Now it is obvious. Trump is not interested in solving the problems, but, only to cause them.

No one is dying on my behalf. I am home and will not eat meat coming from "hotspots."

April 28, 2020
By Kaitlan Collins and Maegan Vazquez

President Donald Trump (click here) is expected to sign a five-page executive order under the Defense Production Act to compel meat processing plants to remain open amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump had highlighted the order during an Oval Office meeting with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that was opened up to reporters.

"We're going to sign an executive order today, I believe, and that'll solve any liability problems," Trump said on Tuesday.

The President is expected to sign the order after some companies, such as Tyson Foods, were considering only keeping 20% of their facilities open. The vast majority of processing plants could have shut down -- which would have reduced processing capacity in the country by as much as 80%, an official familiar with the order told CNN....

The USA food supply has become less safe under Trump and now Americans are dying because of the Trump administration's disastrous deregulation. Deregulation and denial causes a far greater problem and does not solve them. The USA needs to go on a diet of healthy foods, not contaminated food.

20 April 2020
By BiBi van der Zee, Tom Levitt and Andrew Wasley

The US government (click here) is accelerating controversial regulatory rollbacks to speed up production at meat plants, as companies express growing alarm at the impact of Covid-19 on their operations.

Last week Smithfield shut down one of the largest pork plants in the country after hundreds of employees contracted the coronavirus. The plant in South Dakota – whose output represents 4–5% of US pork production – is reported to be the largest single-source coronavirus hotspot in the US, with more than 600 cases. In response, the company said it was “critical” for the meat industry to “continue to operate unabated”.

Now it has emerged that as a wave of plants announces closures, US meat plants are being granted permission to increase the speed of their production lines. This comes despite warnings that the waivers for higher speeds on slaughter and processing lines will compromise food safety....

Food workers state: "If one gets sick, we all get  sick." (click here)

NASA has a sterilization unit. The White Room was a sterile room so germs didn’t go into space. This is not new technology. The implications of that is huge. The only thing it can’t sterilize is a person that is a a carrier. For that reason the testing and mitigation still has to go forward.

COVID-19 test needs to be required for a marriage license.

Attorney General Barr is propagating SARS-CoV-2 by restricting states and cities from protecting their citizens. Currently, Greensboro, North Carolina is providing free masks to use by their citizens. Greensboro is doing it in expectations of their use. Wearing a mask in public is illegal in N.C. The state legislators only convene twice a year. They are expected to change that regulation to accommodate the current virus emergency. North Carolina is not enforcing the very silly law at this time. I don’t know a wintertime that doesn’t demand a scarf or face covering with cold temperatures. It is a silly law.

Bill Barr does not have jurisdiction over a national HEALTH emergency. He is trying to assault the states with basically quarantine orders entitled “Stay at Home.” Any state or local health department is operating within their authority to carry out quarantines no matter what they are called.

BEST PRACTICES are required by state or city governments. Barr is CYAing his with Trump. If he wants to enforce a parking ticket, Barr can still do that as a hero among the streets and people in quarantine.

People could be making decisions about the future in the state of depression and/or in expectations of defeat of control of the future due to SARS-CoV-2. Both are unhealthy ways of thinking about the future. It has been months and not years the USA has been coping with this virus. Everyday there is more and more hope that the future is being returned to the people. We now have NASA’s sterilization unit and Rutgers’ RELIABLE testing. Those are huge. Tomorrow is still ours.

March 18, 2020 the New York Times, Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal was banished by China.

It is a little terrifying to run out of oxygen tubing.

April 27, 2020
By Meghan Bartels

NASA engineer (click here) Mike Buttigieg works on the Aerospace Valley Positive Pressure Helmet, a device that was successfully tested by doctors at Antelope Valley Hospital in California....

Bridenstein had brought with him three examples of technology (click here) that agency employees have been developing in the six weeks or so since the pandemic entered the U.S. in earnest and the four weeks since the agency launched the NASA @ WORK program to crowdsource its pandemic response activities.

