It is very hard to believe NOX and SOX are still pollutants in the year 2020.

April 16, 2020
by Jeff McMahan

Graph (click here)

Nitrous oxide (N₂O) gas (click here) should not be confused with nitric oxide (NO) or nitrogen dioxide (NO₂). Neither nitric oxide nor nitrogen dioxide are greenhouse gases, although they are important in the process of creation of tropospheric ozone which is a greenhouse gas.  There are several sources of nitrous oxide, both natural and anthropogenic (human), to the atmosphere with many of these sources difficult to measure. Because of this, there is general agreement that the atmospheric sources and sinks of nitrous oxide are difficult to bring into balance. Figure 10 shows the global biogeochemical of nitrous oxide involving transfers between Earth’s surface and atmosphere....

Air pollution in some cities is less than half what it was a year ago, according to new data from the satellite that has been documenting the impact of the coronavirus lockdown on air pollution across the world.

Paris has seen nitrogen dioxide drop by 54 percent, while Madrid, Milan and Rome saw a drop of nearly 50%, according to scientists from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, who have been monitoring air pollution over Europe using data from the Tropomi instrument aboard the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite....

...The scientists adjusted the data across a 15-day average to compensate for weather changes that can also influence NO2 levels in the atmosphere. They also claim a hefty 15 percent margin of error.

Nitrogen dioxide is a noxious gas that has been linked to respiratory problems and other health conditions. It also reacts with other chemicals in the atmosphere to form fine particulate pollution, which health agencies have identified as the leading cause of the world’s 7 million annual deaths from air pollution.

NO2 comes from the combustion of fossil fuels in vehicles, power plants and factories. The European scientists monitor it as a bellwether for other pollutants that derive from the same sources, including greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change....

Newspapers need to be the place people CAN TRUST to provide the truth to a dangerous virus.

19 April 2020
By Rachel Cooke

...Since mid-March, (click here) the BBC has seen a huge increase in numbers watching its news programmes. The audience for the BBC News at One has risen 85%, the News at Six 74%, and the News at Ten of by 50%. The evening news programmes, and the two on which Walsh and his colleague Hugh Pym, the BBC’s health editor, appear most often, now have a combined nightly audience of around 12.8 million – and no wonder. It isn’t only that audiences are hungry for information. Between them, Walsh and Pym, together with their producers and cameramen, are delivering powerful journalism: most notably their reports from inside intensive care units at, respectively, University College Hospital in London and Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge....

April 18, 2020

Journalist Büşra Erdal, as she was detained.

Büşra Erdal, a jailed journalist (click here) struggling with a judicial system that has deteriorated since a coup attempt in Turkey in 2016, said in a recent letter that it’s not just the coronavirus but also injustice that kills.

Erdal has been held in İstanbul’s Bakırköy Prison since 2016, among the dozens of journalists jailed immediately after an abortive putsch, for alleged membership in the Gülen movement, which is accused of orchestrating the failed coup. The movement strongly denies any involvement.

She was given a six year, three month jail sentence, and her appeal is pending at the Supreme Court of Appeals.

Even if the high court upholds the sentence, she has already served the required 44 months and is entitled to be released on probation.

The prosecutor investigating her case cited Erdal’s news stories and tweets as well as stating that she had been working for the Zaman newspaper, a daily affiliated with the Gülen movement.

Ali Akkuş, another journalist tried in the same case as Erdal, recently was released on probation, a decision that indicates discrimination even among jailed journalists.

“Since the Supreme Court of Appeals is delaying the verdict, I’m being forced to suffer more because I already served my time,” Erdal wrote in the letter to the Ahval news website....

The magnificent, wonderful and extremely brilliant scientists at Yale Climate Connections have answers about warming.

March 27, 2020
By Samantha Harrington

Chart by Climate Central (click here)

You likely have heard about global warming in the news, (click here) at school or from a friend. And so you probably have questions such as, “What is causing this warming?” and “What role do humans play in that warming?” and “What’s the science behind the warming?”

According to widely cited research, more than 97% of climate scientists agree that the planet has been warming during the past several decades and that the warming is overwhelmingly the result of human activities.

