Debunking the myth of Wall Street’s importance

The stock market has been on a roller coaster ride these last few weeks as downward pressure due to fears of the negative global impact of the pandemic competes with governmental policies to boost the economy, with the former seeming to be winning, resulting in a net steep plunge since mid-February as the reality of the situation sank in.

Back on March 18, Jon Schwarz speculated as to whether the economic crisis might finally rid us of the fantasy that the stock market tells us something real and useful about the nature of the economy.
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Just what we need, religious crackpots influencing coronavirus policy

The presence and influence of religious nutcases at the highest levels of government is reaching alarming levels. Lee Fang writes about a minister who has the ear of top government officials.

RALPH DROLLINGER, a minister who leads a weekly Bible study group for President Donald Trump’s cabinet, released a new interpretation of the coronavirus pandemic this week, arguing that the crisis represents an act of God’s judgment.

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The Drollinger-led Bible study meets every Wednesday morning with members of Trump’s cabinet, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and Health Secretary Alex Azar. Carson and Azar, notably, are members of the coronavirus task force guiding the federal government response to the pandemic.
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At least 52 GOP lawmakers also participate in a Capitol Hill version of Drollinger’s Bible study, which meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sponsors of the event include House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the second-ranking GOP lawmaker in the Senate.

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Idiot preacher arrested and charged for violating distancing guidelines

A Florida evangelical church leader who still held services in his church despite being told not to has been arrested.

A Florida pastor who refused to stop holding crowded church services was arrested after officials said he flouted emergency orders against public gatherings to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Florida officials said they had repeatedly reached out to Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne and staff at the River at Tampa Bay Church, asking them not to hold in-person services for fear it could expose parishioners to the virus. But the pastor continued to hold services Sunday.

“His reckless disregard for human life put hundreds of people in his congregation at risk, and thousands of residents who interact with them this week in danger,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said at a press conference.
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Arming the left

There are several arguments given for gun ownership and each reason favors a particular type of gun. Some people may feel they need them for self-defense because they live in places they think are dangerous or are particularly fearful for their safety. Other use them for hunting. The ones that cause the most controversy are the high-powered, fast-action ones like the AR-15 or the AK-47 that can fire many rounds very rapidly and thus can cause many deaths in a short time. These weapons are primarily designed for military uses.

The debate over guns in the US, like most things, tends to be split along left-right lines. Those who oppose pretty much any restrictions of the right to own and carry and use guns of all types tend to be on the political right. The National Rifle Association is the group most publicly identified with this hardline position but I learned that there is another group called the Gun Owners of America that takes an even harder line and boasts that it is “The only non-compromise lobby in Washington”.
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China is sending medical supplies to the US

China has started shipping planeloads of medical equipment to the US to help cope with the pandemic. That country has created new factories to produce these supplies even as their domestic needs wane.

“China has abundant protective equipment now, and the rest of the world has a huge shortage,” said James McGregor, the chairman of greater China for APCO Worldwide.
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The White House is arranging for air transport to help expedite the shipping of personal protective equipment purchased by these companies overseas, the spokesman said, adding that both FEMA and the State Department were helping support the effort.
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Seth Meyers talks to Bernie Sanders

Sanders is the first guest that Meyers has had since the show went into its new production mode with no audience and people working from home. Sanders explains why his proposal of Medicare For All would have made a world of difference to how the country would have responded to this pandemic.

Dammit, when I hear Sanders speak so clearly about the problems and how they should be addressed and compare that to the wishy-washy responses of Joe Biden, I am depressed that Biden is in the lead for the Democratic nomination to take on the ignorant self-serving Donald Trump.

Understanding exponential growth during the pandemic

I recently posted a link to a more easily understandable display of Covid-19 infections and deaths for every country. (Incidentally its creator, a high school student, had a brief profile written about him in the latest issue of The New Yorker.) But one thing it lacked was the ability to visualize the differential rates of growth in each country over time to better enable us to understand how the disease is spreading and what is meant when people say that one region lags behind another by so many days, and how to know if containment methods are successful.
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Trump has exposed the soft underbelly of American politics and institutions

George Packer writes that the Trump presidency has exposed how brittle are the institutions that people thought formed the solid basis of this country’s democracy. He looks at the factors that led to this state and says that those who believed that they and the institutions they served could serve as a counterbalance to Trump completely underestimated the fact that he thought of the government as if it were a private company and he was the owner and thus they had to do whatever he said.
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