But Pence is protected by the power of Jesus, and anyone who dies clearly was not, so it’s okay… /s
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And of course the Mayo Clinic is now stuck in a position of either condemning Pence or looking like the weak-willed dolts they are for allowing him to flout their safety policy.
https://twitter.com/4everNeverTrump/status/1255207756488794112
I still think someone should have stopped him from licking all those doorknobs on his way out.
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I loved that the thing we were supposed to limit our contact to was also the thing we were supposed to cough into. What idiot came up with that?
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Cough left - bump right 
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I think you were supposed to bump with the outside of your elbow, not link arms.
Try as I might, I’m unable to touch my elbow to my face so if I’m going to get the virus on my body from human contact that’s probably as good a spot as any to have it.
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Ah good, no particles could possibly get all the way across to there.
Your left or my left?
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Yes.
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Another day, another blow.
Wolfgang Kubicki, head of an “old” liberal (read: until the 1990s liberal, and not yet not neo-liberal nor libertarian) party (which for maybe historical reasons is still listened to by the media) today ventured the numbers from the RKI might be ‘politically motivated’.
May I give this complaint back to you, arsehole? Politically motivated reputation murdering to get good olf economy up and running?
I’m very close of loosing it, phone in and start shouting at editors who give such people screen time or pages. If I only knew I could keep my temper and just express my dismay in a meaningful way.
Personal note: I had a phone call from a co-worker today. Their parents are both in a nursing home. One of them is diagnosed with Covid-19. They have no rooms to spare, and separating the couple would have been impossible at the best of times. They are 94 and 92. Of 100 inhabitants in the nursing home, only 9 have yet tested positive. No visits. Staff is at their limits, so pre-arranged phone calls and updates for the family don’t happen.
And we have politicians who have the fucking balls to go on the record and attack our scientific institutions.
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TPM Reader PK follows up on reopening …
I was struck by reader JL’s comments and your statement that, “We shouldn’t assume that the states that are in the process of opening up will quickly see dramatic resurgences or outbreaks. There’s a lot of complexity under the hood distinguishing one state’s plan from another.”
I think that’s exactly right and it is why I was so disturbed by a NYTimes opinion piece that ran this weekend from Brown University President Christina Paxson. It offered a bold plan to reopen college campuses around the country by the fall, talking about changes ranging from keeping large classes online to wearing masks and minimizing large gatherings.
Twelve paragraphs into the piece, it becomes clear the entire plan depends on the availability of rapid and repeated COVID-19 tests.
At no point is there an acknowledgement that we’re not quite there yet. There’s no hint that the Trump administration has been consistently lying about the ease and ready access of testing. Not even a glimmer of recognition that the federal government has essentially told states “you’re on your own” when it comes to testing and another essentials.
To me, this seems as dangerous a bit of magical thinking as some of the nonsense coming from White House. I can understand that a college president in Rhode Island, where they have been leading the country in terms of state testing per capita, might feel good about being able to move forward with a fall opening. But how does Christina Paxson expect large state flagship institutions that may be four to five times larger than Brown in terms of enrollment to pull this off? Specifically, does she really think states like George and Florida, which have not been as consistent and effective in promoting social distancing as Rhode Island are going to be ready to roll in the fall? (Opening the beaches and bowling alleys may force us to rethink their approach to public health in a pandemic during the next two weeks.)
I’m flummoxed that this kind of thought piece, displaying a rather callous disregard for the reality of where our country is at in terms having a rather scattershot approach to social distancing, would be floated out there now. I was furious a few weeks ago when the NBA and MLB floated the trial balloon of setting up some locations where they could play in June and seal off players/manager/coaches and have a strong testing regime in place…at a time when we couldn’t even offer such regular testing to our frontline health care workers. It seemed tone deaf and, quite honestly, offensive.
I’m not sure we’re in a place where seeing a major university leader call for a return to face-to-face business on campuses this fall is any less diisheartening. I’d rather see a thought piece on the need to get serious about testing, because if we don’t, any talk of coming back for the fall is a dangerous pipe dream.
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But don’t worry, we’ll cough to the death to protect your “free speech”.
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Even for it means risking the Strategic Mayonnaise Reserve?!
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Ahhhhgh.
Hardly anyone in those pictures is even wearing a mask.
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Gene and Julia are f’ing morons but, I’ll help myself to the free TP!
Oh, and thanks a lot for the Charlie Daniels ear worm… ARRRGGGGHH!
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“Much needed”.
Unless their employer is the kind of ass who demands it and will fire them, and they desperately need the paycheque so as not to starve, no one needs a haircut. And people have done their own nails for centuries.
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I think the buzzfeed writer is being sarcastic (at least I hope so)… but yeah, no one NEEDS eyebrow threading (which is what exactly!?!), much less a hair cut or trip to the gym.
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i wonder how much “restlessness” this will cause in the rest of the country.
my everyday world is – un/fortunately – somewhat normal, but i know most people are isolated at home, wishing they could go out and about.
i could easily see a “if they’re doing it, why can’t we?” mentality arising. and with testing resources still so relatively low, and with symptoms sometimes taking weeks to appear… the link between states opening up and all of the people who are going to get sick as a result is somewhat broken.
people will see life returning to normal in some parts of the country, but its going to be a while before we see the harm it causes. 
[edit]
eyebrow threading (which is what exactly!?!)
plucking out eyebrows by twisting thread around them, instead of using tweezers. creates a nicer line. ( so says my partner )
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Yeah, this is going to make people want to go out and feel normal again, but this is going to get people killed…
I seriously have no idea what it is… eyebrow threading, so thanks! Doesn’t seem necessary. Just pluck.
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That’s one of my favorite wedding reception dances.
Cha cha real smooth!
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