The Commentariat -- March 31, 2020
Late Morning Update:
Sahil Kapur of NBC News: "New information from the IRS on Monday shines more light on what people can do to get the checks from the government as quickly as possible while many families worry about paying the bills and buying food during the coronavirus crisis that has cost millions of people their jobs. For Americans eligible for stimulus cash under the new relief law, the fastest way to receive it is to make sure they've filed a tax return for 2019 or 2018 with bank information so the government can directly deposit the money. The IRS says it will use a person's 2019 return to calculate eligibility and automatically send the money to those who qualify. If they haven't filed a 2019 return, it'll be based on the 2018 return. The agency said it would publish additional information about the new forms soon on irs.gov/coronavirus. Mrs. McC: If you income fluctuated considerably from 2018 to 2019, seems as if some strategic filing decision might be in order.
"Not Winning." David Leonhardt of the New York Times: "... the other three countries with the world's largest number of confirmed [coronavirus] cases -- Italy, China and Spain -- were all making significant progress at a similar point in their outbreaks. But the response in the United States has been slow and uneven.... The United States is badly behind. Both South Korea and the United States had their first confirmed case around the same day, in late January.... South Korea has suffered only about 150 deaths, one-twentieth as many as the United States." Mr.s McC: The graph at the top of Leonhardt's column is jarring. Trump has established a new definition of "American exceptionalism."
Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "The captain of the nuclear aircraft carrier the USS Theodore Roosevelt is begging for help while the coronavirus quickly spreads among the crew. The San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday that between 150 and 200 sailors have tested positive for COVID-19 on the carrier of more than 4,000. Capt. Brett Crozier wrote a four-page letter begging the Navy for help while they're docked in Guam."
Alexandra Petri of the New York Times: At the prompting of [Gui] Cavalcanti -- "the founder of the Open Source COVID19 Medical Supplies, a Facebook group that is crowdsourcing solutions to address the diminishing stock of medical equipment around the world -- ... the world's open-source enthusiasts have banded together to dig up and catalog blueprints of critical do-it-yourself gear and tools that can save lives. Mr. Cavalcant ... initially intended to focus on ventilators. A front-line surgeon in the Bay Area convinced him to go after the low-hanging fruit: sanitizer, gloves, gowns and masks for medical professionals. Stacks of ventilators wouldn't do the public any good if there were no health care workers to operate them.... In just over two weeks, the Facebook group has grown to nearly 50,000 people. Members share their designs or mock-ups for various pieces of equipment, and offer moral support and encouragement." ~~~
Some Setbacks for Misogynists. Alice Ollstein of Politico: "Federal judges on Monday lifted restrictions Texas, Ohio and Alabama imposed on abortion during the coronavirus pandemic in decisions that could have repercussions for several more Republican-led states that have deemed the procedure non-essential during the crisis.... Iowa, Mississippi and Oklahoma are among the other states that recently moved to suspend access to the procedure as the pandemic intensified, arguing it would preserve desperately needed medical supplies."
Rebecca Klar of the Hill: "Tennis courts in Queens that are part of the U.S. Open complex will reportedly be turned into temporary hospitals as New York City works to relieve pressure on medical centers struggling to manage an influx of patients due to the coronavirus pandemic. An indoor training area at the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is expected to house 350 medical beds starting Tuesday, a USTA spokesman told The Wall Street Journal."
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The New York Times' live updates for coronoavirus developments Tuesday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Tuesday are here.
Fred Imbert of CNBC: "Stocks rose on Monday, building on a strong rally from last week as the U.S. extended measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 690.70 points, or 3.2%, at 22,327.48. The S&P 500 climbed 3.4% to 2,626.65 while the Nasdaq Composite closed 3.6% higher at 7,774.15. Tech stocks such as Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon led the way higher for Wall Street. Microsoft jumped 7% while Alphabet and Amazon climbed 3.3% and 3.4%, respectively. The Dow is now up 20% from its coronavirus sell-off low reached on Monday while the S&P 500 has risen more than 17% from those levels. The Nasdaq has bounced more than 13%."
