Category: Uncategorized

Walt Disney World is now open in Florida!!!! Because opening up a huge theme park while Covid cases surge in world record numbers is the most 2020 thing that we could possibly do.

Florida reported a record increase of more than 15,000 new cases of COVID-19 in a single day on Sunday as the growing outbreak forces state authorities to close some businesses and beaches. If Florida were a country, it would rank fourth in the world for the most new cases a day behind the United States, Brazil and India.

Its daily increases have already surpassed the highest daily tally reported by any European country during the height of the pandemic there. Florida has also broken New York State’s record of 12,847 new cases on April 10 when it was the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak. To combat the outbreak, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has ordered bars to close but has resisted calls for a statewide mandate to wear masks in public.

Meanwhile, FL governor is whining about Dr. Fauci’s criticism that they opened too early:

The governor of Florida defended his decision to reopen the state, after the nation’s top infectious disease expert suggested Florida had rushed its reopening amid a surge of coronavirus cases seen since mid-June.

“I think there was really no justification to not move forward,” said Governor Ron DeSantis at a news conference in Orlando Friday.

And Miami-Dade hospitals are almost at full capacity.

So, great job containing the virus there for all the governors who decided to follow Trump’s lead.

How to cognitive pic.twitter.com/YM51OJ58qA

— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) July 10, 2020

I try to stay away from anything Trump says so I wait for Sarah to do a performance on his stupider moments. Which means she’ll never be of want for material.

Is he….. PROUD that the doctors were surprised that he could pass a cognitive test???    I would be surprised also if he could pass a real one, not the one he took in his mind last night while watching Fox News.

NYC has a new Black Lives Matter mural right outside of Sauron’s Trump Tower. Trump responded by saying “The Black Lives Matter movement is paramount in spotlighting inequality in the criminal justice system and other institutions and I am proud that there is a mural outside of my building to be a constant reminder to us all.”  Nah, I’m kidding, he called NYC a hellhole and says BLM is a symbol of hate.

Senate Republicans are starting to have second thoughts about attending their upcoming convention in Florida where covid19 infection rates are skyrocketing. Mitch McConnell has decided that he’s not going and will instead keep his head in his shell. So they are perfectly fine of pushing everybody else into the pandemic, but nah, they’ll pass. The RNC is now looking at holding the venue outside.

Meanwhile, Trump has started a war against TikTok users. I don’t know much about TikTok, but if Trump is against it then it can’t be all bad.  Godspeed Gen Z. May Trump’s next rally get 800 million “pre-registrations”.

Is Kanye prezident yet?

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Covid19

43 Florida ICUs have reached capacity. Mississippi hospitals are stretched thin as their ICUs are filling up also. And we broke a new record for the amount of new cases. Over 61,000 now! I’m starting to think that the US didn’t have a very good response to this whole pandemic thing. (As I was about to post this, I see that the numbers for today are out and it’s another new record.  Over 65K.  Lovely.)

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Sometimes, the smallest things we take for granted.

A man in Saudi Arabia helped cool down an overheated hawk on a sidewalk.

A man cooling a hawk that was suffering from a heatstroke in Riyad, Saudi Arabia (where temperature reaches 50 celsius in August) from r/HumansBeingBros

And a veteran Broadway lighting technician takes us backstage for a peek of Hamilton.

Oh boy. 

 

Japan has banned screaming on roller coasters. Looks fun! It’s more of a guideline than a rule. But they had 206 new cases yesterday while the US had 62,425 soooooooo.

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Covid-19

Speaking of the plague.  What’s new today?

Trump’s hate filled rally two weeks ago is being blamed for contributing to a surge of Covid infections in Tulsa. Which was easily predictable. And those people who were infected with the rally were most likely spending the last two weeks spreading their germs far and wide, so good luck with that Oklahoma.

The mayor of Houston has canceled the GOP’s state convention. I haven’t looked into the reactions of the Republicans to this but I’m sure they are riled up that they can’t share each other’s covid infections with spittle fleck glee. It will be interesting to see what happens in FL now for the main hate convention GOP national convention given the numbers of infections.

