I still haven’t gotten my stimulus check, by the way. Apparently, people who used H&R Block as their tax-preparers are having difficulties getting their checks. It’s just another piece of evidence that this administration could not find their ass with both hands and a map. They’ve f–ked everything up. And Moscow Mitch McConnell says that he doesn’t want a second round of coronavirus aid either. It just feels like… no one in the Republican party *wants* government to function whatsoever. But the most f–ked up part is that Southern, Republican governors have now created a coalition to reopen businesses in their states. Can we call this Dumbass Coalition? The Axis of Dead Capitalists?
Republican governors across the Southeast are teaming up to reopen the region’s economy, even as they lack the testing to know how rapidly the coronavirus is spreading. One health expert called the political decision a “perfect storm” for the virus to reassert itself.
The newly formed coalition includes Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi, a part of the country that has underfunded health systems, as well as high rates of obesity, diabetes and other illnesses that amplify the deadliness of the coronavirus. And unlike their peers in New York, New Jersey and other Northeastern states that have been working cooperatively since last week to restart their economies, the six in the South have lagged on testing and social distancing measures.
“If you put these states together, there is a perfect storm for a massive epidemic peak later on,” said Jill Roberts of the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health. “The Southeast region is not known for having the best health record. Diabetes and heart disease come to mind. I am very concerned about how our states will do it.”
It’s not evident how the coalition will work. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis mentioned the move Tuesday on “Fox & Friends,” but there was no formal announcement or much communication from other states involved. “We have had a meeting with all the Southeastern governors — Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee,” DeSantis said. “And we shared a lot of ideas. I think we will be the same page on some stuff.”
Here in Virginia, our governor is a Democrat and a doctor, and while I think Ralph Northam could have been stricter and more proactive mid-March, I also trust his decision-making in general, and I appreciate that he’s listening to Virginia’s hospitals and medical personnel. People still aren’t social-distancing like they should here, but people are wearing masks and it really helps that so much stuff has closed down. My point is that I’m glad Northam isn’t playing footsie with these dumbass Republican governors, and those governors are going to get thousands of their residents killed by coronavirus because of… MAGA or something. But mostly, all of these governors are being allowed to operate stupidly and independently because of the leadership vacuum from the Trump White House.
And as for all of those “protests” in so many states over the past week… yeah, of course the virus ripped through all of those crowds too. I honestly don’t feel the least bit sorry for those Covidiots, but it makes me sick to think of all of these a–holes now crowding in hospitals and hurting doctors and nurses.
Kentucky sees highest spike in coronavirus cases after protests against lockdown https://t.co/wKLuB6OQyb pic.twitter.com/iPYKg0zIxy
— The Hill (@thehill) April 21, 2020
Photos courtesy of Getty.
Thank goodness I dont live in the states.
I wish I didn’t. I’d like to move to Greenland, as far away from humanity as possible.
I live in Tennessee. The few times I have gone out it has been depressing and scary. I have a mask and carry around hand sanitizer for after I touch things. I typically will see only one or two other people with a mask, and they are not standing 6 feet apart. I have to ask people to stand back when they stand right behind me in line.
Egot, TN here too. My husband delivers goods to stores and he comes home every damn day with stories of him telling morons to get the heck away from him. Makes me so mad. And sad.
I am in Tennessee too. I share your concern and have had similar experiences with people in public not taking this seriously. We’re very, very, VERY nervous about Gov. Lee opening things up. Let me tell you a little story, though, to show he knows he’s lying. I have friends who board horses at his family ranch south of Nashville–well, they have banned everyone from even seeing their horses at this time and closed up shop entirely. No clients allowed, even in masks or gloves. So while Lee cheerfully assures us all it’s safe to go out in just a few days, he makes sure his own family compound remains hermetically sealed. Hypocrite.
Juls, my husband delivers groceries to stores too and has the same comment. People reach right in front of his face and don’t say excuse me or ask him to step back. He wears his mask and gloves and tries to stay back from the fools.
My friend lives in TN. She’s doing well, but worried about the reopening, and so am I. 🙁
I do, and I am livid and terrified. I do not think we are ready for business as usual, and I hate our governor. SC was one of the last to issue a stay at home order and I knew we would be one of the first to try to reopen because Henry is in Donald’s idiot posse.
Beth, I’m in SC too and can’t believe it. Thankfully the mayors of the beaches have agreed they will not be reopening them. It was shocking the way people were crowded on the beaches in March and I’m bracing myself for another flare up here. Ugh.
In Italy they are talking about re-opening, and here in France they will on May 11.
Thing is: people are AFRAID, because it was a shock for all of us.
BUT there are a bunch of idiots on this side of the planet too.
“We need to restart the economy, everything is going to start like before the lockdown” and they are pushing restaurants. travels…”like before”.
Our healthcare system barely survived, we still have to bury our deads, and these idiots want to convince me to go to a freaking restaurant like we used to? Are you f@!king kidding me? Give me solutions, tell me how we can avoid to end up another time in the same situation, tell me you are protecting the most vulnerable part of society, and THEN you can suggest me to go to a freaking restaurant. I don’t want to be a threat for anyone. I want to be able to see my friends, and go to Italy to my family, but I want my mum and all of them to be safe.
These righteous protesters demanding their freedom are the same people who built Y2K bunkers and were ready to hunker down for as long as it took. You know half them are still eating the freeze dried food they bought in 1999.
😂😂😂
Sadly, these states opening up, while the rest of us stay hunkered down, is only further punishing us~once these fucksticks go out and the virus starts to flare up again, we will have no choice but to continue our lockdown for even longer. Letting a few state open up and saying it’s safe is like having a peeing section in a public pool.
Freedumb will protect them from the virus.
They should have to sign affidavits stating they will not/will not be allowed to use medical facilities when they get Covid. Calling them covdiots is being kind.
As for opening up…. Just occurred to me: In Georgia, massage parlors are opening (essential business y’know, for Dump and his crowd, like Kraft). So I guess you can get a “happy ending” before you get a “final ending” by dying a horrible death from the virus.
My only sympathies are for the innocent they will infect.
I read somewhere that most of the places included in the Georgia reopen order are places where sex trafficking is rampant. That’s actually scary to think about, but really, why would a massage parlour need to be open.
if that were possible, I’d be all for it EXCEPT they won’t just infect themselves. they’ll infect entirely innocent people and then there’s the fallout from that. if it were possible that ONLY the people stupid enough to pull this nonsense got sick ad could sign something that said they get no medical care, then fine but unfortunately it doesn’t work that way.
They should have been fitted with monitoring bracelets and ordered into mandatory quarantine.
Up to half the people who are infected and contagious with this disease have no symptoms ever. Others may be without symptoms for as long as 14 days. We don’t even know if getting the virus and recovering makes you immune for any useful length of time. We don’t have enough tests for the virus or antibodies to waste on fools like these.
And those idiots toting big guns – did they plan on shooting the virus or what? Or were they going to go after those pesky doctors and nurses? Did they think shooting a governor would open up the mall for them?
BEST COMMENT OF THE DAY!! 😄
I used H &.R block and got my check direct deposited on April 15th. Kaiser, do you have your refunds direct deposited?