Jeff Cox of CNBC: "Millions of Americans already have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus crisis and the worst of the damage is yet to come, according to a Federal Reserve estimate. Economists at the Fed's St. Louis district project total employment reductions of 47 million, which would translate to a 32.1% unemployment rate, according to a recent analysis of how bad things could get."
Ben Kesslen of NBC News: "The White House coronavirus response coordinator said Monday that she is 'very worried about every city in the United States' and projects 100,000 to 200,000 American deaths as a best case scenario. In an interview on 'Today,' Dr. Deborah Birx painted a grim message about the expected fatalities, echoing that they could hit more than 2 million without any measures...."
Trump Denies He's Heard What Governor Just Said. Jonathan Martin, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump [suggested to] governors on a conference call on Monday that ... a chronic lack of kits to screen people for the coronavirus was no longer a problem. But governors painted a different picture on the ground. Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana, a Democrat, said that officials in his state ... 'don't have adequate tests,' according to an audio recording of the conversation obtained by The New York Times. Literally we are one day away, if we don't get test kits from the C.D.C., that we wouldn't be able to do testing in Montana,' Mr. Bullock said.... 'I haven't heard about testing in weeks,' the president said. 'We've tested more now than any nation in the world. We've got these great tests and we're coming out with a faster one this week.'... Mr. Trump added, 'I haven't heard about testing being a problem.'... At the daily White House briefing on Monday afternoon, Mr. Trump described the call as an opportunity for the governors to thank his administration. 'I think for the most part, they were saying, Thank you for doing a great job,' he said." The Times has the audio here. A CBS News story is here. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: One reason I don't hold high public office: I would have started shouting at Trump when he said, "I haven't heard that" immediately after I had spelled it out for him. I'd do the same if I were a White House reporter. ~~~
~~~ "Trump to Governors: I'd Like You to Do Us a Favor, Though." Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "True, Trump is not demanding that governors investigate Joe Biden in exchange for federal help. But he's strongly suggested that if governors speak candidly about his monumental incompetence, he'll penalize them and their states as they struggle to contain the coronavirus.... 'There are a lot of parallels between the president's behavior now and during the whole Ukraine scandal,' Representative Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who led Trump's impeachment prosecution, told me. 'Certainly the most apparent is his demand that the governors basically pay fealty to him, praise him, or they'll suffer consequences.'... The Washington Post reported that Florida, governed by the Republican Trump sycophant Ron DeSantis, has had its requests for equipment from America's emergency stockpile entirely fulfilled, while other states are receiving only a fraction of what they ask for.... [Trump's] campaign just rolled out a new ad ... featuring appreciative quotes from [Gov] Andrew Cuomo and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.... Republican senators knew who Trump was and they refused to remove him. Now we're all, as the president said of the former ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, going to go through some things."
Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Trump's virus defense is often an attack, and the target is often a woman. Now part of the long list of women the president has insulted: a governor [Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.)], a reporter [Yamiche Alclindor], the head of General Motors [Mary Barra] and, of course, the House speaker [Nancy Pelosi].
Mrs. McCrabbie: Perhaps you're thinking, as some reports would have it, that Trump finally got real about Covid-19's ongoing devastation because the disease was starting to hit some of his friends and/or because it had hit particularly hard in the borough where Trump was reared. Well, not entirely. ~~~
~~~ Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "Aides and advisers say the president was heavily influenced by briefings from scientific and public health officials, as well as by the stark reality of the virus, including projections of greater deaths depending on what measures the government takes. But Trump campaign officials and political allies had also briefed the president in recent days about their fears of reopening the economy too soon, arguing that a spike in deaths could be even more politically damaging in November than the current economic downturn, according to two of the people familiar with the discussions. Public health officials warned Trump that many rural areas -- which form the bedrock of the president's political support -- do not have the necessary hospitals and doctors to handle an outbreak, should it come."
