Posts on Wednesday, April 15, 2020
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren said on Wednesday that she would accept an offer to be Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's running mate if the position were offered. "Yes," said Warren when she was asked on MSNBC how she would respond if Biden asked her to serve as his vice president. Biden, who was Barack Obama's vice president, has vowed to pick a woman to be his running mate and said he would name a committee to help him vet a shortlist of names soon. Warren endorsed Biden earlier on Wednesday. She ended her own bid for the White House last
The Chinese laboratory at the center of scrutiny over a potential coronavirus leak has been using U.S. government money to carry out research on bats from the caves which scientists believe are the original source of the deadly outbreak. The Chinese laboratory at the center of scrutiny over a potential coronavirus leak has been using U.S. government money to carry out research on bats from the caves which scientists believe are the original source of the deadly outbreak. The Wuhan Institute of Virology undertook coronavirus experiments on mammals captured more than 1,000 miles away in Yunnan which were funded by a $3.7 million grant from the US government.
A man who attended Winter Party Festival has died of coronavirus after spending weeks in the ICU. Thom Carr's husband, J. Heider, confirmed his death Wednesday in a Facebook post. "It is with overwhelming sadness that I share that our journey together has come to an end," Heider wrote. (Tweet) Carr, 67, is the third man who attended the weeklong festival on Miami Beach who has died of COVID-19. Heider told NBC 6 back in March that Carr was in critical condition on a ventilator. "I think that we were operating under the guidance of our leadership at that time
RUSH: Before we get back to the phones, very quickly, just one thing. I want to put all this in perspective for you.(Snip)They know that Trump was on his way--before all this--to a landslide reelection. They also know this. They know that Trump’s performance during this crisis has been good. They can’t compete with it. They tried. They sent Chuck You Schumer to try to do things. They had Biden on the air from his basement. They have tried to compete with Trump during the virus. They have used various people, quote-unquote, “on their payroll” to try to diminish Trump even during the briefings.
The U.S. economy will reopen sooner rather than later specifically because of non-discussed issues in the total U.S. food supply chain. While government officials have to be very careful in public comments, AG Secretary Sonny Perdue hinted toward the issue today during his remarks at the coronavirus task force briefing. WATCH: (Video) The issue is slightly complex; and with two months of manufactured food supply-chain stress; it is now becoming increasingly important to re-open consumer access to the fresh-food side of the aggregate supply chain (ie. restaurants, cafe’s, and food away from home).
President Donald Trump confirmed Wednesday that the White House coronavirus task force would release new guidelines for reopening the country on Thursday.“The battle continues, but the data suggests that nationwide we have passed the peak on new cases,” Trump said. “Hopefully that will continue, and we will continue to make great progress.”Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said that the last five or six days showed declines in coronavirus cases across the country.But she said that Americans should still practice social distancing guidelines, acknowledging that asymptomatic carriers of the virus could still spread it.“To all of you that are out there that would like to join together
Sources believe coronavirus
originated in Wuhan lab as part of
China's efforts to compete with US replies
originated in Wuhan lab as part of
China's efforts to compete with US replies
There is increasing confidence that COVID-19 likely originated in a Wuhan laboratory not as a bioweapon, but as part of China's effort to demonstrate that its efforts to identify and combat viruses are equal to or greater than the capabilities of the United States, multiple sources who have been briefed on the details of early actions by China's government and seen relevant materials tell Fox News. This may be the "costliest government coverup of all time," one of the sources said. The sources believe the initial transmission of the virus was bat-to-human, and that "patient zero" worked at the laboratory,
Attorney General William Barr said last week that “the evidence shows that we’re not dealing with just mistakes or sloppiness” in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. Rather, “there is something far more troubling here.”“Without any basis,” Barr added in his sit-down interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, “they started this investigation of [Trump’s] campaign, and even more concerning actually is what happened after the campaign, a whole pattern of events while he was president to sabotage his presidency — or at least have the effect of sabotaging the presidency.”While Barr did not elaborate on the evidence he’s seen,
President Trump said the United States was past the peak of new coronavirus infections as he promised to unveil guidelines on Thursday for reopening the country’s shuttered economy.“The battle continues, but the data suggests that nationwide we have passed the peak on new cases,” he said on Wednesday during his daily White House briefing.Like previous appearances, Trump cut an angry figure as he continued his attacks on the World Health Organization and this time also turned his fire on Congress, threatening to adjourn both chambers in order to force through key appointments.When to ease social distancing restrictions has dominated policy discussions for the past fortnight as allies urge the president
President Trump’s campaign says former Vice President Joe Biden is not up for the job, taking a swing at his 2020 rival for calling the coronavirus that’s shut down the country for several weeks “COVID-9.” The accurate name, which has been repeated on broadcasts daily for more than a month, is COVID-19, named after the year it originated, 2019. “Joe Biden masquerades as the guy with all the answers on the coronavirus but then he demonstrates quite clearly that he has no idea what he’s talking about,” said Tim Murtaugh, Trump 2020 communications director. The criticism comes after Mr. Biden was caught on video
At long last, former President Barack Obama has endorsed Joe Biden, who claimed he didn’t want his ex-boss’ endorsement during the nominating process.You know what? Maybe Biden was right, even though he was lying. Maybe he shouldn’t have wanted Obama’s endorsement. For while it is true that Obama is a genius at winning elections, he is only a genius at it when he’s the one running. No one has ever done better for himself in US politics — or been as ineffectual in his efforts to get other people elected. No one has ever so thoroughly dominated politics — or so thoroughly decimated the party he led to victory.
