Apr 082020
 


Elliott Erwitt California, USA 1956

 

To End the Pandemic, Give Universal Testing the Green Light (Patel/Patel)
UK To Have More Corona Deaths Than Italy, Spain, France, Germany Combined (G.)
Boris Johnson’s Scientists Were Slow To Sound The Alarm (R.)
Low Antibody Levels Raise Questions About Coronavirus Reinfection Risk (SCMP)
Staggering Surge Of NYers Dying In Their Homes (Gothamist)
Cuomo, De Blasio Urged To Act On ‘Uneven’ Covid-19 Death Toll (TheCity)
South Korea Virus Death Toll Hits 200 (Yonhap)
CDC Removes Unusual Guidance To Doctors About Chloroquines (R.)
EU Ministers Fail To Agree Virus Economic Rescue In All-Night Talks (R.)
US Economy Will Eventually Reopen But With Big Changes: Kudlow (R.)
Worldwide Debt Reached 322% of GDP Before COVID19 Pandemic (Sky)
Former Ecuador President Correa Sentenced To 8 Years For Corruption (R.)
Assange’s Life In Grave Danger After 1st COVID19 Death In Belmarsh Prison (RT)
Judge Refuses To Grant Julian Assange’s Partner Anonymity (Ind.)

 

 

• US records highest Covid-19 deaths in single day: More than 1,970 deaths were recorded on Tuesday with some states yet to share their totals.

• U.S. reports 30,706 new cases of coronavirus and 1,970 new deaths. Total of 398,785 cases and 12,893 deaths.

• Reported US coronavirus deaths @ryanstruyk @CNN:
– 4 weeks ago: 31 deaths
– 3 weeks ago: 111 deaths
– 2 weeks ago: 704 deaths
– 1 week ago: 3,834 deaths
Right now: 12,893 deaths

• In New York City, 149,558 people have been tested for coronavirus so far.
– 50% of them tested positive.

• @Amy_Siskind: 2,000 American died today alone. 400,000 reported cases in the US. The US mortality rate is now 3.2%. At 1,000 deaths it was at 1.5% and has been steadily rising. The mortality rate of the 1918 flu was 2.5%. For the flu is it <0.1%

Trend 1: the US accounts for a higher proportion of worldwide cases and deaths each day.
* US now accounts for 15.7% of all deaths, up from 9% one week ago.
* US accounts for 28% of all worldwide cases, up from 25% 2 days ago.
We make up 4.2% of the world population.

 

 

Cases 1,446,981 (+ 87,971 from yesterday’s 1,359,010)

Deaths 83,090 (+ 7,190 from yesterday’s 75,900)

 

 

 

From Worldometer yesterday evening -before their day’s close-

 

 

From Worldometer -NOTE: mortality rate for closed cases is at 21% !

 

 

From SCMP:

 

 

From COVID2019Info.live:

 

 

 

 

Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one hammering away at this, so this is good to see, coming from two doctors.

You can forget about re-opening your economy without all-out testing. You can forget about travel if you haven’t been tested. At least twice.

But universal testing is still very far away. All we see is countries inventing excuses to not test. I haven’t seen one that has tested even 1% of its population.

To End the Pandemic, Give Universal Testing the Green Light (Patel/Patel)

We have no idea what the spread of this virus truly is thanks to costly under-testing at the start of this pandemic, but all of the evidence points to mass testing as the only way out of a perpetual cycle of social distancing and caseload spikes. Social distancing is buying us time, but without universal testing, this period of pause delays the inevitable. That’s why we’re calling for a national mobilization to create a universal testing program for every American. Such a program should categorize people in three ways: they had Covid-19, they have Covid-19, or they are still at risk for getting Covid-19. Green, Red, Yellow—that simple, no more uncertainty. It would use two types of tests to accomplish this categorization.


The Two Types of Tests for Covid-19. When testing for Covid-19, we can look at the presence of either (1) the actual viral antigen during infection or the (2) antibodies during the middle stage of infection and after. (For the sake of simplicity we are only going to talk broadly about the antibody test as one type of antibody.) Covid-19 testing in the US currently is focused on antigen testing; a nasal swab is used to test for the presence of Covid-19 proteins in your mucus. Such tests need to be made widely available in ways that do not clog our emergency rooms. Mobile testing for at risk seniors as well as rapid expansion of drive through testing facilities, or even self-administered home swab kits that can be securely sent to labs can help rapidly identify those who need to be on the strictest quarantine (Red).


Data Visualization: Suraj Patel And Viral Patel

We also need to increase the capacity to read these tests. South Korea reported its first Covid-19 case the same day as the USA, but had six times the testing capacity per capita. Fortunately, the science behind analyzing Covid-19 antigen tests is widely available—university labs, commercial labs, and the government all have the equipment needed to read them. They just need to be set up for testing and approved to analyze samples. That requires no medical breakthrough, just political leadership, which may be the taller order right now. These antigen tests, however, can only tell providers if a person has an active Covid-19 infection or are asymptomatic carriers.


We also need to approve serological blood and/or ELISA antibody tests that can be rapidly deployed to detect disease immunity. In some cases these tests can be self-administered at home to test for immunity from Covid-19. This isn’t a fairy tale idea. Public Health England is attempting to make millions of 15-minute at-home testing kits available to the general public at pharmacies and via mail the moment one of the tests proves efficacious. The UK’s first options just recently failed, but the science behind antibody tests tell us it is a matter of when, not if one of these tests are successful.

Read more …

This is devastating. Italy, France, Spain have terrible numbers of their own, overwhelmed health care, you name it.

On the bright side, Boris kept the pubs open for two more weeks.

UK To Have More Corona Deaths Than Italy, Spain, France, Germany Combined (G.)

World-leading disease data analysts have projected that the UK will become the country worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic in Europe, accounting for more than 40% of total deaths across the continent. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in Seattle predicts 66,000 UK deaths from Covid-19 by August, with a peak of nearly 3,000 a day, based on a steep climb in daily deaths early in the outbreak. The analysts also claim discussions over “herd immunity” led to a delay in the UK introducing physical distancing measures, which were brought in from 23 March in England when the coronavirus daily death toll was 54. Portugal, by comparison, had just one confirmed death when distancing measures were imposed.


The IHME modelling forecasts that by 4 August the UK will see a total of 66,314 deaths – an average taken from a large estimate range of between 14,572 and 219,211 deaths, indicating the uncertainties around it. The newly released data is disputed by scientists whose modelling of the likely shape of the UK epidemic is relied on by the government. Prof Neil Ferguson, of Imperial College London, said the IHME figures on “healthcare demand” – including hospital bed use and deaths – were twice as high as they should be. The IHME, which is responsible for the ongoing Global Burden of Disease study, calculated the likely need for hospital admissions and intensive care beds and projected deaths in European countries hit by Covid-19.

Looking at the measures taken by the UK to curb the spread of the disease, the institute says the peak is expected in 10 days’ time, on 17 April. At that point the country will need more than 102,000 hospital beds, the IHME says. There are nearly 18,000 available, meaning a shortfall of 85,000. The same grim picture applies to intensive care beds. At the peak, 24,500 intensive care beds will be needed and 799 are available, the analysts predict. There will be a need for nearly 21,000 ventilators, they say. At the peak the UK will see 2,932 deaths a day, the IHME forecasts. The death toll in other European countries that are now struggling with Covid-19 will be lower, they say. Spain is projected to have 19,209 deaths by the same date, Italy 20,300 and France 15,058. All three countries have imposed tougher lockdown measures than the UK.

Read more …

Not an excuse for Boris anymore than it is for Trump, but it does tell us somethinng about what passes for science.

