NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors charged a New York retailer Friday with hoarding tons of disposable masks, surgical gowns and hand sanitizer in a Long Island warehouse and selling the items at huge markups.
Amardeep "Bobby" Singh, 45, was charged with violating the Defense Production Act of 1950 in what authorities described as the first such prosecution during the coronavirus pandemic.
Singh is expected to surrender to authorities next week in the case around what is known as personal protective equipment, which has become a hot commodity during the outbreak.
Singh’s attorney, Bradley Gerstman, called the charges "mostly fiction" and said the complaint misstated his client’s costs.
"If selling PPE goods is improper or criminal, then a lot of people need to go to jail," Gerstman said in a telephone interview. "The Defense Production Act is wildly vague, and I don’t think this would pass muster on any appellate level. I think this statute would be struck down as null and void."
The charges come more than a month after President Donald Trump issued an executive order making it illegal to hoard scarce medical supplies or sell personal protective equipment at inflated prices.
#2
Even if true, it was o.k. for airlines to increase prices for people wanting to flee a hurricane, a hurricane the a US Gummint agency said would slam the area. But guess what? The hurricane didn't hit with the force they said it would. So, two messed up things here. Meanwhile, airline execs were laughing all the way to their brokers for more stock buy-backs.
#6
A bloody damn Sardar Ji, figures.
Posted by: Pakvi Roti
I had to look both names up (and then insist to the DuckDuck search engine that I am not interested in Pavarotti at the moment, thanks) but only on Rantburg have I encountered such esoteric jokes posted with the full expectation that they will be understood and appreciated. Well played, Mr. Roti.
#7
I looked up both after your comment, TW. Found a pickles reference, but DD only looped back to your comment on RB. So, too esoteric for me but hilarious in that it presented your comment; a kind of temporal loop.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/25/2020 15:06 Comments ||
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#8
Rantburg: Mobius Strip or Ouraboros? Discuss :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/25/2020 15:28 Comments ||
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#10
Sardar or Sardaar refers to a male Sikh, the "Ji" is an honorific similar to Sir. A femal Sikh would be referred to as a Sardar Ni.
My nym is even more interesting. Roti of course is Indian form of flat bread like parantha's or chapattis. Pakvi is a very obscure (almost slang) Punjabi word from pre-partition Punjab village called Multan. A roti that well cooked was said to be pakvi. The thrust of the my comments was to imply that the gentleman that was busted is a Sikh and his behavior is not unusual for a Sikh.
I do hope I haven't thrown the time/space equilibrium out of whack.
BRENTWOOD (CBS SF) — Police in Brentwood on Friday announced a suspect who had previously been detained and cited for vandalism before authorities learned he had been brandishing a machete on a homeowner’s front porch was in custody after being caught with a variety of weapons.
On Friday morning at around 8 a.m., Brentwood police were contacted by a local resident who reported seeing a suspicious person with a large knife in his back pocket. The man was last seen walking near a creek in the area of Tuckahoe Way.
Officers arrived minutes later and located 35-year-old Brentwood resident Adam Ortega. He was the same suspect who had been arrested this past weekend for vandalism and petty theft from a homeowner on Baird Circle. After Ortega had been cited and released, police were given surveillance video by the homeowner showing the suspect brandishing a machete outside their house on Baird Circle.
Ortega was cooperative with police on Friday morning. He was found to be in possession of a machete as well as a hatchet, a knife and a billy club.
[NYPOST] Four Indiana men held a woman captive for several hours in her home while trying to steal her stimulus check, authorities said.
The armed suspects, who allegedly used a stolen key, busted into the woman’s Lake Station residence as she was sleeping early Sunday, according to court documents obtained by the reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown ...home of Al Capone, the Chicago Black Sox, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel... Sun-Times.
The men, all of whom knew the victim, took the woman’s phone and demanded the money, knowing she had recently received a stimulus check. One of the suspects also held a gun to her face and released its clip to prove it was loaded, police said.
"These are for you," suspect Christopher Henderson allegedly told the woman, referring to the bullets in the firearm.
Another suspect, Phillip David Guzman, then assaulted the woman after the men were unable to find any money. The three other suspects ultimately restrained Guzman, court documents show.
The men fled the home at about 6 a.m., more than four hours after allegedly storming inside at 1:30 a.m. Before leaving, they told the woman not to go anywhere since they planned to return, police said.
The victim ignored that threat and drove to a cop shoppe. Henderson, Guzman and two other suspects — Paul David Blankenship and Jacob Baughman — were arrested later Sunday, Sherlocks told the newspaper.
The four suspects were charged Monday on five counts including burglary with a deadly weapon, attempted armed robbery, and criminal confinement with a deadly weapon.
A judge ordered Blankenship to be held without bail, while bond for Henderson, Guzman and Baughman was set at $75,000, the newspaper reports, citing court records.
[NRA] It’s unlikely that any other U.S. military unit ever fielded such an array of weaponry as did the Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group.
Behind that innocuous name, MACV-SOG ran top-secret, covert operations across Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, especially U.S. Army Special Forces-led reconnaissance missions along the enemy’s Ho Chi Minh Trail road network in Laos, into his sanctuaries in Cambodia, and sometimes into North Vietnam, itself.
