Monday, May 11, 2020

Cold Porridge

Enjoy your dinner:

Related: Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Rather than update I created a brand new post from bottom up:

Another casualty of the coronavirus

It's the $cientific re$earch that pu$hes the ¢limate ¢hange $cam.

Improvisation and medical mysteries in the COVID-19 ICU

They don't mean the dancing nurses.

"The 24th Mother’s Day Walk for Peace, a gathering of survivors who are bonding over their shared losses of loved ones to violence, was driven online this year. The annual walk-a-thon and fund-raiser was transformed into an online telethon complete with a host and virtual guest appearances by Walsh, Attorney General Maura Healey, Boston Police Commissioner William Gross, and other public officials. The pandemic also forced changes in Duckling Day, the annual Boston Public Garden Mother’s Day celebration in which parents dress their children as characters from the book “Make Way for Ducklings,” by Robert McCloskey, in fluffy yellow feathers and tiny blue police uniforms, but this year sculptor Nancy Schön’s duckling statues, often dressed up for holidays and sports championships, have been wearing protective masks over their bronze beaks. So the celebration went virtual. The group Friends of the Public Garden hosted a live reading of the book on its Facebook page and posted templates for finger puppets and hats that children could make....."

The ducklings made way for the annual Mother’s Day Walk for Peace that took on added significance with the death of a great mentor who was in a league of her own and exponentially more powerful than the coronavirus.

Also seeGeorgia AG requests federal investigation into handling of Ahmaud Arbery case

He was caught robbing a place and they chased him down.

"US Senator Ed Markey said Sunday that he wants the federal government to send as much as $5.7 trillion in direct monthly payments to American households. The Massachusetts Democrat joined Senate colleagues Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders last week to propose a bill that would provide $2,000 per month to people with incomes below $120,000 in the United States until the crisis subsides. In a news conference Sunday, Markey compared the plan to the New Deal programs laid out by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in response to the Great Depression. “My feeling is that we’re at an FDR moment, where we have to respond to this crisis in a way that’s realistic,” Markey said, and the virus continues to affect people in public-facing jobs."

As if things couldn't get worse for his campaign, his campaign workers want to unionize, while those in Rhode Island are much better behaved than those in Ma$$achu$etts.

"New virus clusters show risks of 2nd wave as protests flare" by Frank Jordans and Nomaan Merchant Associated Press, May 10, 2020

BERLIN — A family in China, nightclubs in South Korea, and a slaughterhouse in Germany: New clusters of coronavirus infections are igniting concerns about a second wave even as calls grow in some countries to relax restrictions even further.

In Germany, where thousands have protested remaining restrictions in recent days, health officials say the number of people each confirmed coronavirus patient infects rose above 1 again, reflecting a renewed increase in cases. The number must be below 1 for outbreaks to decline.

It's a cause and effect situation. You protests, infections rise. That's the evil narrative coming from the pre$$.

Health officials worldwide are watching to see just how much infection rates rise in a second wave as nations and states emerge from varying degrees of lockdown.

China reported 14 new cases Sunday, its first double-digit rise in 10 days. Eleven of 12 domestic infections were in the northeastern province of Jilin, which prompted authorities to raise the threat level in one of its counties, Shulan, to high risk, just days after downgrading all regions to low risk.

Authorities said the Shulan outbreak originated with a 45-year-old woman who had no recent travel or exposure history but spread it to her husband, her three sisters, and other family members. Train services in the county were suspended.

Jilin also shares a border with North Korea, which insists it has no virus cases, much to the disbelief of international health authorities.

The hermit kingdom has seen panic buying amid the uncertain news.

South Korea reported 34 more cases as new infections linked to nightclubs threaten the country’s hard-won gains against the virus. It was the first time that South Korea’s daily infections were above 30 in about a month.

Across Europe, many nations were easing lockdowns even further even as they prepared to clamp down on any new infections.

Turkey’s senior citizens got their first chance to venture outside in seven weeks Sunday.

Germany, which managed to push daily new infections below 1,000 before deciding to loosen restrictions, has seen regional spikes in cases linked to slaughterhouses and nursing homes. German officials have expressed concerns about the growing number of large demonstrations, including one in the southwestern city of Stuttgart that drew thousands of participants. Police in Berlin had to step in Saturday after hundreds of people failed to respect social distancing measures at anti-lockdown rallies.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and the governors of Germany’s 16 states last week cleared the way for restaurants, hotels, and remaining stores to reopen. The country’s soccer league resumes this week, despite a number of professional players testing positive, and more students are returning to school beginning Monday.

