Posts on Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Wednesday on MSNBC’s “The Last Word,” House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), one of the House impeachment managers of the impeachment of President Donald Trump, said those blaming impeachment for Trump’s delayed reaction to the coronavirus pandemic were acknowledging “the administration screwed up this response.”O’Donnell asked, “Mitch McConnell said that he believes that the impeachment trial in the Senate slowed down the federal government’s response to the pandemic. What’s your response to that?”Schiff said, “Yeah, the president said something similar, which, you know, was an interesting acknowledgment that the administration screwed up this response.
Crazy times cry out for good music — the kind that sends your spirits soaring, even as it helps keep you grounded. That often means classic rock for some, but for me, it’s classical music, period. I grew up with a musician who, when she wasn’t leading her Brooklyn elementary school’s glee club, could usually be found at our piano. I’d fall asleep to Bach fugues and Beethoven sonatas, seeing pictures in my head and making up lyrics for the glorious sounds coming from our living room.
When Mom wasn’t playing, radio station WQXR was. I still listen to it today, all the time —
Pressure is mounting for the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to return $25 million it received from the massive federal coronavirus bailout package signed into law last week after its president was heard on leaked audio telling staffers their jobs would still be lost.
And one lawmaker has even introduced a bill to have the funds rescinded.
The audio, recorded during an internal conference call with staff, revealed how executives at the Washington, DC arts icon lobbied lawmakers for the massive handout from the $2 trillion national aid package — but then furloughed more than 700 staffers.
Wisconsin GOP Rep. Bryan Steil introduced a bill to rescind the $25 million in funding,
America has long led the world in innovation, and the coronavirus won’t change that. Indeed, US inventors and entrepreneurs are rising to the occasion, jumping in to fill urgent needs.
With ramped-up testing the best way to discover who has the virus and so learn what the fatality rate really is, the news from Abbott Laboratories couldn’t be better. The Food and Drug Administration gave emergency-use approval to Abbott’s new test, the fastest available at the point of care: It can deliver a positive result in five minutes and a negative result in under 15.
This test runs on a platform about the size of a small toaster
President Trump surprised the nation’s leading infectious disease expert with some praise for his past basketball career.A reporter asked Fauci if either he or Deborah Birx, the response coordinator for the White House coronavirus task force, had received any threats or been given a security detail. Fauci deferred to the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services before President Trump jumped in.“Everybody loves him,” the president said. “They’d be in big trouble if they ever attacked. You know, he was a great basketball player. Did anybody know that?"“He was a little on the short side for the NBA, but he was talented,”
President Donald Trump was asked by a reporter on Wednesday about “undocumented” immigrants not getting a stimulus check from the government as part of the coronavirus economic rescue package.“Well, you know, you are saying undocumented, meaning they came in illegally,” Trump said. “A lot of people would say that we have a lot of citizens right now that won’t be working, so what are you going to do?”Trump said he felt bad about the situation for illegal immigrants during a tough economic period.“It’s a very sad question, I must be honest with you, but they came in illegally and we have a lot of people
A large haul of drugs, including opioids, methamphetamine and cocaine, being smuggled from Mexico to California was seized from a cross-border tunnel equipped with ventilation, lighting and an underground rail system, authorities said Tuesday.
The tunnel connected warehouses in Tijuana and San Diego, extending about 2,000 feet (610 meters) with an average depth of 31 feet (9.5 meters) and width of 3 feet (0.9 meter), according to the San Diego Tunnel Task Force, an investigative team made up of several federal agencies. Investigators believe the tunnel existed for several months “due to the advanced construction observed in several portions.”
Authorities seized more than 2 tons of a variety of drugs,
A pastor at a North Carolina church held Sunday services at a drive-in theater due to coronavirus social distancing practices, according to a report.
Instead of preaching at the Harriet Baptist Church in Henderson, Pastor Will Breedlove took to an outdoor stage for the second straight Sunday at the Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre, where parishioners honked their horns in praise, the News & Observer reports.
“I just wanted to be able to gather and keep people safe,” Breedlove told the newspaper prior to an 11 a.m. service.
Although attendance was capped at 50 worshipers, Breedlove’s earlier service at 9:30 a.m. was packed.
States are weighing measures to change voting rules in November’s presidential election as they struggle with social-distancing orders during the worldwide coronavirus outbreak, according to a report Tuesday.
“More people who vote early or vote by mail, means fewer people standing in line on election day,” California Secretary of State Alex Padilla told the Axios news website.
But the effort to keep voters from going to the polls in person Nov. 3 faces legislative and financial roadblocks.
The price for states to change their methods of voting could pass $2 billion, Axios said.
And 12 states don’t allow voters to cast ballots by mail.
Four states — Alabama, Delaware, Kentucky and Connecticut —
A Los Angeles train engineer was arrested Wednesday for allegedly derailing a locomotive near the Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy — believing a conspiracy theory that the government is covering up the vessel’s true purpose, federal authorities said.
Eduardo Moreno, 44, of San Pedro, is accused of ramming the locomotive through two barriers and the end of a track on Tuesday and coming to rest in a gravel lot about 250 yards away from the hospital ship, according to the Department of Justice.
Nobody was injured in the derailment, which was witnessed by a nearby California Highway Patrol officer.
“You only get this chance once. The whole world is watching,”
Sen. Rob Portman will donate his salary over the course of two months to charities focused on helping with coronavirus relief efforts, he announced Monday.
