Thursday, April 2, 2020

The mammoth US unemployment claims in their historical context.


President Trump pledged to kick off a $350 billion small business loan program Friday despite widespread warnings from banks that they aren't ready to deliver the desperately needed aid as advertised


Jared Kushner actually just said, “What a lot of the voters are seeing now is that when you elect somebody. Think about who will be a competent manager during the time of crisis.” Irony is dead.


NEW: "Relieving [Captain Crozier], who warned about coronavirus on his aircraft carrier, is Rummy-esque: dismissing an inconvenient message and risking servicemembers’ lives,"


Trump's campaign is demanding that Jeff Sessions stop attaching himself to the president in his effort to win back his old Senate seat in Alabama, after Sessions distributed a campaign mailer that mentioned the president 22 times


Those outraged Hunter Biden got a a board appointment b/c of his last name, should be screaming now. A guy who’s only crisis management experience is dealing w/his daddy’s prison term, and got his job b/c of his wife’s last name, is running response our lives literally depend on.


We need to have an election this fall. We might as well have it safely. We need vote-by-mail


BREAKING: US Navy is expected to announce that it has relieved the captain who sounded the alarm about a coronavirus outbreak aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, according to two US officials.


Jared Kushner says some governors don't know how many ventilators they have & coronavirus outbreak is revealing manager skills. "What a lot of the voters are seeing now is that when you elect somebody...think about who will be a competent manager during the time of crisis."


JARED KUSHNER: "The notion of the federal stockpile was it's supposed to be our stockpile. It's not supposed to be states stockpiles that they then use."


First, Trump says he alone will do the oversight on billions in relief money. Then, he says he’ll ignore the transparency provisions required by Congress. Now, he says any oversight is a “witch hunt.” But here’s the truth: Real oversight is vital, because incompetence kills.


How soon till the trump campaign starts selling maga branded face masks, Hand sanitizer, and ventilators?


Trump, the “wartime president” just said, “We’re a backup.” Remember when Franklin Roosevelt said “We’re a backup” and states have to win WW2.


Here's Jared Kushner going for the world record of most meaningless corporate buzzwords used in a single one-minute video clip


Yes you seem to know a LOT about data We are FUCKED Not just a little fucked


At this point I don’t even care that Jared Kushner has a security clearance that he shouldn’t have. I just want him to listen to Dr. Fauci instead of making shit up. Lives are at stake.


NYT: As companies nationwide look for coronavirus relief, the Trump Organization has talked with Deutsche Bank and a Florida county about delaying payments on some loans and other obligations.


New: We checked in on the Trump Organization’s properties and couldn’t find any sign they were joining the effort to fight the coronavirus, even as the president urges other companies to do so.


"Representatives of Mr. Trump’s company have recently spoken with Deutsche Bank, the president’s largest creditor, about the possibility of postponing payments on at least some of its loans from the bank."


6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment. Just last week. Democrats fought for better unemployment benefits. We fought for benefits for gig workers and freelancers. We are still fighting for you. You’re not alone in this.


Florida Governor "Ron DeSantis quietly signed second executive order targeting local coronavirus restrictions," undermining those communities' efforts to halt the spread in churches and synagogues, for example.


The authoritarians will use this opportunity to seize more power, to attack the media & opposition, etc. But behind it all, it's always about money, and with attention distracted the opportunities are irresistible. Keep an eye on sanctions.


MBS is responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. That you refer to him as a “friend” is telling of your total lack of morality, ethics, & integrity.


Trump should be working with Congress and every US institution to help the American people, including those who work in the energy sector. Instead, he's working with two brutal dictatorships to prop up their regimes & put more money in their pockets


John Oliver -- "it’s so profoundly disheartening that we’re being led through this crisis by a man, Donald Trump, who may be less equipped to deal with this historical moment than anybody in recorded history."


Asked about McConnell blaming impeachment on being unprepared for coronavirus, Pelosi tells @MSNBC, "either you can't handle your job, but don't blame impeachment on that. Just blame it on the fact that you didn't want to face the reality. That denial and that delay cost lives."


Cartoon for April 2.


74 journalism / comms professors + journalists have written an open letter to Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch about the network's coronavirus coverage. "Viewers of Fox News, including the president of the United States, have been regularly subjected to misinformation..."