Typically, engineers at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California work on technologies related to aircraft; lately, some have instead developed an oxygen hood in partnership with commercial suborbital spaceflight company Virgin Galactic. The new device provides the oxygen pressure COVID-19 patients require while protecting healthcare workers from infection, Bridenstine said.

Another technology on display builds on NASA's dedication to spacecraft sterilization and planetary protection, preventing contamination of other worlds. "We took that technology to sterilize a spacecraft and we said how do we use that to sterilize the inside of a room, and that's what this device is," Bridenstine said. "It will fog the room and every surface in the room will then be sterilized. No coronavirus."...

Pence is speaking to the US Air Force Academy because it is the closest thing to the US Space Force.

Trump might need those graduating Air Force cadets to fly planes all over the country to ensure the health of the cadets at West Point. Unfortunately such flights don’t include family.

There is a 3 mile runway in Cornwall that accommodates C5 cargo planes so the cadets can avoid landing in New York City. Most commercial airlines are not running a full compliment of routes nor should they be unless every passenger tests negative at the gate at time of boarding. It is a very sealed and pressurized environment.

I don’t watch the president anymore. He has nothing to say that is helpful. As a matter of fact I find him hurtful and ultimately on a spectrum of hurt he can physically hurt Americans to the point of poisoning leading to possible death. What is he still doing there?

It can be said the media is irresponsible in indulging his flight of thought. It is nothing but sensationalism.

Where is OSHA at the JBS plant? Who is going to be charged with negligent homicide for the violations of law and continued operations where five employees have died because of occupational exposure to COVID-19? The union needs to support a job action with its members due to unsafe working conditions.

The Board of Diectors and the CEO need to be arrested. Compare JBS to the new working conditions at FORD automotive and tell me there is no crime at JBS!

The USDA should be at the JBS meat packing plant to condemn the plant and confiscate the meat. SARS-CoV-2 is a viable virus up to several days on fomite and probably longer on food products. The meat is most likely unsafe for consumption. I wouldn’t feed it to animals either.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been brilliant.

28 April 2020

New Zealand has moved today (click here) to a slightly less-restrictive way of living with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declaring the coronavirus "currently eliminated" - and the country's efforts now the focus of international attention.

The country moved to level 3 at 11.59pm on Monday, easing some of the restrictions of the level-4 living of the past four-and-a-half weeks - including another 400,000 Kiwis returning to work and the lifting of fast-food restrictions. People were already lining up at McDonald's drive-thrus early on Tuesday.

New Zealand's main centres are buzzing for the first time in almost five weeks. Timesaver Traffic's Rebecca Apolosi says it's clearly visible on Auckland roads....

Did your health care rates increase after the Affordable Care Act began? There is a reason and it is the Republicans under McConnell.

There is a very good chance the health care insurance increases may have resulted from the refusal of Republicans to appropriate and pay the "risk corridor" program. Consumer groups need to investigate the reason their premiums skyrocketed after the Affordable Care Act went into effect.

April 27, 2020

By Ian Milhiser

On Monday, (click here) the Supreme Court voted 8-1 to reject a Republican effort to sabotage parts of the Affordable Care Act. The upshot of this decision is that health insurers will receive payments owed to them under Obamacare’s “risk corridor” program.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s majority opinion in Maine Community Health Options v. United States, relies on “a principle as old as the Nation itself,” according to the opinion. That principle: “The Government should honor its obligations.”

The vote in Maine Community was not close. Eight justices joined all or nearly all of Sotomayor’s opinion, leaving Justice Samuel Alito in a lonely dissent. That’s a bit of a surprising outcome given what was at stake in the case, which involved a $12 billion Republican scheme to sabotage Obamacare.

And yet, after years of litigation seeking to destroy the Affordable Care Act, and after many more years of partisan rancor bitterly dividing the two major political parties on whether Obamacare should continue to exist, only Justice Alito was willing to endorse this particular effort to undercut President Obama’s primary legislative accomplishment.

The other eight justices all agreed that the risk corridors program should be preserved....

