Trump to declare National Quarantine, Issue Shelter in Place Order
I said it's only a matter of time, folks.
Maryland Governor Orders “Drastic Actions” to be Enforced Statewide by Police and National Guard
The lockdowns have begun, and by tomorrow night Baker will have jumped out ahead of him.
Trump urges against gatherings of more than 10, eating out, travel" by Associated Press, March 16, 2020
The White House on Monday urged all older Americans to stay home and everyone to avoid crowds and eating out at restaurants as part of sweeping guidelines meant to combat an expected surge of coronavirus cases.
President Trump, in a marked shift in tone about a crisis that has enveloped the globe, for the first time acknowledged that the pandemic may send the U.S. economy into a recession and suggested that the nation may be dealing with the virus until “July or August.”
Try to think of it as one big giant pause, and his presidency is over.
The guidelines, which would rewrite the norms of American society for half a month, were released as the U.S. government tried to blunt the impact of an expected surge of coronavirus cases, racing to bolster testing and aid even as the financial markets tumbled.
Among the new recommendations: Over the next 15 days, Americans should not gather in groups of more than 10 people, schooling should be at home and discretionary travel and social visits should be avoided. If anyone in a household tests positive for the virus, everyone who lives there should stay home.
The whole nation will be under quarantine by Wednesday. That's where this is headed. It's so damn obvious. Meetings down to 10 people?
Trump was unusually somber about the matter after playing it down for weeks. He acknowledged the pandemic was “not under control” in the United States.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
That's strange because the pre$$ and ma$$ media has left the impression that it is instant death.
The worldwide outbreak has sickened more than 180,000 people and killed more than 7,100.
That's a rise of almost 1,500 from yesterday, and they are now tripling down on the death figures.
Also, the White House said Monday it would cancel the holiday Easter Egg Roll held annually on the South Lawn.
It IS THE END TIMES!!
The administration also alleged that a foreign disinformation campaign was underway aimed at spreading fear among Americans already spooked by the pandemic.
They mean the Zioni$t-controlled pre$$, right?
On Sunday, federal officials began confronting what they said was a deliberate effort by a foreign entity to make Americans think the government was going to impose a nationwide quarantine. Agencies took coordinated action Sunday evening to assure Americans that the government was not planning to do that, and on Monday, national security officials said there had been a cyber attack involving the computer networks of Health and Human Services, but the networks were operating normally. They didn’t detail the nature or scope of the problem or identify the foreign entity.....
Better check that stool for coronavirus!!!!
Of course, not planning on doing it doesn't mean they won't do it and with things on the ground moving very fast..... who would believe this lying, impeachable administration anyway? Whose fingerprints did the CIA leave this time? Can't be the Russians or Chinese; otherwise, they would have said so.
In the meantime, they are grabbing for all the loot they can!
I'm glad I don't live in Bo$ton:
Walsh orders construction shutdown in Boston as tally of cases statewide rises to 197" by Martin Finucane, Travis Andersen and Tim Logan Globe Staff, March 16, 2020
He's calling it “one of the greatest public health challenges our city has ever faced,” and he urged employers not to fire their workers, saying, “I want to remind Boston’s employers that we are in a robust construction market. Boston is home to a talented, hardworking construction workforce, and when we get back to work as usual, employers need to bring these workers back. The right thing that we need to do right now is lay them off, not fire them.”
“When we get back to work as usual?”
Also Monday, at a State House news conference, Governor Charlie Baker, flanked by the leaders of the state House and Senate, announced the creation of a $10 million small business recovery loan fund.
Can you $ay $lu$h fund, readers?
Of further note is the Globe is using the discredited Johns Hopkins numbers as the death toll and recovered remain static with their scary sidebar of statistics (update: they finally adjusted recovered 1 to total hospitalized 14. WTF?).
Related: Sunday Globe Special: A New Reality (Updated)
Dow plummets nearly 3,000 points as coronavirus shatters economy" by Associated Press, March 16, 2020
Trump said the economy may be headed for a recession and asked Americans to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people. The plunge came even though the Federal Reserve rushed to announce a new round of emergency actions before markets opened for trading Monday. The moves are aimed at propping up the economy and getting financial markets running smoothly again, but they may have also raised fears even further. Investors are also waiting for the White House and Congress to offer more aid to an economy that’s increasingly shutting down by the hour.
The market’s losses the last few weeks are the steepest since the 2008 financial crisis dragged the economy into the Great Recession. Trump and other professional investors say the stock market could bounce back strongly as soon as the health experts get the virus under control. The problem is that no one knows when that could be, and broad swaths of the economy are grinding closer to a standstill in the meanwhile.
The spreading coronavirus is causing businesses around the world to shut their doors. While that can slow the spread of the virus, it’s also taking cash out of the pockets of businesses and workers. That has economists slashing their expectations for upcoming months, projecting the economy will shrink at a 5.4% annualized rate during the quarter, which would be its worst performance since the depths of the Great Recession. The best-case scenario for many investors is that the economic shock will be steep but short, with growth recovering later this year after businesses reopen. Pessimists, though, are preparing for a longer haul.
For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, and those with mild illness recover in about two weeks, but severe illness including pneumonia can occur, especially in the elderly and people with existing health problems, and recovery could take six weeks in such cases.