That conclusion is also shared by the U.S.’s most respected scientific organization, the National Academies of Sciences, and by its counterpart organizations worldwide. The National Academies of Sciences, in a 2020 update to its “Climate Change Evidence and Causes” report, concluded that “Natural causes alone are inadequate to explain the recent observed changes in climate.” It added that “only when models include human influences on the composition of the atmosphere are the resulting temperature changes consistent with observed changes.” Those conclusions are strengthened because they are based on observed, and not simply modeled, global temperatures.

To figure out the causes behind rising global temperatures, scientists start with what is known: They know based on scientific evidence that the planet is warming, and they have long known that greenhouse gases warm Earth’s atmosphere. They know too that humans emit large quantities of those same heat-trapping gases – most importantly including carbon dioxide – by burning fossil fuels and the release of the resulting emissions to the atmosphere....

Higher levels of particulates in the air leads to lund damage. Lung damage is a co-morbidity to COVID-19.

April 18, 2020
By Nedra Rhone

As the coronavirus pandemic (click here) continues to ravage communities around the world, it has challenged most every aspect of life as we know it. But in at least one area, its impact appears to be double-edged. Air pollution has exacerbated health outcomes of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, but the pandemic may also be helping — at least temporarily — to clean the air we breathe.

A recent Harvard University study revealed that long-term exposure to polluted air makes COVID-19 more deadly because pollution worsens complications of respiratory illnesses like the coronavirus. At the same time, cities around the globe report plummeting pollution levels that coincide with lockdowns aimed at slowing the spread of the virus. While any gains in improved air quality are likely temporary, experts say, taken as a whole, the data reinforces the importance of air quality and should offer guidance on future policy.

This week, Andrew R. Wheeler, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, said the agency would not tighten controls on particle pollution known as PM2.5 — tiny lung-damaging particles in the air that come from power plants, cars, airplanes and burning — citing insufficient scientific evidence to support a change to standards enacted in 2012. Though PM2.5 levels fell by 39% between 2000 and 2018, data has shown an uptick in some regions of the country since 2016. Under current standards, PM2.5 contributes to about 45,000 deaths each year, according to the EPA...

Mr. Wheeler is not capable of leading the US EPA because his priorities are anti-human and pro-business. Mr. Wheeler is corrupt. If you want to know THE TRUTH look to organizations like the "American Lung Association."

Particle pollution (click here) refers to a mix of tiny solid and liquid particles that are in the air we breathe. Many of the particles are so small as to be invisible, but when levels are high, the air becomes opaque. But nothing about particle pollution is simple. And it is so dangerous that it can shorten your life.

Size matters. Particles themselves are different sizes. Some are one-tenth the diameter of a strand of hair. Many are even tinier; some are so small they can only be seen with an electron microscope. Because of their size, you can't see the individual particles. You can only see the haze that forms when millions of particles blur the spread of sunlight....

...Researchers categorize particles according to size, grouping them as coarse, fine and ultrafine. Coarse particles (shown as blue dots in the illustration) fall between 2.5 microns and 10 microns in diameter and are called PM10-2.5. Fine particles (shown as pink dots in the illustration) are 2.5 microns in diameter or smaller and are called PM2.5. Ultrafine particles (not shown) are smaller than 0.1 micron in diameter1 and are small enough to pass through the lung tissue into the blood stream, circulating like the oxygen molecules themselves. No matter what the size, particles can harm your health....

March 25, 2020

eMarketer (click here for audio recording) junior analyst Blake Droesch and senior analyst Jasmine Enberg discuss how COVID-19 changed social media engagement, platform advertising and influencer behavior. They then talk about TikTok's new "Transparency Center," the optimal social media posting lengths, Facebook Stories in other places and Instagram's disappearing text messages feature.

The great and spectacularly wonderful scientists came up with an idea of "cloud brightening" to pass shadow on the Great Barrier Reef.

April 18, 2020

An ambitious "cloud brightening" experiment (click here) has been carried out over Australia's Great Barrier Reef in an early-stage trial that scientists hope could become a futuristic way to protect coral from global warming.

In an attempt to cool waters around the reef by making clouds reflect more sunlight, researchers said they used a boat-mounted fan similar to a snow cannon to shoot salt crystals into the air.

Results from the trial were "really, really encouraging", the project's lead scientist Daniel Harrison from Southern Cross University said on Friday.

"All the research is theoretical... so this an absolute world first to go out and actually try and take seawater and turn it into these cloud condensation nuclei," he told AFP.

Harrison stressed that despite the success of the experiment, at least four years of further research would be needed to prove the theory.

