Patterico's Pontifications

4/6/2020

For Your Amusement…

Filed under: General — Dana @ 6:12 pm



[guest post by Dana]

Professionals at work:

Untitled

Shortly thereafter, NBCWashington attempted to uh, walk it back (which was almost as funny):

Untitled

Who are these people??

–Dana

USDA: Tiger Found To Be Infected With COVID-19

Filed under: General — Dana @ 10:51 am



[guest post by Dana]

CNN reports:

Nadia, a tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York, has become the first of her kind to test positive for the coronavirus.

The 4-year-old female Malayan tiger tested positive after developing a dry cough and is expected to recover, the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo said in a news release.

Samples from Nadia were taken and tested after the tiger — and five other tigers and lions at the zoo — began showing symptoms of respiratory illness, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). No other animals at the zoo are showing symptoms.

“Though they have experienced some decrease in appetite, the cats at the Bronx Zoo are otherwise doing well under veterinary care and are bright, alert, and interactive with their keepers,” the zoo said.

From the USDA report:

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratories has confirmed SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans) in one tiger at a zoo in New York. This is the first instance of a tiger being infected with COVID-19. Samples from this tiger were taken and tested after several lions and tigers at the zoo showed symptoms of respiratory illness.

Public health officials believe these large cats became sick after being exposed to a zoo employee who was actively shedding virus. The zoo has been closed to the public since mid-March, and the first tiger began showing signs of sickness on March 27. All of these large cats are expected to recover. There is no evidence that other animals in other areas of the zoo are showing symptoms.

Anyone sick with COVID-19 should restrict contact with animals, out of an abundance of caution including pets, during their illness, just as they would with other people. Although there have not been reports of pets becoming sick with COVID-19 in the United States, it is still recommended that people sick with COVID-19 limit contact with animals until more information is known about the virus…

As to the question of whether animals can infect humans, the USDA says there is no evidence to suggest that any animals can spread the COVID-19 infection to people.

–Dana

Acting Secretary of Navy Calls Fired Captain of Aircraft Carrier “Naive” or “Stupid”

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 8:28 am



Everyone is “acting” these days. Doesn’t seem very constitutional, but I guess Trump likes acting. Here’s one reason why: they go out and say Trumpy things like this:

The Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly blasted the now ousted commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt as “stupid” in an address to the ship’s crew Monday morning, in remarks obtained by CNN.

Modly told the crew that their former commander, Capt. Brett Crozier, was either “too naive or too stupid” to be in command or that he intentionally leaked to the media a memo in which he warned about coronavirus spreading aboard the aircraft carrier and urged action to save his sailors.

While Modly has publicly refrained from accusing Crozier of leaking the letter to the media in his address to the ship’s crew, the acting secretary accused Crozier of committing a “betrayal” and creating a “big controversy” in Washington by disseminating the warning so widely.

“It was a betrayal. And I can tell you one other thing: because he did that he put it in the public’s forum and it is now a big controversy in Washington, DC,” Modly said, according to a transcript of remarks Modly made to the crew, copies of which have been provided to CNN by multiple Navy officials.

. . . .

Modly’s use of the word “betrayal” is a loaded [term] because saying an officer has betrayed the Navy is a court martial offense. [I think CNN means an officer betraying the Navy is an offense that can lead to court martial, but you knew what they meant.]

A defense official familiar with Modly’s remarks offered his opinion of Modly’s address, saying the acting secretary “should be fired. I don’t know how he survives this day.”

I’ll tell you how he survives. Trump won’t fire him unless the media pressure forces him to, because he agrees with this point of view — because to him, the public perception is more important than the safety of the sailors. Full stop.

Here’s how the sailors felt about the captain who cared about their safety more than he cared about his career.

(By the way, that’s not great social distancing, fellas.)

I’m sure it was great for their morale to have some Trump stooge call their beloved captain naive or stupid for trying to protect them.


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