The Federal Reserve has been trying to do what it can to help the economy, and over the weekend it slashed short-term interest rates back to their record low of nearly zero. It also said it also will buy at least $500 billion of Treasury securities and $200 billion of mortgage-backed securities to help calm the Treasury market, which is a bedrock for the world’s financial system and influences stock and bond prices around the world. Trading in the market began to get snarled last week, with traders saying they saw disconcertingly large gaps in prices offered by buyers and sellers.
Lower interest rates following the Fed’s moves will help them borrow cash at more affordable prices, but they'll need more direct help. Volatility appears to be the new normal following a dizzying week in which the Dow twice fell by more than 2,000 points and also record its biggest point gain ever.....
Time to get off the ride, and Trump's presidency is over. He will never recover from this. Looks like the 'crow was right.
EARLY MORNING UPDATES:
I won't be going out for a Globe again. No reason to.
To follow up on what is immediately above, I saw a guy named Brian Reidl of the Manhattan Institute on Trace Gallagher last night and he said the economy is going to go back to where it was after the virus is over. Said that it was your own fault if you are retired and took a bath on the crash, and said the fundamentals of the economy are strong so there is nothing to worry about (you low-income, out of work people may need government help). Said he is looking forward to a dead cat bounce today.
Now here is one of those foreign entities the damn administration is trying to blame for their failures:
"Coronavirus calls US’ ‘world's richest country’ bluff: Will it cling to busted myths or evolve under pressure?" by Helen Buyniski, RT, 16 Mar, 2020
The coronavirus containment measures the US has (belatedly, reluctantly) taken are revealing enormous fissures in its first-world facade, from legions of hungry schoolchildren to their broke parents left to fend for themselves.
The US puts a lot of effort into maintaining its image as the world’s richest country, but while it may have the world’s highest GDP, near-record levels of income inequality mean that the “American dream” is out of reach for much of the population. Aside from an upper-crust of fantastically wealthy families and the professional class that supports them, much of the US population struggles to make ends meet even in the best of times, and clearly, the coronavirus epidemic does not represent the best of times.
The federal government has been accused of dragging its feet in responding to the epidemic, and not without reason. While other nations rushed into action, President Donald Trump held back from making public statements about the coronavirus out of fear of “spooking the markets.” The Centers for Disease Control didn’t just refuse to use the WHO-developed test for Covid-19 – it actively intervened to stop infectious disease experts in Washington state from testing patients for the disease until the last week of February. Trump waited until last week to declare a public health emergency. Many Americans wondered what was taking their government so long, and some suspected ulterior motives.
Why did the Trump administration reject the WHO coronavirus test? The inexplicable delay (over 2 months) will directly contribute the loss of many American lives. Does Donald Trump or anyone in his orbit have a stake, whether direct or indirect, in Roche?
1. Trump denied the available WHO coronavirus test kit. 2. The 12-week delay cost American lives. 3. After this delay, Oscar Health launches its testing center locator. 4. Oscar Health is a Kushner company. Investigate the shit out of this mobster family. Benghazi style, please.
States and cities that filled the void left by federal inaction with their own containment measures have often started by closing schools, only to be confronted with just how many American children rely on these educational institutions to feed not their minds, but their bellies. More than 22 million American children – over two thirds of students who eat lunch at their public schools – receive free or reduced-price lunches, a figure that is as shocking as it is ubiquitous. The 14.6 million who eat breakfast at school – and 1.3 million who eat dinner there – are proof these institutions have become de-facto daycare facilities for parents forced to work ever-longer hours or multiple jobs just to keep a roof over their families’ heads.
The reason it took them so long to shut down NYC public schools is because they double as social service agencies. 1 in 10 NYC public school kids are homeless. 1 in 5 children in NYC rely on food pantries and soup kitchens. #nycshutdown
Learning the truth about major cities like New York, where three quarters of a million schoolchildren are poor, a fifth rely on food pantries and soup kitchens for food, 114,000 are homeless, and many rely on their schools not just for lunch but breakfast and dinner, laundry, and even medical treatment, is disillusioning enough, but coronavirus-mandated school closures reveal the problem is not unique to the stereotypically impoverished inner cities. At least 14 states – including notably non-urban Wyoming, Alaska, and South Dakota – have had to secure “congregate feeding” waivers in order to continue serving food to their impoverished students in non-group settings (since feeding them all at once would defeat the purpose of closing the schools) as of last week. It’s difficult enough for the US to defend its refusal to join the rest of the civilized world in offering paid parental (and medical!) leave without this kind of dystopian vision staring it in the face.
Now that state-level containment measures are expanding to cover those children’s parents, Americans are rapidly realizing that the service industries that dominate their economy are incompatible with “social distancing.” From restaurants to retail shops to the mushrooming underclass of “independent contractor” gig workers, these businesses include no contingency plans for employees who’ll quickly use up the few hundred dollars they’re lucky if they have saved. Some states are tiptoeing in the right direction, tempering mandates to restrict business operations with fiscal incentives, but residents need great corrective strides if the public health crisis is not to be compounded by an economic collapse that would make the crash of 2008 look like a stubbed toe.
