“Every six days that the country did not test, every six days that it did not act, the number of infected Americans doubled.”
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And THIS…
“…His lab would end up being one of the fastest to set up testing, and become the most important early source of information about the growth of the outbreak. But initially he, too, found himself caught up in the bureaucratic gears…”

…is what the Fox News folks and rightwing-propaganda will focus on. Donald Trump valiantly tried to lead the nation, but the big-gubmunt-bureaucracy failed us….

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Cuba doing a good job?
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InvaderRam wrote:

so what do you think this portends?

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Well, its pretty F’ing obvious — You are THE ONE, Invader.

…either that…or Trump is a Super-Worm. I’m not sure.
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I’ll be 63 in April, but I’m purty healthy. I figure I’ll be alright if I get the evil chinese-communist-anti-american-virus.

Courthouses are mostly closed now, cept for emergency hearings, so I can spend as much time as i want at home. So thats what i do. Books, weeding, cleaning, internet, exercise…thats about it. The isolation hasnt gotten to me yet, but it might at some point.

I have an 89 year-old mom and an older sister with auto-immune issues. So thats where the worry lies.

Plus, most of my clients are poor and out of work now, and scared shitless of starving to death. They are not scared of the virus. Just starving or being homeless. Poverty is way scarier than the virus.

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Jacobin on the scandal.
link:https://jacobinmag.com/2020/03/senate-scandal-congress-insider-trading-stocks-coronavirus-kelly-loeffler-richard-burr
Now Our Senate Overlords Are Making Money off Our Deaths

“…
…….But these cases alone expose some uncomfortable realities.

One is the way that today’s historic wealth inequality has manifested itself in this crisis. Why is it that Burr was giving false assurances to the public while telling his state’s business leaders the harsh truth about the virus? The simple answer is because, as a pair of professors determined six years ago, the United States has become a society where political leaders listen to and enact the wishes of the rich and generous, and systematically ignore those of the poor and middle class. Burr was straight with those few donors at a luncheon because it is they, not the voting public, whose opinions truly matter to members of Congress. One can’t help but wonder what other nuggets of honesty are being offered by the nation’s politicians behind similarly closed doors.

Secondly, why is it that sitting members of Congress are allowed to buy and sell millions in stocks at all, or even sit on powerful committees that may or may not impact their partners’ business dealings? On the one hand, it points to the need for stricter rules around conflicts of interest, including simply barring congresspeople and their spouses from gallivanting through the stock market as they help run the country.

On the other, it points to something much deeper: just as the Democratic Party requires its candidates to be able to raise at least $250,000 from just the contacts in their phones, the political process is closed off to anyone who isn’t already outrageously wealthy, or at least runs in circles that are. And a system like that will inherently create its own conflicts of interest, stocks or no stocks.” see link

Zooey wrote:

Re: “Lifting people out of poverty.”

I think the mistake people make…and it’s really dead easy to see why they make it…is that capitalism is obviously good because we have cars, air conditioning, microwave ovens, and smartphones.

Of course they attribute those products to capitalism because we didn’t have them prior to capitalism, and communist countries did not have widespread consumer goods available.

Why on earth would it ever occur to anybody that those things could have…WOULD have…been developed under another economic system. By and large, very few humans question the facts of their existences. You know…we have the entire human mindset to go up against (zn might disagree with that), but I just see humans as very limited creatures.

I was at a store yesterday purchasing a snake because my drains are clogged and we can’t shit or shower at home until I fix it, and I’m sick of renting them every year or two. Tree roots get in my lines, and as expensive as snakes are, long term it makes more sense to just buy one of ’em. Anyway, the 40-year old checker was talking to the 30-year old guy right in front of me in the checkout line, and they are both talking about how coronavirus is overblown and shutting down the country is a panic-stricken over-reaction.

And I’m just looking at two physically-fit single males with no dependents, and maybe no parents they care about, just believing that their world view is universal.

My musical director was under chemo last year, and has a heart something-thingie plugged into her chest. One of her sons has a respiratory weakness, and one of her daughters has immune deficiency. Three people in one house who could die if they catch covid-19 if the hospitals are full because the two fuckfaces in line in front of me won’t alter their behavior in any way.

Then there is all the doublethink and hypocrisy that is so common in humans. People just don’t think straight. They don’t question their assumptions. They are not even aware they HAVE assumptions. So…how are we supposed to get around when the entire culture shares an ideology and believes that they don’t?

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Every single time I’m in a store the conversations i overhear are all about how “people are panicking” and the shoppers all congratulate themselves on being brave consumers and “not giving in to panic.”

Part bravado, part whistling-in-the-dark, part ignorance of the carrier aspect,
part american-self-absorption….shall i go on 🙂

I’m developing panic into an art, myself. I put hand-sanitizer on my pansies this morning. Who knows where they’ve been.

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Well, the entire Oligarchy is a Lie, Joe. Lies, upon lies, upon lies.

Been goin on a long time 🙂

Billy_T wrote:

I sometimes wonder if the way I talk about capitalism is even remotely adequate. Even words like “genocide, slavery, poverty, inequality” and so on can act as a way to de-personalize all of this..

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I dunno, BT. Its a wise person who wonders those kinds of things, though.

But i dunno if there’s a best way. Seems like the left has always
needed many kinds of flowers to bloom.

Scott Nearing in his autobio describes such an amazing assortment of lefties with
various kinds of voices prior to 1914 or so.
And then he describes what he defines as “the Oligarchy’s” utter destruction of the American left between WWI and WWII.

I just dont think many Americans are listening anymore, BT. I dont know that it matters how you talk about the situation. I dont think they can hear.
Nearing used the word “brainwashing”. I usually avoid that word…but it fits.

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“Life wont change until we get a vaccine”

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Preach, Comrad 🙂

I dont disagree with any of that.

We Americans who think that are a tiny minority though, BT.

“Progressives” make up a bigger group and even they cant get more than a handful of progressive-dems elected in this nation. There’s Bernie, AOC, a few others. A tiny group.

We are trapped in the Madhouse.

I’m just gonna feed the Crows, and drink my tea.

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“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis
on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly,
without rushing toward the future.”
Thich Nhat Hanh

I like this Doctor. Hes a good communicator, I think.

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