Monday Afternoon Links

by | Apr 27, 2020 | Daily Links | 310 comments

Took my kids fishing yesterday. The little one caught a fish. No humans were hooked. So that was pretty cool. Nothing better than seeing a tiny child trying to reel in a fish on a tiny rod. We should do more fishing, but I need to figure out a faster way to bait and cast. Man, I wasn’t able to keep two kids’ rods in the water. I guess I could just use lures, but that would lower the catch count from one to zero. Anyhow, that’s great. Fish were biting, beaches reopen on Friday. I’m starting to see the end of the dark cloud. Man, if they would just re-open the bars so I could go get a drink away from my family, I’d be in tall cotton.

I think this is fair. Congress has to pay Obamacare bills that they promised to pay.

What? There are hidden costs to extending the quarantine?

Hope Hicks is back for 2020.

Karens exposed by Missouri Sunshine Law. I kind of like it.

About The Author

Brett L

Brett L

Brett set out to find America, the real America, the America of strip malls and serial killers, of butthole waxing and kelp smoothies, of cocaine and maggots. He sought it in the most American part of America—Florida: swamp gas and fever dreams, where love arrives on a rickety boat and leaves when it doesn't have the money for its fourth abortion. Oh, where has Brett gone? He’s drinking at the neck of America’s wang, chewing its foreskin and working its shaft. Brett is becoming legend. Brett can never die. Brett can never die. Brett is America, facedown in his own patriotic puke: the red his blood, the white his stomach lining, and the cold, cold blue his gas station slushie, spiked with coconut rum and tetracycline.

310 Comments

  1. Shpip

    Documents with the names of people who reported stay-at-home violations are being shared online. One tipster said she won’t count on the county’s help again.

    The French treatment of female collaborators comes to mind.

    • leon

      They should be glad they don’t get the Balkan partisan treatment. Or the Dutch treatment for the men…

      • Shpip

        Well, drowning them all would be a little harsh.

        But there’s a part of me that wishes that the Supreme Court would rule that the Scold’s Bridle was not an Eighth Amendment violation.

  2. Endless Mike

    “A spree of social media posts this week warn that St. Louis County released the information it got from people who reported businesses in violation of the stay-at-home order.”

    What was that phrase again? “Pour Encourager Les Autres”?

    • Incentives Matter

      Indeed.

  3. Yusef drives a Kia

    You mean WE have to pay the insurers,

    • Endless Mike

      You mean Congress doesn’t have a Scrooge McDuck vault underneath the Capitol? How are they going to pay for the stimulus package(s)?

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Dont worry, gas will be cheap, because we cant get any, and rent will be worthless, like the paper we use to pay it,

  4. Ted S.

    Nothing better than seeing a tiny child trying to reel in a fish on a tiny rod.

    Was it a Ronco Pocket Fisherman?

    • C. Anacreon

      Popeil!

      IIRC, Popeil was Ron Popeil’s father. The son formed Ronco.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Ron-Co, get it? His name was Ron Popeil

      • C. Anacreon

        Correct. And his dad Popeil created the Popeil Pocket Fisherman (with a handy hidden compartment for lures!).

        I don’t think Popeil exists any more, and Ronco took on the PF, if it’s even still out there.

      • Spudalicious

        I had a Popeil Pocket Fisherman. What an absolute piece of crap. A close faced reel that constantly fouled.

    • Tonio

      It was marketed as the Popeil Pocket Fisherman, by Ronco(tm).

      • C. Anacreon

        Here’s the infallible Wikipedia on the topic:

        Ron Popeil was inspired to start the company Ronco by the open market hustling he saw on Maxwell Street during his youth.[2] In the beginning, the company chiefly sold inventions developed by Popeil’s father, Samuel “S.J.” Popeil. Products include the Veg-O-Matic and the Popeil Pocket Fisherman, a product manufactured by S.J. Popeil’s company. During the 1970s, Ron Popeil began developing products on his own to sell through Ronco.

      • Not Adahn

        I am truly in awe by the depth of pedantry knowledge and precision that can be found here.

      • Tonio

        When you watched the damn commercial like fifty times a night it kind of sinks in. /seventies kid

      • Fatty Bolger

        My grandparents kept a few of those around for us grandkids to use when we were visiting. We had a lot of fun with them.

    • Pope Jimbo

      When we were a kid, we regularly called the 1800 number and ordered Pocket Fishermans for a fat little asshole who lived in our neighborhood. They always took the order for COD and we’d laugh and laugh.

      Found out later that the victim’s parents were going through a real rough patch and they assumed that all the pocket fishermans showing up was some sort of cry for attention. So they made him go to counseling.

      The fat little asshole grew up to be a cop, so I don’t feel too bad for harassing him.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        When we were a kid

        Pope really is royalty.

        We would send a trial subscription of Playboy and/or Penthouse to the kid with the born-again mom if he tried to scold us.

      • Enough About Palin

        I had to deal with an asshole executive about 30 years ago. I had his address so I ordered a bunch of catalogs in his name. It was First name, Last name, Cretin.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Ooops. My bad. I promise the only throne I sit on is for taking shits.

        When I was first going to college the fun thing to do was to go through the ads in the back of Weekly World News and sign up buddies for anything that offered a free sample. They would not only get pestered beyond belief by the original company, but they’d also get swamped by a lot of other shady companies who figured anyone dumb enough to respond to an ad in the WWN, is exactly the customer they wanted too.

      • Fourscore

        We signed my room mate at Ft Momouth up for a Lonely Hearts Club, circa 1959. When the stuff started arriving he went right down the list of friends blaming us. He was right, of course, but he managed to get a couple of innocents in his big net. It was still funny. Fifty years later I found him in TX, we took our wives too dinner and shared some of the fun we had together, they weren’t impressed at our creativity. He must have forgotten the Lonely Hearts business.

      • Incentives Matter

        D00d, you might have caused him to become a cop.

        What kind of monster are you?

      • Pope Jimbo

        He was a terrible kid way before we started tormenting him. He was a huge tattle tale, so it makes sense he became a cop.

    • Tulip

      My parents subscribed to Reader’s digest and so of course they got catalogs for fingerhut and other purveyors of cheap crap. Those catalogs are such a guilty pleasure of mine. Microwavable heat wraps to put on your shoulders, organizers for the car that go over the seat , snuggies, etc. What I really find amusing is that you see the same things in sharper image or orvis (more upscale, expensive versions, of course.)

      • Mojeaux

        You too?!

        *squeeeeeee*

        And the Sears Christmas wish catalog!

      • Incentives Matter

        And back in the day, everything they sold was made in Taiwan. Ah, those were the days.

    • Fatty Bolger

      Dude, don’t you watch the news? The COVID numbers being inflated is just a Trump conspiracy theory.

      • Fatty Bolger

        Yep. Influenza has been cured. Another victory for modern medicine!