New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut have adopted the CDC’s mandate of limiting public gatherings to 50 people as of Monday and ordered bars and restaurants to stick to delivery only, joining a growing number of states that have adopted similar “social distancing” measures. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered health insurers to waive copays for Covid-19-related testing and treatment. Some states have paid sick leave, as do some individual companies, but a national paid sick leave policy has only just passed the House as part of a larger coronavirus relief bill, with plenty of hoops left to jump through before it reaches the president's desk.
My landlord won't care about Coronavirus. He will evict me when I can't pay my rent. There will be rioting in Los Angeles within a week. #LALockdown
All restaurants, bars and venues in NYC have been closed until April 20th. Leaving thousands of New Yorkers, jobless and without pay. Rent has been halted for the next 90 days reportedly. However, HOW is the US Government providing aid for household supplies & food? #NYCShutdown
These too little, too late measures barely make a dent in the economic void yawning before the private-sector workers facing an unexpected, open-ended vacation. Many will find themselves in a kind of limbo that isn't quite a layoff – and doesn't quite come with access to unemployment benefits. Some cities have swooped in with eleventh-hour grace measures – San Francisco, Seattle, and New York have paused evictions for nonpayment of rent as of Monday – but what happens on the other side of this emergency? Will landlords turn their tenants out into the streets en masse?
The lights have come up on the myths of rugged individualism, and the vision is grim. Rather than promise its citizens a financial rescue package, like the bill, proposed earlier this month by Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, to adopt a form of Universal Basic Income to tide Americans through the coronavirus emergency, the Trump administration has focused its energies on bailing out the financial sector. The Fed dumped a breathtaking $1.5 trillion onto the cratering markets in a single day last week, and traders could barely catch their breath before the red arrows reappeared. It’s clear where Washington’s priorities lie, but the average struggling American no longer has any reason to believe they’re alone in failing economically in an otherwise-functional society. A people deprived of their myths will not remain complacent forever.
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It's pretty bad when you have to go to the "enemy" to find decent reporting, and with all due respect, she doesn't know the American sheeple like I do.
“Martial Law” Being Seen In U.S. and Europe Over COVID-19 Is The Bigger Threat" by Aaron Kesel, March 16, 2020
NYC’s governor Andrew Cuomo wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times begging President U.S. Donald Trump to enact martial law. Meanwhile, other states have already taken shocking martial law measures without an official declaration, showing our potential unconstitutional future under fears of the coronavirus that likely won’t go away after the pandemic has subsided.
All over the U.S. there seems be this new trend — military and police now acting as if we are under martial law without a formal declaration of such. Yet, here we have NYC’s governor Cuomo begging Trump to essentially declare martial law by utilizing the military for the COVID-19 pandemic and federalize shutdowns.
“Slowing the spread of coronavirus is a function of testing and reducing the density of public gatherings. So first, Mr. President, you must stop the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from overregulating the testing process, and authorize states to certify a wider array of testing labs and methods,” Cuomo writes.
Cuomo goes on to express that Trump should utilize the Army Corps of Engineers to transform existing facilities into temporary medical centers:
States cannot build more hospitals, acquire ventilators or modify facilities quickly enough. At this point, our best hope is to utilize the Army Corps of Engineers to leverage its expertise, equipment and people power to retrofit and equip existing facilities — like military bases or college dormitories — to serve as temporary medical centers. Then we can designate existing hospital beds for the acutely ill.
To sum up what Trump can do to defend against the spread of the coronavirus Cuomo writes, “In short: Localize testing, federalize shutdowns and task the Army Corps of Engineers to expand hospital capacity.”
While building hospital beds in existing facilities and using the military to do so isn’t a bad idea, forced quarantines would be expanding the police state. NYC hasn’t yet gone into “martial law mode,” but other states have basically enacted it in the form of the National Guard being deployed in heavily infected areas. According to reports, the National Guard has been deployed so far to six states with many more expected to follow. Beyond that, there are reports that Kentucky has a patient who refused to self isolate. As a result, the state took things into their own hands by suspending his rights and police are now guarding him armed 24/7 at his house. If that’s not enough, there was a video posted online of New Orleans’ police in several cop cars demanding citizens leave the streets and disperse immediately.
Then there is the curfew in New Jersey for residents and forced closure of restaurants and certain stores in other states like — California, Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts and Washington, with more following suit.
“Effective tonight, all other non-essential retail, recreational, and entertainment businesses MUST CLOSE after 8:00 PM,” said Murphy. “All non-essential and non-emergency travel in New Jersey is strongly discouraged between the hours of 8:00 PM and 5:00 AM This will remain in effect for the foreseeable future. We want everyone to be home –- and not out,” he added.
What’s more is the U.S. isn’t the only one. The UK and Italy have declared a nationwide lockdown; in other words, imposing martial law on its citizens, as well as France which followed suit, deploying 100,000 police to enforce a national quarantine in the country. As this pandemic continues to spread we can expect more quarantines and police state actions across the world in other countries.
Back in the U.S. gun sales are skyrocketing in several states as fear of uncertainty from the virus and stock market collapse takes over American citizens seeking protection in the form of arming themselves, as LA Times reported.