WATCH: Sadly, this is only the beginning of the #CoronavirusPandemic. "The 2nd wave of infections will likely be worse...next flu season, we will have this #coronavirus circulating for the entire 6 months."


Treated like trash


So, now we are asking the Saudis to raise gas prices?!? Putin wins again...


Dear @SecPompeo We expend billions on weapons to protects us against the so called “enemies” (I’m a friend of all people!)like Russia or China. But Do you understand that if Rusia wants they could create mayhem by contaminating all PPE,bringing USA into chaos and you paid for it?


“We look at that literally every day,” Fauci says of restricting domestic travel in US amid coronavirus outbreak.


Remember. Remember it all.


To Secretary of Labor @SecGeneScalia: You must move heaven and earth to make sure that Americans are able to receive their unemployment benefits ASAP.


More WH journalists should read about the cycle of abuse. They are on the receiving end of abuse. The abuser always “changes their tone” and apologizes. That’s part of the cycle!


New: As Atlantic hurricane season nears, FEMA is considering setting up a second crisis response coordination center just to deal with non-covid emergencies


Guess where people haven't been practicing social distancing?


On Sept. 11, 2001, a small town in Canada gave shelter and nourishment to 7,000 Americans whose flights were grounded. Now, Gov. DeSantis of Florida will not allow a few Canadian citizens to come off a cruise ship and offer shelter. I am embarrassed and infuriated...our country.


BAD STUFF >> Office Depot, which has said it is an essential retailer, sent a memo to store managers saying customer-facing employees were not allowed to wear masks and discouraged managers from sending workers home if they had symptoms of the virus


BREAKING: US weekly jobless claims total 6.6 million


We have docs, nurses, EMTs, truck drivers, stock clerks, and a hundred other essential types fighting this plague to the ends of their physical and mental rope. I can't *wait* to see the Trump Media Complex tell us how Donnie has been working so hard and needs his golf time


BREAKING: 6.6 million people filed for unemployment last week, setting a record-shattering high for the second week in a row as the pandemic strikes deeper into the economy


Questions about Kelly Loeffler's investments could do lasting political harm at a time when many are concerned about the devastating financial toll the coronavirus has taken on them. Democrats have made an aggressive push to capitalize on the stock sales.


Robert Kraft is using the New England Patriots team plane to transport one million N95 masks from China directly to Massachusetts hospitals. The plane will arrive in Boston full of personal protective equipment this afternoon.


This is why it took a lawsuit to get Ron DeSantis to close Florida


With the deepest and most profound sadness, I grieve the passing of a true jazz master, icon of our culture, historic in the story of New Orleans, and profound in his influence in the evolution of music along with many lives. Father. Mentor. Teacher. Genius. RIP Ellis Marsalis


NYC should start a class action suit against a certain network situated on 6th Ave. They have a headline crawl on the side of building that was pumping out false and dangerous information to citizens for weeks. Not to mention the poison on the airwaves.


Governor DeSantis now says he'll take the 49 Floridians off the cruise ship sitting of his shores. He won't take the other 250 Americans or the 400 Canadians. So much for the country pulling together. Thanks for the national leadership


Trump adviser working with WH officials on messaging for pandemic said Trump “took a gamble” that warmer weather would cause Coronavirus to dissipate, siding with aides pushing back on dire warnings coming from doctors. "He took a gamble and got it wrong,” adviser said.


Here’s what’s abundantly clear: In Jan., someone (Jared? Voices in his head?) told donald that if he “rode out” #coronavirususa, folks wouldn’t notice. To make sure, just don’t test. They’ll think it was the flu. So, he did jackshit. Plus, Putin wants us dead. The end.


The dollar amount he’s grifted/grifting from tax payers, truth about the Khashoggi murder, and names of Russian mobsters on his bank loans will eclipse his Impeachment. But even those will pale to his willful propagation of civilian mass death.


Any horror movie recommendations?


Against the advice of health experts, the Trump admin wants to send new rapid coronavirus tests to rural GOP states with few cases instead of blue cities and states with lots of cases.


Adam Schlesinger Dies of Coronavirus Complications at 52


The Australian government will punish people convicted of illegally exporting masks, hand sanitizer or other personal protective equipment with hefty fines, under newly invoked biosecurity laws.


On a call yesterday—Trump campaign tells surrogates to paint Biden & Democrats as 'the opposition' in coronavirus war “Fully capitalize on the coronavirus pandemic to attack Biden & Democrats as ‘the opposition’ in Trump's great war against the outbreak”


The US Government paid a company $13 million to develop a cheap ventilator. The company did not deliver a single one to the national stockpile, but has been selling version of it to clients overseas.