Boris Johnson’s Scientists Were Slow To Sound The Alarm (R.)

It was early spring when British scientists laid out the bald truth to their government. It was “highly likely,” they said, that there was now “sustained transmission” of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom. If unconstrained and if the virus behaved as in China, up to four-fifths of Britons could be infected and one in a hundred might die, wrote the scientists, members of an official committee set up to model the spread of pandemic flu, on March 2. Their assessment didn’t spell it out, but that was a prediction of over 500,000 deaths in this nation of nearly 70 million. Yet the next day, March 3, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was his cheery self. He joked that he was still shaking hands with everyone, including at a hospital treating coronavirus patients.

“Our country remains extremely well prepared,” Johnson said as Italy reached 79 deaths. “We already have a fantastic NHS,” the national public health service, “fantastic testing systems and fantastic surveillance of the spread of disease.” Alongside him at the Downing Street press conference was Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical adviser and himself an epidemiologist. Whitty passed on the modelling committee’s broad conclusions, including the prediction of a possible 80% infection rate and the consequent deaths. But he played them down, saying the number of people who would be infected was probably “a lot lower” and coming up with a total was “largely speculative.”

The upbeat tone of that briefing stood in sharp contrast with the growing unease of many of the government’s scientific advisers behind the scenes. They were already convinced that Britain was on the brink of a disastrous outbreak, a Reuters investigation has found. [..] interviews and documents also reveal that for more than two months, the scientists whose advice guided Downing Street did not clearly signal their worsening fears to the public or the government. Until March 12, the risk level, set by the government’s top medical advisers on the recommendation of the scientists, remained at “moderate,” suggesting only the possibility of a wider outbreak.

Read more …

That throws another 1000 theories out the window.

Low Antibody Levels Raise Questions About Coronavirus Reinfection Risk (SCMP)

Researchers in Shanghai hope to determine whether some recovered coronavirus patients have a higher risk of reinfection after finding surprisingly low levels of Covid-19 antibodies in a number of people discharged from hospital. A team from Fudan University analysed blood samples from 175 patients discharged from the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Centre and found that nearly a third had unexpectedly low levels of antibodies. In some cases, antibodies could not be detected at all. “Whether these patients were at high risk of rebound or reinfection should be explored in further studies,” the team wrote in preliminary research released on Monday on Medrxiv.org, an online platform for preprint papers.

Although the study was preliminary and not peer-reviewed, it was the world’s first systematic examination of antibody levels in patients who had recovered from Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, the researchers said. All of the patients had recently recovered from mild symptoms of the disease and most of those with low antibody levels were young. The researchers excluded patients who had been admitted to intensive care units because many of them already had antibodies from donated blood plasma. Antibodies are generated by the immune system and have unique chemical structures to inhibit specific pathogens. The coronavirus antibody intercepts the spike protein on the viral envelope to prevent it from binding with human cells.

The researchers said they were surprised to find that the antibody “titer” value in about a third of the patients was less than 500, a level that might be too low to provide protection. “About 30 per cent of patients failed to develop high titers of neutralising antibodies after Covid-19 infection. However, the disease duration of these patients compared to others was similar,” they said. The team also found that antibody levels rose with age, with people in the 60-85 age group displaying more than three times the amount of antibodies as people in the 15-39 age group. The low amounts of antibodies could affect herd immunity, resistance to the disease among the general population to stop its spread.

“This is a clinical observation we made at the front line. What this will mean to herd immunity will require more data from other parts of the world,” Professor Huang Jinghe, the leader of the team, said on Tuesday. Huang said 10 of the patients in the study had an antibody presence so low it could not even be detected in the laboratory. These patients experienced typical Covid-19 symptoms including fever, chill and a cough, but might have beaten back the virus with other parts of the immune system such as T-cells or cytokines. How they did this was still unclear. “Vaccine developers may need to pay particular attention to these patients,” Huang said. If the real virus could not induce antibody response, the weakened version in the vaccine might not work in these patients either.

Read more …

Two trends appear: people dying at home, and blacks dying in far larger -relative- numbers.

Staggering Surge Of NYers Dying In Their Homes (Gothamist)

If you die at home from the coronavirus, there’s a good chance you won’t be included in the official death toll, because of a discrepancy in New York City’s reporting process. The problem means the city’s official death count is likely far lower than the real toll taken by the virus, according to public health officials. It also means that victims without access to testing are not being counted, and even epidemiologists are left without a full understanding of the pandemic. As of Monday afternoon, 2,738 New York City residents have died from ‘confirmed’ cases of COVID-19, according to the city Department of Health. That’s an average of 245 a day since the previous Monday.

But another 200 city residents are now dying at home each day, compared to 20 to 25 such deaths before the pandemic, said Aja Worthy-Davis, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office. And an untold number of them are unconfirmed. That’s because the ME’s office is not testing dead bodies for COVID-19. Instead, they’re referring suspected cases to the city’s health department as “probable.” “If someone dies at home, and we go to the home and there [are] signs of influenza, our medical examiner may determine the cause of death was clearly an influenza-like illness, potentially COVID or an influenza-like illness believed to be COVID,” said Worthy-Davis. “We report all our deaths citywide to the health department, who releases that data to the public.”

But the health department does not include that number in the official count unless it is confirmed, a spokesman said. “Every person with a lab confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis is counted in the number of fatalities,” the spokesman, Michael Lanza, said in an email. He said the city’s coronavirus death tally does not break down who died at home versus who died in a hospital from the virus. [..] Statistics from the Fire Department, which runs EMS, confirm a staggering rise in deaths occurring at the scene before first responders can transport a person to a hospital for care.

The FDNY says it responded to 2,192 cases of deaths at home between March 20th and April 5th, or about 130 a day, an almost 400 percent increase from the same time period last year. (In 2019, there were just 453 cardiac arrest calls where a patient died, according to the FDNY.) That number has been steadily increasing since March 30th, with 241 New Yorkers dying at home Sunday — more than the number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths that occurred citywide that day. On Monday night, the city reported 266 new deaths, suggesting the possibility of a 40% undercount of coronavirus-related deaths.

Read more …

I haven’t seen any genetic explanations for this.

Cuomo, De Blasio Urged To Act On ‘Uneven’ COVID19 Death Toll (TheCity)

Responding to signs that coronavirus is exacting an outsize toll on black and Latino New Yorkers, elected officials are stepping up pressure on Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to disclose details — and act. On Monday, 10 South Bronx elected officials asked Cuomo to immediately open a multipurpose medical facility at the Harlem River Yards, a waterfront site owned by the state. Their letter cites THE CITY’s report on an outsize death toll from the Bronx, using city Health Department statistics. As of last Friday, Bronx residents were twice as likely to die of coronavirus as New York City residents as a whole.


The officials, among them veteran Rep. José Serrano, asked Cuomo to establish a rapid testing facility, field hospital, and temporary barracks for medical personnel on the property, currently leased to the Schenectady-based Galesi Group. “If New York State can not accommodate this request, we ask that you convey the rationale as to why and that you request assistance from the federal government to activate this proposal,” they wrote. “We fear that a lack of adequate response to COVID-19 in our community will lead to a record number of deaths associated with New York City’s most vulnerable and even further health disparities.”

And it appears the outbreak may be growing increasingly deadly. Not only does The Bronx have the highest number of fatalities as a share of its population of any borough — its death rate is also growing the fastest, THE CITY’s analysis of city Health Department data suggests. In the Bronx, about 84% of residents are black, Latino or mixed race, Census data show, compared with 39% in Manhattan, the borough with the lowest death rate.