Portman (R-Ohio) said in a statement that he would donate his salary through the end of May to five regional organizations across his home state: the Cleveland Foundation COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund, the Columbus Foundation Emergency Response Fund, the United Way and Greater Cincinnati Foundation local nonprofit fund, the Southeast Ohio Food Bank and the Greater Toledo Community Foundation Covid-19 Response.
“Many Ohioans are hurting right now due to the coronavirus pandemic, struggling to pay their bills and make ends meet,” Portman’s statement read.
One America News Network has been removed by the White House Correspondents Association from the rotation of press outlets granted seats at the daily White House coronavirus task force briefings after OANN reporter Chanel Rion allegedly violated in-house rules by twice showing up at the briefings without an assigned seat. The seating for the press has been limited due to CDC guidelines for social distancing because of the COVID-19 Chinese coronavirus pandemic. Rion has attended the briefings as a guest of White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham.
During an interview aired on Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “11th Hour,” 2020 Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden called on secretaries of state to plan for having remote voting in the 2020 elections. Biden said, “[T]here would be no rationale for eliminating or delaying the election. It may be virtual.”(Snip)Biden responded, “Yes. I think they should be doing that now. I think they should be doing that now, planning on it.” Biden also suggested drive-in voting as another possibility and predicted that there will be more absentee voting.
An engineer deliberately ran a train off the tracks at high speed near the Port of Los Angeles in an attempt to crash into and damage the USNS Mercy hospital ship, prosecutors say.
The Pacific Harbor Line train derailed Tuesday, running through the end of the track and crashing through barriers, finally coming to rest about 250 yards from the docked naval ship.
Federal prosecutors allege train engineer Eduardo Moreno, 44, of San Pedro intended to hit the ship, saying he thought it was "suspicious" and did not believe "the ship is what they say it's for.'"
The maker of Benson & Hedges and Lucky Strike cigarettes claims it has developed a coronavirus vaccine made from tobacco plants. British American Tobacco (BAT) said it can manufacture up to three million doses a week starting in June if it gets support from the UK Government. The unproven vaccine is currently being tested on animals. But BAT is calling on Whitehall to fast-track the vaccine through rigorous human trials which could otherwise take the best part of a year and make the June date impossible.BAT said it had pivoted its vast resources
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi established the new marching orders Sunday during her appearance on CNN, attacking President Trump for his handling of the Chinese virus COVID-19.The San Francisco Democrat said that the national response to the coronavirus was hampered by an alleged early denial by the president, as Pelosi opted to politicize the unprecedented national emergency brought on by the pandemic — a crisis crushing American families and businesses.“His denial at the beginning was deadly,” Pelosi said, adding the money line, “As the president fiddles, people are dying.”Of course, there’s no truth to the assertion, even if her media allies do run with the narrative.
Actress Bette Midler has called President Donald Trump cruel and malignant following reports that the White House has decided not to re-open Obamacare marketplaces to new customers. In an extraordinary claim, the Beaches star said that the president’s “overwhelming jealousy” of Obama “will kill us all.” The Trump administration has reportedly opted against re-opening Obamacare’s Healthcare.gov marketplaces for a special enrollment period, with Politico citing an anonymous White House official who said that the administration is “exploring other options.”
House Democrats are rolling out plans for a big “Phase 4” economic relief package, but Republicans warn they won’t support legislation that simply incorporates the Democratic party agenda, including green energy initiatives and mail-in ballots for federal elections."As the legislation from the first three phases is implemented, Republicans stand ready to work across the aisle to support the individuals and institutions that will need more help in the fight against the virus,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said in a statement Wednesday. “But the American people cannot afford the distraction of continued attempts to force partisan objectives into our response.”
Last week the liberal media ran screaming headlines after 39-year-old Natasha Ott was found dead on her kitchen floor while awaiting her coronavirus test results.
Rest in peace, Natasha.
Of course, the left ran with the story as a way to whip up panic and attack the Trump administration. (Tweets)But it was not true.
A second coronvirus test came back negative on Natasha Ott.
The media reported incorrectly that she died of COVID-19 while waiting for her test results.
Furthermore, it was not revealed that she was in fact suffering for the last TWO years from an undiagnosed intestinal condition but her boyfriend lied and said she was perfectly healthy.
Washington -- Some of the sailors from the USS Theodore Roosevelt will be quarantined in hotel rooms in Guam as the number of coronavirus cases aboard the aircraft carrier approaches 100, a deteriorating situation that led the ship's commanding officer to issue a stark warning to top Navy leadership about the need to get sailors off the ship.
Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly said Wednesday that 93 sailors from the ship have tested positive for the virus to date, representing more than 10% of all cases across the entire US military.
A senior defense official told CNN that the Navy
Critics of President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus crisis characterize it as “knee-jerk,” “spur of the moment,” and “grasping at any straw within reach.”
In fact, many of the recent executive actions we have seen reflect a new approach to health policy that has been underway almost since the day Trump was sworn into office.
They include the ability to be diagnosed and treated without ever leaving your own home; the ability to talk to doctors 24/7 by means of phone, email, and Skype; and the ability of the chronically ill to have access to free diagnoses and treatments without losing their access to health savings accounts.
Before the coronavirus had reached the Pleasant View Nursing Home in the small Maryland town of Mount Airy, the home’s administrator asked the state health department what she should be doing about the threat.
