The Weekly Whatever: Gone viral
Quote of the week
"And again, when you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done."
— Trump on the COVID-19 outbreak, 27 February 2020.
Woodpecker engineering
- "Anonymous" confession app Whisper left their database publicly readable on the Internet.
Wait, what?
- Cheech and Chong's Facebook page exposed a network of deceptive dating web sites owned by an aerospace company.
Well, fancy that!
- Disgraced former Republican Congressman who voted against lifting the ban on LGBT people serving in the military, against extending hate crime protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity, and in favour of the Defence of Marriage Act, comes out as gay.
We're fucked
- Scientists talk about how profoundly sad and guilty they feel about the climate crisis.
Sick, sad world
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William Shatner wins huge load of horse semen in divorce settlement.
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Spotify playlist of lullabyes for kids includes ad for "It: Chapter Two" featuring Pennywise the clown.
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France breaks record for world's largest gathering of Smurfs.
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Coronavirus-themed easter eggs.
This should end well
- Hillary Clinton says Joe Biden "is building the kind of coalition that I had".
Actual good news
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Second patient cured of HIV.
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Hockey games canceled so Canadian scientists isolate COVID-19.
The Guillotine Marketing Board
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The super-rich are already self-isolating in their bunkers.
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Matt Gaetz backed legislation barring Florida cities from requiring that employers offer paid sick leave. Now he's taking paid sick leave.
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Whole Foods CEO suggests that healthy workers donate their sick time to those suffering from COVID-19.
Schadenfreude Saturday
- Pandemic profiteer has 17,000 bottles of hand sanitizer and nowhere to sell them.
Going viral
Note: This is the last section, so if you want to just skip everything else pandemic-related for the sake of your own sanity, stop reading here.
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New York hopes not to close schools due to coronavirus, because 114,000 students are homeless.
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Mr Bean trapped in Wuhan, peddling Chinese government propaganda.
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Coronavirus conference canceled due to coronavirus.
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Cruise company tells sales team to lie about COVID-19.
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Missouri father breaks COVID-19 quarantine to take his daughter to a school father-daughter dance.
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Immigration courts told they can't post information on how to avoid spreading COVID-19. (Order later rescinded.)
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Prison inmates in NY are making hand sanitizer for the rest of us, but they're not allowed to use it.
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Kentucky sheriff asks criminals to stop committing crimes until the coronavirus epidemic is over.
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White House says details of COVID-19 discussions are classified, still plans cuts to CDC budget and Infectious Diseases Rapid Response Reserve Fund, but cuts to food stamps have been blocked for now.
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Trump holds coronavirus briefing days after having dinner with infected people, shakes everybody's hands.