[..] In other large locales, demographic data has shown that low-income and black and Latino communities are being disproportionately affected: In Chicago, for example, 61 of the 86 deceased — 70% — were black, NPR affiliate WBEZ reported Sunday. Black residents make up less than one-third of Chicago’s population. In Louisiana, around 70% of the dead are black, the state’s department of health reports, while roughly 33% of the state is black. About 4-in-10 of those dead in Michigan are black, Michigan Radio reports, though 12% of the state is black.

Read more …

US death total is 12,901. Both countries reported their first case on the same day in January.

South Korea Virus Death Toll Hits 200 (Yonhap)

South Korea’s death toll from the new coronavirus has reached 200, and most virus victims are elderly patients with underlying diseases, health authorities here said Wednesday. An additional eight patients died of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the country’s fatality number to 200, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The country added 53 new cases, bring total virus cases to 10,384 as of Wednesday. The country reported its first death from the novel coronavirus on Feb. 20 and breached the 100 mark on March 22. Most of the victims have been elderly patients with underlying illnesses, such as cancer and pneumonia.


KCDC data showed the mortality rate of COVID-19 patients aged 80 or older stood at 20.43 percent as of Tuesday, compared with an average mortality rate of 1.93 percent. The mortality rate of COVID-19 patients aged 80 or older was a mere 3.7 percent on March 2 when health authorities began conducting such a tally but increased to 10 percent on March 20 and breached the 20 percent level as of Tuesday, the KCDC said. Health authorities said the fatality rate among elders is relatively high due to massive cluster cases at nursing hospitals where patients with underlying diseases, such as dementia, have been treated. “Diagnosis is relatively slower at nursing hospitals, which could lead to a higher mortality rate,” said Kim Woo-ju, an infectious disease specialist at Seoul’s Korea University Hospital.

Read more …

Big Pharma looking out for no. 1.

CDC Removes Unusual Guidance To Doctors About Chloroquines (R.)

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has removed from its website highly unusual guidance informing doctors on how to prescribe hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, drugs recommended by President Donald Trump to treat the coronavirus. The move comes three days after Reuters reported that the CDC published key dosing information involving the two antimalarial drugs based on unattributed anecdotes rather than peer-reviewed science. Reuters also reported that the original guidance was crafted by the CDC after President Trump personally pressed federal regulatory and health officials to make the malaria drugs more widely available to treat the novel coronavirus, though the drugs in question had been untested for COVID-19.

Initially, the CDC webpage, titled Information for Clinicians on Therapeutic Options for Patients with COVID-19, had said: “Although optimal dosing and duration of hydroxychloroquine for treatment of COVID-19 are unknown, some U.S. clinicians have reported anecdotally” on several ways to prescribe the medication of COVID-19. Medical specialists had told Reuters they were surprised by that language. “Why would CDC be publishing anecdotes?” asked Dr. Lynn Goldman, dean of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. “That doesn’t make sense. This is very unusual.”

Doctors and other health experts had further criticized the guidance as suggesting that doctors might prescribe the medications when it isn’t established whether or not they are effective or harmful. Now the CDC website no longer includes that information. Instead, its first sentence says: “There are no drugs or other therapeutics approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to prevent or treat COVID-19.” The updated, and shortened, guidance adds that “Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are under investigation in clinical trials” for use on coronavirus patients.

Read more …

What does it take to break it?

EU Ministers Fail To Agree Virus Economic Rescue In All-Night Talks (R.)

European Union finance ministers failed to agree in all-night talks on more support for their coronavirus-hit economies and their chairman said on Wednesday morning he was suspending the discussions until Thursday. Diplomatic sources and officials said a feud between Italy and the Netherlands over what conditions should be attached to euro zone credit for governments fighting the pandemic was blocking progress on half a trillion euros worth of aid. “After 16 hours of discussions we came close to a deal but we are not there yet,” Eurogroup chairman Mario Centeno said. “I suspended the Eurogroup and (we will)continue tomorrow.”

The finance ministers, who started talks at 1430 GMT on Tuesday that lasted all night with numerous breaks to allow for bilateral negotiations, are trying to agree a package of measures to help governments, companies and individuals. They had hoped to agree on a half-trillion-euro programme to cushion the economic slump and finance recovery from the pandemic, and turn a page on divisions that have marred relations as the bloc struggles with the outbreak. But feuds emerged prominently again, one diplomatic source said: “The Italians want a reference to debt mutualisation as a possible recovery instrument to be analysed more in the future. The Dutch say ‘no’.” An official who participated in the talks said at around 0400 GMT on Wednesday The Hague was the only one refusing to endorse a text that the ministers were expected to agree on to get endorsement for a new set of economic measures from the bloc’s 27 national leaders.

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Twitter: “In this difficult hour Europe must stand together closely. Together with (French finance minister) Bruno Le Maire, I therefore call on all euro countries not to refuse to resolve these difficult financial issues and to facilitate a good compromise – for all citizens.” Issuing joint debt has been a battle line between economically ailing southern countries like Spain and Italy and the fiscally frugal north, led by Germany and the Netherlands, since the financial and euro zone crises began over a decade ago.

Read more …

Here’s thinking there will be huge changes that Kudlow has no idea about.

US Economy Will Eventually Reopen But With Big Changes: Kudlow (R.)

The Trump administration is aiming to reopen the U.S. economy when the nation’s top health experts give the go-ahead, but Americans’ lives will be drastically different, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Tuesday. Even when people in the United States return to work and school, they will likely have to stay home when they have signs of sickness, face more widespread and ongoing testing and submit to routine temperature taking, he told Politico in an interview. “We are aware that things are going to be different,” he said. “That’s going to be a new feature of American life. And I don’t know how quickly that gets up and going, but it’s going to be very, very important because we obviously want to prevent any recurrences.”


It remains unclear when the country, which remains largely shuttered amid the ongoing outbreak that has crushed the economy, will resume more normal operations as a number of states approach their potential peak number of cases amid federal guidelines to isolate until the end of April. [..] “It is the health people that are going to drive the medical decisions, here, the medical-related decisions,” Kudlow told Politico, adding that he still believes “that in the next four to eight weeks we will be able to reopen the economy and that the power of the virus will be substantially reduced and we will be able to flatten the curve.”

Read more …

I gave up counting.

Worldwide Debt Reached 322% of GDP Before COVID19 Pandemic (Sky)

Worldwide debt reached 322% of GDP last year, according to new figures which will worry governments planning post-coronavirus economic recoveries. Worldwide debt across all sectors rose by $10trn (£8trn) in 2019 to more than $255trn (£206trn), and that was before COVID-19, which forced many of the world’s governments to bail out businesses and to pay workers in an effort to help them survive the pandemic. By the end of last year, global debt stood at 322% of GDP – 40 percentage points higher than at the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis, according to the Institute of International Finance’s Global Debt Monitor.


The IIF forecast that the global debt burden would rise “dramatically” in 2020, with gross government debt issuance soaring to a record high of more than $2.1trn last month – more than double the average of $0.9trn in 2017-19. A global recession is looming, the monitor said, adding that this would begin with $87trn more of global debt than there was at the onset of the 2008 financial crisis. The news will worry world leaders as they continue to commit unprecedented financial stimulus to support their economies. Debt levels could climb to 342% of GDP by the end of this year, assuming a doubling of net government borrowing and a 3% contraction in global GDP, the monitor said.

Read more …

A good man. He’s free, he lives in Belgium. I guess maybe Ecuador literally is a banana republic?

Former Ecuador President Correa Sentenced To 8 Years For Corruption (R.)