Some of Rebecca Travels’ staff worked second jobs at other nursing homes, she said, and she wanted to hedge against an outbreak. Nursing care facilities in other states had been hit hard, and she feared for her older residents — who live four to a room. [snip] Less than a week later, five of her 95 residents are dead.
A police officer who pulled over a doctor for speeding let her go with a warning — and handed her five N95 masks instead of a ticket, she wrote in a Facebook post.
Lead-footed cardiologist Sarosh Ashraf Janjua wrote that a Minnesota state trooper stopped her for speeding on I-35 last week.
Janjua, of Massachusetts, handed over her license and expected a speeding ticket for driving over the limit.
“He went back to his patrol car to look up my license, and when he returned, quite firmly told me it was very irresponsible of me to be speeding, especially since I would not only take up resources if I got into an accident,
LONDON/OAKLAND/BUCHAREST – Driving to work at his factory to the west of London last week, designer Steve Brooks had coronavirus on his mind. What could he make that would let him open a door without touching the handle? “Everyone has to use their little finger or find the bit of the door that nobody’s touched,” said the designer and owner at DDB Ltd, a company which makes office furniture. So he produced a hook to do the job. The so-called hygienehook is small enough to fit in a pocket and made from a non-porous material, which makes it easy to clean. It is one of hundreds of gadgets dreamt up
By now, you've heard the report from the Department of Justice's inspector general, Horowitz, about what's painted as a widespread culture of corruption at the FBI regarding its FISA warrants to spy on American citizens.
There were 93% and 100% fail rates. Americans were illegally spied on all over, so the narrative goes. The FBI can't be trusted. Time to get rid of FISA altogether.
According to Eli Lake at Bloomberg:
On Tuesday, the Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz issued a new report that found systematic errors of fact in the FBI's applications for warrants under the Foreign
MIAMI — The Trump administration will soon announce that the U.S. is moving naval ships toward Venezuela as it enhances counter-narcotic operations in the Caribbean following a U.S. drug indictment against Nicolás Maduro, according to three people familiar with the situation.
The deployment could be announced as early as Wednesday, according to the people, who were speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss it ahead of the official announcement.
The mission is part of the U.S.’s previously announced commitment to enhance anti-drug operations in the hemisphere.
But its taken on greater urgency following last week’s indictment of Maduro, Venezuela’s embattled socialist leader, and members of his inner circle and military
The Chinese government has deliberately underreported the total number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the country, the U.S. intelligence community told the White House, a new report says.
Bloomberg, citing three U.S. officials, reported Wednesday that the intelligence community said in a classified report that China’s public tally of COVID-19 infections and deaths is purposefully incomplete.
RUSH: I’ve got a couple of great things. You know, yesterday I was dancing around the topic, dancing around the eco-message. This is not sustainable.(Snip)This is exactly my point. What are we doing? We have purposely shut down capitalism. We’ve shut down the largest economy in the world. We’ve shut down the economy the world needs. The biggest roaring economy the country has ever seen, we’ve shut it down. It took three years, only three years to build this economy up from the tepid state the Obama administration left it in, and now we’re right back there. Do you realize it’s just taken two months
Connecticut residents suddenly out of work as a result of the coronavirus pandemic might not see their first unemployment payment until the first week of May, Gov. Ned Lamont said Tuesday. Lamont reported no fresh new surge in claims for unemployment benefits, after the state saw roughly 100,000 file after his March 10 declaration of a public health emergency in response to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. The Connecticut Department of Labor had reported a processing delay of two to three weeks due to staff being overwhelmed by processing applications while working remotely on outdated computer systems. On Tuesday
A Virginia store clerk heard a crash that sounded like a car had crashed into the place at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday. He grabbed a gun and shot at three masked men he found stealing merchandise and cash from the shop.
When it was over, the clerk was the one in handcuffs. He now sits in jail on no bail, charged with crimes for which he could be locked up for 20 years. Those charges include: "Malicious Wounding, Reckless Handling of a Firearm and Violation of a Protective Order."
Police say they'll get around to charging the robbers later.
What's wrong with this picture?
The Nation-State Is Back
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Over the past two or three decades it has been fashionable for international relations theorists, politicians, and mainstream media pundits to claim that the Westphalian nation state was moribund, obsolete, and rapidly diminishing in importance. They claimed that various transnational and regional mechanisms and institutions—the European Union being a prime example—were irreversibly taking over its functions. This was treated both as a fact and as a praiseworthy development. The Western elite class embodied in the guest list of annual bashes at Davos promoted and heartily embraced the globalist outlook in general and the mantra of multiculturalism in particular.
The deadly coronavirus has J.C. Penney teetering on the verge of extinction. J.C. Penney said Tuesday it will extend the closure of its stores indefinitely because of the coronavirus pandemic. A majority of hourly store workers will be temporarily furloughed beginning April 2. In the meantime, a significant portion of J.C. Penney’s corporate staff will be furloughed. Employees will not be paid, with J.C. Penney pointing to in a press release eligibility for unemployment benefits for some workers. Most of the company’s workers in its supply chain and logistics centers were furloughed on March 20, and these will continue. J.C.
