Binyamin Netanyahu wins a plurality, but maybe not a majority

Israel

The Washington Post story is based on exit polling so some uncertainty remains as to the size of Binyamin Netanyahu’s plurality in the Knesset.[1] To be honest, I was expecting final results by now.

Steve Hendrix and Ruth Eglash, “Netanyahu scores comeback in Israeli election, still short of outright majority,” Washington Post, March 2, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-election-netanyahu-gantz/2020/03/02/24f1aeee-5993-11ea-8efd-0f904bdd8057_story.html


Coronavirus

The mortality rate with coronavirus had previously been reported as 2.3 percent.[2] It is now 3.4 percent.[3]

Richard Read, Soumya Karlamangla, and Colleen Shalby, “Coronavirus deaths in U.S. increase as officials send alarms about spread,” Los Angeles Times, March 3, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-03/six-dead-coronavirus-kirkland-seattle-california-cases


Michael Bloomberg

Sarah Jones has all the dirt on Michael Bloomberg, not just the dirt in the headline.[4] I guess it wasn’t quite what I was expecting from a highbrow publication, but on the other hand, maybe nobody quite hates New Yorkers like other New Yorkers. Which I’m thinking makes this a must-read for everybody else.

Sarah Jones, “Michael Bloomberg Repeatedly Blamed Homeowners for the Recession,” New York, March 2, 2020, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/03/bloomberg-absolved-banks-blamed-homeowners-for-recession.html


Bernie Sanders

Remember that self-fulfilling prophesy I mentioned in which Bernie Sanders can’t win because people don’t believe he can win?[5] Adam Gopnik gives it voice and offers some rich context to the controversy.[6] That doesn’t mean I agree with Gopnik. But his writing gives me something substantive to think about and frankly, something to wish—not that it’s possible—Sanders had a better answer for.

Adam Gopnik, “Learning to Love Bernie Sanders, or Trying To,” New Yorker, March 3, 2020, https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/learning-to-love-bernie-sanders-or-trying-to


Super Tuesday

I’m intentionally holding off on today’s results which are just beginning to trickle in as this issue goes to publication. So far, it looks like Joe Biden is doing well. But I’ll look at this tomorrow.


  1. [1]Steve Hendrix and Ruth Eglash, “Netanyahu scores comeback in Israeli election, still short of outright majority,” Washington Post, March 2, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-election-netanyahu-gantz/2020/03/02/24f1aeee-5993-11ea-8efd-0f904bdd8057_story.html
  2. [2]Stephanie Soucheray, “Study of 72,000 COVID-19 patients finds 2.3% death rate,” University of Minnesota, February 24, 2020, http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/02/study-72000-covid-19-patients-finds-23-death-rate
  3. [3]Richard Read, Soumya Karlamangla, and Colleen Shalby, “Coronavirus deaths in U.S. increase as officials send alarms about spread,” Los Angeles Times, March 3, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-03/six-dead-coronavirus-kirkland-seattle-california-cases
  4. [4]Sarah Jones, “Michael Bloomberg Repeatedly Blamed Homeowners for the Recession,” New York, March 2, 2020, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/03/bloomberg-absolved-banks-blamed-homeowners-for-recession.html
  5. [5]David Benfell, “What catches my eye about the Nevada caucuses results,” Irregular Bullshit, February 23, 2020, https://disunitedstates.com/2020/02/23/what-catches-my-eye-about-the-nevada-caucuses-results/
  6. [6]Adam Gopnik, “Learning to Love Bernie Sanders, or Trying To,” New Yorker, March 3, 2020, https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/learning-to-love-bernie-sanders-or-trying-to

Coronavirus shows how Joe Biden is the wrong answer

Updates

  1. Originally published, March 3, 9:57 am.
  2. March 3, 11:12 am:
    • The Washington Post has a story reinforcing how capitalist health care is a problem with coronavirus.

The so-called two-party system

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Fig. 1. Downloaded from Twitter on March 3, 2020, posted by a non-public user, probably on March 2.

There is a new blog post entitled, “Joe Biden and justice delayed.”


Coronavirus

It appears that when I wrote yesterday that “This is no way to handle an epidemic, let alone one that may become a pandemic,”[1] I badly understated it:

Which is to say that people who actually know what they’re doing will be fighting the delusional raging narcissist-in-chief, who thinks he knows more than they do, and his sycophants every step of the way.

This is mitigated somewhat by the fact that a large majority of people won’t die from it (the risk seems highest for the elderly, aged 70 and above, and for those with acute respiratory distress syndrome),[2] and indeed that some will experience only mild symptoms.[3]

The real lesson is this:

For all the hype, coronavirus really isn’t all that bad unless you’re already critically ill.[4] The question is really about what happens when something more serious comes along:

  • Capitalist medicine hinders rather than helps.[5]
  • Neoliberal employment policies, in which “efficiency” is defined as low labor cost, such as those the gig economy depends upon, hinder rather than help.[6]
  • People in charge should care more about taking care of people than about taking care of the stock market.[7]

But yeah, we’re going to elect Joe Biden, who might address exactly one of these issues. Fuck that.

Amy Goldstein, “Worries about medical bills and lost pay may hamper coronavirus efforts in the United States,” Washington Post, March 2, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/worries-about-medical-bills-and-lost-pay-may-hamper-coronavirus-efforts-in-the-united-states/2020/03/02/75825be0-5c9c-11ea-9055-5fa12981bbbf_story.html


  1. [1]David Benfell, “Fucking up coronavirus,” March 2, 2020, https://disunitedstates.com/2020/03/02/fucking-up-coronavirus/
  2. [2]Stephanie Soucheray, “Study of 72,000 COVID-19 patients finds 2.3% death rate,” University of Minnesota, February 24, 2020, http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/02/study-72000-covid-19-patients-finds-23-death-rate
  3. [3]Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Summary,” February 29, 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/summary.html
  4. [4]Stephanie Soucheray, “Study of 72,000 COVID-19 patients finds 2.3% death rate,” University of Minnesota, February 24, 2020, http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/02/study-72000-covid-19-patients-finds-23-death-rate
  5. [5]Amy Goldstein, “Worries about medical bills and lost pay may hamper coronavirus efforts in the United States,” Washington Post, March 2, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/worries-about-medical-bills-and-lost-pay-may-hamper-coronavirus-efforts-in-the-united-states/2020/03/02/75825be0-5c9c-11ea-9055-5fa12981bbbf_story.html
  6. [6]Amy Goldstein, “Worries about medical bills and lost pay may hamper coronavirus efforts in the United States,” Washington Post, March 2, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/worries-about-medical-bills-and-lost-pay-may-hamper-coronavirus-efforts-in-the-united-states/2020/03/02/75825be0-5c9c-11ea-9055-5fa12981bbbf_story.html; Nitasha Tiku, “Gig workers face the spread of the new coronavirus with no safety net,” Washington Post, February 29, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/02/29/gig-workers-face-spread-new-coronavirus-with-no-safety-net/
  7. [7]Dana Milbank, “For Trump, a reckoning has come,” Washington Post, February 28, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/28/trump-reckoning-has-come/; Paul Waldman, “How coronavirus has deeply flummoxed conservative media,” Washington Post, February 28, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/28/how-coronavirus-has-deeply-flummuxed-conservative-media/