An Ecuadorian court sentenced former president Rafael Correa on Tuesday to eight years in prison after finding him guilty of corruption charges. Correa, who was in office from 2007 to 2017, left Ecuador three years ago and now lives in Belgium. He and 19 others, including his vice president who is in prison for another corruption case, were accused of accepting $7.5 million in bribes in exchange for public contracts to finance his party’s electoral campaigns between 2012 and 2016. The court also banned Correa from participating in politics for 25 years.


The prosecution accused Correa of heading a “criminal structure” and asked for the maximum sentence. The former leader has denied the prosecution’s accusations, saying they are a political attack by current President Lenin Moreno, who Correa initially backed in 2017. “Well, this is what they were looking for: using justice to achieve what they never could at the ballot box. I am fine. I am concerned about my colleagues,” Correa said on his Twitter account.

Read more …

State sanctioned murder. Because of COVID19, Assange can’t talk to his lawyers, he can’t participate in his own trial. We can wish for Boris to die a painful COVID death, but there are a hundred just like him waiting in the wings, so it wouldn’t make any difference.

Assange’s Life In Grave Danger After 1st COVID19 Death In Belmarsh Prison (RT)

Conditions in Belmarsh prison, where Julian Assange is held, might be worse than London is willing to admit, WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson told RT, adding that Covid-19 could swiftly tear through the facility. A prison environment is “like a Petri dish” for a virus, Hrafnsson explained, particularly such a highly infectious one as the novel coronavirus, which has already struck more than 1 million people around the world. The max security Belmarsh prison, where the WikiLeaks founder is being kept pending extradition to the US, has just reported its first death from the disease. According to Hrafnsson, there are other worrying signs too. “We have prison guards going in and out. A third of them at least are not showing up to work either because they have the virus or because they are in isolation.”

He also said he was sure the number of inmates who contracted Covid-19 in Belmarsh is “undoubtedly higher than reported,” since prison authorities have simply not conducted enough tests on the population to “know what is going on exactly.” The situation is particularly alarming for Assange, who was in a rather poor state of health even before the outbreak of the deadly disease, Hrafnsson added. “Assange is in very bad shape. He is a very vulnerable individual, especially to a virus like Covid-19. He has an underlying lung condition and would be considered at great risk even if living normally in society. He is in a situation when his life is in danger every day and every hour.”

The Wikileaks editor-in-chief said that British authorities are outright neglecting their duties by leaving Assange — as well as other prisoners — behind bars, given the current circumstances. Hrafnsson also slammed a British judge’s decision to carry on with Assange’s extradition hearing amid the ongoing pandemic, as though nothing has been happening. The Wikileaks founder is unable to take part in any court sessions now as he has to be moved through the infected prison each time he is about to do that, even via a video link. Assange’s lawyers also have lost all contact with their client for about three weeks at this point, since they cannot visit him prison and cannot talk to him by video chat either, the Wikileaks editor-in-chief said.

Read more …

The UK manages to sink deeper on all fronts.

Judge Refuses To Grant Julian Assange’s Partner Anonymity (Ind.)

A judge has refused to grant legal anonymity to Julian Assange’s partner after hearing claims the US had tried to obtain their children’s DNA. Representatives of the Wikileaks founder submitted evidence to Westminster Magistrates’ Court claiming that American agencies had expressed interest in testing nappies discarded when Mr Assange’s partner and children visited him at the Ecuadorian embassy. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser found that, even if the allegation were true, there was no reason to believe US agencies meant to harm his young family. She referred to the claim while rejecting the bid to anonymise Mr Assange’s partner, who the court heard wishes to live “quietly” with her young children away from publicity.

Following a submission by the Press Association news agency to the court, Judge Baraitser ruled that the woman’s right to a private family life was outweighed by the need for open justice. But the judge delayed making the woman’s identity public until 4pm on 14 April, pending a possible judicial review at the High Court. Mr Assange was previously denied bail amid concerns over the spread of coronavirus in British jails, and the application had been supported by the unnamed woman. The 48-year-old is being held on remand at HMP Belmarsh, in south-east London, ahead of an extradition hearing on 18 May. During the virtual hearing, the judge also rejected a bid to delay the hearing because of the coronavirus crisis.

Mr Assange’s barrister, Edward Fitzgerald QC, said there were “insuperable” difficulties preparing his case because of the pandemic, and requested an adjournment until September. He told the court that he had not been able to see Mr Assange in jail and could see “no viable” way his client could be present in court to hear witnesses. On Mr Assange’s mental state, he told the judge: “There are difficulties of the pandemic with the defendant himself. You are aware … he has well documented problems of clinical depression.” Mr Assange’s treatment was on hold during the lockdown and he had been unable to see his family. Mr Fitzgerald said: “In those circumstances, in his vulnerable condition, to force him to enter a full evidential hearing in May, we respectfully submit it would be unjust. We respectfully submit it would be oppressive.”

Read more …

 

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One for the stay home fitness crowd:

 

 

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle April 8 2020

Viewing 37 posts - 1 through 37 (of 37 total)
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  • #56818

    Elliott Erwitt California, USA 1956   • To End the Pandemic, Give Universal Testing the Green Light (Patel/Patel) • UK To Have More Corona Deaths
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle April 8 2020]

    #56819
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    John Prine – Sam Stone
    What a curious and wonderful choice…
    It stopped me dead in my thoughts; listened 3 times and almost didn’t comment…
    Hit a nostalgic nerve dead on…

    #56820
    oxymoron
    Participant

    Australia so far only at 50 deaths with a flattening curve. South Korea the darling of the covid internet at 200 – but yeah they are pretty close to China so they are doing well.
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-17/coronavirus-cases-data-reveals-how-covid-19-spreads-in-australia/12060704
    How we manage this going forward will be tough. All school canceled for next term. So my son has to learn on a computer remotely and via internet etc. I am the only one with computer literacy in our house and I am away at work so…..

    Boris might not make it and that will just add to the weirdness of 2020

    #56821
    Dr. D
    Participant

    “More People Died of Suicide Last Week in Tennessee Than COVID-19”

    Awesome. Keep it up, I’m sure we can make the death rate 10x the Wu Flu via the economy if we dig in and really try.

    What did they have yesterday, 49 people unemployed per Covid CASE, not death? I’m sure it’s twice that now. Good job, Brownie! When everyone get stabbed from turning the U.S. into Argentina, I’m sure it’ll all be worth it.

    Again, the economy is larger than the virus. It’s larger than the government, it’s larger than the banks. The economy, even the Dow, is US. We the people. Everyone.

    Don’t know why I bother, but here’s more: http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=238849

    “Of the people who have died in NY as of 9:30 AM on April 7th there were 2,407 with one of a list of classified serious, in fact often fatal diseases and 55 with no such disease. (740 are pending and will show up in future reports.) In other words if you have no such serious and in fact often fatal underlying condition you make up 2.29% of the deaths.
    …This means that if you have no underlying serious and in fact often-fatal condition your risk of death from this virus if you get it is 0.0687% in New York.
    For a risk of less than 0.0687% of death, quite possibly much less by a factor of two or more, if you are a healthy individual and get the virus, we have destroyed millions of jobs and placed 330,000,000 people under effective house arrest.”

    What is that, “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?” Or the “Trolley Experiment”, would you kill 1 man to save 99?

    Okay, so right now we’re killing 99 to save 1.

    But that was always the point. We need a reset, and we need a cover story. We got one, and it’s being used.

    Not trying to be heartless, but killing a thousand to save one is illogical and impractical.

    All we see is countries inventing excuses to not test.”