These SOG recon teams, usually four to six natives led by two or three American Green Berets, roamed deep behind enemy lines, searching out—sometimes attacking—North Vietnamese truck parks, ammunition dumps, storage sites, truck convoys, command centers and the base camps where enemy units refit between battles in South Vietnam.
While only one quarterback, Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts, was taken on the second day of the NFL draft Friday, the guys who haul in passes were everywhere.
Starting with the top two selections on Day 2 — Clemson’s Tee Higgins to Cincinnati and Southern California’s Michael Pittman to Indianapolis — seven wideouts were drafted in the second round. Add that to the six who went in the opening session, and it set an NFL record through two rounds.
Three more receivers were selected in the third round — were teams running out of prospects?
"It doesn’t matter who your quarterback is, you want him to have as many weapons as possible," Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. "A lot of great offenses have those weapons at their disposal."
Yep, the NFL these days is built on passing offenses. This draft is loaded with outstanding pass catchers. Many teams had both Higgins and Pittman rated as top-32 talent.
So Cincinnati held firm atop the second round by grabbing Higgins to catch Joe Burrow’s passes. The pair worked out together heading toward the draft.
[FoxNews] As the nation obeys orders to stay home amid the coronavirus crisis, it’s an impossible feat for the country’s homeless population. In New York City, more than 78,000 people, including children, are homeless.
“You have doctors and health professionals saying to stay home. You can’t do that. You can’t protect yourself,” said Giselle Routhier, the Coalition for the Homeless policy director. The New York City Department of Homeless Services is tracking more than 650 COVID-19 cases with 51 deaths so far.
To slow the spread, the city will move people into hotels starting with at-risk seniors and single adults to improve social distancing.
“We have had Bowery Mission Guests who have been in our setting, become ill, gone to the hospital and now gone into a hotel. Now we actually have direct access to the hotel rooms this week for the first time, which will help keep our space safe and healthy,” said James Winans, the Bowery Mission's interim CEO.
The city is reportedly working to make 2,500 rooms available but organizations like #HomelessCantStayHome say it’s not enough. As many New Yorkers steer clear of the subway, the homeless are not. The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) says the city should handle the growing number of people living in the cars during the pandemic.
#3
Why no spike in homeless deaths in SF and LA during Jan.-Feb, when those cities were taking in and circulating literally thousands of travelers, every day, on direct flights from Wuhan and half a dozen other Chinese cities?
#6
You ever notice that all those medical experiments with mice involve rodents that have been inbreed for many generations in controlled laboratories and not those big ugly urban f'ers that require a .357 to slow down? Just saying.
#7
If the homeless have really moved into the subways I expect the rate of infection and death to skyrocket. The whole NYC/NJ metroplex is a petri dish with the vacuum tubes of the Mass transit system pumping the virus around constantly.
#8
Dr. Calhoun's experiments show what happens. Watch some videos of that time and the overcrowding gets very ugly.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/25/2020 11:47 Comments ||
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#9
#6 That's because the purpose is different from clinical trials.
Clinical Trials: is it efficient & safe to use on general human population?
Animal experiments: what does it do? And for this you need a uniform population.
[FoxNews] Despite coronavirus lockdown measures, murders in New York City have doubled over last years's numbers for the second consecutive week.
This week last year, the city saw five murders to this year's 10 murders, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) reported.
The NYPD regularly publishes statistics through its CompStat portal, comparing current stats with the equivalent period in the previous year. While some crimes -- including felony assault and rape -- have declined, murder has increased, as did burglary and grand larceny auto, according to the department.
In the first quarter of 2020, from January through March, murders increased by just under 6 percent in comparison to 2019, with the NYPD reporting 92 murders up from 87 during the first quarter last year.
But over the last 28 days -- during which the city has observed lockdowns and other pandemic safety measures -- that number has spiked. Murder has increased by 55 percent: 28 murders vs. 18 in the same period last year.
Speaking with the New York Daily News, Eugene O’Donnell, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, speculated that the lockdown is amplifying underlying issues and encouraging criminal behavior.
“You would think people at this point would be focused solely on self-preservation. You would think bad guys, the very last place they want to go is to jail, but the impulse to settle the score is too great,” O’Donnell said. “There’s a lot of fear and angst at this point. ... It’s a super-heated environment, the whole city at this point."
“We’re not alone in this,” O’Donnell added, pointing to spikes in violence in Chicago, which earlier this month saw 21 shootings, six of them fatal, over the course of a single weekday.
#1
Coroner: "We have 10 people who were murdered last week".
DiBlasio: "Health Commissioner, add the 10 to the Covid deaths. "
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
04/25/2020 0:29 Comments ||
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#2
The advantages of urban living that the rubes just can't understand.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/25/2020 2:43 Comments ||
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#3
CDC data YTD as of Apr-24 for New York City:
Total Fatalities...Increase vs 3-Yr Ave (%, #)..COVID Fatalities
25,978..............98%; 13,000 increase..........8,073
So NYC in the year of COVID has seen, relative to the average for the last three years, a spike in unrelated deaths amounting to about 5,000 incremental deaths so far this year, and on track to reach about 15,000 for 2020.