Can Americans, who lose family members to COVID-19, sue Trump? He said it would go away. He said it would be a miracle. There needs to be a class-action suit against Donald John Trump for purposely misleading us. Can that happen? Lawyers?


Coronavirus Task Force believes more lives could have been saved if Trump acted sooner: report


Trump risks lives because he chose to ‘fight reality’ instead of the coronavirus: forensic psychiatrist


Massachusetts Gov. Baker struck a deal for N95 masks in China but needed a way to transport them. Here’s how the New England Patriots plane came in to the picture


Anthony Fauci, a leader on the White House coronavirus task force, said we could “relax social distancing” once there’s “no new cases, no deaths,” but the real turning point won’t come until there’s a vaccine


Rep. Schiff on Trump’s coronavirus response: ‘They should stop making excuses’


He is insane. Standing there at his daily mini maga rally spouting off about being #1 on Facebook. And the AG and Navy brass and Defence Sec stand behind him, pretending that he doesn’t belong in a strait jacket. While Americans die and NO ONE is in charge of getting PPE.


“The schools were just canceled out here in California, which is way overkill," Devin Nunes said on Fox News. "It's possible kids could have gone back to school in two weeks to four weeks, but they just canceled the rest of the schools."


I’m seriously starting to think the illness I had in December was probably COVID-19. I don’t plan on testing that theory by exposing myself, but I can’t wait for the serology tests so I can find out for sure.


Social Security recipients who don't usually file tax returns no longer need to file them to get stimulus payments, Treasury says


FEMA hasn’t given a specific delivery date request for the 100,000 bodybags, but the agency wants them as soon as they’re ready, @ACapaccio reports in the latest depressing news story amid the coronavirus outbreak.


Inslee: "We are so desperate for PPEs. We are desperate for test kits. We are sending nurses in who don't have what the need for PPEs and we need to have a national mobilization of the manufacturing base of the US as we had in WWII so we can get these nurses what they deserve..."


So we are willing to buy PPE from Russia but NOT implement the Defense Production Act fully at home because we have enough already.


Days after Trump said making it easier to vote would hurt GOP, here's GA House speaker David Ralston: “This will be extremely devastating to Republicans and conservatives in Georgia. Every registered voter is going to get one of these. … This will certainly drive up turnout.”


There's no way in f—king hell the IC doesn't have a warehouse full of files on this seditious little prick. He met with Kislyak, Gorkov, Veselnitskaya, MBS, the Qataris, etc. Kushner can be indicted at any time. Are we gonna just wait until a few million Americans die to do so?


We called for this. Because Social Security recipients, our vulnerable seniors, and people with disabilities MUST get the critical direct cash assistance from our new coronavirus response bill without having to file tax returns.


I'll say it again. How the fuck does Trump not have the virus?


Army warned Trump administration on Feb. 3 that up to 150,000 Americans could die from COVID-19


Mexico has urged its citizens to avoid nonessential travel amid the coronavirus pandemic, specifically asking them not to go to the United States.


Taffy I’m with you....stay strong! Tears are ok....I already drained out my insides of sadness....now is time to lift up our spirits and to be strong for each other. To look at the future with the eyes of a child....we will rewrite who we are...we the people, never lonely!


What Coronavirus Symptoms Do Kids Experience? Doctors Share New Information


Infected but Feeling Fine: The Unwitting Coronavirus Spreaders


While the world is fixated on coronavirus, Pakistan overturns the murder conviction of the man who masterminded the 2002 beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Governments want decisions like this to go unnoticed. Don't let that happen


Grocery store staff fed up with 'social' shoppers who flout pandemic rules


Pawn shops and salons are considered among the essential Arizona public services allowed to stay open in the Covid-19 pandemic. So are golf courses, dry cleaners, nail salons and spas


"I don't know how our government operates anymore," said one Republican close to the administration, lamenting that the sudden authority granted to non-governmental actors had left them with their "eyebrow raised unbelievably high."


U.S. death toll from coronavirus surges to 5,000+


To the limited extent the federal government is stepping up, it’s clearly letting partisan politics shape which states get what share of their medical needs met. That’s an outrageous abuse of presidential power. It must be exposed. It must stop.