A New York woman has been arrested for allegedly stealing a box of face masks from an upstate medical center. Otsego County Sheriff Richard Devlin, Jr said in a statement that Josie Wright, 33, was taken into custody for stealing the masks and other medical supplies from Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown. Authorities said Wright, who works as a contracted employee at the center, had taken the masks and alcohol prep pads and shipped the items to other people. Wright was arrested after the sheriff's office had been contacted by Bassett Security to assist in an investigation into the thefts
Ned Lamont, the Democrat governor of Connecticut, claimed on Tuesday that the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile of medical supplies is now empty and alleged that the state is now on its own in securing ventilators and masks to fight the coronavirus pandemic without the help of the federal government.
"It was disturbing today to find out that the national strategic stockpile is now empty. We did get 50 ventilators, for which I am very thankful," Governor Lamont said. "For now we are on our own. For now, we are doing the best to scour the globe for PPE (personal protective equipment) as best we can."
This, it turns out, was not true.
Some lives are more important than others. Apparently Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, has decided her health and conditioning is worth putting others at risk of COVID-19 Chinese coronavirus infection so she can get in her twice-a-week workouts with her trainer at the Supreme Court gym.
A report by Law360.com based on an interview with Ginsburg’s trainer was published Monday evening.
Excerpt:
Gyms are closed around the country due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the personal trainer for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told Law360 that the justice “ain’t having it,” and is still working out with him twice a week at the U.S. Supreme Court’s private facility.
Live animals are still for sale in Chinese food markets that reopened after the country recently declared victory over coronavirus.
Cages full of cats and dogs waiting for slaughter and the unsanitary preparation of animals is again reportedly a common sight in Chinese food markets, often called wet-markets, according to in-country correspondents with the Daily Mail.
China ordered that its wet-markets be shut down in January, after facts emerged suggesting that coronavirus was first transmitted to humans via bats and other live animals sold in the often filthy places of commerce, according to Business Insider. However, now that China says it’s beaten the virus, the markets seem to have resumed business
Joseph R. Biden Jr. is working the phones with top donors while cloistered in his Delaware home. His digital team is searching for the right tone to ask small contributors for cash during the sharpest economic downturn in their lifetimes. And his finance operation is plotting how to keep the checks coming when catered parties for big contributors are on hold — indefinitely.
Top Biden fund-raisers and donors, as well as campaign, super PAC and Democratic Party officials, described urgent efforts to reimagine the ways they raise money during a pandemic and global economic slowdown.
When readers received the April 1, 1985, issue of Sports Illustrated, they opened the magazine to read an article about a young, unknown New York Mets prospect who could throw a baseball 168 mph. The Curious Case Of Sidd Finch, written by journalist George Plimpton, detailed the mysterious lifestyle of the "part-pitcher, part-yogi" who played the French horn beautifully and looked like "Goofy in one of Walt Disney's cartoon classics" when he threw the ball.
The fascinating story of Sidd Finch was all a hoax, an idea originally drummed up by SI's managing editor at the time, Mark Mulvoy, and perfectly executed by Plimpton.
Ecuador officials said Tuesday they are speeding up the collection of corpses in Guayaquil as delays related to the coronavirus epidemic have left families keeping their loved ones’ bodies in their homes for days.
Family members of the dead gather outside a Guayaquil funeral home that was rumored to be accepting bodies from a local morgue. (El Universo)
In some cases, bodies have been moved to sidewalks and in others neighbors burn tires in the street to mask the smell of decomposition.
The novel coronavirus outbreak in New York City has taken a major toll on workers in health care, mass transit, and public safety, including the New York City Police Department.
The department reported on Tuesday that 1,048 uniformed members and 145 civilian employees have tested positive for the coronavirus. More than 5,600 officers (about 15.6% of its uniformed workforce) were out sick on Tuesday—more cops than serve in the entire Houston Police Department.
President Trump said Wednesday that Iran is planning a "sneak attack" on U.S. troops or "assets" in Iraq, warning the country will pay a "heavy price" if this happens.
The president made the abrupt announcement in a tweet Wednesday afternoon, coming amid lingering tensions between the two countries over past confrontations as well as the coronavirus pandemic.
"Upon information and belief, Iran or its proxies are planning a sneak attack on U.S. troops and/or assets in Iraq. If this happens, Iran will pay a very heavy price, indeed!" Trump tweeted.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson said Tuesday the Trump administration and the coronavirus task force are together working every day to stop the pandemic. He is confident they are making good progress to that end, including the development of medication to treat the virus that could change the trajectory of its spread in the coming weeks.
“The big message is this will pass,” Carson told SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily with host Alex Marlow. “We will get through this.”
Time for a Second Opinion
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We are trying to stave off and arrest a pandemic. Given what is being recommended, we think we need some second or third opinions. This pandemic, now that it has reached America, has taken 3,173 lives here. This, from a tested population of 164,359 cases. That’s a mortality rate of 1.9%. But immediately, questions must be asked. We record every case of death from the coronavirus, but we have no idea how many people have had the coronavirus. Clearly, there are more than 164,359 cases because not everyone has been tested. That would put the mortality rate at less than 1.9%. That rate could be far, far less.
The Strategic National Stockpile, America’s giant medical storage closet for a terrorist or biological crisis, once boasted more than 100 million respirator masks to protect doctors, nurses and other frontline health care workers in case of a contagion.
But when the COVID-19 pandemic started a few months ago, the supply had dwindled down to just 12 million fitted masks, known as N95 respirators, and 30 million surgical masks, a supply deemed to be less than 2 percent of what the nation would need for full-blown pandemic.