Warmer seas caused by climate change have damaged the health of the Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral system.

The experiment was carried out by the university and the Sydney Institute of Marine Science late last month, just before a comprehensive scientific survey found that the reef had suffered its most widespread coral bleaching on record....

As we move toward summer and into autumn, the public needs to be aware of COVID-19. What might be a drop off in the summer will return with vengeance in the autumn and winter.

Planning and knowledge of the destination no matter where one is planning to eat dinner or do some sunbathing is important to predict the danger one might face in the world in the year 2020.

March 24, 2020
By Patrick Kulp

...Quarantine culture (click here) is already causing drastic shifts in the imagery and copy that brands use to advertise on social media.

That’s according to data from marketing tech firm Pattern89, which used machine learning to track a 30% dip in social media ads featuring images or video of everyday human contact—hugging, kissing and holding hands—since March 12 amid the coronavirus pandemic hitting the United States.

At the same time, visuals associated with hand-washing have increased sixfold and those featuring travel—key terms like “airport” and “airplane”—are down about 8%. Imagery featuring electronics has also risen steadily in recent weeks to the point where 39% of social ads now include at least one device, perhaps as a consequence of increased reliance on these tools in the absence of human interaction....

It's Sunday Night

Do you know where SARS-CoV-2 is hiding?

April 17, 2020
By Megan Roos

Beaches and parks (click here) in Santa Cruz County reopened Thursday as California and other states across the country began discussing plans to lift stay-at-home orders. Public spaces in California counties that have been harder hit by the coronavirus pandemic remain closed.

"We are, please, asking you not to congregate into groups, because that's going to force us to probably shut this down again," Santa Cruz Chief of Police Andrew Mills warned residents Thursday....

I suppose you can ask, but, the beaches and vacation spots are there for fun and romance. Most of the time beach blankets are usually six feet apart. I suppose the new bikini line is going to be a "face mask line."

There are problems with hiking trails. As one closes the other receive more traffic and that is just asking for trouble. So, if one park is going to open there needs to be an agreement that all parks are going to open. The understanding that a serious virus is a plague within out lifestyles but we cannot ignore it. There needs to be signs to remind people visiting recreation areas and vacation spots that SARS-CoV-2 is still a problem and take measures to protect from it.

"Spendor in the grass" by Pink Martini (click here for official website)

I can see you're thinking baby
I've been thinking too
About the way we used to be
And how to star a new

Maybe I'm a hopeless dreamer
Maybe I've got it wrong
But I'm going where the grass is green
If you like to come along

Back when I was starting out
I always wanted more
But every time I got it
I still felt just like before

Fortune is a fickle friend
I'm tired of chasing fate
And when I look into your eyes
I know you feel the same

All these years of living large
Are starting to do a sin
I wont say it wasn't fun
But now it has to end

Life is moving oh so fast
I think we should take it slow
Rest our heads upon the grass

And listen to it grow

Ask NATO for insight.

Hahn is now the commissioner of the FDA. He should have stayed in practice because as an administrator he has no clue to what he is doing.

April 19, 2020
By Steve Eder, Megan Twohey and Apoorva Mandavilli

...The Food and Drug Administration (click here) has allowed about 90 companies, many based in China, to sell tests that have not gotten government vetting, saying the pandemic warrants an urgent response. But the agency has since warned that some of those businesses are making false claims about their products; health officials, like their counterparts overseas, have found others deeply flawed.

Tests of “frankly dubious quality” have flooded the American market, said Scott Becker, executive director of the Association of Public Health Laboratories. Many of them, akin to home pregnancy tests, are easy to take and promise rapid results....

These tests came out of China? I am not surprised they are not delivering what they promise. China does not require quality control of commercial products. It opened it's own FDA about a year or so ago.

The National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) (click here) is the Chinese agency for regulating drugs and medical devices (formerly the China Food and Drug Administration or CFDA). The predecessor to the NMPA was initially founded in 1998 to oversee drugs and medical devices....

China is an emerging economy with great hopes and ambitions, but, they are not up to speed in the way the USA is SUPPOSED to be. There is an administration in the White House that basically doesn't care about the people so much as "managing the people" for the next election.

Whatever happened to Underwriters Laboratories? I have never been more serious. This is a non-profit organization that when tasked to help will find the best scientists and test all the COVID TESTS to establish the best product for the states. THE STATES ARE IN CHARGE HERE. We can go on and on about Trump's misdeeds, but, that doesn't do anyone any good.