CDC doesn't break out the causes of those thousands of additional deaths but it's a good bet that nearly all of them were preventable: people requiring urgent care who were denied it in the panicky overreaction to COVID.
While Cuomo and Mayor Lutz were bloviating about ventilators, thousands of their citizens were denied surgeries, emergency treatments and other urgent care that could have saved their lives.
De Blasio (and maybe also Cuomo) needs to be prosecuted for this gross malpractice that is literally killing thousands of his own citizens.
[BIZPACREVIEW] CNN political commentator Chris Cuomo’s wife, Cristina, is facing criticism from practically everybody — except anybody at CNN, of course — for promoting a “crackpot coronavirus treatment” that’s been dubbed “dangerous.”
In a post to her blog published this week, the left-wing host’s wife listed the pseudoscientific holistic methods she’s been employing to treat her coronavirus infection. One of those methods involves bathing in Clorox bleach.
“At the direction of my doctor, Dr. Linda Lancaster, who reminded me that this is an oxygen-depleting virus, she suggested I take a bath and add a nominal amount of bleach. Yes, bleach,” the post reads.
Lancaster is not a doctor. She’s a self-described “naturopathic physician and homeopath” who boasts an ND and PhD, but not an MD. According to Jennifer Gunter, an actual doctor, Lancaster is known for spouting “nonsense,” not surprisingly.
“So, I add a small amount– ½ cup ONLY–of Clorox to a full bath of warm water–why? To combat the radiation and metals in my system and oxygenate it,” the post continues. Pay attention now. She's doing science.
I believe that is a common treatment for eczema, to reduce the irritation response to normal skin bacteria. But this explanation is not nearly as interesting as combatting systemic radiation and metals, not to mention oxygenating. Could this be where President Trump go his ideas about hydrogen peroxide?
Cristina then shares the following quote from Lancaster: “We want to neutralize heavy metals because they slow-up the electromagnetic frequency of our cells, which is our energy field, and we need a good flow of energy. Clorox is sodium chloride — which is technically salt. There is no danger in doing this. It is a simple naturopathic treatment that has been used for over 75 years to oxygenate the cells.”
#6
I thought you just walked around like normal infecting whomever and call anyone that recognizes you and calls you on it an arsehole. That was her husbands prescription anyway.
#10
Household bleach, like Chlorox, is dilute sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), NOT sodium chloride (NaCl). Chlorox and like bleaches are in the 2-6% range of NaOCl in water, with a buffer of sodium hydroxide (roughly 1% of the NaOCl concentration) to slow decomposition in the bottle, which happens continuously. When it decomposes, it usually decomposes into NaCl and NaClO3. Unless she drinks this, it should do no harm. It will likely break down on contact with the tub and her skin. I stumble when she says it's to "combat the radiation and metals in my system and oxygenate it". And the "neutralize heavy metals because they slow-up the electromagnetic frequency of our cells" floors me. (Not the same as Floor Jansen.) I just don't see that, and can't see a path. If anyone can enlighten me, please do. Nothing electronic is mentioned - grasping at straws here. What she is going doesn't sounds dangerous, and may be less dangerous than a public pool.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/25/2020 13:03 Comments ||
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#11
^ Oh, she'd enlighten you...if you could tolerate listening to her long enough...then you'd be as enlightened as she is.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/25/2020 13:59 Comments ||
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#12
WM, you need to get it from the horse's mouth to get the full flavor:
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/25/2020 17:26 Comments ||
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#14
Clorox in one's nether regions? How safe can that be ?
Besoeker I was serverly burned on my arms many years ago. Every day I was put in a warm tub of water and then the nurse poured clorox right from the bottle into the water to disinfect the burns to avoid infection. No problem.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/25/2020 17:48 Comments ||
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[Victory Girls] Oleander is toxic to cats, but may be effective in treating cancer, and just may be a much-needed treatment for combating the novel coronavirus. And while our do-nothings in Congress are busy bickering about how to best waste our tax dollars and burying us in further debt—with some of them doing their darnedest to help tank our economy and shove us into socialism—our military is reportedly hard at work researching, as a treatment for the novel coronavirus, the readily-available plant at its Fort Detrick biodefense lab:
From reporter John Solomon, formerly of The Hill:
Dr. John Dye, chief of viral immunology at the USAMRIID lab at Fort Detrick, confirmed to Just the News that his team began testing the extract known as oleandrin a few years ago and found it was effective in fighting the Ebola and Marburg viruses. The Army lab is now ramping up a rapid plan to test oleandrin against COVID-19."
" " ’We found that at non-toxic concentrations, oleandrin was efficacious at slowing and halting viral growth in tissue culture assays for the Ebola and Marburg viruses,’ " Dye said in emailed answers to questions."
"’Because those viruses are enveloped, just like COVID-19, the lab is pressing ahead to do similar tests on the theory that the extract may have similar effects on the coronavirus at the center of today’s pandemic,’ he said."
