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By Robert A. Vella

Here’s a little sarcasm for this Sunday plus today’s news:

From:  WHO says no evidence of Covid-19 immunity from antibodies

The World Health Organization is warning that people who have had Covid-19 are not necessarily immune by the presence of antibodies from getting the virus again.

“There is no evidence yet that people who have had Covid-19 will not get a second infection,” WHO said in a scientific brief published Friday.

It cautions against governments that are considering issuing so-called “immunity passports” to people who have had Covid-19, assuming they are safe to resume normal life.

“At this point in the pandemic, there is not enough evidence about the effectiveness of antibody-mediated immunity to guarantee the accuracy of an ‘immunity passport’ or ‘risk-free certificate,’ ” WHO said.

From:  Trump expands battle with World Health Organization far beyond aid suspension

President Trump and his top aides are working behind the scenes to sideline the World Health Organization on several new fronts as they seek to shift blame for the coronavirus pandemic to the world body, according to U.S. and foreign officials involved in the discussions.

Last week, the president announced a 60-day hold on U.S. money to the WHO, but other steps by his top officials go beyond a temporary funding freeze, raising concerns about the permanent weakening of the organization amid a rapidly spreading crisis.

[…]

But critics say the president is scapegoating the WHO to distract from charges that he responded slowly to the pandemic and waited too long to implement protective measures that would have saved lives in the United States. They also question the value of seeking alternatives to the WHO at this juncture.

[…]

The Trump administration’s moves against the WHO have concerned Democrats and some Republicans who view undercutting the institution as risky in the middle of a global health crisis.

From:  The White House tried to move a reporter to the back of the press room, but she refused. Then Trump walked out.

A White House official ordered a CNN reporter to give up her front-row seat and move to the back of the press room before President Trump’s briefing on Friday, in what appears to be another attempt by Trump to punish a network he calls “fake news.”

The reporter, CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins, refused to move, as did a second reporter whose seat in the rear of the room she was ordered to take. The official then suggested the matter would be resolved by the Secret Service, though no action was taken, according to several people involved in the episode.

[…]

Collins and Johnson refused to move, citing their seat assignments. The briefing then went ahead as planned, though Trump declined to take any questions from reporters, and walked off after only 22 minutes, making it the shortest briefing since regular sessions began last month.

Related stories:

Trump forgoes WH press briefing [on Saturday] for the first time since Easter weekend

Fauci’s absence from recent coronavirus briefings draws notice

From:  Tensions emerge between Republicans over coronavirus spending and how to rescue the economy

After years of pillorying the Obama administration over spending and blocking efforts to pump more money into the economy following the 2008 financial crisis, GOP leaders now find themselves struggling with how to balance the need to prop up the struggling economy ahead of the fall’s elections with concerns that too much spending could hurt them with their base of voters.

“Concerns about federal deficits and debts are being swamped by the scale of the crisis right now, but when our economy rebounds, they will return as a serious issue for voters,” said Michael Steel, who served as a top aide to then- House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and 2016 GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush. “As we saw after 2008 and 2009, paroxysms of federal spending tend to spawn ferocious blowback.”

[…]

Yet economists from the right and left — as well as a not-insignificant number of GOP senators — are warning of the dangers of pulling back on federal spending too quickly, alarmed that doing so will create long-lasting problems for the economy and the American worker.

“I’ve been a deficit hawk economist for 20 years. As soon as the economy recovers, we are going to need significant deficit reforms,” said Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute who has worked for Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio) and other prominent Republicans. “But again, you can’t begin to solve the debt crisis until they have solved the economic crisis, and that will take spending money in the short term.”

See also:  Trump and McConnell headed toward clash over coronavirus spending

Headlines:

White House in Talks to Replace HHS Secretary Alex Azar

VA health chief acknowledges a shortage of protective gear for its hospital workers

One in 3 death certificates were wrong before coronavirus. It’s about to get even worse.

‘Quarantine fatigue’: Researchers find more Americans venturing out against coronavirus stay-at-home orders

Judge orders release of migrant children

California can check backgrounds of ammunition buyers for now, court rules

21 thoughts on “Sunday Sarcasm, and today’s news”

  1. Your captioned image says it all! I’m so glad that the people close to DT45* have finally convinced him to end his daily press briefings. I fear that some of his faithful followers–those who believe that’s he’s The One sent by God to lead them to the Promised Land–may already be taking a spoonful of disinfectant to protect them from Covid-19.

