Back story: Because Taiwan is not part of the UN, it is also not part of the WHO. Depending on the political winds, it is often not even permitted observer status. This was really dangerous when SARS tore through Asia, because Taiwan didn't have access to important public health information and resources. Like many other Asian countries, Taiwan learned from the SARS crisis and ramped up preparations for future epidemics.
In late 2019, Taiwan's public health officials got wind of a contagious disease seeming to originate from Wuhan and began to respond. This response included screening travelers, spending the money to have factories focus on mask production, and reporting what they were seeing to the WHO. As it turns out, that information stopped at the WHO. You can understand how deadly that delay has been for other parts of the world.
Now: The Director General of the WHO, Dr. Tedros, said he's been the subject of racist attacks. He said it was from Taiwan and further specified the "foreign ministry." It's quite possible that he's been receiving racist attacks. There are a lot of terrible people using the internet. Some of those terrible people might even be Taiwanese. But, at no time has the Taiwanese government attacked him!
As for the hashtag, well, I guess now there are many "attacks" coming from Taiwan. If you click, though, you'll find pictures of delicious food and cool scenery...and masks that Taiwan is donating to the rest of the world.
Plenty of good falafel in Egypt. Also, there's Bongo Burger in Berkeley. I like koshari as well. Had some great koshari at the foot of Mt. Sinai when I was there.
Ha. I was wearing my neon orange Gus's Fried Chicken T-shirt yesterday. My wife hates that t-shirt and often says "it'd be a shame if that shirt just disappeared".
I forgot who suggested it but my coworkers and I went to L'As du Fallafel in Paris and it was amazing. The best falafels I've had, though I guess I don't get it that often.
I haven't been in several years, but I've been to Ann Arbor a couple times. The football stadium at the University of Michigan is huuuuuge. And Zingerman's is delicious.
Got an update about my two friends who are hospitalized with CV19. The husband is now on life support. The wife is sedated and on a ventilator.
His kids apparently have medical authority and now must decide if/when to take him off life support. I don't know how 20 and 18-year old girls cope with that decision.
I am fucking gutted. He is only a few years older than me and I've known him for nearly 20 years.
I vividly remember a moment from 16 years ago, sitting with my wife at a mall restaurant that overlooked the open area of Great World City mall. He was shopping with his two daughters, who were around 2 & 4 at the time. He was trying to shop and the kids were on little scooters. Kids of that age get distracted by anything and everything. My wife and I ordered, ate, and paid for our meal watching him and his daughters try to cross this little rotunda - perhaps only 100 feet wide. There was playing in planters, scootering, crying, laughing, playing and general shenanigans. It literally took 45 minutes for him to cross the rotunda with his kids. Whereas I would have eventually lost my patience, he took it all in stride with grace and patience.
And that's how I'll forever remember him, the smiling man who was full of grace even when he thought nobody was watching. I can't fucking believe I'll never see him again.
My anger toward those who treat this as nothing short of a national emergency has kicked up to a white hot level. These are real people losing their lives and now it has killed one of my friends. Fuck Donald Trump. Fuck all those who see this a political game. They have blood on their hands and I will never, ever, ever forgive them.
I'm really sorry to hear about your friend. What I don't get is there are so many people that have friends/family members that are dying due to this and they aren't holding trump responsible.
Yeah, I'm sorry. We got lucky at my work in that I decided to keep some of my unneeded hiring budget around for no real reason and managed to use it to save one of our contractors whose contract ended in March.
Oh, this is the game where an Oregon receiver dropped a wide-open pass on fourth down that might have continued a game winning drive for them, but instead Cal won by a point.
It pisses me off that, while Republicans might make public claims that they dislike Trump, they all fall in line with the party, whereas you've STILL got Sanders-Clinton camp bickering in fucking 2020. Are most (if not all) political candidates problematic? Sure. But to equate ANY of them with Donald Trump is missing the forest for the trees.
#ThisAttackCameFromTaiwan https://twitter.com/hashtag/ThisAttackComeFromTaiwan
I'm missing something...
Back story: Because Taiwan is not part of the UN, it is also not part of the WHO. Depending on the political winds, it is often not even permitted observer status. This was really dangerous when SARS tore through Asia, because Taiwan didn't have access to important public health information and resources. Like many other Asian countries, Taiwan learned from the SARS crisis and ramped up preparations for future epidemics.
In late 2019, Taiwan's public health officials got wind of a contagious disease seeming to originate from Wuhan and began to respond. This response included screening travelers, spending the money to have factories focus on mask production, and reporting what they were seeing to the WHO. As it turns out, that information stopped at the WHO. You can understand how deadly that delay has been for other parts of the world.
