Posts on Tuesday, March 24, 2020
A person in Kentucky has tested positive for coronavirus after attending a 'coronavirus party' for people in their 20s in violation of a ban on mass gatherings, according to the state's governor.It is just the latest example of ill-advised large gatherings across the country, in public and private, despite stern warnings from the governors of New York, California and elsewhere, and 'stay at home' orders that as of Wednesday will affect half of the U.S. population. 'I guess thinking they were invincible, flaunting the mass gathering prohibition,' said Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear at a press conference on Tuesday of the patient who tested positive
Seriously sick coronavirus patients in New York state’s largest hospital system are being given massive doses of vitamin C — based on promising reports that it’s helped people in hard-hit China, The Post has learned. Dr. Andrew G. Weber, a pulmonologist and critical-care specialist affiliated with two Northwell Health facilities on Long Island, said his intensive-care patients with the coronavirus immediately receive 1,500 milligrams of intravenous vitamin C. Identical amounts of the powerful antioxidant are then re-administered three or four times a day, he said.
Nevada’s governor has signed an emergency order barring the use of anti-malaria drugs for someone who has the coronavirus.
Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak’s order Tuesday restricting chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine comes after President Donald Trump touted the medication as a treatment for the virus. (snip) Sisolak said in a statement that there’s no consensus among experts or Nevada doctors that the drugs can treat people with COVID-19. His order also limits a prescription to a 30-day supply so that people cannot find a way to stockpile the drug and ensure it’s available for “legitimate medical purposes.”
Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) discussed the coronavirus relief package as Congress weighs completion of the legislation.
After blocking the bill’s passage over the weekend to include what Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called a “wish list” for the Democrats, Pelosi told CNBC’s Jim Cramer that Republicans better not include what they know to be “poison pills” in the newest bill.
“I’m optimistic,” Pelosi stated. “I think everybody knows the overarching view is we have to get this done, A. B, I have three options. We can come to a conclusion and it sticks,
FOX Business' Charlie Gasparino says President Trump is reportedly backing off on his plan to end the quarantine by Easter during a call with top investors. President Trump appears to be revising his plans to end the lockdowns that have crippled the US economy, while promising that the federal government could actually spend much more than the $2 trillion in economic stimulus to prevent a virus-related economic catastrophe, FOX Business has learned.(Snip)In an interview with FOX News, Trump said that he "would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter," which is on April 12.
CBS This Morning on Tuesday mostly ignored the findings of its own poll on the coronavirus and the government’s handling of it. The network allowed a scant 10 seconds to the news that a majority, 53 percent, approve of the President’s response. Relegated to online is the news that more Americans trust Donald Trump to given information than the media itself.In total, the morning show allowed just 19 seconds on CBS’s own poll. Co-host Gayle King opened the show with this bit of data from the poll: “A new CBS news poll says three quarters of Americans, 72 percent, believe it will take months or longer for this
Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ) made a major move on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday afternoon, introducing legislation to withhold the pay of United States senators until the COVID-19 economic relief package passes the upper chamber:“If Americans aren’t getting paid, then neither should the Senators failing to support the workers and families who need help making ends meet. Today, I introduced legislation to have Senators’ pay withheld until relief is passed. It is despicable that millions of Americans are without a paycheck in this time of crisis, while the Senate wastes precious time playing political games. The Senate must pass this relief package now
CNN's Jake Tapper scolded Joe Biden for not coughing into his elbow, instructing the 2020 Democratic front-runner for the presidential nomination on the recommended way to avoid spreading germs during the coronavirus pandemic. The instructions from "The Lead" anchor came after Biden loudly coughed into his hand not long after the nationally televised remote interview from Biden's home in Delaware began. "You know, you're supposed to cough into your elbow. I don't know, sir. I learned that, actually, while covering your White House," Tapper said. "No, actually — actually that's true, but fortunately I'm alone in my home. But that's OK.
Grocery stores are taking drastic steps to keep customers as safe as possible during the coronavirus pandemic, including social distancing reminders in the aisles. But what about the bags we're all using? Weis Markets has a new policy starting Monday, that reusable bags are no longer allowed for use in the store. The company says it's for the safety of the customers and their employees.
Checking out at a grocery is when some feel worries diminish but could it be where your virus worries begin? A new study from the New England Journal of Medicine says the coronavirus can live
The Dow soared more than 2,000 points on Tuesday in its strongest one-day performance since 1933 as US lawmakers neared a deal to inject nearly $2 trillion of aid into an economy ravaged by the coronavirus. All three main US stock indexes rebounded strongly from Monday's brutal selloff as the coronavirus outbreak forced entire nations to shut down. On Tuesday, the Dow burst 11.4% higher, while the more closely followed S&P 500 index leapt 9.4% as a wave of buying around the world interrupted what has been a brutal month of nearly nonstop selling.
