Althouse: At the Ice Cold Café...

March 20, 2020

At the Ice Cold Café...

F82C87EC-64EC-4B96-A695-53A52AEDC11F_1_201_a

... it's the second day of Spring.

484 comments:

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walter said...: Venice will get its requested relief from tourism...; 3/20/20, 10:44 PM
Mark said...: But not just manufacturing -- our buying habits too.

Do I REALLY need that "Made in China" item??

Like I inferred in my prior statement -- I already got enough crap in my home. I can do without.

Problem is that too many of our pharmaceuticals are made in China -- don't trust those either to be pure and unadulterated.; 3/20/20, 10:46 PM
Big Mike said...: Another data point. One of my sons is a manager at a defense contractor. Last week three people showed up to work with fevers. They were sent home, but not before exposing colleagues. Common sense, people!; 3/20/20, 10:47 PM
Achilles said...: Inga said...
“Is Covid-19 a judgment of God? I could not say for sure, but I think so.”

Who said that? Some loony televangelist?

Yup. Totaly.; 3/20/20, 10:48 PM
narciso said...: From a certain point of view,; 3/20/20, 10:50 PM
Big Mike said...: Oh, and the tenor who sang “Nessun Dorma” at the Met’s production of “Turandot” is Yusif Eyvazo, from Azerbaijan. Well sung.; 3/20/20, 10:51 PM
Mark said...: I wonder if this experience will lead to some internecine hate and discord within the latest Axis of Evil? Chi-Coms, Iranians, Soviets (the dark country of which we've heard very little) and North Koreans (another black hole of information on corona).; 3/20/20, 10:52 PM
Nichevo said...: From your source, Achilles:

https://nationalfile.com/report-bernie-refused-tulsis-endorsement-brother-claims-he-treated-her-like-shit/

Dafuq?!; 3/20/20, 10:52 PM
walter said...: Paul Sperry
@paulsperry_
·
14m
BREAKING: Bayer and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries have donated chloroquine drugs to the U.S. to help in the treatment of COVID-19
Paul Sperry Retweeted
Paul Sperry
@paulsperry_
·
2h
FYI: Zinc is water soluble & not stored in fat cells so it is virtually non-toxic. Up to 150 mg daily intake fine. Chloroquine is basically a phosphate salt. It's sold under brand name Aralen. S. Korea prescribing 500 mg/day to COVID-19 patients. Poss side effects:nausea,diarrhea; 3/20/20, 10:53 PM
Mark said...: Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking.; 3/20/20, 10:55 PM
mockturtle said...: rightguy reflects: I've lived most of my life in the South and I never stop being impressed by having quality hiking from trail-heads in the city limits.

Yes, and even in the winter! :-); 3/20/20, 10:56 PM
narciso said...: Why is that surprising thats how sanders treated complaints about the va.; 3/20/20, 10:58 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: At least one other "Unknown" out tonight..

I continue to be unimpressed by Python. I learned it enough to do challenges while I was unemployed but still don't like it at all. Indentation counts!? What the heck? Are we still making sure to punch cards in the right column.

Tcl is the best all purpose language around. If you just want to get something done, it's Tcl all the way.

(C++, btw, is a mustache drawn on Dennis Ritchie's masterpiece).; 3/20/20, 11:01 PM
mockturtle said...: Oh, and the tenor who sang “Nessun Dorma” at the Met’s production of “Turandot” is Yusif Eyvazo, from Azerbaijan. Well sung.

I'll look for it on Youtube later on. I sometimes watch an hour's worth of the same aria sung by several different performers just to compare.; 3/20/20, 11:01 PM
Inga said...: Nessun Dorma sung from an Italian balcony during a pandemic.; 3/20/20, 11:01 PM
Mark said...: Question --

If Obama were still president, or if Demented Joe were president -- would the Dems suddenly have a more hopeful attitude, a more can-do mindset, a believer that American exceptionalism will get us through it?

Or would they descend into bitching and recriminations between them? After all, that's what it is like in most Democrat cities most of the time.; 3/20/20, 11:02 PM
Drago said...: Nichevo: "From your source, Achilles:

https://nationalfile.com/report-bernie-refused-tulsis-endorsement-brother-claims-he-treated-her-like-shit/

Dafuq?!"

It's easy to understand.

Bernie's "campaign's" in 2016 and 2020 have been exposed as complete and total grifts with Bernie keeping the left on the dem plantation and getting paid off handsomely for the effort.