      • Gustave Lytton

        And ignore that it’s quite possible to acquire both at the same time. But which category to put such a person in…

      • Grosspatzer

        Time (they still exist?) article from January:

        https://time.com/5758953/flu-season-2019-2020/

        I must be getting old. I don’t recall any media panic about all these flu cases and deaths back in January. What did I miss?

    • JaimeRoberto Delecto

      Gee, I wonder what effect that has on the numbers.

      • Rhywun

        Look at New York. One third of the reported cases are untested.

  5. leon

    The I-Team’s PJ Randhawa talked with a woman whose tip was among those released. Patricia asked that we not use her last name, because she fears what someone might do with the information in the document.

    “We’re in a society where doing what’s right doesn’t always get rewarded,” she said.

    Yeah. Snitching on your neighbors to the gestapo is “doing what’s right”. That is certainly the attitude that allowed millions of germans to accept the jews being carted off. It was the law, so it was just “doing what was right”. Fuck you Patricia

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      Look, I read the Law and it clearly states Jews must wear a Yellow star at all times…
      It says it right there…….

    • leon

      What did you get out of sharing the info on who did it?” she said. “It’s asinine and I have to question, whoever shared the list… what were your motives

      I believe the phrase “turnabout is fair play” comes to mind patricia. What did you get out of being a snitch? Go fuck yourself Patricia. Who cares about Karen when you have Patricia “How Dare You” going around upset that people are ratting her out as a snitch.

      • J. Frank Parnell

        What did you get out of being a snitch?

        BuT SHe’S JuSt TrYInG tO KeEp PeOpLE SaFE!!!!!!

      • R C Dean

        What did you get out of sharing the info on who did it?

        err, compliance with the law?

        Why are you trying to hide, Patricia? Aren’t you proud of what you did?

    • Not Adahn

      “What did you get out of sharing the info on who did it?” she said. “It’s asinine and I have to question, whoever shared the list… what were your motives?”

      Letting everyone know what a mean and untrustworthy sack of crap you are?

    • Drake

      She totally wouldn’t tell the Gestapo if her neighbors were hiding a Jewish kid in the attic.

      • C. Anacreon

        The Franks and their guests in the attic were not practicing proper social distancing.

      • prolefeed

        She’s the sort of person portrayed in 1984, the kids who turn their own parents in to the Ministry of Love.

      • Shirley Knott

        A proud graduate of D.A.R.E.?
        When I was in grade school, the worst political offense ascribed to the USSR wa kids turning in their parents.
        Apparently, my cohort didn’t get the message and thus got kids ratting out their parents for drug possession/use.

  6. leon

    I think this is fair. Congress has to pay Obamacare bills that they promised to pay.

    I get that, but then again, “I’ve changed the terms of our agreement, pray i don’t change them further”. The Insurers bet on the Fed Government not screwing them over. They bet wrong. Congress, and the house specifically has the sole power to allocate funds, and i don’t think the Courts can force them to.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      “How many Tax Slaves does the SC have?”

    • prolefeed

      Yeah, I’m not seeing how members of Congress who would happily use a copy of the Constitution as TP are gonna say, “I gotta vote yes on a funding bill, even though that vote would get me primaried, cause SCOTUS said so.”

      • leon

        I’m not saying Congress will, i’m just saying this is very much a “Roberts has made his decision, now let him enforce that budget”.

  7. Tonio

    “WE have lupus, WE have to be careful…”

    And nobody is stopping you from doing that you mendacious c*nt. You, OTOH, are stopping other peoples’ lives because of your fear, and hiding behind your disease to claim victimhood.

    What about this? YOU stay home. YOU have your groceries delivered. YOU suck it up and do without a haircut or be willing to pay the premium to have that done by someone in a bunny suit?

    And I’m all for society (not government) creating mechanisms to keep SELF-ISOLATION bearable for people like you.

    • Tonio

      By all that is unholy and tentacly, my comment posted at almost normal speed. Thanks, SP, and website hosting folks.

      • Fatty Bolger

        Hear! Hear! Also, is it just me, or do the articles open faster now?

      • Shirley Knott

        Huh. Everything has slowed to a crawl for me. I wasn’t going to complain, and am not, just noting a difference.

      • JaimeRoberto Delecto

        Comments have been going passing through faster than a spicy burrito. Yay!

    • Drake

      I’d love to see how many patients who are taking some form of cloroquine ever developed any commie cough symptoms.

      • J. Frank Parnell

        None, but only because they’ve all been killed by chloroquine, the deadliest toxin known to man.

      • Hyperion

        At least it was, until Trump told people to inject Lysol.

      • Tundra

        Pussies.

        Speedball lysol and clorox and get back to me.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        It was drink some UV.

        Or was it use it as a suppository?

  8. Donation Not Taxation

    ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’ — George Santayana

    In US, Spanish flu pandemic followed by Roaring 1920s. US President Donald J. Trump and the Democrats and Republicans of the US Congress prima facia appear to be trying to avoid a Roaring 2020s after this pandemic.

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      The Roaring 20’s were overseen by Calvin Coolidge. I don’t think we’ll have that kind of luck.

      • C. Anacreon

        Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again.

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        Didn’t need no welfare states
        Everybody pulled his weight,

      • Rhywun

        Girls were girls and men were men.

      • JaimeRoberto Delecto

        Those were the days.

      • Tres Cool

        If you’re like me, you hear Carrol O’Connor saying “goils”

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Gee, my old LaSalle ran great,

      • RAHeinlein

        Maybe we can find a way to have just two genders again.

      • Gadfly

        And don’t forget about the guy who put Coolidge into office, President Warren “Return to Normalcy” Harding.

        The “Return to Normalcy” campaign led to the largest popular vote margin win since the franchise was (theoretically at least) extended to everyone. I wonder how such a campaign would fare in modern times.

      • tripacer

        President Warren“Return to Normalcy” Harding.

        I had a shiver there for a second until I read that closer

  9. AlmightyJB

    They’ll remember fishing with dad forever. That’s awesome.

    • Shpip

      You’re right. My old man used to rent a cabin near a pond in Rhode Island with one of his Shriner buddies. One day when I was old enough, he took me down to some wooden public dock, had me bait my hook with canned corn, and have a go at fishing. I caught a pumpkinseed, and it was the greatest thrill of my life.

      Nearly fifty years has passed since then, and I still remember that first time fishing with The Old Man.

      • Pope Jimbo

        If panfish grew to 5 lb, you’d need to fish for them with shark tackle. I love fishing for them to this day. I have a trip penciled in to go visit my dad (taking my uncle along) to go catch a bunch of big bluegills/pumpkinseeds.

        I hate to admit it, but I had sort of the opposite reaction to fishing with my dad as a kid. First off he is a fantastic fisherman, so I would catch about 1 fish to every 20 he caught which sucked for a competitive kid. One of the reasons, I didn’t catch as many fish is because I was a spaz and couldn’t sit still so I was constantly reeling in and casting. To the point, where the only fish I realistically had a chance of catching would have been a flying fish.