Yes, everywhere you look the police state is increasing all in the name of the coronavirus, arguably one of the world’s most infectious diseases in history. Still, these measures being put into place now will likely remain long after the pandemic has stopped and the virus has run its course. That’s the everlasting effect that COVID-19 will have on our society. The coronavirus is now classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, and it may very well be a legitimate health concern for all of us around the world, but it’s the government’s response that should worry us all more in the long run
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The food shortages are simply a matter of time:
"Monday, 16 March 2020
Food shortages are kicking in in America
This is a heads-up. More to come.
Trump's "Urgent" Press Conference Sunday was about FOOD
Hal Turner shared some very important information with his subscribers that I will not repost here.
Basically, however, Trump held an "Urgent" press conference at the White House today and the message he gave the American people was "Stop buying SO MUCH." and the stores are doing everything possible to re-supply as fast as possible and everything is going to be there. Relax. Have a nice dinner. The CEO of Walmart told me (the President) ""They're buying more than they do at Christmas."
However, his sources have pointed to the following problems (and it makes sense to me)
1. VIRUS SPREAD
-The virus is spreading via "community-transmission" in EVERY major city and large town in the country. The CDC told the President that in typical disease outbreaks, "community-transmission" requires one percent (1%) of the total, LOCAL, population to already be infected. For a country like the United States, with confirmed disease outbreaks on both geographic coasts and in the heartland (Chicago), one percent infected means NO ONE WHO GOES OUTSIDE IS SAFE, ANYWHERE OUTSIDE.
2: FOOD
As you will remember last year saw major and long-term flooding throughout the mid-western US, which caused farmers to plant crops very late in the season because the ground was too wet to plant earlier. That meant the "growing season" started very late last season.
As harvest time approached, the same mid-western US saw early arrival of Winter. Early freezes KILLED much of the crops while they were still in the ground.
In addition, the flooding which hit the mid-western US drowned over one million head of food cattle last year. This drastically reduced the available stocks of Beef.
Poultry -- Chickens and Turkey encountered various bouts of low-pathogen Bird Flu which killed many, or forced owners to euthanize flocks.
Pork -- Pigs encountered Swine Flu, causing many to be euthanized.
Now, it seems that we have a Perfect Storm with shortages that started to show up in November.
Now, with the outbreak of Coronavirus, and Americans "stocking-up" the drastically indications are that food is running out
In addition , Hal Turner pointed out that it is the AVAILABILITY of food that is the problem rather than the ability of getting food to market,
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal published a story about the empty shelves in stores nationwide. In that article the newspaper quoted Grocer Executives and this particular section and quote was very revealing:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/grocers-fail-to-keep-up-with-demand-as-coronavirus-pandemic-spreads-11584196579
"Across the country, lines to get into stores snaked around corners, checkout times stretched as long as an hour and whole aisles were rendered bare this week as companies told more workers to stay home and schools began to cancel classes.
Food companies had been preparing for greater demand, but the surge was higher and faster than expected, executives said.
“We don’t know how to anticipate for that,” said Susan Morris, chief operating officer at Albertsons Cos., the nation’s second-largest grocer.
She said the company spent the past two weeks adding extra stock at its more than 2,200 stores. But “you get to a point in time where products are simply not available.” Albertsons said it is also carrying less variety of goods to speed up the restocking process.
I presume he will be talking more about this in his radio show tomorrow.
Put simply I could put it this way:
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Hal Turner says, huh?
At least we now know what happened to him, and the Globe said the complete opposite over the weekend, that "supermarket industry experts said that the larger concerns about lack of food availability are unwarranted."
Good thing Trump is in charge for he will save us all (my emphasis in red and blue):
"Federal government to control and oversee grocery distribution with govt / private sector partnerships: Wal-Mart, Costco, Target, Kroger, top grocery chains to be deemed “critical infrastructure” … National Guard to protect key distribution points" 03/16/2020
The US federal government is in the planning stage of implementing a plan to protect and control grocery distribution across the United States via public / private partnerships with top grocery chains such as Wal-Mart, Kroger, HEB (Texas), Target, Costco, etc., high-level sources now tell Natural News. The effort is being made to ensure the smooth delivery of food supplies to the public as a coronavirus lockdown is about to commence on a regional basis, and food supplies are necessary to prevent social unrest, lawlessness and looting.
Natural News has learned details of this plan which we are told is in the final stages of being completed, with some measure of rollout to begin as early as just a few days from now in at least one region of the country. We were also told that we got the attention of the administration when I appeared on the Alex Jones Show two weeks ago and delivered predictions numbers that closely matched the classified numbers the CDC and HHS already had, none of which had been released to the public. This “caused alarm” in certain circles, we were told, because the CDC thought they had a leak to Natural News (which apparently would be the end of the world at the CDC). They later concluded that we had reached the same conclusions based on mathematical models, not any leak. I can confirm that nobody from the CDC has leaked anything to us. The reason we have arrived at the same numbers is because I can do math and as a scientist, I understand the principles of epidemiology and exponential spread. My pandemic projection spreadsheet has accurately predicted all the recent deaths with near-perfect accuracy, by the way, and I released it publicly on March 9th, revealing all the math behind the calculations.
