Thursday, May 14, 2020

California has already announced that November elections will be mail in ballots.

The GOP has no right to complain. The Democrats need to get their candidates ready because the campaigning has to occur as the ballots are mailed. The campaign is different with mail-in ballots. If they didn't run that kind of campaign for this seat it may have caused them the election. Voters will begin to fill out the ballots the day they receive them. So, Americans will have made up their minds long before November.

May 14, 2020
By Abby Phillips

As President Donald Trump (click here) held forth in the Cabinet Room on Wednesday railing against voting by mail, the Republican candidate in a hotly contested special election in California was being declared the winner after voting was conducted almost entirely by mail.

"So the problem with the mail-in ballots: It's subject to tremendous corruption. Tremendous corruption, cheating," Trump told reporters. "And so I'm against it.

"We're not going to lose elections because of that."

Republican businessman Mike Garcia's victory over Democratic State Assemblywoman Christy Smith in California's 25th Congressional District race is not only a major victory for Republicans, but it also deals a blow to Trump's contention that mail-in-only elections benefit Democrats and are ripe with fraud.

The special election was conducted almost entirely by mail because of the coronavirus. But even still, the Republican candidate, Garcia, a former Navy fighter pilot, defeated Smith. Garcia currently holds a 12-point margin, but an unknown number of votes are still outstanding because of ballots that may have been mailed up until Election Day....

Trump was a no show. Trump must have brow beat Paul Hudson.

14 May 2020
By Luke Harding and Kim Willshire

...Paul Hudson, the British chief executive officer of Sanofi, (click here) said any vaccine would go to the US first since it had done the most to fund the company’s research. “The US government has the right to the largest pre-order because it’s invested in taking the risk,” Hudson told Bloomberg.

The European commission and health experts responded furiously, pointing out that Paris-based Sanofi has received tens of millions of euros in the form of research credits from the French state in recent years.

The French government described Hudson’s remarks as unacceptable, while the German press pasted the firm as a soulless and disloyal multinational willing to blackmail governments to extract lucrative subsidies.

Last week Britain, China, Canada, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and numerous African countries took part in a global Covid-19 summit. The virtual meeting raised more than $8bn for a potential vaccine. The Trump administration refused to send a representative, however, and appears determined to pursue its own unilateral vaccine path.

In a report published on Thursday, Brown pointed out that a second or third wave of Covid-19 infection could come from poor countries with undeveloped health systems. The solution to the problem was global, he said, adding that the pandemic would end only when the virus was “eradicated in every continent”...

Trump and his family never pay for their rooms.

May 14, 2020
By Christina Zhao

U.S. Taxpayers have now paid properties (click here) owned by President Donald Trump's company the equivalent of over four years worth of room rentals, totaling nearly $1 million since he took office in January 2017, according to federal records.

The government has paid at least $970,000—including $340,000 since March—to Trump's company for room rentals at hotels and clubs, as well as other expenses, according to the records obtained by The Washington Post. The payments made since March were mostly related to trips taken by the president, his family and other White House officials.

While it appears the government did not pay for rooms occupied by Trump and his family, payments were made for rooms occupied by Secret Service agents and other staffers that joined the president on his trips. The total figure of more than $970,000 includes 950 nights at Trump's Bedminster golf club in New Jersey and 350 nights at Mar-a-Lago in Florida....
Mr. Bowen and Dr. Bright shared a common cause. They both engaged the federal government with warnings and none of the warnings were heeded.

Here is a warning that should be heeded. 

Wisconsin will have a problem again as they hadn't before. While the Wisconsin courts seem to think the "hot spot" involved only a meat processing plant and the "regular" people didn't' need to be in quarantine, they didn't consider the population of independent car drivers.

I sincerely hope Wisconsin night clubs are checking IDs to see how many out of area people are now enjoying Wisconsin's open social venues. It might be good for business, but, bad for viral sequestration. If the clubs are transmission points for out of state patrons, that means they will bring the virus to Wisconsin and then back to their own state and cause an uptick after they partied in Wisconsin.

It is called absent central leadership.

May 14, 2020

Gov. J.B. Pritzker (click here) said Thursday that the Chicago region has joined the three others in the state in being on track to move to the next phase of his regional reopening plan on May 29.

