We are #COVIDIOTS

Updates

  1. Originally published, June 24, 1:58 pm.
  2. June 24, 4:54 pm:
    • The Dow Jones Industrial Averages fell 709 points on news of a spike in COVID-19 cases.[1]

      “Wishful thinking has given way to practical reality when it comes to Covid-19,” said Daniel P. Wiener, chairman of Adviser Investments. “Warm weather and a reduction in the rate of deaths does not give people the right to go out and party. They partied, the market partied and the hangover begins.”[2]

      This is the kind of news that might get the delusional raging narcissist-in-chief’s attention but what about the rest of the idiots?


Pandemic

There’s simply no excuse for what I’m seeing here. Sorry.

Sure, the government should have done more to help people comply with the lockdown—I’ve made that point repeatedly.[3] But you can’t blame the behavior I’m seeing in Pittsburgh[4] on the lockdown, because the lockdown is all but over.[5] People are choosing to be stupid, it’s not just Pittsburgh, and we’re seeing spikes in cases because of it.[6] And Europe, notably, sees that.[7]

Lauran Neergaard and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, “Fauci: Next few weeks critical to tamping down virus spikes,” Associated Press, June 23, 2020, copy in possession of author [You can click on this for now, but the Associated Press generally does not maintain stories on its site indefinitely; the link is likely to expire.]

Lisa Shumaker and Sharon Bernstein, “Washington state makes face masks mandatory as some states see new coronavirus surge,” Reuters, June 23, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa/washington-state-makes-face-masks-mandatory-as-some-states-see-new-coronavirus-surge-idUSKBN23U2QT

John Shumway, “‘People Don’t Care’: Recent Jump In Allegheny County Coronavirus Cases Linked To People In Their 20s, 30s,” KDKA, June 23, 2020, https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/06/23/jump-in-allegheny-county-coronavirus-cases-linked-to-young-people/

British Broadcasting Corporation, “Coronavirus: EU considers barring Americans from travel list,” June 24, 2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53161447

Thomas Heath and Hamza Shaban, “Dow tumbles more than 700 points as surge in coronavirus cases rattles investors,” Washington Post, June 24, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/06/24/dow-tumbles-more-than-700-points-surge-coronavirus-cases-rattles-investors/

Claire Lampen, Hannah Gold, and Amanda Arnold, “Everything to Know About the Coronavirus in the United States,” Cut, June 24, 2020, https://www.thecut.com/2020/06/which-states-have-coronavirus-and-how-do-you-minimize-risk.html


The car

The good news is that the “Check Hybrid System” indication had cleared when the dealer looked at the car this morning. They did see that it had thrown a code when they checked the history but they don’t know what that code was, so the bad news is that whatever the cause was, it hasn’t been identified. It likely still lurks.


  1. [1]Thomas Heath and Hamza Shaban, “Dow tumbles more than 700 points as surge in coronavirus cases rattles investors,” Washington Post, June 24, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/06/24/dow-tumbles-more-than-700-points-surge-coronavirus-cases-rattles-investors/
  2. [2]Thomas Heath and Hamza Shaban, “Dow tumbles more than 700 points as surge in coronavirus cases rattles investors,” Washington Post, June 24, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/06/24/dow-tumbles-more-than-700-points-surge-coronavirus-cases-rattles-investors/
  3. [3]David Benfell, “As we cower in our apartments,” Not Housebroken, April 6, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/04/06/as-we-cower-in-our-apartments/; David Benfell, “Yet again, a season for cynicism,” Not Housebroken, May 10, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/05/10/yet-again-a-season-for-cynicism/; David Benfell, “Endorsing a giant meteor strike in 2020,” Not Housebroken, June 22, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/06/22/endorsing-a-giant-meteor-strike-in-2020/
  4. [4]John Shumway, “‘People Don’t Care’: Recent Jump In Allegheny County Coronavirus Cases Linked To People In Their 20s, 30s,” KDKA, June 23, 2020, https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/06/23/jump-in-allegheny-county-coronavirus-cases-linked-to-young-people/
  5. [5]Jamie Martines, “Gov. Wolf to move Allegheny, Westmoreland, other counties to green phase,” Tribune-Review, May 29, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/regional/gov-wolf-to-move-allegheny-westmoreland-other-counties-to-green-phase/; WPXI, “16 more Pa. counties going green next Friday, Gov. Wolf says,” May 29, 2020, https://www.wpxi.com/news/top-stories/9-local-counties-move-into-green-phase-next-week/SVG7FMAIZ5AX3CXJMNXJBQR234/
  6. [6]Claire Lampen, Hannah Gold, and Amanda Arnold, “Everything to Know About the Coronavirus in the United States,” Cut, June 24, 2020, https://www.thecut.com/2020/06/which-states-have-coronavirus-and-how-do-you-minimize-risk.html; Lauran Neergaard and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, “Fauci: Next few weeks critical to tamping down virus spikes,” Associated Press, June 23, 2020, copy in possession of author; Lisa Shumaker and Sharon Bernstein, “Washington state makes face masks mandatory as some states see new coronavirus surge,” Reuters, June 23, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa/washington-state-makes-face-masks-mandatory-as-some-states-see-new-coronavirus-surge-idUSKBN23U2QT
  7. [7]British Broadcasting Corporation, “Coronavirus: EU considers barring Americans from travel list,” June 24, 2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53161447

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