The state attorney general of New York filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration, alleging that the Administration’s coronavirus response puts too strict of a limit on paid sick leave for workers who are negatively impacted by the disease, as reported by Reuters.The far-left Letitia James (D-N.Y.) filed the suit despite other New York state officials, including Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.), recently praising President Trump for his response and cooperation with the state. The lawsuit was filed against the U.S. Department of Labor, claiming without evidence that the DOL has been acting in a way that “conflicts with the plain language and purpose” of the latest coronavirus relief package
The Trump golf resort in South Florida where President Donald Trump initially wanted to host this year's Group of Seven summit has temporarily laid off 560 workers.A notice that the Trump National Doral Miami filed with the State of Florida at the end of last month said it had been forced to halt its business because of the spreading new coronavirus.The resort in metro Miami has been closed since mid-March and it's unknown when it will resume regular operations, Al Linares, the resort's director of human resources wrote to state and city officials.The laid off workers are mostly food and beverage workers, golf attendants, housekeepers and bell hops.
President Donald Trump leveled a new threat at Congress Wednesday, threatening to try to force Congress into adjournment in order to install additional conservative judges and other nominees – just days after clashing with governors of his 'absolute' power to force them the country to reopen.The president made his case in a speech at the start of Wednesday's White House press conference, which came just a day after he retreated on his claim of having 'absolute power' to compel governors to rescind their stay-home orders amid the coronavirus outbreak.He blasted senators for holding up judicial and administrative nominees,
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday said he has extended the unemployment call center hours to help the record 2.7 million Californians who have filed claims and created a fund to help undocumented immigrants, who comprise 10% of the state's workforce. The Employment Development Department's call center will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week, rather than closing at noon Monday through Friday. Newsom extended the hours through an executive order. Undocumented immigrants will be eligible to tap into a $125 million relief fund as they navigate through the economic upheaval unleashed by coronavirus outbreak, Newsom announced. The $2 trillion federal stimulus package
MANCHESTER -- Plans to furlough 650 employees and cut the pay or hours of another 750 will affect nearly 20 percent of the workforce of SolutionHealth, which includes Elliot Hospital System and Southern New Hampshire Health.
The company estimates it will lose more than $24 million a month after canceling elective surgeries and services to prepare for an anticipated surge in severely ill COVID-19 patients, according to a statement issued Wednesday. That includes purchasing ventilators and personal protective equipment, training staff for redeployment and adding more than 100 acute-care beds.
Prominent Democratic oppositon research and activism firm, American Bridge, received an “anonymous” donation of $100,000 worth of stock in the Chinese search engine company, Baidu, which has direct links to the Chinese Communist government, according to the Washington Free Beacon. American Bridge calls itself a “progressive research and communications committed to holding Republicans accountable for their words and actions and helping you ascertain when Republican candidates are pretending to be something they’re not ,” but it operates largely as a campaign arm, providing Democratic candidates with opposition research meant to destroy Republican opponents.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claimed Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s decision to temporarily halt funding to the World Health Organization while his administration conducted a review of the agency’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak is “illegal.” In addition, the California Democrat promised the president’s decision would be “challenged” immediately. “This is another case, as I have said, of the President’s ineffective response, that ‘a weak person, a poor leader, takes no responsibility. A weak person blames others.’ This decision is dangerous, illegal and will be swiftly challenged,”
Valerie Jarrett: ‘We Should Make It as
Easy as Possible to Vote,’ Including
Expanded Absentee Ballots replies
Easy as Possible to Vote,’ Including
Expanded Absentee Ballots replies
Appearing Wednesday on MSNBC, former President Barack Obama senior advisor Valerie Jarrett said the federal government should make it “as easy as possible” for people to vote as Democrats continue to push a vote-by-mail option ahead of the 2020 election.(Video) A partial transcript is as follows: SUSAN DEL PERCIO: When we last spoke, you were talking about increasing voter enrollment, getting people registered to vote, participation. Now we see that there’s a big drive for registering and voting by mail. How concerned are you that the president is looking to privatize the post office,
Let them eat cake.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) showed off her expensive kitchen appliances and massive gourmet ice cream collection during an appearance on a late night show as Americans stand in line at food banks. Pelosi slammed President Trump over his Coronavirus response on Monday’s episode of “The Late Show” with James Corden before showing off her 15 flavor ice cream collection. Pelosi, who is one of the wealthiest members of Congress, held Americans hostage by delaying the first Coronavirus stimulus package.