        As I got older and settled down, I had a lot more fun fishing with the Old Guy. I’m still no where near as good a fisherman as he is, but I do enjoy fishing now.

      • Hyperion

        I use an ultrlight open face Shimano spinning reel on a short little 4 ft graphite rod, with 4lb test line, to fish for pan fish. If you hook a crappy or Bluegill a pound or more it’s like you hooked a monster! Fun as hell.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I have exactly the same setup. The panfish are spawning right now and are super aggressive protecting their nests, so the strikes are great.

        *and it is crappie. Unless you were fishing just down river from the sewage treatment plant.

      • bacon-magic

        That fat kid should’ve beat you up for pedantry.
        *jumps in pan and sizzles off

      • Fourscore

        My dad was an older father but he was a patient guy with little Fourscore. Loved fishing/hunting with him, hearing the stories
        from the Old Days, hanging out when the adults passed the bottle around, waiting, waiting, ’til I would be in line.

        As I remember, I only had one drink with my dad in a bar, I was home on leave in the winter and we walked across the street to the Log Cabin and I bought him a drink. We shared many at home though.

        Some years later I bought my adult son a beer, he said it was the first one I’d ever bought for him. Kids remember those things.

    • robc

      I think the majority has it right, but whenever I disagree with Thomas, I wonder about it. But this might be another case where he is just horribly wrong.

      • robc

        Just thinking about the court split, it was on age. The 4 who have been around the longest were the dissent.

      • Sensei

        Without acutally reading the opinion I’ve no idea. He generally reads things very narrowly so it may have something to do with something very specific.

      • leon

        It’s very nuanced. IIRC the leagal code is available online for free. It’s just the “annotated” code that they charged for. I think i tend to agree with the Dissenting group.

      • Sensei

        Yes, but those annotations make up all the case law that determines the way the law actually works.

        Without it you would really have no idea what the law actually is.

      • prolefeed

        If the annotated code was work product directed by and funded by the legislature, I think Gorsuch et al got it right in the majority opinion.

        If Gorsuch and Thomas are on opposite sides of a vote, even without knowing any of the details, I know who I’d expect to be more likely to get it correct.

      • leon

        I’ll admit that the case seems very complex, and havn’t dived into it. It’s a good hueristic of Gorsuch/Thomas. My understanding was the annotated work was the product of a specific company (contracted by the state?), and so that is why i gut reaction to “the annotations could be copyrighted”. (outing myself as still believing in some forms of IP)

      • Gustave Lytton

        With a caveat that if it wasn’t directed by and funded by the government (whether legislature or the courts), it shouldn’t be used by the courts in evaluating the meaning of the law.

    • Tonio

      Now let’s see SCOTUS apply that to federal court opinions.

      • Gustave Lytton

        And PACER access generally.

    • Jarflax

      Law must be freely accesible to be valid. The whole idea behind ‘ignorance of the law is no excuse” is that a duty of citizenship is to be familiar with the laws that govern the society, and you cannot excuse your crime because you have not made the effort to know what the rules are. I tend to agree with this decision, but the real problem is not the need to subscribe to Lexis to know the law; it is that the law is now so massively expanded that it is not possible to know the law even if you are an attorney. So this decision is kind of a joke.

    • leon

      States defaulting on their debt is hardly unprecedented. The Federal Government should absolutely let them go into default and negotiations with their creditors.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        LOL

        You mean the public employee unions?

        That will be the day.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      What a horrible website, even with Adblock, shit keeps popping up, autoplay,

  10. The Late P Brooks

    “We’re in a society where doing what’s right doesn’t always get rewarded,” she said.

    Okay, Karen.

    • Sensei

      +1 Bill of Rights is above my pay grade

    • leon

      Hey be happy in knowing that thinking about your civil liberties is above his pay grade when it comes to making his decisions to limit your civil liberties. It is still unknown who’s pay grade it is to think about the implications of the governers actions for the governor.

    • C. Anacreon

      It’s time that leaders in each state watched this video from the morning links.

      Everyone keeps insisting ‘follow the science!’ Well, here’s the science, and it shows that we should be opening up now, not looking to extend the shelter-in-place.

      Why these governors et al keep wanting to extend is absolutely beyond me at this point. Hopefully they’re at least retaining the option to pull back the orders early.

      • prolefeed

        I’ll take “Statist Fucks on a Power Trip” for five trillion dollars, Alex.”

      • Ted S.

        Because they’re more addicted to power than anybody is to opioids.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Skip ahead to about minute 22 to get a full glimpse of the combative reporter who can’t possibly accept that we shouldn’t be freaking out and shutting everything down permanently.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Jesus, reporters trying to lay political traps for doctors reporting data.

        “Why do you think Governor Newsom is taking these strict measures to have California on a strict shutdown right now?”

        WTF does he know about the inner workings of Newsom’s mind or political machinations? The reporter is just trying to get the doctor to take a political stance so he can hang him with it.

      • commodious spittoon

        What an irritating twerp. As if it’s difficult to understand why a risk-averse bureaucrat like Fauci would champion a particular policy against all emerging evidence.

      • Drake

        Murphy looks absolutely orgasmic as he’s dictating new laws without any assistance from the legislature and generally making people do as he says or else.

      • leon

        Everyone keeps insisting ‘follow the science!’

        pfft:

        Science is like a train. When you get to your destination, you get off

        Or something like that.

      • Drake

        You may be thinking of the other kind of train…

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Yeah, that was an excellent video that everyone should watch.

      • Hyperion

        The evidence keeps pouring in that the lockdown did little or no good and that it definitely did more harm than good.

        Right now the politicians, the media, and the ‘experts’ are all hunkered down and holding on for dear life. They may realize that a reckoning is coming and they want to put that off as long as possible. The best way to do that is never admit they were wrong about anything and keep the citizens scared and in their homes. If they let them out, they may discover they like this new freedom thing.

      • Rhywun

        Why these governors et al keep wanting to extend is absolutely beyond me at this point.

        Because they’re afraid of the voters blaming them for every death.

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        ^ This,

        We went from flattening the curve to prevent anyone from dying from this. I’m not even sure it was a conscious decision on the part of the politicians or the public at large. It just sort of morphed with the phrase “Stay at home it saves lives” being repeated until it subliminally became the truth.

      • commodious spittoon

        I was promised a proper goddamn pandemic, damnit!

      • dontreadonme

        Video now blocked. Must have been good.

  11. Donation Not Taxation

    Thoughts persuading voters weakened economy plus sudden huge increase debt spending means need moratorium borrowing and taxes, using voluntary money instead pay government spending?

    • Fatty Bolger

      “I don’t understand what you’re saying, but if you mean I get free money, count me in!” – Voters

      • Donation Not Taxation

        You can have your government-run ‘free money’ program if you get someone else to voluntarily pay for it.

  12. Shpip

    Pretty sure we’ve all experienced a few of these, either IRL or online, in the past few weeks.

    Hilarious and depressing at the same time.