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar told Breitbart News exclusively that President Donald Trump in the coming days will work with his medical and scientific advisers to make a determination on how and when to reopen the country after wide-scale closure in the effort to stop the spread of the Chinese coronavirus.Azar is one of Trump’s closest advisers and a top member of Vice President Mike Pence’s Coronavirus Task Force to lead the American response to this crisis. He said that the president will consult with White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx,
The White House blasted two liberal news networks for repeatedly cutting away from President Trump’s daily coronavirus task force briefing, calling their actions “disgraceful.” “Pretty disgraceful that @CNN and @MSNBC have both cut away from this @WhiteHouse briefing with @realDonaldTrump and @Mike_Pence during a global pandemic. Thank you to @FoxNews for keeping Americans informed. #COVID19,” White House spokesman Judd Deere wrote on Twitter.A CNN spokesman responded to Deere’s tweet with a statement saying, “If the White House wants to ask for time on the network, they should make an official request. Otherwise we will make our own editorial decisions,” The Hill reported.
Pelosi Suffers Massive Political Hit –
Abandons House Scheme – Announces
Acceptance of Senate Bill… replies
Abandons House Scheme – Announces
Acceptance of Senate Bill… replies
You can tell when Speaker Pelosi recognizes a political backlash for her manipulative schemes because it’s the only time she blitzes the media. After suffering a very large political hit, beyond the capability of the media to defend, Pelosi said today the House will take up the Senate coronavirus bill.
The writing was on the wall late yesterday as people started digging into the 1,400 page House proposal and exposing all of the far-left ideological efforts within it. Billions were earmarked for nonsense progressive projects and the House scheme was fraught with social engineering that had nothing to do with assisting workers and businesses.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi snapped at CNN’s Dana Bash Tuesday afternoon when the host brought up Trump’s recent remarks suggesting bringing Americans out of quarantine and back to work.“I don’t have time to follow people’s twits…tweets, Twitters, whatever, tweets — so don’t expect me to comment on that,” Pelosi said.“Well, even beyond Twitter, the President of the United States is signaling that he could open it up,” Bash said.“What is your opinion on that?” Bash said pressing Pelosi.
Very soon after the coronavirus hit America, reports emerged that chloroquine, an older malaria drug, and its analogue, hydroxychloroquine, were helpful against the virus, especially when used in conjunction with azithromycin, an antibiotic. Trump expressed a strong hope that these drugs would effectively treat those with serious coronavirus cases.
The media reflexively struck back. They first accused Trump of lying about the drugs' potential value. Now that it's become clear that Trump was accurate, the media have a new tactic, which is to present chloroquine as a deadly drug that will kill more than it cures. For the media, it's never about the actual issue;
President Trump waged a full-scale political attack on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, complete with opposition research, as he pointed out that Cuomo could have bought more ventilators five years ago to protect his state against a pandemic. Trump appeared on Fox News Channel Tuesday from the White House Rose Garden and handed anchor Bill Hemmer an article, 'It says New York Gov. Cuomo rejected buying recommended 16,000 ventilators in 2015 for the pandemic, for a pandemic, establish death panels and lotteries instead,' Trump said. 'So he had a chance to buy in 2015, 16,000 ventilators at a very low price and he turned it down
We are constantly bombarded with the "fact" that the mortality rate from the Wuhan flu is 3%. It's surprising that we aren't being told a higher number, because in Hubei Province, China, there have been 59,114 cases with 3,111 deaths, for a rate of 5.3%. But this only tells us about how many who died had been confirmed to have Wuhan flu. Were there other deaths that weren’t confirmed or other cases that never got sick enough to get tested? Science magazine reports that 86% of infections are never documented. This would mean that the Hubei mortality rate is actually 0.86%. But we don't know for sure,
An illegal immigrant being detained by ICE in New Jersey tested positive for COVID-19, the agency announced Tuesday, forcing a suspension of new detainees at the Bergen County Jail. Officials did not say how the 31-year-old Mexican was infected, nor did it reveal any other details of the particular case, other than to say the person has been quarantined and is receiving medical care. “Consistent with CDC guidelines, those who have come in contact with the individual have been cohorted and are being monitored for symptoms. ICE is suspending intake at the facility until further information is available,” the agency said.
An American hallmark is that Americans take the initiative, creating for themselves whatever is necessary to get the job done. Indeed, back in the late 19th century, when Thomas Alva Edison was a whirlwind of inventions, Americans began to view themselves as a nation of inventors. The inspiration for Rube Goldberg's fantastic, crazy cartoon ideas was the fact that invention was in the air.
People from all 50 states and every educational and ethnic background flooded the newspapers and the patent office with their ideas. It was from that intellectual ferment that we got assembly lines, adding machines, shredded wheat, smoke-detectors, Ferris wheels, rotary dials, bottle caps, zippers,
Attorney General David Yost has ordered the closure of two Ohio abortion facilities, including the one health director Dr. Amy Acton helped get licensed. Yost received complaints after they remained open after being ordered to close.
