ONLY BECAUSE THEY DESERVE IT: Chuck Todd: Democrats Risk Public Blame for Delaying Small Business Relief.

LEAD NIH CORONAVIRUS RESEARCHER SUGGESTED PANDEMIC COULD BE ‘GENOCIDE,’ SAID DOCTORS WOULD LET BLACKS DIE:

Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, who is described by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as the “lead” member of the U.S. government team racing to find a coronavirus vaccine, has engaged with online theories calling the pandemic a black “genocide” and condemned what she called “systematic oppression” by white people, a review of her social media posts by “Tucker Carlson Tonight” reveals.

Corbett has also reposted a tweet urging Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and Dr. Jerome Adams, the surgeon general, to “check” their “privilege.”

Late Friday, a senior Health and Human Services (HHS) official told Fox News: “HHS career ethics officials are reviewing the matter.” Fox News is told the inquiry is being taken “very seriously.” Making unprofessional social media posts about sensitive government work can violate federal ethical guidelines.

QED:

LESS THAN HALF OF L.A. COUNTY RESIDENTS STILL HAVE JOBS AMID CORONAVIRUS CRISIS.

DON’T TRUST CHINA. CHINA IS ASSHOLE. Coronavirus ends China’s honeymoon in Africa. “Africa was supposed to be China’s new stomping grounds. Instead, the novel coronavirus has spawned a growing backlash that threatens to unwind the ties Beijing has carefully cultivated over decades. The trigger for the burgeoning diplomatic crisis: Anger over the treatment of African citizens living in China and frustration at Beijing’s position on granting debt relief to fight against the outbreak.”

China doesn’t have enough control over its populace to stop the racism, and it doesn’t have enough money to cancel the debt. The government is playing a very weak hand now, hence all the bluster.

FROM ARNOLD TO TOM STEYER, THE GANG’S ALL HERE! California’s ‘Reopening’ Economic Task Force Is As Absurd As It Gets:

“There is opportunity for reimagining a progressive era as it pertains to capitalism,” Gov. Newsom said. “So yes, absolutely we see this as an opportunity to reshape the way we do business and how we govern.”

Never let a pandemic go to waste.

FLASHBACK: Mayor de Blasio says coronavirus fears shouldn’t keep New Yorkers off subways. “I’m here on the subway to say to people nothing to fear, go about your lives and we will tell you if you have to change your habits but that’s not now.”

This week: MIT study: Subways a ‘major disseminator’ of coronavirus in NYC.

Earlier: Left’s Pet Issues Like Mass Transit, Reusable Bags Prove Deadly During Coronavirus Crisis.

Related: Trump Was Getting Things Done as NY Leaders Stood By and an ‘Exponential Surge of Infections’ Exploded On Subways.

YOUR CLAIM TO EXPERT AUTHORITY IS UNDERMINED WHEN YOU DO OBVIOUSLY STUPID STUFF: Governments incur fury by banning safe activities during coronavirus lockdown.

If my sons were to sit on the banks of my local creek in Maryland and cast in a hooked worm, trying to catch a trout or a bass, it would be illegal, even though it has about a 0% chance of spreading the coronavirus. Fishing always requires distancing to avoid lines crossing, and on the average day my sons go fishing there, they see about zero other people.

I cleared a copse of bamboo from my backyard this week, and when I tried to drop it off at the county dump, I was told I wasn’t allowed to thanks to Maryland’s stay-at-home rules. I have much more bamboo than I can fit in all my bins/baskets/buckets, so I wanted to do a dump run today and use curbside pickup for the rest tomorrow. Not allowed.

Here’s the thing: Driving bamboo stalks from my house to Rockville and dumping it at a very, very spaced transfer station poses no possible risk of spreading the coronavirus. When I pressed the governor’s spokesman on this yesterday, he pointed to Gov. Larry Hogan’s stay-at-home order and its exemptions for “essential” activities.

(Had I instead hired a crew of gardeners to clear my bamboo, the state would have allowed them to dump it. I doubt this is safer.)

The problem is that the people running things aren’t very bright, and often have hidden agendas. The more you make those things clear, the less authority you have.

I EXPECT NO LESS FROM GLENN KESSLER: WaPo Fact Checker Glenn Kessler Morphs Into WHO Apologist in Ridiculous Fact Check on Trump. The WHO is in China’s pocket, and so is the Washington Post.

“FACT-CHECKING” IS USUALLY A SCAM OF SOME SORT, IT SEEMS: Facebook ‘Fact Checker’ Worked At Wuhan Biolab; Ruled Out Virus-Leak While ‘Debunking’ Articles.

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PENNSYLVANIA: Calls for liquor store privatization grow louder. Unsurprising given how Gov. Wolf has botched things.

OPEN THREAD: Hot licks and rhetoric don’t count much for nothin’.

SO I MENTIONED MY DISTILLED SPIRITS LAW CLASS, and I did do a couple of lectures there on the distilling process. But reader Konrad Miller, PhD, PE, teaches distilling technology at UC Davis, and he has some much more technical lectures online. I love where he explains that the stuff you learned in intro chemistry about Van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonds really matters here. Check them out.

SURE, WHATEVER. Daisy Ridley blames ‘social media’ for poor ‘Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker’ reception.

SPACE: For the first time, a spacecraft has returned an aging satellite to service.

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CHANGE: Florida beaches will start reopening THIS EVENING: Jacksonville becomes first county to start easing restrictions. Too soon or not?

CONDITIONS AT MEAT-PROCESSING PLANTS NEED TO BE BETTER. IF THEY COULDN’T HIRE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, THEY’D HAVE TO BE BETTER TO ATTRACT WORKERS: Beef processors are closing U.S. plants, warn of beef shortages and hoarding.