So, the states have to form a coalition and hire UL to carry out quality control. UL will probably need some direction from Dr. Fouchi in order to determine what the best product for testing looks like, but, that is the USA under Trump. YOU ARE ALL ON YOUR OWN!

We employ exacting scientific processes and the highest ethical principles (click here) to help create a better world. As safety challenges and concerns expand to include sustainability, well-being, connected technologies and security, we provide broad leadership, deep expertise and vital services to guide these transformations.

Fueled by our mission of working for a safer world, we are trusted partners in solving our customers’ and stakeholders’ most critical challenges. We believe that when choices are empowered by insight and opportunity, the potential to realize responsible innovation and better living is endless.

To fulfill our mission, UL delivers business solutions and our nonprofit conducts independent research and shares scientific knowledge broadly. For more information about our nonprofit activities, visit UL.org....  

The states need an open relationship with the US House and Senate to bring about funding that will see them through this emergency. Basically, the states are doing what the federal government should do and they need the money the federal government usually has to carry out vital services to the states and people.

This is terrible and more than likely it isn't going to get better so long as we have a federal executive branch that disregards the authority of science in this emergency. 

China is not a reliable partner. Not because it is not willing to be part of the cure, but, it's commercial companies are not based on sound ETHICS. We witnessed the dog food debacle a long time ago. When it comes to imports from China it should be limited to consumer items and not consumables or medicine. China is not in that stage of development. It is at best an emerging economy. 

Look. China bought a pork dynasty in North Carolina to feed its people. Hello? What is Europe doing?

After 911, New York City formed it's own foreign intelligence bureau. It is that type of effort necessary by the states to bring about a response to the COVID emergency. The states have to build a coalition of people they can trust to investigate all the answers needed in this emergency. The governors cannot simply do this and nothing else. Not with more danger before them in prematurely opening their states. 

In the meantime, all essential personnel like police and firefighters have to have PPE that protects them as well. These professions require different and effective PPE and not the same as the hospital workers. This is what needs to occur. Firefighters have Scott Air Packs (click here) and when not appropriate practice social distancing.

"The Briefings" are more than feuds, they are "dog whistles."

April 8, 2020

A friend of ours (click here) who voted for President Trump sent us a note recently saying that she had stopped watching the daily White House briefings of the coronavirus task force. Why? Because they have become less about defeating the virus and more about the many feuds of Donald J. Trump....

"Trump Signals He Backs Protests to End Safety Guidelines" (click here)

Going forward IT IS OBVIOUS the most vulnerable, the poor, those with compromised health and the elderly, need to be protected and provided for to maintain their wellness and longevity.

That said, there have been children and adults that are completely healthy one day with no co-morbidities who have become ill and died due to COVID-19.

"Contact Tracing" is used today when it comes to HIV/AIDS. COVID-19 is more extensive because it can be contracted with droplet. I think there is more interesting options with COVID-19 in bringing awareness to the public. When a patient tests positive an interview revealing where they have been in the past two weeks is engaged. What is learned can be placed in a news article so people know if they were in "Target between 5P - 6P on Thursday" need to report to their physicians or emergency room for testing.

I am not consenting to early return to normal, but, as is true with this administration, who has a choice but to deal with their fallout.

The news media has a strong place in the return of normalcy and that is as a bulletin board of all that is COVID-19. Americans need to get used to the idea of this chronic danger in their lives. They have to modify their behavior to be "on guard" to protect themselves and their housemates, either roommates or spouses, and children.

Masks need to be mandatory in far more cities than just New York City. But, there also has to be a strong knowledge of the fact that masks less than N-95 DO NOT PREVENT THE VIRUS FROM INFECTING THEM, hence, the "Social Distancing" needs to be practiced even in the face of wearing masks. Masks basically provide a more narrow allowance of social distancing. Instead of six feet perhaps two feet would suffice. The idea behind the "social masks" is to prevent a sneeze or a cough from spreading further a foot or two.

As the incidence of infections becomes lower and PERSIST lower the average American should be able to have access to a supply of N95 masks. N95 masks will be important to return to normalcy. I ALSO RECOMMEND Air Purifiers in the home, office and at the desk at work. The Air Purifiers work and filter microns small enough to catch the virus itself. In any of these more sophisticated air purifiers are UV elements that kill bacteria and viruses.