...Much of Sotomayor’s opinion focuses on prior precedents establishing that courts should be very reluctant to read one federal law as implicitly eliminating an obligation laid out by another law. “Repeals by implication are not favored,” Sotomayor writes, quoting from a 1974 Supreme Court decision. When confronted with two laws that seem to pull in different directions, courts should “‘regard each as effective’—unless Congress’ intention to repeal is ‘clear and manifest.’”...

SARS-CoV-2 is a very invasive virus. It is dangerous.

The reason people are hospitalized is that their lives hang in the balance. They need oxygen and/or a ventilator to help them breathe. That doesn't mean that is the only place the virus finds success. The respiratory system is delicate and people will not survive if their oxygen is depleted without replenishment in 5 mins. That is why the virus is receiving attention. 

August 27, 2020

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (click here) has added several new symptoms to its existing list of symptoms for COVID-19.

The CDC has long said said that fever, cough and shortness of breath are indications that someone might have the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. It has now added six more conditions that may come with the disease: chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat and new loss of taste or smell.The expanded symptoms list could prove important because with a limited number of test kits available, typically those seeking a test must first show symptoms.

There is anecdotal evidence for some of those newly listed symptoms. NPR and other news outlets reported last month that loss of smell and taste were reported by some people with COVID-19. Patients with the disease caused by the coronavirus have also reported muscle pain, chills and headache....

Realize today there are patients experiencing far different symptoms than others and if there are deaths they may not be counted. That was the case in the past.


The Washington Post has done some very interesting work. They found average death rates at the beginning of the pandemic were significantly higher than only a year earlier. Should these deaths be considered part of the pandemic statistics? The researchers should ask other foreign scientists if this phenomenon was discovered in their countries as well. The case numbers and numbers dead may change dramatically if that is the case.

April 27, 2020
By Emma Brown, Andrew Ba Tran, Beth Reinhard and Monica Ulmanu

In the early weeks of the coronavirus epidemic, (click here) the United States recorded an estimated 15,400 excess deaths, nearly two times as many as were publicly attributed to covid-19 at the time, according to an analysis of federal data conducted for The Washington Post by a research team led by the Yale School of Public Health.

The excess deaths — the number beyond what would normally be expected for that time of year — occurred during March and through April 4, a time when 8,128 coronavirus deaths were reported.

The excess deaths are not necessarily attributable directly to covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. They could include people who died because of the epidemic but not from the disease, such as those who were afraid to seek medical treatment for unrelated illnesses, as well as some number of deaths that are part of the ordinary variation in the death rate. The count is also affected by increases or decreases in other categories of deaths, such as suicides, homicides and motor vehicle accidents....

Isn't this similar to the adult patients? There is inflammation. Children are known to test negative for the SARS virus.

This more or less indicates children have far less body tissue to invade and the virus moves quicker in children to include other body systems besides the lungs. The viral load needed to cause tissue damage in children is most likely smaller than adults and that may be why the children are testing negative when these symptoms manifest. The tests are not specifically designed to test children. The tests are designed to test adults.

April 27, 2020
By Michelle Roberts

The alert, which was issued to GPs in North London (click here) by their clinical commissioning group, said there was "a growing concern" that a coronavirus-related inflammatory syndrome is emerging in children in the UK or that there may be another, as yet unidentified, infection linked to these cases.

These young patients of varying ages were extremely ill. They had similar features to toxic shock syndrome, which can include a high temperature, low blood pressure, a rash and difficulty breathing.

Some also had gastrointestinal symptoms - tummy pain, vomiting or diarrhoea - and inflammation of the heart, as well as abnormal blood test results.

Experts say these are the signs you can see when the body is becomes overwhelmed as it tries to fight off an infection.

The alert, which has now been shared more widely, advises these cases need urgent treatment.

But experts stress that very few children become severely ill with coronavirus - evidence from around the world suggests they are the population least affected by the disease....

How old are the parents of the children developing illness? Younger people show up far less in the demographics of COVID-2. Are the parents being tested after their child became ill? Age 45 or older is where the demographics show more victims. Age 75 or older is when infestations kill nearly 50 percent of the victims. I still think an infusion of White Blood cells would help this group.