This whole time, Taiwan has continued to be barred from the WHO. A reporter from Hong Kong brought up Taiwan while interviewing a WHO representative, which led to this weird moment: https://twitter.com/studioincendo/status/1243909358133473285?s=20
Now: The Director General of the WHO, Dr. Tedros, said he's been the subject of racist attacks. He said it was from Taiwan and further specified the "foreign ministry." It's quite possible that he's been receiving racist attacks. There are a lot of terrible people using the internet. Some of those terrible people might even be Taiwanese. But, at no time has the Taiwanese government attacked him!
This talks about the Taiwanese government's response to his comments: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/taiwan-rejects-who-chiefs-claim-of-campaign-against-him-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/2020/04/09/ab1c8e8a-7a0e-11ea-a311-adb1344719a9_story.html
As for the hashtag, well, I guess now there are many "attacks" coming from Taiwan. If you click, though, you'll find pictures of delicious food and cool scenery...and masks that Taiwan is donating to the rest of the world.
Well, that explains that. Weird that Taiwan finds itself out of WHO; that's not logical (I know why, but it's dumb)
I like delicious food.
ATTACK! https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/12814690_10105062731537223_8361274322797317664_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&_nc_sid=e007fa&_nc_ohc=zpbn5B7rn14AX9iOBLJ&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=ff0500aa37a12c522ae37f90d4316912&oe=5EB5128B
Cal got a QB commit...Millner from AZ
I'm guessing Millner means no Miller
looking to take 2 so who knows. Miller is an enigma anyway
Is it a hard 'n'?
Plenty of good falafel in Egypt. Also, there's Bongo Burger in Berkeley. I like koshari as well. Had some great koshari at the foot of Mt. Sinai when I was there.
Oakland is getting a Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken!
https://hoodline.com/2020/04/oakland-eats-tennessee-based-fried-chicken-chain-headed-to-oakland-buongiorno-express-closes-more
Yum. I'm going to have to check it out. I did like World Famous HotBoy's at the end of San Pablo.
Ha. I was wearing my neon orange Gus's Fried Chicken T-shirt yesterday. My wife hates that t-shirt and often says "it'd be a shame if that shirt just disappeared".
NOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOM
Someday, I might disagree with Sherrod Brown, but that day is not today
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/senator-sherrod-brown-trump-coronavirus-joe-biden-bernie-sanders-980439/
Flass, I have kids to feed.
--What, they don't like falafel?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abZtG3OrfVY
I forgot who suggested it but my coworkers and I went to L'As du Fallafel in Paris and it was amazing. The best falafels I've had, though I guess I don't get it that often.
Yay! I made the suggestion, but others may have done so as well!
My wife makes great falafels, but she doesn't make it very often as: A) it's a lot of work and B) only lasts one night
They were tasty, but they made me sick.
(technically it was probably their chicken shawerma that made me sick, not the falafels)
I got the shawrma as well but didn't get sick. We got falafels for the table and they were so good.
Birthdays
Mrs Slug completes another revolution about the sun.
Famous people born this day -
1336 - Tamerlane (d. 1405)
1821 - Charles-Pierre Baudelaire, French poet (d. 1867)
1835 - Leopold II, King of Belgium (d. 1909)
1865 - Charles Proteus Steinmetz, German-American electrical engineer famous for development of alternating current (d. 1923)
1889 - Efram Zimbalist, Russian composer and violinist (d. 1985)
1898 - Curly Lambeau, founder and first coach of the Green Bay Packers (d. 1965)
1898 - Paul Robeson, American singer, actor and civil rights activist (d. 1976)
1903 - Ward Bond, American actor (d. 1960)
1905 - J. William Fulbright, US Senator from Arkansas (d. 1995)
1910 - Abraham Ribicoff, US Senator from Connecticut (d. 1998)
1928 - Tom Lehrer, American musician, satirist, and mathematician
1933 - Jean-Paul Belmondo, French actor
1957 - Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer (d. 2011)
1963 - Joe Scarborough, American TV personality
1965 - Jeff Zucker, American TV executive
1966 - Cynthia Nixon, American actress
Happy Birthday! Also it's interesting that no one of note has been born since 1966.
That's a good general rule.
OK boomer
I am a member of the greatest generation, Generation X. We are fucking amazing at this whole SIP thing.
That's all well and good, but your comment merited the response I gave 😛
We Gen Xers are great, I will concur with that.
Happy birthday to Mrs. Slug!
Also my friend Dee.
Michigan
The Big House is on my list...
Now that we've added games at ND, Florida, and Wyoming. I'd like to see Michigan next. Maybe Clemson.
yep, along with the requisite Unofficial Cal Tailgate!
of course.
At least they're not Ohio
I don't give a damn for the whole state
The only state where I got a parking ticket, contest it online and won.
I haven't been in several years, but I've been to Ann Arbor a couple times. The football stadium at the University of Michigan is huuuuuge. And Zingerman's is delicious.