Oleander is extremely toxic and potentially fatal. Major toxicity reports include disturbances in heart rhythm and death. Signs of toxicity include severe nausea, emesis, abdominal pain, cramping, diarrhea, hyperkalemia, hypertension, lethargy, hepatotoxicity, and nephrotoxicity. Oleander intoxication can negatively impact the lungs, kidneys, spleen, and muscle tissue. Intoxication can occur from ingestion, or from inhalation of smoke from burned plants.
Preliminary results from a random sampling of Miami-Dade County residents, suggest that about 6% of the population — about 165K people — could have been infected with the coronavirus, much higher than state data (less than 11K). More than half did not have symptoms.
Tiptoeing Back to Normality, Germany Gears Up for 2nd Virus Wave
[AnNahar] Left empty as the coronavirus pandemic forced events to be cancelled, Berlin's exhibition centre Messe is getting a makeover with the help of German soldiers -- to reemerge as a hospital in a few weeks' time. Wires are still hanging from the ceilings, but when construction is finished, the vast site will be able to host up to 1,000 patients.
Even as Germany begins easing curbs on public life to halt contagion of the virus, authorities are busy ramping up their capacity to deal with a second wave of infections. Almost 13,000 of Germany's 32,000 intensive care beds remained free at the last count.
From the start of the crisis, Germany had much more breathing room than its European neighbours, with 33.9 intensive care beds per 100,000 inhabitants compared to 8.6 in Italy and 16.3 in France. And it has since drastically expanded intensive care and screening capacities.
The report says that 97 nursing homes across the country have at least one carrier and that in the past week, 2,000 tests have been carried out in such facilities — far below the goal of 3,000 that health authorities had set initially, Channel 12 says.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2020 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
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#1
Locally I have seen a picture presented to myself of a white pickup truck with labels on each door of a two door truck and a label on the tailgate that was written Cov-19 response unit. I forget, could have been response truck. Officers are hoping they are not required to stay in quarantine.
Local NH with workers out sick with virus have been called to return to work Monday. Health department got involved. Stay home till testing negative and then wait 24 hours after test before returning to work.
"Men are superior to women on account of the qualities with which God has gifted the one above the other, and on account of the outlay they make from their substance for them. Virtuous women are obedient, careful, during the husband's absence, because God has of them been careful. But chide those for whose refractoriness you have cause to fear; remove them into beds apart, and scourge them:
[Politico] Britain says it is ready to start trade negotiations with the United States but is waiting for agreement from the Trump Administration on whether those negotiations can now be conducted virtually.
Karen Pierce, Britain’s new ambassador to the United States, told POLITICO that moving quickly on the bilateral trade negotiations would "put a bit of optimism into the world economy," and that Britain is "actively discussing" the matter with the U.S. Trade Representative and Commerce Department. Pierce said American negotiators are "famously tough on trade" but that Britain "certainly intends to fight our corner."
Pierce also said the U.K. will fiercely resist the "backward step" of protectionism as a way of dealing with the supply chain weaknesses exposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Addressing "strategic vulnerabilities in supply" can coexist with "keeping the global economy open and keeping trade flowing," she added.
#6
#1 UK is both an historical ally & the only West European country willing to follow USA lead on China. And Trump promised them a deal.
Also, IMO, blaming Steele for your Deep State shenanigans is like blaming a gun seller for a murder committed with a gun he sold to a murderer.
#8
Decades of 5eyes cooperation spying on each other’s populations as a workaround for privacy rules has made the IC numb to limiting the abuse of public rust. The whole spygate story ought to disinfect some of the abuses, but the WhuFlu has lessened my faith in any real punitive realignments and limits. Steele pulling a Hillary in the bold faced lie about documentary materials e wiped (like with a cloth) is just a plain middle finger salute.
#14
Implement Open Skies ASAP. That should drop the cost of flights through Heathrow by some $600 each, and reciprocate for BA flights to the US. A huge boost to US and British airlines, travel, commerce.
#1
As we've already seen in NYC -- a spike in the number of non-COVID deaths of about 38%, or 5,000 so far this year -- our elites' response to COVID is likely to result in as many additional deaths as it prevents.
OK, now I'm getting convinced. Still 24 48 hr rule
[NY Post] Kim Jong Un is rumored to be dead, according to a Hong Kong broadcast network, while a Japanese magazine is reporting that North Korea’s rocket man is in a "vegetative state" after he underwent heart surgery earlier this month.
A vice director of HKSTV Hong Kong Satellite Television, a Beijing-backed broadcast network in Hong Kong, claimed that Kim was dead, citing a "very solid source." Her post on the Chinese messaging app Weibo has been shared widely on social media, according to a report in the International Business Times.
Other unconfirmed reports, attributed to senior party sources in Beijing, said an operation to insert a stent went wrong because the surgeon’s hands were shaking so badly.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/25/2020 13:20 ||
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Link ||
[11130 views]
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#1
Fake news? Good news? Bad news? Waiting a few more days. When Trump sends condolences, maybe then.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/25/2020 13:26 Comments ||
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#7
Surgeon was wondering why a ZSU-23-2 was in the OR.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/25/2020 14:51 Comments ||
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#8
(Stolen from Diogenes Middle Finger)
Commie press: Mr. President. As you know, we in the media hate your guts and liberals despise your existence. So I must ask...How do you sleep at night??