Bernie has also played a role in making sure criticism of the dem establishment frontrunner is blunted by declaring those issues off limits as he did in 2016 with Hillary's emails and in 2020 declaring any discussion of Biden's clear corruption verboten.

Again, easy to understand.; 3/20/20, 11:03 PM
narciso said...: Of course if this had been so, jesus would have come after the justinian era plague or the black death or spanish influence, but he pointed didnt say that.; 3/20/20, 11:08 PM
Francisco D said...: Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking.

There is no wrong time to quit smoking.

- 37 years, 3 months and 5 days without a smoke.; 3/20/20, 11:08 PM
Drago said...: Inga: "Nessun Dorma sung from an Italian balcony during a pandemic."

I guess thats better than when the Mayor of Florence Dario Nardella, angry about Trump's brilliant and rapid travel ban of flights from Wuhan China, suggested residents hug Chinese people to encourage them in the fight against the novel coronavirus.

And oh how Trump was criticized for that and oh how the Mayor of Florence was praised by all the "really smart people" who know better than Trump and those deplorables.

Here's a nice video showing Italians of Northern Italy who have been selling off thousands of their businesses to Chinese interests over the last 25 years (with the cash the US "gave" China through guaranteed US-loss trade "deals") not exactly practicing sound "social distancing" rules.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNMdg4morQs; 3/20/20, 11:09 PM
Drago said...: Remember, this is what the Italians were doing on Feb 4th.....a date by which our lefties in the US NOW claim Trump should have been doing so much more to stop the spread of this virus...in perfect alignment with ChiCom talking points.

Unexpectedly.; 3/20/20, 11:11 PM
mockturtle said...: Nessun Dorma sung from an Italian balcony during a pandemic.

That was lovely, Inga! :-); 3/20/20, 11:11 PM
mockturtle said...: - 37 years, 3 months and 5 days without a smoke.

24 years for me.; 3/20/20, 11:13 PM
Sebastian said...: Longish post, sorry -- just to give you a taste of Aaron Ginn's conclusions in the most thorough review of data I have seen thus far, and a plea for sanity:
---

Open schools

Closing schools is counterproductive. The economic cost for closing schools in the U.S. for four weeks could cost between $10 and $47 billion dollars (0.1–0.3% of GDP) and lead to a reduction of 6% to 19% in key health care personnel.

CDC’s guidance on closing schools specifically for COVID-19 -

"Available modeling data indicate that early, short to medium closures do not impact the epi curve of COVID-19 or available health care measures (e.g., hospitalizations). There may be some impact of much longer closures (8 weeks, 20 weeks) further into community spread, but that modeling also shows that other mitigation efforts (e.g., handwashing, home isolation) have more impact on both spread of disease and health care measures. In other countries, those places who closed school (e.g., Hong Kong) have not had more success in reducing spread than those that did not (e.g., Singapore)."

Based on transmission evidence children are more likely to catch COVID-19 in the home than at school. As well, they are more likely to expose older vulnerable adults as multi-generational homes are more common. As well, the school provides a single point of testing a large population for a possible infection in the home to prevent community spread.

Open up public spaces

With such little evidence of prolific community spread and our guiding healthcare institutions reporting the same results, shuttering the local economy is a distraction and arbitrary with limited accretive gain outside of greatly annoying millions and bankrupting hundreds of businesses. The data is overwhelming at this point that community-based spread and airborne transmission is not a threat. We don’t have significant examples of spreading through restaurants or gyms. When you consider the environment COVID-19 prefers, isolating every family in their home is a perfect situation for infection and transmission among other family members. Evidence from South Korea and Singapore shows that it is completely possible and preferred to continue on with life while making accommodations that are data-driven, such as social distancing and regular temperature checks.

Support business and productivity

The data shows that the overwhelming majority of the working population will not be personally impacted, both individually or their children. This is an unnecessary burden that is distracting resources and energy away from those who need it the most. By preventing Americans from being productive and specializing at what they do best (their vocation), we are pulling resources towards unproductive tasks and damaging the economy. We will need money for this fight.

At this rate, we will spend more money on “shelter-in-place” than if we completely rebuilt our acute care and emergency capacity.
---; 3/20/20, 11:16 PM
Mark said...: Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines.; 3/20/20, 11:17 PM
narciso said...: Youre doing the whole routine arent you?; 3/20/20, 11:19 PM
Inga said...: “Nessun Dorma sung from an Italian balcony during a pandemic.