The northeast region, which includes Cook County, the collar counties and a few others, now has a positivity rate of less than 20% on screenings for the new coronavirus. A positivity rate of less than 20% that doesn’t increase by more than 10 percentage points over 14 days is one of the key criteria for reopening portions of the economy under Pritzker’s “Restore Illinois” plan.

However, on Wednesday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot made clear that Chicago’s lakefront won’t reopen anytime soon, even while offering hope that some businesses could expand in the next phase of her reopening plan.

“Reopening will be like slowly turning on a dimmer, not flipping a light switch,” Lightfoot said....




The National Strategic Stockpile

Congress has a great deal of work to do in legislating the National Strategic Stockpile. To begin, it needs to be moved BACK to the CDC WHERE ALL THE SCIENTISTS ARE THAT CAN MONITOR AND OVERSEE the stockpile.

There needs to be an OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE and an INSPECTOR GENERAL exclusively responsible for the stockpile.

Additionally, the FUNDING NEED of the National Strategic Stockpile must be known and included in the annual budget to increase the stockpile AND maintain the stock that expires over time.

Rep. Mullin is grossly inappropriate in his willingness to discredit a very important scientist based on his inability to understand the dire wish of Dr. Bright to be heard over and above his own personal wellness. The issue regarding his medical issues should be viewed as a heroic status to come forward in the face of his wellness otherwise. Rep. Mullin is grossly inappropriate.

Visit Florida estimates 111.8 million domestic visitors (click here) traveled to Florida in 2018, plus an estimated 10.8 million overseas visitors and 3.5 million Canadians. Officials say travel at 18 Florida airports increased by 7.6 percent last year over the previous year, with a record 93.9 million airline passengers.

There are far better alternatives for travelers such as the Virgin Islands. That's right, there were 69 confirmed cases with 60 recovered and 6 deaths. These statistics are current as of 20 mins ago.




Florida's governor has and continues to have extremely poor judgment to protect the Americans within his state, those that visit, including those from other countries. Florida should not be opening it's economic opportunities because it could and most likely will result in tragedy.

May 14, 2020
By Marc Freeman

At least 25,077 people in South Florida (click here) have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the state reported Thursday. That’s 435 more than the day before.

The Department of Health data also shows that 1,065 people in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties have died from COVID-19, up 26 from Wednesday....

The national discussion of this virus frequently includes the fact the virus found entry into the USA from China to the west coast and then from Europe into the tristate area of the east coast. Miami-Dade has a very different origin of the virus, namely, travel from Brazil. That exposure is just as important as any other. I have not noted any address of this fact by the governor while he seeks to open the Miami-Dade county area.

Dr. Rick Bright stated the N95 masks in use today in the USA from foreign suppliers are inadequate and don't measure up to American Standards. I am bringing this subject up because the statement by Dr. Bright is alarming, but, Prestige Ameritech (click here) have a problem they have to address: Mr. Bowen in testimony to Congress stated he has four Chinese mask manufacturing machines to begin production. That is great, HOWEVER, Mr. Bowen needs to reassure the American people and Congress that these Chinese machines are capable of producing high-quality N95 mask that meets American Standards of Safety.

The idea Congress has looked the other way when it comes to purchasing N95 masks into the USA that are substandard and open health care workers to dangerous disease. That is astounding. Congress is not trustworthy. 

There was a time in the USA when the people demanded nothing short of perfection in the production of such products. I think what has occurred here is a shift to investing in cheaper substandard products from China because the stock market benefits from it. It is long past due that the USA return vital manufacturing to the country and jobs to the American people PERMANENTLY.

Prestige Ameritech should be given a PERMANENT contract with the USA government to produce 4 million masks a month beginning as soon as possible. If we rely only on Prestige Ameritech the USA government would need 100s of years to produce 40 billion masks. Therefore, while Prestige Ameritech should receive a forever contract, there needs to be other manufacturing of masks and PPE and supplies for testing and vaccine administration established to bring on more production per month. Those new manufacturers should receive a forever contract as well. These additional manufacturing facilities have guaranteed profits from forever contracts to the National Strategic Stockpile.

There has to be BUILT IN funding in the national budget for these important aspects of American life.

There needs to be a public review of the National Strategic Stockpile annually. It is not sexy, but, the reassurance of emergency measures in place would be good reading in a Sunday newspaper.

The lack of these vital supplies is gross negligence. No American ever expected this negligence and absolutely did not even thinkable was the idea the purchases were of substandard equipment and supplies. I think the FDA needs to review the current supplies in use now and demand a recall on any substandard equipment and supplies. It looks as though the USA needs to hire more professionals to perform this review.