Yost ordered Women's Med Center in Dayton and Planned Parenthood of Cincinnati Surgery Center to stop non-essential services, after neither complied with orders from Acton. Yost contacted them Saturday, March 21, 2020. According to the Columbus Dispatch, he said:
Non-essential surgical procedures are those that can be delayed without undue risk to the current or future health of the patient.
President Trump said Tuesday that he would not support an emergency coronavirus response bill pitched by House Democrats earlier this week.
“Nancy Pelosi came and put a lot of things in the deal that had nothing to do with workers -- that had to do with an agenda that they have been trying to get passed for 10 years,” Trump told Fox News in a special “Virtual Town Hall.”
“I came in, I told Mike [Pence], I told a lot of people, 'There is no way I am signing that deal," the president added.
Trump said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.,
Proving again that they are part of the problem, not part of the solution, the FDA on March 21 shut down the at-home tests for COVID-19 that had been developed by several companies. (A few days ago, they inhibited the use of the successful drug chloroquine for use against COVID-19.) The website techcrunch.com tells the story of the FDA’s shutdown of at-home testing:
While a number of companies who currently offer at-home medical and health diagnostics had rushed to produce kits that would allow for self sample collection by people who passed a screening and believed they might have contracted the new coronavirus,
Joe Biden doesn’t occupy a political office, isn’t a great orator and is basically stuck in his house.
It’s not much of a platform for projecting leadership during the coronavirus crisis. That was laid bare Monday as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee gave his first coronavirus shadow briefing webcast. Biden’s been outgunned by President Donald Trump and outshone by some of the nation’s governors, among them New York’s Andrew Cuomo, whose crisis response efforts are drawing rave reviews.
A Brief History of Word Games
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When I began to research the history of crosswords for my recent book on the subject, I was sort of shocked to discover that they weren’t invented until 1913. The puzzle seemed so deeply ingrained in our lives that I figured it must have been around for centuries—I envisioned the empress Livia in the famous garden room in her villa, serenely filling in her cruciverborumeach morning. But in reality, the crossword is a recent invention, born out of desperation. Editor Arthur Wynne at the New York World needed something to fill space in the Christmas edition of his paper’s FUN supplement, so he took advantage of new technology
Biden virtually appeared on ABC’s “The View” Tuesday morning from the comfort of his own home in Wilmington,Delaware.Biden is currently practicing “social distancing” because of the Coronavirus pandemic so he has been giving briefings and interviews from home.So far it hasn’t gone well.On Monday 77-year-old Biden stumbled and lost his train of thought after it looked like his teleprompter went down.Biden had to signal to staff that he needed help.
Then he butchered Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker’s name
The Tokyo Olympics have been postponed. India announced a countrywide lockdown. New York, now the center of the outbreak in America, braces for a flood of patients.
Right Now
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced “a total ban of coming out of your homes” for India. No lockdown is under consideration for the United States.The Trump administration never considered a nationwide lockdown, Pence and Trump say.
Even as nations from Britain to India declare nationwide economic lockdowns, President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday that such a step has never been under consideration for the United States.
(Snip) Mr. Trump expressed outrage about having to “close the country” to curb.
There are many people, many voters, simply stunned at how the Democrats are trying to use the COVID-19 economic emergency to add unrelated ideological elements to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.
Senator Tom Cotton walks through some of the items the Democrats are demanding before they will allow economic relief to U.S. companies and workers. MUST WATCH: (Video)
India has announced a "total lockdown" of its population of 1.3 billion people in the fight against coronavirus, as the World Health Organization warned the US may become the new global epicentre of the pandemic.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued the most extensive stay-at-home order yet in the battle against COVID-19 as he ordered a 21-day lockdown from midnight in the country.
In a televised address, Mr Modi said: "To save India and every Indian, there will be a total ban on venturing out of your homes."
He added that if the country failed to manage the next 21 days, it would be set back by 21 years.
Trump's end game on COVID-19
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"Protecting Americans’ health also means fighting infectious diseases. We are coordinating with the Chinese government and working closely together on the corona virus outbreak in China. My administration will take all necessary steps to safeguard our citizens from this threat."
-- President Donald John Trump
State of the Union
February 4, 2020
What is President Donald John Trump's end game with COVID-19? He never engages in battle without winning the war first. From the moves he has made, we may be able to predict his end game.
Vox reported this weekend, "Top health officials first learned of the virus’s spread in China on January 3, US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Friday.
Democrats know the best case scenario now is that Minnesota is a battleground state. A state no Republican has carried in nearly 50 years was barely won in 2016. Putting Fräu Klobuchar (horse whinny) on the ticket may not be enough to stop President Donald John Trump from taking the Gopher State.