That was lovely, Inga! :-)”

Brought tears to my eyes and made me proud to be 8% Italian.; 3/20/20, 11:22 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: This is a link I doubt highly will be properly understood.

Unfuck yourself and bookmark it.; 3/20/20, 11:23 PM
Mark said...: Florence --

I fondly remember the evening I went to dinner, drank an entire bottle of wine myself, and went to hear a chamber concert at Orsanmichele, just a little ways down from the Duomo.

The sound reverberated off the thick 1300s stone walls and the music, combined with the wine, was a breathtaking surrealistic experience.

And the next morning after drinking an entire bottle of wine -- no hangover whatsoever.; 3/20/20, 11:23 PM
Mark said...: yep; 3/20/20, 11:24 PM
Big Mike said...: @Inga, thank you. The fellow needs some voice coaching; he’s got talent but he’s straining and running on pure talent with minimal technique.

@Mark, hilarious.; 3/20/20, 11:24 PM
Mark said...: I have to do this routine because I don't speak jive.; 3/20/20, 11:26 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: As I said the other day, my husband is an anesthesiologist who mainly works on orthopedic cases. His hospital has decided that all "non-urgent" cases should be delayed. The problem is deciding what cases are non-urgent. These decisions are being made after consulting with the entire care team and the patient. Some patients, frightened of spinal surgery (I myself hope I never have to undergo spinal surgery, since I have known people who have not had good outcomes), are more than willing to postpone their procedures. Others have been suffering for months and years and certainly do not see their procedures as "non-urgent." These decisions are very difficult for everyone.; 3/20/20, 11:26 PM
Mark said...: I'll leave the jive talking to Mrs. Cleaver.; 3/20/20, 11:30 PM
walter said...: FWIW, link to Sebastian's article (why was link not posted?):
Evidence over hysteria — COVID-19; 3/20/20, 11:31 PM
Gahrie said...: I go to the local restaurants to pick up meals for takeout, and leave a tip as though I had eaten at a table.

Me too, both to support local business and so I don't start using my stockpile before I have to.; 3/20/20, 11:33 PM
Inga said...: @Big Mike,

I was wondering who this guy who sang Nessun Dorma on his balcony was...he’s a tenor opera singer.

“Tenor Maurizio Marchini did just this, taking to his balcony to serenade the rooftops of his hometown, Florence.

Marchini sings Puccini's impassioned aria from his opera Turandot, 'Nessun Dorma', or 'None shall sleep'. After the aria's climax with a high B, Maurizio picks up his son and repeats the line Vincerò!, or 'I will be victorious.”

https://www.classicfm.com/composers/puccini/nessun-dorma-florence/; 3/20/20, 11:33 PM
walter said...: Mark,
Maybe your locale considers pot dispensaries essential service?; 3/20/20, 11:34 PM
Achilles said...: Nichevo said...
From your source, Achilles:

https://nationalfile.com/report-bernie-refused-tulsis-endorsement-brother-claims-he-treated-her-like-shit/

Dafuq?!

I found nationalfile in a random google search.

I should have gone through it some more it seems.

I have been calling bernie a fraud since 2016. He was clearly working with Hillary and the dem primaries are a joke. This fits perfectly.

There are a lot of good stories there...; 3/20/20, 11:36 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: That Medium article is spectacular. Inga, you should read it, with your medical background.; 3/20/20, 11:37 PM
Mark said...: Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.; 3/20/20, 11:37 PM
mockturtle said...: Let's all kiss and make up. And as Pepys would say, "And so to bed".; 3/20/20, 11:40 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Let's all kiss and make up. And as Pepys would say, "And so to bed".

I am fond of all Althousians--well, except for the banned ones, and one of them often has very interesting things to say even if she's nuts--and thank you all for keeping me sane during this time. Blessings to all of you.

And read that article that Sebastian posted!!!; 3/20/20, 11:47 PM
walter said...: Hillary Clinton
@HillaryClinton
·
13h
Where are the tests?
Quote Tweet
CAP Action
@CAPAction
· Mar 18
The U.S. and South Korea both confirmed their first cases of coronavirus on January 20.

As of yesterday, South Korea had tested 274,000 people. The U.S. had only tested 25,000.