When senior Planned Parenthood officials were caught on tape in 2015 by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) discussing the illegal trafficking of aborted baby body parts, Planned Parenthood denied the allegations, claiming they were only reimbursed for the “cost to transport tissue.” Now, newly unsealed invoices confirm Planned Parenthood Mar Monte charged the tissue procurement company StemExpress $55 per “usable” organ — not for transport fees.
Over the course of three months, Planned Parenthood billed StemExpress $24,940. Three Planned Parenthood Mar Monte invoices (snip) show the abortion giant charged StemExpress $55 per “POC,” which stands for product of conception,
Two Democratic congressmen have proposed expanding the coronavirus relief program to give Americans $2,000 a month until the economy recovers. The checks would go to individuals making less than $130,000 or couples who earn less than $260,000 and would be steady source of income, unlike the first round of individual checks, which, at up to $1,200, were a one-time deposit. The money would cease when unemployment returns to its pre-coronavirus levels. Representatives Tim Ryan of Ohio and Ro Khanna of California said their Emergency Money for the People Act would provide more relief as workers face pay cuts, layoffs and furloughs
Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse and other hospitals in the region have furloughed about 1,665 employees as business has plummeted during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a hospital industry group. Gary Fitzgerald of the Iroquois Healthcare Alliance said the number of furloughs continues to grow because many Upstate hospitals have seen inpatient volume drop 50% since the state ordered hospitals last month to cancel all elective surgeries. “That’s been a serious blow to our revenue sources,” said Fitzgerald, whose group represents hospitals in 32 Upstate counties. His group’s estimate of furloughs includes hospitals in the region bordered by Binghamton in the
Professor Yitzhak Ben Israel of Tel Aviv University, who also serves on the research and development advisory board for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, plotted the rates of new coronavirus infections of the U.S., U.K., Sweden, Italy, Israel, Switzerland, France, Germany, and Spain. The numbers told a shocking story: irrespective of whether the country quarantined like Israel, or went about business as usual like Sweden, coronavirus peaked and subsided in the exact same way
Deputies in Florida have arrested a couple of doctors after they were caught on a doorbell camera stealing a campaign flag supporting President Donald Trump from their neighbor´s property in front of their two children. Geoffrey Michael Fraiche, 41, and Laura Ann Webb-Fraiche, 38, allegedly took the flag on April 7 in Gulf Breeze. A Santa Rosa County Sheriff´s report said they used a ladder to pull it down.
Public officials and activists are sounding the alarm about alleged racial disparities in the coronavirus death rate. New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams claimed last week that the city’s official responses to the virus have “clearly” discriminated against black and brown New Yorkers, as evidenced by fatality data. Blacks make up 22 percent of New York City’s population. As of April 6, they made up 27.5 percent of virus fatalities where the race of the deceased was recorded. (Such data were compiled in 63 percent of all cases.) White New Yorkers are about 33 percent of the city’s population. They made up 27.3 percent of virus fatalities where the
Failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams (D) once again wants former Vice President Joe Biden to know that she really wants to be his vice-presidential pick.
Speaking to Elle, Abrams reaffirmed her interest in joining the Democrat Party’s White House ticket, stating she would be “honored,” to do so and “would be an excellent running mate.”
“I have the capacity to attract voters by motivating typically ignored communities. I have a strong history of executive and management experience in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. I’ve spent 25 years in independent study of foreign policy,” the Georgia Democrat told the magazine.
Former President Barack Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder admitted he saw coronavirus as “an opportunity” to permanently change the way Americans voted.
“Coronavirus gives us an opportunity to revamp our electoral system so that it permanently becomes more inclusive and becomes easier for the American people to access,” Holder said in an interview with TIME magazine.
He called for a “sea change” in voting systems, allowing Americans to vote from home, using prepaid mail-in ballots and unlimited absentee voting. Holder did not discuss concerns about voter fraud in his interview but posited that any special exceptions made to the voting process during the coronavirus should remain permanent.
CNN’s Chris Cuomo, coronavirus patient, alarmist, and brother of New York’s Andrew Cuomo, reportedly left his home to exercise with his family on Easter, while still sick, and hasn’t denied it.
If the report is true, Cuomo not only violated his quarantine, but also his own brother’s travel orders, which forbid unnecessary travel.