The president has done something no Democrat has done in decades: cared about the working class.
Politico sent a reporter to Ely, Minnesota, whose Democrat mayor told him, "The hope rested with Trump; that’s where the people went … it’s hope. People want hope for a better future."
Trump, China Virus 19, and Biden
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The China Virus 19 is not what should scare Americans. The terrifying thought is: What if, G-d forbid, Joe Biden now were president?
This is a moment in history that calls for a uniquely strong and singularly focused president who can manage crises effectively, demand results with appropriate speed, cut through malarkey mercilessly, fire and replace people who cannot meet the moment, and also energize an enormous economy. There could not be a better president for this time than Donald Trump.
We can debate for years to come whether this or that step would have been desirable or even called for in January or February 2020 in confronting China Virus 19.
The weekend began with a bipartisan plan. People were hopeful. Outside of Washington, business owners told The Federalist they finally saw light in all the darkness. They thought they’d be able to hire their employees back again. These are employees who have families, mortgages, and lives; people who have never once asked for public assistance and never thought they’d have to.
The mood in Washington was optimistic as well. “We’re having good bipartisan agreements,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told CNN Saturday, predicting a Monday passage of their plan. “The initial bill Leader [Mitch] McConnell put in didn’t have any Democratic input
The bipartisan answer to the coronavirus pandemic seems to be: shutter the economy, then bail out everyone who is suffering economic pain. Of course, as RealClearMarkets editor John Tamny has observed, if we bail out everyone, we bail out no one. Instead of directly confronting the cause of the pandemic spread of COVID-19, we are inflicting vast damage on great swaths of the economy, likely bankrupting millions of small businesses, which we then seek to fix with massive fiscal and monetary stimulus. Stimulus can only bolster economic activity when slack resources – including the newly unemployed – can be put back to work in a timely way,
The man who may stop COVID-19
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Lara Marlowe of the Irish Times had a terrific lead, "We could know within two weeks whether Professor Didier Raoult, the French virologist who heads the Mediterranean infectious and tropical disease institute in Marseille, will go down in history as the man who saved the world from COVID-19, or will be dismissed as an arrogant, misguided scientist(Snip)
Doctor Raoult was the one who took hydroxycloroquine off the shelf, mixed it with azithromycin(Snip) used it to treat 24 French COVID-19 patients.
It worked. 18 of them tested negative after 6 days.
(Snip)"President Donald Trump apparently learned of Raoult’s experiment through a Twitter post by the billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.
House Republicans on Monday night offered a detailed critique of what they called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “socialist wish list” in House Democrats’ $2.5 trillion proposal for responding to the coronavirus outbreak. “Speaker Pelosi unveiled legislation aimed at exploiting the COVID-19 public health crisis by attempting to force the inclusion of a socialist wish list of policies that have nothing to do with the public health and economic emergency,” said House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, Louisiana Republican. After poring over the 1,400-page proposal, Mr. Scalise offered his characterization of Republicans’ objections to the following items:
To understand the purpose and specific need of the latest Executive Order CTH can share a familiar analogy to help better conceptualize the issues.
There are several supply chains that are being affected by the coronavirus mitigation effort; two specific sectors involve healthcare products and food distribution. Today’s executive order targets both.As a network of U.S. manufacturing continues to increase the production of healthcare products, masks, shields, ventilators and medicines; any hoarding or pricing opportunism around those items is obviously a matter of great interest for overall public health.
AG BARR: "If you have a big supply of toilet paper in your house, this is not something you have to worry about.
To combat the novel coronavirus, Gov. Jay Inslee is ordering Washington residents to stay at home, except for crucial activities.
Residents can still leave to buy groceries, seek medical care and go to work at essential businesses, Inslee said in a live televised address Monday evening, and they can still engage in outdoor activities that can be done 6 feet away from others, such as walking and biking.
But the new order requires the closure of nonessential business places and, the governor said, “is enforceable by law,” though broad crackdowns by officers aren’t expected. (snip) Any nonessential businesses still operating must close in 48 hours
Appearing Tuesday on WMAL’s Morning on the Mall, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, accused D.C. journalists of attempting to pit him against President Donald Trump and affirmed there is no rift between himself and the president on how to combat the Chinese coronavirus outbreak. (Audio) A partial transcript is as follows: VINCE COGLIANESE: It seems like increasingly a bunch of questions from the media are designed to create a rift between you and the President
Approximately 20,000 to 40,000 New Yorkers are currently arriving in Florida daily as they flee from the epicenter of the most explosive coronavirus outbreak. However, if the elderly are the most vulnerable; and if isolating the most vulnerable population is the best course of action; and with the largest population of older residents living in Florida; then why are New Yorkers allowed to travel to Florida?
According to data released by Governor DeSantis: Monday saw 190 direct flights from the New York City area into various Florida airports. If 150-200 people average per flight, that’s 28,500 to 38,000 New York metropolitan area residents arriving in Florida today.