    • Drake

      That’s my sister-in-law! They stopped leaving the house a week before the lockdown started.

      • Jarflax

        I bought a 50 pack of masks for $42 last week because I was sure this was coming, so at least I have masks. They won’t do anything except make me uncomfortable and feel like an idiot but at least I can go to the store, like I have every week so far, except now that we are reopening I have to wear a mask. This whole thing is a joke.

    • Fatty Bolger

      Goddamn. What a bunch of bullshit.

    • Grosspatzer

      It’s clear to me that a new game show is poised to debut in the fall, and they are shooting the episodes as we watch in real time. “Can You Top This: the Governors”, featuring DeWine, Cuomo, Murphy, Wolf, and various other twits whose names escape me at the moment. Prizes awarded for: Longest shutdown of nonessential businesses, Most heavy-handed imposition of martial law shelter in place, Dumbest recovery plan, and other yet-to-be-revealed categories. Every time my guy opens his yap, I am convinced he is the worst until some Otherguy says “Hold my beer”.

      That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

      • Pope Jimbo

        And Minnesoda’s Gov Walz is (just like Special K) just a second rate talent who is for some reason competing in this contest even though he continually gets one-upped by all the cool govs.

  13. SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

    I dunno if she unknowingly answered her own question in the next sentence, or whether this is a rare instance of good journalisming, but I had to laugh at this:

    What did you get out of sharing the info on who did it?” she said. “It’s asinine and I have to question, whoever shared the list… what were your motives?”

    In the end, she said, she’s learned a hard lesson.

    “When there is something that happens next time, I’m not going to feel safe or protected enough to call the local authorities.”

    • Ozymandias

      You mean… she learned she should just shut the fuck up and mind her own business?!? Quelle surprise.

  14. ttyrant

    Given it was one of the glibs here who turned me on to the Institute for Justice, I thought I’d share the letter I’m sending over to the Institute for Justice:

    “My name is xx. I have donated to the Institute for Justice previously, but wanted to accompany it with a letter this time. I’d come across the IJ’s work through a libertarian message board and have been pleased with the cases you’ve taken on over the past few years. I am writing with the hopes that you have the bravery and courage to take on the slew of constitutional violations that various levels of government have perpetrated over the last couple months. The quote from the New Jersey governor specifically – ‘the Bill of Rights is above my pay grade’ – is utterly abhorrent, yet likely reflects the attitude of a majority of bureaucrats in positions of power. I know this fight will not be cheap – I will continue donating and urging others to do the same. Keep up the good work.”

  15. DEG

    I read the comments for the Yahoo story on costs to the lockdown. I was pleasantly surprised.

  16. grrizzly

    I’ve read that the Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine might have protection against COVID-19. The vaccine has been around for 100 years and is primarily used against tuberculosis. However, most countries in Western Europe and North America don’t use the BCG vaccine or stopped using it at some point. See, Figure 2 <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3062527/"here. Notice, that Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and the USA never had a universal BCG vaccination program. On the other hand, the BCG vaccine was universal in the former socialist countries. (My mom confirmed I had it when I was 5 days old.) Presumably, East Germany had a similar vaccination program as the other socialist countries. So, I looked at the coronavirus cases and deaths in German states. Yep, former East Germany has lower number of deaths from COVID-19. All seriously affected by the coronavirus German states are in the West. The numbers are here.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Now that’s interesting.

      • grrizzly

        Select Europe above the table and compare to the BCG world atlas.

      • grrizzly

        Select Europe above the table.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Is that used against measles too? Because the vaccination for that is also speculated as to why there’s reduced symptoms/acquisition in children.

      • grrizzly

        Measles is not mentioned here.

        That’s how it was done in the Soviet Union. I recall we had Mantoux tests at school probably every year.

        The BCG vaccination is mandatory since the mid 1950s. The vaccination is carried out 3-5 days after birth (not earlier than 48 hours); premature infants are vaccinated after reaching a mass of 2500 g. After 2 months of age, Mantoux test should be performed and, if negative, vaccinated. Children from the age of 7 with a negative Mantoux test and uninfected with tuberculosis are subject to revaccination.

    • leon

      Further proof of the beneficience and wisdom of our communist forbearers.

    • Rhywun

      And if you ignore the East, the death rates are nearly perfectly sorted from North (lowest) to South (highest). WTF?

  17. Suthenboy

    From the Hope Hicks article “…an emergency that shows no sign of abating.”
    Huh. It’s almost like the commie cough is perfect to keep menacing the population with an immortal hobgoblin instead of having to invent an endless series of them.

    As for the Karens I hope they all get flaming bags of dog shit on their front porches.

    • Fatty Bolger

      Climate change wasn’t getting the job done. They needed a more immediate threat.

      • Mojeaux

        The site and comment submission are very zippy. Thanks, SP!

    • AlmightyJB

      Would be great if they had un-permitted additions or HOA violations that had to be demolished at great expense.

    • Tundra

      With Hope back, I assume there will be plenty abatin’.

      • JaimeRoberto Delecto

        What you did there was masterful.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        It was a stroke of genius.

      • Spudalicious

        I don’t know, it kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

      • Mad Scientist

        Aw, Tundra’s just jerking your chain.

  18. Sensei

    Paging R C Dean…

    THE AMISH HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

    From the always interesting and thoughtful Slate Star Codex. One of the few intellectually honest and thoughtful liberals left. Naturally he was doxxed and folks tried to shut him down.

  19. Pope Jimbo

    I remember taking the altar boys carp fishing when they were little. Perfect for them, they could run around like maniacs on the river bank until there was a bite. Then they could have an epic battle with the Queen of the River. In at least a couple instances, I had to grab a belt loop on a kid to make sure that the carp didn’t win and pull them in.

    Also took my daughter fishing a lot when she was a kid, but had to keep my eye on her. She loved swimming and didn’t have any fear of water so you had to make sure she kept to the slack water.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Nice!

      • Fourscore

        Bugle mouth bass are a serious Asian game fish and farmed for their quality

    • catchthecarp

      Carp are my favorite fish, numerous and very few fisherman target them. Want to have some fun? Grab a couple of ultra-light rods and can of sweet corn. The hook needs to be small and hold 1 – 2 kernels of corn, max. Size 8 or 6 Gamakatsu Octopus hooks are my preferred carp hook. Chum the water with a few handfuls of corn or better yet, use a spod. A big carp on ultralight gear is not only fun but a test of skill. They do not give up……

  20. Tundra

    Hi Brett!

    I have a wonderful picture of my son with his first Northern pike, caught off the deck at the cabin. The fish looked like a whale next to the little guy. It was on a damn Snoopy pole, too!

    Today he’s one of the most avid fishermen I know.

    Good for you on getting the kids involved early.

    We should do more fishing, but I need to figure out a faster way to bait and cast.

    Teach them to do it. Both my kids learned really young. Keep a pliers handy! 😉

    • Brett L

      Teach them to do it.

