Wednesday News: “Pandemic Is Greatest Challenge to U.N. Since Its Formation, Chief Says”; “Trump vs. Mother Nature”; Massive Journalistic #FAIL re: Trump’s “Tone” and Content; “Want proof that Republicans want to suppress voters? Just ask Trump.”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, (e.g., COVID-19), for Wednesday, April 1.

• Why Asia’s New Wave of Virus Cases Should Worry the World
• Pandemic Is Greatest Challenge to U.N. Since Its Formation, Chief Says (“Updates: Report Calls for Response Amounting to at Least 10% of Global G.D.P.; The coronavirus is “an unprecedented test,” António Guterres, the secretary general, said.; President Trump warned of a “painful two weeks” ahead as the U.S. death toll surged toward 4,000.; India’s Supreme Court is forcing journalists to parrot the government’s message on the outbreak. Here’s the latest.”)
• Why the Global Recession Could Last a Long Time (“Fears are growing that the worldwide economic downturn could be especially deep and lengthy, with recovery limited by continued anxiety.”)
• Spain’s infections exceed 100,000, but deaths are growing at a slower pace
• How South Korea Solved Its Face Mask Shortage (“Neighborhood pharmacists and government intervention were the secret weapons.”)
• Big batteries get ready to play main role in next stage of clean energy transition
• Coronavirus live news: Spain passes 100,000 cases, as UN says world faces worst crisis since WW2
• China’s Coronavirus Count Excluded Infected People With No Symptoms
• Coronavirus kills its first democracy (“You could say that Hungary was already ‘immunocompromised.'”)
• Saudi Arabia Resists Trump’s Attempt to Broker an Oil War Truce (“Saudi Arabia showed no sign of bowing to pressure as it pushed crude supply to record levels.”)
• The EPA Is Another Coronavirus Casualty
• Analysis: Trump Confronts a New Reality Before an Expected Wave of Death
• Trump Warns of Pain Ahead While ‘Shocking’ Reality Sets In (It’s particularly “shocking” to Trump because the ignorant fool denied and minimized it for months! Kinda like the climate crisis, btw.)
• White House projects 100K to 240K US deaths from virus
• Fact-checking Trump’s marathon coronavirus briefing
• Viral virus briefing: Where science meets all things Trump
• McConnell hits brakes on next economic stimulus package
• A president should want all Americans to vote. Why doesn’t Trump?
• Why There’s No National Lockdown (“Enforcing a large-scale quarantine would be legally murky, even if it’s what the country needs to slow the spread of the coronavirus.”)
• Fauci: Mask-wearing recommendation under ‘very serious consideration’
• With the Coronavirus, It’s Again Trump vs. Mother Nature (“The president’s failure to understand his limits is very costly.”)
• Trump’s Task Force Still Won’t Call For A National Stay-At-Home Order (“Even as health officials predict the U.S. death toll could climb to 240,000, Trump and Pence resisted a national order.”)
• Trump sees ghosts of hometown past and election future in COVID-19
• New CDC data shows danger of coronavirus for those with diabetes, heart or lung disease, other chronic conditions
• Infected but Feeling Fine: The Unwitting Coronavirus Spreaders
• Here’s how to make up for lost time on covid-19 (“First, we need a consistent nationwide approach to shutting down. Despite urging from public health experts, some states and counties haven’t shut down completely”)
• Covid-19 Is Twisting 2020 Beyond All Recognition (“The coronavirus crisis will determine whether Trump is a one-term president, but it may reshape the social order far more.”)
• How Donald Trump Plans on Spinning 200,000 Coronavirus Deaths as a Win (“Like a virus, the president knows how to adapt.”)
• Impeachment didn’t distract from coronavirus preparations. Trump did.
• CNN’s Cuomo discusses positive coronavirus diagnosis on-air: ‘You do not want this’
• Pence task force freezes coronavirus aid amid backlash
• Trump administration slashes required annual fuel economy increase to 1.5%, potentially harming EV market, advocates say
• Coronavirus crisis scrambles 2020 political calculus
• What if This Coronavirus Lockdown Is Only the Beginning?
• White House Economists Warned in 2019 a Pandemic Could Devastate America
• Wartime Production Law Has Been Used Routinely, but Not With Coronavirus
• The Company Sitting on a Huge Backlog of Coronavirus Tests (“Backlogs at private laboratories have ballooned, making it difficult to treat suffering patients and contain the pandemic.”)
• From ‘It’s going to disappear’
  to ‘WE WILL WIN THIS WAR’ (By saying delusional shit like “it’s going to disappear,” Trump made it more difficult to win the “war,” and also guaranteed more fatalities.)
• Senator Reports $1.4 Million in Stock Trades During Coronavirus Panic (“Sen. Kelly Loeffler and her husband purchased and sold about $1.4 million”)
• The coronavirus outbreak won’t peak in every state at once
• Trump rejects Obamacare special enrollment period amid pandemic (Trump, a**hole as always.)
• Amid the coronavirus threat, where’s the call to service? (“Even if the president doesn’t ask citizens to give, Americans can help each other during social distancing.”)
• With 2020 race all but halted over coronavirus, Biden quietly widens lead over Trump: Reuters/Ipsos poll
• Biden: Difficult to imagine having Democratic convention as scheduled (Agreed. It will almost certainly be imposssible to do it normally.)