Last week, President Trump held a press conference in the White House Rose Garden introducing his coronavirus task force to the nation. Familiar faces like Vice President Mike Pence, Dr. Anthony Fauci and a handful of CEOs provided the backdrop.Then, through the sea of men in standard-issue stodgy business suits and striped ties in primary colors, stepped forward a 60ish blond woman who looked like Renée Zellweger might play her in a future blockbuster.She had a tranquil demeanor and a serious but airy voice that acted as a release valve on the pressure cooker we had suddenly found ourselves in.
Pelosi: ‘Pope Francis Offered the World This
Prayer: ‘Enlighten Those Responsible for the
Common Good’ replies
Prayer: ‘Enlighten Those Responsible for the
Common Good’ replies
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi quoted a prayer by Pope Francis today in remarks she made celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act—or Obamacare—and attacking President Donald Trump for opposing Obamacare.“Last Thursday,” Pelosi said, “Pope Francis offered the world this prayer: ‘Enlighten those responsible for the common good, so that they might know how to care for those entrusted to their responsibility.’”In the same remarks, she praised President Barack Obama as
Journey to Surrealville:
What's really fuelling Pelosi's
shutdown of America's relief package? replies
What's really fuelling Pelosi's
shutdown of America's relief package? replies
After days of unusual comity between Republicans and Democrats in the coronavirus crisis, the big congressional economic aid package to help hospitals, laid off workers, and battered small businesses all came crashing down as Nancy Pelosi jetted in from vacation, blocking the set-to-go bill over the weekend. (snip) There's a crazy disconnect borne of class warfare, leftist talking points about corporations, and an inability to see that corporation employ workers, whose jobs are on the line.
Almost everyone acknowledges that the homeless population is at great risk of Coronavirus, but so far as I have been able to determine nobody is telling us the percentage of the hospitalized cases and the deaths are accounted for by that same population – nationally or in specific locales. California’s Governor Gavin Newsom authorized funding for housing homeless in trailers and hotel rooms, but so far, few of them have taken advantage of the offer.
I know that we are supposed to have nothing but compassion for the homeless, and my heart breaks for those of them who are not drug addicted and irresponsible.
On Saturday evening I drove to a local pizza joint to pick up a pizza. (snip)
A TV at the pizza place, however, was tuned to CNN. It showed the Coronavirus death toll: 12,000-plus worldwide and 285 in the United States.
The numbers stunned me. Not following the news closely, I presumed, based on the hysteria in the air, that the numbers had to be at least ten times that high both nationally and internationally.
285? According to the Center for Disease Control 185 Americans died of drug overdoses every day in 2018.
As Congress seeks to move an economic relief bill, Democrats once again exploit a crisis to pursue an alternative, far-left agenda that has nothing whatsoever to do with the coronavirus pandemic. It underscores why faith in big government is often misplaced.
Playing hardball over the weekend, Democrats led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blocked a proposed vote on the $1 trillion-plus bill, which would have let negotiations proceed to decide what would go into it.
Now, there might be many good reasons to oppose this bill, or parts of it. After all, removing the
It’s America’s motto, and it’s time to dust it off and put it back to use. ...Americans as a whole will pray and trust God that this, too, shall pass, and freedom shall endure to enable Americans to adapt and learn from it, but with a sense that the paralysis and panic associated with this episode will be overcome, not that it will become the new normal.
Who is Our John Galt?
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Who is John Galt? In 1957 Ayn Rand published her final novel, Atlas Shrugged. This magnum opus describing her philosophy of “objectivism” sought to call attention to the danger of socialism and communism and demonstrate the virtues of freedom and capitalism. Rand came to America from Russia following the 1917 communist revolution led by Lenin, which destroyed the social norms.Who is John Galt? He is the leader of the resistance to the statists of a dystopian United States. Galt has created the intellectual and emotional genesis for unravelling the suffocating government.
Democrats Are Really Bad People
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People tend to come together in moments of crisis, most people anyway. There’s always that selfish jerk in a zombie movie interested in grabbing the wads of cash or something else they’d always wanted but couldn’t get before everything went to hell, and it usually costs them. Democrats are that selfish guy. And while it varies what the cost is in the movies – either his life or the life of someone else – in the case of coronavirus, let it be the political lives of every Democrat, because they truly are bad people.
It’s not uncommon for must-pass bills to be treated like Christmas trees – with
There are plenty of episodes of leftists endorsing the killing of their political opponents out there, but here's one stands out:
Christine Pelosi, a political strategist and daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is under fire over a tweet that appears to endorse the 2017 assault of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., after the lawmaker revealed he tested positive for the coronavirus.
She tweeted:
"Rand Paul's neighbor was right," Christine Pelosi reacted Sunday evening.