No
Then that’s probably what is accounting for the delay, not your specific tax preparer.
My returns are direct deposited, but I have not recieved my check yet. I’m assuming that the software my accountant uses is the issue. Thank godness that I have unemployment sorted out!
I do H & R Block and use direct deposit. I got my check on April 15th. Folks who don’t use direct deposit should be receiving their check in the mail late April/early May at the earliest according to my friend who works in tax (she’s a huge tax nerd and always up to date on the latest policies so I trust her). People who did direct deposit for 2018 and 2019 are the ones being “prioritized” for lack of a better word. This article from Forbes explains when you can expect to receive your paper check based on your income: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimwang/2020/04/20/when-to-expect-your-paper-stimulus-check-in-the-mail-full-schedule/#3052af6a5438. Also if you requested a refund anticipation check and used a tax preparations service, your info never made it to the IRS so I don’t know what the process is for those folks.
Also sorry to all the people receiving checks, you will be forced to look at Trump’s signature.
I also received my check via direct deposit on april 15.
I used H&R Block too, didn’t get my check. I owed money, but they take money directly out of my account every month. So they have my info. Maybe I won’t get it because I owe them… ugh 😑
I owed last year too (prepared myself) and had payment taken from my bank account, and I had read that even if the IRS had your account info to take your payment out, the IRS “couldn’t”? direct deposit back into it with your stimulus. Which I guess is fine except now I have to get one of the orange one’s signed checks.
Yep, I owed taxes this year too and had them taken out, so I figured the IRS had my bank info but it turns out I needed to go to their website and update my bank info again because somehow the didn’t have it? Lol I did that last week but still haven’t seen anything.
Look for a link in the IRS website to check your payment. I did and since I owed this year I had to add my info for deposit. They didn’t take the info off of the check we mailed in. I did it last week and the payment hasn’t processed yet.
I am in North Carolina and our Governor seems to have so much more common sense than the Covid Clan. At least Virginia is somewhat buffered by NC, we are unfortunately surrounded to the South 🙁
Virginian here and I’m very proud of our governor. I hope NC continues to be more blue. There are so many gorgeous southern spots and it’s just a shame you know exactly what to expect from the people down there. Stay healthy state neighbor!
You too!! I really hope we stay blue as well…
uh… yeah. definitely.
i am in georgia, and Kemp is opening the state on friday. this is the same guy that said 2 weeks ago that he didn’t know people could pass the virus when they were asymptomatic. it’s a scary time to be in the south for sure.
I couldn’t believe they’re opening up tattoo parlors, of all things. My sister and BIL own a vinyl and cd shop in Atlanta’s Little Five Points, but apparently that’s not as essential as body art.
Dewdrop, I am also in Georgia and am terrified. Our virus count and people dying from it are almost doubling every few days. I am so tired of science and facts not being taken seriously. What number of people have to die before more action?
We could have Stacy Abrams instead of the guy who purged voter rolls as Secretary of State while he was running for governor. What do we have to do to get competent people elected?
This was posted Facebook: “Kemp’s opening of selected businesses this week has nothing to do with the economy, and everything to do with excluding sectors of small businesses from government aid, unemployment help and rent relief. He doesn’t care whether those businesses stay open… people are likely to stay home in large enough numbers to make reopening financially untenable anyway… but if businesses are not closed by government order, they are ineligible for help. THAT’s the point. Don’t be fooled. No one wants to be open. No one needs to go bowling right now. People just want government to do its job. People want relief and safety.”
Georgia here too. My eldest is ready to start college in august. I’m petrified of sending my baby up to Atlanta to deal with this scourge. Our governor is an absolute buffoon. And a crooked buffoon thief at that. His 20 something daughter was on social media complaining how hateful we are all being to her daddy…then threw in that her dad talked to Dear Leader before he made the decision and Dear Leader backed his decision. Hmmmm……who to believe, who to believe?
And shitler threw her daddy underneath the bus by saying he didn’t agreed with Georgia in the presser. Someone should show her that.
I live in a city in the south. We have both a county government and a city government. The county governor is republican and wants the county to be open for business Friday. The city mayor is a Democrat and wants to wait and follow the advice of medical professionals. So we do have some sane, reasonable people here. They just get drowned out by all the screaming banshees on the right.
@shelly I’m in NC as well, so relieved we have Cooper in office. Can you imagine if this had happened on McCrory’s watch? We’d be right there with the rest of the south. I’m so appreciative of the people working to turn NC blue.
You’re so right, it would have been horrific under McCrory! So grateful for Roy Cooper right now. I had to turn off the news coverage of the rally on Tuesday, it’s truly terrifying.
Raleigh here. And I also hope our governor extends the lockdown but I’m afraid it could go either way. I have read a lot of people in GA won’t go to those places. Thankfully, the people are smart even if our leaders aren’t.
As someone who’s in one of those states, I will not be venturing out at all. They even opened up the parks in my city! Unf@cking believable! This is all driven by these governors not wanting to pay unemployment. Notice how all this sh@t started when there was talk of paying people $2k a month. The number of cases keep rising here and by their own f@cking model, they anticipate 750 new cases a week through May. My sister lives in GA and she isn’t going out either.
It is people like you that I have been thinking of in those states. The ones that know they need to shelter in place to protect themselves and others. I also think of people who will have to go out there to work because they have no choice. This is horrible. Please stay safe.
Bluesky- yep, it’s no coincidence that easing lockdown protests started percolating when folks realized a 1200 stimulus was so meager. And that too many big businesses were stealing small business stimulus money.
There’s been a concerted propaganda push lately to brainwash folks into thinking socialism is evil, capitalism is the best, and it’s better to die then demand the government use your tax money to take care of you in a crisis. NASA is currently heading to space- why has that money not been reassigned to help others? There needs to be a rule that nonessential budget items (space travel, more military weapons, the president’s golf trips) get stiffed instead of the public.
NASA launches require years and years of planning. Hundreds of people working on a mission at a time. It is unfortunate that there is pandemic in the month where they set the date, but that is not of their doing. There should be a weapons cut for sure and the burning of the orange’s baby golf camps, but let’s leave NASA out if it.
Lauren- nope, not gonna leave NASA out of it. I don’t care how much work goes into their launches. It should be canceled. Period. And money reassigned to stimulus checks for citizens. People are suffering and space exploration is the last thing we need right now. If kids who worked years to graduate schools have to skip celebrating their accomplishments, NASA can lump it too.
We literally can’t take care of the people on Earth right now, and honestly, space exploration should be funded by no government ever, until we can.
Alright then, let’s also hold the pentagon responsible for the BILLIONS of dollars they cannot account for year in and year out. Our tax dollars haven’t been spent wisely for decades. It’s not just NASA.
Laura, I’m all for what you say. And certainly, NASA isn’t the only, or even close to worst of unnecessary government expense. I’m just using them as an example because the optics are obvious. And I’m all for them in normal times- it’s not waste, just nonessential right now.
Government accountability with our tax money is absolutely necessary, and honestly, I think there’s been a long process of brainwashing via anti-socialism propaganda, which has been solely with the intent of making people think it’s nobler to die than expect the government to use citizens’ money to take care of citizens.
