A sign of the times: Jim’s Burgers in Long Beach shut down for the duration.

FAKE NEWS ALERT: Jim’s isn’t shut down, it was just closed when I drove by. Drop by and have one of their famous pastrami sandwiches.

The Trump White House has ordered that all COVID-19 data going forward should be filtered through the Trump White House before we’re allowed to see it:

I had hoped it was a glitch, but no…The @CDCgov hospital capacity dashboard has gone dark. @CDCDirector has said CDC still has access to the data but apparently the public no longer does. pic.twitter.com/FyRt7YHvKc

— Charles Ornstein (@charlesornstein) July 16, 2020

Finally, we have become an old-school communist state! It’s a little ironic that it happened under a Republican president, since it was always us Democrats who were supposed to be pining away for a socialist paradise, but I guess the world is funny that way.

As usual, I assume that no Republicans have complained about this. I’m not going to bother checking since the odds are so strongly with me, so let me know in comments if I’m wrong.

Here’s the coronavirus death toll through July 15. The US mortality rate was back up a little bit.

The raw data from Johns Hopkins is here. The Public Health Agency of Sweden is here.

Behold the common house sparrow finch, dropping in for a bite to eat. This picture was taken through the window during a short break in blogging.

I have a busy day ahead, so there probably won’t be much blogging today. Instead, I’ll leave you with something completely different and totally trivial.

Here in California we have a DUI attorney called No-Cuffs. If you get pulled over for drunk driving, give them a call! In fact, says a recent ad, you should put them on your speed dial.

Your speed dial! So here’s what I wonder. Suppose that some bright young assistant DA decides to subpoena your cell phone and sees that No-Cuffs is, in fact, on your speed dial. What impact would this have? Could a good lawyer use this as evidence that you intended to drive drunk? Or what? Do I have any criminal lawyers out there who can advise us whether it’s really a good idea to have a DUI attorney on speed dial?

See you tomorrow.

Here’s the coronavirus death toll through July 14. There was a slight slowdown in the US numbers, but it’s probably just a fluke.

The raw data from Johns Hopkins is here. The Public Health Agency of Sweden is here.

White House trade adviser Peter NavarroEvan Vucci/AP

President Trump’s trade advisor, Peter Navarro, kicked up the war against Anthony Fauci today with an op-ed titled “Anthony Fauci has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on.” That’s quite an indictment. But it turns out to be just the latest in an increasingly common conservative genre: a piece that links to articles that literally make the opposite of the point the author is claiming. For example, Navarro’s first charge is this:

In late January, when I was making the case on behalf of the president to take down the flights from China, Fauci fought against the president’s courageous decision — which might well have saved hundreds of thousands of American lives.

But if you click the link, here’s the headline—the headline!—of the fact-checking piece Navarro claims as backup:

Did Dr. Fauci Disagree With Trump’s Decision to Curtail Travel From China?
No.

Most of the others were the same. It’s not that the links just go to dubious sources, they literally go to sources that say the opposite of what Navarro claims. He must be really, really sure that no one will ever bother to click the links and actually read them.

This is Orange County.Kevin Drum

Here in Orange County, the Board of Education has recommended that children should go back to school next year. This is a defensible position. As the board’s white paper says, the science on this is unresolved, and there are good arguments that the benefits are worth the risk as long as proper precautions are—

The document states that since children represent the “lowest risk cohort for COVID-19 … social distancing of children and reduced census classrooms is not necessary and therefore not recommended.”

….The document also states that requiring children to wear masks was not recommended given that it “is not only difficult — if not impossible to implement — but [is] not based on science” and “may even be very harmful.”

The Ed Board is not just recommending that everyone do their own thing, which would be bad enough. They are specifically recommending that social distancing not be done and that masks not be worn. According to the board, this is a way for adults to “model courage and persistence in the face of uncertainty and fear.” I live among idiots.

This is a California bluebell, which I’ve shown you before. But I especially like this picture, with the background so far away that the flowers pop out really vividly. It almost looks artificial, but it’s not! No Photoshop tricks on this one.

More insanity:

Senior Trump administration officials have begun signaling their willingness to approve a narrow extension of the enhanced unemployment benefits helping tens of millions of jobless Americans hurt by the coronavirus pandemic.

….One potential compromise discussed by Republican lawmakers would involve cutting the unemployment benefit from $600 per week to between $200 and $400 per week and making up at least part of the difference by sending another round of $1,200 stimulus payments, these people said.

….White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement that the administration is opposed to the $600-per-week increase but would not rule out the administration agreeing to a more limited expansion of the benefit. Maintaining unemployment insurance benefits at current levels “does not incentivize returning to work,” Deere said in an email. “UI reform is a priority for this White House in any phase four package and we are in ongoing discussions with the Hill.”

It’s not that the disincentive to work is hogwash. It really is true that the $600 UI bonus is big enough that it makes total UI benefits bigger than normal pay for a lot of low-income workers. But this only matters when people are using it as a reason not to work. Right now, COVID-19 cases are skyrocketing, mortality is rising, and states are shutting down again. That’s why people aren’t going back to work.

In any case, I’d be willing to compromise on a $400 bonus plus a new round of stimulus checks. The UI bonus is more tightly focused on people out of work, but the stimulus checks go out to everyone, which makes up for some of the folks genuinely in need but who don’t qualify for UI. It’s not a bad combination.

The important thing, though, is to get moving on this. We already know that states need time to get their UI machinery going and Treasury needs time to print stimulus checks. It’s stupid to make millions of people wait and wonder if they can pay next month’s rent while Congress dithers. Do it now.