Trump's failure to provide widespread COVID-19 testing is costing American lives.; 3/20/20, 11:47 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: I've been watching "Anne of Green Gables" on Netflix. It's kind of Disneyesque. I've never read the books.
But now I am in season 3, and it is all about how the colonialists (like Anne) are cruelly oppressing the indigenes. Good Lord. This is ridiculous. No story line like this ever occurred in the books. Also, a colored family has suddenly appeared on Prince Edward Island ca. 1900.
This is like the most ridiculous parody the left has ever made about the US in 1950s, and then raised to the power of googleplex. It is completely ridiculous. All of reality must be ignored to push the precious narrative.; 3/20/20, 11:58 PM
Yancey Ward said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/21/20, 12:14 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Ken B,

Jesus fucking H. Christ- The rapid spread is a direct result of the increase in the number of tests. How many fucking times do I have to point this out, but I will do so once again:

At pretty much every fucking time interval since the US began testing, the percentage of positive tests has varied on either side of the 10% level- the entire time- and to get a test in the US, you still have to display flu-like symptoms. The numbers of confirmed cases has risen in lockstep with the number of tests performed- we have ten times the number of confirmed cases today than we did at 2000 confirmed cases because we have run 10 times as many tests as we had at that point. If we had performed 10 times as many tests today as we did, we would have found 50,000 confirmed cases just today. Whatever it is the virus is doing in the population right now, the testing tells you fucking nothing about how rapidly it is spreading- all the tests are showing us is that 10% of the people with flu-like symptoms are positive for COVID-19, and they have been showing us that since the testing started here in mid February.

What is it, exactly, you don't understand about this? If 10% of the people with flu like symptoms taking a test in February tested positive, and 10% with flu like symptoms taking a test today tested positive, can't you really figure out what the most likely explanation is? People in New York suddenly see the media touting a hot spot, so they all panic and want to get their symptoms tested, and the tests show 10% positives. At the same time, here in Tennessee, without this kind of panic, about 20 times fewer people seek a test, and golly gee whiz, what do you think we find in Tennessee- 1/20th the new cases vs New York, but the same fucking rough percentage of positives. If we ran 10000 tests here in Tennessee on people with flu-like symptoms, it would just about be guaranteed to produce around 1000 new cases, it is just that people in Tennessee haven't quite panicked yet, or the state just doesn't have the capacity to run more than about a 1000 tests/day- take your pick.; 3/21/20, 12:18 AM
Yancey Ward said...: The only thing I can figure, Ken B, is that you seem to believe that the desire to have a test is indicative of the virus itself spreading, but that is utter fucking nonsense- the numbers of people with flu-like symptoms this time of year probably numbers, at least, around 10-20,000,000 The thing we know is spreading is the panic- the virus had already spread, and the testing is just confirming that by looking at a greater and greater fraction of the population each day.

Is the virus spreading now or not? We don't know- but one thing you would expect to see is the percentage of positives start rising dramatically and everywhere. They haven't, and I suspect they won't. At some point, the actual number of infected will fall enough that you see the percentage of positives start to drop towards 5% and lower.; 3/21/20, 12:24 AM
Ralph L said...: Venice will get its requested relief from tourism...

There are photos in which the water is now so clear, you can see fish.; 3/21/20, 12:25 AM
walter said...: Dan Crenshaw
@DanCrenshawTX
·
4h
US House candidate, TX-2
Americans are worried. Worried about their health, finances, and loved ones. They're also worried that their lives will not go back to normal and the economic effects of social distancing will prolong indefinitely.
Show this thread
Dan Crenshaw
@DanCrenshawTX
·
4h
US House candidate, TX-2
We MUST do everything in our power to provide a reasonable, health-informed, date for when Americans can safely return to regular economic activity in their communities.