      I figured I wouldn’t associate their first fishing memories with getting stabbed with a hook. Especially the older one who wanted to stand right where I wanted to to flick the hook when casting. But yes, that’s going to happen quickly.

  21. The Late P Brooks

    Supreme Court kicked the can down the road. Ruled the New York gun case moot.

    A great sigh of relief could be heard from all the gungrabbers.

    Based on the stuff I read about it when it was in the news the last time, the changes to the law did not come close to offering complete relief to the plaintiffs.

  22. Incentives Matter

    Invisible BEAM here. Just trying to see if a name change allows me to post links.

    And so, let’s start with this Twitter thread (possibly already linked to by someone else here) on analyzing excess “all-cause” deaths during the world-wide lockdown, i.e., more hidden deaths due to government incompetence:

    https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1254461123753054209

    • Incentives Matter

      Well ah’ll be horn-swoggled. It worked! Fan my ass with a blowtorch.

      • Gustave Lytton

        SP mentioned last night that there’s extra-Tulpa filtering enabled now that flags usernames.

        I wonder if that or similar is causing false logged out versions of this website to appear for me. I think what’s happening in my case is the cached version on the switched to tab is being compared to the server version and the JJ Angleton level security paranoia is offering up a non-logged in version to prevent hijack attempts.

      • Rhywun

        It doesn’t seem to like handles than include ALL CAPS.

      • Incentives Matter

        Yeah, but DEG (below) posted a link which worked just fine.

        How?

      • Rhywun

        Oh. Just that last night’s example also had all caps. ?‍♂️

  23. Q Continuum

    “I’m not only worried about COVID, I’m worried about someone showing up at my door, showing up at my workplace or me getting fired for doing what is right”

    *dulcet tones of the world’s tiniest violin*

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Snitches get *redacted*.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      The rest of us can’t work until it’s safe enough for every immuno-compromised person to go to Disney World.

    • Hyperion

      One can reasonably assume that she’d have no problems at all joining a mob to harass some perceived ‘deplorable’ at a restaurant with their family.

      • Rebel Scum

        I do love me some Kate Beckinsale.

    • DEG

      #3 looks fun and pops up later in the gallery (#40 and #83).

      There are a lot of good choices in this gallery, but I have to make the hard decision and go with #43.

  24. Q Continuum

    “By the end of March, most of the United States had been locked down. Tens of millions of Americans have lost their jobs. More than $6 trillion has been spent to save society from complete collapse. Relentless warnings have whipped the populace into frenzies of fear. All of this to contain a disease that, as far as we can tell at this point, is not significantly more fatal than the flu.”

    https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2020/04/coronavirus-reality-check

    SHUT THE FUCK UP NAZI!! YOU JUST WANT AS MANY PEOPLE TO DIE AS POSSIBLE!!!!

  25. Tundra

    Sitting on the deck working. 74 degrees. Sunny and perfect.

    *basks*

    • Q Continuum

      There is very little about the current situation that makes sense.

    • JaimeRoberto Delecto

      Malibu doesn’t want the hoi polloi using their beach.

  26. bacon-magic

    Karens exposed by Missouri Sunshine Law. I kind of like it.

    This is local news to me. I went through the list looking for snitches that I knew. Only found one, she is off the xmas list now. A lot of Hobby Lobby and Ice Cream shop haters on the snitchlist.

  27. Sensei

    So YouTube is bit scary as it knows where I live and have an interest in Japan, but this could be weirdest recommendation yet.

    アメリカ長距離トラック運転手のお仕事 重量測定、 Cocoaピックアップ Elkton メリーランド州 to Newark デラウェア州

    It’s a Japanese guy who works in the US as a long haul trucker and VLOGS it to I’m assuming a Japanese audience. What caught my eye when it came across my recommendation list was the locations – Newark, DE and Elkton, MD. Having gone to UD I actually recognized where he was driving.

    I’m still amazed – guy has 50k followers watching him drive deliveries and stop at trucks across the US.

    • Gustave Lytton

      The shoshinsha on his fridge is just perfect.

      • Sensei

        That caught my eye too!

  28. Incentives Matter

    Test.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      F

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      Lima Charlie

      • Spudalicious

        Auuuudio, auuuudio!

  29. grrizzly

    My comments are not posting. Weird.

    • Don Escaped Sarcasm

      A

    • Donation Not Taxation

      This grrizzly comment posted:

      grrizzly on April 27, 2020 at 4:22 pm

      My comments are not posting. Weird.

      • leon

        DNT is a squirrel collaborator! Get him!!

      • Donation Not Taxation

        littlethings dot comet slash reasons-to-love-squirrels slash

  30. Mojeaux

    Well I TRIED to take XX to have a driving lesson. Unfortunately, there was a family there who decided the huge and completely empty section I was teaching her in would be a good place to teach their little one how to ride a bicycle. Never mind that there were 6 other big-ish sections with one or two cars each. They wanted to use ours. I decided my little one and their little one need not meet in an ugly way, especially since mine was already rattled, so we left.

    Try again later I guess.

      • Count Potato

        The picture is too blurry to tell, but it that would make sense.

      • Count Potato

        LOL

    • Count Potato

      So Carmen Electra has herpes?

    • Pope Jimbo

      One of the tales the 48-year-old Electra told the paper was about the time Rodman put a blindfold over her eyes and then put her on his motorcycle. When he finally took it off of her face, she was standing on center court at the Bulls’ practice facility.

      I’m calling bullshit! I would have been impressed if she could have driven his motorcycle a hundred yards without crashing, but you expect me to believe she drove it all the way to the practice facility and then somehow got it inside?

    • whiz

      The online bookie we have access to here (William Hill) keeps hyping soccer in Belarus and Nicaragua. What more could you want?

      • Rhywun

        I would watch either of those.

  31. Donation Not Taxation

    What about converting regulatory agencies to certification authorities?
    As policy?
    As something would politically sell?
    If airline wants to be complaint and have passengers take off shoes, limited to how much liquids (pre-CCP flu), and so on, so be it.
    If airline not want compliant, so be it.
    Likewise environmental regulation, union/employer relations, …

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      That airliner flew away a long time ago.

      • Donation Not Taxation

        ‘You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.’ — Rahm Emanuel

    • Heroic Mulatto

      Kakashi Hatake’s girl got a phat ass.

    • Sensei

      That is awesome.

  32. Hyperion

    Comments are working perfectly for me now. Is it my privilege?

    • Pope Jimbo

      You should be ashamed of yourself with your Write Privilege

    • DEG

      Working fine for me too.

      Thanks SP!

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      It all seems be working fine, everyone who’s comment didn’t post shows up fine, thanks SP!

  33. DEG

    Illinois judge overturns Gov. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order for one person

    A judge from far southern Illinois Monday threw a legal bombshell into Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s continuing response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ruling the governor exceeded his authority in issuing a statewide stay-at-home order.