• A Virtual Democratic National Convention Seems Inevitable
• Joe Biden’s podcasts are a welcome reminder that Trump is the irrational one (“The overwhelming impression is that Biden would be a calm, rational and normal president.” And competent and ethical.)
• How Is Joe Biden Remaking The 2016 Primary Map? (“The key is rural voters and voters without a college degree.”)
• US sailors will die unless coronavirus-hit aircraft carrier evacuated, captain warns (“Carrier with thousands onboard is docked in Guam, which is struggling to handle local caseload of Covid-19 infections”)
• ‘That’s a nasty, snarky question’: Trump’s media assault rages on in midst of coronavirus crisis (“Donald Trump’s intemperate outbursts may be a sign of a leader cracking under the pressure, if it weren’t for the authoritarian tone”)
• Cuomo Is a Coronavirus Star, but Newsom Is Quietly Bending the Curve
• Study: Republican governors “slower” to adopt coronavirus restrictions, causing “significant” harm (“Republican ‘delays are likely to produce significant, on-going harm to public health,’ the study warned”)
• Coronavirus is forcing state legislatures to meet remotely
• Maybe Republicans will at least listen to their governors (“Republicans are uniquely positioned to slam Trump.”)
• Want proof that Republicans want to suppress voters? Just ask Trump.
• ‘Shameful new low’: Keystone XL pipeline construction to move forward
• 75% of cable news appearances by members of Trump’s coronavirus task force have been on Fox News
• The NY Times takes hands-off journalism to a laughable new level with Trump’s testing headline (“Matters of fact shouldn’t be treated as opinions, and opinions shouldn’t be treated as matters of fact” Exactly!)
• Where’s Mike Bloomberg? Billionaire Bails After Vanity Run Ends. (“He ran for the Democratic nomination vowing to spend bigly no matter who won. Instead, he cut one check to the Democratic Party, fired his staff, and called it a day.”)
• A Major Medical Staffing Company Just Slashed Benefits for Doctors and Nurses Fighting Coronavirus
• Video: Sen. Mark Warner’s Coronavirus Facebook Live Town Hall
• More Election Fraud? Former Rep. Scott Taylor (R-VA02) Proposes Illegally Mailing Out Absentee Ballots to Voters Ahead of June Primary
• Virginia DEQ “Will Consider Non-Compliance Issues Resulting from COVID-19 on a Case-by-Case Basis”
• Northam ordered indoor shooting ranges to close during coronavirus. A gun-rights group is threatening to sue. (“The Virginia Citizens Defense League says the order violates the Second Amendment and points to federal guidance calling shooting range employees essential.”)
• Northam administration urges Virginians to vote absentee by mail; GOP questions timing of ‘stay-at-home’ order
• Tuesday (3/31) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +230 Cases (to 1,250), +29 Hospitalizations (to 165), +2 Deaths (to 27) from Yesteday
• Virginia Democrats join 50 other state Democratic parties in calling for immediate federal action to make voting easier during COVID-19 pandemic
• Virginia hospital group urges federal government to open military and veterans hospitals to COVID-19 care
• Deadlines Loom for Virginia’s Governor and General Assembly (“The governor’s deadline to take action is April 11, and all those new laws need to be finalized before July 1.”)
• Virginia Coronavirus Stats Only Capture ‘Tip of the Iceberg’
• Advocates want Northam to expand minimum wage bill, others say recession demands delay
• Video: 2013 Virginia GOP Lt. Governor Nominee EW Jackson “Vows to Hold Church Services in Defiance of Virginia’s Stay-at-Home Order
• AG Mark Herring Continues Fight to Protect Clean Car Standards
• Editorial: Lack of data complicates Virginia’s virus response
• Forest Service limits Appalachian Trail access
• Bowers, Christopulos and Smusz: COVID-19 and an army of pipeline workers don’t mix
• Loudoun County Board Chair Phyllis Randall: “There is actually more ‘meat’ to [Gov. Ralph Northam’s “Stay-at-Home”] order than I thought at first glance”
• Fairfax prosecutor seeks to release inmates after coronavirus case at jail
• Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano Statement Regarding Confirmed Positive of COVID-19 in Fairfax County Adult Detention Center
• Why Loudoun County isn’t releasing more specific location data, other details on COVID-19 cases
• Coronavirus pandemic drives Fairfax County budget cuts
• In rural Appalachia, Ballad Health faces unique virus challenges (“Ballad Health on Tuesday reported that its first patient, a Tennessee man in his 70s, had died from the new coronavirus.”)
• Richmond and Chesterfield see their first coronavirus deaths; both Richmond men worked for Greyhound
• COMMENTARY:When state lifts its moratorium, a tsunami of evictions will follow
• Fredericksburg-area teachers try to stay connected to their students
• ‘It is ungodly’: students react to Liberty University reopening
• The Daily Progress will furlough employees to cut costs during the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus (“Employees of The Daily Progress as well as at dozens of newspapers owned by its parent company, Lee Enterprises Inc., will be required to take two weeks of unpaid leave between now and the end of June.”)
• UPDATED: Charlottesville area sees first death from COVID-19; local confirmed cases increase
• 82-year-old Richmond Camera closing six of its seven stores and focusing on professional photofinishing lab
• Ron Carlee and Robert McNab column: COVID-19 shocks local government revenues
• Plenty of clouds and cool today, brighter but rather breezy tomorrow