NASA accounts for such a tiny amount of our federal spending that even if we completely defunded them, it wouldn’t put a significant dent into this problem. It will, however, cost us a lot more money down the road if we scrapped it now to try again later. The launch is just high visibility. It’s an easy target, but I’m sure there are many more expensive projects that aren’t nearly as close to fruition that can be frozen or underfunded for a while without much sacrifice, we just don’t know of them. So, I think it’s odd to start with NASA and this launch.
El- that’s actually a good point about it costing more long term to scrap it. I hadn’t considered that, so thanks.
I’m not gonna disagree, NASA budget is small in the grand scheme of things. But I don’t think it’s odd that visibility made me think of them as example first.
My point was just to say that our government has the money to better take care of us.
I’m glad you’re going to keep yourself safe! That’s what these stupid governors aren’t getting – most people are still going to be scared. Not many people are going to want to crowd in to a restaurant or movie theater or any kind of event so soon. The economy isn’t going to come roaring back like magic. But the disease will spread much faster, and the healthcare system and employees will bear the burden.
I think it was William Faulkner that said “If you put a fence around the South, you’ll have the world’s biggest insane asylum.”
He was not wrong.
They certainly are full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
I heart both these posts so much!
Hey, don’t forget those great Southern states of ND, SD, Iowa, Utah and Wyoming. They were brave enough to say FU to shutting down at all.
A great many very intelligent CB posters live in the South. We’re working to effect change here. Your smug disdain gets tiresome.
Thank you, Jerusha.
Exactly; thank you @Jerusha. Almost half of us here in Georgia voted for Stacey Abrams; Kemp was only able to eke out a narrow victory through voter suppression. We are not all stupid, crazy rubes, as some of the comments above you suggest. Give the condescension a rest, because the South doesn’t have a monopoly on idiots.
Thank you for your comment, Jerusha. There are plenty of valid criticisms to lay on the South, but I’m fucking tired of being the nation’s punching bag whenever something bad happens. Not everyone can live in (or afford to live in) a Blue State.
Just to clarify, my post was specifically re: the protesters and stupid governors, not Southerners in general. I’m sorry I didn’t make that clear enough.
Keep up your awesome work representing the South, Jerusha and co.
Same. I’m a FL Democrat and, yes, our Republican gov DeSantis is an incompetent (can’t even put on a face mask correctly when he knew he was being filmed!) Trump lackey, and I’m outraged by his handling of the virus. I live in the capital, Tallahassee, which is firmly a blue city, albeit in a sea of red counties. Let’s not forget Florida is the nation’s most notorious swing state, so at least roughly half of us are Democrat or leans blue. Remember the 2000 election? The contested gubernatorial election of 2017? We are so close to a Democrat win next time around. My family and I have been self-isolating for weeks now in part because I have zero faith in the state government’s ability to handle the situation should there be an really bad outbreak here in Tallahassee. Our city has done a great job so far though and like many southern mayors, our mayor announced a stay at home order while the governor dragged his feet.
Thank you!! This whole fucking country elected Trump, not just the South.
@Rapunzel. Thank you. I wish everyone recognized that not all Southerners are backwoods, banjo plucking yokels in the same way that not everyone in the Northeast or the Pacific Coast is a card carrying liberal. Admittedly, there are a lot of yokels here, but we’re working for change and I have to believe it’ll happen.
Neither smug nor disdainful, living the dream here in Arkansas, where our guv cannot math, and thinks our testing is up there with the best in the nation. Off by a factor of 10, ugh.
To under estimate the crazy down here, is to deny reality.
William Faulkner loved the south, as well. You have to love it to truly understand it… it ain’t without it’s charms.
Also, every state has a “south” in it. I live in NY except I live in the “south” of NY. Around here, we call it upstate, but it’s deliverance.
The American South is an easy target because the politicians elected there are louder supporters of our current administrative failure in DC. Try not to take it personally, but I understand that’s not always easy to do!
Jerusha I was born and raised in the South. I am not offended by people acknowledging the obvious: The South is full of stubborn prideful & very religious people who have disdained government and modern progress for at least a couple of centuries. No, it’s not all of us but conservatism has a lock on the red states and it can’t be a coincidence that southern states are usually at the top of all the bad lists and on the bottom of all the good lists like education and life expectancy. The South is indeed full of beautiful landscapes, hospitality and charm but we also have a lot of work to do to make it better for the next generation of Southern sweet tea drinkers. No shame in saying that.
@happyoften. Two of my sisters and their extended families live in Arkansas in a small town near Ft. Smith. Been there since 1963 and stayed there after Dad retired from Ft. Chaffee. I know all about Arkansas and no one is underestimating the crazy.😁
@Margaritas. I have no problem whatsoever dumping on Alabama or my surrounding states of FL and MS because I know them and what goes on here. I don’t dump on Ohio or Idaho or Vermont or any other state because I don’t know ALL their people or ALL their problems. If I seem salty, it’s because no matter where someone is they know ALL about the South. On Monday someone was complaining about red states getting everything they wanted from trump re supplies. She specifically named Alabama as one of those recipients. I responded with a fact based link that not only did AL not get supplies, but that trump had stolen supplies we had ordered and paid for, same as blue states. And that 5800 masks that had been sent to one county were rotted. My response was not printed.
@crowhood, me too! Unbelieveable how many confederate flags I drive by on my way home…back when I used to work! Hal Sparks says that the south starts 45 minutes away from every city. Make it 30.
@crowhood- I’m in a northern state but we call it the south of the north. It’s full on red with so many trump loving, gun toting, uneducated people around here. I’ve said it here before we live a little over an hour outside of a major city that is full in blue but it seems like we are smack dab in the middle of Antebellum. We have antichoice women shaming billboards all over the place.
Always love your comments, Jerusha! My husband and I are from Louisiana and Georgia and now live in Texas. I’ve been reading The Bitter Southerner for awhile now–you should check it out if you haven’t seen it. It captures the complicated feelings and forces at work in the South (which is far from being a singular thing), and helps keep me grounded in my deep love for my home, while never letting me forget how much ugly history and bad politics we have to overcome.
Also instructive to non southerners: take a look at the Southern Poverty Law Center’s hate group heat map and note just how many hate groups there are outside the South.
DeSantis isn’t even wearing his mask correctly. Covidiot.
And Bill Barr is threatening to sue states that don’t bow the stupidity and ease lockdowns… cause nobody in Trumpland cares about the Constitution.
If you support this nonsense, you obviously don’t care about life, because you are putting money before it. Think you’re just trying to help those struggling financially? Bull- reopening before it’s safe helps nobody financially, not in the long term. That is fact; live with it. Face it. You just want your haircut and golf and you don’t wanna feel like the government “controls” you- spoiler alert, it already does, and will continue to, no matter what. Don’t believe me? Try not paying taxes.
The only government tyranny you have to worry about right now is the government tyranny that is telling you money is worth the risk. That lives are worth the risk. That this is the only option. None of that propaganda is true.
Everyone supporting this these lockdown protests hurts me to the bottom of my soul. Y’all obviously don’t care about me, or my family. Not one bit. It hurts, like literally has me in tears at night, that so many folks don’t seem to care about whether I live or die. Or whether my family members die. And that makes me feel so disappointed in you all, cause you should be better. I thought you all were better.
