US Politics, May 2020 — I will never lie to you. You have my word on that.

Mild good news:

The wave of lockdowns and shuttered economies caused by the coronavirus pandemic fueled a momentous decline in global greenhouse gas emissions, although one unlikely to last, a group of scientists reported Tuesday.

As covid-19 infections surged in March and April, nations around the globe experienced an abrupt reduction in driving, flying and industrial output, leading to a startling decline of more than a billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions. That includes a peak decline in daily emissions of 17 percent in early April, according to the study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. For some nations, the drop was much steeper.

ok buddy

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/19/jamie-dimon-says-coronavirus-crisis-is-wake-up-call-for-a-more-inclusive-economy.html

comrade jamie

welcome aboard

He can feel the weight of the guillotine blade above him. (Probably not but it’s fun to think about.)

when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have potatoes

A Virginia potato farmer invited Pres Trump to visit his farm.

TRUMP: "I might. I'll be there. We're going after VA. With your crazy governor? We're going after VA. They want to take your second amendment away. You know that, right? You'll have nobody guarding your potatoes."

— Sara Cook (@saraecook) May 19, 2020

"You'll Have Nobody Guarding Your Potatoes" for June thread title.

Damn, all the best thread titles pop up in the middle of the month.

I worry just how bad the greenhouse gas is going to get as things reopen. Presumably a lot of people with the option are going to be avoiding public transportation, meaning more cars on the road. I've yet to see anything official, but I've heard of places either strongly discouraging or straight up not allowing workers to come to the office if they've taken public transportation.

in general this seems like it'll be good for telecommuting in general, I can't see a whole lot of companies go through this whole thing with their work from home policies unchanged

Yeah, it doesn't sound like I'll be back in the office anytime soon, which is fine with me. I'll still have to get out and about, kinda hard to do construction projects without being on site now and then.

I'm curious to know how my old workplace is handling this, since they would never even acknowledge that work from home even existed. They fought tooth and nail against it even if it was hinted at by an employee.

I've heard of places either strongly discouraging or straight up not allowing workers to come to the office if they've taken public transportation.

so, not mcdonald's or grocery stores then

when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have potatoes

irl lol, thanking you for this Mookie.

in the bay area at least I think it will be a couple of years before we see the same numbers of people using public transportation; but I also think that large numbers of those people will be telecommuting rather than driving.

so, not mcdonald's or grocery stores then

Right, not defending the policy. As with most things, it's boneheaded and classist to say the least and I have no idea how one would even enforce a "no public transportation" rule for employees. Just pointing it out that I've heard from several sources that such a thing is being considered by (sizable) companies in Chicago for when they return.

Ford Motor Co. will require the president to wear a face covering — something he has so far declined to do — when he tours the carmaker’s plant in Ypsilanti, Mich., on Thursday, Crain’s Detroit Business reported.

“Our policy is that everyone wears PPE [personal protective equipment] to prevent the spread of covid-19,” Ford spokeswoman Rachel McCleery told Crain’s. “We shared all of Ford’s safety protocols, including our manufacturing playbook, employee pamphlet and self-assessment survey with the White House ahead of time and in preparation for this trip.”

Trump has not worn a mask while visiting other factories recently. He was maskless Thursday while touring a mask distribution center in Allentown, Pa., and was also photographed without a face covering at a mask factory in Phoenix this month.

He later said he did wear a mask in Phoenix for a short time “backstage.”

Either he'll refuse and dare Ford's people to fight his Secret Service detail, or ban photography, or wear a mask and scream tweets about the unfairness for a day or two.

Definitely number one or two

has he ever worn a mask in public?

well, a rictus

Trump nukes Ford

Trump to Ford: Drop Dead

"has he ever worn a mask in public?" all the time. you'd be surprised to see what his real face looks like

has he ever worn a mask in public?

He can probably peel off the self-tanner in a half-inch-thick sheet; does that count?

what the fuck

https://www.vox.com/2020/5/19/21262376/georgia-republicans-cancel-election-state-supreme-court-barrow-kemp-blackwell

tbqh Pelosi calling Trump "morbidly obese" is stupid politics

Predictably saw a bunch of blue wave dipshits sporting YAAAAS QUEEN boners over it on Twitter

but I thought Republicans are all about "letting the American people have a voice in the process"??????????????????????????????????

now I don't know what to believe!

what is a "voice" really, I mean we can just type everything. do we really need vocal cords

I trust the GOP to surmise who I'm going to vote for, not sure what else needs to be done

tbqh Pelosi calling Trump "morbidly obese" is stupid politics

― brooklyn suicide cult (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, May 19, 2020 3:22 PM (fifty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

it sucks and she sucks for doing it

pretty big talk for a lady with an ice cream refrigerator

I didn’t respond to the Census this year hoping to cost Texas an EV

if she was the bosskween her acolytes suggest she would have dunked on his adult diaper which I’m sorry is just good politics

burning down the house on the way out the door

President Trump says he will sign an executive order directing all federal agencies "to use any and all authority to waive, suspend, and eliminate unnecessary regulations that impede economic recovery"

"And we want to leave it that way," he adds https://t.co/Nj065CIsxp pic.twitter.com/OILEX1mu4G

— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 19, 2020

I love that he only wants to waive, suspend or eliminate the "unnecessary" ones. Presumably, since they all were designed to serve a legitimate regulatory purpose, and so long as that purpose is being served they wouldn't be unnecessary.

I heard Andrew Cuomo say today that this is the first time the federal government has been "vital" since WWII so I gather there won't be a lot of pushback on what's "unnecessary"

The glaring part there is "we want to leave it thay way". I like my slopes slippery!

But waaaah it's the radical left who want to use the pandemic to institute their socialist agenda

Predicted response: "Sorry, we can't extend assignments for the sheer purpose of you getting benefits. It's bigger than one person."

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/19/national-guard-coronavirus-267514

https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2020-05-19/trump-says-u-s-virus-cases-are-badge-of-honor-for-testing

“I view it as a badge of honor, really, it’s a badge of honor,” Trump told reporters during a cabinet meeting at the White House on Tuesday. “It’s a great tribute to the testing and all of the work that a lot of professionals have done.”

…

Contrary to Trump’s claim, U.S. testing levels aren’t extraordinary. The U.S. trails countries like the U.K., Italy and Germany in tests conducted per 1,000 people, Bloomberg data show. And the U.S. is finding a case for every 7.8 tests, far behind other countries like New Zealand, Australia and South Korea, who have to test far higher numbers of people to find a case, according to figures compiled by Our World In Data.

already sowing the seeds for cancelling the 2020 election on Twitter I see

Fortunately my father-in-law's house is dry, but he doesn't live too far from where the two dams broke in Michigan. He's also out of the evacuation zone, but still concerning.

And I wake up to see the asshole president is withholding any funds for Michigan because they expanded mail voting. Will this fuck ever experience even one tiniest bit of accountability???

Election Day.

already sowing the seeds for cancelling the 2020 election on Twitter I see

― frogbs, Wednesday, May 20, 2020 9:33 AM bookmarkflaglink

Only Congress can do that, so good luck

Here come some firings that we are told have nothing to do with this leak:

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/498697-cdc-officials-say-lives-and-money-lost-by-delayed

(lest anybody give me shit over The Hill, I'm at work posting shit in the two minutes I have to post)

I'm already excited for Susan Collins to clutch her pearls before every single member of Congress does absolutely fuck all once again.

Xpost note, no firings are happening. I'm predicting them after Trump is told about this article

Safe prediction, I'm sure firings will follow late Friday. And next week we can hear a few gasps and read one or two indignant tweets.