I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Linkee-poo Tuesday

"The first known comet to visit us from another star system has an unusual make-up, according to new research… The interstellar comet 2I/Borisov was detected in our Solar System last year… New data suggests it contains large amounts of carbon monoxide - a possible clue to where it was 'born'."

Dagon goes missing. "In its place was... nothing, leading astronomers to the conclusion that the spot was never an exoplanet at all. Instead, they now believe the bright spot visible in those early Hubble images was an even rarer sight - the aftermath of a collision between two asteroid-sized planetesimals."

"John McDaniel railed against Ohio's Gov. Mike DeWine's lockdown order on social media. Weeks later he contracted the virus. A few days ago he died." The problem is who else he might have infected and the impact of his hospitalization had on other patients. I can't wait for the "he died as he lived…" hot takes. (Grokked from Anne Wheaton)

And another one bites the dust. "After a handful of workers at the JBS pork processing plant came down with COVID-19, health experts jumped into action. A team of MDH investigators went to Worthington Friday to help determine how widespread the outbreak had become."

Ah, the simple Amish life… "A noise complaint led the Geauga County Sheriffs Department to a barn party that defied Governor Mike DeWine’s social distancing orders… According to officials, there was a large party inside the barn that housed over 100 partygoers… The Sheriff’s Department says that EMS was called because of a man who was intoxicated and wouldn’t wake up." We're just waiting for COVID-19 to hit that population, because it's going to be horrendous. And unless they're all dying at home (which is possible), we really haven't seen it yet.

"The Covid-19 outbreak in Los Angeles County is likely far more widespread than previously thought, up to an estimated 55 times bigger than the number of confirmed cases, according to new research from the University of Southern California and the LA Department of Public Health." Ta-da!

"The true death toll from coronavirus in England and Wales up to April 10 was about 41% higher than the UK government's daily update, according to data released by the country's Office of National Statistics (ONS)… The daily updates on the government's website only include deaths in hospitals -- not other locations, including hospices, care homes and private residences. They also don't account for the lag in reporting some deaths." And it's not only England and Wales.

"An arrest warrant was issued Monday for Tony Spell, the Louisiana pastor who has defied state orders against large gatherings, who is alleged to have nearly hit a protester with his church bus… Spell will be charged with aggravated assault for backing his bus too close to a protester in a confrontation caught on tape, said police in the city of Central, near Baton Rouge."

"Over the last few weeks, it has started to appear as though, in addition to abandoning the states to their own devices in a time of national emergency, the federal government has effectively erected a blockade… to prevent delivery of critical medical equipment to states desperately in need. At the very least, federal authorities have made governors and hospital executives all around the country operate in fear that shipments of necessary supplies will be seized along the way… having evacuated federal responsibility, the White House is functionally waging a war against state leadership and the initiative of local hospitals to secure what they need to provide sufficient treatment."

"The Trump administration took Surgeon General Jerome Adams off television last week after his controversial remarks on Covid-19's threat to minorities, silencing the White House's loudest voice on racial disparities even as concerns mount about risks to communities of color."

"Evidence suggests the coronavirus originated in bats in China in late 2019 and was not made in a laboratory, the World Health Organization said Tuesday… The comment from the United Nation’s health agency comes days after President Donald Trump said the U.S. was trying to determine whether the virus originated from a lab in Wuhan, China." This argument was never about facts, this is about redirecting the anger from the US's late response to China. The "this was built in a lab" argument has been disproven many times over (adjusted or manufactured bioweapons have tell-tale signatures in the DNA, the coronavirus has none of them, it's not been modified except by natural selection). Note the "waffling" language (such as "most likely" is standard scientific "you can never be too sure, even though we are 99% certain) is just the way actual scientist speak.

"Republican Governor Brian Kemp announced at a Monday press conference that some Georgia businesses would be able to reopen later this week… 'I don't give a damn about politics now,' said Kemp, who made the call after the state's health department advised that new cases were flattening." That's hilarious since this move is entirely about politics. Kemp is a willful ignorant idiot.

"This was a debate that was largely about nothing. Why? Because Democrats and Republicans mostly agreed about all the items that they were fighting for. At some point, Congress is going to have to send hundreds of billions of dollars to states and local governments." That doesn't mean the parties are the same, but each side knew they were going to have to get here and do all of it eventually.

"President Trump, in a late-night tweet Monday, said he 'will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States' in order to protect against the coronavirus and its economic toll." Oh, hello there Stephen Miller. I thought you had gone to the basement with all the other rats, you Nazi, racist, bastard. Stopping immigration will do nothing to help with the coronavirus outbreak, and every economic study shows the US benefits from immigration.

"The US is monitoring intelligence that suggests North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, is in grave danger after undergoing a previous surgery, according to a US official with direct knowledge… A second source familiar with the intelligence told CNN that the US has been closely monitoring reports on Kim's health."

"The Korean won weakened sharply on Tuesday against the dollar on unconfirmed reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is seriously ill."

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