On the good news side, we are told that Trump is working day and night to coordinate a response that keeps the American people fully supplied with food, medicine, water and security, and that this plan will be implemented with absolutely zero advanced warning to the public. We are also told that VP Mike Pence is secretly working with pharmaceutical companies to rapidly accelerate critical drug manufacturing in the United States of America, with special efforts under way to resurrect certain factories in Puerto Rico that were wiped out by the hurricane last year. The long-term plan, we are told, is to designate the pharmaceutical supplies lines as strategic infrastructure much like the strategic oil reserves, and to maintain US manufacturing of certain medications from this day forward.
The days of outsourcing everything to China, in other words, are over. Thank God globalism is finally starting to implode. Let us hope Trump uses this opportunity to promote the importance of nationalism and redundant supplies lines filled with “made in America” goods and materials.
Here are the details of the food / grocery that have been shared with us:
- The scope of this plan isn’t yet clear, as at times we were told it would be “regional” but might expand from there. No specific city was mentioned, but we can imagine it will start with NYC and Seattle and follow the cities with the worst outbreaks.
- The plan will NOT “nationalize” grocery chains, as the president prefers public/private partnerships that leverage the existing distribution infrastructure of the private sector, which operates more efficiently than the government. The president prefers to respect and allow the private sector to fulfill its role in society rather than try to take over those operations.
- Grocery chains will be declared, via executive order, “critical infrastructure” (the wording may be slightly different, such as “essential infrastructure”) so that the executive branch of the federal government grants itself the justification to oversee food distribution and food security for the nation. This is conjecture on our part, but we believe this same executive order will also designate long-haul trucking a similar “critical infrastructure” and would likely prioritize trucking / transport operations to keep the food, fuel, medicine and other supplies flowing. Obviously, without nationwide trucking, the grocery stores run out of food in mere hours, as we are now seeing almost everywhere.
- The plan will involve National Guard troops showing a presence at grocery store parking lots which will serve as distribution points. They will be given ROE (Rules of Engagement) orders to actively engage anyone who initiates violence or who attempts to steal food. There will be little or no tolerance for threats to food distribution points, grocery stores or food trucking operations.
- The National Guard will be ordered to begin protecting food distribution hubs and truck routes on the highways to ensure that food trucks arrive safely at grocery stores across America. The president is reportedly about to meet with trucking union leaders and trucking organizations to finalize the structure of this plan which may include an “escort” vehicle to shadow the trucks and ensure security.
- There is talk — just talk, not any decision yet — of not allowing the public to enter the grocery stores and instead setting up a “drive through” system in the parking lots, where people are allowed to purchase pre-made “grocery kits” which contain pre-selected basics such as eggs, milk, ground beef, bags of rice, etc., which are offered at a fixed price and fixed quantities, with strict limits on the allowable purchases per citizen. Presumably, there would have to be kits assembled for people who have children or infants, separate from adult kits. We are told this will not be implemented right away and is only a last-ditch measure if the spread of the virus gets far worse. However, the administration is fully aware that grocery store crowds are right now spreading the virus, especially in NYC. It also means that the government already realizes consumer choice is going to have to be strictly limited in order to achieve high-efficiency grocery distribution to the public. Kiss your gluten-free crackers goodbye if this phase of the plan goes live…
- The SNAP program (food stamps) is going to be expanded under an emergency order to allow those on food assistance to increase their food stockpiles in advance of the coming lockdowns. This also means the banks that handle the SNAP transactions are about to see a huge increase in their transaction loads, which makes them prone to outages as history has shown.
- Even if consumer choice is allowed to continue on grocery purchases for some time, strict limits will be placed on grocery items at the federal level. We are told the limits will apply to all the basic such as ground beef, bottled water, eggs, rice, milk, canned soups, bread, powdered milk, plus many personal hygiene and baby care items such as diapers, toilet paper, sanitizing supplies (including bleach), hand soap and even basic pharmacy items such as isopropyl alcohol and hydrogen peroxide.
- TIMELINE: We are told this plan may be activated within days in certain regions (probably NYC and Seattle), but that logistics and delays could push it out to 1-2 weeks. The plan, we are told, will not affect most of Middle America where the virus is not yet reaching critical numbers. Watch this short animation to see where the hot spots are:
That’s all we know so far.
The good news is that Trump is planning for what’s coming, and he is maintaining supply lines that are necessary to prevent mass starvation and death.
Oh, this also reminds us to tell you what Dr. Anthony Fauci said earlier today, and remember that Fauci is advising the president on everything right now. He says, “If it looks like you’re overreacting you’re probably doing the right thing.”
Yep. As reported by The Hill:
“If you just leave the virus to its own defenses it’ll go way up like we’ve seen in Italy – that’s not going to happen if we do what we’re attempting to do and are doing,” Fauci told CBS’ Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation.”
Also worth noting: The Mayor of NYC has just announced that literally everyone in the city has likely been exposed. With everyone exposed, it’s not difficult to see that one-third of the city could become infected, and that’s millions of people.
Hence the need for the government to begin to oversee and protect food distribution centers, and NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer just called for a total shutdown of the entire city. He’s doing that because he knows what the numbers are, and they’re already apocalyptic. The hospitals in NYC will be completely overrun in about 3-4 weeks:
The way to get out of crisis is to act logically and strategically. Logic says we need universal testing but that’s sadly not happening. Strategy says we need more aggressive social distancing. That is why today, out of an abundance of caution, I am calling for a city shutdown.