The context of the sick tweet, according to Fox News, was someone stating that Sen. Mitt Romney, upon hearing of Paul's illness, decided to self-quarantine after hearing of about Paul's misfortune, in order to protect his wife,
Dr. Anthony Fauci was noticeably absent from the White House daily coronavirus briefing for the second day running on Monday.
The coronavirus expert admitted in an interview over the weekend that he has to tell Donald Trump facts four times to get his point across.
Since the chat with Science was published Sunday he has not been seen at the press conferences led by the president.
(Snip) Trump was asked Monday about Fauci, saying: 'He's a good man. I like Dr. Fauci a lot, just so you understand. He is not here because we are discussing what he is best at but he will be back very soon.'
As every 77 year old in the country should be doing, Joe Biden is staying home. Since he all but clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, the country's economy has crumbled thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, effectively shuttering political campaigning alongside every other industry in the country.
This shouldn't be a problem for Biden. Even since his necessary pivot to treat the coronavirus with the seriousness it deserves, President Trump still can't stop stoking the ire of the media and publishing tirades on Twitter. The chaos of the Trump administration in the coronavirus panic justifies the entire ethos of the Biden campaign, with the former vice president issuing
The word "diversity" appears 32 times in the coronavirus relief bill House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) unveiled on Monday. Pelosi released her plan as critics questioned the priorities of Democratic lawmakers facing the China-caused pandemic.
Senate Democrats voted Sunday to block a coronavirus stimulus package worth up to $1.8 trillion, and continued voting down procedural motions on the bill Monday. Democrats in the upper chamber were reportedly upset that the legislation does not do enough to increase fuel-emissions standards for the airline industry or to provide additional tax credits to promote wind and solar energy.
Moving Past the Quarantine
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Public-health experts largely agree that a period of nationwide slowdown—including school closings, remote work, social distancing, and shelter-in-place orders for 80 million Americans—is necessary to curb the spread of Covid-19. As cases have escalated and threaten to overload the health system, these suppression methods are essential to “flatten the curve” of rising hospitalizations to ensure that they do not exceed our hospital capacity.
Yet these efforts come at a frightening economic cost. As in-person contact becomes prohibitively difficult, entire industries—hospitality, restaurants, tourism, and more—have shut down almost completely. Millions of workers are set to lose their jobs. The stock market is in freefall, and bankruptcies loom for both households and corporations.
‘Never let a good crisis go to waste.’ When Rahm Emanuel said that during the economic meltdown of 2008-2009, his Machiavellian cynicism was instantly recognized as the calling card of the new breed of Democrat that he and his boss, Barack ‘Bring-a-gun-to-the fight‘ Obama, embodied.
We saw it then, when the gargantuan pseudo-stimulus package stimulated little apart from the federal debt, and we are seeing it again now as Democrats hold up an emergency spending bill (also gargantuan) in order to fill it with profligate and politically tendentious provisions. As Rep. Jim Clyburn put it, ‘This is a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.’
Slow Joe’s Slow Pitch
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Never has the nickname “Slow Joe” Biden fit better than in today’s somnambulistic performance from his home in Delaware about what he thinks needs to be done about the coronavirus. Take in this 60 second excerpt from the middle of his remarks and ask yourself if this looks like a person who can make it to November:(Snip for video)I’ll bet you didn’t know that Biden was such an expert on logistics. And about sending the military to collect medical supplies overseas . . . um, what? C’mon, man!
Two observations: If you watch the whole thing, Biden doesn’t suggest a single thing that the Trump administration isn’t already doing.
Amid all the controversy over where the coronavirus comes from (don’t you dare call it the “Chinese Virus,” a la “Spanish Flu,” that would be racist, and to be racist is worse than the virus itself) and what should be done about it, a Muslim cleric in Syracuse, NY., has found the key; thousands of people are being infected, many are dying, and America is teetering on the edge of economic collapse because American women are showing too much ankle.
Don’t laugh. Laughing would be “Islamophobic,” and Khadar Bin Muhammad, the imam of the Masjid Bilal Ibn Rabah in Syracuse, is not making a joke.
The cynical partisan opportunism of Democrats exhibited during the coronavirus economic crisis has been breathtaking.
Rather than move forward with quick, no-frills, massive $1.8 trillion dollar rescue plan, Democrats decided to hold the country hostage by trying to cram through a slew of lefty goodies that have absolutely nothing to do with the pending economic crisis.
As corporate boards struggle to figure out ways to keep their companies afloat, Nancy Pelosi is demanding that they spend time filling gender and racial quotas, down to “subcommittee assignments.”
Coronavirus: A Glimmer of Hope
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Those of us trying to predict what direction the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic will take in the United States have been paying close attention to reports from Italy. And until Sunday, the outlook there kept going from bad to worse.