Related: 

"German officials on Wednesday cleared the way for restaurants, hotels, and remaining stores to reopen in the coming weeks, and for the country’s soccer league to resume play. They also put in place a requirement for regions to reimpose restrictions if coronavirus infections rebound. Germany, which started shutting down public life in mid-March, has seen new cases decline significantly in recent weeks. It started loosening restrictions more than two weeks ago, when small shops were allowed to reopen. Other facilities, including hairdressers and zoos, have followed. Politicians faced mounting pressure from businesses for a wide-ranging relaxation of restrictions, but Chancellor Angela Merkel made clear after consulting with the governors of Germany’s 16 states that there will be conditions and that all concerned will need to act responsibly. Merkel said regional authorities will have to draw up a plan to reimpose measures for any county that reports 50 new cases for every 100,000 inhabitants within a week. Those restrictions could be applied only to a facility such as a nursing home, if the outbreak is concentrated there, or to the whole area. The aim is to avoid reimposing a shutdown nationwide."

Also see: 

"German prosecutors have charged a far-right extremist with the killing of a regional politician from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party last year, and a near-fatal attack on an Iraqi asylum-seeker in 2016. Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that Stephan Ernst, 46, who has previous convictions for a string of violent anti-migrant crimes, is accused of murder, attempted murder, serious bodily harm, and firearms offenses. Walter Luebcke, who led the regional administration in Germany’s central region of Kassel, was shot on his porch on June 1, 2019. His killing sparked widespread outrage in Germany and warnings about the growing danger of violent far-right extremism."

He was angry about the pay raises.

France, which has a similar number of infections as Germany but a far higher death toll at over 26,300, is letting some younger students return to school Monday after almost two months out.

Related:

"French doctors say they just discovered that a patient treated in late December north of Paris had the coronavirus, a finding that, if verified, suggests that the virus appeared in Europe nearly a month earlier than previously understood. The finding came this week after French doctors retested samples taken Dec. 27 from a patient who had pneumonia — days before Chinese authorities first reported the previously unknown virus to the World Health Organization, and weeks before the Chinese acknowledged that human-to-human transmission of the virus was even possible. The detection of the new case in France comes as US doctors have documented deaths from the virus weeks earlier than initially reported, and a model has suggested that silent outbreaks had spread for weeks before detection....." 

Is it possible that the virus lethality is not only what they said, but indicate that we could already have herd immunity?

Also see: 

"France, the originator of the burqa ban, has done more than any other Western nation over the past decade to resist face coverings in public, but as the country begins to emerge from its coronavirus lockdown on Monday, face masks are mandatory. People are required to wear masks in high schools and on public transportation — or risk being fined. Shopkeepers also have the right to ask customers to wear masks or to please leave. Artificial-intelligence-integrated video cameras will be monitoring overall compliance on the Paris Metro. To emphasize the national imperative, President Emmanuel Macron appeared at a school last week wearing a navy mask embellished with the blue, white, and red stripes of the French flag. Face coverings, the design seemed to suggest, are fused to the ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity, but many Muslims, religious freedom advocates, and scholars see a great deal of irony in a society that has made such a virtue of uncovered faces suddenly requiring faces to be covered. ‘‘If you are Muslim and you hide your face for religious reasons, you are liable to a fine and a citizenship course where you will be taught what it is to be ‘a good citizen,’” said Fatima Khemilat, a fellow at the Political Science Institute of Aix-en-Provence, ‘‘but if you are a non-Muslim citizen in the pandemic, you are encouraged and forced as a ‘good citizen’ to adopt ‘barrier gestures’ to protect the national community.’’

How do you say flabbergasted in French? 

WTF?

Furthermore, the Rothschild slave Macron says the crisis shows the need for peace-building and that shall be accomplished with many miles of bike paths.

France must be blessed, while "Italy and Spain — the epicenters of the continent’s outbreak — will soon permit people to leave their homes for the first time in weeks, joining countries including Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands in relaxing restrictions. Switzerland on Monday allowed an array of retailers as well as tattoo studios to open their doors, and the Swiss flocked to gardening stores to catch up on spring planting. France and Spain may outline more steps toward relaxing restrictions on Tuesday. European leaders are eager to restart economies after lockdown measures shuttered factories, halted travel, and kept millions of people largely confined to their homes. The fallout is spurring talk of reconstruction efforts on the scale of the post-World War II recovery, but after more than 110,000 deaths on the continent, policymakers are wary of decisions that could see them risking lives for the sake of securing jobs."

With tourism a major industry in Italy, hotel owners, tour guides, beach resorts, and others are pressing to know when citizens can travel across the country. In an interview Sunday, Premier Giuseppe Conte promised that the restriction on inter-regional movement would be lifted, but only after authorities better determine how the virus outbreak evolves.

Italy has a long history with fa$ci$m, $o....

Related:

Italian deaths from virus top 30,000

Italian woman returns home after 18-month African kidnapping

She went into immediate quarantine.