Dana Milbank:"On Sunday, Trump's public health advisers said that even with strict countermeasures, deaths from the coronavirus in the United States could be between 100,000 and 200,000 -- worse than even the worst-case scenarios just a month ago, and a spectacular failure of leadership for a president who claimed 'we have it totally under control.'... But Trump reasoned that, because 2.2 million Americans could die without any attempt at controlling the virus, 'if we can hold that down, as we're saying, to 100,000 -- it's a horrible number -- maybe even less, but to 100,000, so, we have between 100,000 and 200,000, we all together have done a very good job.' How does a human being use the phrase 'a very good job' in contemplation of the deaths of 100,000 to 200,000 souls? Trump seemed more moved by the number of people watching him. He tweeted Sunday that 'the "ratings" of my News Conferences etc. are so high, "Bachelor finale, Monday Night Football type numbers" according to the @nytimes.'"
From the New York Times live updates for Monday: "Mr. Trump said Monday that he and his advisers expected the number of people who test positive to peak around Easter, though he cited no data to back up his claim. 'That's going to be the highest point, we think, and then it's going to start coming down from there,' Mr. Trump said during an interview on Fox & Friends. 'That will be a day of celebration, and we just want to do it right so we picked the end of April.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "... Donald Trump said Monday that he wouldn't mind running against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for president, adding that he thought Cuomo would make a better candidate than former Vice President Joe Biden.... 'I think probably Andrew would be better,' Trump continued. 'I'm telling you right now, you know, I want somebody [for] this country that's gonna do a great job, and I hope I'm going to win.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump on Monday lashed out at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for criticizing his response to the coronavirus pandemic.... 'It's a sad thing,' Trump said during a call-in interview on 'Fox & Friends' Monday morning after he was asked to respond to Pelosi's criticism a day prior. 'She's a sick puppy in my opinion. She's got a lot of problems.' Pelosi on Sunday accused Trump of downplaying the public health crisis in a way that cost American lives, saying that 'his denial at the beginning was deadly' on CNN's 'State of the Union.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Nick Visser of the Huffington Post: "Former Vice President Joe Biden castigated ... Donald Trump for questioning how many protective masks hospitals were using amid the spread of COVID-19, calling such statements 'among the most reckless and ignorant' he had made during the ongoing pandemic." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Shadow Knows. Robinson Meyer of the Atlantic: "On March 13..., Donald Trump promised Americans they would soon be able to access a new website that would ask them about their symptoms and direct them to nearby coronavirus testing sites. He said Google was helping. That wasn't true. But in the following days, Oscar Health -- a health-insurance company closely connected to ... Jared Kushner -- developed a government website with the features the president had described.... [But it never launched.] The site would not have helped many Americans even if it had launched. Today, more than two weeks after the president promised a national network of drive-through test sites, only a handful of such sites have opened, and fewer than 1 million Americans have been tested. The partnership between the administration and the firm suggests that Kushner may have mingled his family's business interests with his political interests and his role in the administration's coronavirus response.... For the past several weeks, Kushner has led a 'shadow task force' on the coronavirus, separate from Vice President Mike Pence's official committee, according to The Washington Post."
Dan Diamond of Politico: "The Food and Drug Administration on Sunday issued an emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, decades-old malaria drugs championed by ... Donald Trump for coronavirus treatment despite scant evidence. The agency allowed for the drugs to be 'donated to the Strategic National Stockpile to be distributed and prescribed by doctors to hospitalized teen and adult patients with COVID-19, as appropriate, when a clinical trial is not available or feasible,' HHS said in a statement, announcing that Sandoz donated 30 million doses of hydroxychloroquine to the stockpile and Bayer donated 1 million doses of chloroquine." Mrs. McC: Take 'em now; we'll test 'em later. Good luck! (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post story is here; it's free to nonsubscribers.
Rachel Roubein of Politico: "The Trump administration has approved the first system for sterilizing specialized face masks worn by front-line health workers battling the coronavirus, potentially easing the severe shortage of the protective gear. The FDA also reversed course on a daily cap for the decontamination system, less than 24 hours after Ohio's Republican governor criticized the FDA on Sunday morning for the limit. As of Sunday night, the agency will let the machines be deployed to sites around the country and there won't be a limit on the number of masks they're allowed to clean each day." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Actually, the NSC Was Sounding Alarms Early on. Josh Rogin of the Washington Post: "Throughout January and much of February, senior Trump administration officials heatedly debated the scope and scale of the coronavirus pandemic, which had emerged from China and was spreading around the world. New national security adviser Robert C. O'Brien and his deputy, Matthew Pottinger, were among those pushing early for strong action. Pottinger, who lived in China as a Wall Street Journal reporter during the SARS crisis, had witnessed how the Chinese government deals with internal crises and knew they were underplaying the problem.... [The two] repeatedly pressed other top officials to take the threat more seriously.... It's also been widely claimed that the NSC cut back on its pandemic expertise under Trump. Yet those assertions don't hold up to scrutiny."