While Trump advises Americans to drink bleach and other caustic substances, he is allowing Netanyahu to proceed with expansion plans into the West Bank.

Morning Papers

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

April 26, 2020

Jerusalem - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (click here) voiced confidence on Sunday that Washington would give Israel the nod within two months to move ahead with de facto annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank....

Trump not only misinforms Americans about facts, but he is also going forward with other extreme measures in foreign policy.

The idea that 30 percent of the West Bank will be annexed by Israel came to the forefront of Trump's continuing rage against Palestine as the SARS-Cov-2 was beginning it's spread in November of last year.

November 19, 2019
By David Ignasius

One more timber of the United States’ bipartisan (click here) foreign policy collapsed this week when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reversed a 41-year State Department legal judgment that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank were “inconsistent with international law.”

Pompeo promoted this change in policy as a pragmatic acceptance of fact. “What we’ve done today is we have recognized the reality on the ground,” he said Monday. He argued that the United States could help solve the Palestinian problem by “taking away this impediment, this idea that somehow there was going to be a legal resolution.”...

This is the beginning of the end of the two-state solution. Unless there has been a large shift in the American Jewish Community, a year ago Jewish Americans had not abandoned the two-state solution for Israel.

There is an occasional poll that will state the American Jewish community accepts the decision to annex Palestine.

27 March 2019

When it comes to the two-state solution (click here) and the American Jewish community, the old joke about “two Jews, three synagogues” simply doesn’t apply.

The alphabet soup of organizations comprising the so-called American Jewish establishment – from the muscular pro-Israel AIPAC to the “pro-Israel, pro-peace” J Street, through the Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, the policy arms of the Reform and Conservative movements, the Jewish Federations of North America and the rest – are all in lockstep agreement that a two-state solution is a declared goal to securing a Jewish and democratic state....

Opinions in the USA can be seen as shifting with resignation as noted by J-Street.

...The contours of a two-state solution are well known. (click here) President Clinton outlined the parameters in 2000, and progress on this basis was made in Taba in 2001 and under Israeli Prime Minister Olmert in 2008. Various initiatives have spelled out the principles and even the details.

Unfortunately, time and political-will in the region are in short supply and it appears to many observers that the window of opportunity for achieving a two-state solution is rapidly closing. While majorities of both the Israeli and Palestinian populations continue to support a two-state solution, ongoing developments, entrenched and expanding settlements, and a growing movement in some Palestinian and international circles for a one-state outcome suggest that the trajectory is trending against the two-state option, thereby threatening Israel’s future.

Lastly, growing radicalization in the region makes achieving a two-state solution evermore challenging. We no longer have the luxury of waiting for a riper time to pursue peace; now is that time.

It has been a long-held belief that a two-state solution was vital to maintaining Israel as a sovereign state. Since the rise of radical groups like Daesh, Israel is seeing expansion as a solution to any threat. This move to take 30 percent of the West Bank is due to the recently formed government in Israel under Prime Minister Netanyahu in response to SARS-CoV-2. The move against Palestine will come by July 1st. The movement of this extremist agenda in Israel began when the USA built a new embassy in Jerusalem. Since then, Israel has kissed the Trump ring by naming a street and an unbuilt community after the American President.

I think it is unclear to the extent Russia will seek to prevent such steps by Israel as it continues the support of an Assad government in Syria. That is escalated by Hezbollah in Lebanon. I don't believe those that support a free Palestine will accept the new extremism by Israel. There is not wide-ranging support for Israel's aggression regarding the West Bank and until that occurs Israel may be surprised when confronting the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Israel expects no resistance from the PA in the West Bank, but, I doubt it will be easy and without military escalation.

I have no doubt Israel will be experiencing increased terrorism within it's borders with such views of Palestine. With outside and inside violence to these measures regarding the West Bank, will Israel survive it's extremism under this newly formed government?