Also see: Genoa’s new bridge nears completion, turning tragedy into hope

TheNew York Times says its completion in record time has become a source of national pride.

Residents in some Spanish regions will be able to enjoy limited seating at bars, restaurants, and other public places Monday, but Madrid and Barcelona will remain shut down. Spain on Sunday reported 143 new deaths from the virus, the lowest daily increase since March 19.

--more--"

Related:

How to reopen Massachusetts during the coronavirus pandemic and keep it open

The $ugge$tions come from Shan Soe-Lin, a managing director of Pharos Global Health Advisors and a lecturer in global health at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs at Yale University, and Robert Hecht, president of Pharos Global Health Advisors and a clinical professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, and you can forget after what has happened in South Korea.

Also see:

A new low for William Barr

The Globe editorial in defense of Poppa Bear Obama claims he is doing the president’s bidding and delivering a win to Russia, that he does not belong in the Justice Department, and that the Trump White House should be held accountable for attacking the rule of law.

A fellow Tribe member then says the judge must reject Barr’s usurpation of judicial power as Trump asks the Supreme Court to bar demands for his tax and bank records.

Trump also wants to know why the cable company is charging a regional sports fee when there are no games on?

Take a deep breath, readers:

"Despite early fears, a ventilator surplus is likely" Associated Press May 10, 2020

WASHINGTON — As requests for ventilators from the national stockpile reached a crescendo in late March, President Trump made what seemed like a bold claim: His administration would provide 100,000 within 100 days.

At the time, the Department of Health and Human Services had not ordered any new ventilators since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in January, but records show that over the following three weeks, it scrambled to turn Trump’s pledge into reality, spending nearly $3 billion to spur US manufacturers to crank out the breathing machines.

An analysis of contracting data by The Associated Press shows the agency is now on track to exceed 100,000 by around July 13, about a week later than the 100-day deadline Trump gave on March 27.

By the end of 2020, the administration is expected to take delivery of nearly 200,000 new ventilators, based on the AP’s review. That would more than double the estimated 160,000 ventilators hospitals had before the pandemic.

“We became the king of ventilators, thousands and thousands of ventilators,” Trump boasted in an April 29 speech.

Over the past month, demand for ventilators has decreased even as the US death toll from the coronavirus has surged past 80,000. After observing unusually high death rates for coronavirus victims who were put on ventilators, many doctors are using them only as a last resort.

That’s raising the prospect the United States could soon be awash in ventilators, so much so the White House is planning to ship thousands overseas to help other nations.

Daniel Adelman, a professor at the University of Chicago who teaches health care analytics, said the government is now buying more than twice the number of ventilators it needs, even under a worst-case scenario for the spread of COVID-19. “It seems incongruent with the forecasts that you’re seeing,” Adelman said of the government purchases. “I’d probably rather they order too many rather than ordering too few.”

(GASP)

The Strategic National Stockpile, the government’s emergency reserve of medical supplies, had about 16,660 ventilators at the start of March, But as the pandemic intensified, health officials and governors began expressing concerns that the supply could run out, leaving thousands of critically ill patients gasping for air.

By late March, governors and members of Congress were calling on the president to exercise his emergency authority under the Defense Production Act to force US companies to produce ventilators. Trump had resisted, but on March 27 changed course, announcing he would invoke the act to produce ventilators. Within days, HSS placed about a dozen big orders, mostly no-bid contracts.

In a typical year, US companies produce about 29,000 ventilators. Though several domestic manufacturers had announced they were adding extra shifts and hiring additional workers, it was clear additional industrial capacity would be needed.

On April 8, HHS announced it had a $489.4 million deal with General Motors to produce 30,000 ventilators by Aug. 31. HHS then announced a $336 million contract with Ford and General Electric to make 50,000 more by July 13.

Assuming all the companies meet their deadlines, AP’s analysis shows the stockpile should surpass 100,000 new ventilators by mid-July. The agency will spend more than $2.9 billion for 198,890 ventilators by the end of 2020, an average per-unit cost of $14,618.

Whether that’s a good deal is difficult to determine; device makers generally don’t publish prices. HHS said the government was paying about $12,100 for each unit, and that additional money was for hoses, masks and other related supplies.

--more--"

New leader$hip would be like a breath of fresh air:

"As Trump pulls back from virus, Congress races to fill void" by Lisa Mascaro Associated Press, May 10, 2020

WASHINGTON — As President Trump tries to move on from the coronavirus, Congress is rushing to fill the void and prepare the country for the long fight ahead.

Compelled by the lack of comprehensive federal planning as states begin to reopen, lawmakers of both parties, from the senior-most senators to the newest House member, are jumping in to develop policies and unleash resources to prevent a second wave.