Although he continues to host his CNN show every weeknight, Cuomo is doing so after being infected with the coronavirus. Cuomo announced he tested positive on March 31, and as of Tuesday night, Cuomo’s TV doctor and CNN colleague, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, said Cuomo is still sick.
A lawyer whose firm hired Fusion GPS to produce opposition research on Donald Trump leading to the phony “Russia dossier” has written to the State of Nevada pressuring it to bow to Democrat demands to allow “ballot harvesting.”
Mark Elias, a Perkins Coie lawyer who once represented Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, wrote on behalf of the Nevada Democratic Party to Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske on April 10 demanding that the state refrain from prosecuting violations of current state law, which only allows “a member of the voter’s family” to return an absentee ballot on their behalf.
A number of universities are beginning to consider the possibility that in-person classes may not resume until 2021.
Boston University has already canceled all "in-person summer activities" on its primary campus. But the school's coronavirus recovery plan includes protocols should officials deem it not safe to return in-person for the fall semester, and says classes would continue to be held remotely through the fall semester.(Snip)Researchers from the Chan school said Tuesday that the US may have to endure social distancing measures, such as stay-at-home orders and school closures, until 2022.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Tuesday’s “Fox & Friends” took issue with the media and Democrats’ treatment of President Donald Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Graham advised the American people can see the good work Trump has done for them amid the ongoing pandemic and slammed those trying to “destroy” him “no matter the cost.”
“[N]umber one, Mr. President, the American people understand what you’ve done for them, and this effort to destroy Trump no matter the cost of the country is getting a bit old and it’s pissing a lot of people off,” Graham declared.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr sold his Washington DC townhouse to a group overseen by a donor and powerful lobbyist who had business before his committee, according to a report. Burr (R-NC) never listed the $900,000 townhouse he sold to a team led by John Green, a lobbyist and longtime donor to Burr’s political campaigns, according to ProPublica, which raised ethics questions regarding the circumstances of the sale. Not only was the small townhouse, located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, sold as an off-market listing, it was also priced tens of thousands of dollars over estimates of the property’s value,
Ever since a “senior official in the Trump administration” penned an anonymous 2018 New York Times column attacking President Trump as unfit for office, Washington has been engrossed in a high-stakes whodunit. After an exhaustive investigation, the White House believes it’s cracked the case, identifying Trump's turncoat as his former deputy national security adviser, Victoria Coates, according to people familiar with the internal probe.
With the release of recent transcripts and the declassification of material from within the IG report on the Carter Page FISA, there is a common misconception about why the intelligence apparatus began investigating the Trump campaign. In this outline we hope to provide some deep source material that will explain the origin, and specifically why the those inside the Intelligence Community began using Confidential Human Sources.
During the time-frame of December 2015 through April 2016 the NSA database was being exploited by contractors within the intelligence community doing unauthorized searches. On March 9, 2016, oversight personnel doing a review of FBI system access were alerted to thousands
Way back in the day, there was a feller named Clemens who undertook to be a writer by the name of Mark Twain. He wrote a number of tracts, articles, books and learned papers…always providing some bit of wisdom along with a dash of wit. One of my favorites is called, “Tom Whitewashes the Fence,” a chapter in the longer book, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” In this particular chapter, the hero, Tom, has been assigned the onerous task of whitewashing Aunt Polly’s fence…on a Saturday afternoon of all indignities.
CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta compared President Trump to the infamous Baghdad Bob on Tuesday, saying the president sounds “very Baghdad Bob-like” during coronavirus task force news conferences.
Acosta told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that Trump halted funding for the World Health Organization because he wanted a “distraction” to take the spotlight during the daily coronavirus press briefing.
DENVER – Sisters Trinity and Kiki Williams looked around the crowded bus stop as the #15 bus rumbled down Colfax Avenue toward them. The bus looked to be about half full, the driver wearing a bandanna stretched across his nose and mouth to comply with government recommendations intended to help slow the spread of coronavirus. But among the awaiting passengers, only one wore a face covering. "I'm damn nervous," said Kiki Williams, 19. "There's too many of us." For protection, the women, who are African American, wore blue rubber gloves but no masks. "We forgot them at home," said Trinity Williams
Given the most recent mortality rates and modeling, it appears that the death toll in America from coronavirus will end up looking a lot like the annual fatality numbers from the flu. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Washington state is now projecting 68,841 potential deaths in America. It is also estimating lower ranges than that. The flu season of 2017-2018 took 61,099 American lives. For this we have scared the hell out of the American people, shut down the economy, ended over 17 million jobs, taken trillions of dollars out of the economy, closed places of worship, and massively disrupted civic life as we know it.
CNN host Chris Cuomo thought he was getting close to the end of his fight against the coronavirus before experiencing a setback.