This is not only critical for our economy but also the way of life in our country.; 3/21/20, 12:26 AM
Lewis Wetzel said...: One of the reasons that the introduction of a "First People" story line in "Anne with an 'E"" on Netflix bothers me is that it is such bullshit. It's a white bourgeois thing. I grew up in South Minneapolis in the 1970s. A third of my classmates at West High School were Native American. They were, in general, terrible people, or at least they seemed to live in a different world than I did. Drunk all the time. At sixteen or seventeen they bought and drank mouthwash to drink. They sniffed glue. And they were utterly immune to the education establishment's carrots and sticks.
How can I say that these were bad characteristics due to the terrible behavior of the White Man? That they were the way that they were because of me (or people like me)? But we were supposed to judge the behavior of these Injuns based on how white protestant boys would act? They got there own crazy thing going on, just like white people have their own crazy thing going on.
When I was about twenty-five years old, sometime in the mid eighties, I filled up my tank at a gas station in North Minneapolis. Ahead of me in the checkout line were a couple of squaws, buying beer. Twenty-four packs of Bud or Miller Lite or whatever. They didn't look like the Mediterranean types who usually play the part of Indians in movies, they were unmiskabely real Indians. Short, pudgy, darker skin and brown eyes, with straight, long black hair. The polar opposite of Scandinavians. They were some variety of Chippewa, I suppose.
When I left the gas station, I saw that the Indian girls were hitching, standing near a stop light with the 24-packs. I picked them up. They were very nice & chatty. They had no accent. They sounded like me. They were going to a party. So I drove them to the party, to an old, lone house in the middle of a rail yard. The lights were on. Loud rock music was blaring forth from it, stupid, top 40 shit, Arrowsmith, I think, along with loud voices.
They got out and shyly invited me into the party. I would have lasted about five seconds in their until someone threw a punch at blonde haired, blue eyed me. So I declined.; 3/21/20, 12:31 AM
walter said...: They were givers, Lewis.; 3/21/20, 12:43 AM
Yancey Ward said...: I picked the wrong week to stop huffing paint.; 3/21/20, 12:44 AM
walter said...: Have murderers in Baltimore taken a break in light of COVID?; 3/21/20, 12:46 AM
Jimmy said...: "Who knows how we're going to die?

I mean, we all know now..but think back to a week ago!"
Norm..the philosopher". Norm McDonald did a stand up set on Mar. 13. a bit is on youtube. very funny.; 3/21/20, 12:49 AM
walter said...: Normo-Virus
Kinda sounds like laugh tracks, though.; 3/21/20, 1:09 AM
walter said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/21/20, 1:15 AM
walter said...: Normo-Virus pt. 2 mo bettah; 3/21/20, 1:18 AM
Lewis Wetzel said...: But I hope that you get my point. Who decides who the "real" Indians are? Are they the "Tribal Elders" selected by a process endorsed by the White man, or are they the poor wino Indians living in alleyways?; 3/21/20, 1:26 AM
walter said...: Kudlow aint lookin well..; 3/21/20, 1:39 AM
walter said...: My point is you had all the makings of a party in the car you were driving.
You know, with all due responsibility, sir. No need to get within the perimeter of angry fists.; 3/21/20, 1:44 AM
Big Mike said...: @Inga, I wrote that he had talent, but so much for my allegedly educated ear. A professional tenor would have been well rained, period. I need to listen again but wife is still asleep.; 3/21/20, 4:43 AM
Big Mike said...: Trump's failure to provide widespread COVID-19 testing is costing American lives.

@walter, the blame falls 90% on the CDC for insisting on developing their own test and then botching the reagent, 10% on Trump for believing that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a healthcare organization and instead of just another petty federal bureaucracy staffed by bureaucrats in lieu of top doctors.; 3/21/20, 4:53 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: mockturtle said...
Even if this whole exercise is for naught, think of it as an important practice session for a population-destroying pathogen that could be unleashed in the near future.

And some don't think XI is laughing?; 3/21/20, 4:59 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: I'm just glad Trump is president. He gets things done even though the deck continues to be stacked him.; 3/21/20, 5:06 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Against him; 3/21/20, 5:07 AM
Big Mike said...: @Lewis Wetzel, sixty years ago, when I was in Boy Scouts, our scoutmaster-took senior members of the troop to see a Winnebago pow-wow in the Wisconsin Dells. I have since read that Native Americans process alcohol differently from people of European, African, and/or Asian descen, getting drunker n less. That jibes with what I saw all those years ago.; 3/21/20, 5:10 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Hillary? America would be trashed worse than Haiti. We've seen what the DNC has to offer over the years.; 3/21/20, 5:10 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: What am I reading? This blog! Having been through what Achilles faces as a single man, I've lived the terror. Tens of millions just like him are crying themselves to sleep every night. I can see that the president knows it too. He employs people with little to else to offer but their toil. Their lives may be over and he knows why.; 3/21/20, 5:29 AM
mockturtle said...: I'm just glad Trump is president. He gets things done even though the deck continues to be stacked him.