“Good Night, Moon”

The waxing crescent

3.7 day old moon

14.9 percent lit

April 21, 2020
By Mike Watt

Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin  (click here) is leveraging his famous Apollo 11 quarantine experience of five decades ago to help society deal with the coronavirus pandemic, which has much of the world under a stay-at-home order.

Aldrin and Apollo 11 crewmates Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins endured a three-week quarantine inside a modified Airstream trailer after their historic moon mission ended in July 1969, to ensure that they didn't spread any potential "space germs" to the rest of us here on Earth....

I want to take this opportunity to address the need for safety in relation to the terrible circumstances we are facing with a virus, SARS-CoV-2.

Opening the country when so many haven't become comfortable with the idea of being out and about is wrong. People have to come to terms with the reality before them and they are simply not used to it. They are more worried right now about their paychecks or unemployment checks and maintaining their home. They haven't had a chance to catch their breath from a stay at home orders and now they have to prepare for a return to work and school. It isn't the right time.

I do not believe the statistics are encouraging enough either.

The reporting from doctors and nurses are still worrisome. There is currently no real means to prevent the spread of additional infections except to stay at home. The children are acclimated to classrooms through video links in the home. Where students don't have access, they have people that care about that.

April 1, 2020
By Sarah Al-Arshani

...School districts across the country (click here) are turning school buses into WiFi hotspots where students can connect to the internet to complete assignments.

Topeka Public Schools in Topeka, Kansas, set up three WiFi buses where students can sit near the bus and use the code written on the windshield. Each bus is set up in a parking lot of one of the district's schools, local outlet KSNT reported.

According to The Associated Press, almost 3 million students in the US don't have access to the internet at home. That's a little less than 20% of all students. According to the US Department of Education, about a third of the homes with school-aged children don't have internet because they can't afford it....

The country is simply not ready to dive back into defying the virus from hurting them. If the national statistics showed a very slowed spread it would be different. But, the reality today dictates the 14 weeks of unemployment plus $600 needs to begin and continue while the news about the virus gets better and more encouraging. I don't want to hear "Fake News" either. The press is doing a great job.

COVID-19 is a very dangerous virus and it needs to be treated that way. Americans don't feel as though they have enough control and they don't want high amounts of risk in their lives. They have the right to feel safe in their homes, school, and at work and it just isn't there yet.

There is a lot that has to happen before the country is ready to begin their lives differently. There needs to be a tracking system for virus contact. There needs to be an abundance of PPE for the hospitals and sales to average Americans. There needs to be a firm indication in the numbers of cases and deaths that the trend is looking good and decreasing at an almost predictable rate.

Americans need to be able to work as much as possible from home. Why does that have to change? The children are fine. They are learning new skills while learning their studies. Many aspects of the stay at home orders are working well. Why disturb that right now?

The statistics need to be better. The society needs to be ready. We are fine for now. Let's just remain calm.

I am not in a hurry to push Americans to be compromised when they still don't believe they are prepared. I certainly don't appreciate the state governors overriding the cities and towns that believe they are not ready to be opened just yet. They haven't received the funding they need to make necessary changes.

The time will come. Until then, be and stay healthy.

What about a virtual class trip?

Zoos count on visitors to help with feeding their residents. Unfortunately, COVID-19 is getting in between visiting the zoo and best practices.

Zoos often have webcams to enjoy their residents often closer than in person. So, if by chance you want to peek in on your favorite zoo, also consider making a donation instead of the price of a ticket.

April 26, 2020
By Andrea Sachs

Grizzly bears Keema and Denali live at the Northern Trail of the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington. 

What’s that outside your kitchen window? (click here) An orangutan? A Gentoo penguin? Nope, it’s just a squirrel. For animal lovers, the neighborhood wildlife might not be as exciting as the more exotic creatures that live in zoos and aquariums. Although their doors are temporarily closed, you can take a peek behind the gates and observe the animals through live streams captured by video cameras set up in enclosures and tanks.

“Maybe you’ve never seen a walrus before, so you could watch for a while and realize that even though they’re a little awkward on land, they are very graceful in the water,” said Carla Knapp, who works for the Indianapolis Zoo. “Or perhaps after a few days of watching our tigers, you may notice that they’re all drawn to the same tree or rock. That’s because they can smell the other tiger that was there a couple days ago.”