Hunter Biden’s wife, Melissa Cohen, has given birth to a baby boy. The baby was born on March 28, according to a report published by Page Six. Melissa’s brother, Garyn Cohen, confirmed she gave birth to a “beautiful and healthy baby boy” to Page Six. (Tweet) “We are ecstatic about the baby,” Garyn told the outlet before the family welcomed the baby. “We actually feel that like a time like this, with the whole world in crisis, bringing a beautiful baby into the world is an opportunity to focus on the good, instead of this virus that is ravaging the world and causing a pandemic.”
The international community is currently experiencing the worst global panic in modern history. Entire economies, including the US economy, are in complete free-fall over the coronavirus pandemic and panic.
It is always good to pause and look at the actual data and not the ever-changing “models” the “experts” continue to throw at us.
We posted on the current coronavirus numbers in a previous post today.
Now this from our friend Steve at Grassfire:
The CDC’s “Pneumonia and Influenza Mortality Surveillance” website reports that there have been more than 80,000 P&I (pneumonia and influenza) deaths during the current 2019-2020 flu season.
A San Francisco doctor featured in the Netflix documentary “Pandemic” announced that he and his team have discovered a potential coronavirus cure — which will now be tested by the US military. Jacob Glanville, who runs the biotech company Distributed Bio, tweeted that the new antibody therapy, which works by “blocking the novel coronavirus from infecting human cells,” is a “candidate cure” for the deadly bug that has swept 180 countries and territories.“I’m happy to report that my team has successfully taken five antibodies that back in 2002 were determined to bind and neutralize,
A New Jersey ER doctor has died in his husband’s arms in their New York City apartment—just days after he started to notice coronavirus symptoms, according to a report. Dr. Frank Gabrin of East Orange General Hospital stayed home from work as of Thursday after he began feeling sick, his husband, Arnold Vargas, told WNBC. He had not been tested for the coronavirus, Vargas said, adding that as a health care professional, they were quite certain he was infected. On Tuesday morning, Gabrin woke up with chest pain, so they called police—but he died in Vargas’ arms before help arrived
A second person who attended a now infamous Miami beach party has died of contracting the coronavirus. Several other party-goers have reported that they are suffering from flu-like symptoms, reiterating the importance of social distancing during the pandemic. Ron Rich, described as a 'loyal volunteer' for The National LGBTQ Task Force, passed away over the weekend after attending the beach party in March.(Snip) The Winter Party Festival in South Beach, an LGBTQ festival that took place in early March, has now been linked to two deaths and a number of cases. The week-long 'circuit party' which was held at multiple locations
As the number of Americans impacted by the deadly coronavirus continues to climb, some voters looking for decisive action are turning to state leaders for guidance– chief among them, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose daily press conferences and emphatic communication style has gradually captivated audiences across the nation over the last month. The spotlight on Cuomo comes at a critical time for Democrats looking for tangible leadership in the primary season. With former Vice President Joe Biden confined to offering somewhat limited communication from his home studio, Cuomo appears as a fiery option for Democrats who perceive President Trump's
HUTCHINS, Texas— A tractor-trailer hauling toilet paper crashed and caught fire near Dallas early Wednesday, spilling the hot commodity all over an interstate, officials said.The fire shut down westbound lanes of Interstate 20 near Interstate 45 in Hutchins, the Texas Department of Transportation said.The driver of the truck is OK, officials said. The toilet paper appeared to be large rolls typically used in stores, restaurants and other businesses. Texas Department of Transportation officials said the load of toilet paper “burned extensively,” according to Dallas TV station WFAA.Toilet paper has been in high demand amid the coronavirus pandemic. Producers ramped up production
House Republicans late Tuesday renewed their demands that the House Judiciary Committee hold hearings into the FBI spying on Americans after a new review found agents routinely used inaccurate or incomplete evidence to justify surveillance warrants. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the panel's ranking member, sent Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., a letter requesting the hearings in response to a special investigative memo released by Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz earlier in the day.
CNN anchor Don Lemon broke down in tears on Tuesday night while talking about his fellow news anchor and dear friend Chris Cuomo, who had earlier announced that he tested positive for coronavirus. The 54-year-old host was interviewing his colleague Bianna Golodryga on CNN Tonight with Don Lemon Tuesday night on how Americans are unable to pay their mortgages due to the pandemic, and his eyes turned red and started to tear. 'Sorry, I said I wasn’t going to do this... He’s probably at home laughing at me,' Lemon said before detailing his close friendship with Cuomo.'Chris and I are really good friends, we live near each other,'
White House Correspondents' Association President Jonathan Karl rebuked his colleague Jim Acosta of CNN for his conduct on the job.Karl, chief Washington correspondent at ABC News, provided the criticism of his fellow White House reporter both in his new book Front Row at the Trump Show, released Tuesday, and during recent interviews. In the book, he argued Acosta, who has had a multitude of verbal dust-ups with President Trump during press briefings, was "playing into the explicit Trump strategy of portraying the press as the opposition party" and encouraged him not to "give speeches from the White House briefing room."
Believe it or not, it’s April.
In California, we’ve been staying home for weeks now, and although experts have said — cautiously — that distancing efforts appear to be making a difference, measuring that progress is complex.(Snip)Dr. Bob Wachter, a professor and chair of the University of California, San Francisco’s department of medicine, has been posting updates on Twitter explaining what he’s seeing day by day.