++ on Zingerman's
Today in Coronavirus
https://twitter.com/billclitton/status/1248009462293483520?s=20
@billclitton: my landlord just left a list of homeless shelters on our doors
God, these people are so stupid
Got an update about my two friends who are hospitalized with CV19. The husband is now on life support. The wife is sedated and on a ventilator.
His kids apparently have medical authority and now must decide if/when to take him off life support. I don't know how 20 and 18-year old girls cope with that decision.
I am fucking gutted. He is only a few years older than me and I've known him for nearly 20 years.
I vividly remember a moment from 16 years ago, sitting with my wife at a mall restaurant that overlooked the open area of Great World City mall. He was shopping with his two daughters, who were around 2 & 4 at the time. He was trying to shop and the kids were on little scooters. Kids of that age get distracted by anything and everything. My wife and I ordered, ate, and paid for our meal watching him and his daughters try to cross this little rotunda - perhaps only 100 feet wide. There was playing in planters, scootering, crying, laughing, playing and general shenanigans. It literally took 45 minutes for him to cross the rotunda with his kids. Whereas I would have eventually lost my patience, he took it all in stride with grace and patience.
And that's how I'll forever remember him, the smiling man who was full of grace even when he thought nobody was watching. I can't fucking believe I'll never see him again.
My anger toward those who treat this as nothing short of a national emergency has kicked up to a white hot level. These are real people losing their lives and now it has killed one of my friends. Fuck Donald Trump. Fuck all those who see this a political game. They have blood on their hands and I will never, ever, ever forgive them.
oh no. very sad to learn about your dear friends, esp for their girls. I'm so sorry you're dealing with this pain.
You have certainly come in for more than your share of grief from this. Sorry for all that!
I'm so sorry. That is a lovely story about your friend, and I thank you for sharing some of his goodness and light with us.
I'm sorry to hear this. I simply can't imagine what the daughters must be confronting and how awful it is. Words seem so inadequate now.
Absolutely horrible situation, really sorry to hear this.
Oh my gosh, I am so so sorry to hear about your friend and his family. What a godawful situation.
That's terrible. I'm really sorry to hear that.
I hope a large part of the country starts to realize how preventable much of this was, hopefully in time for the November election.
I'm really sorry to hear about your friend. What I don't get is there are so many people that have friends/family members that are dying due to this and they aren't holding trump responsible.
Economy today
6.6m jobless claims this week. Previous week's revised up 0.2m to 6.9m.
Unemployment rate up nearly 11 percentage points over the past 3 weeks.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/09/weekly-jobless-claims-report.html
That is a sobering chart: https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/106481991-158643568444320200409_ui_claims_april_4_v2.png?v=1586435698&w=740&h=416
ugh.
well that sucks
:(
Yeah, I'm sorry. We got lucky at my work in that I decided to keep some of my unneeded hiring budget around for no real reason and managed to use it to save one of our contractors whose contract ended in March.
That's good to hear. I partially take back my ugh. Did you end up finding a new job?
That's good that you have opportunities. Are they local or would you need to move?
CAL
ESPNU is replaying No. 4 Cal vs. Oregon football 2004 right. Just started the 2nd half. Aaron Rodgers and Marshawn Lynch on the same team!
Oh, this is the game where an Oregon receiver dropped a wide-open pass on fourth down that might have continued a game winning drive for them, but instead Cal won by a point.
That's the one! Hit him right in the numbers!
I was surprised how tense I was rewatching this game, even though I knew the outcome.
I was also surprised by how great JJ Arrington was, and Marshawn was just a freshman change-of-pace back.
The announcers also kept talking about how Cal was in a good position to make the Rose Bowl, should both USC and Cal win out... :(
too soon
Always
Go Bears!
MBB: (Flashback)
Feb 1, 2014: #1 Arizona @ Cal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbgDp_T2wJE
I was there!!! 😃 😃 😃
So were we!!! Such an exciting game.
It's up there with beating ASU to clinch the Pac-10 championship back in 2010.
Honestly, I think it's better; place was sold-out, the crowd was hella loud, the game was a nail-bitter, and they were ranked #1
PRO
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
It pisses me off that, while Republicans might make public claims that they dislike Trump, they all fall in line with the party, whereas you've STILL got Sanders-Clinton camp bickering in fucking 2020. Are most (if not all) political candidates problematic? Sure. But to equate ANY of them with Donald Trump is missing the forest for the trees.
I expect Biden will get 90% of Democrats as is typical, as Trump has about 90% of Republicans still supporting him.
White House blocks Fauci, Birx, and other health officials from appearing on CNN unless channel shows more of the Trump daily briefings
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/09/media/pence-office-tv-bookings-coronavirus/index.html
Trump is the very definition of "petty".
I'm part Egyptian, so yes. Koshari is my favorite national dish, though.
I had to look up koshari--sounds delicious!