The manufacturing sector of the USA needs to be ready to maintain high numbers of N95 to all sectors of society and air purifiers. This is the new normal everyone must embrace to continue back to work plans.

This is an excellent time to assess the type of emergencies that occur and can occur in the USA. There needs to be a permanent manufacturing sector that addresses the use of material equipment for use as well as storage in anticipation of preparedness. The foreign markets are not enough to supply materials to the USA when emergencies strike. This manufacturing sector can actually prevent the impact of invoking the Defense Production Act. The question of the preparedness and what has occurred with this administration cannot be repeated. It is a matter of national security.

Defining the vulnerable is vital. Wellness has to be a high priority to every American. The healthier the person, normally the better the outcome. However, a genome of understanding of the dead would be helpful. There may be a gene trigger that provides a path to the virus. This idea should have been invoked earlier as the dead are in burial plots now, but, going forward this is not an unreasonable idea.

I REMIND, the viruses are RNA in search of DNA. So, there may be a gene of the DNA that it finds more virulent a partner than others that seem naturally resistant.

The elderly have been provided special times of the day and/or days of the week when shopping is safer. That provision should continue. Other Americans need to be willing to identify themselves as vulnerable and move into behaviors that will provide for their protection from vulnerability. Here again, I mentioned a special designation for Americans that qualify as "Vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2." That is a legislative measure to allow awareness of the government, private sector, and all Americans. This can be an awareness placed within the "Americans with Disability Act" or a separate legislative initiative. The reality of some Americans to the fact their lives are changed until successful vaccines are found has to be accommodated in some way to provide for their well being. THIS IS NOT THEIR FAULT.

Some people may identify as vulnerable when they are less so, but, that is a mental health issue and cannot be dismissed until the person realizes he or she is safer in the world than they thought.

There is an enormous vulnerability staring all Americans in the face and that is the susceptibility of the African American community to SARS-CoV-2. This cannot continue. I don't care what it takes, this is a horrible reality for a minority in the USA that still faces discrimination, hatred, and segregation. I might add at this point that DAILY STRESS compounded by all these negative emotions effects the immune system. This community in the USA has to be elevated in every way that provides for their longevity and well being.

Lastly, prisons and nursing homes have to be better regulated when these emergencies manifest. They MUST have policies within their institutions that address the health and safety of their populations as well as what occurs to protect them when these emergencies manifest.

I would be remiss to not add that this might this event could be a Black Swan because of the gross mismanagement of the Trump White House in maintaining professionals abroad that provide early awareness. Everyone wants to blame China and the WHO, but, they faced this virus grossly understaffed by Americans. George W. Bush did not have this issue with SARS-CoV-1. The economy was untouched in the "W" years. The idea of a "Black Swan" is not an excuse to do nothing.

Staying home is the right and moral thing to do. Saving and protecting life simply can't be wrong.

There is no statue of limitations on murder.

Now, you're talking. The truth has an interesting way of lingering.

April 17, 2020

FLINT, MI - The state's two top prosecutors (click here) leading the renewed Flint water crisis criminal investigation say they are making progress as the six-year anniversary approaches.

Michigan Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy launched a fresh investigation into possible criminal wrongdoing leading up to and after Flint's water switch in 2014.

On April 25, 2014, officials flipped a switch changing Flint's water source from the Great Lakes Water Authority in Detroit to the Flint River. The more corrosive river water was not treated adequately, allowing lead from water lines to leach into people's homes and poison residents.

Hammoud and Worthy issued a joint statement Friday pointing out that statutes of limitations vary by the alleged offenses and the date when they occurred. The six-year anniversary on April 25 is not a deadline to bring new charges, they say.

"Though we cannot comment on the specifics of our investigation, we remain on track, and we are delivering on our commitment to the people of Flint,” their statement says....

Vice report (click here)

April 17, 2020

Detroit – An explosive report published by VICE accuses former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder of covering up and lying about the Flint water crisis.

The report by journalists Jordan Chariton and Jenn Dize was published on Thursday after an 18-month investigation.

“Hundreds of confidential pages of documents obtained by VICE, along with emails and interviews, reveal a coordinated, five-year cover-up overseen by Snyder and his top officials to prevent news of Flint’s deadly water from going public—while there was still time to save lives—and then limit the damage after the crisis made global headlines,” the report states....