I’m not exaggerating with this, btw, if that’s your first reaction. I have underlying health issues. So do many people I love. From everything we know, that means surviving this virus would like be extremely difficult, even quite unlikely. If you don’t understand what it means to have this increased fear for your own safety and your loved ones, just shut up about this virus. Really, just stop talking. And don’t tell me, “well you can choose to stay home” because I am. But the more and more that mentality guides our societal response to this, the more likely the virus will come to me despite following all the rules. And it will be your fault. And I will not forget you thought the risk was worth it. The North remembers. She never forgets.
I’m so sorry, my heart does go out to you. That moron Coryn tweeted yesterday that most (9 out of 10) people who die from this have preexisting conditions, then he listed them! Here I went to his tweet and got them:
Hypertension: 49.7%
—Diabetes: 28.3%
—Chronic lung disease: 34.6%
—Cardiovascular disease: 27.8%
—Obesity: 48.3%
This is what he tweets! can you believe this! That covers like, A LOT of Americans, most of us I believe? And if you’re over 50, pretty much nearly everyone? What is he trying to say here? So first of all, that’s Nazism. This smells so Nazi to me, like, let’s get rid of the undesirables. Nazis exterminated the disabled as well. But let’s put aside the morality here (there is NO morality there). You are talking about a majority of Americans. And, if you count loved ones, you are talking all Americans? So if you have none of these conditions (I don’t and I’m am somehow blessed, I don’t know how, I’m over 50 and have none of those…yet) you love someone who does! So, who are you down with getting rid of from your family?
Darla- there was a protester with a “sacrifice the weak” sign. Wtf kind of heartlessness is that?
Forget Barr’s hilariously toothless threat, I’m really curious what legislative position Missouri is using to sue China over this, personally. If it winds up utilizing JASTA as its framework to overcome sovereign immunity, that’ll bring a lot of attention as to why Obama was so angry about his veto being overriden by Congress a few years back.
Eric Schmidt is a MAGA idiot who should have lost his license to practice law years ago and is a reminder to me my Missourians are constantly an embarrassment to me day in and day out.
He ain’t thinking like that because, racist. That is all it is. Racist.
-signed a Missourian.
I’m from Missouri and am shaking my head in disbelief. It angers me that my taxes are going towards this when it could be used in fighting Covid-19. We’re a red state, unfortunately, but there are some awesome local govt’s that understand what they need to do.
Parsons is only MO Gov because our last corrupt one had to resign. Ugh.
If you are bored google our former Gov Eric Greitens – it’s a sordid story. His own party turned against him.
I assume he is following the precedent of all those who sued the USA for swine flu and the deadly flu pandemic of 1918-1919? Don’t remember that in my history books, though.
Viruses can mutate anywhere, it’s in the Act of God category. Both the 1918 and more recent swine flu pandemics originated in the US. The 1918 flu was called Spanish flu only because Spain was neutral in WWI and so their media were not censored. They were the ones telling the truth about the deaths and infections. Others kept a lid on it to avoid letting the other side know how they had been weakened by it.
US soldiers spread the 1918 flu to Europe. They were transported by ship, which can easily take a week at least. So they could have seemed healthy at the beginning of the voyage. The incubation period was a few days and once symptoms appeared, death could occur in hours. Many died en route and were buried at sea. Medical people on board were overwhelmed. As far as I know, they didn’t quarantine the rest who were still without symptoms. So off they scampered, unwittingly spreading the infection everywhere they went.
Other travelers from the US were also carrying the virus with them, of course. It was spread around the country by train primarily. San Francisco followed the advice of public health officials (much the same as we are told to do now) and was spared at least for the first two waves of the 1918 flu pandemic. Other cities started much later and lost a lot of people.
@Rapunzel, I am sorry your state and national government are even putting you in this position. The models for the “second wave” are scarier than the first, and you’re right, it
Impacts everyone. Everyone. I am waiting for people (in particular those who believe faith will protect them or ‘my liberty!!!!’) to realize how heinous this illness is, and I’d hoped that realization would happen before their relatives die, their friends die, or they die. Truly, we are all at risk, and I’m sorry those around you aren’t taking it seriously. They will, but probably after thousands of people die from a preventable spread.
Noodle- thanks. I’m in CA, so we’ve been relatively sane, but I am in a pretty red area. Those around me personally are taking it seriously, but lots of idiot Trumpers.
Fortunately, my college just allowed me to switch my Fall courses to online (like Spring and Summer), so I can hunker down as much as possible for the rest of the year. I’m totally worried about the 2nd wave, and this winter, which they’re predicting might be a third wave.
@Rapunzel, where in California are you? I am in Huntington Beach and our community has been pretty great about coming together, until we had the protest this past weekend, and we received word yesterday that a living home for the elderly has like 70 cases of CV among staff and residents, and 2 have died. GAH!!!!
I’ve been saying for the past month to my mother that it’s the second wave that actually worries me more – because it’s likely to hit during fall/winter, and all it’s going to take is one particularly nasty strain of flu going around to really slam up those death rates with concurrent infections. Back in January, I actually caught a rare strain of H1N1 that was going around this year that wasn’t in the vaccine, and it was one of the few times in my life an illness knocked me on my ass. If it almost put me – a relatively healthy 30 something – in the hospital, I can’t imagine what it’s going to do to people who have the misfortune of catching both.
@noodle Hello fellow HBer. I could not believe the COVIDiots at the pier with the protest last week. It seems like the stores and businesses are taking this seriously, but the people have decided they are done and are demanding things open up again. I was so hopeful when we finally got rid of Rohrbacher that things were looking up.
Hi @theKC! I sincerely doubt most of those people downtown on Saturday were from HB. I know a couple of locals who went down to observe, and they didn’t recognize anyone as being from our city or area. I’m sure a few of them were, but it seems like some of the protestors are being paid to get out there and sow seeds of unrest. It makes me sick, given how hard our community has been working to help and support each other.
Noodle- I’m in Trump country in the Central Valley- Merced/Modesto area. And stupid is rampant.
I understand completely the rage and sadness. I am week because I have asthma? My husband doesn’t count because he has diabetes ? We pay taxes that help those evil uncaring sociopaths have bridges, hospitals, and all the other stuff they claim to not want but use every day. That Lt Governor in Texas is a special kind of evil. The stupid all around us has my anxiety through the roof. Omg it makes me so angry I can barely type. My family is in NC where I grew up and I am so grateful that Governor bathroom police is gone.
Yes some of those protestors were paid by devos and orange anus. They are not local
@Rapunzel, I feel the same way. I have underlying health issues, as do my parents, extended family, and some of my friends. I have no doubt this could kill someone I love. All of this ignorant dialogue around reopening makes me so incredibly angry and afraid. There’s no reason for this. We’ve been staying home since March – not even two months – and people are flipping out. There will be more waves of the virus. Many more people will die. Now more than ever, I’m so sad to be living in such a sh*thole country rather than one that is following science and common sense.
I’m in Michigan. It looks like the rich DeVoss family spear headed the crazies to march on the state capital to reopen the state.
I’m from Michigan too and saw that. No idea why it isn’t a bigger story. In another administration, that would be front page for months.
