Light News

Video emerges showing Trump talking about cutting pandemic team in 2018, despite saying last week 'I didn't know about it'
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/coronavirus-video-trump-pandemic-team-cut-2018-a9405191.html

McConnell and other Senate Republicans have been reaching out to fed judges nominated by Presidents Reagan and Bush I and II to say if you are going to retire, the next few months would be a good time to do it because the seats open and Republican would appoint and confirm very young conservative Republican right-wing extremist shitstains to those lifetime seats. McConnell doesn't care about people or the ongoing pandemic. He wants to use this crisis to pack the courts with right wing extremists who'll block aid, gut the safety net, and screw everybody but him out of their rights. Won't hold a vote for Garland 2016 because "the people should be allowed to decide." Now Republicans are actively trying to get older judges to retire so he can shoehorn in lifetime seats before Trump gets booted. Whoever the next president is must promise to review each and every judge that McConnell has packed the bench with to look for ethical issues and conflicts. They must be removed. We cannot allow this one sociopath to destroy America’s judicial branch.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/us/politics/mcconnell-judges-republicans.html

So Republicans have time to reach out to judges to stack the courts, but zero time to address a worldwide pandemic? Please Kentucky, get rid of this monster already. Mitch McConnell and Brett Kavanaugh were in Louisville on Friday to attend new federal judge Justin Walker's swearing-in ceremony. Kavanaugh swore in Walker, who served as a clerk for Kavanaugh until he was confirmed to the bench. Recall back in the day, the Repubs freaked out over Bill Clinton chatting with old friend, former AG Loretta Lynch on an air tarmac because there was an open DOJ investigation into Hillary's emails at the same time. Meanwhile, right now, McConnell skips town in a global emergency for vacation with Kavanaugh.

What Fish Feel When They Are Killed for Food: Fish are killed for food despite proof that they can feel pain and emotion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGTtOdP2DFU

Just got word that a lot of fosters have been returned to @dwbrescue because of COVID19. If you live in Los Angeles PLEASE consider fostering. It’s free!! All supplies provided! cc: @darth
https://twitter.com/alicialutes/status/1239639909519912960

Chinese billionaire Jack Ma donates to each one of the 54 African countries 20,000 testing kits, 100,000 masks and 1,000 medical use protective suits and face shields.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/16/africa/jack-ma-donate-masks-coronavirus-africa/index.html

If most states stop their elections (or enough of them that we don't get a result of 270 electoral votes), there is no president-elect and then Trump/Pence term expires on January 20, 2021. It then falls on the line of succession to the Speaker of the House, which is currently Nancy Pelosi.

Dow Plunges 2,700 Points, Trading Halted After Fed Slashes Rates
https://www.npr.org/2020/03/16/816382835/stocks-shudder-despite-emergency-measures

New Analysis Shows Coronavirus Has Cut China's Carbon Emissions by 100 Million Metric Tons
https://time.com/5786634/coronavirus-carbon-emissions-china/

For years, Bernie Sanders warned that increased immigration would lower the wages of U.S. workers. Now he barely mentions it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/16/years-bernie-sanders-warned-that-increased-immigration-would-lower-wages-us-workers-now-he-barely-mentions-it/

Bernie Sanders voted against comprehensive immigration reform — and then went on TV with Lou Dobbs to brag about it. Immigrants don't take our jobs. They create jobs. And we need a President who believes that to his or her core. #DemDebate
https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1239360027372204033

The 9 groups Biden charged during tonight's #DemDebate are Bernie Super PACs
Center for Popular Democracy Action
Democratic Socialists of America
Dream Defenders
Make the Road
Our Revolution
People's Action
Student Action
Progressive Democrats of America
Sunrise Movement
https://twitter.com/JTHVerhovek/status/1239356474645721090

They're tax-exempt political nonprofits that are allowed to raise unlimited sums without disclosing its donors. That's the issue. Try to keep up. Also, Our Revolution seems to be in a bit of trouble..
https://twitter.com/dawn_switch/status/1239360205747441664
https://www.salon.com/2020/01/23/watchdog-alleges-that-political-nonprofit-founded-by-bernie-sanders-violated-campaign-finance-laws/

Roughly 5 million people in China lost their jobs in the first 2 months of the year.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/16/china-economy-millions-lose-their-jobs-as-unemployment-spikes.html

Greek Orthodox churches across the country will allow congregations of hundreds of people to sip wine from the same spoon during mass because "the holy cup cannot carry disease," the Archdiocese said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-14/church-religious-groups-say-coronavirus-cannot-infect-them/12055476

Video shows Australian SAS soldier shooting and killing unarmed man at close range in Afghanistan
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-16/video-shows-afghan-man-shot-at-close-range-by-australian-sas/12028512

Germany confirms that Trump tried to buy firm working on coronavirus vaccine
https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-confirms-that-donald-trump-tried-to-buy-firm-working-on-coronavirus-vaccine/amp/

The best cure, in the history of cures. Believe me, I've seen many cures. Many many Cures. But this cure, that I developed, is the best. The best.