On Tuesday, as public health officials in the Bay Area expanded shelter-in-place orders, I asked him to take a step back and help demystify some of the bigger trends for us.
Here’s our conversation, lightly edited and condensed:
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is getting national attention for her role as Michigan's leader during the coronavirus pandemic.
Now comes the news that she's being considered as a potential vice presidential candidate. On Tuesday's edition of MSNBC's "The 11th Hour," Brian Williams asked Democratic presidential candidate front-runner Joe Biden how many names are on his possible running mate list. Williams continued with the question, pressing for details, asking specifically "if any of the figures who have emerged from this coronavirus crisis, thinking specifically of, say, the governor of Michigan, if any of those figures have lengthened the list." Biden replied, "She
"Nancy Pelosi is a cancer on the body politic."
Those are the words of Mark Levin and he is profoundly correct. It is actually an understatement. This woman has dedicated her entire recent term to impeaching President Trump over a phone call. She stupidly bought into Adam Schiff’s lunacy that they had the evidence that the president had threatened the president of Ukraine with a quid pro quo -- either investigate the Clinton campaign’s meddling in the 2016 election or else. None of that was true, any more than the Russia collusion hoax, but Pelosi still gambled that she could take out Trump with that phony ploy.
This disease is manageable and treatable, Kenya's first coronavirus patient has said.
The lady identified as Brenda spoke on Wednesday as she, along with another patient Brian, held a live video chat with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The two recovered patients were accompanied by Health CS Mutahi Kagwe at Afya House.
Brenda urged Kenyans be responsible citizens and report to health authorities once they exhibit the Covid-19 have symptoms.
Since COVID-19 went (*ahem*) viral, the news has been nothing but bad. While we're catching stories here and there that, around the world, people have stepped up to take care of business, whether health care workers, truckers, delivery people, store clerks, and factory workers, those stories are sporadic and easily overwhelmed by bad news. Even the lovely videos of singing Italians seemed to be brief bursts of light in an otherwise dark sky.
America’s Hollywood elite tried to help, but it turns out that most of them -- all alone in their homes without scripts, studios, producers, directors, publicists -- are surprisingly tone-deaf.
A drug doctors have mentioned repeatedly as a possible therapy for COVID-19 holds out hope for reducing severity and duration of symptoms.
And now Chicagoans will be first in line to test it.
Inside the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, an IV drip and a drug are a step toward a treatment for COVID-19.
Northwestern Medicine Infectious Disease Physician Dr Babafemi Taiwo called it “a watershed moment.”(Snip) a clinical trial to test Remdesivir, an anti-viral medication that was initially developed for Ebola patients. It is known to be active against other forms of coronavirus including SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
From Sen. Bernie Sanders demanding that a coronavirus vaccine be free for all and that “profiteering” from it cannot be tolerated, to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who said “if everything we do saves just one life, I’ll be happy,” when he ordered the state to shut down, Democrats are demonstrating they don’t know how an economy works. This is as dangerous as it is maddening.
Though he is an open socialist, Sanders’ rant is typical of most if not nearly all of today’s Democrats. Their view of profit is that it is an evil that must not be allowed.
The coronavirus and character
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The old adage is that ‘tough times build character.’ The old adage is wrong. The reality is that tough times reveal character and a stunning number of people come up woefully lacking in this department:
A businessman who retooled his operation to make a wholly unrelated product because that product is needed in dealing with this virus is dismissed as “the pillow guy” by a media whose malpractice is almost a punchline.
Members of Congress think it totes wonderful for people in certain delivery services to go on strike. Because it’s apparently better to have more people crowding into stores, not to mention the loss of income for the strikers.
The residents of Ohio are getting screwed. They have not been informed that voting day has been moved up from June 2 to April 28. No notice from the county to anyone and nothing in the media.
The primary election in OH was set for March 10, 2020. Then someone in Columbus, without explanation, changed the date to March 17, St. Patrick's Day. The cynical among us believe that the hope was that fewer voters would turn out that day, with the Cleveland parade and all, which of course was cancelled for the first time in 178 years.
Except that lifelong politician and Governor Mike DeWine
As asked here yesterday, what normal person eats a fish-tank cleaner to avoid coronavirus?
Hmmm, perhaps a loving husband whose oh, so solicitous wife suggests it because President Donald J. Trump (R) highly recommends it. At least that's what the grieving widow says, whose husband died from dining on the stuff while she daintily ingested a mere taste. While the lefty media — i.e., 90% or so of the media — gleefully agreed with her that Trump was at fault, the remaining 10% of the media, plus the hundreds of thousands of silent deplorables, thought this explanation was fishy.
On Monday My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell announced his factories will be cranking out 50,000 face masks by Friday in an effort to help Americans during a time of crisis.President Trump called Mr. Lindell up to the lectern to speak for a few minutes on Monday at his Rose Garden press conference and the media went crazy.Lindell said he dedicated 75% of his manufacturing to produce cotton face masks: “In 3 days I was up to 10,000 a day — by Friday I want to be up to 50,000 a day,” he said.
So, I’m not going crazy at all with this quarantine business. I'm using the time to write my next liberal smashing book and trying out my favorite bat soup recipes. Hint: It’s much tastier and exponentially more infectious if you add chunks of sautéed pangolin. Yum.