For nearly two weeks after the Italian government imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 9, the daily number of coronavirus deaths mounted rapidly. On Friday, it was reported that 627 Italians died from the disease, as the country’s cumulative death toll passed 4,000. This was shocking, but then on Saturday, Italy reported that 793 more people had died from the virus.
Former campaign workers for Mike Bloomberg are suing the billionaire former presidential candidate for fraud, alleging in a nationwide class action lawsuit that as many as 2,000 employees were promised to be paid through the general election before he laid them off.
Plaintiffs in the class action include two organizers who halted the interview process for other jobs to join the Bloomberg campaign, and another former organizer who postponed law school to work on Bloomberg’s 2020 effort.
The filing comes on the same day as another class action brought by a former Bloomberg field organizer that similarly argues the employees were tricked
Jim Caviezel, the actor who starred as Jesus of Nazareth in director Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, predicted that the long-gestating sequel will be even bigger than the record-setting 2004 film. In an interview with Fox Nation, Caviezel gave a two-word update when asked about Gibson’s progress — that the script is on its “fifth draft.”“It’s going to be a masterpiece,” he continued. “It’s gonna be the biggest film in world history, I believe it will be based on what I feel in my heart.”He said that some of the things that occurred while filming the 2004 movie made the scene of Jesus walking
It’s not much of a shock to discover that Rachel Maddow doesn’t like President Trump’s daily briefings on the coronavirus.
“I feel like we should inoculate ourselves against the harmful impact of these ongoing false promises and false statements by the president by recognizing that when he’s talking about the coronavirus epidemic, more often than not, he is lying,” she told her MSNBC viewers.
What is rather surprising is what Maddow wants to do about it, an idea that is gaining cachet among other commentators on the left as well.
Last week, a dopey version of John Lennon's "Imagine," sung by celebrities in coronavirus quarantine, made the rounds on social media. If you haven't seen it, it was as awful as you can ... well ... imagine. Several less cringey celebs responded, giving the effort several raspberries.
Bryan Preston wrote about it on Thursday for PJ Media. Somehow the song was intended to inspire social media followers who have been impacted by the pandemic. The lyrics of the song, however, literally tell us not to have hope and only live for today.
A couple of celebrities have crafted more level-headed responses to the misguided project.
On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) defended House Democrats pushing for voting by mail and early voting in their coronavirus relief bill because such proposals are part of protecting the health of democracy, and “we view the economic health and the health of our democracy as very much interrelated.”
Host Chris Hayes asked Schiff about the criticism that Democrats “sort of see this opportunity to get a bunch of stuff you wanted anyway, in under the cover of emergency legislation. What’s your response to that?”
Schiff responded, “I think what they’re really focused on is, we want to make sure that we protect,
Pelosi's coronavirus stimulus
includes return of 'Obamaphones,'
other unrelated items, GOP says replies
includes return of 'Obamaphones,'
other unrelated items, GOP says replies
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduced her own emergency coronavirus stimulus bill on Monday, leading furious Republicans to argue that much of the proposal contained a progressive wishlist seemingly unrelated to the crisis -- including several provisions that amount to a resurrection of the notorious "Obamaphone" program, GOP officials said.
The bill proposed by Pelosi, D-Calif., additionally seeks to eliminate debt held by the U.S. Postal Service, require same-day voter registration, pay off $10,000 in student debt per person, mandate that airlines reduce their overall carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2050, and force federal agencies to explain to Congress how they are increasing their usage of "minority banks."
“Sweet Caroline” has a new chorus geared for the era of social distancing.Neil Diamond, 79, tweeted his timely update of his legendary 1969 singalong anthem Sunday on Twitter.“Hi everybody, this is Neil Diamond, and I know we’re going through a rough time right now, but I love ya, and I think maybe if we sing together, well, we’ll just feel a little bit better. Give it a try, okay?” says the singer-songwriter in a two-minute clip, tweeted with the caption “Stay safe out there!”He then sings the track’s well-known lyrics, before getting to the coronavirus-inspired chorus:
President Donald Trump's efforts to combat the coronavirus have been strong enough, say 61 per cent of American registered voters, according to a new poll.
The Hill-HarrisX survey also found that 39 per cent of voters somewhat or strongly disagree with how Trump is tackling the deadly outbreak of the infection, also known as COVID-19.
The poll results come as Trump says he may decide to scale back some of the government mandates made to slow and contain the spread of the deadly flu-like virus due to concerns of how much they have had negative impacts on the economy.
In less than a week, the Trump administration has greatly expanded the actions it's taken to fight the coronavirus and boost the economy, according to its latest tally of “response efforts.”Last week, when Secrets first ran the list, it totaled 43. By Monday, it was at 74, with many more planned this week as the White House effort shifts to focus more on the economy and treatment of those infected.While he continues to receive fire from some governors who want more, President Trump said he hopes for a win in the battle soon.“For those worried and afraid,
President Donald Trump announced Monday that first lady Melania Trump was tested for the Chinese coronavirus and her result was negative.“She’s fine…Negative, yes,” the president replied when asked by reporters in the White House briefing room whether the first lady had been tested.Melania Trump joins members of her family, including President Trump in testing negative for the illness. On Friday, White House senior adviser Ivanka Trump returned to work after testing negative as well.Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence tested negative on Saturday.