    Huh. Wonder why. Well U.K. at least all 30 million tests from China were fake. Now they have to pay for their toxic disposal. In the U.S. the pre-set tests from the WHO were all random. But other than that, who benefits when there’s 100% fear and 0% testing (except for celebrities)? People who want Stalinist dictatorial control, high profits, fear, good ratings, vaccine passports, mass death. You know, everyone who’s anyone. The schmarty-guyz. The really important people.

    For “Control the curve” the curve has not BEEN controlled, as predicted. However, we killed everyone trying, which was an awesome — and totally optional – benefit. And with the bailout, the 0.01% have $6T, and 99.99% are broke and will lose all their property. So. #Winning! All voluntary. Applause all around! Save me Daddy Government, you’re my only hope! You know, after lying in Wuhan, then Bejing, then WHO, then in Italy, Spain, New Orleans, SanFran, NYC, (Go to parades!) in CDC, and now in Fauci’s meetings. But other than all those guys doing everything they can to kill you and steal everything you own, Daddy’s really been helping! MOAR! I listen breathlessly. I’ll do everything you say.

    World-leading disease data analysts have projected”

    Just yesterday we went through all the models being wrong. All the modelers being wrong. Fauci saying all the models are wrong. So we printed more models and believed them. Slow are we? O-Kay.

    I look forward to bring this up later. Will anyone get fired? Nope. Discredited? Nope. Will anyone stop believing and following experts that have never been right in their whole careers? Nope. And their pockets will be picked and their reporters jailed.

    Boris Johnson’s Scientists Were Slow to Sound the Alarm (R.)”

    Yup. Experts actually covered and prevented any action, like the WHO. People like Trump had to buck them, and are bucking them still. Not to say he was early enough, but he was as early as the media and nation would let him. Even so it was nothing but “It’s the Flu” and “Rayciss!” right through to NOW, four months later, when “Biden” finally approved of blocking Chinese flights.

    ExpertsExpertsExpertsExpertsExpertsExpertsExpertsExpertsExpertsExpertsExperts

    He can’t move faster than YOU. The government IS the people. They’re not going to be smarter or better than themselves. Much worse in fact, proven by 10,000 years of history. No one learns. No one cares.

    sharp contrast with the growing unease of many of the government’s scientific advisers”

    Oh did they now? So they were uneasy at the same time the WHO said “there is no human transmission” and “Don’t wear masks?” (Wait, that was yesterday) They were uneasy when Oxford put out a study just last week saying most are already over it? Huh. Sounds like experts don’t agree, meaning at least half don’t know what they’re talking about. But makes a pretty fairy tale to sell papers that will throw elections the way the papers/reporters want. RussiaRussiaRussia. Brexit will destroy markets! And the Pound! And the planet! And the Universe! They’ll be hanging immigrants in the street! Making them scared to leave their houses, marking them with badges! (Oh wait, that was us via the Gates Foundation, n/m)

    “victims without access to testing are not being counted,”

    I don’t think so. The CDC guidelines are “If you know, it’s COVID. If you don’t know, it’s COVID. If it isn’t COVID, it’s COVID.” Look it up. Consequently all pneumonia deaths have vanished. Huh, that’s statistically odd. They’re pretty certainly being OVER counted. Right now you’re cramming a year’s worth of “Flu” deaths into a month, using just one flu…and that’s appropriate counting. But you’ll have to look back to see if any additional mortality over the year. My guess is not much, and you’ll have a baby boom that overcomes it in triplicate. Humans at work.

    I haven’t seen any genetic explanations for this.”

    I haven’t even seen that this is true, since almost all reported numbers are bent, are lies. Guessing poverty and bad nutrition taking a toll, with people not containing at all.

    Other indicators it’s a theatre show? They’re going to bury in public parks??? What possible scientific or practical reason could THAT be? Any normal human would use fridge trucks, or ship them up through the state to rural mortuaries, then ship them back for paced burial. But go ahead and use Grandma’s dead body as a prop in your stupid game. Apparently everybody loves it and approves.

    “US death total is 12,901.”

    Yes, and we have six times more people. And all the numbers are fake. Note Japan had zero cases until the Olympics were cancelled, then Lo! So Korea is probably reporting nothing they don’t have to, and the U.S. is demonstrably, via official CDC guidelines, reporting ANYTHING as Covid (as we have no testing). Oh and China has no deaths and no cases at all. Except from us.

    FakeFakeFakeFakeFakeFakeFakeFakeFakeFakeFakeFakeFakeFakeFakeFake

    ““Why would CDC be publishing anecdotes?”

    Because we’re in a crisis and in a hurry, you dummy. But I’ll be happy to infect your family and watch you wait for that 10 year, double-blind, peer-reviewed study you demand. We’ve got 40 years’ experience with this drug. Several doctors claim to have 1,000 cases/pr Um, try THEIR 100% cure experience? Just sayin’. But I’ll sit here and watch if you want a respirator instead. It’s a free country.

    “there was no reason to believe US agencies meant to harm his young family.”

    Hahahahahahaha. You’re so cute. I mean, where would anybody get the RIDICULOUS notion that the U.S. was after Assange?

    “Can’t we just drone this guy?” – Hillary Rodham Clinton

    #56822
    Dr D Rich
    Participant

    In support of Dr D’s comments. Note the prideful elevation of ignorance by the Chief of the Medical Staff and the Head Honcho nurse promoting, well, their ignorance. Keep in mind they could have addressed a single clinic cluster of severe respiratory illnesses that occurred during a major construction project, amidst a severe flu/RSV season and when dead vermin (rats and mice) (the latter carry hantavirus endemic to Washington and require special handling and PPE for disposal). This crew found it better to threaten and intimidate witnesses and fire/humiliate one complainant physician. In regime change operations they call such action A Demonstration Project.

    https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/were-all-scared-spread-of-coronavirus-marked-by-friction-frustration-among-employees-at-valley-medical-center-facilities/

    #56823
    sumac.carol
    Participant

    Dr. D keep on with bringing perspective. It seems to be as if they want to close the world to stop this. There is no perfect solution – either way (close everything or leave stuff open) lots of people will die and suffer, just from different causes.

    If people are not developing immunity as per China study that means lock everyone up forever until…??

    Just saw that Vermont now prohibits selling seeds to anyone except commercial growers – even online seed sellers can only sell to commercial growers. Our govt policy wonks working to keep us safe….

    John Prine — he leaves a hole in our hearts. Tears.

    #56824
    zerosum
    Participant

    Its a good thing that the USA is doing a better job than all the other countries – Trump
    Can you imagine how bad it would be if the USA was not doing a good job?

    Trend 1: the US accounts for a higher proportion of worldwide cases and deaths each day.

    ——
    Do you want to ignore this Chinese data just because its from the Chinese who lie all the time.

    • Low Antibody Levels Raise Questions About Coronavirus Reinfection Risk (SCMP)
    ” …. patients discharged from the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Centre and found that nearly a third had unexpectedly low levels of antibodies. In some cases, antibodies could not be detected at all.”
    ——
    • Staggering Surge Of NYers Dying In Their Homes (Gothamist)

    Stay home to avoid being a statistic.
    —–
    Environment

    In other large locales, demographic data has shown that low-income and black and Latino communities are being disproportionately affected:

    Lets wait and see if the problem occurs in Mexico and Africa.
    ——
    • US Economy Will Eventually Reopen But With Big Changes: Kudlow (R.)
    I don’t know why the media uses L. Kudlow for sound bites. He does not say anything original.
    We at TAE know more and know it before L. Kudlow. ( We don’t even get a paycheck)
    ——-
    Life expectancy at 65 is for another 20 years. Its no wonder that people are dying when they reach 80.

