Category Archives: Fail!

‘He’s an idiot’: critics say Trump has failed the US in this test of reassurance | World news | The Guardian

Perhaps Trump’s greatest blunder was turning down the offer of a German-made diagnostic test approved by the World Health Organization and taken up by many countries. The US government’s own painfully slow progress led to a nationwide shortage of test kits at the most critical moment. It was reported that just 11,000 tests have been conducted in America so far, whereas South Korea is carrying out 10,000 tests per day.

Source: ‘He’s an idiot’: critics say Trump has failed the US in this test of reassurance | World news | The Guardian

Trump Declares State of Emergency For Coronavirus, Screws It Up

But perhaps the most galling moment of the entire sordid affair—aside from Trump’s hesitation to get tested for coronavirus despite having interacted with people who have tested positive for the illness in recent weeks—was a moment between Trump and PBS Newshour White House Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor. Alcindor asked Trump whether he feels responsible for the United States’ slow response time regarding coronavirus testing, given the fact that his administration disbanded several Obama-era disease security programs, including an office in the White House dedicated to pandemics. Trump called Alcindor’s question “nasty.”

Source: Trump Declares State of Emergency For Coronavirus, Screws It Up

Travelers From Coronavirus Hot Spots Say They Faced No Screening – The New York Times

Maggie McDow, 46, said she had swollen glands when she landed at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, one of the airports where travelers who have recently been in China or Iran are being funneled. Ms. McDow had flown from London, but before that, she had stopped in South Korea, a coronavirus hot spot. Ms. McDow said she heard plenty of instructions from airport officials for those feeling ill in airports abroad. But when she reached the United States, she said, “There was none of that.” A customs officer stamped her passport, and she was on her way.

Opinion | Trump’s Coronavirus Emergency – The New York Times

It should not have had to take a deadly virus to expose this presidency for what it is. But it’s fitting that it has. A man who thinks he can twist every truth to suit his needs has at last discovered that he cannot twist the truths of nature and of one of nature’s gods. Her name remains Nemesis.

Trump didn’t fail to insert his favorite catchphrase into his speech on Wednesday. As usual, it managed to combine jingoism with bad policy. Instead of boasting, he could have learned from South Korea how to test better. Instead of trying to talk down the threat, he could have learned from Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu to speak about it far more honestly. Instead of offering rosy guesses of what the ultimate case fatality rate might be, he could have learned from Germany’s Angela Merkel to teach Americans some sobering math.

Up to 10,000 infected with coronavirus in UK as Boris Johnson steps up response – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Ten years of gutting healthcare system ends up killing people

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson issues a stark warning to the nation, saying more lives will be lost, and the peak of infections may still be weeks away.

Source: Up to 10,000 infected with coronavirus in UK as Boris Johnson steps up response – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Neither Human Nor Ghost: Chinese Immigrants Scrape By In San Gabriel Valley’s Boarding Houses

Many ‘boarding house’ residents are low-wage Chinese workers new to the U.S. They live among rats, roaches and dangerous conditions to earn a living.
— Read on laist.com/projects/2020/sgv-boarding-houses/

LA Times trying to relight “Yellow Peril” fears of turn of last century California? Sham and shame journalism 🤬