    A friend in Canada sent me the following YouTube video link to “A Spoonful of CLOROX,” a Randy Rainbow Song Parody: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPDPzbLFeP4

    Liked by 3 people

    • That’s great! Sadly though, the governors of Maryland and Michigan have reported hundreds of calls inquiring about Trump’s ultraviolet light and disinfectant “remedy.’ He has already cost thousands of lives for failing to respond properly to the pandemic, and now his idiocy might cause even more.

      Liked by 1 person

    • 1) The USPS isn’t a monopoly because there are very large and very profitable corporations like FedEx and UPS entrenched in the market.

      2) Even if the USPS was a monopoly, it would still be perfectly legal because the U.S. Constitution explicitly gave such power to Congress.

      3) QUESTION: Does a 19th century anti-government anarchist have anything to do with the subject matter of this blog post? ANSWER: No, it doesn’t.

      Like

      • 1 and 2 I know.
        On 3, I don’t think his political persuasions is irrelevant. What is relevant to your blog is would Trump make those demands if it were not a monopoly and protected by congress? I doubt it/

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        • You contradicted yourself by admitting that the USPS isn’t a monopoly but then asserted that as Trump’s motive for attacking it. You’re not making any sense.

          Lysander Spooner’s politics as an anti-government anarchist is totally relevant to your comment about the USPS because he (like you, I presume) was opposed to it not because of its efficacy but because of his ideological beliefs.

          Conversely, Trump has other motives. He rails against the USPS’ low prices because it is advantageous to his enemies (i.e. Jeff Bezos and Amazon) and disadvantageous to his friends (i.e. FedEx, UPS, and GOP ideological sentiments).

          However, our entire discussion here is completely off-topic. Nowhere in this post is the USPS mentioned.

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        • Waah Robert, take it easy.
          The USPS is a legal monopoly made so by Congress. It does not mean there is no competition.
          Lysander was a businessman in competition with the postal service. His challenge was whether the law created a monopoly or allowed for creating a postal service. Why would be opposed to the efficacy of the USPS a service I don’t use?
          I see why Trump is fighting the USPS.
          Now you contradict yourself. You have mentioned the USPS in every paragraph! But we should not lose friendship over something so small, do let us rest this here.

          Like

        • First of all, the USPS is not referenced or even mentioned anywhere in this post. You interjected it as a comment, and it is completely off-topic. Secondly, your assertion that the USPS is a monopoly is demonstrably false because its revenues are equivalent to its major competitors. Thirdly, it is obvious that the only reason you cited an obscure 19th century anti-government anarchist was to implicitly express your ideological views which this blog considers as propaganda (see Comment Policy on my home page). Furthermore, Spooner’s conflict with the U.S. Post Office was different from Donald Trump’s especially because the former thought its rates were too high while the latter thinks its rates are too low.

          Monopoly: the exclusive possession or control of the supply of or trade in a commodity or service.

          Mail delivery revenue: UPS = $74 billion (2019), USPS = $71.5 billion (2016), FedEx = $70 billion (2019).

          Lysander Spooner (from Wikipedia): Spooner was a strong advocate of the labor movement and anti-authoritarian and individualist anarchist in his political views. His economic and political ideology has often been identified as libertarian socialism and mutualism.

          Being an advocate of self-employment and opponent of government regulation of business, Spooner started his own business called American Letter Mail Company which competed with the Post Office, whose rates were notoriously high in the 1840s.[9]

          Individualist Anarchism (from Wikipedia): Contemporary individualist anarchist Kevin Carson characterizes American individualist anarchism saying: “Unlike the rest of the socialist movement, the individualist anarchists believed that the natural wage of labor in a free market was its product, and that economic exploitation could only take place when capitalists and landlords harnessed the power of the state in their interests. Thus, individualist anarchism was an alternative both to the increasing statism of the mainstream socialist movement, and to a classical liberal movement that was moving toward a mere apologetic for the power of big business”.[5]

          Liked by 1 person

  4. I LOVE that pic of Li’l Donna on the sinking ship! She sure has her dainty li’l hands full with this crisis, doesn’t she? Poor sweety. I bet she wishes her daddy were still around to bail her girlish ass out of this mess with his $$ and connections. Poor Donna! Must be a BITCH to be her, eh.

    Liked by 1 person

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