On his show Tuesday night, Cuomo detailed how he tried to make it 72 hours without a fever after he stopped taking Tylenol, which is one of the milestones doctors want to see when deciding if a person can come out of isolation at home after testing positive for COVID-19. (Tweet) "I got close. I got to 60 (hours). And I have to be honest, I got a little cocky," Cuomo said. "I started thinking about: 'Oh great
BOW — A New Hampshire man who befriended a French family touring the United States was able to help out when the coronavirus outbreak stalled the family’s trip in New Mexico. Tom Duval of Bow, who attended graduate school in New Mexico, reached out to some old friends, who have been hosting the Trebuchon family for the last several weeks in Santa Fe. (Snip) “They said they were at Carlsbad Caverns and they’re shutting down, and all the National Parks were shutting down,” Duval said. “I sent a note back saying, ‘Sit tight. Don’t worry. We’ll make something happen.’”
US retail sales posted their sharpest drop on record last month as the coronavirus pandemic shuttered shops around the country, stark new data show.Retail and foodservice businesses raked in a seasonally adjusted $483.1 billion in sales in March, an 8.7 percent plunge from February’s revised total, the US Department of Commerce revealed Wednesday.That’s the biggest month-to-month decrease in the history of the feds’ monthly report, which started in 1992. The previous record of 3.9 percent was set in November 2008 amid the global financial crisis.
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump will hold a video teleconference with G7 leaders on Thursday to coordinate national responses to the coronavirus outbreak, the White House said on Tuesday.Trump, who is head of the G7 this year, had planned to hold this year’s summit at the presidential retreat of Camp David, Maryland, in June, but moved it to a virtual setting due to the virus.The Group of Seven nations consists of the United States, France, Britain, Italy, Canada, Japan and Germany, and all seven of them have been hit hard by the virus.Trump spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday about the G7 teleconference and “efforts to defeat
“Six years ago, Bloomberg News killed an investigation into the wealth of Communist Party elites in China, fearful of repercussions by the Chinese government,” reports the far-left NPR. Bloomberg “successfully silenced the reporters involved. And it sought to keep the spouse of one of the reporters quiet, too.”So according to NPR, the Chinese ambassador got wind of an embarrassing story and warned Bloomberg not to publish. The story was published, but the reporter, Mike Forsythe, who is now with the far-left New York Times, began receiving death threats that were “relayed through other journalists.”
Florida Has Beaten the ‘Surge’
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Less than two weeks ago, the number of new coronavirus cases reported in Florida hit a one-day peak, a key metric that has since declined by about 20 percent. The third-most-populous state in America has reported a cumulative total of about 21,000 cases of COVID-19, which means the Sunshine State’s per-capita infection rate is about 90 percent lower than New York’s. For some reason, however, the good news from Florida hasn’t been reported in the national media, nor has it gotten significant coverage in the local press.
Here are the crucial data points: On Friday, April 3, Florida reported 1,597 positive tests for coronavirus.
Bill Gates slammed President Donald Trump’s decision to withhold $500million in funding to the World Health Organization, saying it's 'as dangerous as it sounds'. The tech magnate, worth $104billion, tweeted Wednesday saying the US' involvement with the WHO is more necessary than ever. 'Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds,' he tweeted Wednesday. 'Their work is slowing the spread of COVID-19 and if that work is stopped no other organization can replace them. The world needs @WHO now more than ever,' he added. On Tuesday night Trump announced he would halt funding
While President Trump is calling on experts to help with the United State’s transition out of the coronavirus shutdown, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said on Wednesday that the commander in chief is "working 24/7" to make the task successful.“There are many people involved and there are people who will be involved who aren’t on the list who will participate in calls and give advice as well,” Conway told “Fox & Friends.” Conway said that there are a lot of “talented” business owners who want to bring to bear their successes and best practices in their places of work.
Florida inmate freed because of
coronavirus outbreak, accused of
murdering someone the next day replies
coronavirus outbreak, accused of
murdering someone the next day replies
An inmate freed from the Hillsborough County Jail in Tampa to prevent the spread of the coronavirus is back behind bars after allegedly murdering a man the day after his release, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said late Tuesday. Joseph Edwards Williams, 26, was sprung from jail along with 163 detainees said to be low-level offenders on March 19, according to records from the Sheriff’s Office. Mr. Williams had been arrested on March 13 for possession of heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia. Local authorities say he fatally shot a man on March 20 in the county’s Progress Village area.
New York City added thousands of people to its coronavirus death toll to account for victims who died in recent weeks without a confirmed diagnosis. The additional deaths -- totaling 3,778 -- pushed the city’s total to more than 10,000. Almost 60% of the unconfirmed coronavirus patients died inside hospitals, the city reported. Freddi Goldstein, press secretary to Mayor Bill de Blasio, said Tuesday that the data include at-home deaths of people suspected of having Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. That judgment is based on reported symptoms including cough, fever and shortness of breath. “We are focused on
In the fight between the governors and President Trump over who has the authority to re-open America, the politicians have it wrong. It’s not the politicians who have the power to re-open America, or at least the parts that are now closed. It’s individuals, families, businesses, and religious congregations.
