The Weekly Whatever: Still very viral I'm afraid
Quotes of the week
'You know, we don't shut down the economy to save every single life that's threatened by a wide-spread disease. We just don't.' — Brit Hume.
'We'll gradually bring those people back and see what happens. Some of them will get sick, some may even die, I don't know.' — Dick Kovacevich, former CEO and chairman of Wells Fargo.
'People should ask themselves whether this coronavirus "pandemic" could be a big hoax' — Ron Paul, 6 days before Rand Paul tested positive for SARS-CoV-2
Wait, what?
We're fucked
- Large ecosystems like the Amazon Rainforest could collapse within a lifetime.
Sick, sad world
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Missouri man licks deodorants at Walmart for coronavirus video.
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Coronavirus party succeeds.
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CDC launches fundraiser.
This should end well
- Liberty University welcoming 5,000 students back to campus after Spring Break.
Late stage capitalism
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Gilead's potential COVID-19 drug is given 'rare disease' designation to protect the company from the danger that the drug might be made available as an affordable generic.
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Prosecutors thought Walmart was criminally negligent fueling the opioid epidemic, but Trump appointees killed the indictment.
The Guillotine Marketing Board
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Joel Freedman buys a hospital in Philadelphia, refuses to let it be used for coronavirus patients unless the city will pay him $910,000 a month.
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New Haven asks for help housing police and firefighters helping fight coronavirus; Yale says no.
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David Geffen posts photos of him socially distancing from his $200m superyacht in the Grenadines.
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Austin company demands that employees agree to a pay deduction if they receive a government stimulus check.
Schadenfreude Saturday
- Mar-a-Lago is closed.
Actual good news
Going viral
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Boss of Hobby Lobby decides to keep stores open because his wife had a revelation during prayer. Instructs store managers to promote virus-related merch, reminds them time off due to illness will come from their vacation time.
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Italian man arrested for going out to play Pokémon Go.
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Rand Paul blocks coronavirus relief package, gets tested for coronavirus, works for 6 days with other Republicans, goes to the gym and takes a swim even though it's closed, has lunch with Republican pals, then discovers he's positive.
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Several months before the coronavirus pandemic began, the Trump administration eliminated a key American public health position in Beijing intended to help detect disease outbreaks in China.
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Florida County Commissioner says you can kill coronavirus by holding a blow drier up to your nose, based on info from One America News Network; warns that "there's a lot of baloney out there on social media"
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Trump supporter who thought coronavirus was mass hysteria is one of the first to die in Virginia.
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While doctors and nurses use homemade masks, the government has 1.5 million N95 masks sitting in a warehouse but won't use them because their expiry date has passed.
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Trump admin decides not to spend $1 billion on ventilators.
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Rhode Island starts checkpoints to stop people from New York.
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Three unaccompanied migrant children in detention test positive for coronavirus.
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Wearing a mask is probably more effective than washing your hands.
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US government auctioned off N95 respirator masks in February as surplus.