The Countdown to the restart of the economy has begun.

[Lord Jim]

I very highly recommend the cookbook Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home, lots of great recipes but especially the Red, gold, black & green chili which I’ve made for many meat eaters who really loved it. You could probably get her a copy used on AbeBooks or Amazon for just a couple dollars. Moosewood Collective is a cornerstone of the vegetarian movement, she’d likely be very interested in learning more about them.

Thanks for the recommendation BSG; I'll check it out...

Speaking of Tati...

I'm proud to say that she was one of the 19% of 18-24 year olds in California who bothered to get off their asses to vote in the California primary...

Though I disagreed with her choice; she's a Bernie Bro (Or I guess "Bernie Sis")...

But like a lot of his young, idealistic, (and I would add unrealistic) supporters she's having a difficult time coming to the idea of supporting Joe Biden...

She doesn't think that he really "believes" in anything, and that he's not "passionate" enough...

So we had a discussion about this last night...

I began by telling her, look, if somebody who's coming from the place I am politically can support Joe Biden, then she certainly ought to be able to. I went on to explain that she was learning an important life lesson about politics. You don't always get everything you want in a candidate; in fact you rarely do. At the end of the day, realistically you have a binary choice; you have to decide which of two people is more likely to support at least some of the polices and goals that you'd like to see and make your judgement accordingly...

(Brief digression: For my part, I briefly flirted with the idea of becoming a "Democrat for a DaY' ie changing my registration to Democrat for just one day so that I could cast a vote for Biden, and then immediately change my registration back too "Republican". But when I discovered that Bill Weld had made the California ballot for the GOP primary, I decided to remain a Republican so I could cast my anti-Trump Republican vote for Weld.)

A spirited back and forth followed, till I finally came down with this:

"Look are you saying that if you can't have Sanders, you'd just as soon see Trump re-elected?"

She allowed as how no, that was definitely not what she was saying . (I didn't expect that she would. She fully understands the unique menace of Trump as President. It's hard to live under the same roof with me and not.)

So I said, "Well if you make ANY choice other than to vote for the one and only candidate with a realistic opportunity to get rid of Trump, like not voting at all, or voting for some third party candidate with no chance of winning, then you might as well be voting FOR Trump.,,"

"So if you can't bring yourself to vote for Joe Biden, maybe I should just buy you a MAGA hat..."

She found that amusing, and said no that she would probably vote for Biden, but that she wasn't happy about it...

I told her I didn't feel like dancing in the streets over voting for him either, but that's the choice on offer, and considering the stakes, it's the one and only right thing to do...

Ultimately, after a little more sulking over Sanders losing, I'm sure she'll do the right thing...

I hope that a lot of Sanders youthful and enthusiastic (if somewhat politically naive) supporters like her are fortunate enough to have someone in their life that they'll listen to who can talk sense into them the way I did...

[Scooter]

I may have posted this elsewhere, but you might want to share it with her:

[Darren]

I make a practice of friending those of opposite persuasions on Facebook. It gives me a heads up in some cases and tests which way the political winds are blowing. I also get the benefit of passionate posts which sometimes bring up a nuanced idea I hadn't considered.

Sanders screwed the Democrats again based on my reading.

All Biden has to do is cap it off with a special VP pick.

[Darren]

More good news!

"The University of Washington School of Medicine’s Virology Lab is reporting encouraging results from trial runs of a new test from Abbott Laboratories that detects the antibodies created by people who have had COVID-19, whether they knew they had it or not.

“This is a really fantastic test,” Keith Jerome, who leads UW Medicine’s virology program, told reporters today. He said UW’s lab could process 4,000 samples per day starting next week, and conceivably ramp up to 14,000 samples per day within a couple of weeks."

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/univ-was ... 31796.html

[Econoline]

[Scooter]

Trudeau: Canada, U.S. strike deal to extend border restrictions by 30 days

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada and the United States have struck a deal to extend current border restrictions between the two countries by an additional 30 days.

"This is an important decision and one that will keep people on both sides of the border safe," Trudeau said at the top of his daily COVID-19 briefing Saturday.

The border was originally closed March 21, restricting non-essential travel between Canada and the U.S. Over the past month, the border remained open for trade and commerce, with exemptions also granted for emergency response and public health purposes.

The prime minister's announcement comes as the initial agreement was set to expire Tuesday.

Trudeau thanked Public Safety Minister Bill Blair for his work leading discussions with U.S. officials about extending the measures.

"It's another example of the excellent collaboration between our two countries," he said.

The announcement is in line with the prime minister's comments from earlier this week, when Trudeau said Thursday that reopening the U.S.-Canada border would not be happening "anytime soon."

[Scooter]

[Joe Guy]

Harold?