    Pritzker immediately blasted the judge’s ruling, sought in a case brought by state Rep. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, saying it violates “decades of precedent” and “puts people in danger.”

    But though the judge’s ruling now applies only to Bailey personally—allowing him to move freely in defiance of Pritzker’s order—it could open the door to legal challenges from any number of groups and individuals, actions that even if ultimately overruled by the court could discourage voluntary citizen compliance.

  34. The Late P Brooks

    Literally life or death. Literally!

    Elections are a sacred ritual for Jeremy Rutledge and always have been.
    But for the first time in his life, the 49-year old minister of a historic Circular Congregational Church in Charleston, South Carolina, says that he is being forced to make what could be a life-or-death choice because of the risk Covid-19 poses to him.
    Rutledge, who lives with his wife and son, says he has for nearly 12 years suffered from a chronic autoimmune disorder that has caused scarring in his lungs. His doctors have warned him that a Covid-19 infection could be a death sentence.
    “I’ve always voted since I was old enough to vote — in every election,” Rutledge told CNN. “I never imagined that I would have to decide whether I wanted to vote or whether I wanted to live and be healthy.”

    “We’ve really had serious conversations,” he said. “All of my doctors are worried that if I contract the virus, I could die from it.”
    For voters like Rutledge, the coronavirus pandemic has turned the simple act of voting into an impossible calculation about whether to exercise his constitutional right or protect his health. And the virus has injected a new sense of urgency to a long-running political battle over access to voting.

    It’s like Omaha Beach, all over again.

    • RAHeinlein

      South Carolina allows voters to request absentee ballots.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Elections are a sacred ritual for Jeremy Rutledge and always have been.

      Nice golden calf you’ve got there.

      • leon

        Yup. Look you can’t go do your drive through Easter service, but we have to have a way for the state church to be worshipped.

  35. Hyperion

    Not sure if it’s been discussed here, but I noticed an article somewhere this morning saying the Birx lady, one of badorangeman’s stooge props, was saying that we have to get to 5 million tests and then to 20 million tests to open up again. I just can’t help it, they’re just pulling shit right out of their asses, making it up as they go along. finding solutions in search of a problem. So, let’s play though. How do you get to testing 20 million people? Are we going to set up routine traffic checks and pull people out of their cars and take some blood? Do we mug them going into the grocery store? How the fuck could you accomplish that degree of mass testing without some form of true police state? And what if someone tests positive? Do you haul them off to the camps and tell their families they’ll be notified with they can contact mom again?

    Seriously, this shit is getting really scary. Not the virus, the power hungry goons who seem to be driving the hysteria and draconian measures.

    • Pope Jimbo

      I think a simple bounty system would suffice.

      The state will pay you $10 for every test sample you send in. Let the market figure out the rest.

      • Hyperion

        Not enough Orwellian, dude, so they won’t do that.

    • Suthenboy

      “…this shit is getting really scary. Not the virus, the power hungry goons…”

      No. Shit.

      This is how they always behave, how they always have. Give them an inch, etc. That is why we have a constitution and bill of rights that specifically forbids the shit they are getting away with now.

      *puts on rose colored glasses*

      At some point there will be pushback and at least we will have law on our side.

      • Shirley Knott

        And how many divisions does law have?
        We’re watching the suicide of a culture. I now expect food riots but Thanksgiving, or between Thanksgiving and Christmas at the latest.

      • Suthenboy

        *Takes off rose colored glasses*

        Make sure you have plenty of ammo

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Just picked up a case, Thanks Mr. President!

      • Sean

        Check.

      • Rebel Scum

        at least we will have law on our side.

        Life’s 3 boxes: The Jury box, the ballot box and the cartridge box.

    • JaimeRoberto Delecto

      They just extended the order in my county through the end of May. In the big picture, I’m OK. I’m still working, my kids are old enough to take care of their schoolwork on their own, and we’re all pretty healthy. But long term this is going to breed a lot of dependency and risk aversion.

      • Incentives Matter

        . . . this is going to breed a lot of dependency and risk aversion.

        And food riots.

      • Count Potato

        Let’s hope not.

  36. Count Potato

    I wonder how long it will be before people can buy N95 masks?

    • Hyperion

      I have some.

      • Count Potato

        You must have bought them a while back. I’m not finding any available until June, if that.

      • Incentives Matter

        The spousal unit and I have one each. We intend to use them (if required) until they fall apart, since neither of us are convinced they’re particularly useful, especially considering most of the people who will be using them in earnest probably won’t be using them properly anyways.

      • Count Potato

        Maybe most people won’t, but they aren’t that difficult to use properly.

      • Hyperion

        I had 20. My wife bought them in March. We have maybe 15 left. So it’s not a long term supply.

      • Count Potato

        Apparently, they can be disinfected and re-used.

      • Incentives Matter

        You can spray ’em with 3% hydrogen peroxide and let ’em air-dry, yeah. Eventually the bleaching action will probably weaken the fibers so much that the mask falls apart.

      • Incentives Matter

        **GASP** My precious ethanol? NEVER!

    • Rebel Scum

      I was finally able to get toilet paper. I never ran out but now I can stay ahead.

      • Hyperion

        Wife bought 36 of those double rolls of her fav brand. We’re good for a while. She was sort of freaking out because we were down to like 3 rolls and I lucked onto some on Amazon pantry in stock last week, when I was buying something else. Checked a few times again and have not seem them in stock again. It seems to just be timing.

    • Gustave Lytton

      When the government agencies have bought enough to be ready with dry rotted masks for the next pandemic.

  37. Animal

    Hope Hicks is back for 2020.

    Enthusiastic “would.”

    • Rebel Scum

      Definitely.

  38. Rebel Scum

    Isolation and boredom of staying at home can be harmful in their own way, experts say

    Excessive masturbation. If you do it too much you start to chafe. And you need to stay hydrated. Not that I would know from my bored teen years . . .

  39. Rebel Scum

    Trump looks to Hope Hicks as coronavirus crisis spills over

    I, for one, would approve of Trump staffing his entire cabinet with, preferably scantily clad, hotties.

    • Hyperion

      He should do it just so we can watch the media melt down. Just when you think they’ve already melted to a puddle…

  40. Rebel Scum

    Documents with the names of people who reported stay-at-home violations are being shared online.

    Karma’s a bitch.

  41. Suthenboy

    Two bits:

    Our commie governor has extended his stay-at-home ‘order’ until may 15

    My son’s business is suffering greatly. He is going to re-open anyway. All employees wearing masks, only 6 customers inside at a time, screening everyone who comes in every time using the same procedures as the hospital (admittedly kinda silly) which is taking temp with an infrared thermometer and asking about symptoms. We will see how that turns out.

  42. Count Potato

    “The sisters’ Fox guest spots have also dried up recently. According to a search of TVEyes, a cable-news monitoring system, Diamond & Silk haven’t appeared on the network since a March 6 interview on Fox & Friends and a March 7 hit on the now-defunct Fox Business Network show hosted by Trish Regan, who was also ditched by Fox after her own comments calling the pandemic an “impeachment scam.”