The Stupidest Man in the Senate Has Some Thoughts. Joseph Zeballos-Roig of Business Insider: "Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin called to reopen parts of the American economy to avoid throwing it into a recession or depression. He said 'death is an unavoidable part of life' in a USA Today op-ed published Monday."
Michael Wayland of CNBC: "Ford Motor and GE Healthcare plan to produce 50,000 ventilators within the next 100 days at a facility in Michigan to assist with the coronavirus pandemic. Production of the critical care devices is expected to begin with 500 United Auto Workers union members the week of April 20, according to executives at both companies. Ford's Rawsonville Components Plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan, will be able to produce 30,000 ventilators a month after early July, officials said. The companies expect to produce 1,500 by the end of April, 12,000 by the end of May and 50,000 by July 4, officials said." ~~~
~~~ Edward Ongweso of Vice: "On Monday, General Electric factory workers launched two separate protests demanding that the company convert its jet engine factories to make ventilators. At GE's Lynn, Massachusetts aviation facility, workers held a silent protest, standing six feet apart. Union members at the company's Boston headquarters also marched six feet apart, calling on the company to use its factories to help the country close its ventilator shortage amid the coronavirus pandemic. These protests come just after General Electric announced it would be laying off 10 percent of its domestic aviation workforce, firing nearly 2,600 workers, along with a 'temporary' layoff of 50 percent of its maintenance workers in a bid to save the company '$500 million to $1 billion.'"
Will Sommer & Tracy Connor of the Daily Beast: "A controversial Florida pastor who refused to stop holding packed church services, in violation of coronavirus restrictions, was arrested Monday by a local sheriff who said the preacher was putting his follower' lives at risk. Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne was booked on misdemeanor charges of unlawful assembly and violation of public health rules after flouting social distancing orders at The River at Tampa Bay church. Howard-Browne -- an ally of ... Donald Trump -- has been an outspoken opponent of social distancing requirements, claiming his church has machines that can stop the coronavirus and vowing to personally cure the state of Florida himself."
What's Wrong with This Picture? Julia Marsh, et al., of the New York Post: "Crowds of gawkers ignored New York's social-distance regulations and packed the west side of Manhattan on Monday to watch a US Navy hospital ship arrive to give badly needed coronavirus aid. The throngs of people stood shoulder to shoulder and took photos of the USNS Comfort as it pulled into Pier 90 near West 50th Street at about 10:40 a.m., photos of the scene show. Some waved American flags and others huddled against one another at the fence of the pier. Meanwhile, joggers out for a morning run brushed past the onlookers. At least a dozen NYPD cops stood by and initially did not disperse the bone-headed bystanders as they gathered and snapped cellphone photos of the ship pulling into the pier. After members of the City Hall press corps tweeted about the throngs of people, Mayor Bill de Blasio's communications team directed the NYPD to get the crowds to disperse."
Jake Offenhartz of the Gothamist: "On Tuesday morning, a makeshift tent hospital in Central Park will begin treating overflow patients from Mount Sinai, as the spread of COVID-19 begins to overwhelm local hospitals. Announcing the 68-bed respiratory unit this weekend, Mayor Bill de Blasio praised the relief organization, Samaritan's Purse, responsible for funding and erecting the facility. The mayor did not mention that the group is led by Franklin Grahamm [Billy's son,] a notorious anti-LGBTQ and Islamophobic preacher with a track record of using humanitarian missions to proselytize an evangelical agenda." Mrs. McC: Yesterday I cited an item in the WashPo's updates about this makeshift hospital; the item presented the organization in a positive, or at least neutral, light. I apologize.