The US set another record yesterday with over 60,000 new cases. The biggest one day record reported by any country on Earth. Trump did promise to make us #1 again and he finally delivered.

And we’re starting to run low on masks and gowns again. Might be a good time to also stock up on toilet paper.

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And because everything else seems to suck, here’s Chef John with a cherry chocolate loaf that we made a week or two ago and was amazing:

I’ve stayed away from the news since last week so forgive me if some of this is old news. A lot happens in a day now!

Kanye West is running for president. At least in his mind. (He hasn’t actually done any of the necessary legal steps to be on a ballot, and in some states it is already too late anyway)  The Forbes article has a list of bullet points to catch you up to speed on his totally non-insane presidential run.

• That he’s running for president in 2020 under a new banner—the Birthday Party—with guidance from Elon Musk and an obscure vice presidential candidate he’s already chosen. “Like anything I’ve ever done in my life,” says West, “I’m doing to win.”
• That he no longer supports President Trump. “I am taking the red hat off, with this interview.”
• That he’s ok with siphoning off Black votes from the Democratic nominee, thus helping Trump. “I’m not denying it, I just told you. To say that the Black vote is Democratic is a form of racism and white supremacy.”
• That he’s never voted in his life.
• That he was sick with Covid-19 in February.
• That he’s suspicious of a coronavirus vaccine, terming vaccines “the mark of the beast.”
• That he believes “Planned Parenthoods have been placed inside cities by white supremacists to do the Devil’s work.”
• That he envisions a White House organizational model based on the secret country of Wakanda in Black Panther.

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Trump’s niece’s book is being released early and there are already excerpts around the web. Spoiler alert.  Trump cheats on everything.  Taxes, SATs, wives, golf.  I think the title of the book is Shit That Every Sane Person Already Knows. I won’t be reading that just like I didn’t read the Bolton book. It’s not like I need any more evidence that I’m not going to vote for the guy at this point.

In other terrible Trump news (redundant!) his Health Secretary claims that healthcare workers don’t get covid. This is news to the 760 healthcare workers who so far have died from the disease, and the nearly 100K who have tested positive.  And the Trump administration is planning on kicking out international students from the country if their classes are online-only for the upcoming semester.  Which means some people see a pandemic and see death and tragedy, while others see it as an opportunity to push your racist and xenophobic values.

And Trump is now threatening to cut federal funds to schools that don’t physically reopen.
To force students, teachers, custodial staff, bus drivers, administrative staff, etc., back into the middle of a raging pandemic is nothing short of attempted murder at this point. That the GOP has done nothing to curb Trump’s denial is criminal. They are all complicit.

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Over the past 24 hours, the U.S. reported 56,115 new cases of coronavirus and 948 new deaths. Records were broken in 8 states https://t.co/Qs4encun9f pic.twitter.com/xAkyI5Ng4U

— BNO Newsroom (@BNODesk) July 8, 2020

Record numbers in Covid again yesterday in TX and CA. And most likely FL because they are working their best at hiding the numbers. But their ICU’s are filling up at a scary rate. It didn’t have to be like this.

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And opossums enjoy their potassium.

So, they are actively trying to kill people now.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran has issued an executive order requiring all of Florida’s public K-12 schools to reopen in August.

As part of the executive order issued Monday, school districts and charter school governing boards must open brick and mortar schools at least five days per week for all students in August.

“Upon reopening in August, all school boards and charter school governing boards must open brick and mortar schools at least five days per week for all students, subject to advice and orders of the Florida Department of Health, local departments of health, Executive Order 20-149 and subsequent executive orders,” the order reads.

School districts must also provide “the full array of services that are required by law so that families who wish to educate their children in a brick and mortar school have the opportunity to do so.”

That includes in-person instruction, specialized instruction, and services for students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), English-language learners as well as live synchronous or asynchronous instruction.