Isn’t that crazy? For all the people screaming SOROS when people protest against Trump, no one seems to mind that the DeVos family is actually doing that.
It also amazes me that these people, out there shouting to let people die, and waving their peni- oh I mean guns around, are the same ones who proclaim themselves PRO-LIFE! because of God.
The sheer stupidity and hypocrisy makes my brain hurt.
I’m in the same boat with my stimulus check. I’m in Cleveland, and there aren’t nearly enough people wearing masks. I’ve sat outside my local corner store, just waiting on these maskless dingleberries to get their beer and get out of the way, so I could pop in with a mask to get something I forgot at the grocery store. There’s still this pervasive mood here that if you’re in the lower risk category, you don’t need to wear masks or distance. Fricking dumb @$$es.
Bluesky, that is terrifying.
I am in MN here, and I will admit that I think our Gov. is doing a decent job holding the Stay.At.Home order in place. I hope he extends it.
I admit to having enormous anxiety to even get basic needs of grocery, gas, pharmacy errands done. How will we ever end this cycle if this chowderheaded idiots refuse to follow Stay.At.Home?
Prayers and common sense to all in need near and far. (I should have thought to add common sense years ago to this) I hope those fools gathering in crowds to protest come down with an itchy rash, and boils on their butts. (I am working to control my cussing)
I have not received my stimulus check. IRS website says: “status unavailable.” My congressional representative’s office is looking into it.
Trump has progressed from withholding PPE from blue states to withholding stimulus checks from liberal commentors…
I kid, but seriously, it wouldn’t surprise me if he spends whatever time he has leftover from tweeting scouring the internet for mentions and reading the comments.
I’m in the same boat as you with my stimulus check and its status. I read that the reasoning behind it is that if you filed a tax return the IRS has your information right on hand. If you get a social security check, ssi,– they don’t have your information right on hand and must get it from the Social Security Administration and that seems to be where the holdup is. I believe it’s the same for the VA
I called my congressional representative here in Trump-land too. Thanks for the reminder about calling them again. Still no stimulus payment. Plus, I applied for unemployment two weeks…not processed yet. I’m convinced DeSantis don’t want to pay unemployment and has been stalling the applications on purpose. I got news for him, I’m an independent contractor with asthma, I can’t work and not going away until my CARES money comes in.
We’re in Alabama and our governor Kay Ivey confirmed that we will not “reopen” until massive testing is available. A shocking moment of common sense for a state that gets it wrong, 99% of the time.
So glad to hear it – what a huge relief that must be. I just can’t imagine how hard it must be for the majority of Americans just trying to ride it out and do the right thing by each other.
Alabamian, too. I was super shocked that Kay made the call to stay closed. SHOCKED. Our government rarely makes the right call. Thank goodness she didn’t listen to Mo Brooks and his band of sycophants!
In a rare moment of clarity here in Alabama, our guhvna just announced that it isn’t her opinion that counts, but the health care professionals, and that we can’t open everything until we have widespread testing. I know, I’m as shocked as you.
Edited: great minds, Anna!
Kay is one of those with pre-existing conditions, maybe that’s on her mind. Last year I wrote her a polite letter congratulating her on her cancer battle and praising the great healthcare she got(thanks to us taxpayers)and suggested she expand Medicaid so hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens could enjoy healthcare. Zip, nada, nichts, dead silence.
I disagree with nearly everything our mayor in Mobile does, but gotta admit he’s been very forward thinking on this matter.
I’m from Alabama too (and a Democrat on top of that) and I’ve been emailing Kay constantly and never once have I received an acknowledgment of note from her or her staff. Now Doug Jones, I have received a response every time.
Call them “The Confederacy of Dunces”
which is a great book, BTW. If you haven;t read it, lock-down is great time to do so!
One of my most favorite books, EVER
Rapunzel, well said. I completely agree with you.
I had a phone call with my only living sibling in which he stated that he intends to “Vote Trump again, this virus thing is a fraud.”
My child has many chronic health condition and has repeatedly hospitalized during her lifetime.
To hear such bs from my blood relative..tears, could barely be civil in ending the call.
WTF people??
I get you. One of my siblings is a trumpster who was marching with other Covidiots at the state capitol to “open up” for work again, even though this sibling was laid off BEFORE the pandemic because of being a lousy employee, nothing to do with coronavirus.
When I saw the news about the lockdowns in Europe I thought that a lockdown in America would not be possible because the Americans would be like “but my rights”. Fast forward to this. This is a shit show.
I am absolutely gobsmacked at this early opening. Those governors can’t say that they are bending to the will of the protesters. The number of people protesting to open vs. the number of intelligent people in those states is insignificant. And, since when do governors in those states actually pay any attention to protesters (Black Lives Matter, Abortion Rights, etc)? This is about pure and simple greed.
I am very thankful to be sitting here in my safer Canadian cocoon right now. And my heart goes out to the people of those opening states. I sincerely hope that ALL of the intelligent people are wrong when they see a massive second wave coming.
It’s not just greed, it’s racism. Notice how all of these “reopen” protests started just as soon as news reports began about the disproportionate impact the virus is having on minorities.
Thanks to the protesters, not anymore!
You’re right @Chaine…greed and racism go hand in hand.
I’m in FL. I thankfully live in an area where the local politicians have no desire to open things back up right now (as cases are still going up), so even whenever DeSantis makes a decision, I will be staying home. These ppl are stupid, Trump minions and I can’t wait to vote this dummy out (granted I didn’t vote for him in the first place!)
Idiocracy is alive and well.
For the sane, rational folks living in those states, I send all my love and strength, I am so sorry you are having to deal with these dangerous morons
The headline is a little misleading – those people would’ve been infected well before the protests given the time table for the turn around from infection to symptomatic expression. What is scary is that it tells you just how many people in that crowd probably were spreading it among each other, and how many they will go on to infect henceforth.
Lot of innocent people going to suffer for these fools.
Veronica- yep. A biologist friend said it’s 4-6 or so weeks until we really see the damage from these protests: about a couple weeks for people to get symptomatic, another week or two for those people to need hospitals, and and another couple weeks to see who they infected.
What kind of psychopathic, narcissistic tendancies must a person have to have, to knowingly take part in those viral cesspools, knowing they’ve put themselves and their families at risk and then go out and spread it around?
There are laws in Australia that can result in 10 years jail for ‘recklessly or intentionally endangering others by exposing them to the risk of HIV’… Hopefully new laws are fast-tracked all over the world about the criminal transmission of COVID-19, just to deal with this level of treason.
“People still aren’t social-distancing like they should here, but people are wearing masks “
Social distancing is proven to work. Hand washing is proven to work. Masks are for preventing coughing and sneezing on other people when you CAN’T stay six feet away. It’s a step up from doing nothing at all. The attitude that it is wearing a mask that is the important step is scary and frustrating (not at anyone in particular just the above example of a lack of social distancing but compliance with wearing a mask).
If EVERYBODY wears a mask that can block infectious material, then it’s very protective. The masks prevent the wearers from spitting infectious droplets and aerosols into the air. This happens whenever you open your mouth and talk, not just when you cough or sneeze. Those aerosols can remain suspended in the air, especially in buildings, for at least half an hour or more. Our eyes are not protected by the masks, and so we need to stop the aerosols before they can enter the air.
