No, Don, that’s not going to work.

President Donald Trump said Friday that his remarks on injecting disinfectants to treat COVID-19 were sarcasm, after doctors responded with horror and disinfectant manufacturers urged people not to ingest the poisonous substances.

Nope. I mean, obviously that’s just a desperate ploy, but even apart from that – we know his mannerisms, and that was not his sarcastic mode. That was his “Look how smart I am, hearing about disinfectants in the pre-briefing discussion and then thinking up a way to use them even more strongly” mode. That was his big boy in big boy pants talking about sciencey stuff with the scientists because he had this uncle who was brilliant and … Read the rest

For some reason the makers of Lysol and Dettol have issued a statement saying don’t drink the stuff.

Due to recent speculation and social media activity, RB (the makers of Lysol and Dettol) has been asked whether internal administration of disinfectants may be appropriate for investigation or use as a treatment for coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).

As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route).  As with all products, our disinfectant and hygiene products should only be used as intended and in line with usage guidelines. Please read the label and safety information.

I feel as … Read the rest

It’s all a conspiracy! A left-wing soshalisst Mooslim atheist health-mongering conspiracy to close our parks and make us drink bleach no wait to tell us not to drink bleach yes that’s it. Ice cream, Mandrake?

A video of a mother arrested in Idaho at a playground that was closed under stay-at-home orders during the coronavirus pandemic has quickly gone viral, with far-right social media accounts rallying around her.

But the mother, 40-year-old Sara Walton Brady, wasn’t on the playground simply so her kids could play. Brady is an anti-vaccine activist with connections to several far-right groups in Idaho, and she was participating in an organized protest on Tuesday against the governor’s stay-at-home order. A group of people removed police caution

Oh christ here’s the clip. Why has the 25th amendment not been invoked yet??! This is beyond belief!

Fresh off of touting the failed hydroxychloroquine treatment, Trump is now promoting injecting coronavirus patients with disinfectant to kill the virus.

Can't see this backfiring at all. pic.twitter.com/Uq08VsFd5Q

— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) April 23, 2020

And then I said – suppose you brought the light inside the body – which you can do – either through the skin or in some other way. Aaaand [turning to look at Birx] I think you said you’re gunna test that too. Sounds intresting.

He thinks for a couple of seconds then turns to look at Birx again.

And then I see the disinfectant, that

The Guardian has more notes on Trump’s accelerating mental decay:

Maybe we should insert some cleaning products in people?

“Supposing you brought the light inside the body – either through the skin or some other way,” Trump wondered. He also mused about ways to use disinfectants on people, “by injections inside or almost a cleaning.”

“It’d be interesting to check that,” the president said. “You’d have to use medical doctors.”

That would be interesting. That would be very interesting. Let’s try it on Trump. Let’s inject some disinfectants inside Trump, starting with his brain. We’d have to use medical doctors. Can we start now?

The DHS’s Bryan is asked about the president’s suggestions that disinfectants be injected into a

Today’s coronarally is on, and Trump has been giving suggestions about how to fix the virus – heat and light, he says, apply heat and light.

"I'm the president and you're fake news" — Trump to @PhilipRucker after he asks him if it's responsible to make all sorts of wacky and unproven suggestions about possible coronavirus treatments pic.twitter.com/8ag4izDrGj

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 23, 2020

Rucker points out that people are looking for real advice, not random brain-hiccups about getting a sunburn.

"I wasn't happy with Brian Kemp … and I coulda done something about it if I wanted to" — an angry Trump on Georgia governor's move to reopen businesses pic.twitter.com/ACTyGqekCG

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 23, 2020

He … Read the rest

Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? on Largely in a lot of parts of the world.

“It’s overhyped,” she said.

For this degree of media and institutional attention, she was expecting a lot more deaths. This? Pfft! This is just weak sauce. Should be tucked in under the horoscopes.

“And I don’t wish anybody ill will. You know I don’t wish that…

But we don’t know that, do we? There’s a strong whiff of the other, like, you know that sentence you just uttered in regards to a pandemic that, in less than four months, has come within spitting distance of killing more Americans than the Vietnam war, in which you thought that it has been “overhyped?” … Read the rest

Another reason we’ll be needing to get those express flights to Mars up and running:

The number of people harmed by floods will double worldwide by 2030, according to a new analysis.

The World Resources Institute, a global research group, found that 147 million people will be hit by floods from rivers and coasts annually by the end of the decade, compared with 72 million people just 10 years ago.

By 2050 the numbers will be catastrophic.

Floods are getting worse because of the climate crisis, decisions to populate high-risk areas and land sinkage from the overuse of groundwater.

And because we’re not doing much about any of them.

The worst flooding will come in south and south-east Asia, including

The Guardian talks to one of Trump’s billionaire fans about this whole business of billionaire Trump fans having a big influence on whether or not we get to survive the pandemic:

One of Donald Trump’s most fervent billionaire donors is lobbying against strict stay-at-home rules in the election battleground state of Wisconsin, raising troubling new questions about how the president’s rightwing financial supporters may influence the US response to the pandemic.