Governors that have not been prudent about their approach to SARS-CoV-2 will be held responsible for their carelessness. The poorly developed plans will demonstrate the virulence of this virus. Unfortunately, there will deaths due to such wayward plans.

The demonstrators in Michigan now know their future.

Extremists of any sort are very dangerous people in a society. I can only imagine what would occur of Pope Francis didn't listen to his scientists.

God gave human beings a mind to understand the world. Unfortunately, extremists don't accept the words of scientists and people of faith that believe them.

THERE IS NO STATEMENT BY ANY HOLY TEXT THAT PROMISE AN UNTOUCHABLE LIFE.

April 17, 2020
By David L. Stern

Kyiv — The walls and golden domes of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra (click here) — or the "Monastery of the Caves" — have stood for centuries in the center of the Ukrainian capital. But now they've been breached by a deadly intruder: the novel coronavirus.

One of the centers of Orthodox Christianity has been transformed into one of Ukraine’s hot spots of the coronavirus pandemic. It is also a cautionary tale of how, just a month ago, warnings about the virus’s spread were seen by some as overblown.

Authorities at the monastery — renowned for its extensive system of catacombs dating from the 11th century — were initially slow to react to warnings that the virus was spreading....

...Three weeks later, Metropolitan Pavel told the Reuters news agency that he originally did not appreciate the seriousness of the situation. The monastery has since introduced strict quarantine measures.

Still, Kyiv officials say more than 100 monks and others at the monastery have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and at least two have died. By comparison, Kyiv and its surrounding region have registered some 600 cases and 11 fatalities, and Ukraine as a whole has 4,161 cases and 116 deaths....

SARS-CoV-2 is not a creation of the devil to kill the LGBTQ community. The beginnings of this virus are easy to trace and have acted as a mutant no different than any other coronavirus.

Chicago currently has a significant number of cases of COVID-19 and the deaths that accompany those numbers. Shannon Bennett is proof of the danger that exists when people neglect the dangers that are evident with this virus.

SARS-CoV-2 is contracted by droplet. It is a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-related virus and the police have the correct idea in demanding protective equipment. While disposable equipment is vital in the hospital environment, police should have permanently reliable protective equipment to carry out their responsibilities.

Research needs to take place to DESIGN PPE for police. Their jobs are very different from hospital works and sometimes require them to run and pursue lawbreakers. The current form of PPE is not durable and may inhibit airflow to the nose and mouth when a person is engaged in an exertional activity.

April 16, 2020
By Eileen Kelly and Susannah Bryan

He flew to Chicago for a St. Patrick’s Day bash with friends, (click here) then got back to being a cop in South Florida. In just a matter of days, Shannon Bennett was dead.

Like so many others young and old, the 39-year-old deputy was killed by the new coronavirus.

His death has turned polarizing, with his memory thrust into the center of two heated controversies.

On one hand, police officers routinely mention Bennett in their pleas for more masks, gloves and goggles despite the possibility that Bennett was exposed to the virus apart from his job. The issue of more protective gear has spawned an ugly feud between the Broward sheriff and Jeff Bell, head of the deputies’ union.

At the same time, a local police chief is accused of chastising officers who want more protection and blaming Bennett’s homosexuality and decision to travel for his disease....

It is could be about money. These nursing homes receive payments every month from SSI and Medicare. But, it is more likely about being overwhelmed by COVID-19. What is the span of time the deaths occurred? If the bodies were only in the TEMPORARY morgue for a short period of time, the nursing home was overwhelmed in moving these bodies.

The USA's Congress needs to legislate standards for handling nursing home deaths. Often morticians are called to take a person to a funeral home, COVID-19 PERMANENTLY changes the handling of bodies.

Nursing homes frequently receive admissions to their facilities from hospitals. Every person being admitted to a nursing home MUST be tested for COVID-19. Current residents MUST be tested to determine their status. The infection in SMALL COMMON RESIDENCE facilities, including group homes of any kind, must have their residents tested for the virus. If a person living in close contact facilities are proven to be positive (preferably two negative tests) they must be moved from the common areas into a quarantine room and treated until they test negative. But, the real preventative is having two negative tests before they are admitted to the facility.

In this case, the problem may be the AVAILABLE space for the dead. In other words, when a death occurs in nursing homes the body is removed by a mortician for a funeral. That is a single death over a period of time that "the system" can handle. But, if a large number of deaths are occurring all at once the system simply could not handle the transportation of the bodies to other facilities. Kindly remember the staff is not immune to having feelings about long term residents. They care for them and no doubt a whistleblower manifested at the horror of bodies being stored. I am not defending this, but, the circumstances surrounding this discovery lends itself to mishandling to attempt to isolate infection from other residents.