November 5, 2005
By Robert Roos

Nov 1, 2005 (CIDRAP News) – President George W. Bush (click here) today proposed $7.1 billion in spending to prepare for an influenza pandemic, including $5 billion for vaccines and drugs, as his administration released an outline of its preparedness strategy.
"At this moment, there is no pandemic influenza in the United States or the world," Bush said in a speech in Bethesda, Md., today. "But if history is our guide, there is reason to be concerned."
He explained the threat posed by the H5N1 avian flu virus, saying it is "still primarily an animal disease" but could spread around the world if it gained the ability to pass efficiently from person to person. "Our country has been given fair warning of this danger to our homeland—and time to prepare," he said.

Bush said his strategy has three main elements: detecting outbreaks anywhere in the world; stockpiling vaccines and antiviral drugs while improving the ability to make new vaccines for a pandemic virus; and improving general readiness at the federal, state, and local levels....
80 USA judges are being targeted by the GOP to remove from the judicial roles. (click here)
There is an enormous opportunity to build new manufacturing facilities. There need to be safe workplaces, but, there is also the sincere need for domestic manufacturing of PPE. PPE is a general use product and NOT a custom made product to fit the protection of SARS-CoV-2. There is no reason to believe PPE manufactured domestically is a frivolous pursuit for the government and/or the private industries.

Three graphs that illustrate the issues before the Middle Class and Living Safety.

The health of the American Middle Class has far-reaching impacts on not just the USA economy, but, the global economy. The Middle Class/Working Class (including the poor) needs to know they can safely return to work as soon as possible BUT after they are assured transmission of SARS-CoV-2 will NOT occur on the job.

This is supposed to be the highest priority of the Secretary of Labor, however, he is mostly absent.

This graph illustrates the understanding of linear vs. exponential growth. The growth in any population on Earth is exponential. SARS-CoV-2 is not only exponential in it's growth among people, but it also occurs rapidly.

Kahn Academy on Linear vs. Exponential Growth (click here)


The graph below is the unrelenting unemployment claims in the USA primarily due to the exponential growth of SARS-CoV-2 (click here).


This graph is the number of new cases of COVID-19 in the USA. I stated very early on that the new cases in the USA were different than other countries because the response to the virus was never centralized, but, left to governors of the states. That pattern I talked about then is holding to be true. This unique pattern in the USA is because there are 50 authorities making policy rather than a central government authority. This graph also beings curiosity for the purpose of the Trump daily press conferences. They have no impact to bring the exponential growth of COVID-19 to resolve of ZERO GROWTH.




The dialogue regarding the Middle Class and Working Poor return to independent income needs to change. WHAT IS THE WORK ENVIRONMENT Americans are returning to?

The dialogue to federal spending MUST include regulatory expectations for Americans in relation to their work environment. The workplace MUST maintain a ZERO exponential growth of COVID-19. That means the workplace looks differently in ending the potential of disease spread. If this does not occur, there will be a significant number of people taken out of the workforce because of disease and death. So, therefore, why return Americans back to work at all?

Achieving Herd Immunity may prove to be a huge folly considering the extent scientists are learning adverse effects on the outcome of virus exposure. The idea of a PROVEN EFFECTIVE vaccine WITH HIGH SUCCESS IN THE RANGE OF 95 PERCENT has sincere importance in the resolve of the virus.

HOWEVER, the more expedient approach maybe to ELIMINATE the virus from any society, USA or globally. New Zealand's method is PROVEN to this being possible. New Zealand ordered the society quarantined across the country. It stopped the spread of the virus IMMEDIATELY. The ill were treated. The country reopened and a spurt of spread was noted and the country immediately reacted and returned to a Stage 2 status which brought the number of new cases to zero once again. The New Zealand approach is the ONLY rational approach considering the devastating reality of "living with COVID-19."

The other extreme to the New Zealand model is that which was engaged by Trump. He attempted to introduce DENIAL as a mass strategy to allow the virus free access to the population of the USA which is a herd immunity strategy. It can if instituted in some states, create another episode of exponential spread. Herd immunity is not the answer considering the continued adverse effects of the virus on the human body.

New Zealand has not had to implement regulatory expectations of their workforce and their workplace because the virus has no potential at all. 