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department suffered a cyber-attack on its computer system Sunday night during the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to three people familiar with the matter. The attack appears to have been intended to slow the agency’s systems down, but didn’t do so in any meaningful way, said the people, who asked for anonymity to discuss an incident that was not public.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-16/u-s-health-agency-suffers-cyber-attack-during-covid-19-response

What winter? Earth just had its second-warmest December-February on record | The months of December, January and February – which meteorologists define as winter here in the Northern Hemisphere – were the second-warmest on record, federal scientists announced Friday. | Some of the most extreme warmth was in Russia, which smashed its record for warmest winter. Temperatures there were as much as a whopping 12 degrees above average, according to the country's weather service.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/03/13/climate-change-earth-had-second-warmest-winter-record/5043841002/

Romney proposes giving $1,000 to every American adult as coronavirus response measure
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/16/politics/coronavirus-romney-proposal/index.html
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/addybaird/mitt-romney-1000-dollars-coronavirus-yang-ubi

Directly from Romney's email: Immediately Send $1,000 Checks to Each American: Every American adult should immediately receive $1,000 to help ensure families and workers can meet their short-term obligations and increase spending in the economy. Congress took similar action during the 2001 and 2008 recessions. While expansions of paid leave, unemployment insurance, and SNAP benefits are crucial, the checks will help fill the gaps for Americans that may not quickly navigate different government options.
https://twitter.com/edokeefe/status/1239581387797270530/photo/1

That would cost $340+ billion, which is a fifth of how much the Fed injected into the market last week. Now if I could find a time machine and travel back to 1980 when 1K paid 1 month's rent/mortgage/lease.....

We really need politicians to have a 3 month vision right now on this crisis, but we're struggling to get even a week ahead, let alone a month.

Trump tells governors to seek out respirators and other vital equipment on their own because states shouldn't rely on government handouts
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/world/coronavirus-news.html

Twitter removes David Clarke’s tweets as he and other Trump allies repeatedly tweet that coronavirus is a hoax
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/16/twitter-takes-down-david-clarkes-tweets-he-other-trump-allies-seed-coronavius-conspiracy-theories-doubt/

The EU will ban all non-essential travel into Europe for 30 days to slow the spread of coronavirus
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-eu-to-ban-non-essential-travel-for-thirty-days-2020-3

- In the 1970s, Biden supported increases in Social Security benefits.
- In the 1980s and 1990s, he supported a one-year freeze in benefits.
- In the 2000s, he opposed benefit cuts, protected Social Security from automatic budget cuts, and supported a change that would reduce benefits by about 4.5% over 40 years.
- Today, Biden supports higher benefits.
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/mar/12/bernie-sanders/sanders-misleading-social-security-attack-biden/
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/mar/12/bernie-sanders/sanders-misleading-social-security-attack-biden/#sources

Sanders ran the ads that "Biden is gonna cut your social security!" in 6 states and Sanders lost 5 of those 6 states, 3 of those states he lost by large margins

coronavirus = carnivorous

Amazon bans sale of most editions of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf, and other Nazi propaganda books
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/mar/16/amazon-bans-sale-of-most-editions-of-adolf-hitlers-mein-kampf

Fantastic breakthrough by German scientists, just published in Cell and today corroborated in PNASc that CoVID19 employs human TMPRSS2 protein for entry. Existing anti-TMPRSS2 drug Camostat (+E-64d) blocked CoVID19 infection. It is apparently made by Sun Pharma in India and sold as Camopan.
https://www.cell.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0092-8674%2820%2930229-4

Chickens need room and sun. They love to scratch and dig and roll in the dirt. They sun themselves like cats and rest laying down when they feel safe and happy.
https://v.redd.it/en82aqejo2n41

New York Gov. Cuomo warns that he needs the U.S. military to step in and help expand hospital capacity because otherwise "this is a disaster waiting to happen."
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/live-blog/coronavirus-updates-live-u-s-cities-close-public-buildings-global-n1160106/ncrd1160251#liveBlogHeader