    #56825
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    Feds intercept 100 coronavirus test kits shipped to Portland apartment

    “PORTLAND, Ore. — Federal investigators seized 100 coronavirus test kits being shipped from China to a Portland apartment complex, according to a federal search warrant. The coronavirus test kits were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration and prohibited from entering the country.”

    ***

    “The invoice showed the test kits were shipped from Anhui Deep Blue Medical Technology of Hebei, China.

    “Deep Blue Medical did not respond to an email seeking comment.

    “The invoice listed the tests as 50 cents per unit, with a total cost of $50 for the 100 test kits.

    The price is far cheaper than a typical coronavirus test, which is at least $1,000 through certain private insurers and would require the use of an FDA-approved lab test center, explained an unnamed COVID-19 Physician Incident Commander for a major Portland area hospital in the search warrant.

    “ ’50 cents is ridiculous even for a swab. But for a test to actually give a result itself it’s a preposterous cost,’ ” explained the physician incident commander.

    “A product with similar labeling and logo was featured in a tweet by Chin Xinhau News. The tweet promoted, “15 minutes! New rapid test strips for #coronavirus have been developed by a company in Hefei, China. #FightVirus.”

    #56826
    boscohorowitz
    Participant
    #56828
    neoh
    Participant

    “You can forget about re-opening your economy without all-out testing. You can forget about travel if you haven’t been tested. At least twice.”

    Are you suggesting mandatory testing? What if someone refuses to be tested? What if 20 million people refuse to be tested? Concentration camp?
    Hell, might as well store everybody’s dna signature while you are at it. This is the time to do it since people are scared s__tless.
    People, please consider the long range implications instead of short term fears. The virus will eventually pass.

    #56829
    John Day
    Participant

    http://www.johndayblog.com/2020/04/reinfection-and-treatment.html
    Oh, this looks like it may be very important. Thanks Ilargi:​
    COVID-19: Attacks the 1-Beta Chain of Hemoglobin and Captures the Porphyrin to Inhibit Human Heme Metabolism
    ​ ​In this study, conserved domain analysis, homology modeling, and molecular docking were used to compare the biological roles of certain proteins of the novel coronavirus. The results showed the ORF8 and surface glycoprotein could bind to the porphyrin, respectively. At the same time, orf1ab, ORF10, and ORF3a proteins could coordinate attack the heme on the 1-beta chain of hemoglobin to dissociate the iron to form the porphyrin. The attack will cause less and less hemoglobin that can carry oxygen and carbon dioxide.
    https://chemrxiv.org/articles/COVID-19_Disease_ORF8_and_Surface_Glycoprotein_Inhibit_Heme_Metabolism_by_Binding_to_Porphyrin/11938173

    ​Travis sent this​. It is the latest version of this very persistent medical rumor. Please give me study data!
    ​ ​Los Angeles doctor Anthony Cardillo says he’s seen very promising results when the Trump-touted drug is combined with zinc for severely-ill coronavirus patients.
    ​ ​”Every patient I’ve prescribed it to has been very, very ill and within 8 to 12 hours, they were basically symptom-free,” Cardillo told Eyewitness News, adding “So clinically I am seeing a resolution.”
    ​ ​Cardillo, CEO of Mend Urgent Care, says that the drug must be used in conjunction with Zinc, as the hydroxycholoroquine opens a ‘channel’ for the mineral to enter cells and prevent the virus from replicating.
    https://www.zerohedge.com/health/while-left-continues-pan-trump-touted-treatment-another-doctor-reports-dramatic-improvement

    ​More on the zinc-ionophore mechanism from a month ago:
    Anit Kumar Singh: ” Yes, zinc stops the coronavirus to replicate and multiply ”
    Well… ultimately, that is the effect. Intracellular Zinc interferes with coronavirus transcription, which results in the ability of the virus to replicate. [Article Zn Inhibits Coronavirus and Arterivirus RNA Polymerase Activ…]
    However, being a ++ ion, extracellular zinc requires active transport to pass across the cell membrane. It so happens that chloroquine is a zinc ionophore, thus provides zinc++ with the transport mechanism. [Article Chloroquine Is a Zinc Ionophore] In this instance, chloroquine has no drug action. It is the zinc that is in play, and I find it concerning that so many news organizations (and governments) are failing to convey this fact..opting, instead, to portray chloroquine as having the key drug action. it does not…
    ​https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_a_combo_of_chloroquine_and_Zinc_a_cure_for_coronavirus

    Take 10,00 units per day of vitamin-D until June if you have not previously been taking it, and 5000 units per day after that, to get your levels into the normal range, so your immune system can work right.
    ​ ​Low vitamin D status in winter permits viral epidemics. During winter, people who do not take vitamin D supplements are likely to have low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations. Vitamin D can reduce the risk of viral epidemics and pandemics in several ways. First, higher 25(OH)D concentrations reduce the risk of many chronic diseases, including cancers, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory tract infections (RTIs), diabetes mellitus, and hypertension. Patients with chronic diseases have significantly higher risk of death from RTIs ​than otherwise healthy people. Second, vitamin D reduces risk of RTIs through three mechanisms: maintaining tight junctions, killing enveloped viruses through induction of cathelicidin and defensins, and reducing production of proinflammatory cytokines by the innate immune system, thereby reducing the risk of a cytokine storm leading to pneumonia. Observational and supplementation trials have reported higher 25(OH)D concentrations associated with reduced risk of dengue, hepatitis, herpesvirus, hepatitis B and C viruses, human immunodeficiency virus, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus infections, and pneumonia. Results of a community field trial reported herein indicated that 25(OH)D concentrations above 50 ng/ml (125 nmol/l) vs. <20 ng/ml were associated with a 27% reduction in influenza-like illnesses. From the available evidence, we hypothesize that raising serum 25(OH)D concentrations through vitamin D supplementation could reduce the incidence, severity, and risk of death from influenza, pneumonia, and the current COVID-19 epidemic.
    https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202003.0235/v1

    About 30% of people tested after recovering from novel coronavirus infection, do not have significant antibody levels to protect against reinfection, according to preliminary results from research from Fudan University in Shanghai. We have all heard rumors of people getting reinfected after hospital discharge, but it was usually passed off as a false negative test, that they were still infected. This makes it look like 1/3 of the people sick enough to get included in this study did not make enough antibodies to be protected against reinfection.
    https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3078840/coronavirus-low-antibody-levels-raise-questions-about
    https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.30.20047365v1

    It looks like sewage analysis in Massachusetts revealed way more SARS-CoV-2 than official statistics indicated.
    ​ ​We tested wastewater collected at a major urban treatment facility in Massachusetts and found the presence of SARS-CoV-2 at high titers in the period from March 18 – 25 using RT-qPCR. We then confirmed the identity of the PCR product by direct DNA sequencing. Viral titers observed were significantly higher than expected based on clinically confirmed cases in Massachusetts as of March 25.​..
    ​ Researchers from biotech startup Biobot Analytics, working with a team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, estimate there were at least 2,300 people infected with Covid-19 in the area around the treatment facility. But at the time of analysis, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, there were 446 cases officially reported in that area.
    https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.05.20051540v1

    New research examines wastewater to detect community spread of Covid-19

    ​Ordinary speech aerosolizes microparticles of coronavirus, which waft upon the breeze. Raising your voice releases more. You don’t have to cough or sneeze for this to happen. Wearing a mask protects others in your vicinity.
    ​https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-38808-z

    We are on the Precipice of Martial Law. Preparations are in place. Command and control structure is secured and ready.
    ​ ​The danger of World War and a military coup arose again during the short lived administration of John F. Kennedy who found himself locked in a life or death struggle not with Russia, but with the Military Industrial Complex that had become dominated by the many Dr. Strangeloves of the Joint Chief of Staff and CIA who fanatically believed that America could win a nuclear war with Russia. Kennedy’s valiant efforts to achieve dialogue with his Soviet counterparts, move towards peace in Vietnam, support of colonial liberation, promotion of space exploration and advocacy of a Nuclear Test Ban treaty made him a target of the Deep State of his time. During this period, this effort was led from the top by JFK’s two most powerful American opponents: Allan Dulles (director of the CIA) and General Lyman Lemnitzer (head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), both of whom were proponents of pre-emptive nuclear war, architects of the Bay of Pigs regime change trap and advocates of Operation Northwoods (an ultimate “inside job” precursor to 9/11 which JFK subverted).