Trump: Naked, with a Supermodel.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/25/2020 14:56 Comments ||
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#9
...using a portable paint sprayer for a ventilator...90 PSI
#15
Something is up. The rumors alone would have forced him to go about smiling and waving and shooting 18 holes in one while not having to pee or poop.
#26
I've long hoped (based on Iran stories) that the silver lining of Covid-19 could be that it removes the cancerous political leaders of the world. Yes teh replacement could be worse, but they could also be a lot better.
[FoxNews] Japanese magazine Shukan Gendai reported that Kim collapsed during a visit to a rural area in April. Kim reportedly required a stent procedure following the incident.
Shukan Gendai subsequently detailed how the surgeon in charge of Kim's operation was not used to dealing with obese patients and was too nervous during the operation, leading to delays that left Kim in a "vegetative state." Is the fat lady warming up?
Since communist China disappears its own people to advance the regime’s geopolitical agenda, it is appropriate for the FCC to scrutinize every telecom carrier with ties to that regime.
Today, we issued Show Cause orders as part of our ongoing work to secure U.S. telecom networks pic.twitter.com/Ze3WjxsFT2
#2
When tech site journoswriters hacks begin dying from excessive tear dehydration, a crisis will be declared.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/25/2020 9:21 Comments ||
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#3
Agency action like this is good, but I want to see a comparable piece of legislation introduced. So we can find out just how many votes the CCP has in Congress.
Posted by: Matt ||
04/25/2020 9:47 Comments ||
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#4
^ Yes.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/25/2020 9:49 Comments ||
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#5
Agency action like this is good, but I want to see a comparable piece of legislation introduced. So we can find out just how many votes the CCP has in Congress.
[IsraelTimes] China announces it will give another $30 million to the World Health Organization to help in the global fight against the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague) ...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men... pandemic, days after Washington said it would freeze funding.
Foreign ministry front man Geng Shuang says the new donation would be in addition to a previous $20 million committed, and would help "strengthen developing countries’ health systems."
He adds that China’s contribution to the UN agency "reflects the support and trust of the Chinese government and people for the WHO."
“You’re dead, Kim.”
“Dr. Quincy, how do you always know??”
[AF.REUTERS] China has dispatched a team to North Korea including medical experts to advise on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to three people familiar with the situation.
The trip by the Chinese doctors and officials comes amid conflicting reports about the health of the North Korean leader. Reuters was unable to immediately determine what the trip by the Chinese team signaled in terms of Kim’s health.
A delegation led by a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department left Beijing for North Korea on Thursday, two of the people said. The department is the main Chinese body dealing with neighbouring North Korea.
The sources declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter.
The Liaison Department could not be reached by Reuters for comment late on Friday. China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment late on Friday.
Daily NK, a Seoul-based website, reported earlier this week that Kim was recovering after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure on April 12. It cited one unnamed source in North Korea.
South Korean government officials and a Chinese official with the Liaison Department challenged subsequent reports suggesting that Kim was in grave danger after surgery. South Korean officials said they had detected no signs of unusual activity in North Korea.
On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump also downplayed earlier reports that Kim was gravely ill. “I think the report was incorrect,” Trump told reporters, but he declined to say if he had been in touch with North Korean officials.
On Friday, a South Korean source told Reuters their intelligence was that Kim was alive and would likely make an appearance soon. The person said he did not have any comment on Kim’s current condition or any Chinese involvement.
#4
Didn’t I read somewhere that Kim had doubles and used them for certain public events? If the Japanese media reports of brain dead vegetative state are accurate perhaps a power consolidation and retribution cycles is often underway by the sister and a phony fat boy figure might show up for a time?
[UPI] Kim Pudge Jong-un ...the overweight, pouty-looking hereditary potentate of North Korea. Pudge appears to believe in his own divinity, but has yet to produce any loaves and fishes, so his subjects remain malnourished... may have left Pyongyang and could be sheltering in an undisclosed location on North Korea ...hereditary Communist monarchy distinguished by its truculence and periodic acts of violence. Distinguishing features include Songun (Army First) policy, which involves feeding the army before anyone but the Dear Leadership, and Juche, which is Kim Jong Il's personal interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, which he told everybody was brilliant. In 1950 the industrialized North invaded agrarian South Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force opposing the invasion, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. Seventy years later the economic results are in and it doesn't look good for Juche... 's eastern coast, according to multiple press reports.
The North Korean leader's absence triggered wild speculation regarding the state of his health this week, following unconfirmed reports Kim was at death's door after receiving heart surgery.
Kim may have been evacuated to the coastal city of Wonsan, Kangwon Province, where he may have been providing field guidance at a resort construction site, South Korean news service Newsis reported Friday, citing Seoul's national intelligence sources. "providing guidance" = Drinking Hennessy
According to Newsis, movement has been observed among "dedicated vehicles" for Kim that suggest he may have been evacuated from Pyongyang. A special train for Kim's use was stationed in Wonsan, but Kim's private plane remained in Pyongyang, the report says.