Opening the American workforce to herd immunity is a huge folly and should be eliminated as a potential answer for the USA. I strongly believe SARS-CoV-2 is not only deadly but, leaves permanent scars on the human body with the potential to handicaps currently and in the future.

If the USA political environment demands FORCING the USA workforce back to work, then there MUST BE REGULATORY SAFETY STANDARDS for every person returning to work. That means employers MUST create a safe environment for their workers. The spread of this virus MUST END.

Future legislation regarding COVID-19 has to begin the focus on returning Americans to work. The CHARACTER of that legislation must have a determined and purposeful path. Ending the spread is vital.

Morality is an election issue. The treatment of voting Americans needs to be on a level and equal platform. Racism is an immoral component to voting.

May 13, 2020
By Jeffery Martin

Iowa Congressman Steve King (click here) told a forum Tuesday night that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy would be allowed back into the committees he was removed from after his controversial comments were made public in 2019. However, other GOP lawmakers have made it clear that King should not be reinstated.

King's committee assignments were taken away after he made statements that aligned with white supremacist beliefs. He was removed after an interview with The New York Times in which he asked, "White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization—how did that language become offensive?"

"Kevin McCarthy and I reached an agreement that he would advocate to the steering committee to put all of my committees back, all of my seniority," King said. When the steering committee reconvenes at the next session of Congress, King added, "I have Kevin McCarthy's word that that will be my time for exoneration."...


March 12, 2020

Heading into the 2020 election season, (click here) a new Pew Research Center survey delves into the relationship between religion and politics, including perceptions about President Donald Trump among white evangelical Protestants, a key part of his electoral base. It finds that white evangelicals largely see Trump as fighting for their beliefs and advancing their interests, and they feel their side generally has been winning recently on political matters important to them. But when it comes to Trump’s personal qualities and conduct, many express mixed feelings. Even among this strongly supportive constituency, most do not view Trump as a very religious, honest or morally upstanding person (though many white evangelicals say he is somewhat religious, fairly honest or fairly morally upstanding)....

May 11, 2020

America’s faith in its own electoral process (click here) has never been rock solid (and some voters have good reason for skepticism) but the coronavirus pandemic has led to a whole slew of complicating factors. Whether it’s the health and safety of people in line to vote or confidence that those votes will be tallied accurately, the challenges facing voters in the months ahead are significant. And some Christians are doing their part to make sure Congress addresses those challenges head-on.

Over 20 Christian leaders from a variety of racial, ideological and regional backgrounds have come together to sign a letter calling on Congress to appropriate an extra four billion dollars towards protecting the election and voters, each of who are, according to the letter “made in the image of God” so “any effort to discourage or suppress their vote assaults their human dignity and undermines our democracy.”...

Dr. Fauci will not avert his attention from the facts for a very good reason.

There are professional dialogues taking place around the world about SARS-CoV-2. These dialogues include the effect of the virus on human reproduction. This is only one discussion and is about the fact the virus uses ACE2 to access human cells. That means during the formation of ovum the virus can have access to human reproduction.
There are very real reasons for caution in allowing social contact beyond the current recommendations. Enough of the Trump experimentation with his focus on forcing people "back to work."
...However, (click here) apart from the undoubtedly important considerations of the effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection on pregnancy and the fetus, it is also important to also direct our attention to ovarian physiology and consider the theoretical risks that IVF treatment may pose on fertility patients, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
 It was recently reported that angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is used by SARS-CoV-2 for entry into human cells (5). ACE2 has wide distribution in several human organs, including the ovary (6), and is a member of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), which has a central role in the female reproduction system....

From Kaiser Health News:

A number of factors may be working against men (click here) in the current epidemic, scientists say, including some that are biological, and some that are rooted in lifestyle. Meanwhile, experts say that the current coronavirus outbreak is just the latest sign that the the wildlife trade needs to be shut down. And a closer look at other Asian countries gives researchers hints about how the virus may spread.


The New York Times: Why The Coronavirus Seems To Hit Men Harder Than WomenThe coronavirus that originated in China has spread fear and anxiety around the world. But while the novel virus has largely spared one vulnerable group — children — it appears to pose a particular threat to middle-aged and older adults, particularly men. This week, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention published the largest analysis of coronavirus cases to date. Although men and women have been infected in roughly equal numbers, researchers found, the death rate among men was 2.8 percent, compared with 1.7 percent among women. (Rabin, 2/20)...