The corporation needs to be contacted and asked to what extent there are ill and dying residents. The corporation also needs to have a plan in place to handle this emergency otherwise the staff is simply carrying out care according to Pre-COVID 19 standards. That is not acceptable and their nursing Vice President/Director should have written standards in the face of this national emergency.

Once again these horrors are happening because there is no leadership from the federal government in how to isolate and handle this disease. Nursing home corporations are going to find themselves at a loss for new standards and procedures, especially if the facility is understaffed which can be common.

There is no excuse for this lack of leadership in DC. If the Trump Administration is lacking to lead, consultants that are qualified can be hired to shore up the poorly performing administration. The Executive Branch frequently hires “czars” to handle special circumstances. That would require spending money.

April 16, 2020
By Vincent Barone

Police reportedly discovered 17 corpses (click here) stuffed inside a small morgue at one of New Jersey’s largest nursing homes.

Officers at the Andover Township Police Department found the bodies at the Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Center after pursuing an anonymous tip about the improper storage of corpses during the coronavirus pandemic, the New York Times reported.

The bodies were placed in a morgue built for just four as the nursing home grappled with mounting deaths....

Trump continues to corrupt the Executive Branch of the USA government with his nominees.

November 23, 2019
By Susan Crabtree

...Risch’s failure to schedule a vote (click here) comes as the USAGM has faced a series of embarrassing management failures and internal turmoil and currently lacks a leader. Meanwhile, conservative activists are ratcheting up the pressure on the Senate to move the long-stalled nomination. Several knowledgeable sources tell RCP that the White House wants Republicans to swiftly schedule votes and move the nomination.

John Lansing, who began serving as USAGM CEO and director in 2015, left that post in late September to head National Public Radio, and a federal judge on Friday sentenced one of his hand-selected top officials at USAGM to three months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to stealing more than $40,000 from the agency.

Haroon Ullah, who served as Lansing’s chief strategic adviser, admitted to falsifying hotel invoices, taxi receipts and double-billing third party sponsors, as well as billing USASGM for personal trips to promote his book or for weekend getaways with little to no agency business....

To be specific, besides breaking the law, Trump's nominees are a conflict of interest to the media. 

September 20, 2019
By Brian Schwartz

President Donald Trump’s nominee (click here) to lead a federal media organization has been funding his own private film company with donations from a nonprofit that he runs.

Michael Pack, a conservative filmmaker with ties to Steve Bannon, has seen at least $1.6 million in donations from his nonprofit sent into the coffers of his independent production company, according to disclosure forms.

The details about Pack’s business dealings are revealed as senators review his nomination and Democrats begin to scrutinize him....

Why are monies in the CARE Act not available to the US Post Office?

April 15, 2020
By Alan Wessman

This graph (click here) shows the break down of the $2.2 trillion CARE act. There is half a trillion dollars for large corporations. The US Post Office is vital to the USA's integrity during a time when communication is through media and mail.

Recent focus on the financial troubles of the U.S. Postal Service (click here) has led to calls for its rescue by Congress. Yet this threatens to become a partisan tug-of-war. It doesn’t need to be that way.

The Postal Service began under Benjamin Franklin. It has been a great benefit to our country. We still depend on it, especially rural areas that might not be profitable for commercial delivery businesses to serve.

And in Utah, we have a wonderful, convenient vote-by-mail system that depends on the efficiency and reliability of the Postal Service.

The financial woes of the Postal Service are not due to mismanagement, but to a 2006 law that required the service, alone among government agencies, to prepay billions of dollars into a health care fund for retirees, 75 years ahead. No other agency has that burden....

The loss of the US Post Office means the loss of over 600,000 jobs. This is very different than the mass lay off of workers due to the pandemic. The loss of over 600,000 jobs with the US Post Office will effect the economy and cause considerable damage to the USA infrastructure. The US Post Office must be able to tap the half a trillion in federal funding for large corporations.

Postal Service Employment by State. (click here)

The Postal Service employs more than 600,000 workers nationwide, making it among the largest employers in some states. More than 63,000 postal service employees work in California, while another 40,000 are stationed in Texas, for example.