Wednesday, April 8, 2020

And another day of warnings, endings, bamboozling viewers, plans, voter suppression, and the death of an important 13 year old comes to a close:

“Voting is completely important. People in America think democracy is a given. I think of it as an ecosystem, and what gets in the way of it is politicians and apathy.” -- Henry Rollins

Death
US: 14,795 (+1941)
World: 88,502 (+6424)

As far back as late November, U.S. intelligence officials were warning that a contagion was sweeping through China’s Wuhan region, changing the patterns of life and business and posing a threat to the population.

White House Office of Management and Budget is working on a possible plan for cutting U.S. aid to the World Health Organization, admin. officials say. The move comes as President Donald Trump tries to deflect blame for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. — He’s literally trying to kill you.

Fox News Is Preparing to Be Sued Over Coronavirus Misinformation. Polls show that Trish Regan, Sean Hannity, and others successfully bamboozled viewers about coronavirus. Now, Fox is reportedly lawyering up for a potential legal backlash. — Fox News literally tries to kill people.

5 facts about Fox News. Fox News, the influential cable network launched by Rupert Murdoch in 1996, holds a unique place in the American media landscape, particularly for those on the ideological right. While Democrats in the United States turn to and place their trust in a variety of media outlets for political news, no other source comes close to matching the appeal of Fox News for Republicans. -- Fox News serves up “sweetened” Kool-Aid.

Study Says Republicans Aren’t Taking Social Distancing Seriously. Trump and Fox News and Rush Limbaugh and all of Trump’s other acolytes are probably getting people killed—and it’s concentrated among the people who voted for Trump in the first place.

In a development that could challenge the Constitution's prohibition of any law "respecting the establishment of religion," the federal government will soon provide money directly to U.S. churches to help them pay pastor salaries and utility bills. — WTF? Churches don’t pay taxes.

How Republicans Exploited the Coronavirus to Steal a Wisconsin Election. To understand how Wisconsin found itself in the insane position of holding critical elections in the middle of a deadly pandemic, you have to go back almost a decade to 2011, when Republicans took over state government for the first time in sixty years. They quickly took two steps that solidified their grip on power, moved the state toward one-party rule, and cemented a judicial-feedback loop that has further entrenched Republican dominance in spite of the views of the majority of the state’s citizens...What’s happening in Wisconsin is a preview of the strategy Republicans will likely adopt nationwide in November—oppose making it easier to vote, even in the midst of a pandemic, and hope that the courts will give you the green light. — What Republicans have done in Wisconsin should piss everyone off. Our democracy is dying on our watch.

Elizabeth Warren has unveiled a plan that calls for $4 billion in new elections funding, 30 days of required early voting and a mail-in-ballot to be sent to every registered voter in the U.S. "The pandemic has exposed how vulnerable our voting system is."

Trump urges Republicans to ‘fight very hard’ against voting by mail. — Because Republicans know it’s safe; it increases voter turnout; and it means they will fucking lose.

Chaos rocks Trump White House on virus' most tragic day.

Can due process survive a pandemic? “Emergency” measures adopted by courts suggest the answer is no. "If you’re going to take such extraordinary measures of denying people Due Process...you also have to take the extraordinary measure of releasing them.”

Fact check: Trump makes false claims about his coronavirus record and voter fraud, misleads about the WHO. President Donald Trump on Tuesday made inaccurate claims about the World Health Organization and delivered more of the false statements that have become a signature trait of his daily coronavirus briefings.

Rush Limbaugh pushes conspiracy that health experts are Hillary Clinton allies trying to hurt Trump. — Rush Limbaugh is literally trying to kill you.

Bernie Sanders drops out of the 2020 race, clearing Joe Biden's path to the Democratic nomination.

As confidence grows that the state may be nearing its peak of new coronavirus cases, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced it is giving back a military field hospital, which will make it available to FEMA to be redeployed to another state.

Linda Tripp, who secretly recorded her conversations with Monica Lewinsky about the then-intern's relationship with President Bill Clinton in the White House, has died. -- Oh, how things have changed.

Legal Sex Workers And Others In Adult Industry Denied Coronavirus Aid. The small business bailout bill openly excludes legal sex workers including strippers, porn performers, directors, producers, sex toy manufacturers and more.

Meat plants are shutting down as workers get sick.

Because of the coronavirus, mail volume is down, and the U.S. Postal Service says it may run out of money by this summer.

How “quarantine concerts” are keeping live music alive as venues remain closed.

RIP Charlotte Figi. She was 13.

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Good night.