Mrs. McCrabbie: So Sunday, I was wondering why the NRA thought gunsellers provided "essential" services, and I joked that maybe NRA members figured they should go out & shoot the neighbors if they suspected the neighbors might be coronavirus carriers. Well, not so funny. "A Maine man..." ~~~
~~~ Alaa Elassar of CNN: "A Maine man said armed neighbors descended on his home and chopped down a tree to block his road and prevent him from leaving because they believed he may have coronavirus.... Officers learned that some residents believed the [man's] roommates needed to be quarantined. None of the roommates, who were from New Jersey and were renting a home in Vinalhaven while working a construction job since September, showed symptoms consistent with Covid-19, deputies said. The residents had been on the island for nearly a month before the incident took place." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Selam Gebrekidan of the New York Times: "In Hungary, the prime minister can now rule by decree. In Britain, ministers have what a critic called 'eye-watering' power to detain people and close borders. Israel's prime minister has shut down courts and begun an intrusive surveillance of citizens. Chile has sent the military to public squares once occupied by protesters. Bolivia has postponed elections. As the coronavirus pandemic brings the world to a juddering halt and anxious citizens demand action, leaders across the globe are invoking executive powers and seizing virtually dictatorial authority with scant resistance.... Critics say some governments are using the public health crisis as cover to seize new powers that have little to do with the outbreak, with few safeguards to ensure that their new authority will not be abused.... And there are few sunset provisions to ensure that the powers will be rescinded once the threat passes."
Presidential Race
Marianna Sotomayor of NBC News: "... Joe Biden took his virtual presidential campaign to the next level Monday when he launched a podcast as the coronavirus forces him to get creative in reaching voters otherwise distracted by a global pandemic. The podcast 'Here's the Deal' is intended to provide listeners 'a voice of clarity during uncertain times' by delving into pressing subjects affecting Americans' day-to-day lives in conversations between Biden and 'national top experts,' according to a description of the podcast shown to NBC News." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: You can get to Biden's first podcast here; I had to maneuver past a fundraiser page to find it.
Nitasha Tiku & Jay Greene of the Washington Post: "Millions of consumers are turning to Instacart, Amazon and Whole Foods as essential resources during the novel coronavirus pandemic, something that has given workers at those companies unprecedented leverage. Now they are conducting walkouts, strikes and sickouts to demand hazard pay and safety protections that match what they say is the high risk they take in showing up to work.On Monday, some workers for grocery delivery app Instacart began a nationwide strike to demand hazard pay of $5 per order and better health protections. Meanwhile, some warehouse employees at an Amazon facility in Staten Island, N.Y., walked out because they said the e-commerce giant isn't doing enough to protect them. And on Tuesday, some staff at Amazon-owned Whole Foods around the country plan to call in sick to demand the grocer offer hazard pay of double their current hourly wages, along with other health protections." ~~~
~~~ Annie Palmer of CNBC: "Amazon has fired a Staten Island warehouse worker who organized a strike to demand greater protections for employees amid the coronavirus outbreak. Chris Smalls, a management assistant at the facility..., said he was fired Monday afternoon following the strike. Smalls and other employees walked out to call attention to the lack of protections for warehouse workers. The workers are also urging Amazon to close the facility after a worker tested positive for the coronavirus last week. The organizers said that at least 50 people joined the walkout."
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Reader Comments (12)
Here's a story of two women, now 101, the other 95; both survived the Spanish Flu, the Polio epidemic, the depression, and the Holocaust. They offer up some advice during this difficult time. (from NYT)
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/28/nyregion/naomi-replansky-eva-kollisch-coronavirus.html?algo=top_conversion&fellback=false&imp_id=901920758&imp_id=729667772&action=click&module=Most%20Popular&pgtype=Homepage
Also from the Times: the paper is featuring a daily film "break"; every day their writers will share a short film, a scene, an inexplicable clip that they love. Here's the first–- Bodies In Abstract:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/movies/short-films.html
For anyone averse to eating lettuce, etc. lately, here's some useful
info from someone who's been fighting dandelions most of his life (me).
http://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2016-05-12/edible-weeds-and-how-
you-can-use-them/7406004
And when GM gets going on those ventilators, I hope our Governor
Whitmer tells trump f#*k off. They should go where needed, not to
trumps brown nose buddies.