In the House and Senate, lawmakers are pushing sweeping proposals for a national virus testing strategy. One seasoned Republican wants a war-like public health fund. A New Jersey freshman launched neighboring colleagues on a regional bipartisan task force to help guide Northeastern states back to work.

Amazingly, the bill is HR 6666.

How is that for in-your-face evil?

“This is going to be on us,” said Representative Mikie Sherrill, a New Jersey Democrat and former Navy helicopter pilot in her first term in Congress.

We will remember that come November and beyond.

The legislative branch is stepping up in the absence of a consistent, convincing White House strategy, in much the way governors have been forced to go it alone during the nation’s pandemic response.

The governors have wanted to go it alone!

Congress is preparing its fifth coronavirus aid package, a “Rooseveltian” effort, as Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer of New York put it. It’s a Democratic-heavy plan that wary Republicans are watching, despite support in the party for some provisions.

See: Trump at the Trough

Unlike the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, when President George W. Bush called on Congress to create a Department of Homeland Security, or during the Great Depression, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt led the nation to the New Deal, Trump is not seeking a legacy-defining accomplishment in the heat of national crisis.

His legacy has already been defined: he's the 21st-century Herbert Hoover who allowed and facilitated the destruction of America.

Instead, Trump has turned the life-and-death decision-making away from the federal government and onto the states for the next phase of the response. He expects governors to arrange virus testing systems and find their own medical gear, saying the federal government is a “supplier of last resort.” The White House coronavirus task force has abandoned daily briefings.

Have they, because they said they were and then said they weren't.

Encouraging the economic rebound, Trump said Thursday that he is looking forward to ‘‘getting on with it.”

“When the nation is in the middle of the major, historic crisis, the norm is that both branches focus on the issue,” said Julian E. Zelizer, a Princeton professor of history and public policy. “It’s not normal for the president to just move on. ”

The administration issued guidelines for reopening state and local economies, but shelved a more detailed 17-page report from the experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

New projections say the death toll could essentially double this summer, from more than 70,000 as of Friday to 137,000 by early August, as states loosen stay-home restrictions, according to a model from the University of Washington.

Still running off discredit, wildly inaccurate models, huh?

“It is lot for Congress to take on,” Andy Slavitt, a former federal health official, told the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Friday.

‘‘There’s never been a greater time when Americans need the support of Congress and their state and local leaders.’’

They are failing then!

As the Senate resumed this past week while the House stayed largely away, lawmakers drilled into pandemic policy.

Tom Frieden, a former CDC director, outlined a 10-point strategy in testimony before a House Appropriations subcommittee.

“As bad as this has been, it’s just the beginning,” Frieden warned of the long wait ahead for improved treatments and an eventual vaccine.

It's the same f**king message over and over again.

Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma, the ranking Republican on the committee, was particularly interested in Frieden’s proposal for a new public health fund modeled on those Congress uses to pay the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, separate from budget caps.

“There needs to be a whole big plan,” said Cole.

Yeah, let's put more spending off budget! That will help $olve things!

On the other side of the Capitol, an exasperated Senator Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, grilled officials about the national testing strategy she has pushed since early March. “We can’t reopen our country safely,” she said, until tests “are fast, free, and everywhere.”

The tests are shit!

Health officials say a robust national testing effort, with the ability to trace the contacts of those who have been infected — so those people isolate and prevent spread — should be central to any plan returning Americans to work.

How much money is Gates and his organizations kicking into their campaigns?

F**king EVIL MINIONS are they!

Several lawmakers want the federal government to hire out-of-work Americans into an “army” of the estimated 300,000 public health workers needed for the job.

To ensure enough medical supplies, Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, wants to wrest manufacturing away from China with “Buy American” rules to kick-start domestic industry.

F**k all them and their posturing!

While many of the proposals coming from Congress are bipartisan, pushback is strong from some corners.

Conservative Republicans, in particular, resist a robust federal government intervention, preferring a state-by-state approach.

Many share Trump’s view that “the remedy can’t be worse” than the disease, as record Americans are out of work. Trump would need to sign any legislation into law.

At the House hearing, Representative Andy Harris, a Maryland Republican and an anesthesiologist, argued that indefinite stay-home orders make no sense. ‘‘We’re safer from death if we’re not born,’’ he said.

Finally, a doctor speaking some truth!

Cole, a former history professor, said Trump is constrained by the built-in balance between Washington and the states, which ensures “50 laboratories” as states try different options for confronting the virus. “We’re going to know pretty quick whether or not these guys starting up early are right,” he said.

The pandemic is a WHO drill, and a second exercise is planned for later this year!

Weeks ago, Sherrill, the first-term Democrat, grew frustrated during a briefing about the lack of protective equipment for front-line workers.

“We’re not where we need to be,” she said. “So the question comes up: Why?”