Late at night 2:00 and is amazing how on every supermarket, farmers markets Etc women and men like them will work non stop to replenish every shelve. Next to the Medical staff across the world, people like them are and will be heroes to keep humanity fed! Thank them! #CoronaVirus
https://twitter.com/chefjoseandres/status/1239441696351551493

An ER doctor at the D.C. public hospital has tested positive for coronavirus and another doctor is in quarantine after wife tested positive. Hospital serves some of the poorest, oldest and sickest patients in the Washington region.
https://twitter.com/FenitN/status/1239664051652833282

The real risk of COVID-19 isn’t about what it does to one person, it’s about the community. It’s not about “Will I die?” so much as it’s about “How much will this overwhelm our health care infrastructure?”
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/coronavirus-may-make-millions-of-americans-sick-but-we-only-have-about-100000-ventilators/

Senator Ron Johnson tells me he will continue to probe the Bidens as the nation deals with coronavirus. “We’re going to pursue the subpoena,” he said this eve, referring to a planned subpoena for a firm targeted by his investigation. “We can walk and chew gum at the same time.”
https://twitter.com/costareports/status/1239663936217153536

MGM Resorts has announced its decision to temporarily suspend operations at its Las Vegas properties until further notice, effective as of Tuesday, March 17. More information: http://spr.ly/60191sGuB
https://twitter.com/MGMResortsIntl/status/1239378237974773762

Shoutout to all the people who were pulling their hair out from late December through mid February trying to get people to take the threat of coronavirus seriously.
https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1239660604656193536

Kentucky has now postponed its primary from mid-May until late June. Kentucky is the third state to officially postpone its primary, following Louisiana and Georgia. Ohio and Puerto Rico have both taken steps to do so
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/16/ohio-governor-recommends-postponing-tuesdays-primary-132340

Anthony Fauci said that while some people may perceive the new coronavirus guidelines as inconvenient or going too far, they reflect a deteriorating assessment of the containment efforts and should be taken seriously.
https://twitter.com/politico/status/1239659673403432966

He said it was a HOAX!!!!! https://twitter.com/aprildryan/status/1239636167550787584 …
https://twitter.com/thesherylralph/status/1239654601818865665

100 tests. Total. For a VA health system that serves 9 million vets. Half of which are over 65. This is not getting enough national attention. The President, @SecWilkie and Congress must be pressed on it. #IYNAYNPA
https://twitter.com/PaulRieckhoff/status/1239646660336238592

After taking the weekend on the novel coronavirus bill, and refusing to bring the coronavirus bill to the floor for a vote, Senator McConnell has a message on FISA. From the inbox. (the Senate should not wait to act)
https://twitter.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1239659539433168896

Pending a court ruling, Ohio will postpone until June 2 in-person primary voting that was to take place tomorrow. Mail-in absentee balloting will continue between now and then and ballots already cast will still count.
https://twitter.com/SteveKornacki/status/1239659135706284034

Coronavirus vaccine testing begins in people as U.S. researchers give volunteer first experimental shot in Seattle.
https://apnews.com/76b614811eef32955180c8260188bc24

@BuzzFeedNews reporter @JasonLeopold filed a FOIA lawsuit against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and three other federal agencies over COVID-19 related records.
https://twitter.com/FirstAmendWatch/status/1239643023832756225
https://firstamendmentwatch.org/buzzfeed-sues-cdc-and-fema-for-failing-to-comply-to-foia-request-for-coronavirus-related-materials/

This morning I tested positive for Covid 19. I feel ok, I have no symptoms so far but have been isolated since I found out about my possible exposure to the virus. Stay home people and be pragmatic. I will keep you updated on how I’m doing 👊🏾👊🏾 No panic.
https://twitter.com/idriselba/status/1239617034901524481
https://twitter.com/i/status/1239617034901524481

When Trump says #coronavirus was a "surprise," that's not true 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment said U.S. was "vulnerable to the next flu pandemic...that could lead to massive rates of death and severely affect the economy" He won't release 2020 version
https://twitter.com/ChrisLu44/status/1239653552991191040
https://time.com/5799765/intelligence-report-pandemic-dangers/

In Bergamo, Italy, the local newspaper's daily obituary section has grown from two or three pages to 10, sometimes listing more than 150 names, in what the top editor likens to "war bulletins"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/coronavirus-obituaries-bergamo-italy/2020/03/16/6c342f02-66c7-11ea-b199-3a9799c54512_story.html

This is one of those times when it's hard to adjust your priors fast enough, but there's a case that the past 72 hours should have made us more *optimistic*. The US's willingness to engage in mass shutdowns isn't something that could have been taken for granted, for instance.