With the live footage, each episode is different. Maybe you will see the animals playing or snacking or sleeping. (Don’t be alarmed if there are no animals on view. It just means they have disappeared into a private area or a staff member was not available to move the camera.) Here are a few animal cams you should tune into:...

Even the thoroughbreds get to grow a little older before they run for the roses.

April 25, 2020
By Lucas Aulbach Kathryn Gregory

Making it through the first Saturday in May (click here) without a Kentucky Derby will be tough for a lot of people in the Bluegrass State. Churchill Downs has a plan, though.

The home of the Run for the Roses is planning to host a day-long at-home virtual Kentucky Derby party that'll feature a virtual race between each Triple Crown winner to raise $2 million for COVID-19 emergency relief funds.

Even though the 146th Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve has been postponed until Sept. 5 due to public health concerns over the growing coronavirus pandemic, Churchill Downs wants fans to honor the annual tradition while staying “Healthy at Home," according to a news release from Churchill Downs.

A special broadcast will air on NBC on May 2 from 3-6 p.m. featuring the 2015 Kentucky Derby that kicked off American Pharoah’s historic Triple Crown run. In addition, the NBC broadcast will highlight Churchill Downs’ first-ever virtual horse race — The Kentucky Derby: Triple Crown Showdown, a computer-simulated version of a race under the historic Twin Spires of Churchill Downs....

But, what happens to the horses? Will the animal activists find a horse sanctuary for them. I worry about their outcome when they no longer are carriage horses.

April 25, 2020

Chicago - The Chicago City Council (click here) voted Friday to end horse-drawn carriage rides in the city after Dec. 31.

Alderman Brendan Reilly, whose ward includes the city’s central business district, said he has tried to persuade carriage operators to “treat their animals in a humane way.” When the violations continued, he had no choice but to push to banish them from city streets, Reilly said.

Animal rights activist Ingrid Newkirk praised the aldermen’s decision.

“This is a banner day for overworked horses in Chicago, who will no longer be forced to pound the pavement through extreme heat, thunderstorms, or blizzards and who are often deprived of even a drink of water,” said Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals....

April 26, 2020
By Julie Ann Sanchez

Corolla - The Corolla Wild Horse Fund (click here) is celebrating the third foal of 2020 born on Friday night.

The group said in a Facebook post the foal is a girl!

Both mom and baby are doing well. A name for the foal has not been chosen yet.

"If you are on the 4x4 please remember to give moms and foals plenty of space. It’s critical that they have the time to bond with each other," the group said in the post....

Australia is asking for large numbers of citizens to download the contact tracing app.

April 27, 2020

Over 6000 readers (click here) have responded to a poll posted on this blog after 7am this morning, asking if they have downloaded the COVIDSafe contact tracing app.

The results are in: 62 per cent of you have already downloaded the app, which works by using Bluetooth to keep track of other app users you come in contact with.

The federal government has said 10 million Australians, or roughly 40 per cent of the population, will need to take up the app for it to be effective. More than 1.1 million Australians have already downloaded it....

I don't understand why there has to be a doctor's order for testing? Insurance? Cost?

April 21, 2020
By Jacqueline Howard

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, (click here) a new Covid-19 test has been authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration.

The new test allows for patients to collect their own samples using Pixel by LabCorp COVID-19 Test home collection kits that they would then mail to a lab for testing, according to an FDA announcement Tuesday.

With a doctor's order, the home collection kits will become available to consumers in most states in the coming weeks, the FDA said....

While Secretary Scalia attempts to circumvent courts of law, the National Labor Relations Board is still holding court.

