Tweet of the Week – April 3, 2020
Filed under News
Worst Quote of the Week – April 3, 2020
“I think we have a responsibility to our students – who paid to be here, who want to be here, who love it here – to give them the ability to be with their friends, to continue their studies, enjoy the room and board they’ve already paid for and to not interrupt their college life.”
– Jerry Falwell, Jr., on why he kept Liberty University open, despite the COVID-19 crisis.
As some 5,000 students returned from spring break, Falwell defied the national trend of closing campuses and ordered faculty to return to their offices, even as classes moved to online forums. Within a week, COVID-19 began showing up among some Liberty students. In some way, I really don’t have much sympathy for anyone at Liberty. It’s founder, the late Jerry Falwell, Sr., was one of the worst bigots this country ever produced. After the 9/11 catastrophe, for example, he blamed the usual cadre of un-wantables: feminists, gays, environmentalists, etc. He was also among the gang of right-wing assholes who declared that AIDS came directly from the “Hand of God.” At one time, many years ago, Liberty would not allow interracial “dating” and access to handicapped individuals. They may have changed their stance on those matters, but their early 1900s, Neanderthal-style reputation speaks for their ignorance.
I keep thinking, if people like those at Liberty refuse to accept the dire warnings associated with the COVID-19 scare and end up getting sick and dying, that’s fine with me. The fewer morons among us, the better! As we say in Texas, ‘You can’t fix stupid.’
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Best Quote of the Week – April 3, 2020
“Donald Trump rose to power with the determined assistance of a movement that denies science, bashes government and prioritized loyalty over professional expertise. In the current crisis, we are all reaping what that movement has sown.”
– Katherine Stewart, on how President Trump’s response to the pandemic has been haunted by the science denialism of his religious-right allies.
Filed under News
The Chief’s Most Valuable Possessions
My father’s urn
My mother’s official wedding portrait from 1959, along with other old family photos
The box containing my dog’s ashes
My computers, including this 10-year-old desktop
My cell phone
My vast collection of books
My model car collection
Music CDs
My library of National Geographic magazines that stretch back nearly 80 years
Wine and other spirits
My stash of adult DVDs
And finally…
Who would’ve thought?! At the start of the third decade of the 21st century, this shit would become a coveted item!
Filed under Wolf Tales
From a Lone Perch Above the City
Some Italian citizens – as perhaps only Italians could – reacted to a recent COVID-19 quarantine with music and song. Until March 26, Italy had experienced the most confirmed coronavirus cases outside of China. Initially, Italian government shut down the northern half of the country – but eventually, the entire nation fell to lock-down commands. Isolated in their homes, several talented individuals retrieved musical instruments and their voices to sing to the quiet air. The results have been magical – and have been spreading faster than the virus.
Filed under Art Working
Retro Quote – Eleanor Roosevelt
“You have to accept whatever comes, and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt
Filed under History
Photo of the Week – March 27, 2020
Dr. Anthony Fauci, at a White House press briefing on March 22, reacts to the incorrigible Donald Trump.
“I’ve been telling the president things he doesn’t want to hear,” Fauci declared. “I have publicly had to say something different with what he states,” explaining that he’s engaged in “risky business” but insisting that Trump is not and has not been “pissed off” at him to date. “I don’t want to embarrass him,” Fauci added.
Thankfully, Fauci doesn’t have to worry about embarrassing Trump. The President does a good job of that all by himself.
Filed under News
Tweet of the Week – March 27, 2020
“How long is this social distancing supposed to last? My husband keeps trying to get into the house.”
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Worst Quote of the Week – March 27, 2020
“Am I crazy, or are they crazy? Could I be right, and Harvard and all these CDC guys be wrong? Yeah, because they’re all conventional. They don’t talk about how you can keep yourself from getting sick … Why don’t you just not get it [the coronavirus]? Why don’t you just stay healthy?”
– Dr. Steve Hotze, a religious-right activist offering the view of a “medical professional who also has a Christian worldview” about how best to respond to the current COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.
Filed under News
Best Quote of the Week – March 27, 2020
“You’ve got to be realistic. And you’ve got to understand that you don’t make the timeline, the virus makes the timeline.”
– Dr. Anthony Fauci, on CNN’s “Prime Time”, on suggestions by Donald Trump that businesses return to normal operations by Easter.
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