Representative Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat who serves on the new House Select Committee on Coronavirus Crisis, said the pandemic poses a “stress test” for America’s federalist system.....

--more--"

If so, we are failing for "the coronavirus pandemic is driving up stress levels for many Americans — and bringing new business to online therapy companies. More than 4 in 10 adults say worries tied to the outbreak are affecting their mental health, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll. Not surprisingly, companies that offer online therapy are seeing increased demand for video and text-based consultations. Dr. Neil Leibowitz, chief medical officer of Talkspace, said it’s “seeing significant growth, as high as 65 percent to 70 percent in the last month . . . We’re seeing people with anxiety about coronavirus or things related to friends and family and keeping them safe” and about money and relationships. Many people need only “a brief intervention to help them adjust,” he said."

Also see:

"The Senate’s top Democrat on Sunday called on the Department of Veterans Affairs to explain why it allowed the use of an unproven drug on veterans for the coronavirus, saying patients may have been put at unnecessary risk. Senator Charles Schumer of New York said the VA needs to provide Congress more information about a recent bulk order for $208,000 worth of hydroxychloroquine. President Trump has heavily promoted the malaria drug, without evidence, as a treatment for COVID-19. Schumer’s request comes after a whistleblower complaint filed this past week by former Health and Human Services official Rick Bright alleged that the Trump administration, eager for a quick fix to the onslaught of the coronavirus, wanted to “flood” hot spots in New York and New Jersey with the drug. Major veterans organizations have urged the VA to explain under what circumstances VA doctors initiate discussion of hydroxychloroquine with veterans as a treatment option. Schumer said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie must address whether anyone at the department was pressured by the White House or the administration to use hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19....."

Related:

N.Y. to require virus testing for nursing home staffers

Most new patients in New York not working, older

New York lists 1,700 deaths, previously unreported

Killing all the old people, are they?

NYC could lose more than 900,000 jobs

At least the New York Times gained nearly 590,000 digital subscribers since the plannedemic.

"As warmer weather tempted New Yorkers to come out of quarantine, police dispatched 1,000 officers this weekend to enforce social distancing and a ban on congregating in public spaces. Officers set out on foot, bicycles, and cars to break up crowds and remind those enjoying the weather of health restrictions requiring they keep 6 feet away from others. The New York City Police Department has made 60 arrests and issued 343 summonses related to social distancing since March 16. Police Commissioner Dermot Shea issued a stern warning after a series of clashes last week between police officers and members of Orthodox Jewish communities over social distancing. “We will not tolerate it,” Shea said after community members flooded the streets for funeral processions. “You are putting my cops’ lives at risk, and it’s unacceptable.” Enforcement has its limitations when it comes to social distancing, police concede, leaving it up to New Yorkers to play by the rules to help keep infections on the downturn. Meanwhile, an officer who was caught on video Saturday pointing a stun gun at a man and violently taking him to the ground over an alleged social distancing violation has been stripped of his gun and badge and placed on desk duty pending an internal investigation. Bystander video showed the plainclothes officer, who was not wearing a protective mask, slapping 33-year-old Donni Wright in the face, punching him in the shoulder, and dragging him to a sidewalk after leveling him in a crosswalk in Manhattan’s East Village."

Who didn't see this coming after the Eric Garner incident?

"After an outcry over racial disparities in New York City’s enforcement of social distancing, the mayor planned Sunday to double the ranks of non-police workers trying to persuade people to comply with the policy. The number of city workers deployed as “social distancing ambassadors” will grow by next weekend from around 1,000 to 2,300, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. “More and more, the emphasis will be on a communicative, encouraging approach,’’ the Democrat said, while noting that enforcement through ticketing ‘‘will still be there when needed.’’ “The last thing we want to see is enforcement if there’s any other way to get the job done.” The city didn’t immediately have information on social distancing arrests or summonses, if any, over the weekend. De Blasio reiterated there have been relatively few — under 10 summonses a day citywide — but that enforcement needs to be done “fairly and consistently in all communities.”

The police are more worried about you than they are the criminals, and this proves it:

"During a push to accelerate the review of parole-eligible inmates because of the pandemic, Virginia released dozens of violent offenders, including killers, rapists, and kidnappers, blindsiding prosecutors and victims’ families who say they were not properly notified as required by law, a review by the Associated Press has found. ‘‘I mean, good grief. What, they were never going to tell us and here we are thinking this killer is still in jail?” said Juanita Gillis, who was informed by an AP reporter that the man who fatally shot her brother in 1993 was paroled by the board in March. Thomas Runyon’s killer, Dwayne Markee Reid, was among at least 35 people convicted in killings who were granted parole in March, according to an Associated Press review of parole board records, court records, and interviews with prosecutors. Ninety-five inmates were paroled in March, the most recent month for which decisions are public, just over half the number approved in all of 2019. “The Parole Board, already inclined to grant parole prior to the pandemic, felt that expediting certain cases was appropriate due to age of the offender, underlying health conditions, and the Board was confident that the release was compatible with public safety,” board chairwoman Tonya Chapman, who took over that role in April, wrote in an e-mail."

