Bruce Steinberg

@mjdescy The people who shout the loudest about respecting our country seem to be the worst at remembering that freedom of conscious was high among the founding ideals. //@jeffmueller

@thatguygriff They are obviously concerned that you are not getting enough exercise and suggest more walks. 🐶

@dejus Such a sweet thing. 😻

@nat Darth Vader voice: Noooooooooooooooooooo!

@toddgrotenhuis Yum!

@twweaver “I know you’ve been thinking about the newfy.”

@bix Cat Crap* anti fog paste works wonders for me when I wear my glasses under ski goggles.

* Yes, really. 🙃

@twweaver Treats? Not USDA Prime steak for the conquering hero?!

@rxa Time to work on those lasso skillz? 🤪

@blair I second @hollyhoneychurch! 💛🐶💛

@schuth “Aren’t I beautiful? I’ll deign to allow you to worship me.” 😸

@jw That b/w one would make an excellent headshot! 👍

@twweaver Such a mighty warrior deserves an epic award.

@twweaver Whew! 🐶

@jeffmueller The stock market is future-looking. The massive unemployment is not surprising because the government has deliberately shut the economy down. Plus lots of people getting enough cash* to not have to look for work is a positive sign (more social distancing -> shorter quarantine over all). Between that and the grants/loans** to business, hopefully the economy won’t collapse completely and we’ll have a V shaped recovery.

Also, Trump pulling back from “opening for business” by Easter probably encouraged the markets as well. The less the federal government appears to be fucking things up, the more likely it seems that things will be ok on the other end.

* UI benefits are pretty generous right now. For about four months, people get roughly 85% of their regular wages up to roughly $60,000 (it varies somewhat by state). It also covers people who have been furloughed or have had their hours cut back, which is not usually the case.

** The loans for small businesses will be forgiven as long as they spend 75% of it keeping employees on payroll.

@twweaver “We’re concerned about the supply of kibble, human.”

@twweaver The brain trust sure are cute. :)

@Bruce

Chotiner: And you’re not an epidemiologist, correct?
Epstein: No, I’m trained in all of these things.

Chotiner: Oh, it’s a theory.
Epstein: No, look, I’m not an empiricist, but, again, let me just be clear to you, because you’re much too skeptical.

@twweaver What a sweet nose! 💛

@JohnPhilpin Ohio is a much better example than Maryland. The latter is a deep blue state where the Republican governor is explicitly anti-Trump. Ohio has a solidly Republican state government which has decided that abortions are not “essential” medical services. I think it may be the only partisan outlier. The other states taking things seriously are solidly blue states or states with Dem. governors.

@pratik @ronguest Meet you out back with a chainsaw. It’s us or them! 🤪

@sku_b He’s been tolerating your presence for so much more time, of course, he deserves more food. 😸

@macgenie Mind blown! Good for Ada!

@yorrike Oh, I didn’t mean that plenty of people couldn’t end up liking it. Just that it would drive me mad.

@pratik Unfortunately they are distributed such that they punch far above their numbers in our political system.

Not that this argument would really work, but I think we should go back to the “Founders Intent” with the Senate and distribute Senators at the ratio between the most populace and least populous states in 1789. Between the solid blue states and the admission of DC and Puerto Rico, the Dems would have a lock on 17 compared with the Republicans 10, with 3 up for grabs in the purple states. It wouldn't be enough to completely fix the problem, but it would make control of the Senate a lot more competitive. (With the current numbers, the Dems would have a solid 64 to the Republican's 63, again with 3 up for grabs).