[BoSoxGal]

LJ you might want to steer Tati to watching the segment of this week’s CNN Coronavirus Town Hall where Biden was on with Anderson Cooper and Sanjay Gupta. I was really impressed by how he spoke - beyond fewer gaffes than usual, he was talking a lot like Bernie and FDR about the kinds of things that are possible for the future as we come out of this pandemic. She might like him a whole lot more after seeing it - I’m sure it’s available on the CNN website or YouTube page.

I honestly got the sense that it was a glimpse inside Biden’s thinking, about where his heart really lies under all the political compromising he’s had to engage in over his 3+ decades in DC.

[Darren]

Et tu Roche?

"Roche develops new serology test to detect COVID-19 antibodies

The new Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 serology test can support the detection of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in patients who have been exposed to the virus which causes COVID-19

The detection of these antibodies could help indicate if a person has gained immunity against the virus and inform treatment decisions.

Roche aims to have this test available by early May, in countries accepting the CE mark1 and is actively working with the US Food and Drug Administration for an Emergency Use Authorisation."

https://www.roche.com/media/releases/me ... -04-17.htm

[Darren]

As soon as the economy gets going again, cheap gasoline vanishes as quickly as it appeared.

I'm not sure about that.

The interesting point in the article is the pipelines are being pushed for storage.

I used to live not far from a rack that was supplied by barges pushed up from Baton Rouge. Gasoline was still cheaper over the bridge in Louisiana due to the lower sales tax. On Saturdays it wasn't unusual to see tankers parked all the way down the interstate off ramp waiting to fill.

Since then I've always taken the opportunity to talk to drivers when I've seen them in stations.

Drivers fill at the cheapest sources which may involve driving across the state into other states. An example is the Go-Mart convenience chain mostly in WV that's sent trucks to the Roanoke terminal of the Colonial Pipeline which is a bit of a haul from central WV.

Other times they've filled at the refinery in Ashland, KY, or the rack in Charleston, WV which is served by barge from Baton Rouge. In western PA Sheetz convenience store drivers are going either to Ohio or NJ.

In a nutshell, it'll take awhile before gasoline prices return to previous levels if gasoline is being stored in pipelines and I expect in barges moored along river banks. Those with the most expensive gasoline inventory will move their inventory last.

You can't turn refineries on and off during the period between turnarounds.

[Scooter]

A couple of thoughts on this photo from the "protests":

(1) Nothing says "I am an imbecile" like screeching "COVID-19 is a lie" while donning full hazmat gear.

(2) The guy holding the "profit over people" sign is either unabashedly honest about the Randian Trumpanzee agenda, or else is engaged in a rather clever anti-Trump messaging of his own in the midst of the nutjobs.

[Lord Jim]

Thanks for the tip BSG, I'll steer her to check it out...

[Darren]

Ohio!

"COLUMBUS (WCMH) – Gov. Mike DeWine’s announcement this week that the Ohio economy could begin reopening on May 1 will come with some conditions to prevent a spike in COVID-19 coronavirus cases.

DeWine said there are three conditions that must be met in order for the economic restart to begin: Public health measures and compliance must be established, people most vulnerable to the disease must be protected, and businesses operate safely with safeguards in place."

https://www.nbc4i.com/community/health/ ... tart-plan/

[Darren]

More good news on the use of hydroxychloroquine.

"Findings from the Sermo study also reveal that physicians have prescribed hydroxychloroquine for both symptomatic patients and undiagnosed patients, and the use of hydroxychloroquine in clinical settings has been on the rise since March 25, 2020. As of April 8, 50% of global physicians have used or seen hydroxychloroquine used in their professional settings (Week 1, March 25: 33%; Week 2, April 1: 44%; Week 3, April 8th: 50%)."

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/ ... Healthcare

[Darren]

Washington State

"The state’s hospitals are making an urgent plea to Gov. Jay Inslee to allow them to open up fully. Right now many are sitting idle because the surge of COVID-19 cases didn’t materialize.

The Army mobile hospital sent to Seattle to handle the possible overflow was sent to another part of the country. And the Washington State Hospital Association says the governor's ban on elective surgeries and other procedures is leaving many of the state’s 100 hospitals with little to do.

The Grays Harbor Community Hospital waiting room is empty. No COVID patients at all.

“For us it has been really, really challenging,” said Chris Majors of the Aberdeen-based hospital. He says of 85 beds, only 22 are being used. It’s caused the hospital to lay off 18% of their staff, putting 39 people out of a job."

https://komonews.com/news/coronavirus/h ... Hy6typOP6M

[Scooter]

[Lord Jim]

[Gob]

Eerie photographs show a flock of vultures circling over New York as the city continues to be ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The birds of prey were spotted flying across Downtown Manhattan Friday as The Big Apple's coronavirus death toll reached 7,890.

Three of the vultures were snapped over the top of the USNS Comfort - the hospital ship brought to the city last month with the aim of providing relief for overflowing hospitals.

The photos were made all the more ominous by the fact the city largely lay empty behind the birds as they circled the gray and gloomy sky.

[Scooter]