MIT research claims that 6 feet distancing doesn't work. It can
possibly travel very long distances, and not just from coughing
or sneezing. Talking, exhaling.
https://news.yahoo.com/6-feet-enough-social-distancing-045728930.html
@Forrest Morris: I love dandelions! Grew up in Pennsylvania German area and every spring my mother had me out with a small blade digging up the young plants. Washed...than in what is basically a mustard/vinegar-infused roux toss in the torn leaves with some crisp bacon pieces to heat through...then heap atop mashed potatoes, it's bliss!
Once served it to some visiting Frenchmen from Alsace and Burgundy, and it got me a few stars!!!
@Forrest
I think the general public does not understand the size scale of the term "droplet", and maybe the medical community including CDC and WHO needs to explain. Droplets may not be visible. This report about an infection cluster in Skagit Valley Washington resulting from a choir practice where everyone was practicing hand hygene is a case in point:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtqC5nkDN_o
I believe the possibility of aerosol transmission has been discounted because of the size of the virus itself was too large. I'd like to hear explanations from the experts what the range of droplet sizes are that can be emitted from talking or singing and what length of time each droplet size class remains airborne. Some are beginning to question the official recommendation that masks worn by the uninfected public are not required (see Digby's posts from today). Still, it's best that these scarce supplies be given to front line emergency responders and those administering tests. Maybe public physical distance should be accompanied by vocal silence as well...except for humming?
@Bea: Does this report about Biden sexually assaulting a staffer in 1993 deserve being included under the category Presidential Race?
https://www.democracynow.org/2020/3/31/tara_reade_joe_biden_sexual_assault
What happens if Biden were to drop out now? KaBoom!!
One has only to wait a day or so, often just a few hours, for additional proof added to the mountain of evidence demonstrating the astounding stupidity of the entire collection of greedy dimwits that comprise the Trump Crime Family.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-Uhr56lCZq/?
Here is a posting, by Junior, of the Orange Menace photoshopped you look like the character Joe Exotic, “star”, if you will, of the recently released “Tiger King” documentary on Netflix. The show has become something of a binge sensation due largely to this character, a gun toting, drug dealing, murder for hire narcissist now serving 22 years in prison for attempting to hire someone to kill a woman he hates. That and a dozen counts of animal abuse. Even if you haven’t seen it, it’s likely you’ve run across some mention online about this crazed, dangerous asshole. But Junior hears “Tiger King” and thinks “A-Yuh, that’s ma daddy, Tiger King!” and posts a picture comparing dear old dad to a half insane whack job inmate.
Good job there Junior! Aren’t wingers all a-tizzy about how this moron is fabulously electable? Yeah. He’s got the village idiot vote in the bag.
You might think, if your dad is the president, trying desperately to look presidential so’s he can get re-elected and you and your nest of nepotism beneficiaries can continue to line your pockets with taxpayer money, you might do the teensiest bit of research before posting something as gasket-blowing stupid as this. But no. Junior, like his menace of an old man knows everything.
Fucking morons, all of them.
The saddest thing is that Fatty makes this Joe Exotic dude look like a good citizen.
Amanda Marcotte's piece in Salon has a more tempered review of the Tara Reade problem today.
https://www.salon.com/2020/03/31/a-woman-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault-and-all-hell-breaks-loose-online-heres-what-we-know/
@AK: Trevor Noah heard you: Here's his bit about Joe Exotic/Tiger King:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trevor-noah-trump-is-exactly-like-tiger-king-joe-exotic_n_5e833332c5b603fbdf496967
Tried to make my first mask today. (Yes, I, a male, own a sewing machine. I thought it was just another skill like cooking food.) Fucked up a seam so need to start over again tomorrow.
The 100% sourdough baguettes turned out great as usual. Sad, though, that I used the last of my Hummer flour. Back to King Arthur all-purpose.
Words of Wisdom from Samuel L. Jackson
https://m.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR0yCC4IDdUME-63ebWkRTc6EPjQNFWgrrlRS96OJTEbUjdZEAmvNyANDes&feature=share&v=YUakLzaboMo