PREDICTION: Press and pundits who were hammering him for not invoking the Defense Production Act will now hammer him for invoking the Defense Production Act. Trump orders General Motors to make ventilators under Defense Production Act.

TO SAY WE’RE THE BEST PREPARED ISN’T TO SAY WE WERE WELL PREPARED, OF COURSE: U.S. rated No. 1 in the world for disaster readiness by Global Health Security Index: Johns Hopkins University source rates 195 nations. “The U.S. has a Global Health Security Index score that was 83.5 out of a possible 100 — the highest ranking in the analysis. Britain placed second with a score of 77.9, Netherlands third at 75.6., Australia fourth at 75.5 and Canada fifth at 75.3.”

I think it’s also worth pointing out that we’re not very good at preparing for things that happen every hundred years. The last comparable event was in 1918. So we pay people to prepare, but it’s like an army that hasn’t fought a war in a while — they go through the motions, but then have to learn on the job when something actually happens. I’ve been very critical of the CDC and the FDA for getting in the way, but nobody has a fire brigade ready to go for something that happens less than once in a lifetime.

UPDATE: A friend texts:

Agreed re fire brigade and once in a lifetime.

Though in fairness, when it comes to beating up the health authorities, we’ve become more sophisticated in the last 100 years — or thought we had.

It wasn’t like we didn’t have warnings. It isn’t like they weren’t wasting resources on nonsense and ignoring timely advice to restock essential supplies.

So fuck them, for failing to be prepared.

They had one job. To ward off disease. And they were fucking around with video games and diversity bullshit.
Six figure salaries. And they played fuck-around

Excuse me. I meant to say, six figure salaries and fat pensions. And they played fuck around. And after this is over, they’ll go back to fuck around.

That does seem likely.

HEH: PR Disaster: President Xi Forgets To Remove ‘Made In China’ Tags From Coronavirus.

THIS TALK OF DECENCY IS RICH COMING FROM MARKOS “SCREW ‘EM” MOULITSAS:

And really, follow the link to see where he was in 2004. Here’s what the Kerry campaign said at the time: “In light of the unacceptable statement about the death of Americans made by Daily Kos, we have removed the link to this blog from our website.”

CORONAVIRUS PROBABLY ISN’T HELPING: George Leef reviews The Breakdown of Higher Education, just out from Roger Kimball’s Encounter Books.

WHY WE DON’T TRUST THE MEDIA # 6,423,782: What The Media Isn’t Telling You About The United States’ Coronavirus Case Numbers.

NOW WE GET TO FIND OUT WHAT’S IN IT: Congress Practices Social Distancing in Passing COVID-19 Stimulus, as Members Spill Out Into the Gallery.

THURSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM. Great moments in projection from John Kerry:

Found via NBC, which tweeted the quote from Kerry and embedded a link to this article — which doesn’t feature the quote from Kerry.

(Classical reference in headline.)

OUT: FRESHMAN 15. IN: THE “QUARANTINE 15.”

GET IT TREATED: Sleep Apnea May Increase Risk for Alzheimer’s.

TAKE A BREAK FROM THE SERIOUS NEWS FOR A FEW MINUTES: Florida Man Friday: Illin’ and Chillin’.

DO AS WE SAY, NOT AS WE DO: Department of Health and Human Services kept its gym open during coronavirus distancing.

HMM: Joe Biden Advisor Larry Rasky Tests Positive for Coronavirus After His Death.

AT AMAZON, shop deals on today’s bestselling items.

TO BE FAIR, HE ALSO WOULD RELAX BORDER SECURITY AND KEEP TRAVEL OPEN TO CHINA: Biden Backed Pelosi’s Coronavirus Stimulus Obstruction as Millions Lost Their Jobs.

FACE MASKS: Much More Than You Want To Know.

CHINA SHUTS DOWN ALL CINEMAS, AGAIN: “Over the past two weeks, hundreds of movie theaters in the country had begun to reopen. No reason for the policy reversal was given, but insiders believe the government is worried about a potential second wave of coronavirus infections.”

YOU WON’T BELIEVE THE DIFFERENCE: COVID-19: Boris Before and After Pics Stun Brits.

PHOTOS: SpaceX stacks third Starship prototype ahead of testing.

HEH: High-Risk Elderly Man Openly Defies CDC Coronavirus Guidelines. “Biden’s reckless face touching proves he’s not ready to lead.”

DISTILLERS ARE MAKING HAND SANITIZER, BUT THE BUREAUCRACY IS IN THE WAY: The Tax and Trade Bureau of the Treasury seems to have come around, but the FDA is asserting jurisdiction and issuing conflicting orders. Somebody needs to cut the red tape, pronto. (From a personal conversation, so no link.)

#HIMTOO? Biden, Who Pushed For Believing All Women During Kavanaugh Hearings, Has Been Accused of Sexually Assaulting a Former Staffer.

Related: Why Didn’t Jimmy Kimmel Ask Joe Biden About His Sexual Assault Accuser, Former Staffer Tara Reade?

To ask the question is to answer it.

SARAH HOYT’S SHOCKED FACE COULD NOT BE REACHED FOR COMMENT: China’s Defense Spending Is Larger Than It Looks.

If you account for differences in reporting structure, purchasing power, and labor costs, you find that China’s 2017 defense budget provided 87 percent of the purchasing power of American’s 2017 defense budget.

This runs counter to the conventional wisdom that the United States spends more on its military than the next 12 countries combined or that China lags annual U.S. military spending by close to $400 billion. Those misleading comparisons are based on simply converting Beijing’s reported defense budget from yuan to dollars by applying a market exchange rate. That produces a distorted picture. We must take into consideration several key factors to arrive at an accurate understanding of just how much Beijing is investing in its military.

One key factor—and perhaps the main one that makes accurate comparison so challenging—is how Beijing accounts for its military research and development. Put simply, it doesn’t include it in any of its reports on military expenditures.

On the other hand, Communist QC has never been any good.