronavirus. In Washington State, officials urged people not to consume laundry detergent capsules. Across the country on Friday, health professionals sounded the alarm.

Injecting bleach or highly concentrated rubbing alcohol “causes massive organ damage and the blood cells in the body to basically burst,” Dr. Diane P. Calello, the medical director of the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System, said in an interview. “It can definitely be a fatal event.”

Oddly enough, massive organ damage isn’t a … Read the rest

https://twitter.com/RandyRainbow/status/1254037769967538176… Read the rest

We encountered John Nicolson MP a few days ago, calling AllianceLGB “sinister” while also saying he has no idea who they are. Yesterday he summoned the police to witness his new wild accusations.

The transphobic @ALLIANCELGB is raising tens of thousands of pounds. Much of it comes from far right sources abroad. And there are multiple pseudonyms donating. Who is getting the cash? How is it being being spent? Are accounts available? @policescotland https://t.co/fhPG4wug17

— JOHN NICOLSON M.P. (@MrJohnNicolson) April 24, 2020

Why is he summoning the police? Why is he doing so on Twitter? Why is he sounding like an anti-Semite ranting about Soros? What is wrong with him?

Replies are harsh.

Receipts? Or you just have smears?

—

… Read the rest

Heyyy it’s Lesbian Visibility Week so…

A writer covering issues including political and sexual liberty, @JaneFae is a prominent transgender campaigner and named on our #VisibleLesbian100 list this year! #LesbianVisibilityWeek #LVW20 https://t.co/qKNPsarG7E pic.twitter.com/SnKoW1dWqa

— Lesbian Visibility Week (@LesbianVisWeek) April 23, 2020

Jane Fae isn’t a lesbian though, on account of how Jane Fae is a man. Men don’t get to steal lesbianism any more than they get to steal being a woman or women’s places in athletic competitions. Jane Fae aka John Ozimek is stealing a place on the Visible Lesbian List from an actual lesbian, and that is crap.… Read the rest

This should have been worded much more strongly.

Household cleaners and disinfectants can cause health problems when not used properly. Follow the instructions on the product label to ensure safe and effective use. Learn more about cleaning and disinfecting your home: https://t.co/PW0UbW8KeE. pic.twitter.com/rdcR9QJNIR

— CDC (@CDCgov) April 24, 2020

There is no “can” about it, and by “health problems” they mean agonizing pain and then death.

Just breathing too much bleach is dangerous. Someone I know had to go to the ER after getting too enthusiastic while scouring the kitchen counters. The very idea of ingesting the stuff is nightmarish.

The CDC should have said very clearly that household cleaners and disinfectants are poisons, end of story. But … Read the rest