And since half the people who get this disease and can spread it will never get symptoms themselves and also the incubation period can be as long as 14 days — we really have to assume all of us can be infected and contagious. Even a negative test only shows you were not infected (or did not yet have sufficient viral load to test positive) at the time of the test. You can be infected ten minutes later. Testing helps us see what the heck is going on and calculate risk but is not an absolute clean bill of health when it is negative.
I think this pretty much sums it up.
https://media.makeameme.org/created/some-of-you-62vynw.jpg
Kaiser, Virginian here too. I agree with your statements about our Gov. i think he could have been a lot more proactive but I trust how he is dealing with it. I laugh my ass off at the haters saying his medical degree in pediatric neurology is not something to help him with out pandemic and I just shake my head at their stupidity.
I also like how, while he has a medical degree he has his experts answer questions – unlike the clown in Washington!
Someone called the protesters the Flu Klux Klan on Twitter and it’s the best thing I have heard this week.
HAHA THAT’S HILARIOUS
Omg that is perfect!
LOL! Another funny one: Someone called the fools on the steps of the MI Capitol ‘Meal Team Six’.
“Axis of dead capitalists”
Exactly…. unfortunately the poor, the aged, the health compromised, those from Native American/First Nations, Latino, African American backgrounds and health, emergency and essential workers pay the real price…. Cannon fodder to the filthy, never-satisfied rich – the real swamp cloggers.
Informative article from the NYT about the grimy hands of conservative agitators, Trumpy-adjacent ethical vacuums all over those supposedly community driven “freedom” protests: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/21/us/politics/coronavirus-protests-trump.html
Given the facts that our governor gave his re-opening task force until Thursday to come up with recommendations, and said task force does not include even one physician, I fully expect Florida to be wide open for unrestricted infection by Friday.
My brother and SIL live in TN. The mayor of the town has his own plan on when and how to open. Georgia is the worse on opening. The governor is so far up Trump’s a$$ and is trying to stay there. Can’t believe he is opening tattoo parlors, nail salons, bowling alleys, gyms, hair salons! Gyms – hotbeds of germs as it is. And, from what I read, no one can defy his orders and not open up. Luckily I have been reading that several towns and cities are defying him.
GA resident here – those businesses don’t HAVE to open on Kemp’s schedule. I saw several posts on FB yesterday from local businesses that are “allowed” to reopen stating that they’d remain closed another few weeks.
Okay, here I go again. Kentucky has had, like many states, our share of issues with lack of testing and PPE and, of course, a few foolish politicians who would rather believe in Trump than medical professionals. We have also had exactly two protests, one (April 15) that attracted about 75+ people and another (April 16 or 17) that involved about 15 cars driving around the Capitol building. While these protests are stupid in the extreme, considering when they happened, they did not contribute to the state’s “spike” in cases. We’ve have only this week reached the plateau (hopefully). From the very first case, we have received daily briefings directly from our governor, who has been very aggressive in combating the virus and educating the public. Non-essential businesses and schools have been shut down for weeks and we have been sheltering in place since mid-March (I believe).
There are many problems in my state, and many things I disagree with, but lack of action during this pandemic is not one of them. Unlike other southern states, our officials have not been hiding their heads in the sand and denying the science.
Kentucky governor Beshear has done a good job protecting his state. Kentucky is not in the idiot coalition.
Another sucky thing about the Georgia reopening is that it overrides local ordinances. Our city had more stringent regulations and doesn’t want to reopen, but local government GOP says we all have to be run from the state level. Apparently Kemp didn’t even consult with is Coronavirus task force before reopening. I’m born and raised in the south so these are my people, but goodness I’m so tired of them.
God, I love my state and Governor. I live in Oregon and my governor has taken this seriously from day one. We’re still not open and school has been cancelled for the rest of the year. She is serious about this pandemic. She has also opened up a hotline for workers to report if their employers are forcing workers to go back to work. When going out we have to wear facemasks and we’re practicing social distancing. I really appreciate all the proactive measures and her judgement during this pandemic. I think it’s madness that other states aren’t taking this seriously.
I’m in California, and yes, we are fortunate. Washington State, Oregon and CA govs have formed a coalition. These three will not back down and take suggestions from the M in Chief. One can only hope when Covid-19 hits the next spike those states opening to soon will close quickly.
I’m starting to develop my own conspiracy theory. Republicans aren’t doing anything about Cheeto dick on purpose. Cheeto dick is setting states up to fail on purpose (this one’s obvious). Once the country is in complete chaos and neck-deep in government shit, the right can say I told you so. Then begins The Great Dismantle. Everything we’ve ever accomplished, every relationship we’ve ever tended, every box that’s ever been ticked will crumble and disappear. America will become a cesspool of corruption and violence. Corporations will dictate. And we will fully realize the stark dystopian existence we’ve only enjoyed as entertainment to-date.
Aren’t I just a bowl full of cherry pits lol!
What you outline here is the Trump campaign election strategy. They are going all out authoritarian coup here. Barr’s actions since last March have made that abundantly clear. We just have one job–and that’s to fight against them tooth and nail.
I like describing them as an idiot coalition.
I grew up in VA-and outside of NoVa, Richmond, and Newport News-you’d be amazed how red the state is. Head down the towns down 81 or 95 (past Richmond) and it will amaze you. VA only went blue within the last decade, the house there put some awful laws on the books-remember the last governor and his fancy parties with the wife?
We live in Texas now and as a liberal it terrifies me daily. We are in a major city with a mayor and a judge that have sense, but in the surrounding counties it is a different story. Even with the suggestion of things opening up this week and next people have already realaxed and are walking around like it’s no big deal. I’m not going out at all and neither is anyone I know, but it’s so scary to live here as a rational person. It’s not going to end well.
Yes! I make the trips to the grocery store in my family and after Abbott’s announcement to reopen the economy I have seen an increase in families out and about. What the hell?!?!?
I grew up around Virginia Beach, and yeah, it’s got a pretty noticeable eastern/western divide politically – and even compared to a lot of blue states, I think it leans more purple because it’s more pro-military. You’ll find more moderate liberals than radical leftists there. Kind of has to be because the naval base is so massive and brings so much economy there (largest on the East Coast, actually), but then, it also brings a lot of people in from other parts of the country because of that. It’ll be interesting to see how those demographics shift over the next decade. It was pretty firmly red when I was there as a kid, so it was a little shocking to see it flip blue the last few elections.
Grew up in Newport News and yes the change in VA politics has been amazing. Used to be reliably red but has been moving towards blue more and more in the population centers of NoVA-Richmond-Hampton Roads.
They did this because they saw other states working together, and none of them are actually qualified to run a state so they don’t know what they’re supposed to do. Bill Lee is an absolute moron. But he loves Jesus so TN loves him. It’s an embarrassment.
I agree, Bill Lee is a moron. He should go back to repairing air conditioners.
I’m in Texas and we’re slowly reopening. I wasn’t really on board with our governor’s decision until a local doctor in my area wrote about how it wasn’t just about saving the economy from a severe depression, but also for the mental health of the population. He did express that he wished the governor would wait an additional two weeks because we’re not expected to hit our peak until this weekend. Given his experience with increased mental health calls now, he expects those would rise at an alarming rate were the economy shut down until June.