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Yes, MARTIAL LAW at the hands of TRUMP will be a WONDERFUL THING, and I'm sure federal government oversight of food will be most efficient given their track record. One can already envision food be stolen as I type!
"Nine Thoughts On COVID-19 And What’s Coming" by Caitlin Johnstone, March 17, 2020
This gig is kinda weird at the moment. I write about what’s going on in the world for a living, and there’s certainly plenty going on in the world to be written about, but also there’s this acute awareness that anything I write about today is going to look petty and insignificant in the very near future.
I mean, we’re in the first moments of an unfolding pandemic which, from what I can tell just looking at the numbers, is about to change the world in some pretty significant ways. Governmental faceplant after governmental faceplant after missed opportunity after missed opportunity all around the world appears to have set us on a trajectory toward overburdened healthcare systems, severe economic downturns, and, of course, mass deaths, and maybe chaos, and maybe healing, and maybe, when all is said and done, a total restructuring of power and the way we do things.
Standing on the precipice of that, how the hell am I supposed to write about how Bernie didn’t go hard enough at Biden in the last debate or whatever? So many of the arguments we’ve been placing so much importance on lately could easily look irrelevant in a matter of weeks.
Anyway, here are nine thoughts on COVID-19 and what’s coming.
My job is literally to monitor and compare global policy responses to coronavirus, and this is categorically untrue. Countries that are doing it better include: Sth Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, China (after the first month of lies and obfuscation), Austria and Australia https://twitter.com/brianstelter/status/1239359123587846144 …
1 – Everyone in conspiracy circles has strong opinions about what’s going on, so anything I could possibly say about this is going to get a ton of pushback from some faction or another. That’s fine. In my opinion the fears that the ruling class will seize this opportunity to advance preexisting authoritarian agendas are well-founded, and people are right to have suspicions about the official narrative on the origins of the virus, but people who are still saying the whole thing is fake from top to bottom and it’s just another flu/no big deal have been proved wrong by facts in evidence. People should minimize social contact to avoid overburdening healthcare systems and thereby killing people. No matter how certain you are that this is all fake, you’re not certain enough to justify needlessly risking lives.
2 – Google-owned YouTube has just announced that they’re going to be censoring a lot more videos during the pandemic, citing the need to rely on automated censorship as they scale back workers’ presence at the office. No attempt has been made to explain why YouTube staff can’t just review the material working from home. Definitely worth keeping an eye on; if widespread authoritarian measures are going to be implemented during this time, increasing internet censorship will likely be the first step.
3 – I think this is going to hit America much harder than other countries, unfortunately. Combine a literal joke of a healthcare system with a president who up until just today has been dismissive of the threat the virus poses, the fact that the majority of Americans can’t afford a $1,000 emergency expense at a time of mounting layoffs while being chronically uninsured or underinsured, an inability to make anything happen without massive corporations voluntarily going against their own profit margins, a culture of rugged individualism with a reflexive distaste for collectivist organization for the good of the whole, and a highly religious population with many preachers telling their underinsured parishioners to demonstrate their faith by gathering at the megachurch and shaking hands with everyone, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.
Please stay as safe as you can.
How did China 
beat coronavirus
beat coronavirus
One of China’s creative techniques was the ❝Disinfection Tunnel❞ which was invented & manufactured in days, NOT years.
4 – Meanwhile China is having success getting the pandemic under control on its end, with its government’s ability to build hospitals and crank out brand new tech solutions with astonishing swiftness, and of course to clamp down on the public’s free movement as soon as it was deemed necessary. Now Beijing is moving into a world leadership position in tackling the pandemic, stepping in to aid nations which can’t get help elsewhere like Italy and Serbia.
5 – The US became a superpower after being left intact while competing nations were stuck rebuilding themselves from two devastating world wars, allowing it to surge ahead of the competition. China, as we’ve discussed here many times, has been poised to overtake America as the dominant world power, so it’s possible we’ll see China’s relative success and America’s relative failure on this front dance in a way which gives a significant boost in that direction in the same way the US was given a boost by the world wars. It’s very likely China comes out of this notably further along in its agenda to create a multipolar world than before this all began.
6 – And the US of course realizes this threat, which is why my social media notifications right now are full of propagandized human livestock bleating about China being the Latest Official Bad Guy who I absolutely must believe very bad things about. A dying empire knows it’s going to need to take some drastic, dangerous measures to secure world dominance in the face of a surging contender, and it knows it needs to manufacture consent for those drastic, dangerous measures. Anti-China propaganda has been pouring into mainstream consciousness with more and more aggression lately, first and foremost within right-wing echo chambers but also within mainstream liberal ones – Joe Biden compared the Chinese government to Jack the Ripper just last night.
The result has been rank-and-file westerners beginning to lose their minds about China, which has looked exactly like a right-wing mirror of the Russia hysteria we watched unfold throughout late 2016 and early 2017. I have been encountering far more hysterical anti-China sentiment online than I was even a week or two ago; a poll published at the beginning of this month reports US anti-China sentiment is at a 20-year high, and I’ll wager if they took it again today it would be significantly worse.