The politicians can help by eventually lifting lockdown orders and school closures. That will make it easier for individuals, families, businesses, and religious congregations to resume more normal patterns of activity without the hassle of a legal challenge.
After weeks of being holed up inside, hundreds of millions of Americans eagerly await guidance from their governors and the Trump administration on when they can return to work. Unfortunately, a vaccine appears too far off to serve as a prerequisite for reopening the economy. This has prompted officials to call for extensive national testing efforts to identify individuals free of coronavirus. But these efforts require Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of rapid at-home testing, and the agency appears to be dragging its feet. Now more than ever, Americans need a responsive FDA that puts patients’ lives over half-measures and unnecessary risk aversion.
A large number of protesters gathered outside the Ohio Statehouse again on Monday to make their voices heard during the press conference held by Gov. Mike DeWine, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, and Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton.The protest came amid the stay-at-home order due to COVID-19, to which many Ohio residents have voiced opposition.Throughout the gathering, chants of “facts not fear” and “O-H-I-O Acton’s got to go” could be heard from within the meeting room and through the microphones via televisions.
The Media Controls the 'Crisis'
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The President, Congress, state governors and epidemiologists may argue about coronavirus policies, but the people driving matters are without constitutional authority or expertise of any kind -- the mainstream media and its social media accelerant. No matter what the President and his experts want to do, or even his congressional and gubernatorial rivals, the media largely dictates the extent of public cooperation or panic, which is true power.From the get-go, at least in the West, and especially in the United States, the coronavirus pandemic has been more a media event than anything else. Coronavirus is a serious international public health concern, but the weight of evidence currently suggests
A significant constitutional legal battle, under the radar for the past two weeks, has now emerged into the open. On April 2, an obscure Washington state group, WASHLITE, filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of Washington against Fox News and several additional media defendants. Among other demands, WASHLITE (Washington League for Increased Transparency and Ethics, a non-profit corporation) is asking that the court, in the words of Times of San Diego which broke the story on April 2, “keep the cable network from airing false information about the [coronavirus] pandemic.”
WASHLITE’s 10-page legal complaint alleges that Fox News broadcast false reporting about the coronavirus
As the Trump administration tries to figure out when to reopen the economy, and Democrats try to blame President Donald Trump for every coronavirus death, there’s another question lurking in the background. What if we learn that trillions of dollars in economic costs from the coronavirus shutdown bought us little or nothing in terms of public health?
As the disease progresses and our understanding of it increases, that possibility grows.
Consider these facts:
Death projections were wildly exaggerated. On March 16, epidemiologists at Imperial College London predicted that 2.2 million could die here if the country didn’t impose draconian lock-down
The Governors’ Mutiny
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President Trump clearly overstated the case when he asserted that the president’s authority in the current crisis is “total.” The fact is that the Constitution doesn’t grant total authority to any branch of the government. It looks, though, at least to us, as if Mr. Trump was set off by news that some states were entering into regional pacts to plan the reopening of their economies.
If that is what set Mr. Trump off, it’s easy to see why. Mr. Trump and all other officers and legislators and judges of the federal and state governments are bound by oath to the Constitution. Yet that same
If you have followed American politics over the past four years, you likely picked up on the hatred Democrats harbor for President Donald Trump. Perhaps the best example of this hatred is liberal darling Bill Maher’s comments from 2018 when he said he was hoping for a crashing economy because it was the only way to defeat President Trump in 2020.
This perverse thinking perfectly exemplifies the mindset of the modern-day Democratic Party, and unfortunately, Americans are forced to witness this irrational hatred on a daily basis.
If President Trump says the sky is up, the Democrats will say it is down. If he says north, the Democrats will say south.
Let the governors decide
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It is good to see state governors increasingly looking for ways to reopen the economy, for, as we have repeatedly argued, the current lockdown can be only a short-term response to the pandemic. People's lives and livelihoods depend on returning to economic and social activity as soon as it can be done safely. So, new state-level discussions and coordination are welcome news.
Ever since the coronavirus outbreak, decisions about whether to close schools and restrict business activities have been made by governors and local officials. This is exactly how the nation's federal republican structure is set up. This is how it should be.
On April 11, The Washington Post ran an article about plans being made to reopen the economy. The article complains that state governors (rather than the White House) are leading the planning, which has resulted in a “mind-boggling level of disorganization,” according to a Centers for Disease Control director.
The incessant bleating of prominent health leaders over the lack of federal control in this crisis only underscores how little they understand or respect this country’s Constitution and the freedoms it seeks to protect. Although the White House certainly has emergency authority to mandate all number of efforts to respond to crisis, and obviously can pressure local leaders,
He waited until Easter to return. Naturally.