Of course, locking you inside your own home is for your own protection, citizen.

{@@##$$%%^^&&}

NEXT DAY UPDATES:

"Authorities have captured a man who escaped from a Chicago jail by wearing a coronavirus protective mask and pretending to be another detainee who was set for release, officials said Monday....."

They later released him due to COVID.

Newton District Court judge was targeted for federal prosecution by Trump Administration, her lawyer charges

You can judge for yourself whether her lawyer is a liar or not.

Kennedy, Castro write letter demanding release of Bristol County video

Citing an infected nurse, lawyers argue that ICE detainess in Bristol County jail are in danger, and the federal judge began releasing prisoners before the detainees detailed the melee with Bristol County sheriff over coronavirus testing and an audio recording should shed some light on the melee so the Globe says show us the tape, Sheriff Hodgson (he is the last tough guy after the deaths of Stiller and Goldberg.


Second CT inmate dies with coronavirus, lawsuit aimed to protect prisoners 

The case was dismissed by the Sandy Hook judge and there is a pandemic in our prisons in the war at home as the coronavirus outbreak has helped Trump get the immigration crackdown he’s long pursued — and provided him with a new foil.

No one will be spared because they are at substantial risk of harm and may even die.

"The Trump administration is barring most international students and all students who entered the U.S. illegally from receiving emergency college grants approved by Congress as part of nearly $2 trillion coronavirus rescue package. University leaders and immigration groups blasted the change, saying Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is imposing new limits that were not included in Congress' legislation. The rescue package did not specify which students are eligible for grants, and many colleges had planned to distribute emergency grants to needy students regardless of their citizenship status. Some prestigious universities cited the new policy in decisions to reject the funding. Princeton University announced Wednesday that it would refuse its $2.4 million share of coronavirus relief over the policy. Harvard University also cited the change in its decision to reject $8.7 million in aid. The Education Department said its guidance is aligned with other federal laws. The agency cited the Higher Education Act, a sweeping law that says only U.S. citizens and a narrow set of “eligible noncitizens" are eligible for federal student aid, but some higher education advocates challenged that claim. The American Council on Education, an association of college presidents, said the rescue package placed no limits on student eligibility....."

Vermont is in rebellion over the decision:

"A Vermont town has decided against notifying federal agencies about how its recently adopted ordinance meant to protect undocumented immigrants will impact funding. Hartford Selectboard members voted 6-to-1 on Tuesday in favor of a motion not to send a letter notifying federal grant agencies of the town’s “Welcoming Hartford" ordinance, The Valley News reported. The ordinance restricts town employees, including police officers, from sharing information about a person’s immigration or citizenship status with federal immigration authorities, which is in conflict with a federal law. The letter meant to notify officials was drafted by a town attorney and signed by Town Manager Brannon Godfrey, who had originally opposed sending it. At Tuesday night’s meeting, Godfrey reverted his stance and said that he still has a "responsibility to notify those agencies at least that the ordinance exists.”Many grant applications require the town be in compliance with all applicable federal laws. The letter from the selectboard would have asked grant agencies whether the ordinance means they’re not in compliance and therefore not eligible to receive federal grant funding for future town projects. The decision has been a subject of intense public debate in Hartford since June as well as in other states like Rhode Island (AP)."

"A man was arrested in Allston Thursday and charged with murdering another homeless man in Cambridge last week, law enforcement officials said. Jose Bermudez, 55, was arraigned on charges of murder and aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon via a telephone conference Thursday in Cambridge District Court, according to a joint statement from the Middlesex district attorney’s office and Cambridge police. Bermudez allegedly stabbed Danilo Perez, 33, multiple times during an altercation near Green Street and Sidney Place shortly after 5:15 p.m. on April 14. The two men, who knew each other, got into a verbal altercation that became violent, the statement said. After he was stabbed, Perez fled the scene to Franklin Street, where a jogger spotted him. Police received a 911 call and responded to the area. Perez was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, officials said. Officers had identified Bermudez as the suspect. After receiving information about his whereabouts, police arrested Bermudez Thurrsday morning in Allston. He was taken into custody without incident, the statement said. At his arraignment, Bermudez was ordered held without bail. He is scheduled to appear in court via video on June 25."