In an earlier stage of the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague) ...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men... pandemic in late February, Kim stayed in the Wonsan area while providing field guidance to the military. Kim may have returned to Wonsan after members of the Korean Workers' Party were quarantined for suspected infections, Newsis reports.
South Korean politicians are dismissing claims of illness, however. A Seoul politician with the national defense committee of parliament said Kim is likely "doing well" after leaving Pyongyang amid a suspected outbreak of COVID-19.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to block federal aid for the U.S. Postal Service unless it raises shipping rates for online companies like Amazon.com, prompting criticism that the move would hurt consumers relying more than usual on packages during the coronavirus outbreak.
#1
No half-measures please. I recommend a Pilot Program. Pick a hand full of States and turn residential and small business US Mail delivery function over to Amazon.
#10
So, I have heard from a worker at the post office that the reason the Post Office is looking for a bailout has NOTHING to do with their package load, and EVERYTHING to do with their pension scheme, which they have determined is underfunded (probably due to the stock market shenanigans, honestly). I don't favor a bailout for them, under any circumstances, but it is always worth nothing just how heavily the US subsidizes mail and packages that ship from 3rd world countries as well (a far great discount than anybody in the country, including Amazon, receives).
#12
I have remarked to my wife on many occasions that the only thing I get in my mailbox is junk mail -- literally, every bill I have is delivered online/auto-pay. Seriously, why have a government-operated postal service in this day and age? Are there legit benefits, other than keeping a bunch of people employed with government jobs?
Posted by: Jack Bonaparte7513 ||
04/25/2020 11:34 Comments ||
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#13
Maybe because the Constitution says so -
The Powers of CongressArticle I Section 8, the following:
#14
/\ So then what is Trump bitching about then? Besides, as I mentioned in #5, he just needs to butt out.
On a side note, it appears that with the massive bail-outs and influx of money from the Treasury and the Federal Reserve, losses pretty much don't matter any more.
#15
Negotiating tactic. He doesn’t want to cut money from the postal service, he wants to be the bad cop to give the USPS ammunition to renegotiate Amazon’s fee structure.
Perhaps he would have felt differently had Amazon not lined up with the rest of the internet new industry bien pensants in opposing him, and turned the Washington Post to the purpose.
We need a national postal service because the private carriers — FedEx, et al — are only interested in sending their trucks where the population density makes it profitable. Without a non-profit entity, vast swathes of the country would have no delivery whatsoever., which would impact not only their receipt of junk mail but also shipments from Amazon.
After this definitely do junk mail, Mr. President.
This year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas might have been a catalyst in helping to spread the coronavirus throughout the U.S. And, according to APM Reports, an investigative news publication, there's new evidence to prove it.
the Vegas convention was an "ideal environment for the virus to spread." In addition to the United States, there are at least 63 other countries that attend CES each year.
APM reports that... more than 100 people attended this year's conference from Wuhan, China — where the first outbreak was recorded towards the end of 2019.
#7
For many sanitation projects in rural Alaska we use local force account labor, mainly local Yupiks or Athabaskans. We have to go though the I-9s and all the paperwork from the federal government. What a hassle. Then some factory or meat packing site hires illegals, and plant owners call their congress critter to put heat on agency people to not make raids on factories hiring illegals. Corruptiion of the congress and fed govt.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/25/2020 11:45 Comments ||
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#8
As I said before:
Electronics are largely made in China
Virus with asymptomatic but transmissible period breaks out in China
Before travel restrictions, but after outbreak, there's a large electronics show
Representatives of Chinese electronics companies attend show
Virus is spread at show
"Targeted" is BS. It's as shocking an outcome as a syphilis outbreak at a swingers convention.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
04/25/2020 11:47 Comments ||
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#9
/\ As far as I am concerned a concerted effort to avoid isolation, containment, and provide notifications equates to 'targeting.'
#13
Many in the Ag community were surprised the sale was even considered. Imagine their shock after the approval was so quick. "Hey, this is kind of a big deal, should this even happen?" "Nah, It'll be fine."
Denmark, Poland, France, Austria, Belgium, and Italy will deny governmental #Coronavirus bailouts to firms registered in offshore tax havens. Offshore companies can’t have their cake and eat it. #Covid19pic.twitter.com/5QPYQO9x5B
"China has continued to run a global disinformation campaign to deflect blame for the outbreak of the pandemic and improve its international image." Just kidding! -EU
[ZeroHedge] EU leaders bowed to China this week, softening their criticism of the communist regime in a report documenting how governments have pushed disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic.
"China has continued to run a global disinformation campaign to deflect blame for the outbreak of the pandemic and improve its international image," read the initial report, according to a copy seen by the New York Times. "Both overt and covert tactics have been observed."
It cited Beijing’s efforts to curtail mentions of the virus’s origins in China, in part by blaming the United States for spreading the disease internationally. It noted that Beijing had criticized France as slow to respond to the pandemic and had pushed false accusations that French politicians used racist slurs against the head of the World Health Organization. The report also highlighted Russian efforts to promote false health information and sow distrust in Western institutions. -NYT
But after China 'moved quickly to block the document's release,' European officials immediately delayed - and then rewrote the document which "diluted the focus on China, a vital trading partner."