Liz Uihlein, the billionaire behind Wisconsin’s Uline shipping and packaging company – who with her husband, Richard, has been dubbed the most “powerful conservative couple you’ve never heard of” – is using her clout to try to force Wisconsin’s Democratic governor to relax stay-at-home rules, claiming

Mitch McConnell to states (that aren’t Kentucky): you’re on your own.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday he would rather let state governments declare bankruptcy during the coronavirus pandemic than receive more federal funding. He suggested Republicans should oppose additional aid for state and local governments in future coronavirus relief bills.

…

McConnell alleged that local governments would use federal funds to simply bail out pensions, which he pinned as the source of most of their financial trouble. He also said Congress would not “just send a blank check down to states and local governments to spend any way they choose to.”

“We all have governors, regardless of party, who would love to have free money,” the Kentucky Republican

How dare a woman write a book.

After 6 days of solid 24/7 abuse, it was terrifying that I was using my computer and they took control.

I know all my stuff had been shared on 4chan and shit.

I’m horrified that writing a book about the victim blaming of women has led to this.

— Dr. Jessica Taylor (@DrJessTaylor) April 23, 2020

This book – which I need to read.

Thank you so much for all the support – both the emotional support and the support for the book.

I thought maybe my book would interest some and ruffle feathers but I never imagined I would be under this much threat for my book. pic.twitter.com/0csZq9Xdyk

— Dr. Jessica Taylor

Terry Gross did a pretty interesting conversation with Mark O’Connell about his book on apocalypse preppers, but there was this one area where…how shall I say, everyone was missing something. I can’t find a transcript but there’s a summary.

On how some doomsday preppers see Mars as a backup planet

Mars is almost like the next step up from New Zealand. If New Zealand is kind of the safest retreat on this planet, then, if — everything goes wrong here and the planet gets hit by an asteroid or whatever — the term that is used amongst Mars enthusiasts would be we need a “backup planet.”

That already gets my back up, because Mars can’t be a “backup planet” … Read the rest

The embarrassing shameful bit where Trump stands there like a palooka who doesn’t know where his arms go, watching Redfield explain what he said to the Post.

Trump tries to say that coronavirus could just disappear, but CDC Director Redfield warned in WaPo a second wave of COVID-19 in the winter could be worsened because it’s also flu season. Redfield confirms: “I’m accurately quoted in The Washington Post."pic.twitter.com/JLz3WccgoE

— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) April 22, 2020

To be fair, for once Trump does have a ghost of a point: Redfield said one thing in the interview and the Post said another thing in the headline. Redfield says the interview was accurate and the headline wasn’t. That happens a lot: the … Read the rest

We can read the whole thing.

Here is Dr. Rick Bright's full statement, just emailed out by the law firm Katz, Marshall & Banks which will be representing him as he files a whistleblower complaint.
(First reported by @maggieNYT) pic.twitter.com/oQ3j9Z17SK

— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) April 22, 2020

Reporters had better grill Trump hard at today’s government-funded campaign rally.… Read the rest

How to deal with a pandemic if you’re Donald Trump:

The director of the office involved in developing a coronavirus vaccine says he was abruptly dismissed from his post in part because he resisted efforts to widen the availability of a coronavirus treatment pushed by President Donald Trump.

Dr. Rick Bright had led BARDA, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, since 2016 until Tuesday, when was reassigned to a narrower position.

Brilliant. Let one festering shit’s vanity and spite decide who leads vaccine development at the height of an emergency in which the vaccine will save thousands of lives. What do people’s lives matter in comparison to Donald Trump’s ego?

He also announced he will file

For such a rich country we sure do a wretched job of making sure everyone is ok. Some economists notice.

In a withering attack on the president, Joseph Stiglitz said millions of people were turning to food banks, turning up for work due to a lack of sick pay, and dying because of health inequalities.

The Nobel prize-winning economist said: “The numbers turning to food banks are just enormous and beyond the capacity of them to supply. It is like a third world country. The public social safety net is not working.”

That’s because there isn’t one. We’re all about making rich people ever richer, while ensuring poor people stay poor, and that in emergencies they die. … Read the rest

I wish NPR would not clean up Trump’s blurts to make them sound less deranged. That’s not their job.

NPR:

President Trump says the U.S. Navy should fire on Iranian boats if they continue to harass U.S. warships in the Gulf, a move that raises the prospect of open hostilities between the two rivals.

What Trump actually said:

I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 22, 2020

He didn’t say “the Navy should,” he said he has instructed the Navy to. He didn’t say “fire on,” he said “shoot down and destroy.” He didn’t say “on … Read the rest

It will get worse.

Even as states move ahead with plans to reopen their economies, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Tuesday that a second wave of the novel coronavirus will be far more deadly because it is likely to coincide with the start of flu season.

“There’s a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through,” CDC Director Robert Redfield said in an interview with The Washington Post. “And when I’ve said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they don’t understand what I mean.”

CNN reported what Redfield said. The tyrant wasn’t … Read the rest

At least it’s honest.

A woman protesting Tennessee’s COVID-19 lockdown this week carried a startling sign that recommended sacrificing “weak” people to reopen the state’s economy.

Local news station News Channel 9 has captured a photo of the sign, which read, “Sacrifice the weak — reopen TN [Tennessee].”

It was a small protest, with “dozens” of people.

The station also reports that many of the people at the rally were not practicing social distancing and were not wearing protective face masks, as has been recommended by public health officials as a way to slow down the spread of the disease.

So I guess they’re sacrificing themselves. Maybe that’s what the sign meant?