The governor of Georgia has lost his damn mind.
These protesters and politicians pushing to reopen when we’re still very literally in the MIDDLE of a pandemic make me angry and scared beyond words. Truly, nothing scares me more than the thought of my family being forced to go back to work before it is safe to do so (I am lucky to always work from home, so I can continue this existence as long as I choose, other than necessary work trips, which I don’t see happening for the rest of the year). I think schools and universities should stay virtual until 2021. I think those who can work from home should continue working from home until then too, to limit those out and about and using public transportation. Like it or not this IS the new normal and it’s disturbing that our country is so unwilling to adapt. I don’t understand why we’d act like there aren’t more waves to come that will continue to come until we have better treatments and a vaccine. There’s no science and no logic behind what the South is doing.
So aptly described I really have nothing to add except please pray for those of us in the South who have a lick of sense!
Thinking of you all <3
Amen!
We are! 🙏🏻
It’s going to be interesting to see how people respond when states and localities lift stay-at-home orders. I think it will be highly variable, with some people acting like everything is A-OK and others realizing that danger remains and continuing to self-isolate as much as possible.
What’s really horrible is that once government orders are lifted, a whole lot of workers will be expected to go back to working in person or will lose their jobs. So even people who want to act responsibly may well have a limit as to what they can do to protect themselves and others.
The impatience and refusal to take science seriously is just mind-blowing.
Agreed. And what will parents do? In Florida, schools are closed until August. Parents have to go back to work next week, maybe, and then what’s the plan with kids, who have 5-6 hours of school per day? I have a kindergartner and a five month old. My employer stated that we had to return to the office as soon as the state reopened, and they would not consider telecommuting for parents of young children or relative caregivers.
This is just painfully, horribly ill-thought out. There was no plan in these Southern states to deal with this; governor’s are making fly-by-their-pants decisions, and we all just have to live with these selfish, untenable choices that are made with zero consideration for anyone who doesn’t own a multimillion dollar corporation.
I’m so sorry you’re being put in that position. My mom’s office has already assured employees that when they do reopen, it will be in stages and those who are high risk or have small children can continue telecommuting for the foreseeable future.
I’m so sorry to hear this. What a damned miserable situation. My heart goes out to you!
They will be killing workers by doing this. And they know it. Sadistic greed.
I would like to give a shout out to Louisiana and it’s Governor John Bell Edwards and New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell. They will not be bullied and are listening to science and doctors. Btw Edwards is a super rare Southern Democrat and of course Cantrell is too. It would have been so much worse had they not have shut down things as soon as they knew.
And the privileged sell out the vulnerable. Another time.
I wish that we taught voting and protests not as an act to save yourself or for personal means but to protect and uplift the most vulnerable. You don’t vote, or protest, for you. You do it for those who can’t, who need your support.
This is just pure selfishness mixed with ignorance.
I would like to give a shout out to Louisiana wand it’s Governor John Bell Edwards and New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell. They will not be bullied and are listening to science and doctors. Btw Edwards is a super rare Southern Democrat and of course Cantrell is too. It would have so much worse had they not have shut down things as soon as they knew
The problem is many counties in FL have over a million people and less then 100 cases, HOWEVER this data is useless because no testing activity has generated enough data to verify a large enough population sample to make intelligent decisions. They are deliberately keeping testing low to reopen ASAP. This was they won’t pay all the unemployment claims and keep part of the 4 billion they accepted to add to their measly 275.00 weekly unemployment rate. My daughter has been waiting 6 weeks for her unemployment.
I’m in Florida, too. I manage a dental office, and my boss has been itching to reopen for 2 weeks. He keeps trying to tell me that the “curve is flat” because there have only been a couple of new cases reported in the county the office is in. I tried explaining to him that if you look at the number of tests done, that number hasn’t changed in over a week. If you’re not testing, of course, you won’t get new cases. My county is continuing to test, but only if you’re symptomatic. Our number of positive cases is twice that of the county I work in. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t bother looking at anything other than the number of positive cases, and that isn’t enough info to make good decisions off of. DeSantis’ panel for reopening the state doesn’t even include any healthcare/scientific field people. It’s all CEOs of large businesses. All they care about is opening their doors because they aren’t the ones who will have to be there working. I am hoping the common sense fairy will pay a visit to DeSantis and get him to man up and stay closed, but I don’t see that happening.
As for money, I did get my stimulus check last week, but I haven’t gotten a dime from unemployment. The few times I’ve been able to log on to the website my application just says pending. I’ve been out of work for 5 weeks now.
I live in Florida, and I’m terrified of what the idiots here are doing. The older I get, the more I understand that modern Republicans are systematically dismantling the middle class so that we become a Dickensian workforce, uneducated, unhealthy, and easily replaced. I’m shocked that other people don’t see it.
That goes hand and hand with the uneducated part. We don’t teach people media literacy or critical thinking (we save that for the privately schooled rich kids), so they’re unable really see through a lot of that political propaganda. It’s easy to fall into that divisive thinking – I fully admit I’m guilty of it at times – but sometimes I have to stop myself and think about the absolute dire poverty that exists in these Southern and Midwestern states and how little dignity or consideration is granted to these people by the federal and local government. They’re angry and scared and desperate, and the Republican party gives them a handy direction to aim that frustration and fear.
Veronica, Thankfully many highly dedicated public school teachers do teach media literacy and critical thinking. If anything, it’s the private religious schools that don’t. But good ones do. One of the biggest tragedies of this age is that not every child has equal access to a solid education. The disparities are staggering. And the right wing actively working to dismantle our public school systems is to blame, not the teachers.
Claire, I can only imagine how stressful it is to be living in Florida right now. You have an idiot for a Governor who is putting you all in so much more danger. Please stay safe!
I live in Louisiana, which, oddly, has a democrat governor. Never fear our stupidity is gone though, both of our senators are trump loving make the rich richer, and the poor poorer, use coded and racist language on stupid racists to make things worse for everyone but the rich- asshats.
There was a form going around twitter where the maga terrorists could sign to not be treated for the virus if they got it. But of course, they won’t.
How do they not think about even their own safety?
I’m fine if they all die. Our world would be better.
Kemp is an idiot. He’s doing this to get those who need unemployment benefits and federal assistance off the dole. He doesn’t care one bit about the people who will have to choose their health over their finances. I mean…who tf needs to bowl or get a tattoo? It’s lunacy! But it serves a purpose. It doesn’t serve the public health as much as it culls the poor and working class come Election Day.
DeSantis looks like the walking definition of dumb.
Here in Chicago our peak date was supposed to be April 11 or 12but has been moved to Mid May. We are expected to be shutdown through June. The Mayor of Chicago and the state governor can only declare 30 days at a time- but I appreciate knowing. This way we can plan ahead as best we can.
It is a disgrace that these states, cities, counties opening will be spreading the virus, risking lives. The virus gives no f-cks about geographic lines, about political parties, religious affiliation- it is ready to take us all down.
As the Washington Post says we in Georgia are now the #1 death destination. Kemp didn’t even know that asymptomatic carriers could spread the damn virus.