The European Union, meanwhile, was set to issue its report on Tuesday - until Chinese officials "quickly contacted the European Union's representatives in Beijing to try to kill the report," according to two diplomats.
The Times notes that the report's alteration comes at a time when the EU is trying to get better treatment for its companies in China, with two-way trade estimated at over $1.6 billion per day before the pandemic. Both German automakers and French farmers are among the EU industries which heavily rely on Chinese exports, according to the report.
EU spokesman Peter Stano said on Friday that the report hadn't been delayed, saying "It is ready once it is complete, cleared in an editorial process and ready to be uploaded."... Both German automakers and French farmers are among the EU industries which heavily rely on Chinese exports, according to the report. [Suplize!]...
A prison inmate in Jordon, Sari Salem Wardat, returning home after being released from jail early due to the coronavirus scare, died immediately by a celebratory gunshot fired mistakenly by his distant cousin, exulting his release. Sari was returning home after he was released from the prison two weeks in advance in line with the government’s order to release some prisoners early amidst the Coronavirus threat.
The incident
In the video, which is being circulated on social media, Sari Salem Wardat, a drug dealer and a smuggler serving an eight-month prison sentence for carrying an unlicensed weapon and resisting arrest is seen arriving in his blue car amidst celebratory gunfire noises. Sari gets down from the car and is approached by his distant cousin, Ahmad Salamah Wardat, who points his gun towards the sky. The weapon appears to jam twice before Ahmad fires a shot, after which it appears to jam again before he fires six shots into the air. Then, as the two men walk along the road, Ahmad who appears to be fiddling with the gun, fires one more shot pointing towards Sari, perhaps mistakenly or thinking that he has exhausted the bullets, and this time the bullet hits Sari, who immediately drops to the ground....
A repeat offender [Say, huh?]
The shooter Ahmad is a member of Jordanian Armed Forces, and according to his relatives, similar accidents have happened before when he had fired celebratory gunshot on other occasions. The family members talked about a separate occasion several years ago when he fired a pump-action pellet shotgun during a wedding, wounding six people.
Relatives who witnessed the shooting said he was using a seven-millimetre modified gun that frequently jammed. They said that Ahmad "was not very bright". The relatives said the Ahmad said he thought he had fired all of his bullets not knowing that the last bullet had jammed in the magazine, which ultimately killed Sari....
#2
Ahmad is 'probably' past remedial gun safety training having an impact. Maybe a brick applied to both hands 60 times would help.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/25/2020 12:10 Comments ||
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#3
Karma is a thing...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/25/2020 12:18 Comments ||
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#4
A prison inmate in Jordon, Sari Salem Wardat, returning home after being released from jail early due to the coronavirus scare, died immediately by a celebratory gunshot fired mistakenly by his distant cousin
Who's been sleeping with his wife while Sari Salem was in jail?
Geek Wire via Instapundit
The University of Washington School of Medicine is looking for people who have tested positive for COVID-19 to participate in a clinical trial aimed at finding out whether a controversial drug called hydroxychloroquine can keep them from having to be hospitalized.
Word of UW Medicine’s clinical trial comes after reports about a study at Veterans Health Administration medical centers in which COVID-19 patients who took hydroxychloroquine, which is typically used to treat malaria and autoimmune disease, died at higher rates than those who didn’t take the drug.
Today, the Food and Drug Administration warned that hydroxychloroquine carries "known risks" of potentially deadly heart complications — and said the drug should be used in supervised settings such as clinical trials, where the risks can be better studied and mitigated.
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ study involved patients who were being hospitalized for COVID-19. UW Medicine’s study, in contrast, will focus on patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 but aren’t sick enough to be in a hospital. The new study will be randomized, unlike the VA study, which should lead to more reliable results.
"We are recruiting patients with recently diagnosed COVID infection and hope to show whether early treatment can keep them from having to be admitted to the hospital," co-principal investigator Christine Johnston, an associate professor of medicine at UW, said today in a news release. "We are studying whether the early treatment of COVID-19 prevents viral pneumonia and also seeing if the medications decrease viral shedding, which could have a potential benefit of reduced transmission of COVID-19."
The trial will gauge the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine as well as a combination of the drug with azithromycin, an antibiotic.
Two cohorts of outpatients will be enrolled in the trial, in high-risk and low-risk categories. Patients who are older than 60 or have underlying conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity or lung problems are considered high-risk. Patients who are aged 18 through 59 without such conditions are considered low-risk.
Coronavirus Live Updates: The latest COVID-19 developments in Seattle and the world of tech
More than 600 patients in all will be enrolled at sites across the country, including UW as well as medical facilities in Boston, New Orleans, Chicago and Syracuse, N.Y.