Amen, amen and AMEN!!!!; 3/21/20, 7:26 AM
Big Mike said...: Last night Kenny Rogers, “the gambler he broke even.” RIP; 3/21/20, 7:36 AM
mockturtle said...: Last night Kenny Rogers, “the gambler he broke even.” RIP

I'd say he folded 'em. Rest in peace, Kenny!; 3/21/20, 7:40 AM
Meade said...: "Kudlow aint lookin well.."

I strongly disagree.; 3/21/20, 8:37 AM
Marc in Eugene said...: From the Oregonian in Portland yesterday/today, on Governor Brown's new 'policy' that will in an hour or twelve or twenty four become an 'order':

"The directive will still allow Oregonians to go to grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations and do other activities to maintain physical and mental health such as exercising...."

I was doing a bit of thinking last night, which is always a dangerous thing of course, after reading this brief post by Phil Lawler about the plague and odd priorities. I did nod my head at this paragraph.

We, as a society, don’t consider religion essential. The churches were closed before the bars and restaurants were shut down. Surely the virus is more likely to spread when people are sitting elbow-to-elbow, eating and drinking, than when they are seated quietly in the pews. But public officials were reluctant to impose what seemed like draconian orders; religious services were seen as less essential. (“People have to eat!”).

I'm afraid that there's much more truth in this than I'd like to admit.

Today is one of the feast days of St Benedict, abbot and one of the founders of monasticism in the West, co-patron of Europe, the anniversary of his earthly death.; 3/21/20, 8:39 AM
Marc in Eugene said...: People wanting to do the Camino de Santiago might want to 'practice' by making the Chartres pilgrimage at Pentecost. If the situation has returned to normalcy by then, or by next May. More or less sixty miles over two and half days.; 3/21/20, 8:53 AM
Marc in Eugene said...: "Chinese iris" is the most amusing autocorrection or error in this thread. A new racist invasive species.; 3/21/20, 9:25 AM
Marc in Eugene said...: I am fond of all Althousians--well, except for the banned ones, and one of them often has very interesting things to say even if she's nuts--and thank you all for keeping me sane during this time. Blessings to all of you.

And read that article that Sebastian posted!!!

The Aaron Ginn essay is a great read, yes.

A beautiful dawn here earlier: one of the chief secondary benefits of rising at 0400.; 3/21/20, 9:48 AM
Mark said...: We, as a society, don’t consider religion essential. The churches were closed before the bars and restaurants were shut down.

The churches closed voluntarily despite the great sacrifice for the good of others, to prevent the possible spread that might result from a diverse people coming into close contact with each other.

That's because the churches care. They gave up something that is more important than probably anything else, all for the good of others.; 3/21/20, 10:45 AM
mockturtle said...: We, as a society, may not consider religion essential but we are not lacking in faith in God. And faith can be exercised anywhere, any time and under any circumstances.; 3/21/20, 11:06 AM
Marc in Eugene said...: For all the folks who decry Twitter as a waste of space, the wonderful pianist Igor Levit is performing a 'house concert' each night (well, he's on the Continent somewhere, so it's 1900 CET that is 1100 Pacific, I think) via Twitter, @IgorLevit.

I mock the Guardian all the time and actively discount a large part of what they publish as 'news' but thanks! for alerting me to this. Still not going to donate any money to them, though.; 3/21/20, 11:09 AM
Marc in Eugene said...: Archbishop Sample didn't close the churches here because there was some scientific consensus that a group of people sitting quietly in pews for an hour was more likely to be a vector of plague transmission than sixty people drinking and carousing inebriated in a bar: he forbade public celebration of the sacred rites because the state ordered it.

The distinctionn between faith and religion is a legitimate one, sure. Our nation is founded on religious faith, however, and when that is increasingly abandoned in favor of 'faith' I see very little good arising therefrom. We may as well close newsrooms that employ more than 25 people in one place because people will still be able to publish their blogs-- I don't know how defensible an analogy that is; me being me, ha, probably not much.

Such a beautiful day here!; 3/21/20, 11:29 AM
mockturtle said...: Marc, I would have specified 'faith in God through Jesus Christ' but that would leave out believing Jews, whom I believe God still has under his divine protection.; 3/21/20, 11:42 AM
walter said...: Big Mike,
That was entirely a Hildebeast twitter post. Just a glimpse at what she's shilling.; 3/21/20, 2:32 PM
Mark said...: On the Johns Hopkins dashboard since I checked last night --

An increase of 28,000 confirmed cases worldwide and 1,600 more deaths.; 3/21/20, 4:11 PM