He knew. He lied.
This makes much more sense, thank you.
It is actually scary watching the death cult happening in the US. There are no states in a position to reopen anything right now and the ones closest to it, California and Washington, aren’t even thinking of it. China has barely reopened and they had it for months… the US is not even close to that position.
Basically going back to work helps the rich owners be in a position to fire their workers without repercussion with no requirement for PPE to be provided or other safety measures. People are worried because their government isn’t giving them enough money to survive. The $1,200 being given is nothing compared to other countries. The billions spent on military could be diverted but Dump and co don’t want to because Americans are expendable. They also know this will expose the working poor and Americans of colour in larger numbers than rich whites, who will still be working from home. If people were given more for financial security they wouldn’t even think of returning.
Americans are going to prevented from travelling to other countries because of this stupidity. No one is going to want Covidiots spreading the virus in their country where real efforts were made to reduce it. There are no alternatives to science here. The answer is testing, tracing and social distancing and the US is failing immensely at doing this. Especially in the GOP controlled states. While the virus originated in China, the US is making this way worse than it needs to be. I feel bad for the people who voted for Hillary because none of you deserved this.
I’m in CA, and the mayor of the town next to me, where I shop, just announced that Friday, they will reopen “outdoor activities, automated car washes. And “drive in” churches. I’m soooooo pissed. And what is gonna happen when infection rates skyrocket? Are they gonna reclose? Stupid af.
“Americans are going to prevented from travelling to other countries because of this stupidity. No one is going to want Covidiots spreading the virus in their country where real efforts were made to reduce it” – THIS!! I’ve been shouting this at the top of my lungs for weeks now! Nobody will want to trade either, due to fear of infected goods.
These Covidiots are insane and doing more long term damage to the economy than we may be able to ever recover from.
I’m so grateful to live in California during this pandemic. I am less grateful to be in Ventura County (it borders LA county) which has started loosening restrictions. Our rate of doubling dropped from every 3 days to every 19 days (note that cases are still increasing, they are just not doubling as quickly), so the county decided people can start socializing and start getting back to work. I think this is the result of them capitulating to some very rich, loud, litigious characters (the main demands were church access and golf course access — which now they have). Like everywhere else in the nation, we do not have enough testing to allow for loosened restrictions. So the people in charge said they’ll keep an eye on the data and will know in 2 weeks if it was ok or not.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-19/ventura-county-eases-coronavirus-stay-home-order
I hope they start having republican rally’s again soon and trump, the (stupid) republican governor’s and Senate are all there shaking hands and hugging
Happy Earth day to all, North, South, East West, Heartland and all corners of this world. Stay safe.🌎
The real problem isn’t the people who are breaking lock down getting sick themselves, if that was the case, I’d say go for it, get sick all you want. It’s all the unsuspecting people (cashiers, care givers, neighbors etc.) that are going to get sick because of them.
What a world.
Yes. This.
Yes, happy Virginia resident here.
So people that are being told to go back to work have two choices – risk their health or quit. And if they quit they are ineligible for unemployment benefits – correct? There are sinister reasons afoot.
How about the old but still accurate “Batshit Crazy Bible Belt”? Too many in these parts listen to their partisan pastors and of course Fox News and the Orange Turd. My sympathy to all of the sane people who live in these states–it’s gotta be difficult dealing with their special brand of crazy.
I very much doubt I’ll get a stimulus payment ~ absolutely not counting on it. But I hope those who need it most do get it.
Love the USA to sight see, shop and visit family, and that’s it!!! Thank GOD I don’t live there. Sorry, love my neighbours dearly, and we would never turn our backs to you, but nope. Absolutely nuts. We from all over the world shake our heads to this catastrophe of a situation in the USA.
We have our own problems too, the Quebec government plans to reopen the economy and schools. He wants to announce his plans Next Wednesday, So we have our idiots here too.
Uber-conservative groups and PACS are funding the protests, many of them espousing violent white supremacist and anti-government ideologies. Some of their more idiotic ideologies include blaming Democrats for controlling their lives, destroying their businesses, passing laws behind the cover of darkness and forcing them to “hand over our freedoms and our livelihood!” What’s really scary is they are, without exception, ardent gun enthusiasts and I predict there will be escalating gun violence over “taking back our liberty from the communists” sh*t.
Trump is reveling in this…divide and conquer is his mantra, no matter how many lives it will cost.
What is most worrying is that with a second wave approaching, most likely at the beginning of flu season, there will be double the number of combination covid/flu deaths. Millions of deaths are being predicted. The US/Canada border will have to be kept closed indefinitely if this is the kind of uninformed, sanctioned fuckery that many states and Trump will continue promoting.
I live in NYC, the current epicenter. When this hits the south( and it will because of idiots), it’s going to roll through like a tsunami. I just feel bad for the people who want to do the right thing, the idiots get to destroy them. #dumptrump2020
I live in OK. and they are talking of opening the state. I am raising my 8yr old granddaughter a d I am very worried though at least school will stay closed for the remainder of the school year. I must say that not many around here have taken the social distancing measures seriously and if we don’t get a strategy for testing and vaccination toute suite I’d say humanity is in for a bigger wake up call than its had the last few months.
Whoever loses a loved one to this stupidity in these states should sue their governors. Period.
This is utterly irresponsible.
The protesters need to be called out for what they really are – a bunch of world-class wusses.
People in the past and now are dealing with bombings and real hunger. Londoners in WWII had to ship their children out to the countryside or across the ocean to keep them safe from the bombs. Whole families had to hide in attics etc. to keep from getting killed by the Nazis.
And these wusses can’t manage to stay in their own homes with all their electronic gadgets to defeat a virus. They can’t be bothered learning how to cut their own damn hair and do their own nails and not get that tattoo just yet. They don’t have to fear air raid sirens. They can even go to a grocery store or a bank or take a walk or go out in their yard. All they need to do in public is wear a mask so they don’t infect anybody and keep a few feet apart for the duration.
Wusses. Not freedom fighters. Just plain old wusses. And the ones toting guns are also plain old cowards.
Agreed 100%. I realize lockdown is not easily on people mentally, but truly, I feel nothing but grateful right now. I have a job where I can stay home. I have Netflix and Prime Video and books to keep me entertained. I have plenty of food. We’re not being asked to step onto a battlefield or send our children away or leave all that we know for a safer place to stay. We’re being asked to stay home. The people protesting to reopen everything because they want a haircut makes me irate.
My parents are in Florida in a retirement community. That stupid Governor is going to kill my parents , I kid you not. There is already a case in their community they both have heart issues and my mother had crap lungs. Yet they won’t leave their community and tell their kids in CA that they are the ones in danger ..no words
Did y’all see how fast Cheeto threw Kemp under a bus? When will the GOP learn that no amount of smarmy kissing up to Drumpf will actually gain them anything because 45* doesn’t care at all about anyone but himself. And he decided the polls were telling him that more Americans are scared of reopening too soon, so BAM! How do you like the way the undercarriage of that bus looks, Kemp?
And I say the sane citizens should ignore the open up call and stay at home. Screw these ass sniffers. Don’t forget Melty face turtle aka Moscow Mitch said these states will see no federal aid so they should file bankruptcy. Good luck there