"A pretrial detainee released from jail due to concerns over community spread of COVID-19 is facing new charges after allegedly he tried to smuggle drugs into the Middleton jail last week, Essex County Sheriff Kevin Coppinger’s office said in a statement Wednesday. Eric Jalbert, 31, was awaiting trial on a charge of trafficking more than 10 grams of fentanyl when he was ordered released by an Essex Superior Court judge on April 14, according to the statement. Jalbert has pleaded not guilty to the drug trafficking charges. The judge reduced Jalbert’s $50,000 cash bail to house arrest and ordered to wear a GPS tracking device. But one week later, the judge reversed her decision after learning that Jalbert could not stay at his mother’s apartment because she lives in an elderly/disabled complex that does not allow guests for more than two weeks, officials said. Jalbert had also violated his house arrest by leaving his mother’s apartment numerous times, according to the statement. After learning the judge had revoked his bail, Jalbert turned himself in to the Essex County Sheriff’s Department later that day. While he was undergoing a routine check as he was reentering the jail, correction officers allegedly found 15 strips of suboxone, a small bag of marijuana, and a small bag of tobacco in Jalbert’s procession, officials said. Jalbert was charged with two counts of introduction of contraband to a correctional facility, one count of possession of a Class B substance (suboxone), and one count of possession with intent to distribute a Class B substance (suboxone). He is expected to be arraigned via teleconference this week."

He got the stuff from Philadelphia:

"A man who allegedly kidnapped and raped a woman at knifepoint for several hours in New Bedford two years ago was captured by authorities last week in Philadelphia, State Police said. Carlos Vizcaino, 34,was caught by members of the State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section and the US Marshals Service April 21, State Police spokesman David Procopio said in a statement. A surveillance team apprehended Vizcaino outside his Philadelphia residence without incident. In the early morning of May 31, 2018, New Bedford police responded to a report of a woman without clothes running from a car on Kilburn Street, Procopio said. Officers found the woman and brought her to the hospital with serious injuries. An investigation found that she had been held at knifepoint and sexually assaulted for several hours, police said. New Bedford police identified Vizcaino as the suspect and found that he had a lengthy criminal record across the state and used numerous aliases, Procopio said. Vizcaino was added to the State Police’s Most Wanted list last year. Vizcaino was charged as a fugitive from justice and will be returned to Massachusetts to face charges of rape, armed kidnapping with sexual assault, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and assault with a dangerous weapon in connection with the New Bedford attack, Procopio said. He is also facing drug and motor vehicle charges stemming from other incidents."

He tried to jump the border to New York:

"A man was arrested in New York Wednesday on murder charges related to a shooting that left one dead and another wounded in Roslindale on Halloween, Boston police said. Richard Lugo, 36, was arrested in the Bronxby the US Marshals Service after a six-month investigation by officials in multiple states, police said. Lugo was indicted by a Suffolk Superior Court grand jury on charges of murder, assault with intent to murder, assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm, carrying a loaded firearm, and larceny of motor vehicle, police said. Lugo is accused of being the person responsible for the double shooting in the area of 581 American Legion Highway in Roslindale around 2 p.m. on Oct. 31 Halloween, police said. Officers found two men with gunshot wounds upon arrival, police said. Both men were taken to a local hospital where one, later identified as Pasqual Casiano, 44, of Jamaica Plain, was pronounced dead, police said. The other man had non-life-threatening injuries, they said. A motive for the homicide was not disclosed by authorities. Lugo was arraigned Wednesday as a fugitive from justice, police said. He will be held in New York until he is brought back to Boston by the Boston Police Department Fugitive Unit at a later date."

They found him hiding out in a closed Gap store, and he was quickly tested for antibodies.

Of course, the Globe says that locking up the immigrants will make the crisis worse and that Donald Trump needs to resign over his handling of the coronavirus because politicians and editorial boards must demand accountability and be united going forward (the punishment they gave him was way too severe).

"New York City’s death toll from the coronavirus may be thousands of fatalities worse than the tally kept by the city and state, according to an analysis released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Between March 11 and May 2, about 24,000 more people died in the city than researchers would ordinarily expect during that period, it said. That’s about 5,300 more deaths than were blamed on the coronavirus in official tallies during those weeks. Some of those excess fatalities could be COVID-19 deaths that went uncounted because a person died at home, or without medical providers realizing the person was infected, the researchers at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said. It might also represent a ripple effect of the health crisis, they wrote. Public fear over contracting the virus and the enormous strain on hospitals might have led to delays in people seeking or receiving lifesaving care for conditions like heart disease or diabetes. The report underscored the challenges authorities face in quantifying the human toll of the crisis. Deaths caused by the coronavirus are believed to be undercounted worldwide, due in large part to limits in testing and the different ways countries count the dead. Through Sunday, New York City had recorded nearly 14,800 deaths confirmed by a lab test and another nearly 5,200 probable deaths where no test was available but doctors are sure enough to list the virus on the death certificate. In its analysis, the report Monday said the 5,293 excess deaths were on top of both confirmed and probable fatalities."

