If now is not the time for Amazon workers to unionize,

when is?

If now is not the time to press for a national $15--hell, $20--minimum wage, when is?

Commercials--who knew?

I've never watched so much TV in my life. Things I care about, I record and zip through commercials, but now I am watching live TV and being exposed to commercials I never knew existed. I'm sheltering in place but being exposed.

What fiend thought up "1-800-7 Cars for Kids?" I've never been subjected to such television pain--and I lived through "Mother! Please! I'd rather do it myself!" and "I ate the whole thing." There is no mercy when it comes to those nasal-voiced Children of the Corn with Up with People grins mechanized like some nightmarish Chuck E. Cheese automatronic band chanting--flat--their hell-fire incantation. They come from the depths of Hell and infect us with the earworm which insures we, too, are raising demons every time we repeat those words in our brains.

This organization knows, they surely know, that no one who hears the words of this commercial will donate a car to them. They obviously don't want your car. They know that the hearer's response has to be "well, I'll never give anything to *them,*" yet they persist.

The obvious explanation:

If enough of us repeat the incantation, even just in our own heads, we will bring on the Apocalypse. We don't know how many of us it will take, but with so many more of us being exposed to this commercial, we must surely be approaching the magic number. What can we do? For now, every time I find myself chanting, I substitute "1-*900*" because I don't think it will work--ceremonies to raise demons generally don't--unless the exact formula is repeated. If you have suggestions, please post them They may be all that stand between us and the Anti-Christ.

Beware.

(and just in case: )

If warm weather will kill the virus

are we seeing any outbreaks now in the southern hemisphere, where it is warm?

It appears that there is one case in Brazil, in a man who had visited Italy. (http://virological.org/t/first-cases-of-coronavirus-disease-covid-19-in-brazil-south-america-2-genomes-3rd-march-2020/409)

On the other hand,

1) The Southern Hemisphere only makes up 10-12% of the global population, and since the population density is MUCH higher in the Northern Hemisphere, you'd expect to see bigger clusters of COVID-19 being reported here.

2) Testing methods are not as prevalent in many areas across the Southern Hemisphere, so there's a possibility many cases just aren't being detected.

3) Countries like Australia in the Southern Hemisphere are also struggling to limit the spread of the coronavirus. (https://www.nbc-2.com/story/41892048/will-warmer-weather-help-fight-the-coronavirus)

Has anyone read or heard anything more definite about low incidence in the southern hemisphere? And does the opposite hold true--i.e., is there a heavier incidence the colder the country is?

Coronavirus in PA

A few days ago I posted about my distress concerning contact with my disabled daughter and her housemates in view of the fact that coronavirus had caused closing of schools in my PA county. This had been reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Today's Inquirer tells a fuller story.

Apparently, what happened was this: a 70-year old husband and wife, along with a 50-year old woman, returned from a cruise on the Nile River. They all had some kind of contact with one of the larger school districts and attended a large party which apparently was given for district employees. They later had concerns that someone on the cruise with them had coronavirus and all three asked to be tested. Their doctor(s) agreed that testing was warranted, but the CDC refused to test them because there had been no reports of coronavirus in cruises on the Nile. These three had had close contact with many teachers and administrators at the party, so the school district decided to close the schools in the district whose personnel had attended the party until testing cleared the three people.

Apparently (again), there either was testing or some other judgment was made that the three were not infected, so the schools involved will reopen.

So. "Everyone who wants a test can get a test" was indeed horseshit, and I spent several days and nights fretting about what I was going to do, worrying about my daughter's distress, all for nothing. Because fucking Trump couldn't get enough tests ready and available.

Not to mention the financial and emotional costs to the school district involved, the disruption of lives of students and their families and teachers and staff. All for (apparently) nothing.

The only good thing to have come from this is the confirmation of what we all know: we support each other here at DU with virtual hugs and practical advice. I can't thank you all enough for your help getting me through this. Now I want to punch Orange Fatass in his fat fucking nose.

My daughter lives in a group home

and comes here every Tuesday to snuggle and watch TV with me. She functions emotionally like a toddler, and she knows when Tuesday comes around because she rushes to the front door of her day program to look for me. She loves me and slobbers like a puppy.

She spends her day with a couple of hundred other disabled adults. They are not crowded, and there is a nurse on site. The clients are sent home if they have a fever. They do go out into the community, to movies and restaurants and malls, but I don't know if these outings will continue.

Her home for the past seven years has been a nice house not too far from us which she shares with two other disabled women and 24-hour staff.

Every other Sunday, all three ladies plus staff come to our house for dinner and visiting. These ladies are intellectually disabled and cannot be expected to follow safety precautions like covering coughs and sneezes. The Sundays at our house are the only time they visit friends--for we are their friends--and they all look forward to it enormously, as do we.

I am 73 years old with serious lung disease (one lung was removed years ago), and I am in a position to stay home virtually all the time.

Coronavirus has shown up in our county in PA, and schools are being closed.

My heart is breaking.

I suspect John Oliver's ridicule had something to do with Tweety's abrupt exit

I am going to vote via absentee ballot

because I do not want to be in a crowded room at the polls. I'm in PA, and there's time to apply for the primaries. I'm going to be out of town (if you say you're ill you have to get a doctor to sign a form). I also plan to be out of town for the general election in November..