The One has risen. He is Risen, indeed!
Ex-President Barack Obama — the man responsible for the presidency of Donald J. Trump — has finally emerged from the tomb.
Actually, more like a chick from a spring egg. Or a goose egg, like his presidency.
To switch up analogies, Mr. Obama has arrived on the battlefield just in time to shoot the wounded. The Democratic primary is over. Bernie Sanders is already waving the white flag. The multitudes once seeking the Democratic nomination have all surrendered.
Yesterday’s Washington Post carried an attack on South Dakota and its governor, Kristi Noem, under the headline South Dakota’s Governor resisted ordering people to stay home. Now it has one of the nation’s largest coronavirus hot spots. The Post’s article is popular on Twitter, as liberal “blue checks” use it to express their hope that lots of South Dakotans die as punishment for their temerity in electing a Republican governor.
As governors across the country fell into line in recent weeks, South Dakota’s top elected leader stood firm: There would be no statewide order to stay home.
LA County Sheriff Frees THOUSANDS
MORE Prisoners and Then Throws
Himself a Self-Congratulatory Parade replies
MORE Prisoners and Then Throws
Himself a Self-Congratulatory Parade replies
Law enforcement leaders across the U.S. have used the COVID-19 crisis to free prisoners that they ardently wanted to free anyway. Even as the worst of the plague has passed over the land, elected leaders are still freeing crooks from the jails. This isn't as a favor to the rest of us, it's in service to the elected leaders' social justice friends and personal (or George Soros's) political agendas.
This brings us to hapless LA Sheriff, Alex Villanueva, who announced on Monday that LA County's jail population is lighter by 25% thanks to him! In a tone of self-awe, the sheriff gave himself a huge pat
Hunter Biden received wall-to-wall media coverage and praise from his father, former Vice President Joe Biden, in October when he announced he would resign from the board of a Chinese private equity firm by the end of the month.
But six months after Hunter Biden pledged to relinquish his position with BHR Partners, no evidence has surfaced to prove he actually followed through on his promise.
Hunter Biden’s lawyer, George Mesires, told the Daily Caller News Foundation in early November that his client had resigned from BHR’s board, but he did not provide any evidence of his departure from the Chinese private equity firm at the time.
Time Wasted
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Washington
I see from my private incarceration at home, where I have languished for weeks, that the New York Times is accusing President Trump of wasting as much six weeks before taking action against the coronavirus. For weeks I have been dutifully washing my hands and even taken extra care to wash my feet while Mr. Trump and most of the White House staff were dawdling. What were they doing wasting time?
Did the White House’s dilatory behavior have something to do with impeachment? Was that somewhat of a distraction to the Assistant Presidents in the West Wing? There were in the Times’s report only two, very fleeting mentions of impeachment.
Visits to an upscale Chicago gay bathhouse may prove that embattled “Empire” star Jussie Smollett was more than friends with his alleged attacker Ambimbola “Abel” Osundairo.
“They used to party together and he had a sexual relationship with [Abel]. They went to this affluent Chicago bathhouse multiple times and they had to show ID. It’s known as a bathhouse where a lot of affluent black gay men hang out. There should be a record [of their visits],” an insider told Page Six, adding that the bathhouse records may be subpoenaed in Smollett’s upcoming trial on charges of disorderly conduct.
As many as 80 million can expect to receive their economic impact payments from the federal government by Wednesday – but some state officials are concerned the money could be seized by debt collectors before it ever reaches consumers.
In a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin this week, a group of 25 state attorneys general requested that the government stipulate that the coronavirus relief payments would not be subject to garnishment by creditors and debt collectors. “Unfortunately, in what appears to be a legislative oversight, the CARES Act does not explicitly designate these emergency stimulus payments as exempt from garnishment, as similar government payments
One year after a fire endangered one of Roman Catholicism's more cherished monuments, restoration of Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral has been stymied by the coronavirus.
Ever since the French landmark was engulfed in flames that destroyed much of the structure's roof and felled its spire on April 15 last year, construction workers have toiled tirelessly to save the 13th-century relic by President Emmanuel Macron's promised five-year timeline, according to Agence France-Presse.
But as the coronavirus began to ravage the city, repair work on Notre Dame was stopped after already being delayed for months by contamination due to lead that melted from the roof.
A tangle of metal scaffolding
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo is the subject of a police complaint that was filed after a fiery exchange he had with a bicyclist on Sunday.
According to a report the New York Post, a 65-year-old East Hampton resident named David was riding his bike on Sunday when he spotted who he thought was the CNN anchor with two women and three children outside on their property. Cuomo had been recovering from his widely publicized coronavirus diagnosis.
Georgia Democrats are targeting one of their own after state Rep. Vernon Jones endorsed President Donald Trump for reelection on Tuesday.