April 17, 2020
Office of Public Affairs
202-273-1991
publicinfo@nlrb.gov

Washington, DC - Due to the coronavirus pandemic emergency, (click here) many federal agencies have had to modify their procedures to continue operations safely. The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) is no exception. Fortunately, largely due to the outstanding efforts of its staff, the NLRB has continued to operate throughout this emergency with only some modifications to its practices and procedures to ensure the safety of employees, the parties, and the public. Safety for all has been, and will continue to be, of critical importance while we continue the important work of the NLRB. Modifications to our operations have been announced through press releases, which are posted on the NLRB website. The current status of Agency operations is set forth below....

Beware of the puppy mills.

Pet adoptions have increased during the "Stay At Home" time.  Please visit the local animal shelter online before buying from advertisements.

April 25, 2020
By Candice Nguyen, Jeremy Carroll and Michael Bott

If you’re considering (click here) bringing a new dog or cat into your home, there’s no doubt that saving a life at your local city or county animal shelter is a wonderful way to go.

Among the few silver linings (click here) of the COVID-19 crisis is the spike in pet adoptions being reported by animal rescue groups across the Bay Area.

From the dramatic rise in adoption applications at Oakland’s Rocket Dog rescue, to Muttville Senior Dog Rescue’s 765% increase in fostering applications, shelters are being cleared out.

But for those searching the internet for a furry companion to shelter at home with, slick websites and popular social media accounts may be fronts for inhumane puppy mills selling sick dogs, animal welfare advocates warn....

Essential workers are in many lines of work.

April 22, 2020
By Christopher Robins and Sydney Pereira

A worker delivers Amazon packages in front of Lenox Hill Hospital during the Coronavirus pandemic.

The New York City Council (click here) introduced an "Essential Workers' Bill of Rights" on Wednesday afternoon, which would require large employers to provide additional protections and hazard pay to those hourly workers helping the city continue to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill of rights is part of a sweeping package of legislation intended to help New Yorkers where the state and federal government have failed.

One bill would prohibit all evictions, debt collections, and property seizures until April 2021. Another would require the city to provide single-room shelters to all homeless New Yorkers who need it to maintain proper social distancing, and would effectively shut down many of the crowded shelters currently operated by the city....

Workers complaints and protests are based in real issues in "Safety at Work." Working conditions matter and no employer should try to brush aside such concerns to attempt to silence workers just trying to be heard for a real solution.

April 18, 2020
By Caroline O'Donovan

Federal labor regulators (click here) have indicated they will be watching Amazon after workers in Chicago filed charges against the company alleging it retaliated against them for participating in protests about working conditions during the coronavirus pandemic, according to public documents filed this week.

The labor board’s inquiry, which experts say is unusual, comes as Amazon is under national scrutiny for firing at least four employees who engaged in walkouts and work slowdowns to protest worker safety during the pandemic.

Employees in Chicago allege that instead of responding to their petition asking for the closure of their warehouse after two workers tested positive for the coronavirus, Amazon instead retaliated against them. The company, they charged, is going after labor leaders on the pretext that they violated new social distancing rules. Workers in other places, including New York and Minnesota, have accused the company of similar tactics in recent weeks....

And what exactly has Secretary Scalia done during this health crisis to benefit those working on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis?

No surprise here, while the entire country is paying attention to the healthcare crisis, Trump's cabinet is busy deregulating the country and circumventing courts of law. In the case of Secretary Scalia, he is circumventing the Administrative Law Judges. I do believe this outrageous action by Scalia is unconstitutional. I just don't see anyone circumventing courts of law.

So, Scalia wasn't interested in distressed workers and the danger they were facing in violation of OSHA regulations. OSHA still has regulations, right?

Picture to right is Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia.

On March 6, 2020, (click here) U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia published Secretary’s Order 01-2020, which is among the first of his management decisions since his confirmation back in September. The Order, titled the “Delegation of Authority and Assignment of Responsibility to the Administrative Review Board,” establishes the Secretary’s authority to review, at his discretion, decisions of the Department of Labor (DOL)’s Administrative Review Board (ARB), including decisions arising out of enforcement actions brought by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). The Order represents a shift in procedure before the Office of Administrative Law Judges (OALJ) and introduces various new process and substantive legal questions to be aware of in connection with contractor pay discrimination enforcement actions....