The Lockdowns Were the Black Swan [Holman W. Jenkins, Jr./WSJ]
We did not need to lock down the country to flatten the curve.
A reasonable argument. Not sure I agree with it. Needs evidence-based discussion.
Coronavirus Overtakes Ninjas As Top Invisible Enemy [The Babylon Bee]
What makes coronavirus even worse than ninjas, according to Trump, is that there is currently no known defense against it, while the defense against ninjas is well known (train with monks for a decade in the mountains to learn the secrets of martial arts).
This is of course satire but no dumber than things 45 actually says.
Thanks, @chet!
The week before the shutdown here in San Diego I went to two social events – which is a lot for me – and surprised myself how much I enjoyed them.
Days before the shutdown I said to myself, “I think my time as a recluse is over. I need to join community associations and clubs and get out more and socialize.”
So the pandemic is my fault. My bad.
Ben Affleck Smoked A Cigarette While Wearing A Face Mask So Here Are The Pics [Lauren Yapalater/BuzzFeed]
He’s one of my favorite actors and directors and I’m sorry to say this but Ben Affleck is kind of an idiot isn’t he?
Navy recommends reinstating captain of coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier [Amanda Macias/CNBC]
Opening a can if wildly corroded Spider-Man pasta [Twitter/DinosaurDracula]
Today on Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic
++ A GoFundMe to save NYC’s Forbidden Planet store.
++ “A labradoodle breeder is in charge of America’s vaccines: An actual labradoodle could do a better job.”
++ “Inject disinfectant:” Even when faced with ridiculous objections to scientific fact, such as climate change, journalists feel the need for dangerous both-siderism.
++ “Masks work: Lasers reveal your revolting, spittle-flecked utterances.”
++ “US telcoms sector isn’t doing better than Europe’s: Net Neutrality’s murderers want you to believe they saved the American internet.”
++ “Amazon uses its sellers' data to figure out which products to clone: And they lied to Congress about it.”
++ “Facebook let advertisers target ‘pseudoscience’ and ‘conspiracy’:” This uses the same algorithm that previously allowed advertisers to target “jew-haters.”
++ “Security expert conned out of $10,000: If you think you’re too smart to get phished…. "
I miss going to the grocery store to buy three things
I’d realize I was out of apples or coffee, and then I’d go to the store and buy that and maybe two other things and that was my errand.
Related: I miss having apples every day. I now have apples most days but I do not want to risk going to the store often enough to allow me to have apples every day. I’ve been out of apples several days now, but on deadline so don’t have time for a grocery run.
Can the coronavirus be spread through farts? [Eric Hegedus/NYPost]
Australian doctors aren’t sure whether farting spreads coronavirus, and advise restraining from bare-bottom farting and farting when close to other people.
Which begs the question whether bare-bottom farting and farting close to other people has previously been common practice in Australia?
I know I have several Australian social media friends and I would appreciate enlightenment on this subject.
How close are we to breaking encryption with quantum computing? [Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols/InsiderPro]
Not very, but we need to be ready when it happens.