Thursday, June 11, 2020

Self-isolation Day 86.

Last night I went to bed at 11:30, got up twice during the night, finally waking/getting up at 8am.

Last night I won 4 games and lost 1 (I was winning but lost on time) on Chess.com increasing my blitz rating to 1329.

1.5 million more unemployment claims were filed last week.

Today I beat Teresa in parcheesi 5 games to 4.

This evening we made a dozen blueberry muffins using Bisquick. I wanted to make them with the muffin cups I bought but she resisted saying she’s always made them without. I used 2 muffin cups as a test and all I can say is most of hers looked burnt on the outside but the one I ate with a muffin cup wasn’t burned at all.

Federal officials responsible for spending $660 billion in taxpayer-backed small-business assistance said Wednesday that they will not disclose amounts or recipients of subsidized loans, backtracking on an earlier commitment to release individual loan data.

General Mark Milley, the top U.S. general, formally apologized for appearing in Trump’s June 1 photo-op at St. John’s Episcopal Church after police and National Guard officers fired rubber bullets and tear gas to clear protesters from nearby Lafayette Square, across from the White House. “I should not have been there,” Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a prerecorded commencement address to National Defense University. “My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics.”

Reminder: Peaceful protesters were tear gassed to clear the way for Trump's visit. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, along with religious leaders, condemned the move. And it's since sparked conversations about the use of tear gas on protesters.

The '90s Chemical Weapons Convention banned the use of tear gas in warfare. But loopholes have allowed countries like the US to use it against its own people as a "riot control agent." And law enforcement has used it to (you guessed it) control crowds. But experts say it should only be used as a last resort, and that using it on peaceful protesters is excessive. And that its effects are harmful.

Last week, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who also appeared in the photo-op, told reporters that he too shouldn’t have been there, further claiming that he didn’t know where he was going when Trump led him to the church. Esper also said that he opposed invoking the Insurrection Act to bring active-duty soldiers to quell disorder in D.C., as Trump had threatened to do. Esper’s remarks earned him a chewing-out in the Oval Office. 

Microsoft says it won't allow US police departments to use its facial recognition technology, following similar moves by Amazon and IBM.

The sign-up page on the Trump campaign website for free tickets for next week’s Oklahoma campaign rally comes with a liability waiver that says the campaign or other parties associated with the event next Friday at the BOK Center in Tulsa cannot be held liable for exposure to coronavirus.

A Trump replay from March 12^th: “We just need a little time of separation until such time as this goes away. It’s going to go away.”

The US has 1,987,855 ð 2,007,773  ð 2,031,494 coronavirus cases with 112,123 ð 112,918 ð 113,865 deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 42,078 ð 43,682 ð 45,212 cases with 1,488 deaths.  Medellin has 677 ð 712 ð 737 cases, an increase of 20 from to June 9^th to 10^th.

Joke of the day

A man’s bragging about his promotion to vice president got so out of hand even his wife was annoyed.  “Look, being a vice president isn’t that special,” she said.  “They even have a vice president of peas at the supermarket!”

Not believing her for one second, the man called the supermarket and demanded, “Get me the vice president of peas!”

The clerk replied, “Fresh, canned, or frozen?”