    Standing on the Precipice of Martial Law

    ​Prepare To Have Your Worldview Obliterated, Caitlin Johnstone​
    Joe Biden’s homework got saved and copied:
    ​ ​The first draft of the civil rights-eroding USA PATRIOT Act was magically introduced one week after the 9/11 attacks. Legislators later admitted that they hadn’t even had time to read through the hundreds of pages of the history-shaping bill before passing it the next month, yet somehow its authors were able to gather all the necessary information and write the whole entire thing in a week.​..
    ​Biden’s bill was never put to a vote, but after 9/11 then-Attorney General John Ashcroft reportedly credited his bill with the foundations of the USA PATRIOT Act.
    ​ ​“Civil libertarians were opposed to it,” Biden said in 2002 of his bill. “Right after 1994, and you can ask the attorney general this, because I got a call when he introduced the Patriot Act. He said, ‘Joe, I’m introducing the act basically as you wrote it in 1994.’”

    Prepare To Have Your Worldview Obliterated

    #56830
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    ARE AGRICULTURE SEEDS DEEMED ESSENTIAL?? YES.

    “The Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) has directed all large retailers to cease sales of non-essential items in stores and offered additional guidance for those retail stores selling in person essential goods to the public. Recent pictures circulating on social media appear to be from a box store which has roped off access to “non-essential” areas of the store, per guidance from ACCD, with various seed packets behind the roped-off section. As stated above, agricultural seeds have been deemed “essential” in Vermont per the Governor’s executive order, however a homeowner’s access to seeds has been modified to meet the Governor’s executive order.”
    STATE OF VERMONT EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT ADDENDUM 6 TO EXECUTIVE ORDER 01-20 [Stay Home/Stay Safe]

    “6. Services or functions in Vermont deemed critical to public health and safety, as well as
    economic and national security include: ….

    …”k. agriculture and farms, animal shelters, production and delivery of seed, chemicals
    and fertilizers, CSAs and veterinarians;”

    Panic Buying Comes for the Seeds

    “But the website cautioned that all buyers were agreeing to abide by “pandemic ordering terms,” and warned that the current shipping backlog was 18 to 24 days.

    “Clearly, I was not the only person who felt that the best path through the pandemic was to panic-buy a bunch of seeds.”

    #56831
    boscohorowitz
    Participant
    #56832
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    willis lives!

    #56833

    On C-Span’s Washington Journal this morning a woman called in and said she would NEVER take that stuff that Trump talked about.
    Hillary Clinton is the gift that just keeps giving…/s

    Today’s photo is particularly poignant. Is necking a thing we will only be able to see in the rear-view window?

    And Bernie suspends his campaign.

    #56834
    boscohorowitz
    Participant
    #56835
    boscohorowitz
    Participant
    #56836

    I just heard the call again- she didn’t say “never”, sorry.

    Mary, from Ft Washington, MD: ….”The caller that called and said that black people need to take that drug that Trump wants to push? He’s got money invested in that; so tell that caller when [Trump] takes that drug and he doesn’t die? Then we might take it. But that’s ridiculous. [The moderator asks when will it be okay for you to stop doing what you’ve been doing (staying in the house, not socializing, and wearing masks and gloves since December]. “When the doctors say it’s oaky. When the scientists says it’s okay. Not when 45 says it’s okay ’cause he’s been lying since he slithered down the escalator.”

    Geez. Transcribing is tedious business.

    On another note: Martenson praises some mask makers using blue shop towels. A Fleet Farm already says 2 per order at 8.99. Another brand is selling for 117.00! What an interesting way to hear how word gets around.

    #56837
    boscohorowitz
    Participant
    #56838
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Yes, Billionaire Trump, who doesn’t make a salary, is going to get rich on HCQ. Rich, I tells ya!

    He owns a mutual fund that owns a percent that makes a percent of HCQ, generic. Estimated that he owns as much a $2,000 invested! In a company that makes so close to zero on this generic that they don’t even break it out in their corporate numbers. Rich! He might make $2000 + $1!

    Ah, NY Times, how low you’ve fallen. But you knew it was fake because an adult American said it on T.V.

    At least since we fought tooth and nail up to now, seeds are at least LEGAL in the U.S., unlike U.K. or say Europe where, it’s literally illegal to SHARE them. By any means. Seed black market, even more punishable by death than heroin or say a trunkful of Fentanyl enough to kill every person in a small state. That’s okay. Not mad. But a 1,000 year-old heritage WHEAT seed? Now you’re in trouble Mr. Bean! Expect to be SWATTED you anti-social misfit. Next you’ll be drinking Amish MILK, I tells ya.

    As usual, the people are smarter and ahead of them, with heritage seeds and chickens being the latest rage for over a decade. Unlike 1990, there are probably enough heritage seeds stashed to feed the world. …And a good thing too, since it will certainly come to that if Europe and China have anything to say about it.

    Keep your iPhone, I’ll eat Brandywine Tomatoes. (most popular seed of most popular company, is yes, heritage open pollinated.)
    https://www.burpee.com/vegetables/tomatoes/tomato-brandywine-pink-prod000974.html

    #56839

    Are you suggesting mandatory testing? What if someone refuses to be tested?

    I wouldn’t want them anywhere near my parents or my children. If you have the freedom to refuse being tested, society has the freedom to ban you from public places, streets, stores etc. Like lepers forced to wear bells and clappers.

    #56840

    My grandpa used to tell me that you can fix ignorance with education, but there ain’t nothing that’ll fix stupid. The goddamn tests are all totally worthless!

    Corona: creating the illusion of a pandemic through diagnostic tests

    #56841
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    On the microbiological safety of a herd in context of a social contract

    “The development and growing use of smallpox vaccine in the early 1800s triggered the establishment of vaccination mandates, especially for children. Then, as the incidence of smallpox declined over time, some governments loosened requirements, while other mandates remained in place. At the same time, a variety of govermental agencies and regulations emerged to oversee the production and testing of vaccines.

    “The judicial branch of U.S. federal goverment has had a role as well in vaccination. A variety of court decisions have considered the validity of vaccination mandates and have attempted to address the conflict between individual rights and protection of the public’s health.

    “Below (within) are a variety of events associated with the establishment of vaccination mandates and the role of government agencies in monitoring vaccine production and use.”

    #56842
    neoh
    Participant

    “I wouldn’t want them anywhere near my parents or my children. If you have the freedom to refuse being tested, society has the freedom to ban you from public places, streets, stores etc. Like lepers forced to wear bells and clappers.”

    Sorry to hear you feel that way. So do you advocate identifying those that comply (take the test) or those that don’t? Perhaps a chip? Maybe wear a star? force them (those that refuse) into banishment?
    What next then Raul? How about anything contagious. How about anything that causes people to be scared? We are heading down a very slippery slope without much thought. Worse yet, it’s being advocated by a panicked public with the full blessing of people that thrive on controlling other people. This is not about the virus Raul.
    You’ll probably get your way. Popular thought seems to agree with you (for the first time ever))Politicians are already using peer pressure to do their bidding. A convenient way to bypass their constitutions. Old ladies in Greece etc etc.