No, I remain perfectly sane even as the walls close in. Really. In fact, when I convened a council of stuffed animals to give me their advice on what to do while all this is going on, I was extremely impressed by their insights. They assured me that I am not going stir crazy, which was good to hear. They also mentioned that some
BOISE, Idaho — An earthquake struck north of Boise Tuesday evening, with people across a large area reporting shaking.The U.S. Geological Survey reports the magnitude 6.5 temblor struck just before 6 p.m. It was centered 73 miles (118 kilometers) northeast of Meridian, near the rural mountain town of Stanley. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. More than 2 million live in the region that could feel the Idaho quake, according to the USGS, with reports of shaking coming in from as far away as Helena, Montana, and Salt Lake City, Utah.
CNN’s Acosta After Coronavirus Briefing:
Trump ‘Is Scared’ — ‘We Could All
Feel That in the Room’ replies
Trump ‘Is Scared’ — ‘We Could All
Feel That in the Room’ replies
Tuesday on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” network White House correspondent Jim Acosta said at the coronavirus press conference President Donald Trump seemed “scared.”He said, “Anderson, I will tell you in seven years I have covered the White House, that is the most stunning briefing I have ever sat through. To have public health officials come in and try to explain to the American people that they need to come to grips with the fact – or the very strong likelihood that we’re going to see 100,000 to 200,000 Americans die over the next couple months from the coronavirus. I have to tell you — it was just downright chilling.”
The Chinese government says it has lifted the lockdown for the province of Hubei, where the coronavirus first emerged, and has reported no new results for several days.
However, much anecdotal information has arisen to call the official line from the Chinese Communist Party into question.
Here are some of the key questions, along with partial answers, regarding China and COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
1. What’s the Real Coronavirus Death Toll?
The question may not be answerable. The official Communist Party line is that there were more than 82,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 3,300 had died from the disease.
“It’s difficult to get real numbers.
Joe Biden is living in reminiscent of the 1993 film Groundhog Day, stuck in limbo and answering the same questions over and over while trying to move on to taking his place as the Democratic presidential nominee.
Isolated in his Wilmington, Delaware home, Biden says that his day starts with two meetings with advisers: one on the status of the coronavirus pandemic and government response and one on the economy.
Later in the day, the former vice president heads to his basement recreation room to his newly-constructed professional studio, where he either gives a live-stream address or appears on a television show.
The hits are often very similar to each other.
How a Police State is Born
replies
The United States and much of the western world, by utilizing the most draconian of tactics, is plunging many nations into potential economic and societal chaos as they attempt to stem the tide of the Chinese Coronavirus (snip) The nation is choosing to plunge millions of people into depression, heart attacks, suicide and unbelievable distress, though they are not especially vulnerable and will only suffer mild symptoms or none at all.
This is what a police state is like. It is a nation in which the government can issue orders and edicts or convey preferences with no legal authority.
Shortly after President Trump touted chloroquine as a potential cure for COVID-19, the media triumphantly reported that a man died from taking homemade chloroquine due to Trump’s recommendation. It turned out that the man’s wife fed him some fish tank cleaner. She even partook of it with him, except that he died while she didn’t. As a dedicated murder mystery reader, I didn’t blame Trump. My suspicions were focused elsewhere. It turns out my instincts may have been right on the money. Here’s the story the drive-by media didn't tell you
On Tuesday, former President Barack Obama ripped into President Donald Trump's decision to loosen environmental standards, comparing "climate denial" to the original skepticism officials expressed at reports of the coronavirus pandemic. Yes, in the midst of a pandemic that is choking the economic life out of this country, Obama focused on climate change.
Obama shared an article from The Los Angeles Times entitled, "Trump rolls back biggest U.S. effort to combat climate change." The article details Trump's move to loosen fuel efficiency standards as the oil and gas industry struggles with extremely low prices amid an oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia. This oil war has hit companies
The super PAC supporting former vice president Joe Biden has joined forces with liberal operative David Brock's opposition research group to form a $175 million network opposing President Donald Trump.
Pro-Biden super PAC Unite the Country and Brock's American Bridge PAC announced Monday they will collaborate on research, polling, and ad buys against President Trump. The groups are teaming up in hopes of surpassing the Priorities USA super PAC, which is affiliated with the Democratic Party, as the largest outside group backing Biden's candidacy.
BRASÍLIA — President Jair Bolsonaro has galvanized gun culture in Brazil.
His trademark campaign sign was a hand folded into the shape of a gun. One of his first moves in office was to ease gun ownership rules. His three oldest sons, politicians themselves, have been fierce proponents of expanding gun ownership through policy proposals and social media posts.
With their actions, Mr. Bolsonaro and his sons have done more than make it easier for Brazilians to legally get a gun. They have fueled a political and cultural debate over guns that was new to Brazil, but that in many ways mirrors the discussion in the United States,
MyPillow founder Mike Lindell hit back at criticism from CNN’s Jim Acosta and others regarding his remarks at Monday’s White House coronavirus briefing.
After Lindell briefly spoke at President Donald Trump’s White House coronavirus briefing on Monday and suggested Americans spend some of their quarantine time reading their Bibles and spending time with family, Acosta called it a “PR stunt” designed to help his company.(Snip for tweet)Lindell, who has temporarily re-tooled his facilities to produce facemasks to fight the coronavirus pandemic, spoke with Fox Business host Lou Dobbs on Tuesday night’s edition of “Lou Dobbs Tonight.”