People are now constantly shrieking about how authoritarian the Chinese government is, which is stupid, because China has always had an authoritarian government. It hasn’t changed; the only thing that’s changed is the narrative management, with glaring adjustments like the mass media reporting on the Hong Kong protests vastly more than the anti-government demonstrations in US empire-aligned nations like France. All this irrelevant emphasis on where the virus originated isn’t there to protect you from the virus, it’s there to make China look bad. China is no more of a threat to you than it was two years ago; the only thing that’s changed is you’re now being hammered with narratives about how threatening it is. Mass media converging upon a single empire-targeted nation is never a good thing.
7 – It’s interesting how the virus which might knock down the most powerful government in the world behaves so much like that government: dominating world affairs and killing the most vulnerable members of the populations it attacks. Nations which are being smashed with US sanctions have already been watching their frail and elderly die of inadequate medical care and malnutrition, and now with the coronavirus they’re experiencing those same exact effects squared. Which is why places like Iran are being hit so uniquely hard. America is like if COVID-19 was a country.
8 – Also interesting is watching people react to the way so many of the corporate and government policies which have been causing ordinary human beings to suffer great pains are now simply being canceled all around the world in response to the pandemic. This Slate article documents a number of the changes which have been made just in America, like how for people being thrown in jail for minor offenses, “San Antonio is one of many jurisdictions to announce that, to keep jails from being crowded with sick citizens, they’ll stop doing that. Why were they doing it in the first place?” Or how “Trump has instructed government agencies who administer loans to waive interest accrual for the duration of the crisis, but why on earth is our government charging its own citizens interest anyway?”
We’re seeing immense burdens lifted from people with an easy “Oh, that’s making the pandemic worse? Okay we’ll stop that then.” And we’re seeing people react with fully justified indignation with, “Well why were you doing that to me in the first place??”
And the answer is very simple: because until now, your suffering wasn’t exacerbating a virus which does not discriminate on the basis of class. Politicians and billionaires are just as capable of losing their lives and loved ones to this virus as anyone else, as the CEO of Universal Music Group just learned with his COVID-19 hospitalization. Simply not causing needless human suffering wasn’t enough to get them to stop crushing people; it had to actually show up on their doorstep to make a difference.
9 – I have long thought that it would be awesome if the world could just take a nap for a minute. Capitalism is built around the glorification of busyness. We’re going to find out how many jobs we can do from home, how many jobs are only busywork, how many jobs we can comfortably consolidate or do without completely, and how many jobs are actually harmful. A big chunk of jobs have nothing to do with feeding, housing or caring for us, and everything to do with persuading people that they are deficient in some imaginary way and require this placebo tonic snake-oil to make us better again. Religion is one such job. Advertising, marketing, and most media are others. If we redesign the economy, we could do away with those altogether and have all that creative effort go toward healthy things.
Primarily though, we all need a big rest from constantly doing such soul-draining things. Having to do this while under the worry that we won’t be able to pay our rent and bills is not ideal, but do as my Mum always says — worry about the things you can change, and for the things you can’t change right now, leave them for the birds. Leave the bills for the birds for now. We will work out something; we always do, but for now, you are safe and you have everything you need. Notice that. Once you’ve established that you’re solid in this moment at least, take this time to really dig as deeply in to relaxation as you can. Watch some stand-up and get yourself laughing, sing to some youtube karaokes, nap often and deeply, take showers and baths, really taste your food and enjoy your breath, yawn and stretch and cuddle and shake it all out. Forget about cleaning out the cupboards or learning that instrument or reading that book or whatever cute thing you decided you really should do now that you have the time — let your animal body lead the way, and give your brain a rest from all the shoulds and shouldn’ts. You’re fine just to do nothing at all. Sink in to that.
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Such impeccable sources those last three; however, what if it is all fake?
"The Coronavirus Hoax" by March 16, 2020
Governments love crises because when the people are fearful they are more willing to give up freedoms for promises that the government will take care of them. After 9/11, for example, Americans accepted the near-total destruction of their civil liberties in the PATRIOT Act’s hollow promises of security.
It is ironic to see the same Democrats who tried to impeach President Trump last month for abuse of power demanding that the Administration grab more power and authority in the name of fighting a virus that thus far has killed less than 100 Americans.
Declaring a pandemic emergency on Friday, President Trump now claims the power to quarantine individuals suspected of being infected by the virus and, as Politico writes, “stop and seize any plane, train or automobile to stymie the spread of contagious disease.” He can even call out the military to cordon off a US city or state.
State and local authoritarians love panic as well. The mayor of Champaign, Illinois, signed an executive order declaring the power to ban the sale of guns and alcohol and cut off gas, water, or electricity to any citizen. The governor of Ohio just essentially closed his entire state.
The chief fearmonger of the Trump Administration is without a doubt Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. Fauci is all over the media, serving up outright falsehoods to stir up even more panic. He testified to Congress that the death rate for the coronavirus is ten times that of the seasonal flu, a claim without any scientific basis.
On Face the Nation, Fauci did his best to further damage an already tanking economy by stating, “Right now, personally, myself, I wouldn’t go to a restaurant.” He has pushed for closing the entire country down for 14 days.