    Diamond & Silk have used their heavy social-media presence to be at the forefront of right-wing misinformation about the COVID-19 outbreak. For instance, during their March 30 livestream, the duo claimed that the number of American coronavirus deaths has been inflated to make Trump look bad.

    “What I need to know is how many people have passed away in New York, and what I need to know is: Who has the bodies?” Diamond asked. “I need for somebody that does investigative work to call the morgues. To call the funeral homes. We need to know, because I don’t trust anything else that comes out of his mouth now… Something’s not right here. Something is off here.”

    She added: “Is this being deliberately spread? Look, I’m not being a conspiracy theorist, this is real, but I’m asking my own questions. What the hell is going on?”

    Silk, meanwhile, baselessly asserted that the disease was “man-made” and “engineered,” wondering aloud if there was a “little deep-state action going on behind the scenes.” She also questioned whether the World Health Organization had a “switch” to “turn this virus on and off?””

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-cuts-ties-with-diamond-and-silk

    I wouldn’t call inflated numbers a conspiracy theory.

    • Donation Not Taxation

      ‘Look, I’m not being a conspiracy theorist, this is real’

      That is ‘conspiracy theory’ in the sense of Conspiracy Theories and Other Dangerous Ideas by Cass R. Sunstein and Adrian Vermeule

    • Agent Cooper

      Next up, Nancy Grace!

  43. The Late P Brooks

    Let’s not bicker about ‘oo contaminated ‘oo

    Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates called allegations that China cost the world valuable time by covering up the origins of the Wuhan coronavirus a “distraction” in an interview Sunday, adding that “China did a lot of things right at the beginning.”

    Speaking to CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, Gates pushed back on criticism of Beijing’s initial response, saying “I don’t think that’s a timely thing, because it doesn’t affect how we act today.”

    “It’s not time to talk about that, this is the time to take the great science we have, the fact that we’re in this together, fix testing, treatments, and get that vaccine, and minimize the trillions of dollars and many things that you can’t even dimensionalize in economic terms that are awful, about the situation that we’re in,” Gates stated. “So that’s a distraction, I think there’s a lot of incorrect and unfair things said, but it’s not even time for that discussion.”

    ——-

    A detailed timeline of Beijing’s response to the virus’s origins in Wuhan shows that the government gagged the spread of information about the virus for weeks after it had first been noticed, with health officials being warned privately of “a major public health event” nearly a week before the public was alerted to the threat.

    U.S. intelligence believes that China purposefully misled the global community on the extent of its coronavirus outbreak, with one study finding that the government could have prevented 95 percent of coronavirus infections if it had acted sooner to stem the initial outbreak. Last week, the head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention admitted to state media that the government “knew there must be human-to-human transmission” of the novel virus, despite his organization saying January 15 that “the risk of sustained human-to-human transmission is low.”
    22

    When asked about the World Health Organization’s culpability on Sunday, Gates said “basically no,” pushing back on President Trump’s claim that the organization is “very China-centric.”

    Gates needs to go suck on a tailpipe. A diesel, preferably.

    • Suthenboy

      And our mosquito killing lasers will be available….when?

      Fuck that guy.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I have the tube fed shockwave in 12 gauge. Believe me when I say that unless you’re wearing hearing protection, there’s no way you’re going to fire off more than 4 rounds in a building. I think your eardrums would fall out.

    • Suthenboy

      Tip1: Box magazines feed better when not maxed out. Ten round mag? Put 8 in it.

      Tip 2 : Shotgun shells are relatively soft compared to full metal cartridges. If you leave them under pressure from the spring in a magazine for an extended period they can start to squish out of round and wont feed into the gun’s chamber.

      • Sean

        Quibi Is Short Episodic TV
        Quibi will be yet another name in the ever-growing list of subscription-based media platforms. Like Netflix or Hulu, it will provide original content. But instead of presenting movies and episodes at their usual length, Quibi is specializing in content built for quick consumption. Quibi’s TV episodes are always less than 10 minutes, and movies are broken down into chapters that act more like episodes. All content is specially formatted for your phone, so you can view it in portrait or landscape formats.

        https://www.howtogeek.com/662501/what-is-quibi-everything-you-need-to-know/

        I’m less excited after reading that.

      • The Hyperbole

        BTB – Steak ala Sean take two, still not that bright red you get and I thought I went a little heavier on the salt, maybe nest time I’ll give it two days.

      • Sean

        ?

        The filets I did tonight turned that deep red color. They were in there @ 36 hours, but usually a good 24 hours gets that color for me. And the exterior is very dry.

      • Rhywun

        So, aimed at people with short attention spans who like ruining their eyesight. ?‍♂️

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      God I hope so, the best of Comedy, Brooks is proud I’m sure,
      Mel, not P,

  44. Mojeaux

    Re St. Louis Karen, who thinks she’s “doing the right thing.”

    Does she really?

    Do all those people who turn in their loved ones and friends really believe they’re doing the right thing? And if so, what makes them believe that?

    For instance, the guy on the other side of my neighbor spent the weekend tearing up the land behind his backyard fence, building a firepit, whatever. That’s nice. Problem is, it’s not his land. It’s the city’s, it’s part of a city park, they mow there every other Tuesday, and they’re gonna be pissed.

    XY is just giddy with anticipation when the city finds out (“I wanna be a fly on that wall”) (so would I), but I told him in no uncertain terms that he was not to be the one to tattle. “Oh, I wouldn’t do that.” Okay, then. My neighbor said he isn’t, either.

    Dude tore up the city’s property. Is informing on him “doing the right thing”? No. It’s just being a cunte. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the neighbors on the other side of me (3 doors down) call the city to complain.

    • The Hyperbole

      If it was an absent owner’s property and not the city’s would that make a difference on the rat finking?

      • Brochettaward

        Only a rat fink fuck would have to ask.

      • Suthenboy

        I have people that watch our land. Recently three dopeheads tried to get on one isolated piece (probably to make a dope patch) and got their truck stuck. They brought in a tractor to drag it out tore up the road and damaged a few trees. The land-watcher for that piece found it, knew who the guys were and had them arrested. That is what I pay them for (and let them hunt on the property).
        I have no problem with people turning trespassers, squatters and adverse possessors of land. They are stealing and turning in a thief is not ‘ratting’.
        In the case Mojeaux relates there is no need to turn them in. If it is mowed regularly then it will be discovered. Best to just stay out of it and let the guy shoot himself in the foot.

      • Mojeaux

        If I don’t know the owner or his people or his business, no, it would make no difference. For all I know, people are there on his behalf and it’s not my problem.

        The only neighbor I know is the one right next to me. I would definitely do that for him, but I barely know his people, so it would not be without me over there bein’ all friendly’n’whatnot. But when he’s going to be gone, he tells us and we watch his house and get his mail.

  45. The Bearded Hobbit

    Question about Trump Bux.