This article is not going where you think it is. As most of my American Spectator readers know, don’t even try to guess where this is going. Just come along for the ride. (In a way, it is like the letter of recommendation that an army colonel once received when being considered for a promotion: “His men would follow him anywhere — but only out of curiosity!”)
We all know about Roe versus Wade, that famous argument over which is the better way to get across a lake. I personally am pro-life and hope to see that tenuous court decision overturned someday. But here is what gets me about abortion
I am baffled by the continuation of air travel between New York City and the rest of the country. At the moment, the greater New York area is at the center of the coronavirus crisis in the United States, and yet Kayak confirms that, even today, anyone from the city and its environs can get on a plane and travel almost anywhere within the United States. Why? As I write, direct flights from Newark to Miami are going for $19 on Frontier and $29 on American Airlines. Given the seriousness of the pandemic — and the number of businesses that have been shuttered as a precaution —
Someone ought to tell Speaker Nancy Pelosi about the coronavirus outbreak, because her laser focus on pushing her political agenda suggests she’s unaware of it.
The latest evidence: She wants to “retroactively” roll back Congress’ 2017 cap on tax deductions for state and local taxes (SALT), The New York Times reports.
She claims lifting the cap would address the economic fallout of COVID-19. She wants her “fix” to be part of Congress’ next rescue plan.
But her idea has nothing to do with boosting the economy and everything to do with helping Dems in blue states, like California, New York, New Jersey and Illinois. More than half the benefits of a repeal
McConnell: What’s the rush on
Phase 4 coronavirus relief, except
for Pelosi’s hobby-horse agenda? replies
Phase 4 coronavirus relief, except
for Pelosi’s hobby-horse agenda? replies
Two key Senate Republicans declared Nancy Pelosi’s tax break for blue-state millionaires dead on arrival — if she has the nerve to actually propose it. The chair of the Finance Committee, which would have to approve the elimination of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap, won’t bother to review it at all. A spokesperson for Chuck Grassley wondered why this would be the time to bring up a tax break for millionaires in high-tax states like California and New York: The office of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, blasted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after she proposed rolling back a cap on state and local tax (SALT)
Zoom Video Communications, the popular online video conferencing platform, is facing a class-action lawsuit for allegedly sharing users' data with companies like Facebook without those individuals' consent.
The suit, filed in federal court in California by a Zoom user, accuses the company of failing to "properly safeguard the personal information of the increasing millions of users" of its platform and disclosing that information without adequate notice or authorization to Facebook and possibly other third parties.
Bursting the Cuomo bubble
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Andrew Cuomo is having a moment. He enjoys ubiquitous coverage. His press conferences attract viewership second only to the president’s. In media quarters, some whisper his name as a possible Democratic nominee should Joe Biden’s limited and lackluster candidacy finally falter.
Democrats are understandably nervous about their all-but-official nominee. Biden’s appearances are uneven at best. He mumbles, loses his train of thought, and frequently mispronounces or downright mis-names, people and things in common use. A recent Washington Post/ABC poll found that only 24 percent of Democratic voters are highly enthusiastic about supporting Biden — the lowest number in the poll’s two-decade history.
New findings by the Justice Department inspector general that the FBI has repeatedly violated surveillance rules stood in stark contrast to the years of assurances from top Democrats and media commentators that bureau scrupulously handled Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants -- and prompted Republican lawmakers to caution that the FBI seemingly believes it has "carte blanche to routinely erode the liberties of Americans without proper justification."
The DOJ watchdog identified critical errors in every FBI wiretap application that it audited as part of the fallout from the bureau's heavily flawed investigation into former Trump advisor Carter Page, who was surveilled in part because of a largely discredited dossier
Former Energy Secretary Rick Perry warned Tuesday on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" that the coronavirus pandemic has brought the United States' once-thriving oil and energy sector to the verge of a "massive collapse."
Sweeping restrictions on work and travel have brought industrial activity to a near- standstill. Perry explained that fewer cars on the road and fewer flights in the air translate to a major decrease in demand for oil, which is bad news for America's energy producers. "Our capacity is full and the Saudis are flooding this market with cheap oil," Perry told host Tucker Carlson. "I'm telling you, we are on the verge of a massive collapse of an industry
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy may have caved on closing all the gun stores during the pandemic, but there’s one place where he’s drawing a bright red line in the sand. You people simply can not be trusted to pump your own gas. This has been a bone of contention in New Jersey for ages, and some proponents of doing things the way that virtually the entire rest of the country does it hoped that the current, dire conditions might move the Governor to reconsider. One such group is the New Jersey Gasoline, Convenience, Automotive Association (NJGCA).
Sal Risalvato, NJGCA Executive Director, surveyed his members on the issues
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., blasted Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Tuesday night for being more concerned with impeaching President Trump earlier this year than preparing the U.S. to fight the coronavirus contagion. "They were preoccupied with impeachment instead of protecting this country," McCarthy said on "Hannity".(Snip)"She restricted any relief from coming unless she could invoke her liberal wish list into reality," McCarthy said. "She talked about changing election law. She talked about Planned Parenthood. She talked about paying off pensions. This is why she held back, why millions of Americans lost their jobs."