Over what? A virus that has thus far killed just over 5,000 worldwide and less than 100 in the United States? By contrast, tuberculosis, an old disease not much discussed these days, killed nearly 1.6 million people in 2017. Where’s the panic over this?
If anything, what people like Fauci and the other fearmongers are demanding will likely make the disease worse. The martial law they dream about will leave people hunkered down inside their homes instead of going outdoors or to the beach where the sunshine and fresh air would help boost immunity. The panic produced by these fearmongers is likely helping spread the disease, as massive crowds rush into Walmart and Costco for that last roll of toilet paper.
The madness over the coronavirus is not limited to politicians and the medical community. The head of the neoconservative Atlantic Council wrote an editorial this week urging NATO to pass an Article 5 declaration of war against the COVID-19 virus! Are they going to send in tanks and drones to wipe out these microscopic enemies?
People should ask themselves whether this coronavirus “pandemic” could be a big hoax, with the actual danger of the disease massively exaggerated by those who seek to profit – financially or politically – from the ensuing panic.
That is not to say the disease is harmless. Without question people will die from coronavirus. Those in vulnerable categories should take precautions to limit their risk of exposure, but we have seen this movie before. Government over-hypes a threat as an excuse to grab more of our freedoms. When the “threat” is over, however, they never give us our freedoms back.
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Ron raises some really good points, particularly regarding the duplicitous and disingenuous Democrats.
Also see:
CORONAVIRUS (COVID 19) Part 1
CORONAVIRUS (COVID 19) Part 2
It is starting to look like a planned cull.
To make matters even worse, as I finished this post I saw that it was SNOWING OUTSIDE!
4 PM UPDATE:
For a while today, Tom Brady was at the top of the Globe website. At least we know what is more important than coronavirus.
This is the lead as of 4:30:
Trump administration proposes $850 billion stimulus bill to blunt economic damage" by Lisa Mascaro and Zeke Miller Associated Press, March 17, 2020
This cri$i$ is damn $erious as Trump $hits his pants.
Trump promised that the virus, an outbreak like the nation has not seen in more than a century, would be defeated.
“One day we’re going to stand up here and say ‘We won,'" Trump told the White House briefing where reporters sat in alternating seats to maintain a safe distance. “As sure as you're sitting there we're going to say that.”
This guy has become sickening, and just where the hell is the money going to come from as tax receipts dry up? Just going to run those printing presses, huh?
While on that subject, how wonderful is it that Mnuchin and Romney have discovered the UBI?
Who knew the vultures hedge fund managers were closet socialists?
The president's declaration of resolve came a day after, for the first time, he acknowledged that the pandemic may send the economy into a recession and suggested that the nation may be dealing with the virus until “July or August.” The president and his team on Tuesday cautioned Americans to prepare for a lengthy change to their daily routines as it could be more than a month before the impact of his 15-day guidelines can even be measured.
Dr. Deborah Birx, who is coordinating the federal response to the virus, on Tuesday called for the "army of millennials" to lead the charge in fighting back against the coronavirus.
This is not only surreal, it is becoming inane and absurd as well.
Birx told ABC's "Good Morning America" that the nation needs millennials out doing everything they can, including staying home from bars, to protect themselves from getting infected but also safeguarding their parents and grandparents. She said most millennials who get infected will have mild symptoms and are not as at risk as older Americans. Millennials, a term referring to those born in the 1980s to early 1990s, also tend to be good at networking and sharing information, Birx said.
Trump's tone Tuesday was far less optimistic than his earlier predictions, when he insisted it could be over in weeks.
He finally begins to comprehend the gravity of the $ituation.
His admission that the outbreak may send the economy into a recession was startling for Trump, who for two weeks had struck a discordantly optimistic tone about the pandemic that endangered his presidency. This week, that upbeat demeanor was gone.
Related:
Stocks surge as Trump promises to ‘go big’ on aid for economy
Of cour$e they would, eagerly awaiting the billions in taxpayer bailouts -- under the cover of coronaviru$, of cour$e.
Also see:
NYC preparing for possible shelter-in-place order
Coming soon to a city near you, as “everyone was sort of laughing at the ghost town.”
Thankfully, it won't be coming here.... yet:
Number of state coronavirus cases rises to 218 as Baker announces help to local health boards" by Martin Finucane and Travis Andersen Globe Staff, March 17, 2020,
The number of cases is "just the tip of the iceberg" -- is more likely 6,000 -- and Baker emphasized that he is not considering an order for people to “shelter in place,” which would confine people to their homes, “but let me be clear, we are not planning any shelter in place orders,” as he urged people to get their news from legitimate sources.
Of course, not planning to do something doesn't mean you won't do it. I'm sure he wasn't planning on this six months ago, either. He and the authorities are obviously losing the hearts and minds of the people as he begs us to get our "news" from "legitimate sources." He certainly can't mean the government and ma$$ media and corporate pre$$titutes that have lied us into wars and looted us blind.
Oh, they also report that the virus has killed over 7,300 people worldwide so far -- with the 200 dead overnight a far drop from the over 1,500 dead reported the previous day.
Good luck going forward, readers.