Dow ends around 3,000 points lower; Nasdaq sees worst day ever
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-ends-around-3000-points-lower-nasdaq-sees-worst-day-ever-2020-03-16

January 22: “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. It’s going to be just fine.”
February 2: “We pretty much shut it down coming in from China.”
February 24: “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA… Stock Market starting to look very good to me!”
February 25: “CDC and my Administration are doing a GREAT job of handling Coronavirus.”
February 25: “I think that's a problem that’s going to go away… They have studied it. They know very much. In fact, we’re very close to a vaccine.”
February 26: “The 15 (cases in the US) within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero.”
February 26: “We're going very substantially down, not up.”
February 26: “We have the best prepared people, the best people in the world. Congress is willing to give us much more than we’re even asking for. That’s nice for a change.”
February 27: “One day it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.”
February 28: “We're ordering a lot of supplies. We're ordering a lot of, uh, elements that frankly we wouldn't be ordering unless it was something like this. But we're ordering a lot of different elements of medical.”
February 28: “This is their new hoax. But we did something that’s been pretty amazing. We have 15 people in this massive country and because of the fact that we went early. We went early, we could have had a lot more than that. We’re doing great.
March 2: “You take a solid flu vaccine, you don't think that could have an impact, or much of an impact, on corona?”
March 2: “A lot of things are happening, a lot of very exciting things are happening and they’re happening very rapidly.”
March 4: “If we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work — some of them go to work, but they get better.”
March 5: “I NEVER said people that are feeling sick should go to work.”
March 5: “The United States… has, as of now, only 129 cases… and 11 deaths. We are working very hard to keep these numbers as low as possible!”
March 6: “I think we’re doing a really good job in this country at keeping it down… a tremendous job at keeping it down.”
March 6: Anybody right now, and yesterday, anybody that needs a test gets a test. They’re there. And the tests are beautiful…. the tests are all perfect like the letter was perfect. The transcription was perfect. Right? This was not as perfect as that but pretty good.”
March 6: “I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it… Every one of these doctors said, ‘How do you know so much about this?’ Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have done that instead of running for president.”
March 6: “I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn't our fault.”
March 7: “We’ll hold tremendous rallies...I’m not concerned at all.”
March 8: “We have a perfectly coordinated and fine tuned plan at the White House for our attack on CoronaVirus.”
March 9: “This blindsided the world.”
March 9: “So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!”
March 11: “Vanity Fair Magazine, which will soon be out of business, and their third rate Fake reporters, who make up sources which don’t exist, wrote another phony & boring hit piece. The facts are just the opposite. Our team is doing a great job with CoronaVirus!”
March 12: “Sleepy Joe Biden was in charge of the H1N1 Swine Flu epidemic which killed thousands of people.”
March 13: “I am officially declaring a National Emergency. Two very big words.”
March 16: "No one could have seen this coming a month ago."
March 16: I give myself a 10/10 on this response.

What's ridiculous is that the sanders support wants you to recognize nuance in Sanders praising Cuba's literacy program while ignoring that Biden was offering budget cuts to stymie greater cuts and losses that the republicans were pushing.
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/mar/12/bernie-sanders/sanders-misleading-social-security-attack-biden/

Justice Dept. Moves to Drop Charges Against Russian Firms Filed by Mueller | The Justice Department moved on Monday to drop charges against two Russian shell companies accused of financing schemes to interfere in the 2016 election, saying that they were exploiting the case to gain access to delicate information that Russia could weaponize.

The companies, Concord Management and Concord Consulting, were charged in 2018 in an indictment secured by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, along with 13 Russians and another company, the Internet Research Agency. Prosecutors said they operated a sophisticated scheme to use social media to spread disinformation, exploit American social divisions and try to subvert the 2016 election. Unlike the others under indictment, Concord fought the charges in court. But instead of trying to defend itself, Concord seized on the case to obtain confidential information from prosecutors, then mount a campaign of information warfare, a senior Justice Department official said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/us/politics/concord-case-russian-interference.html
https://www.justice.gov/file/1035477/download
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/us/politics/russians-indicted-mueller-election-interference.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/17/technology/indictment-russian-tech-facebook.html