...The $5.8 million trial is funded by the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, an initiative launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome and Mastercard, with support from an array of public and philanthropic donors. No doubt all part of the Gate's nefarious plot to take over the World
#5
I called my VA doctor and asked him about this 'study'. He said "don't you start! I can't talk about it, but don't go there." He was very frustrated, but not annoyed at me. It was funny.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/25/2020 13:19 Comments ||
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[YNet] - The coronavirus appears to weaken more quickly when exposed to sunlight, heat and humidity, a U.S. official said on Thursday in a potential sign that the pandemic could become less contagious in summer months.
U.S. government researchers have determined that the virus survives best indoors and in dry conditions, and loses potency when temperatures and humidity rise - and especially when it is exposed to sunlight, said William Bryan, acting head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate.
"The virus dies quickest in the presence of direct sunlight," he told a White House news briefing. I guess that explains why California doubling time is so low.
#6
Being bedridden in an old age/nursing home isn't known for regular strolls in the solarium.
Sunlight or the UV spectrum? You know the kind linked to skin cancer.
On that corollary, the Navajo certain experience significant exposure to sunlight and at a higher than average altitude (less atmospheric protection). Evolution in the environment may have provided protection against the negative aspects of sunlight which would then make them more susceptible.
#10
Florida is fine. It's mostly the attitude, which is fed by the sun. We'll be one of the states that busts the quarantine hoax narrative, for sure.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/25/2020 11:12 Comments ||
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#11
First spring in three years I have not had acute bronchitis onset in early April. Pollen here is insane this year, but it's been so dry up until last week that mold has been a non issue. Rainy season arrives now.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/25/2020 11:15 Comments ||
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#12
All anecdotes. In the New State™ I'll be executed for sharing them.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/25/2020 11:16 Comments ||
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#13
If you are nice they might let you play in the orchestra.
#1
Lessee. Smallpox didn't wipe out the human race. We should be very thankful to Jenner for the invention of inoculation. That said, yes, this is the flu and most humans have been instructed by their gummint's to lose their minds over it. Not Last Man on Earth. Not Omega Man.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/25/2020 3:24 Comments ||
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#2
However, he deliberately speaks of a theory that has not yet been proven
#3
Instead of a bad flu season + strength, prosperity, security and independence we now have the same number of total fatalities, plus the likelihood of
..>20% unemployment
..50 million US families plunged into poverty
..the end of our shale revolution & our energy dominance
..Depression Era-style civil strife and unrest
#4
People around the world commonly get infected with human coronaviruses 229E, NL63, OC43, and HKU1.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/25/2020 8:00 Comments ||
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#5
The must-quarantine-until-a-perfect-vaccine crowd is becoming a cult. Hopefully they will go the Heaven's Gate route once society reverts to normal activity.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/25/2020 8:20 Comments ||
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#6
If there's something to this theory the (partially)
immunizing infection event must have happened very recently.
Otherwise young children who weren't around and didn't get immunized would be significantly more vulnerable.
[gCaptain]Malaysia’s push to explore energy blocks off its coast has turned into a five-nation face off involving U.S. and Chinese warships, raising the risk of a direct confrontation as broader tensions grow between the world’s biggest economies.
The episode began in December, when Malaysia’s state-run energy giant Petroliam Nasional Bhd. contracted a vessel to explore two areas in the South China Sea in its extended continental shelf. Those waters are also claimed by Vietnam and China, which immediately sent ships to shadow the boat.
The situation took a turn for the worse on April 16 with the arrival of a Chinese surveyor known as the Haiyang Dizhi 8, which last year was engaged in a standoff with Vietnam over offshore energy blocks. The U.S. this week sent at least two warships within some 50 nautical miles of the Malaysian ship, according to defense analysts privy to the information who asked not to be identified.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/25/2020 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors charged a New York retailer Friday with hoarding tons of disposable masks, surgical gowns and hand sanitizer in a Long Island warehouse and selling the items at huge markups.
...home of Al Capone, the Chicago Black Sox, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel...
[NRA] It’s unlikely that any other U.S. military unit ever fielded such an array of weaponry as did the Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group.
[BIZPACREVIEW] CNN political commentator Chris Cuomo’s wife, Cristina, is facing criticism from practically everybody — except anybody at CNN, of course — for promoting a “crackpot coronavirus treatment” that’s been dubbed “dangerous.”
[Victory Girls] Oleander is toxic to cats, but may be effective in treating cancer, and just may be a much-needed treatment for combating the novel coronavirus. And while our do-nothings in Congress are busy bickering about how to best waste our tax dollars and burying us in further debt—with some of them doing their darnedest to help tank our economy and shove us into socialism—our military is reportedly hard at work researching, as a treatment for the novel coronavirus, the readily-available plant at its Fort Detrick biodefense lab:
[Politico] Britain says it is ready to start trade negotiations with the United States but is waiting for agreement from the Trump Administration on whether those negotiations can now be conducted virtually.
Mind the cheap shots and jokes, Karen has a dark side. 
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
[AF.REUTERS] China has dispatched a team to North Korea including medical experts to advise on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to three people familiar with the situation.
[UPI] 
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to block federal aid for the U.S. Postal Service unless it raises shipping rates for online companies like Amazon.com, prompting criticism that the move would hurt consumers relying more than usual on packages during the coronavirus outbreak.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] 