Jones announced his pick for president in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, praising Trump’s handling of the economy and issues impacting black Americans. The black lawmaker represents one of the most Democratic districts in Georgia covering parts of DeKalb and Rockdale counties.
“It’s very simple to me. President Trump’s handling of the economy, his support for historically black colleges and his criminal justice initiatives drew me to endorse his campaign,” Jones said.
“This is not about switching parties. There are a lot of African-Americans
Former President Barack Obama “nudged” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) out of the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, holding “long conversations” with the Vermont socialist over the last couple of weeks, trying his best to press Sanders out of the primary in service of defeating President Donald Trump.
“For months, [Obama] kept in close contact with senior party officials, in hopes of preventing a repeat of the protracted and nasty 2016 primary race,” the Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday, echoing suggestions from earlier in the year that Obama was playing a considerable “behind the scenes” role, streamlining the race for the Democratic nod.
San Francisco must quickly secure thousands of more hotel rooms to shelter the homeless amid the spread of coronavirus under legislation approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors. The board’s vote comes just days after 92 unhoused people tested positive for the disease after an outbreak at one city shelter. Board members have clashed with Mayor London Breed and her administration for weeks over the best strategy for how to thin out the shelter populations. They have called for those living on the street to be moved into hotel rooms (snip). The board voted unanimously to approve the legislation, which requires The City to procure 8,250 hotel rooms
Podcast host Joe Rogan and comedian Brendan Schaub, who used to be an MMA fighter, went off on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden late last week, saying that President Donald Trump is going to steamroll Biden in the election.
“It shows you how crazy the system is that they wanted him,” Rogan said. “That they wanted Biden to be their guy, that they don’t, they can’t admit that he’s in cognitive decline. I mean it’s very strange.”
“Look if someone wants to ask me questions about things that I understand like MMA or like comedy
Barack Obama’s very belated endorsement of Joe Biden is provoking a few laughs as well as serious questions. “Leading from behind,” one GOP stalwart said while a stock-market observer called it a “lagging indicator.”Both are true — in more ways than intended. For while the act itself was hardly cutting edge, given that Biden is the only Democrat still running, much of what Obama said made his backing sound like an abject surrender.Make that a double surrender.The first was to the uninspiring Biden. Had he been Obama’s choice all along,
On Tuesday, Attorney General Bill Barr issued a strong warning to political officials across the nation for targeting the faithful in the midst of social distancing and lockdown measures combating the China-originated novel coronavirus, or COVID-19. Though he urged that social distancing measures should be followed, Barr emphasized that houses of worship cannot be targeted with different standards. While “the Constitution does allow some temporary restriction on our liberties that would not be tolerated in normal circumstances,” he said, even in these circumstances, religious discrimination is always prohibited. “[E]ven in times of emergency
True The Vote (TTV), a grassroots organization supporting election integrity, on Tuesday stopped leftist efforts to force New Mexico to shift to a mail-in election system in the state’s upcoming June primary. What leftist county clerks and the Secretary of State were trying to accomplish in New Mexico was to get the state’s Supreme Court to assert control over how the state would handle elections rather than the legislature, where elected state lawmakers normally set procedure for how elections are conducted. The leftist petitioners argued that the coronavirus crisis would provide the state courts cover to do so. Until TTV stepped in, there was little to no opposition
On Tuesday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) stepped up to defend the rights of Christians who were slapped with $500 fines for attending a drive-in church service last Wednesday in Greenville, Miss. Although Mayor Errick Simmons did not force the Christians to pay the fines, he stood by his arguably unconstitutional ban on drive-in church services. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) represented the church's pastor in a lawsuit and the DOJ filed a statement of interest in that suit.
In a statement on the filing, Attorney General William Barr defended the social distancing and stay-at-home orders issued across the country,
The coronavirus stimulus checks are getting a bit of the president’s personal flair. The Treasury Department has ordered President Trump’s signature to be printed on the checks the IRS sending to tens of millions of Americans—a mandate that will slow the delivery of the badly needed aid by several days, according to a report in the Washington Post.(Snip)
The president’s signature has never before graced an IRS payout; checks from the Treasury Department are typically signed by a civil servant to present the payments as nonpartisan.
The payments are part of the $2.2 trillion relief package passed by Congress
As week 5 of the Wuhan Chinese Bat Flu shutdown gets underway I find myself entertaining brief moments of optimism. I've been tending toward pessimism regarding everyone being able to go outside and have any fun again, fairly convinced that we might be out of commission until the fall. There must have been something in the delicious homebrew that my neighbor social-distance dropped at my door for Easter because I found myself in a couple of conversations on Monday about making plans when we get the freedom to roam again.
Dare to dream, my friends!
When I was first asked what I wanted to do most when we're allowed to congregate,