A man has died and his wife is under critical care after they ingested a chemical found commonly found in fish tank cleaner thinking it was the miracle coronavirus cure President Donald Trump touted at a press conference last week.
Banner Health, a non-profit hospital system based in Arizona, issued a statement urging the public against the use of inappropriate medications and household products to prevent or treat COVID-19 on Monday.
To emphasize the importance of the warning, officials disclosed a few details of what happened with an unnamed couple that ignored the advice and took their medical care into their own hands.
A man died after ingesting an additive used to clean fish tanks — which included a pharmaceutical drug touted by President Trump and others as a potential coronavirus cure. Within 30 minutes of taking chloroquine phosphate, the man in his 60s experienced “immediate effects” and had to be admitted to a nearby Banner Health hospital, the medical system in Arizona said in a press release Monday. His wife, also in her 60s, is in critical condition after taking the additive, which is used in aquariums to kill some organisms, like algae, that may harm fish.
The man’s wife told NBC News she’d watched press briefings where Trump talked
John Kennedy Gives An All-Time Zinger to
Congress By Revealing What All Americans
Are Thinking replies
Congress By Revealing What All Americans
Are Thinking replies
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) is well-known for his one-liners and wisecracks and he did not disappoint on Monday when he was expressing his disappointment after Senate Democrats defeated a Sunday cloture vote for the Wuhan coronavirus relief bill.
As Guy Benson reported earlier, both Senate Minority Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) were demanded for unprecedented collective bargaining powers for unions, increased fuel emissions standards for airlines, and expansion of wind and solar tax credits to be tacked onto the bill. In other words, they were using a national emergency to push for Democratic wishlist proposals.
Fox News Channel is hosting a two-hour virtual town hall with President Trump and members of the White House coronavirus task force on Tuesday, March 24, at 12 p.m. ET. The president and his team will be answering text and video questions you submit to Fox News' Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts, as well as email submissions for the special live event at live-blog@foxnews.com.(Snip)They will explain how the White House is handling the growing crisis before President Trump joins the forum at roughly 12:30 p.m. ET to answer questions from Fox News viewers across the country.
The Wuhan coronavirus pandemic still has the world on edge. Italy has been ravaged by the illness, with tens of thousands infected and thousands of deaths. The U.S. also has tens of thousands of confirmed cases, but the death toll isn’t nearly as high. For Italy, the good news is the number of confirmed cases today shows that the nation’s lockdown is working and there may be signs that the curve is starting to flatten over there. Again, things can change. [Tweets]
The disease has crashed the markets. The virus is highly contagious and very lethal to those who are over the age of 65 and the immunocompromised.
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced on Monday that those who break the state’s stay at home order could face jail or up to $1,000 in fines.Gov. Phil Murphy signed executive orders over the weekend bar unapproved social gatherings and shut down all “non-essential” businesses. The orders closed all retail “storefront and/or brick-and-mortar premises” and ordered that “all recreational and entertainment businesses must close to the public.”During a press conference on Monday, Grewal said that police will also be monitoring for people who have parties at their homes and invite too many people.
President Donald Trump said Monday that he would continue to listen to advice from federal government doctors but would ultimately make his own decisions about the future of the economy, as the fight against the coronavirus continues.“Ultimately, I have to make a decision, but I certainly listen to them,” Trump said when asked if he would follow the advice of Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx about loosening national guidelines restricting the behavior of the American people.The president spoke with reporters for over an hour and a half during a White House press briefing on Monday evening.
Hospitals and other medical facilities around the country have been facing a shortage of masks in recent weeks, as the threat of COVID-19 has spread.
In Billings, surgeons who typically would use a new mask for every procedure have been asked to use just one mask a day so that they don’t eventually run out completely.
“We commonly change those masks out between every case for sanitary reasons,” said Dr. Dusty Richardson, a neurosurgeon at Billings Clinic. “Starting about two weeks ago, the supply became limited enough that we have now been only able to use one mask per day.”
It was on Thursday night, driving home from work,
A New Jersey gun store owner is now offering home delivery of ammunition to legal gun owners in the state, after Gov. Phil Murphy declared that gun stores and ranges must close, ending sales but not demand for firearms and ammunition. Derek Pitera, the owner of SC Arms in Spotswood, New Jersey, said the governor’s order will “put a hurt” on his business, and he was looking for a way to keep some generating some cash while supporting people’s rights to keep and bear arms as well when he stumbled on to the idea.
Pitera tells Bearing Arms that he was doing some research into the governor’s order,