    Wife and I qualify and we filed jointly so we are supposed to receive $2400. My bank account shows a pending ACT deposit but it only for $1200. Do they send two separate checks? Or am I assuming competence from the IRS?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      We file jointly and received one deposit covering the both of us.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      I got mine today, 2400$,Filed jointly, I was the sole taxable income, maybe that?

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        And they are waiting for my check to clear before releasing the 2200$ I left in the Bank, WTF?

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        Well, I’m still waiting for my $128 refund that I filed six or seven weeks ago so I’m guessing the answer to my question is “incompetence”.

        Thanks for the replies.

      • Incentives Matter

        Government-issued cheques (at least in Canada) don’t need to “clear” and never stale-date. None of this “six months or less” nonsense. I don’t know how it is in the U.S., but I suspect your bank might need a firm talking-to with just a hint of legal action threatened if they don’t move their lazy asses post haste.

      • Brochettaward

        Our checks are for real money, though. This is all much more complex than just throwing some monopoly money at the problem.

      • Jarflax

        The issue is not the solvency of the Federal government it is rampant check forgery. The bank is not being unreasonable.

      • tripacer

        I heard we were waiting for Trump to personally sign each one.

  46. Struggle is Life

    Hello Everyone, Tulpa here!! Long-time lurker at Agitator, TOS, and here since approximately 3 weeks post-Glibbening. Never been too big on commenting anywhere but read through Glibs almost daily. Just wanted to say real quick how much I appreciate this site, TPTB, and especially the Commetariat for getting me through some tough times in the last several years and most def the last 5 weeks of pure insanity. Thank doG for this site; you people rock!

  47. Urthona

    Yay. Texas reopening restaurants on Friday. In time for my anniversary.

    • Incentives Matter

      Good for Texas!

      The way things are going in Alberta, with Premier Kenney hiding behind the skirts of the Chief Medical Officer, I’d be surprised if we open up anytime prior to Labour Day.

  48. Gender Traitor

    So I revived my unused Twitter account and posted this, Let’s see how quickly I can get myself banned.

    • Incentives Matter

      I spent a few minutes tooling around Twitter a short while ago. 

      If the average comments there are at all indicative of our larger global society, Humanity deserves the food riots to come.

    • The Hyperbole

      I just reported yo ( I’m here to help. )

      Never done that before, here’s the first screen when you report a tweet

      the second

      and I’ll reply with the last since more than two posts cause big trouble.

    • Ted S.

      I actually had a tweet get 200 likes, and one Karen.

      I don’t normally tweet much, and if I get two or three likes a week, that’s a lot.

    • Agent Cooper

      But you get to wear pajamas to meetings on Monday!

  49. hayeksplosives

    Karens exposed by Missouri Sunshine Law. I kind of like it.

    That is the best! More of that, please!! People should have to be ready to face their accusers, even if it’s just a name listed in a doc.

    Needs a downside to being a tattle tale.

    • hayeksplosives

      Their language is telling: “We are asking businesses…” “We are directing…”

      Always this vague “we” like they want to spread the blame, and “ask” and “direct” aren’t legally binding.

    • hayeksplosives

      And yes, nice tie ?

    • Suthenboy

      ” I am violating your inalienable rights that I am forbidden to violate”

      *appended to Michigan gov’s statement: “I am violating your inalienable rights that I am forbidden to violate and if you complain I will violate them harder”

      None of these ‘orders’, directives, whatever have any legal basis whatsoever. Unless you are a state employee you don’t take orders from the half-wit in the gov’s mansion.

  50. hayeksplosives

    My father was stationed in Frankfurt in the early sixties in the Army.

    He knew a friendly German shop owner who’d serve dad a coffee frequently. Dad noticed that the shop owner would excuse himself from conversation with patrons every time a certain German peddled by on his bicycle. The cyclist would clench his teeth and pedal faster as the shop owner called out his name with an exaggerated “Good Morning, Herr Minister!”

    My father asked the shop owner about it and he explained that the bicycle neighbor had been a low level party functionary whose job it was to report any neighbor doing anything that could be considered anti National Socialist.

    With the party gone, he was back to being just a loser instead of a Nazi squeal loser.

    • Suthenboy

      Sounds like the kinda guy that would have an unfortunate bicycle accident.

  51. OBE #Learn2Essential

    About three weeks ago I wrote my State Senator for my district and was met with silence. Yesterday I fired off an email that said “your silence in the matter is enough for me to campaign against you at the ballot box”….about 5 minutes after I sent that he sent a reply immediately but claimed he never received the first email.

    So I asked him again, when do you plan on taking back our power as residents of the State and afforded representation in our Government and convene a special session.

    We will see if he gets back or ignore it again

    • Brochettaward

      I’m sure you put the fear of god into some intern.

      • OBE #Learn2Essential

        Yeah i know the futility of it…dont burst my bubble!

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      A couple of days ago I met a commissioner from my county, although not from my district. He was very sympathetic with our local businesses and declared his intention to propose that our county open up. He is an (R).

      The guy from my district is a (D) and his “re-elect me” signs have been popping up. I sent him an email stating that I was with the other guy for opening up. My reps reply was standard “I stand with the governor (D)”. Guess who I am not voting for in November.

    • Ozymandias

      I know you all may think it is pointless, but I *assure* you that there is nothing more effective than a targeted assault by constituents against their dbag reps.
      When I was at CF, our competitors got an occupational licensing law passed in DC that made CF Affiliates illegal. They would not be allowed to teach anything that wasn’t fitness dogma. We held an event and had every single CF Affiliate in the District, as well as in NOVA, send an email that we had drafted for them to their reps. Within a month Greg Glassman was invited to speak with all manner of politicos in DC who were quite clear that it was all a big misunderstanding, that no one had ever intended such a thing, and the law was killed.
      Here is the one article I could pull up quickly. I am telling you, I was shocked to see how quickly they caved when we flooded their emails.
      Keep at them, do it in concert if you can, and do it at the same time so that the assholes perceive widespread opposition. These fuckos care about one thing – staying in power. They respond to what they perceive as the winds of popular opinion. We need to find more fellow travelers and learn how targeted campaigns can get your voice heard. It’s exactly how the Progs on Twitter and FBook made their march.

    • Suthenboy

      Few people today appreciate what we have in the way of roads and bridges.

  52. Count Potato

    “Scientists at NIH’s Rocky Mountain Lab inoculated 6 monkeys with single doses of Oxford vaccine. The monkeys were then exposed to heavy quantities of the virus — exposure that had sickened other monkeys. But more than 28 days later all six were healthy”

    https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1254841459473149952

    28 Days Later?

    • Suthenboy

      Driving to the store last week I suddenly had about two dozen grasshoppers splat on my windshield within about one minute.
      Really? Now we are gonna have a plague of locusts? How long before the rivers turn red?

      • UnCivilServant

        Red, I’m not sure, but we can manage Tang.

    • Rhywun

      Someone’s trolling us.