- Stranger Than Fiction
- Posts
- Stranger Than Fiction
Stranger Than Fiction
A brief daily note of things you might find interesting or useful
A quick programming note: The last month or so, the activity on the Election 2020 front has gone into near-hibernation. If there’s some worthwhile news that arises, I’ll share it but it seems like that section of our newsletter would be better served with a new one, which I’d like to use to share what I’m reading that might interest you that’s not “Top News”
I welcome your feedback if there’s anything you’d like to see that I’m not covering, drop me a line anytime.You can support my newsletter using PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, or purchase a subscription on Substack.Don’t forget to join us in the Stranger Slack for access to source documents and a running feed of news throughout the day.
TOP NEWS
The most coronavirus cases added in a single day. 80,600 new COVID-19 cases were reported yesterday, 30,100 coming from the United States. The number of cases reported in Italy and China is slowing. Europe and the U.S. are considering the use of apps to track movement of people who are infected. The CDC is expected to recommend use of cloth masks in COVID-19 hotspots.
Staying at home is a luxury that the poor do not have. Cellphone data shows the wealthiest were able to restrict their movement earlier than those who live in poorer areas of the United States.
As New York City hospitals struggle to find space for patients, the 1,000 bed Navy hospital sent to help has only 20 patients. The 1,200 member crew is mostly idle. Military protocols and bureaucratic issues have prevented the ship from accepting patients. New York’s hospitals have only six days worth of ventilators left.
A federal judge refused to delay the April 7 presidential primary in Wisconsin. Despite worries about spreading coronavirus, the judge decided it will be the only primary in April out of 11 others that has not been postponed because of the pandemic.
Authorities removed over a million medical supplies from an alleged hoarder. The Brooklyn man is facing charges of lying to investigators.
WHAT I’M READING + WATCHING + LISTENING TO
THE COMMENT
“If I were advising the president (or the secretaries with delegated authority), I would say this: Please, tell the public what the need is and how the need will be met today, next week and in the months to come. What specifically has been contracted for, in how many units and on what timeline? Where there is a gap between need and supply, use the D.P.A. to close it.
I’ve never heard of a commander who complained about having too many tanks or who asked for a few artillery shells and not one too many. It’s high time we fought the virus the American way: with everything we’ve got.” - James E. Baker, former legal advisor to the National Security Council
THE STRANGEST
THE AV ROOM