Arizona mayors slam stay-at-home order that allows hair salons, golf courses to remain open


Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's top medical expert on the coronavirus pandemic, is facing threats to his personal safety and now requires personal security from law enforcement at all times, including at his home.


We Asian Americans are not the virus, but we can be part of the cure, @AndrewYang writes


We're losing the war because the leader didn't stock up on bullets, denied the enemy was coming and is forcing the generals to bid against each other to buy bullets from ruthless merchants.


Atlanta, also the home of the CDC


Not only do we allow the Kremlin to interfere and attack us, now we are paying directly for their propaganda


The hardest hit neighborhood in the hardest hit city in the hardest hit country is called Corona, Queens. — If you wrote that in a novel, the publisher would take it out


WaPo: Dr. Anthony Fauci is facing growing threats to his personal safety, prompting the government to step up his security, according to people familiar with the matter.


The Medical Supply Chain Emergency Act.


The plane is arriving today after Trump accepted an offer on Monday by Putin to send personal protective equipment and other gear, a senior administration official confirmed to POLITICO..


A stunning admission of deadly ignorance from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who says he only just learned that asymptomatic people can transmit #Covid19. “[I]ndividuals could have been infecting people before they ever felt bad, but we didn’t know that until the last 24 hours.”


Meanwhile in the US: -March was the 2nd best month for gun sales in American history as people rushed out to buy firearms. -Dr Anthony Fauci, who is leading the govt's health response, has been assigned bodyguards after receiving death threats


.@MaddowBlog: How many warnings did Team Trump fail to take seriously?


It's now April, and: - States still don't have enough tests - Hospitals still don't have enough ventilators - Health care workers still don't have enough masks Donald Trump needs to use all available authorities immediately to solve these shortages. — Joe Biden


Yes you do. I sued you. And an hour before our first call with the judge you closed the state.


US Gov and Gov of Florida SHAMEFUL behavior denying port call to two cruise ships. American citizens and others deserve rescue. Must be brought ashore and given medical care or sent home. There are 9000+ people stranded in a dozen ships still at sea.


President Trump needs to appoint a military commander to be his czar in charge of both producing critical medical supplies under the Defense Production Act and distributing the supplies where they’re needed. His presidential appointees are not up to the job. — Chuck Schumer


NEW: In the middle of a pandemic, this week the Secret Service signed a $45,000 "emergency order" to rent golf carts in Sterling, Va. -- home of @realdonaldtrump's Virginia golf club. In the past, such rentals have preceded presidential golf trips


WATCH! How to ensure you don't get follow-up questions on Fox, apparently.


It's hard to read these stories and not think that Trump's central reelection plan was a pandemic


Chris Cuomo’s Covid-19 experience sounds brutal


Kellyanne warned us


This is disgusting. Kelly Loeffler sold even more stock than we thought after her private Coronavirus briefing- nearly $19 million. How much PPE would that buy? She would know- she took money out of retail & INVESTED IN A COMPANY THAT MAKES PPE.


My interview w/ McConnell... “She needs to stand down," he says of Speaker's pursuit of a "Phase 4" bill. Cold water on infra: "It would take a lot of convincing to convince me." “Not at all,” he said, when asked if his judicial effort will be paused.


FDNY firefighters gathered to salute the medical staff at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Lower Manhattan for their efforts in response to COVID-19


NEW: How JARED KUSHNER quietly took over the coronavirus response — with the help of health care entrepreneurs, McKinsey consultants and even his former roommat


We lost precious weeks in responding to the coronavirus pandemic. But it's not too late for us to make the right decisions to slow the spread. A nationwide stay-at-home order. Increasing testing capacity. Investing in vaccine research and development. What we do now matters.


You conspired with others to lie to the American people about a deadly threat. That lie will result in the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives. Time to lawyer up, Sean


Fox News star Sean Hannity took to both Twitter and his radio show to seethe with rage about a NYT column lamenting his role in the spread of coronavirus misinformation


January 21, 2020 We are all worried about the potential spread of the Wuhan coronavirus worldwide. We need CDC to explain to us how we will safeguard public health and safety.


Locomotive engineer who worked at the Port of Los Angeles charged with intentionally derailing a train at full speed near the US Navy hospital ship Mercy over a conspiracy theory about COVID-19, according to a federal criminal complaint.


My latest on how every move Trump has made is driven by his reelection politics. Take a read.