    #56844

    It’s an interesting philosophical discussion, neoh, where one man’s freedom is another man’s prison. But as you know I don’t lean much towards grand conspiracies, not as long as we are at the mercy of the same incompetent politicians and scientists that failed to nip this thing in the bud while they could. Still, you can’t ask one part of the population to make sure they are not infected, and at the same time let others free to then infect them. That’s merely freedom for one group, and the denial of it for another.

    #56846
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    Where will the bodies go? Morgues plan as virus grows

    “Med Alliance Group, a medical distributor in Illinois, is besieged by calls and emails from cities around the country. Each asks the same thing: Send more refrigerated trailers so that we can handle a situation we never could have imagined.

    “They’re coming from all over: From hospitals, health systems, coroner’s offices, VA facilities, county and state health departments, state emergency departments and funeral homes,” said Christie Penzol, a spokeswoman for Med Alliance.

    “It’s heart-wrenching.”

    “The company has rented all its trailers and there’s an 18-week wait for new materials to build more, she said.”

    #56847
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    Temporary Burials Possible for COVID-19 Victims, But NYC Park Trenches Plan Denied

    “NYC Council Health Committee chair Mark Levine initially said in series of tweets Monday morning that the city would soon need to face the “gruesome reality” of temporary burials, and that they would likely take place in trenches for caskets dug in city parks.

    “Due to the number of dead bodies increasing on a daily basis due to COVID-19, the freezers at OCME facilities in Manhattan and Brooklyn will soon be full, Levine said.

    “This tweet has gotten a lot of attention. So I want to clarify: the is a contingency NYC is preparing for BUT if the death rate drops enough it will not be necessary. https://t.co/6wLO8qWtML&#8221;

    #56848
    Dr D Rich
    Participant

    Wow…..beyond disappointing
    Fairly disgusting.
    I’m outta here.
    Regrets

    #56849

    “Coca leaf tea is best used for the treatment of altitude sickness, something that many visitors to Cusco experience. The properties are considered a miracle medicine and are very effective in treating the symptoms of altitude sickness. … You can drink up to three or four cups of Coca leaf tea per day without a problem.”

    This the first google box that comes up when I search “coca leaves and altitude sickness”.
    Thanks to pheonixxxx on Peak P. comments, 2 days ago.

    Also on PP comments (erin hunter): Consider the air quality in NYC on the eleventh+ of september, two thousand-one.

    #56850

    I want to know why this isn’t so:
    There is an hypothesis- put forth in a number of studies- that Hydroxychloroquine+ is an effective treatment for SARS-CoV-2. In realtime, it is being clinically shown to be true. Why is this not good enough for the medical experts, considering this is a worldwide emergency?
    Fauci? Birx? Anyone?

    #56851
    boscohorowitz
    Participant
    #56852

    Tests, Ilargi, yes- but they must be accurate (and, fwiw, I would prefer that they test for antibodies.) The experts reject the realtime clinical trials of HCQ+, so we must not presume that the sparse anecdotes that The Virus continues to be miraculously viable are to be considered without a good deal of clinical observation.
    “Still, you can’t ask one part of the population to make sure they are not infected, and at the same time let others free to then infect them. That’s merely freedom for one group, and the denial of it for another.”

    Not infected when they get notification, but perhaps infected the hours before? Are we guaranteed the right to not catch a disease? Shall we shun infectors? Who are they? Those who had it and have recovered? Those who have been proven to have tested positive and are now testing negative? Do you trust the negative test?
    With any luck- from what I have read- we hope to see 80% of the population infected to install “herd immunity”. Will those vulnerable 20% be free while the infected are sequestered?

    I waffle, myself- but I have a mountain of evidence that those who are running the show are untrustworthy. The War on Terror was fading: now we have a War on The Virus. They have taken our most human instinct- to congregate- and made it immoral. How long can we deal with this? And The Virus – and there are so many of them out there- wins- just like the terrorists won in “America”. The US has made the 911 perpetrators proud.
    Now the “terrorists” are the infected, or possibly infected, or those exposed to an infected person.
    Think of Camus. It wasn’t really about a bacillus. It was about jackboots.
    People are justifiably afraid of “tests” that may rob them of income and dignity. There are many sane, decent, unaffiliated researchers who agree. Others here have linked them. This virus is going to eventually run through the population. The question remains: how long are we going to put up with the remedies to prevent that?
    It is not leprosy. It is not the Plague. It is a coronavirus. There will likely be no vaccine.

    #56853
    ₿oogaloo
    Participant

    It seems that for quite a few of us, our minds are made up one way or another. Maybe it’s rooted in our DNA, or personalities, or religion, or culture, or political ideology. Or maybe its our individual convictions or fears in light of our own circumstances.

    Some of us seem to be saying that nothing is more important than keeping people healthy, and some of us seem to say that nothing is more important than keeping the economy going.

    #56854
    sumac.carol
    Participant

    Ah yes Ilargi you can ask (not demand) that people with compromised health or symptomatically ill stay isolated while continuing to allow those in good health to circulate freely. While it is a nice idea to think that everyone has equal ability to survive this illness this would fly in the face of common knowledge about health – some have good health and good immunity while others do not for various reasons.
    Back when TB was on the rise in Canada that is exactly what was done (my mother in law was isolated due to TB in hospital for 1.5 years, as was her daughter, until they got well.
    As I pointed out about a month ago, there are leading health experts advocating exactly this approach now – isolating only those who need it.
    BTW: I gather you are okay with subjecting people to poverty due to job loss (a known detriment to good health) and all the social ills (domestic violence) and illness (cardiovascular disease) associated with loneliness?
    Sorry but we are not on the same page. I might as well just stick with mainstream media at this point.

    #56855
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    “The pursuit of a condition of harmony defines utopian thought and discloses its basic unreality. Conflict is a universal feature of human life. It seems to be natural for humans to want incompatible things — excitement and a quiet life, freedom and security, truth and a picture of the world that flatters their self-importance.” John Gray Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia.

    #56856
    ₿oogaloo
    Participant

    Another thing — I think we need to distinguish between a “reset” and a “reflation.”

    Reset implies a jubilee, price discovery, markets clearing, interest rates determined by the market rather than central planners, and an end to the current structure of the global financial/monetary system. The role of government will be a return of the New Deal: Putting people back to work. Public money spent on public infrastructure. The elites have no interest in a reset and will fight this to the bitter end.

    Reflation is what the elites have in mind — a repeat of the crisis of 2008. No jubilee. No relief. Just another squeeze on the middle class. They will throw people out of their homes, let asset prices fall for a while, hand out newly printed money to banks and hedge funds, buy up assets on the cheap, and then bid everything back up again. That’s what they have in mind, and that is not a reset. Their idea of government assistance is socialism for the banks and big corporations, and crumbs for everyone else.

    Both scenarios involve short term pain, but only one has a bright future for the vast majority of the people.

    #56857

    BTW: I gather you are okay with subjecting people to poverty due to job loss (a known detriment to good health) and all the social ills (domestic violence) and illness (cardiovascular disease) associated with loneliness?

    That’s a lot of things on a heap that do’t belong together. No poverty, governments should pay people a variation of UBI. Pay people, not the companies they work for. Linking domestic violence to a virus is just weird in many ways, Aunt Mildred should be allowed to walk the streets even if she can spread a disease because she married an idiot? Better separate these issues. As for people feeling lonely after two weeks at home, that wouldn’t appear to be an issue brought on by a virus.

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