Yeah, keep padding those f**king numbers, you goddamn criminal liars!

"In the most concrete step toward restarting his battered and shuttered state, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York said on Monday that several upstate regions — including the Finger Lakes area, which includes Rochester — will be allowed to partially reopen this weekend, with limited construction, manufacturing, and curbside retail. The move would come 10 weeks after the state’s first confirmed case of coronavirus, which has killed more than 26,000 people in New York, and sickened hundreds of thousands more, but that toll has been largely borne by New York City and its suburbs, with far fewer cases and fatalities thus far in the state’s rural regions. Cuomo laid out a detailed plan for reopening last week, requiring each of 10 regions to fulfill seven metrics. Those include beefing up testing and contact tracing and showing sustained declines in deaths and new cases. On Monday, the governor indicated that all seven metrics have now been met in three regions: the Finger Lakes; the Southern Tier, which borders Pennsylvania; and Mohawk Valley, west of Albany. Two other regions — Central New York and the North Country, in the Adirondack Mountains — were just shy of those benchmarks."

Boycott New York!

The New York Times is calling for more aid to states, but that may depend on their political hue.


As for the President:
More than 1,900 former Justice Dept. employees again call for William Barr’s resignation

The article is by Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Compost, and he cites Protect Democracy, which counts Justice Department alumni among its members, as being the driving force behind it (yeah, it's the shadow government and Deep State rising up because they are under threat with the exoneration of Flynn). They need to take on the runaway president and get him before the Supreme Court, God help us all.

Of course, the Ma$$ reopening is today's top story

"Governor Charlie Baker on Monday offered a broad outline of what reopening Massachusetts would look like, warning the process would be gradual and could face heavy revisions should the novel coronavirus again run rampant in one of the country’s hardest-hit states. With an order closing nonessential businesses due to expire next Monday, Baker unveiled a four-phased approach that will mandate steps businesses would have to take to reopen. The first wave will likely focus on industries that rely on few face-to-face interactions with customers, though Baker didn’t cite any examples...."

He cited South Korea as a model until, well, you know.

Besides, all the Boston Infectious Disease Specialists say don’t reopen Massachusetts too quickly so.....

"Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert and a central figure in the government’s response to the coronavirus, intends to warn the Senate on Tuesday that Americans would experience “needless suffering and death” if the country opens up too quickly. Fauci, who has emerged as the perhaps nation’s most respected voice during the coronavirus crisis, is one of four top government doctors scheduled to testify remotely at a high-profile hearing on Tuesday before the Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. It will be his first appearance before Congress since President Trump declared a national emergency in March, and a chance for him to address lawmakers and the public without Trump by his side. He has been largely out of public view since last week, when the president abandoned his daily briefings with his coronavirus task force. In an e-mail message to a reporter late Monday night, he laid out what he intended to tell senators. “The major message that I wish to convey to the Senate HLP committee tomorrow is the danger of trying to open the country prematurely,” he wrote. “If we skip over the checkpoints in the guidelines to: ‘Open America Again,’ then we risk the danger of multiple outbreaks throughout the country. This will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal.” Fauci was referring to a three-phase White House plan, Opening Up America Again, that lays out guidelines for state officials considering reopening their economies. Among its recommendations: States should have a “downward trajectory of positive tests” or a “downward trajectory of documented cases” of coronavirus over two weeks, while conducting robust contact tracing and “sentinel surveillance” testing of asymptomatic people in vulnerable populations, such as nursing homes, but many states are reopening without meeting those guidelines, seeking to ease the pain as millions of working people and small-business owners are facing economic ruin while sheltering at home. “We’re not reopening based on science,” said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We’re reopening based on politics, ideology, and public pressure, and I think it’s going to end badly.”

The reopen is a trap set for Trump, with a 2nd wave of infections, and will result in him burying himself in his own grave while making the “anti-lockdown..ers” look like….well, you know."

Also see:

"The Georgia attorney general Monday named a new prosecutor to oversee the case of Ahmaud Arbery, the 25-year-old black man whose killing has drawn national attention and stirred protests after a video circulated showing his fatal encounter with two white men who have been charged with murder....."

Protests?

Where?

Was social distancing observed, and if not, why not?

Princeton will have its first Black valedictorian

Why did White not receive a capitalization, Globe?

"Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill, who has sought national attention as an antiabortion and tough-on-crime crusader, will have his law license suspended for 30 days over allegations that he drunkenly groped a state lawmaker and three other women during a party, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday....."

I hope he doesn't commit suicide in Bill Barr's custody.


Memorial Day Flag Garden in Boston Common canceled due to coronavirus

They want you to hang flags at home, and Baker is just going to allow that to happen

Where is the noise of outrage regarding the omissions?