Two Jared Kushner quotes that should make you fear for your life: “I know how to make this government run now” and “I’ve gotten a lot smarter about this. New York doesn’t need all the ventilators.”


Last summer, the Trump administration let the contract lapse with the firm maintaining the ventilator stockpile. Now, ventilators are reaching states in disrepair.


Governors who have still not ordered shelter in place


As the nation descends into a plague like the we've never seen. The Orange Idiot fires the pandemic response team, leaves a religious lunatic (Pence) in charge; and goes golfing. He should be arrested for this His entire administration should be charged Every appointee removed


People are struggling. People are suffering. People are dying. Trump has FAILED to provide adequate testing to the states, FAILED to mobilize manufacturing life-saving equipment, FAILED in the distribution of PPE. But he spends time bragging & gloating that he’s # 1 on Facebook.


In order to be on track for an estimated ~100,000 deaths from coronavirus in the United States, and a peak of ~2,500 deaths per day, the University of Washington model cited by the White House would expect 899 deaths today. The latest @CNN number is 946 deaths reported today


MyPilkow must have competed with TrumpPillow for a government contract. This idiot has been sued over 30 times. Another fraud capitalizing on a national health crisis.


I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but if evidence was provided that showed #COVID19 was a biological weapon dispersed by Russia (who is showing only around 2000 cases) and Trump's response was designed to maximize the its impact . . . I wouldn't be surprised. Would you?


We've launched an investigation into why the Department of Homeland Security reportedly stopped updating its annual pandemic planning models in 2017, leaving the government scrambling to respond to the coronavirus with a patchwork of documents.


Nope. “Palantir is in talks to provide software to governments across Europe to battle the spread of Covid-19 and make strained health-care systems more efficient.”


Pence dodges a question from Fox on how Americans can get insurance during the coronavirus pandemic. After Pence finishes, Trump adds: "I think it's one of the greatest answers I've ever heard, because Mike was able to speak for five minutes and not even touch your question."


My latest: Like a virus, Trump adapts. He's now shifting his stance to set the stage for claiming 200,000 American deaths as a victory--so he can run for reelection as the great #coronavirus hero who saved the lives of millions. Please read, RT, and share


President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has emerged as perhaps the most pivotal figure in the national fight against the coronavirus pandemic


Ghoul is giddy with profits off mass death. Adorable.


Is Trump in some who-can-be-the-most-pathetic contest?


Officer Ben Peguero❤ Rookie Boston Cop Helps Woman Buy Groceries During Coronavirus Pandemic


'Shoot them dead' - Philippine leader says won't tolerate lockdown violators


Tone?! Trump destroyed federal capabilities, corrupted a government once known as the gold standard for ethics, lied unceasingly, separated families, caged children, abandoned Puerto Rico, solicited foreign election interference and will kill more Americans than Osama Bin Laden.


Thank you @SpeakerPelosi. Don’t let any bill pass without it


The Governor or Florida has blood on his hands. He played games that resulted in Americans dying. Never forget that.


Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says he needs 138,000 tests. He's gotten 4K from federal government and state has done 17K tests overall, he says. Things are going to get bad, he says. And governors are being told tests are coming, but they haven't arrived.


The Governor of Florida is blaming the Governor of New York for the problems in Florida. One of the only people doing a damn thing to save lives is the Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo. The Governor of Florida has blood on his hands.


Nancy Pelosi on CNN on McConnell's impeachment remarks: "I think that's an admission that perhaps the president and the Majority Leader cannot handle the job. We have a life and death situation ... They should not try to hide behind an excuse for why they did not take action."


Wanda Sykes on Staying home safely


This is crazy. The “ventilators” Musk sourced were sleep apnea machines. FFS


Last night I certified far more deaths than I can ever remember doing in a single shift. The little things hit you: a book with a bookmark in, a watch still ticking, an unread text message from family. Pandemic medicine is hard.


At a time when Americans might need health care the most, the Trump Administration is preventing people who need insurance from getting it. Their cruelty truly knows no bounds.


Republicans were warned. Yet they persisted in defending Trump.


Germany conducting more than 50,000 coronavirus tests a day


I’m a full-time ER doc getting ready to work a 24 hour shift in the emergency department. I am genuinely more concerned about going to work tomorrow morning than I was the day I launched on the space shuttle. 1.5% shuttle mortality vs 9-12% if I get COVID-19.


Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)